#the last two chapters were all goofy family fun

[writing-until-i-drop]

Wildflowers For A Hangman Ch. 13

Summary:

Daisy, a career novelist, moves in with her college best friend Phoenix who has been permanently assigned to Top Gun with Dagger Squad. She finds herself instantly connected with a cocky pilot who's soft only for her and Jake can't help but want to know everything about her. When the past comes knocking at both of their doors, will they stand together or fall apart?

Or: The Dagger Squad can't cook and Jake falls in love with a woman who makes a mean lasagna while they work their personal trauma.

Jake "Hangman" Seresin x writer!femOC | 18+ (eventually) minors dni. Fluff, smut (eventual), idiots in love, past trauma.

A/N: Daisy and Jake get ready to leave for their Thanksgiving trip but things don't go as planned.

AO3 Link

Previous Chapter

October had been a blur of soccer games, conference calls with my agent and publisher planning a book tour for the new year, and lots of time spent apologizing to Harvey. He was mad at me still but he understood why I had kept him in the dark, at least enough to invite me to spend Christmas with him.

Jake had been swinging between calm and absolutely wired when it came to making the Thanksgiving trip to Texas for Thanksgiving. One moment he was telling me how excited he was and how much his family was going to love me, the next he was wringing his hands, silently staring into the distance. He was doing the same thing now, standing in the line for TSA.

“Baby,” I tugged him forward in line by his hand, “What’s bothering you?” He shrugged, pulling off his boots. “Don’t give me that.”

“Just thinking, Wildflower.” I rolled my eyes, double checking that my pockets were empty before pushing my bin forward. “I just want this to go well and I’m nervous.” 

“It’s going to be fine, pretty boy. Don’t forget to take off your hat,” I flicked the rim of the cowboy hat he rarely wore. “But I know that’s not all, you’re being way too frowny for that to be it.” He sighed but didn’t respond, staying silent as we processed through the body scanner and pulled our shoes back on. Jake’s silence was tugging at my heart strings, a million possibilities more ludicrous than the last running through my mind. The thoughts slowed when he wrapped his arm over my shoulder, pulling me into his side, but didn’t fade completely.

“My mama’s going to pick us up from the airport and then we’re going to get lunch with my sisters.” I hummed, knowing the plan already. We had gone over it twice in the car alone. “Are you upset with me?” 

“I’m not upset with you, I’m worried because you’re being weird and not telling me why.” Jake kissed the top of my head, guiding us off to the side of the main walkway. Jake’s eyes were soft but his jaw was tight, relaxing and tensing repeatedly as he stared me down. I waited patiently, fiddling with the button on my suitcase’s handle.

“I’ve never brought someone home before,” He confessed and it all made sense. I cupped his face, swiping my thumb over the stubble that had appeared in the last two days.

“Happy to be your first, Hangman,” Jake pulled me closer by the waist, a goofy grin on his face.

“That’s the same thing you said to me the night we met.” Back when I thought Jake was just some cocky pilot flirting with me for fun. I had never been happier to be wrong in my life. “I thought you were the prettiest girl in the bar.” 

“I didn’t even want to go that night,” Jake chuckled at my confession. “And I about died of embarrassment when you introduced yourself by kissing my head.” He leaned down, giving me a sweet kiss that made my heart flutter.

“‘I’m glad you came that night,” 

“‘Me too.” 

Jake and I made our way to the gate, stopping at the overpriced market for a share-size bag of M&Ms that I didn’t plan on sharing and caffeine for Jake, who despite having to be up early every day for work, was decidedly not a morning person.

“I love you,” Jake nuzzled his face into my neck, kissing it softly. My cheeks burned red, catching the scandalized glance of an older couple across from us. “And I can’t wait for you to meet my family.” 

“People are looking at us, pretty boy,” I tried to push him away gently but he wrapped an arm around me, keeping me as close as possible despite the arm rest between us. He breathed in deeply, keeping his face concealed in my hair as people shot us poorly concealed looks.

“Don’t care, Wildflower. Unless it makes you uncomfortable?” 

“A little,” Jake gave my neck one last kiss before pulling back. “But I love you too.” His phone rang and when he looked at the caller ID, his face fell.

“Lt. Seresin,” I couldn’t hear the conversation over the noise of the airport but the look on Jake’s face was enough to make my stomach twist with anxiety. “Rear Admiral, I understand the situation but I’m on approved leave for-” He ground his teeth, obviously being cut off by someone. “Yes, sir,” He hung up. Jake buried his face in his hands, grunting in frustration. I rubbed circles onto his back,

“What’s wrong, Jake?” 

“The team’s being called in for an emergency, I have to go.” My heart dropped, hearing how broken his voice was. “Fuck, I hate this.” 

“It’s okay, baby,” I kissed his hair, still rubbing his back. “Let’s get out of here, I’ll figure out the bags later.” I stood, shouldering my bag, “Come on, Jake. We’ll call your mama in the car and arrange something for when you get back.” 

“No,” He said firmly, standing. I raised a brow, confused. Jake lifted my bag from my shoulder, depositing in the chair he had just been sitting in.

“Jake?” He shook his head, running a hand down his face. “What are you doing?” 

“I want you to meet my family and they’re so excited to meet you, I don’t want my job to ruin this.” He wanted me to meet his family without him? Was he insane? “Take a deep breath, baby. You look like you’re going to pass out.” I inhaled deeply, trying to school my face into one that looked slightly less terrified. 

“I’m not meeting your family without you.”

“Please, Daisy?” He pulled me in for a sweet kiss, “Do it for me?” I groaned, resting my head on his chest. Jake hugged me tight, swaying us from side to side. This was a big deal for both of us. I had never met someone’s parents and he had never brought a girl home before, it was something new to both of us. Something big and scary but something that had to be done, especially if I was going to marry him some day. 

I smiled, thinking about Jake in his dress whites, the rest of the Daggers standing in uniform beside him, except for Natasha who was by my side like always. I didn’t have many people who could stand on my side of the aisle but that didn’t ruin the image.

“I’ll do it.” 

X

When Jacob had sent me a text to explain the change of plans, I nearly dropped my phone in surprise. That was not the plan. It was not the plan at all. We were all over the moon to finally meet Daisy but there was so much more we needed to discuss, all of which had to be done in person and Jake getting pulled away on a last minute mission complicated things. 

“What are we going to do?” My husband, Franklin, asked. “We’ve got to tell him.” I shook my head, wringing my hands.

“We do but right now we’re in the same pickle we’ve been in for the last six months. We’ll tell him when he gets back, whether it’s over the phone or in person.” Franklin kissed my forehead, passing the truck keys to me.

“Go pick up our future daughter-in-law, Honey Bunny,” Franklin was having a good day, standing tall, his hands steady for the most part. It pained me to see him so thin, his flannel hanging off of him in a way it hadn’t in years. “We’ll figure out how to handle this later.” 

“We’re meeting the girls for lunch but I left some soup for you in the fridge if you get hungry,” Franklin hummed in acknowledgement but I had a feeling the soup would still be there when I got home. “I love you,” 

“I love you too.” 

The airport was busy as always but I managed to find a parking spot in front of arrivals. I hopped out of the truck, grabbing the bouquet of daisies Caroline had insisted on picking up from the store the night before. I glanced at the last photo of Daisy that Jacob had sent to the family group chat. She was a pretty, little thing with red hair that always seemed to be tied up in a messy knot, holding up a casserole with a bright smile, Jacob's friends gathered around her. It was easy to see how much everyone loved her and how much she enjoyed being surrounded by them. It was comforting, knowing that my baby boy had found someone who brought so much light to his life. 

The red hair was easy to spot amongst the crowd, I waved her down.

“Daisy, honey! Over here,” The young woman’s head perked up. She smiled nervously when she saw me, making her way through the droves of people. “Oh my goodness, what a cutie pie you are!” I gushed, bringing her into a tight hug. She patted my back softly, not quite relaxing into the embrace. “It’s so nice to finally meet you in person. Jacob’s told us all about you.”

“It’s nice to meet you too, ma’am.” I pulled back, a big smile on my face. 

“You can just call me mama, sweetheart.” There was a flash of sadness over her features and it hit me that Jacob had mentioned that Daisy’s parents were both dead. I quickly changed the subject, “It’s a shame Jacob couldn’t make it but this means we don’t have to sneak away to the kitchen for me to show you his baby pictures.” 

“Oh I can’t wait,” Daisy giggled, “Jake was also worried about you telling me embarrassing childhood stories.” She finally seemed relaxed, taking the bouquet with a small thank you.

“I’ve got plenty of those to share, I’ll even send you home with the recording of his 3rd grade talent show.” 

“Please, please, please tell me it was a magic act,” Daisy laughed, helping me load her bags into the truck bed.

“Even better, he sang Should've Been A Cowboy.”

Taglist: @theforevermorereject @beltzboys2015-blog @writingrose @sinners-98-world @nerdgirljen @candlejuice @a-court-of-roscoe-and-baby @football1921 @katiemcrae @emma8895eb @itsdesiree86 Want to be added to this list? Just ask!

Next Chapter

[jerzwriter]

With Warning Part 5: Captain Lahela & a Serving of Common Sense

Book: Open Heart (Book 2 Timeline) Characters: Tobias Carrick & Casey, Bryce Lahela Rating: Teen Words: 1,800 Series Summary: Found here it changes a little here - both the warnings, and in this part, who it's being delivered to. Chapter Summary: Casey's just returned from her holiday getaway with Tobias, and she's happy to have the apartment to herself... so of course Bryce shows up! An animated conversation with her friend, gives her food for thought. A/N: I'm going in a little different direction... this was supposed to be all about the friends warning Tobias to stay away from Casey - and it started that way - but now, the warnings are changing.

The timing of this story is just after parts two, three, and four of Christmas Through Your Eyes and the Epilogue of that series takes place after this fic. (The chronological list of fics in the "From Here to There" part of their journey. 😊)

With Warning Masterlist Tobias x Casey Masterlist || My Full Masterlist

The alarm on Casey’s phone blared for the ninth, or maybe it was the tenth time... but it had done the trick. After rubbing the sleep from her eyes, she stumbled to the bathroom with a delirious smile... she hadn’t been dreaming after all. The Christmas trip with Tobias really happened, and as she splashed cold water onto her face, she realized that for the first time since the attack, she had gone for days simply being... happy.

Her friends were already at work, and she relished being home alone. She adored her roommates, but she knew what awaited her. They would have questions. They’d want to see the photos still tucked away in her phone. And she wasn’t naïve; she knew she’d have to face them when they returned home later, but right now, she needed time to process it all herself.

Returning to her room with a piping hot cup of tea, she stared at the unpacked suitcase lying at the foot of her bed and decided reality could wait a bit longer. Hopping back in bed and looking at the photos from her trip sounded far more enjoyable.

She startled when the phone rang, and a photo of her mother appeared. Maybe it was because she wouldn’t be speaking to her face to face, or maybe because her mother hadn’t had a front-row seat to her budding friendship with Tobias, but Casey decided this might just be the test run she needed.

“Hey, Mom!” She gushed. “Yeah, got back late last night.” “Oh, it was wonderful! We ended up going to New York, too... can you believe I lived there for four years and never saw the Rockefeller Center Tree? Finally crossed that off the bucket list!” “No, neither of us were on social media. We wanted to live in the moment... but I’ll get some pictures up soon.” “I am happy, Ma... I haven’t been this happy in some time!”

Her neck twisted toward her bedroom door as she heard a noise in the hall; that’s where she found Bryce standing with a bowl of cereal already in hand. He went to walk off when he saw she was on the phone, but Casey waved him in.

“Mom, I have to go, Bryce is here. But I’ll call you later and fill you in on all the details.... Of course I'll tell Bryce you said hello, Ma. I love you, too!”

He had already settled into the beanbag chair in the corner of her room, a goofy grin on his face as he enjoyed his... well, Elijah’s Captain Crunch. “You didn’t have to hang up on my account,” he said between spoonfuls. “I would have waited.”

“No... just as well,” Casey insisted. “My mom was five minutes away from asking why we didn’t see her when we were in Philly, and I could do without answering that for now.”

“Mmhhm. So, why didn’t you see her?”

“Same reason we didn’t visit Tobias’s family – that’s not what the trip was about. It was just for fun.”

“And was it?” he asked sincerely. “Fun, that is?”

“It was, Bryce!” She answered more quickly and enthusiastically than she had planned. “I can’t believe it, but it truly put me in the holiday spirit. I didn’t see that coming!”

“I think that might have been Tobias’s plan all along,” Bryce winked. “I should thank him because I love seeing you this happy again... it’s legit, right? You know you don’t have to put on an act for me.”

“I know that,” Casey smiled, taking a seat next to her friend on the rug. “I’m not pretending... I honestly am starting to feel alive again.”

Bryce put the nearly empty cereal bowl aside and gave Casey’s hand a squeeze.

“That’s great because I’ve missed you! It was nice of T to take you on this trip.”

“It was,” she grinned, not comprehending why her cheeks became so flushed.

Bryce lifted the bowl again, gathering the tiny bit of milk that remained on his spoon. “You two have gotten really close, huh?”

“Well, it’s not like that,” Casey replied in a defensive tone. “We’re just friends.”

“OK... I didn’t insinuate you were anything more.”

“I know,” she sighed. “I didn’t mean to snap at you. But, most of the time, when I’m good friends with a guy, everyone assumes it’s something more. And it’s kind of stupid, honestly, because I’m bi... so do people assume I'm fucking anyone I’m good friends with?”

Bryce offered an understanding nod. “As someone who identifies as pan, I can say with full authority... yes. Yes, they do. But fuck them.”

“Fuck who?” Casey asked. “All my friends?”

“No!” he laughed, tossing a pillow her way. “Fuck the idiots who think that. Well, don’t fuck them... screw them. No, don’t screw them either... you... you know what I mean!”

“I do,” Casey giggled. “And you’re right, screw them! Tobias and I love spending time together. We make each other laugh; he’s really helped me these past few months.”

“All good things!” Bryce agreed.

“Exactly! But that doesn’t mean we’re more than friends. I mean, sure, we kissed a couple of times...”

Bryce’s eyes opened wide. “Wait... you what?”

“We kissed. But it’s wasn't a big deal! I mean, you know that. We’ve kissed, and we’re just friends, right?”

“I mean... it was a long time ago...”

“I know, but when we kissed... what were we?”

“Friends.”

“Right!” she snapped her fingers. “And you didn’t think any more of it, did you?”

“Uh...no... I didn’t. Did you?”

“Of course not! Because it was no big deal... Just like me and Tobias. It’s no big deal because we’re just friends.”

“Uh-huh,” Bryce nodded, noting this was her second declaration in seconds. “If you say so.”

“I do!”

“Good!" Assuming they were moving on, he changed the topic. "So, what city was best? Did DC win, or did Philly?”

“Best city, easy,” she winked. “Philly. But the best Christmas tree... that went to New York. Honestly, New York is so magical at Christmas. We even took a carriage ride through Central Park!”

“That’s so cool! I’ve always wanted to do that!”

“Yeah, I made sure the horse was well cared for first...”

“Of course you did,” he chuckled. “I’d expect nothing less.”  

“I'm so glad I got to share that with T. It was... perfect! It started snowing, and I swear, it felt like we were in a movie! That's when I saw the mistletoe, so... you know... the kiss.”

“So, your first kiss was on the carriage ride?”

“No, that was our second kiss. But it wasn’t a big deal.”

“Uh, huh,” Bryce muttered. “Uhm, Casey have you ever thought...”

“I mean, we only kissed once before that! Last month... outside of the bookstore in Cambridge. And that’s only because I asked him to!”

“You...asked him... to... kiss you?”

“Yes! Because it had been such a long time since I had been kissed... or anything, really...  and I just wanted to know if I could feel something again, you know? But...”

“I know... I know..." Bryce injected. "It didn’t mean anything.”

“EXACTLY! I'm glad we're on the same page!"

Bryce studied Casey carefully, scratching his head.

“So. Why Tobias?”

“Huh?”

“If it was just a kiss between friends... meaning nothing... why did you ask him? You could have asked me? Elijah? Jackie... any of the roomies. But you asked... Tobias.”

“Well, he and I kissed before. You know, back when we were dating... but those were very, very different. Totally different kinds of kissing! So, it made sense.”

“But we’ve kissed before, too,” Bryce smirked. “So, why didn’t you ask me?”

Casey returned his smirk with one of her own. “Do you want me to kiss you, Bryce?”

“No,” he snickered. “I’m just trying to understand your thought process in choosing Carrick.”

“I don't know... it just felt right...”

“Two times. It felt right... two times.”

“Yes! But we agreed not to do it again because we don’t want it screwing us up. We’re just friends... it didn’t mean anything!"

“So you've mentioned,” Bryce rubbed his chin. “But, Casey?”

“Yeah?”

“What if it does?”

Casey turned to him with as much panic if she had been a deer in the wild and Bryce's car was careening toward her on a dark night. “What... what do you mean?”

“I’m just saying... would it be so awful if the kisses meant something?”

“Bryce,” she gasped, lowering her voice even though they were alone. “No... I’m... I’m not ready for anything like that. And, besides... he’s just my friend... there’s nothing more to it.”

“Yes, for the dozenth time. He's just your friend,” he smiled. “Whatever he means to you, that’s for you to figure out... if you want to figure it out at all. I’m just saying, it’s your choice... and if you decide he does mean more, that’s all right, too.”

A slight crinkle appeared on her brow when she turned to Bryce, words she hadn't intended to speak falling from her lips.

“Do you... do you like him?”

“I’m just getting to know the guy... he’s more of your friend than mine. But I have to admit, he’s impressed me. He’s been really good to you, and you appear to make each other happy. Isn’t that what they say it’s all supposed to be about?”

“I... I guess... but we are just friends.”

“And you’re my friend, Casey. So if that’s what you say, I believe you.”

“Thank you,” she smiled in relief.

 “Shit!” Bryce cursed, noticing the time on the clock. “I didn't realize it had gotten so late. I've got to get going; I have a date."

"Oh," Casey grinned. "Care to share the details?"

