#then go sit at the kiddy table the adults are talking

[lucarioguy15]

lmao being hot doesn't prevent you from being an annoying tar pit with shit takes btw

[dyaz-stories]

don't get cut on my edges || gojo satoru x reader

synopsis: Gojo is easily bored, you're the latest enigma that's caught his interest. He sets off in trying to figure you out. Lucky for him, you're coming on the week-end trip Shoko's planned for the week-end.

“Was I off script?”

You look up at him.

“You’re always off script.”

word count: 5.4k

genre: college!AU, fluff, slice of life

cw: unresolved sexual and romantic tension, reader has anxiety and is socially awkward, she/her is used for the reader, a little suggestive, overall very sweet and fluffy

a/n: this was fun to write! any feedback is appreciated, and i hope you enjoy my writing here :)

soundtrack

Gojo knows that people talk, knows that they talk shit, knows that there isn’t a soul on campus that doesn’t have an opinion on him. He can tell that eyes follow him around when he walks into a room, that his presence is enough to shift the atmosphere at a gathering, that some people roll their eyes at him while others try their best to catch his attention. It’s a lot to take in, for just one person.

Fortunately, he’s proved to be incredibly gifted in the art of not giving a fuck.

Then again, he’s incredibly gifted in most areas of life. Truth be told, he thinks people aren’t giving him enough credit for that. Sure, they tend to know that he’s a physics major, but that’s just tangential to what they know about the rest of him. He’s not just kinda good at physics, not some dude that goes to college mostly for the parties and then get a meaningless job at daddy’s company, no, he’s the fucking best, and he works fucking hard to be able to claim that title.

But that doesn’t really fit in with the rest of him, and at the end of the day, who cares? He certainly doesn’t.

With all that, it’s not statistically unlikely for him to catch people talking about him.

Well, he’d have to conduct a detailed study to calculate the exact odds, but with how much alcohol is in his blood at this very moment, it makes sense to him that it would happen.

Still, for people to be talking about him at a party he is at, in front of an open window, you’d think they would have some sense of shame. Not that he has any room to talk, because shame is not part of his vocabulary, but like. Come on.

“Gojo really can’t take not being in the spotlight for more than ten seconds, huh?”

That voice, he’s quick to identify, even if he can’t see her face from where’s he’s standing under the porch, belongs to Mei Mei. Aw. Bummer. They’d spent quite a lot of time around each other, have friends in common, slept— Wait, have they slept together? He can’t say for sure anymore. It seems to have slipped from his mind. Oops. Maybe that’s why he’s getting that treatment. Maybe he deserves it.

There’s a scoff, and really, the acoustic of this place are impressive. It feels like he’s straight in the room with those people.

“What else do you expect from someone who’s always had everything served to him on a silver platter?”

And that would be Noritoshi Kamo. Man. That was one of the few kids in the families his parents insisted on frequenting. They used to be sat next to each other at the kiddie table while the adults talked about the important stuff. They never had much in common — not then, not now. And, after all, maybe Noritoshi has a point, after all. His mother wasn’t a mistress, wasn’t turned into an outcast, and he’s never had to pretend he didn’t hear the loud whispers that tarnished her name. Yeah. Sounds like these two aren’t saying anything new after all. Not that he’s gonna change, y’know, but he already knows who he is, and he is all that.

“That seems like a very mean thing to say about a friend,” a quiet voice comments.

The world freezes.

A silhouette appears to go along with the voice, then a blurry face, then the picture becomes clearer. A figure sitting next to Shoko, giving him sweet, polite smiles when he approaches. Not chatty, kinda shy, pretty cute. Would get quiet when he was near, though, so he hadn’t paid a ton of attention. He’s used to giving it to people who asked for it, who wanted it.

You’d never asked.

But you’re… not wrong. He’s not sure why he hadn’t picked up on it himself. It is a mean thing to say.

“Don’t get me wrong,” Mei Mei protests, “I love Gojo, but you know I’m right about this.”

“Yeah, and I’ve known him my whole life,” Kamo adds. “It’s just a fact, we’re not talking shit.”

There’s a silence. Gojo’s invested now.

“I don’t know him that well,” you say. “Like I said. It’s just a mean thing to say about someone you hang out with every day.”

“Come on, don’t act like—”

“I think I’m going to go, actually,” you say. “This feels super shitty.”

“What the fuck was that?” Mei Mei laughs, just a second later — presumably after you’ve left the room.

“She wants to fuck him, I guess,” Kamo says.

Well, you’re making one hell of a headway then, because he’d do you so hard after that.

When he walks back in, you’re chatting with Shoko. You give him your usual, close-lipped smile, don’t quite make eye-contact. If you’re trying to get in his pants, you have a very original way of getting it done.

“Who was your friend again?” he asks Shoko, later that night. She answers without looking up from her phone.

“She doesn’t talk much when there are new people around,” she warns him. “Leave her alone.”

“When have I ever bothered anyone—”

She reaches to smack the back of his head, misses and gets the nape of his neck — that’s the downside about being so tall, there’s just a lot of him to hit.

“Don’t make her uncomfortable. That’s all I’m asking.”

He wasn’t planning on that. He’s just— curious. Intrigued.

It’s unlikely to last, though. He’s been known to get bored easily.

You’re already in the car when he gets in. Well, okay, when he gets shoved inside by Todo, despite his protests that his legs are too long for the backseat. You’ve squeezed yourself in the middle seat, with Shoko on one side, and him on the other now. There’s a bag of snacks in your lap, yet you still try to shift yourself to give him a little more room. It doesn’t help at all, but in your defense, the only thing that could help would be to buy a new car.

“Is everyone ready?” Suguru asks as he adjusts the rearview mirror.

“Sure,” Shoko says.

“Let’s go!” Todo shouts.

“No,” Gojo whines.

“Yeah,” you say, completely drowned out under the rest.

“Good,” Suguru hums as he starts the engine.

Gojo pouts, but he doesn’t insist. Well, he doesn’t make any more of a scene than he already has. Truth be told, he could have taken Todo — dude might be all brute force, but Gojo has brains and brawns, thank you very much.

But he’s curious, still, and he hasn’t been given enough information to quite satiate his curiosity. Everything he’s gathered about you says that you mind your business and keep to your corner.

So why did you say that to Mei Mei and Kamo? It makes no sense, but Gojo’s never met an equation he couldn’t solve.

That’s an overstatement. Obviously there are equations he can’t solve. Yet. He’s sure he’d figure it out eventually. Like he’ll figure you out. See? That metaphor does make sense.

Suguru’s music is playing in the car. The sun is still low in the sky, the day is quickly getting warmer, and the phone says that they’ll be at the beach in two hours.

Satoru closes his eyes. Fun fact about him? He can fall asleep anywhere he wants to.

He wakes up with his face smooshed against the window, a hand tapping his shoulder carefully.

“We’re here,” you say, giving him a smile and then shuffling to leave the car from the other side.

Todo’s already running towards the beach, while Suguru and Shoko are getting the bags out of the trunk. Somehow, Shoko manages to sling a bag over his shoulder, but he takes off before she can stuff the cool box containing all the drinks in his arms.

He then lies to Todo to get him back to the car, so that he can carry the damn thing. Shoko better thank him later for that.

He catches up with you, and he sees your eyes widen a little when he approaches, as you visibly search for something to say. He can’t resist the temptation to shoot you a grin. There’s a light breeze in the air, but he won’t be fooled that easily — with his skin, he’s going to need an insane amount of sunscreen, if he wants to survive the day. Which makes him think, actually—

“Wanna help me apply sunscreen?” he asks.

“Huh?” you say.

He leans towards you, looks into your eyes from over his sunglasses. You appear to be fully frozen in place, only swallowing once as he gets closer. His grin gets wider as he takes in all of you, and he’s once more fascinated by the idea that you had been able to say something to Mei Mei and Kamo but you can barely face him.

His gaze drops to your parted lips.

Then the bottle of sunscreen smashes against his cheek with impressive precision.

“Todo can help you put that on!” Shoko offers as Suguru starts setting up a parasol. “Right, Todo?”

“Of course I will, my brother,” Todo say as he appears, but by then, Satoru has already started running for his life.

“Just kick him in the balls if he pulls something like that again,” Shoko says.

“Oh, no, it’s fine,” you reply, shaking your head in mild horror. “I just— I don’t— know— how to react sometimes. But he doesn’t bother me.”

That statement has her raising an eyebrow at you, filled with doubt, but she doesn’t insist.

“Play nice,” she does warn Satoru once more, later on. “Don’t push it too much.”

“Aw, Shoko, are you saying you wouldn’t approve of me?”

“Do whatever you want to,” she replies, rolling her eyes, “but give her more space. She’s not used to you being… you.”

Satoru rests his chin on his knee. He’s taking refuge under the parasol for now, and you’re already in the waves with Todo and Suguru. You seem comfortable with Todo, laughing at something he said, less so with Suguru. It all looks like a lot of work, all to satiate his curiosity. He’s all about committing to the bit but— he doesn’t know about that one.

This, too, all this thinking and questioning, is a lot of work, though, so he ends up shrugging it off.

“Are we getting in or what?”

“Absolutely not. No— Gojo— Don’t you fucking dare— Gojo!”

Shoko’s full-on shrieking by the time he throws her in the water. You burst out laughing. She comes out screaming for revenge, and Gojo starts scampering around to try and avoid her.

The sun is high in the sky, there’s a light breeze.

The time is good.

“Satoru!” Suguru calls when the watch on his wrist starts beeping, “it’s been two hours!”

It takes a second for the information to reach his brain, but the second he understands it, Gojo’s sprinting back towards the parasol at full speed. You look up, surprised, from the towel on which you’re lying with a book. Shoko doesn’t even bother with lifting an eyelid to see what’s going on.

“You okay?” you ask.

Ah, so she does speak.

“Yeah,” Gojo says, ruffling through a bag. “Just need to reapply some sunscreen. I’m not trying to look like a lobster.”

“Oh,” you say, “so, did you want me to help you with that?”

His fingers finally close around the bottle, and he stills to look at you. Shit. He’s curious again. Shoko’s words are swirling around in his mind, though, and he has no interest in forcing your hand.

“You didn’t look like you wanted to do that,” he says with uncharacteristic caution.

You roll your lips together, glance away from him, and your hand curls into a fist in the sand.

“No, it’s just— Um, I’m sorry about earlier. You— caught me off guard, I guess. I couldn’t figure out what to answer.”

“I usually just go with whatever appears through my head first,” he shrugs as he comes to crouch in front of you — you in the sun, him in the shade.

You laugh softly, but you avert your eyes, focusing on the sand as you trace patterns in it.

“Yeah, I think that’s the preferred method, but it— doesn’t— really work for me. So I have— I have a script, kind of, for interactions.”

“And I was off script?”

You glance back up at him.

“You’re always off script.”

For a moment, he just looks into your eyes, and you look back without any of that earlier nervousness. Then you shrink back into yourself, and the smile that so rarely leaves your lips reappears, like a shield that comes back up.

“Sorry. I know— I know how silly this sounds. I also wish I didn’t feel the need to do that, I just, um—”

“All good,” he replies with a shrug. “Sure. Help me with that.”

He throws you the bottle and you miss it, and he can feel you eyerolling at his back without needing to turn around, but when he shoots you a grin from over his shoulder, he can see how your breath catches in your throat.

Softly, your hand goes over his back, your touch gentle and cautious. It feels quite nice, actually, especially when your nails brush over his skin.

“It’s not too cold?” you ask.

“All good,” he repeats.

Shit. He’s invested again.

“Okay, we have the tickets, we have the water bottles, we have the hats, we have flat shoes, we have Gojo, we have the car keys—”

“I’m sorry, why was I just in the middle of a list of belongings?”

“We have cellphones and portable batteries… I think we’re good,” Shoko concludes, fully ignoring him.

“You don’t think we’re just a touch overprepared?” Suguru asks.

“You can never overprepare, my brother,” Todo says, grabbing his shoulder firmly. “If you want to triumph in the face of adversity, you need to know everything about the enemy.”

Suguru opens his mouth, closes it again. He knows how to pick his battles.

Gojo doesn’t.

“We’re going to a festival, not trying to breech the Pentagon,” he deadpans, and then, from the corner of his eye, he tries to see if you’re laughing. He delights in how you lower your head and try to keep it discreet.

“You never know what—”

“If I have to hear a second more of this nonsense, I swear to God I’ll kill someone here,” Shoko announces cheerfully. “Let’s move.”

Finally, after a good fifteen minutes by the door of the Airbnb you’ve all spent the night in, you start moving.

The good news is that you don’t have to get in the car, in the smothering heat, to get on the overcrowded streets packed full with the cars of the other attendees. The bad news is that you have to walk there, in the smothering heat, near the streets packed full with the cars of the other attendees. Suguru’s in charge of the map, which everyone seems happy with. Gojo had offered to do it, too, and there’s not a shred of doubt that he’d be able to read it competently, but Shoko had insisted the risk of him taking everyone to the wrong place ‘just because it would be funny’ was too high.

She’d been right but like, that was still rude.

The march in the heat and the waiting in line, while painful and unpleasant, as Gojo makes sure everyone around him is well aware of, go pretty smooth. Everything is planned and accounted for. There’s a game plan once they make it into the festival, too, because of course there is, but that’s when things start going south. First, Todo tries to go rogue when he spots someone wearing Takada merch. She’s not performing here, but he’s heard rumors that there would be a stand for her, and he lurches towards the woman. He’d get lost in the crowd immediately if not for Gojo’s lightning fast reflexes.

Unfortunately, soon enough it’s Gojo’s turn to get distracted. What can he say, there’s the smell of sugar in the air, and he needs to know where it’s coming from. Suguru’s the one to get him back on track, as they all head towards the main stage. Because that’s what Shoko’s grand plan leads to: sweet, sweet, close-up spots to watch the Sorcerers, headliners for the festival and also unarguably greatest band of all times, with minimum wait before their show.

There are a couple other close calls, but the group manages to get close enough to the stage. There are people here already, but they’re here for other artists mostly, and they’ll no doubt move quite a bit before the start of the real show. From where they are, even you and Shoko will be able to— Wait a minute.

“Huh,” Gojo say. “Hey, Shoko, do you happen to see (y/n) around?”

“If you can’t see her from up there, why would you think I— Fuck.”

“A fallen soldier,” Todo sighs somberly. “Sometimes, you have to make sacrifices for—"

“We should go get her,” Shoko interrupts him. She’s biting her lower lip, staring at her phone. She looks quite worried, Gojo notices as he stares at her.

“Why isn’t it enough to just text her?” Gojo asks. It’s not ideal, and it won’t be easy to find the group in the middle of this sea of people, but it’s not impossible.

“I just— I don’t know if she’ll want to deal with all that” she gestures at the crowd “alone. I’m afraid she’ll say she doesn’t mind and then she won’t have a good time.”

Gojo tilts his head. It wouldn’t cross his mind to say something he doesn’t mean. It’s an incredibly weird thought, actually. But Shoko’s better than him at, well, people, and she might have a point. He also doesn’t want you to have a bad time, after all. With one last glance at the stage, he nods at her.

“I’ll go get her.”

“Are you sure?” Suguru asks. “I can go, if you want me to. It’s your band.”

As if it isn’t his, too. But Gojo shrugs. His attention span is fleeting, and he’s got his sights on something else right now.

“Nah, don’t worry. I’ll make it back.”

“Thanks,” Shoko says sincerely.

He waves vaguely at her before making his way back through the crowd, earning his fair share of nasty glances. He still doesn’t care.

A few minutes later, he receives a text from Shoko with a screengrab where you say you’re getting something to eat. Sure enough, he has no trouble finding you waiting in line. You’re typing on your phone, not paying attention to your surroundings, and he’s grinning already. He lets himself half fall on you, arm wrapping around your body as he drops his chin onto your shoulder. You jump, glancing back bewildered, but you don’t stay tense long once you see it’s him.

Which makes him feel things, actually, but he’ll unpack that later.

“What are you doing here?” you ask, brow furrowing. “I thought you guys would be in front of the stage by now.”

“I came to rescue the princess, obviously,” he says, and you laugh. You laugh a lot when he talks, instead of rolling your eyes like people usually do.

Maybe you’re a bit too good of an audience.

“I don’t need rescuing, Gojo,” you answer, and it’s interesting how calm your voice is. “It’s packed too tight for me in here. I told Shoko but…” You shrug. “It’s not always easy to understand how it is. For me.”

“Yeah,” he says. “I don’t get it at all.”

Your shoulder’s pretty comfortable, though. And you haven’t tried to get him off of you yet.

“Do you want to order something, too?” you ask, pointing at the food stand. They sell waffles, and just the smell has his mouth watering. “Strawberries and whipped cream, right?”

Gojo pauses.

“How do you know that?”

“You’ve mentioned it. A few times, actually.”

He’s sure he has, but—

“You were listening to that?”

You blink at him. He realizes how close your face is, with his head on your shoulder.

“Of course I was. You were talking.”

“Shoko didn’t tell you? It’s like, rule number one of being around me, don’t listen to the stuff I say. There’s a lot of dumb shit in there.”

You tilt your head, looking kind of confused.

“I still want to hear what you’re saying.”

Something inside him feels warm all of a sudden. Very warm.

“Yeah,” he says, but his throat is tight. “Strawberries and whipped cream.”

When you step forward to they can take your order, he begrudgingly gets off your shoulder, which allows him to swipe his card before you can get to it.

“I had that,” you protest while he bites into the insane amount of whipped cream in his waffle — he asked for more until the guy behind the counter looked like he was going to murder him.

“I had it first,” he says, and then he sticks his tongue out at you. He anticipates your laugh this time, finds himself waiting on it. When it comes, it sounds just like he wanted it to.

For a while, the two of you sit on a fence. You hand him a water bottle, say that he needs to stay hydrated. With no one else around, you don’t seem to have such a hard time speaking. You’re so quiet when everyone’s there and, well, him and Todo take up a lot of space, when it comes to conversation. Neither Suguru nor Shoko struggle with making their voices heard either, and in the middle of all that, you tend to stay silent. Apparently, that doesn’t stop you from listening.

“Shouldn’t you be going back?” you ask, after a while.

Gojo tilts his head as he thinks about it.

“Nah, I’m good. Let’s find some place where you can enjoy the show.”

“You don’t have to—”

A grin, and then he’s jumping from the fence to come stand in front of you. Even like that, he doesn’t have to look up to meet your eyes.

“And how d’you plan on stopping me?”

Your eyes go wide. He can almost hear your heart racing, and he thinks he’s starting to get a little too high on that feeling. It’s just so easy, so fun, so delicious.

“Okay,” you squeak, averting your eyes and jumping down after him, clearly trying to hide your reaction. “Okay, I’m coming.”

When you start walking by his side, grabbing your hand is just too easy not to do it.

“Wouldn’t want you to run away again,” is what he says as he intertwines his fingers with yours. “Now you’re stuck with me.”

You still refuse to look at him, but there is no actual discomfort in your reaction, just what he thinks is uncertainty about how you’re supposed to behave now.

“Have I gone off script again?” he practically purrs.

You glance up, a flash of amusement on your face. Lots of fondness, too, and this time he’s the one who gets caught up in it.

“You haven’t been on script once today.”

“Good,” he says, managing to pass off the emotion that just choked him for a second there as impatience. “Someone’s got to keep you on your toes.”

