#today we went to a field where people let their dogs off leash

[whatafirefeelslike]

feeling so emotional over my dog i love her so much

[writeforfandoms]

Puppy Love 5

Find the series masterlist

The first puppy playdate, with bonus Sasha! A talk is had. 

Warnings: tooth-rotting fluff. 

Word count: 2k

“Ready for a playdate today, buddy?” Gaz murmured to Cupid, rubbing the puppy’s ears. It had become quite common in the last two weeks to see the puppy everywhere Gaz went. Morning run? The puppy would run for as long as he could and then Gaz carried him the rest of the way. (He didn’t weigh even a fraction of what his gear weighed.) Training? Cupid was harnessed and Gaz kept the leash around his waist to keep his hands free. Even at mealtimes Cupid got to sit on Gaz’s feet. 

Needless to say, everyone on base was enamored with the puppy. Including Soap. 

“Sure you don’t want me to watch ‘im for you?” Soap dropped down next to Gaz, grinning. 

“I’ve got him.” Gaz huffed, shaking his head. “I’d say you should get your own but I think Cap might kill you.”

“Nah, don’t want to have my own dog.” Soap reached over and booped Cupid’s nose. “More fun to play with yours.” 

Gaz’s phone buzzed and he shifted Cupid to one arm to check the message. 

I’m coming down the road to the gate, please tell me you’re not pranking me.

Grinning, he stood. “I’ve gotta go greet someone,” he said, being intentionally vague because he knew it would drive Soap crazy. 

“Who?” Soap scrambled to his feet to follow. 

“You’ll see.” Gaz waved him off and jogged down to the gate house. This would be fun. 

–

You didn’t hear what Kyle said to the gate guard, but the gate opened for you smoothly, so you didn’t question it. Just thanked the guard and drove through, pausing on the other side to let Kyle hop in the passenger seat. 

“I see you brought Cupid.” You smiled at the puppy in his lap.

“Of course I did.” Kyle grinned. “He goes everywhere with me.”

“Well, that’s definitely one way to get him used to things.” You drove slowly, letting Kyle direct you to a guest parking area. “I’ve got Sasha and Ginger with me today.”

“You named the puppy Ginger?” Kyle hopped out once the car was parked, following you around to the trunk.

“It suits her, with her coloring.” You opened the trunk and let Ginger out of her crate first, double-checking her harness and leash before setting her down. Kyle immediately took her leash, letting her get reacquainted with her brother. “I’m hoping to find a few people who will let Sasha say hi. She needs socialization practice, but she needs to not be approached, she’s still pretty wary of men especially.”

“We’ll find some people.” Kyle sounded quite confident in that. 

You let Sasha out and kept a tight hold on her leash, even as she started sniffing. “Alright. Where are we heading?”

“This way.” Kyle nudged the two puppies into cooperating (more or less) and started off towards an open field. You followed with Sasha, letting her sniff as much as she liked. 

The field was a pretty perfect space, you had to admit. Big and empty and grassy, there was plenty of room for the two puppies to sniff each other and wrestle a bit. You left Kyle with the pups while you took Sasha walking around, letting her cast in search of game to flush for you. (Not that she’d have any idea what to do if she found a bird to flush beyond bark at it, but. She was from a hunting line, and you weren’t about to discourage the behavior.) 

"Is this your mystery guest?" 

You looked around at the voice, gaze quickly landing on a man with a mohawk. 

"This is Soap," Kyle introduced, giving your name as well. 

"Nice to meet you!" Soap grinned, starting forward. 

"Oh, wait!" You tugged Sasha's leash as she started barking. "Sorry, she's nervous. Just wait there, I'm gonna walk her to you. She might bark but she'll only sniff you, I promise." 

"Will it help if I sit?" Soap looked quite earnest, looking between you and Sasha. 

"No. Well, not yet. After she's greeted you, if you feel like being tackled, maybe." You smiled, moving Sasha to your side. "Okay, Sasha, you behave. Be gentle. Okay? Gentle." 

Her tail started wagging as you two approached Soap, and she immediately started sniffing his feet, moving quickly up his legs. 

"Good girl," you praised, giving her more slack on the leash. "That's the way, good job." 

Soap reached one hand down for her to sniff and then scratched under her chin. "Well, look who's a sweet thing?" He crooned. "All bark and no bite, aye?"

"Thank you for being so calm." You couldn't help your relieved smile. "So many people hear her bark and get nervous, which doesn't help."

"It's fine. Seen a lot scarier than her." Soap chuckled when Sasha rose onto her hind legs, one front foot balancing delicately against his belly as she sniffed him. 

"Sasha!" You yelped, tugging her back. "No! We do not jump on people." 

"Ah, she's fine." Soap plopped himself down on the grass, and Sasha happily attempted to tackle him, licking his face all over with her tail wagging a mile a minute. She finally toppled him all the way to the ground, his laughter muffled as he attempted to pry her off. 

"Well, this is going well." But you were beaming. 

"Is she always like that?" Kyle brought the two puppies over to you, looking at his friend in the grass. 

"Mostly, yeah. She's wary of people at first but once she's had a chance to sniff someone she's really friendly." You smiled, a little sadly. "I don't know why she's nervous around people." 

"Keep bringing her 'round and you'll have volunteers lined up to play with her." Kyle put a comforting hand on your shoulder. 

"Thank you." You smiled at him. "Well, she's happy. The pups really should be able to run around but I don't want them running off or getting underfoot." 

"They're fine here. Or we can find an unused office to let them frolic in." 

"Did you just say frolic?" Soap demanded, sitting up half-way with Sasha still standing on his chest. "The fuck? You been swapped with a changeling, then?" 

"Fuck off," Kyle said, laughing. You just smiled, content to watch the two verbally assault each other. 

Since you weren't part of their antics, you spotted John first, and you smiled widely. 

"Gaz didn't mention you were coming today." John stopped a few feet away, though he smiled at you. 

Sasha barked and launched herself off of Soap (you really tried not to laugh at his pained groan) to run straight to John. She wiggled right up to him, tail wagging so hard she couldn't walk in a straight line, and shoved her nose against his leg until he started petting her. 

"Oi," Soap groaned, sitting upright. His face was red from laughing. "Why does Cap get special treatment?"

"Guess she remembers you," you said with a soft smile, inwardly melting over the sight of the gruff man leaning over to rub Sasha's ears. 

"Smart girl." His eyes were very blue and full of humor when he looked at you, and you warmed in response. 

"You should show her around, Cap," Kyle interrupted before Soap could say anything else. "She hasn't seen much yet." 

"I don't want to interrupt you," you murmured, though you never looked away from John. 

"It would be my pleasure." He grabbed Sasha's leash and then held out his other hand for you. "If you'll do me the honor?" 

Distinctly warm under the collar now, you walked over and took his hand. "I'm glad to see you," you whispered, just for him. 

"Likewise." His lips crooked in a smile. "Are you fine if I keep her?"

"Of course. Just watch out, she casts. She thinks she's a hunting dog."

John chuckled, keeping hold of your hand as he started to walk. "That so? She ever been hunting?"

"No, I have no interest." You shrugged, tightening your grip on him as the two of you started walking. Although he seemed to be taking you around the back, you noticed with some amusement. "But she is from hunting lines, and her breeder took all his dogs hunting." 

"Hmm." John gave her more loose leash, watching her cast back and forth through the grass. "She's a beautiful dog." 

"She is, and I am lucky to have her, despite all my grumbling." 

"Pretty sure that goes both ways, love. She's lucky to have someone as kind as you." 

You ducked your head, quite warm again. John just chuckled quietly and squeezed your hand, continuing the leisurely walk around the compound with you. 

It felt so… wonderful. Almost normal (except for all the military detritus). Sweet. 

Extremely tempting, too. 

"John," you started slowly, holding his hand a little tighter. "Forgive me if this is presumptuous, but… I'm not interested in a, uh… dalliance. I know we both have busy lives, and I don't want to waste anybody's time. If all you want is something physical, then–"

"No. No, love, that's not all I'm after." He smiled at you, gentle and warm. "You're not presumptuous. I'd rather know what you want out of this now. I'm not an easy man to be with, I know that. I'm busy and I put my work before most everything else." The look he cast at you was so warm you felt like you were basking in a ray of morning sunshine. "But I want to try, with you." 

"Good." You stepped closer to him. "Because I want to try, too. I really like you.” 

“I like you, too.” He chuckled softly, eyes warm and happy. “Haven’t done this in a while, might be a bit rusty.”

“You’re not the only one.” You grinned at him. “We’ll figure it out as we go along, how’s that?” 

“Fine by me.” He squeezed your hand, keeping you close as the two of you walked. “Next time I can come out to you, if that’s easier.”

You laughed quietly. “Well, might be easier on my blood pressure. Even though I had an invitation, I was still nervous talking to the gate guard.” 

He rumbled a quiet laugh. “I hope he was polite, at least.”

“Oh, very. Wasn’t his fault at all.” You shrugged. “Just me being weird, I suppose.”

“Not weird. This is outside your normal.” He shifted closer to you. “Don’t feel ashamed of that.”

You chuckled, shaking your head. “You’re going to be good for my self-esteem, aren’t you?”

“I hope so.” He pressed closer, tugging you to a stop. You were well-hidden from prying eyes, behind the buildings and away from the bustle of the main compound. He held your gaze for several moments, his thumb stroking over the back of your hand. 

And then he kissed you. It was soft, sweet, and short. Just a chaste meeting of lips. His facial hair tickled against your skin, a pleasant if new sensation. You blinked slowly at him and smiled. 

“Wouldn’t mind doing that again,” you murmured, rather hopefully. 

His lips twitched into a smile. “Yes ma’am.” He leaned in again.

And Sasha ran in between the two of you, wiggling happily, wanting to get in on whatever fun this was. You laughed, dropping your head to look at the furry black menace currently standing on one of John’s feet. 

“Maybe without Sasha, next time,” you said, shaking your head. “She’s a menace.”

John huffed. “Next time, I’ll make sure there are no interruptions,” he murmured, low and intent. 

You couldn’t help the little shiver that inspired, but it was the good kind of shiver. “I look forward to it.” 

John started walking again, letting Sasha go back to sniffing everything around her, and you stayed close to his side. 

“What’s your schedule like for this coming week?” you asked him as the two of you walked around a building.

John shrugged. “Unless something changes, I’ll be here.” He glanced at you, curious.

You drew in a deep breath. “Would you like to come over for dinner one night? I’ll cook for us.” 

“When works best for you?” 

“Wednesday?” 

“Then I’ll be there Wednesday night.” He leaned in closer, and his breath at your ear made you shiver. “Won’t have any interruptions then.” 

Which, of course, was when Sasha started barking at someone. With a little huff, you took her leash back, tugging her back to sit next to you. 

Wednesday could not come soon enough.

[fuuka101]

(5) Electrified Warrior! Make Way For Cure Brilliance!

It was a sunny and windy day out in the city, cars were bustling in the afternoon, we'll almost evening. SC was just working on his homework he and Red were given.

"Ugh this question is pretty hard." SC complained. He tried to figure it out until he heard a knock on his door.

"Come in." SC answered. The door opened and it was revealed to be Red.

"Hey Red!" SC replied.

"Hey, my mother said dinner's ready." Red responded.

"Alright then, coming!" SC told him.

SC got up from his seat and left his room, then he and Red went downstairs to eat. They were having ramen noodles.

"Yummy, ramen!" SC complimented as he was enjoying it.

"I'm glad your enjoying it." Red's mother told him.

Red felt a nudge on his legs, it revealed to be his dog Charlie begging him for something.

"What is it Charlie?" Red asked. Charlie barked saying he wants to go out into town.

"You want me to take you out for a walk?" Red asked. Charlie answered by barking and getting the leash.

"Ah, got it! Just let me finish my dinner first." Red answered as he continued to eat.

After Red finished he got up from his chair and put the leash on Charlie, then he exited the house with him, SC didn't come because he still needs to finish his homework.

"It's a good thing we left early Charlie, it looks like it'll get colder later due to the wind." Red commented and Charlie barked.

Red kept walking until noticed that Yellow was also going out for a walk too, a lot of people were, which would be common sense.

"Hey Yellow!" Red called out to him and he noticed.

"Hey there Red," Yellow responded as he walked over to him.

"Where's SC?" Yellow asked.

"He's currently doing his homework." Red answered.

"And besides, Charlie was begging me to go out for a walk." He added which made it understandable.

"Ah, I see. Well I'll see you around," Yellow replied as he walked off continuing his day leaving Red questioning something.

"Hmm, could Yellow be a pretty cure like me and SC?" Red questioned in his thoughts. 

Just then Charlie started to run but luckily Red held on to the leash very tightly.