"Nope."

"Do I know them?"

"No comment."

“Uh-huh,” Casey teased. "I have my ways of finding out, you know! Just like Elijah can find out about his Captain Crunch."

"Are you seriously blackmailing me?"

"No," she shrugged. "I mean, I'm blackmailing you, but just for fun. Your secret is safe with me."

Delighted to see his friend bantering and laughing again, he pulled her into a hug.

“It is great having you back, Case. Promise me you won't go away again.”

“I’ll try not to," she said squeezing him tighter. "I promise.”

“And Case... about Carrick.”

“Bryce!”

“I know, I know, but listen! Sometimes, you overthink things way too much.  Try not to do that... just... just go where you're happy. That's what it's all supposed to be about.”

“I’ll take that into consideration.”

“That’s all I ask,” Bryce said before heading to the door. “Well, that, and don’t tell Elijah about the Captain Crunch....”

Casey crossed her heart with a grin. “It’s our little secret."

~~~~~~

Just one more "warning" left. Thanks to those who are reading!

@choicesficwriterscreations @openheartfanfics

Tagging others separately.

[nerdieforpedro]

Weddings 101 with Dieter

Chapter Three: Meeting the Family

Dieter Bravo x plus size OFC (Maya)

Fanfiction 18+

Masterlist / Dieter Bravo Masterlist / Weddings 101 with Dieter Series/ AO3 Link

Word Count: approx 5.2k

Summary: Maya is awoken to Dieter having a vivd dream that benefits both of them. They go off to the separate events, Maya to the start of wedding stuff and Dieter to his golf press appearance. Maya is not enjoying herself at all and Dieter continues his beef with Oscar Issac. Daisy comes through for the win.

Warnings: self-doubt, sexy clouds, Dieter is a grabby menace, grinding, biting, sucking, vivid dreams, mutual masturbation, more bad nicknames, more Oscar Issac slander, body worship, one rouge mushroom, Dieter's MOUTH

Notes: Dieter has been chillin’ in my brain for the last few weeks. After posting chapter two, I started writing chapter 3 and here is where we are. I’m going for a rom-com vibe because Pedro hasn’t been in any and that saddens me greatly. He’d be so good in one! 😫 I’m aware that Pedro and Oscar are best buddies in real-life, I just wanted to add to the comedy for Dieter having a beef another actor and since he got mad about Star Wars last time, it was perfect.

Groggy, Maya opened her eyes, things were blurry and she couldn’t make anything out. She felt warm, maybe even a little hot. Not sure why, it was comfortable so she dozed back to sleep. An hour later, she awoke again, feeling like she had a new lease on life. She didn’t remember any of her dreams, never did, but felt a sense of unexplained joy. When she moved, things became more apparent.

She’s chest to chest with Dieter, laying on top of him. One leg is draped over his hips and her hand is cradling the back of his head. Her face on his chest and hears his heartbeat, surprisingly slow to her. He’s really sleeping comfortably with her weight on him like this. More shocking than that is she didn’t feel like moving. His body was sturdy, not something she imagined when thinking of Dieter. Lips parted slightly as his chest rises and falls, just listening to him soothes her nerves. Maybe this isn’t so bad. I mean I didn’t mean to be in his bed the first night here, but like this isn’t horrible. I wonder if he’d be startled if he woke up right now, wait…what time is it?

Maya recalled what Bravo’s assistant had mentioned yesterday, that he had somewhere to be at noon. Some press thing maybe, but whatever it was, she needed to know the time now. She didn’t hear anyone else in the villa that she could tell so maybe it wasn’t quite time yet. No alarm was going off so it should at least be before eleven. Now the next question, how should she wake him up? Just push his head, pinch him, move her leg, poke him… something may already be poking. No that’s just morning wood, it doesn’t mean what you think it means. Maya took her hand off Dieter’s head and pushed her torso up off of his chest, hearing him groan as she rolled on her back, swinging her leg quickly and brushing his erection.

A soft “Fuck baby,” was heard at the loss of the softness. Dieter was dreaming he was inside a cloud, laying on a bean bag with Kit Kat on top of him. She just was making fun of how goofy his face was with his wide cheerful smile, Just enjoying the sound of her voice as she talked and the pressure from her body, but then she floated away, saying she had to go. He reached for her and was able to wrap his arms around her, pressing his face between her cushiony bosoms instead of her stomach this time. “Shit you can’t get away. This is the best feeling, You can’t go Maya, you’re my Kit Kat dammit.” He heard loud drums suddenly, they scared him so he pressed his face deeper, turning his head side to side, the friction from his beard making his face warm. His lips found what he thought was her breastbone as he kept pressing his nose deeper, tipping his chin up, he extended his tongue and licked, tasting a mix of skin, sweat. He mumbled something into her chest and started to alternate between sucking and nibbling. The tempo of the drums changed from sounding like timpani (large orchestra drum) to snare drums that were uneven. They complemented the low sighs he heard, encouraging him to only suck harder and branch out toward her breasts. Once he did, the sighs transformed into moans, the back of his head had a familiar pressure on it from four to five different small points and his back was being raked by something sharp. It didn’t matter, all of it was euphoric, Dieter had never had a dream like this.

“Sweet Lips…sta- shit that feels good…” Her moans continued, she wrapped her arms around his head, to keep his head at her breasts. Maya’s thighs pressed together, she expected to be able to get out the bed but now she was participating in whatever dream Dieter seemed to be having. A dream about her. She was pleasantly surprised, but worried, she still didn’t know what time it was and didn’t want the assistant or anyone else walking in and seeing them like this. Bravo had pulled up her shirt and bra to access her breasts, it was why she thought he was awake, but despite her increasing moans and calling his name, he didn’t respond, just kept sucking and teasing her. She knew whenever she did get up, she’d need to wash her panties and shorts as they were soaked. His hardness kept grazing her knee and thigh, moist with what was likely his own precum. “Fuck, it’s just there…Dieter it’s not fair…Mmm…” He grazed her nipple with his teeth and she yelped, digging her fingers into his scalp before grabbing the base of his neck. Using her thighs, she was able to provide some friction to his cock as he kneaded and suckled on her breasts.

While Dieter was trapped within the warmth of his Kit Kat cloud, he felt the pressure of a firm water mattress around his cock. The fabric of his pants were a hindrance in identifying the true nature of the presence he felt providing his throbbing member some relief. His hips started to jerk as he grew closer to his release, moving faster the more he heard cursing along with his name. He managed to work both nipples into his mouth as he climaxed into his pants and onto the warm water bed. Taking his head from the breasts he was so fond off, his world view began to change

He was on a mattress, but there were no water or clouds, instead there were pillows, sheets and Maya. Her shirt was raised along with her bra and her breasts were slightly swollen and in his hands as he still massaged them gently. His face cooled from the departure as he looked up at a wondrous sight, Maya panting looking down at him, her eyes fluttering trying to focus but unable to. Her hand was on his neck. He looked down and his pants were wet with not only his spend, but some of hers that had leaked from her shorts. Dieter was conflicted, he was coming down from an excellent sex dream induced high that he had acted out with the person he had been dreaming about. The question was, is she okay with what he did? He wasn’t sure if the effects of Molly had worn off yet and she was perhaps more sensitive and hadn’t been alright at all with him touching her. “Maya, are you alright? I was having an intense dream and it looks like I-”

“Dee, you’re not fair at all. How the hell are you going to be so good at that while asleep?! It’s not right, I’ve never been happier about having sore breasts.” Maya sighed and cupped his cheek. She giggled and he exhaled, that’s one elephant out of the room, the second would be equally as worrisome. “I felt more sensitive. Is that because of the juice I drank last night? What was in there?” Dieter closed his eyes and placed a hand on her hip, pulling her shirt down. Her breasts were distracting and this needed to be said with the proper attention, though he was surprised that she remembered feeling off and drinking the juice, did she remember what she told him last night?

“Well that juice was supposed to be for my two day golf press tour. I show up, take pictures and do some autographs. It’s boring but pays well. I drink my juice spiked with some Molly to put me in a better mood for it.” He explained, his fingers tapping to the drums he had heard in his dream. 

���Ah that explains it. I felt real giggly and very bendy? Flexible? No.” She paused, trying to find the right word to describe it. She had sensed something was off, but didn’t mind it. She recalled drinking a lot of water as well too. “Open! That’s the right word! Open to any and everything. It’s a fun feeling like someone took out all my worries, but scary now that I think about it. Anyway I should have asked what was in your fridge given you told me that it was the most fun you’d had just by drinking.” Her laugh told Dieter that maybe things were alright for now, he didn’t need to ask about what she mentioned in the kitchen. Her soft lips kissed his head as she rolled away from him, popping up out of the bed. Scanning the room, Maya didn’t see a clock at the bedside or on the wall. She also didn’t see her phone either. It turned out she was in her room instead of Dieter’s so it should be in here. Maybe she left it downstairs after setting the alarm. 

Dieter got up on all fours and crawled to the edge of the bed, “Looking for something?” He wiggles his butt as Maya turns and she giggled, using a finger to poke his forehead. 

“I’m looking for my phone, a clock or any indication of time. You have to be showered and dressed by noon and I should be getting to the introductory brunch with everyone.” Her hand went to his curls, using her nails to run along his scalp and she was sure he purred. Dieter lowered his head to allow her to continue, a low hum mixed in with the purrs. “Enjoy that my fluffy boy? I can massage it more later tonight.” She paused, “Oh! Sugar Li-“

“Fluffy boy or Dieter is perfect Maya.” He ran his palm along the forearm of her hand that was atop his head, he looked up and smirked, “That’s a promise Kit Kat. I’ll hold you to it. Ask me if I enjoy it again. Say my name this time.” He moved closer to the edge of the bed and wrapped his arms around her hips, his cheek on her stomach, listening as it churned with hunger. He gave it a swift peck and nuzzled into her belly further.

This time, she used both hands to graze the top of his head, feeling his soft curls and spotting flashes of gray within the chocolate brown. She looked down, resisting the urge to pull him up and take his lips, he appeared content to hold her. Maya took a quiet rasp, closing her eyes as she explored his crown, “Do you enjoy my fingers grazing your scalp Dieter?”

“Abso-fuckin’…Yes. Yes.” Bravo panted, his hand trailed from her lower back to her round ass, filling his hand and started to knead it as he had her breasts. “Maya, what time do you absolutely need to be at that family brunch thing?” His face emerged out of her belly and peered up at her, his eyes pleading. If she came with him, he might not need the orange juice for the press interactions, though he may inspire other questions that had nothing to do with his projects. She cupped his face and opened her eyes, Maya felt she could be too easily swayed by his eyes so she focused on his lips and how pink they were. Also a bad move. 

“Need to be there by one. You can stop by after your press thing. After brunch, there’s going to just going to be some family gathering stuff and then I plan to make it an early dinner so I can bail. Though I’ll need to bring the bridesmaid dress because my mother and the bride’s mother will want to see all of us in them.” A long sigh followed. He could tell she wasn't looking forward to this at all, was it the dress itself, the people, the comparison with the other bridesmaids, both mothers? He’ll see how long he’d need to be at the golf event and as soon as he can, he’s getting out of there to come get Maya out of there. “You need to get ready though, then I can get ready.” An empty chuckle left her lips as she released his head and Dieter followed suit and let her go. He rolled to his side of the bed and retrieved his phone. It was only half after ten. He let her know and went downstairs to heat up the pizza and eat it, Maya found her phone on the kitchen island, it was at five percent so she plugged it in when she went up to her room briefly. 

Sitting and eating pizza together, they laughed and Dieter pouted when she brought up Oscar Issac again. He threw a mushroom at her, hitting her arm. She picked it off and ate it as they played around and ate. Finally when they finished, they went to their respective rooms and showered. Dieter put on a button down short sleeve shirt that was split down the middle - one half had zebra print and the other half had cheetah print on it. Daisy, who had been MIA the entire night nipped at Dieter’s ankles before he slipped on his gray boxer briefs, the elastic settling just under his round pouch of a belly and sitting on his hips. He picked up the goat and kissed her forehead. “You traitor. You left me last night. Still love you though.” The small goat baahed at him and licked his chin, its rough tongue made him laugh. He needed to pick out pants though, he didn’t really care so he pulled out a black pair when he heard a soft knock at his door. “Come in, you don’t need to knock Kit Kat. It’s only us two here and Daisy.”

Retrieving his black slacks, he set Daisy on the bed and the pants as well before sitting on the bed and putting on some white socks and his pants. He had the pants around his knees when he turned to see Maya who stood in the doorway looking away shyly. A grin crossed his face and her spun around and pulled the back of his shirt up, wiggling his ass at her. He heard her laugh, “Better than Oscar’s right?” She shook her head and he pulled up his pants and buttoned them, bitting his lips in frustration.

“Objectively I can’t lie to you Sugar Lips.” Maya chuckled, walking to sit on the bed and pet Daisy. She wore a dress that had a deep V in front, the base was white and it had lines of gold, green, brown ovals and various splashes of orange. It was nearly to the floor so only her feet poked out when she walked. Her hair was pinned up in a neat bun and she wore gold earrings. It was the fuchsia color on her lips that drew the most attention, it made her lips appear fuller then they already were. “But you’ve got other things Oscar doesn’t so don’t fret so much and I’ll try not to tease you about it.”

Dieter plopped down next to her as Daisy hopped to the floor, sauntering around. “What other things huh? And with that lipstick, I should call you Sugar Lips.” He laid his hand over hers and he remembered, “I don’t have your number Maya. I can’t send you pictures of Daisy or eggplant emojis.” 

“You’re impossible. It can’t just be texts and memes? Eggplants, really?” 

“Yeah and maybe some of the things that might be better than that man. Stupid bubble butt.” He stood to retrieve his phone and sat back down, unlocked it and handed it to Maya. “Put your number in and save yourself as…” He thought for a moment. 

“Mi Reina (My queen).” 

“Oh? What does that mean?” She did as he asked and entered her number and saved it.

Bravo laid his head on her shoulder and spoke into her ear, “I’ll tell you tonight while you’re rubbing my head again and I’m in your lap.” He licked her earlobe and scooped up Daisy who had returned, making his way to the door. One hand sent her a text to ensure she has his number too. “Let me know what you save me as Kit Kat. We should head downstairs. It’s eleven thirty.” The grin never left his face and he felt confident he had enticed her enough. Maya stopped on the way down to grab her phone, purse, brown sandals and a garment bag before meeting Dieter downstairs on the living room couch. Draping the bag over the back of the couch she sat next to Dieter and cut her eyes at him.

“Despite you being impossible at times,” Her hand touched her cool earlobe that previously had his tongue on it, “it’s also one of the charms you possess, Dieter.”

“I have charms now? Not just impossible?”

“You know you do. That mouth of yours is- ” Dieter places one hand at the side of her thighs and parted his lips after licking them. 

“My mouth is what, Maya?” He taunts, he leans like he’s going to kiss her but stops. “I can’t mess up your lipstick of course. Tell me what it does for you bebita (baby girl).” Lips graze her neck and his hands move up to her thighs, his tongue trails down to just above her breasts. Warm breath against her skin, her hands snaked to hold his soft sides. “Let me hear what I heard this morning. I’ll be thinking about it while answering those asinine questions. Por favor (please).” His chin touched her breast and he groaned, hearing Maya trying to stifle her moans only had him press his fingers into her thighs more. Dieter used his teeth to nibble gently on her breast which made her finally give him what he wanted, a deep bellow of pleasure. 

“Your mouth is dangerous, shit Dieter. Please, it’s almost time-” One hand was moving up to his head but she stopped herself and just held the back of his neck. She couldn’t pull him away, her back was curving into his face.

“Just a little longer cariño (dear).” His teeth started on her other breasts softly nibbling before a ‘swip’ was heard. Dieter stopped and peered over the back of the couch. Daisy had tugged on Maya’s garment bag and pulled it to the floor. “Daisy, you really are a traitor.” he reluctantly stood up and picked up the garment bag, draping it back over the couch as Maya straightened her dress back out.

“Daisy’s helping both of us out. That should be saved for when we’re alone.” Zack and two drivers were making their way in the villa. Dieter hadn’t heard them come in at all. The click of his tongue told the assistant that he likely had interrupted something but there was a schedule to keep. 

“Um, sir. Sorry to interrupt, but we should leave. Good morning Ms. Maya.” He smiled brightly. Dieter sighed and gave Kit Kat a peck on the cheek, she took his hand and whispered to him,

“I think I’m going to move up the time table on fucking you Sugar Lips.” Bravo’s eyes widened, she remembered saying that? Maya’s other hand gave his ass a solid squeeze. “For the record, I like your ass better than Oscar’s.” With that, she walked out with one of the drivers who carried her purse and garment bag as she hopped in the car and departed. Zack gave his boss a few minutes, thankfully he had built in time just in case the award winner wasn’t ready, but he ended up clearing his throat to bring Dieter back to reality. He made sure to grab his orange juice on the way out. The star followed his assistant and sat in the back of the car with Daisy, uncomfortably hard and looking out the window thinking of a way to bail on this event and drop by that brunch.

Maya wasn’t fairing much better, shifting around in the back of the car as the villa disappeared behind her. Her hands ran along the garment bag and then her thighs where Dieter’s hands had been. “Smooth bastard. I’ll need to see if they have a CVS or Walgreens here for some condoms. I can’t get it out of my head from this morning. I won’t tease him as much when I get back.” A soft smile graced her lips as she watched the trees slowly change into buildings, getting closer to the hotel. The Hilton was a nice hotel yes, but she was only looking forward to seeing her mother, father and brothers. Both sides of the now joining family proved to be insufferable at the engagement and bridal shower. It’s why she skipped the bachelorette party, a fact that the bride’s mother never failed to mention. 

Arriving at the hotel in a black audi did give her an air of satisfaction as some of the family members watched her walk in, her white dress with its pattern flowing behind her in the warm sun. Maya made her way to the main room where she knew brunch was in progress and spotted her mother, making a bee line for the short woman in her four inch heels, gray dress and gold bangles and rings. She wore them due to the residual effects of her rheumatoid arthritis but moved like a woman thirty years her junior.

“Hey Sweetie! You made it! I love the lipstick. I wasn’t sure about the dress but it suits you. You look like you’re floating.” They embraced and shared a hug, rocking side to side before they parted, holding each other’s hands. 