“I’m always on my toes,” you mumble behind him, but you can’t explain to him what anxiety feels like, so you just let him drag you away. His fingers are long, his hand engulfs yours easily. You like the feeling of it more than you should.

Your eyes are on Gojo’s broad back as he pulls you through the crowd, which parts effortlessly for him. You’re enjoying this.

You don’t think it’s going to last.

Gojo doesn’t think about that though, just like he rarely thinks about tomorrows. What he’s thinking about, as he keeps far, far away from the stage, is how to find a place with enough air around for the two of you. It’s easy for him to get a good look at the stage, and he earns his fair share of pissed off glares — “Seriously, it should be illegal to come to an open-air stage when you’re that tall” — but it takes more work to get the perfect space for you. Finally, his eagle eyes figure out some place that’s just perfect, and he beelines for it with you in tow.

“There,” he says, pulling you in front of him and putting his head on top of yours, just to check that the line of sight is good enough.

Ha. He nailed it.

“Thanks,” you say. There’s surprise in your tone.

“Is this a good spot for you?” he checks, but really, he just wants to hear you praise him?

“It is, but— I thought you said you didn’t get it? My—” You gesture vaguely. “—struggle. With all that stuff.”

Oh right. You actually listen to what he says. He needs to keep that in mind for the future.

“Does it matter?” he asks with a shrug.

You stare. You open your mouth to speak, but no words come out, and then the crowd starts absolutely howling and you spin around to see the Sorcerersget on the stage. Whatever moment there was there, is forgotten right away. He sees you fish in your bag for your phone, then raise it over your head and tiptoe around, trying to get a good photo.

It’s cute, it’s adorable even, but it’s not very efficient.

“Do you want some help here?” he asks, leaning close to your ear so you can hear him over all the noise.

Your body shivers into him, and he files that away for later.

“Um, yeah,” you shout over the noise. “Here, could you—”

But he pays no attention to the way you offer him your cellphone, and instead he’s bending down, and ignoring your surprised protest as he pushes his head between your legs.

He bench presses a hell of a lot more than he looks like he does, for the record.

With a grunt, he manages to get you up on his shoulders, and some people behind him complain loudly, but whatever, they can wait for you to get the perfect picture. You struggle to stabilize yourself for a dangerous second, and then you stop moving around for a second. Your thighs are supple and warm under his hands and around his head.

One more thing to remember.

“I’m good, I’m good, get me down,” you say quickly, just as he’s storing the thought away.

You seem relieved when your feet get back on the ground, and Satoru lets his hands linger on your waist.

“Was it a nice pic?” he asks. He knows he’s all red in the face, but he’s grinning so wide it almost hurts, actually.

“Perfect,” you squeak. “Thank you. Again.”

Aw. He’s going to get used to that word real quick.

A familiar guitar riff comes from the stage, and you turn away from him once more, but his hands are still on your waist. He uses that to pull you against him and this time, you don’t hesitate to let yourself lean back against him as the two of you move in rhythm with the music.

The concert is a blur after that. There’s a lot of singing, a lot of screaming, basically no time to catch a breath, because the Sorcerers are fucking beasts that don’t let up, not even for a second. At some point, you tell him something, but he can’t really hear, so you crane your neck back and he lowers his head. Your lips brush against his neck, an accident really, but it sends such a jolt of electricity through him, he thinks he’ll go into full overdrive.

The only thing that stops him from chasing after your lips immediately after that is Shoko’s voice, going around in his mind. ‘Don’t push it.’ What the fuck was that supposed to mean?

You move away, and he still has no clue what you were saying. If after that, his hands hold your hips a little tighter, if he pulls you a little closer, he can’t be blamed. If, during one of the more sulfurous song of the show, as you’re swaying against him, humming along to the song, his lips find your neck, he doesn’t want to hear about it.

When he presses a kiss right by your jaw, you turn to look at him. You’re pretty. He’s always thought you were pretty.

Fuck Shoko, he thinks, and he’s ready to put his mouth on yours, to slide his tongue between your parted lips that have looked so inviting this entire week-end, when the riff of the band’s most popular song starts playing, and he loses you attention once more.

Cock-blocked by his favorite band. Fuck his life.

When the song ends, there’s movement in the crowd as the band gets off the stage and people start chanting for an encore. In Shoko’s fool proof, perfect plan, this is when you’re supposed to start leaving. Gojo doesn’t want to — how is he supposed to do anything about how much he wants his mouth on you once you’re back with the other — but this time you grab his hand and pull him away from the stage and he has even less of a clue of what he’s supposed to do about that.

You get to the meeting point before Shoko, Todo and Suguru, which makes sense, considering you were much further from the stage than them. It’s a specific pole that Shoko had pointed to as you were first getting in, and the urge to push you against it and to taste your lips is strong. Gojo isn’t typically one to ignore that kind of feeling. He just goes for it, doesn’t let his brain get in the way too much. He’s not sure what it is with you and your doe eyes and your sweet smile that makes him act different.

Whatever it is, it makes him ask “Did you have a good time?” instead of kissing you senseless behind the pole while watching to make sure Shoko doesn’t catch him in the act.

“It was amazing,” you say. “I don’t think— I don’t think I’d have gotten that close without you.”

“Did I force your hand?” he asks, frowning.

“No, no, that was great, actually.” And there it comes, his favorite words, and then he’ll kiss you. “Thank—”

“There you guys are!”

You have got to be kidding him. The Gods of timing are so set against him, he must have done something to piss them off badly in another life.

“Okay, we should start heading towards the exit,” Shoko announces.

“Nah, we ‘re staying until the end,” Gojo says, burying his hands, balled into fists, in his pockets. He’s being needlessly belligerent, but whatever, she deserves it, whether she knows it or not.

“Don’t be a dick,” she glares.

He smiles at her. And he doesn’t budge.

“We’ll run,” you say, stepping in. “I’m sure we can still beat the crowd if we run.”

She narrows her eyes at you, then at Gojo.

“You’re a bad influence, you know that?”

So many delicious thoughts coming to him, and he can’t do anything about it. Damn it all.

Of course, it ends with the five of you sprinting on the lawn and all the way back to the house. Of course, he doesn’t catch five seconds with you after that. Of course, your face is on his mind the whole night.

Of course, because it’s just his luck, isn’t it, in the morning, Shoko tells him you had to catch a flight early in the morning.

“I told you, don’t you remember? She’s going back to her family for the summer.”

Of course, he doesn’t.

Ah, whatever. It bothers him for a minute, but then the day continues unfolding, and the sun’s warm, it’s the peak of summer, and he only really knew you for a couple of days. He’ll see how he feels about it when college starts up again in the fall. He’s not known for sticking with things, anyway. He’ll probably forget; you probably won’t capture him again like you did; it was probably a fluke.

That, or these will become famous last words.

sequel

thank you so much for reading! i had a ton of fun writing gojo's pov and i hope you enjoyed it too, even if i'm still finding his voice :) please reblog or comment if you've enjoyed this, i'd love to hear from you! getting readers' feedback on my writing is what keeps me motivated to write so if you'd like to read more from me, that's the way to do it!

tagging the people who expressed interest in this: @elidebrey @xstom @chosospookiebear @xmysticredx

[prettypinkporkchop]

Can I request a embry x reader where the reader is a natural flirt and without meaning to she could make anyone even girls blush cause she’s naturally pretty and even tho embry is secure in their relationship he can’t help get jealous when the boys decide to have a little fun and flirt back

Please make it super long

You're doing your makeup, getting ready to go to Claire's birthday party.

Embry wraps his arms around you from behind. He locks his fingers on your stomach and presses kisses on your neck.

"Hey baby." You smile, putting your makeup brush down on the bathroom counter.

You look at him in the mirror. He's buried in your neck. You feel his hot breath on your skin. You lean back into him and move your hand up over your shoulder to hold onto his head.

"Baby, we have to get going." You giggle.

He pulls away and smirks, slapping your ass. "Let's go."

You step inside the Uley home. Emily is setting up the table, Sam is eyeballing the cake. At the table, Jared is scrolling through his phone wearing a balloon wrapped around his wrist and a party cone hat.

Emily looks up at you and Embry. "Thank God you're here, y/n! Please help me decorate the living room." She begs.

Embry sits next to Jared. You go in the living room and see all of the party decor laid on the couch. You lift the banner up and begin to set things up.

While you're decorating, everyone else shows up except for Emily's cousin and Claire. Kim asks you a few times if you needed help but you shrugged her off.

You go into the kitchen and grab onto Kim's waist. "What's up, beautiful?"

She blushes and leans on your shoulder. "You're beautiful." She replies.

You giggle and then sit on Embry's lap.

Kim stays standing, talking to Sam. The pack is at the table, and Emily and Rachel are standing at the door, talking about a plan on how to surprise the girl.

Embry holds onto you, and you feel a pinch on your elbow. You twist and smack Jacob.

"Ow, shit." He laughs.

"Mhm. Watch it, Black." You glare.

-----

You stand outside against the tree eating the dessert on your plate. You see and hear kids playing and adults talking.

"So, what are your plans for tonight?" Paul smirks.

"Wouldn't you like to know. Asshole. You roped Embry into patrolling on his ONE NIGHT available." You roll your eyes.

"What you gonna do if a vampire comes to your house?" He teases.

You widen your eyes and then get closer to him. "Guess I'll have to call you over on your night off." You giggle.

He looks down at your beauty and smiles.

Even though he's in love with Rachel, your goddess power is strong. He'd never cheat. None of them would. You wouldn't either! Thing is, you don't even know you're flirting.

Embry walks up to you two and kisses your cheek. "Bothering my girl, Lahote?"

Paul scoffs and crosses his arms. "More like, she's bothering me." He jokes.

"Uh huh, sure." You spit back.

Jared runs over to you guys. "What're you guys doing? The party is over there!" He's soaking wet from the kiddie pool and small waterslide. He has face paint on him and icing on the sides of his mouth.

"AWE! You're a cutie!" You shake his arm.

He's taken aback. "H-huh?" He asks.

Embry starts laughing. "You're like a kid." He wipes off some of the icing. "Ew." He wipes it on his shorts.

-----

Paul, Jared, and Quil are sitting in a circle talking about whatever boys do.

"You know what'd get Embry riled up?" Paul smirks.

"What?" Jared stuffs yet ANOTHER cupcake in his mouth.

"If we flirt back with y/n."

Quil and Jared look at each other with menacing faces.

"Fine. But if Embry gets mad, you're the victim." Quil pats Paul's shoulder.

------

You wake up to see Embry already left to go to work. He's a mechanic with Jake and Quil. You usually bring Embry lunch along with Renesmee, but her and Jacob are actually on their honeymoon.

You get up and make his lunch. You check the time. PERFECT! You get in your car and drive to the shop. Once you get there, you get out and walk in through the garage. There's a car in there that they seem to be working on. You walk into the small door where the break room is. Quil and Embry are at the table, and they both look up at you.

"Baby!" Embry pipes up and pulls a chair out for you.

"Awe, hey, my love." You walk over and kiss his cheek. Then you move toward Quil and hug him. He hugs you back, and you look down at him. "You hungry, too?" You smile all cutely.

He nods his head with a smile, too scared to do the bet alone. But thankfully, the pack is coming here to eat with you three.

You end up giving Quil your lunch because when you leave you can eat. Not long unto lunch, the door opens and in walks Paul, Sam, and Jared.

"The gang's all here." Paul says.

You all are at the table, eating beside you, but Embry gives you some pieces of his food. You look over at Paul and see him staring at you. Without thinking, you throw a playful wink.

Paul sends one back, but it looks too serious. You don't know their bet, and you just toss his action aside. But you look at Embry, who is staring at Paul, chewing on a toothpick.

Paul chuckles, "What? How can I not flirt back? Your girl is fine." Paul says.

You raise an eyebrow and see Embry take the toothpick out of his mouth. He looks down and then chuckles. He looks back at Paul. "You're fucking dead."

Jared leans over and wraps his arm around you. "Too bad Embry doesn't like sharing such a beauty."

You inch closer to Embry in confusion.

"Alright." Embry says. He stands up and grabs Jared. He pushes him against the wall and raises his fist. "I'm not sure what's gotten into you guys, but we all know I'm stronger than you, Jared."

Quil is quick to stand up and grab Embry's wrist. "Hey, brother. They're just fucking with you."

Paul behind the guys start to laugh. Sam claps his hands once in a stern way. With that, he's telling them to stop.

Embry growls and lets Jared go. He turns around to Paul, who's still laughing.

----

You're putting lotion on your legs while sitting on the bed. Embry is taking off his necklace and rings, putting them on the dresser.

"I know you don't mean it when you're flirting, but the guys pulling that shit wasn't cool." He huffs and then lays on the bed.

You put your lotion on the nightstand and then lay down beside him. "I know. It really confused me." You softly rub your thumb on his cheek.

His eyes glisten as he stares into yours. "You're so beautiful." He whispers.

You lean in and kiss him. He kisses back and pulls your body into his. You wrap a leg over his waist. He kisses you rougher, grabbing behind your knee to lift your leg higher on his waist.

----

You bend over to grab the ball off of the ground that rolled to your feet. You hear whistling and look to see it's Paul.

The guys are across the yard playing soccer. You and the imprints are at the grill talking while Emily grills meat.

You see Embry push Paul. You throw the ball their direction and turn back to face the girls.

"They're still fucking with Embry, I see." Rachel laughs.

"Yeah, it's not funny." You groan.

"I'll tell Paul to stop." Rachel replies.

Kim sighs and nods her head. "Yeah, Jared told me he about killed him yesterday. I think they should stop before someone gets hurt." She sips her drink.

"They're just so immature." Emily rolls her eyes.

Once she's finished, the guys come to make their plates. But you're quick to grab the plate from Embry's hands and shoo him away to sit on the wood where you all are about to sit and visit.

"Quil, put that plate down, I can make yours, too." You smile and lay your head on his shoulder for just a second.

"Mm, a woman that can take care of her man. How fucking hot." Quil bites his lip at you.

You scoff and look at Embry. He grabs your wrist, making you drop the plate. He pulls you away from everyone.

"Get in the car." He warns.

You only back away and notice him shaking.

"Embry. Calm down." Sam says. "You guys, I demand you to stop. Now. It's not funny." He yells.

Embry phases and charges at Quil. Quil quickly phases, too. They start fighting, rolling around until they get in the woods.

"Yeah, no. Our bet is over." Jared says.

Sam charges over to them, phasing when he's close to the trees.

You breathe out and look at the girls. "Shit."

"I knew it was a bad idea." Kim thumps Jared's head.

----

After a few minutes, the guys come back. They're in different clothes due to the fact that they ripped theirs.

Embry walks up to you and hovers over you. "Had to get clothes from Jacob's." He says before leaning down and pressing his lips on yours.

You kiss him back and then pull back. "Are you okay, my love?" You ask.

"Now I am." He smirks and then playfully bites your cheek, making you giggle.

[lillaydee]

Matchmade Part 6

Millionaire! Joel Miller / Reader

Having experienced traumatic, life altering events, a freshly divorced Joel worked to repay his debt to the person he owed his life to.

WARNINGS:

Good Parent Joel (The Last of Us), Soft Joel (The Last of Us), Joel Needs a Hug (The Last of Us), Joel Lives (The Last of Us), Protective Joel (The Last of Us), Alternate Universe - No Cordyceps Outbreak (The Last of Us), Character Death, Fluff, Angst, Eventual Smut.

SERIES MASTER LIST

Part 5

---

You blinked several times at her.

“How’s your mom, Tanya? Is she well?”

“Ugh, just like you to ask about her. She’s fine. Still alive. Come on, is your boss single? Hey, little girl, do you have a mommy?”

Sarah blinked at her, an obvious distaste in her look.

“Hey, when someone speaks to you, you answer,” she said, raising her voice slightly.

Sarah let go of her fork and climbed onto your lap, hiding her face in your blouse.

“God, I don’t know how you can stand kids. I was just asking a question. Sheesh. Spoiled much?”

You asked her nicely to please leave you alone, didn’t she have a conference to attend?

“Not until you give me his number.”

You just stared at her. The gall of this woman. Did she really think you would just give away his number like that?

“Oh my God,” she said, clasping her hand on her mouth, a shocked look on her face. “You want him for yourself, don’t you? You actually think you have a shot with him? You?”

She gave you a pitying look. “Look, Addie, I get it. You’re in a rut. Maybe someone like that can pull you out of it, but you need to look at yourself in the mirror first, okay? He’s way out of your league. I mean, regardless of what he does for a living, he’s here at this conference, and you are someone he pays to nanny for him. Look, maybe if you’re in your early twenties, you have a shot, you know? The cliched dad falls for nanny thing, but you’re 30 babes. Be real.”

She got up and left.

You realized then that you had your hands clasped over Sarah’s ears, the way you did with Allie when she was little, not wanting her to hear the venomous arrows Tanya had been firing at you since you were little.

It’s nothing new. She had always done this. And you didn’t always take it lying down. But as you two became adults, she was more… subtle and clever with her digs. She made sure you were in positions where you couldn’t fire back. A child in your arms, for example. Or a threat to your sister, or your job.

You had enough of her digs at your supposed failure. You had no idea why she hated you so much. The two of you used to be such good friends. And now, she seemed to have made it her life mission to make you as miserable as possible.

You made sure Sarah finished her meal and took her out to the Kiddy Zone the resort had put out sitting next to the play area watching her play or helping her with whatever activities she wanted to do. She made one or two friends and had a few snacks. Towards the afternoon, she was captivated by the face painting lady. She chose a butterfly motif and begged you to get her a pair of butterfly wings and antennae headband that was sold at one of the vendors.

You took a picture of her with her face paint and her butterfly wings and sent it to Joel. He immediately replied with some hearts and smiley hearts. She was so happy, she began talking about make up designs, and these other butterfly wings she saw at the vendor, and the next thing you knew, you were waiting for the family at the dining hall for lunch with a very excited Sarah in your arms while she was smoothing out a smudge on your face paint and straightening your wings and antennae on your headband.

The first thing the family saw when they got to their table was a very giggly Sarah, and a very dour you, your mouth in an unamused pout, your body in a surrendering posture. The shit you do for cute kids, huh? Tommy and Maria laughed supportively at you, patting you on the shoulder, and cooed at Sarah. Tess was trying so hard not to laugh at your sour face, she had to hug you to hide her face.

From afar, you saw a very smug looking Tanya stare at you, shaking her head at your face painting, wings and headband. She made a point to go to you while you were getting Sarah food, telling you that she could not believe you would go so low, dressing like a child in a room full of businesspeople just to impress a child. Only a shameless attention seeker would do that, and you obviously had not changed. Still seeking for attention wherever you go.

Joel had joined the family when you got back, and he looked at you with an impressed smile, while you walk defeatedly to the table and served Sarah her food. He laughed a little, took your antennae headband and put it on his head, placed Sarah on his lap and took a selfie, making sure that you were in the frame too. Sarah giggled uncontrollably every time the antennae wobbled on his head, a sound he clearly enjoyed hearing, as he kept wobbling his head on purpose while helping his daughter eat.

When you went to get more drinks, Tanya called you shameless, whoring yourself like that for your boss, taking selfies and acting all child-like for him. You lost it.

