#they may also be father and son in some au I dunno i never looked | Explore Tumblr posts and blogs

couchpotatoaniki · 3 years ago

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Our Fruitless Tree

As children, the three of you were inseparable. To show this, you planted a mulberry tree together--a symbol of your love and ever-lasting friendship that would withstand the test of time. But would it really?

Pairing: Servant!Hongjoong x Royal!Reader x Nobleman!Seonghwa Genre: Royal AU, Arranged marriage AU, Love triangle, heavy angst, fluff, childhood friends to lovers (?), Fantasy AU, Warnings: swearing, mentions of conception, blood, death (unknown terminal illness; tree), unrequited love, extremely poor story-telling, magic torture, Word Count: 5.8k+

@atozfic IT MAY BE SHIT, BUT THIS ONE’S FOR YOU /g

A/N: the bridal bouquet in this is inspired by Princess Diana’s. I dunno, I just really liked it.

“Y/N! Come look over here!” Seonghwa yelled at you, hand waving in the air to beckon you over where Hongjoong and he stood. Even as children, the two were taller than you, as if their bodies had not cared you were of a higher status.

You were the only child of the Kingdom’s royal family, meaning that you had little in the way of friends. Especially when the future crown stuck to you, intimidating any future playmates. Luckily Seonghwa was the son of a family friend--a nobleman with immense power, who’s faithful lineage dated back to the creation of the kingdom.

Hongjoong was similar, the only difference being that he came from that of a servant family than of one of power, a debt made by his ancestors that had sold his life to serve the royal family. But being your servant had taught him from a young age that, unlike what everyone had tried to make you believe, you were pretty much a normal human with feelings, the weight of an entire empire on your shoulders from the day you were born.

“Coming!” you yelled back, hurriedly making your way towards your only two friends, the younger holding something behind his back while the older was practically bouncing with excitement. “What are you hiding from me?”

Grinning, Seonghwa’s hands pulled into sight, unfurling to show off the sapling in his hand. “It’s a mulberry tree! You love mulberries, don’t you?”

You believe that was the first time your heart skipped a beat--at the young age of 11--but you wouldn’t realise until a quite few years later, when life was much different, though the relationship between the three of you had not changed all that much.

That day was a precious memory, where the three of you had planted the young mulberry sapling in a secret garden that your father had built just for you, but you had opened it to Seonghwa and Hongjoong; a place where none of you had to bare the titles hovering over your heads.

Even the Earth was indiscriminate when it came to dirtying your clothes as you all kneeled to plant the young sapling easily becoming the most important thing in your friendship.

Had the three of you acting as if it was your shared child, arguing who would water the roots, talking to it as if it could respond.

As the years went on, life was much different than when you were all naïve children, but the care and love you had never weakened, even during the occasional arguments that burst between you all.

With age, Hongjoong’s untameable burnt-chocolate hair lightened to a gentle chestnut, long enough that he had to tie it back into a little bun. Seonghwa’s hair, on the other hand, had changed from a soft platinum to a dirty blonde, messy strands now pulled down into a neat style.

The two were lean. Both still taller than you, though Hongjoong was only a few inches from you.

The three of you truly believed you could withstand the test of time. That your relationship would never change no matter how long it had been.

“Are you ready for tomorrow?” you whispered, hand clamped to the stone railing of your balcony. “It’s your last chance to back out, Seonghwa.”

You could hear chuckling beside you, deeper than what you used to hear as a kid, though you dared not to look at the boy--the man beside you. “You know very well I can’t do that, Y/N. Would rather it be me that’s marrying you than some officious fool who knows nothing of your happiness.”

Sighing, you leaned over, letting your necklace dangling slightly in the air from around your neck. “Doesn’t mean you have to sacrifice your own happiness.”

You felt two colder hands wrap around your exposed arms, feeling nice against the humid summer night. Seonghwa’s chin rested down on your shoulder, as he looked on the same scene you were. Soft breaths against your skin had it erupting with goosebumps, and you prayed your friend had not noticed.

He did, but didn’t pay much heed to it--as per usual. If only he would put a little more though into the strange quirks you developed over time--developed around him and him only--maybe he would have realised that you loved him.

More than a friend.

Both of you were too lost in the moment to realise someone had entered your room. The final person to complete your trio. Hongjoong, dressed in his crisp cream and gold uniform, overlooked the scene of you two.

He didn’t know why his heart hurt so badly.

Clearing his throat certainly got your attention, ripping away from each other in fear that someone had caught you two a night before the wedding doing something you shouldn’t have. Was nothing like that, but people--especially those in the castle--tended to blow things out of proportion.

Upon seeing that it was only Hongjoong, you two had released a breath of relief. “For heaven’s sake, Hongjoong! You almost gave me a heart attack,” you said. Seonghwa had his eyes averted to the polished marble floor, unable to meet his friend’s, cheeks flushed.

You thought it was because of embarrassment that someone had caught the two of you so late at night.

It wasn’t.

“I think it would be best for you to return to your room, Seonghwa. Before someone actually does come looking for you. Don’t want someone to see you too,” Hongjoong laughed, now an expert at making a light-hearted aura around him with years of practice.

“Alright then. Good night,” the nobleman smiled, finally bringing his sight up to see his best friend, heart beating feverishly when he saw the gentle smile pulling at his lips. Couldn’t tell it wasn’t real, not even as he left the room.

Now it was just you and Hongjoong.

“Come, let’s take a walk.”

For as long as you could remember, the boy had been attentive to your needs (despite his occasional silly behaviour), long before he was told that it was his job. You’d like to think of it as his sixth sense; knowing how you were, what you needed, when you needed him.

Maybe that’s why he could tell that you had pre-wedding jitters, feeling so sick you barely had the life in you--skin looking more dreary than usual. You needed time away, even for a few minutes, to take a breather from all the commotion.

The two of you walked in silence in the sleeping halls, like two thieves in the night, careful not to wake anyone up.

Hongjoong was aware you liked Seonghwa, but he knew it was unrequited. Why, he could not his finger on. You were prefect, a person who deserved all the love in the world--in the universe.

You knew better than to ask where he was taking you; after all, you trusted him. And maybe because you also knew him well enough to know where he was taking you.

To the secret garden.

“She’s withstood all the storms and droughts the earth has threatened her with. No wonder her bark is so thick and her roots so tough.” His voice was tender as the tips of his fingers brushed against the rough bark, the trunk appearing darker under the absence of the sun. “Gotten so big, hasn’t she?”

As if his actions were a trigger, your hand reached out to stroke the mulberry tree too. “She has...” Tender look in your expression had his breath caught in his throat. Your eyes shifted to meet his, which were already gazing at you. “Do you think she’ll bare fruit this time?”

“The frost has long passed, so not this year, I believe.” Hongjoong couldn’t bare the instant hollow look in your eyes, saddened to his core until the light reignited in your irises--almost glowing in the dark like the fireflies surrounding them.

��But she will next year, right?”

“And she will bare the tastiest fruit. Better than those sold on the markets,” he reassured, though he had an inkling of suspicion that this fruit would not come any time soon. Not after all these years. But that spark in your eyes was the only thing he could not bare to extinguish, so he kept his lips pursed.

“I was reading up on the symbolism of the mulberry trees across cultures,” you said, moving to sit on the wooden swing that hung from one of the stronger branches; the rope had rose vines growing around it, which Hongjoong made sure to maintain so it was safe for you whenever you came. This was your favourite spot, after all.

He raised a brow, moving behind you as his hands rested on your back momentarily before pushing you slightly. “Is that so? Mind telling me?” He already knew from his extensive research to look after the tree, but there was no harm in hearing it again.

Excitedly, you let a wide grin play against your lips as he gradually pushed you higher and higher. “So, in Xiqen, it’s seen as a link between Heaven and Earth, and in Mika, it represents a support, nurturing and self-sacrifice.”

“Is that all?”

“Uh...yes.”

“Strange... I could’ve sworn there was some significance of the mulberry tree in Zepheth.” He began to slow down when he saw your back slump over slightly. Probably because he knew that it wasn’t a happy story.

“There is,” you mumbled, eyes downcast to the evergreen grass rather than meet his soft chocolate ones. “Just... it’s very sad.”

He held your hands in his larger ones, both of you loving the warmth it provided despite the slight heat of the night. “Not all stories are happy. Need to hear the sad ones too, to truly understand the picture.”

Words were a bit cryptic, even for him. Regardless, you had continued. “In Zepheth, there were these two lovers who were forbidden to wed, so they secretly arranged to meet under the mulberry tree. However, they were found out, and killed under the tree, staining the white berries red... It symbolises star-crossed lover and the final union of death.”

The air seemed to be still, despite the rustling of the leaves and chirping of the hidden crickets. Hongjoong kneeled down, pressing a hand onto your cheek to soothe even the slightest bit the grief in your face. “Good thing the other two have nice symbols. Cancels the bad things out.”

Chuckling slightly, you rested your own hand on his, nuzzling into his palm as your eyes shut. Stark contrast between your skins, yours being softer than silk while his were calloused and rough. But it felt nice against the supple flesh of your cheek.

You both thought so.

But with the moon so high and hair beginning to stick to your necks from the humidity and heat, you thought it best to return. “Escort me to my chambers? After all, it is a very big day tomorrow and we both have to rise early for the final preparations.”

As if he needed reminding of that. “Very well then.”

Your servant wasn’t happy with the proceedings--not when he knew that Seonghwa’s eyes did not meet the passion you had in yours, despite your many years of friendship. But he had to agree with him on one thing.

Seonghwa was the best and safest choice you (and the kingdom) had in this moment of time.

So Hongjoong didn’t protest when you walked down the isle in the most breath-taking attire, adorned with pearls and jewels, and a gorgeous bouquet of green and white; gardenias, lily of the valley, earl mountbatten roses, freesia, and ivy--and most importantly, white mulberries.

He didn’t challenge when the vows were spoken and Seonghwa promised to love you and only you forever.

He didn’t object when the Priestess gave the crowd one last chance to speak or forever hold their peace before the deal was sealed with a kiss.

Despite his gut and every other fibre in his being screaming at him otherwise.

Another two decades passed, and now strands of white hairs were peeking through, but unlike before, much had changed. You were now a parent of three--triplets, conceived within the first few tries.

Yunho, San, and Wooyoung. The mulberries of your eyes.

You suppose that’s when the rose-tint on your married life began to fade. Though he was extremely affectionate in the beginning, Seonghwa never touched you like that again after the birth of your children. Though the three kids never really noticed it much as it was all they had known, you could see it clearly.

How he would spend more and more time in his office. How he would climb in bed and talk about your day, but doing nothing more. It was if you two had reverted back to friends--that very thought breaking your heart when you had loved him so dearly.

Felt as if he looked at your feelings as if it were a trinket in a shop before putting it back, not finding it suitable enough for him.

But for Seonghwa, that wasn’t the case at all.

He tried--he really did--to love you.

By now, time had made him wise enough to know of your compassion for him and he begged himself to return your feelings. Spent many nights while you were asleep praying to the entities residing in the Heavens, crying on the hard floor of the palace’s temple until his arms grew sore and his legs went numb.

But he could not look at any other. Seonghwa could not stop his heart knocking against his chest, his cheeks pooling with heat, whenever he saw Hongjoong smile, or laugh, or do the most menial of tasks.

Could not stop the thoughts of him being by his side rather than you--and it killed him to think that, especially when you have been nothing but kind and loving to the both of them--never giving your personal servant too much work or being too stubborn in wanting your husband’s affection. Instead of pressing too much, you worked on the kids and kingdom.

You were kind, selfless.

Maybe Seonghwa should have let someone else marry you. Maybe they could love you back for all those times he couldn’t.

But he supposes that the best thing out of this marriage was his children. Despite Yunho’s hyperactivity, San’s clinginess, and Wooyoung’s mischievousness, he loved the three to the moon and back.

Helped you in raising them over the last two decades into great people.

It was the only thing he couldn’t bring himself to regret.

That, and how it had given him the excuse to be closer with Hongjoong too, the two of them learning how to look after the triplets (one already proved to be a handful, but three was a nightmare) while you were unwell or busy with other business.

There were times where he glanced at his childhood friend, playing games with the young kids or feeding them or changing them, and had completely forgotten about you. All that swirled in his head was if this is what it would look like if Hongjoong and he had a family together.

Then Seonghwa would snap out of it a spilt second later, cold shame eating away at the warmth in his chest because how could he ever think of such a thing about the mother of his kids?

Meanwhile, Hongjoong--your intelligent and faithful servant--had figured this out too. Figured out the reason why he felt so sick to his stomach when he saw you be so loving towards a man who doesn’t love you back, and why said man could not reciprocate your feelings.

If Seonghwa felt guilty, then Hongjoong felt a million times worse.

Felt as if he was the reason you were in so much pain--and he could tell you were, because he was the one you came running to in the beginning, when your husband kept his wall up around you and you became so frustrated and upset that you spilled waterfalls of salty tears onto his jacket, mumbling words of pain and heartbreak that stayed within the walls of the secret garden.

It stayed safe there, as Seonghwa no longer visited.

Not even you had visited less, despite being consumed with your children and the work of the kingdom. The tree was a sign of your love for each other, it was your very first child.

Hongjoong, too, had stayed. Continued to care for it, to keep it company on his breaks, to talk about his problems since he certainly could not tell you or Seonghwa. His own tears often landed on the roots of the tree, nurturing it with his pain.

Perhaps that’s why the tree had not bore any mulberries, from the saltiness of the water or the anguish it carried.

But he kept whispering the same thing to you whenever you asked, that the mulberries would definitely come, and they would be tastiest you would ever have. Better than those from the markets.

Five more years had passed and you grew ill. Hid it well, so well that no one except the royal physician knew of your condition. Not even Hongjoong knew, so you took that as an achievement. Rarely anything got by him, especially when it came to you.

Dr Yeosang had looked at you with dreary eyes, putting his equipment away which had signalled the end of your appointment. “Anything?” you inquired, coughing into a blood-stained napkin.

“I’m afraid there is still no diagnosis. None of the symptoms match up to any known illnesses and it appears that it is not spread by people since everyone else in the palace is as fit as a fiddle.”

Your smile was small as you chuckled. “Everyone except me, it seems,” you joked in an attempt to lighten the mood.

Yeosang simply sighed. “I believe it’s time. Tell your family before it gets even worse--which it has been doing since the first appointment. At least Hongjoong.”

“You know very well I can’t do that. We’re in the middle of a drought and there’s raids going on in the North--”

“Every kingdom faces those, and yours has already dealt with such situations in the past very well.”

You looked away, cheeks now starting to sink in from the lack of appetite. “I know,” you whispered, ”but I can’t bring myself to say it.”

He licked his lips in contemplation, understanding why you wouldn’t want to tell anyone. A monarch is as strong as the kingdom--any instability in the family will cause instability for the nation. And the same goes for a parent and their family.

“I suppose I can try to hide it a little longer... but a month is all I can do--from the rate your illness is progressing.”

Lips tightening in a thin line, you nodded. There was never going to be enough time. Would go greedy, wishing for a month, then another, then another. But your timer was non-negotiable.

So the first thing you did when you left the royal physicians was go see your sons. If there were anyone who needed your attention, they would be your boys.

Short on breath, you tried to travel swiftly through the hallways--bones, now weary with age and sickness, no longer moving the same way as you used to. As you made your way to the royal family’s private wing, you overheard wisps of conversation through a nearby door.

Slowing to a halt, you listened closer, recognising the voices but not seeming to put names to them--brain too muddled to think straight.

“--know.”

“You can’t do that, Seonghwa. Not to her.”

“I can’t force myself to stop caring about you, Hongjoong!”

Your heart stopped mid-beat.

“Keep your voice down!” There was a pause while the floorboards of Seonghwa’s private office creaked, most likely Hongjoong’s habit of pacing while he was thinking. “You need to. I care about you as a friend, but nothing more.”

“You think if I could, I would’ve done so already?” your husband’s voice was seething. “Heavens know how hard I have tried to love her, b-but I just can’t!”

“Well I can’t love you back, if that’s what you’re asking for.”

Another stretch of silence passed, and you could almost imagine the two glaring at each other as they normally did in a fight. “Because you love her. Am I correct?”

A soft sigh came from who you assumed was Hongjoong, quiet but still loud enough for your ears to capture (greatly timed to cover your own gasp at the revelation).

“I don’t know...”

“What do you mean by that?”

“...Nothing.”

“Hongjoong, you know you can tell me anything. Regardless of our positions before or after this conversation, we will always be friends.”

“This is better kept between me and the Heavens.” He sighed once more. “All you need to know is that we can’t be together because I don’t love you and I have my loyalty. End of discussion.”

Had it been anyone else, Seonghwa would’ve had them arrested for speaking that way to their king. But neither of you could ever so that to him. He was your rock, your old friend--his loyalty shining bright even after all these years of serving you.

Before Hongjoong could open the door, you had fled the scene, not wanted to be caught eavesdropping on such a private conversation--even if the topic had concerned you.

Just before entering the Princes’ linked chambers, you caught your breath, willing your pounding heart to stop beating so feverishly.

There was too much going on. Too much, and your brain can’t seem to wrap itself around it all.

“So that’s why,” you whispered, lacking breath in your lungs. “His heart belongs to another...” Then a fit of coughs burst once more and your hands scrambled to retrieve a fresh napkin tucked beneath your sleeve to catch the blood.

Upon hindsight, it was a bad idea to stop in front of your son’s private room, because your extreme coughing had caught his attention. Yunho’s confused eyes melted away to concern, especially after seeing the dark red liquid tainting the pure white cloth.

“Mother!”

His cry had attracted the attention of your other two sons, who swarmed around you as Yunho cradled his arms around you, guiding you to his bed.

San brushed the strands of hair that had escaped from your tight bun away from your face while Wooyoung rubbed your back in attempt to sooth your violent coughing. “What’s wrong, Mum?”

“We need to tell Papa!”

“We need Dr Yeosang--”

“He knows,” you tried to say, doing your breath to bring your breathing back to normal. “The doctor. He’s known... for a long time.”

“What do you mean ‘a long time’?” San asked, his hands clasped around yours, a desperate look in his eyes begging for an explanation. “What’s going on, Mama?”

Not right now. You were supposed to have a month extra. They weren’t supposed to find out so soon. “I...” you throat felt tight and dry, “I’m very unwell. The doctor doesn’t know what’s wrong because he’s never seen anything like it before.”

“Then we get a new doctor!” Yunho piped in, voice raised and slightly frantic. You really didn’t need them panicking.

“If Yeosang doesn’t know, then no one will.”

“What about Dad?” Wooyoung asked. “Does he know? Uncle Hongjoong has to know, right? Uncle Hongjoong always kn--”

“Neither of them know. We must keep it that way. So you need to pretend that I’m healthy and well for just one more month. That’s all I ask for. One month.”

You looked between all your children, trying to memorise their faces because Heavens know how long you have left.

As promised, the boys kept your secret for as long as they could--caring and tending to you as much as they could without arousing suspicion from Hongjoong or Seonghwa.

But before your month was up, you had collapsed just after a dinner--slipping in and out of consciousness while your old friend carried you up to Yeosang’s office, the rest of your family in tow, beyond worried.

Yeosang later explained, when you were fully awake, that whatever illness you had was growing at a much faster rate than he anticipated, and you had a few weeks at most.

Now, you were bedridden in your chambers, limbs too heavy and painful to move, lungs feeling like they were being pressed down from the gravity and it got harder and harder to keep your eyes open.

Not a day went by where your sons or husband visited you, and Hongjoong had rarely ever left your side. As strong as they all tried to be, their puffy crimson eyes and sniffling noses were all too obvious.

“Seonghwa? Hongjoong?” you said, voice faint and dry. “Could you go out... for a few minutes. I need to... talk to the boys.”

They exchanged glances, before following your quiet word. “What is it, Mama?” San said, crouched beside you as he held your hand once again.

Even as a man in his mid-twenties, your little baby still called you ‘Mama’ and refused to let go of his mother’s hand. Found you as the most comforting thing in the world.

“Remember... the mulberry tree? The one I showed you?”

“Yeah, Ma,” Wooyoung said leaning against the wall that faced you. Despite his playful and nonchalant nature, you knew he was the most emotional one out of the three. Which was why you were very concerned over his silence for the past few days until he finally spoke now.

“I want you three... to look after it once I’m gone.”

“You’re not going, Mother,” Yunho sniffled, tears in his eyes threatening to drop. He was the oldest (by a few minutes) and was still the most respectful. But even then, he was still a kind and soft-hearted boy, much like his brothers.

“But promise me... regardless. That you’ll look after her. And when she finally bares fruit...”

“It’ll be the tastiest fruit,” your sons recited in unison, eyes glossy with unshed tears, “better than any other on the markets.”

With the little strength you had left, you mustered a weak smile. “My good boys... You will become... fine kings one day. I have no doubt.” You let go of San’s hand, hand instantly being consumed by the cold from the lack of insulation and warm blood pumping through your veins. “Now... call in your Father and Uncle.”

And they did so, leaving the room to leave the three of you alone. “What is it, my dear?” Seonghwa caressed your cheek lovingly, but you both knew that it was more of a platonic gesture than a romantic one--more for you than it was for him.

“I know...about your love for Hongjoong.”

You could feel the tension in the air thicken to such a degree that you could slice it with the letter opener that resided on your bedside table. It was Hongjoong who spoke up. “Y/N, you need to know that we never--”

“Did anything... I know.” You look to him, that same weak smile plastering on your face. “Such a loyal friend. Never did deserve you, did I?”

He shook his head as he came down to hold your hand. “No--don’t say that. If anything, I didn’t deserve you as a friend.”

You chuckled softly, careful not to trigger another one of your coughing fits. “If I can’t say things like that... then neither can you. But I would like you both to do two final things for me.”

“Anything,” his voice was still strong, unwavering, but you knew Hongjoong long enough to see the stormy ocean behind his calm gaze, the turmoil he must be feeling right now from losing his closest and oldest friend.