“Hey ma, you look beautiful. There still some food around?” Maya asked and her mother shook her head. ‘This child’ she likely thought, but she did notice a small red mark at the top one of her breasts.

“I think someone may have eaten you. You have any concealer Maya? If not, I can grab you some before they come over.” She dropped her hands and walked over to a chair where her purse was a few feet away. Removing a sponge and some liquid makeup, swished her hand to indicate for her to hold her dress to the side slightly to apply the makeup. She did and blended it out with the sponge, once happy with her work, then had Maya adjust her dress again. “Is whoever this is here or coming to the wedding?”

A long sigh left Kit Kat’s lips, “Maybe, I don’t know about today, but probably later this week. He’s…different. But it’s good I think.” Maya’s mother watches as a smile crept along her face, whoever it was, this man was someone who made her happy, which was very good.

“Well, go get some food and eat. The family’s going to bop around a bit more and then they want to do the final fitting for the bridesmaid dresses. Why it couldn’t be done weeks ago is beyond me? She maybe shouldn’t have changed colors so many times.” Her mother began to gripe but stopped when she saw the look in her daughter’s face. It wasn’t the time, the complaining could happen after things were said and done. She went to track down her husband who was taking advantage of the free wine samples offered until two in the afternoon. It was one forty five so he was entitled to a full fifteen minutes of wine drinking and would not accept anything less. 

Maya went to eat some sausage, eggs, and pancakes, grabbing two of each as she had eaten pizza already this morning. It was then that the bride appeared, greeting her warmly. She wasn’t a mean or annoying woman. Well, a little annoying, but only because she didn’t listen to any of the suggestions. Which yes, it’s her wedding, Maya understood that, but she wasn’t the only larger bridesmaid and the three of them with Maya included, weren’t into the strapless design or the dress being made in lace with a slip under it. You’re in Hawaii, in a humid ass place and needed to wear shapewear in addition to a tight dress was….now you sound like your mother.

The two women hugged and briefly chatted about the trip over here. The bride said hers was smooth and really enjoyed spending time with Michael, Maya’s brother. Nodding, Maya stated that her journey here had a few hiccups but turned out to be great, knowing that she wouldn't ask any further. Maya slowly ate her food, knowing that the fitting was imminent and followed Elyssa, the bride, up to one of the eighth floor rooms where all the other bridesmaids were waiting. None of them looked excited or even tried to keep a neutral face. What had happened?

“We’re going with another new color and style ladies!” Elyssa said excitedly, everyone groaned simultaneously. This fitting just became infinitely worse.

Dieter was trying to hold off on drinking his juice. He wanted to save it for either a really tiresome interview or if he had to talk to anyone about whoever the hell was playing golf. He didn’t care, he was here because they wanted to use his appearance to promote the tournament and he could talk about some of the projects he was producing. He hadn’t found any roles recently that he wanted to be a part of since the Cliff Beasts fiasco and into writing, painting and producing. He was talking with one interviewer who was asking about some of his artwork, someone who actually bothered to do some research. It was a fun conversation, until that douche popped up. Was he even supposed to be here?

Oscar Issac - who beat him out for the Star Wars role he wanted and could frustratingly play guitar and sing. This bastard who won some nonsense poll about who had better curls between Bravo and Issac and was sporting a full well-groomed beard with splashes of gray in it. And now some other interview has mentioned his ‘cakes’ from the last movie Oscar did where he spends a fair amount with no pants on. Dieter may be in a one-sided beef with the man, but he was going to keep calm. Be cool. Just grab his orange juice to chill out. 

His assistant Zack had it though and he wasn’t nearby. “Fuck.” Dieter muttered under his breath as Oscar walked over, opening his arms for a hug. Turning on the charm, he hugged him back and patted his back, a little too hard. 

“Hey Bravo, how are you? I heard you might be here. It’s good to see you.” A pearly white smile beamed from him. Go away. I want nothing to do with you.

“Fine. Just interviews and press. What’s new with you Issac? Singing about some more hippos?” Dieter meant it to be playful, but the vitriol was clear. Oscar picked up on it and he smirked, his eyebrows raising.

“Did another stint on broadway. You ever think trying it out Bravo?” Oscar stepped closer to Dieter,  “Oh, that’s right, you’ve flamed out and can’t hack it anymore. Doing your little scribbles and paints. Cabrón (bastard).” Dieter sucked his teeth, tapping his foot as fists formed at his sides. Wasn’t one sided after all, arrogant bastard. The camera around them snapped pictures of the two men smiling and talking, unaware of the battle for the last word taking place. Daisy trotted over and took her place near Bravo’s feet. 

Oscar bent down to pet Daisy which she allowed and Dieter followed suit, it was an excellent photo op, the pair of them with a baby goat. After a few pictures, Daisy walked a foot away and the two men continued taking pictures flashing peace signs while crouched. 

“Say what you will about my acting, but my art has already made millions and I can do it well after I retire from acting. What are you gonna do? Hop on a Christmas album with Mariah Carey when she re-emerges this winter?” Dieter continued as he stood back up beaming, “You and your hippos can only dream hijo de punta (son of a bitch).” Bravo waved to the cameras, when Oscar went to stand he was met with pain. 

Not from his knees, but a bite from one Daisy who maybe was going after the back pocket of his suit pants, but got a chunk of his ass in addition to the pocket. Issac let out a loud scream as Dieter laughed, this was the best thing to ever happen at a press event. It wasn’t long before he was escorted out with his goat, assistant, and his juice he never got to drink. The organizers confirmed that yes, he would still be paid as had done the interview and pictures and that’s mainly what he needed to know, as great as it was to see Oscar finally get his, he didn’t show up there for free. 

“Tell the driver to go to the Hilton hotel. I have someone to surprise. Isn’t that right Daisy? You’re not a traitor afterall. I hope you get the taste out of your mouth.” Dieter turned to his assistant Zack who just told the driver the address of the Hilton. “You got a snack for Daisy? She couldn’t have Oscar’s taste on her lips.” His large hand rubbed the goat’s head as she softly baahed and nuzzled into his chest. Zack got out a bag that had some snacks, giving the goat some carrots to nibble on. He held onto the small animal for Dieter as he hopped out of the SUV once the arrived at the hotel. He entered and asked at the front desk about a wedding party, they pointed him in the direction of the grand ballroom where some people were standing around, some were dancing and others were eating. It seemed that they may be in between events but he didn’t see her. He knew she’d be easy to pick out in the dress he saw this morning and her figure alone. A hand appeared on his shoulder and he turned to see the top of a head so he looked down.

“You looking for someone? Are you a guest of someone hun?” A warm voice asked him, he looked down to see an older woman with reddish brown hair looking up at him with a smile. Dieter noted that she had a ring on nearly every finger and multiple bracelets on both wrists. He nodded and she chuckled, it was similar to Maya.

“I am. Would you happen to be related to Maya?” he asked as she lowered her hand, she now wore a navy blue dress with suede heels, three inches this time.

“I’m her mother, Yvette. I take it she’s staying with you. She wasn’t sure if you were coming or not. Glad that you made it.” She started to walk down a hallway. “Follow me, I’ll show you where she is. Your name hun?” Ms. Yvette looked back and Dieter scratched the back of his head, he figured things would be fine. Meeting her mom was a little weird, but it was her brother’s wedding, he’d been hoping Maya would be with him when he met her but it didn’t appear bad yet. Dieter and Yvette rode the elevator to the eighth floor where the fittings had still been taking place.

Previous: Chapter Two

Next: Chapter Four

The tag list: @katw474 @readingiskeepingmegoing

@fhatbhabie @morallyinept @pedritapascal @pascalsanctuary @nissaimmortal @grogusmum @theywhowriteandknowthings @beefrobeefcal @goodwithcheese @iamasaddie @megamindsecretlair @pamasaur @pedrodascal @marcus-is-my-muse @clawdee @trulybetty @perotovar @joelslegalwhre @josephquinnswhore @mandoisapunk @secretelephanttattoo @for-a-longlongtime @legendary-pink-dot @sin-djarin @maggiemayhemnj @rhoorl @sp00kymulderr @linzels-blog @joelmillers-whore @guelyury @laurfilijames @missladym1981 @pamasaur @alltheglitterandtheroar @din-djarins-riduur @daddy-dins-girl @ramblers-lets-get-ramblin @yorksgirl @saturn-rings-writes @gwendibleywrites @angelofsmalldeath-codeine @musings-of-a-rose @soft-persephone @javierpena-inatacvest @mysterious-moonstruck-musings @magpiepills @handspunyarns @i-own-loki

[atwooozi]

gojo x original character

Chapter 10: Unwoven Threads

summary: After meeting Megumi, Ai dives into her research, determined to uncover more about Gojo Satoru. She finds herself more captivated by Gojo's hidden complexities and his connection to his past. Her discovery of an old photo only intensifies her curiosity.

genre: modern AU, slice of life, comedy, eventual romance, eventual smut, some angst

A/N: This is a bit of a shorter chapter but I don't think that's necessarily a bad thing. I don't like when works are longer just to meet a certain length/word count. The song I chose to go with this chapter is Babybaby No Yume by Tanuki. It's a more uplifting song to contrast with last week's more down tempo one.

READ ON AO3

When Ai went home after her meeting with Megumi, she immediately went back to her laptop like a woman possessed. She needed to know more and she was going to find it. 

She wasn't sure if she was going to find anything that would go in the article, but it at least helped her feel like she was getting closer to finding out just exactly who Gojo Satoru was. Readers would love a sweet story about a young man selflessly raising not just one child but two children all on his own, but was that the story that Ai wanted to write? Honestly, no. She couldn't deny that his history was fascinating. Sure, it could be an aspect but she didn't want to use Fushiguro's past as a way to boost Gojo up as a person. 

“Fushiguro Toji…” Ai's brain halted as she looked at the picture staring back at her. It was a man in his late twenties to mid-thirties, a smirk on his face and an award in hand. Standing next to him was a young Gojo Satoru, beaming as he looked at the camera. She stared at her screen, floored–Megumi was the spitting image of his father. It was almost uncanny. Aside from the scar on Toji's lip, they looked practically identical. 

She saved the photo and sighed as she thought back to what Megumi had said earlier. 

“My family kind of fell apart…”

Ai frowned as she tried to remember Megumi’s tone of voice. It felt so distant and devoid of emotions. It begged the question, though, what the hell happened that Gojo of all people ended up with two kids? Not only that but why did he take them in? She couldn't wrap her mind around it. Who in their right mind would let an eighteen-year-old take care of two young kids? 

He was just a kid himself…

Her heart clenched at the thought. She couldn’t imagine taking on so much as a kid. Ai still felt like a child at times. Her mom would still schedule doctor appointments for her occasionally. The thought of being a guardian to two children while trying to get through school seemed like an impossible task. It made Ai wonder how Gojo even managed that while excelling everywhere else in his life. Just how heavily did the world hang on his shoulders?   

Based on first impressions alone, Gojo seemed like nothing more than the goofy character he portrayed on screen. How much was he hiding behind his fun-loving persona? And why was he hiding it? The more she seemed to learn about Gojo, the more questions she seemed to have. It was strange to her, Gojo was so chatty that she was surprised that more people didn’t seem to know about his relationship to Megumi. Just how in the world was he able to keep this under wraps for as long as he had? Then again, all the stuff known to the public about Gojo was trivial information to begin with.

Ai leaned back in her chair and sighed, she was conflating the person that was Gojo Satoru with the celebrity persona. While he seemed impulsive, reckless, and stupid he was anything but that though he still liked to act stupid a majority of the time.    

Ai glanced over at her phone. She was tempted to call Gojo. She had so many questions for him that she felt like they were going to bubble over if she didn’t say something, but it wasn’t the right time. She wasn’t in the right frame of mind for it. If she bothered him now, she felt like she would ruin whatever relationship they had built up because of her impatience. Besides, there was still more research that needed to be done before she could bombard him with questions.

She had a bad habit of acting without thinking things through completely at times. It was a bit of an enigma to her since she loved to plan so diligently, but when excited, she couldn’t help herself. As much as Ai wanted to fire every question that was rolling through her head at Gojo, she needed to calm down. She needed to tread carefully, given how hard that tree-like man had made it up to this point. She couldn’t throw all her hard work away because of a lead.

Ai continued scouring ‌the internet for any information on Toji, but from what she gathered he either worked under an alias or did mostly uncredited parts. She was able to find a few mentions of him for different competitions. He was even a contender to represent Japan at the Olympics, but then he just seemed to disappear from the press completely around the time Megumi was born.

From what Ai was able to piece together, she figured that Toji stopped competing on a serious level when Megumi was born. But the jump to stunt work didn’t make much sense to her. Was that truly a more stable form of work for him and his young family as opposed to being a professional athlete? She wasn’t sure how viable either career could be, to be honest.   

Ai once again found herself wondering if any of this mattered. It mattered to her–but in terms of the story? No. The Fushiguro family was interesting, but that wasn’t the story she was supposed to be writing. As interesting as she found Toji, she couldn’t just shoehorn him into a Gojo Satoru profile piece. 

Ai leaned back in her chair and groaned. Her eyes stung from looking at the screen. She sat up in her chair, her neck and shoulders aching from her awful posture. Carefully, she raised her arms over her head and rolled her shoulders which gave a satisfying pop. 

When Ai glanced at the clock on her laptop, it was past midnight. She knew her body needed sleep, but her mind was racing. As much as her body begged her to rest, she just couldn’t turn her brain off. 

Ai reluctantly got up from her desk chair and debated whether or not she should make herself some coffee. It was something that she imagined most writers would do when they hit a breakthrough–they wanted to keep the momentum going. If anything, they would support her bad decision. As tempting as it seemed, she ultimately decided against it. 

Instead, Ai grabbed a hoodie, her keys, and her phone before putting on her sneakers and heading out the door. What she needed was some fresh air to clear her thoughts. Sitting inside alone with all the questions swimming in her head was just too much right now. At least this way, she’d get some fresh air and move her stiff muscles a little.  

Ai threw her hoodie on and put her hands in her pockets. She truly loved the city at night. The lights, the atmosphere– it felt magical. The city somehow felt so big and so small all at once. There were only a few people on the streets, but she knew that the city was still brimming with energy. It felt electric as if it were alive. 

 Ai slowed down as she walked by WcDonald's. The smell of salty fries and greasy burgers caught her attention as she made her way through the streets. As she looked through the windows of the establishment, she saw a fairly empty lobby lit up with bright fluorescent lights. She swallowed dryly as her stomach growled. She hadn't eaten since early that afternoon. She was so focused on work that she had forgotten to eat...again. 

Ai clutched her empty stomach and walked inside the quiet restaurant. Aside from the few employees and one or two other customers, no one else was there. The only sounds were coming from the small kitchen and the music that played throughout the front end of the place. It almost felt eerie with how peaceful the place was, but she didn’t mind it. The quiet atmosphere gave her overtired brain a break.  

Ai ordered herself a burger and a medium cola before sitting in a booth near a window. She looked out the window at the twinkling lights as she sipped her soda. She wondered if the younger version of herself would be proud of the woman she was now. Her heart tightened at the thought. Although she knew the answer, she didn't want to admit it.

She felt like a hack. She couldn't even form a cohesive narrative. Worst of all, she liked the person that she was supposed to be writing about. It felt like something out of a cheesy romance novel.   

Based on Ai’s recent track record, it all started to make sense that she ended up here at a WcDonald’s at one in the morning. Though if she were at home she imagined that things wouldn’t be much different. Ai would most likely still be at her desk scouring the internet for information about Toji. She was using him as an excuse to keep avoiding writing this cursed article. The only difference between being here and being at home was that she was curled up in a booth with a burger, instead of huddled in front of her computer with bad coffee. Either way, she was still avoiding her work.

 Ai sighed and unwrapped her burger, taking a bite of it. 

“Amada-san.” 

Ai nearly choked on her burger. She was so lost in thought that she didn't even notice the presence right next to her. Trying to control her coughing, she took a swig of her drink before looking up. It was Nanami Kento, the man that she idolized since she started her copy editor job.

He stood in front of her, still dressed in his usual work attire of a blue button-up, funky tie, tan slacks, and signature glasses. 

 She wanted to reach out and see if her hand would pass through him. She could never picture someone so sophisticated as him being here, at this time of night, talking to her. 

Ai had shadowed Nanami when she first started at Hollow , but they were never that close in her mind. She always pictured him as a more mythical figure, not god-like, but like a sorcerer with the way he was able to weave words together so seamlessly. Ai swore that Nanami could get the most tightly wound person to open up to him within the first few minutes of an interview. He had an almost uncanny ability to ask the right questions, ones that pierced through the surface and easily got to the heart of the story. It was amazing. He was amazing. 

Nanami was an outstanding journalist and in a kiddish way, Ai wanted to be just like him. He had a magnetic aura; he commanded attention without demanding it. In their office, amidst the clattering of keyboards and the murmur of quiet conversations, Nanami exuded so much calm and authority. Ai often found herself in awe of him, watching him transform the most mundane topic into something compelling and profound. 

And despite all his talents, Nanami was unassuming. He never boasted about his accomplishments, yet everyone who cared about writing knew about how great he was. His name was synonymous with excellence and integrity. At least, that’s what Ai thought about him. In her eyes, he represented the pinnacle of what she aspired to be–a storyteller who could capture the human experience in its most real form. She just hoped that one day that she could step out of his shadow and shine in her own right one day.       

“Nanami-san,” Ai cleared her throat and sat up quickly. “What are you doing here at this time of night?” 

Nanami slid into the booth opposite her and took a bite of his sandwich, chewing it thoroughly before swallowing. “Overtime.” 

Ai nodded as she stared at him in disbelief. “I see…” 

“And you?” 

“Huh?” 

“...What are you doing here?” 

