#the third one was drawn two and a half months after the first two and i feel like you can tell haha

[sadfishkid]

zzs pokemon evolution

[diejager]

Hi! In your Only Human AU what would happen if TF 141 + König and Horangi go into a something like a “rut”? Or is that possible in this universe? If it is would they ask Y/N for help? If possible can it be in the form of a Drabble🥺?

Rut Cw: rut/heat cycles, mention of sex, possessive behaviour, obsessiveness, mention of knotting, implied smut, tell me if I missed any.

Ruts were odd phenomenons, it reduced hybrids and monsters to desperate and horny men, clinging onto the person they considered their mate for relief and pleasure. Some hybrids had ruts, like canid and felid shifters or shifters in general, a monthly cycle that incapacitated them. Others were luckier, having a few ruts per year, sometimes once every few month or once a year; these could range from a dragon to a harpie or from a percht to a gorgon. There, however, were some exceptions, spectral beings and the undead were without ruts, their body long dead and able to function without it, yet they could impregnate and be impregnated as any other hybrid and monster could. They suffered from bouts of occasional arousal, little flares of pleasure when faced with a situation that turned them on or by strong emotions towards someone or something.

You were unfortunately enough to be thrown into a group of rutting hybrids - with the sole exception of Ghost - unprepared and without a forewarning on how to deal with them. You had to deal with a clingy werewolf, howling at the moon and whining in utter heartbreak because you told him off for humping your leg in the rec room, huffing and gasping down your neck. A hissing and possessive tiger, stalking you down the halls and jumping you whenever you were alone to ravage you against the wall, mouthing and nipping at your neck, making sure his scent would stick over the wolf and nagual musk. And a protective nagual, looming over you like a shadow, arm slung around your shoulder and ready to start a fight with the other shifters if they tried masking his scent.

Luckily, their ruts never overlapped, it might’ve been a fortunate coincidence, but one that you wouldn’t take for granted. You had a schedule drawn up in the first year after they accepted you into their pack, Soap’s was always after the full moon, the silver disk being the catalyst to his urge; Horangi had his in the later days of each month, oftentimes beginning on the last day of the werewolf’s rut; and Alejandro took the first week of the month, starting slowly on the third or fourth day and ramping up on the following day.

Unfortunately, you hadn’t put in consideration for the others. Price, Gaz and König also had their moments in the yearly cycle, falling victim to the throes of instinctual need. You thanked your lucky star that Gaz rutted once or twice a year - thrice on rare accounts - with little to no change in his character. He might’ve been more hands, wanting to keep a hand around your waist, to give you soft and loving kisses on your lips as much as he did on your cheek, nose and forehead.

Price and König were a handful, one hoarded you to his office and had you follow him wherever he went, and the other was deathly possessive and deep into his instincts. König was on the extreme side of his type, breaking out nearly six to seven times a year, stuck mid shift with broader shoulders, red eyes and a monstrous appearance, and he had half the mind to stay considerate to other. A danger stumbling on two feet. Price was the medium, a perfect balance with three or four ruts yearly and a the self control to let you go if the situation demanded it. Despite his self-control, he was still a dragon, controlling and possessive, ordering you to come straight back to him whether or not you were knotted to Soap or Rudy was balls deep inside of you.

Despite Rudolfo being considered a monster, he was simply a human with the ability to control cadejos, as vulnerable and as resilient as one. And being human meant that he got aroused, coaxing you into his room for the night and taking care of the heat brewing between your legs. Much like Rudy, Ghost retained his bodily function - human wise - and came back as a monster, but he was a stranger to ruts, scoffing at the neediness and vulnerability of one. That, however, never stopped him from indulging in his sexual kinks and dark fetishes, having you as the subject of his exploration if no one else hit their cycles.

They were a handful, from Soap’s mutt-like character to Rudy’s calm demeanour, they had you exhausted, wringing you dry and panting, always ending up face down or backed against the wall. You were grateful - truly - that the others would willingly jump in and take over for you, helping whoever it was spend his rut. Now, you’d have to redraw your calendar, tired and clinging to your bed to stand up.

Taglist: @craxy-person @crowbird @dead-cipher @iwannabealocalcryptid @iizx7y @mxtokko @yeetusspagheetus @capricorn-anon @perfectus-in-morte @sae1kie @yeoldedumbslut @bvxygriimes @distracteddragoness @konigsblog @havoc973 @angelcakes-22 @cassiecasluciluce @ramadiiiisme @ramblingsofachaoticthinker @ki-cant-spel @im-making-an-effort @love-dove-noora @jinxxangel13 @daisychainsinknots @0alk0msan @mul-pi @danielle143 @virginalsacrifice @beau-min @makayla-666 @urfavsunkissedleo

[ckret2]

Chapter 55 of human Bill Cipher finally having a little fun for the first time in over a month of captivity in the Mystery Shack:

Bill does his level best to teach Mabel everything he knows about everything as fast as possible (while Ford eavesdrops). In the process, he finally reveals something about his home dimension!

But not everything about his dimension.

"Did you have rainbows in Flatworld?" Mabel had started drawing her shapesona again at the bottom of a fresh piece of paper. The heart was holding out one hand with several strips of glue shooting in a beam out from the palm; Mabel started shaking glitter onto the glue strips to make them rainbow.

"Not natural ones."

"Awww!"

"We could make them with flashlights and prisms, though."

"That's something." Still, it wasn't as cool as a real rainbow. She started carefully drawing Bill floating above her shapesona. (She probably should have drawn him before she put down glitter. She had to push up her sleeve and lift her wrist to avoid smearing the glue.) "When's the first time you saw a real rainbow?"

Bill didn't answer.

Mabel glanced at him. He had a hard look in his eyes. "Bill?"

####

For the first time in his life, the triangle was up—up but not north—in space, in the third dimension, looking down but not south at the plane where he'd spent his entire existence. It shuddered and rippled and cracked, contracting, as the entire universe crunched together around him.

Great walls of pale blue flame half a googol light years wide erupted into third dimensional space, where stars were caught and crushed between the quickly collapsing cosmic tectonic plates. He hadn't known his flat universe had stars of its own.

His home world shattered and crumbled, shrapnel and rubble spraying out, stone instantly pulverized into dust. Distant oceans rode the waves of the convulsing universe, flinging billions of gallons of water into space in a fine thin spray, glittering in the sunlight.

As the triangle watched, a great flickering rainbow ring formed in front of the ejected ocean, like the hollow eye of a hostile god staring at him in judgment.

He stared back.

And he felt himself fill with more and more and more power.

####

"Bill?"

"Sorry, I was trying to remember!" Bill sat back, laced his hands behind his head, and shrugged, "It's not coming to me. But I'm sure it was after I took charge of Dimension Zero. From time to time planets with weather systems would fall in through a wormhole, I must've seen a rainbow on one of them!"

"Oh." The answer disappointed her, but she couldn't quite put her finger on why. She puzzled over it as she drew a fireball shape around Bill's hands in glue and shook on pale blue glitter.

Bill nodded at the page, "So what are we up to?"

"Fighting evil! With rainbow lasers and... whatever that magic fire thing you do is!"

"Hey, superheroes! Sounds fun. Who are we killing?"

"Superheroes don't kill people!"

"Fine. Who are we sending to the hospital with third degree burns?"

"I don't know, I haven't made up a villain yet." She almost asked Bill what kind of monsters existed in his world; but the question died in her throat. That might be too depressing a question. She added a heart-shaped glue outline around her shapesona and shook on a glitter rainbow, and set the picture aside to dry. She grabbed a fresh paper and tried to imagine what a two-dimensional butterfly would look like. Would it just have flat little stick wings since that was more aerodynamic? That sounded boring. She started drawing a two-dimensional squid instead.

Bill studied Mabel's latest finished work—the glitter-outlined heart, the glitter rainbow laser, the glitter fire, and the plain him. After a moment, he casually mentioned, "I used to wear body glitter."

She blinked at him. "What?"

"Earlier you asked me about glitter in my dimension," Bill said. "Body paint was makeup to us. I wore it when I went dancing."

"WHAT!"

"And I'd cut open glow sticks to paint my arms and legs!"

"What color glitter did you wear?!"

"Usually gold."

"What?! Bill!" Mabel laughed. "You're already yellow!"

"But I didn't glitter. That's important!"

"You're boring."

"Shut up! I was gorgeous and I knew it! Why mess with perfection?!" He gestured down at himself, perfection, as though he'd momentarily forgotten what body he was in. "Listen, club fashion gets repetitive. If you've seen one equilateral in cutesy primary color gradients, you've see 'em all. There's beauty in simplicity—not a lot of shapes can pull off a solid color with a little light highlighting and still look flashy!" He'd sat up straighter, chest puffed out proudly, as he talked about how pretty he thought he'd been. "Buuut sure, sometimes I highlighted my points for fun. And to keep from stabbing people—it's hard for other people to judge distances with strobe lights on."

"What colors."

"Usually red, blue, or purple. You know—nice contrasts with gold."

Mabel grabbed another paper and started drawing Bill dancing. He leaned closer, elbows on the table, watching with more interest now. Mabel asked, "You had clubs with strobe lights?"

"Of course we did, we aren't barbarians." Bill picked up yellow and black markers out of Mabel's supplies, leaned over to her drawing in progress, and started adding a decorative border around the nearest edge of the paper in dots and dashes.

"What kind of music did you listen to?"

"It was... It's closest to the music in— You've never been to that dimension. Well, it kind of sounds like... I'll never hit those notes with human vocal cords." He drummed his fingers on the table. "Hold on. Let me get Questiony's piano."

####

It turned out that Flatworld club music sounded kind of like a broken tornado siren.

"It doesn't sound very good on a human piano," Bill said, giving the electric piano balanced on his knees a disapproving look. "The intervals between notes are tuned wrong, it's about four octaves short, and it's missing that tympanic membrane shredding tremolo when the treble jumps."

Mabel regarded the piano with some dismay. "Do you know how to play anything else?"

Bill sighed.

He played "Don't Start Un-Believing" for her. He even did that cool thing where you drag a finger up half the keyboard at once.

####

By now, Bill seemed a lot happier to answer Mabel's questions about his world; but she quickly worked out which ones he'd actually give a direct answer. He was the most free with science-y questions, hit or miss on the fun cultural questions, and instantly evasive when asked about his own life or uncomfortable political issues.

When she asked if shapes and their houses just kinda floated unattached to anything because they didn't have a home planet, Bill said they did have a home planet—hundreds of miles below, marking south by its gravitational pull—and they lived in the sky in between their planet and its rings. When she asked what kind of clothing they wore, Bill said they usually didn't wear anything, unless it was for practical purposes (gloves for gardening; goggles for chemistry; elbow-, knee-, and corner-pads for spelunking), and when she asked about his top hat he said slyly, "You mean my telescope?" and gleefully refused to explain further.

But when she asked if it was true that equilateral triangles were the lowest rung you could stand on before getting knocked off the social ladder altogether, Bill said that was a pretty rude question to ask a triangle. And then he said his world didn't have ladders.

When he casually let slip that he'd been able to see the third dimension when nobody else could, she asked how that was possible. He'd paused, looked up from his seventh completely incomprehensible drawing of an animal (she'd asked him whether Flatworlders had pets), and, with an eager gleam in his eye, he asked, "How much time do you have?"

####

Ford heard Bill's voice the moment he opened the door—"All right, star girl, pop quiz, let's see how much of that you kept in your noggin."

"Oh, I'm so ready!"

Baffled, Ford leaned in the living room doorway. The room was absolutely plastered in crayon-covered papers—illustrations, lists, mathematical and scientific diagrams—stars, cells, planets, vehicles. At the moment Bill was pointing at six papers taped together with a diagram on them that Ford thought was a Punnett square that had been expanded into a four-dimensional tessaract. "A polygon's sides are determined by...?"

"Genetic inheritance!" Mabel announced, the proud student who knew all the answers. "You have however many sides your parents have genes for!"

"And the idea that polygons increase by one side each generation...?"

"Is propaganda! Because if everybody hides their kids without enough sides, and they only talk about the kids that did go up a side, it makes everyone think that's what always happens and their family is the only one that's failing!"

"Perfect! And the highest natural amount of sides a shape can have?"

"Twelve! Decadoggins!"

"Close enough, dodecagons! But this isn't Greek class, I'll give you full points. So, any shapes with more sides than that got them through—?"

"Random mutation!"

"Correctamundo! Meaning the only way to get shapes with hundreds of sides is..."

"Crazy bonkers inbreeding! Because the same rich families just keep marrying each other!"

"With consequences including—?"

"Um..." Mabel puffed out her cheeks as she thought. "Skeletons getting all crackly, having a hard time making babies, and high—uh—infant morality!"

"Mortality."

"Lots of dead babies."

"Yes! And remember: when a mutation makes a body produce so much more of something than it needs that it starts harming the body, that's called...?"

"Cancer!"

"Meaning circles are...?"

"Tumors!"

"And what do we do with tumors?"

"EXECUTE THEM!"

"YES!" Bill ripped the Punnett tesseract off the wall. Behind it was a piece of paper that read, in blood red crayon, ANTI-MONARCHIST ANARCISM. "You're ready to man the guillotines! A+, star girl! Give yourself another sticker!"

"Yes!" Mabel peeled a sparkly purple star off a sticker sheet and stuck it on her cheek. Her face had over twenty star stickers.

Ford leaned against the living room doorframe, watching the scene inside with wonder. He was more than a little iffy about the political lesson—he, personally, was incredibly opposed to the idea that it was morally imperative to execute anybody with extra body parts, nobility or not—but the presentation of it was certainly captivating. It had been a long time since Ford had seen Bill like this. (It had been a long time since Ford would have trusted any lesson out of Bill's mouth.)

"Now let's get back to biangles." Bill picked up a fake crystal ball that he'd drawn various lines and shapes on with a marker.

"Awww, again?!"

"Hey. Listen," he said firmly. "I believe in you. You'll get it this time, I know it."

Ford looked around the room, taking in the scene more fully. The floor was scattered with drawings of aliens. A few of them were various polygons—regular and irregular, with the irregularities further broken down by whether they otherwise showed radial or lateral symmetry—each with thin limbs and an eye on a corner. Most were fantastical alien animals, a few that Ford had seen or been warned about on other worlds. Some had been scribbled out and redrawn when Bill's limited artistic capabilities didn't live up to his unknown standards; a few were in Mabel's art style, meaning Bill must have described them to her while she drew.

Twenty pieces of paper had been taped together on the wall behind the TV, with a drawing of a planet surrounded by a circular ring of small blobs—a planetary ring?—and a moon further out. The empty atmosphere between the planet and the ring was filled with squares and rectangles, which were grouped together in red blobby circles that were each labeled by letter: "Country △," "Country B," "Country C," "Country D (communists)," etc. A badly-drawn sea serpent slithered along the outside of the ring with the words "Here There Be Monsters" written over it.

A tall column of taped together papers was covered in examples of alien writing systems—some of them Ford recognized from his travels through other dimensions. From the ones he understood, it looked like the words were demonstrations of Mabel's name in dozens of alien writing systems. Sometimes Bill spelled her name Maybell or Mabelle.

And there were so many papers scattered around the room with little graphs and symbols and arrows Ford couldn't make sense of. And in the center of it all, Bill, alive, energetic, his full attention enthusiastically focused on his student.

Bill had to be up to something; but Ford couldn't imagine what, based on the bizarre assemblage of information in front of him. What nefarious purpose could be behind showing Mabel how to spell her name in alien languages? Unless his goal was to so enchant her with tales of other worlds that he could persuade her to help him open a new portal...? No, even for Bill that felt like a stretch. 

He looked at the wall again. Surely, that wasn't Bill's homeworld. Ford had spent years of his life trying to find the world Bill was from; surely Bill hadn't just drawn it in the middle of Ford's living room. Had he?

"Okay, let's start with spherical geometry from the top," Bill said, polishing the crystal ball on his leggings to rub off the marker lines. "Don't tell anyone I can do this." He held up the ball, tapped it twice on the bottom, and it hovered in place when he let it go, freeing up both his hands to hold a ruler and marker. (How long had he been able to do that? Had he even noticed Ford was standing right outside?) He drew a line across the surface of the ball, "Pretend it's a planet. If you draw a line on a sphere, it's obviously curved, right?"

"Right," Mabel said.

"But now pretend you're on the planet. The surface of the world is a flat plane to you. From your perspective, you can walk in a straight line from point A to point B."

"But it's actually a curve. From space."

"Now you're catching on. That's what makes spherical geometry a little weird: when you're on the sphere you treat everything around you like it's 2D even though when you're off the sphere you can see it's 3D." Why in the world was Bill teaching Mabel about spherical geometry?

Bill drew two more lines to connect to the first. "So! You can draw a triangle on a sphere, no problem, right?"

"Right."

"And something you can only do in spherical geometry... is... pretend this is the North Pole and the South Pole..." Bill carefully rotated the ball under his marker as he drew a straight line from one "pole" to the other, and then drew a second straight line from pole to pole next to it. "Ta-da! If a tri-angle has three angles, a bi-angle has two angles. You've got yourself a two-sided polygon. Right?"

Mabel hesitated. "Right."

"You with me so far, Shooting Star?"

"So far," she said, with a tone that suggested she expected that to change very soon.

"But if you try to transfer that shape from spherical geometry to Euclidean geometry—" Bill turned to an expanse of still partially-uncovered white papers taped to the wall like a makeshift whiteboard, drew two points, and drew two straight lines, red and blue, between the points, "—it just doesn't work. You can't see a biangle in a flat world."

And now Mabel was squinting suspiciously at him.

Bill said, "I lost you."

"But where does it go!"

Bill shrugged. "You lost it when you lost the third dimension."

"But you said when you're on the sphere it's two dimensional!"

"From your perspective it's two dimensional, but there's still a third dimension enabling the sphere to exist."

"Then from my perspective when I'm on the planet shouldn't a biangle look like that?" Mabel pointed at the two straight lines on the piece of paper. "Since everything looks all 2D to me? But it doesn't! It's like flying from the North Pole to the South Pole through America and then flying back through China! China and America don't just squish together into the same place just because you're going in a straight line on a sphere!"

"I'd kill to hear you give a geography lesson to a Flat Earther convention."

Mabel gave him her best angry scowl.

"It was a compliment! I think you'd inspire some hilarious arguments, that's all!" Bill put two dots on the paper and offered Mabel the marker. "Look, try it for yourself! Draw a biangle."

Mabel took the marker and, after a moment of thought, drew two curved lines between the points, making a football shape.

"Those aren't straight lines, kid."

"Argh!" Mabel pulled the paper off the wallpaper, bent it into a curve, and shakily drew a straight line between the two points; but no matter how else she twisted or bent the paper, she couldn't find a path that would let her draw a second straight line between the points without overlapping the first line she'd drawn. She crumpled the paper, tossed it on the floor, and whispered, "It's witchcraft, Bill."

He burst out laughing. "I could name a few horror writers that felt the same way about non-Euclidean geometry."

"But whyyy does the biangle disappear when it goes from a sphere to normal flat paper."

"Because..." Bill groped for an explanation he hadn't already tried. He crossed an arm across his chest and tapped a knuckle just under the bow tied in his hoodie's draw strings the way some humans might tap a hand to their chin, his eyes narrowed in thought. How many times had Ford seen him make that exact same face in his true triangular form, whenever Ford was struggling to understand a lesson on portal physics and Bill was struggling to find a way to translate it into concepts Ford had encountered in his human education? "Let's try this another way."

The scene made Ford ache.

Look past the paper and the crayons, and the graph- and figure- and writing-covered walls looked so much like the advanced physics lessons and blueprints that Bill had coated Ford's starry blue dreamscape in during his sleep. Look past the flesh and bone, and Bill moved and gestured and spoke the way he had when he was teaching Ford how to build a bridge between worlds.

It was the first time since Bill's death that Ford had seen 100% of his personality shining—unhindered by grief, secrets, or a disdainful human audience. It was the first time in decades that Ford had seen Bill at his best.