“First thing is.. be happy,” you shifted your gaze over to your husband, “and you too. If you can’t with me... then at least with each other.”

For the first time, your servant let go of your hands, denying your request. “I can’t be happy without you.”

“Then learn to do so. After all, you have... the rest of your life.”

He couldn’t verbally agree to that, not when what he said was true. Not when his own heart lay in your possession--and would to until the day he passed as well. So Seonghwa took the painful step in asking what your second wish was.

You recalled the Zepheth’s symbol of your most beloved possession. Star-crossed lovers and the final union of death. Though the three of you were stuck in a sick triangle of unrequited love by the Heavens, it felt fitting for your story.

And perhaps, with your permanent presence, the fruit would finally grow.

“Bury me under the mulberry tree.”

Extra, alternative ending below If you’re not a fan of fantasy or torturous spirits or man-eating trees, just stop here.

Two young travellers searched around the ruins of a lost palace, greenery overflowing, filling every nook and cranny of the battered stone walls--a rather beautiful sight of Mother Nature reclaiming her lands.

“Where even are we, Mingi?” the shorter, more muscular one of the pair said, stumbling over vines and rubble as he followed the much taller man.

“Not where we’re meant to be, I think,” he quipped, looking at the architecture to find some clues of their whereabouts.

The other rolled his eyes. “This would’ve been a lot easier if you didn’t drop the map in the river.”

“Hey! In my defence, it was really windy and the rain made the ground slippery. Leave me alone, Jongho.”

“Not until you give me a damn map.”

Like the archaeology student he was, Mingi studied the tattered tapestry and engravings on the walls until it had hit him. “Holy mother of fresh, sweet hell.”

“What?”

Without answering his best friend’s question, the man too off running, as if he already knew the layout of the place. Jongho ran after him, screaming and almost tripping over the vegetation in the way of his heavy boots.

Once Mingi stopped, his friend held his knees, heaving to catch his breath. “What... the hell... was that for?”

Swivelling on his heel, the tall explorer had sparkles in his eyes. “This is it! The Lost Kingdom! The thing we’ve been looking for!”

Jongho’s head snapped up. “You mean you’ve been looking for? I was just dragged along by your antics as usual.” He narrowed his eyes when he finally saw where his friend took him. “A tree? You took me to see a goddamn TREE?!”

Mingi got closer the enormous mulberry tree, gazing at it as if it was the most interesting thing in the world. “Not just any tree. It’s the Queen Y/N’s tree!”

“Okay, let me get this straight,” Jongho sighed, feeling the rage burn within him like a furnace, “you took me to see a dead woman’s tree?”

“Yes, but--”

“WE ALMOST DIED, MINGI! TWICE!” He held up two fingers, expressing his point further. “AND ALL THAT FOR A GODDMAN TREE?!”

“The lore surrounding it was well worth the trip,” a voice said, the two boys’ head spinning to see a person dressed in old, fancy clothing, perched upon the swing--now completely covered with vines and moss. Both of them swore they hadn’t noticed them there. Yet, they brushed it off anyways, thinking that they just had silent movement.

“Who are you?” Mingi asked, head cocked to the side as he became familiar with the sight of them.

“The protector of this tree,” they replied. “Who are you?”

“Some travellers...sightseeing,” Jongho piped in, sceptical of this person who looked like they were in their twenties, just like them.

“You were talking about lore?” The older of the two inquired, already greatly invested in the whole place. “Are you familiar with it?”

“Why, I must be. After all, I look after her,” they said, lovingly stroking the trunk of the tree. “Would you like to hear it?”

“Yes, please!” Mingi sat down, like a child excited for story time despite knowing the book by-heart, while Jongho stayed stood up beside him.

“Well, once upon a time, there was a very strong and powerful Kingdom--”

“The Lost Kingdom!” the child-like man shot out, too giddy to hold back.

The person giggled, his antics reminding them of someone they used to know. “Yes, I believe that’s what you call it. Well, there were three children that lived here; one was of royalty, one of nobility, and the third was a servant--but they were the best of friends, despite their status.”

The muscular boy narrowed his eyes at the childish tone the person was using, not liking how it sounded--how it started to make him feel weary.

“They planted this tree,” they tapped the trunk with their hand, “right here, and nurtured it for as long as they could. As they grew older, the royal and nobleman got married and had children together, while the servant dedicated his life to helping them.”

Jongho sat down, feeling more dreary than normal, coughing a little, while Mingi did the same, not feeling so well either.

“They were all still close, regardless of personal disputes between them, but their love for each other began to weaken only once the tree remained barren of fruit. But they kept up hope, saying that it will the next year.”

The travellers had found it hard to breath, as if there was a pressure on their lungs, squeezing them flat.

“But then, the royal found out they were dying, so they asked to buried under the mulberry tree. In their mind, their body would give the tree the nutrients it needed to finally bare the mulberries they so desperately craved. But no fruit had bore, making the spirit of the royal restless.”

Jongho coughed violently, thick red liquid dribbling down his chin, looking over to Mingi who was hunched over in pain. "But... that’s a fruitless... mulberry tree.”

It appeared to be the wrong thing to say, as their brows furrowed, scowl pulling at their lips, the swing stopped swinging. “And who are you to say that?”

“Because I study... goddamn plants.”

Then it clicked in Mingi’s head--what was going on. “Jongho... shut up--” His chest squeezed harder, a yelp escaping his lips as he toppled to the side.

“Carrying on from that rude interruption,” the person glared at the younger of the two, who was now lying on his side, curled into the foetal position, “the nobleman and servant then died a while after, and were buried side-by-side with the royal.”

Overgrown roots of the tree began to soften, becoming more flexible like snakes as they began to slither their way to the two young boys.

“But even their bodies weren’t enough. So the royal’s spirit swore to use whatever they could to make the tree finally bare fruit.”

The roots wrapped around each boys ankle, spiralling up until it wrapped the two of them in a cocoon. And neither of them could do anything, too tired to yell or move around, succumbing to the sweet release of sleep.

Getting up off the swing, the person rested their forehead on the trunk of the tree.

“And it will be the tastiest fruit. Better than any other on the markets.”

A/N: If you didn’t get it, the tree not growing any fruit was a metaphor of unrequited love. I feel like I didn’t really explain that properly, but there you go.

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cardsthings · 3 years ago

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P5 Pirate AU That I May Or May Not Want To Write (Or Want Someone To Write For Me)

Captain Akira - Banished Prince, is from some small kingdom but got banished when he unknowingly crossed the king of a bigger kingdom, initially was going to be executed to prevent an incident but was quietly banished instead. Became a pirate because "fuck it am I right?" Steals from the rich, gives to his pirate crew. Is Ren Amamiya when in towns.

First mate/co-captain Goro Shido Akechi - Kidnapped Prince, was taken for ransom by the pirates but the Kingdom never asked for him back. (Must mess with your self esteem, sorry buddy.) Dating Akira in the background. Joined between Yusuke and Makoto probably. Only competent one on this ship.

Best Boy Ryuji - Probably mans the cannons, I dunno, Captain Kidd has cannon arms so why not? Was some guy Akira met after being banished, he worked under Kamoshida (who was in some form of power) and helped Akira to steal all his shit and get a pirate ship.

Best Girl Ann - Has been there since the beginning. IDK what she does yet (look up pirate jobs later). She was a minor noble (lower than Kamoshida but higher than random peasant) whose family was being hosted by Kamoshida. She fell in love with Shiho and found out about how terrible Kamoshida was, also found out about these two guys planning on robbing him blind and maybe killing him(?) and decided she wanted in. Eloped with Shiho when she joined the crew.

Other Best Girl Shiho - Is the one who goes into town usually when they go to port. The only one who doesn't need an alias or disguise because she looks like the normal people around/isn't banished royalty/isn't a known criminal. (Keyword, known.) Assisted in the Kamoshida heist (because she deserves better) and eloped with Ann.

Yusuke - Was a painter, the adopted son of a very rich but not very powerful noble, Maderame. Really liked the sea and often went on merchant ships to personally buy new paints. (not to escape Madarame at all) Joined the crew when a ship he was on was targeted. Assumed dead but is living his best life as a pirate.

Actual Cat Morgana - Do not call him a cat, he somehow knows what it means and will throw paws. Doesn't get along with Ryuji. Also sometimes antagonizes Goro. Lives with Futaba and Sojiro on dry land but sometimes sneaks into the ship.

Stowaway Makoto - Initially wanted to be a naval officer like her sister and late father. Got a little too carried away trying to be useful and accidentally ended up trapped on a pirate ship with nowhere to go but the ocean. Turns out, they are pretty chill pirates and also they are a mess. Eventually joins and becomes an advisor to Akira.

Basically a Child Futaba - Is a child. Not exactly but still, pirate life does not suit her, she can't swim. Lives on land with Sojiro but manages to get information out to the crew about targets when she can (being the daughter of a tavern/inn(?) keeper works out really well for information gathering). Not sure when she and Sojiro met Akira yet but they are family.

Kidnapped Royalty Haru - Was actually really excited when she was kidnapped because her life low-key sucked. She was rich and had a few titles and was like 5th in line for the throne of a small country but she wasn't allowed to do anything and was essentially being sold off to her husband. Gilded cage situation. Her dad actually wanted her back (sorry Goro) but didn't want to pay the ransom. Sent people after her, yay he cares! When she got back, he tried to rush the marriage, boo it was only for political gain! Haru runs off and properly joins the crew. Maybe she sparks something with Makoto later, I don't know.

Strategist Hifumi - Wants to escape her controlling mother so she runs away. Hides away in a church for a while and strikes up a friendship with the priest until Akira finds her. They play shogi where he is impressed by her strategy and controlling authority figures in her life. Offers her a place in the crew which she accepts. Very enthusiastic about strategy and shogi, regularly kicks both Akira and Goro's asses at the game.

Informant Mishima - Was saved by the crew from Kamoshida way back when but was not cut out for pirate life. Got a job at Crossroads and tries his best to give information to the crew.

Performer Sumire - Used to be in a traveling performing troupe of some sort with her sister but was tired of constantly being compared. Notices Goro in the crowd at one of her shows (definitely a date with Akira) and recognizes him. Approaches him after the show and asks to join the crew. Akira is there and accepts immediately because why not. (Goro is not irrationally jealous of her. Nope. Not at all.)

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mellowdreamer · 4 years ago

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HOLDING OUT FOR A HERO VERSE.

this is a modern bending vigilante/hero au featuring zukka, mailee, yueki and a lot of hijinks!

the gaang are all 16-19 here, because while bruce wayne apparently has no problem with it, i’m not comfortable with having vigilantes who haven’t yet gone through puberty.

the avatar world is just one big city, and each of the nations/cities are different suburbs of the city.

kyoshi island, ember island, and boiling rock are small islands off of the city, similar to singapore’s sentosa island.

the city (republic city? i dunno, get back to me on this one) is full of heroes, vigilantes and villains alike. the fire nation is a criminal empire intent on taking over the city. the avatar is a hero who works to keep the balance of heroes and villains in the city, and stop the entire city from becoming a war zone.

however, the avatar disappeared 100 years ago, and no one was chosen to take up the mantle since. in the avatar’s absence, the fire nation was able to begin its quest to take over the city.

the heroes of the southern water tribe that were left after the various raids have left the southern water suburb on a mission to defeat the fire nation or die.

hakoda, alias chief, left his two young children in charge of their territory, despite them being a) children and b) relatively untrained.

katara, alias painted lady, is the only waterbender left in the southern water tribe. sokka, alias captain boomerang, is the only trained combat hero left in the southern water tribe. all those remaining are either children or incapable of fighting.

side tangent: when sokka does well, he calls himself “grand marshal boomerang” and when he does badly, he calls himself “private boomerang”. thank you to the crimily for coming up with this one!!

one night, when katara and sokka are out on patrol, they get chased by fire nation goons into the ice off of the southern harbour. there, they get into a fight over sokka’s sexist remarks and katara’s yelling having attracted the fire nation goons, and katara’s waterbending gets out of control. she breaks open an iceberg, only to find someone in there.

the two siblings approach the iceberg and break the person out. they are shocked to find a young boy in the unmistakable uniform of the avatar, resting next to a creature they’ve never seen before.

they wake the boy up, to find that his name is aang and he’s the next avatar. and that he has no idea of the fire nation’s quest to conquer the entire city, or the fact that the air nomads – heroes that didn’t resign to just one area of the city – hadn’t been seen for the same hundred years that he must’ve spent in the iceberg.

katara and a reluctant sokka take aang back to the apartment building where the remaining southern water suburb residents have been living and introduce him to everyone.

later that night, the three go out on patrol together. it’s a quiet night, and sokka thinks they might actually get through it without any incidents, until they find a woman being mugged.

sokka and katara are about to intervene, but aang takes down both thugs in a matter of seconds. aang, ignoring the slack jawed shock of his friends, asks if they could go penguin sledding. katara goes to agree, but is cut off by the shout of “MY HONOUR” from a nearby rooftop.

zuko, alias dragon prince, runs from the rooftop before they could find him. his father ozai, alias firelord, had sent him and his uncle iroh – formerly dragon of the west, now retired – to find the avatar. zuko had been banished from the fire nation territory years ago, after speaking up about a plan that would’ve cost them a whole division of goons and refusing to fight his father in an agni kai.

the kyoshi warriors are similar to the birds of prey or the amazons; they’re an all-female crime-fighting unit not directly associated with any of the kingdoms or nations. suki is their leader, and they don’t have secret identities like the other heroes.

iroh, bumi, piandao, jeong-jeong and p*kku are all retired heroes and a part of the order of the white lotus.

toph is the blind bandit and a hero, albeit a less morally structured and ‘good’ hero than the avatar, the painted lady, and captain boomerang. she was a part of the underground fighting ring ‘earth rumble’ when the gaang infiltrated the ring looking for intel and convinced her that her powers could be used for something better than beating bitches blue and making bank while doing it.

azula is firebolt, and she is as brilliant as she is terrifying. she’s arguably more feared than the firelord, mainly because she’s the one who frequents other areas and actually goes on missions. ozai just sits on his stupid throne and yells at people and manipulates his children like the little bitch he is.

mai and ty lee are azula’s sidekicks, and are known as blade and tightrope respectively. also: they’re lesbians, harold.

yue is a part of the northern water tribe’s group of heroes, alongside her family. they tried to marry her off to hahn and have her trained in healing instead of fighting, but she rebelled and threatened to go out on her own, so they relented. yue’s hero alias is tui, but she will be called sailor moon at least three times.

jet and his freedom fighters are a group of anti-heroes who aren’t afraid to hurt innocent people in their pursue of ‘justice’.

zhao is a villain who works for the firelord, under the alias admiral, and he’s an asshole. using the yuyan archers, he manages to capture aang and takes him to a fire nation stronghold. zuko finds out about this, and not wanting admiral asshole to get the upper hand, dresses as the blue spirit for the first time to rescue aang.

during the siege of the north, zhao “kills” yue. she fakes her own death and disappears into hiding until the final battle, in which she kills zhao because it’s what she deserves.

the gaang know that yue is alive, because she’s nice enough to not do them like that, but they have to keep up appearances. because of this, sokka amps up the heartbreak and clings to suki a lot. that’s why a lot of outsiders begin to think that sokka dated yue and is dating suki, though in reality yue and suki are dating each other.

zuko and iroh, after the siege of the north and a trap set by azula, disappear into hiding and decide to take refuge in ba sing se, knowing that the fire nation wouldn’t think to look for them there.

ba sing se is a section of the city that has been fenced off in order to prevent an influx of heroes and villains. the dai li, who keep a tight grip on the suburb and ensure that the residents don’t know of the war raging outside the walls, are a group of “heroes”.

of course, the fence does nothing to prevent zuko and iroh, the gaang, and later azula, mai and ty lee from entering ba sing se and turning it into their own warzone.

iroh fulfils his dream of finally owning a tea shop and zuko, when not working in the tea shop, spends his nights lingering in the shadows of ba sing se as the blue spirit.

sokka, desperate for a warm drink and something to do while the others do their bending training, wanders into the jasmine dragon one afternoon and is served by “lee”.

neither know the other’s civilian identity, so there’s no shady business, just pining over the cute customer/server. sokka strikes a conversion and the two begin flirting chatting. it’s going really well, and you can almost see the romance blooming.

and then in walks azula, flanked by mai and ty lee, all in costume.

sokka and zuko both leap up from their seats and into fighting stances. both are confused as to why the other jumped up, and then azula calls zuko brother and it clicks in sokka’s mind.

he starts yelling at zuko for a lot of things, including yue’s “death” which is how zuko realises who he is. zuko starts yelling back because he’s only once met a fight he didn’t like. in the background of this argument, iroh is trying to fight azula, mai and ty lee to varying degrees of success.

it’s funny that i say degrees, because this is when azula sets fire to the jasmine dragon. iroh grabs the two dumbass arguing teens and shoves them outside as he too runs, telling zuko to meet at their rendezvous point at sunrise.

azula, mai and ty lee chase after zuko and sokka (who are still arguing as they run from the three girls). mai and ty lee don’t want to chase them, because zuko has always been better to them than azula, but defying azula would be a death sentence.

sokka pulls zuko into a building for coverage, and because azula is azula, she summons the dai li and has them surround the building. there would be no leaving without confronting the dai li, and thus zuko and sokka are trapped.

sokka confronts zuko and basically asks how he could justify the fire nation’s villainy, how he could support a monster who’s killing hundreds of people. zuko defends his father blindly because he’s been raised to believe that his father is right, that his father has to be right, and this southern water scum is wrong. but zuko’s losing his grip on the argument and is becoming more and more hysterical but sokka is so calm, so sure of himself, and the dam finally breaks.

zuko crumples to the ground in tears, and now sokka’s gotta deal with this because ozai is a shitface and has been brainwashing his son for years and wow fuck the fire nation.

mai and ty lee, having taken down the dai li, burst in to find zuko crying his eyes out in sokka’s arms. they teasingly ask if they’re interrupting something and laugh as zuko next to sprints out of the building, sokka hot on his heels.

this is the last straw for zuko, who defects from the fire nation, hangs up his dragon prince uniform and fully becomes the blue spirit, a hero who works with the gaang to eventually take down the fire nation.

also, at some stage zuko rescues a turtleduck that got stuck up a tree. don’t ask me how this happens.

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stellanova002 · 4 years ago

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Sanders Sides Highschool AU - “Stay True to Yourself”

This story is going to focus on all the sides and the different dilemmas they face. (The dilemmas can reach from school, family, friends to personal identity.)

Characters: Logan, Patton, Roman, Virgil and Remus and Janus.

Summary: Virgil has moved around all his life and never been able to quite settle down. He and his dad have just moved to Florida, and Virgil is super nervous about starting high school. Adding to the already existing fear of going to high school, is also the fact that Virgil always has been picked on in school. He doesn’t know if it is because of his style in clothing, his hobbies or the fact that he is.....well, gay. And he has finally had enough! Virgil decides to put on a tougher persona, so, when school starts he is never letting anyone mess with him ever again.

Chapter 1

Growing up and figuring out who you are is one of the hardest challenges you can face; Especially as a teenager. You are expected to know what you want your future to look like while you also struggle with grades, family, friends, and all the other things going on in your body. You are no longer a child but also nowhere near grown-up. And the adults in your life will constantly remind you of this. They seem to get to decide when you are old enough to take responsibility and when you are too young to make your own decisions.

And nowhere is this more apparent than in high school.

It is Monday morning and the summer break is over. A small car is driving on the highway with two individuals inside. A father and a son. In the car's backseat, the son, Virgil, shifts his focus from the road to the window, trying to keep himself occupied. The world outside keeps on passing by and the speed is making all buildings, trees, and people look like blurred objects.

Meanwhile, in the driver's seat, the father adjusts the rearview mirror to take a look at his son. Virgil has his head leaned on his palm and is staring out the window, he is wearing his usual striped hoodie, a dark purple t-shirt, and ripped black jeans.

Virgil’s father sights. It’s been two years since the death of his wife and Virgil has been going through a lot. He has lost count of how many times Virgil has had to switch schools because of bullying, and how many times they’d been forced to move because of his old job.

Virgil and his father are new to the city, they recently moved here during the summer break. One of the many reasons for moving was that Virgil's father got a new job and he thought it would be the perfect opportunity to start over.

The light from the sun then bounces off the mirror and reflects onto Virgil. Virgil who is blinded by it turns to see where it came from, only to discover that his dad is looking at him.

Noticing that he’s been caught his dad quickly looks back on the road, embarrassed.

Virgil then sits up and starts to fiddle with his fingers, unable to distract from his thoughts any longer.

'What if I screw up? What if I say something wrong that will make everyone hate me?! Dad would eventually find out and come to the confusion that we'd have to move again. Fuck. Can we even afford to move?! Dad just got a new job. We just got here and now I'm going to end up ruining everything! Why do I always have to be such a pain?!'

Virgil's father tries to call his son's name but Virgil is not responding - being too caught up in his spiraling thoughts.

The car then slows down to a gentle crawl. Virgil's father leans back and gently pats Virgil on his knee. "Hey buddy, how are you holding up?" His touch is enough to snap Virgil out of it.

After a moment's silence, Virgil turns to his dad and shrugs. “I dunno. Fine, I guess…”

“That did not look fine."

“I- I’m just nervous”, Virgil admits, “I don’t want to screw this up.”

"You won't screw anything up." His father's gaze is stern. "You never have and you never will."

Virgil wrinkles his nose and scoffs. 'We all know that's not true'

"Besides everyone is nervous on their first day, you won't be the only one."

"Yeah, but not everyone has anxiety", Virgil mutters to himself.

His father turns his head away, clenching his jaw, not knowing how to respond to that. Instead, they continue to drive in silence.

Virgil is sitting hunched, his body turned away from his dad.