Ai glanced at her lap before looking back up at Nanami. “Oh, uh, sorry. I can't sleep so…” 

Nanami's gaze was unwavering. It made Ai want to sink into her booth. She felt like he was going to burn holes in her skull. 

“Is your article giving you trouble?” 

“Something like that,” Ai sighed before taking a sip of her cola. 

Nanami nodded and took another bite of his sandwich. “It's easy to get lost in the details. I imagine it's even harder when it's concerning someone like Gojo Satoru...” 

Ai nodded as she listened. She didn't realize how tired she actually was until she heard Nanami's words. They cut through her thoughts so easily. 

“Yeah…” Ai rubbed her eyes and tried her best to suppress a yawn. “I just can't seem to piece it all together. There are just so many threads but none of them seem to form any coherent narrative.” 

Nanami leaned his elbows on the table and clasped his hands together. “Good stories often come from nowhere, Amada-san.” He held up two fingers. “Two unrelated ideas can come together and make something new. It’s our job as writers to be able to recognize when this happens.” 

Ai ran through what Nanami said in her head several times. Maybe it was because she was so tired, but it was hard for her to truly absorb what he was saying. After she finally put it together though, she knew he was right. She was trying too hard to find her story too soon. She still had two more weeks to go with the guy. Trying to force herself to get everything together now was just holding her back. 

“Is that all that’s bothering you?” 

The question caught Ai off guard and she tried her best to sit up straighter. “Um…”

“I only ask because you look like you have a lot more on your mind,” Nanami stated as he adjusted his glasses. 

Ai brought her soda back to her lips and took another sip, trying to buy herself some time to come up with an answer. She knew she was stressed to put it lightly, but she didn’t realize that it was so bad that people around her could easily tell that something was wrong too. 

“I, um, I’m okay.” Ai did her best to assure Nanami. She gave him a tired smile. “I’m just tired from the weird sleep schedule.” 

Ever since she took on this article her sleeping had become worse. She knew Gojo was to blame with his insane call times during the reshoots, but even with her past jobs that required her to follow talent around it was never this bad. Ai was starting to believe that Gojo might be the death of her.

“Hm…” Nanami hummed as if debating whether or not to say more.  

He studied Ai’s expression but nodded his head, accepting her answer. Although diligent in his reporting, Nanami was never one to pry when it came to his coworkers and Ai was especially thankful for that.    

“Thank you, Nanami-san.” Ai smiled up at him gratefully. “I needed that.”

A small smile tugged at the corners of Nanami's lips. “Anytime.” He stood up, bussed his tray, and left the restaurant without another word. 

Ai still wasn't sure if she had actually talked to Nanami or if she had just imagined it all in a sleep-induced delusion of the man. The idea of it being the latter was very concerning to think about, so she prayed to whatever god would listen that it was the former instead.  

Shortly after finishing her meal Ai took herself home. When she arrived she practically collapsed in bed. Her story was there, and it was continuing to unfurl. She just had to trust the process. But right now she just needed to sleep. 

[randommw2writing]

Safe House (Alejandro x Reader)

A small fic where Reader and Alejandro are married and have a family together, and he keeps his family well hidden until they aren't anymore.

TW: guns, violence, death, slight spoilers for the game

There was a reason that Alejandro kept you a secret. You were hidden from the army, the cartels, and even his own men. You were safe, tucked away, out in the country a bit away from Las Almas. No one he knew ever breathed your name or your kids’ names. When he did get to see you, it was a precarious trip as he had to make sure that he was never followed or seen near your residence, especially after Valeria was revealed. Of course, she got out, the Mexican government was in the pockets of the cartels. The real problem was that she knew him. Los Vaqueros were cowboys, men with nothing to lose, men without an identity, but she knew him. And knew that he had to have something to lose. 

It was a night that he didn’t even plan on coming home. He was at the new base they acquired after Graves helpfully tore down their last one. On the nights when he didn’t come home, where he slept at the base with paperwork piled up on his desk, he contacted you through the burner phone in his desk drawer. You had one at home as well, prepaid and not easily traceable. You two sent small texts back and forth, nothing important in case the messages were intercepted. That night he sent you a quick text, “Mi amor, won’t be home tonight, check in every hour until you go to bed please”. He quickly got a text back, “Of course, my dear, we miss you and can’t wait for you to come home safe and sound”. He replied with a simple, “<3”, a goofy smile lighting up his face. 

“Aye, what are you grinning at hermano?” Rudy asked with a grin of his own across his face.

“Definitely not being stuck here with your ass all night,” Alejandro said shaking his head while Rudy laughed.

“I don’t know, I think I’m pretty great company,” Rudy said sarcastically. Alejandro shook his head again and put it down trying to start on his paperwork.

Half an hour later he feels the phone buzz with a text.

“Finally got the kids to bed, thank god, those demons. Going to read now, hope your night has a little fun.” Alejandro smiled and typed out a quick reply, “Sorry my love, I will make up for not being there next time. You will certainly have more fun than me.” More paperwork sat in front of him, with Rudy next to him, his head down and trying to finish the work.

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

An hour later he got a text again, “Try not to go to sleep too late my dear, you need your rest.” He chuckled and responded, “Take your own advice and go to sleep, love.” He got a quick response, “Nope, I still have a couple more chapters left in me.”  He put the phone back away and went back to his paperwork. His wife was too much sometimes, you needed to take better care of yourself.

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

Half an hour later he felt the phone buzz again and he blinked in confusion. You shouldn’t be texting him, the check-in was still half an hour out and even you didn’t read books that quickly. His heart dropped the minute he saw the text from you.

“Security system went off. Car full of men with guns coming in hot. Kids in crawlspace, I’m hiding with gun” He nearly screamed when the follow-up text went through, ���I love you and I don’t regret anything”. 

“Fuck fuck fuck,” he swore under his breath as he jumped up and grabbed his gun and his keys. 

“What’s wrong Alejandro?” Rudy asked innocently. Could he trust him? He had to.

“Rudy, my family is in danger, can I trust you?” Alejandro looked at him with tears barely contained in his eyes.

“Of course, Ale, I’m in this with you,” Rudy replied without a moment’s hesitation, grabbing his gun and following Alejandro out to his car. 

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

It was a long and nerve-wracking drive to his home. Alejandro was sweating bullets the whole time going over scenarios in his head, praying that he wouldn’t come back to see you riddled with bullets or your kids and you lifeless on the ground.

“Please let them be okay, please,” he murmured to himself.

“How many were coming?” Rudy asked.

“She just said a car full of them, with guns,” Alejandro took a deep breath and focused on the road, “She had a gun or more with her as well and she hid our two kids in a safe place, she’s good with a gun Rudy, I know she is, but a car full of them?”

“Where did you two meet?” Rudy asked, trying to make Alejandro focus on anything but the possibility of his wife and kids being dead.

“We were both in Mexican Special Forces together, but once we married, we decided it was safer for her to go into hiding. I was beginning to start Los Vaqueros and I knew that taking on the Army and those corrupt cartel motherfuckers would be dangerous and I wanted her home safe,” his voice broke, “Rudy, I can’t lose them, I can’t. I don’t know what to do if we find them dead.”

“We won’t find them dead,” Rudy reassured him, putting a hand on his shoulder, “Brother, we’re in this together, we will finish this together.”

Suddenly Alejandro pulled up on the driveway and made his way through the gate that had been smashed open. They pulled in behind an ugly green SUV that had bullet holes scattered throughout it and a dead body inside.

“Well she got one before they got in,” Rudy said looking at the deceased man in the driver’s seat, “Looks like Valeria’s crew.”

“I was worried it was that,” Alejandro said while pulling this handgun as they approached the door, another body lying in front of it.

Alejandro and Rudy breached the entrance, scanning the room for more enemies. There were plenty of holes in the walls and ceiling, but no bodies. The two looked at each other and nodded before going over to the kitchen and clearing that room, slowly the men made their way through the bullet-ridden house, finding two more bodies in different rooms. One man lay in the bathroom, his throat slashed and eyes staring at nothing. The other lay in the children’s room, a bullet going through his skull and many more through his body. Finally, they made their way to the master bedroom, where they slowly opened the door. A shot rang out through the opened door with Alejandro and Rudy on either side.

“What is the safeword?” you shouted.

“Dove!” Alejandro immediately shouted back, “Dove, mi carino, please don’t shoot me when I come through the door!” 

Before Alejandro could even step through the door he heard your footsteps as you ran to the door and tackled him in a hug. “Oh Alejandro I thought you were them, I was so worried there were going to be more coming,” you sobbed into his chest, holding him. 

“Where is the last man, my love?” he asked even as he held you, worried someone would pop up and hurt you.

“Dead in the bedroom,” you said in his bulletproof vest, “he came at me and I just kept firing. There were only five, I counted when they pulled up and got out of the car. I don’t think there are any more right now, but we need to get going. I’m worried more are coming.” Alejandro wrapped you in a tight hug and kissed you deeply. 

“Yes, of course, my love, let’s get the children and get moving, there’s a safe house I have that I can put you all in, we’ll be safe,” he said, looking into your eyes as he tucked your hair behind your ears, holding you in a loving embrace, “By the way, this is Rudy, my partner at work, Rudy, this is my wife, (Y/N).”

“Lovely to meet you, Rudy,” you said reaching out your blood-soaked hand and shaking his.

“Nice to meet you too, (Y/N),” he said with a smile back. You all went around the back, guns drawn and ready as you went to the doors leading to the crawlspace. You knocked three times on the metal door before unlatching it and coming down into the darkness. 

“My loves, are you okay?” you asked as your two children tackled you in a hug. They appeared uninjured, but crying and upset, “We’re going to be going away for a bit, this nice man, Rudy is going to take you two to a car while your father and I pack bags for all of us, okay?”

“Can you pack my turtle? Please, mama, I need her!” your child begs as they look you in the eyes nearly crying.

“Of course my darling, your turtle will go in your bag, and your bear will too,” you said turning to your other child who cried silently, nodding at what you said, “Rudy please get them tucked into the backseat, we’ll join you in a minute.” Rudy nodded and ushered your kids to the car out front. Once both you and Alejandro got back inside you tackled him in a hug and cried in his arms.

“I was so worried my love,” he said into your hair, “I was so afraid you would be gone by the time I got here.”

“I almost was,” you replied quietly, “When that man came at me in the bedroom, I was so scared, but I’m here. I’m alive.”

“You are my love. We’re both still here,” he smiled down at you, “Now let's go pack that turtle before we have a riot.” You both laughed and gave earth other a hug before packing your life into a couple of bags and leaving the blood-soaked place you once called home.

[aylacavebear]

She Thought She was Normal

Story Summary: Maria really thought she was normal, for most of her life. It was normal for people to have natural talent, she would tell herself the older she got. Many things came easy for her, and that was probably how their rivalry began when she was five and he was seven and she met the Winchesters. Little did either of them know that it wouldn't stay like that forever, both having a far larger destiny than they could imagine.

Word Count: 2806

Please don't take my work. I'll post warnings for each chapter. May have future SMUT 18+!

Warnings: Angst, Fluff.

A/N: Can you believe it's been ten years since their last Thanksgiving together? Oh, the revelations that happen. ;) Chapter 31 is gonna take me a little time to get onto paper, but it is coming.

----------------------------------------- Chapter 30 - Thanksgiving & New Beginnings

The following morning, the girls said their intimate goodbyes to their men before they watched them go. It would be an interesting few days, for sure, with just the three of them in the bunker. Mary got herself another cup of coffee before she joined the other two at one of the library tables.

“So, what do you two normally do, when it’s just the two of you?” she asked them, then took a sip of her coffee.

Maria and Jess looked at each other and then giggled, remembering the last time it was just the two of them in the bunker. Mary raised an eyebrow curiously. 

“Not much. Honestly, we probably just act like a couple of teenagers,” Jess finally admitted.

“Well, last time we listened to music, baked, walked around in our pajamas, and I was teaching her how to shoot,” Maria replied to Mary, remembering back.

“Okay. Thanksgiving is coming up. The guys should either be back the day before or the day of, at the latest, the day after,” Mary brought up, thinking it might be fun to cook with the girls.

Maria thought about that momentarily, “Well, we can’t exactly go for a supply run. I can always just make the ingredients we need and the food, but we can cook it all on Thanksgiving.” “I like that idea,” Jess added, “But, what should we do until then?”

That was the conundrum. Jess and Maria partially felt as though Mary was more of a mom figure and not as goofy as they were. They may have been in their early twenties, but they still acted like teenagers when they got the chance. For Maria, it was a bit odd for her to have Mary there, almost reminding her of her mother. 

Mary was kind and compassionate and had a huge heart, but at the same time, she had a fire in her. She was also tough, resourceful, smart, and a skilled hunter. That was when it hit Maria, almost like a ton of bricks. Her mother was like that. She remembered how her father looked at her mother, and saw those things. Maria saw that same look in John’s eyes when he looked at Mary, in Sam’s eyes when he looked at Jess, and in Dean’s eyes when he looked at her. 

While Maria was lost in her thoughts, Jess grabbed her speaker again, put it on the table between the three of them, and turned on some music. Before Maria’s thoughts could go further, Jess turned on the speaker.

Before the three of them knew it, they were laughing about different songs, debating which ones were better than others, and having playful arguments over newer versus older ones. What none of them saw was Mari, who was silently but invisibly watching them from the far side of the library. The scene brought her a joy that made a few tears slide down her cheek. Her daughter had a family again and a mother figure that would be in her life more than she ever could.

The girls spent those three days goofing off, which surprised Jess and Maria a little. It also helped them both realize that you’re only as old as you feel. They discovered that Mary had a fun, teenage side to her. Yeah, she was a mom, but at the same time, she enjoyed that carefree feeling that came with letting loose and not having to act like a mom or a hunter. Mary wasn’t much of a cook, but she baked. 

The morning of Thanksgiving, they woke early. Maria did most of the cooking with Jess's help. Mary kept their coffees filled while she watched them. She’d always wanted a daughter; now, it felt like she had two. Maria wanted to do something special for Dean, so she thought back to that Thanksgiving when she had him at apple pie. A smile played along her lips as the memory played through her mind. Just as Maria pulled two apple pies out of the oven, Dean, Sam, and Cas walked into the kitchen.

Dean stopped, feeling his breath catch in his chest as he saw her. The softness of her smile, the way her hair had fallen over her shoulders, and that twinkle in her eyes. That first Thanksgiving played through his mind again as he took a deep breath and walked over to her, wrapping her up in his arms. “God, I missed you,” he breathed, holding her close.

Maria snaked her arms over his shoulders, lacing her fingers behind his neck, “I missed you too.”

Sam and Jess looked about the same, holding each other close while Mary watched at the kitchen table. It made her heart overjoyed to see her boys like that, in the arms of the women they loved. It’s something a parent can’t fully describe. Cas watched them, too, still trying to understand the emotions he was feeling fully. It was new for him, and the days he’d spent with the brothers had been interesting, to say the least. 

John and Bobby made it back roughly ten minutes later, “Something smells amazing,” John stated as they walked into the kitchen and then to his wife.

“Maria and Jess are making dinner. I’m supervising,” Mary told him, smiling as she looked into John’s eyes.

The kids averted their eyes, not wanting to see those two having an intimate moment. It was a kid thing. Hugs were exchanged before Maria grabbed a six-pack out of the fridge and just set it on the table for all of them. 

The guys cleaned up before returning to the kitchen, helping set up the table. Bobby even pulled the turkey out of the oven, seeing that she had cooked it breast side down like he had done last time when she’d suggested it. As they were sitting around the table, Maria looked around at them. She saw their smiles, heard their laughter, and felt their contentment. Then, something hit her, like a ton of bricks. The last time they celebrated Thanksgiving, her father had been alive and with them. Maria felt the tears in her throat first, then her chest, before one slid down her cheek. Dean had barely seen her wipe it away.

He leaned closer to her, initially not realizing what was bothering her, “What’s wrong, Sweetheart?” Dean whispered.

Maria forced herself to take a deep breath, even if it was shaky, unsure if she could tell him, “I’ll tell you later.” Dean didn’t like that answer and dared to push it, “Let me be here for you, please,” he asked, gently caressing her cheek.

She looked up into his eyes, and he saw it, the pain, “I just… I miss him…” she whispered, her voice shaking.

“Oh, Sweetheart,” he breathed, then pulled her against him, holding her close.

He felt her body shake a bit as she sobbed silently, gripping his shirt, her face buried in his chest. Over her shoulder, Dean mouthed the words “Her Dad” to the others since, at this point, they were all looking at the two of them. They were all proud of her, though. In the past, she would have just run off, hidden from them, and dealt with it alone. Bobby felt the sting of tears, feeling for her, but took a deep breath, pushing them away.

Bobby raised his beer after a few minutes, “A toast, to Will. The last time we were together as a family, he was with us. Now, he’s given us a home, and we’re a family, even if he can’t be here with us.” More tears fell from Maria’s eyes, but she looked over at her Uncle and picked up her beer, as did the others.

“To Will,” they all said, toasting with Bobby, except Maria. She was too emotional to speak but did toast with them. All she managed was to mouth the words “Thank you” to her Uncle.

Maria managed to calm her aching heart; Dean’s hand on her back helped soothe her. Luckily, that little moment only helped Dean with the decision he’d made while he’d been away on the last case with his brother and the angel. The atmosphere found its way back to the lighthearted way it had been. Maria even began smiling again. The further along dinner got, then during clean up, Dean found himself getting nervous. John, Bobby, Cas, and Sam all knew what was coming.

While Dean was standing at the sink, finishing up the dishes, Bobby went over to him, beer in hand, “You got this. Now stop draggin’ your feet.”