“What is your problem, Tanya? So I am a nanny. So I let some lady paint my face, it’s all part of the job. So what? How does that affect you in any way? Why are you so hellbent on calling me this and that? I haven’t bothered you, at all. You being here is a sign of your success. And I’m nannying, as you keep reminding me. I have nothing to lord over you, and you have everything. So why are you still hounding me?”

Her smug, sneering face snapped shut. Anger clearly taking over.

“Is everything alright, here?” Joel asked, taking you by the shoulder to his side.

Tanya immediately put on a sickly-sweet smile, “Just catching up with an old friend, that’s all,” she said.

The older man you saw him talking to that morning came up, taking Tanya by the waist. She looked disappointed, and hesitantly let him do so.

“Miller, glad to see you again. Could we have a drink this evening after your keynote? Would love to continue our discussion from this morning,” he said.

Tanya’s expression changed, she looked downright impressed, eyeing him up and down, suddenly impressed with an adult wearing an antennae headband. “You’re Joel Miller? Oh, I heard what happened to you. So happy to see you are doing well! Aren’t we, Georgie?” she cooed at him, reaching over and rubbing his arm. Joel pulled you closer to him and took a step away, going nearer the older man.

‘Georgie’ cleared his throat, and Joel told him they will talk later, he’s going to have lunch with his family now. The man nodded and shook his hand. Joel helped you get more drinks, asking you if you were alright. You just nodded, annoyed at Tanya’s brazenness. You saw from the corners of your eyes the man taking her by the hand to talk to her, while she grumpily followed, her eyes rolling in annoyance.

Sarah was falling asleep as she was finishing her lunch, so you told everyone you will see them at dinner, that you would be taking Sarah to the small amusement park later. They all gave Sarah a kiss and told her to have a good nap, Joel waiting until she was in your arms to kiss her. He put the headband back on your head and told you he will see you at dinner.

You spent Sarah’s nap time watching TV, but not really. You tried to relax, but for some reason, seeing Tanya and hearing her venomous words put you at an unease. You had a feeling that wasn’t the last you’d hear from her. She had always found ways to make your life difficult.  Your biggest worry was that she would get her poison on Joel, somehow, and your job at the daycare would be in jeopardy. You couldn’t afford to lose that job. You needed to get your life in line again, having lost everything that mattered to you. You were starting from almost zero. You had a plan. Get a job, check. Get a place to stay, pending. Save some money, pending. Go back to school, pending, and right now, oh so far away, almost beyond your reach, it felt like. No matter. One day at a time. And hopefully, after this weekend, you won’t see Tanya again.

**********

Joel sat between Tommy and Tess during the conference, unable to focus on anything. He kept seeing that woman who was talking to you turn around to look at his table, trying to get his attention. She gave him the creeps. A very… ‘Liz’ vibe seem to emanate from her. He didn’t like it. And the man she was with, George, some higher up in one of the government departments, kept asking him for an ‘in’ on his business, wanting to ‘invest’. He entertained the man out of politeness but got a weird vibe off him too. He asked Tess to look into him, see if everything about him was legit.

The one thing he noticed straightaway was the fact that the man was wearing a wedding ring, and she was not. He’s not one to presume, but he wouldn’t be surprised if he had a wife waiting for him somewhere.

And her, he didn’t like the way she seemed to be treating you. Even from afar, she seemed to sneer at you a lot, and you, with Sarah around, never seemed to respond. So when he saw you did at the buffet during lunch, he made himself known, not wanting you to have worries this weekend. You deserve a break, even if you were technically working. He also didn’t want you mentally affected by this woman; your body language didn’t seem welcoming to her. He didn’t want that to affect Sarah too.

So far, from what he had heard from Sarah and Tess, you seemed like a great person. And what he had seen these two days, you were great with Sarah, and seemingly good natured around his cuckoo collection of a family. They all seemed to like you. He’s thankful for that.

He promised Allie he would find you, make sure you were alright. Thing was, he didn’t actually find you. More like, luckily stumbled into you. Did that count as keeping his promise? Maybe not. So, he should focus on making sure you were alright.

Two problems though.

One, he didn’t actually know you all that well. To make sure you were alright, he had to make sure you were a good person, a reliable person. What if you turned out to be a murdering psychopath? Okay, that’s not likely, seeing as you had managed to help keep his daughter alive for a month. And she loved you so much ‘Miss Addie’ might as well become a mantra. But you didn’t seem to be the kind of person who would accept help. When you told him you hadn’t decided where to inter Allie, he had a sneaking suspicion that there was more to the story, but he didn’t want to overstep. He didn’t want to throw money at you. He had a feeling you would be offended by that. He needed to get to know you better in order to help you. And this weekend, he had the chance to get to know you a bit better, and he intended to.

Two, and this might be the biggest problem of all. The problem that he couldn’t tell anyone about. The problem that might cloud his judgement of you. One that could affect how he might decide to make sure you were okay.

He couldn’t stop thinking about you.

But that’s impossible, right? Since he had met you that first time at the hospital all those months ago, he had met you only a few times. Sixteen times, in fact, not that he was counting or anything. All he knew was he looked forward to hearing about you when he got home, and hoped you weren’t too busy to chat a while when he dropped Sarah off or picked her up. That he would find himself unable to stop smiling whenever he talked to you. That he felt at ease with you.

Last night, when Sarah asked you to stay for him to read a story, his heart was pounding so hard he thought you might be able to see his shirt move. He had never had that experience – lying in bed with Sarah and a woman. Liz had never been interested to join in bedtime routine. It was always him alone. Over time, he found that he enjoyed them. His special time with his BabyGirl. He wouldn’t even let his Mama join the bedtime stories with her, and Sarah had never asked anyone to join in either. And last night, he found out he didn’t mind having you join in. He stayed a while after the two of you fell asleep, watching you breathe, his daughter snuggled up in your arms. Another something he had never seen Liz do. His heart did that thing again, making him feel warm all over. He watched you for so long, he fell asleep, Sarah between the two of you, his first uninterrupted sleep since the incident, until the sound of the door closing woke him up.

And today, he saw his little girl so happy spending time with you, and you… you just looked adorable with the face painting. He had to fight the urge to kiss you on the pink and red nose the painter had put on you. He could tell you were a bit embarrassed, so he took your headband and placed it on his head instead. It paid off, Sarah giggled so much his heart felt so full it could burst.

He placed his phone under the table and opened the latest photo he had taken. Him and Sarah, matching headbands on, and you, with a reluctant smile, sitting right next to him. He smiled to himself, zooming in on the picture a bit, taking in your candid face, for stock, until he could see you again in a bit.

A sharp nudge to his arm broke his smile, his eyes meeting Tess’s smirking face, her eyes on his phone, which he quickly hid in his suit pocket, meeting Tommy’s smirking face on his other side as he did so. His face actually felt hot. He put on his most annoyed face and pretended to pay attention to the speaker, seeing Tess and Tommy’s shoulders move from trying not to laugh. Maria turned, distracted by her husband’s shaking. Tommy whispered something in her ear.

And now there were three of them smirking at him. 

Damn it.

**********

You and Sarah were not in the room when he went up to change before dinner. He found himself extremely disappointed at his discovery. He video called you, and you answered, a huge smile on your face, Sarah’s giggling face came into view. She was driving one of those cars that ran on a track, having the time of her life. Look Daddy! I drive! Good job BabyGirl! She was making vroom-vroom noises, and honking so much, showing off to him, he wanted to run to the amusement park to join in on the fun with the two of you. You ended the call when it was time to get off the ride, promising to meet him at the dining hall for dinner.

Dinner was spent with everyone checking in with Joel about his keynote speech that night, and Sarah showing everyone all the videos you had taken of her on the different rides she went on. So much ooh-ing and aah-ing was going on, you were really touched at how much all of them loved Sarah. She had so much fun, she was nodding off before you could finish your dinner. You got up to take her upstairs, Joel joining you, not wanting to miss bedtime. He saw Tanya watch the three of you go up, a disapproving look on her face. He chose to ignore it, taking Sarah from you, while you carried the backpack you had brought with you to the amusement park.

Bedtime consisted of placing her in bed after a slight tantrum over having to change into her PJs, so Joel had some time to kill before his keynote speech. He waited for you to shower, aware that you didn’t finish your dinner. He told you to order room service, he didn’t want you to go to bed hungry. You nodded and thanked him, earnestly wishing him luck for his big speech. He said thank you, touched that you would say that to him.

As he got back into the elevator, his thoughts were on your good luck wish. He’d been to these conferences before, and Liz had always spent her times at the spa, leaving Sarah with Mrs Adler completely, and sometimes, didn’t even come back to the room. Never once did she wish him luck for his speeches, or his pitches, he doubted she even noticed, so long as the credit card worked.

The speech was a success, and he was surrounded by so many people wanting to talk to him after. He went to the lounge for the drink he had promised George and listened patiently as the man talked. He couldn’t shake the weird vibe he was getting from this man, the vibe that got stronger as Tanya joined them, having changed into a dress that was far too revealing for a business meeting. George’s phone rang, and he excused himself to answer it.

Tanya immediately pounced, sitting herself so close to Joel she might as well be on his lap. Joel immediately moved to the next chair, placing his jacket on the chair he was on. Tanya seemed to get the hint, albeit with annoyance.

“So, how long has Addie been nannying for you? Your daughter is so cute by the way. What’s her name?”

Joel took a sip of his drink, asking her how long she had known you.

“Oh, we go way back. She used to live next door to me. We grew up together,” she said, downing her drink, and snapping at the bartender for another. “Surprised to see she’s nannying now, to be honest. Everyone on the street thought so highly of her.”

There was an annoyance to her tone. Joel didn’t like it but decided to hear her out anyway.

“So, you knew Allie?”

“Tsk, annoying little brat. You know your nanny raised her since she was two? Classic spoiled kid. So rude. Said whatever came to mind. Trust me, you don’t want your kid growing up like Allie.”

Joel kept staring at her, taking another sip of his drink.

Tanya was suddenly aware how angry and annoyed she sounded and put on a simpering nostalgic face as if reminiscing fondly at the thought of Allie, “So sad, what happened to her,” she said, shaking her head.

Joel didn’t react. He took another sip and kept listening.

She shuffled her chair closer to him. He put his foot on the chair next to him when she tried to move it. She leaned in instead, whispering conspiratorially at him.

“But see, that’s why I was so shocked you hired her. She’s not exactly trustworthy, Addison. She got fired from her last job for slacking at work, you know. She would just leave… just like that, in the middle of a workday - and came back whenever convenient. And the amount of complaints on her record, sheesh. I’m surprised she lasted that long at that job. And of course, after Allie died she spiralled. Drank herself to sleep every night. She lost her house you know? She claimed it was because of Allie’s medical bills, but who knows? She’s a great liar. Last I heard, she’s homeless now, living in her car like a bum.”

Joel placed his glass on the table, clearly reacting to this news.

“She’s living in her car?”

Tanya smiled a victorious smile. That got his attention. She put on a faux innocent, concerned face and nodded.

“Sadly, yes. You know what these people are like, I mean, what if she takes advantage of you and your money and hurt your daughter? What if she was drunk when taking care of her?”

She took his jacket off the chair between them, and sidled in next to him, her hand on his arm and thigh. He followed her touches with his eyes.

“Really, Mr Miller, trust me. I’m only thinking of your daughter. You don’t want to trust someone like Addison with your child.”

---

Part 7

@peelieblue @feenoire @vickie5446

[bunbeeplays]

The Lemon Legacy: Generation 1, Chapter 113 - The Playdate of All Time

It's a little dreary, but this was the only day Anna could convince her husband to tag along for the playdate too.

Anna: You have a lovely home.

Ophelia: Thank you. Uh, mind telling me who these other three kids are?

The more the merrier but it's weird one of them is a teen.

Calvin: Sorry for the short notice, but I mentioned this playdate to my boss and he asked if his twins could come.

Ophelia: That's okay, we've got plenty of toys! I'm sure the kids will have a lot of fun today. I, uh, don't think the teenage boy will have much fun though.

Calvin: Oh, that's their brother Trent, he's just dropping them off.

Ophelia: That's nice of him.

Calvin: Mr. Esposito's a busy man. And his second wife doesn't really… do kids. Wish I had that privilege.

Ophelia: Uh, isn't Jaden your son?

Calvin: What's your point?

Calvin: Trent's a good kid but he's one of those… you know.

Ophelia: Uh, no?

Calvin: Come on, you see the eyeliner, right?

Ophelia: …An emo?

Calvin: Is that what we're calling them nowadays? I can't keep up with that PC crap.

Ophelia: Uh…

Trent: Hey, Mrs. Lemon. Thanks for having us. I freaked out when Dad told me you were the one hosting this! I'm a huge fan!

Ophelia: Thank you so much, but you can just call me Ophelia, hon. Your sisters look like sweethearts, we don't mind at all.

Ophelia: You don't have to hang out with us old folks, we'll take good care of the girls, but you're more than welcome to stay.

Trent: Uh, a chance to hang out with the singer from my favorite band? I'd love to stick around. Besides, Claudia's kind of clingy.

Calvin: Oh. Great.

As the kids run off to play, Gemma sees one of these unfamiliar little girls and can't help but admire her sense of style. The pompom necklace, the butterfly wings? This girl knows how to dress for a party!

Gemma: Hi! I'm Gemma. What's your name?

Marina: I'm Marina!

Gemma: I like your butterfly wings! Can you fly?

Marina: I dunno, my hermano won't let me jump off stuff to try.

Marina: This is my sissy Claudia!

The other little girl, who was plucking away on the xylophone, perks up hearing her name.

Claudia: Hi.

Gemma waves and Claudia goes back to playing.

Marina: Hermano says she's always on that grind!

Gemma: What's that mean?

Marina: I dunno!

Gemma: What's a hermano?

Marina: My big brother!

She looks over at Trent and back to Marina.

Gemma: Wow, your big brother is real old.

Marina: Yeah, he's like 40 or somethin'. My daddy's like 150, and my step-mommy's like 12!

Gemma: Whoa!

Jaden's kind of doing his own thing too. His daddy doesn't like 'all that kiddie crap' in the house so he's too overwhelmed by the options to be social.

Marina: You got lotsa fun toys! Wanna play with me?

Gemma: Okay!

First Jaden, now Marina? Gemma's making so many friends!

The adults table isn't nearly as fun. Calvin and Anna drone on about their ministry for the Church of Llama Day Saints, but can't even pretend to care when Ophelia talks about music or Trent talks about… anything. Ophelia is enjoying talking to Trent, at least.

Anna: So what church does your family go to?

Ophelia: Oh, uh, none. I mean, we believe in the Watcher, but uh, organized religion just isn't for us.

Anna: Ah. I see… I'll pray for you.

Not Trent mocking Anna behind her back 💀😂

Calvin: If you'd like to go to a service sometime, we'd be more than happy to let you sit at our pew.

Ophelia: Oh, I think we're good.

Trent: If you change your mind, don't worry. They never stop asking.

Xander wishes Lulu hadn't gone to sleep so he didn't have to be here.

Gemma and Marina have a grand time playing dolls in the play tent, but Claudia seems a little less focused once she hears her sister giggling and having fun with someone else…

Claudia confronts Gemma while Marina is distracted by something shiny.

Claudia: Stop playing with Rina! She's MY sister, not yours! I'm gonna tell my papi and he's gonna fire you!

She hears her papi threatening to fire people all the time. It must mean he sets them on fire!

Whoa! Why was this girl being so mean and yelling at her? Gemma wasn't trying to steal anyone. She thought they were all having fun together.

Gemma starts to whimper as tears pool in her eyes but thankfully Ophelia's to the rescue.

Ophelia wipes Gemma's little tears away and comforts her.

Ophelia: It's okay, baby doll, you didn't do anything wrong. Sometimes it's hard to share. I'll make sure she apologizes.

Thankfully, Ophelia doesn't have to do much because Trent steps in.

Trent: Claudia! ¡Basta! You know better. Marina can play with who she wants. Say sorry to Gemma for being mean.

Claudia: But-

Trent: We're guests here, you're not going to be rude to our hosts.

Ophelia's impressed. Seems like this isn't the first time Trent's parented them.

Now Claudia's the one sniveling.

Claudia: S-Sorry, hermano.

Trent sighs.

Trent: Thank you, Clauds, now go tell Gemma, okay? I'm not mad, you're not in trouble, just make sure you're using your manners, alright?

Claudia: Okaaaay.

Trent can't stand to see one of his sisters crying. He won't let them act up but he's not completely heartless.

Trent: Come here, you're fine. Now go show Gemma the nice girl I know you are, yeah? Love you, pollito.

Claudia: I'm not a chicken!

Trent: You're my little chicken!

Trent: Sorry about that.

Ophelia: No, it's fine, kids are kids. Thank you for saying something to her, though.

Trent: Hey, I'm not raising any spoiled brats, you know?

They have a father AND a step-mother. Why is this teenager raising them at all?

Claudia: Sorry I was mean. You can play with my sister.

Gemma: Okay! You can play with us too if you want!

Well, not really, because Trent says it's time for them to go shortly after. It takes a bit to pull Marina away from her toy.

Jaden's hashtag feeling himself though.

Calvin: What is my son playing with?

Ophelia: Oh, that's Gemma's makeup kit.

Calvin: Why would you put that out when you knew a boy was coming over? Don't you have any toys that are more masculine?

Ophelia: I don't really consider toys to be masculine or feminine…

Calvin: I see the woke mind virus got to you too.

Ophelia: You and Anna keep saying 'woke' but I'm not really sure what you mean by that.

Calvin: Look, that's fine for your girls, but maybe put that away next time Jaden's here. I don't want my son thinking he can wear makeup.

Ophelia: Makeup isn't only for girls.

Calvin: Trent's gone, you don't have to pretend that's normal anymore.

Ophelia: I'm not pretending.

Calvin: Listen, I'm trying to be civil here. Don't push your woke agenda on my boy.

Now there's an agenda? Wish someone filled her in.

Gemma: You look as pretty as my mommy!

Before Jaden can respond, his dad comes to berate him.

Calvin: Jaden, are you trying to embarrass us? Boys don't wear makeup! We're cleaning that off before we leave.

Jaden whimpers. He didn't want to be bad, he just wanted to have fun…

Xander: Don't you think he's being a bit harsh?

Anna: You can raise your kids how you want. We're raising Jaden to be a respectable young man like his father.

Xander: muttering Dude's throwing a tantrum over mascara but sure.

Ophelia's hoping to get struck by lightning.

Gemma: I dunno why your daddy got all yelly. You're so pretty!

His heart feels less heavy when Gemma says that.

Jaden: …Thanks.

Even if his parents aren't always the nicest to him, his new buddy Gemma has his back!

[casspurrjoybell-33]

Wreckless - Let's Talk

*Warning Adult Content*

Emmett

I have to start the noodles, the water is boiling... I reluctantly leave Finnegan to take off his slacks. Once they're in the water I get him a drink, in the sports bottle of course. He seems too old for a Sippy-Cup which is fine by me. I'm pretty sure he's about seven or eight in little space, the ages when he was sick. Him mentioning that he'd missed a bunch of experiences during that time period sort of solidified my thoughts on that.

I'll have to ask him about that tonight, if we get that far. I've spent the past hour making dinner and in between, I've been on my phone looking up anything I can find on Daddy Doms and Little Boys and refreshing my memory. I'm glad he wants to talk. I know that neither of us have all the answers but we can at least figure out what the questions are, make sure we're on the same page and try to come up with some sort of a plan.