"What I meant to say was… ", his father says, unable to take the silence any longer, "Everyone is starting their freshman year. This is a new school and people have surely matured during the summer. I don't think you have anything to be afraid of."

"I'm not so sure… I mean look at me!" Virgil gestures to himself.

"I am", his father says, "and all I see is a perfectly normal boy."

Virgil snorts. "Yeah right, because a normal boy would totally wear this, put on eyeshadow, and get a crush on other boys!"

"Yes!"

"Normal boys didn't get bullied like me, dad!"

His dad grips the steering wheel so hard that his knuckles turn white. Of course, he knows that Virgil has never been like most kids; He was always a little too sensitive and enjoyed things that most boys didn't. However, all that still doesn't justify how other people treated him.

Yes, his son may not be like the majority but so what!? There is nothing wrong with that.

"We're here…" The car, now in the school's parking lot, comes to a stop. Virgil climbs out of the car and grabs his backpack, he adjusts the large headphones around his neck and shuts the door.

His father scrolls down the car window.

"Love you, stormcloud."

Virgil gives his father a small smile. "Yeah, I know dad.."

He tilts his head, a serious expression on his face. "And promise me that you will begin to stand up for yourself."

"...Yeah...I’ll try...."

The window slowly begins to creep back up. "I'm serious!”, he points to his son, “I need to get to work now, call me if you need anything and please, at least try to make some friends. Okay, kiddo?"

Virgil just nods, not willing to make any promises.

The car then begins to drive away and fade from Virgil's eye view. After it disappears Virgil takes a deep breath as he turns to look at his new school, a dreaded feeling in his stomach.

Ugh! He is so tired of being scared of places like this.

Behind this door, anything could happen. His life could finally change for the better; he could meet new friends and make high school the best years of his life...or….It could be another school filled with bullies making him wish he was never born.

Although... thinking back to his earlier school years, Virgil might think of a way to make people leave him alone. In his previous schools, there were always those kids that nobody dared to mess with. They were confident, took no one’s bullshit, and had, let’s just say...a bad reputation. Not even the worst bullies dared to do anything to them.

With determination in his eyes, Virgil flattens his hair and makes his bangs cover his eyes. He straightens his posture, puts his hands in his pockets, and marches towards the school.

“Friends”, Virgil sneers, “Never had them before so why should I need them now?"

'Besides, who would even want to be friends with someone like me…'

"Patton!"

"Yeah, mom?!"

"Could you please come down and help me, sweetie?!"

"Of course! I'll be right there!"

Twenty minutes away from the school, in a nice little cul-de-sac, a boy dressed in a cyan-blue polo shirt and grey cardigan bounces down the stairs and walks into his kitchen.

In the kitchen, his mom is standing and preparing lunch while his siblings, Liam and Fiona, are eating cereal by the kitchen table.

Patton gives his mom a huge smile. "Morning, mom!"

She returns the gesture, "Good morning", she says and puts in three peanut butter and jelly sandwiches in the lunch bags.

Patton looks around, "What did you want help with?"

"Can you take these bags and put them in Fiona and Liam's backpacks."

"Sure thing!"

Patton walks up to his mom, gives her a peck on the cheek, and takes the sandwiches to the backpacks down the hall.

After putting the bags in the backpacks Patton checks to see if his siblings have packed everything; extra clothes; some fruit; a stuffed animal. He just knows they can't bear to be without them.

When he gets back to the kitchen, Fiona and Liam have already put their bowls in the sink and run upstairs to brush their teeth.

Patton is just about to go up and see if they need help when his mom calls for him:

“Patton, honey can I talk to you for a second?” The smile on her face is gone and she is standing with her arms tangled in front of her.

Patton hesitates. Has he done something wrong?

He puts his hands behind his back and twists his body before he makes his way to his mom, eyes looking down at the floor.

She kneels, takes a hold of his hands, and pulls them forward.

"Am I in trouble…?", Patton asks, a lump forming in his throat.

"No, sweetie…", she kisses his forehead, "You're not in trouble. I'm sorry if I made it seem that way."

Patton’s whole body relaxes and he lets out a sigh of relief.

“Your Dad and I have just been talking about something", her smile drops and it turns into a frown. "We are going to be very short on staff at work, both at the hospital and at the residential home. It is going to be very likely that we both need to work overtime. This will affect a lot of things back home, things like picking up Fiona and Liam from school, dropping them off at training, and helping them with their homework." His mom grabs his hand tightly. "I know this isn’t fair - but Dad and I need you to step up and take some more responsibility. Can you do that?“

Patton’s parents both work in service jobs. His dad works as a nurse at the hospital and his mom works at a residential home. It's not the best-paying jobs but they manage to get by and Patton couldn’t be more proud of them and the work that they do.

But there is part of him that is worried about how this will affect school. What if this is going to negatively affect his grades and make him fall behind.

Patton looks at his mom, standing there in her uniform, looking tired and just waiting for an answer. He can’t possibly say something to make her feel bad. He is starting high school right now, he shouldn’t even have any hesitations about this…

A selfless person wouldn't….

Patton puts on his most genuine smile. “Of course. It is about time to practice some...uhh….adultery!”

She snickers.

“I am so proud of you! Continuing to be our happy little boy.”

“That’s me!”, Patton points to himself.

Mom gives him a hug, stands up, and lightly pushes him towards the stairs. “I think it’s time for you to go up and tell your brother and sister that they need to hurry up. The school bus is almost here.”

“Beep! Beep! Beep!” Roman groans at the sound of the alarm.

The alarm keeps beeping for a while before he sits up in his bed and turns to the side to shut it off. Roman then quickly yawns and looks at the clock:

It’s 6:50.

School starts at 8:00 so he might as well wake up and get ready. It takes time to look as fabulous as he does every day.

And it's about half an hour's drive from his dad's mansion to the school.

Roman gets out of bed and makes his way to the bathroom. He passes by his brother Remus' room and it's pitch black, he is still fast asleep and snoring loudly.

Roman rolls his eyes and walks up to his brother's bed. He claps his hands and the lights turn on, but Remus just groans. Roman then grabs the covers and pulls them off.

But as the covers come off Roman sees something he wishes he could unsee. "OH MY GOD!", Roman shrieks.

There laying in his bed is Remus; Naked.

Remus stretches out his whole body, sheepishly smiling at Roman. "Morning, Ro. Slept well?"

"Shut up! Where are your clothes?!"

Remus swings his feet off the bed, laughing. "You should know that by now, Roman. I sleep in the buff."

"That is disgusting!" Roman throws a pair of underwear at his brother. "Get dressed."

While Remus puts on the underpants Roman goes to the bathroom to get ready. He locks the door, takes off his pajamas, and gets in the shower.

After washing himself and putting on deodorant, Roman looks at his reflection in the mirror. 'Looking good~'.

He dries his hair, combs it, and finishes it up with some hairspray. And as a final touch, he puts on a light patch of makeup - some baby cream, foundation, and just a small winged eyeliner.

'Wouldn't want dad to make a big deal of it.'

BAM! BAM! BAM!

Roman flinches at the sudden noise. "What the hell Remus?!"

Remus continues to knock on the door."Get out of the bathroom, Ro! It's my turn. You know that there's not enough makeup in the world to improve that mug!"

"WE HAVE THE SAME FACE."

Roman takes his bathrobe and throws the door open. He gives his brother an annoyed glance as they switch places.

He looks at the clock in the hall: 7:15

Shit!!!

Roman ruches back to his room and puts on the clothes he laid out yesterday. After putting on tight-fitted jeans, a white t-shirt, and a red sports-jacket, he runs down the house's marble staircase and into the kitchen.

As Roman enters the kitchen, he sees that his father is in the dining room reading the newspaper with a cup of coffee. Roman hesitates before he fills his bowl with some yogurt and berries, and joins him at the table. His father is wearing his pristine dark blue suit and his suitcase rest beside his chair.

He glances at Roman, eyeing him up and down. “Son.”

“Father.”

Remus arrives just a few minutes later, his hair is wet from the shower and he's putting on socks in a hurry. He's wearing a booger green shirt, black military-printed pants, and a spiked leather jacket. Remus glances at the clock and notices that he has limited time, so he decides to take a banana from the fruit bowl. The atmosphere is uneasy as they all continue to eat their breakfast.

The father then takes a long sip of his coffee before folding his newspaper and leaning down on the table.

“Boys, you are about to move onto the next stage of your lives and I think it’s important that you begin to act your age.” He glares at Roman. “Which starts by quitting your childish hobbies and focusing on something more worthwhile”.

Roman slams his hand on the counter. "But dad!"

"No objections! You are a talented sportsman son, it's about time you quit that girly activity and apply to the school's football team."

He then looks at Remus, who has put the whole banana in his mouth. “And Remus, I don't ask for much, just don't get into a habit of getting into trouble. And please, try not to ruin this family’s reputation…”

“Yes, dad…”, Roman sights.

“Whatever you say, pops” Remus scoffs, why should he care about his family's stupid reputation. It's only a reputation for being boring rich snobs anyway.

Their father straightens his tie, stands up, and grabs his suitcase. "Mr. Sato will drive you to school. I have to get to the airport for my business trip. You’ll be staying with your mom this week, and I’ll see you at the end of the weekend." He puts away his coffee mug and leaves the kitchen without saying anything else to them; no “good luck”, no “have a great day”, or even “I love you”.

Roman can only hope to hear at least a goodbye from his father but knows he is gone the moment the front door slams shut.

The twins then finish their breakfast and step outside, waiting for Mr.Sato to drive the car out of the garage. He opens the door for both of them, respectfully nodding his head to say good morning. Roman returns the gesture.

Mr. Sato is the boy’s personal chauffeur, the one who has taken them to school for most of their lives. Roman really likes Sato, he always listens to him and makes him feel like he can be himself around him. He’s who Roman will turn to when he needs to vent to anyone besides his friends.

Roman’s face lights up as he thinks about them. That’s right, he’ll see his friends today! God, how he’s missed them. Patton’s warm hugs, Logan’s wordplays, their playful banter.

If one thing is certain is that these school years will be just like the rest. Just him, Logan, and Patton. Like it always has been.

Like it always will be.

#sanders sides high school au #high school au #roman sanders #patton sanders #logan sanders #virgil sanders #remus sanders #Janus Sanders #stay true to yourself #eventual prinxiety #eventual logicality #eventual demus #eventual dukeceit #sanders sides fic

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kolak-magiya-a · 3 years ago

Text

Disclaimer: All names are of my own creation and are not to be considered canon characters in FFXIV.

Tags: tw: violence , tw: family death , tw: child death

Summary: An excerpt from Ryce’s past. (long post under the cut)

“There, that should be the last of it.”

Arasen dusted his hands off after setting down the last sack of rice that they’d traded with another passing clan. It was an easy deal made - they needed furs for the coming cold season, and in return, Clan Hotgo needed a food that was filling and easy to make. He had to admit, he was impressed that they’d even managed to get their hands on it, considering their nomadic lifestyle. Still, trade worked wonders.

A soft laugh earned the tall man’s attention to another male who sat nearby, also wiping sweat from his brow. “I swear, Arasen, I could watch you lift heavy things all day. Ye make it look so easy.”

“Well ye might not be so winded if ye’d listen to me. I did say that ye were lifting them wrong.” He easily shot back, placing his hands on his hips and quirking a brow at the other teen. Jakha, leaning back against a pile of rice sacks to rest, rolled his eyes with a smirk, even as Arasen took a seat next to him to also take a break.

“Guess you make a good point.” Jakha sighed, leaning up against the slightly taller male, pale orange eyes looked upward toward the matching sunset as his head rested against Arasen’s shoulder. “...Think it’ll be enough to get us through the cold season?”

“It’ll have to be. We’ve been smart about it before, I’m sure we’ll manage.”

“I dunno, with how much those twins of Kura’s eat, we may run out of stock ‘fore half the season’s pass.” He grunted with a laugh when Arasen elbowed him, but still smirked at the playful jest.

“Need I remind you of our midnight snack heists when we were kids? Heard your mother gave you quite the scolding when she found out.”

“Ugh, don’t remind me.” Jakha shuddered at the thought, earning a laugh from Arasen.

Quiet fell upon them, then, as they looked upward toward the sky. All around them, their camp bustled with folks getting settled for the evening, finishing the pitching of tents and the starting of dinner fires. It seemed to be a peaceful evening thus far, and the sun sinking beyond the western mountains simply helped as the stars came peeking out.

Glancing down at his friend, Arasen couldn’t help but smile. He and Jakha had been friends since birth. As it stood, their births were just hours apart, with Arasen being older by just two. Jokes had been passed around that Jakha was so desperate to be friends, that he kicked his mother, wanting out. He never denied the joke, either.

They basked in the cooler evening air for a little while longer, before eventually they stood and bade each other a good rest. Arasen found his family-tent easily, his father outside making his final adjustments (of which he willingly aided), and his mother and sister inside preparing some food.

He greeted all of them with a gentle nudge of their heads, and allowed his ten-summer-old sister sit in his lap while their mother rested amongst some pillows and their father handed out their supper.

“I heard you oversaw the trading, son,” Kurome, his mother, spoke smoothly, a hand resting around her stomach, swollen with a third child that was due by mid-spring. “How did it go?”

“Well enough.” He answered after chewing some of his food. “Jakha and I had just finished loading everything into the carts before I returned. They were certainly generous with their trade.” He paused, frowning slightly. “I hope it doesn’t mean they’ll be short on food for the cold season.”

“They seemed sure that they needed the furs more than the food. They’ll manage.” His father, Torbei, responded curtly. Arasen supposed that it made sense, but he also didn’t miss the stern tone of his father. Showing compassion for other clans outside of trade was usually not considered at all. He’d always said that Arasen had a soft heart.

He was going to say something else, as he parted his mouth - only to jump when a distant scream pierced the quiet. All heads turned to the entrance of their tent, as more sounds began to join in a crescendo, until it became obvious what it was: The sounds of war.

Torbei rose to his feet and quickly made for the door of the tent, while Arasen urged Kiyo, his sister, to join their mother. By then, their father had already left the tent, and the shouting was apparent. Arasen needed no confirmation: They were under attack.

This wasn’t the first time they’d found themselves ambushed, whether it be from a different clan or some wild animals. That his clan survived this long meant that no attempts were successful. But when Arasen exited the tent, his eyes were met with a horrifying sight. Fires blazed from tents across the camp, screaming could be heard even from nearby as battle ensued. Though many were only just now gathering their bearings under the roaring voice of Atsuaki - the Hotgo Clan leader - and Torbei.

Arasen also joined the fray, running forward - weaponless - toward the first figure that he knew was not of his clan. Much to his horror, he instantly recognized the signs of Clan Dotharl. They weren’t too high in number, but were still widely feared for their thirst for bloodshed. They killed others for the sake and joy of killing.

They had the upper hand, having surprised the unsuspecting Hotgo clan. Arasen could already smell blood and rounding a burning tent, he could see a number of corpses and marked figures of his clan being cut down. Grabbing a blade from a downed figure and friend, Arasen let himself be driven by his rage. The blade sank into the form of the nearest Dotharl. Then another. And another.

Finally, he met up with his father, who bore his own battle wounds. The elder man pulled an arrow from his shoulder and threw it to the ground as a warrior from Dotharl charged. Torbei bellowed a shout as they clashed, but the Dotharl was no match for the elder Au Ra, as they were cut down with a swift blow from Torbei’s blade. Arasen felt his feet carry him toward the scene.

“Father-!”

Eyes widened as Arasen staggered to a halt. An arrow from the shadows came whistling through, piercing Torbei’s throat - then another meeting its mark on his chest. Another Dotharl, hidden in the shadows, emerged as Torbei toppled over.

A scream of rage belted out from Arasen’s mouth as he charged. The Dotharl moved to ready another arrow, but was found useless as the younger figure was upon him in seconds. A head rolled to the ground shortly after, but Arasen paid it no mind as he ran to his downed father.

The glint of fire off of another blade was his only warning, as he turned to another Dotharl figure snarling at him. She bore toward him with murderous fury - only to be halted by an arrow that pierced her eye. Arasen turned, eyes wide. Kurome scowled, and came forward to the clearing where she grasped her son’s arm. She was sporting her own battle wounds, though nowhere near dire enough to fear for her life.

Behind her, Kiyo kept a watchful eye, despite the fearful tears that rolled down her cheeks. Arasen couldn’t blame her, for even he had tears streaming down his face. Kurome’s own eyes were glistening as fires blazed around them, even as she refused to look at her mate’s still body.

“Arasen, you must take Kiyo and flee-”

“What!? Mother-!”

“I am not asking you, Arasen! I have lost my dear mate this night, and I refuse to lose my children! Go!”

Wide-eyed, and in shock, he could do little else but listen to her. Her usually soft-spoken and wise tone was wracked with anger and grief - but mostly fear. Seeing his mother like that struck him hard, but he took a moment to wipe his face, smearing the paint on his face; Then he moved past her, to grab his sister and.. he ran.

Despite his sister screaming for him to stop. He ran.

Despite the pain in his heart. He ran.

He ran for what felt like an eternity. All he knew was that he needed to get away. So he focused on running until the stars began to fade and the sun began its ascent in the East. When the familiar sound of the One River met him did he allow himself to rest.

“..I think this is a safe place to rest..” He muttered. Arasen looked downward to his sister, who had stopped crying just an hour earlier. “Kiyo I should check you for-...”

His feet stopped entirely, heart sinking into his stomach. How had he failed to notice the thrown-blade embedded in his sister’s chest?!

He felt the weight of his failure heavily on his shoulders. Arasen barely registered the ache in his legs as he sank to his knees, still clutching his young sister in his arms.

The heartbroken cry was hard to keep quiet, but thankfully the sound of the river would have covered it well enough. Even as he cried for hours, well into the late morning. Suddenly, Arasen felt so terribly alone. All he could do was look up at the morning sky - clear as though nothing were wrong. As though it would not soon be filled with clouds of smoke. He could no longer bear his clan name. What could he do now?

He decided first, to lay his dear sister to rest by the river. He knew he couldn’t remain here, lest he be found. So, after he was finished, he spent only enough time to wash the paint from his face, and the blood from his clothes. Then.. to the West, he walked.

If nothing else, he’d simply keep moving. It was all he could do...

Ultimately, a new life garnered a new name. He supposed Ryce would have to do.

#;Drabble #tw: violence #tw: family death #tw: child death #feel like this is a little rushed at the end but #I have dnd in 15 minutes so I had to finish it before then lol

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bigtimetired · 4 years ago

Text

Red ‘n Blue

another one-shot in a wider au- in which robin and superboy meet for the first time (set near the beginning of reign of the supermen, in this au not long after damian wayne meets his father)

Sunday 5th November 1989

[Palisades Avenue, Metropolis, DE]

Tim’s never been in Metropolis in person before, which is far from ideal.

Obviously, he’s looked at maps and pictures- he’s not an idiot- and he’s fairly confident that he could navigate the main streets. There are plenty of signs on the ground after all.

Unfortunately, Tim is neither on a main street nor on the ground.

He’s on a cold and miserable rooftop, somewhere rather far from where he stowed the bike he shouldn’t be riding between cities- between states- after dark, but hey, that’s just life.

It had been a spur of the moment idea, coming to Metropolis- an idea Tim had had (purely coincidentally) after a phone call from Bruce, reminding him that patrol tonight was cancelled.

(Tim hadn’t heard anything to suggest that he was there but had been fairly fucking certain that Damian had been smirking somewhere nearby.)

(Tim had also very carefully not thought about how this was the third time Bruce had either cancelled on him or brushed him off since his son had come to America. He had also very carefully ignored the burning feeling in his chest at the thought- such things didn’t bear further investigation.)

It had been a spur of the moment decision which Tim might be starting to regret, just a little bit.

One would have thought that there would be plenty of crime to stop here, considering what had happened to Superman a few weeks back. (Rest in peace, Big Blue.)

One would have been wrong though, because Metropolis has been cool and quiet and melancholic so far, and altogether very lacking in the crime department. That’s good obviously- great even- but if Tim doesn’t find an outlet soon he’s going to start fucking screaming.

He’s just a tiny bit on edge, recently.

He wonders why.

Tim makes the leap to another rooftop, peers down over the side with disinterest- a darkened movie theatre, shutters drawn, and doors locked. Just like every other building around here seems to be.

(Would Gotham do the same for Batman?)

“Nice costume, dumbass,” says a nearby voice, and Tim whirls, heart thumping and staff in hand.

There’s a boy- only about his own age- floating (actually floating) by the edge of the roof, arms crossed and face unimpressed.

Tim’s eyes skitter around, desperately trying to find some inspiration for a plan. His gaze catches on the bright insignia just visible under the boy’s leather jacket.

Tim blinks. Surely this isn’t…

“Superboy?”

The boy huffs, annoyed. “No, I’m the new Superman.”

Tim eyes the boy’s messy hair and very young face and snorts rather rudely.

Normally he would feel bad- Robin has faced similar disbelief in the past- but Tim hasn’t been in the best of moods lately.

“Sure thing, man. Whatever you say,” says Tim, and the boy’s face twists.

“Yeah, and who the fuck are you?”, he spits, and Tim scoffs, feeling like an absolute asshole and enjoying it.

(And if he’d much rather direct all this vitriol at a certain assassin-in-training rather than a complete stranger, then that’s no one’s business but his own.)

“Robin,” says Tim, as if it’s perfectly obvious.

“Uh-huh,” says Not-Superboy. “Don’t you have a gargoyle to be standing on or something?”

“Don’t you have kittens to be saving from trees or something?”

Not-Superboy floats closer, mouth opening in response.

And then there’s an explosion from down the street.

Tim stumbles badly, is saved from tipping off the roof by Not-Superboy himself, who looks more than slightly dazed.

“Thanks,” says Tim quickly, before taking off towards the smoking crater which used to be a building.

Finally, finally, something to do, to investigate, to-

After a moment Tim realises that he seems to have acquired a shadow.