In that moment, for a split second, Ford forgot how to hate Bill. He couldn't see Bill the traitor, Bill the invader, Bill the homicidal party animal. The only person in that room with Mabel was Bill Cipher the Teacher, Mentor, and Muse that Ford used to know so long ago. Like an ancient god who'd chosen to spend a day roleplaying as a giddy professor—Bill was holding back a tsunami's worth of vast, ancient, unintelligible alien knowledge so that he could drip out revelations at a faucet's pace, slow enough for his student to catch each drop in her hands.

Over thirty years ago, there had been moments when this Bill peeked out behind the above-it-all façade—and that had been the Bill that Ford was happiest to see, the Bill that Ford had thought of as a friend rather than a mere teacher... but each time, it hadn't been long before Bill seemly caught himself and turned off the faucet for the night.

Because he couldn't let Ford learn too much, or he would have seen through Bill's ruse.

Hatred tiredly crept back in.

"I've got it!" Mabel triumphantly flung her hands in the air. "It's like orange slices!"

"Orange slices?" Bill repeated.

"Be right back!" Mabel zoomed to the kitchen, shouting, "Hi Grunkle Ford!" as she passed.

Ford watched her go, then looked back at Bill; Bill had glanced at him for the first time. But all he did was frown and mutter, "I don't remember inviting you to audit this course."

Before Ford could decide whether to retort, Mabel charged back into the living room with an orange and a sharp knife. "Okay! If you draw a triangle on the orange," Mabel said, doing so with a marker, before cutting into it with the knife, "and then you—you cut it out all the way to the center..."

"Be careful with that," Ford said. Mabel was holding the orange in one palm and stabbing into it from the opposite side.

Bill said, "Lay off, Six Fingers. I'm keeping my eye on her, she's not gonna hurt herself."

"I'm being careful!" Mabel was struggling to get an even wedge cut all the way to the center of the orange; she eventually gave up and  dug into the orange with her fingertips to tug out a messy mangled handful of fruit, attached to a roughly equilateral patch of orange peel about two inches to each side. She shook orange juice off her fingers. "Pretend I cut that out better."

"I dunno what you're talking about," Bill said. "It looks flawless."

She pointed at each corner of the peel triangle. "Okay so, these are the three corners of the spherical triangle, right?"

"Right."

"And if you want to make a regular flat triangle, you can... try to cut a straight line between the corners, like..." She squeezed the rest of the orange between her knees, held the edges of the triangular peel with her fingertips, and sawed off the orange pulp underneath, trying to cut a flat level plane as near to the triangle's corners as she could. Ford almost warned Mabel about the knife again, but glanced at Bill's face and his expression of unworried, keen curiosity, and kept quiet. Bill reached out and caught the sawed-off chunk of orange pulp before it hit the ground.

Mabel held out the peel slice. "There! Right? Spherical triangle on top and flat triangle on the bottom!"

Bill considered that, one hand on his hip. He popped the orange chunk in his mouth. "All right. So far so good."

"But if you make a biangle..." Mabel drew two lines between the top and bottom of the remaining orange, and cut a wedge free. "There isn't anything extra to cut off to let you make a flat shape. There's just a straight line between the two points!"

"Ha! Okay, all right, that works! Brilliant! What do you need me for? You just taught yourself the whole lesson!" Bill ruffled her hair so enthusiastically that he knocked her headband askew.

She shoved him away, laughing, and straightened out her headband. "Bill!"

"What did I say! Didn't I tell you you'd get it?" Bill was beaming at her, impressed, delighted, proud. "Congratulations, you've just mastered college-level geometry."

"Wh—What? Are you serious? This is college stuff?" She shook her head. "No way, you're lying."

Bill pointed at Ford without looking at him. "Tell her."

He felt a little like a dog being commanded to bark; but he said, "He's right. I didn't start studying spherical geometry until my second semester in college." He was sure he could have studied it sooner, if his high school had offered it; and he doubted Mabel had absorbed an entire semester's worth of spherical geometry; but he didn't see any reason to point any of that out when Mabel's face lit up in excitement.

Bill said, "There you have it! Way to go, star girl! Two big stickers."

"YES!" Mabel peeled off two jumbo-sized star stickers with smiley faces and stuck them onto her earrings. "So does that make a biangle a girl or a boy?"

And Ford was immediately lost again.

"No," Bill said.

Mabel sighed loudly and tried again. "Does that make a biangle a line or a polygon?"

"Still no, but for a different reason. Externally, they look like lines to anyone who isn't psychic. Internally, their anatomy usually functions like a polygon's. But socially, you've gotta ask. Some of 'em consider themselves lines, some polygons, some claim biangularity is neither linear nor polygonal. Personally, I say they're whatever they say they are. Because," he said grandly, "I'm just that open-minded and accepting."

Ford stifled a derisive snort. But Bill's self-aggrandizing aside, Ford's mind was reeling trying to keep up—spherical geometry, the (gendered?) socialization of shapes, Flatworlder anatomy—what did psychics have to do with anything? Ford's fingers itched for a pen. He wished he had his journal with him.

Bill grabbed several papers off the floor and the floating crystal ball and climbed on top of the wooden TV cabinet. He left the ball hovering behind him seven feet up in the air, tossed aside several papers he'd already used both sides of to let them flutter back to the floor, and taped the rest to the wall with their blank backsides turned out. "Now back to remote viewing." He drew a grid in blue lines on the papers, said, "Toss me that triangle wedge," used a marker to draw an eye on the triangular orange peel, tapped it twice like he had the crystal ball, and stuck it against the grid, where it sat unmoving.

And the entire time, Ford watched with his arms crossed tightly.

Almost a month ago, Bill had given Ford his manipulative trap of a birthday gift, a miniature grimoire, five pieces of paper, margins filled, two rows of text per line, packed with as diverse an array of magical spells and occult knowledge as Bill could fit. It wasn't a gift, it was a boast and a taunt: look at everything I know that you don't; look at what I could teach you if you let me live. 

It was something Bill could have given him all along—effortlessly, with no cost to himself—but didn't, until Bill wanted something from him. 

On his birthday, Ford had wondered, furiously: when this was what Bill could have been—gift-giver, wish-granter, teacher, guide, friend—why did he choose not to be?! It was an internal scream of rage, the howl of a wounded victim at the condemned criminal as he was marched to the gallows: you monster, you monster, you monster, when it would have been so easy for you to be something better, why instead are you a liar, manipulator, torturer, murderer, life-ruiner, world-ender? Answer for yourself: why are you this instead of someone better? How dare you?

It had made Ford want him dead even more.

This was the exact opposite of the grimoire.

The question in Ford's head wasn't a scream of rage anymore. It was grief. It was a plea. It was one last desperate attempt to understand:

Instead of being who he was, why couldn't Bill have been this person? This charismatic, energetic, ecstatic muse who ruled like a king over a classroom he'd constructed himself, eager to share a trillion years of collected wisdom with a fragile mortal mind, lighting up with joy whenever she grasped something that was trivially simple to him? This guide to the vast wonders beyond Earth, competent and encouraging and funny, delighting in the weirdness of the wide wide universe? The Bill that Ford had once liked so much—the Bill that he'd called his friend?

"Okay," Bill said, all sunshine and excitement, "Back to how to view the third dimension from the second dimension—"

Mabel said, "Can you view the fourth dimension from the third?"

Bill hesitated a split second, but said, "Sure! You can view any dimension from any dimension! You've just gotta bend your eye the right way to see higher ones!"

"What does the fourth dimension look like?"

"Well—hm. Imagine the way that the third dimension looks different from the second, and that's the way the fourth dimension looks different from the third."

Mabel stared at Bill.

"Eddie wrote an entire book about a square meeting a sphere because that was the closest he could get to telling other humans what seeing the fourth dimension is like! If I could still visit dreams, I could just show you, but..."

"Isn't the fourth dimension time? Blendo showed us the time stream! Is that what it looks like?"

"Nnn—close! You're close. The fourth dimension isn't time, but time is in the fourth dimension."

"How's that different."

Bill pointed at the floor. "If the carpet's the second dimension and the lamp's shining on it, the third dimension isn't light, but light is in the third dimension."

"Ohhh." Mabel gasped. "That's why you called some weird thing flying around in a higher dimension an eclipse! Because eclipses were in a higher dimension in Flatworld!"

Bill's face lit up in surprised delight. "All right, skip three lessons ahead, why don't you! In a week's time you'll be teaching people how my dimension works." He turned back to his papers and started drawing a branching river. "So! That time stream you saw isn't time itself! It's a visual metaphor being generated so humans can see time too—sort of a hologram projecting from the fourth dimension into the third—have I explained that the universe is a hologram yet—"

Why weren't you this person, Ford wondered. Why did you choose not to be this person? When it was so easy for you to be this? When this made you happy, too?

Why couldn't you have been this person?

Why are you only like this now, when you're about to die?

####

(Hope y'all enjoyed Infodump: The Chapter. This is one of those chapters with something hidden in it that'll unravel the whole fic if you happen to find it, so have fun searching for that. Let me know what you thought of this week's chapter! And get excited—we've got Big Things coming up... soon.)

[mitamicah]

Are You? Uno Reverse Card. Hockey Jerseys? How many more things will these two change the meaning of for me x'D!?

This artwork is drawn to celebrate that after months of dreaming and hoping beyong belief the 'Are You' tattoo saga has concluded with me getting both Bojan and Jere's handwriting (featured in the art as well) inked permanently on my art August 13 2024 😱😭💚💙

For the curious I'll post the full timeline of the saga below the line :3

May 7 2023; Two idiots go out together during the preshow days of Eurovision 2023. Their banter birth this iconic phrase

May-October 2023; Saying Are You in the right cadence (after this called to ‘are you’/’are you-ing’) becomes one of my favourite vocal stims

October-November 2023; The idea of an Are You tattoo is born in my mind.

November 28 2023; Joker Out announces their upcoming Europe tour.

December 1 2023: I buy Early Access tickets to Joker Out’s Malmø gig naively thinking it includes Meet and Greet (and that it would be the only show I attend – I end up going to four in total). Mentally planning to ask Bojan to contribute to the tattoo.

January-February 2024; I realize MnG is not included in the ticket- changes plans to make a sign for the show.

March 15 2024; Bojan sees my sign at the soundcheck of the Malmø gig and agrees to it within half a sentence (ends up writing it twice).  Afterwards I’m lucky enough to hug and thank him. Plus, we Are You together for what seems like minutes.

March-April 2024; I make a few concept art for the tattoo using both Bojan’s sentences that I share on social media. A friend (hi @feral4kaarijasquat) suggests trying to get Jere involved.

Story 5 - March 22 2024; I get a tattoo to memorize following Joker Out around in march. I end up half promising the tattoo artist that she can work on my Are You tattoo as well when/if I manage to get Jere’s attention.

May 4 2024; I take a sign with me to the Käärijä Böle Arena shows yet despite being on the second and third row I fail to get his attention.

Spring-summer 2024; Käärijä announces upcoming Europe tour where I buy ticket for Hamburg. After the disappointing and stressful experience at Böle I decide to put my tattoo hunting on hold for the summer.

July 3 2024; Gets first row to Käärijä’s homegig at Ravintola Backas, Vantaa. Jere sees and acknowledge me twice, including Are you-ing me. (This is important because it showed me that getting his attention was possible).

July 5 2024; Makes spontaneous sign out of half a pizza lid to bring to Käärijä’s Allas Sea Pool gig. Two songs into the setlist Jere Are You the crowd, then sees the sign (I’d put in the air that second) and jokingly half-agrees to write it on my ass. With the help of a wonderful finn I go home with Jere’s handwriting after that concert (also waves at Jere by the fence outside of the venue).

July-August 2024; I put together the finished concept art and contact the tattoo artist. I’d asked for a possible appointment on September 20 (if you know, you know) but she is unable to make it.

August 13 2024; I am contacted by the tattoo artist about a spontaneous appointment – within two hours after our first message I have gotten the tattoo.

[harrysmimi]

Harry From Bar

Synopsis: One where YN is conflicted but Harry is there to support her.

Ps. Mentions of abortion and religion pls do not read if this is smth bothers you. And if you are planning to read it, keep an open mind and spread no hate. This is just a work of fiction and NOT real life.

More of my work

YN was sat on her bed in complete and utter and disbelief with her head in the palms of her hand. It is horrible.

"YN!" Her friend, Brielle yelled from her bathroom. "Who's is it? Do you even know?"

"Of course I do, I do not sleep around!" YN defended herself, crying like a baby.

Look, don't take her too seriously. YN doesn't judge other people and their life choices or even let other people do the same in front of her, but she is certainly not the one who would be going out of her way to do the same. She was completely sober when she slept with this guy (so was he) she met at the bar and had a nice two hour chat with. One can say, she let her intrusive thoughts win that day. They very carefully used protection during the entire time.

She quite took on a liking on him. He was charming, adorable and caring most importantly. It is something she was drawn towards. They even exchanged their numbers before she left his place, he texted her to make sure she reach home safely.

His last text read: Perhaps we can meet again?

And her reply was a simple yes to which he reacted with a red heart. And was the end of it. Yes she went down into spiral of the weird betrayed feeling for the first time from someone who she started to grow immediate romantic feelings for. It went on for about a month, she couldn't bring herself to text him. Now this is the third month.

You see YN missed her period for the second time and it did not take her long enough to put two and two together before she was calling her best friend over. This is something serious and had her going down yet another spiral that she had to take two days off work. That isn't like her at all, she loves her job and she hardly ever takes a day off from work. The entire point of her moving to a completely different country was her work.

"Then who is he?" Brielle asked, pulling YN back down to earth.

"The guy I met at the bar three months ago." YN let out a sigh and quickly added, "I haven't dared to sleep with anyone else, before you say anything!"

"Oh okay!" Brielle sighed, "do you want to keep it?"

"I, I, I honestly don't know." YN shrugged, "I mean I am certainly not ready for it and my grandfather and dad and brother will have me buried alive if they find out."

"Who cares about them!" Her friend sighed again and sat down next to her, "it's your body, do whatever the fuck you want to!"

"I know Brielle, but..." YN stopped herself, "I need to talk to him. But I don't know if I should call him or text him."

"Duh! Call him over!"

"I am scared, what if he thinks I am just to trap him? I quite liked him, we were going to see each other again soon but it never happened." And it started, YN cried her eyes out for next hour and half.

It's not a challenge for her to bring a human into the world and raise it, she is definitely financially capable of that, but she is not mentally or emotionally capable to do so. She still has so much to grow in her life and having a baby was further down her list of priorities, most probably after marriage.

Truth is, YN had been sulking around for about a week think the same and a pink plastic stick just brought her fears into reality for her. She's been contemplating her entire life since then.

"He is not going to think that." Brielle assured her friend, "if he does, we're going to kick him to the curb where he belongs and move on."

"It's not that easy." YN shook her head still sniffling on her tears. "I, I, I am going to text him, I can't talk right now."

"Okay, let's do it." Brielle urged her and YN finally texted the guy. Just by the start of the morning three days later she got a reply back.

Harry from Bar

- Hi, this is not Harry.

- I am Jasmine

- This number doesn't belong to him anymore I recently got this :)

That made her heart drop to her stomach. And she was all alone. Her best friend had gone home. It was luckily a Sunday for her and she had to go grocery shopping, even though she didn't wanted to she's still got to eat. She still got her reusable bag and drove to the grocery store.

She has been asking her pregnant cousin what she can eat and can't eat indirectly because she has no idea what to do.

It's just so confusing!

She picked out mostly junk food which she found appetising, which contained chips, ice cream, bread and butter and some other healthier options too. Lately she has been too exhausted to even cook herself meals for the whole day.

Just as YN was loading her bags in the back seat of her car she saw the guy from the bar walking into store with a girl. He had his arm around her shoulder. Now YN knew who it was, the girl was his sister. He'd shown her the pictures when he was sharing his weekend's experience with her that night.

Just as she was about done he saw her and approached her excusing himself from his sister. Luckily she had her sun glasses on to hide her swollen eyes from crying so much. Though her red cheeks and nose would be pretty evident.

"Hey, YN!" He chirped.

"Hi." She smiled shutting her car door.

"Haven't seen you in a long time." He started, "actually, let me rephrase that I wasn't in town for a few months so couldn't get back to you."

"Oh, I, I texted you yesterday." She started, still sniffling from her tears from three hours ago. "You changed your number."

"Oh, yeah." He smiled sheepishly, "I lost my phone and we couldn't find it. They gave me a new number, also lost all of my contacts. You sound sick, you alright love?"

"Yeah, I, uhhhhh, I actually wanted to talk to you about something."

"Yeah, what is it?" Now she had his undivided attention, which intimidated her even more to approach the conversation.

"Not, not here please. Can we like go somewhere private?" She could hear her heart thump in her ears.

"Okay, you wanna go to mine?" He asked.

"I, I have groceries in my car. It's not that urgent anyway." Harry could tell it is indeed something urgent and she is making excuses.

"Then we can go to yours." He announced, "I will tell my sister she can take my car, we can go to your place and talk."

YN just nodded in agreement. He just walked over to his sister for a minute meanwhile YN got herself a few seconds to gather herself up. She's been going through a shit ton of emotional turmoil and, balancing a very demanding job with very little food and nutrition was never a challenge for her but with a growing fetus inside in a different story. Her lifestyle works for her, but it is not working while she is clearly pregnant. She knew she shouldn't have gotten that ultrasound there it's fucked her up emotionally even more.

"Okay shall we go?" Harry came back to her.

"Mhmm." She nodded. She some how managed to drive to her place and Harry carried all her groceries upto her flat for her. "You want water? Or tea, or coffee?"

"Water is fine, thank you." He nodded.

"Please, have a seat." She insisted as she reached for a glass. He watched her as he sat on the bar stool behind the kitchen counter. The flat with a loft bedroom was small yet incredibly lavish and luxurious looking, maybe it's the way she has it all set up. He also noticed she haven't taken off her sunglasses yet. She sat the glass of water in front of him and walked around the country. "I will be back, just a second." She went into her bedroom upstairs and came back down with a with a blue folder and without her sunglasses.

"You alright YN?" He asked, now clearly worried seeing her red puffy eyes.

"I don't know how to tell you," her voice cracked as she tried not to cry but her eyes were pooled up with tears.

"Hey, what happened?" He was quick to get off his seat and go hug her the first thing. "It's okay. It's okay, I promise!" She wrapped her arms around him. "You can tell me, that's okay." He caressed the back of her head as she had her face buried in his white shirt.

"I, I, I am pregnant and I don't know what to do!" She cried out in muffles, "it's yours I promise!"

"Hey, hey, hey I want you to take in a deep breath for me, okay?" He guided her through the breathing exercise to get her to calm down a little. She just looked at him with guilt and hope in her eyes, "look, I trust you. Look at you, you've gone all pale come and sit on the sofa." He walked her to the sofa quickly fetched her a glass of water. "You need time to gather yourself?" To which she nodded.

Harry sat there in silence. Well, this wasn't the first time for him to go through a scare like. Certainly his past girlfriends went through similar situations but all of those have turned out to be negative, this time it turned out to be positive with a girl he knew only for two hours.

Well, he was quite smitten by her. And to be honest he really couldn't stop thinking about all these months, if it weren't for his phone getting lost he would have asked her out. He even visited the same bar a couple of time hoping to see her there, but he didn't and he eventually had to go on the tour in America. He'd nust gotten back home a two days ago and now he's gotten the news that he could potentially be a dad now.

But, whatever YN wishes to do. She seems very conflicted to him. If she choses to not keep it, he'd support her. If she choses to keep it, he'd support her anyway and step up to be a present dad regardless of where his relation with her leads.

They both sat there for what seemed like to be hours but in reality it's just been ten minutes. "Can you please fetch that folder?"

"Yeah." Harry quickly got up and brought her the blue folder, from which she took out a few reports.

"Got these pictures yesterday when I went for the appointment." She showed him the grainy ultrasound pictures, a seahorse looking silhouette was the cutest thing ever, it took his breath away.

"Oh, I see them!" He whispered, pointing his finger to the obvious human fetus silhouette. His eyes pooled up with tears.