Dean just glanced over at him before looking at the plate he’d washed three different times, then sighed and finished up. The butterflies had been more than dancing in his stomach. His heart was pounding, and it felt like someone had a vice grip on his chest. Even his palms were sweaty. Maria came over and kissed him on the cheek, that happy, soft expression on her face and love in her eyes as she looked up at him. Dean felt himself calm down a little and watched her grab one of the pies and take it to the table where the others were sitting. Bobby joined them before Maria grabbed the second pie, placing it next to the first one.

Before she could sit down, Dean gently grabbed her hand, causing her to look up at him, tilting her head a bit, wondering what he needed or wanted. No regrets, Dean told himself before he took a deep breath and looked down into her deep, dark blue eyes.

“I know we haven’t been together long, but we’ve known each other forever. Ten years ago, my heart finally saw you. I’m sorry it took my brain so long to catch up. You’ve brought a peace to my life and my soul that I haven’t had in a long time. You make me laugh and remind me that I don’t have to put the weight of the world on my shoulders,” Dean told her, watching her expression carefully as the others stayed silent.

“You don’t let me get away with shit, and at the same time, you spoil me in ways that only you can. You’re probably the only person that can make me speechless. Not just with a witty comeback but because of your kindness. It’s the way you care about everyone around you,” he continued, seeing the hint of tears in her eyes.

One more deep breath as he dug something out of his pocket before he went down on one knee, “I got reminded that in this life, nothing is guaranteed and that I shouldn’t live with regrets. I never want to regret anything when it comes to you. I love you, Maria Winter. Will you marry me?” he asked, holding up a ring that she hadn’t fully looked at yet.

The tears had started falling from her eyes before he’d ever finished. Mary and Jess were also in tears. The guys were hiding theirs, even if they were happy, as the tears would have been. Maria felt like she couldn’t speak, so she nodded her head, doing her best to get her tears to stop. Dean smiled and chuckled a little as he slipped the ring on her finger. When she finally did look down at it, before he could stand back up, her expression went to shock. It was her mother’s wedding ring, and more tears streamed down her cheeks. That was when Dean pulled her against him, holding her close. The room, however, erupted in congratulations and happy cheers.

“I love you too,” she whispered to him.

During the last case, Dean had talked to Sam, a lot about what their dad had said, no regrets. The day before Thanksgiving, Dean had called Bobby and had him and his dad meet them at a diner along the drive back to the bunker. Dean had talked to Bobby, and even asked his permission to marry Maria. That was when he had given Dean Alarra’s wedding ring. Bobby had been holding onto it since John brought it up to Dean the night Sam and Jess got engaged.

The moment she returned those words, wrapped in his arms, her family around her, a shock wave radiated out of her. It didn’t destroy anything or knock any of them down; they just felt it. It wasn’t like a shockwave you would typically think of; no, it was calming, and they all felt it. Dean pulled away from her, but only enough so that he looked at her, his eyes searching her face for something as to what that had been. Then, his eyes met hers, and they were glowing, only they were a beautiful shade of purple where they had glowed blue when she’d worn the necklace and read from the book.

“What?” she asked him, his expression of concern causing her tears to stop.

“Your eyes… they’re, glowing…” he told her, unsure what else to say.

Maria looked over at the others, and they, too, saw it. Cas was in utter curiosity. That was something he’d not only never seen before but also had never even felt before.

“Looks like you figured it out,” a voice from the far side of the room said, making them all turn.

There she was, standing on the far side of the kitchen, as if she’d been watching them, “Mari?” Bobby asked, in awe and shock.

“Hi, Bobby. It’s been a while,” Mari replied.

“Figured what out?” Maria asked her, completely confused.

“How to unlock all your potential. You finally stopped hiding,” she replied softly but proudly.

Maria’s mind raced for a moment as she pieced it together and almost scoffed in amusement. She had opened up to Dean at dinner, in front of everyone, and even cried while he held her. Then, she’d said those three little words out loud, reciprocating what the two felt for each other in front of everyone. She didn’t run. She didn’t go hide. She didn’t try to chase the emotions away with whiskey. And she didn’t push her feelings aside to deal with later. She let her family see her in an utterly vulnerable moment.

“Things will happen quickly, from here on out, little one,” Mari told her, “I’m proud of you.” Then, Mari pulled her into a hug, and tears fell from both their eyes. 

Talk about an emotional night for not only Maria but everyone else. After hugs and more congratulations were exchanged, and tears finally dried, they all sat and had pie together, even Mari. Dean caught Maria glancing down at the ring on her finger with a smile. It was small, but the softness there was unmistakable. 

They all had a ton of questions, but tonight was not the night, and they knew it. It was one rule that none of them broke. You don’t talk about hunting or destinies on Thanksgiving. Castiel had even been respectful, deciding to wait until after the hunters would go to sleep before he spoke with Mari. He had so many questions; such a curious angel he was.

Dean had kept his eye on Maria, and near nine, he saw it in her eyes. She needed somewhere quiet to process everything. He bid the other good night before he took her hand. At first, she was slightly perplexed but took his hand and went with him. He led her to her room, closing the door behind them once they got inside.

“You okay?” she asked as she turned to look up and into his eyes, still slightly perplexed.

“I’m good. You, on the other hand, looked like you could use some quiet,” he told her, slipping off his shoes.

A soft smile found its way to her lips as she watched him. She wondered if he had been like that before, just seeming to see what she needed, even if he never acted on it back then. Maria sat on the edge of her bed and slipped off her shoes, “I do need some quiet. Thanks for noticing,” she confessed as he sat beside her.

Dean just smiled softly at her, gently caressing her cheek. When their eyes met, there was only love there, “You’re my home, you always will be,” he whispered to her.

The two spent a very intimate night together, wrapped in each other's arms. She had different dreams that night, of an apple pie life with the man she loved and the family she was a part of. There was no more hunting in her dream. There were still monsters, but they didn’t hurt people anymore, finding a peaceful way of existence. Their own kind took care of those who couldn't, never letting it spill over into regular life.

----------------------------------------- Chapter 31 - Revelations

Tag List: @deans-spinster-witch @kazsrm67

Link to the master list for this story.

[smolwritingchick]

The Bangtan Gal Chapter 36- My Ideal Type

Chapter Summary: Throwback chapter for Episode 95 of After School Club while they promoted Danger, Jennie shows off her guitar skills, reveals fun facts such as her ideal type, first kiss and the high expectations & insecurities with her anticipated DJ skills.

Words: 4,000+

Author's Note: English is in Italics. 

----

With Eric Nam and Jimin as the MCs for this episode of After School Club, they happily announce BTS to come on stage. The members of BTS were all in their Danger outfits, promoting their new album Dark & Wild.

"Aye! What up! What up!" Jen happily greeted with a mic in her hand. Suga started to lay on the ground, posing coolly while Jimin kneeled next to him. "And let the goofiness begin." She laughed at the members lying around the set. She decided to sit with Jimin on the yellow box afterwards, while the rest of the members lay around the other seats.

"Okay, so they're lying around." Eric watched them.

"Okay, I think BTS is the first group who has...okay and now they sat on the MC chairs." The female Jimin looks around.

"What is going on?" Eric laughed. After they finally regrouped, BTS stood with the MCs. "We finally have Bangtan here in the studio. Nice to see you guys."

"2! 3! Bangtan! Hello, we are Bangtan Boys!"

"Woo! Yes, we have them here and it's really, really great to see you guys again." Eric says as Rap Monster recalls being on the show around 8 times. He discussed that it's been around three months since their last appearance and he's the second person to be on ASC the most and hopes to make the show more enjoyable.

"We have the energetic, charismatic, talented BTS here, in the studio. Please tweet us your requests for BTS with the hashtag, ASC, pretty please!" Eric announced.

"And BTS will be reading your names and doing your requests so tweet us now." Jimin added.

After a commercial break, BTS was seated with the MCs. Jen sat behind V, next to Jin. "Please introduce yourselves." Jimin gestured.

The camera panned to Taehyung. "YO! V!" He screamed and threw up a peace sign. "HI!" He grinned, waving the peace sign. Jennie let out a soft laugh at Jimin and Eric Nam's reaction because of how shocked they were.

"Ah, that scared me." Eric laughed, still startled.

"RAP MONSTER!" Rapmon shouted.

"Okay." The female Jimin chuckled.

"Chim! Chim! Hello!" Jimin introduced himself.

"SUGA!" He shouted.

"I'm your hope! I'm engine! J-Hope!"

After Jungkook and Jin introduced themselves in Korean, the camera panned to Jennie. "Aye~! It's your girl Jennie!" She waved and blew a kiss to the camera with both hands.

"They're all hyper today." Jimin applauded. "And I'm kinda getting small, right now."

"It's okay. Hey, you know you have a song with his name in it." Eric pointed out, glancing at Suga.

"Give me some Suga~" The MCs started singing and dancing in their seats.

"Suga! Suga!" The rest of the members started to sing and dance in their seats.

"Anyways, we have people that have been waiting for hours." Eric pointed at the screens to a variety of BTS fans with posters, and other merch. 

Then he goes on to say that there are two Park Jimins. The one in BTS and the MC that sat next to him.

"I'm younger than him though, so I'm the second Park Jimin." The female Jimin informed.

"Shall we switch seats?" Jimin suggested as everyone let out a laugh.

"As we mentioned in our opening, BTS has been on the show the most often. Most frequent out of all our guests, so I'm sure they feel a little more comfortable and its more family like. How do you guys feel?" Eric asked.

"Of course, it's like family like, I see you like more often than my mom." Rapmon answered with a smile. Afterward, the members explained what they've been doing abroad from going to Germany, to America for a reality show.

"Did you learn any new English?" Eric questioned as Jen laughed at the random English words the members would shout out.

"What's up?"

"What's poppin'?"

"Turn up!"

"Church!"

"All right well we have a lot of fans that's excited to see you guys here on today's show, so we're gonna go straight into our pretty please corner." Eric announced as he and Jimin headed to the screen to check out the tweets.

The first tweet was from DyoQueennie, tweeting, 'Hi BTS I'm Queennie from BTS. I would like V to sing a song for me. I love you ❤.'

"Queennie, hello!" V waved and started to sing briefly, winking and calling her baby.

The next tweet was from piquantstyles. 'Can Jungkook sing Haruman to me and say "I love you, Esmeralda.'

After Jungkook sang a snippet of Just One Day, the members and MCs praised him for his angelic, smooth voice.

The next tweet was, 'Jennie, who is the idol you want to meet the most?'

"AILEE!" She shouted loud and proud, throwing her arms up in the air.

"Fangirl!" Suga teased

"I love her. She's so dynamic. If I could meet her, collab with her, or even be on the same stage as her, I would die. Like if I meet her, I will probably shout, 'This is not a drill! I am with Ailee!' Man, my life would be complete."

'ERIC. DANCE BATTLE WITH JIN' Was the next tweet read by the MCs.

"WOOOOOOOWWWWW!" The members shout, turning to Jin. Some of the members were shouting, "Jin! Jin!" while gesturing for him to dance.

"Oh, I have GOT to see this." Jen got comfortable in her seat.

Eric and Jin dance to Girl's Day's Darling as the MC Jimin and Jennie cringed. "Oh, I'm so embarrassed." The MC, Jimin looked on. Afterward, they have J-Hope and Jimin dance to Sistar's Touch My Body. "Wow!"

"Let Jennie dance! She's our guy group dance expert." Jin called her out.

"Yeah, let's let Jennie dance." Eric beckoned for her to come over.

"Jennie! Jennie, Jennie, Jennie, Jennie~!" The rest of the BTS members sing and chant while clapping their hands, encouraging her.

"Hahah, all right, all right." She got up from her seat and walked to the front of the studio. "Any requests?"

"Let's just put on a random song," Eric replied as Got7's Girls Girls Girls blared out. "Are you familiar with this?"

"I got you." She gave him a thumbs up, getting in position as the instrumental continued to play. But as soon as JB started to sing, she rocked back and forth, powerfully, smoothly dancing the choreography.

After she finished, she was applauded and praised for her dance skills. 

"My question is, where does she have the time to learn these dances!?" J-Hope exclaimed.

"That's my secret." She grinned.

While watching her dance, fans tweet:

'My weave has been snatched!!'

'Stop-sleeping-on-Jennie!'

'DAMN! Go, girl!'

'Did she just smirk at the camera!? Rude!! Stop killing me!'

'Ahhhhh I love her!!'

Back to the questions, Jen was asked another question with the tweet saying, 'Jennie! You are the only BTS member who has yet to dye their hair! When are you going to dye it?'

"Hahah, I love this question. Everyone asks me this. My hair will be dyed when you least expect it. Patience is a virtue. I already know the color, just not sure what the style is. But it won't be anytime soon, unfortunately. But it will be worth the wait." She reassured the fans.

As they answer more tweets, Jen is asked another question with the tweet saying, 'Jennie! When are you going to show us your DJ skills?'

"Ah...I get so shy about it. I dunno...Suga has been asking me almost every day to show him me DJing in front of him instead of a little snippet of what I've played around with. He told me that he might want me to help make music for BTS or maybe use it for a concert, but we'll see. I just get so insecure about my DJ skills. Everyone keeps asking and then the high expectations. I'll admit I'm a little scared to show it off to the public. I'm not gonna say I'm not good enough but I'll just say that I don't feel like my skills are that level for me to showcase my potential for it. So, I'm still practicing alone, trying to keep away from Suga because he always tries to catch me practicing. One day I'll show my skills. We'll have to wait maybe a few years before I'm ready. Just like with the rapping which he's currently teaching me."

After a few more tweets, they all gather back in their seats for the pretty please requests as they reveal the winner's tweet for a special prize. 

"Jennie, Rapmon do one of you want to read it?" Eric gestured as the two members glanced and smiled.

"I can do it," Jen spoke up as Rapmon nodded in response. "Okay, this tweet is from Sara Sarah. Say hi to Canadian A.R.M.Ys and please come here soon. Love you!" She read. "Aw, so sweet. What's up Canadian ARMYs!?" She waved.

"What's up!" Rapmon spoke up. "I like Toronto, I like Vancouver. I like everyone in Canada. I like the nature, I like the mountains, so I love you."

"He's just rapping." Eric exclaimed while the MC Jimin tried to mimic Rapmon's wording. "But his is so much cooler."

"O-kay." Jimin looked back down at her cards.

"I totally will make sure to try to make a trip up to Canada. I have yet to see the sights and I absolutely want to enjoy all the beautiful attractions there. So, shout out to all the Canadian ARMYs. You'll always have a special place in my heart." Jen eagerly said, making a heart with her hands.

"So, we gotta talk a little bit, it's been a busy few months for Bangtan. They've been overseas for a long time and they've been preparing for their new album that finally dropped. How's that been? How's that been going for you guys? You guys have been super busy. You guys doing okay?" Eric questioned the members.

"Ah...not okay." Rapmon let out a low chuckle. "It was busy but I think being busy is the best thing because I think it's better than not being busy. Having no schedule, ASC doesn't call us." He playfully rambled on.

"Oh really?" Jimin asked while Eric let out a laugh

"We rest, we've been getting fat." Rapmon went on.

"So, I've heard that your practice videos are a really big hit right now." Jimin went on and started doing exaggerated movements with Eric. 

Once she stopped, Eric kept going and she tried to stop by placing a hand on his arm. His actions caused the members to laugh once again.

"So, this is BTS' first full length, so we want to ask what it means to BTS," Eric stated.

"It's our first official album and compared to our other singles and mini albums that was simply a warm up. This 14-track album is amazing." Suga explained.

"What's your personal favorite song?" Jimin asked.

As Suga said Let Me Know is his favorite since he produced it and it's different from other BTS songs because of the emotion, he decided to show everyone the high note.

"Everyone you may want to plug your ears." Eric joked.

"GIRL LET ME KNOOOOOOWWWWWW~" Suga suddenly sang and fell off his seat.

Eyebrows raised and jaw dropped, Jen stared at Suga in disbelief. "Oh hell no." She exclaimed while Eric approached Suga to ask if he was okay, while he continued to exaggerate the high note. 

Afterward, Jimin stated that Danger is his favorite song. Rapmon said 24/7 Heaven is his favorite song, demonstrating singing the song.

"Okay, I'm a rapper, but I just did some melodies on that song." He explained, preparing to sing. "All night girl. I think about you all night girl. naeirimyeon geudael boge dwae. And I don't know what to say."

"GIRL LET ME KNNNNOOOOWWWWWW~" Suga overdramatically sang in a high pitched voice, again.

"Oh, mah gosh! Suga!" Jen laughed with the rest of the members. 

V, of course, said that Cypher:Killer was his favorite as he eagerly performed it for the show.

"I ne beonjjae aelbeom jeonggyuui gwanjeom!"

"Cypher!" All the members shout, dancing around in their seats, getting hyped.

"I teuraegi naomyeon Haterdeul wanjeon!"

"Amjeon!"

As V went on, Jen hyped him up even more by shouting, "AYE! AYE! OKAY! OKAY! UH! UH! KILL EM! KILL EM!"

After settling down, it was finally Jen's turn to reveal her favorite song. "Okay, my favorite is War of Hormone because this song is very different for me. It challenged me because it made me portray a sexy persona for this song. I was so reluctant to even do it, honestly because I get embarrassed with sexy personas. I'm not used to it, it's not my favorite concept but I'll do it if you want me to. It made me try a new persona and I think it went well with my voice."

Jin's favorite song is please turn off your phone, while Jungkook's song is Rain and J-Hope's is Hip Hop Lover. Next up was a pop quiz, the question was how many times did the scene of Jimin hitting the sandbag appear in the music video? In the meantime, they reveal the fans for the Hangout session.

They reveal the first person, Anja from Serbia. She explained she went to their showcase and was on the plane for around 24 hours to Berlin, enthused that BTS is amazing, while the members and MCs were in awe.

"Dedication. Fans are amazing." Jen smiled.

Anja showed some of her drawings, mostly of Rap Monster while Jin asked where were the rest of the members. Her request was to see V dance the choreography for Danger. Then Eric requested for all the members to dance. 

Next was Kasey from the U.K. She said that she went with her best friend to Berlin to see BTS and it was amazing. She thanked BTS because seeing them so passionate and hard working and talented inspired her to work for her dreams. After Rapmon translated, the members were touched by her kind words and her request was for Jimin and J-Hope to have a dance battle.

Next was a girl from America, whose name was Taylor. "Jennie! Jennie, you are my favorite member, and you inspire me to achieve my dreams, no matter where I go. I love you so much! You slay my life!"

"Aye! Thanks, girl! I love you, too!" Jen grinned happily. "It's fans like you who keep me going. Thank you for always being so supportive."

"Of course! So, my question for you is, what are your struggles while performing here and what do you want to improve?"