He slants a hard look at Not-Superboy, who takes this as an opportunity to grab his arm and yank him to a halt.

“What the fuck man?”

Hot, simmering, rage is starting to build in Tim’s chest.

Not-Superboy frowns at him. “What are you doing?”

“My job? What’s it look like?”, Tim snaps, and Not-Superboy rolls his eyes in response.

“No, you’re gonna stay here, out of the way.”

“And why’s that?”

“‘cause you’re just a kid?”

Oh hell no.

“Oh yeah?”, Tim’s ears are burning, and he finds himself stretching up- because the bastard’s still floating like a complete dick- into Not-Superboy’s personal space. “You’re pretty fresh-faced yourself, bud.”

Not-Superboy throws his hands out from himself in frustration. “Yeah, but I’ve got superpowers. You’re just a civilian with a stick and a cape.”

Tim would very much like to smash said stick into someone’s face right now.

It’s at this point that the cause of the explosion decides to make itself known; a huge, spider-like, machine of gleaming silver trundles its way out of the wreckage and into the street, headed towards what Tim thinks is the city centre.

Not-Superboy lets out a harsh breath. “Fine. I don’t have time for this- if you get yourself killed, that’s on you.”

He shoots off after the machine, and leaves Tim standing there, fuming.

A civilian with a stick and a cape.

That’s a fucking challenge right there, in Tim’s book.

He unholsters his grapple gun and zips ahead of the metal spider-thing, mind already whirring with plans and ideas.

If he creates a blockade up here, that’ll hopefully limit collateral damage and buy him more time to shut this thing down before it gets to somewhere slightly livelier.

Tim squints at the scene behind him- the silver thing is still making its way towards him, seemingly undeterred by the colourful shape floating alongside and hammering dents into it.

Tim rolls his eyes, before snapping back into professionalism.

Assess the situation, Robin.

It’s got spidery leg things, that’s for sure, but the machine is actually trundling along on thick caterpillar treads, which gives Tim an idea.

Out of his belt he pulls the largest and hottest flares he owns, and chucks them at two faded patches of road, roughly around where the treads will run over them in several moments’ time.

Hopefully, the tar should start to melt around there and stick to the treads for a few minutes until Tim can stop this thing permanently.

Tim jumps from the roof, swings himself onto the back of the spider with his grapple and a well-placed girder, and starts poking around for a weak spot.

A vent, an escape hatch, any gap in the armour.

Tim narrows his eyes at a tiny space next to a panel of some sort and unceremoniously wedges the end of his staff into it.

Levering a panel that doesn’t want to move is easier said than done- even more so when one is on the back of a trundling monstrosity and in danger of being flung into the street at the next sharp turn.

Tim glances up and catches Not-Superboy’s eye, who has stopped whatever it was he was trying to accomplish and is instead staring at Tim in askance.

Tim jerkily beckons him closer with his chin, not letting go of his bo staff for a second.

Not-Superboy drifts over and yanks the cover up with relative ease- that fucking show-off- and Tim slams the end of the staff into the revealed circuitry over and over until it sparks.

It’s inelegant, but it generally works.

Some of the spidery legs rise up and twist around on themselves in an admittedly very impressive display of dexterity before one of them shudders violently and pierces the shell of the machine with a horrible scraping sound.

The vehicle judders then- once again Tim nearly falls and has to be steadied by the floating dumbass- and slows its steady trundle forward.

Tim glances around and realises that they’ve driven over his melted asphalt and mentally pats himself on the back.

Not-Superboy has landed at long last and is currently stomping on the shell with one foot. Tim wants to ask him what the fuck he’s doing, but it becomes obvious as soon as one stomp makes a slightly different sound than the others.

He’s found another weakness.

This panel is also ripped off with sickening ease, though this time Not-Superboy goes, “Ha!” and reaches in.

Finally showing some sort of effort- see how it feels motherfucker? – Not-Superboy uses both hands and starts levitating again to pull out a full-grown, wriggling, man dressed in various shades of grey and not in the least bit pleased about the current state of affairs.

The man breaks free and takes a swing at Not-Superboy who dodges it, and Tim decides to delegate that particular task to him and instead focus on turning off the whatever-the-fuck’s engine, as the whatever-the-fuck is still slowly inching forward and may or may not have some form of explosive on board.

Tim drops down through the hatch and into the cabin. There are a whole load of monitors and wires and stupidly complicated-looking panels in here, so Tim takes a nice, deep, breath and compares it all to the most complex machine he can think of- the Batcomputer.

Tim knows how to turn the Batcomputer off- he pictures it in is head, the flickering lights, the hum and whirring of machine parts, the button sequence required to switch it all on and off.

And then he slices as many wires as he can with the side of a Batarang until all the lights go out and the ground stops shaking.

Never fails, that one.

Tim clambers up on the ladder back to the top and peeks his head out strategically.

Not-Superboy is still struggling with the man, taking a glancing blow to the arm and being knocked back surprisingly far.

Tim decides to not be an asshole about this and creeps up on the pair.

He kicks out the man’s legs and Not-Superboy takes advantage and socks him in the jaw with an audible cracking noise.

The man crumples, out cold.

For a moment, neither of them say anything, just catching their breath.

Then Tim says, “Do you wanna call the cops?”

“…yeah,” Not-Superboy decides. He hesitates then, “Do you have, I dunno, zip ties or something?”

Tim nods.

“Cool- back in a sec.”

Tim watches Not-Superboy dip down to ground-level, making a beeline for the nearest phone-booth.

Tim rolls the man over with some difficulty and cuffs him like Bruce taught him to. He predicts then and there that Bruce will have called him by midday tomorrow about this whole thing and a part of him lights up with a savage kind of pride.

Not-Superboy is back then, staring up from the ground with an unreadable expression.

Tim raises an eyebrow and nudges the man’s unconscious form with his boot. (Lightly, because he isn’t a complete ass and is feeling a great deal more vindicated than earlier, for some unknowable reason.)

“You gonna help me with this or not?”

Not-Superboy’s face crinkles. “Huh?”

“We’re not leaving him on top of this thing, dumbass,” says Tim, with significantly less venom in his voice than earlier.

“Oh, uh, yeah,” Not-Superboy blinks, and Tim rolls his eyes, dragging the man to the edge by the armpits.

Not-Superboy takes him then and Tim hops down to the ground, surveying the scene. He decides that this is a victory for Robin on the collateral damage front and awards himself bonus points for managing it on someone else’s turf.

There are already police sirens in the distance, and Tim blinks.

“Huh. That was quick.”

“There’s a precinct a couple of blocks over,” says Not-Superboy matter-of-factly.

“Ah.”

Tim grabs his grapple again and decides that the top of the movie theatre looks promising.

“Wh-where are you going?”

Tim shrugs, cocks his head slightly. “I dunno how you do it over here, but back home we don’t tend to stick around for the cops too often. Vigilantism, and all.”

“Oh.” Not-Superboy seems to consider this for a moment. “Alright, I guess.”

Tim salutes him and zips up to the rooftops again.

He makes it all of ten seconds before a voice calls after him, “Wait a sec!”

Tim obligingly waits a sec and is only kinda exasperated to see Not-Superboy floating up to him. (Again.)

Not-Superboy rubs the back of his neck and doesn’t quite look at Tim when he says, “Thanks, I guess. I mean, I had it covered, but it was nice of you to stick around, so, uh, thanks.”

Tim nods, not quite willing to unbend yet.

“Am I still just a civilian with a stick and a cape?”

Not-Superboy winces. “Yeah-uh, that was maybe kinda shitty of me and, uh, I guess I was wrong. So sorry about that.”

It’s definitely not the best apology in the world, but Tim’ll take it.

He shrugs. “It’s okay- I was kinda a dick earlier, so we’re even.”

“Cool.”

“Where’re you going now?”, asks Not-Superboy.

Tim rolls his shoulders. “Home, I guess. Just gotta find my bike first.”

“Bike?”

“Yeah? I mean, I hardly walked here from Gotham, did I?”

“Guess not.”

There’s a beat of silence, before Not-Superboy glances around furtively.

“Is he here?”

Tim blinks. “Is who- oh, you mean Batman?”

Not-Superboy nods.

“No,” says Tim, and he decides not to elaborate on that.

“Alright,” Not-Superboy��s shoulders relax a little. “Where’s your bike?”

“In the alley next to some diner back that way,” Tim gestures vaguely behind them.

“Lou’s?”

Tim squints, tries to remember. “…maybe?”

“Oh my god.”

Not-Superboy’s rolling his eyes but his tone is light, so Tim doesn’t feel too offended. He drifts back a few feet, gestures that Tim should follow him.

“C’mon- I don’t think Gotham will ever forgive me if I leave Robin stranded over here.”

Tim snorts but follows anyway.

Tim’s bike is stowed neatly in the alley next to Mary-Anne’s diner, as it turns out. Not-Superboy stares at it for a few moments, eyes starry.

Tim grins. “Her name’s Redbird.”

“She’s gorgeous,” says Not-Superboy, sounding as if he means it.

Tim nods. “Yeah, she is.”

“You know your way back, right?”

Tim rolls his eyes. “Dude.”

Not-Superboy grins, honest and open. “Just checking, man.”

Tim swings his leg over Redbird, settles down and brings the engine to life.

He looks at Not-Superboy, who looks much friendlier than he did earlier.

“Thanks again,” says Tim, meaning it. “This was fun.”

Not-Superboy shrugs, but he’s still smiling. “Yeah, it was a lil bit. See you around?”

Tim nods. “See ya.”

He shoots off into the night then, feeling much lighter than he did on the trip in.

(He gets to school by lunchtime the next day, waves a forged doctor’s note at the necessary people and doodles in the margins of his notes until the final bell.

Bruce is either busy or getting old- he doesn’t call the house phone until 6pm. Tim lets it go to voicemail, grins a little as he listens to it over dinner, despite himself.

Bruce is disgusted, Tim is benched until the weekend, and somehow he’s not quite as upset as he thought he would be.

Funny, that.)

#dc #tim drake #kon-el #conner kent #robin #superboy #timkon #if you want #one-shot #first meetings #dgs #i can't write action scenes

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lorei-writes · 5 years ago

Text

Cubs

Not Alone

Masamune x MC Modern AU Family AU Fluff (?) Other stories happening within the same AU: Little Tiger , Mommy, we have a problem , Storm

Years passed since Masamune followed his beloved through time and space. Since then, their family grew in size – and being a parent comes with its own set of responsibilities.

Content Warnings: sexual harassment

Masamune tapped on the steering wheel, the slow traffic starting to get on his nerves. The counter next to the green light turned red yet again, another thirty second in the hell itself beginning, the line of cars before him attempting to reach the horizon. He never thought the tailbacks could become more annoying than they already were. Indeed, future knew more than one way to surprise him – as always, at the worst possible time, the call from Iroha's school worrying him.

She always was a lively and stubborn child, a one of sharp wit – and perhaps, a slightly overconfident one as well, all the traits transferring into her teenage years. However, Iroha wasn't impossible to reason with, she certainly never took it upon herself to cause a disturbance to the class just for the sake of it. What could have possibly happen for her form teacher to call Masamune and request his presence? He had no idea. He tried to phone her, yet to no avail, the cheerful voice always asking him to record a message. What was even the point of having a portable communication device if he couldn't reach her when something was definitely wrong? He hoped that Mai had at the very least seen the text from him and didn't rush through her project presentation.

Having passed through the purgatory of the road, Masamune had finally wheeled the vehicle into the parking lot. He exited the car, closing the door maybe a bit too forcefully – he didn't have time to care about that, the white walls of the building waiting for him. He could hear each and every of his steps, the sounds bouncing off the walls, echoing through the surprisingly empty hallways. The familiar feeling resurfaced, all voices nothing but hushed whispers. If he were a cat, he'd arch his back – although he probably wouldn't have to, the students averting their gazes the very moment he caught them staring. He strode towards the principal's office, just to knock on the door and open it seconds later. The old habits still in place, he took a brief note of his surroundings, the unexpected growing in details: a woman, the woman he had seen somewhere else. “ Mr Date, good morning. We had an emergency situation.” “ What happened to Iroha?” “ To? To?!” the woman chimed in, her brows knitting together. “ She almost broke my son's nose!” “ Well, yes,” the principal cleared his throat. “ I wanted to discuss Iroha's behavior and possibly come up with an appropriate punishment. I presume we should also...” “ What exactly happened?” Masamune cut him off. “ She punched my son,” the mother claimed, crossing arms in front of her chest. “ Why?” ” For no reason, of course!” ” Are those my daughter’s words?” he inquired, although he suspected what was the answer. “ That is what was reported by several students.” “ Where is Iroha?”

If anything, he didn't wait for the permission to see his daughter. His hand twitched, the situation slowly clarifying in his mind. Soon, he reached the classroom she was supposed to be in, curious eyes observing him, the gossiping whispers tickling at the back of his neck. He knocked on the door, giving her some time before entering the room.

Iroha looked up from the desk, her eyes red and puffy from crying. He could see a kaleidoscope of emotion sweep over her face – sadness mixed and replaced with relief, tension, guilt and so, so many more. He took a step towards her and she got up abruptly, the chair almost falling over – and so, a second passed and he was hugging her tight, as she cried into his shoulder, her entire body trembling. “ Dad, I'm so, so sorry, I ruined everything, I got in trouble, mom will...” Iroha sobbed, as she inhaled sharply, her voice breaking. “ Shh, kitty, it's all good now. Don't worry about Mai, I texted her that I'll handle this,” he hummed, stroking her hair soothingly. “ But...” “ No buts. Just focus on breathing, okay? I need you to calm down. It's all good now.”

He knew better than to rush her – how long was it since the last time she had wept like that? Could he even count that in months, or was it years? Whatever happened, she was genuinely hurt and he couldn't bring himself to care about anything else at that very moment. No human would cause themselves pain, had they seen another way – surely, she didn't do anything just out of spite. She wasn't so little as not to understand the consequences of her actions anymore.

Finally, she had calmed down enough to let go, stress still coursing through her body. She sat down heavily, the chair creaking from sudden impact, as her father took a seat next to her. „ So, can you tell me what happened?” „ Firstly, whatever they told you, it's not true! I didn't hit him without any reason and his nose didn't even get close to being broken!” Iroha rushed to explain. „ It's fine, kitty, I wanted to hear from you first.” She pressed her lips shut, her fingers digging into the fabric of her skirt, bunching it up in the process. „ Well. We were waiting for the class to begin, I was looking outside the window, minding my own business. I felt my skirt move and the next moment somebody grabbed my bottom,” she stopped for a moment, taking a deep breath. „ So, I turned around. I saw this guy from my class crouched down behind me. I asked him what the fuck he was even thinking, but...He got up and started laughing, said I shouldn't have been daydreaming so much. And I punched him in the face.” „ Were there any teachers around?” „ Yeah, but the moment I looked at her, she looked away,” Iroha uttered, her voice threatening to break again. Her knuckles turned white, as her grip tightened. „ But she rushed to us when I punched him! She didn't want to listen at all! I got sent to the principal, then I wanted to call you and my phone was taken away and, and...” Her hands were shaking, the sadness replaced with anger. She clenched her jaw. „ And they told me just that 'boys do such things',” she finished.

Masamune knew those words too well, the expression serving as an excuse even back in the days of his childhood – and he would have lied, if he said he had never benefited from it. However, he grew up, the realisation haunting him at times like that: they did know better, but didn't want to admit it. Why would they, after all? It was easier not to hold somebody accountable... Yet, it should have never been a dilemma. „ Iroha, if anything like that ever happens again, if anybody oversteps your boundaries... Do anything to make them stop, got it? Break their nose, we'll deal with the consequences later” he finally mustered, holding in his rage. „And now is the later. Do you want to wait here or in the car?” „ The car.” Masamune nodded, handing her the keys and his phone. „ Update Mai, the call I got was too vague.”

Iroha sprawled over the back seat, fidgeting with her father's phone. She rolled her eyes, her own self looking back at her from the lock-screen. Perhaps she should have told him to change it, as not to scare anybody – she didn't exactly look the kindest when holding her wooden sword. Yet, she wasn't quite able nor willing to, the picture itself reminding her of how excited he was when she decided to practise kendo. She smiled, unlocking the phone to text Mai: „ Hey, mom. Iroha here. I'm okay now, dad's taking care of everything.” She looked away for a moment, the reply coming in almost instantly. „ ill call you asap” Her mother must have still been discussing the project, the rushed message being so unlike her.

The minutes seemed to stretch into eternity, the silence buzzing in her ears. More than anything, Iroha was tired – no, exhausted, both emotionally from all the stress, and physically, after crying. She looked at her hand – was it still hurting after hitting the bones, or was it just her imagination? She reached for her backpack and opened the textbook, hoping she'd be able to occupy her mind, even if just for a moment. However, the sentences didn't connect, the facts mixing with each other, forming an incoherent cluster of text. She couldn't help it, her thoughts drifting back to this hideous laugh... She couldn't rid herself of the feeling that she should have expected it, that she should have been more wary. Did she ignore the early signs? She should have known better...

The door next to the driver's seat opened, Masamune turning around to see her and ask for the keys. „ Hey, it's fine now. The guy's mother turned into a human-tomato and may stay one,” he assured her, starting the car. „ Thanks,” she hummed in response, fastening her seat belt. She looked outside the window, the school building soon disappearing, not bothering to say anything else. „ Are you fine, though?” „ Yeah. It's just that... Dunno, it feels like I should have known it would happen. But I'm so angry.” „ You did well..” „ But isn't violence always bad?” she argued, chewing on the inside of her cheek. „ No, not when they'd rather turn a blind eye on somebody hurting you. You just protected yourself.”

Iroha lay on her bed, the blankets hugging her tightly. She closed her eyes, the weariness overtaking her. In the end, she was safe – and definitely not alone.

Tag list: @datenoriko , @nad-zeta , @tsubaki3192 , @choi-jiyu , @missjudge-me If you want to be tagged under my future works, let me know (any way works)!^^ Also, if you have some preferences (for example: you’d rather not be tagged under some series, etc.), please, tell me.

#masamune date #ikesen masamune #ikemen sengoku masamune #ikesen #ikemen sengoku #ikemen series #my ff

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kmclaude · 5 years ago

Note

An AU thought, unfinished: Annemarie as a nun. Not a sexy nun, but someone found out about the whole “preggers with her brother’s baby and sent to a convent as punishment” type nun, who may or may not wind up teaching a bunch on unruly kids and has her fellow sisters breathing down her neck to make sure she doesn’t sin again. But hey, guess who’s the priest/confessor for the order? And considering nuns “have” to obey Fr. Tiefer’s authority…! Not smutty but it’s all I’ve got 🤷🏼‍♀️

oh how decadent! oops my hand slipped!!!

Émile is probably the one who gets mad when he finds out she’s pregnant and who’s kid it is because sure he’s white trash and has been bending his daughter over for years but he draws the line somewhere (and part of it is because he knows Emilein is a freak, he knows he wouldn’t want her so it’s obvious she’s the whole reason for being knocked up – and she’s been using the stupid baby in her fat gut as a shield to mouth off to him and run the joint – why not punish her? Besides, no one in that family can afford another mouth to feed…)

So he pulls Emilein aside, says, “hey, you’re good with that priest, yeah?” and Emilein shrugs, says, “maybe I am,” and braces for a nasty shot about how of course he is, he loves being on his knees, but it never comes, just, “so he knows about like…them wayward girl schools, yeah?” and Emilein plays dumb until his daddy plays his hand: send Annemarie off to a convent or wayward school or hell an asylum – she wants to use a baby to get her way, well then she can get out of the way. Forever.

Emilein, for once, is more than happy to help his daddy out.

He talks to the priest, Fr. Michaud, who has offered him chance and again ways out, one in particular though it would mean the priesthood, and reveals his sister is pregnant (not that it was terribly secret: the whole town was waiting for the day she slipped up at this point) and she is…troubled. And is there a place. The Church. Anything.

Of course Fr. Michaud hesitates because yes there is one nearby but it’s practically an asylum, run by an order on their grounds – cloistered – “And, to be frank, we all know your sister is…not exactly saving herself for anyone…but unless she’s a-a maniac it would be almost cruel–”

And Emilein puts his hand lightly on Fr. Michaud’s, smiles in a way that doesn’t meet his eyes, and says, “You know how she hasn’t named the father? You’d think someone like her’d be going up and down the street, demanding a wedding or at least support, wouldn’t you? But she ain’t. ‘Cause she can’t. Now, remember the first time we actually talked, you an’ me, an’ I told you I’d suck your cock in a heartbeat ‘cause that’s usually how things went with me an’ older men an’ not always by force?”

“Difficult to forget,” says Fr. Michaud, neglecting to mention that most fourteen year olds don’t say that.

“So we both agree I’m…funny.”

“What are you getting at, Emilein?”

“I’m sayin’, the reason she ain’t beatin’ down no po’ bastard’s door to help with her own bastard is ‘cause she doesn’t want anyone to know that the daddy’s her own brother.”

Michaud goes pale and Emilein isn’t smiling any more.

“We both know she don’t interest me much. So, Father, please: help me.”

–

Of course, being a good man, Fr. Michaud helps him, and Annemarie is sent away to have her child (and then work off the debt she’ll have accrued – after all, not like her father and brother can afford to pay.)

Her choice is very simple: go as willingly as she can pretend and nobody has to know about who the father is or fight and Emilein tells (with Fr. Michaud as a witness – Émile, of course, is more than willing to rat her out but really, every other word from his mouth is a lie.)

And life is peaceful – until Émile decides he can fully boss around his son like he did his daughter in a house he doesn’t own.

Emilein is having none of it but Emilein is terribly small and Émile has friends too, friends just as nasty as Annemarie’s boyfriends, and Émile ties him to a bed and starves him and lets all sorts of men use him for days and brags about the money he’s made from him – “shit, cher, we should’ve been whorin’ you out years ago! Guess yer cunt sister was just too jealous to share.”