"Can I go get Marten?" he asks.

"Wait until after dinner, please."

He loves being downstairs but it's not completely ferret-proof so I don't want him running around when we're busy eating. Ferrets are amazing creatures and are insanely good at finding the one thing in the house they shouldn't eat/destroy/climb/play with.

"Come get your drink, darling. Can you set the table?"

I'm mostly testing him, I want to see how he reacts. I pull out the plates, bowls and silverware and put them in a pile on the counter.

"Sure," he says, smiling.

"It's the least I can do."

He's cute, really cute. He's shirtless which... let me tell you... is a huge oversight on my part because how am I supposed to focus when all he's wearing is a little pair of bright yellow boxers with a huge sun on his ass? I pull the chicken out to rest for a minute and run upstairs to grab him a shirt.

"Thanks," he says, pulling it on.

"I like this one."

I'm going to have to order some more crazy shirts, most of mine are fairly boring. The few funny ones I have are gifts from Andy.

"Anything else I can do?"

I just have to butter and season the noodles.

"No, go ahead and sit... I'm about done."

I take the chicken to the table while the butter is melting, then take the noodles over. I did the salad and fixings half an hour ago so it's ready, something I learned from my mother.

"This looks and smells amazing Emmett, thank you."

"You're welcome, darling."

We both dig in. Finnegan eats an entire split chicken breast and plenty of noodles and salad to go with it.

I'm a glutton and eat two... it's really good.

"I don't want to wear diapers or have to call you Sir or get treated like a child" he blurts out.

'Okay.'

"I'm okay with all of that, Finnegan. Look, if you're a little, we get to make the rules. You do a perfectly good job of running your own life, darling, I don't want to micromanage it. That said, if you wanna come over here, have a good meal and relax for the evening, that I can do."

He's thinking.

"That sounds really good. This, this is really nice."

He's sitting with his legs perched up on his chair, it's adorable. He has a napkin in his lap and wipes his mouth, then tucks it back under the table.

"I like this silly cup. If that makes me a little, maybe I am one. I don't know. But all those rules, I mean, I just don't know if that's me. I want to be able to talk to you, as equals."

I want that too.

"I had a lot of rules in the Army, I don't need more now. Finnegan, I think we're just gonna have to see how this goes. I've sure as hell never done this before and I'm not sure you've really figured yourself out either. Who knows, maybe in a month you'll be more comfortable with me and want things you don't want now, you know? We're just gonna have to keep talking about it, as painful as it is, so we can make sure we're both happy."

"That's what I'm worried about Emmett, why would you want to date someone like me? You can't want to watch kiddie movies every night."

"Not every night, no. You're gonna have to put up with me watching baseball and my insane addiction to hoarders if we spend a lot more time together. But if you wanna lay on my lap and do, I don't know Finnegan, what do you do when you're, well, little?"

I didn't know how else to put it.

"I don't know. Once I went on YouTube and figured out how to make different paper airplanes. I made a couple and threw them all over my apartment. Is that weird?"

"Sounds like fun to me, darling."

"And I like toys. I... uh... I have some Lego I mess with. And I love cartoons... you know that. But I could watch on my laptop and use headphones."

He's so sweet.

"That would be fine. So serious question... are you always little when you're alone or if you can be? I'd like to know what to expect... is all."

He always thinks about his answers and I love that. He's not just blabbing the first thing that pops into his head.

"Sometimes I have to do stuff. Cook, shop, work. So when I have stuff to do I just do it but if I'm not busy I... yeah I guess I'm usually little, as you put it. I always thought it was just me."

"It is just you, Finnegan and that's fine. Okay so what if my house is little space? You don't have to do adult stuff here, right? I'll handle the cooking and if you have to work I assume you'd just go home. So when you come in here you can strip and get comfortable and we'll just give it a try?"

It's the best I can offer since we have no idea what we're doing.

"I can't believe you'd do that... I mean, why? It sounds really good but what do you get out of it?"

"Other than seeing you?"

He rolls his eyes, most of the sites I was on today would say that's worthy of a spanking.

"What?"

"There's no way you want to hang around a guy who likes to drink out of bendy straws."

Now I'm a little frustrated.

"Why not? What the fuck does it matter to me? How does it affect me at all? I couldn't give two shits, Finnegan. I like you, okay? You make me smile, you make me feel good, and I enjoy doing things with you. I think your sunshine boxers are cute and they make me happy. I've had enough sad and dark and dreary in my life, Finnegan. I could use more laughter and smiles and silliness. Okay?"

He walks over and I push my chair back because it looks like yes... he wants to perch on my lap.

"I'm sorry, Emmett."

His arms are wrapped around my shoulders and his cheek is resting on my forehead and all the anger drains out of me instantly.

"I want you happy, that's why I asked. I just want to make sure you're not doing this just for me, you know? That's not healthy. I've been in plenty of relationships where I didn't share this, where I was normal."

"And none of them lasted, Finnegan."

None of mine have either.

"No."

I think we both need a break... some time to process everything we've said. I give him a tap and he hops up.

"Why don't you go get Marten and I'll clean up."

"I could help, Emmett."

"You can help by playing with Marten, please."

I stand up too and gather our plates. He'd much rather do that and we need some space. Besides, I know how short his evenings are and there's really not much to do to clean up, I did some as I went.

"Okay, I'll get him. Um... are you mad at me?"

I can't have him thinking that so I drop the dishes on the counter and pull him into my arms.

"No, not at all."

"Promise?"

"Promise."

[casspurrjoybell-24]

My Unwanted Mate - Chapter 8 - Part 1

*Warning Adult Content*

Calvin Frey

Mom stood at the counter, a large knife cutting through a carrot with enough speed that I was worried it would be her finger next that the knife went through.

Just because she knows what she's doing doesn't mean there aren't accidents.

She hasn't lost a finger yet but there had been plenty of near incidents.

Ones that included lots of blood and her cursing under her breath.

Hopefully that won't happen today.

"So when are you going to properly introduce your mates to the family?"

The question came out of nowhere and made me jerk.

My mug of black coffee tipped and I rushed to set it up right even though the contents had already been spilled.

Tearing off a bunch of paper towels to clean up the mess I made it a point to appear busy and ignore Mom's question.

I had yet to tell her that I sent them away.

Shit, if I could I'd never tell her but I knew she'd get suspicious if she didn't see them around.

It wouldn't be hard putting two and two together.

The biggest clue being that we'd never be seen together.

She'd mentioned that she'd seen them working at the pack house.

Which was good for me because she wasn't suspicious about their absence.

Although my first thought had been worry.

'Why did they need to work? Did they not have any money?'

I remember them saying they had to leave their pack.

What about family? They shouldn't have to work.

Which was a ridiculous thought... they weren't mine to be worrying about.

I didn't want them to be.

"Oh," Mom turned to me, her large knife pointed at me.

"Your dad wants to talk to you. Why don't you bring Benjamin and the twins over to the house and we can have dinner together."

Tossing the soaked paper towels in the trash, I kept my back turned to mom.

What could Dad want to talk about?

When he does talk, it's about something serious.

He's not like Mom who has something to say about everything.

He's more of an observer.

Turning back around to face Mom, I finally realized what she had said.

She wanted the twins to come.

That wasn't going to happen.

I've done good avoiding the need to go out and get my mate's to bring them back home.

I had to keep reminding myself that this isn't their home.

They're not mine.

I don't want a mate or mates in this case.

But I can't tell mom that.

"Maybe another day."

"I understand," Mom said, smiling at me.

"You've just found them and want them all to yourself."

If that's what she wanted to believe, I wasn't going to correct her.

Not when I knew she'd freak if I told her the truth.

There's going to be a day sometime soon when she does find out what I've done.

I didn't want that day to be today.

Or ever if I had it my way.

My pup stumbled into the kitchen before mom could ask anymore about the twins.

Benjamin's big hazel eyes were drooping from the nap he'd just woken up from.

His dark hair was all over his head and he'd somehow lost his bottoms.

"Papa," his little whine had me picking him up, trying to see if there was something physically wrong.

'Did he run into something? Did he fall?'

He hugged me, his head resting on my shoulder.

"What? Grandma gets no love?"

Mom put down her knife and came to stand beside me so she could get a look at my pup.

"Hi Gammy," Benjamin spoke softly before tucking his head in my neck. I frowned at mom, worried for my pup.

"What's wrong, pup?"

Rubbing his back soothingly, I tried peaking at him without moving him back.

"Belly hurt."

"What have you been feeding him? See this is why I came over. Your cooking is killing him," Mom complained as she went back to cutting vegetables for the roast she insisted on making us.

Frowning, I kissed the top of my pups head and sat down at the table with him in my lap.

All he's been eating is kiddie snacks and the pizza I had delivered.

It probably wasn't all that healthy or fulfilling for a growing pup.

But like mom had said, my cooking wasn't any better.

Sitting down at the table, I continued rubbing Benjamin's back until he eventually drifted off to sleep again.

He's been sleeping a lot the past couple of days.

Could he be catching a cold from playing out in the snow?

I know it was a common thing for humans but not wolves, our immune systems are strong and fight off the common viruses.

He hasn't had his first shift yet though, so maybe it could be a cold?

Mom had brought over her large crockpot and had a roast going.

She reminded me multiple times to cut it down to warm when it finished cooking. It was enough to last us a few days.

I never asked Mom or Torin to come over and feed us but they'd started doing it some time last year.

Apparently they thought we weren't eating enough.

It was a relief when Mom left... not because I don't like seeing her but because I didn't want her to ask me anymore questions about the twins.

I wish I hadn't met them while family was around, it would be so much easier getting rid of them.

Laying Benjamin on the couch and covering him with the blanket, I pressed the back of my hand against his forehead.

He felt a little warm but we're Werewolves.

We're always a little warmer.

Hopefully with sleep, he'll feel better later. 

The back door opened and I groaned, thinking Mom had come back.

I didn't expect to see the naked male who was standing in my kitchen going through the fridge.

"You don't have shit here but apple juice," Robbyy complained but continued to drink straight from the jug.

"What the hell do you want?"

Going into the laundry room I grabbed a pair of jogging pants before going back into the kitchen.

"Your brother is being a pain in my ass."

"One I'd prefer not to see."

Throwing the pants at him, I turned away and occupied myself with pulling a cup from the cabinet.

Robby chuckled under his breath.

"Right, you prefer when they come in pairs."

My jaw clenched but I chose to ignore the jibe.

"What did Torin do?" I asked, taking the jug of apple juice from the Alpha male and pouring some in a cup for him.

Robby frowned down at it and stayed quiet for a while.

"It's nothing," he groaned, clearly irritated about something.

"He won't let me touch him," he blurted out and I quickly shushed him, listening out for my pup.

"He says it's the month of the Moon Goddess, so we can't fuck," Robert continued complaining.

My brows furrowed as I thought over his words.

I didn't want to hear anything about my little brother's sex life.

Then I thought about all the holidays Mom had us celebrate while we were growing up and I couldn't remember there ever being a month dedicated to the Moon Goddess.

Especially one that kept you celibate.

If anything, the Moon Goddess encouraged her children to mate.

It took everything I had to hold in my laughter and keep the smile off my face.

Apparently the Alpha had done something to piss off Torin.

"This isn't fair," Robby growled and paced across the kitchen.

"It's already been a full six hours. He won't even let me use my mouth."

"Gross, I don't care."

I shook my head and took a sip from the drink Robby abandoned.

"This is an important month to those that celebrate. It means a lot to them."

I forced myself not to laugh and had to turn away to hide my smile.

"I know," Robby sighed, his shoulders sagging as if giving up.

"I'll just hang out with you," he decided.

"We haven't done that in forever."

I had a feeling this wasn't going to go so well.

Robby had the ability to get up to no good even when he wasn't trying to.

It's been a long time since the two of us had time to hang out alone.

A recipe for disaster.

Maybe this was something I needed.

A way to get my mind off... things.

"What do you want to do?" I asked, knowing Torin would be eager to have Benjamin for a day.

[tasteofdeathao3]

May I offer: Adult again Izzy being shown the baby pictures Ed and Stede took of him while he was a baby and toddler. Him napping on Ed's chest, trying mashed carrots for the first time, in a little kiddie pool in the summer, ripping open Christmas presents, sitting on Uncle Fangs lap, at the zoo. It's strange for him, not only because he's looking at himself as a baby but also because he vaguely remembers a lot of the stuff the two photographed.

this is actually so cute oh my GOD

He'd never really had any baby pictures of himself - aside from the yearly school photos - but here is is absolutely flooded with ones taken by Ed and Stede. He doesn't remember them taking any, but here's the proof, on Ed's cracked phone screen currently shoved in his face.

He looks different than he'd imaged, hair darker and thicker than what he'd seen of his siblings - he'd always assumed he'd looked just the same, but the proof was written in his little hooked nose and in the dark eyelashes framing his little hazel eyes.

"And look," Ed says pointing to a photo of him held against Fang's chest, fists tugging at his beard and mouth splayed in a wide smile, "That's you at Easter. Fang insisted on giving you a tiny bit of chocolate, Stede nearly bit his head off."

"I did not!" Stede exclaims, affronted, and shoves Ed's shoulder. "Babies shouldn't be having chocolate."

"It was a tiny piece!" Ed giggles, dodging Stede's next hit. He turns to Izzy, grinning, "He gave it to you anyway, when Stede wasn't looking."

"As if I didn't see," Stede sighs, settling against Izzy's side.

He swipes the the next photo. "Look!" He says, shoving the screen closer to Izzy's face, "That's Fang's birthday, he insisted on having you there. And it was crazy, someone flipped a table and everything."

Izzy laughs quietly. "And Lucius passed out, right?"

"Yeah, yeah, that's right!" Ed cackles. "That- that is right, isn't it?" His laughter is cut short and his brows furrow, face falling into something between confused and hurt.

"Do you-" Stede swallows, catching Izzy's attention, "Do you remember? Back then?"

Izzy swallows thickly. He nods. "Some things." He whispers, hand fisting in the chest of his shirt. "It's like- memories."

"How so?" Stede asks, taking Izzy's hand and wrapping it tight between his own.

Izzy chokes back a wet cough. He doesn't know why thinking of those days makes him tear up, but it does. "Like- like it was years ago. I remember bits and pieces. It doesn't feel recent. It feels like so long ago."

Ed and Stede go quiet. They don't speak, they don't cry or sniffle or sigh, they just move in closer, hold him tighter between them.

"He loves you, y'know," Ed hums, eyes trained on where Fang is smiling at the little thing in his arms from behind the glass of the screen.

Izzy finds it odd how Ed does that, refers to him and the baby as the same person. He supposes they are, to a certain degree, but it doesn't make sense that anyone would truly consider him the same. He's different, hardened, he's mean and cruel and nothing like what he's seen of that baby, of what he remembers.

"He was the first I told." He says, filling the new silence of the room. "When you came back."

"Really?" Izzy asks meekly. He doesn't remember much of that night either, except for being more panicked and distraught than he'd ever been before.

"Yep." He takes hold of Izzy's other hand, settling the phone in Izzy's lap. "I texted him immediately. It felt wrong, y'know, for him not to know soon. He loves you so much."

Izzy huffs quietly. "He loved me."

"No, he still does." Ed hums, squeezing Izzy's hand with his own trembling fingers. "He always has. He's always looked after you, hasn't he?"

"I guess." Izzy shrugs, eyes trained at his lap. It feels weird, talking about people caring about him. It felt like- it didn't feel like anything when he was a baby. It was just the way it was. But now? It just wrong, it's like pineapple on pizza, white shoes after labour day.

"We'd do the same for you, you know?" Stede murmurs, squeezing Izzy's hand even tighter.

Izzy shakes his head, blinking away stinging tears. "No." He says, "No, you don't have to do that."

"We know." Stede whispers. "We know that, darling."

Ed swipes to the next photo.

[mouthfulloftoothpasterry]

A day with the Rowlands

Summary: The Styles family spends the evening with the Rowland family and announces something big!

Warnings/ disclaimer: it’s a new year for them! So it’s spring all over again just a different year :)

“Hello!” Mitch cheers walking into Harry and Y/n’s dimly lit cottage, the smell of a warm strawberry bread zipping through the air and into his nose. Harry peeks out from the corner of the kitchen, turning down the Fleet wood mac that was blasting through the old brown record player he had gotten from his dad when he first moved out. “Hello!” he sings back, greeting the family while he dries his hands on a cartoon frog printed tea towel.

Asher waddles over to Harry greeting him with a big smile on his face, showing off his small baby teeth. “Hi uncle H!” Asher exclaims before distracting himself with his best friend, Violet. Harry chuckles, brushing his hand over the back of the boy's head, moving aside to go greet his parents and baby sister. Y/n continues to work on the strawberry bread, saying ‘Hi’  to Asher and letting him hop up on the step stool that Violet was just on, asking her a couple of questions about what she was doing.

Sarah walks over, holding her six month old baby girl, Opal, in a black babybjorn strapped across her chest, the little girl bouncing her arms up and down. “Hi!” she smiles, Y/n turning around to greet the mother and her baby. The girls chat, Y/n cooing at Opal while they talk. “Okay, let’s head outside!” Harry announces, grabbing the snack trays they had just prepared and leading the way to the back door of the cottage that he for some reason always forgets to oil up.

The parents settle into the white patio furniture sitting close to the duck pod, sitting around and drinking wine while their little ones play together.

“How are the kids?” Mitch asks, sitting with his lanky legs crossed while he holds a stemmed wine glass between his fingers. Harry glances over at his wife, seeing if she wants to answer Mitch’s simmering question. “They are good, we just started homeschooling Violet and she’s actually enjoying it.” Harry slowly draws patterns on his wife’s thigh while he talks, giving her a gentle love pat while they can’t be cuddled and as mushy as they usually are.

“Oh, you decided to home school her?” Sarah pulls her attention to the adult conversation after watching the kiddies to make sure they didn’t wander off too close to the pond and take a dip.

Harry and Y/n nod, Y/n resting her hand over her husbands and giving it a squeeze. “Yeah, Violet has been loving it. She sings her ABC’s all over the house, and baby shark too. We have also been trying to teach her to write her name.” y/n explains, setting her wine glass (that is just filled with apple juice) down while she glances back at the four babies playing together.

The other set of parents smile, Sarah resting a hand over her chest in an awe-ing way. “She’s just adorable.” Mitch says, eating some of the strawberry bread that y/n and Violet had just freshly baked together. Harry and Y/n thank Mitch, the conversation going blank while they all zone in on their children, watching as they play together. Violet hands Asher a red bouncy ball, she was playing with them individually but they are a part of a mini ball pit, her and her brother love playing in that together. They all play together while their parents observe them, the little ones closer to their parents while they roll around in the well taken care of grass, getting grass stains on their onesies.

Violet toddles over to the table the adults were all sat at, standing on her little toes and peeking over the table. She slides her little hand over the snack tray sneakily and takes a good chunk of the strawberry bread, turning quickly, but her mumma is quicker. Y/n wraps an arm around the girl, pulling her back close to the group. “What are you doing with that big piece of bread, missy?” Y/n ask her daughter. Violet instantly puts on a sweet smile, “I’m sharing, mumma!” she says, the cheeky smiling remaining on her face while she speaks in her toddler gibberish. Y/n nods giving Violet the okay to walk back to her friends, who are actually more like family.