"Okay, I cannot for the life of me dance cutely. I can't do cute dances. I'm more into the badass concepts and powerful dances. I'll try my best to work on that, though. I want my high notes to improve. I feel as though my voice isn't strong yet, so I'm also working on that with vocal lessons. But I also want to try to sing different genres of songs and see what my strengths and weaknesses are. So, to help with that, I want to start working on covers to post on the BTS SoundCloud near the end of 2014 when I have some free time from the promotion, so keep a lookout, for that."

"And what is your request?" Eric asked Taylor.

"So, since you said you want to start working on covers, can you sing a little bit of one of the songs you want to cover?" She requested with an eager smile.

"Yeah, of course!" Jen beamed and began to sing a snippet of Amerie's Why Don't We Fall in Love. "So many things I'm goin' through. So much that I wanna do. It startin' to become so clear to me. Tomorrow ain't really guaranteed. So many days I've thought of you. It's about time you knew the truth. Got to act quickly, you and I. We fall in love, so many reasons why."

"Oh, my gosh!! I cannot wait until the full version! That was so good! I love your voice!" Taylor started fangirling on camera, earning a shy giggle from Jennie. She thought she was cute for freaking out like that, as she thanked her, while the MCs and members of BTS praised her for the song.

"I could hear the love and passion in her voice. Is there someone special in your life?" Jimin asked her. "Is Jennie in love?"

"Hahah, not yet." Jen waved away their funny accusations.

"How long have you been practicing?"

"I haven't practiced yet but since this song is a throwback, I already know the lyrics. But once the promotions die down and I'm not working on anything, I'll be practicing and preparing to record the cover."

After revealing the winner of the pop quiz, they go back to hanging out with the fans. A fan from China appeared as she was greeted by the members and MCs.

"Jennie, I have seen these questions all over the internet for some time now and wanted to ask them, so I hope you won't get too shy about them. Us ARMYs would love to know what was your first kiss like."

"Oooohhhhhh." The MCs turned to Jen while she buried her face in her hands, laughing. As soon as Rapmon translated the questions, the rest of the members yelled uncontrollably and eagerly awaited her answer.

"Ah, my first kiss...it's a very interesting story might I add. Shocking and off guard but somewhat cute. Well, it all started with a box of pocky. Or pepero as it's called in Korea." She began to explain. She tried not to laugh at the focused stares the members were giving her.

"You kissed with Pocky?" The MC, Jimin asked. "Aw, that's cute. Were you playing the pocky game?"

"Yeah. Remember when we filmed Rookie King?" Jen turned to the guys as they laughed and remembered the wild memories. "I hope he doesn't mind me sharing this out to the public, I don't think he knows this either but Jungkook was actually my first kiss since you guys wanted to smash our heads together during the pocky game." She shook her head.

Jungkook felt his stomach drop when he heard Jen say his name and saw her point at him. Then when she gestured about smashing heads together and said Rookie King before that, he had figured out what she said in English, immediately looking down at his lap, shyly. His face began to warm up as he tried to fight the growing smile on his face.

"No way! So that's why you had your head down for so long." Rapmon remembered clearly, ignoring the members but Jungkook questioned what Jen had said.

"Wow!" Eric Nam said, pleasantly surprised as he had a smile on his face, thinking it was cute.

"Aw! That's adorable!" The female Jimin smiled sweetly as Rapmon translated the bombshell to the members.

"Whaaaaaaaaaaa~!" The members but Jungkook start to yell and freak out in their seats. Jen tried not to laugh as J-Hope started screaming, running around the studio with Jimin and Tae. Suga had fallen out of his chair yet again while Rapmon shook his head at the chaos.

"Jungkookie?! OUR JUNGKOOKIE!?" The male Jimin pointed Jungkook out, who still shyly had his head down. "What is going on!?"

"What!? WHAT!?" Jin shouted in mother mode.

"Oh dear, I didn't think it would cause so much commotion." Jen rubbed the back of her neck. She avoided turning around to see Jungkook's reaction. 

She hoped he wasn't mad at her.

"Jungkook, what is your reaction to that?" Eric questioned, turning his attention to the Maknae.

Feeling bold from an unknown source of bravery, Jungkook looked up, speaking in English, "Not sorry.", causing the guys of BTS to laugh.

Widening her eyes, Jen turned around, meeting his stare, taken aback at his reaction. He smiled at her as she turned back around, feeling her face heat up. 

So, he wasn't sorry for giving her, her first kiss? He wasn't mad?

"Do you regret the kiss? How was it?" The female Jimin asked, wanting all the details. Everyone has their full attention on Jennie.

"Regrets? Honestly, I don't have any but if I'm nitpicking...I just regret not being a good kisser for him, to make the kiss more enjoyable, even though it was unintentional. So, I'm sorry that my kiss was terrible and sloppy, haha. But all jokes aside, no, I don't regret it at all."

"She's very considerate." Eric Nam pointed out.

As Jennie turned around to look at Jungkook, she decided to translate her statement for him instead of Rapmon, as she smiled at him, apologetically.

'But you have nothing to apologize for.' Jungkook thought to himself.

Next was Ardina from Indonesia, using a hangout free pass. She explained that watching Jimin dance made her go to dance school, and she danced for them, wearing the Bulls Jersey that Jimin wore.

"Yassssss! Go girl!" Jen looked on. She had some moves, it was amazing, and the rest of the members were blown away by her performance.

"Adina, I think you're better than me." Rapmon smiled.

Next was Olga from Poland, who asked Suga where she got his inspiration for his songs. The MCs translated that everyday life inspires him. She says she's supported them since debut and loves their meaningful songs. Her request was to ask Rapmon what his favorite method of learning is because he's one of the smartest students in Korea.

"Actually, it was computers. Playing games and yeah." He answered, shooting up a thumbs up.

Fanny from Belgium was next to talk to the group. She announced that she was going to show a drum cover of Danger. "Hey! Jen and Fanny should collab. Jen plays the guitar and fanny plays the drums!" V pointed out.

"That'll be nice!" Jen agreed. As they watched her play a small portion of Danger for the group, the members were in awe at her performance. "That was sick!"

After saying goodbye to Fanny, Rapmon pointed out, "We actually caught Jennie playing a guitar version of Danger."

"Putting me on blast!" She teased.

"Oh, are you planning on making an acoustic version of Danger?" Eric asked

"You never know." Jen shrugged.

"Can we see a demonstration?" Jimin asked as Jen was handed an acoustic guitar.

"I wonder if this was planned. You magically just had a guitar waiting for me, huh?" She teased the MCs who laughed in response. Making sure it was tuned up, she prepared to play. "Chorus. Five, six, seven, eight!"

A loud, strong strumming sound was heard, sounding just like Danger as the members swayed and bobbed their heads along to the music.

jangnanhae neo? dodaeche naega mweoya?

manmanhae Uh? nal gatgo noneun geoya?

neo jigeum wiheomhae wae nareul shiheomhae?

wae nareul shiheomhae? hetgallige haji ma

jangnanhae neo? dodaeche naega mweoya?

manmanhae Uh? nal gatgo noneun geoya?

neo jigeum wiheomhae wae nareul shiheomhae?

wae nareul shiheomhae? hetgallige haji ma

neo ttaeme neomu apa

neo ttaeme neomu apa

neo ttaeme neomu apa

hetgallige haji ma

neo naege neomu nappa

neo naege neomu nappa

neo naege neomu nappa

hetgallige haji ma

"Woo! Great job!" Eric applauded with Jimin. "Is that a full song? The acoustic version? It sounds so good."

"Nah, I was just playing around," Jen answered, placing the guitar down.

"Playing around? That needs to be recorded!" Jimin demanded.

"That's what I'm saying." Rapmon chuckled. "We'll think of something."

"I wouldn't mind playing the guitar more for our songs. I'm down for acoustic versions or even electric. We'll see in the future." Jen reassured.

------

And the last person was a guy from the Philippines, who happily greeted BTS. "I've been waiting so patiently because I really wanted to speak with Jennie."

"Aw, thank you!" She smiled and placed a hand over her heart.

"I wanted to tell you how much I admire you in BTS. And I also wanted to say that you are my ideal type."

As soon as she heard him say ideal type, she pointed to herself, stunned at his statement. "M-me? Really?"

"She's really surprised, haha." Eric looked on.

"I love your personality, you're so down to earth. And you have a pretty smile. You and Jin are my favorite members. Now, there are some male ARMYs around and I wanted to ask this question for them and for myself. Jennie, what is your ideal type?"

As soon as the MCs translated, the members of BTS turned to Jen, awaiting her answer.

"First, I'm shocked that I am your ideal type, like wow. You're the first that I know of to call me that and I am touched, so thank you. That just made me really happy. Like honestly, I'm not used to that and I'd feel left out since I'm never described as someone's ideal type here. I recall myself as a singing and dancing potato." She joked.

"A very beautiful potato!" The guy countered with a genuine smile.

"Hahaha, he's charming." Eric laughed.

"Thank you." She smiled. "Now, I don't have a specific person as an ideal type, like with Rapmon, who likes girls with red converses, though I personally prefer Nikes. And with Jungkook head over heels for IU."

"But to answer your question, my ideal type..." She paused for a moment. "Well, some things I would like is someone to be patient with me. Sometimes I'm not going to get things right away, but I would love for whoever I date in the future to just help me and be there for me and work with me through any struggles. Uh...someone to make me laugh, I love hugs so I would love to have someone to always be open to hug me and even cuddle. Am I getting too cheesy?" She looked around and got laughs in response from the MCs while Rapmon translated what she said.

"I do enjoy skinship, so hugs, or piggyback rides, anything. I tend to focus more on the personality, not the looks. I want someone that makes me happy and respects me. I'm outgoing so, if I date a shy person, I will do everything I can to bring them out of their shell. Everything." She shot the guy a thumbs up. She continued, "And another thing, to the fans and anyone in general, please don't change who you are to fit someone's ideal type. We're all different, we have different personalities from others. And I know what you're thinking. How can anyone want someone so skinny and bony like me? Or someone so chubby like me? Flat chest, big chest, skinny legs, thick legs, or I have acne on my face, scars or stretch marks, or whatever. Love comes in all shapes and sizes. There is someone out there for you."

"Sadly, there are people who don't understand that. And I think media can also be an issue because of that. Oh, I gotta look a certain way for this person and that person to notice me," she added. "Like no, don't do that. Keep doing you and be yourself. That's attractive to me. Let me see who you really are, behind any makeup and behind the scenes. And don't get upset when you're not like someone's ideal type. I'm guilty of this, I've had a crush on some K-pop idols before when I was younger. But remember that there's someone out there for everyone and someone will love you for who you are, no matter what you look like or what you've gone through. Just gotta wait. Love is patient. Love is unpredictable."

"I don't see myself dating anyone here since I don't really fit anyone's ideal type around here and besides, I always imagined myself dating someone in America, anyway. But you never know, someone might come in and change that. I think it's a beautiful thing, how love can be so unpredictable in the craziest ways. And whoever my special someone is, I hope that they are eating well, are happy, and are getting enough sleep. And I hope they're thinking the same about me. And...I just rambled. Sorry, heheh." She looked down, feeling her face heat up.

After Rapmon translated, Jungkook gazed at her. 'Love is patient and unpredictable.' He repeated in his head.

"That was inspiring." The female Jimin applauded with Eric. "I'm getting emotional."

"Did I answer your question?" Jen smiled at the guy on the screen.

"Very! Thank you for giving me hope! That was a passionate response." He smiled.

On the Twitter live feed, fans tweet,

'Yo...we ALL have a chance to date Jennie!!'

'Does she like girls!? Because I have a MAJOR crush on her, she's so damn beautiful!'

'Well she did say they instead of specifying a guy.'

'We don't deserve this girl!'

'Protect her!'

'I knew it! First kiss with Jungkook!? AHHHH! DATE!'

'We ALL have a chance with Jennie. She's so cool!'

'She just made me feel so much better about myself.'

'Do you think she'll date one of the members??'

'Well she did say she doesn't see herself dating in Korea, but in America.'

'Yeah but remember, she said love is unpredictable!'

'I bet her special someone is closer than she thinks.'

'I still ship her with V!'

'Nah, JenKook!'

'Um, no, JenMin!'

Before they could go to the next person, the MCs announced that they were out of time. They finally take their ending shot. "All right, thanks for joining us, we'll see you next time on ASC!" Eric closed the show.

[darthfrodophantom]

8 days remain until the final chapter of A Secret Uncovered!

Today we have 8 of my favorite moments from A Secret Uncovered (in order of when they occur in the story)!

Warning, does contain spoilers in case you haven’t read the whole story yet, so I’m putting it below a spoiler break in case you haven’t read all of it (or if you’re waiting for me to finish the cross-post on AO3).

The press conference. I’m sure it could have been handled with more flair (and I tried to add that flair with the rewrite), but at the time I always loved the idea of having this conflict of Danny vs Everyone Else in a formal situation like a press conference

The Fenton family going out to dinner. I loved being able to include this little normal moment amongst all the craziness of the reveal. I love showcasing extraordinary people in extraordinary circumstances doing mundane things, and this felt like one of those moments where you have this crazy family that’s the center of all this celebrity attention just going out for a regular dinner and getting to play on normal family dynamics there.

Danny’s little moment with his mom on the couch as she bandages his injury. I love that tender, sweet moment where we get to focus in on the micro-level of this one piece of the reveal, which is Maddie’s guilt. And I really enjoyed harkening back to it across the story. Even if they had this moment and Danny forgave her, it’s clearly still haunting her.

First day of school. Mental images of Danny’s first day back at school inspired me to write this story, so this chapter will forever have a special place in my heart for that reason. Really just all of the school scenes.

Fenton Portable Bed. Look, I love channeling Jack Fenton and making some goofy Fenton gadjets. These were just fun and off the rails.

The battle. A two chapter long battle. Man, that was DIFFICULT, but I’m so proud of how it came out. I had this outline for what would happen, what attacks/weapons people had access to, and when people would be taken out and how. It was a beast to write, but I feel so accomplished looking back on it

Danny’s anguish at a character’s death. I was so proud of that emotion. I was actually channeling some real grief there because I wrote it after experiencing my first real loss, and I feel like it showed. It’s also part of why chapters 24 and 25 took so long to post because I remembered touching on that grief to write it.

One is still yet to come! So obviously I can’t share that one 😁🤐 (Well, actually there are two, but I felt like it was cheap to dedicate two slots on this list to things you haven’t seen yet 😋)

Let me know which one is your favorite! Do you have another moment I didn’t mention?

Countdown List: 10 things that happened since I last posted a chapter 9 people I'd like to thank 8 of my favorite memories

[askdannysroleswapau]

i should not be in charge of anything 💀 ignore me y'all the time blindness got HANDS

this is the last mostly-polished chapter that i wrote and its much shorter than the rest. as compensation for the long wait and brevity of this installment, the next and last chapter will be posted tomorrow! then i'll talk about where the story would have gone from there :D

again, i don't really consider this to be "canon" anymore. some parts have stuck around but for the most part you can think of this as an AU of an AU lol

missed the last one? click here

Ah, Joyful Burger. What better place to throw away your livelihood and relinquish your mortality to the all seeing eye of Burgey? Fun for the whole family! 

In all seriousness though, it was comforting to be surrounded by the overly goofy architecture of the restaurant. The burger-shaped seat cushions and brightly colored tables made it kind of hard to stay mad and still be taken seriously. 

Once they had ordered their food, the group wondered which of them would be paying the tab—however, as it turned out, both Gumball and Robin had previously been co-CEOs of Joyful Burger, so they got half off every order. That basically meant the four of them would be eating for free.  It wasn't clear how exactly Rob’s status as an ex-CEO transferred over to their universe, but they guessed capitalism just transcends logic. 

So they all sat and waited for their order number to be called out, Gumball and Rob on one side of the table and their alternates on the other. Both alternates acted like the other wasn't there; Voidball was drumming his blocky fingers on the table and Robin was staring out the window with a faraway look in his eye. Gumball worried the receipt in his claws. All was tense and quiet. 

It was clear that a conversation had to be started, but how do you start a conversation with yourself from another universe? What are you supposed to say? What questions are okay to ask? Is it normal for these two to get into scary shouting matches? And if they’re the same as these two, does that mean he and Rob should be more like them? Gumball didn't want that. That didn't seem like fun nemesis stuff. 

Was he supposed to be worrying about them so much?

And was he imagining that Voidball had tried to wink at Rob just now? 

Voidball stood up abruptly, his chair making a screeching metal sound as he pushed it out of the way. They looked uncertain for a moment, then pulled out their phone and pretended to be surprised by something on the screen. 

“Oh, would you look at that! I've got a call to take!” they said hurriedly. “Excuse me!” 

Voidball quickly left the table, banking left around the corner and then disappearing. That was weird, Gumball had seen their phone screen, and it was dark the whole time.

He also had no clue where they were going. The front entrance was to their right and the bathrooms were in the opposite direction to where they had gone. He was about to comment on that when Rob also stood up.

“Uh.” Rob cleared his throat. “I'm going to the bathroom. I’ll be back.” he said quickly, going in the same direction as Voidball. 

[wingsofachampion]

OOC Ask: This is such a cool idea! What made you think of something like this?

OOC

Ooooh, this is a fun question!

Alright, so this is a bit of a long story, so I'll put it under a Read More.

So, I'm in this Pokemon fanfic writing community known as Thousand Roads, and sometimes we do events there known as "exquisite corpses". Basically, someone writes a section of a story, another person continues writing that story, but only gets the last few sentences of the previous section for context, and so on until we have a goofy incoherent mess.

About two years ago, we did an exquisite corpse with the theme "Sinnoh Journeyfic". I was starting it off, and I wanted to do PMD stuff, so I decided to write a section about a Tropius from the PMD world becoming a trainer in Sinnoh.

Even after the exquisite corpse finished, the concept kept bouncing around in my mind. Plus, after spending so much time with other trainerfic writers in Thousand Roads, I kinda wanted to try writing one of my own. And with all due respect to the Pokemon-as-trainer fanfics I've seen out there, every single one I've seen uses very humanoid Pokemon as the trainer.

Eventually, after the beginning of a RP where I tested out writing this Tropius character some more, I started writing the fic where Tropius is from, In Tandem. The setting of it changed quite a bit, from Sinnoh to Hoenn to Paldea to Hoenn again, but it still remained the same at its core: A story about a PMD Tropius becoming a trainer in the human world. And that's about when I made this blog, though it started as just an askblog.