He lets him go, eventually, after a week that feels like forever and Emilein runs to Fr. Michaud, banging on the church door, and when Fr. Michaud answers his request is much the same as it was before: “please, help me.”

Of course, being a good man, Fr. Michaud helps Emilein Tiefer and gets him connected to the seminary.

–

At twenty-five and with the title of ‘Father’ himself, Tiefer is assigned to a convent in Fuckoff Nowhere, Louisiana to be the priest and confessor on the grounds. Segregated from the opposite sex and the real world for so long only to be thrown headfirst into the wide world, some were realizing, was not the greatest idea: so, the younger were sent off to serve their religious siblings first, particularly their sisters.

The Mother Superior is kind when she greets him on his arrival, a stark contrast to all the rumors of the convent here: it was a convent, yes, that made its daily bread with something of a home for wayward girls – part home, part school (for the younger ones whose unfortunate choices and circumstances left them behind their peers as well as their children, for those who had or expected them), part workhouse so the former two could survive – but for years its nickname had been the asylum because, regardless of how long one worked, much like the TB asylums, the only way out was in a casket.

Which is where, Tiefer always figured, his sister was at this point.

Until, during a tour of the small school on the grounds (as the children would be needing sacraments as well) he sees one of the nuns with the children – though she’s not a nun, not exactly, as she only wears a veil and simple dress and the bangs of her blonde hair peak out and frame her face – and she, in turn, sees him and freezes.

“Mother Superior,” he asks, voice steady as possible, once they’ve passed, once he’s calmed down, “who was that woman?”

“With the children? That’s Sister Anne, one of our success stories – quite a tough one too. She came here, pregnant, no idea who the father was and ready to dare I say fight every one of us sisters who came near. But the Lord works in mysterious ways and eventually He brought her ‘round. She should be taking her vows in a few years.”

“Ah. Do many of your girls usually wind up joinin’ the order?”

The mother superior sighs, sort of pointed in a way that hints that the topic is better put to rest. “Unfortunately, it’s not always part of God’s plan,” she says and then adds, “You sound a lot like she does – how far down South did you come?”

“Very.”

“Hm. She also.”

–

“Sister Anne. A word?”

After all the introductions and required niceties are made, Tiefer doubles back to the classroom of children, led by the novitiate.

“Of course, Father,” she says, the shock from earlier long gone from her face, a little more lined than he’d remembered it, her eyes a little less bright.

“In private?”

He lets her lead the way to a small, unused classroom and locks the door behind them.

“Well. Never thought I’d see you here, Sister.”

She scoffs, the plain novitiate from earlier twisting, like a monster under flesh, into his sister, the way he knew her, cocky attitude and all. “Why not? You put me here.”

“You know what I mean. ‘Sides, he put you here.”

“You helped.”

“Just told the truth is all. You want me to tell the truth again?”

“Can’t send me away again, sugar. Anyway, I’m a changed woman. The success story of these sisters.”

“Ain’t you special, huh?”

“Had to be. Play along or die like the rest.” She looks him over, sixteen years on his twenty-five, sizing him up. “You obviously understand, don’tcha Emi?”

“Father, now, actually.”

“Father, right, Father, now, huh? So Father – what was it? Not enough dicks to suck back home, you had to join the biggest boy’s club around? Or you just get sick of Daddy – bet he was a real sonuvabitch once he didn’t have me ‘round to take his shit out on.”

He cuts her off: “Annemarie. You like it here?”

“You like it where you are?”

He doesn’t answer, simply pulls out a cigarette and his lighter. He watches her reach out, then freeze.

“I’ll share if you tell me what the fuck you’re doin’ playin’ nunnery.”

“I told you. Play along or die. Same as you.”

“You don’t know shit about me or what I been through.”

“An’ you know ‘bout me?”

Tiefer shrugs, lights up. Refuses her one.

“I heard the girls who come here only leave one way.”

“Do I look like I left?”

“Mm.” He offers her a cigarette and a light. Her fingers brush his. He tries not to grab her wrist and crush it. “So this is better? Bein’ a mother to a slew of bastards an’ prayin’ to God who put you here?”

“I dunno, Emi–”

“Do not–”

“Father Emi, you tell me: would you like being worked like a dog to pay off your own existence your fuckin’ family sold off, gettin’ beat ‘cause no one gives a damn about you, and not knowin’ if the priest they brought in to hear confessions this ‘round would rather you suck him off than say you’re sorry. I’m fuckin’ forty-one years old: I wanted something close to freedom, even if it’s from behind a wall an’ veil. ”

Tiefer makes a sound like mock pity. “Sounds like every damn day of my childhood, Annemarie. In fact,” – he grabs her by the jaw, pulls her close, tugs the cigarette from her lips and puts it out against the back of her neck, hidden by her veil – “looks to me like you’re getting off easy, little miss success story.”

“Em–”

“That’s Father to you, now. An’ come to think of it, I’m sure Mother Superior would love to hear what you really did.”

“You wouldn’t dare.”

“Would they put you back in the work house? Or just turn you loose on the streets like a dog. Where you gonna go, Sister? Y’all take vows of poverty last I heard – gonna finally be a real whore and suck dick in the gutter?”

“Please…”

“Please what, pity you?”

Tiefer lets her go, takes a drag from his own cigarette, blocking the door. He grins, more a snarl than anything else.

“Oh Annemarie… You’re right: I wouldn’t dare as long as you don’t give me a reason to. I’m your superior now…let’s start treatin’ me as such, hm?”

He unlocks the door. “An’ Sister Anne? If you thought those other priests who put your ol’ ass on your knees were bad, you’re gonna really regret all your earlier sins against me.”

#character stuff #au where annemarie is a nun #pretreetzi #my writing #writing #callistochan87 #kmclaudereplies #kmclauderepliestoask #kmclaudereplies to ask #kmclaudeart

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b-rainlet · 6 years ago

Text

Totally Crazy AU Idea feat. Time Travel Shenanigans

TUA AU where they prevent the apocalypse by tinkering around in the past and then come back to the Future

BUT of course it’s not that easy because they come back to the Future….changed

Last time Five time travelled and ended up in his 13 year old body with a 58 year old consciousness

This time around it’s worse

Everyone - except Diego - has just gone completely wild. Different ages everywhere.

And not only are they stuck being a younger/older version of themselves, their minds actually adapted to that change

Highlights include (going from oldest to youngest):

A 70? 80? Old Five, who spends most of his time sitting in a chair by the window and sleeping

The only person who could potentially know how to fix this mess fucking. sleeping. the whole day

Diego tries to talk to him in the rare moments when Five’s awake but there’s nothing even remotely useful coming out of his mouth

“Five, I need you to help me change you back to your old bodies.” - “Is there going to be cake? I like cake. My wife used to back a delicious cherry pie...I wonder where she is…..” - “Five you’ve never been married.” - “You remind me of my youngest son….He is an architect. He never visits, that ungrateful idiot. But you’ll visit me, right?” - “....Sure I’ll visit you.”

It’s a fucking nightmare and that’s not even counting the awful times Diego had to give Five a bath

(He tried to ignore that but at some point the smell just got bad. Diego hopes that as soon as Five changes back he’s gonna be on his knees, praising Diego’s kindness)

(He also hopes they never ever talk about this)

Sometimes Five will get up and walk around the house looking for Delores and Diego actually found him napping on the floor in the attic

Most of the time he sleeps though and Diego is quite grateful for that because he’s actually the least of his problems

There’s also 17 year old Vanya being in her rebellious phase, going out to party and cracking the music just that teeny bit higher when Diego tells her it’s too loud

“Is that a hickey?! Who did this?” - “I dunno.” - “You don’t remember???” - “There were multiple people.” - “Multiple People?!”

The cliche “You’re not my real Dad!” but it’s mostly “As your big brother…” - “You’re not my brother! We’re just adopted siblings!”

Vanya - as the only one old enough to have any kind of responsibility in this situation - just not giving a fuck about the age problem

“We need to come up with a plan!” - “I don’t give a fu-” - “Language! Think of the fucking children!”

Also emo Vanya and Diego tries to explain how all of this happened and that he believes that maybe the commission knows how to help

“Wait I destroyed the world?” “...Yes.” - “Good.”

He doesn’t elaborate how she destroyed the world though but with the current rage she’s constantly carrying around with her…..she really doesn’t need to use her powers

Also: Diego still having to do his whole vigilante gig and Vanya not really feeling the whole Babysitting thing

“That’s your baby brother!” - “I didn’t choose to have one though.” “I fucking didn’t choose this either Vanya, are you fucking kidding me-”

Catch Vanya coming down to - slightly burned - breakfast in black eyeliner and leather pants, wearing Reggie’s monocle even though she can’t see shit with it

“Aren’t you supposed to practise the violin?” - “Aren’t you supposed to grow up and get an actual job?”

Diego doing some good old depression drinking when it’s all getting too much and Vanya just swooping in to drink with him

“This is all getting wayyy over my head, I have no idea what to do.” - “Uh-huh.” - “That’s why you need to help a bit more…-wait, are you drinking Vodka? You’re underage!” - “Don’t derail the conversation now, big bro. We were just making progress!”

There’s at least one instance where Diego says. “Young Lady!” in a really stern voice and then immediately has Reginald’s face flashing in front of his eyes and a impromptu crisis about becoming like him

13 year old Luther who is obsessed with becoming a vet and starts a secret animal shelter in the house that’s not at all secret

“Luther, why’s your jacket moving?” - “I...don’t know?”

“Luther, did your backpack just bark?” - “Nooooo, I-uh, I sneezed.”

(He’s a really bad liar)

Diego frequently stumbles over animals just, fucking, laying in the middle of the hallway

He once nearly stepped on a tortoise

He did step on a caterpillar

Luther’s still looking for it

One time, Luther managed to smuggle a pinguin into the academy

A real life pinguin

Out of the zoo

(Diego is convinced Vanya helped Luther just to fuck with him)

He’s also obsessed with space and convinced that he’s gonna develop the ability to fly next to his super strength

They’ve been in the ER for several hours because Klaus convinced Luther that maybe he could trigger his ‘second super power’ by jumping of the shed

(It didn’t work)

“Who on earth would jump down the shed without at least something soft to land on? Have you ever heard of safety regulations?” - “I had a parachute in case things went wrong!” - “You had an umbrella. It had holes.”

Luther slips up once and calls Diego ‘Dad’ and then panics so hard he forgets to breathe

He nearly faints and Vanya laughing at the whole situation really doesn’t make things better

“You do realize that I am not your Father, right? I’m your big brother.” - “Yeah, of course, sure, youß My Dad? Ridiculous, I’m gonna head to my room now, bye Dad-Diego! Diego! Not Dad!”

At least Luther is kinda a normal kid, not at all like Klaus

10 year old Klaus who still can see ghosts and is fucking terrified of them

They’re everywhere

And Diego honestly has no idea what to do with him or how to help

Klaus is afraid that the ghosts will hurt him when he doesn’t watch them constantly, so he tries not to sleep

By 6 pm, Klaus has already downed three coffees and several cheap energy drinks

Diego tried to limit his supply by taking away his stash under the bed but that only made Klaus more creative with his hiding spots

They’re behind the bookshelf in the living room, in the dusty cookie jar in the kitchen, under a loose floor panel under the table, under Diego’s bed, hidden in the ventilation system…..

Soon as Diego finds one spot, Klaus has another one at the ready

“Maybe they won’t spook you anymore if you just..stand up to them.” - “How?” - “Just, you know, scream at them. Go all out, scream ‘Go away’ at the top of your lungs, show them you’re the one in charge.”

But Klaus is too shy for that

He has braces and due to that, he has a slight lisp

He doesn’t really like talking

He does like making trouble with his brother though when the ghosts aren’t as close

They once stuck a magnet to Klaus braces and then couldn’t get it off again

Diego’s second visit in the ER

Klaus managed to somehow rip out part of it and the wires got stuck in his cheek and slashed it open

Third Visit

There was also that brief stint where Vanya pierced Klaus’ ear. Herself. Because Diego really is the only responsible person around here

Fourth Visit

‘That’s a lot of work!’ you say? Apparently the universe thinks it’s not enough because there are still the two youngest left! Please someone save Diego from this suffering, he never wanted to be a single Dad

There is sweet and cute 5 year old Allison…..

…..who is a brat when she doesn’t get her way

“I want ice cream.” - “All shops are closed now, you should’ve said something sooner.” - “I want ice cream!” - “Well you’re not getting any. And that’s ‘please’ and ‘I would like some ice cream’ not ‘I want ice cream’.” - “I. Want. ICE CREAM.”

Cue a screaming fit, complete with throwing herself down and banging her little fists against the floor

And occasionally looking up to see whether Diego is still watching all the hard work Allison is putting into this. He gets why she’s an actress now

(He may have ended up buying her some goddamn ice cream at the overpriced petrol station one town over. She nibbled at it and the gave it back to him because she ‘wasn’t hungry’)

Diego’s gonna fucking lose it if he has to do this any longer

But she can also be really sweet, playing calmy with her dolls or drawing him pictures

“Look!” - “Oh wow! You drew a….an elephant! Beautiful!” - “That’s not an elephant silly, that’s you!” - “Oh. Of course. How could I not see that?”

He may have cried a little when she gave him a picture of their family, sorted from oldest to youngest, all of them holding hands

”Why am I wearing a cape?” - “Because you’re our hero.”

It’s a good thing that Allison never uses her powers in arguments - the only thing Diego is glad Reginald drilled into her at a young age already - but that doesn’t mean that she doesn’t use it at all

She uses it, alright

“Allison, for the love of god, stop constantly changing your hair colour. I like your hair just as it is.”

“Allison! Stop making the cat fly! And Luther, stop letting stray cats inside the house!”

“Allison! Stop turning your Oatmeal into chocolate! No, you can’t turn Klaus’ Oatmeal into chocolate either! Don’t turn anyone’s Oatmeal into chocolate!”

“Allison, stop turning yourself invisible when you’re playing tag. You know it freaks Luther out and you don’t wanna make him cry again, do you?”

But the greatest challenge of them all may be Ben

(It’s definitely Ben)

See, taking care of a Baby is already hard enough when it’s just a Baby, but a Baby with literal tentacles coming out of their body?

Ben is a quiet kid, let him sleep and - much like Five - he’ll spend his days like that

When he’s awake, play a bit with him, talk to him not at all in baby voices, Diego would never do that, no matter what Vanya claims to have seen

Try not to worry too much about the Tentacles that are constantly out (Is that normal? Were they constantly out the first time Ben had been a Baby? Should Diego like, try to stuff them back in? Would that be a good idea? Probably not)

Ben has killed people with them for fuck’s sake, but they mostly seem interested in wrapping themselves around Diego’s hand and holding on while Ben sucks on his pacifier

(The wiggly boys are kinda cute, in a weird, disturbing way)

Well, as long as they don’t-

“Luther! Get the cat before the tentacles get her! And stop letting stray cats in!”

There are only two rules concerning Ben and his...Bentacles:

Don’t scare or startle him

Diego found this out the hard way when he played peek-a-boo with Ben and was rewarded by having ink splashed into his face

Smelly Ink

Glowing Smelly Ink

Green Glowing Smelly Ink

(He spent two hours in the bathroom. In the meantime, Klaus nearly set the Kitchen on Fire and Vanya sneaked out despite being grounded to dramatically drive away with her girlfriend of the week)

So, don’t startle Ben if you don’t wanna be covered in gross stuff, noted

All is well

Then, Ben gets a cold

Which means he is more whiny than usual and barely sleeps, keeping Diego up all night

But cool, Diego could live with that

If it wouldn’t mean that Ben sneezes

A lot

And the Bentacles sneeze too

The walls of Ben’s room are soaking in ink, it’s dripping from the fucking ceiling and Diego can’t even leave because he’s afraid Ben’s gonna think he left him at the worst time of his life, but he also can’t take Ben into another room because he’d only ruin that one too…..

And Diego spending so much time with Baby Ben is making Allison jealous and Vanya hates being forced to stay around and watch over her little siblings because Diego has his hands full with the Bentacles and it only makes both of them more moody and snappy towards each other…….

It’s a long week for everyone involved

Rule Number Two, maybe the most important one:

Never. Ever. Take his Blankie

And he means never

(Thank fuck that he had pushed Allison out of the way, he still has a massive bruise on his shoulder from being thrown against the cupboard)

Basically, give me this family drama movie about Diego somehow becoming a single Dad to super children

With guest appearances such as:

Eudora, who is actually never physically there

But Diego phones her all the time because he’s freaking out

She categorically refuses to go play happy family with him, there’s no way she’s gonna get involved with that….mess

“Dora, could you come over to-” - “No.”

“Patch, there’s an emergency I need to-” - “No.”

“Could you maybe watch over Ben? Just for an hour?” - “I don’t know how to handle kids. I’m an only child.” - “I met your two brothers??”

Diego phones her and gets send to voice message and it’s just Eudora saying “Whatever it is Diego, the answer is no.”

Diego also keeps calling her to ask her really ridiculous questions about children

“Hypothetically….a kid wouldn’t actually die from swallowing a bunch of buttons, right?” - “A bunch? How does that kinda accident happen?” - “....Maybe it wasn’t an accident…..”

“Do you think it’s okay to curse in front of Babies? They don’t actually understand you, right?” - “Diego, I swear to God, it’s three am. I will kick your ass.”

Grace, who is somehow conveniently malfunctioning right when Diego would need her the most and who just….forgot how to take care of children

And how to not endanger them

Diego catched her giving Klaus tips on how to properly light things up (“Because you wanna make a big fire, honey, don’t you?”)

She basically does what the kids ask her to without any kind of regulation

They had cake for breakfast, lunch and dinner for one week straight before Diego forbid her to cook and took over that task himself

(Now, stuff may be slightly burned but at least healthy)

She helped Luther when he hid from Diego because he refused to take a bath, lying to Diego’s face - to his face - that she had no idea where Luther could be

She actually disfigures her arm so the Bentacles can play with it (!)

She gave Allison scissors because she wanted to cut her hair (!!!)

And she uses swear words in the weirdest situations because someone - Diego suspects Luther or Klaus but it’s actually Vanya - keeps teaching them to her

“Mom, have you seen Allison?” - “I have no idea where that hoe is, Asshole.”

“Diego, sweetheart, would you hand me the fucking bowl?” - “The what?”

She also does breakdance with Klaus to pretty inappropriate music

“My neck, my back, lick my-” - “JOY TO THE WORLD, THE LORD HAS COME”

She also keeps malfunctioning further because she doesn’t seem to get the concept of liquids being bad for robots

(She plays tea party with Allison a lot. Pogo has to try and fix her after every time)

Speaking of Pogo

He’s not around a lot because he spends all his time going through Reginald’s documents to either find a way to fix Grace or find some clues about Time Travel Shenanigans

(Klaus also cries every time he sees her and Allison refuses to talk to him, so it’s better if he’s not around that much)

He spends a lot of time with Vanya though under the guise of helping him with his research

(She really just likes jamming out in the same room as him because he doesn’t mind how loud her music is and he doesn’t annoy her as much as the others)

When the appropriate amount of time has passed for all the weirdest scenarios to play out and them to grow closer as a family in-between visits to the ER and mental breakdowns on Diego’s part and just general chaos all around, with some super elements thrown in

Diego has a lead about how all of this is actually the commissions fault

(Because of course it is)

So I am begging you to imagine Diego, storming into the commission headquarters, in full on Vigilante Mode, with the appropriate amount of Leather on his body and a broody look on his face

Basically ready to kick some ass

With Baby Ben strapped to his chest, in one of those Baby Carriers

Babbling and giggling, clutching his Blankie while Diego takes out all his knives

And he fights the bad guys in badass showdowns but still manages to cover Ben’s ears when they throw insults at him because “There’s a kid present! Show some class!” - “Sorry.”

Also one of them (maybe the big bad?) dares to take away Ben’s Blankie (because of course) and Ben handing his ass to him without as much as blinking

Proud big bro baby talking Ben like “Who’s my little Tentacle Boy? You are! I’m so proud of my murderous baby bro, yes I am!”

While all of that goes down, the others are told to wait in the car

Well, Vanya, Luther and Allison are supposed to wait in the car

Klaus got the huge responsibility of staying home and watching over Five because he’s in no state to be near any dangerous situations, not with his lack of sleep and his jumpiness

(Vanya, Luther and Allison were also supposed to stay at home, but both Luther and Allison refused to let Diego go alone - full on flinging themselves around his legs - and Vanya was already sitting in the car when the other three got there, not even saying anything)

But Diego is stubborn so he doesn’t let them go in with him (he has this whole speech about how Ben needs to be there because it’s the only place where Diego can properly protect him... but Diego is just really soft for Ben and doesn’t want to possibly lose sight of him)

Ben may possibly be Diego’s fave but don’t tell the others

Anyway, Vanya, Luther and Allison don’t make it more than three minutes before leaving the car

If asked, accusations would go wild, everyone blaming someone else, but fact is, Luther got out of the car first

(He saw a kitty)

Allison then got out of the car because Luthe got out and what he can do, she can do double

(Also...Kitty)

Vanya is the teenager stereotype who doesn’t even notice that they go because she’s listening to music on her walkman like an emo and trying to scope out the place as best as she can from her position

And then turns back to the others after a while

“Do you think everything’s alright back t-SHIT!”

So, they end up going to a whole other section of the evil headquarters and kick ass there

First Luther and Allison kick ass together, deciding to go find Diego if they’re already out of the car anyway

Followed by Vanya, who still believes she’s powerless and takes out guards sneaky style, hitting them over the head with a desk lamp or whatever else she can find

UNTIL

Luther and Allison are cornered by the bad guys and they don’t care whether they hurt children or not and it seems like L and A have lost

The guards are closing in and Luther positions himself in front of his sister to at least try and protect her while Allison hides behind him and both of them are crying…..