They get back to talking, their attention not the best at times from the four kids and the well over a dozen animals living in the backyard. Sarah and Y/n share recipes while Harry and Mitch talk about the animals and work. Mitch and Sarah work at a flower shop. It's actually their very own, they bought the building a couple years ago and started their own business up in the town. Harry visits as often as he can and always ends up buying a big bouquet for Y/n. They always design the most beautiful bundles of flowers.

“Getting a lot of business right now?” Mitch nods at Harry's words, pulling the red wine from his lips, the crimson liquid leaving a stain on his thin lips.

He rests a beat before he answers, swallowing down the wine. “Yeah, it's spring time now so people are buying flowers a lot more. Never like February though.” Mitch always rambles on about how Sarah and his flowers are such a hot commodity during February since valentine's day is just around the corner and people like to ‘wow’ their partners all month long. “Yeah,” Harry hums, closing his eyes, relaxing and listening to the wind brush the trees around, the leaves rustling together and branches hitting each other.

They decided it’s time for a proper snack break, (they had planned a late lunch together) so they put the kiddies playing to a stop, telling them it’s time to eat and properly hydrate.

Their parents serve them, sticking some fruit and some pinwheels on their plate made with vegan meat. They started getting it not too long ago and it’s a good way of tricking their kids into thinking they are eating real meat, even though they haven’t actually even meat before.

Y/n feeds Forest a bottle while they all eat, he's started to hold the bottle himself so she can actually eat with everyone.

They eat in silence for a while, their toddlers babbling while they eat, training fruit with each other because Violet likes strawberries more than pineapple and Asher likes pineapple more than strawberries. They sit around and eat a bit more, waiting for the sun to go down so they can start their bonfire and roast some marshmallows for the s’mores they planned to make.

**

The sun has finally gone down, the temperature has dropped making both family's wrap up in the quilts Harry brought out, violet of course helping him by lugging the end of one.

They are sitting around a campfire, cuddled up in some wooden folding chair that Harry had picked up at a vintage furniture store a couple of months ago. The two family’s roast marshmallows, the crackle of the fire getting louder and louder.

Asher and Violet sit together, in the same wooden chair, bundled under one of Violet's favorites quilts, their daddy’s sitting on their side of them. “Here, baby honey” Harry says, blowing on the small s’more he had made violet. She smiles big, taking it between her chubby hands, blowing on it like her daddy had before her so she wouldn’t burn her heart shaped lips. She watches the way Asher looks at her chocolate and marshmallow treat, furrowing her eyebrows.

“Make Ash s’mores!” She says, leaning over to talk to her “uncle” Mitch. The group laughs, Mitch nodding and poking the marshmallow with a stick to start roasting the marshmallow for his boy. After he roasted the marshmallow he assembled the s’more, giving it to the little boy.

Y/n glances at Harry, making eye contact with her husband for a split second before she looks back at the snapping fire, giving him the hint that she wants to tell their closest friends about baby number three. Harry nods at her, clearing his throat. He drums on his thighs awkwardly now that he has the group's attention. He smiles softly, pushing his circle lenses up his nose, “Um, we have a small announcement, right, doll?” Harry asks, looking at his wife lovingly.

Y/n nods anxiously, smiling back at her husband.

“What’s up, H?” Sarah asks, Opal balanced on the top of her thighs. “Well, we're having baby number three.” Sarah and Mitch gasp, their kiddies remaining unfazed by the announcement since they are too young to understand pregnancy. Mitch and Sarah look at each other, their hands clutched over their mouths while they smile brightly. “You’re pregnant?!” Sarah shouts, standing up and maneuvering around the fire to give the now mother of three a warm hug.

Y/n nods excitedly with a big smile, hugging Sarah from the side since she’s carrying Opal on her hip.

“Congrats man!” Mitch says, giving Harry a big hug and a couple of pats on the back. Harry bashfully thanks his best friend, letting Mitch break the hug before he sits back down. “So three kids now? Is this the last Styles baby?” Harry shrugs at Mitch's questions, rubbing his eyes, trying to wipe off the big grin that spreads up to his eyes.

“Maybe, we never know” Y/n answers for him, Harry threading their hands together. The couple across from them smiles, happy for their friends.

Y/n and Harry couldn’t be more excited for the third Styles baby. Ever since Harry and Y/n found out about their sprout they have been talking about it non stop. They have talked about the possibility of having another little violet or having another Forest, they both came to the conclusion that they do not care. They want all their babies to be happy and healthy, they don’t care about it being a boy or a girl. They have been discussing thoughts about a nursery for their newest sprout, deciding that they would just have the little one sleep in their room so they all feel safer.

They have never been happier.

Mitch dusts off his hands, sighing. “Well I guess it’s time for us to head home. Thanks for having us over. It was great to see the five of you” Mitch teases, taking the last sip of his wine and smiling as his eyes darting down to y/n’s belly. The adults laugh, standing up to give each other a goodbye hug, saying their goodbyes to one another.

Harry leads them to the door, the kids trailing behind all of them. “Thanks for coming. I’ll see you soon, mate.” Harry says, waving bye to the Rowland family while he grasps the inside of the door. They let out a chorus of “Byes!” Before they all buckle into the car, Harry closes the door while the other family rolls out of their family and through the gate.

“Well, let’s get you monsters to bed.”

Hiii!! Thank you for reading! I’m sorry this is so messy but the third styles baby is official!! they are growing and soon enough will be here!! you guys have been so supportive and amazing with everything, i cant put it into words. Thank you all so much. <3<3 I’m gonna start a tag list (i only have one person so far) so let me know if you wanna be on it please!! you can send in a ask or just dm, whatever!!<3 Thank you again!!

tag list: @iaalien

[wonpilsonefeel]

Here’s a prompt list for request.

Ask for a minimum of one number (can be more) and pairing. Also add if you want it to be angst, smut or fluff.

ALSO MY ANON PART AINT WORKING BUT I WILL KEEP YALL ANON.

I didn’t come up with these prompts.

1. "How long have you been staring at that screen?"

2. "Do you really want to test me?"

3. "How did I end up watching this?"

4. “I’m sorry. I guess I’m just worried someone is going to take you away from me.”

5. “I just want to hug you and never let go.”

6. “You’re an adult! Act like it!”

7. “Did you seriously patch up a stab wound with scotch tape?”

9. “Are you stuck?”

10. “Man, you sure got knocked around a lot today.”

11. “Just the idea of anything happening to you makes me feel physically sick.”

12. A miscommunication leads to everyone being told Person A is dead, and Person B does not handle it well. When Person A shows up completely fine, Person B is overjoyed. 

13. “It shouldn’t be physically possible for me to love you this much.”

14. “What would you do if I died?” “Can we not talk about this?”

15. “They’re too good for you.”

16. “You look so cute in pajamas

17. “You’re my favorite person ever.”

18. “I love you so much I don’t know what to do.”

19. “You need to be more careful!”

20. “Why are we on the roof?”

21. “I know it’s wrong, but I love you.”

22. Why are you like this?”

23. I can handle myself. You don’t need to protect me.”

24. I miss you.” 

25. You are not fine, you’re bleeding!”

26. Look, I really screwed up and I need advice.”

27. I hope you’re here to apologize.” “Is there something you want to tell me?”

28. You are sick, therefore I am going to take care of you. End of discussion.

29. I’m fine. It was just a nightmare. You don’t need to worry.”

30. I just want to cuddle.”

31. Every day I get to spend with you is the best day.”

32. “Why are you looking at me like that?”

33. “You have the most amazing smile.”

34. “You’re just not intimidating. Sorry.”

35. “Stop whacking me with that stupid rubber chicken!”

36. “Stop kicking me under the table!”

37. “What are you, five?”

38. “I heard a loud sound. Are you okay?”

39. “Why are you wearing my shirt?”

40. “How on Earth did you get so muddy?”

41. “Close your eyes. Don’t peek.”

42. “You know, it’s hard to stay upset when I’m holding you this close.”

43. Person A spends the entire day throwing things at Person B, just for fun.

44. Person A keeps stealing Person B’s snacks.

45. You should really get some sleep.”

46. I just want to make sure you’re safe.”

47. I hate children. They’re the worst.”

48. If you’re happy, I’m happy.”

49. I wish you’d stop saying that.”

50. Person A tries (and fails) to convince everyone they aren’t in love with person B. 

51. I’m having a long day, okay?” 

52. Stop treating me like a child!”

53. I hate it when you rhyme my name with things.”

54.

55. Small kisses littered across the other’s face.

56. A small, fleeting kiss - which is immediately followed by a passionate, hungry kiss.

57. A breathy demand: “Kiss me” - and what the other person does to respond.

58. An accidental brush of lips followed by a pause and going back for another, on purpose.

59. Throwing their arms around the other person’s neck, hugging them close before kissing them passionately on the lips.

60. Wild, breathless kisses brought on by a heartfelt gift.

61. French kisses where they trace every tooth with their tongues as though trying to memorize them.

62. Laying a gentle kiss to the back of the other’s hand.

63. A kiss that lasts so long, they are sharing each other’s breaths.

64. A hello/good-bye kiss that is given without thinking - where neither person thinks twice about it.

65. Morning kisses that are exchanged before either person opens their eyes, kissing blindly until their lips meet in a blissful encounter.

66. Sneaking away to a hidden corner to share a secretive kiss.

67. Butterfly kisses against the other’s cheeks.

68. A kiss so desperate that the two wind around each other, refusing to let go until they are finished.

69. A fierce kiss that ends with a bite on the lip, soothing it with a lick.

70. One person pouting, only to have it removed by a kiss from the other person.

71. Tucking their hands beneath the other person’s shirt, just to watch them break the kiss and gasp in surprise at the sensation of cold/warm hands on their skin.

72. Teasing kisses where one person blows air into the other’s mouth and runs away.

73. One person stopping a kiss to ask “Do you want to do this?”, only to have the other person answer with a deeper, more passionate kiss.

74. Kissing in a stairwell, giving them an artificial height difference.

75. A chaste kiss given to each other because they are in mixed company.

76. A kiss that is leading to more, but is interrupted by a third party.

77. A kiss that tastes of the food/dessert they are eating.

78. Deep kisses where they have their hands tangled in each other’s hair to pull them closer.

79. Wet kisses after finding refuge from the rain.

80. Brushing a kiss along the shell of the other person’s ear.

81. Kisses exchanged while one person sits on the other’s lap.

82. One person tracing the other’s lips with a fingertip until they can’t resist any longer, tilting their chin towards them for a kiss.

83. Staring at each other’s lips for a moment before moving closer, as if drawn together by some unseen force.

84. Weak, sweaty kisses because it’s unbearably hot.

85. Pulling away from a kiss, whispering words of love against each other’s lips.

86. A kiss so passionate, so perfect - that after they part, neither person can open their eyes for a few moments afterwards.

87. An unexpected kiss that shocks the one receiving it.

88. Kisses that start on their fingers and run up their arm, eventually ending on their lips.

89. An awkward kiss given after a first date.

90. Starting with bunny kisses before moving on to soft kisses.

91. Cleaning the other person’s lips with a lick and a kiss.

92. Whispering “I love you” before a chaste, delicate kiss.

93. Kissing tears from the other’s face.

94. A gentle kiss that quickly descends into passion, with little regard for what’s going on around them.

95. Kisses shared under an umbrella.

96. Distracting kisses from someone that are meant to stop the other person from finishing their work, and give them kisses instead.

97. A kiss pressed to the top of the head.

98. Tentative kisses given in the dark.

99. Kisses exchanged as they move around, hitting the edges of tables or nearly tripping over things on the floor before making it to the sofa, or bed.

100. A lingering kiss before a long trip apart.

101. A kiss paired with a tight hug, knocking the breath out of the person being hugged.

102. One person has to bend down in order to kiss their partner, who is standing on their tip-toes to reach their partner’s.

103. Short and sweet kiss after meeting up for a date.

104. A kiss, followed by more that trail down the jaw and neck.

105.

106. Little one jumping in puddles wearing rain boots.

107. Shopping for nursery furniture for little one.

108. Holding the little one for the first time.

109. Being immensely proud when little one takes their first steps alone.

110. Little one’s first reaction to seeing/feeling snow.

111. Singing nursery rhymes to get little one to sleep.

112. Finger painting with little one.

113. Little one getting food all over their face.

114. Going on a walk together with little one.

115. Little one coming to sleep with you after having a bad dream.

116. Picking out little one’s first Halloween costume.

117. Little one’s first birthday.

118. Keeping little one from trying to eat crayons.

119. Little one’s first trip to the zoo or aquarium.

120. Showing little one a lightning bug for the first time.

121. Little one sticking their toes in their mouth.

122. Little one pulling on your hair with surprising strength.

123. Helping little one go down a slide at the park.

124. Little one needing an emergency bath.

125. Tickling little one’s chubby thighs until they laugh.

126. Singing songs and rocking little one to sleep.

127. Reading a book with little one on your lap.

128. Having to show little one that the food tastes good by having some too.

129. Playing airplane/train to get little one to open their mouth and take a bite of food.

130. Little one chasing after bubbles to pop them.

131. Playing peek-a-boo with little one.

132. Little one snuggling with a stuffed animal.

133. Playing “This Little Piggy” on little one’s toes.

134. Having little one help mix cookie dough.

135. Little one eating a slice of fruit and getting juice all down their chin.

136. Kissing little one where they got hurt to make the pain go away.

137. Little one stripping their clothes and running around in their diaper.

138. Waking up to little one crying out in their sleep.

139. Little one biting everything they can stick in their mouth as they teethe.

140. Little one sticking pretzel sticks up their nose.

141. Little one leaving sticky fingerprints on everything they touch.

142. Having little one help flip pancakes.

143. Giving little one a raspberry on their tummy after changing their diaper.

144. Watching little one go in and out of the kiddie pool.

145. Little one pointing out colors and shapes that they recognize.

146. Having little one wear their first formal wear.

147. Little one drifting off to sleep with a smile on their face.

148. Little one settling down after you finally figure out what they need.

149. Choosing little one’s name together.

150. Watching little one attempt to blow the seeds off a dandelion.

151. Little one getting in a laughing kick where everything is funny.

152. The first time little one picks their own outfit.

153. Little one chasing down the pet to rest their head on them and hold them tight.

154. Being unable to stay mad at little one when they give you puppy dog eyes.

155. Little one playing dress up with a grown-up set of shoes.

156.

157. Holding their hands when they are shaking.

158. Tucking the sheets around them when they stir during the night.

159. Traveling long distances just to see them.

160. Making their favorite meal when they are having a hard day.

161. Giving them a kiss before going to work and they are still in bed.

162. Tucking your head into their neck during a hug.

163. Lightly kissing on top of a freshly formed bruise.

164. Buying them something unrequested because it made you think of them.

165. Participating in their hobby even if it doesn’t personally interest you.

166. Sitting in comfortable silence while eating a meal.

167. Telling them a dumb joke just to see their smile.

168. Following their family traditions that they enjoy.

169. Playing your fingers through their hair while sitting next to them on the couch.

170. Singing and dancing to their favorite song.

171. Calming them down when they have a bad dream.

172. Having a tickle fight until you’re breathless.

173. Folding their clean laundry and putting it away.

174. Sharing a soft smile across a crowded room.

175. Bringing them a plate of their favorite sliced fruit.

176. Washing their back/hair in the shower.

177. Sharing your umbrella with them in the rain.

178. Listening to them while they vent.

179. Taking a picture together to print and hang later.

180. Tracing your names together in the sand.

181. Wearing clothes in their favorite color.

182. Doing a chore for them that you know they aren’t fond of.

183. Leaving a plate of food in the microwave for when they have a late shift.

184. Sharing a drink with them from the same straw.

185. Tucking their hair behind their ear to help them get it out of their face.

186. Helping scratch that itch on their back they can’t reach.

187. Pulling a chair out for them to sit down at the table.

188. Wrapping a blanket around them when they are sitting on the couch and watching a show.

189. Throwing away their piles of tissues when they have a cold.

190. Mending an item of their clothing that was ripped.

191. Running out in the middle of the night to get a food item they’re craving.

192. Helping brush their hair after a shower.

193. Making sure to be quiet while they’re taking a nap.

194. Letting them warm their cold hands under your shirt.

195. Giving them your dessert when you eat out because it’s their favorite.

196. Making a goofy face until they notice and laugh.

197. Giving them space when they express wanting to have some time alone.

198. Holding their hand while walking, even if there isn’t a crowd.

199. Holding shopping bags that are too heavy for them.

200. Standing between them and a busy road.

201. Rubbing the back of their hand with a thumb.

202. Giving them a back massage when they flop on the couch or bed.

203. Staying up half the night to finish a game with them.

204. Getting them a coffee just the way they like it.

205. Giving them a tight hug that makes them lose their breath.

206. Buying them a special treat when you go out shopping.

[gigglealongshiney-shadow-watcher]

A tiny girl is in the shallows of the kiddy pool in a swimsuit. She has a nervous and concerned look on her little face, and she sits on the ground and sort of scrunches into herself.

A little boy splashes up to her and babbles. He's asking her to join him.

The little girl looks around. To her, everyone is staring at her. In a bad feeling way. "Nmn."

"Huh? Why?"

She's not really sure. It feels like if she gets up everyone will stare even more. Her swimsuit feels wrong. It feels bad. They're staring at it. "Nnnnn..."

He looks at her and how she's putting her hands. "Mm..." He looks at himself and then back at her. "..."

She pulls on her suit some more and wiggles around while she tries to make it feel OK.

His face lights up. "Ah!!" He pulls off his trunks and hands them to her. "Ya?"

She tries putting them on over her suit. The bad feeling is going away!! She follows after him as he crab walks back into the water. The water is so pretty, and now they can play tag!

A loud whistle sounds, and adults rush into the pool.

The world cuts and refocuses.

"...poor Phillip, they were so excited for this summer. Now the pool plans are ruined!"

"He's refusing to speak to anyone right now, what was he thinking? I mean, we all know they raised him better than that!"

"*>*>*>>* wasn't upset, she's too young. I know she is but, if this is something he's going to do again, can we let her spend time with him?"

Papa sighs. "I don't know dear, I just don't understand why he'd do this out of nowhere."

She's hiding by the doorway that goes up and up and up over her.

"Well, now that it's been a few hours we should try asking her what happened. Maybe she can explain."

"Maybe, but can she explain with complicated words like that? I don't want to overestimate her abilities. We don't need her to go mute again."

"Remember the grape game? We'll use that."

There's a pause. She rubs her feet in the carpet. The sun is going down and making the sky change. She likes when the little yellowy bit shows up. She likes this room, the carpet is the good one.

"It's worth a shot." Papa calls for her. "*^*^**^*^ can you please come in here?"

She waits a few seconds so they won't think she was there. "Mmhm?"

Mom's face -is missing. Their bodies are white blobs, their hair is invisible, they have no features.- Mom helps her sit on the tall chair. It's for big talking. "We're going to play the grape game, sweetie!" Papa gets them out of the fridge and puts them in the fun bowl. "Are we ready?"

"Mhm."

"Ok! Now, can we talk about the pool today?"

"...mhm." The grape was really sweet.

"Do you know what Phil did?"

"N...yea." He let her borrow his pants so the world stopped watching her.

"Did he have a reason to do that?"

"Mhm!"

Mom glanced at Papa who had a paper pad. "Did you ask him to take off his shorts?"

"No."

"Do you know...why he did that?"

"Mhm."