Meanwhile, in another server, I was RPing a few OCs in the mainline Pokemon world. A group of online friends known as the Gilded Gaggle of Goofs. I actually have a pkmn irl blog for them at @gildedgaggle, which I need to get back to sometime. Anyways, I started wanting to use them in a story, too, so I decided to use them in In Tandem!

As such, In Tandem became a story about a PMD Tropius becoming a trainer in the human world, and the friends she meets on the internet. Sound familiar?

When I received a suggestion from a friend to join them in participating in pkmn irl, I initially just used gildedgaggle for it. Then I started to experiment a bit, using a now mostly-defunct blog for a Pokemon professor-in-training who was stuck in the PMD world, before deciding to convert this blog, wingsofachampion, from a full-time askblog, into a hybrid askblog and pkmn irl blog.

Of course, I haven't done a lot with the askblog aspects lately, I should really get back to doing that more, but I digress.

Tropius' story was a perfect fit for pkmn irl. Here was this online space that was like it was from the mainline Pokemon world. What better place to put my character from a story about making online friends in the mainline Pokemon world?

Plus, pkmn irl is fantastic practice for writing online interactions in the mainline Pokemon world, and for developing Tropius' character more. It's a huge source of inspiration for In Tandem.

Most of all, though, it's just a lot of fun! Pkmn irl is extremely fun, even if it burnt me out for a while earlier this year. It's so much fun to have Tropius form friendships and bonds with other characters here, and I adore stuff like the found family she has with @friendball-irl. I love writing Tropius, and this is a perfect space to do that.

...this became a lot longer than I expected, but I hope this answers your question!

Also, if you have the time, I'd love if any of you were to check out In Tandem, or any of my other Pokemon fics. It'd mean a lot to me! In Tandem is still only on its second chapter currently, but I'm working hard on chapter 3!

With the obligatory self-shill out of the way, I want to say thank you. Thank you to everyone who's following, has followed in the past, is checking this post out a while after I posted it, is just checking out this blog for the first time, anyone who's looked at this blog and thought, "That's cool".

Tropius still has many more adventures to go, so I hope you'll stick around. But even if not, thank you for giving this blog a chance. I was so worried this blog would flop in pkmn irl due to being both heavily rooted in PMD, and run in-universe by a literal Tropius, but I'm overjoyed at how much support I've gotten. It means a lot to me.

Thank you for reading.

(Art by Gravemind)

[invisibleicewands]

Hi! Have you already watched Staged 3? How it was? I don't have britbox and do not know what to expect.

Hi, Anon!

"Saved by the Bell", I would sum up. I watched S3 and I'm glad I've waited for the end to write something. Because after the first two episodes I was really discouraged. Despite lasting only 20 minutes, Ep. 1 was painful to watch for me until the end, so it was extremely tedious and boring. The same heated soup, over and over again, made with recycled content. But then, from Ep. 3, something has changed fortunately. Let’s be clear: the core of the show remains the same, MS & DT constantly screaming angry and stressed each other until the very end, but at least you can see ‘the light at the end of the tunnel’, the purpose of this season: to give a worthy conclusion to this project. And they did it with irony, intelligence, making fun of themself, joking on the absurdity of this farce, mixing different genres, Big Brother/Quantum Leap/Russian Doll and – why not? – a bit of The Exorcist, adding guest stars and expanding the landscape of the camera view. This last point was one of the more interesting to me, because we could finally see a glimpse of their real daily life (plus the whole kitchen of MS, part of his garden and car, DT’s house, etc.).

The development of the plot follows the chapters of the Christmas Carol novel, but in an original way. They show you how an imaginary S3 started (the past), the undone final product (the present) and their effort to change the coming bad reviews (the future), while they’re becoming - step by step - more and more aware that this partnership has to come to an end, like all good things.

To me the funniest moments were the involuntary ones, the dry humour of certain short answers, the ridiculousness of some situations, not the scenes forced, predictable, written to fill the time or the pages, to entertain you at all costs. By this criterion, there were some characters I appreciated more and other less.

MS & DT were (obviously) perfect, generous, selfless, crazy, messy and professional at the same time, even you could read in their eyes that they were (for real) sick and tired to play these cartoonish roles ad infinitum. Saying that they wanted to do other things was not just a line, but the truth (like some others in this show).

The rest of the cast followed their same rules, exaggerating and amplifying some traits of their characters, although with different results I must say. GT was the leader of this group, she pushed the events, she basically directed the project to the final destination, she was very present in every scene (maybe too much IMHO, but she was one of the producers after all), even if not so nice like she thought to be. A bit overexposed, like Simon, whose story was not so interesting to tell. Lucy acted well, I liked her, she was spontaneous, funny and fresh, as well as Ty (inscrutable but surgical in his humour) or Lily (at last finally!) or Nina (goofy). Different results I said, and there comes AL: suitable in the role of chauffeur or props manager, not so much as actress. I think it’s because she is like the beige colour and you cannot make it suddendly neon, without creating something artificial. The result is that I found her character prissy and demanding, fake (I hope for her it was), a pretty mannequin to fill the space in the showcase.

The other guest stars: Jim Broadbent (ruthless) or Olivia Colman (sweet fairy), always on time, even with small parts. Simply a guarantee. Neil Gaiman: ok, just to do a bit of advertising for GO2 and to complete the parade of family & close friends.

So, in the end, my suggestion is to watch it, even if you’re a fan or not, at least because in this case, you can break the spell, close this door and open another one. Knock-knock…

[fountainpenguin]

Fanfic meme: 8, 16, 20

[Current Ask game]

8. What’s the oldest (longest since last update) fic you most want to continue (unfinished or no)?

I made a significant amount of progress on both The Beatin' Path and Lions Under Palm Trees before I faded from writing Total Drama, and some of my favorite scenes I've ever written are in those 'fics, but were never posted. I delayed mainly because writing those meant skipping past my unfinished 'fic The Lyin' Queen, which came chronologically earlier but which I was struggling with.

I like Staci as a character. I think she's goofy and confident. She was fun to write, but I was going to do this big twist reveal where you find out at the end that she has short term memory loss, and the entire story was written so that you just thought she was a little spacy until then. I wrote the prequel to Lyin' Queen (Life of a Loser) in two months or less, so I was young and ambitious and wasn't prepared for how much work Lyin' Queen was... and it only grew more difficult as I continued through school.

I'd like to get back to these stories though because sincerely they have some of my all-time favorite scenes and I still think about them a lot. Leonard is like, my all-time favorite Total Drama character and he was eliminated second in Pakithew and first in Ridonculous Race, which means it's Leonard time ALL the time and he's the best.

Will there be an audience for these stories almost 10 years after I stopped writing them? Idk, maybe not... but when I think about how Leonard is fantastic, and how many scenes I never shared with the world, I am filled with love... (for Leonard).

Throwback to 2015-2016 when I was still posting mainly on dA and I used to type with the manual italics:

Also to this day, Topher is still hands-down one of the best examples of a manipulative slimeball character I have ever seen in my life and I love him too <3

16. Have you ever stopped writing a fic/for a fandom because it wasn’t receiving enough attention?

I don't think I'd put it all on not receiving attention, but I did put No Anesthetic aside partly because it wasn't getting as much positive feedback as I hoped and partly because of criticism I received (not in the visible reviews portal, but elsewhere) that kind of hurt.

Honestly Youngblood is the only part of Danny Phantom that truly captivates me (though I do have a fondness for a few of the other ghosts), and I just didn't have the drive to carry that story through a wave of criticism when I had the alt option of writing for Fairly OddParents in a fandom that was much more welcoming to my ideas.

I don't want to make it sound like that's the only reason I stopped on this 'fic. There are a lot of scenes in No Anesthetic that are kind of info-dumpy and drag on, since Youngblood is learning about the Ghost Zone for the first time. I was juggling school, life, and other 'fics and the info-dumpy nature of this story made it more of a chore to write. It just didn't feel worth it because it was more work than my other stories, I didn't feel like anyone was enjoying it, and it was one extra thing I had on my plate, so I stopped.

Now that it's been 6 years, I'd like to rewatch Danny Phantom and maybe go back to this story someday to see if it sparks something in me. I like my worldbuilding ideas for the Ghost Zone, and like the TD 'fics above, I had a lot written. Here's one of my favorite WIP scenes:

But also, my draft has a lot of missing scenes, and the story hangs in fragments because it doesn't really "go anywhere" and the plot is just a found family story without a lot of direction, so it would take a lot of revisions to make it less info-dumpy and flesh it into something with proper story beats. I might go back to it someday, but probably not any time soon. Or if I do go back to it, I might cut a lot of the plans I initially had and turn it into a shorter piece with just a few chapters instead. We'll see.

20. Have/Would you ever rewrite a fic? If yes, would you take the original down?

When I'm finished with Origin of the Pixies and Frayed Knots, I'd like to go back and clean them up a little. There are little lines here and there that bother me, and I used to spell out large numbers instead of typing them as numerals, there are info-dumpy moments, stuff like that. I force myself to keep moving forward because I'm worried that if I get nitpicky, I'll never finish, so just remember that you're reading stuff I started in 2016 and it is technically in a draft state /shrug.

I've not rewritten a 'fic before, but I do have some pieces from 10 years ago that I'd like to write with more sensitivity knowing what I know now. As one example, there's a 'fic I wrote that I never moved from dA to FFN because the relationship between those characters moved from platonic to romantic after one forced the other into a kiss. I didn't understand consent back then and media had shown me that people often liked surprise kisses and enjoyed platonic relationships that suddenly became romantic.

I played with those characters for a while before I discovered the concept of asexuality and realized that I headcanoned this character as ace. I no longer wanted that forced kiss to be associated with my storyline, so it still exists on dA because I don't like deleting 'fics, but I didn't move it to FFN with the others.

There's also another 'fic I wrote where it's pretty obvious that I didn't understand how the legal system works, so I didn't move that one over either because I don't think it's very good. I also have other 'fics on a site that's not AO3, FFN, or dA, but I posted under a different name back then and while they were fun, they were populated with OCs and I don't want to unbury them.

I have no interest in rewriting those old 'fics, but the general idea of "There are sensitive topics I didn't treat in the most sensitive way 10+ years ago" and "I really didn't understand how the adult world works" remains. I'm glad I've been writing for so long, but I do hope I never end up in a situation where someone wants to hold up my old stories as an example of what I believe now, because I was young and have a lot of old stuff I don't want to delete because this is my writer's journey and I don't want to throw it away /shrug.

This is the last Ask for this Ask game that I have in my inbox, so I'll wrap up the questions here unless anyone wants to send in more tonight. Thanks for the interest!

[Current Ask game]

[allisonirish]

Just William

Chapter 2

Warnings: Angst, Mentions of Child Murder, Grief, Incarcerated Parent

Word Count: 1,444

Disclaimer: This story does not follow Scott Cawthon's FNAF games or books. However many of the characters and events are the same or have been adapted. These characters do not belong to me, but the rearrangement of events and character adaptations are my own works.

I hid in my room for the next couple of hours, hoping to stay unnoticed by my family...and William. Sitting on my fuzzy purple beanbag at my wooden desk, I tried to bury myself in a piece of artwork I was finishing. Drawing and painting had become my way of "coping" and it turns out, I'm not too bad at it. I'd even started doing commissions, starting with illustrating children's books and more recently doing posters and murals for businesses.

Despite my numerous complaints, when I turned sixteen, mom told me it was time to get a job. So I interviewed and started my brand new job waitressing at Applebee's. I lasted two months before my manager got sick of my "hopeless negativism". Whatever that means. I didn't really care though, I hated being around all those people who despise me and I told mom so. If I'm being honest, I was too hard on mom last year. She deserves better than me. Tired of fighting with me, frustrated at Michael's poor grades at the time, and exhausted from working three jobs, she gave up. Told me to stay home and be lazy if that's what I wanted. I felt good about winning that battle for about twenty-four hours, that's when the guilt really set in. After apologizing to my mother and with the help of a friend, I began to submit my artwork to publishing companies and after just two weeks, got hired to illustrate a children's book called Bigfoot Loves Pizza. Goofy, I know, but it was a moneymaker and it made mom happy. I was also offered a job as part time waitress and full time graphic designer at Freddy Fazbear's Pizza 2.0. This was shocking to my entire family since the restaurant was owned by...Charlie's dad. And Charlie's dad shouldn't want anything to do with me.

My sweet solitude, sadly, didn't last long enough. A soft knock echoed from my door and I saw Michael slowly peek around it.

"Hi, Lizzie," He walked into my room, dragging his feet. "Mom says it's time for supper."

I inwardly groaned. Mom had been planning 'our first family dinner in nine years' all week. She even dragged me into mashing the potatoes for one of William's old favorites. Cottage Pie. I personally don't like the stuff, less because William likes it and more because I'm not a fan of ground meat. It looks too much like cat food for my taste.

"Tell her I'm busy." I went back to my drawing. It was a large, purple robotic rabbit with a red bow tie and electric guitar. Bonnie the bunny was an animatronic that William made for his first restaurant, Fredbear's Family Diner before I was born. Except now he was one of the main mascots for the restaurant I worked for and I was drawing Bonnie with large, red, star-shaped sunglasses, playing the electric guitar, and surfing a gnarly wave on a red and purple surfboard. Behind Bonnie were the emboldened words

Catch the Last Wave of Summer Fun at Freddy's!

"That's cool." Michael stared over my shoulder. "Is Bonnie your favorite?"

"Yeah, I like Bonnie okay." Bonnie had been Charlie's favorite. I focused on some dark shadowing under Bonnie's sunglasses. Suddenly, I heard a crash behind me and nearly jumped out of my seat. Whipping around, I saw Michael trying to pick up my violin case and music stand he had knocked over.

"Okay, buddy," I helped him put everything back into place. "Maybe we should go down to dinner."

Michael grinned and dashed out of my room, sprinting down the stairs in front of me. As I followed him my thoughts stayed with my violin. Music had become my other way of dealing with my emotions. Music was something I could get lost in, let every single drop of hate, anger, and shame pour out into a song before they can stream down my face. Art is more about control. It's the precise bits of emotion that are patiently and deliberately depicted on a page.

My mother sat at her usual spot on the left side of our large, oaken kitchen table, beaming over the steaming casserole dish in the center. At the head of the table, sporting a barely noticeable smile, only detectable by the slight dimples forming in his cheeks, was William. Michael had taken his spot next to mother and I wanted to kick myself when I realized my normal seat was right beside William. I slunk over and sat down, making sure to scoot my chair a good twelve more inches away from him. I pretended not to hear the sigh I got from my mother and ignored the conversation between her and William about how she hoped he would like dinner, and how he was sure he would and oh how delicious it looked. Michael mentioned how I helped make it and I gave myself a headache trying not to roll my eyes. 

Throughout the rest of dinner I tried to soothe my headache by drinking several large glasses of iced tea and water, and basically ignored everything that came out of William's mouth. He acted nice...too nice. He asked mom about how the house was holding up, if there was anything he could fix, how Michael liked school, how his summer break was going, and what he'd been up to lately. I had just finished my food and was looking for a chance to escape, when William turned to me. 

"How was your school year, Elizabeth?"  

My gaze cut sharply to him, startled. His eyes were shifting, flowing in waves of blue softness and aquamarine steel. 

I shrugged, "I don't go to school."

"Why doesn't she go to school?" William's face bore a hilarious appalled look. 

"Elizabeth is homeschooled," My mother cut in, "and she does mostly college classes online." 

"Because I don't want to spend my time around imbeciles." I mumble, earning a glare from my mother. 

"We just didn't see it as the best option at the moment." Mom gave me a 'don't you dare say another word look'. 

"But Michael goes to school?" William was obviously confused.

My mother was fumbling for words. "Michael does better...socially than Elizabeth. It's just easier for him to...be around so many people."

"You got that right." I mumbled again. 

"Elizabeth Annette," My mother's face threatened corporal punishment if I opened my mouth one more time.  

I bit the inside of my cheek, lifted my chin in defiance, and dared to speak anyway. "Well it's not like it's my fault I can't go to school. In fact maybe I should go to school like Michael!" 

My voice was mockingly cheery and I hoped William caught every hint of sarcasm.

"I'm sure being the daughter of a child murderer will make me immensely popular in school. Who knows maybe I'll even be the homecoming queen and for my speech I can tell the story of how my father stabbed my best friend in her sleep! Wouldn't that be lovely!" 

My voice tipped into a British accent  when I said lovely and I knew my degradation of William had gone too far. My mother's face was a mixture of shock and rage, her fingers gripped hard onto the table, turning whiter than I thought possible. Michael cowered beside her looking as if he was about to cry, and William...WAS SMILING AT ME?!? His pearly white teeth flashed at me, although the grin did not meet his eyes and I could see the indention where his teeth were pulling at the inside of his cheek. 

"Yes, I can see why you wouldn't want to go to school, Elizabeth." He stood slowly, purposefully, but i caught the slight quiver in his hands. "Now if you'll all excuse me I believe I need to go out for a quick fag." 

Mother stood and retrieved the cigarettes and lighter I didn't know William had from the kitchen counter. He had never smoked when I was a child. 

"Thank you dear. Dinner was lovely..err...delicious." He walked out the front door without another word and through the window I saw a small flame glowing. 

I almost sighed in relief until I saw my mother glaring at me. 

"Young lady," If looks could kill I'm sure she would've burned a hole through my head. "We need to have a talk."

With a strength I didn't know she had, being several inches shorter and leaner than I, my mother held my wrist with a pressure that I was sure would leave indentations on my very bones, and towed me to her room. I was in trouble now.