They close their eyes…..

And then there’s a loud clash and screaming and the sound of bodies hitting the floor and when they look up again there’s Vanya standing in the middle of the room, eyes white, guards laying dead to her feet

She doesn’t stay WV though, she comes back to herself to rush over to her siblings and check whether they are okay

Cue a short cuddle pile

“You have powers! Awesome!” - “Yeah, I….I guess so.”

Somehow, they reunite with Diego and manage to threaten the Handler enough she rights time, making them grown ups again and promising Five and Klaus are adults again too and that Grace should be functioning now

(Let’s just pretend she can do that and we can trust her for the sake of this AU. The important part is the whole de-aging anyway)

So, they come back home, slightly bruised but mostly okay and Vanya and Diego definitely have a heart to heart in the car about her powers while Allison, Luther and Ben are asleep in the backseat (a leftover gift from being children in stress situations)

“Thanks Diego. For all that you did.” - “I was a terrible surrogate Dad though.” - “You were a thousand times better than our real Father.”

Bonus: They come back home and just find Klaus and Five sleeping on the floor, looking like they’ve been through the apocalypse all over

Because watching over Five was supposed to be easy and even boring

But with Five sleeping - as usual - and Grace shutdown for the night already (and Pogo locked in his studies to figure out a solution) there’s nothing standing between Klaus and the ghosts

So Klaus mixes himself a drink containing three different Energy Drinks and a bunch of sugar

And sets it on the table to down it as soon as he’s peed

He comes back, prepared to drink that stuff and not think to hard about the taste

But the Glass is empty

And Five’s gone

Five + accidentally drinking something strong enough to kill someone? A disaster

He’s on the loose

And he somehow thinks someone has abducted Delores?

Wtf?

Klaus has to spend the rest of his night chasing Five, who keeps glitching around the house like a maniac, yelling and rambling and…..fighting the air? With a sword?

Where the F did he get a sword???

And it’s impossible to get Five to sit down - or at least get off the table

orthechandelierhowdidhegetonthechandelier

He’s so high on sugar he is vibrating

(Klaus is fearing for his life)

And then there’s also the fucking ghosts, who keep lurking in the shadows and reaching out for him, moaning and cursing his name…..

But Klaus doesn’t have time for this right now and he is fed up of having his life controlled by a bunch of dead people

He wants to be able to sleep again

He wants his life again

So he thinks of Diego, of his advice, and he takes a deep breath and just screams at them

“GO AWAY!!”

And it actually works

The ghosts recoil, shocked when Klaus doesn’t cower before them like usual

And they disappear

Just….disappear in a dust of smoke

And then he’s an adult again

And Five - who took the time to strip to his boxers and use lipstick like war paint - is too

Klaus rides out Five’s sugar high as best as he can, sighing in relief when he finally falls asleep, crashing down on top of him and taking a nap with him right there, on the living room floor

Where the others find them

That’s all I got tbh, but it’s already a lot askjkaj

Bls Hollywood, make it happen

#tua #five hargreeves #klaus hargreeves #diego hargreeves #vanya hargreeves #luther hargreeves #ben hargreeves #allison hargreeves #grace hargreeves #pogo

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techouspeaks · 6 years ago

Text

Puzzleshipping: My Most Hated Shipping

Now before anyone tries to flag me or send me hate mail or both, look and read before you get mad. Also, if you do love this shipping, that’s perfectly fine. I have nothing against you. I’m not saying people who enjoy this shipping are bad people or stupid nor do I wish any ill fated action on them. None of that. This is just my personal gripe with this shipping. I am ranting it here, on my page, on my blog. Not attacking anyone personally about it. I know how loved this shipping is, I may not get it but okay I‘m just sharing my views, to share a different perspective.

All I ask anyone is to read this with an open mind. Everyone is gonna have a different opinion. This is more so my reasons why I hate this ship for reasons of both sharing opinions and also as away to get off my chest.

To start off there are many reasons why I absolutely despise Puzzleshipping and some reasons are ones that fans probably heard a lot. If you dunno what Puzzleshipping is for followers new to my blog or this subject, it’s the shipping or pairing of YugiXYami/Atem in Yugioh Duel Monsters.

First is the whole Yami/Atem and Yugi look alike and are possibly related, thus getting into um inappropriate (family romance) levels. (I’m honestly trying not to get this censored by tumblr). True, it’s never stated whether or not Yami/Atem and Yugi are related, except in one video game which is not canon to the series.

Honestly, you can’t blame people for feeling like this shipping goes into that territory. They look exactly alike. If you had a stranger who knew nothing of Yugioh and they saw some questionable fan art of the two, it’s only natural that they would think fans are into inter-family relationships and think “What the actual hell?”

When I was first really into the internet at a high school age, that was my main shock of the relationship because I’m like “Aren’t they related?”. I know this is still debatable but even then I’m like “Kinda creepy”.

Another obvious one is that Yugi blushes or gets more flustered around women. He is never this way around men. He’s never shy around men and especially Yami. Shoot, the moment a woman hands out sample ad brochures for Duke’s shop, Yugi blushes at her. Obviously, he doesn’t know her but still flusters around her since she’s pretty, indicating a more well obvious attraction to the opposite sex. Not to mention when Yugi is kissed by Rebecca and when Tea gets obviously jealous.

Yami on the other hand, I would argue he’s even asexual or even aromantic because he doesn’t seem that remotely interested in anyone. Maybe, Mana but even that is still debatable. He cares for people sure, but never shows that much of an interest in that kind of way. He protects Yugi and of course, cares for him but the way he’s does so is more of a brother or father figure looking after their brother/son. It’s protective love but not romantic. He doesn’t want to kiss Yugi or show anything that would indicate a romantic relationship. In fact, he even encourages Yugi to go after Anzu in the Japanese version. Most of this over protective attitude stems for the fact Yami feels guilty for dragging Yugi and his friends in his personal endeavors that can be dangerous, which often Yami states through out the series.

Now, I’m not going to go on with superficial and typical reasons that are often heard of when hating on this ship. I’ll just get to my main gripe about it and it’s a very deep reason for hating it. It’s my inner core of why I hate this ship. This shipping is the top, number one shipping of any series I can’t stand and here is why.

I honestly believe Puzzleshipping goes against what the story of Yugi Mutou is about and even who Yugi is as a character. The story of Yugioh Duel Monsters and generally Yugi’s personal story is about growing up. Yugi becoming an independent, strong, individual that can hold up his own in personal fights. Yami helps Yugi along, first as an entity that Yugi isn’t aware of yet but feels the presence of. As time goes on and he realizes who Yami is, at first he’s afraid because of what Yami does to Kaiba. He goes against Yugi’s wishes to not hurt Kaiba, but thanks to Anzu/Tea, Yugi stops Yami. After he vows to not go against Yugi’s wishes ever again, Yugi begins to trust Yami and become good friends, realizing that he is the confident entity that’s been protecting Yugi and helping him stand against tough foes, as well as gain the confidence to make friends.

Yami of course, goes against Yugi’s wishes again when he decides to use the Seal of Orichalcos against Rafael, though ultimately regrets this after Yugi pushes Yami and gets sealed away instead. Though this leads to Yugi and Yami in a heated duel, that results in Yugi explaining that it was for Yami to finally defeat the darkness within his heart, thus allowing Yugi to help Yami grow this time. Yugi continues to lend in the strength that Yami needs as Yami did for Yugi during his times of needs.

Now after explaining all that, it does seem like Puzzleshipping is legit, right? Not really. See, my gripe and why I say Puzzleshipping goes against it is how the fandom depicts Yugi in Puzzleshipping. When the time came and Yami had to be sent to the past, this was basically Yugi growing up and moving forward to continue on with being his own person, while Yami learns to be a strong, individual leader that his people need.

The way Puzzleshipping often depicts Yugi is the exact opposite to that. PS often depicts Yugi as a helpless damsel or someone that can’t live without Yami. The shipping seems to throw away all the development that Yugi gained, making Yugi look more helpless and more needing a man than Snow White and Sleeping Beauty! I know Yugi isn’t always strong and always confident but my goodness, he’s definitely come along way and I just feel that most PS works just throw this development way like it was nothing but garbage.

Same with Yami. Puzzleshipping often displays Yami as the hero that rescues Yugi or seductive flirty person, which he is not. While there are some that depict Yugi and Yami similar to the series, that’s also a problem too. It depicts Yugi and Yami before they grew and learn the lessons they learned.

Also why I am not showing puzzleshipping artwork in this post is because that would probably be considered art theft and I don’t want this blog flagged! Google it yourself!

Yugi is a character that in my youth, I looked up to a lot. When I was in middle school, I was bullied a lot and wish I had a large group of friends to stand by me. I probably wouldn’t have survived school without seeing Yugi during his struggles, showing he can be strong but also kind and accepting, thus giving me hope to find someone equally as kind and accepting.

Put it short, Yugi, his story and his friends helped me out during the toughest times as a kid. So seeing Yugi depicted as this prissy, helpless princess that needs his Egyptian Prince is just down right insulting to the character, I highly respect. Yeah, he’s fictional but again, he’s a character I grew up, highly respecting and looking up to as an example of a person I wished to be and a person that I wanted to be with. (Though I’m happy for Tea/Anzu, since she’s also really awesome.) Yami is too though he got a bit emo for my tastes down the road, he’s still a character that certainly deserves some respect as well.

It’s sorta like how people can’t stand remakes and reboots, despite this is just pure fandom fluff. Yeah, nothing is gonna stop it but that doesn’t stop people from feeling the way they feel about it and wanting to rant about it now and then and I’m not saying that all Puzzleshipping works are like what I described, but a majority of them are, especially in artworks.

Puzzleshipping just ruins the long, struggling, development of our two main leads and what are a great, strong and reliable individual characters. The whole point of the Dark Side of Dimensions movie was for Yugi to settle with his conflict he had when Yami left him and finally move on and I just feel like Puzzleshipping throws this type of development out the window, for a more “Kawaii-ish feels” or often from my perspective, to just add more gay to Yugioh.

I get there are AUs and people are allowed to have their fun and if I insulted fans well, sorry but call it even because I can’t search Yugi Muto without Puzzleshipping work being in my face and there’s only so much soft blocking I can do. I’m not at all saying that people can’t ship these two because yeah, like I’m the queen of the world! Hell no! It’s also not like I don’t have a few questionable ships and shippings a lot of people may not agree with myself.

(Drawing and Violet, child in the middle by me. Angel Dust and Vaggie belong to VivziePop)

Like I said, I’m just giving my reasons for why I personally hate it, why it ticks me off and why I think it’s one of the worst shippings in terms of pairings that are otherwise not that morally bad. There are far worse shippings that are more obvious on why they’re bad, but this one just gets under my skin for personal reasons, as I stated.

Think of this post as a dive into a different perspective, if you will. The goal isn’t to change the minds of puzzleshippers but to give a different point of view, especially to those that may not fathom why someone would hate this shipping. As I said, on the surface, Puzzleshipping seems legit but on the deeper levels, it’s not as wonderful as it may seem, at least to people like me and at least the majority of works that show case it.

I hope this rant though long, is at least informative and shares light on personal feelings that I certainly have and some who hate this shipping as much as I do also have. As stated, ship who you want. I mean, I obviously can’t tell you what to ship and to not ship. If it makes you happy, go for it. As said, just wanted to share my thoughts and my reasons. Obviously there’s worst things out there but everyone has a pet peeve or something that maybe mundane but is annoying or even infuriating to them.

So, creative question to anyone who reads this, what is a shipping you really can’t stand and why? Is there a shipping you hate? Also, what’s a shipping you like? My personal favorites are SpiderMoth (Angel Dust and Vaggie from Hazbin Hotel), Peachshipping (though I see it as canon), TomaXChiffon from Futago Hime and CloseXHaruka/Cure Flora and ShutXTowa/Cure Scarlet from Go Princess Precure.

#puzzleshipping #yugioh #yugi mutou #yugi moto #yami yugi #editorial

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raendown · 5 years ago

Link

Pairing: MadaraTobirama Word count: 4085 Soulmate au: The one where you have a mark on your body that expands until you meet your soulmate

Follow the link or read it under the cut!

KO-FI and commission info in the header!

Chapter 191: Madara/Tobirama

When he was young Tobirama paid little attention to the dots of color on his face. They didn’t hurt or impede his fun in any way and lots of the adults around him had some sort of color on their skin too. If it wasn’t unusual he didn’t see a point in worrying over it and if he wasn’t worrying about it then he didn’t see a point in asking many questions. The dots spread out across his face so gradually he hardly noticed until one day he looked in the mirror and saw lines instead.

He went, of course, to the one person he knew he could trust with any question.

“They’re part of your soul mark,” Hashirama told him. “Everyone has something. See? Here’s mine!” His brother kicked off one shoe and pulled down his stocking to show off the splash of green painted along the bottom of his foot, something Tobirama had seen many times before yet never thought to question.

“But they’re getting bigger.”

“Yeah, of course, that’s what they do!”

Tobirama blinked, bringing a hand up to cup one of his cheeks and squeezing the lingering baby fat with worry. “So they won’t ever stop growing? What if they cover me everywhere? Then I’ll be red all over!”

“Um…that can happen, yeah. Remember the Lady Yamanaka?”

He certainly remembered the Lady Yamanaka, a prominent figure at court until swirls of blue began to creep up from below her collar and her father sent her away back to the family estate. At the time Tobirama hadn’t understood why, nor had he cared, and even now that he knew the reason he still wasn’t sure he knew why she needed to be sent away. If the colors were their soul marks then why was it bad for them to be seen? Should he be hiding his own?

“Why didn’t her father want anyone to see her colors? Lots of people’s colors show all the time.”

“It’s kind of hard to explain. With the common folk its fine to let your soul mark grow but for the important people, well, Mama says we’re supposed to be better than the common folk. We’re supposed to have everything they don’t.” Hopping around trying to stuff his foot back in to his stocking, Hashirama gave an inelegant shrug. “If your mark is still growing then it means you haven’t found your soulmate yet. I guess some people are ashamed of that.”

“But why?”

“I dunno. People do a lot of silly things. Do you want to come climb the apple trees with me in the orchard?” Hashirama beamed at him, all innocence and easy distraction.

Still patting at his own cheek Tobirama frowned. “You’ll get in trouble if you spoil your clothes again. Father says that a prince must always look his best.”

“Do you want to come or not?”

“Yes, Anija.”

Willing to forget such questions if his big brother didn’t think it was important enough to keep talking about, Tobirama allowed the older boy to take hold of one wrist and pull him away towards the other end of the palace where the apple trees grew so tall they could climb to the top and look over in to the courtyards where strong knights practiced their sword work.

Over the years as he grew Tobirama managed to ask his other questions but he never quite managed to ignore the way his marks continued to grow. Unlike others he was lucky enough to have his marks begin on his face and expand downwards where no one but he and his closest family would even see how far they had reached. When he was younger he made a habit of checking every day to see how the lines had grown, trying to predict which direction they might swoop or curl towards next, but as he grew older he fell out of the habit.

Partly because staring at one’s own skin could only be entertaining for so long before it got old. The lines would never stop growing until he met his soulmate and whatever shapes they made had little impact on his everyday life. But also partly out of fear, out of a quiet sort of terror that one day he would wake to find that the lines close to his wrists would expand and slip through the cuffs of his silken shirts to prove for the world that he was doomed to spend the rest of his life alone. And despite his older brother’s assurances Tobirama was quite certain he would spend his life alone just as his younger brother Itama.

Poor sweet Itama, born with hair as white as Tobirama’s only have it darken strand by strand in the inevitable expansion of his own unique mark, locked away from the moment their parents realized the shame he would always wear. How they could ever expect him to find his soulmate was a mystery when his only contacts were the brothers that visited him and the servants who were each instructed to never look upon him.

It was in Itama that Tobirama found most of his comfort when the looming dread of not finding his own match could not be pushed to the back of his mind any longer and it was to Itama’s rooms that he retreated on the day of his nineteenth birthday when he discovered something horrifying. His brother lifted both eyebrows in question to see Tobirama burst in to and throw himself across the mattress with almost as much drama as they could usually expect from their eldest sibling.

“This will be my life,” Tobirama declared.

“Something is wrong, I take it?” Itama closed the journal he had been writing in but otherwise didn’t move.

“My marks are moving again. Up my throat. I thought the one around the base of my neck was finished growing, I thought I was fine with high collars, but now it’s extending and you know what Father will do if it gets high enough for the court to see it.” Rolling over on to his back, Tobirama scowled up at the ceiling. He’d always known this was a possibility. “At least I’ll have you for company.”

A very deep silence stretched out after his words, long enough that he wondered if he had spoken aloud as he meant to or if the words were only inside his head. When he looked over at his brother, however, Itama’s cheeks had gone a very hilarious shade of blotchy red. He’d never been a graceful blusher.

“Um…about that…” His hesitant words had Tobirama upright in an instant.

“What about that?”

“I think – and this is only speculation, I have not yet confirmed – I think I may have found my soulmate.”

“You–? Are you being serious?” When Itama nodded all the air left Tobirama’s lungs in a great whoosh. “Ita that is incredible. Why have you not said anything? How are sitting in here writing so calmly? If I had found my match I would be, I don’t know, probably shoving it in Father’s face for starters.”

His brother laughed and brought his journal up to hug it against his chest. “Like I said, I’m not certain yet. You know I keep a close eye on my hair and I think there haven’t been any new dark strands for several days but I need to ask…the other person first if they’ve experienced the same thing.” He looked fit to burst with excitement and it was clear how relieved he was to have someone else to talk to about this.

Tobirama ran a hand throw his own hair and stood up to walk across the room and take Itama in to his arms for a rare gesture of familial affection. His sibling melted against him with a smile.

“Congratulations. May I know who? I can’t imagine anyone new you might have met.”

“Ah. That would be the other reason I’d like to be sure before going public. I don’t think Father will be thrilled to find out that one of his sons is matched to someone of the common folk.”

“Right!” A light went off in Tobirama’s memories. “Your old caretaker, she retired. One of the new servants then – they were both men, yes?”

“Yes. Two brothers around your age.” If Itama held any more excitement inside his short body he would surely begin to vibrate. It was the happiest Tobirama could remember seeing his brother in years and the sight warmed his heart perhaps a little more than he would ever admit to out loud.

Stepping back to clear his throat and pretend he was not getting disgustingly emotional, Tobirama nodded. “I’m very happy for you. If it’s alright with you I should like to stay and meet him.”

Itama saw no reason to object to that and so Tobirama settled in. Of the three brothers allowed to roam the rest of the palace he was the one best at keeping his mouth shut about other people’s personal business. There was no one better in the entire city to trust with the secret of Itama’s possible soulmate. A prince and a pauper; it amused him greatly that despite all of the king’s efforts to hide his son away from the world it had still been him to send the boy his own soulmate.

The two of them had been chatting quietly for somewhat more than an hour before there came a knock on the door and when it opened at Itama’s call a young man entered with his gaze lowered and black hair cascading around him in thick spikes. Tobirama looked to his brother with a knowing grin that faded as quickly as it came when Itama quietly shook his head no.

Yet he couldn’t help but look again even if this wasn’t the one he was so curious to meet. Over the years he had met with lords and ladies of every station and from many lands and here was a mere servant boy more beautiful than them all. The world around him almost seemed to fade away for a few moments as he watched the boy move across the room, his almost regal mane of hair billowing out behind him like a fine cloak, long lashes sweeping against rounded cheeks each time he blinked. Even the strangely clumsy way he walked as though ready to trip over his own feet at any given moment was oddly charming.

After several long moments of staring Tobirama forced himself to look away – only to find Itama watching him with one hand in front of his mouth to muffle the laughter shaking his shoulders.

“Keep laughing, brother,” Tobirama snarled. “I’ll dye your hair pink again.”

“You know I always enjoy a little zest in my day,” Itama retorted.

Sniffing with exaggerated haughtiness, Tobirama shoved his nose as high in the air as he could without blocking his view of where he was going and made his way to the door. Then he realized he’d just made a fool of himself as a first impression for the pretty servant boy and very quickly did his best to look like he was hurrying somewhere important rather than running away in embarrassment.

Curiosity wouldn’t allow him to stay away for long and as soon as he had seen to his duties for the day Tobirama was back in Itama’s room and being introduced to the young man his sibling believed was his soulmate. Izuna, as was apparently his name, had smooth dark hair pulled back in to a long tail and narrow eyes Tobirama couldn’t help but think were made for glaring at the backs of anyone who spoke down to him simply for being born in to the lower caste. He was a perfectly polite man and yet every word he spoke was covered with layers of deeper thought that hinted at an intelligence any noble could only hope for in their own children.

And he also, evidently, had noticed his own soul mark was no longer growing soon after meeting the hidden prince he had been called upon to serve. One surreptitious glance at Itama’s hair was all it had taken for him to know for sure. In the midst of that revelation Tobirama slipped away again to give the two of them some privacy. The few short minutes he’d had to meet with Izuna and take in all the information he could was enough time for him to guess that the boy would be good for Itama and he hoped they were already thinking of ways to curb the King’s inevitable anger when he discovered their match.

Despite all the excitement of his brother’s good news, however, neither Itama nor Izuna were the one that stayed on his mind for the rest of the evening. Instead he found himself constantly distracted with thoughts of the beautiful servant boy he had seen that morning. All through the rest of his evening he thought about shoulders that held themselves proudly despite his station and how all that dark hair would look wrapped around pale white fingers. Memories of thick lashes followed him down in to his dreams and haunted him still when he woke the morning after.

He had to see the boy again.

Tobirama himself barely counted as a boy anymore, fresh past his nineteenth birthday, but knowing the immaturity rampant in his own age group it was hard to think of any of them as men quite yet so it hardly mattered whether the pretty servant was younger or older. He was still pretty.