"Yeah." She nodded and they both sat in silence again, or at least Harry could feel his heart thumping in his ears.

"Oh my god!" He took in a deep breath to face the conversation, "you want to keep it?"

"I don't know." She looked down at her hands in her lap, "I don't know honestly. But if you don't want to have to do anything with this matter, I understand."

"Don't say that." He moved closer to her carefully, "I want to be there to support you, no matter what your decision is. At the end of the day it's your body you're going to house a human for nine months in."

"Do you want it?" She asked, "don't give me a diplomatic answer please."

"I do want a baby, I want to be a dad one day or other, yeah. I think I'd want this little one." He admitted after yet another silent pause from him. "I don't want you to base your decision on what I want YN."

"I know." She nodded, "I know I will be a bad mother, I am not emotional there to be a parent plus I'd have to deal with my family for getting pregnant like this. But I don't want to get rid of it, I know this will sound stupid but I don't think that's the right thing to do with an innocent life. I don't want to kill it."

"It's not stupid, your feelings are valid." He took her hand in his into a gentle hold, "if you don't feel ready for it, I say don't do it. Even though you'd have plenty of time to prepare, but if you really think you can't, then you shouldn't have to."

"You are not helping." She started sobbing again.

"Hey, can I hug you?" He asked carefully approaching her to which she responded with just curling up next to him, he wrapped his arms around her. "What do you want now? And be honest with me, please."

"I want to focus on my career." She shared, "it sounds mean, but I am really not ready. It's going to be a big conflict as well because I am not married I just don't know what to do!"

"Hey, first off all, your feelings are not stupid." Harry corrected her, "you don't want the baby?"

"I don't know, but I know if I have this baby I won't be able to be there for him or her. I am not ready!" She sobbed again.

"Hey look, you don't have to." He announced, "you want me to go with you?"

"You will?"

"Of course, I would!" He squeezed her in his arms gently, "look you shouldn't feel guilty for putting yourself first. It's very important you that, yes it is difficult to make these kind of decisions. But put yourself first."

"Okay." She nodded, now slowly pulling away from him not wanting to make things awkward. "Did the condom really broke?"

"You want me to be honest?" He asked with a guilty look on his red face, she nodded, "I don't know honestly, got in bed immediately after we cleaned up. I swear I would have told you."

"I trust you." And to be fair she does, the man was asking for consent at every little thing. She was also fully present in the moment.

"Did you eat something?" He asked just to get a nod of her head in answer in disagreement, "you want me to make you something? Did you get pasta?"

"Yeah." She sniffled.

"I'll go make you some pasta." He placed a delicate kiss on her head before he was off to kitchen.

"Wait, you can cook?"

"That's sounds surprising doesn't it?" He chuckled, "well, turns out I can't keep a cook as I travel so much so had to learn to cook for myself." She just gave him a small smile.

In no time Harry was done with some delicious pasta, he plated up two plates and brought them back to the sofa just to run back and get water. YN honestly did not feel like eating but she felt too guilty to let all of his hard work go to waste. It was pretty good actually, she liked it.

"I, I, will make an appointment for Tuesday then." She spoke breaking the silence between the cutlery clinking on the ceramic plates.

"Sure!" He agreed, "I will give you my new number you can text me, I will come and pick you up."

"Mhmmm." She nodded again.

That was about it for the afternoon. Harry did gave her his new number and promised not to loose it or have it saved somewhere so if he looses it he can reach out to her this time.

......................................................................

Tuesday rolled around and Harry was anxiously waiting for YN's text. It was way too early in the morning, but he was still ready for her text whenever she is.

To be honest, Harry really never got over the fact he still wants to see where things would go with YN if they both gave it a chance. He is just not so sure about how she would take it now given the situations. He is really smitten by her, so much, he will admit it shamelessly. He still finds himself grinning like an idiot when he thinks about their first interaction.

How she thought he was his own doppelganger, how she mocked him for solid fifteen minutes with an untouched wine glass in her hand. In her opinion she'd rather spend four pounds on the cheapest glass of wine even if she doesn't drink to keep the creepy men away from her.

She talked to him, apparently he wasn't being creepy and did not ask to buy her a drink. And most probably because she was having so much fun mocking him and laughing. He still doesn't know how that night happened honestly. It was blissful.

To pull him out of his day dreaming his phone started ringing, it was of course YN.

"Hello love, good morning!" He said as he answered the call, sounding way too excited.

"Hey, good morning." Her morning did not sound so good, "I called in the clinic yesterday after work they said they couldn't fit me in, and I like already took next three days off. Do, do you think you can me out here? Now I know I should have called them earlier but I had to run in early for work, there was this important thing I had to get to which I had been putting off..."

"Hey, look you don't have to explain yourself." He assured her, "let me make a few calls and we'll take care of it okay?"

"Okay." He let out a sigh, "please call me back, I'll call my friend too."

"I promise, will call you back. Give me half an hour." He reassured her again before the call was ended.

He called in his manager, and the hardest calls to make were to his mum and sister. He needed their opinions okay. He doesn't know if either of them have been into this situation but he hoped they could help. His sister told him about her friend who is a doctor at this private clinic, who she had referred her other friends too. Luckily both, his mum and sister were so nice and cool about it. To ease his nerves, it was good. Amazing actually!

He had called in the clinic and they actually had few slots open for an appointment, he made sure with YN first before booking one. Rest assure he wasn't ready for the questions she bombarded him with when he went to pick her up. The clinic wasn't so far away from her place actually.

Harry spent his entire Sunday night and all Monday researching about the pregnancy and everything which came with it. And everything about the abortion.

"Harry, it is a private clinic, I really can't afford it. Do you think they'll charge to cancel the appointment?" She panicked when he told the name of the clinic.

"Don't worry about it, we'll take of it."

"No, no, nope! I really can't afford it." She started to get stressed.

Actually she had spent more at hospital these past few weeks than she had her entire life. She had to actually dip into her savings which she was going to use to buy the flat she is living in. Maybe in a couple more years, or at least before he lease ends as her landlord was really looking to sell the property. And it was eating at her that a huge chunk of her savings went to something she could so surely avoided from happening.

"Let's just go in okay, let's just see what they say first." He parked his car and got out to get the door for her. YN was clearly nervous the whole time.

She had gone in for the procedure alone actually, she could apparently go home by the evening they said. If things seem good, or they'd have to keep her in for the night. Which none of them were prepared for. Harry had to wait outside for about an hour before he was told he could see her in the recovery room.

"Hey love, you doing alright?" He asked as he carefully entered the room. A nurse was checking up on her there.

"She is a bit drowsy, let her sleep if she wants to." The nurse informed, "she is doing well, you can probably take her home by evening." He smiled at Harry before he was out.

"Thank you." Harry acknowledged the nurse and carefully sat beside YN on the edge of her bed.

"You are blurry." She shared.

"You are under a lot of meds right now love." He shared, "you want to take a nap?"

"Mhmm." She nodded, "I, I want to lay on my side but I can't move."

"You want me to help you?" He offered already helping her to lie on her side, well, she did it on her own anyway, "is it better now?"

"Yeah."

"I'll wait here for you, okay?"

"Thanks." Her eyes were already closed shut.

Harry sat right next to her for next three hours as she took a much needed nap. He found some old magazine to keep himself occupied, he read almost every little gossip and random facts column. He got to know ketchup was once used at medicine and shrimp's heart is in it's brain. Totally weird as fuck!

None the less YN was up in a couple of hours. She was doing well.

"Hi!" He greeted her as he placed the magazine down.

"Hi." She smiled back.

"How are you feeling now?" He asked watching her carefully, her forehead was all sweaty.

"I am warm, I don't know." She yawned.

"Want me to turn up the AC?" He asked to which she nodded in yes, he did so after he found the remote, "you need a minute or do you want me to call a nurse?"

"I don't want to see anyone right now, there were like five people there." She shared.

"Mhmm, do you need something?"

"Nope, I am good, thank you!" She smiled again now lying on her back.

"You did so great, the nurse said you can be discharged by evening hopefully." He shared, "what do you want for dinner, it's my treat."

"Oh, can we get burgers? I am really craving those I don't why!" She chuckled weakly making him grin showing off his dimples.

"Sure, anything you want, love." He carefully leaned down to press a kiss on her forehead. It felt natural in the moment but he felt awkward real quick. "Hey, can I ask you something real quick? I don't know, it might be a bit of a wrong time to do so."

"What is it?" She let her hed relax more into her pillow, still teensy bit drowsy from the medications but technically sober and in her consensus. Harry took a hold of her hand, the pad of his thumb rubbing over her knuckles.

"How, how about after you're feeling better and have rested well enough, we, we— I mean you and I can go grab dinner sometime?" He asked nervously, he is a little scared to be honest but he's trying his best to act cool. "I mean like a date. I've always wanted to ask you out to be honest!" A soft embarrassed chuckle left his mouth.

"A date?"

"Yeah, only if you want it to be." He added quickly.

"You, you sure you want that?" YN asked, her eyes welling up with tears in instance. In her defence she was starting to get cramps now, bht it was just the partial reason of her getting emotional.

"Why wouldn't I be?" He announced more than making it sound like a question, "was going to ask you out the same day but got a last minute call from my manager and then shit happened. Hey, why are you crying?"

"You're asking me for a date, I just got rid of your and my baby." She pointed out feeling guilty.

"Hey, hey, hey that's not why I asked you out my love, it's because I genuinely like you!" He announced to her, "I just want to get to know you, you are the most genuine person I've met in a very, very long time now. And you placed yourself first, don't have to be guilty about it. You know I wish I would have asked this the very morning I booked you that cab back to yours. I wish I wouldn't have lost my phone then."

"Really?"

"Yes!" He chuckled, finding her red nose now adorably funny, "I really do feel that way. Not asking you out just because I got you pregnant, lovie. I really do like you a lot!"

"I qm going to cry, stop!" And her voice was choking already as she spoke, which made Harry pull her in a warm and tight embrace.

"I respect your choice YN, that's the bare minimum I could do, you deserve so much more." He whispered in her ear.

It's been weighing on her heart, when growing up all she was taught that when she finally get married and get pregnant she has to keep that child and care for it, it's her duty to do so. If she felt otherwise, she was being ungrateful of the great gift. Her family is very religious, still. And by-product of that belief is herself and other five of her siblings. Though it is going to take time to get over those internalised misogyny, she hopes she can over come those really.

She really do wants kids, she is not sure how or when yet, but she does. This time felt just way too wrong to her. She can barely take care of herself let alone take care a whole new human and teach it how to go by their day and manage their emotions. It is definitely much more than just being able to financially take care of someone.

After what felt like whole ten minutes but actually had just been a minute Harry tried to pull away but YN wouldn't let him. "No, please don't."

"Oh, no I won't darling." He held her tight again, "you'd still let me take you out?"

"Yes!" She chuckled softly. "I want to get out of the hospital first please!"

"Mhmm, for that you'll have to let me go so I can go and get a nurse." He informed her.

"Oh, yeah..." He let go of him reluctantly.

"I'll give you all the cuddles you want, first let's get you out of here." He placed a gentle kiss on her forehead.

Soon they were out of the hospital and back at YN's. Harry was already planning a perfect date in his mind, given YN was adviced to rest (not bed rest) for a couple of days.

The next night Harry gave up and cooked up a nice and hearty meal for for both of them, they called it a date. According to Harry, that's the most romantic gesture he's ever done for anyone. Everything was starting to look like it was going to be fine.

......................................................................

N O T E:

Okay, so pls bare with me, my brain is a bit rusted lately. I apologise if this one sucks. I tried my best.

Also, pls feel to point out any typos, or not. I do not have time to go ahead and proof read this. I have to catch up on sleep. Hehe.

Hope you like it!!!

......................................................................

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[heesdreamer]

omg can you do a spiderman au

FEAR OF SPIDERS

PAIRING ➩ spiderman! heeseung x reader

SUMMARY ➩ you’re pretty sure that your quiet and mysterious roommate just might be a serial killer… plus he’s weirdly afraid of spiders

WC ➩ 3k

WARNINGS ➩ none really other than descriptions of injuries and the brief mention of series killers lol

AUTHORS NOTE ➩ once again written at 4am and not proofread but im a big spider man nerd so this was fun and a perfect request for me

At this point you were pretty much convinced your roommate had to be a serial killer.

A bold assumption, you are aware, but ever since he moved in about 6 months, eagerly answering a Craigslist ad you had posted with suspiciously little amount of information on his page, you’d been attempting to understand him and his usual habits and this was the most solid conclusion you’d drawn.

Heeseung wasn’t a bad roommate necessarily, he kept in his own space and he very rarely made any messes. Honestly half the time you never even noticed somebody living with you, surprisingly light on his feet for how tall he was. He moved around the apartment silently during the rare times he was actually out of his room at the same time you were.

He was shy too you had noticed judging by the way he’d jump in shock everytime you rounded a corner abruptly or turn red and scamper off back to his man cave whenever you stared at him for a little too long. Not to mention the fact he was absolutely terrified of spiders apparently judging by the way he’d completely panic every time you screeched and announced the presence of one.

These fun fact were harmless though, so why did you think he was a serial killer?

Well the first thing you had noticed that was off about him was the fact he didn’t sleep. It took you almost 4 months to understand why he was always up before you or why he constantly had dark bags under his eyes. Your roommate simply did not sleep, maybe even during the day.

When you had told your friend Jake about this he had joked around that maybe your roommate was just a vampire. Jay, the more reasonable of your trio, had monotonely countered that guess and said that he was probably just a third shift worker and you were too nosy for your own good.

He was completely accurate in the second half of his statement, curiosity running through your veins and causing you to snoop one day while Heeseung was off doing whatever he did during sunlight hours. You’d called off from work sick, faking a pained groaned when your roommate yelled from the living room to announce the fact he was leaving and he hoped you felt better.

The second the front door was clicking shut as it closed off in the distance you had hopped out of bed, throwing your blankets to the side and racing to make sure the coast was truly clear before you began your investigation.

When you cracked open the door to Heeseung’s room after determining it safe to look, you knew you were doing something wrong and being overly invasive. Yet you couldn’t help the excitement that washed over you as you looked around his dark bedroom, somewhere you’d never even caught a glimpse inside before.

His room was spotless which surprised you considering how often he was inside of it, even eating his meals behind the closed door. There were no clothes hanging around and his bed was perfectly made like he’d never even laid on it before. He had a few posters hung up and you marveled at the bands he was seemingly interested in, wondering why he never said anything when he had heard you playing some of the same ones in the kitchen.

Despite being grateful you’d gotten some insight on who he was as a human being, nice to finally discover after all these months sleeping two doors down from a mere stranger, you were disappointed regarding the fact you’d found out absolutely nothing that would explain his weird behavior.

When you met back up with your friends a few days later to give them an update, one that they hadn’t asked for Jay begrudgingly reminded you, they had thought you were absolutely crazy. Even Jake who was originally on board with mission find-out-your-roommates-secret.

So you told then the second thing that you had noticed about the boy.

Heeseung was pretty and that’s one of the first things that drew you to him. After he had answered your ad with zero photos or information on his page other than his name, you’d requested to meet in a public place so you could make sure he wasn’t somebody crazy or trying to scam you. He eventually agreed hesitantly and two weeks later you were sat at a coffee shop as you waited for him to arrive.

The first thing you noted when he had walked in was that he was annoyingly handsome. Immediately followed by the fact he had the most gentle face you’d ever seen, big round eyes peering around the shop anxiously as he tried to spot somebody who looked similarly to your photo on your profile.

When you smiled and waved at him, calling him over to the table you were at, he had given you a small grin of relief and you immediately figured he was harmless.

So when he started to show up late at night, injured and bleeding, you thought that somebody had to be crazy to hurt a person as kind as Heeseung. At first you’d assumed he maybe had been mugged, finding bloody tissues and bandages left over in the bathroom trash one night.

It took three weeks for you to actually catch him coming home, staking out on the couch half asleep after you realized his bruises weren’t healing and more just continued to pop up. He’d staggered into the apartment around 5 in the morning, not noticing you sitting in the dark until you cleared your throat.

His eyes were immediately shooting towards yours, shocking you slightly that he was able to find you so fast considering how dark it was, and you saw his eyes widen from where his face was illuminated by the kitchen light in the distance.

“If somebody is messing with you, we need to go to the police.” Your voice was soft as you broke the tensioned silence, watching the way he tensed up at the last word you said and started to shake his head.

“I’m fine.” He mumbled back but you could hear the wince in his words and one of his hands came up to rest on his ribs.

You were getting off the couch and making your way over to him before he could disappear back into his bedroom and deal with it alone. He stiffened when you gently grabbed his hand and dragged him over to your shared bathroom, sitting him down on the toilet softly as you started to scramble and look for the first aid kit under the sink.

“You don’t have to tell me.” You shook your head as you looked and hoped he was paying attention to you. “But I took first aid in highschool and your wrap jobs are just terrible.”

He let out a little scoff of a laugh and then immediately bent over with a hiss of pain. You snapped your head up to look at him and your heart hurt when you saw the complete state of his face now that you were sat under better lighting.

His face was pretty much swollen or bruised in all areas and your stomach turned thinking about how bad the rest of his body must be. The blood from his split lip was dripping down onto his chin and shirt and you watched as he instinctively tongued at it before wincing in pain at the burning sensation.

You were standing once you found the wraps you were looking for and going back over to him, trying to ignore how cute he looked as he peered up at you from his spot on the toilet seat.

“You’ll need to take your shirt off.” You were whispering awkwardly and he froze for a second but eventually nodded.

Heeseung had been fit when you first met him but you weren’t unaware to the fact he had suddenly bulked up sometime this summer. It had confused you considering he didn’t seem like the type to work out and you couldn’t figure out for the life of you when he could possibly be making time for that, but the results were apparent as he nearly doubled in shoulder and arm width.

He started to try and pull his shirt over his head but he stopped abruptly with a low stretched out groan of pain, putting his arms back to his sides and shaking his head in denial.

You sighed and shifted closer to him, holding the hem at the bottom of his shirt with your fingertips and looking at him for permission. His eyes watched you for a second with a strange expression before he was nodding slowly, trying not to flinch away as you helped him undress and get it safely over his more intense injuries.

It was hard not to over react to the sight of his bruised chest but you didn’t want to upset him or make him less inclined to come to you for help. Heeseung’s body was pretty much a mess of colors, black and blue in most spots but some parts of his skin were tinted yellow like they were a few days old.

You glanced up at his eyes to find him already watching you, a dark expression on his face as he waited for you to say something. You imagined he figured you’d press him for answers about who had done this but you didn’t, nodding softly before moving closer to him so you could gently wrap him in the bandage.

He shivered slightly when your hands touched his skin, your fingertips brushing over him softly as you meticulously wrapped his ribs tightly in the material.

You tried to do a good job despite the fact he was still staring at you, watching you with those big eyes as you avoided meeting them. When you had finally finished he sucked in a deep breath in relief, the pressure helping the pain slightly.

He sat obediently as you continued to try and help relieve his suffering, letting you dab at the cuts on his face with a wet rag and apply ointment over them with trembling hands. When you were finished, neither one of you made a move to leave, so you sat down on the edge of the tub right beside the toilet.

Your knees knocked against his and he glanced at you, shocking you when he extended a hand in your direction. You took it gratefully, yours still shaking, and squeezed his warm skin in thanks.

It was weird for both of you to be in this situation together but it felt strangely natural and intimate. You can’t recall ever touching Heeseung like this or even hanging out with him for as long as this had been stretching on. You wondered if he was realizing the same things as he zoned out slightly.

“Why don’t you let me come with you tomorrow?” You were breaking the silence to suggest and his head whipped up to look at you with fear. “I won’t pry about wherever you go I promise but maybe they’ll leave you alone if you have company.”

He was swiftly turning on the toilet seat so he was facing you, his knee slotting in between yours as he grasped your hand with both of his and gave you a desperate look. “Y/N, look at me.”

“Under no circumstance can that happen.” He was shaking his head and squeezing your hand to properly get his point across. “And you absolutely can’t follow me, you need to promise me this.”