"Oop, Charlie! You've gotta warn me before you start running!" Red complained.

(𝑶𝒑𝒆𝒏𝒊𝒏𝒈)

𝑺𝒖𝒃𝒕𝒊𝒕𝒍𝒆: 𝑬𝒍𝒆𝒄𝒕𝒓𝒊𝒇𝒊𝒆𝒅 𝑾𝒂𝒓𝒓𝒊𝒐𝒓! 𝑴𝒂𝒌𝒆 𝑾𝒂𝒚 𝑭𝒐𝒓 𝑪𝒖𝒓𝒆 𝑩𝒓𝒊𝒍𝒍𝒂𝒏𝒄𝒆!

𝑱𝒂𝒑𝒂𝒏𝒆𝒔𝒆: 𝑫𝒆𝒏𝒌𝒂 𝑺𝒆𝒏𝒔𝒉𝒊! 𝑲𝒚𝒖𝒂𝒃𝒖𝒓𝒊𝒓𝒂𝒏𝒔𝒖 𝒏𝒊 𝒎𝒊𝒄𝒉𝒊 𝒐 𝒚𝒖𝒖𝒕𝒕𝒆 𝒌𝒖𝒅𝒂𝒔𝒂𝒊!

It was a regular day at school, all the students were just arriving. Most of them in the classrooms users just chatting before the bell rings.

"Have you guys heard of what happened yesterday?" A student asked.

"About there being a monster at the school track field after school." The other one asked and Red and SC managed to hear.

"Wait! There was a monster there yesterday!" They shouted.

"Yeah,  after school at the track field, an enormous monster appeared and started attacking everything, but then these two magical boys appeared and stopped it." The student explained.

"Oh dear, some of them might've witnessed the fight from yesterday!" Red whispered to SC.

"It's ok, as long as they don't know it's us, then will be remain off the hook." SC comforted Red as he patted his shoulder.

~𝘈𝘵 𝘙𝘦𝘥'𝘴 𝘏𝘰𝘶𝘴𝘦

Digit was just taking care of Verruca for the day.

"It was a good idea of those two to let us stay home today am I right Verruca." Digit commented.

"Verruca!" Verruca answered saying yes.

"Heh, I knew you would." Digit responded.

"How about I read you a cute little story." Digit asked Verruca as she got up to get the books.

"Verruca!" Verruca answered as she was stimming and smiling hardly.

"Alright then!" Digit got a book and went back over to the chair to read to Verruca. She opened it up and started reading.

"What do you do on a rainy day, by Eclipse Surokaya." Digit read the title.

Verruca started to loose attention, or more specifically, fall asleep. Digit managed to notice which made her stop reading.

"Aww, she's so cute when she sleeps!" Digit whispered as she closed the book and set it aside. 

"Hmm, what can I do until then?" Digit questioned until she looked outside the window noticing there was a backyard.

"Aha! I could play in the backyard until then." Digit answered her own question as she ran outside to the yard to play in. 

She comfortably lying down to calm her nerves but she kept her senses on to make sure no one comes out since that would give away the pretty cure secret.

~𝘈𝘵 𝘝𝘪𝘳𝘢𝘓𝘢𝘯𝘥𝘪𝘢

Patience was just walking by the castle thinking of a new strategy to defeat the pretty cure.

"Well my attack at the school track field didn't work out well, I need to think of something new." Patience talked to himself.

He opened a picture of Nagoya Stick Middle School and he noticed he can go to the rooftop instead.

"Aha! Maybe I'll try the school again, but this time I'll hit a different part!" Patience answered.

Patience went off to earth so he can cause chaos by summoning a Kimsubot.

~At The School RoofTop

Everyone was having lunch together at the school rooftop, all were enjoying their foods.

"So amazing!" SC responded as he continued to eat, especially the rice balls.

"You really enjoy those don't you." Yellow commented.

"Mmm hmm!" SC answered.

They kept eating until they noticed Red wasn't eating, but he didn't look sad or disappointed.

"Are you ok Red, your not eating?" SC asked him.

"Oh yeah I am, I just was thinking of something." Red answered as he stuffed part of his lunch in his mouth.

"About what?" Yellow questioned.

"About what should we do this afternoon." He answered feeling pretty empty.

"Y'know, the school is having a banner getting delivered at 1:00pm today, but it needs to be designed first. I could use some help doing it." Yellow answered.

"Are you saying you want us to help you make the banner?" SC wondered and Yellow nodded.

"That's a great idea!" SC answered.

"I agree with that!" Red agreed.

"That's great how you two will help me with it!" Yellow replied.

The three of them continued to eat until the bell rang for the next period.

1 hour later, Red and SC had just made it to the rooftop and met Yellow there.

"Hey! You guys made it!" Yellow called out to them.

"We know, I can't to design a banner for the school!" Red commented.

"Where is the banner?" SC asked.

"The people will be here with it anytime now." Yellow answered until he heard the door open revealing to be the people.

"We have the boxes will all the stuff inside here!" The man told them and placed them down, then the female principal came up to the three boys.

"Alright boys, this banner is to show the students we are all hard working, kind, generous, and wonderful. I hope you three do your best on making this beautiful banner." The principal told them.

"Got it!" All three of them said.

"Alright then, I'll come back in 55 minutes to see what you've come up with.

[Fun Fact, this part is based off of MLP EG ~ A Banner Day]

The three of them opened the boxes and took out the paint, crayons, markers, color pencils, pens. SC placed down the newspapers so that way when they make the banner, they don't get paint on the floor. Red opened the banner and set it down on top of the newspapers. Yellow set everything aside so that way it's not too messy as it seems and they don't mix anything up.

"Alright so what should we do?" SC asked.

"Well I asked two other students earlier, they said maybe add some music symbols and gardening decor to the banner." Yellow answered.

"We can add animals and paw prints to it, to show kindness and respect to the students." Red gave an idea.

"That's a cool idea there, but we can also add art symbols to it, to show how creative everyone is here." SC also gave an idea

"Those are pretty amazing ideas, the school will surely love it!" Yellow noted it down.

The three of them got to work on the banner making it look pretty and unique.

"Hmm, where's the green marker?"Red asked as he was looking for one.

"Maybe I left it in one of the boxes, try looking there?" Yellow told him.

"Okay." Red answered, he got up searching for it.

"Aha! Found it!" Red picked it up.

"Got the marker!" Red walked over with it.

On accident Red accidentally nudged the blue paint bucket spilling it all over, SC quickly picked it up.

"OH CRAP! I'M SO SORRY!" Red apologized but SC and Yellow both looked incredibly inspired and got the idea.

"Red...YOUR A GENIUS!" They both shouted.

"I am?" He asked.

"We can trace the spill turning it into an outline! Then we can draw the theme inside of it!" SC answered and Yellow finished his sentence.

"That's a great idea!" Red responded.

They all continued to work as they were all feeling motivated and positive.

[𝙴𝚢𝚎𝚌𝚊𝚝𝚌𝚑 1: 𝚃𝚑𝚎 𝚌𝚘𝚕𝚘𝚛 𝚐𝚊𝚗𝚐 𝚠𝚎𝚛𝚎 𝚊𝚕𝚕 𝚕𝚢𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚘𝚗 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚐𝚛𝚊𝚜𝚜 𝚝𝚘𝚐𝚎𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚛 𝚜𝚝𝚊𝚛𝚐𝚊𝚣𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚝𝚘𝚐𝚎𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚛 𝚊𝚝 𝚗𝚒𝚐𝚑𝚝, 𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚗 𝚒𝚝 𝚠𝚊𝚜 𝚛𝚎𝚟𝚎𝚊𝚕𝚎𝚍 𝚝𝚑𝚊𝚝 𝚂𝙲 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚅𝚎𝚛𝚛𝚞𝚌𝚊 𝚠𝚎𝚛𝚎 𝚍𝚛𝚎𝚊𝚖𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚝𝚘𝚐𝚎𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚛 𝚌𝚞𝚝𝚎𝚕𝚢, 𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚗 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚕𝚘𝚐𝚘 𝚊𝚙𝚙𝚎𝚊𝚛𝚜.]

-𝘉𝘢𝘤𝘬 𝘈𝘵 𝘙𝘦𝘥'𝘴 𝘏𝘰𝘶𝘴𝘦

Digit was coming back in the house upstairs to SC's bedroom, Verruca was just waking up.

"Verruca." Verruca told herself as she yawned and rubbed her eyes.

"Get on Verruca!" Digit told her as she got on her, Verruca questioned why.

"We're going to meet up with SC and Red, who knows when a Kimsubot will appear." Digit told her.

Digit rod off out of the house all the way to the school, luckily she was aware of her surroundings and she and Verruca managed to stay low profile.

~𝘉𝘢𝘤𝘬 𝘈𝘵 𝘕𝘢𝘨𝘰𝘺𝘢 𝘚𝘵𝘪𝘤𝘬 𝘔𝘪𝘥𝘥𝘭𝘦 𝘚𝘤𝘩𝘰𝘰𝘭 𝘙𝘰𝘰𝘧𝘛𝘰𝘱

SC, Red, and Yellow managed to finish the banner, just had one more thing to finish. They got up to see the perfect design results.

"Perfect, just one more thing to add!" Yellow commented but then...

"It took lots of effort, but it was worth it." SC added.

"More like imperfect." A voice called behind them, the three of them turned around It revealed to be Patience.

"Patience!" Red and SC shouted leaving Yellow confused.

"Hello gentlemen, nice to see you guys again." Patience talked.

"And that yellow one said the banner needed one more thing, we'll I can help with that." Patience responded.

"Ruru Darken!" Patience shouted as he created a dark green crystal.

"By the power of a rouge virus, Awaken Kimsubot!" Patience launched the Crystal at the banner.

"Look Out!" Yellow shouted as he pushed Red out of the way spilling a paint bucket going on to the floor.

The Crystal cracked open revealing the banner themed Kimsubot.

"KIMSUBOT!"  The Kimsubot roared and started recking everything.

Meanwhile while running, Verruca was crying and her jewel glowed in a dark purple color.

"Darn, a Kimsubot is nearby. Hang in there Verruca!" Digit told her, she started to run faster and managed to get to the school.

"There it is," Digit answered.

Digit started doing parkour up all the way up to the rooftop,

"Transform! Pretty cure!" Digit called out to them.

"Right!" Both SC and Red replied as they took out their stick figure mirrors.

"Mirror minor!" Both of them shouted as they pressed the button and a pen came out.

"Pretty cure, Silhouette Captive!" The both of them shouted as they wrote down a word on the tablet, SC said Second, Red said Ruby. Then the both of them transformed.

"The stick figure of illustration and leadership, Cure Second!" SC shouted as he struck a pose.

"The stick figure of the fierce and wonderful animals, Cure Ruby!" Red shouted as he also struck a pose.

Yellow was incredibly flabbergasted and surprised of how the both of them transformed.

"Their pretty cure?" Yellow whispered.

"Mm hmm, the legendary warriors who fight the forces of evil!" Digit explained to him. Yellow noticed Digit was crying.

"Oh poor thing, is that girl ok?" Yellow asked as he held her trying to calm her down.

"Every time there's a Kimsubot, Verruca's jewel starts glowing in a dark purple color making her cry." Digit explained.

"I hope she get's better." Yellow commented.

"KIMSUBOT!" The Kimsubot blasted part of the banner to Yellow until...

"Ruby Reflection!" Ruby shouted as he got in front of Yellow and blocked the attack with a paw print shield.

"Haaaa!" Second shouted as he punched the Kimsubot, it felt extremely soft.

"Kimsu!" The Kimsubot stopped it's attack and scratched Second in the arm.

"OUCH!!!" Second shouted in pain as his arm was bleeding due to the sharp paper banner.

"Second!" Ruby called out to him as he ran over.

"Not really, and I thought paper cuts are worse!" Second told Ruby all of a sudden...

"KIMSUBOT!!!" The Kimsubot roared as it blasted a big gust of wind towards Ruby.

"Aaah!" Ruby screamed as he nearly was at the edge.

"Red!" Yellow shouted. Second would've gotten up if it worn't for his bleeding arm.

"It hurts..." Second whispered.

Yellow started to get mad, not only did Patience ruin the banner, he is hurting his friends Red and SC.

"Yes, I'll finally destroy the pretty cure!" Patience commented.

"Bleeding arm, almost about to fall, nobody can stop me!" He added as Patience landed on the ground.

"Or maybe I can stop you." Patience heard someone talk behind him.

It revealed to be Yellow clunching his fists.

"Who are you, what are you doing interrupting my fun." Patience questioned,

"First of all, how dare you ruin the banner me and my friends worked very hard one! Do not know how long it took us to do!" Yellow scolded him.