Mom tapped her pinky on the table. "Hm. Was it to be funny?"

"Nuh."

"Was it to make someone else mad?"

"Nuh."

"Was it because they felt uncomfortable?"

"No."

They looked at each other. Papa seemed to have a moment. "Wait. Was it that- or maybe, well it's worth a shot." He muttered. "Honey, were you feeling bad?"

"Yes."

"Did someone make you worried and he tried to distract them?"

"Um, may...sor...ehhhh." it was everyone. "Nuh dis-tr-a-ct."

"But you were worried about something?"

"Mhm."

"Was it your goggles?"

"Nuh."

"Was it your swimsuit?"

"Mhm!" She nodded really really hard.

The parents quietly discussed what that might mean after sending her into the other room with more grapes. She could talk a little more, but she couldn't do it if she got nervous. Sounds were easy.

"...but that doesn't make sense either. They couldn't be switching clothes when she didn't try to take anything off."

"Maybe she wasn't covered enough."

"Gosh, I didn't know she could even think about things like that yet. It's not too big or small, I just don't get it."

"A tag in the wrong spot? Maybe she just doesn't like- oh, she probably wanted to hide her private parts."

"But why? She's so young! We haven't even explained most of why we call them private parts."

"Who knows, maybe it's just an inate feeling. We've never had a normal child."

"...that's true. Is this my fault?"

"No, dear she's never had a problem with donations before. This is new, and we- we can figure it out together right?"

"Sigh. Yes, yes we will."

"^*^**^^*^ can you come back?"

She pads back to the table and sits on the floor. "Is Phil bad?"

Papa shook his head. "No, in fact now that we know the story I'll explain it to his parents. It sounds like he was trying to help. What he did is still wrong, but it was a much more innocent mistake than we thought."

Mom leaned down to pat her hair. "You know what? We're gonna go shopping."

"Shhhopping?" That was for big things!

"Mhm, you're going to get the swimsuit that you want. Ok? Just like your light up shoes. You can't go swimming if you can't walk around the pool."

"Fo me? Wow!"

Her parents nodded and Papa picked her up. "If you want to be a modest kid, why would we try to stop you?"

There's a flash of another memory. A slide show of her in a swim skirt and shirt over her other suit. Her passing the shirt to Phil when he's cold in the water. Her with a bad sunburn on her arms. Them together in their own full swim wear smiling at each other.

A flash to the future of her swimming in an outdoor while buildings are on fire around her, other human children crying. A few are in the pool to stay cool from all the heat around them. She doesn't seem to notice them at all.

Flash back to the two posed for a picture in matching swimsuits at a big Waterpark.

Flash forwards to Opal hiding at the bottom of a reactor pool to keep from being recaptured, medical equipment still holding part of the skin of her leg open to reveal the muscle and bone inside.

A final flash back to Phil and her proudly holding a fish they caught together, she's soaking wet and has a fresh bandaid on her hand.

- - -

A sad Opal sits on the edge of a pool somewhere deep underground.

(Apparently, since the original post got so long that it started falling apart, we are continuing this roleplay via a new and shiny fresh post. Enjoy! @gigglealongshiney-shadow-watcher)

Endless. That’s what the darkness is. Webby didn’t expect anything less. The dark left you uncertain and afraid of what might come and get you when you weren’t looking. This was also true of goddesses, it seemed.

Yet again, Webblin had not been comfortable in any sort of black in a long time.

The presence set itself heavy on her chosen form, smelling as sickeningly sweet as it had on the battlefield.

...

If only she knew that young girl’s name. That would make locating her - the real her - far easier.

As she keeps going in a direction that even she can’t identify, sound and feeling returns in drips and skips, as if on a warped record. First, there’s the tingle of warm sun, and something other than the barely present floor - which feels as cushioning as fresh grass for the briefest of moments. Bright, bubbling, laughter bursts from nowhere, echoes of two children who the world no longer knew. Webby lets herself smile.

Then, just as quickly, rat-tat-tat-tat, bang, crash, the thick and looming iron scent and shouted orders from a battle long since won. Animal roars punctuating the horrified screams. Music sticks in Webby’s head. She shakes it away with grit teeth and keeps moving, bare feet scraping against red-and-blue-stained concrete.

[leelysian]

Changbin as your older brother AU 💖✨

genre: fluff, bullet point fic

word count: 2.3k

warnings: swearing

Disclaimer: I do not personally know Changbin. This work is purely fiction and my own idea. I took inspiration from his on screen persona. Please do not translate or re-upload my work.

A/N: hi :) Sorry if this is kinda bad. I’m running out of ideas for this series(?). It’s really hard to write these aus for the members when there’s limited knowledge about them and when you’re trying to make everything seem different without making it seem like they’re all one dimensional and cut from the same cloth. Thank you to everyone who has been reading these older brother aus and thank you for being patient. Please leave some feedback, it really keeps me going. ❤️

☆ Let’s start with you as babies.

☆ Changbin would for sure as kiddy questions like “How did the baby get inside mummy’s tummy?” “When will baby come out?” “How does baby poop?”

☆ Your parents either answered him vaguely or somehow dodged his questions.

☆ Would sleep in your parents bedroom close to your mum to protect her baby bump.

☆ Would be hella excited to feel you kick in your mum’s tummy.

☆ Would say cute things to the baby bump. “Come out quickly baby I can’t wait to play with you.” “We can play with *insert favourite toy* together.” “We’re going to have a lot of fun together.” I am close to tears

☆ Doesn’t care about the gender.

☆ When you were born, he was extremely excited to see you but little Binnie patiently waited till your parents had their moment first until they ushered him to the hospital bed.

☆ He was wide eyed as he held you as if scared to hurt you. He smiled when he stroked your cheek with a finger and smiled wider when you grabbed onto his finger.

☆ CUDDLES, CUDDLES AAAAAAAND MORE CUDDLES

☆ Tried to help your parents take care of you but most of the time failed.

☆ *tries to put pants on you* *gets kicked in the face instead*

☆ The only thing he could properly do was cuddle you as he fed you a bottle and somehow you ate properly if he was the one feeding you when you were being fussy.

☆ *you two fall asleep while he’s holding you*

☆ Adoring/curious stares.

☆ Fed you a bit of lemon for jokes when you were starting to grow teeth and had the time of his fricking life when he saw your reaction.

☆ I’m talking the kind of laughs he does with his whole body.

☆ Helped you learn how to walk patiently. Just laughed when you fell on your butt.

☆ Taught you how to high 5 at a very young age.

☆ You talked to him a lot. Not like he understood what you said because it was mostly babbling but it was fun for both of you.

☆ You broke a lot of his toys. He’d get upset until he got new ones.

☆ The one toy he never shared with you was Gyu, his plushie.

☆ Fast forward you’re older and know how to walk and talk coherently, Changbin is a kid.

☆ Changbin wants cookies but they’re on the top shelf and your mum purposefully put them there so neither of you could reach.

☆ “Changbin what are you doing?” 

☆ Changbin: 👀

☆”I’m gonna tell mum~”

☆ “NO DON’T. If you help me, I’ll give you a cookie then you have to promise me you won’t tell mum.”

☆ Your smart ass contemplated for a few seconds before you agreed, “Ok what do we do?”

☆ “If I lift you up can you grab the jar? Don’t drop it.”

☆ “Yes.”

☆ Somehow both of you managed to retrieve the jar unscathed. Why none of you thought to grab a chair and do it, I don’t know.

☆ One cookie turned to two then three until the jar was half empty and your dad caught you. 

☆ Everyone except you two with crumbs around your mouths in the room:️  

👁️👄👁️

☆ Your dad walked in with brooding eyes. He grabbed a cookie and started eating quietly, “It’s a secret.”

☆ All three of you smiled happily and continued munching on the cookies.

☆ Until a while later your mum walked in and gasped, “YOU ATE ALL THE COOKIES?! *insert dad’s name* YOU WERE IN ON THIS TOO!”

☆ The three of you gulped nervously until you said, “No mum look! We saved a few for you!” The three of you smile innocently.

☆ Your mum sighed and smiled exasperatedly. “This is the last time.” A chorus of agreement sang throughout the room yet nobody meant a single word.

☆ Most of the time you two were hyperactive and played around so much you’d be knocked out cold by the time it was around 9 pm. 

☆ Your parents had to lug you to your shared room.

☆ You two played tag a lot, he was really fast so you’d always get tagged very quickly.

☆ HIDE AND SEEK

☆ Running. So much running. You’re the hyper kids.

☆ Rock paper scissors. Winner flicks the loser’s forehead. Changbin always took the penalty but never really doled it out on you, if he did it wasn’t too hard. 

☆ Races. “LAST ONE IS A ROTTEN EGG!” 

☆ Changbin could easily win, but sometimes he slowed down purposefully to let you win for a change.

☆ Giggles. Giggles everywhere. Giggles all the time.

☆ Pillow forts in your room. 

☆ Tickle fights.

☆ Cuddling together while watching cartoons.

☆ You thought he was cool.

☆ He liked you thinking so highly of him.

☆ Made him want to be even cooler for you.

☆ He’d ruffle your hair playfully.

☆ He’d pinch your nose. “AAAAHHH”

☆ He’d pull your hair.

☆ PIGGY BACK RIDES!!!!!!!!!

☆ Such a joker. It was harmless fun.

☆ Once you doodled on his school notes. He got mad and stopped talking to you.

☆ He rarely got angry at you, sure you two bickered sometimes and sometimes got whiny at each other.

☆ You apologised with a treat you got, instead of eating it by yourself, you gave it to him as a peace offering. 

☆ He didn’t eat it himself, he shared. “It’s okay just don’t do it again. These are important. You’ll know when you get older.”

☆ “Ok. I’m sorry.”

☆ Things became alright again.

☆ Fast forward you’re tweens/teens/young adults.

☆ The dynamic is wild.

☆ You two would always goof around like idiots.

☆ Changbin annoyed you a lot.

☆ “Y/N look over there!” you’re stuck in visible confusion. *smacks your head and runs* 

☆ “CHANGBIN!”

☆ You’re eating chips. “Y/n what’s that?” “What’s what?” *steals bag* 

☆ “When are you gonna stop tricking me?”

☆ “When are you gonna stop falling for that?” 

☆ You get pissed.

☆ Then it escalates into a wrestling match until ultimately you get hurt and start nearly crying in pain.

☆ “FUCK! SHIT SHIT SHIT I’M SORRY I’M SORRY I’M SORRY HERE YOU CAN HIT ME BACK. PLEASE DON’T TELL MUM! PLEASE STOP CRYING!” 

☆ You’re watching tv peacefully. Changbin walks in with a nerf gun/water gun. “REACH FOR THE SKY!”

☆ The living room turns into a warzone or a set for mission impossible.

☆ You ‘borrow’ his clothes. “Y/N STOP STEALING MY SHIT!”

☆ He ‘borrows’ your charger. “GET YOUR OWN CHARGER CHANGBIN!”

☆ He casually strolls into the living room, sits next to you with feet propped up on the table, snatches the remote when you’re not looking and changes the channel. 

☆ “HEY I WAS WATCHING THAT!”

☆ “Well too bad. I don’t wanna watch it.”

☆ “GIMME THE REMOTE!” “No :}”

☆ Another wrestling match for the remote.

☆ You hide his glasses. Basically keep them with you.

☆ “Hey y/n have you seen my glasses?” “Nope.”

☆ He looks EVERYWHERE. 

☆ You keep them on top of the tv when he’s away. “Hey Changbin found it on the tv.”

☆ “That’s weird I don’t remember putting them there. The heck?”

☆ “Maybe you’re just losing your mind. Already becoming an oldie?”

☆ “I may be old but I can still kick your ass.”

☆ You’re the younger sibling that either grows up to the same height as him quicker or grows taller than him somehow.

☆ He hates it. You thrive on it. “Hehe shortie. Can you even reach?”

☆ So he started working out to tone up.

☆ You’re barely able to lift a heavy box. He picks it up with ease. “Do you even lift?”

☆ He’s washing the dishes. You leave your dish for him and sneak out. “Y/N! I SWEAR-”

☆ You have a lit music taste because of him. 

☆ You’re sleeping, he’s up early. You need to go to school. Instead of waking you up like a normal person, he pulls the blankets completely off of you and tackles you. “Y/N WAKE UP!”

☆ “CHANGBIN YOU CRAZY BASTARD! DO YOU WANNA DIE?!”

☆ You two are eating. He’ll finish eating seemingly at the speed of light and stare at you eating. “I’m not sharing.”

☆ “I didn’t say anything.”

☆ awkward silence

☆ You pass your food to him. “You owe me, pabbit (pig + rabbit)”

☆ Both of you forget about it later on.

☆ He’s hella clumsy.

☆ He’d definitely break a glass or plate or vase.

☆ He’s the type to fix something just enough to make it seem not broken so the next person who uses it would think they broke it.

☆ Anything to not get his ass handed to him by mummy dearest.

☆ You do this thing to annoy him which is basically mock/copy him when he tells you something. 

☆ “Hey you know-” “Hey you know-” “you know that-” “you know that-” this continues a few more times until he screams and tackles you.

☆ You did this thing where you literally jumped on his back when he was unaware and you'd stick to him. The scream was worth bursting your eardrums. Worked every time.

☆ He was built he could carry you.

☆ Another thing is copying his actions.

☆ He yawns, you yawn. He scratches his nose, you copy. He stretches, you stretch. He shifts, you copy. 

☆ “STOP COPYING ME!” “Stop copying me” “I said STOP COPYING ME!” “I said stop copying me!”

☆ “I hate you.” “I love you too bro.”

☆ His friends like you and a lot of times you hang out with him and his friends.

☆ He wears the weirdest stuff just for shits and giggles.

☆ “Hey y/n.” “What?” you look at him and burst out laughing.

☆ Where he got a shark head mask, you had no idea. You had tears running down your face as he started to sing and sexy dance to baby shark.

☆ “STOP I’M GONNA PEE!”

☆ You two say the darndest things.

☆ “I just realised- if vampires can’t go out in the sunlight then wouldn’t the moonlight kill them too?

☆ “How?”

☆ “Moonlight is just the sunlight shining from behind the moon dumbass.”

☆ “Oh shit you’re right.”

☆ Another example of this would be:

☆ “The hospital is the only place you leave without entering.”

☆ Both of you:  👁️👄👁️

☆ You’re eating watermelon. You bite some of the white bit.

☆ “I just realised the worst part of the watermelon tastes like a cucumber.”

☆ awkward silence “wait you’re right.”

☆ “Anyways, here you can wash the plates.”

☆ “Y/N!”

☆ AEGYO FLUFFY GOODNESS

☆ Will use everything in his cuteness arsenal to get what he wants.

☆ You hate to admit it actually works sometimes.

☆ “Y/n~ pleeeaaaseee get me some cookies.”

☆ “No.”

☆ He keeps whining and rocking or shaking you. “PLEEEEAAAAAASEEE”

☆ “FINE!”

☆ Who’s really the older sibling and who’s really the younger sibling?

☆ “You know you could’ve just gotten them yourself with the time it took you to annoy me into getting them for you?”

☆ He just smiles toothily. 

☆ “If you could choose between a giant me or 5 mini me’s which would you choose?”

☆ “Neither I’d rather die.”

☆ “Y/N! WHYYYYY” he whines and shakes you.

☆ He’s always there for you when you need him the most. He’ll always comfort you with tight hugs. 

☆ He’s the type of person to make silly jokes and make you smile or laugh to make you feel better instead of sort of brooding with you.

☆ This is only acceptable with him, if anyone else tried to be goofy when you were upset it wouldn’t work.

☆ Because it’s Changbin’s thing. Only he has that power.

☆ You rarely see him upset. He’s always smiling, joking around and acting cute.

☆ One time, really late at night you saw him in the kitchen sitting with a glass of milk. He hadn’t noticed you. 

☆ This was off putting because you rarely saw him this quiet. He’s always laughing and loud.

☆ He was staring off in the distance, the glass gathering condensation from being out of the fridge and into warm temperature.

☆ “Can’t sleep?” He was startled and shook his head no. “What’s on your mind?”

☆ “It’s nothing.” You sat with a glass of water. “You know you can tell me, right?”

☆ “I know I just don’t wanna bother you.” he said and this confused you. “Why would you be bothering me? That’s absurd.”

☆ He shrugged, “I dunno, seems like all I do is annoy people these days.”

☆ You pat his back. “Hey, that’s not true. Well it only applies to me because you’re my sibling. That’s a thing. Is there anything specific you’re talking about?”

☆ He stays quiet for what seems like the longest time until he unloads. 

☆ You’re not good with words like he is. You try your best to listen and give sensible input. 

☆ Changbin admired that about you. Despite being younger, you were sometimes mature and understanding. You were authentic, you never tried to be something you weren’t.

☆ Which is why he always valued your words. 

☆ Afterwards if he had anything on his mind, sometimes he’d vent to you.

☆ You the ability to make his insecurities disappear simply because he feels stupid for the way he thinks when he talks to you. 

☆ You make his problems miniscule, not in a belittling way but in a way that makes him realise how things could be different or done differently.

☆ Your sense of perception was something amazing.

☆ This is why Changbin believed you were the best sibling he could ask for.

☆ But little did he know, you wouldn’t be able to function properly if he wasn’t the goofy, silly, clumsy, idiotic Changbin who exists today.

☆ He’s just the right type of flavour you need in your bland life.

☆ don’t be shy put some more.

☆ He’s the right balance of a clown, a baby and a guardian angel.

☆ He’s extremely caring, loyal, kind hearted and annoying.

☆ You’d change absolutely nothing.

[jaminjims]

i love you’s || k.nj

synopsis: you could never stop saying ‘i love you’ to him because he was everything you ever needed. 

pairing: kim namjoon x gender neutral reader 

genre: oneshot! fluff, fluff, and more fluff (and maybe just a tiny little bit of angst but its barely noticeable)

warnings: n/a

words: 1.7k

a/n: omg kinda nervous to release this fic because it’s in a different style than i usually post in but i thought it was really cute and with all the literal angst i’ve been publishing, this would be like a breath of fresh air. so here it is, and yes before you ask, this IS based off of the dream i had of namjoon that i said i would write like three millennia ago. i hope you guys like it!

“Namjoon, come on. I don’t want to wait in the long line.” You whined as you pulled your boyfriend by the hand. 

He laughed and smiled that dimpled smile you adored so much, “Ok, ok. I didn’t know you loved smoothies so much, babe.” He linked his fingers with yours and then kissed the back of your hand. 

You giggled and leaned your head against his shoulder, “Well, maybe if you came out of your studio every once in awhile you would know.” By your teasing voice, Namjoon knew you weren't actually criticizing him about his work. 

It has been awhile since the two of you have been out together for a full day like this and you wanted to cherish every moment you got with him. Namjoon often lost himself in his work, but you could tell he really loves what he does, so you didn’t mind as much when he spends hours at a time working on music. 

But that didn't mean you didn’t miss him. You were always up waiting for him when he got home later than usual. You would bring him lunch when you weren't to busy yourself and talk about your days. It was the little things that made him fall infinitely more in love with you. 

“I’m just happy you're with me now, though.” You said as you smiled up at him. 

He squeezed your hand and leaned down to kiss your forehead, “Lets go. I thought you didn’t want to wait in the line to long.” 

You snickered and started dragging him to the smoothie booth again. “Haha, you are so funny.” You mumbled sarcastically.