It was with him in mind and the situation that led to them meeting that made Tobirama check his markings, little more than a wistful whim that morning. He hadn’t looked at the lines on his body any earlier than yesterday so it was easy to dismiss the idea that they didn’t seem to have grown any more. Clearly that was nothing but a figment of his own imagination, purely wishful thinking. Tobirama scoffed at his own reflection and told himself coincidences like that just didn’t happen.

Of course, because he very sternly told himself that he should forget about this, obviously it was the only thing on his mind for the next several days. Each morning he woke the first thing he did was strip and inspect every line he could find on his body to see if any of them were moving. His skin had many lines and from experience he knew that not all of them grew at the same time or rate. After several days he began to think that maybe he hadn’t actually overreacted at all. Nearly a week without finding a single line on his body that had moved so much as a fraction of an inch had to mean something.

Which meant that now he had to go talk to the one he thought might be his soulmate. There was a chance it wasn’t the boy he wanted it to be, unfortunately. New faces were always showing up in his father’s court and Tobirama didn’t usually take the time to memorize all of them or even remember their names, not when he knew they would be gone again in just a few day or weeks, however long it took their parents to realize he and his other unattached brother Kawarama were not interested. But there was only one way to find out for sure whether the soulmate picked for him by fate was a random unwanted stranger or a beautiful serving boy and that was to actually go ask awkward questions.

He wasn’t sure if it was a good thing or a bad thing when he entered Itama’s rooms to see his sibling cross legged on the floor with both his own soulmate and the one Tobirama had been hoping to find here. All three boys turned to look at him, two lowering their gazes on reflex as soon as they recognized a member of the royal family, but Itama only smiled.

“You’ll never guess what a little birdie told me,” he said. At his side the one Tobirama had come to see turned bright red and dipped his face a bit lower.

“I’m sure it was fascinating and very embarrassing for everyone but that’s not what I am here for.”

“Oh?” Itama lifted both brows in a smug expression that Tobirama did his best not to speculate about.

Forcing himself to retain the poise he had been trained to uphold since birth, he turned to the servant boy with hair pooling around him on the floor like black ink. “Considering the happy news I’m sure these two would appreciate as much alone time as they can steal. May I speak with you elsewhere?”

Judging by the flabbergasted look on the boy’s face he’s never had anyone of high standing request to speak with him as though he had some sort of choice in the matter. Very likely he was used to nobles demanding things from him without a single thought for the idea that he might also be human with real human feelings to consider. Tobirama, thankfully, had been blessed with a mind strong enough to think beyond the haughty lessons his parents had taught him as a child.

Rather than spill his mind right there in the hallway, he waited to make sure the boy was following and then led them to another room in Itama’s private wing where only servants and the royal family ever came. The room he chose was plush and comfortable with several places to sit but he was much too restless to take advantage of the many couches available.

“What is your name?” he asked, unsure of where to start.

“Madara, if it pleases your Highness.”

“I’m not sure how I could be pleased or displeased. It’s just a name.” Tobirama frowned in confusion that cleared immediately when he spotted the smallest twitch of Madara's lips.

The boy was laughing at him. He knew most members of the court would be insulted to have one of the common folk laughing at their social stumbling but for him it eased the tension in his shoulders. He could work with this. Laughing at him was better than cowering away in fear.

“My name is Tobirama.” Obviously every citizen in the kingdom would know the name of their second prince but it was only polite to introduce himself. “Do you know your soulmate, Madara?”

“I believe I have found him, my lord.”

“There’s no need for formalities here,” Tobirama murmured.

“What shall I call your Highness?” Madara asked. His lips were slowly turning up in to an honest smile, making it much harder to look anywhere else.

Doing nothing to hide his own smile, Tobirama huffed. “My name should suffice unless you can think of something you would rather call me. Anything but a diminutive of the name itself. I abhor when any my brothers refers to me as ‘Tobi’.”

“You had something you wished to speak to me about?”

Clearing his throat, he flushed. He did have something rather important on his mind. The problem lay in the fact that he had no idea how to actually bring it up without being as blunt as Hashirama when he discovered his own match. Although there was a small amount of comfort in knowing that he could never quite manage to top the disaster that was Hashirama tripping in to poor Mito and crying out in horror that he thought he’d broken his own soulmate when they tumbled to the floor.

“I think we’re soulmates.” Blurting out his thoughts without any effort towards a lead in or a buffer of some sort was apparently the embarrassment he had chosen for his own experience. To his surprise Madara did not mock him but cleared his throat in a gruff sort of way, gaze flicking repeatedly down to the floor.

“His Highness, your brother, thinks we might be as well. Izuna mentioned to him – I told him not to – he mentioned that my mark had stopped growing the day after I met you.” Madara's nose wrinkled. “Which is sort of nice. It was getting big, I was getting worried it would take over.”

Tobirama blinked at him slowly. “Just the one mark?”

“Do you have more than one?”

“I have…dozens. Everywhere.” It would have been nice to only have one soul mark to keep track of rather than an entire body to check over meticulously every time he got curious.

“Wow. Dozens? That’s…wow. I don’t know anyone who has that many,” Madara said. His eyes very slowly and very obviously slid down the length of Tobirama’s form, curiosity prominent on his face until he suddenly turned very red and abruptly returned his gaze to the floor when he realized he was essentially ogling a prince.

Not that Tobirama exactly minded the idea of Madara ogling him.

“If you would feel comfortable showing me your mark I would like to know for sure whether we are soulmates.”

“We are.”

Brows furrowed, Tobirama lifted one of them in question. “You sound quite sure of that.”

“Some of your marks are on your face. I knew the moment I looked at you for the first time that we were matched.” Madara bit down on both of his lips to keep the laughter from bursting out of him but it did not stop his entire face from shining with mirth. Tobirama was stunned. His face had borne colored lines since his earliest memories; he hadn’t even thought of their revealing nature, that his fated match would know him in the instant they saw his face.

“You’ve known this entire time and you said nothing!?”

“Can you blame someone in my position for being a little cautious?”

That was actually a good point but he was trying just a little too hard not to break down laughing for it to be true and Tobirama was not impressed. Not at all. Maybe a little in love but definitely not impressed.

“You didn’t stay quiet because of our different standings,” he accused.

“No, I didn’t.” With his lips released from the forbidding grip of his teeth he was already smiling widely again. “It was mostly just funny to watch you flail your way through trying to talk about it. His Highness Itama tells me that you are…not as closed off as one might guess from observing you.”

“Which is to say that I’m not as cold as my face looks.”

“I mean, I wasn’t going to say it like that.”

“But that’s how you meant it.”

Madara didn’t deny anything, just bit down on his lower lip again while Tobirama tried not to think about how much he wanted to run his fingers through all of that flowing hair and across those solid shoulders. The universe really knew what it was doing with this match, he decided.

He still did not appreciate being duped so easily.

“Alright, prepare for me to abuse my authority because here is what’s going to happen. You’re going to kiss me and we’re both never going to tell anyone I was stupid enough to forget my own face. Then we’re going to avoid our brothers for as long as possible because obviously they’ll want to gloat and that’s never fun to deal with. Sound good?” Tobirama tried for a stern expression and failed mostly because of the unbridled joy running rampant through his body.

“Yes, that does sound good,” Madara said quietly.

Then he threw himself forward without another word and despite having just demanded a kiss Tobirama was surprised enough that he almost didn’t catch the other boy, a startled moan escaping him when their lips met for the first time.

Later – much later – he would see Madara's soul mark and in an instant he would be certain in the knowledge that this was truly his soulmate, that the concentric circles of black and purple expanding across Madara's back was meant for him. He would also sit through several hours of gentle teasing from his three brothers as well as not so gentle teasing from Madara's four brothers and endure endless pained glances from his parents as they came to terms with the idea that two of their sons were bound by the fates to members of the common folk.

From that very first kiss, however, he knew that it would all be worth it. And he was right.

#rae writes #soulmate collection #madatobi #madara #tobirama #itama #fanfiction #this one is so much longer than i meant it to be xD

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takaraphoenix · 6 years ago

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For your Marvel venture, how about a Stephen/Tony fic where they meet for the first time and Stephen wants to date Tony. Only, Stephen as someone who has never been fond of kids has to get use to the idea since Tony has a son, Peter. Will Stephen stick around or will his aversion to kids stop him from potentially the best relationship he’ll ever have? Oh! Maybe a shovel talk from Peter to add to it! All this is of course in the Marvel AU and they all have their powers. Just a thought!

Tony Stark and Doctor Stephen Strange were the perfect match. The newspapers loved it.

Popular playboy Tony Stark finally settling down with someone. And not just anyone. No, a world-renewed neurosurgeon. Both were handsome, wealthy men who visually alone made for such a good couple. The newspapers were plastered with their faces, them arm in arm at some kind of charity gala, smiling for the camera, press conferences.

Sure, they had to deal with their share of homophobic idiocy. And Tony swore that if he had to spell out that he was bisexual one more time, he was going to riot. Reporters asking if that now meant that he was gay, or if he was going to get back together with Pepper.

Things with Pepper hadn't lasted and weren't meant to last. She didn't want him to be Iron Man, he was Iron Man – not just a persona, it was a part of who he was at his core. And then things also changed when Tony decided he wanted to be a father, while Pepper was not ready for that step. Tony understood that, he respected that – especially since she had just made career as the CEO of Stark Industries. That wasn't for her life-situation and it wasn't for them together.

So they had broken up, Tony got the shrapnel out and hit it off with his surgeon after things had healed. And it had started out as just sex. They had great chemistry, just fun. And then they got attached to each other and the press started trailing them around and somehow, accidentally, sex turned into something more. Into an actual, real relationship.

"So, now that we're apparently serious, according to the Times, I think it's time you meet my kids."

He was sprawled out on Stephen's chest, in Stephen's loft. The view was magnificent. Both, outside the large windows and on the bed. Stephen was quite the looker. Grinning to himself, Tony turned around and started running his fingers over Stephen's chest curiously.

Tony had taken three orphaned teenagers in, months after his break-up with Pepper, fostering them and making public statements about helping children who had a harder time getting a second chance. But back then, Tony and Stephen had barely just started sleeping around and Stephen hadn't worried about this. He had thought it would just stay a casual affair.

Because Stephen was not a fan of children – he never wanted children of his own. Back then, he had assumed that him and Tony would just have some equally beneficial sex.

Yet here he was, with the billionaire in his arms, looking up at him with those soft brown doe-eyes of his and the long lashes that Stephen wouldn't mind counting, had attempted to count on some evenings when Tony would just fall asleep on top of him on the couch and he didn't want to wake the other. Maybe that alone had already been a dead giveaway. Stephen had grown fond of Tony. He had developed serious feelings for Tony and, according to Christina, Tony was actually good for Stephen. Though Stephen refused to believe that.

"Well, there's some things we've been trying to keep out of the press", replied Tony with an innocent look on his face. "See, there's... So they didn't exactly find their way into my life through an adoption agency. It was more... a rip in time and space."

"Are you implying your children are from an alternate reality? And who exactly..."

"Come to dinner at the tower this weekend, mh?", suggested Tony amused.

He leaned in and kissed Stephen gently. The question was... what did Stephen want? He really was not a children-person. He never wanted children. But he truly cared about Tony. When the inventor smiled, it actually took Stephen's breath away. Stephen had even grown fond of the bots and he had come to appreciate the banter with Jarvis. What did Stephen want...?

/break\

Bruce smiled amused where he was leaning against the counter in the kitchen. He had been living at the tower for over a year now, since the attack on New York. And for the past few months, he had been listening to Tony talk sweetly about Stephen – Stephen's eyes, his well-groomed goatee, his abs, his snark. Honestly, Bruce could write a ballad about Stephen by now, from listening to Tony.

What Bruce had also been there for however was Thor's last big visit here. Well, not that Thor had contacted any of the Avengers. He just, dealt with an Infinity Stone, had it rip a literal tear into the fabric of reality and then left again with the source of it all, but leaving the mess behind.

Jane Foster had come to find the Avengers – explaining it to them what had happened and where all those strange things had come from. Because Thor had not noticed the ripple-effect. Other realities had bled into theirs. Monsters, villains... and three teenagers.

Apparently, the Avengers existed in most realities, in some way or shape. So all three teenagers had somehow found their way to the tower, hoping for help from the Avengers. Needless to say, Jane, Tony, Bruce, Steve, Natasha and Clint had looked justifiably stunned when three teenagers dressed as spiders had appeared. They all had come from different realities. While the Avengers went out to gather up anything and anyone who had slipped through the cracks, the three teenagers somehow got comfortable at the tower, where – despite Tony's invitation after the invasion – only Bruce and Tony lived. While Bruce was fine being the 'cool uncle' (Peter's words, not his. Whatever was cool about a tired middle-aged scientist. "You're the Doctor Bruce Banner!", was the answer he usually got in return), Tony had taken a more... parental role in the teens' lives.

"So the doc's really coming over for dinner, huh?", asked Miles.

"Stephen. Yes", confirmed Tony. "And I need you all to be on your best behavior."

"Aren't we always?", asked Gwen with the brightest, most innocent smile.

"The most innocent, sis", confirmed Peter, batting his eyelashes at Tony.

Tony heaved a deep sigh and threw his hands up in the air. "No spidering! No one should know you have powers, especially not my very normal, totally regular boyfriend."

"Your very normal, totally regular boyfriend is a millionaire neurosurgeon. Dunno how regular or normal that is in this reality, but it sure is not in mine", pointed Miles out, eyebrows raised.

"It's normal by Tony-standards", assured Bruce lightly.

"Et tu, Bruce-tus?", gasped Tony.

Bruce chuckled and shook his head, not commenting otherwise. He did wonder whether or not the three spiderlings would manage to keep their powers to themselves for long enough though. And how good Strange was going to handle this all. This was going to be a very interesting dinner and he had already inquired with Jarvis to take a highlight reel of it.

/break\

The teenagers were making Stephen uncomfortable. Gwendolyne – or Gwanda, as Miles kept calling her? - had messy blonde hair with pink-dyed tips, wearing a white hoodie and chewing pink bubblegum in quite the obnoxious manner. The two boys, Miles and Peter, were bent over a piece of paper together, doing what looked like homework. Or, well, Peter was anyway. Miles kept doodling in the corners and every now and again filling out a formula when Peter was stuck.

"I'm trying to keep them straight-", started Stephen.

"That won't work. I'm asexual", interrupted Peter.

"To—otally a huge lesbian over here", called Gwen out, waving one hand without looking up from her phone and still typing on it with the other.

"Bisexual", piped Miles up, looking at Stephen with a grin.

Taking a deep breath, Stephen closed his eyes and counted to five. This was part of the reason why he did not want children. They were exhausting. Opening his eyes, he turned toward Tony, who stood in the kitchen in an apron. He had ordered in from his favorite Italian place (Stephen had seen the containers earlier) and was currently pretending he had cooked it. Just seeing that and hearing Tony's laughter at what the children had said was enough to make Stephen smile.

"Not the straight I meant", sighed Stephen. "Keeping you... apart."

"Yeah. Pete and I are a regular set of twins", agreed Miles, looking Peter up and down. "Don't know how anyone can keep us apart, huh?"

"It's like looking into a mirror", confirmed Peter seriously.

Again, Stephen closed his eyes and counted to five. "Again, not what I meant."

"Stop giving Stephen a hard time, kids!", warned Tony from the kitchen, sounding amused.

"Sorry, dad", chorused the three teenagers innocently.

"Okay, what do you wanna know, doc?", asked Gwen, finally putting her phone down.

"Tony explained to me that all three of you come from alternate realities. Different ones or the same?", inquired Stephen. "And are you... looking for a way back, or is the..."

"He wants to hear our sob-stories", concluded Gwen and nodded. "Mom's not interested in me and my dad was a cop before he died. I've kinda been doing a solo thing until, well, reality broke."

"Villain attack", was all Miles stated with a half-shrug.

"My parents died when I was really young and my aunt and uncle raised me... until a robber killed them both", tagged Peter on, looking away. "Guess that happened differently in this reality. This reality's Peter Parker still has his aunt May at least."

"So the actual reason why Tony has been keeping you out of the press is because you all... exist twice now", questioned Stephen curiously, leaning forward.

"Nope", replied Miles. "Time seems to work differently in this reality compared to mine. In mine, Peter's like an old man. Like, really old. About as old as you and Tony. My... parents are around though. Heh. Still high school age. I'm not born yet."

"But since Peter exists here, we are keeping a low profile too. Wouldn't want anyone digging too deep and finding out that we don't exist here", tagged Gwen on. "Even though Jarvis did a bang job on making us fake birth certificates and backgrounds and all."

"Thank you, Gwen", chimed Jarvis in, sounding indeed quite proud.

"And neither of you are planning to return to your own reality?", asked Stephen slowly.

"I mean...", started Miles and shifted some. "I dunno. It's not like that's an option. Not any time soon. And Tony, Peter and Gwen have been more family than I had since my parents died..."

"Oh, I am definitely here to stay", grunted Gwen. "Nothing to return to."

Which, was true. Ghost-Spider had been framed for her own parents' murder. There really was nothing left for Gwen to return to. She'd rather stay here, become an Avenger – 'When you are older, young lady', had been what Captain Rogers had said with both eyebrows raised.

Stephen nodded slowly, a frown on his face. Gwen grinned amused and turned to look at Miles and Peter. Oh, Stephen was most definitely not ready for a relationship with a man with three kids and he was kind of hoping for an easy out, like them leaving. They were not going to leave. Peter had contemplated it, thought about contacting May from this world, but they didn't even know if this world's Peter was a Spider-Man and things would just get too complicated – and also, Peter had grown attached to Miles and Gwen, as the siblings he never had, and he had always admired Tony Stark, even in his own reality, so to live here under his guidance was amazing.

That did not stop the kids from giving Tony's boyfriend a hard time though. The three had agreed upon that. Over the past months of living here, they had grown very attached to Tony. Sure, Tony could not replace any of their parents from their own worlds, but those were gone – both, their parents as well as their worlds. And Tony was here, he was here for them. And the trio knew that Tony's heart was fragile. Not just literally due to the whole scarring and shrapnel that had been in it and all, but also because he loved and tended to get his heart broken. Not that they blamed Pepper for the breakup, sure they were teens but they understood that two people with fundamentally different life-goals were not meant to last. Still, it had left Tony in pieces.

They weren't going to allow a stranger to come into their family and break Tony any more. If this Strange fella couldn't handle three teens, he'd have to go; because Tony had made it clear that he would have the kids with him as long as they wanted to stay.

"Now, dinner is ready!", exclaimed Tony, carrying a tray over with a smile.

The teens cleared out to go and help set the table. Stephen remained seated, staring after them with a thoughtful and partially frustrated expression on his face. Those children... meant the world to Tony. He turned slightly to look at Tony, who put the food down and went to kiss his temples.

"They're not giving you too hard a time, right?", whispered Tony concerned.

"No, absolutely not", assured Stephen with a thin smile.

It was so important to Tony that Stephen got along with the kids. And... Stephen had come to care too much about Tony to even want to imagine the disappointed and heartbroken look on his face if that weren't the case – no, not the 'l'-word, regardless of how much Christina insisted on it, Stephen was most definitely not in love with Tony Stark. Dimples and puppy-dog eyes be damned. It wasn't like Stephen had gotten lost in honey-colored eyes for minutes on end just listening to Tony tell some kind of story of what the Avengers had been up to, or what science project him and Bruce were working on. And Stephen had most definitely not adjusted his own play-list according to songs that Tony sang along to in the shower, shaking his (very perfectly shaped) ass to it. No, Stephen had most definitely not gotten used to waking up with the billionaire in his arms and had not come to thoroughly enjoy their routine of grooming their goatees over banter.

...Damn it, Stephen had fallen in love with Tony Stark.

"Sir, there appears to be an emergency", interrupted Jarvis.

"What. No. No emergencies. Only family dinner. We agreed on this. Steve promised to cover for me and even Bruce said he'd let the Hulk out before they'd call me", complained Tony.

"The Hulk is out and Captain Rogers has what you have previously described as a 'guilty puppy' look on his face, sir", replied Jarvis. "I'm sorry, sir, but Doctor Doom has let loose a dozen doombots that have torn down large parts of downtown."

"Doombots?", echoed Peter and squinted. "I could take out a dozen doombots-"

Gwen elbowed Peter with a pointed glare. Their powers needed to stay a secret. Even though Peter was right. The teens could take care of doombots on their own, why couldn't the Avengers?

"Apparently, the attack was aimed at the Enchantress and there is a... squabble going on between her and Doctor Doom", elaborated Jarvis. "The combination of them is what proves a problem."

Tony heaved a sigh, but Stephen already reached out to squeeze his hand. "It's fine, Tony. Go, save the city. We can heat dinner up later and eat it."

That made Tony smile, albeit only faintly. This was why he had fallen in love with Stephen. While in disbelief about some of the things Tony encountered, he was also supportive of Tony's choice to be out there as a hero. Leaning in, Tony kissed Stephen briefly before making his way out.

"So... wanna play a card-game while we wait, doc?", asked Miles slowly.

Stephen looked mildly constipated at that, making Gwen and Peter grin. For now, they put the food away again to be heated up later on. Gwen went back on her phone and Peter and Miles returned their attention to their homework for now. Stephen however found his way over toward the large windows to watch – the tower was high and Tony lived in the penthouse. He could see where the fight happened. And it was... disturbingly close. Stephen frowned concerned as the battle seemed to move closer toward them and at a rapid speed – especially when Jarvis' alarm sounded.

"The battle seems headed this way. We should...", started Stephen cautiously.

"Move to sir's private panic-room", continued Jarvis for them.

Gwen, Peter and Miles got up and led the way. They kept side-eyeing Stephen, who misunderstood.

"It's okay", assured Stephen, back straight as the door closed behind the three inside the panic-room. "Tony is amazing, he will solve this in no time."

"That's... we're not worried about him", offered Gwen, trying to hide her amusement.