Just then Patience pushed him towards a door blocking the exit.

"Who are you talking to like that!" Patience raged.

"You! This sign is to show all the students to be positive and make friends, not be negative and hurt others making enemies!" He confronted Patience.

Patience then brought Yellow to the edge of the roof, stepping on a puddle of spilled blue paint.

"Say something rude about me, ONE. MORE. TIME." Patience warned but Yellow kept going.

"You are a meanie! How could you do something like this to others!" Yellow shouted.

"Your lost." Patience commented.

Patience pushed Yellow off the rooftop from a high ground, that could possibly make him fall to his death.

"AAAAAH!" Yellow screamed.

"YELLOW!!!" Red shouted as he got back up trying to get him, but the Kimsubot stopped him from doing that.

Patience jumped off as well heading down to Yellow about to hurt him. Yellow got even more angry, then he started to Spark around him, specifically electric.

"You pushed me off, you hurt my friends, and ruined our banner... I'LL NEVER LET YOU ALLOW THAT!!!" Yellow yelled at Patience.

All of a sudden, a bright light nearly blinded Patience, Verruca was no longer crying and her jewel was glowing in a yellow color. Yellow stopped falling and he was glowing in a yellow color.

"Huh? What's going on!" Yellow wondered.

"Yay! Your the third pretty cure!" Digit came over to him.

"A pretty cure, just like SC and Red!" Yellow responded.

"Mmm Hmm." Digit answered him.

"Pretty Cure!" Verruca shouted as the yellow glow that was from her jewel came out and landed on Yellow hand. It turned into a stick figure mirror.

"What"s this?" Yellow asked.

"That's a stick figure mirror." Digit told him.

"Cool, what do I do with it?" He wondered.

"You shout mirror minor and a pen will come out, then you say Pretty Cure, Silhouette Captive and write a word on their, then you'll transform." Digit explained to Yellow once again.

"Got it! I'm not letting anyone get hurt today!" Yellow responded.

Yellow floated back up holding Digit and Verruca then he landed and stopped glowing.

"Here goes nothing." Yellow told himself.

Yellow's entire body minus his head was glowing in a pastel yellow color while his clothes disappeared.

"Mirror Minor!" Yellow shouted as he opened the mirror and a yellow light came out, revealing to be a pen and he caught it in the air.

"Pretty Cure! Silhouette Captive!" Yellow shouted as he drew the word Brilliance on the mirror, then he transformed,

Yellow spun around twice slowly, he touched digital technology elbems making his making his gloves and bracelets, Yellow made a settings logo appear and he went through it making his top, then a yellow light went to his chest making his brooch. Yellow stretched out his limbs and then spun around once making his shorts and waist cape appear. Yellow landed landed onto two techno plates making his shoes and anklets appear then he jumped back into the air. Yellow's body stopped glowing while his glasses disappeared. Then Yellow's eye color changed from purple to yellow and his yellow and teal. His accessories and techno glass contact appeared. Lastly his stick figure mirror went inside a pouch on the left side of his hips.

"The stick figure of intelligence and hydro energy! Cure Brilliance!" Yellow shouted as he struck a pose.

Everyone was surprised of how Yellow transformed.

"C-cure Brilliance." Both Second and Ruby commented of how surprised they were.

"Wow, not to bad if I say so myself." Brilliance looked at his outfit.

"Grrr, a third pretty cure!" Patience raged.

"Get him Kimsubot!" Patience commanded. The Kimsubot let go of Ruby and was heading towards Brilliance.

"Kimsubot!!" The Kimsubot shouted and tried to punch Brilliance, but he stopped it.

"Haaaaa!" Brilliance shouted as he quickly let go of the punch and got out of the way. Then he punch the Kimsubot back.

"Ruby! Second!" Brilliance called to them as he walked over.

"You alright?" He asked.

"I am." Ruby responded.

"But I'm not." Second answered because his arm was still bleeding.

"Hang in there Second, after we defeat this Kimsubot, you'll feel better." Brilliance told him.

The Kimsubot got back up and started going for the cures.

"HAaaaaaaaaa!" Ruby and Brilliance shouted.

Brilliance kicked the Kimsubot, then Ruby created a platform for himself to knock the Kimsubot down.

"I'll give you a lift!" Ruby called to Brilliance.

"Alright then!" Brilliance responded.

Ruby created a paw print platform for Brilliance to jump on, then Brilliance brought his arms out.

"HAAAAAAAAA!" Brilliance shouted, just then Brilliance hands glowed then they sparked. 

Then Brilliance touched the Kimsubot and then it instantly got electrocuted.

"KIMSU!!" The Kimsubot screamed in major pain. Then was on the ground unable to get back up.

"Woah, since when can I do that?" Brilliance questioned.

"That's your ability, Spark Touch, it's where when you touch a Kimsubot, they get electrocuted by your powers." Digit told him.

"Sounds cool!" Brilliance commented.

"Now's your chance, take out your mirror and draw something on it, then you'll be able to use your attack." Digit told him.

"Alright then!" Brilliance answered as he took out his mirror.

"The codes of the Outernet, bring out your heart!" Brilliance said as he drew a techno symbol on his mirror.

Then it came out as two bracelets appeared on his wrists. Then Brilliance opened up two tablets on his hands.

"Technology Tablets!" Brilliance responded. 

He then circled the digit symbol then he pressed it with both of his hands and it started to spark a lot. Then four digital symbols appeared in front of Brilliance.

"Pretty Cure! Brilliance Lighting!" Brilliance shouted as he blasted the four electric symbols at the Kimsubot.

"Kimsubot..."The Kimsubot cried in defeat as it disappeared turning back to the banner.

"Aaaaaagggghhh!!! Defeated again." Patience sighed in defeat. Patience disappeared back to ViraLandia and Verruca's jewel stopped glowing in a dark purple color and Second's cut healed.

"I-I did it." Brilliance said.

"You sure did!" Digit responded.

"Verruca!" Verruca cheered.

"May I join in on the fun of being a pretty cure." Brilliance asked.

"Of course!" Second replied.

The three of them transformed back into their normal forms. Then they saw the door open and Verruca and Digit quickly hid.

"Oh goodness! This is such a amazing work!" The woman principal commented of the great beauty.

"You three really outdid yourselves for this year!" She added.

"Your welcome!" The three of them responded.

Just then the bell rang because it was the end of the day.

"Yay! School's out!" Red cried.

The three of them left the building and both girls followed them without the principal noticing.

Now we got ourselves three cures, all they need now is two more and the team will be complete. But who could it be?

(End)

Word count: 3265 words

Days taken: 2 days

Next Episode: 𝑻𝒉𝒆 𝑹𝒐𝒄𝒌𝒆𝒓 𝑷𝒓𝒆𝒕𝒕𝒚 𝑪𝒖𝒓𝒆! 𝑯𝒊𝒕 𝑻𝒉𝒆 𝑺𝒕𝒂𝒈𝒆, 𝑪𝒖𝒓𝒆 𝑨𝒍𝒍𝒆𝒈𝒓𝒐!

[matsur1]

Kakucho x reader

Word Count: 1.1k

A/n: This is a bit rushed so I'm extremely sorry if yall didn't like it 🥲

Today was “walk-your-dog-in-the-park” day and boy, was your dog excited. Your little Pomeranian dog, Bubbles, kept jumping around, barking at you, telling you to act faster. You lightly laughed, “Okay, okay, I just gotta tie my shoes real quick.” Bubbles then spun around and wagged her tail in joy. 

After tying your shoes, you stood up while Bubbles quickly ran to get her leash and handed it to you. You pat her head and put her leash on and went on your way to the park. 

Going for a jog while walking your dog to the park at 10:00 a.m. surely was one of your favorite parts of the day when you had a day off of work. Everyone you both passed by were complimenting Bubbles, especially the kids. You enjoy hearing people compliment Bubbles for the cute dog she is. 

Soon enough, you reached the park and Bubbles again wagged her tail in excitement, seeing other dogs at the park. You both then jogged around the park, Bubbles barking at every dog she sees, and them barking back in a playful way. And while that happened, you would give the dogs’ owners a little smile and they’d smile back at you. You always thought that whenever the dogs were barking, they were also just trying to greet others as a sign of respect.

Then, you and Bubbles ran onto an intimidating duo. A Doberman and a 6ft tall black-haired guy. You both felt a bit intimidated seeing someone so much taller and bigger than you both were. Your dog, in defense, started to bark. The Doberman barked back. The more the Doberman barked, the more your dog felt terrified. Luckily, the dog’s owner lowered down and calmed his dog down by petting him. He then stood back up as soon as his dog cooled down. “I’m sorry, he fights back quite a lot” he chuckled, putting his hand at the back of his neck, apologizing on behalf of his Doberman. …Now that you take a full look at him, he isn’t that bad. He’s actually quite- ahem- hot. 

“Ah no worries, I think my dog just got intimidated seeing such a big dog.” You responded, letting out an awkward laugh. He lightly chuckled, “Yeah? What’s your dog’s name? If it’s not rude to ask, that is.“ He asked. “Her name’s Bubbles. What about yours?” you asked back. “His name’s Milo-“ he got cut off by both of your dogs suddenly getting along and now playfully barking and jumping around. “Well, looks like they’re getting along now.” He laughed. Damn that smile- *cough* “Looks like it,” you laughed along, continuing, “My name’s Y/N, nice to meet you,” you held your hand out to shake his hand as a form of respect. “I’m Kakucho, nice to meet you too Y/N.” He shook your hand back. 

You both took your dogs to walk together and let them play at the fields of the park. Time passed by, you check your watch to see what time it was. You figured it was time for you and for bubbles to go home. “Bubbles!! It’s time to go!” you shouted as loud as you could since Milo and Bubbles were very far away from where you and Kakucho stood. “Going home?” Kakucho asked. “Yep, maybe I’ll see you again tomorrow? We usually go on walks on weekends. Like I had just told you earlier,” you replied. “Sure, see you both tomorrow then.” 

Earlier, you both talked and got to know each other a bit more while Milo and Bubbles were playing.

You both watched as Milo and Bubbles ran over to both of you. You both walked on different directions with a sweet smile on your faces. “OH BY THE WAY!!” Kakucho yelled as he turned to your direction, running towards you. You turned back to try and hear what he was trying to say. “Any uh, chance I could get your number? Just for you know, planning walks and stuff,” He told you, looking away, a bit flustered perhaps? “Oh sure, it’s xxx-xxx” you gave him your number. As soon as he got your number, you both officially said your goodbyes and went home. 

The next day went as planned, except Kakucho treated you to coffee after. You both got to know each other even more and it happens to be that you both were busy during weekdays so you both could only hangout and meet up during weekends. You both would sometimes go out without Milo and Bubbles and just hangout or go on “platonic” dates. But as Kakucho got promoted at work, he became busier. Which eventually resulted to the both of you drifting apart. 

You missed him, he missed you. Bubbles missed Milo, Milo missed Bubbles. Days and weeks passed by, you still haven’t gotten a message from him. As much as you wanted to message him, you were worried you’d bother him and distract him from work. You could tell he was so stressed the last time you both face timed. You sometimes would face time at night and watch him do work and get stressed, but he definitely was happy to be around you, even if it was just through face time. The last chat you had was a month ago. It was your chat after face timing. You sadly bore on your chat, wishing he'd somehow chat you any sooner now. You sighed and turned your phone off, deciding to go to sleep. 

That was until you heard a notification which got you moving like flash- Oh god, it was from Kakucho. Your heart was beating faster than light could ever travel. Heart screaming so loud. You felt both excited and nervous. 

You took a deep breath and opened his message. But as soon as you opened it, he was calling you. Maybe he's in a rush?- You answered his call. “Hey, uhm, you got time tomorrow? Milo misses you” he spoke in his sleepy voice. You got confused for a second, processing what he just said. “-r dog, Bubbles” he continued. “Milo misses Bubbles.” He firmly spoke and cleared his throat. You couldn’t do nothing but laugh. You could visibly see Kakucho slightly turning red, probably because of your laugh that he hadn’t heard for a month. Or your cute sleepy voice. Or maybe every single thing about you that he missed- “Milo misses me?- or do you mean Milo’s father?” you teased him. “Shut up.” He told you as he let go of his phone, making you only see his ceiling which only made you laugh even more. You laughed for 2 minutes and as you finally calmed down, Kakucho finally spoke. “I miss you, okay??” He told you in such a serious deep tone meaning he probably finally gave up trying to keep up his front. You froze for a second. Now this time, it was your turn to turn red like a tomato. “I’ll see you tomorrow, dumbass.”

You both definitely couldn’t sleep that night, blushing.

© Matsuri

[whatisthiswritingthing]

Puppy Love - Emily Sonnett x Reader

During their off season training, Emily meets a stranger and her dog. 