You watched him with a pained expression, feeling frustrated and helpless but also hearing the pure panic and sternness in his tone as he stared at you anxiously waiting for a solid response. He looked terrified at the thought of you going wherever he does and your stomach turned as you got a very bad feeling.

You were flipping your conjoined hands so yours were released and he glanced down at them in confusion but realizing you were wrapping his pinky in yours.

“I promise.” You whispered back to him.

That was the first time you had considered the possibly that Heeseung was into something very dangerous, that you had completely misjudged your soft gentle roommate and he was possibly as axe murderer or some kind of hit man.

“Maybe he’s Spider-Man.” Jake was exclaiming after you’d told them this and a few heads shot your way in the restaurant causing him to duck his head down.

Jay scoffed and rolled his eyes as he said this and you paid him no mind, the suggestion almost making less sense than his previously mentioned vampires. As far as you and the rest of the city were aware, there was only one Spider-Man in the whole world and it simply wasn’t possible that it coincidentally would be your awkward roommate.

“More realistically, he’s one of the bad guys Spider-Man beats up for a living.” You were shaking your head, knowing that statistically it made more sense.

“Why not just follow him then.” Jay was shrugging and taking a bite of his fry nonchalantly. “So what he told you not to, he might be a murderer. Why does what he says matter anyways?”

“He seemed really scared.” You were shaking your head as you sighed and leaned back in your seat. “I’m not going to die just because I’m too curious for my own good.”

“Well… we could always come with you if you’re worried.” Jake was slowly suggesting.

You glanced at him in surprise, not having thought of that for some reason. You looked over at Jay and expected to see him with a scowl, denying the idea of spying on your roommate on his only day off but he was surprisingly calm looking, shrugging his shoulders when he realized you were waiting for his opinion.

So that’s how you wound up in your current situation, ducking low inside Jake’s car with dark clothes and beanies on. You’d been preforming your amateur stake out for only two hours but there’d been no sign of Heeseung leaving your apartment building that you were currently parked in front of.

“Are you sure he’s even going to come out?” Jake was whispering from the drivers seat and you sat up to listen to him closer, elbows resting on the middle console between the two boys.

“He does every night.” You whispered back with a shrug and almost like you had summoned him, your roommate was slipping out from the lobbies from door and looking around his surrounding areas before starting to speed walk down the street.

Jake made a celebratory noise and started the car slowly, peeling off in a slow cruise around the block as you waited to see which direction Heeseung was going to turn to next. It’d been a few minutes of watching him before guilt started to settle in.

“Should we be doing this?” You sighed and rested your chin over Jay’s shoulder who was only paying half attention to the operation going on.

“Well he is kind of suspicious.” He murmured and you glanced at him from the corner of your eye as you waited for him to explain more thoroughly. “He looks over his shoulder every three seconds and he just totally ducked into that alley over there.”

Jay was right you realized as you picked your head up, not noticing you had completely lost sight of your roommate. Jake slowed to a stop behind a few cars, up the street from the alley Jay saw him disappear into and you waited to see if he would come back out or if there was maybe a secret business or club residing back there in the darkness.

It was only about 30 seconds before something was shooting out of the alley and the three of you froze, jaws dropping open almost comically as you pieced together what it was that you had just potentially saw.

“Oh no fucking way.” Jay was sitting up in his seat and showing his widest range of emotion and interest, finally seemingly invested in this situation as he leaned forward to try and look outside the front window. “Dude that was…”

“Spider-Man.” Jake was exclaiming excitedly, hollering as he gripped the steering wheel and shook it slightly, glancing back at you with a childish amount of happiness on his face.

Despite the superhero’s alarmingly large presence in the city and the feeling that he was constantly looking over everybody’s shoulder, you hadn’t actually ever seen him for yourself until he just swung his way out of the alley and off into the city skyline.

You were ignoring the two boys excitement and jumping from the car, their yells of confusion as they told you to come back bleeding off into the distance as you sprinted towards the alley. Half of you expected to see a bloody Heeseung sprawled against its wet cement floor but the other half wasn’t that surprised when you spotted nothing but his sweater and pants carefully folded and tucked away.

You could hear your friends shoes against the sidewalk before you saw them and they paused when they realized what you were approaching, grabbing the clothes in your hands and turning to look at them.

“Well fuck.”

[acewritesfics]

Mrs. Detective Jay Halstead | JAY HALSTEAD

⚠️ THIS IS A REPOST FROM MY MAIN BLOG @/DLMLUFICS. UNFORTUNATELY, I HAVE TO DO IT THIS WAY. MORE INFO IN MY PINNED POST.

Pairing: Jay Halstead x Reader

Request: from @/runnning-outof-time for a celebration from my main account.

Fic Type: Imagine

Warnings: Fluff. A little cringy PDA not from Jay and Reader. Reader has a younger half-sister named Annie (if that’s your name you can change it to something else) and Annie has a boyfriend called Daniel. Annie and Daniel are both 18.

Word Count: 1,438

JAY HALSTEAD MASTERLIST || TAG LIST SIGN-UP

As they sit across from her younger sister Annie and her boyfriend Daniel, who are clumsily making out, Y/N looks at Jay, embarrassed. Jay returns her gaze with the same expression, feeling exactly what his girlfriend and partner is feeling. Dinner had been going well, Y/N and Jay were getting to know Daniel well and both concluded that he seemed like a good kid. He seemed to really care for Annie. He talked to her respectfully, treated her nicely and didn't have any sort of criminal record - Jay had checked before the double date. 

It wasn't until the teens decided the middle of the restaurant, they are currently at would make a good make out spot when things took a turn becoming awkwardly uncomfortable for the older couple. 

Jay returns his attention to the younger couple and clears his throat, forcing the two teenagers to finally stop swapping spit. 

"Sorry," Annie apologizes awkwardly, her cheeks heating up as she looks down at her hands. Daniel beams as he takes one of Annie's hands in his. 

"Why did we agree to this again?" Jay whispers into Y/N's ear before kissing the side of her head.  

"It was something I agreed to. Like the sweetheart that you are, you went along with it," she also whispers. Looking at him, she sends him a quiet apology while placing her hand on his upper thigh and kisses his cheek. She knows she'll be making this up to him later. Jay needed a lot more persuasion than she did. Y/N returns her gaze to the teenagers and manages to smile. She intervenes just as the two teenagers lean in for another kiss. 

"So, Daniel, what are your plans after high school?" She inquires, making her feel more like a parent than a sister, as she did most of the time. 

Annie was the result of her father's affair with his then-23-year-old intern. Their father and the intern eloped the day after the divorce papers were signed by Y/N's mother, and they are still married to this day as far as she knows. Y/N has been raising Annie since she was seven years old, when her father and Annie's mother dropped her off with a bag of clothing and her favorite toy. The two L/N women hadn't heard from, spoken too, or seen them since.  

It took Y/N months to acquire full custody, but with the help of her mother and intelligence, particularly Jay, who became Y/N's partner a year after she won custody, she was able to raise Annie to be the wonderful young lady she is now. 

"I've decided to take a gap year. I'll be travelling with Annie and some of our friends," Daniel replies, hesitantly glancing between Y/N and Jay. He was clearly attempting to make a good impression on the two.  

"I did that as well," Y/N says, smiling, happy that Annie will have others with her. Her maternal instinct would rather the 18-year-old do her gap year in Chicago so she's close to home, but Annie had worked her ass off for this since she was 14 and saving what money she earned from babysitting the apartment complexes kids. Y/N knows she can't stop her and there would be no point in trying. She did lay down a few ground rules though. "It is the third best thing I've ever done." 

"What are the first two?" Annie wonders aloud, her attention drawn to her sister. 

"The first one is choosing to raise you," Y/N takes a sip from her drink, beaming proudly at her little sister, who was more like her daughter, before turning to Jay and smiling warmly at her partner of ten years and boyfriend of five years. "And the second is being more than just partners with this man." 

The two detectives began working for intelligence at the same time and were assigned as partners on their first day. It had taken them five years of walking around one other, attempting to ignore their feelings for one another that only seemed to grow stronger by the day. It only took a meeting in New York for the two to move from being work partners to also becoming partners in everything else. 

Jay lifts her hand away from his leg and presses a delicate kiss to the back of it. "I love you." 

"I love you too," she says, leaning in to kiss him. 

Returning their attention to the teenagers across from them, they see that the two have gone back to their making out session. 

"Do you think they'll notice if we leave?" Y/N ponders out loud. After dinner, Annie isn't going home with them. She and Daniel are going to see the latest superhero movie with some of their friends from school. 

"Honestly, I don't think they will," Jay answers, rising to his feet and withdrawing his wallet from his pocket, taking out some money and placing it on the table to pay for dinner. 

Y/N stands and circles the table, taking Jay's hand in hers as they leave the little restaurant and return to their apartment. 

Y/N closes and locks the door behind her as she follows Jay into their apartment. She walks into their bedroom to change into something more comfortable. She intended to spend the remainder of their night on the couch, curled up beside Jay, watching whatever horrible movie was on TV at the time. Jay walks up behind her as she is removing her earrings, wraps his arms around her waist and kisses her shoulder. 

"I'm sorry about Annie and Daniel," she mumbles as she leans back in his arms. There was no place she preferred to be more than in Jay's arms. 

"We were both 18 once," he reminds her, disregarding her apology.  

"I don't remember ever having dinner with my sister while making out with my boyfriend in front of her," she says. "They could have toned it down a lot." 

"It's new and exciting for them," he adds as he kisses her shoulder once again. 

"I know," she sighs as she looks at him in the mirror. "But I'm still sorry. How can I make it up to you?" 

"First and foremost, you must promise me that you will never agree to another double date with those two again," he states as he stares at her through the mirror. 

"I promise," she asserts. "You said first. Is there anything else I can do?" 

"Maybe you could, I don't know, spend the rest of your life with me as your husband?" he shrugs his shoulders, with an apprehensive look in his eyes. 

He takes a step back, and she quickly spins on her heel to face him, a surprised look on her face, "Are you finally asking me to marry you?" 

"I am," he says as he walks over to his dresser, opens the top drawer and reaches inside. 

He closes the drawer after pulling out the ring box and returns to her with the ring box open. "So, what do you think? Would you want to become Mrs. Jay Halstead?" 

She looks down at the ring seeing two smaller princess cut diamonds on either side of a beautiful oval cut diamond. It was simple but elegant and she loved it just as much as she loves him. She grins lovingly at him, barely holding her excitement as she accepts his proposal, tears welling up in her eyes. "How about Mrs. Detective Jay Halstead?" 

Jay's smile spreads from ear to ear as he takes the ring from the box, slides it on her finger, and pulls her into a passionate kiss. 

"Annie won't be home until tomorrow morning, which gives us plenty of time to celebrate," Y/N mentions as she breaks the kiss way too soon for Jay's liking. 

He chews his bottom lip and appears to be thinking about it as his fingers run up her back to the back of her neck before reaching for and pulling down the zip at the back of her dress. "Let's not waste any more time." 

She smiles, bringing him in for another kiss as she reaches up to unbutton his shirt and push it off his shoulders. His hands travel to the straps of her dress and slide them down her arms, allowing the dress to fall into a black pool on the floor before lifting her up and carrying her to their bed. 

"I love you, Detective Jay Halstead," she murmurs quietly, breaking the kiss to let them breathe for a moment. 

"And I love you, Mrs. Detective Jay Halstead," he chuckles, kissing her again. 

[chosos-mascara]

omg any choso fluff would do for me but, could you write a little something about him and reader going into a photo booth! i think that could be really cute, with all the poses and then getting to keep the pictures at end 🤭 i think choso would really like that

it took a while for choso to ask you out. weeks, if you were to be specific.

he wasn’t a regular to the small record store you worked in - you’d learn months later that in fact, it was an inconvenience to get to. a bus ride into the centre of town and then a twenty-or-so-minute walk had deterred him from venturing so far before, but when holed up on that side of town searching for a certain album, he found you.

a customer assistant. not a glamorous title, but god were you perfect. when he got talking to you, he realised you weren’t just cute but smart too, and not only that, you happened to know the artist he was looking for. out of stock, but it could be ordered in just for him if he’d return in a few days.

and, he did. not just for his album, but to see you again. the next visit he’d no excuse to travel so far when there were stores closer to him by miles, but he made the journey once again, and again, until you knew him by name. he’s wasted a stupid amount of money over the past two months on bus fayre and albums he didn’t need just for an excuse to see you again. the tenth or so visit, he asked you out: “there’s this local arcade that also serves drinks, if you’d like that.”

all night you’ve been playing with him, air hockey, racing games, guitar hero and some retro ones too. he’d passed up on the dance mat due to his clothing choice (he’s scared his hair would look a state, and his jewellery would likely make the ordeal uncomfortable) until you’d found yourself with a few coins left, and a photo booth in front of you.

“should we?” you ask him through an anxious grin - you think it’s the perfect way to commemorate the night, though you’re awfully worried he won’t feel the same way. your fears are eased when he breaks a small smile and gestures forward. you’re grinning as you step into the booth, sitting in the edge of the stool.

“there’s only one seat?” he asks, and you find yourself heating up a little when he watches you scooting up toward the booth wall.

“we can share?” you leave it up to him but you’re glad when he accepts, half of the small metal seat now occupied by him. he’s pretty squashed against you, his arm almost opening the curtain through the lack of space, his body tensing up from feeling you against him.

your heart is racing too because after all of this time crushing over him he’s so close, and so comfortable at your side. choso’s thigh is pressed on yours, his right arm on your left, and you’re trying not to focus on how amazing he feels pushed up onto you while you’re picking a template.

you decide on a string of four photos, a black and white filter over them.

you’re not sure how to pose for the first one, so there’s a some blur. both of you look a little awkward.

with the second, you remember there’ll be a three second countdown, and you use that time to put your head onto his shoulder. you’re shocked when he leans into you, and the flash goes to capture you in this moment.

for the third photo, you’re unsure, and a little late to decide as it captures the two of you face to face, a look of endearment as you’re staring into his eyes, wondering what he’s thinking.

you realise now, his breath is warm on your skin. you’re so close, so awfully close, and his eyes are lowering until you’re sure they rest on your lips.

he leans before you do, though you’re not far behind.

the fourth photo is captured when his mouth meets yours, but you won’t need a picture to remember exactly how this feels. you’re sure you’ll live in this forever, because this moment lasts so long with his lips over yours, a drawn out and heartfelt kiss filled with affection.

you pull back smiling, and he’s shyly matching your lovesick expression.

that little print out is under a magnet on your fridge two years later, in a home you share.

[eastwindmlk]

Last and probably my least favourite one! Day 31. Prompt accidental couples costume. Word count: 1015

The boy were ecstatic about their costumes, it was hilarious and clever and no one but they would know. Which they thought was only making thing better. Still basking in the victory of becoming Animagi, they collectively decided to dress up as each other.

To make things fair they’d drawn lots and went about collecting their costumes, most of the raided from trunks and laundry piles. There was some secret arts and crafts, some nifty transfiguration and just like that they were dressed as each other.

Remus had been mildly disappointed, though they’d all agreed that the rat was the worst costume to get. They’d teased him about the large ears the moment they appeared on his bedside table, a spell-o-tape and coloured paper construction.

Peter, in turn, was more than a little chuffed to be dressed as Sirius. The moment they’d drawn their names he dove into his head first. Even going as far as to make Sirius sit for some sketches before disappearing to the library for long enough all of them were worried. Only to emerge with a pair of enchanted ears that moved and a tail that wagged.

Frankly, all of them were impressed. Though not impressed enough for Sirius to lend him his favourite dragon hide boots.

Sirius worked smarter, not harder and transfigured some branches into antlers and called it a day. It wasn’t like anyone would be able to tell the difference between his and James’ clothes. The night of the party he fished James’ old frames out from the bottom of his trunk, one of the glasses already missing after a particularly rough quidditch game. It was perfect.

That left James, who had absconded a jumper quite early in the month and then got to work on transfiguring hair colour and growing out his sideburns. Something he considered keeping after Halloween since he thought he looked quite handsome with them.

He, just like Peter – Who was beside himself when James asked him, him, to explain the charm that he used for his tail and ears. - he managed to pull it off just in a nick of time. Only half an hour late to the party, he wandered down to find his friends.

The common room was packed and he found them around the same time that he found her. Now, he wouldn’t have thought much of things if Lily had not looked at him in shock and horror before pulling the red hood further over her face.

First, James simply assumed that this was just her being peeved at him for something. While they weren’t at each other’s throats the way they used to be. - Probably because he did not make a sport about getting into arguments with her. - They weren’t friends by any stretch of the imagination either.

It wasn’t until he was talking to Fiona, a third year who had tried out of the team but barely not made it, that her look, or rather glares, started to make sense. “Didn’t know you and Lily were that close?” she remarked, eyeing his flask of gin expectantly until he poured some into her pumpkin juice.

“What do you mean?” James asked curiously, tipping a little more into his own drink before practically sinking it. His eyes searching the crowd for the red hood.

Fiona laughed and elbowed him playfully. “Funny! You know, usually only couples do couple’s costumes,” she pointed out and he nearly choked on his drink.

“Couple’s costume?” James blinked at her.

The horror on his face clearly giving her pause before bursting out into a fit of giggles. “You didn’t? Little Red Riding Hood and Big Bad Wolf? Really? That’s not a wizard story then?” He shook his head in response. “Well, you could have fooled me.”

Which was precisely what Lily thought too when she followed after him when he and Sirius disappeared through the portrait hole for a fag. Her cheap boots clacking loud against the flagstones as she shouted for him. "Potter?"

The two boys paused and Sirius nudged James with an encouraging grin. "Look who's coming round! Go them 'em, wolf boy," he teased before giving him a shove in the right direction.

The moment James stepped closer, he knew something was off. She did not look happy, actually her narrowed eyed and splotchy cheek were big warning signs. Like the ocean retreating from the beach before a tsunami.

Still, he lifted one hand and smirked at the redhead. "All right, Evans? Couldn't wait to get me alone, could you?"

She did not dignify him with an answer and instead crossed her arms over her chest, defensive now. "Did you know? You did, didn't you?" she accused.

James stood there, gobsmacked before managing to croak out the words. "Sorry, what?" Taking off his glasses to polish them on the edge of his jumper. An excuse to not look at her fuming for a moment.

"You somehow worked out my costume and decided to do-" Instead of finishing her sentence she flung her hands out at him and wildly gestured at him. "That!"

He knew he shouldn't laugh and he managed to swallow most of it, only letting a short burst escape before reigning himself in. "I hate to break it to you, Evans but you didn't even cross my mind when we chose this," he informed her smugly, bristling just a little to rub it in.

Lily sputtered and huffed before stomping her foot. "Bullshit!" she exclaimed and turned her face away from him. Almost like she couldn't even stand to look at him. He'd have taken offence if it had not been for the bright red colour of her cheeks. "What are you even supposed to be?"

"I'll let you work that one out for yourself, Little Red," he taunted and rolled his shoulders back. "But who knows, if you ask me nicely I might be your big bad wolf next year." And with that he tuned on his heel and walked away. Though, he hoped that Sirius had caught her expression for him.

[soranihimawari]

I Missed You

Pairing: Oikawa x (gn!) reader

Word Count: tbd

Rating: Oikawa Tooru Fluff [otf]

Warnings: none// reader in timeskip becomes a doctor specializing in aging/older athletes and completing necessary check-ups before a match.

Note: I tried to not tie any gender-specific nouns when describing reader.

How I think OIkawa & reader hug each other after not seeing each other in a long time.

[23:45]

That’s the time stamp you receive on an old friend’s text. There are only three words which the message is comprised of. When you read them aloud to yourself in the comfort of your own home, you seem to repeat them like a mantra.

‘I miss you’

Simple hope draws from this in a way that can’t be described as you stare at your screen until you ultimately lock your phone. You close your eyes for a a few minutes when your brain decides to show you a highlight reel of the activities you used to do with the sender. Learning the rules of volleyball, joining in their team jogging paths, coming to scheduled matches, accompanying him to the nurse’s office when he landed on his feet wrong, etc. He was destined to be famous, just not here at home in Japan, no. Somewhere half a world away called out to him first. Argentina was distant, far, the most you’d ever be separated and even then, the times prior were literally at the start of up schooling lives.