He laughed again and jogged a little ways to catch up with you. He un-linked your hands to instead put his arm around your shoulders. The both of you waited in the smoothie line for awhile, just discussing life, until it was your turn to order. 

“I would like a banana smoothie please.” You looked over at Namjoon and couldn’t help but admire his face as he looked up at the order menu. He was wearing a black turtle neck tucked into dark blue jeans. 

‘Is it hot in here or is it just me?’

You didn’t catch his answer to the girl getting your orders, but you did notice when he took his arm from around your shoulders to grab his wallet. But you stopped him before he could get out any money. 

“Yah, I’m paying.” You said with finality while Namjoon sighed in response, shaking his head with a smiled on his face.

“Yes, anything for you.” He said. But was it just you or did it sound teasing? 

You huffed out a laugh before responding, “Well now I wanna let you pay.” Even as you said that though, you gave the cash to the lady at the register. She looked between the two of you and smiled endearingly before handing back your change. 

Namjoon pulled you to a table close by so you could wait for your drinks. The mall around you was bustling with people and you were glad he seemed to find a relatively quiet (well at least quiet for a mall) place to sit. 

You grabbed his hands from across the table and just starred at him. Which people would have thought was creepy if it wasn’t for the fact that Namjoon starred back at you with just the same amount of adoration. 

“What you starring at me for?” He question as he squeezed your hands. 

You shrugged in response, “I just love looking at you, I guess.” 

He smiled his dimpled smiled again and looked down at the table, breaking eye contact. You couldn't help but smile at how bashful he was.

When your orders were called he got up from his seat and went to collect them. You took this chance to move your chair next to his so you could be closer to each other.

He came back and put your smoothie in front of you while he started to drink his. Once he sat down, the both of you talked about everything you could. Having deep conversations like this was one of the reasons why your relationship worked so well. The both of you believed that communication was one of the essentials in a relationship, and the both of you tended to talk about what's on your minds all the time so it was something you excelled in.

“What do you think your future looks like?” 

Namjoon looked out into the busy mall, “I don’t know, honestly.” He then turned to look at you. “But I do know that you’re in it.” 

The blush on your face was there before he even finished his sentence. “Ugh, stop being so sappy.” And even though you said that, there was a big smile on your face and the fluttering in your heart made you jittery. 

The both of you talked for a little more before your smoothies were gone. You both got up and went to throw your trash away, but before you could continue walking around, you grabbed Namjoon by the waist and pulled him in for a hug. 

He was surprised at your gesture but settled into the embrace none-the-less. As he wrapped his arms around you, you sighed out, just enjoying the moment. 

“You know, you’re a very good hugger.” 

His chuckle reverberates through his chest. “You tell me that all the time babe.”

When you didn’t let go of the hug after a little while, he got a little worried. “Hey, are you ok?” 

You hummed and shrugged your shoulders, “Yep,” you looked up at him and smiled big, “I just love you a lot.”

~**~

“Can we go? Please?” You said as you gave Namjoon you’re best puppy dog eyes. You had pulled him in the direction of the “Kiddie Section” in the mall and you were currently pointing to a ride that looked like it would fit a six year old, definitely not you, a full sized adult. 

“You’re such a kid.” He snorted. “You will most definitely get stuck in that thing.” 

“No I won’t.” You said, hitting him on the arm. 

He sighed good-naturedly and pulled put a quarter to put into the - to him - small death like contraption they called a little kids ride. It was a tiny red car that was painted on the front to look like a clown. Like come on. 

You sat down and just your knees took up all the space, but you somehow fit yourself down into the tiny seat and you then pester Namjoon to take a picture. 

He snaps a picture and then he smiles and sets it as his new phone background. 

“Jonnie, uh, so like...” 

He looks back over at you and can’t suppress his groan because he was right and you did end up getting stuck.

“Oh for the love of... Ok, what do you need me to do?” 

“Can you pull my arms up while I try to get my legs about from under me?” 

The both of you try to get you out for about ten minutes before you finally twist your body the right way to get out, but while you do, you hit your knee hard. 

“Babe, you ok?” He asks as he helps you sit down on a nearby bench. 

You rub your knee and grimace. “Yeah it just hurts a lot.” 

He sighs tiredly but still has a smile on his face. He then puts his phone in his back pocket and bends down in front of you. “Come on, get on, love.” 

You frowned, “But I don’t want to hurt you. Besides, you’ll get tired.” 

He turns around and flicks your forehead, “You have no say in this.” 

You laugh a little and accept his piggy back ride. The two of you walked, well Namjoon walked while you were carried, around the mall. You were window shopping while talking and occasionally you would make a joke that would make the two of you laugh. 

You both got ice cream after about an hour of walking around and you leaned up (you were still being carried) and placed a kiss on Namjoon’s cheek. “I love you lots.”

His dimple smile made your heart swell and he tightened his grip around your thighs. 

“I love you more.” 

~**~ 

“Hey, wanna see a movie?” Even though it was a question, you made it sound like a statement. 

The both of you were sitting on a bench outside at near-by park. Watching and listening to the wildlife and children play about. 

“Mm, what do you wanna see?” he stated as he continued to draw lazy patterns on your shoulder with the hand that was around you. 

Your eyes brightened up and you smiled, “I don’t know, maybe the new Scooby-Do movie?” 

He snickered and looked over at you, “Of course you would say that.” 

You narrowed your eyes, “And what is that supposed to mean?” 

He leaned in and kissed your nose, “That I would do anything for you, even see the Scooby-Do movie.” 

You took the chance and kissed him on the lips, a smirk in place, “Hey, I heard it was actually good.” 

“Mhm, lets go. I want to get the earliest one.” 

He pulled you up by your hand (since your knee didn’t hurt that much anymore) and intertwined your fingers, walking toward the movie theater connected to the mall. 

You purchased the tickets while he got the snacks and you two made your way to theater number seven, where the starting credits where just beginning to start. 

When you sat down, you took both of Namjoon’s hands in yours and preoccupied yourself with playing with his fingers. It was actually something you really liked doing because his hands were really smooth. 

While you were waiting for the movie to start, he looked over at you with a soft smile on his face and adoration in his eyes. He couldn’t believe that he had someone as great and amazing as you in his life. 

Right as the movie theater was dimming down to get ready to play Scooby-Do, you looked up and caught him staring at you. 

You smiled shyly, “What?” 

He shrugged and leaned in to kiss you. When he pulled away, you opted to snuggle up into him, to be as close as possible. 

“I love you.” you whispered as the movie started. 

You didn’t think he heard you but he leaned his head on top of yours and felt him smile against your hair. “I love you more.” 

[end]

end note: there’s not much for me to say other than i had myself melting at this one you guys. and i hope no one was to thrown off by the writing style! oh and also! i love ya’ll! that’s it. that’s all i had to add

~**~

masterlist

request something!

taglist: @boba-tea1206​

[youllneverknowrac]

Oscar Diaz-Birthday Bash Pt.2

(Momma Bear Series)

When you finish getting dolled up, a breezy summer dress now on your body you head to the back yard, all of your kids outside helping Ruby decorate the backyard, including Cesar. Minus Alexander of course who sat happily in Jasmines arms as she watched her boyfriend command everything into perfection. Oscar working on firing the grill up.

“Hey girl, you look good.” The still crazy outgoing girl, now women compliments when you walk up to her.

“Thanks, so do you. Love the earrings. So where’s Monse?” You ask as you take a seat next to her,”Jamal?”

“Jamal is showing up after he gets off of work and Monsé couldn’t couldn’t make it. Something about her dad and his ankle this morning, I don’t know.” She shrugs, making faces down at Alex.

“That’s too bad.” You say sadly,”I’ll ask Cesar to find out what exactly happened.” Looking around as your backyard is slowly getting covered inch by inch in party decor,”I don’t know why Ruby hasn’t become a official party planner.” You joke

“Because I would go crazy with how stressed to the max he would be all the time. I don’t need that in my life and neither does nobody else.” She laughs, letting you think it over before agreeing with her statement.

“Okay true.” You say, making small talk with her before your husbands voice grabs your attention.

“Yo birthday boy! Bring daddy a beer.” You hear Oscar yell from across the yard, Angel sitting down and trying his best to blow up a balloon.

“Uh no!” You call out quickly to him, standing up and doing it yourself,”Don’t have our three year old bring you alcohol.” You scold playfully as you shove the can to his chest when you reach him.

“Aye, I’m fucking thirsty mama.” Oscar defends as he grabs the beer and pops the tab, the grill heating up,”Besides he’s a big boy now right? So I gave him a big boy task.”

“You’re so annoying.” You laugh and turn to walk away, Oscar smacking your ass roughly,”Stop.” You squeal, running away to go make yourself useful. Oscar’s loud laugh filling your ears.

“Hey boys.” You smile, watching as Cesar and Ruby secure the yellow plastic cover over one of the rental tables, your kids doing the same at another one.

“Y/N.” They both say in unison, offering a smile to follow

“Can I do anything to help out?” You ask

“No. We got this.” Your brother in law says, Ruby holding his finger up in disapproval.

“Actually, I noticed you guys didn’t have any dip or sauce for the snack table so if you could whip something up that would make everything look a lot more presentable. Thank you.”

“Right. Dip, I’m on it.” You smile and wave them off, running inside as Jasmine follows in,”If you want to set him down, his rocker is in the living room.” You tell her, pulling out a large bowl from the cabinets.

“I guess, he’s asleep anyway.” She says and puts him down before joining you,”Want me to help?”

“Sure. I have a basket of avocados and tomatoes in the fridge, I may have some limes and cilantro as well.” You tell her, Jasmine nodding.

The two of you work swift and quick around the kitchen, working as one and before you know it a beautiful bowl of guacamole is prepared. You glance at the clock on the wall as you make your way outside again, the party almost about to start. You admire the transformation in front of you, a huge grin on your face. The slide taking up most of your yard, a little kiddie pool set up for the younger kids, the speaker now blasting music, and baby shark decorations covering every inch.

“Ruby!” You say happily as you set the bowl down outside near the chips,”Everything is so perfect. You’re the best.”

“It was a bit of work, but I’m glad you like it.” He grins, fixing the collar on his button up shirt,”I’ll take my payment please. I’m now accepting cashapp as well.”

“You can talk to my husband about that one.” Motioning over to him as he worked on filling large foil trays with patty’s and sausages.

“I will do that...um no problem.” Ruby’s says and takes off in that direction, his fiancée following. Knowing that Ruby still had a unresolved nervous tick when it came to talking to Oscar sometimes.

“Hey Uncle Cesar.” You call out as you walk over to sit by the kiddie pool, watching Angel play. The older boys already making use of the slides.

“What’s up?”

“Can you please go get your nephew from the living room and then come tell me why Monse hasn’t been coming around anymore?” You ask

“Fine. Only cause I know you’re going to keep bugging me about it.” He groans, darting off inside the house.

“Mommy? I want to go on the big slide.” Angel says from the pool,”But I’m a wittle scared.” He admits shyly

“The slides for you papi. You don’t need to be be scared. Go ask Ant or JJ to help you, I’m sure they will.”

“Okay.” He grins excitedly, pushing the curls off his face before he goes in search of his big brothers.

One at a time, people start showing up to the party, Cesar joining you a few minutes later,”Had to change him, it was a messy one.” He says, handing over the fussy baby.

“Thanks.” You smile and let Alex chew on your knuckle as he brings it to his mouth,”So where is your long time girlfriend at?”

“She’s always busy with work and her dad, I don’t know. We’re just sort of drifting apart. That doesn’t mean she didn’t want to come today though, her dad messed up his ankle and she’s staying with him for a few days.” He explains, not being one to beat around the bush when it came to you.

“Why are you letting it drift apart then stupid?” You ask him with a raised eyebrow,”You can’t let adult shit keep you guys from being together. You guys are endgame, like me and Oscar.”

“I know, it’s just hard. And I don’t want it to be hard. I know we’ll get through it though, we always do. I just have to give her some space and she has to do the same for me. You know we’ve always been like that, it’s just how out relationship works.”

“It shouldn’t work like that though. You guys are 24 now, it’s time to buckle down. Don’t you agree to some extent?” You say with a small smile,”I’m not trying to tell you what to do, but I’ve been in your life since you were 5. I care about you and love you. I just don’t want you to waste the best years of your life with Monse just for it to go no where, same for her. You both deserve a happy stable relationship.” A flashback popping into your mind of when you were 15 and Oscar brought you over to his house for the first time ever and you met a certain little Diaz brother.

“I know hermana, and I appreciate it but I don’t want to talk about this. At least not today. Okay?”

“Okay.” You sigh, changing your mood,”Now, go enjoy that really expensive slide with your nephews please. They missed you.”

“Will do.” He smiles and walks around to join the boys.

You sit back in the chair and enjoy the sun, watching as your back yard gets filled by the minute. Jamal managing to get off of work a bit earlier and picking up his growing family on the way, not really a surprise to you that he ended up being a young dad as well whenever Kendra got pregnant in their final year of college.

“Is that the Mrs.Oscar Diaz?” You hear him joke as he walks over with a pregnant Kendra and two year old daughter in his arms.

“Why yes it is.” You laugh and do a little shoulder shimmy. Standing up and placing Alex in the kiddy pool before you go over to hug the both of them.

“How have you guys been?” You grin from ear to ear,”How’s the parent life treating you?” You ask along with a bunch of other questions, always having loved the chats you shared with them. They make conversation with you for a while before going over to sit with Ruby and Jasmine, their daughter now sitting in the pool with Alex and two other baby’s from the neighborhood. After asking one of the other moms to keep a eye on Alex, you walk back over to Oscar. Standing on the other side of the grill this time, not wanting to feel his hand on your backside again.

“Where’s my food chef?” You joke as you push all of your hair to one shoulder.

“Aye, I’m going as fast as I can mami. Lot’s of people asking me for food around here.” He says with a wave of the spatula, his forehead covered in sweat.

“I’m sure Cesar wouldn’t mind taking over.” You suggest

“Do you want our kids party to end in flames? He ain’t coming no where near my grill.”

“You’re right.” You giggle in agreement,”But I think you’ve made enough to hold people over for a while.” You say after taking a look at both trays filled with meat,”Come enjoy the party. Please.”

“Only for a bit.” He says, switching the fire off before coming around to join you.

“Yay.” You cheer softly and wrap your arms around him when he’s in arms reach,”Let’s get some of the food you worked so hard on.”

“Gladly.” He says and pecks your lips before releasing you and reaching for a plate as you do the same. Once the two of you are satisfied you go back to your original spot by the pool and take a seat, Oscar by your side as you both talk and eat. Him being the one to discard of the trash when you’re both full and have had enough. When he returns he has a crying Carlos in his arms, clinging to his neck.

“Oh my god, what happened?” You ask quickly, letting Oscar place the six year old boy in you lap as you hold him to your chest.

“He fell, got a little cut on his knee. He’ll be okay but he wanted me to bring him to you. He said he’ll believe he’s okay when you say it.” Oscar informs you as he sits back down,”Apparently I don’t know shit about cuts so he’s got to hear it from the expert. Which would be mommy.” He chuckles.

“Shut up.” You say followed by a large eye roll before you cater to your son,”Does it hurt papi?” You ask him softly as you stroke his damp hair back

“A little. Is my leg going to fall off mommy?” He asks, little sniffles still coming from him.

“No. It’s not going to fall off.” You laugh and kiss his forehead,”You’re going to be all okay. I promise. Just sit with me for a few minutes and rest your leg. Then you can go play again, sound good?” You ask him

“Sounds good.” He answers quickly and lays his head against you, letting you cuddle him. You know people loved to judge you about how you ‘baby’ your kids but you didn’t care. They were your baby’s and always will be. Oscar actually liking that you treated them with such love and affection since it was something he never had growing up,”I feel better mommy, can I go now?” He asks not even two minutes later.

“Yes, just be careful.” You tell him seriously before letting him down from your lap, watching him take off back to the slide at a super speed.

“Must be nice. I pick him up, clean the cut and put the bandaid on, but you get all the love and credit.” Oscar comments next to you, a grin on his face.

“They are mommas boys, you should have gave me a girl if you wanted love and credit.” You smile and reach for his hand.

“We still have a few years of trying left in us. We can always get that girl. Maybe I’ll have a gift for you tonight and she’ll get here sooner rather than later.”

“Yeah right. The only person getting gifts is Angel and if your so called ‘gift’ ever comes near me again it better be wrapped. No baby’s here. Ever again.” You tell him seriously as you point to your stomach,”Five and done.”

“Sure.” He says smugly, taking a sip from the beer can.

“Damn right I’m sure. What the hell would we look like with six kids? Plus Junior is going to be 18 soon, we would have an adult for a kid and a newborn. You’re crazy.” You laugh

“We would look like a normal Hispanic family and we wouldn’t have to pay for a babysitter.” He laughs in return,”Besides I’m not being totally serious, I’m just messing with you.”

“Good.” You say and squeeze his hand,”I’m glad we’re on the same page. Now let’s cut the cake and then we can do presents.”

“Yeah just what we need, more monster trucks and fake tools laying around the house.” Oscar laughs as he stands up, helping you to your feet. The present table over flowing with boxes and gifts bags.

“I’ll just get rid of his old toys, he won’t even notice. I’ll get the baby and you go get the cake. Or do you want to switch?” You ask

“Switch.” He grins, already walking past you to pick up Alexander. You smile and head inside, grabbing the cake and cupcakes, along with a lighter. Oscar loudly instructing everybody to gather around, Angel rushing to the center of the table and climbing up on the chair.

“Cake! Hurry mommy.” He says excitedly with a clap of his hands.

“I’m coming.” You tell him and you hurry over and set everything down in front of him, lighting the three candles before stepping back.

“Nobody better smash his head into anything! Now sing!” Oscar quickly adds in before the famous birthday song commences, everybody keeping their hands to themselves when it comes to a end. A loud cheer erupts when he blows out the flame, Angel over joyed at this.

You help pass out the treats, letting everybody have time to eat before moving onto gifts. The rest of the part continuing to be just as perfect and lasting until late at night. Most of the kids passed out in random places around your house as the parents enjoy themselves until you nicely kick them all out.

~

“Thanks again for staying to clean up.” You thank Cesar at the door,”get home safely. Love you.”

“Love you guys.” He says, heading to his car after and driving away. You yawn tiredly and lock up, the time reading a little past one in the morning now. The older boys just going to bed a few minutes ago, wanting to enjoy the slide for as long as they could since it was being picked up early in the morning. Angel and Alex already in your bed and absolutely drained from today’s activities.

“I think that’s everything.” Oscar slurs as he comes in through the back door with another garbage bag filled with trash. He sets it down in the kitchen with all the others before stumbling towards you,”I’ll take it all out in the morning.”

“That’s okay with me.” You giggle and help him walk to your guys bedroom,”Drank a bit too much huh?”

“Just a bit.” He laughs,”But I still managed to clean the yard up pretty well.”

“You did. I’ll give you that.”

“I’m so tired mami, I need sleep.” He groans, kicking his shoes off and not bothering with his clothes as he goes over to the bed.

“Careful. The boys are asleep already.” You remind him, already undressing yourself and pulling a t-shirt over your body, Oscar grumbling in understanding. Showering could just wait until tomorrow. You join them in bed, your eyes already closing before your head even hits the pillow. Today being long, hectic, tiring, and happy all rolled into one. Knowing that in just a few more months you would be throwing another party and then another after that. Which was all okay with you, you loved your boys and their birthdays were something you took pride in making special. This was the life you signed up for after all with five kids and what not.