Note, I’m not wild about the ending, so I may repost with a different ending

“Just smile and wave Sonny,” Kelley nudged the younger defender next to her.

Kelley and Emily saw the same woman with her dog on the far end of the field they practiced on in the off season every morning. The woman was usually throwing a worn looking ball for the large German shepherd who would quickly chase it and return it before eagerly sitting and waiting for it to be thrown again. She would always glance up when the pair of defenders would enter through the opposite side of the field, quickly leashing her dog before beginning to take the dog for a run.

Other than the brief glances, they never interacted. The dog owner seemingly knowing the pair were there for a focused workout and was considerate enough to give them the space.

Even with the minimal interaction, Sonnett somehow found herself looking forward to seeing the stranger and her dog each morning. They were always there mid-morning, when people should be at work, and she never seemed rushed, and never interfered with their workout. The woman undoubtably gorgeous, athletic looking physique, long blonde hair always pulled into a high bun. The dog was large, midnight black, and incredibly well trained; always following the first command and never straying when others entered the field.

Kelley had noticed Sonnett following the woman’s actions while she leashed her dog and prepared to leave the field one morning, “just wave at her! We see her every morning, its going to be weird the longer you don’t.”

“You wave at her if you think it’s important!”

“Ok,” the brunette shrugged, enthusiastically waving at the dog owner when she had glanced their way, giving her a large grin too.

The woman in return cocked her head to the side, not expecting the attention, but waved and smiled in return. She glanced down and said something to the dog at her feet. Both defenders broke out in large grins when they watched the seated dog lift one paw and swat it through the air a few times before returning it to the ground, giving his own slight wave. She glanced down to her dog, obviously praising him, when he stood, and his tail wagged eagerly. The pair began to jog out of the park.

“There, now you just need to wave on your own,” Kelley teased while they continued to get their boots on.

“I’ll wave tomorrow,” Sonnett mumbled, blushing slightly. She had never spoken to this woman or seen other than from the other side of the field, but felt oddly better when she saw her every morning.

“It’s a wave Sonny, it’s us being social, it’s us appreciating she lets us have the field, it’s us appreciating she is considerate enough to keep her dog on a leash when we get here. Do I need to continue?” Kelley nudged the blushing defender again, “so stop thinking so much and just fucking wave kid.”

The next morning, the field was empty when the pair arrived, a first in over a month.

“See Kel! It wasn’t just a wave, we scared her off!” Sonnett challenged.

“Really Sonnett?” Kelley started, already exasperated with this conversation, “It was a wave!” she made a point of enunciating each word.

Suddenly their quiet bickering was broken up by the thudding of paws across the grass. Both soccer players looked up to the see the large shepherd running after his ball, skidding to a stop to pick it up before and speeding back to his owner. Kelley nudged Sonnett, giving her a look to prove her point, pointing to the dog.

They watched as the ball was thrown a few times, the dog and owner slowly working across the large field, making their way closer to the pair on the bleachers. Both were impressed as they watched the ease and distance in which the woman could throw the ball.

The woman finally glanced in their direction after another throw, she visibly cringed when she saw the soccer players waiting on the bench.

“Shit, I’m sorry guys, I didn’t see you over here,” she began to immediately apologize, turning back to intercept her dog.

“Nah, don’t worry about it, we just got here,” Kelley stood and walked over, gently tapping a ball at her feet as she went.

“Let me grab Orion and we’ll be out of your way,” she turned, called the dog back over. The dog quickly trotted back, dropping his ball, waiting to be leashed again.  

“Why don’t you guys stay? You obviously just got her, we can practice over there,” Kelley motioned to the goal closer to the bleachers, “you good with that Son?” the blonde timidly smiled and nodded along.

“You sure?” the dog owner double checked.

“Of course! You always leave when we get here, more than enough room for all of us,” Kelley waved her off, “I’m Kelley by the way, and this is Emily,” she motioned between themselves.

“Y/N,” she offered in return, “this is Orion,” Y/N motioned to the dog sitting patiently sitting next to her.

“He’s gorgeous, can I pet him?” Kelley took half a step forward, reaching a palm out to allow the dog to sniff her.

“For sure, go ahead O,” Y/N tapped the dogs head, Orion raised a paw to be shaken as Kelley approached.

“Aww Em, he shakes!” Kelley cooed while she knelt down, shaking the paw gently before slowly reaching up to pet his head. When the dog didn’t seem worried about the attention, the defender brought up both hands, beginning to scratch his ears with one hand while the other slid along his back.

Y/N smiled as she watched the smile on both the new friends faces, it dropped slightly at how hesitant the other soccer player seemed, assuming it was because of the dog she tapped his butt to get his attention. When the dog turned, she showed him the ball before throwing it as far as she could in the opposite direction, Orion quickly running after it.

She looked back to the pair, making eye contact with Sonnett to apologize “I’m sorry, he’s big and a little intimidating, I’ll keep him over here. Nice meeting you guys!” she tossed over her shoulder before jogging away, calling Orion to direct him away from the soccer players.

“The fuck Son, you love dogs. I didn’t think you were scared of big dogs,” Kelley touched Emily’s elbow, concern lacing her tone while she watched the younger woman. Seeing the bashful blush on her face, Kelley began to smirk. “Or are you scared of hot blondes with big dogs?”

“Shut up,” Sonnett mumbled before jogging away, stealing the ball at the other defender feet.

“Oh it is the second thing!” Kelley jogged after her, “she seems super nice! Talk to her, play with the dog, play with her,” she waggled her eye brows suggestively at the end.

Sonnett just blushed deeper, biting her lip, she glanced to where Y/N was throwing the ball again. It was a warm fall day, leaving her in fitted joggers and a t-shirt. The t-shirt was tight around Y/N’s bicep, stretched across the width of muscular looking shoulders. The woman was clearly athletic and strong. Sonnett watched as her arm and back flexed while she threw the ball again. How she easily caught the large dog in her arms after tapping her chest for a trick.

“Ow, the fuck Kel?” Sonnett whipped around after the ball gently hit the side of her head. Glaring at the other defender who just laughed, Kelley came forward and collected the ball at her feet, before taking a few steps back.

“You should probably go get this,” was all Kelley said before kicking the ball toward the dog and owner.

“What the fuck Kelley?” Sonnett continued to glare, “this isn’t us staying out of each other’s way!”

“No, but it’s me getting you to talk to the pretty blonde,” Kelley called over her shoulder as she walked towards their bench.

Sonnett sighed before jogging over to retrieve the ball, they clearly weren’t practicing at all today.

“O no! That’s not yours,” Y/N called as the dog latched his teeth into the ball.

“I am so sorry, Kelley apparently forgot we were playing on the other side after only five minutes,” Emily began to apologize as she got closer, watching as the dog sunk his teeth further into the ball.

“Fuck,” Y/N mumbled as she watched the ball deflate slightly in Orions mouth, “uhh don’t worry about it. But I think I owe you a new ball,” she motioned to the dog happily nosing the deflating ball on the ground.

“Nope, Kelley definitely owes me a new ball,” Emily smiled at the defeated look on the other blondes face.

“I’m really sorry, he has a soccer ball at home we play with,” Y/N continued to try and apologize.

“Oh no, we are fully blaming O’hara over there,” Sonnett pointed to the brunette defender on the other side of the field who was pretending to not watch the interaction. “Orion can have that one, we have plenty more where that came from.”

The pair watched while Orion bit harshly into the ball again, more air squealing out of it.

Sonnett smiled at the dog who was enjoying his new toy.

“Are you sure?” Y/N confirmed again, Sonnett gave her another reassuring smile and a nod.

“Absolutely! He is better with it than that one is any way,” she nodded her head to the defender now juggling a second ball.  

“Well thank you Emily, tomorrow I’ll make sure his teeth stay out of any of your balls,” Y/N gave a reassuring smile. Sonnettt smiled in return, the pair just staring at each other before the dog nosed the deflated ball to the defender.

This time Sonnett did lean down to pet the dog, who happily accepted the pets and scratches to his ears before trotting off and waiting for Y/N to throw his ball again.

“It was nice meeting you Y/N,” the blonde said sincerely before jogging back over to the ither side of the field.

The next morning, Y/N and Orion were already in their normal spot playing fetch when the defender arrived at the other side of the field. While they got ready, they both missed the dog and owner approach them.

As they both stood up, the pair, Y/N with a new soccer ball sitting under her arm. Both defenders smiled and watched while Y/N dropped the ball and kicked it forward slightly, Orion trotting after it. The soccer players expected the dog to sink his teeth into it like he had the day before, but both giggled when the heard the command from Y/N.

“Nose only, O,” the dog obediently listened, pushing the ball forward a few more feet closer to the soccer player, “figured you guys would need a new ball since your other one had been stolen.” The blonde smiled at both of them.

“You didn’t need to do that!” Sonnett began, only to stop as the ball was pushed in her feet, Orion sitting proudly behind it, tongue hanging lazily out the side of his. “Good boy,” both defenders knelt down and began petting the dog.

Y/N waved them off, called Orion back over, “it definitely needed to be replaced,” she winked and jogged away before they could say anything else.

Sonnett pulled the ball onto her toe and tapped it up into her hands, eyebrows creasing when she saw something written on the ball.

I THINK THESE WORK BETTER WITHOUT TEETH IN THEM.

Was written in bold sharpie, signed with Y/N’s name and her number.

“You are texting her as soon as we finish training!” Kelley stole the ball, inspecting the writing. Sonnett blushed and watched the blonde and her jog out the far end of the park.

[sebstanseabass]

Afterglow (A Bucky Barnes AU fan fiction) - Chapter 11

Afterglow chapters

Pairing: Bucky Barnes x reader

A/N: I am not from the US and I've only been in New York once when I was a kid (I don't remember much lol I was six, I think), so I apologize if some of the places are inaccurate but I tried my very best to do my own research. Anyway, this is one of my favorite chapters I've written and I hope you guys enjoy it as well!

CHAPTER ELEVEN

The first whisper of the Monday air, brushed among the streets of the Upper West Side as you and Bucky decided to grab your running shoes and spend this day outside in the open air, hoping to burn all the calories you consumed last night. With a bottle of water in both your hands, you reached Central Park, catching your breaths. With sweat dripping down your forehead to your eyes, you saw a vacant bench and took the liberty to sit on it with Bucky behind you.

"Do you," Bucky sat beside you, panting and squinting his eyes and shaking off the sweat on his face, "do you run everyday?"

"Not everyday." You chuckled, taking a sip of water. "Four times a week."

"Why do you even like running? I feel like I'm in hell." He sighed, resting his neck on the brace. His breathing was restless and uneven but soon calmed down after a few moments.

"It takes my mind off things. I got a lot going on up here, y'know." You replied with much honesty. "Other people do it to keep in shape but I do it because I need it."

"I've never considered running. I just go to the gym and lift weights. Well, I have my own gym but if I'm being honest with you, I've been slacking off since the day I got here in New York."

You smiled and lifted your eyes to look at him. His face was glistening under the bright morning sun.

"Maybe it's a good thing we ran today." You nudged his shoulder with yours, his sweat-drenched skin rubbing up against your own. "You should run more. The more you do, the less you'll hate it. Trust me."

"You know what, as long as I'm with you, I will." He chuckled. "Ain't running with anybody else but you, doll."

There was a warm sensation moving up towards your cheeks. You didn't know if it was the heat of the sun or the warm blood rushing in but either way, you just knew that a pink flourish was becoming visible on your cheeks.

During that moment all you could muster was: "S-sure."

You hid your face by facing the opposite of Bucky and looked at the crowd that Central Park held. There, across the field lay a dozen picnic blankets on the bright green grass where a bunch of families and couples were reading, eating and talking audibly. Some were sitting underneath the tree for some shade. Some were walking their dogs on a leash and a poop bag ready on hand. Some were tourists with heavy backpacks just walking around. The chirping birds soaring in the air grabbed my attention, making you look up at the sky in which the bright sun hurt your eyes. You closed your eyes after that, trying to regain most of your vision. Once you did, you opened your phone and checked if Peter had left any messages. Unfortunately, there weren't any.

Peter was very vague about where his corporate retreat was, sticking to his notion that in order for him to take his mind off things, he also needed to be away from his real world, whatever that meant.

You sighed, texting Peter anyway, telling him everything was fine and that Bucky had been with you ever since he went away. You asked him how he was and hoped that everything was fine and well, and that he was enjoying his corporate retreat.

"Hey, let me take you somewhere nice today." Bucky said while tapping your sweaty shoulder, making you look up from your phone.

"Why? Where are we going?"