Unfortunately, the last memory behind the closed eyes you see is a bittersweet one: the reality your friend, confidant, (and crush) hits you. You never did want to wind up fighting with him, but for once you’d want him to fight to stay here. With you. As his best friends remind you, you’d be holding him back from his true potential ever since he started practicing with the collegiate teams up the road from where you live—this was where the initial rift began to be drawn between you two.

During lunch one day, you visit his classroom, sitting next to him explaining (or rather complaining) the trouble you were having with a particular class and one of the assignments needed to be completed prior to a content exam.

“Do you ever shut up about schoolwork, yn?”

You pause, a disappointed look heavy on your brow as those within earshot suddenly fall quiet.

“I’m sorry not all of us have a righteous path carved in front of us, Tooru,” the tonality in your voice was one of annoyance. “Some of us have to work even harder to achieve our dreams other than hoping to skip town and follow in their idol’s footsteps.”

Ever since that brief conversation, you and one Oikawa Tooru, are now practically strangers come graduation day. You hear whispers via the third year rumor mill of his accomplishments and his ultimate defeat against both Shiratorizawa and Karasuno. Matches you weren’t there to show your support for, even if Iwazumi Hajime, the ace and vice captain, had invited you because, “it would be nice for him (oikawa) to see a familiar face in the crowd.”

Glancing back at Iwazumi’s moss green eyes and stoic countenance, “and if I recall, it would be nicer if I wasn’t there because it might distract him further. There are plenty of scouts heading to those matches. I’m sure he’d catch one of their eyes.”

“And if those scouts ask him to move to another country, are you really going to be ok with not saying your goodbyes when we graduate, yn?”

You aggravatedly sigh at him, muttering an annoyed, “Yes, Iwazumi-kun, even then.”

Many months later, post Oikawa's jog in the winter while watching the Karasuno v Inarizaki match, it is now springtime. You’re holding a bouquet of flowers from your parents who pose with you for pictures around the inner school gates of Aoba Josai’s campus. Your fellow classmates and club members surround you for more photos as well. This was going to be one of the final memories you have for your high school career. You were accepted into a university specializing in biomedical engineering with a strong focus on exercise science.

This was your dream, not necessarily the same path as Iwazumi’s to become an athletic trainer, no, however you had wanted to be a doctor whose focus would help restore and maintain older athlete’s bodies even post retirement. Helping those who had maybe one or two career setbacks was something which had captivated you the more you began to focus on the life sciences of your high school careers and with the help of those teachers, they had written for you a brilliant recommendations to boost your acceptance after passing the various university exams.

[13:43]

In your office nearly a decade later from high school graduation, sits your newest patient. He comes from Argentina, like your nurses tell you, but the rumor that he had come on a friend's recommendation is what actually piques your interest. Well, to be fair, two of your friends' personal recommendation are what causes you to raise your eyebrow. The nurse on duty that day takes his vitals as normal, asks him the routine questions before giving him the proper spiel of, "sit tight and the doctor will see you in a few minutes."

Oikawa Tooru has come home for several reasons. The only one on the top of his list is coming home for an exhibition match game he was invited to by the former captain of Nekoma and now representative of the JVA. However, when word reaches Iwazumi's camp in the national team's gym, he smirks, sending a text halfway across the world. Your name is thrown into the mix of doctors who are willing to examine older, closer to retirement age, athletes. Considering this was not how he had wanted to spend his second day back in his home country, Oikawa Tooru asks to book this appointment to get an all clear before playing the V-League exhibition match Kuroo talked him into attending.

You are reading over the file of the new patient outside of the room in the hallway. You scan over the various ticks he had made on the questionnaire along with your nurse who says that his young son looks up to Oikawa-san as a professional volleyball player.

"Repeat that one more time, Sato-san," you clear your throat when Sato-san repeats what he had said earlier.

"My son is as huge fan of Oikawa-san," he points to the name at the top of the document in your hand.

Right there, next to Sato-san, the nurse's pointer finger, is the kanji of the name of a person you thought about since your high school, university, and medical school graduation days. You clear your throat, thanking Sato for his time measuring the vitals of the next patient in the room you're about to enter.

"No prob doc," is all Sato says when he walks back to the nurse station leaving you to enter the examination room where an old flame sits.

You take a deep breath prior to knocking and entering. You open the door and you see OIkawa bent over on the examination bed, reading something on his phone. His hair is cropped shorter, his shoulders are a bit broader, his skin a bit tanner, and for lack of better words, his muscles quite filled out the rest of him. He's still humming a tune you're unfamiliar with until your shoes enters his field of vision.

"Hello Tooru," your voice causes him to freeze and immediately causes his eyes to avert away from his phone. "It's been a while."

Oikawa's coffee-colored eyes study your face and the recognition hits him like a truck. Although he is dressed in a sky blue buttoned blouse and dark jeans compared to your teal scrubs and white lab coat, he stands up, arms extended to crush you in a hug. His patient file falls to the floor when you hug him back.

You hear him for the first time since that argument long ago, voice wobbly and all, "I missed you."

[maestroofcringe]

< ру версия | eng version >

〔E. Nygma, Private Detective〕

Case Nᵒ0: Gotham's Sherlock Holmes.

Finally got courage to post it... Sorry if English is bad, not native language. Have a nice time reading!

synopsis: The brilliant mind of Edward Nygma requires action, but he does not intend to return to crime. Then a plan comes to his mind - to become a private detective. Edward is well aware that he may need help. Harvey Dent and Jonathan Crane agree to participate in the case, also unwilling to continue their criminal activities. However, the plan is not going according to plan at all...

Several months have passed since the Riddler's criminal genius was finally recognized as sane. The doctors, who had previously locked him in a cell, inevitably and independently realized their big mistake and admitted that the Riddler is a wonderful person all by themselves. They have never ever been bribed, and he have not been making fake documents, of course.

Despite the fact that Ed didn't need a job due to his fortune he was dying from boredom. He may have left most of his obsessive "dragging Batman into a game" thoughts behind, but his brain still required a challenge. If he doesn't find a way to entertain his mind, he might snap and start throwing riddles around the city again.

However, his genius had not faded. Not at all. And one day, during regular going through his extensive library, he came across a book of Sherlock Holmes. Eureka! This was what he needed! A private detective was perfect for new job! After all, Edward was an ex-cop, ex-cop undoubtedly superior to the Dark Knight in field of deduction and many others.

Therefore Nygma decided to become Gotham's own Sherlock Holmes. Edward figured out what he would need to do to achieve this goal. He came up with three simple steps to begin career of the city's most brilliant detective. The first step was to "prepare the necessary documents", the second was to find a case, and the third was to solve it successfully, getting interviewed as nice promotion and gaining more cases. And then, everything would fall into right place. Starting is always the hardest part, isn't it?

Paperwork...  No, Nygma never liked to do this, which meant he needs some good lawyer, notary, or at least someone who knows enough about it... Precisely! What better lawyer could be than former District Attorney Harvey Dent?  He heard Harvey is "retired". Ed thought he'd probably bored out of his mind, too.  Moreover, Dent is physically much more prepared. And extra guns never hurt.

Edward immediately picked up his phone and found Two-Face's number in contacts. He called him and invited for a drink at their favorite bar. Fortunately, Dent accepted the invitation.

▢▢▢▢▢▢▢▢▢▢▢▢▢

Half an hour later, Nygma entered the bar where Harvey was waiting for him. He was holding some papers with schemes and explanations. It seemed like he had drawn the whole diagram by hand, with every single detail painted.

Harvey rolled his eyes and chuckled as he asked: "I thought you invited me here to chat, not to lecture me about your new "genius" plan. To be honest, Ed, I've had enough of it and so have you."

"You don't understand, Harv! It's a win-win option. This time I'm sure on one hundred percent, I did the research and, believe me, I thought it all out. The usual. Yet, you didn't even try to hear me! When some stupid coin offers - you agree and go forward it, but as old friend ask you for help, you immediately "quit". And! AND, it's not about crime! The plan is legal, for note. Believe me, you'll regret your refusal if you won't listen to me. Therefore, let me give you a little tip - listen, or rather write it down. Maybe not only half of your brain will start working! Harv, please, don't be an idiot for the next ten minutes and let me explain. I quitted crime, agree, BUT I'm not going to get rid of my mind in order to meet the standards of society!" Edward quickly interrupted Harvey, not letting him get a word in until he finished his tirade by asking," Which one of us is the brain, after all, me or you?"

Harv frowned, not appreciating the "hints" about his past decisions. He took a deep breath, counted to ten and exhaled. Edward had a point, it was worth listening politely, Dent can refuse any time later.

" Well, let's imagine I believe you," he finally said, adding, "Go on, smart-ass."

"Harvey, what do you think about private detectives?" - Edward's smile returned as if he didn't throw a tantrum five seconds ago.

"Seriously, detective? What's the riddle here, Holmes?"

"Right, like Holmes."

"You're kidding, Ed..."

"Please, remember, I'm not the one to joke about important things. What I said doesn't sound a joke, does it? Sooooo," - Nygma wanted to push his friend to the right conclusion.

"It means you being honest. Let's assume that's not some kind of trick. Besides, your "honesty mania", or whatever it's called..." Harvey paused for a moment, trying to recall the exact word, but alas, no other idea came to mind. "Forget it. How does this relate to me?"

"That's a great question, Harv! Good job! I told you the brain would start working. Fpr why I'm here - I need your expertise. You know the law inside and out, being an expert in document management and stuff. You're the real professional, aren't you? You know how to do good work and I need someone I can trust without fear of back-stabbing," Edward seemed almost sincere for a moment, however he quickly hid behind his sarcastic mask and strange sense of humor. " Harv, I'm going to die of boredom or kill someone! Think about it. You wake up in a trap, failing to answer my riddle and getting HEAD OFF! Not that you use it anyway..."

"Come on, Ed. I was just asking." Former DA sighs, thinking about how it could be beneficial for him, after all he wants to help people again. "Ah, screw it! Will do! I agree 50%. Is that a deal, partner?"

"DEAL! It's a deal!" Edward replied, feeling happy about the success awaiting him at the next step. Of course, success always awaited him, because the unrivaled genius of E. Nygma had never let him down. It was rare to see the Riddler in such good spirits, especially after his career ended. Well, there he was, walking down the street with a happy smile on his face. A suspiciously happy smile...

"You have no idea what a great decision you made, Harvey!" He exclaimed as they walked towards the bus stop, where they would split up.

Harvey smiled, but said nothing. He was still unsure of why Nygma was doing this. It's unlikely that he was doing it out of kindness. Moreover, it was also unlikely that Ed had called him only for the sake of working with papers. Harvey knew it was too soon to hide his colt. "I should keep an eye on him," Harvey thought, waving goodbye as he disappeared into the bus. "I promise you, Gilda, I will not let him hurt anyone else. Not after what happened... not ever".

▢▢▢▢▢▢▢▢▢▢▢▢▢

First step was made. Gotham's own Sherlock Holmes now planning brilliantly solve the case, case waiting for him to be found. No one knew that the case would find them on its own.

[judediangelo75]

Day One: Quidditch

I said I was gonna attempt this challenge for @hphm-ship-week and by the corner of Jesus' pure white robe, I was gonna do it. I'm cutting it close with Day One and I might have gotten a *little* inspired to write this one.

I'm not gonna do a lot of yapping, I'm half-dead as is. Hope you guys enjoy this Kendrick Lives AU installment. (Might as well be my new main storyline).

Word Count: 8,316

Featured MCs: David Willows, Phoenix Lang ( @that-scouse-wizard ) and Katriona Cassiopeia ( @kc-and-co )

Main Pairing: Talbott Winger x Judith Harris (Talith)

Side Relationships: Merula Synde x David Willows (subtle), Murphy McNully x Katriona Cassiopeia (subtle), and plenty of friendship

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

Whenever Quidditch season rolls around in the magical school called Hogwarts, you can expect a lot of excitement and hype. The students would crowd their section of the respective house with colored face paint or some Quidditch-afflicted gear to cheer on the players on the field. There was always a sense of friendly rivalry, with its occasional resentment when it comes to a reigning champion. But nothing comes from it. 

The Quidditch pitch is the last place you would ever expect a Ravenclaw loner to be.

Let alone amid the Hufflepuff House section. Wearing one of their player's jackets magically sized up to fit his frame. Next to a Slytherin witch wearing a matching jacket to the boot.

But that was before he started dating a Quidditch player.

Talbott would've gladly flown under the radar during his school years at Hogwarts. But fate decided that would be too boring for him. He was given two years of peace until his third year. Where two Hufflepuffs were searching for him, Hogwarts Curebreakers.

David Willows and Judith Harris. The latter is more infamously known as "Scarface". 

Granted, Talbott knew about these two Hufflepuffs... but Judith proved to make a bigger splash than her Housemate. From what Talbott understood, Judith had the habit of hiding the left side of her face with her hair for the first few months of their first year. It wasn't until a fateful day in October, that a group of Slytherins and Gryffindors found a new target. Judith tried escaping the group, only for one of the boys to grab her by the ponytail, causing her hairstyle to fall apart.

Revealing the most nastiest burn scar anyone has seen. On a child, nonetheless.

To make a long story short, those group of boys learned quickly not to piss off a girl—a Hufflepuff girl, at that.

After that day, rumors about her scar spread across the school like wildfire. And she was christened with her new nickname, Scarface.

But that day in the Great Hall was the first time Talbott properly saw the young witch face to face. Even Talbott's impeccable poker face couldn't hide the surprise upon seeing her face. The large scar covered about half of her face and went back to her ear. Surprisingly, her brow was present, but a bit spotty in some places. Her eye was forced into a permanent glare, he could barely make out the gold of her iris (even though that particular eye looked a bit paler than its twin).

But that wasn't the thing that stole Talbott's attention. It was the almost painfully shy look on her face. Her brows were drawn close together as her lips were pulled down in a timid frown. Her fingers were fiddling with the multiple solid plain rings she had on. Her eyes...

Talbott could see that she was nervous, but there was a particular warmth that seemed to be reserved for just for him. It was confusing but...

He couldn't help but secretly like it. Even though he wasn't ready to admit it.

Took a while for the Ravenclaw to properly acknowledge his feelings for the Hufflepuff witch. With the encouragement of Andre and David, he finally asked Judith out on a date. While it left a lot to be desired (*cough* Tonks *cough*), Talbott enjoyed being close to his date. Amid their growing closeness, that meant Talbott was slowly being sucked into the world of Quidditch. Granted, Andre has been trying to get him to come to a match and teach him the mechanics of the game since the start of their friendship, but Talbott turned him down almost every time. But now with Judith as his blatant love interest... Talbott couldn't help to be a little curious about the sport the wizarding world seem so crazy about.

Honestly when Talbott learned that Judith was the famous "Tigress", he was skeptical. Tigress is one of Hufflepuff's Beaters, one of their best Beaters in many years. With the few snippets of information, Andre tried forcing down his throat, Talbott knew that Beaters were strong. They had to be to beat back iron spheres formerly known as Blooders (Andre would be happy to know that he was learning something, at least). Tigress, like her fellow Beater Hound (who Talbott came to learn was David), was incredibly strong with a deadly aim. A lot of people say it was as if she could interpret the Bludgers movements, knowing when and where to strike. 

Talbott couldn't keep the suspicious look out of his eye for anything when Judith said that she was Tigress during their date. He never asked her about her scar but he had eyes. And he could see that her left eye left her a little impaired. It was the one time he made the girl feel subconscious about herself during their date, which he internally slapped himself for as she turned the left side of her face away from his view.

"I know it sounds hard to believe that I'm Tigress, but I have no reason to lie to you. After my... incident, it took some time to even learn to properly walk. My coordination and balance was terrible. Before, I could only see the vague shadows of shapes. After you helped me become an Animagus, it surprisingly helped my vision in my left eye, though not by much. The outline of shapes are a bit sharper if it's close enough to me and I can kinda see colors if it's bright enough, but there are times my vision will get a little blurry. My dad, along with my little brother and stepdad, spent a lot of time helping me adjust to my scar after I first got it. I was determined not to let it hinder me, though. Papa was the first to train me to be a Beater. I spent the entire summer before second year so I would have a chance to prove myself... to show that I won't be a liability if I was chosen."

Talbott felt like a bastard for doubting the girl, something that she probably felt for years. After stumbling over his apology, he asked if he could watch her play or at least practice if she was comfortable with that. He wanted to understand her and be there for her if she would let him.

And to his pleasant surprise, she readily agreed. 

During that time, Quidditch season was long over. Normally around that time of the year, Judith and David were trying to break the latest curse that befell the school in hopes of finding their brothers. But Judith was human.

A human who was very familiar with stress.

Beating dummies with Bludgers seemed to be one of her many stress relievers. The first time he was invited to watch her practice, he was silently surprised. It was slowly starting to warm up as winter turned to spring in Scotland. Judith was already stretching, seemingly counting the seconds in her mind before switching forms. A yellow sleeveless crop top molded to her upper body and a pair of black athletic tights hugged her legs with black running shoes adorned her feet, presumably for comfort. Her long locs were maneuvered into a low ponytail by a yellow silk ribbon. Granted, Talbott had only seen Judith outside of her usual class robes only a handful of times, but he had rarely seen her show so much of her body and skin until recently.

While being only 15, Judith had muscles a lot of guys in their year and possibly older wished had. But the muscles didn't make her seem like a boy, rather it added to the curves her body was slowly displaying as she matured into a young woman. The dress she wore to their date made him feel like he was hit with the Stupefy spell. Her workout outfit seemed to have a similar effect.

But watching her practice?

Nothing could get him to look away from her. She easily slipped into the familiar notion of her practice exercise. She had three Bludgers sent out, each coming towards her with terrifying speed. Talbott couldn't remember all the details of Quidditch but he can safely assume getting hit by one of those iron spheres meant an overnight stay in the Hospital Wing. But Judith stepped into her swings with the confidence and swagger of the best duelists or even a Quidditch pro. Confident, focused, and calculating. He did take note that she would duck on a rare occasion when she took a misstep and leaned into her left side.

Gods know how much time has passed until Judith whipped out her wand and froze the Bludgers, which dropped to the ground with a frightening thud.

'I would love to never know what it's like to smack with one of those...'

Judith grabbed a water bottle before walking around and sitting next to the awestruck Ravenclaw.

"So what do you think," she asked before taking a swing of her water. He watched as her throat worked around the deep gulps of water she was taking in.

"Is it possible I can come to more of your training sessions?" Judith capped her nearly empty water bottle with a quirked brow.

"You actually like seeing me train? Watching me beat a bunch of Bludgers into some dummies can't be that entertaining," she insisted. Talbott felt a blush work its way onto his cheeks.

"I beg to differ... so is that a no," he said with an embarrassed cough. Judith narrowed her good eye at him before giving him a nod.

"You can come. I don't mind."

It soon became a part of Talbott's routine to sit in on Judith's practices. Talbott finds that she does alternate her routine. And got to witness the relationships with her Quidditch mates. 

Sometimes it'll be just her and the dummies. 

Other times, David would be present to train with her as well. Talbott could see the playful energy between the two Hufflepuffs, almost as if they were siblings. Most times, they would practice beating a Bludger to each other, while others the dummies will be involved. There were plenty of jabs and playful ribbing in their conversations. Whenever they were done, they would join Talbott in the grass for a quick chat until Judith's eyes would get droopy and David would give her a piggyback ride back to their Common Room. 

'Hate to cut the conversation short, mate, but this one needs her rest. C'mon Little Tigress. Time for your cat nap.' Talbott watched in quiet amusement as David shifted on his knees so he could allow the girl to crawl on his back before standing. The young witch yawned, nuzzling the back of her best mate's neck with an annoyed grumble.