[casspurrjoybell-20]

Sakura Mochi - Chapter 5 - Part 2

*Warning Adult Content*

Poe the Fish - Kamihara Rin 

We followed him down the winding path to the garden.

I liked the garden.

It was filled with colorful, fragrant flowers and lots of trees.

I especially loved the Sakura trees.

My parents told me they were imported from the human realm.

The pink petals that fell in spring were so soft and beautiful.

As we walked, I couldn't help but tap Haru's shoulder to ask...

"So, what did it feel like? To bloom?"

Yuki turned her head to look at us, too.

We'd both been curious.

Our time was supposed to be nearing.

Haru smiled slightly, looking at a rock on the path to kick it away.

"Well, it kind of felt like a really intense cold. I had a super high fever and couldn't get out of bed. But it didn't last long. Maybe a day or two? After that, I felt...different."

"Different how?" Yuki asked with a small frown on her face.

"Different good," Haru assured.

"My senses felt heightened and I could feel this power somewhere deep inside of me."

He took a moment to pout a bit as he added...

"I wish I'd gotten cool powers, though. My noni told me that not all dragons get powers, just their flame." 

It was quite common.

Most dragons didn't have extraordinary abilities.

They'd been watered down over generations.

Nobility tended to have these abilities because of their direct connections to our Gods.

Like, my family.

Haru's family, too but it must have skipped him, unfortunately. 

"That's still cool, though," I voiced, bumping Haru's shoulder lightly.

"You were the first one to bloom between us."

We all laughed lightly, the conversation ending there as we entered the garden.

Once we got into the garden, I grabbed Haru's hand and began dragging him over to my favorite part of the garden.

Near the back of the garden, there was a small fish pond with plenty of gorgeous fish.

Of course, I had a favorite.

A dopey-looking one I named Poe.

Poe was goofy and fun to talk to.

I loved visiting him, so of course, I wanted to show him off to my new friend.

"Rin, no running," Onaeni warned.

With a huff, I slowed down to a brisk walk but continued to drag Haru along behind me as Yuki followed quietly.

"Where are we going, Rin?" Haru asked me as we walked, his head turning this way and that as he looked around the garden.

"We're going to see someone special," I answered, smiling cheekily.

I heard Haru huff lightly, which made me giggle.

We followed the cobbled path through the garden until we finally arrived at the fish pond.

A gentle mini waterfall fell into the pond, creating the perfect ambiance.

When we got close, the fish began to dash around in the water, awakening from their sleepy swimming.

One fish, in particular, got close to the edge where we stood.

"Hi, Poe," I exclaimed, letting go of Haru so I could kneel down by the dark rocks surrounding the pond.

The fish stared at me with dopey eyes that were way too big for its face.

I loved it.

A few bubbles escaped its mouth as if to respond to my greeting.

"Poe, meet Haru," I continued...

"Haru, meet Poe."

The dragon kneeled next to me to greet the fish.

"Hi, Poe. It's nice to meet you," he giggled.

"Haru, Bug, let's play hide-and-seek," Yuki shouted out.

The two of us stood up from the pond and went over to my sister.

Hide and seek sounded like fun but the garden wasn't going to make for much of a challenge.

It wasn't that big and there weren't many good hiding spots.

But, since Onaeni was watching us, we couldn't go anywhere else.

If only he wasn't babysitting us.

The estate is boring but at least it's big enough for great hide-and-seek games.

"I'll count first," Yuki decided, walking over to a tree to press her forehead to it.

Once she started counting, Haru and I shared mischievous looks.

Grabbing his hand, I pulled him away from the pond to another part of the garden.

We were lucky there were a ton of manicured shrubs that acted as walls, surrounding the cobbled pathways winding through the garden.

I took a quick left and searched around for a good spot.

Then, it hit me.

"Can you climb?" I asked Haru, who smiled eagerly.

"Yes." We giggled at our genius and rushed over to one of the Sakura trees.

Haru let go of my hand to cup his hands in front of him.

"Ladies first," he teased.

I rolled my eyes but used his hands as a step to get up onto the closest branch.

After a bit of scrambling, I managed to get up, so I shimmied a bit so I could reach out and help Haru up.

He accepted the help and the two of us paused for a second on the branch.

"Ready or not, here I come," I heard Yuki's voice yell out.

"Go higher," I whispered to Haru, who nodded.

He went up first as I watched, a few orange leaves falling with his movements.

It was getting cold in the village.

I liked it.

The nip of the wind on my cheeks felt refreshing.

Plus, the fire-colored leaves of the trees are beautiful.

The village liked to celebrate the coming of the cold.

The color of the leaves reminds us of the flames of our ancestors.

It was said that most dragons had red or orange flames in the beginning but as we spread across the realm, our flames developed into the many kinds we have now.

My family tended to have silver or blue hues.

I hoped my flame was a pretty blue like Akira's.

I followed Haru higher into the tree just as we heard little footsteps hurrying along the path.

"I'm coming to get you two," Yuki yelled, running right past the tree we were in.

Haru and I shared a giggle before going silent again.

He looked at me and smiled widely.

My lips quirked up without me realizing it as I returned the smile.

My heart felt warm for some reason.

Fuzzy, almost.

What was this? I

'd never really felt like this before.

Even so, I kind of liked it.

It made me feel good.

[redrobin-detective]

growing pains are harder with siblings

can’t stop, won’t stop Zim Membrane part III

XxX

“Get out of my room!” Dib shrieked trying to shut the door on the alien that had infested his life. Bad enough he had to see Zim at school and then at home but now in his room, the one sanctuary he had from the madness? Zim ducked under his arms and entered the room, scanning the area with a dismissive look.

“Membrane Father says good siblings share, Dib Brother,” Zim said cheekily before he turned to confront the human. “Except for my things, I know you took my radiotopic quasmieser and I demand you return my property to me before your oafish human hands break it.”

“Oh, you mean this,” Dib grinned manically, pulling odd alien device out of his drawer. “Having you in my life has been nothing but a nightmare; the only advantage of having you close is having all your alien technology within my re- Hey!” Dib shouted as he was interrupted mid-monologue by Zim charging him, screeching and struggling to grab the machine. 

“Gimmie, gimmie, gimmie!” The alien screamed flailing his arms in Dib’s face trying to grab the device.

Dib cackled, holding it high over his head where Zim couldn’t reach. He looked down at his mortal enemy and sort of adopted brother (he guesses) and sneered. “What? Is it too high for you? How does it feel to be a little shorty on top of being so magnificently incompetent?” To his surprise, Zim stopped his shouting and jumping to look up at Dib with wide eyes. The alien looked between them as if he had just noticed that, over the last several months they’d been battling over the fate of the Earth, Dib had grown slightly taller than him. 

“What is the meaning of this!?” Zim hissed, shuffling back and hunching his shoulders. “What technology do you have at your disposal that grants you greater height? Tell me!” 

“What are you talking ab-”

“Tell me!”

“I’m try to you-”

“Tell me!”

“Arg!” Dib screamed in frustration, clutching his hands to his head as if he could possibly get a moment of peace. But life wasn’t kind in that way and Zim certainly wasn’t. “It’s called growing up, Junior. People are born small and grow bigger as they age. Do you think my dad and all the other adults just appeared that way?” Judging by the Zim was blinking rapidly and furrowing his eyebrow, he probably did. Dib called him an alien all the time but it’s moments like these he realized just how other Zim was. “Do your uh people not grow up?”

“Irkens remain the same size from creation their whole life,” Zim muttered absentmindedly, perhaps not realizing he’d finally given Dib a name for his species. ‘Irken’ did sound kind of cool but Dib was still privately going to refer to them as ‘Dumb Green Butthole Aliens’. 

“Wait if you’re not that small because you’re young then how old are you?” Dib asked, almost afraid of the answer.

“Older than your puny mind can comprehend,” Zim dismissed with a wave while Dib was too busy trying to comprehend the fact that someone who was essentially an adult spent his time attending middle school and picking fights with kids. Zim squinted his red eyes at Dib. 

“Are you saying that one day you will be as tall as Father Membrane?”

“Uh yeah maybe, I mean he is my dad and I’m told height runs in the family...” Dib trailed off at the look of horror and dismay on Zim’s face. His antennae flattened against his head and he backed up some more looking incredibly lost and vulnerable. It was uncomfortable to witness having been on the receiving end of that misery more times than he could count. When had he flipped and become the bully? “So I’ll be taller than you, who cares. You have those weird spider leg things to get you around.”

“Once you are Tall, people listen to you,” Zim mumbled, still folded in on himself and eyeing Dib like the was the alien. From Zim’s perspective he probably was but he’d never acted like Dib was really any different from him before. “Our Tallest are the highest authority, they lead our people in glorious conquest. They are beloved and respected and those who are beneath them are... not.” For just a brief moment, Dib could read Zim’s whole history in his hunched shoulders and downcast gaze. It was sad and lonely and painfully similar to his own life; bullies weren’t invented on Earth after all.

“Pfft,” Dib chuckled uncomfortably, “who wants to be tall anyway? You just run into things and have to buy bigger clothes. I don’t know how your society works but on Earth, how tall you are doesn’t decide anything, everyone has a choice in who they are and how important they’re going to be.” As soon as the words came out of his mouth, Dib knew he had made a grave error. Because in his stupid awkward moment of being nice he had forgotten that Zim was, in fact, trying to destroy the world. And was an obsessive, insane maniac. Also stupid. Zim stood himself up to his full height, still just below Dib, and proudly set his hands on his hips every inch the vile invader scum Dib despised. 

“For once in your life Dib baby, you are correct! Zim is too great of an invader to be held back by something so minuscule! I will conquer this filthy Earth planet and present it to my Tallest in order to prove what I have always known, that I am the single greatest invader Irk has ever seen!” He laughed loudly and with abandon as he snatched the radio whatchamacallit out of Dib’s hands. “So long, Dib, I’m off to conqueeeeeeest!” He said, activating his spider legs and punching a hole through Dib’s wall even though the window or the door was right there and climbed out.

Dib was staring dumbly at the empty space when Zim’s upside down face dropped down to glare at him. “Tell Father that I shall be late for dinner, too busy with my evil and all.” He frowned, probably remembering that Dad didn’t tolerate anyone being late for dinner and will literally track them across all of space time to get them to the table. “Fine but no more of your disgusting human pizza, it makes Zim sick.” 

“That’s because your “dog” ordered fish eyes and toenails on the last pizza,” even Gaz, who would eat pretty much any kind of pizza, had declined. But Zim was already gone, probably back to his home base to work on some truly nasty scheme that would inevitably fall apart due to his own reckless stupidity. Zim might be an adult by alien standards but he had a lot to learn about growing up. Dib did too but he was still a kid so he had time and, as long as Zim was living in this house, maybe he’d do a little growing too. In the metaphorical sense at least, man Dib can’t wait until he hit puberty and got way taller. He couldn’t wait to lord that over the alien. Maybe there was something to this ‘brother’ thing after all.  

[beholdthemem]

Popped back into tumblr to discover that @thestuffedalligator had tagged me to list one favorite character from ten pieces of media- thank you so much! This was such a fun (and unexpectedly challenging, only ONE character from each?? You're killing me here) thing!

1) Reyna Avila Ramirez Arellano from the Percy Jackson books. I loved her from the first chapter she was introduced, and years later I still do. ¡La reina de mi corazon!

2) Eddie Bloomberg/Kid Devil/Red Devil from DC comics. I first encountered this dude at age 11 in a stack of comics somebody had donated to the library, and just kind of imprinted on him- I used to secretly imagine him as like, the big brother I didn't actually have, but desperately wanted. Now matter how bad things sucked, no matter how mean people were, no matter what was going on with him behind the scenes, Eddie always tried his damndest to be the nice, goofy friend that everyone needed while keeping the sinking ship that was the 2003 Titans run together.

Growing older than him was the weirdest thing. 'Oh shit, now I would be his big sister. I would have to, like- drop by the tower all the time to affectionately call him a dipshit, and secretly make sure his teammates weren't being dicks."

3) Syb Rook from NADDPOD's Eldermourne. Their gender is fantasy greaser, their pronouns are they/them/bastard (probably), and they have my undying affection. I love this criminal-with-standards, what-kinda-loser-doesn't-sit-like-A.C.-Slater, multiple-cigars-at-once ass jerk. I miss them so much. Either I need to get wiser about picking plot related favorite characters, or Brian Murphy needs to stop being so good at making side characters to get attached to.

4) Chrissy Cunningham from Stranger Things.

My brave, brave girl.

We saw Chrissy for one episode, and in that time she managed to leave a handprint on my heart the likes of which I have never before experienced. Kudos to her actress, I was living under the impression that I am a stone-cold bitch, and unfortunately it turns out I am NOT. I think what grabbed me most about this girl is that she is silently going through hell, has absolutely nobody she feels that she can safely admit that to, is surrounded by people who love the person they THINK she is and the life they THINK she has, while having never once noticed one real thing about her...

...and she still tries her hardest to be kind.

If she wanted to be a bitch to people, if she wanted to start smashing windows, I would get it. I would probably have done worse in her position. But she doesn't. She's like 'That's my problem, it's nobody else's fault, I don't have the right to take it out on anybody else,' and really tries to back that up. She's genuinely disappointed in herself when she can't remember the name of Eddie's band from six years ago, and makes an effort to try and recall it. When she remembers at last, she's as delighted as Eddie is. She was just... a sweet girl in an awful, lonely situation, and I wanted more than anything to watch her heal from her mother's abuse, recover from her eating disorder, and find people she could be honest with. Who'd be there for her when her family never was.

I would've liked that.

5) Glenda Sugarbean from Discworld, and you CANNOT IMAGINE how hard it was to narrow this down to just one character. What I love about her is that she carries on the grand Pratchett tradition of furiously caring about people when the world hasn't, but unlike Vimes, or Granny Weatherwax, Susan, she has no special power- magical or political- to do it with. All she has is her own two hands, common sense, an unparalleled gift for cookery, and a spine of steel- and she makes it work. She's my hero.

6) Ash Campbell from Sally Face.

A fact about me, which rarely serves me well but has nevertheless been true for as long as I can remember- is that in a fictional friend group that's All Guys, One Girl, I am always going to be ten million times more interested in the girl than I am the dudes. There's tons of dudes. They're interchangeable. You can swap em all out for each other, who cares, talk to me about HER.

What drew her there? What's her relationship like with the others? What's SHE like, period? I wanna know!

The thing with Ash is that intentionally or not, I think she was set up to be a pretty interesting character. We get a lot of offhanded tidbits of information about her that aren't really explored or followed up on, but- when put together- end up painting a very intriguing picture. We know she has difficulty expressing her emotions openly- she has a social, friendly front that might not be a complete fabrication, but that ends up being almost the only one anyone sees publicly. She'll get angry at times, she'll threaten violence and vengeance on her friends' behalf, but when someone's upset rather than angry, she doesn't know how to react. She's got nothing in her emotional toolkit for this.

We know that she doesn't feel comfortable showing a vulnerable side in front of other people, no matter WHO those people are- in chapter 4, she mentions her brother accusing her of being 'some kind of soulless monster' over her lack of tears during their grandmother's funeral. She tries to play this off like a joke, like this was a ridiculous thing to say, but the fact that she brought it up at all seems to indicate it genuinely hurt her. But she still can't say that, even to Sal, who she trusts a lot. She just has to trust that he understands.

Why? Was she always like this, or did something happen to make her feel this way?

We know she has family members in Nockfell, but we never actually see them. She mentions them a lot throughout chapters 3 and 4, but in 5, they never come up- even during the apocalypse. Did they cut contact with her over her years spent trying to prove an alleged murderer was ill instead of malicious? Did she cut contact with them? Were they among the townspeople "replaced", and she doesn't have the luxury of mourning them?

We don't know.

I love her for her potential, because exploring characters that canon didn't care enough to flesh out is my favorite thing to do.

7) Pete Conlan, from Dimension 20's The Unsleeping City. I adore this motherfucker. He is a disaster of a man, trying his level best to be a better person. He desperately wants to be in love, but has the worst taste in women and an undying attraction to English accents/things that are bad for him. As soon as he realizes a small child looks up to him, he immediately starts trying to model himself into a Good Big Brother despite the fact that this small child is probably thousands of years older than him. Irrelevant. Pete wants to be a better role model. I want nothing but good things for him, and someday I'm gonna have to get Dropout and find out what happens to him in Chapter 2.

8) Robbie Reyes from Marvel comics 2015 Ghost Rider, MARVEL, IF YOU DON'T GIVE MY BOY A REGULAR SERIES AGAIN, I SWEAR TO FUCK-

He loves his little brother more than anything else in the world. His parents died, and he stepped the fuck up as a young teenager to make sure the kid would never want for anything. He has an undying passion for nice cars. He only ever indulged this once, for the sake of providing for Gabe while doing one of a limited amount of things he feels he's actually good at it. It almost cost him everything, and all he could think about while facing death was 'I'm so sorry Gabe'. One of his classmates pretended she needed a calculus tutor to trick him into spending a night doing something fun with her because she correctly assumed that the only way she could get him to relax and do something for himself was if he thought he was doing it to help somebody else. He deserves the world.

9) Kohaku from Dr. Stone. She has an incredibly strong sense of justice, she's five foot nothing and still manages to be the group's undisputed tank, and when she heard somebody say he intended to marry her high ranking, chronically ill sister for power and then leave her to die because he didn't feel like taking care of her, she immediately tried to kill him in front of a live audience. A girl after my own heart.

10) Kaldur'ahm from Young Justice. I loved him in middle school, I love him now. I am very happy he now has a relationship with somebody who puts him first, but every time I see his boyfriend I can't help but be like 'Bro, are you SERIOUS?'

'WERE GARTH AND ROY BOTH BUSY?'

'If that's what you want, fine, but I PROMISE YOU HAVE OTHER OPTIONS-'

If you guys are up for it, I tag @sandpancakecat @grimmalkerie @oreozfox @humble-wayside-flower @alwaysatomicconniseur @kyonite @faithluvscabadre and... pretty much anyone else who wants to!