Bucky stood up, typing on his phone and looking around the park. "Wherever my car takes us. I figured since the bar doesn't open on Monday, you and I could do something fun that'll help you relax. Come on, you can go shower in my penthouse. I already have clothes sorted out for you in the guest room."

Your mind was still processing the part where he said that you could go shower in his penthouse.

Confused, you asked. "Wait, now?"

"Yes. Now, get up on your feet. My car's waiting on the road."

He didn't give you much time to comprehend his words, and respond, as he grabbed your hand, pulled you up from the bench. And as you ran, hand in hand, amidst the crowd, there it was again, that after feeling of spontaneity, fleeting; that same feeling you couldn't seem to explain really well — that same feeling you were wishing to avoid.

You and Bucky jogged towards the streets where a black and white Maserati with fully tinted windows was waiting on the side of the street. You thanked Bucky as he opened the door for you. He gave you a cheeky smile in response then hopped in beside you, introducing you to the driver named Howard. Howard nodded his head and smiled at you through the rearview mirror.

Once the car revved forward, you shifted uncomfortably in your seat, weary that your sweat was getting all over the expensive leathered seats of Bucky's car. You moved a bit forward in an oh-so-subtle movement, pushing your body against the strap of the seatbelt across your chest and did your best as you could to avoid sweating all over the seats. With one strong swift move, Bucky pulled your arm back, throwing your back against the seat and told you to relax.

You greeted Leonard with a smile and a wave once you arrived in White Wolf. You and Bucky exchanged some small conversation in the elevator which led right into the penthouse, something about the last time you were here. You both laughed at the memory as you teased him about it.

The penthouse didn't change as much the last time you were here; the only difference was there was no woman with little to no clothing waiting for Bucky to arrive. You looked towards the huge glass windows, your lips curved downward as you were hoping to get a good view of New York that was hiding behind the draped curtains. Bucky led the way towards the guest room in a well-lit hallway on the second floor. You walked under little chandeliers hanging from above. On the walls were duplicate Van Gogh paintings, and framed photographs of nature that blended well with the color scheme of the paintings, as well as the penthouse.

"I picked out some clothes for you that I thought you might like and had my assistant bring them over here." Bucky said, opening the door.

Feeling a bit guilty, you said: "Bucky, you didn't have to."

"I insist. Besides, I'm in charge of you for the whole week." He smiled, leaning against the door frame with his arms crossed.

You playfully rolled your eyes. "I told you, I can take care of myself."

"I'm older than you so you do what I tell you." He just dismissed your remark, and added: "Now go shower. I'll meet you downstairs for some brunch."

With that, Bucky closed the door behind him, leaving you in a state of awe as you looked around the guest room which was twice as big as your room. It was like a duplicate of the living room but smaller, and with a king-sized bed in the middle on the far back with clothes and some towels draped along the edge. A telescope stands near the glass walls. Beside it sits two dainty cushioned chairs, and a miniature coffee table. There was a flat screen 32-inch television facing the bed.

You walked near the curtains, slithered your finger between the noticeable gap and took a small peek outside.

You stepped into the insides of the bathroom which was near the size of your room. Everything felt so unfamiliar to you but you bathed everything in and relaxed as soon as the small prickle of the cold shower water hit the soft spots of your body.

You got out of the guest room, feeling fresh from the cold shower. You wore some cropped halter top, heathered trousers and slipped on some fuzzy slippers that were quite big for your size, even though your feet were already big. You quickly assumed it was Bucky's.

"Did you, by any chance, get me some shoes too?" You joked as you approached the kitchen, eyeing the bagels on a big plate on the rectangular island in the center. You hopped on one of the high stools, grabbed one and smeared cream cheese on it. "Just kidding, I love these fuzzy slippers."

Bucky's back was facing you, busy flipping some pancakes on the stove. "You're not wearing that outside. And yes, I do have some but they're mostly Peter's. Don't worry he hasn't used them yet."

"That's alright. We're the same size."

Bucky turned around, a big pan on his right hand. He approached you and flipped a pancake on top of a tower of pancakes on a plate.

"You like the clothes I picked out for you?" He asked and sat down on the high stool.

"Yes, thank you. But seriously, you didn't have to."

"Okay, so let me get this straight... You let me pay for food and alcohol but not clothes?"

You laughed. "It's a different thing! Those were cheap, these," you touched the fabric of your shirt and trousers, "are obviously expensive. They don't have that thrift smell my clothes have. And besides, I need food but not clothes so you paying for my food was a big win for me."

Now, it was his turn to laugh, shoving a piece of pancake into his mouth. "Okay from now on, all I should hear from you when I give you stuff is thank you."

"But... why?"

"Because social convention dictates us to."

"I know, but, why are you giving me stuff?"

"How else am I going to keep you around?" He winked as he continued to chew.

"Bucky." You warned.

"Okay, okay." He chuckled. "The thing to know about me is I love spoiling people — people that I trust and I'm obviously comfortable around you."

Not knowing any other way to answer, you just said: "Oh, well... Thank you."

"And of course, the thing I said before too." He laughed and you threw a bagel at him in response.

You and Bucky enjoyed your little brunch while planning the day ahead of you: go around Fifth Street, and perhaps Broadway, maybe go to the Chelsea market and as Bucky said: "Just go wherever our feet take us!"

Once both of you were done, you headed down White Wolf, with Bucky's Maserati waiting in front. You greeted Howard as you climbed in.

"You know what would be nice?" You started once the car moved forward. "Capturing people's moments in a crowded street." You said, picturing Fifth Street in your head.

"Oh, that's right." Bucky replied. "Here." With his large hand, he handed you a camera. But it wasn't just any camera. It was yours.

"Wait, is this my camera?" You asked, taking it from him. He nodded in response. "Bucky, what the hell, you went through my stuff?"

"Not me. Howard."

"Howard?!"

"Don't worry, miss," Howard spoke, glancing through the rearview mirror where you saw your own reflection, "I didn't take anything else and put everything back in place. I just did what Mr. Barnes told me to do."

"James." You scolded.

"What are you James-ing me for?" He said, leaning against the seat, clearly stifling a laugh. "He's the one who went through your stuff!"

"You are such a child." You rolled your eyes. "You're the one who told him to."

"You heard him, he didn't take anything else."

"Next time you pull something like this, you ought to let me know okay?"

He lifted his eyes to look at you, teeth biting his inner cheek, a smile wanting to reveal itself. "Okay."

You sighed but you also couldn't help but smile at your camera. It had been a long time since you've operated it as you have been so busy in the bar and hadn't had clients for a while now. You closed it immediately, seeing as the battery was just at fifty percent.

You and Bucky got out of the vehicle as soon as Howard reached Fifth street and entered the Lacoste building with no rush. You held your camera close to your chest, the strap feeling a bit heavier on the back of your neck as the hours passed but the weight of pleasure of taking photos of the street from the inside of the glass windows overwhelmed that.

All the stores looked so unfamiliar to you. The stores you usually go to had dimly-lit rooms with low ceilings, and instead of tiled floors and walls, they had chipped to almost rotten wood walls. The smell of new clothes in these designer stores filled your lungs, the bright incandescent lights nearly caused blindness to your eyes, the amount of men and women dressed in suits, stockings, and skirts were nothing you had ever seen before, designer clothes were hanging on racks color-codedly, or by season, or by new and old collection, the eyes of the security guards in each entrance lurked from miles away until you get inside the store, and today, you have seen Bucky's sleek, black credit card get swiped into the little machines a hundred times. He bought some clothes for himself, and Peter, whom he actually promised to.

Bucky even handed you some clothes, told you to put them on and when they did fit you, he immediately went towards the counter.

Feeling as if everything was too much, you refused but all he said was:

"From now on, when I buy you things all you have to say is thank you."

Overpowered, you just nodded and said exactly what he wanted you to say: "Thank you." And as hours passed more shopping bags were in my bags (yes, you insisted to carry what he had bought you, and when he refused, you gave him back his words, a little taste of his own medicine: "From now on, when you buy me things all you have to do is let me carry them.")

"Ah, throwing my words back to me. I see."

As you walked around a whole lot more, side by side, exposed elbows and lonely fingers constantly brushing against each other, you talked about things you both loved. Nothing about Bucky's hotel business, nothing about the bar, just the things in life which made you both happy — photographs, paintings, and everything about art. He saw the world through yours. You were just beginning to see his but the details weren't enough for you. You craved more of what was in his mind and in his life — no, not the business, parties, booze and all that.

But the things that separate him from that world, and the things he grew up with before that.

A lot of questions swarmed in your head, trying to think of ways to ask them but Bucky merely insisted on knowing you. All of you. But just like him, you too had your guards up, especially around your family issues.

Then you reached Chelsea market. You didn't know how but you did. You spotted Bucky's car parked on one street and told you to leave all the things he had bought inside. After saying your goodbye to Howard who, afterwards, drove towards the bumper-to-bumper traffic in Manhattan, you and Bucky headed to wherever your feet you. You were feeling a ton lighter without the shopping bags dragging your hands and you could now freely touch and open your camera.

Bucky, with a Grande Starbucks cup in one hand, looked around with a big smile planted on his face. You walked around, seeing the art district of New York through your lenses. You grabbed Bucky's attention by calling his name and when he turned around, you snapped a shot of him. Eyes wide. Brows furrowed together. Lips in a state of bafflement.

"Hey, delete that!" He protested.

You laughed, turning your body in the opposite direction. "No way! It's a good picture!"

"No, it's not!"

You kept on laughing, mumbling a bunch of "sorry"s and "excuse me"s along the way, the camera still shoved in your face.

Your lens caught a familiar name from afar, printed in neon red: Wanda. You stood there in the middle of the crowd, leaving Bucky to wonder what had happened.

"Let's go there." You said, making your way across the street where it was.

"Where?"

"Just follow me."

Bucky held no questions no more as your feet treaded towards the building of Wanda's studio. Once you reached it, you merely stood meters away from it, looking at the sign.

"Wandavision." You mumbled under your breath then bit your inner cheek afterwards, contemplating if you should go in and say hi but that didn't matter anymore because standing behind the tall glass windows was Wanda herself.

Again, she gave you that oh-so-sweet smile of hers, long red locks cascading down her shoulder as she walked towards the door. You gestured to Bucky to come with you, no questions asked.

"Y/n!" Wanda exclaimed, wrapping her arms around you as you and Bucky entered the building. "Oh, it's so good to see you."

"You too, Wanda."

"And who's this dapper man of yours?"

Beside you, Bucky's body vibrated, a chuckle coming out of his mouth as he offered his hand. "I'm Bucky Barnes. Nice to meet you."

Wanda shook his hand. "Nice to meet you, too." She gave you a knowing smile, taunting you, but you dismissed her assumptions by shaking your head no, and then she pouted.

Wanda led you further down her large, wide studio, giving us a tour.

"I'm quite surprised you came by, Y/n."

"We were just walking around the market and saw your studio." You replied. "Wanda, what you have here is... so beautiful."

"Thank you. I really appreciate that. I've wanted this since I was a little girl. It's always been the dream."

The inside was bright, with fair white walls, floor and ceiling, and smelled of fresh lavender. On one corner, it smelled of fabrics, make-up, and hairspray. Framed photos of Wanda hung on the walls. There was a dressing area on a corner, and a comfortable couch, perhaps, for visitors as well as the models. A mini kitchen stood in the far back. On top of the cute marbled island was a coffee maker, and a mini fridge. There was one room solely for the post-production process, her main office. A giant paper backdrop had taken a huge space on the floor. Around it were different kinds of large lights, tripods, chairs and other expensive equipment for photography.

She had it all. Everything you've pictured yourself having.

Wanda had it all.

"You've come at the right time. There's not much going on today but I have tons of clients coming for the next few days but really, feel free to come by anytime you want."

"I will, thank you."

Howard picked you right up outside Wandavision. The whole ride was filled with uncomfortable silence.

"Your friend's really nice." Bucky said, trying to clear the atmosphere. "She's a bit too chatty for me but she's nice."

"Yeah." You answered, your head pressed against the window. "Really nice."

"Are you okay, doll?"

You hummed. "I am. Just a bit tired s'all."

"Listen, I just have to head to the White Wolf but Howard will drop you by the apartment, okay? The shopping bags are already there but you don't have to worry about them, I'll take care of them as soon as I get back. Just take a rest, okay? Maybe a short nap. I'll grab you dinner on the way. How does that sound?"

Tired to even tell him you didn't need to babied, you just said: "Okay. Thank you, Bucky."

You did as Bucky told you to. You ignored the bags sitting on the couch, placed your camera on your nightstand and took a damn nap. When you woke up, instead of feeling better, you felt sick to your stomach. Your phone lit up, a message from Bucky displayed on the screen:

"Sorry for the delay. I'm currently stuck in traffic. I'll see you in 20."