'Mmmm... I'm not little, you stubborn git. Later bird boy...' With a cute little wave to the Ravenclaw, Judith allowed herself to be toted away to their shared Common Room. (Talbott would deny blushing at that nickname if you asked him)

Maybe even one (or both) of her on-sight Beater teachers, the fierce Erika Rath or the mischievous Phoenix Lang, would be present. Which he found strangely interesting as Erika and Phoenix were both well-known Beaters of the Houses of Slytherin and Gryffindor respectively, prodigies in their own right. Erika seemed more of the stern one of the two, more in charge of her training exercises while Phoenix would fill in the gaps where she could. Those sessions tended to be more intense as Erika tried to push Judith into using her left side more, which frustrated the Hufflepuff Beater greatly. Talbott knew it wasn't his place to question her mentor's methods but he couldn't help but to worry how close Judith would be to getting hit by the magical sphere of iron. The hits she was able to get in weren't always perfect as far as accuracy and impact. There were times when Talbott would witness Judith would drop to her knees with tears in her eyes. The first time it happened shocked him to his core, his heart ached at the sight.

'I-I-I can't! I can't see well, Rath!' Pale green eyes narrowed briefly before letting out a soft sigh. With a brief spell, the Bludger in use fell to the ground as Erika walked up to her mentee. The older witch rested a hand on her shoulder, giving it a brief squeeze as she glanced over to where Talbott was seated.

'Talbott, was it? Can you stay with her while I find Phoenix? I... I'm not exactly good at "comforting" as I would like to be.' Talbott nodded replacing Erika by the crying girl's side as she disappeared into the castle. 

'Little bird...?' Watery gold eyes glanced at him before Judith roughly started wiping her face to get rid of the evidence of the tears that seemed neverending.

'I-I'm sorry, I... I was hoping you wouldn't have to s-see me like t-this. I promise I'm not this weak-' The girl's ramble was brought to a halt as Talbott grabbed her by the arm and pulled her into a hug, tucking her face against his neck. The soft gasp that escaped her tickled the sensitive skin there.

'I want you to breathe with me, little bird. Can you do that for me?' Judith remained still for a moment before giving a shaky nod. Talbott took a slow, deep inhale, feeling the girl do the same. They held it for a few seconds before slowly releasing it. They did it a handful of times before Talbott felt the faint tremor in the girl's body disappear. He gently pulled her away from his neck to look at her face. The tears were still there, but they seemed to have slowed significantly. Gentle hands cupped her face, thumbing away the tears and dried tear tracks that remained. Shaky hands wrapped around Talbott's wrists before Judith leaned into his touch. With one last caress to her scarred cheek, Talbott pulled away a bit only to be surprised by the ironclad grip on his wrists. Judith's eyes reminded him of a wounded Hippogriff, wild with an underlying hint of fear.

"D-don't go... please, don't go...' she whimpered. Talbott leaned in again, brushing a soft kiss to her sweaty brow.

'Shhh, darling. I promise I'm not leaving you. But it would be best if you rehydrated, little bird. Let me grab some water for you.' Judith blinked slowly, recognition flashing in her eyes. She gave a timid nod before letting go of his wrists. Silently deciding not to get up and leaving his little bird's time, Talbott got out his wand to use the Summoning Charm instead. Judith took the bottle with a small thanks before taking small sips. When Talbott was sure she was okay, he tilted her chin up so she could look him in the eye.

'I'm not sure where your head is, exactly. But I want you to know that you're not weak. You're one of the strongest people I know and even strong people can cry sometimes. They can get overwhelmed sometimes. And that's okay. I would never think less of you, and you shouldn't either. I won't let you. Do you understand me, little bird?' Talbott watched as her eyes widened, the scar tissue surrounding her left eye stretching a bit. Judith pursed her lips before giving a nod. That wasn't good enough for the Ravenclaw wizard.

'Words, Judith. I need to hear you say it.' The girl winced at the firm tone before letting out a shaky sigh.

'I-I understand, Talbott. I... I'll do my best to take it easy on myself in these moments.' Talbott gave her a small smile before placing a small kiss on her cheek.

Not even a few moments later, Phoenix came into view while Erika trailed a few paces behind. The Gryffindor Beater fell to her knees before the couple, cerulean blue eyes studying the Hufflepuff's face intensely.

'Judith! Erika told me what happened, are you okay?!' Judith blushed as Phoenix cupped her face, fussing over her. Erika sat down by her rival, silently watching her with a hint of worry. Judith cleared her throat, pulling away before resting against Talbott's chest.

"I-I'm fine now... I just got overwhelmed, b-but Talbott helped me calm down.' The eyes of the older Beaters were suddenly trained on their "guest", who blushed under their intense gaze.

'I... I'm not too familiar with what caused her anxiety, I just knew I couldn't stand there and watch her cry. Judith means a lot to me. Great players can have bad days and she's entitled to have those days...' Phoenix gave the boy a delighted grin while a glimmer of respect can be seen in Erika's eyes.

'I think I like this one for her, Rath. What do you think?' The Slytherin Beater gave an amused snort at the matching blushes that could be seen on the duo's faces.

'As long as I don't always have to find you whenever she gets overwhelmed, he can stay.'

'HEY! I resent that!' Erika let out a short laugh at Phoenix's disgruntlement. Deciding that her student/adopted little sister needed a well-deserved break, Phoenix dragged the girl to head to the Great Hall for some lunch. Just as Talbott was going to head to the Owlery, a hand on his shoulder stopped him.

'Wait.' The wizard turned to find Erika's eyes boring into him. And to his surprise, her stern gaze softened around the edges.

'I just wanted to say, thank you. Normally I don't care what people think of me, especially those who would just be stuck in the sidelines and nothing more. But I see that you care about her. I'm not trying to be a hardass on Judith for shits and giggles. We both are well aware that her left side is a weakness. I suffer from a blind spot, obviously not on the same level as Judith but you get the idea. If people are within that area, they're more than likely to get hurt. I don't want Judith to have to deal with that struggle, or even worse, have that blind spot used against her. I hope you understand.' Talbott's brows rose in silent surprise before nodding.

'I understand... you didn't have to explain your methods to me, but... I appreciate it either way. I'll do my best to be there for her whenever it gets too much for her.' Erika gave a firm nod, before turning on her heel back into the castle.'

Talbott had thought long and hard over what he had seen and what Erika had told him. He hated to see the haunted look in Judith's eyes as she broke down on not doing good enough. He was no Quidditch player so he wasn't sure how to help the girl. He went to the only other Quidditch player he knew for any advice. Granted, Talbott knew that Andre was no Beater, but he knew he had to try. Luckily for him, Andre knew two people who could help. Unluckily for him, Andre saw it fit to drag his ass out of bed on a late Saturday morning. The only day Talbott will grant himself the luxury of sleeping in. With no damn coffee.

'KC, McNully!' The two Ravenclaws, who seemed to be in the middle of a game of chess, looked up to find the Seeker Reserve dragging over one of their fellow Housemates who seemed to have rolled out of bed.

'Hey, Andre! What can we do for you?' the commentator asked with a bright grin. Andre gave a fond smile, clapping a hand on the disgruntled Ravenclaw's shoulder.

'Oh no, honestly, you've helped me enough mate. It's my friend here who could use your creative expertise on the matter of Quidditch.' Talbott shrugged Andre off with an embarrassed glare. The strawberry-blonde girl raised a cool brow, flustering Talbott further.

'My apologies. I asked Egwu for help on a Quidditch issue and this overexcited bloke dragged me out of bed before I had a drop of caffeine in my system.' KC let out a hearty laugh.

'A man after my own heart. Tell you what, I made a pot of coffee this morning. I grab you a mug and you tell us what you need...' Talbott quickly understood what the witch was subtly asking for.

'Talbott. Talbott Winger.' KC grinned, getting up from her comfortable seat to loop an arm around the wizard's arm.

'Katriona Cassiopeia, feel free to call me KC if you want. It's a pleasure to meet you, my fellow coffee fiend.' After Talbott had a bit of caffeine fix (and an introduction to one Murphy McNully), he felt more level-headed about broaching this topic.

'So, what seems to be the problem? Looking to join the Quidditch team? While I don't know you at all, I can see you being a Seeker for some reason.' KC pointedly ignored Andre's offended squawk in the background, eyes solely trained on Talbott.

'No, I'm not looking to join. I didn't get into Quidditch until recently...' Murphy raised a brow, curious.

'Because of our local Pride of Portree fanatic here?' Talbott gave an amused snort.

'He wishes. Egwu has been trying to teach me about the sport or at least drag me a game since we became friends.' KC blinked, confusion flashing in those bright blue eyes.

'So why the interest now?' Talbott coughed into his fist, slightly flustered.

'I'm kinda dating a Quidditch player. A Beater, to be exact.' Murphy gave a knowing smile.

'Is it Judith Harris?' Talbott was glad he didn't sip his coffee when the Quidditch announcer spoke because he was pretty sure he would've spit it out all over his chessboard. Either that or choke.

'Wha-?! Did Andre tell you?!' Andre waved his hands in alarm as Talbott rounded on him with a glare. Murphy laughed, waving off the outburst.

'Well, it's simple really. There are two Beaters to every team. It can't be Rising Star here, seeing how you just met her. And I doubt you know the other Beater on Ravenclaw's team seeing how you're coming to learn the sport and its players. Even if you heard more well-known players like Erika Rath and Phoenix Lang, more well-known as Rath and Fireball on the Pitch, they don't seem like your type per se. And again, you probably don't know the other Beaters on those two teams so that rules Slytherin and Gryffindor from the running. All that's left is Hufflepuff's Beaters, Tigress and Hound. Or as you normally know them as Judith Harris and David Willows. Both are well known enough outside of Quidditch and are in the same year and you and Style Wizard here. Plus, David seems more like a lady's man so that leaves just Judith. It's really simple when you think about it.' Talbott narrowed his eyes, slightly put off at how well someone he just met was able to pinpoint his crush with just one detail and how much he could talk without seemingly taking a breath.

'Yes, it's her...' KC chuckled, giving the boy a grin.

'I think it's cute. But one thing I'm not understanding is why she would need help. She's a phenomenal player. From what I hear, she has a bit of a religious training schedule to stay up to par with anyone on the field.' Talbott sighed, suddenly feeling unsure about exposing what he knew. Technically, Katriona and Judith were rivals. While he may not know much like the average Quidditch fan, he does know not to reveal secrets to potential rivals or enemies. 

But the memory of Judith crying flashes in his mind's eye. He didn't want her to continue to suffer from anxiety attacks if he knew he could find help for her.

'I haven't seen her play but I've seen her train. And she's earned every right to be known as a phenomenal player. But... she's not one without struggle. Can I trust you two with what I'm about to tell you?' KC and Murphy watched as those red eyes carefully studied them both, heavily guarded with a glint of worry beneath the surface. Andre wore down his bottom lip with his teeth at the intense silence. He placed a hand on Talbott's shoulder.

'Tal, mate. I wouldn't have brought you to them if I didn't believe they could help Judith. Let alone hurt her.' Talbott's hands curled into fists on his lap, his gaze stubbornly switching between the wizard and witch sitting across from him.

'I trust you, Egwu. But I need to hear it from them.' KC's eyes softened.

'Hey, Judith and I may be rivals on the Pitch but it's all friendly competition. I wouldn't actively try to hurt someone who pushes me to be a better player myself.' Murphy nodded.

'I wouldn't do anything malicious to harm the girl either. I met her father on the day she tried out for the open Beater position years ago. She's a force in her own right but it's not strange to have flaws. It's not unusual for players to come to me for advice. I do my best to be unbiased so I'm not spilling any secrets to other teams to give them an advantage. Talbott let out a small sigh.

'Thank you. I'm sure you're well aware of Judith's scar. The thing is... she's semi-blind in that eye. While she can see shapes and colors, it's only with certain exceptions. She's been training to strengthen that weakness but she still experiences some difficulties. Maybe she has days where that particular eye would cause everything to be more blurry and of course, that can be a danger to anyone, including her. It overwhelms her to the point she would experience an anxiety attack...' Talbott sighed, running a hand through his messy bedhead.

'I told her that it's okay to have bad days and she should take it easier on herself. But I feel like this cycle will continue if she doesn't find a more effective way of handling this... s-so, will you help?' KC and Murphy looked at each other for a few moments before turning back to the wizard with a nod.

'Of course, Talbott. It might take a little time for us to brainstorm something but we'll help you two. Besides, it would be nice to get to know Judith more outside of our matches.' Talbott let out a sigh of relief at KC's words, giving the pair a small smile.

'Thank you...' Murphy gave Talbott a nod.

'Of course! Once we're ready for you, we'll send you an owl for you to bring Judith to the Quidditch Pitch later on. Don't worry, Talbott. We'll help your girl out.' This time Talbott did end up choking on his next cup of coffee, much to the amusement of the three people surrounding him.

Much to Talbott's surprise, Talbott received an owl the next day from KC. He did find it odd that it said to come to the Quidditch Pitch at night, but he decided to trust his fellow Ravenclaw. Judith accepted his invitation to meet him at the Changing Tents just outside of the Pitch with a bit of wariness.

'Not that I don't like spending time with you Talbott, but why are we out here?' Talbott gave his little bird a small smile.

'I want to help you train. Especially with... your struggle area...' The Hufflepuff narrowed her eyes as they reached the entrance of the Pitch.

'How do you plan on doing that?' Talbott stopped in front of her, taking the time to grab her hand. Judith couldn't fight the blush that crept up to her cheeks as the boy laid her palm over his chest while looking into her eyes. She could feel his heart quicken but his face gave nothing away.

'Do you trust me, Judith?' The young witch didn't have to think about it.

'I do.' Talbott smiled, bringing her hand to his lips to place a soft kiss to her palm.

'Then trust me when I say that I'm looking out for you. Now come on.' Judith stumbled over her feet to follow her crush, fanning her face to cool down her intense blush. They continued to walk until they were in the middle of the field. When she finally got her blush under control, she looked up to find that they were not alone.

'Judith! Glad you could make it!' Murphy greeted with a grin. The witch next to him stepped up to offer a handshake.

'Hey there, Tigress. Nice to officially meet you outside of a match.' Judith took KC's handshake with a befuddled expression.

"McNully, Rising Star, it's... nice to see you too. But, what exactly is going on here?' Now it was KC's turn to give a smile.

'Your boy here came to McNully and I for some help. To help you matter of fact in regards to your blind spot.' Talbott glared at KC's small tease before looking at the surprised face of his little bird.

'You told them about my blindness?' Talbott bit his lip at the question. He couldn't decipher her tone for it gave nothing away. Her face even more so. Outside of the pinch of her brows that signifies her confusion, he wasn't sure how the girl felt about exposing her secret to one of her rivals.

'I did. I-I... I wanted to help you in some way. But I wasn't sure as to how. I know Rath is doing her best but maybe you needed a different approach. I'm not a Quidditch player, let alone a Beater so Andre led me to two people who possibly could provide that. Please, don't be mad, little bird. I know it's your secret to tell, but I couldn't stand to see you like that again. Frustrated and feeling hopelessly lost to yourself over something that you couldn't have helped. I'm sorry if I overstepped.' Judith stared at him for a few seconds longer before bringing him into a hug. Talbott looked down at the girl in surprise but didn't hesitate to wrap his arms around her. 

'I'm not mad, bird brain. You have nothing to apologize for. I know you wouldn't do anything to hurt me, and if you think that KC and McNully can help, I'm more than willing to hear them out.' Talbott squeezed her tighter, hiding his smile in the crown of her head.

'Great to hear that! Now, Talbott if you could remove yourself from my fellow Beater Babe's person, I want to show her what we came up with.' Talbott blushed, taking a stand by Murphy as KC looped her arm with Judith's to pull her to the crate with Beater Bats and a Bludger. There was a few metal practice dummies just a few yards away. Talbott turned to the handsome blonde commentator with a quirked brow.

'Care to share what you and Katriona came up with?' Murphy gave a smirk.

'Nope! For once, my lips are sealed this time. Just watch this lovely lady at work.' Talbott sighed, watching as the two witches converse with one another. He could spy Judith fiddling with her fingers, one of her nervous ticks, before grabbing a bat. KC already had the other one in hand, with her wand in her opposite hand.

'Now I'm gonna enchant the Bludger and we're gonna practice for a few minutes. Remember, don't be too hard on yourself and I'm right here with you so you don't have to experience so many close calls, alright?' Judith nodded, allowing herself to face forward with her left just as KC cast her spell. To Talbott's surprise, the Bludger began to glow a bright yellow, almost like a mini sun, zipping through the air before making its way towards the Hufflepuff Beater. Talbott watched with bated breath as he watched the familiar motion of Judith's swing and-

BANG! And-

CLANG!

Judith's smile was brighter than the glowing Bludger that night. And Talbott couldn't have been more happy to see the pure joy on his little bird's face.

While Judith was big on her training, both day and now night, that wasn't the only thing she did to improve. There were some instances where there were no bats and Bludgers involved. Those days were usually with her Captain, Orion Amari. Talbott found those practices a bit strange as the pair would be sitting on the ground meditating (something Judith would strong-arm him into doing as well), balancing on their brooms on a single leg, or being Inspired Broom Surfing. 

'Training is great to hone your skills, but a clear and steady mind can elevate one's game to substantial heights.' Talbott turned to find Orion standing beside him as he watched Judith surf on her broom. He regarded the older Badger with a raised brow, his silent question loud in the ears of the captain.

'I've known Judith since she was just a second-year student. Seen as a small, skinny, and shy Hufflepuff girl by many but I saw the fire in her eye. A spirit beaten down, but not broken. She wanted to prove herself. Something that is admirable but I could sense it was deeper than that. You saw it too, right?' Talbott froze as Judith's words flashed back to him.

'I promise I'm not this weak...'

'Yeah, I did...' Orion gave the young Eagle's shoulder a warm squeeze.

'You're good for her, you know? I noticed a shift in my Beater. She's not as hard on herself as she used to be. Her smile is brighter. And that only happened a little after you started coming around. And I greatly appreciate that...' Talbott swallowed around the emotional lump in his throat.

'I-It's nothing really. I would do anything for her...' Orion smiled, giving Talbott's shoulder another squeeze.

'The people who love her can see that. Trust me when I say that it means a lot to them and to her...' With that Orion hopped on his broom to surf alongside his student. Talbott watched as Judith gave her captain a bright smile, feeling one make his way on his own lips.

'She's so beautiful like this. In her element. Happy and healthy...'

Seeing her go through these different motions made him think of what she said on their date. How much she represents and values balance in her life. It just made her all the more intriguing and endearing to him.

It wouldn't be until their 5th year when he got to see her practice with her team. While they were real matches, Talbott always found them to be interesting and exciting. Seeing her play in action made him realize how good his little bird was and how well she and David worked together on the field. Even down to the Dobbleganger Defense, one of the most difficult plays for a Beater. The pride he would feel upon hearing the praise of her skill by the Quidditch commentator warmed his chest.

He couldn't wait for the girl's first game of the season.

Of course, he could've done without the pressure of meeting the girl's family. Talbott knew about her father through many sources. A former Beater-a Ravenclaw Beater at that, Talbott knew about her little brother, a Slytherin wizard in his third year if he remembers correctly, who he would see cling to her whenever he could get the chance. How he managed to avoid the little brother up until now is beyond him, but there was no avoiding it when the first fame of the season came around. It was Hufflepuff versus Ravenclaw.

There was usually a pregame party happening in the Courtyard before each game but Talbott knew his little bird well enough that she wasn't always one for mingling with others, at least not often. The next best place she would be is the Quidditch Pitch. 

Flying to the pitch was much faster than walking, and Talbott wanted to spend every second with the Hufflepuff Beater before her match. It wasn't until he was flying overhead that he realized that she wasn't alone. Part of him wanted to turn around and transform back into his human form so he could walk into the stadium instead. But Judith, ever so keen with her surroundings, spotted him. She waved him down with a bright smile, while the two males with her looked up to find him circling in the sky.