Of course. They were worried about themselves. They were just helpless children, after all. Stephen frowned as he stood tall in front of them, reaching out in a protective manner.

"It will all be fine", tried Stephen, voice softer. "I won't let anyone hurt you, you're safe with me."

The three teens exchanged small grins as they huddled close, trying to act like the frightened teens Stephen assumed them to be. Okay, maybe this doc wasn't so bad after all. Even though he was clearly uncomfortable with the teenagers, he was still trying to be reassuring and even promised to protect them. He seemed to really care a great deal about Tony.

/break\

"I'm so sorry", sighed Tony frustrated as he leaned against Stephen's chest. "We didn't even get to eat properly. Stupid Doom. And I left you at the wolves' mercy for hours."

"It was no problem", chuckled Stephen, kissing Tony gently. "They have taught me a lot about... Star Wars. More than I ever thought I'd need to know, really."

Tony laughed softly, nuzzling Stephen's neck. "Good night, Stephen. I'll see you tomorrow?"

"Tomorrow it is", confirmed Stephen. "And Doom won't ruin our date."

Tony smiled to himself as he watched Stephen go. When he turned around again, he was faced by three teasingly grinning teenagers. Oh, those three just lived to torment and tease him.

"So... what's the verdict?", asked Tony a little nervously. "Oh god, you hate him. He was... too stiff? Not up on his memes? What is it. Tell me."

Peter walked up to him... and then just hugged him, wrapping his arms around Tony's neck. Miles and Gwen attached themselves to him from either side, confusing Tony even more.

"We like him, dad", assured Peter, squeezing tighter (too tight, super-strong spider-boy).

"Yeah. He's not up on his memes, but that's okay. We can teach him", chuckled Miles.

"Besides, he makes you happy and he seems to care a great deal about you. That's all that matters", tagged Gwen on with a grin. "Though... I wonder how good he'll handle it when he learns his three future step-children actually have super-powers."

"Hey, it's a crazy world, maybe he'll end up gaining super-powers too?", joked Miles.

Tony just laughed breathlessly and relieved as he hugged his kids.

~*~ The End ~*~

Read this here on FFNet & here on AO3!

#IronStrange #Stephen Strange #Tony Stark #Iron Dad #Peter Parker #Gwen Stacy #Miles Morales #Fanfiction #Marvel #Fluff #qofsass

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selfship-uncharted · 6 years ago

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The Fugitive part VI - Time to say goodbye

part I - part II - part III - part IV - part V - part VI -

part VII - part VIII - part IX - part X - part XI - part XII - part XIII - part XIV

A/N: Thank you so much for reading and supporting me through all this story, I hope you have enjoyed it as much as I enjoyed writing and drawing it. I promise you this is not the final chapter, there will be more chapters to come, but first I want to finish the game main story to see where my story can go with it. Also, the next episodes to come will not be xReader anymore, I decided that I will start writing about my OC Claire (the redhead chick you could see in the drawings) I hope it won't bother you and you will continue to look forward to next Arthur and Claire's adventures. Thank you so much again. A/N2: English is not my first language. Pairing: Arthur Morgan x Reader Warnings: a little drama Words: 2,189 Tags: @asiramhera @missdictatorme @zoilalove213 @avast-you-dirty-dog @lowkeyofsassguard

The sun shyly entered the tent warming your skin. But a shiver ran down your spine feeling Arthur's fingers going softly up and down your back. You slowly opened your eyes and met his gaze. A shy smile appeared on your face that you tried to hide on his chest. "What?" He asked stopping the caresses. "No, don't stop." You protested. "It feels good." Arthur sighed. "We should go." He only said. "Should we?" You asked with puppy eyes. Arthur nodded. "Do we really have to? I wouldn't mind staying a little longer..." You circled him with your arms feeling the warmth of his skin. "I guess..." Arthur cleared his throat nervous of the sudden contact. "But we need to move." He gently pushed you away and started getting himself dressed. Seeing it was impossible to make him change his mind you did the same. You were fixing your hair while Arthur was dismantling the camp with a happy whistling. You stared at him with a smile, he looked so relaxed. You haven't seen him like that before. "Are you that happy because you are gonna get rid of me or..... because you had sex last night?" You asked him with a smirk. Arthur turned to look at you a little surprised, he bit his bottom lip to prevent a smile. "I dunno..." he answered scratching his growing beard. "A bit of both?" He turned to his horse to hide his smile. You walked to him and held his hand that was fixing the saddle. "Say," you started a little nervous caressing his big hand. You liked his touch so rough and warm. "I will miss you, Arthur Morgan." Arthur just stared at you. "Will you miss me too?" You looked at him with tenderness. He removed the foulard from his neck and put it around yours. "Better cover this...." You eyed him puzzled. "hum... you know..." he was hesitating. "I- ya have a mark... from last night..." He looked away embarrassed pointing at your neck. You blushed to your ears in realization, ashamed you touched your neck. "What? Which side?" you asked alarmed. "Is it big? Why did you do that? If my father finds out I am dead!" "It's okay. I'm sure he won't notice." He actually sounded nervous, maybe because he knew if your father finds out he will kill him. In the distance, the big chimneys of the Saint-Denis factories started to draw spitting their black smoke. Your surroundings also changed to a swampy and humid place full of mosquitoes flying to bit you. "I hate this place." Stated Arthur slapping his neck killing a mosquito. "Wait that we reach Saint-Denis, I know you will love it." "Sure...." He sighed knowing that he hated that city. "Do you think we will see each other again?" you innocently asked. "Dunno, I don't think so..." "I'm pretty sure you will come to me someday..." you added with an enigmatic smile. After crossing that wooded never-ending bridge you finally arrived in Saint-Denis were you find yourselves stuck in a traffic jam. A horse cart just collided with a trolley car and the carts and horses couldn't move. "For God's sake!" Protested Arthur at being trapped just stepping into the city. "Welcome to Saint-Denis!" You motioned with your arms laughing. "Mais! Regardez-moi ça! Si c'est Y/N!" (But! Look at that! It's Y/N) A woman's voice exclaimed. You turned at the sound of your name to the cart you had by your side. A young beautiful blond woman was sitting in a coach smiling at you. "Géraldine!" You exclaimed recognizing your dear friend. "Mais bon sang, ma chérie, qu'est-ce que tu fais avec cet vêtements?" (Good god, my dear, what are you doing with those clothes?) She laughed at you with her charming smile. "On disait que tu t'avais échapper de ton fiancé." (It was said that you escaped from your fiancé.) "Pas trop loin de la réalité." (Not too far from reality) You smiled. "Je m'imaginais. Ton pére a essayez de couvrir la situation explicant à ton future beau-père que tu étais en voyage." (I guess it. Your father tried to cover the situation telling your future father-in-law that you were travelling.) "Est ça a functioné?" (Did it work?) "Pour l'imbécile de ton fiancé oui, mais biensûr Mr. Cornwall soupçonne quelque chose." (For the stupid of your fiancé, yes, but of course Mr Cornwall suspect something.) At Cornwall's name, Arthur leaned forward trying to understand what you were saying that's when Géraldine eyed him. "Dit, dit, qui est ce beau cowboy qui t'accompagne? " (Say, say, who is this handsome cowboy with you?) "C'est l'homme que mon père a envoyé pour me faire retourner."(That's the man my father paid to get me back.) You turned to look at Arthur to look at him. "Il a réussi, donc."(He succeeded, therefore) She smiled at Arthur noticing he didn't understand any word of French. She turned to look at you. "Tu n'as profitez au moins?" (Did you enjoy it at least?) You let a shy and naughty smile draw on your lips. You weren't ready to admit it yet but Géraldine understood your smile and returned it to you satisfied. Géraldine was a dear friend to you, she was one of the first of your friends to get married. She married an old man who she is already grieving. That gave her so much liberty in high society, she was smart, young and beautiful. Géraldine cared for you so much that she tried to help you as much as she could. For example, she was the one who lent you those books about sexuality, she was scared that without your mother you would find yourself helpless in front of a man. She actually tried to persuade you more than once to find a man before you marry that fiancé of yours. "Fais attention, Y/N. Mr Cornwall n'est pas un homme à faire fâcher." (Be careful, Y/N. Mr Cornwall is not a man to get angry) Géraldine warned you really concerned. You nodded at her. You knew the risk of what you did, you guessed that maybe like that he wouldn't let his son marry you, but it was true that your father would do whatever in his hands to make sure the deal is made. Finally, the police managed to move the accidental cart and the traffic jam could move on. You said goodbye to your dear friend and continue to your father house. "I didn't know ya could speak French." Arthur said a little astonished. "There's a lot of things of me you don't know." You answered him mysteriously. "Say, did ya talk about Cornwall? Leviticus Cornwall?" Asked Arthur interested. "Yes." you just answered smiling knowing what would be the next question. "What... Kind of relationship do ya have with him?" He was confused. "I'm going to marry his son." You sighed. Arthur gasped, more puzzled than surprised. "I told you, I could be of very useful to you." You giggled. "Do you think I didn't know what the Van der Linde gang did to my precious father-in-law fortune?" Arthur remained silent. "I wouldn't mind helping you with some more information." You added. Arthur hummed at you absentmindedly and the horse continued its way through the dirty streets of Saint-Denis. When you spotted your house in the distance you felt all the muscles of your body tensing up. Your mind was spinning wildly thinking of what might happen when you crossed that door. Your father will be furious for sure, and he will probably won't let you alone anymore until you marry Mr Cornwall. "Hey." Arthur woke you up from your thought. He was already on his feet and offered you to help you to get down. You rested your hands on his shoulders while he took you by your waist and got you down the horse. Your hands were shaking and didn't want to let him go. "Well," you started nervously. "This is where our paths separate." you giggled shyly. "I will really miss you... I hope will be able to meet sometime again. And I wanted to say: thank you for taking care of me, especially last night." You bit your bottom lip to prevent any tear to get down your eyes looking away. You felt Arthur's hands tensing up while he was grabbing your shoulders. "I'll be damn..." He took your face between his hands to make you look at him and leaned forward to kiss you. That took you completely off guard but you didn't take long to kiss him back, holding him close to him, feeling his arms surrounding you, comforting you. You broke the kiss when you hear the front door being opened and some servants coming to you. You catch your breath and looked at Arthur not being able to say anything. Arthur lifted his hand to dry the tear the roll down your cheek. "Miss L/N!" one of the maids came to you running. "You are back!" It was Marianne, your closest maid, the one that helped you escape that mansion. "Are you all right, Miss L/N?" She asked you when she reached you. She was really concerned. "Yes, I am, Marianne." you answered calming her. "Is my father at home?" She nodded and her look grew darker. You smiled at her. You knew your father wouldn't be happy seeing you. Marianne turned to look at Arthur, she felt a little frightened by his presence here. You reassured her that he was a good man and the three of you went inside the house. Arthur could notice you trembling, he couldn't take his eyes from you, he was worried. He started to feel that maybe he didn't have to take you back. You showed to him you were brave and determined and maybe staying in that house would be the end of you. Once inside, the butler welcomed you back and told you to wait for your father. He didn't take long to get down the main stairs. He was a tall man in his late forties, he still kept a good figure and his look was strict. Before going down he looked at you with severity, he didn't approve any of the things you did, how you were dressing, how you looked, how you dared to escape. "Hello, father." You said trying to be strong once he stood in front of him. He eyed you from tip to toe and you could see his jaw tense. "Where have you been?" He demanded you. "You know, travelling around." you answered him with a sarcastic smile remembering what Géraldine told you. "The countryside is so good in this time of the year." You didn't see it coming, that hit you so fast and strong that you fell on the cold ground of your house. Your father just hit you with the reverse of his hand. Arthur tensed up but he didn't move. "Don't dare to talk to me like that, young lady." He warned you. Marianne came running to you to help you get up that's when your father noticed it. He took your arm and examined the scars. Shit! You forgot to cover them! "What is this, Mr Morgan?" inquired him holding you strongly. "It's nothing!" you answered before Arthur could say anything. "You better keep your mouth shut." He tightened his grip on your arm making you gasp in pain. He looked at his butler. "Mr Leclaire, please, pay Mr Morgan so he can go. Remove $200 from the reward." "We agreed $500." Arthur protested. "We agreed to take her safe and sound not with scars like that." Your father tone was steady but you could feel the anger in his words. "For God's sake, father!" You complained. "What are $200 to you? Just pay him the full reward!" "Marianne, take miss L/N to her room." he ordered. "And make sure she dresses properly." Marianne nodded and took by your hand to drag you upstairs. You couldn't take your eyes from Arthur who was watching you disappearing from his sight after all those days together. His look was full of concern and guilt, you tried to smile at him to reassure him. "See you..." you whispered hoping he would be able to read your lips. Once inside your room, Marianne held you. "I was so worried for you, miss!" Her voice was trembling. "It's okay, Marianne." you hushed her. "It has been quite funny." She broke the embrace and looked at you with blinking eyes. "Oh miss, you surely need a bath and remove those dirty clothes!" She smiled at you and went to get a bath ready for you. When she left you alone on your room, you stepped close to the window and saw how Arthur Morgan rode away with his horse not looking back. You took Arthur's foulard from your neck and smelled it, it still had his scent. You saved it into your drawer more determined than ever to put an end to that misery. It might take you some time but you will get away from this.

#Arthur Morgan #Arthur Morgan x Reader #Arthur Morgan x OC #RDR2 OC #Claire Russell #The Fugitive #art post #I can't believe I did manage to finish that fic

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emzymakesbelieve · 5 years ago

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not to be fake deep but let's talk about all your old walt babies that you haven't mentioned (because i love the hainline's okay and you and all your kids and i miss you

Send me an old muse and I’ll gush about them.

oKAY SIT DOWN AND BUCKLE UP, KIDDOS.

(I love you, too, sweet pea. *smooch*)

Frank Hainline

So Frank is a prick, to start off, but he’s my prick and you’re not allowed to trash talk him without my say so (which of course you have because he’s A PRICK). He was the kind of kid who wore an anarchy symbol on his jacket but never actually did anything to represent or invoke anarchy. He’s also a gigantic slut and can’t keep his pants zipped for longer than ten minutes. Fidelity is not this man’s middle name (*CoUgH* illegitimate child he never knew about). He definitely wasn’t ready to become a father when Victoria got pregnant (and more or less trapped him into marriage), but by the time baby Penelope came, he devoted every ounce of energy he could to making sure she had a good life, and the two of them actually grew very close. He passed away from cancer when Penelope was about ten.

Norma Hainline

Penelope’s eldest. The two most important things you need to know about Norma are that she’s a dancer and she’s gay as a maypole. Her main focuses are tap and ballet. She loves old Hollywood - she got her start watching Singin’ in the Rain and Fred & Ginger films - but definitely prefers to live in the here and now where she can express herself both as an artist and as a lesbian. The dance world, much as she loves it, is a crusty old institution that needs to break some pointless rules and get over itself. She is also Grade A Mom Friend Extraordinaire™. Her love language is definitely acts of service, particularly making sure you’re eating and sleeping well and taking your medicine on time (though turns out she’s a terrible patient herself). Much to her frustration, her two closet friends - Noah and Nick - are both more or less bent on self destruction and driving her completely bonkers, but she loves them just the same.

Francis Hainline

Francis, the third eldest, has no business being in this family with how shy he is, but nevertheless. Definitely the black sheep of the family, but his siblings defend and support him with everything they have. (Well, Kath usually does it with a lot of sarcasm, but you can tell she loves him.) He’s a total hipster and has a special love for anything that was built before the year 2000. His prize possession is an old camcorder that uses real VHS tapes, so naturally he becomes a film student. I envision him growing up and working as a cinematographer and eventual director of poignant indie films and documentaries - stuff with lots of lingering, fly-on-the-wall shots. Also, special shoutout to Seraphina, the love of his got dang life. Those two gave me so many freaking cavities with their cuteness.

Kathleen Hainline

So Kath is a mess, but that’s just par for the course in this family, I suppose. She’s the baby of the family and has always felt like she’s living in her sister Norma’s shadow. She’s a bit of a wild child, but certainly not to the extent Victoria was. It’s all just a cry for attention, trust me. She wants to feel needed, she wants to feel wanted, she wants to feel special. And anything that takes the attention of the people she loves off of her needs to die, plain and simple. She’s best friends with Daisy and is technically endgame with Jonas (though we really didn’t get to write them that far), so here goes a prayer candle for my lovely Becca.

Dory Novak

As you can probably guess by the name, Dory is based on that delightful blue tang we know and love. In the Walt universe, she developed her short term memory loss after an accident that killed her parents, and was adopted by Marlin. She loves swimming and her family and especially anything combining the two. She’s a freaking sweetheart who is actually pretty hard on herself, and it was so heartbreaking to play her in any kind of stressful situation because five minutes later she would still be freaked out by have no idea as to why (looking at you, Scream event). Also, Scooby liked her a lot and I felt so freaking blessed??? She ends up becoming a social worker and helping kids in the foster system like her.

Charlie Harper & Jenny Harper née Parkington

I never got to properly play Dory’s parents, but here’s the fast and skinny on them. Jenny was a shy bookworm who never thought boys would be interested in her and (for the most part) had made peace with that theory. Charlie was a jock who was head over heels for Jenny but never knew how to communicate it without being a sleaze. Eventually, he manages to ask her out, she says yes, and they pretty much become attached at the hip. She comes to his basketball games and swim meets decked out in the school colors and cheering like a maniac. My guess is Dory came a little earlier than they were expecting, but not so early that it would be considered scandalous - probably when they were almost finished with college or something. Dory became their world and they spoiled that little girl beyond belief. Unfortunately, both of them were killed in a car wreck when Dory was very little.

Marlene Novak

Dory’s first kid, adopted. To sum it up nicely, Marlene’s a hot mess because she was never able to come to terms with the fact that her birth mother didn’t want her. I tried to start this whole plot where she ran into her birth mother just out in the wild and that made her get even messier, but I think I was just throwing crap on the fire to see what blew up at that point. She also has a…flirtatious arrangement, shall we say, with her friend Viv.

Lyle Novak

Dory’s second kid, also adopted. *sigh* Lyle, Lyle, Lyle… He’s a cutie, don’t get me wrong, but I feel like I didn’t give his character enough punch? He just seems kind of blah now that I look back at him. I have a history of being super self conscious about my male characters if they don’t have like a Super Archetype personality for some freaking reason, and Lyle is definitely an example of that. He’s a little shy, but not so shy that it’s endearing, and he’s also a little courageous, but not so courageous that he actually gets crap done. He’s a little complacent, looking back on him, which is kind of the opposite of how I wanted to play him...? I dunno. Maybe I’m being too harsh on myself. HE’S CUTE. LIFE GOES ON.

Cinderella Tremaine

To the surprise of absolutely no one, I’ve actually played a Cinderella counterpart in a few different groups, but let’s just talk about how I portrayed her at Walt. French transfer student in America (I changed her to straight up American after a point) who loves animals arguably more than life itself and tries her best not to cry over things she can’t control. She’s also daydreamy as FRICK. Loves to get lost in her own imagination. If she’s not engaged in conversation or work of some kind, I can guarantee you her conscience isn’t even on this plane. Also, can I just shriek about the superhero AU version of her where she was a counterpart to Zatanna and literally became her own fairy godmother? Because I think about that far more than is probably healthy.

Emmett Tremaine & Johanna Tremaine née Cartier

Same thing as Dory’s parents, just gonna give you a quick lowdown. Johanna came from a fairly well off family in France (distantly related to those guys, but far enough away that it doesn’t really count), but her parents thought she was an absolute embarrassment. She was never afraid to speak her mind when it came to things like etiquette and politics, and she had a fabulously wild imagination. She never stopped believing in fairies, ghosts, gremlins, things like that. Emmett was that quiet nerd dreamer type, very much obsessed with travel and history. And like I need to spell it out for you, but they were LUDICROUSLY in love with each other. Like, nauseatingly so.

Robby Tremaine

Robby is Cindy’s son I whipped up real quick one next gen when I was going crazy and wanted to snatch Nick Robinson’s beautiful face. He’s a hardcore farm boy who doesn’t mind a little mud behind his ears and super environmentally conscious. Not just recycling and veganism and all that, but he will go off on you about sustainable farming and animal raising, and how the hydrogen fuel cell is the way of the future.

Taige Bailey

Based on Terk from Tarzan, Taige is a super jock, total butch lesbian, and altogether DUMBNUT. Like, GOD she’s so stupid sometimes because she just barrels into crap with reckless abandon and doesn’t think things through. Dear God, she will PUNCH you if you so much as look at her funny, just ‘cause she feels bored. And she walks around like she’s God’s gift to creation, but she’s just a little twerp. But she’s my twerp. (Huh. I’m just now realizing how similar Taige and Pen are. In a weird way, Taige is like the tomboy version of Pen.) Here, you can imagine me lighting a prayer candle because I never got to play her against her two best friends and I’m SAD. Y’ALL NEVER GOT TO EXPERIENCE THE TOUR DE FORCE THAT IS T CUBED. Also *cough* she and Vitani may have had a *coUGH* flirtationship.

I would also put Taige’s parents on this list, but they’re so hardly even developed that it’s not really worth mentioning them. I only know their names: Lamarr and April.

Jared Bailey

Taige’s only child, Jared’s still trying to figure out what masculinity means to him, what with being raised by two women and all. He can get a little “dudebro alpha male” sometimes, but he’s also that kid you definitely want to have your back when things get rough. He’ll help you with your homework, teach you how to shoot a three-pointer, and walk you home when it’s dark like the gentleman he is.

#spidcypools #YOU SAID 'ALL' BY GOD #read mores are for wimps #have my children #[ q and a ]#[ muse: frank ]#[ muse: norma ]#[ muse: francis ]#[ muse: kathleen ]#[ muse: dory ]#[ muse: marlene ]#[ muse: lyle ]#[ muse: cinderella ]#[ muse: robby ]#[ muse: taige ]#[ muse: jared ]

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