You sighed and with an empty stomach, and an occupied mind, you put on your jacket, anticipating a cold rush, grabbed your keys to the bar and headed down. You went straight behind the counter, jumped over it and found an unopened vodka.

You drank the vodka, drank all your troubles away and as you sat there on the floor, weeping, the place you worked at felt too much familiar to you. So much so that you began to hate it and to hate the kind of life you had been living. Who were you fucking kidding? No, you didn't like juggling two jobs. It sucked. Even though it had been giving you the ability to pay half of the rent, it still sucked.

This wasn't what you wanted.

A few moments have passed. You were already on your second bottle. There was a sound coming from the back which began to startle you. A certain Steve emerged from his office, a look of concern evident on his face.

"Stevieeee!" You stood up, well, tried to anyway. "You're here!"

"Y/n, what the hell." He took you in his big muscular arms, his one hand carefully yanking the bottle of vodka on your hand and placing it on the counter. "You're drunk. You should go home. Where's Peter?"

"He's away. He left. Wait, why are you here?"

"I just had to take care of some things."

"Is Nat back there with you? It's okay, shh, shh, I know about you too."

"Oh, God. Did she tell you?"

"Puh-lease! You imprinted your scent on her like a werewolf."

He just sighed. "Let's get you to your apartment."

"Don't worry, Stevie, I won't tell. Hey, call Bucky. Grab my phone. It's on my ass." You giggled and then hiccuped. He carefully grabbed your phone from your back pocket, let you enter my password which took forever, and then called Bucky.

"He'll be here in a minute or two." Steve said, sliding your phone back in your pocket. "Let's get you seated, alright?"

He sat you in one of the booths. "I'll get you some water, okay?"

You didn't respond. Your eyes were fixated on the photos on the wall. With your breath rapidly increasing, you stood by your knees, and grabbed as many photos as you could. Steve slid in the booth with you, handing you a glass of water. You took a small sip, avoiding his eyes.

"What happened, y/n?"

You didn't give him an answer to his question and just downed the water. But you did ask him something. "Why'd you buy my photos, Steve? Is it because you pitied me that day?"

"What? No, I truly believe you have amazing photos."

"But what?"

"What?"

"There's always a but. What is it, Steve?"

"But nothing, y/n."

"Liar." You muttered. "You're a liar."

"Look, I can't help you if you don't tell me what's going on."

"I don't need help. I'm not a child!"

"You clearly are, especially when you're behaving like one. You come in here, drink an expensive bottle of whiskey, cry on the floor and ask me a bunch of ridiculous things. It's okay to ask for help sometimes."

"I'll pay for the bottle if that's what you're asking."

"No, I don't care about that. I care about what's going on with you right now because this isn't you, y/n."

"Oh please, you don't. You just pity me! That's why you bought those two photos, that's why you let me put my photos up here in the bar. I'm no good, Steve! I'm no good."

"Y/n — "

Then, a door slammed, a running Bucky coming inside. "Hey, doll. I'm here. Hey, hey, what happened?"

"Let's just go, Bucky." You stood up beside Bucky who held your waist for balance.

"Thank you for calling me." Bucky told Steve.

"Just take her home safely."

"I live right upstairs." You groaned.

"And make sure she doesn't drink anymore or do anything stupid." Steve scolded, his eyes locked on yours.

Bucky held you all the way towards the outside of the bar, and guided you towards the steps that led to the sidewalk. A black limo was on the street. With the windows rolled down, Howard asked, "Is everything alright, Mr. Barnes?"

"Everything's okay, Howie. You can go back now."

"Wait!" You exclaimed, slipping away from Bucky's arms and headed towards the limo. "Howard, take us somewhere."

"Y/n, what are you doing?"

You didn't give him time to wait for an answer as you opened the door and climbed inside the spacious limo. Bucky climbed in, confused.

"Y/n, are you going to tell me what's going on?"

You gave no answer, instead, you gave Howard the address. "450 West 15th Street."

The ride was more silent and shorter. He tried offering you food he had bought but you kindly refused, dreading to get out of the limo. You held on to your photos so tight that marks, scratches and folds were visible even in the dark.

When you reached your destination, you quickly hopped out, with Bucky following you.

"What are we doing back here?"

You were standing in front of Wanda's studio, the red neon lights illuminating on the concrete street, giving a bit of life on this side of New York.

You sat down on the floor, against a big pot of plant, your eyes never leaving the sign. Bucky, still confused, followed suit anyway.

"You know, my parents told me I'd never make it here. The day I left my home to live here, they told me, 'you'll never amount to anything. You'll never have a good life in New York. You'll never make it as a photographer. That's not a real job.' And I told them I will make it that I'll work my ass off, blood, sweat, tears, I'll do anything to prove them wrong. But don't you just hate it when they're right? I left my family, lost my communication to my siblings for this ridiculous dream I've been chasing for years. Everything I've done here feels like nothing."

At this point, you didn't want to hear anything or anyone besides yourself. So you were more than glad to hear nothing from Bucky, and to feel his fingers interlaced with yours.

"Wanda and I met in college; a year younger than me. We shared a love for photography and arts. Then we kind of just lost touch after I graduated. And then I saw her a week ago. She looked so happy and so content and I could feel her pity on me, her eyes, her touch. It was the first time I felt so small and I didn't think I could feel smaller but then we went here. Everything I wanted for myself, the things I pictured myself having and doing... She's living it. She's out there and I'm not. And I really hoped that by now, I've proved my parents wrong but turns out they're right. They were right all along. I don't amount to anything. I'm nothing."

"Wandavision." You laughed bitterly. "Wanda's vision. That right there. That's fucking clever."

"Let's get you home, doll. Please?"

"I want to stay, Bucky."

"We'll talk when we get back. Please, y/n."

You didn't agree to anything but he lifted you up anyway, guiding you towards the limo which was still on the street.

The partition was up. Even though Howard was inside the limo as well, at that moment it was just you and Bucky.

So, you cried, like how the skies cried, in Bucky's arms. You wept for all the unpaid rent and debts, for the menial job that you ended up in, for your failed career as a photographer, for your selfish parents, for your isolation from your college friends, for your insecurities, for your dog that died when you left for college, for your former lover that abused you, for the books you left unread, for all the wrong choices, for all the money you wasted during your college days, for all the toxic people you've ever met, for all the alcohol stains you had to wipe for years, for all the food intake during your peak of stress in school, for the only cherries you tasted, for the drunk sex you've always regretted, for the drunk kiss with Peter you've always regretted, and for the incoming mistake you were about to do.

"Kiss me." You whispered, lifting your head from his chest. "Kiss me, Bucky."

He shook his head no. Your noses touched. "Why not?" Your breaths moved together.

"Because right now, you're a mess." He whispered. "You're very vulnerable and drunk. I can't."

"I'm giving you all the consent I need. Kiss me."

"Not like this, doll."

Instead of going for your dry lips, he placed his lips on your forehead, his mouth and breath lingering. "Not like this."

[cosmiclatte28]

Sunshine (Taeyong x reader + Jaehyun)

warning : death of pets, dogs

tagging @neopalette

community @multifandomnet @supermwritersnet

The empty spot next to his pillow greets Taeyong this morning. The young man wipes his swollen red eyes as he gets up to wash his face and gets ready for another boring regular day. His feet slip into the soft pairs of slippers on the ground and he shuffles his way to the bathroom. Lazily he washes his face and brushes his teeth, eyes wetting once again when he realizes his best friend is really gone. His favorite dog passed away last week and he still can’t get over it. A lot of activities remind him of the cute small angel who used to cling into his leg and follows him around, but not anymore. Ruby has left for a better place.

Taeyong checks his notification panel and closes it one more time after seeing messages from his bestfriends, family and colleagues. The wallpaper still hurt him, the last picture of Ruby smiling in his embrace, Taeyong promised himself he will stop crying when he sees Ruby’s wallpaper, but here he is still feeling his eyes tear up when Ruby is present.

He brushes away his brown fluffy hair and dresses himself up to finally walk to the office. He’s been asking the boss to let him work from home for the last week and since the boss is his friend, he could get his wish granted. But now he has to return to his regular life.

--

The bus ride was okay, he didn’t meet anyone annoying, instead he feels better seeing people he used to see commute with the same bus line in the morning. Taeyong plugs in his earphone and takes a look at the window. He feels better upon seeing the leaves, the busy streets and the warm sun kissing his cheeks when he steps down off the bus and walks to his office.

“Here we go,” he holds his breath for a while before finally letting it go as he steps into the tall building.

“Hey good morning Taeyong! It’s been awhile.” The front desk greeter smiles upon seeing him and Taeyong gets his morning boost already.

“Morning Jungwoo,” he smiles at the sweet guy and escapes his way to the lift.

His colleagues are all happy to see him again, everyone is considerate enough to not ask him about his dog and help him think of something else like a movie he should try watching and a new cafe he should try coming.

He concluded that today is not a bad day. He might even consider to visit the dog park, because he missed going to that park but a part of him tells him he’ll be sad remembering Ruby but another part says maybe this is the right time he tries to let the sadness go and see if he can be happy again when going to that park

So, in the afternoon, with his best friend Jaehyun, Taeyong visits the dog park near his house.

There in the park there’s a lot of people walking their dog around and the dogs are just having fun chasing balls and running around with other dogs.

Jaehyun picks a comfortable place to sit and Taeyong places his working bag down.

“So, how’s love life?” Jaehyun begins to ask him some questions all men their age ask each other about other than cars and footballs. Taeyong chuckles, “Single after the last break up.”

Jaehyun nods “Ah, still afraid of falling in love?” He knows his best friend, he knows the heartbreak Taeyong went through and he doesn’t want Taeyong to be uncomfortable.

Taeyong shakes his head “No one likes me.” to which Jaehyun snorts and hits his friend “No way! With that look, smile and gentle heart everyone is dying to have you!”

Taeyong has his eyes trembling but he laughs along to Jaehyun, that’s what his grandmother told him too but look at him being single till now.

“What about you Jae?” He asks his friend back while keeping his eyes focus on a big dog chasing a smaller dog. A small smile creeps up his face when he sees how silly the big dog looks.

“I found someone last week. We met in the bookstore, I was just looking for a cooking book and she recommended some to me, then we talked and eventually I got her number. We went for a coffee date. She’s interesting.” Jaehyun has a blush on his cheeks as he talks.

Taeyong nods “Must be nice.” He shrugs his shoulders only to suddenly hear some faint noise of a girl talking to her dog.

“Where are you going Amber,” your voice trails along your small dog that’s sniffing something on the grass then jumps to walk along the seating area like a wall but its short enough for people to sit around.

Amber, your small poodle, just keeps on sniffing and walking, as if following a trail and suddenly your eyes widen when your small poodle casually just jumps to a stranger’s lap and sniffs around his lap only to sit down and have the man pat her head.

You run to catch the naughty dog, and once you’re in front of the two good looking men you feel shy.

“I am sorry for my dog.” you bow to them but one of them, who has a sweet dimple, just laughs and shakes his head. “Don’t worry, we love dogs.” He glances at his friend, Taeyong, who is busy rubbing the dog and smiling sweetly.

“Amber, what are you looking for from him? He has no dog treats.” you shake your dog's treat and that catches her attention but she doesn’t move an inch from Taeyong’s lap.

“Come here Amber, what did I tell you about greeting others?” You raise your brow and your dog just plants his chin on Taeyong’s arm and makes puppy eyes which of course melt the hearts of the three of you.

“Aww look at you, cute princess.” Taeyong baby talks to the dog while slowly picking it up to pass it to you back.

You take the dog and thank him before finally putting the leash on so she can’t run away.

“I am so sorry and thank you. Amber was not confident around other dogs, that’s why I brought her here to socialize and it looks like she loves people more than dogs.” you sit on the next empty spot.

“That’s okay, it’s cute to see her run to me.” Taeyong rubs at the dog that’s climbing up to sit on his lap again.

“Oh Amber, you really like him don’t you?” You grin at your dog and tuck a hair away from your face.

“I haven’t seen you around, my name is (y/n),” you introduce yourself.

They quickly exchange their names with you. The dimple guy is Jaehyun and the other one with brown wide eyes is Taeyong.

Both of you settle for a quick talk about dogs, you learn that Taeyong just lost his dog but he’s glad to find a cute Amber here now.

“I’m glad Amber is here now, right you cutie. I’ll see you next time around.” Taeyong grins to the dog after playing with her ears.

You smile “I live around here, I always take Amber to the park around this hour. It was nice meeting both of you, I’ll see you around.” you bid goodbye to Jaehyun who gets a call from his girlfriend.