"Come down, love! I want you to meet my family," she called. After hesitating for a few seconds, he swooped down to land in front of the trio. The man and young boy looked at the eagle with a well-timed head tilt, though Talbott could see the suspicion in the man's pale gold eyes while there was a youthful glint of curiosity in the boy's near-black eyes. He looked to his little bird who gave him an encouraging smile. With that, he allowed himself to transform back into his human form. The boy flinched back before staring at him in awe. The older male version of his little bird only smirked.

"Like mother, like son," her father chuckled. Talbott eyed the man suspiciously. 

"I'm sorry?" Gold eyes regarded him with a knowing glint.

"Ah, you don't recognize me, don't you son?" Talbott's brow furrowed, racking his mind.

Has he met Judith's dad before? There's no way-

'Talbott, this is Kendrick Harris. He's my best friend from when I went to school. And his daughter, Judith...'

Talbott's eyes lowered to find a familiar necklace. The cord was decorated with dark red beads with a tooth of an animal of some sort.

"You... you were my parents' best friend. You came to my house that one time with..." he whispered, eyes watering. He turned to the witch next to him, finding that same warm look from that day in the Great Hall. The same look he got as they sat in the grand old tree on his parents' old property when they were children. Judith gave him a tentative smile, leaning in to kiss his cheek.

"L-Little Bird?" He watched as her smile grew.

"Yeah, it's me Bird Boy." He didn't hesitate to bring her into the circle of his arms, hugging her with all the strength she could muster. He smiled the joyful laughter in his ear.

"Talbott! You're gonna squish me," Judith giggled, hugging him back despite this. 

"You're the powerhouse Beater, little bird. If anything I should be worried about you breaking my bones with your bear hugs," he hummed. Kendrick let out a laugh at that, bursting the bubble the two teens found themselves in.

"As strong as my little girl is, she has one of the gentlest souls on this Earth. You should know," he said, with a kind smile. Talbott blushed before nodding.

"And I have you to thank for siring such a soul, Mr. Harris." Kendrick chuckled, waving him off.

"Call me Kendrick, Talbott. I'm not that old... plus, from what I heard you've proved me right. That you'll be good to my daughter and earn the right to be with her." Talbott and Judith balked at the elder Harris with blushes staining their cheeks.

"PAPA!" Kendrick raised a brow at his daughter's outburst.

"What? I'm the more tame parent. Ava had tried planning you two's wedding when you guys were toddlers," he said with an amused smirk.

"W-With all due respect, K-Kendrick, we're not officially together," Talbott stuttered. The man chuckled.

"Not yet, anyway." Judith groaned.

"Papa Kendrick, quit it. I already have to share Juju with her friends, I'll probably never see her if she gets a boyfriend," Nuri whined, finally chiming into the conversation. Talbott noticed the genuine discontentment on the boy's face. Judith huffed, extracting herself from Talbott's arms to snatch up her little brother. She placed her hands on his cheeks so she could meet his eyes.

"You listen here, Riri. No one will keep me from seeing and spending time with you. You're my little brother and will always hold a special place in my heart, understand," she said sternly. Nuri gave his sister a shy smile, before hugging her back. 

"I understand, Juju..." Kendrick and Talbott smiled at the sight before the man cleared his throat.

"The stands should be filling up soon, best if you boys find some good seats. You go ahead and change, baby girl. And remember, I'm proud of you no matter the outcome." Judith smiled at her dad, giving him one quick bear hug before the man went to the commentator booth. The three of them stood ready to go their separate ways before Judith stopped her brother.

"Before I forget, here you go, Riri." Talbott watched as the Hufflepuff took off her jacket, casting the Enlarging Charm before handing it to Nuri. She pulled the younger boy down to kiss his forehead, before making her way over to Talbott's side to kiss his cheek.

"Hope to see you two in the stands," she said before jogging her way out of the Pitch. 

The two wizards made their way up to the stands. Talbott could see Nuri eyeing him from the corner of his eye.

"What is it?" Nuri flinched, a bit surprised to be caught before deciding to speak up.

"This way is the way to the Hufflepuff Stands. You're a Ravenclaw, shouldn't you be sitting with them instead?" Talbott turned to look at the Slytherin wizard with a cocked brow. The boy didn't sound dismissive or hostile, just... curious.

"I want to support Judith. She's the whole reason why I got into Quidditch in the first place. It doesn't matter to me if it looks like I'm going against my own House. I'm here for her, and will always be here for her." Nuri smiled at the wizard, handing him the jacket her sister was wearing. Talbott took it with uncertain hands.

"Why are you giving me this," he asked as they made their way up the stands. Nuri paused on his next step and gave a shy smile, long fingers messing with a ring on his right hand. The same nervous tick as his little bird.

"My sister always gave me her letterman jacket whenever she played as a way for me to be comfortable sitting in with the Hufflepuffs ever since I came to Hogwarts. I'm going to be honest, I'm pretty selfish when it comes to her, and having to share her has been difficult for me. But as I got to see her interact with others and see those people care and love her too, I began to loosen up. While this is my first time officially meeting you, I can see how you look at her. Like she's the sun. The center of your universe. Papa Kendrick seems to like you a lot and he doesn't like the idea of sharing her love with any boy. Consider this my way of showing you that I'm willing to give you a fair chance. People who love my sister tend to be my favorite people, and I think you could be one of them." Talbott felt a flush wash over his face but he couldn't help but return the smile Nuri was giving him.

"Thank you. That means a lot and I would like to get to know you better too, Riri." The Slytherin boy sent the older wizard a playful glare.

"Okay, that's a step too far. Only Juju can call me Riri. My real name is Nuri. Nuri Lockheart." Talbott laughed at the look, it reminded him so much of Judith so he knew this look well enough to know that the boy wasn't actually upset.

"Heh, got you. I'm Talbott." The two wizards shared a smile as they continued their way up and reached the top of the stands. Talbott took the time to study the jacket, a letterman jacket as Nuri called it.

It was mainly black, with two stitched designs on either side of the torso. There was a gold honey badger symbol on the left side with two Beater bats in an "X" formation on the right. The sleeves were white and a bit baggy, looking like they would fit over his wrists thanks to the yellow cuffs with black and white lines. The same cuffs outline the collar and the bottom of the jacket. It even had decently sized-pockets. He flipped it over to find the word "TIGRESS" stitched on the back, the word beautifully made with gold yarn in impressive calligraphy. Talbott slipped on the jacket and immediately smiled.

The scent of his little bird lingered on the piece of clothing and he felt as if he was being embraced by the girl himself.

'If I could get away with it, I would never take this off...'

The duo decided to sit in the center on the bottom bench, only to be surprised to find someone already there.

"Merula?" The girl's head snapped up to find the two wizards standing beside her. And it didn't escape Talbott's attention that she was wearing a matching letterman jacket as himself, only it was obvious the jacket was made for someone much bigger than her.

"What are you doing here? Ravenclaw is on the other side and Slytherin isn't playing today," she snarked. Nuri frowned at the clear dismissal but Talbott knew better.

"The same reason why you sitting in the Hufflepuff stands. We're here to support someone we care about," Talbott clapped back. The witch blushed, grumbling.

"Fine, whatever. It's not like these seats are taken..." Taking that as an obvious invitation to join her, Talbott sat down next to the self-proclaimed "The Powerful Witch of Hogwarts" while Nuri sat beside him. Within minutes, the stands were starting to fill with eager Quidditch fans and casual watchers for the game. Even though there were some weird looks from the Hufflepuffs at the two newcomers who sat in their section, no one said anything to them. There was a buzz in the air until the crowd quieted with the sound of Murphy's voice.

"Welcome Hogwarts to the first game of this Quidditch season! Are you ready for this year's competition?" The crowds roared with approval and to Talbott's personal surprise, he was right there with that.

Talbott had to admit, he was excellent at getting the crowd going as he introduced the two teams. Ravenclaw had already made their entrance and waited in the middle of the field. It was now Hufflepuff's turn. He watched as the Hufflepuff team flew in, zooming through the stadium. He watched with bated breath as the team briefly paused in front of their stand, to the joy of the students there. Judith found him and Nuri easily, her eyes reflecting her surprise at him wearing her jacket before giving them a large grin. He could see the two top canines of her teeth were capped in gold before they zoomed off to meet their opponents in the middle of the Pitch. Despite being in his own heart-melting moment, he did notice that David, who was beside his fellow Beater, gave Merula a grin of his own followed by a cheeky wink. Talbott pretended not to see the blush on the pale girl's face.

Madam Hooch made sure to set the rules between the two teams, the captains of each team gave a firm handshake, and soon the balls were in.

The game has begun.

Talbott had to admit, it was the most fun he had in a while. Despite not fully knowing what was happening (Talbott was so grateful that he befriended Nuri as he was able to explain the mechanics of the game to him), the energy was contagious. Even Merula was standing and cheering for the team. The players were fast, it was sometimes hard to keep up with the action, even with his 20/20 vision. Sometimes he opted to just watch his little bird, who was her own beautiful force of nature. He watched as her mind was constantly at work, deciphering the patterns of the Bludgers before deciding on a play. Often passing the iron sphere to David, who used it to scatter the Ravenclaw Chasers. Other times, taking out unsuspecting players with a hit of her own. His favorite moment was the well-executed Bludger Backbeat, seeing her use the scarred side to knock a Chaser off their broom while dropping the Quaffle for Orion to steal for a goal, putting points up on the Badger's board. He was so caught up in watching her, he almost missed a stray Bludger making its way to him-

"Talbott, get down-" Nuri tried to warn him, but before he could pull Talbott down, it was deflected to the Ravenclaw Seeker (whom Talbott was sure spitting out some colorful language as they were so close to catching the Snitch). Talbott could only stare in a daze as Judith hovered over him on her broom. 

"You okay, Talbott," she quietly asked. Talbott, still in shock, gave a mute nod. Judith chuckled, leaning in to kiss his cheek before flying back into the fray.

"Awww, what a sweet moment from Hufflepuff's fiercest hunter, Tigress. Saving her handsome beau from a Bludger gone rogue before comforting him with a kiss! And who said romance was dead?" Talbott buried his red face in his hands as the crowd around him cooed along with Murphy's sentiment. Before Talbott knew it, the Hufflepuff Seeker managed to catch the Snitch, signaling the end of the game.

"Give it up for the Hufflepuff team! They will move on to the next round to face off the winner of the Slytherin and Gryffindor match!"

The next hour was a blur. With the win, of course, everyone on the Hufflepuff team had to accept the congratulations from fans and their rivals alike. Speaking eagerly amongst each other and toasting with some Butterbeer. Judith spent some much-needed time with her brother and father before they had to leave.

But soon, the field was empty and it was just Talbott and Judith. The young witch didn't get a chance to say a word as she was swept up in Talbott's arms, sinking into his warmth.

"I'm so proud of you. You were amazing." She smiled.

"How can I not? I have my number one fan cheering me on, wearing my letterman jacket better than I ever could." Before Talbott could say anything, most likely to refute the claim judging by his blush, she placed a single finger to his lips.

"Seriously Talbott. You helped me in more ways than you could ever know, and I wanted to show you by playing my absolute best. Your support, whether on the sidelines during my practices or in the stands at one of my games, means everything to me. Thank you." The boy beamed as he kissed her forehead.

"Anything for my champion..."

[chairofchaos]

Say It's True

Pairing: Emerie x Mor

Summary: Eventually, you have to admit you have feelings for your friend. Have all along. And what better way to share that truth than by kissing her?

Rating: Teen

Word Count: 1.3k

Warnings: ACOTAR type curses/language? I think that's it. LMK if you need anything else!

A/N: The author has neglected to write an author's note for fear that you will not like this. As the third party narrator it is my duty to express my hope (and the author's) that you enjoy the following one shot.

Mor knew three things.

First, she was tired of pretending she wasn’t watching the gorgeous Illyrian female train.

Second, she watched Emerie train with far too much interest than was normal, and not nearly enough caution in front of the priestesses, Nesta, Gwen, Cassian, and Azriel. The chances that they had seen her staring and knew exactly where her thoughts wandered were high.

Third, Mor didn’t care anymore. She would kiss her. Today.

Thank the mother, Cassian called an early end to training. Emerie was engaged in what seemed to be a battle of wills and power against a training dummy wrapped in thick wool padding, her body twisting with little effort as she pummeled it with kicks and punches, ducking invisible blows with practiced ease and unrivaled focus.

She didn’t notice Mor’s presence. She didn’t notice the slow trickle of females toward the stairwell, nor the glances from Nesta and Gwyn before they ushered their mates away from Emerie. She didn't even notice Mor’s silent vigil just outside her range of motion.

Mor was half sure she heard her name whispered in Cassian’s voice, then Emerie’s spoken softly in Nesta’s. She didn’t hear anything else after that. It all faded to the background. Her ears had room for one thing, and that was every grunt and panted breath which fell from the warrior’s mauve lips.

For Emerie was a warrior, pure and simple. Her dark curly hair was in a thick braid which brushed the base of her wings as she moved. Sweat trickled from her hairline, evidence of the work she had put into the two training sessions she had participated in today, once as an instructor, and one as a participant.

Her footwork was immaculate. Her arms moved with such accuracy, precision, and flawless technique that Mor found herself in complete awe of the form of the female before her.

Muscled thighs. Hips which would make any sensible fae, male or female, have a shudder of attraction roll down their spine. Shoulders neither slender nor wide, but strong.

Emerie gave one last kick to the center of the dummy, returning to a neutral stance before letting her hands fall and rolling her shoulders. It was only seconds later that she turned to find Mor staring at her in complete adoration.

Emerie’s face was impassive. She still panted slightly, her chest heaving, but Mor could see a hint of satisfaction in her eyes of a job completed well, the flush of her cheeks, and the fatigue in her slight movements. Most of all, Mor’s attention was drawn to the gentle curve of her lips.

She had to kiss Emerie. She had to.

They had spent four and a half months dancing around each other. Mor had, in a moment of desperation, resorted to demanding to be the one who went to Illlyria to retrieve Emerie for training. When Emerie had moved to Velaris, selling her shop to accept Feyre’s offer of instructing new Valkyries full time, Mor had firmly informed Nesta that she would still window her so the Illyrian could live in the city proper instead of atop the cliffs in the House of Wind. Nesta hadn’t opposed her, only gazing at her with a small smile and an arched brow before shaking her head and walking away.

Mor and Emerie saw each other each morning and at midday. Emerie would slip a hand into Mor’s, and off they would go. Upon arriving, they would hold hands a second too long. Sometimes they made eye contact so full of painful longing Mor thought she may die. She had to. She needed to move. Emerie opened her mouth to say something, and Mor’s last thread of restraining broke away from her. She rushed to Emerie, nearly knocking her into the training dummy as she embraced her quickly, then pulled back and gave the female the gentlest of kisses.

Emerie didn’t move. For ten seconds (Mor counted) Emerie didn’t move an inch. She blinked, Mor feeling the brush of her eyelashes. Oh. Maybe this wasn’t…

Mor pulled away and cautiously opened her eyes. Emerie’s face revealed nothing but pure shock, her eyes searing into Mor’s as Mor searched her face for something, anything to tell her what was next and how she had read this wrong.

But whatever Emerie saw spelled out in her expression –

The gentlest stroke of fingertips against Mor’s cheek. Her name, whispered with tenderness.

“Kiss me again.”

Whether it was a demand or a prayer, Mor was all too happy to indulge her.

This kiss was a claiming, an acknowledgement. A promise.

The walk to the bedroom was short, but seemed to drag on for hours. Mor could hardly keep herself from quickening the pace to a run just to see Emerie, flushed from their kisses and her workout, in Mor’s own bedroom.

Now. She wanted to see that now. Mor guided Emerie into the room, closing the door behind them and locking it out of habit. The key stayed in the lock. Emerie could turn it and leave whenever she wished. Mor would not ask anything of her. So she waited, leaning against the wall beside the door with her fingers drumming against her leg.

Emerie had stepped further into the room to examine it. Mor knew her room was at its most beautiful in the light of morning, when the sun streamed through the windows and lit the gold accents ablaze with its joyful light. Still, Emerie seemed to admire it. Seemed to fit here, in the colors and comfort and warmth.

“Mor.”

There were no words for what she was feeling. “Hmm?”

“You kissed me.”

Thank the Mother. Emerie sounded so pleased Mor couldn’t help but laugh. She left her position against the wall, crossing to meet Emerie in the center of the room and take her hand.

“I did, and I enjoyed it very much.”

“I want to kiss you.” Emerie’s head tilted to the side, examining Mor for a reaction.

“Then do,” Mor whispered in return, feeling a slight heat in her cheeks at the bluntness of the statement.

Emerie slipped her hand from Mor’s to cradle her head, dropping a gentle kiss to her forehead before pulling Mor against her lips with such reverence Mor wondered for a moment if she was floating, her head spinning at the gentle brushes of lips deepening into something more desperate and desirous.

“Emerie.” Mor all but moaned at the sudden loss of Emerie’s lips against hers.

They stared at each other for a moment, their hard breaths cutting through the deep silence.

“Will you join me for dinner tonight?” Emerie asked quietly.

“Yes,” Mor whispered in return. “Yes.”

Emerie’s answering smile nearly caused Mor to explode from pure, unrestrained delight. 

“I can’t wait,” she whispered, littering Mor’s face with gentle kisses. “I would say I’d pick you up, but…”

Mor laughed. “I’ll meet you.”

“Seven?” Emerie questioned, pulling back to examine her once more.

“Seven,” she agreed. “Where are we going?”

Emerie smiled, a sparkle in her eye. “Wear shoes you don’t mind getting dirty.”

Mor wrinkled her nose, and Emerie laughed quietly before kissing her once more. “I’m kidding. We'll go to a restaurant. I’ll ask Feyre to let you know where we’re going.”

Mor swatted at Emerie's shoulder in a teasing reprimand before offering the laughing warrior one more kiss.

Emerie sighed with a smile. “I need to go home,” she said regretfully. “I’d rather be clean and ready to go for dinner.”

Mor grinned. “You could bathe here.”

Emerie laughed again, looking as gleeful as Mor felt. “And wear what, exactly?”

Mor shrugged, her smile saccharine. “Absolutely nothing.”

Emerie shook her head, her own smile widening just a touch even as she flushed. “How about dinner first? We’ll see what we want to wear after.”

Mor pretended to consider with a deep sigh before nodding in mock solemnity. “I suppose I can accept that. Though I may be more… demanding for having to wait.”

Emerie’s eyes flickered with quick excitement. Mor was certain her eyes reflected that same sentiment as Emerie drew her in for another deep kiss. Mor couldn’t help but melt into the sensuous mouth of the female who held her. 

“I look forward to it,” Emerie drew back just enough to whisper the words against Mor’s lips.

Mor smiled. “Me too.”

[buglord-isaac]

Life Model - Part 1

Four weeks off sounded like a living nightmare for Ghost. Training and fighting was what kept him in routine and out of destructive thoughts. But… being shot in the leg did cause��� issues. For his time healing, he had to walk with a crutch under his right arm, so he didn’t put weight on his injured right leg. Price had forced him to take those four weeks off, and had sent him to a paid-for apartment in a nearby city. Surely, he must’ve thought, Ghost would find *something* to do in a city.

No.

For the first week, he sulked in his room, laying in bed until he eventually went stir crazy and started exploring the surrounds. Coincidentally, that week of sulking and not moving did wonders for his leg. Sure, he wasn’t able to walk on it yet, but it was a whole lot less achy when he was out walking.

He started by establishing a walking route. This apartment he was forced to stay in was in the outskirts of the city. It would take an hour to walk to the city centre and an hour back. This was what Ghost decided to do. An hour to the city centre, buy food, go back ‘home’, eat, go walking in the nearby park.

This new ‘schedule’ turned out… rather good. The walking made him feel more useful. Less stir crazy. He was able to soak in the sun, or what warmth from the sun seeped through his jumper and mask. It was refreshing.

On the third day of these walks, Ghost noticed a community noticeboard full to the brim with papers advertising jobs, sales, events, and various religious preachings. Maybe here would be where he would find something *entertaining* to do.

“Group Prayer” - no thanks. Ghost didn’t particularly believe in that mumbo jumbo.

“Join the army!” - been there done that.

“Markets on Sunday morning! 6am!” - he’d consider it. Markets always had the best food.