[carrottuan93]

Haven't met you yet | Mark

Masterlist (2/4) | part1 - part3 - part4

Starring: MK x You

Tags: Mark Tuan, Fluff, Destiny, Waiting, Christmas, Bookworm, Nerd, Love, Fate

Total WC: 1420

You felt an agonizing level of pain hitting your head the moment you open your eyes to the sound of some lowkey hip-hop playlist in the background that you know nothing about. You don’t remember setting up your spotify on loop for the rest of the night but still you find the music suit for your taste despite hearing it for the first time. You shuffled on your bed, uneasy with the throbbing sensation of your cranium being drilled in the process. You sat down on your spot and were greeted by a glass of water and aspirin purposely located on a nearby table to tend on your painful hangover. Your eyebrows creased in confusion as you roam your eyes around the unfamiliar black and white interior of the room. Eyes squinting, you placed the partially emptied glass on the table after drinking the medicine and still you’re in no better means of explaining as to why you’re feeling weird today. You give your head a slight massage and a few taps on your cheek as you gather your composure. You noticed that you slept on your black above the knee dress and must have forgotten to switch into your pajamas last night, which explains you still have your coat intact when you went home but it is missing already by the time you woke up. Where could it be? You shuffled at the edge of the bed and slumped on the ground looking for your stilettos when you came across the sight of a shoe cabinet filled with converse sneakers aligned in pairs as well as an open dresser filled with different varieties of hoodies and men clothing that are too foreign to be included in your own cabinet.

 “Shit!" reality hit you like a thunderbolt in a desert void of air, cutting all possible passageways for blood to flow freely on your circulation as if you became anemic at one point in your life. The lucid interval took effect when sobriety woke your being upon hearing the sound of someone using the shower and the smell of fresh shave accumulating on the slightly opened bathroom door. You gulped as you start to look for your sanity being thrown away on the windowsill and you're mentally preparing to jump outside as well because you still have no clue on how you ended up in a different room. What have you done for Good lord's sake?

 ----

 You glanced on your phone whilst taking your 3rd cup of coffee for the day. 10 minutes before 5pm, you read as it flashed on your screen. You haven't eaten any decent meal ever since you left the stranger's room in a hurry this morning. Fearing that you'll be seen by the guy in the shower, you escaped in the flash of a lightning. To make your day even worse, you cannot find your stilettos underneath his bed and you even grabbed the wrong coat on your way out. Worry haunted you like a madman after discovering that you accidentally went to room 1207 across your unit 1212. You're mentally skinning yourself alive by breaking into the lion's den without even knowing whom did you spend the night with. Your best friend sent you tons of messages asking for specific details because you’ve been sending her cryptic texts about your situation. You weren’t thinking straight and the bile in your stomach is rising up like it’s about to explode any minute now. But you can’t escape your work with your current dilemma that’s why you need to stay sane until you meet with Eunhee tonight.

 "Ms. Y/n, thank you for submitting the report on time even on a holiday. I know it must be troublesome for you to go here while you're in the middle of your Christmas spirit but we’d like to fully adhere to our schedule on time before new year. Mr. Raymond is an important client, so we need to make sure that we're being transparent at all costs.” After a meaty discussion with your senior, you gladly took a breather when your meeting adjourned. You’re an accountant and being part of an accounting firm surely entails hours and hours of long work leaving you with no time at all for yourself. It’s a busy season as usual but you won’t miss out the holidays for your busy roll. You’d like to check your schedule on your planner but to no avail, you misplaced it last night. Since you’re carrying it wherever you go, you’re 101% sure that you left it on the unit across your place along with your other stuff. You haven’t had the opportunity to claim your things this morning due to the embarrassment crisis that is weighing down on your shoulder. Your current work engagement with this particular client is a big deal for you, so you chose to save your ass from being reprimanded by your boss and being late to work. Maybe your best friend can think clearly than your wasted self. ‘Just kill me already’ is all you can tell your poor being. You heard your phone rang all of a sudden and Eunhee’s name flashed on the screen.

 “Girl, where the hell are you?” You must be zoning out. You reached the brink of your anxiety when the clock’s hand struck to eight, wondering how come 3 hrs has already passed with you just sitting on your cubicle.

 “Eunhee, I’ve been through a tough day and I don’t know how to explain my current situation but I’ll be there in a second I promise.” And the Amazing Race Christmas edition has begun. Dressed on your black turtleneck blouse tucked in your skinny jeans, you complete your party outfit with a stylish beanie to match with your caramel trench coat so as not to look underprepared for the occasion. You then rushed through the nearest macaron store to grab your order and have decided that you just finish doing your makeup inside the uber to maximize your time. Geez, it’s freezing cold outside and the streets are filled with lovebirds which only made your stomach turn into a sour milk. You’re famished by the time you arrived at the address Eunhee sent you and you were welcomed with her bright smile and her expression demanding for an explanation.

 “I know that look on your eyes Eunhee but feed me first before I prepare for my death bed.” You hugged her so tight like your world depended on her. She dragged you inside the house which you believe to be Jackson’s place. You didn’t think of Jackson as some kind of a party jock but sure this guy knows how to throw a proper party for a group. His house is warm and inviting, you gotta commend his taste for classical music filling the air but he’s nowhere to be found. You’re slowly getting into the holiday mood, with a few acquaintances that you meet along the hallways and a feast filled with nothing but sweet treats, you began to think if you went to a gingerbread house instead of an adult’s party.

 “Before everything else, where are the drinks?” You need a booze so you can open up easily to Eunhee but she ordered you to pick a paper inside the bowl in return.

“Calm down, Jackson’s little cousins from the US are coming as well so you won’t be expecting to see liquor at this early hour. We serve the kiddie treats first and we move on to a full-grown up party in the midnight but you gotta choose your secret Santa first.” You gave her an inquisitive look and wonder what secret Santa is she talking about? You picked a random green paper.

 “Wait, what’s with the secret Santa thing?”

“Everyone is required to bring a gift for someone else”

“I wasn’t informed? You didn’t tell me!” Maybe today’s series of panic attacks aren’t enough for your breakdown but here’s the cherry to the cake.

 “Oh my god, Y/n.” Eunhee gasped in shock just in time when Jackson entered the living room in his bright holiday spirit.

“Hey Y/n. Looking good tonight, huh? You like my place?” He went over to Eunhee and gave her a quick kiss on her cheek.

“My first time going to your place feels like home, Jackson.” You smiled at him and you could tell he came with a company.

“That’s nice to hear. But girls, I want you to meet my cousin from LA, Mark.”

[cyb-by-lang]

Phone a Friend

A drabble based in that one OSF AU called All The Little Children. You know, that huge one-shot where all the Tailed Beasts are the size of cats and also the ASL bros are kids. This is the start of Side B, like on a record. At least it’s not broken.

With all the chaos that the kids got up to last time, I figured there was still a bit of space to insert yet more shenanigans.

I’m also thinking of having the Kiddie Crew have their own series of drabbles and one-shots, but we’ll see how that works out~

“I wanted to ask you something,” Ace said one day, in Kei’s clearing with his pipe slung across his back and his arms crossed, more defensive than trying to start a fight. 

The turtle-toting woman still wasn’t in Fū’s good books, but Naruto and Gaara loved her. Luffy would latch onto anyone who lived on Mt. Colubo for long enough and wasn’t cruel to his brothers, so his judgment was definitely in question. Especially when food-based bribes were so close at hand all the time. Sabo was more cautious, but it’d been a whole month without unwarranted punches to the head from an adult and he’d started to drop his guard. He wasn’t as wary as Ace was, ever, but he was closer. 

Ace wasn’t sure what he thought. The first adult to brush off his concerns about being Roger’s son was still a bit of a mystery, even now, but not so much that Ace couldn’t come up here alone while the others kept Luffy distracted. With that bloodthirsty first impression well out of the way, and the second one knocked out of reality by someone who could take Gramps’s punches, that just left this awkward, intermittent caretaker. 

“Okay,” said Kei, up to her elbows in what’s going to be their group’s dinner tonight. Under the work table, Isobu lurked like a grumpy footstool. “Do you mind if I keep working?” 

According to Naruto, the vaunted Kei didn’t spend much of her time dressing wild game before arriving on Dawn Island. The huge alligator lying in fifteen pieces all around the clearing would beg to differ, probably. Sabo even made a deal with her a while back for all the pelts and skins of the beasts everyone hunted, just because it never seemed like she had any use for them. The ASL brothers got money and fed, and Kei got…to not deal with animal skins? 

It was probably a win-win situation, somehow. 

“Go ahead,” said Ace, and just made sure he was outside of the potential splash zone. “You might wanna keep chopping anyway. Fū promised to keep Luffy running around all day. You know how they are.” 

“I’ll take your word for that, then.” She slammed her cleaver down on the stump she’d been using as a knife block. “Go ahead and ask whatever you need to ask, Ace.” 

“That thing you did with Bluejam and Sabo’s dad.” Ace paused as Kei’s swings slowed for a moment, watching her reaction with ice rolling down his spine. Then, as the tempo of butchering returned to normal, he said, “I want to learn how to do it.” 

Kei scooped the hash she’d made out of alligator tail into a waiting bucket with the flat of the cleaver. Then she said, “I’m not sure you can.” 

“What?” The flat, unfeeling tone to her voice set Ace’s temper flaring, just like it always did. It was the same tone shitty adults used when they said things they thought were true, and that kids didn’t need to know about. 

“I’m also not exactly sure what you’re talking about,” she added, tilting her head curiously at him. She rubbed idly at her face with the heel of one hand, then grimaced at the blood streak left across her cheek. She looked like a murderer, except for the confused tilt of her head. “Sorry, are you talking about the fighting part or…?”

“I meant the thing you did to make everyone afraid of you!” Ace bit out, desperation getting the better of his self-control. His fists clenched, though he didn’t go for his pipe. 

In some ways, Kei’s patient listening face was worse than being laughed at. Even if no one saw what happened in Gray Terminal, Bluejam disappeared. Sabo’s shitty dad never bothered them again. Ace knew this woman was strong enough to protect his brothers when he wasn’t. The difference between their strengths stuck in him like a thorn in his sandal. Nothing helped him dig it out, no matter how hard he trained or how many people he fought. 

Ace snapped into a bow, though maybe not as good as the one Makino tried to teach him. “Please tell me how to do that.” 

Thunk. Thunk. Then there was a sound like a flag flapping, but heavier, as Kei tossed the alligator skin over the drying rack. 

“You don’t need to bow to me,” Kei said, already making her way to the pump on the side of her little cabin.

“It is an interesting thing to ask us,” said Isobu, dragging himself out and into Ace’s eyeline. “Sit down.”

Ace did so, because he’d been doused by Isobu’s weird water gun mouth about fifteen times by now, and the sixteenth was not the charm. While the turtle-thing stared him down with his single unblinking eye, Ace fidgeted a little. Sat with his legs under him and listened to the sound of the pump working, nervous but not like actually afraid. Not like with Gramps. 

“Killing intent is what it sounds like,” Isobu explained, tucking his leg-arms under his belly. “It is not precisely a skill, but instead a matter of the sheer will to do harm to people.”

“Kinda figured that from the name,” Ace said, in a slightly sullen mutter. 

“It is self-explanatory,” Isobu agreed, curling his tails as well, “but for that reason, I do not know if you have the capacity for it.”

At this point, Kei returned while flicking water from her hands. She sat in the grass across from Ace, just far enough away and with her legs crossed, so that Ace’s nerves settled a little. Though he wasn’t sure how, she always tried to do little things like that to help Ace and Sabo feel a little safer around her. Sure, they both knew she was faster and stronger than anybody else on the island, but not showing it off was a sign she at least cared about their impressions of her.

It only helped so much, but it was noticeable. 

“Like Isobu was saying, killing intent is…not really something I thought you’d want to learn,” Kei said, scrutinizing him with her eyes barely peeking out past her bangs. “What brought this on?”  

“I’ve fought a lot of people before,” Ace said, staring back as steadily as he could, “but I couldn’t do anything against Bluejam. None of us could do anything until Gaara and Fū showed up to save us.” He gripped his knees hard enough for his knuckles to go white. “I need to get stronger.” 

“Does that remind you of anyone you know, Kei?” Isobu’s voice asked, but when Ace looked up in surprise, the turtle pointed firmly at Kei with his left tail. 

“Only everyone,” Kei sighed. She rested her chin on her hand, elbow on knee, and finally said, “As violent as you and your brothers can be, Ace, I don’t know if killing intent is ever going to be your thing.” 

Ace wasn’t sure whether that was a compliment or an insult. “Why’s that?”

Kei glanced at Isobu. Ace did, too, and the little turtle wiggled his tails. “I don’t know you that well, but I do know you’d do anything to protect your brothers. That sound right?”

Ace nodded firmly. “Duh.”

“So would I.” That gave Ace pause. Kei had brothers? Since when? “But I was younger than you when I decided that anybody who hurt Hayate would die. I’ve had a long time to just…” She waved a hand as though searching for a word. “To just hone that feeling. It’s not a healthy state of mind, carrying murder around like that. Isobu makes it worse.” 

Isobu’s tails wiggled like seaweed in a current. “I would argue—”

“No.”

“But—”

“We’re already bad influences. Don’t push it.” Kei stared at Isobu until the little monster rolled his eye and subsided with a grumble. She then turned her attention back to Ace. “It’s not just about wanting to kill someone. It’s… I hate to make moral judgments like this, but it takes at least a little evil to get the raw power for it. When you’re using killing intent, any ideas about the value of life just don’t exist. ” 

Ace opened his mouth to protest. He’d wanted Bluejam dead. He’d been out killing wild animals since he could walk away from the Dadan pirates and explore the island. He fought everything, stole, and lied and cheated and—and he was Roger’s— 

“You’re not evil, Ace,” Kei said sharply, cutting across his thoughts like one of her swords. She peered at his expression with too-knowing eyes, folding her arms over her chest. “You’re a kid with issues, but you’re nowhere near as bad as you think you are. That’s why I don’t think you can fuel an attack like that through sheer malice.” 

“Like you said, you don’t know me that well.” Ace glared down at his knees.

Kei made a noise that sounded like agreement, but with strings attached. “Tell you what—there’s probably a better route, and it might be something your brothers can learn with you.” When Ace looked up in surprise, Kei went on, “It’s called haki. It’s a power that’s rare before you get to the later parts of the Grand Line, but it’ll save your life.” 

Ace stared at her. “I thought Naruto said his thing was called ‘chakra.’”

“His is, but he was born with the potential to use that. Haki can be learned by anyone.” Kei’s eyes rolled skyward for a second as she thought that over. “Mostly. Keep in mind that I don’t use haki, but I’ve known people who do. Their lessons may still help you.” 

Isobu swatted Kei’s leg with one of his tails. “I was also listening, thank you.”

She paused for another one of her awkward stretches, staring her little monster friend down. Ace was never sure what went through Kei’s head when she zoned out, but all of the kids Ace knew had tried attacking her during those silences just to see how she’d react. Mostly, she snapped out of it instantly and sent people flying over her shoulder or straight into the dirt. 

The second one was mostly for the FNG gang. She was gentler with Ace and his brothers, as weird as that was. 

Kei said at last, “I can teach you what I know. My first true demonstration was when a guy kicked me through an island, so I’m sure it’ll help you punch above your weight class.” 

It wasn’t what Ace asked for. Even so, the idea of being able to knock someone like Kei around was a tempting one. If Gramps had trouble getting Kei out of his face when he showed up to visit, then Ace aimed to be even stronger. Chasing One Piece demanded no less. 

“If you want to stick around and help me prepare all this, I’ll try explaining as we go,” Kei offered. 

There was still an awful lot of alligator lying around. For some reason, Kei almost always turned this kind of meat into tiny stew cubes and cooked it with vegetables instead of just letting the kids eat everything immediately. When Ace wondered about it aloud, Sabo said something about “food poisoning,” but none of them knew what that meant unless there were weird mushrooms involved. Meat didn’t go uneaten around them long enough for it to go bad.

Ace was tempted—he’d learned cooking meant snacking while they worked—but finally said when Kei went to retrieve her cleaver, “Do you have anything I can just take back to the others right now?” 

“The usual lunchboxes are in the cellar,” Kei told him, already getting back to work. She had big butcher’s gloves and everything. “Door’s open.” 

Ace left his pipe stuck in the turf as he headed into Kei’s little cabin. It was pretty bare, aside from cooking utensils and the kind of stuff even Dadan had—bed, storage trunk, and so on. She hadn’t even really decorated. Ace already knew from previous visits that Kei didn’t store treasure here or really anywhere, and so Ace pulled up the hatch and hopped down into the cellar without bothering to snoop. 

A minute later, Ace had dragged all of the lunchboxes—really medicine boxes with straps for carrying—out the front door. Between the ropes left at the front of the cabin and the length of his pipe, he tied all of them together in a huge stack and hauled them onto his back. The fact that the burden was bigger than he was didn’t slow him down for a second. He and Sabo had carried whole jungle beasts around for years, so the lunchboxes were barely noticeable. 

“Remind the others that dinner is at sunset,” Kei called as he left, still hammering away at the alligator’s tough ribs. “And tell Luffy that he needs to eat all the vegetables this time, or he might get scurvy.”

“…What’s scurvy?” 

“A disease that makes your eyeballs bleed and your teeth fall out.” 

Ace froze. 

Kei didn’t smile when she looked up, blood splattered across the front of her rubber apron. Her panda eyes were flat and serious. She even managed to hold that expression on her scarred face for a full five seconds, then shrugged and turned back to her work. “Anyway, have fun adventuring today.” 

Isobu’s high, croaky laughter chased Ace all the way down the mountain. 

This probably had something to do with the fact that the turtle rolled most of the way after him, but, regardless, there was still no way Ace would forget that lesson anytime soon. 

-

Unbeknownst to Ace, Kei spent the bulk of the afternoon after he left on a snail call. The eventual alligator stew components were cleaned, stored, and marinating in the largest vat of soy sauce she’d ever gotten her hands on, which gave her a little time to shore up one teensy little problem in her lesson plan. 

"This is Thatch's Pancake House! We slap ‘em, you stack ‘em! How can I take your order?" 

“It’s Kei,” she said, and waited for the sound of several pirates falling over to come to an eventual stop in the background. Before Thatch could yell at her for being out of contact, Kei said in a rush, “So, I offered to teach a bunch of kids how to use haki, except I don’t actually know how it works. How did you learn?” 

“THAT’S WHAT YOU’RE FINALLY CALLING FOR?!” demanded several people at once. Thatch was just the loudest of the kitchen crew.

“You what,” said someone else. Sounded a little like Teach, actually. Kei had never liked him much.

“I need to teach a bunch of kids how to use haki,” Kei repeated, with a little more impatience. 

“WHY?!”

“Because they’ll get themselves killed otherwise,” Kei said. “Again, a little help?” 

“You—ugh, I’m taking this snail to Pops.” Thatch sounded exasperated at best. “Stay on the line!” 

“Can do,” Kei chirped, and listened to several pirates on the other end crash to a halt at the sound of her voice using that tone. They were too far away to retaliate. 

“Quit sassing us and explain where you’ve been, you brat!”