Now it’s just you and Taeyong and he nicely offers you to buy a coffee someday to get to know each other more, now that he heard both of you are working on the same field and that both of you love dogs.

“I’ll have to bring Amber some good treats next time. She’s the one who lets me know you.” Taeyong already shows much love to your dog.

You smile back, liking how this might end. “Alright, I'll see you tomorrow for coffee and Amber will run to you again if you bring good snacks.”

Taeyong nods and hands you his phone so you can type in your number.

He saved your number and texted you a hi, so you can get his number too and check if it's a scam or not.

Both of you said goodbye and Taeyong took his bus back home. He glances to the sky, watching the cloud move with the sky and he smiles when he sees Ruby in one of the clouds.

“I miss you, but you go have fun there, I found someone that brings a smile to my face again.”

He correlates you and Amber to sunshine, the one that brightens his day, the one that brings a smile to his face, and of course back then Ruby was his sunshine. Now, he has two sunshine and that’s all he needs to be the Taeyong he was once again.

End

[yourdeepestfathoms]

for anyone curious, my newest book is about the Salem Witch Trials! it’s at the point of view of Mary Warren and how she went through trials, ultimately ending in her downward spiral into madness as the trials deteriorate her mental health. it’s called Servant of Evil.

here’s the first segment of the first chapter!

— — —

She was gathering crops the first day she caught wind of the hysteria.

It was late January and sunny, the last warm day in what would soon feel like forever. The sickle in her hand was wickedly sharp and gleaming in pale yellow light, and the stalks of the corn she was cutting away were rough and sharp beneath calloused fingers. Already, the skin on her hands was shredded, oozing ruby droplets of blood and staining bright green stems. Her legs ached from crouching in the dirt, muscles locked up and tense. Somewhere beyond the pillars of corn stretched out before her, she could hear her master’s children talking in high-pitched voices, dogs barking, and horses neighing. Even closer than that, however, she could hear heavy footsteps tramping through the field, and she knew the owner of this land would not enjoy such galumphing through his crops. But she also knew that the one who appeared through the stalks wouldn’t care much for the fiery point of John Proctor’s scorn.

“Something weirdish is going on in Salem.”

Without looking up, Mary Warren answered the unexpected visitor, “Something is always going on in Salem.”

That much was true, at least right now. Salem was a town of rich trade and sea salt, characterized by a sparkling harbor that was bested only by Boston’s and a habit of fighting with itself. For years, Salem had been split between two forces: the nobles up in Salem Town and the farmers down in Salem Village. The two territories were never not fighting with each other; they were always mad about something the other did, and it was easy to lose track of who hated who and for what reason. Salem Village didn’t like the control Salem Town held over it, while Salem Town was annoyed by Salem Village thinking it was its own settlement, but they all detested the British church, which was mutual. Salem Town often pulled men from Salem Village to be a part of the national guard, which made Salem Village nervous because then they would have nobody to protect them, and Indian attacks were a regular fear throughout the civilization. Aside from its harbor, the other thing Salem had to owe to its popularity was its unfortunate position in front of frequent ambushes. And if it didn’t suffer ambushes first-hand, then it suffered ambushes through the survivors of such raids, many of which populated the city and would soon help with the grisly events that turned the community over on its head.

But the only other thing Salem Village and Salem Town could agree on was that the Indians were an issue. Unfortunately, that was where agreements ended and arguments began- Salem Town wanted more men to train, promising protection; Salem Village refusing, saying they knew how Salem Town lied, and if they didn’t, then they only saved them because of their bountiful trade and not because they were their people. It wouldn’t be long until the yelling broke out, testaments from the Bible were quoted, and grown men argued like two children fighting over who was their parents’ favorite kid.

However, Salem as a whole had fallen silent recently. Things were peaceful. It was as though a grace period were opening up before them all--or, perhaps, it was actually ending.

Except for right now, in the Proctor corn field, of course. Because her visitor would only bring silence if she were dead, and she had proved to be too slippery for death’s fingers three times over after surviving several Indian attacks throughout her young life.

“This is different.”

Wiping a sagging green sleeve over her damp brow, Mary looked up and squinted through sweat and sun to look at none other than the Putnam’s maid, Mercy Lewis.

Mercy was a fine example of everything the Puritans didn’t want. Despite her name’s sake, she was stubborn, brash, and spitfire, though she was smart enough to never act in such a way in front of the church. And she was, indeed, smart. She was more clever than a fox, easily outwitting several situations despite the minimal education women had in their lifetime. The only thing she was merciful to was her younger cousin, Ann Putnam Jr. Her parents were better off naming her Big, Loud, and Vulgar.

Mercy was nineteen-years-old, two years older than Mary, and built like a small bear. She was short, compact, and sinewy, her muscles and joints well-honed from rough maid work. Her temper was black and her teeth were sharp. Her curly dark brown hair was tucked up in her blindingly white bonnet, and she was dressed in a nondescript dress of purple. Storm cloud grey eyes bore down on Mary with bright amusement.

The two of them met three years ago in Elizabeth Proctor’s tavern. Mary had been struggling to wipe away a sticky stain on one of the tables; Mercy was looking for fresh meat. They both were in the right place at the right time.

Mary hadn’t heard her come in. It was as though the shadows of the tavern itself had unfolded the sixteen-year-old before her because she was suddenly there, towering over the front of the table, and Mary ended up spilling the bowl of soapy water she was using all over herself upon noticing her.

“My, are you jumpy,” the strange girl had observed, peering over the edge of the table. She didn’t offer Mary her help or even an apology. Mary didn’t ask for one. “Were your parents murdered by savages, too?”

“What?”

“Ooo, no, then. Got it.”

Mary blinked up at her for a moment, then carefully got up out of the sudsy puddle and retrieved a dry rag to clean up the newest mess. The entire time, the strange girl watched her as she dripped droplets and beads of white soap from the bottom of her old lavender dress.

“Can I help you?” Mary asked as she got back down on her hands and knees to clean the floor.

“Oh, no,” the strange girl answered. “I just came to say hello. Introduce myself. You work for the Proctor’s, yeah?”

“Yes,” Mary nodded.

“Interesting, interesting. I work for the Putnam’s. Thomas is my cousin, actually.”

Mary nodded again. She looked back down at the puddle, trying to focus on that. The girl didn’t move.

“Mercy.”

Mary looked back up again. She blinked. The strange girl blinked back. Was this a game?

“Pity.”

The girl stared at her for a moment, then burst into loud laughter that seemed to shake the walls. Mary was startled; she had never heard anyone laugh so hard in her entire life. Especially in a town as strict as Sakem.

“No, that’s my name,” the girl said after calming down. “My name is Mercy. Mercy Lewis.”

“Oh,” Mary’s ears heated up. “Right. Your parents were feeling pretty creative, weren’t they?”

Another bout of laughter. “Yes. Yes, they were.” She squinted at her. “And you are?”

“Mary. Mary Warren.”

“Well, Mary ‘Pity’ Warren, I think we are going to be very good friends.”

And she was right.

Mercy, as menacing as she could be, made life in Salem a lot more bearable, especially when Proctor’s whip frequently began lapping at Mary’s bare back. Together, they formed a cohort of sorts, sneaking away into the woods with other village girls, hiding away from the Lord’s watchful eyes to discuss the most sinful of things.

And today, Mercy wanted to carry on with their long-running traditions.

“Different in what way?” Mary asked.

Mercy rolled her eyes. She kicked a cloud of dust at Mary, and Mary sputtered, nearly falling backwards into the corn.

“Different-different,” Mercy answered. “Something is wrong with Abigail. Betty, too, I hear. We’re gonna go up to the Reverend’s house and see them. They’re ill, you know?”

“No,” Mary shook her head. “Mister Proctor didn’t tell me anything. They’re sick?”

“Yeah. Real sick. Ain’t wakin’ up. The Reverend has been throwin’ a huge fit over them.” Mercy explained, “I’m surprised you never heard him howlin’!” Then, doing a horrible imitation of Reverend Samuel Parris’s voice, she wailed, “Oh Betty, Betty! Wake, my sweet daughter! Wake! Why won’t you wake?!”

She clung to Mary’s arm dramatically. “God! God! Why have you forsaken me?! What have you struck my little girls with?!”

Mary couldn’t help but giggle softly. Still, her mind was made up on the whole ordeal.

“Tell them my pardons and prayers,” she said, grabbing the fallen sickle. “My master said I gotta tend to the crops. Then I can go to town. But I am not spendin’ my free time meddlin’ in someone else’s affairs.”

Mercy groaned loudly and snatched the sickle away from Mary, making her yelp.

“Live a little, will ya? Let’s go see poor Abby and Betty!” Mercy urged. “To Hell with your master right now. You can’t let him lead you around by a leash all the time. Deal with the consequences later. Let’s go!”

Mary stared into the older girl’s eyes and then sighed, giving in. She stood up- Mercy was taller than her, as she always had been. “Lead on, Mercy.”

Mercy brightened.

Together, the two of them snuck out of the Proctor property, careful as to not get caught by one of the many children roaming the plantation.

Technically, the Proctor’s had eighteen children, though four were dead and eleven were brought forth by two different women, both of which had also passed over the seasons. The only living child of John Proctor’s first wife, Martha Giddens, was Benjamin, a tall, lanky man who could never seem to grow a beard, yet had hair down to his shoulders. He was thirty-three and didn’t talk to Mary very often, but when he did, he greatly critiqued her work in the field. That farm was his pride and joy, and it was a challenge to not roll her eyes when he would go on about the importance of their crops and proper plant care.

Elizabeth II was the second oldest at twenty-nine, and helped Elizabeth Proctor run the tavern with her other siblings: Martha IV, twenty-six (the first two Martha’s had died when they were both infants, along with the woman they were named after); Mary II, twenty-five; John II, twenty-four; Mary III, twenty-three; and Thorndike, twenty. Why Proctor decided to have TWO daughters named Mary was beyond Mary herself, but it wasn’t uncommon for things to become confusing when their name was shouted for whatever reason.

Elizabeth Proctor’s children stayed on the farm, helping clean and take care of the livestock: William, eighteen; Sarah fifteen; Samuel, seven; Elisha, five; Abigail, three; and Joseph, one. Mercy often made jokes that Elizabeth had obviously been the one to name the kids, as they were actually creative and not repeating several times over.

But with so many watchmen on the property, Mary was surprised about how easy it was to slip away unseen.

The road was loose and crunched loudly beneath their footfalls. Mercy kept kicking a rock, and Mary watched it bounce across the ground.

“So, what’s wrong with Betty and Abby?” Mary asked.

Mercy smirked widely.

“There be witches about, Mary.”

[recollins]

Baby Fever (Spencer Reid x Reader)

Request: Do u mind doing a fic where people from the team sees Spencer shopping for baby items (clothes, toys, etc) during different days and one time sees him shopping with his secret gf that they didnt know about and immediately jump to conclusions thinking they’re having a baby but in reality the reader’s sister is the one thats pregnant hahaha thanks and i love your stories! Pairing: Spencer Reid x Female Reader Words: 4,930 Content: 100% pure fluff Warnings: None Masterlist

--

The headache you’d had all day just refused to go away. It would’ve been tolerable if you could’ve at least gone home at five, like planned. All day you’d been looking forward to dinner with Spencer, and of course your boss had practically forced you to stay late tonight to finish your reports early. Sure, it’d look great for your team, but at this point all you wanted was to eat reheated pizza in your pajamas with your adorable boyfriend while you binged Dr. Who until 1am again.

Was that really too much to ask?

When you got a new text from Spencer saying he’d just reached the store, you instantly dropped what you were doing and, after a quick look around to make sure your boss wasn’t nearby, you hit call.

“I have no idea what would be beneficial for Ashley,” Spencer told you the moment he answered. You could hear him rifling through books on the other end of the phone. You couldn’t help but grin hearing him practically fretting; he was taking his unofficially official assignment seriously.

“She’s a lot like you. She likes learning as much as she can. ,” you told him, smiling at your own words. It was another reason you were dying for them to meet.

The two of you had only been dating for a couple of months, but you’d fallen hard for the handsome genius and you wanted to show your sister exactly why you were so thankful you’d babysat for her that day. It was all thanks to her that you’d had your chance encounter with Spencer; without her, you never would’ve met.

--

You hadn’t even noticed the little boy running across the park until the dog at your side paused to watch him. As soon as he noticed the boy was headed for the two of you he gave an excited jump, scrambling forward to greet his visitor.

“Sit, Buck,” you told the golden retriever pulling at the leash. Your sister’s dog looked back at you, giving one of the most human pouts you’d ever seen, though he reluctantly plopped onto the grass.