He flicked through some of the notes until he found a hand written one pinned up with two blue pins. The penmanship was phenomenal.

“In need of life models to draw. Quiet environment. Music or no music. Any body shape, any gender, any clothing choices. Text me:”

This… wasn’t something that would usually interest Ghost. But today, after being cooped up in an apartment for months… it piqued his interest. He took a photo of a few of the notices, then made his way back to the apartment. He had bought a few food items that he could store and eat, as well as some fancy looking tea to drink while doing mundane and brain numbing shit such as reading a book Price had given him.

He made a cup of said tea, no sugar and no milk, he was sweet enough already (he lied to himself), and sat down at the tiny dining table. Here, he could write the dates of some of the interesting events from that noticeboard. When he got to the life drawing advertisement, however, he put down his pen and journal and texted the number.

He was acting on a whim and he knew it, but this would surely be more interesting than staying home.

“I saw your notice in the city. I think I would be interested in being drawn.”

The number responded almost immediately.

“Nice!! When are you free? :)”

Emoticons… stupid.

“Any time. The sooner the better.”

“Oh sweet :) tomorrow? I live about half an hour away from the city.”

“Time?”

“Any time in the morning, then we can have all day. Sound good?”

“Yes.”

“Cool!” The number sent their address. “I’m Johnny, by the way.”

“Ghost. I’ll try to come around 10:00AM.”

“Sounds perfect, see you then :)”

Tomorrow, 10am… with this overly friendly man named Johnny who he’s never met… fun. Ghost sipped his tea and sighed. Hopefully he wouldn’t mind him having a mask on and crutches. He *had* said anyone could be drawn. And yet… he felt as if he had to warn him.

“By the way, I’m a military officer on a break because I’m injured. I have a crutch and I will be masked the whole time. Is that okay?”

“Perfectly fine. I like variety.”

Johnny responded so fast…

[unholyhelbig]

PART TWO OF SPIDER!PERSON SOULMATES

[a/n: Thank you all for the response to the first part of this! Here is part two, and depending on demand I may do a third part. Let me know!]

Title: Magnetic

Ship: Kate Bishop x gn!reader

Disclaimer: I did not proofread, if there are mistakes, I'm sorry!

Trigger warnings: mild injuries, horrible parenting, labs [?]

Main Masterlist | Ao3 | Request Prompts

Read Part One | Join my Taglist!

Summary: Reader is a spider!person from earth-2099 and Kate Bishop is curious about why she's so drawn to them.

There was a trivial feeling to packing a duffel bag that you pilfered from the nearest thrift store. It was resting between a tapestry of crudely drawn frogs and an old vacuum cleaner that was still caked with dirt. It was small and the upholstery was falling apart, but it was enough for the little clothes that you allowed yourself.

If you had a few more weeks here, maybe you would have bought the frog tapestry and hung it up. The walls of your apartment were just as empty as they were two months ago when you painfully slid across the gravel rooftop of the very building you rented in.

You’d dislocated your shoulder and leaned up against the door to push it back into place, trying to swallow back the metallic taste in your mouth. The landlady opened the door and eyed you, her cigarette lit and angry in the dark. Old pink curlers were in her hair, and she blew a puff of smoke into your face.

They’d just had a room open up, and you used what little cash you had to pay the first half of rent for the month. That night you slept curled up on the wooden floor with your sweatshirt under your head. It was the most peaceful sleep that you’d had in months.

Kate and Peter lived across the hall in an equally shitty apartment that was somehow done up nicely and with a certain type of style that every Peter Parker you had met in the past couldn’t pull off. It was just your luck- to find Kate Bishop so soon after you had crash landed.

It infuriated you that there were so many rules along with the lack of rules that dimension hopping possessed.

Don’t interact with other versions of you- which, wasn’t a problem. There was only one you and it was difficult to keep track of that much.

It’s better not to mess with fate. Really- keep to yourself and don’t’ do anything superherolike because you carried a signature, and that was easily trackable. The last thing you wanted to be was trackable.

Don’t fall in love with a different version of your person. This is the one that you broke all the time, without fail.

It’s why you were shoving everything you owned into a bag and lifting up the floorboard in the back corner of your closet to retrieve the pocket watch. It used to be a pocket watch, anyway. Your father had enhanced it and tinkered until a portal tore into the universe and he stepped into it, hoping that it would work.

It did. From there he changed that pocket watch to something wearable, something that you could alter on your wrist. When you stole the original watch, you used to it jump to Earth 267, only for a moment, to disable the tracker before you hopped three more earths and found someplace to sleep, and cry, and think.

You squeezed the cold metal, breathing in. There wasn’t time to linger. You shoved the golden watch into your pocket, slung the duffel bag over your shoulder, and opened the door to the hallway. The green overhead lights tinted everything in a dingy blue, the carpet in the corridor smelled of mildew. You’d left the brass key and an apology note on the empty kitchen counter, which wasn’t your style, but also a hell of a lot nicer than the other tenants that occupied the space.

A small breath escaped you as you stared at Kate and Peter’s door. Part of you expected one of them to burst through it, but everything was silent, save for the methodic drip from the water pipe in the stairwell.

Two weeks ago, Kate had stolen you from the elevator the second the rickety doors screeched open. You were carrying a well-done steak that was left to congeal with mashed potatoes and gravy after a patron took a single bite. You’d wrapped it in tin foil, your body aching.

You were ready to crash on the single bed pushed against the back wall of your apartment, entirely content on scarfing down cold food and reading another chapter of a pulp horror book you’d thrifted along with a lamp without a shade.

“Y/n, you have to help me.” Fear and questioning must have flashed across your face, because Kate squeezed your arm and a warmth flooded your stomach. “There’s this massive spider in the shower, and Old Woman Harbor told me to shove it.”

“It can’t be that big.”

She deadpanned “It has its own zip code. Please, I’m begging you.”

“Where’s Peter?”

You asked the question even as you resigned to your fate and let her grasp your hand, tugging you towards her apartment. It was decorated much nicer than yours, seeing as it had furniture, and smelled thickly of cinnamon. There was a comfort that radiated from the space- it was lived in, it was personalized.

“Pete? Please, he’s more afraid of spiders than I am.” Kate turned to you, watched as your eyes flitted around the room, taking in the art, and the books, and the records. “Rescue me, fair warrior, for I am at the mercy of an eight-legged creature from darkness.”

You had scooped the spider onto a piece of paper, using a mug that was holding discarded pens and keys that led to nowhere. It was a big spider and you tried to ignore the way it blinked at you as you slid open the window and gently set it on the damp fire-escape.

The door that you stared at now didn’t open to that familiar comfort, or that deep cinnamon scent. You pulled your hood over your head and pushed into the stairwell. Instead of going down, towards the street, you went up to the place where it all started.

The pocket watch that weighed down your clothes packed a punch. There was an electromagnetic pull, everything would raise into the air and then come crashing down. Better some gravel than the shitty furniture you had acquired.

A light drizzle cool your cheeks, the lights from buildings around you were blinking on and off with activity. There wasn’t a moment in this city where it wasn’t raining. You couldn’t tell if it was the earth, or the season. Either way, you looked up for a few, long moments, letting the drops soak your collar.

Lightening flashed, shading the limestone of the building, your breath as it pushed through the air. There had been dozens of universes, each one different than the last. But the tugging, the importance of this one, lingered against your skin. No rain could wash it away. No amount of swallowing your pride could make any of this feel right.

You clenched your eyes shut and fought back emotions that clung to you. This was better for everyone. It was better to leave- because the one moment that you had let yourself be you was enough for your father to pick up on a signal. He’d rip through the city if you stayed. Rip through Gary, and Peter, and Benny, and Kate.

“You were just going to leave, then?”

Kate.

She was silhouetted by the dim light of the stairway, but only for a moment. The door fell closed behind her and suddenly, the two of you were alone on the rooftop. Even in the darkness of the night, you could see the anger written across her face. It wasn’t quite disgust. Not yet.

Her words rumbled over the rain. “You’re a coward.”

“I’m not going to fight with you. Not again.”

You set the duffel bag down and turned to her, took a few steps away from the edge of the building. There was a good distance between you. Water had matted her hair down and dripped from the point of her nose and slope of her chin. There was hurt in her eyes.

“You’ve never fought with me.”

“I’ve seen how this plays out.”

“With all the other Kate’s!” she raised her voice, gesturing angrily. “Dozens of them, from what I figure. You appear in their lives, and then leave and how do you think that makes them feel? How do you think that makes me feel?”

“I’d rather you be in pain than dead. Do you not understand? I’m fated to be with you, but you’re also fated to perish in every single universe where we cross paths. I’ve mapped them, I’ve… I’ve lived them and I may be a coward but better a coward than the cause of your demise.”

You had closed the gap between you. She was taller by a few inches; the furrow of her brow was prominent. Your bones itched to pull her close, to ignore the rain, and the cold, and feeling of defeat in favor of her body against yours, if only for a moment.

She whispered. “Eventually, you’re going to run out of worlds. Don’t you think it’s worth it to fight for the one you’re in right now? To fight for me?”

Pain ripped through you and you gave in to the cold of the rain that soaked into your clothes. You had resigned yourself not to cry in front of Kate Bishop. But water was dripping down your face and you could hardly muffle the sob that pushed through your throat.

“All I’ve ever wanted to do,” Your voice cracked, “was fight for you, Katie.”

The archer had softened, her head lilting to the side for only a moment before her angry exterior dissolved and her hands were on both of your cheeks, applying gentle pressure. Her eyes were red, strands of black hair adhered to her forehead.

She finally said, “Tell me. Tell me what happened.”

You ended up in her living room in front of one of the original fireplaces. The brick supported the building, and that was the only reason they hadn’t been repurposed into something cheaper. Old Woman Harbor didn’t’ pay for central heating, or air, but the brick hearths made up for it. You had lit your own once, reading by the warm glow.

Kate had supplied you with sweatpants and a T-shirt that smelled like lemon, like rosemary with a hint of detergent. She’d draped a blanket over your shoulders and handed you a cup of mint tea despite your protests. You both sat cross-legged, parallel to one another, knees barely touching.

Your duffel bag was by the door, dripping water onto the floor. You’d slid the watch from your sweatshirt and into the pocket of the pants you were provided with. Your nose was still red, cheeks pink from the steam of mug you held under your chin.

“I thought I answered all of your questions.”

“Don’t get defensive.” Kate pulled her knees to her chest, rested her chin against them. “I need you to tell me why your father is after you, why he’s so hellbent on making sure you don’t exist anymore.”

You took a scalding gulp of tea, mint filling your lungs. It burned, made your eyes pinch with water, but it was a better pain than remembering something you had tried so hard to forget. Your instinct was to run away from this Kate. But she was so, so much like yours- the one you had lost and yearned for.

She watched you quietly, taking in your movements and your procrastination. There was no pushing, not anything past the initial question. The warmth from the fire was beginning to settle into your bones.

“My father is a geneticist. He spent his entire life trying to splice the DNA of different things with humans, and his partner, Lyla- she specialized in interdimensional travel. They were funded by Alchemex, given free reign of the labs and unlimited funding.” You swallowed the artificial sweetener taste on your tongue. “Everyone thought they were capable of wonderful things.”

Kate’s voice was barely a whisper. “What changed?”

“My father became obsessed with creating the perfect creation. He started taking DNA from bats and splicing it with monkeys. Wolves and hamsters, fish and lizards- you name it and he tried to achieve it. He was getting to the point where he wanted to splice human DNA with something more. Lyla was the only one who could reign him in, not even my own mother could get through to him.

“Christmas Eve, Lyla was staying late at the lab, and her technology faltered. It was an interdimensional travel device that was stronger than a pocket watch they toyed around with in college. Either way, something went wrong, wires got crossed and suddenly, Lyla was gone.”

“Into a different dimension?”

Your eyes were damp, clouded with emotion. You shook your head and when you curled into the cup in front of you, a tear escaped, landing on the soft fabric of the blanket. You were quick to wipe it away, to steel yourself.

“My father can still talk to her. I don’t know how, I was never the science kid, you know? Music was my thing. I was a prodigy, even. Miguel, my brother, he was the one that followed in my father’s footsteps. The one who gained his respect.”

You hugged the blanket closer to you, shuddered into it. Kate flinched as if she wanted to move and comfort you, say something to ease your worries. But you both stayed where you were.

“A year after Lyla, I came home from college for the holidays. It was Christmas Eve, and though my mom begged my father to stay home for the day, he went into the office. I was sent to Alchemex to get him.” You laughed wetly, using the back of your hand to wipe away moisture “Which was stupid. He didn’t like me. He barely tolerated me.”

This time Kate did reach out, her fingers were like an electric current as they touched your knee. You flinched, then settled into the familiarity of her grip. You placed your hand on top of hers, constricted your fingers around hers. It was holding you in place.

“The man that I saw that night was not my father. I knew that we had our issues, our lack of connection, but there was this cold, detached look in his eyes. He didn’t say a word, didn’t even blink.” You whispered the next part, not finding the words. “One minute he was there, the lab was there, I was there and the next everything was black, there was this horrible pain in my temple.”

“He knocked you out?” Kate asked.

“Yeah, he did. A hell of a lot of force too. When I woke up, I couldn’t collect my thoughts, not all the way. The only thing that I could think about was my mother and how she had worked so hard on dinner and how it was getting cold. Which is so, so stupid, right? Worrying about the quality of mashed potatoes when my own father had me strapped to a lab table.”

You frowned, trying to remember. This part of your story was ebbed in pain. You were in and out of lucidity. There were lights that fuzzed at the edges and a surgical mask over your fathers face. He didn’t talk, but you pleaded. As much as you could, but knew it was worthless.

“He was ready to take his experiments to the next step. He wanted to try to morph DNA with a human and I was… I was there. I was convenient for him.”

Kate’s voice was soft, weak. “Jesus Christ,”

“When he wasn’t in his lab, he was traveling, searching the world for animals and insects that would aide him when he did finally perfect his craft. One of the spiders he brought back from his travels was the Evarcha Culcivora. The vampire spider.”

She blinked at you, clenching her jaw “The what?”

You laughed, some joy returning to your words. “Yeah, cute little thing, actually. It’s a jumping spider, and got it’s name because of it’s taste for blood. It doesn’t bite humans, though. Just mosquitos.”

“And that’s what he chose to…?”

“Mm, and it worked too. The pain was blinding, nearly unbearable. It felt like a million hornets had been shaken up in a glass and then pumped into my veins. Through all of it, I had broken free of the table, had enough strength to get away from him. I did the cowardly thing and I ran.”

“Coward? Y/n, he altered the DNA of his own child. There is a difference between being a coward and being alive.”

“I felt like a coward, and I suppose the habit stuck.” You shook your head, trying to clear the jumbled memory of pain and fear. “I… I couldn’t get my thoughts together. I blindly grabbed at his inventions.  The only thing I could remember was you. The you in Nueva York. There was a ring on my finger, and when I looked at it, I knew where to go.”

Kate swallowed hard, closed her eyes for a long moment. When they opened, they were stormy, saturated in despair, and longing. You couldn’t read the other emotion, her thumb moving over your knuckles.

“It’s the biggest mistake of my life. Leading him there.”

“He killed her.”

“Shot her twice in the stomach.” Your throat tightened. The collar of the sweatshirt Kate leant you was damp with tears. “Whatever sanity he had left was gone the moment he pulled that trigger. So, I pulled the one on the pocket watch. I let it take me wherever it wanted to.”

The silence lingered between you both, wood cracking as fire ate its way to the core. You took another gulp of your tea, it was cold now, coating the back of your throat with a fresh flavor. Kate had pulled her hand back into her own lab, stared at them for a long moment.

“Running is the only thing I’m good at.” You broke the silence. “I carry this… signature. Each time I use the watch, or do anything that’s remotely spider-like it pings on my father’s radar. He’s torn whole universes apart looking for me. Looking for one of his only successful fusions.”

“So, the other night, when you swooped in and helped Peter and I?”

“He knows. So, logically, it would make sense for me to go back up to the rooftop and get to the next universe.”

“And illogically?” Kate asked, raising both of her eyebrows. “What’s that option?”

“Kate,” You warned “There is no other option. I’m not strong enough to fight him. What he did to me, it gave me increased speed, and agility, and strength. Fuck, it even gave me fangs. But he’s too powerful.”

She groaned dramatically “Do you always have to do everything by yourself? Y/n, you’re not alone here. You have me, and Peter.”

“While I appreciate that, Katie, I don’t think it’ll be enough.”

“Okay!” She sighed, lowering her voice “Okay. Then I’ll call Clint and he’ll call the rest of the Avengers.”

You frowned and took a long gulp of your lukewarm tea. The mint made your throat tingle, your fingers twitching around the mug. The Avengers. You’d met all of them individually, in between universes where they fought their own battles- aliens from different worlds, and creatures that rise from ash.

“Clint,” You whispered, eyes finding Kate’s soft grey ones “What is he to you here?”

“My… my mentor. I wouldn’t say we’re best friends, but I mean, I think I’m wearing him down.”

You laughed; the sound filled the room like a crackling fire.  Kate gave you a proud smile that reminded you of a parent watching their kid walk for the first time or accept an award on stage. It was endearing and made your heart hum with longing.

“Good, good. I’m glad.” Again, you looked down at the muted brown liquid in your cup. “Katie, while that is incredibly noble of you, I have a feeling that the Avengers have bigger threats then my world hopping.”

“You won’t know unless you ask. And don’t give me that bullshit about getting turned down in different universes because this is my universe and if you haven’t noticed, I’m extremely charming and persistent.”

“I’ve noticed,”

Kate swallowed hard and took her hand from your knee. You fought a complaint about the lack of warmth, of comfort, but her palm was quickly against your cheek. She smelled like rain, damp and silent. Kate’s thumb moved soothingly, tracing the contours of your face.

“I know what it’s like to want to run, y/n.” her voice was a choked whisper “But just this once, please, stay. We can figure this out.”

“Kate,”

“Seeing you up on the roof, with that pocket watch, knowing that you could vanish into another universe in the matter of seconds and I’d never… I’d never see you again, it scared me. I don’t scare easily.”

You sighed, closing your eyes, clenching them so hard that you could see stars. When you opened them, she stared right back, so resolute and solid and touching your face. You had tried so hard to keep away from every single Kate Bishop you came across, for her safety. You hadn’t felt her hand since a ring weighed it down.

Every part of you wanted to give in and let her hold you, let her comfort you and make everything okay. Her words made you believe they might be.

“Forty-eight hours.” Kate begged “Give me 48 hours to fix this, and take you out on a proper date.”

There was apprehension in your voice, and in your stare. Kate would move earths for you, that was clear by her expression, her contemplation. “Okay, Katie. 48 hours.”

Taglist 💜: @lovelyy-moonlight

[aroacemisha]

more months old unfinished stuff [Retired Leaders AU]

(Click for better quality)

The first two were going to be a comic of Philip flirting with a centaur, and then realizing that the centaur’s face is on his chest, and being absolutely horrified and embarrassed that he flirted with THAT.

The pics were drawn in early/mid April. I think it was originally intended as “could be either canon or AU”, but after ‘Elsewhere and Elsewhen’, it became AU-only. And even then it doesn’t quite fit anymore.

The third and fourth image were going to be a longer comic, which was meant as an illustration for the idea I talked about in this post. I still plan on using the outfit Hunter is wearing in the first one, it’s what he wore casually in the castle and outside, though I will slightly change it. The images were drawn around June.

The last three were part of a Pride Month lineup, done in June - hence the old design for Belos’s curse scar, and the presence of a scar on his lips. And also Amity and Luz’s S2 finale designs. I was going to do the gay, lesbian, bi, pan, aroace and trans/nb flags, each with two characters, but I eventually abandoned it after finishing two and half-finishing the third.

The bi flag is Edric and Luz, the pan one was going to be Steven and Alador, the aroace one was going to be Lilith and Willow, and the half trans/half nb one was going to be Adrian (trans) and Raine (nb). Some characters, as you can see, also have additional flags.

Please reblog my work.

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