The little boy paused a few feet of way, clearly having enormous difficulty not immediately hugging the dog he was after. He looked up at you with a pleading gaze, blinking his large blue eyes as he asked hopefully,

“Can I PLEASE pet your doggy?”

With a grin – glad to see he knew how to act with a stranger’s dog – you nodded and knelt down beside the dog ready to burst with excitement. “You sure can. He loves making new friends.”

The little boy gasped with excitement and eagerly moved closer, holding out his hand. Buck squirmed forward and bumped his head into the little boys palm, and all hesitancy was out the window. The boy laughed and threw his arms around Buck, and the golden retriever instantly began licking him, wagging so hard he nearly knocked himself over.

“I’m Henry,” the little boy announced to you, eagerly petting as much of the dog as he could reach.

“Hi Henry. I’m Y/N, and this is Buck,”

“Hi Buck!” he laughed, nearly falling over as the dog reacted to his name with even more wiggles. Laughing yourself, you reached out and gently steadied Henry just as a new person came rushing your small group.

“Henry!” the man called out, and the little boy glanced over his shoulder. “I’ve told you not to run off like that!”

Instantly you were lost to studying the piece of art that had just graced you with his presence. He was tall, slim, and scruffy, a mess of chocolate curls framing his sharp jaw line and even sharper cheekbones. A light dusting of stubble framed his soft, pink lips and drew you even further into his hauntingly beautiful face.

“Uncle Spencer look! I made a friend!”

The man – Spencer – came up to Henry’s side and knelt down, keeping himself angled away from Buck as he studied the little boy, checking to make sure he was alright.

“Buck’s really friendly,” you felt the need to tell him, instantly recognizing he was very protective of the little boy. “I hope it’s alright that he pets him, I didn’t have it in me to keep them apart.”

Spencer’s face finally seemed to relax as he watched Henry and Buck together. “It’s alright. I’m sorry if we’re interfering with your day.”

“No, no. Not at all. This is a happy little pitstop on our way home,” you assured. You’d been watching Buck practically lick Henry to death, but when you glanced up at Spencer you saw he’d been watching you. Your gaze met for the first time and blinked in surprise, taken off-guard by the gorgeous caramel eyes staring into you.

Upon meeting your gaze his cheeks flushed beneath the scruff of his beard and he stammered out a quick, “t-that’s – that’s good. I’m glad.”

Normally you were shy and awkward around guys as gorgeous as Spencer, but today you felt emboldened. Maybe it was the crisp autumn wind that settled your nerves as you took a breath, or maybe it was the way his stunning gaze could hardly stay off of you. Either way, you gave him a soft smile and said,

“If it’s okay with you, I’m sure Buck would love having company around the rest of the park.”

Henry’s big blue eyes stretched impossibly wide and he tipped his head back. “Can we PLEASE walk with them, Uncle Spencer? PLEASE?!”

Spencer let out a laugh, and instantly you were lost to the gorgeous man in front of you. He pretended to think it over, though you caught the knowing smile he gave you over Henry’s head.

“Well, as long as Buck doesn’t mind.”

As if on cue, Buck gave an excited yip and licked Henry’s cheek. The three of you laughed and you all stood; Henry and Buck ran ahead, bumping into each other as they went. Spencer fell into step beside you and asked,

“I’m sorry. I know your dog’s name, but I never asked yours.”

You grinned and laughed, “that’s usually how it works, honestly. I’m Y/N. And I believe you’re Uncle Spencer?”

“Just Spencer,” he chuckled, smiling down at you bright enough to take your breath away. “It’s really nice to meet you, Y/N.”

--

“Y/N?” Spencer prompted, snapping you out of your thoughts.

“Hmm?”

He chuckled, knowing your habit of losing yourself in your own mind every now and then. “I asked if you think she’d like a book about methods of childbirth. I’ve already read about half of it, it seems very informative.”

You snorted, instantly picturing your boyfriend in the heart of Barnes and Noble, speed-reading pregnancy books to find the best one. “I think she would. Maybe get a few for like, the baby’s first year, if they have it. To give her some variety, you know?” Spencer hmm’d but didn’t answer. “Spence, quit reading the book.”

“Sorry, this is fascinating. I read all about labor and delivery when JJ was pregnant with Henry, but I’d never explored home birthing in this depth. Did you know that on average, a woman’s –“

“Hold that possibly unnerving thought,” you giggled quietly, hearing the door of your boss’s office open. “I’ve gotta go. I trust your book-buying judgement, since you’re the expert in that field. Get whatever you think she’ll like.”

“Okay. I’ll come over when you get home and show you what I’ve got. I’ll see you soon, sweetheart.”

“Sounds good, baby. See you soon.”

--

David Rossi wasn’t one to frequent Barnes and Noble at nearly 8pm on a Friday night. Truth be told, he was only stopping in to check how well his books had been selling locally. He’d personally brought in a box of his latest release, and so what if he wanted a little ego boost?

He’d wandered to the back of the store, going straight for the True Crime section, when an all-too-familiar voice caught his attention.

“Okay. I’ll come over when you get home and show you what I’ve got. I’ll see you soon, sweetheart.”

Rossi did a full stop, slowly backing up to the aisle he’d just passed. Sure enough, Reid was standing in the middle of the Parenting & Family section, two maternity books tucked under his arm as he read through a third.

As he hung up the phone, Rossi watched him furrow his brow, lost in deep thought as he plucked another book off the shelf. As Rossi slowly approached, he caught the title of the new book he’d grabbed: The New Father: A Dad’s Guide to the First Year.

“Uh, Spencer?”

Reid froze, whipping around so fast he nearly fell, dropping the book in his hand. His wide, stricken gaze locked onto Rossi and for several moments neither of them spoke. Slowly, Rossi knelt and grabbed the book, holding it out to him. Just as slow, Reid took it and tucked it to his chest.

“I… didn’t know you came to Barnes and Noble,” was all he managed. Rossi raised his brows and said pointedly,

“Though I’m sure you practically live here, I wasn’t expecting you to be in this section.” Reid gave a pained blink. “Is there… something you’d like to tell me?”

“What?” he barked out, giving a nervous laugh. “W-what? No. No, there – there’s nothing to – no.”

“Right,” Rossi drawled, eyeing the very panicked young man as he slowly backed out of the aisle, pointing to his left. “I’m just gonna…”

“Yeah, yeah. That’s – I’m gonna – I’m gonna go.”

The moment Rossi was out of his way, Reid took off out of the aisle, all but sprinting to the front to check out. The moment he was out of earshot, Rossi was dialing the first number he could think of.

“This is Hotchner –“

“Aaron. You’re never going to believe this.”

--

Hotch strolled a few paces behind Jack, smiling as he watched his son scamper up and down the toy aisle, hunting for the perfect prize. He’d just gotten recognized as the top student in his class and he’d wanted to reward Jack for all his hard work.

He wasn’t surprised his son was taking his toy-picking very seriously. Jack was so much like himself in that way; he’d even asked Hotch for his professional opinion twice.

“I think I do want the lightsaber,” Jack huffed, setting down the Captain America figure he’d been on the fence about. His son glanced back at him and Hotch put on his most serious face, nodding intently.

“You can never have too many lightsabers. Do you want to look at it again?”

Jack nodded eagerly and took off for the other aisle. As tedious as toy shopping could be, he loved every moment of simple fun like this he got to spend with his son. As he got closer to the aisle Jack was in, a voice he hadn’t been expecting drifted towards him.

“Lamaze toys like this one are excellent to use during tummy time. That’s very important in a baby’s development.”

Was that Reid? Talking about baby toys? Hotch’s mind instantly went to the discussion he and Rossi had been having the last few weeks. He’d found it hard to believe Spencer Reid was buying baby books, and had thought it was just a misunderstanding…

“It’s never too early to start encouraging the development of motor skills, either. This one would certainly help… it DOES rattle, which I admit could become aggravating hearing it days on end… oh! Have you already gotten a playmat? This one is meant to adapt with the child as they grow…”

Hotch had to see this to believe it. One eye on Jack, he backed up to the end of the aisle and peeked around. Sure enough, Reid was parked in front of the baby toys, several piled in the cart at his side as he studied a surprisingly large box. He had a phone perched on his shoulder and a huge smile he hadn’t seen in quite some time.

“If you don’t like this one, we can always take it back. I think it’ll be very beneficial for the baby,” Reid declared, setting the box in the cart. As he looked up and met Hotch’s eye, he nearly dropped his phone. “I – I’ve got to go. I – yes, I’m fine. I’ll call you later.”

He hung up fast and opened his mouth to say something, but all that came out was a noise of distress.

“Reid… what are you doing?”

“I – I’m shopping.”

Hotch gave him an unamused frown. “I gathered as much. I meant what are you –“

“Dad, hey dad!” Jack called from behind him, and on instinct Hotch looked back to his son. “Look at this lightsaber!”

“That’s really cool, buddy,” Hotch smiled quickly as he turned back to Reid. “What are you –“

All Hotch saw was Reid skidding out of sight at the other end of the aisle, converse squeaking in his wake.

--

“Okay, what about this?”

Emily held up a box as Penelope and Morgan turned to study what she’d found. Penelope hmm’d and tapped her chin but Morgan instantly shook his head.  

“A revolving tie rack? That’s as tacky as you get, Prentiss.”

“What? No way! The man has a lot of ties –“

“And he also lives in a mansion,” Morgan cut in with a snort. “I don’t think he has a problem findin’ a place to put ‘em.”

With a groan, Emily tossed the box back onto the shelf and ran a hand through her hair in frustration. “Why is Rossi so impossible to buy for?”

“Why are you two so bad at picking out gifts?” Penelope countered, and the two of them rounded on her. “What?!”

“You haven’t found him anything either,” Morgan pointed out, and Penelope planted her hands on her hips, fixing him with a pointed look.

“I’m not the hot-shot profiler here. I brought you two so you could use your mind-reading powers to figure out what he’d like. If I wanted to wander around Bed Bath & Beyond for an hour with nothing to show for it I would’ve just gone by myself!”

Morgan scoffed, clearly affronted. “Well it ain’t my fault you two nixed the golf bag organizer –“

“Does Rossi even golf?!” Emily snapped at him as the three started for another section of the store. As Morgan went to answer, Penelope cut into their argument with a very surprised,

“Is that Reid?”

The other two paused and followed her line of sight to the unmistakable curly-haired doctor standing in the family section, observing a stroller with a beautiful woman at his side. He was studying it intently, and the woman was watching him with pure affection.

The three of them shared a wordless, gaping stare before they started towards the two of them.

“I’m not sure. This isn’t one of the brands I researched.”

The woman shrugged and offered, “no, but it had decent reviews, and it’s less than the others with the coupon I’ve got. I can get this one right out and not have to put it on my credit card.”

“Sweetheart, I told you I’d get this. Price doesn’t matter. I want to get the best.”

Penelope and Emily looked at each other, mouthing together sweetheart!?

“No, absolutely not,” the woman objected, crossing her arms and giving Reid a frown. He went to argue and she pointed out, “You’ve bought everything else so far. I’m getting this one.”

“Let’s at least look at the other one I saw online,” he offered. “I feel more comfortable with a brand I’m familiar with.”

The woman gave him a sweet smile, giving his arm a squeeze. “Fine. Let me go find that one. I’ll be right back.”

As she slipped down an aisle, Reid turned back to observing the stroller. As he moved around it to look at the front, he caught the movement of the others approaching and looked up. He locked eyes with Morgan and just stared at the three of them as he said in total disbelief,

“You have got to be kidding me.”

“Rossi and Hotch said you had a little baby fever goin’ on but I didn’t believe ‘em,” Morgan chuckled, shaking his head. “Good of you to prove me wrong on that, pretty boy.”

“I certainly don’t have baby fever –“

“A stroller is a pretty interesting thing to buy if you don’t,” Emily pointed out; Reid’s cheeks turned a bright pink.

“It’s not – this isn’t what it looks like –“

“I for one am personally and completely offended that you clearly have something huge you haven’t told any of us,” Penelope cut in haughtily. Reid turned to her now, trying desperately to explain,

“You guys, really, I’m not –“

“Hey, Spencer?” the woman called from further down the aisle. “Can you help me grab this?”

Reid made to head towards her and the three of them followed. He jammed a finger at the group and shook his head. “No. No, we’re not doing this right now –“

“Oh, we’re doin’ this. It’s happenin’,” Morgan assured, actually rubbing his hands together in anticipation. “I’m ready to meet your baby mama.”

“What?!” Reid actually squeaked, eyes widening. “No! She’s – she’s not –“

“Baby?” she called again. Reid’s face was almost more red than his sweater.

“Yeah, I – I’m coming. Hold on.” To the other three, he practically begged, “just – just stay here. I’ll be right back.”

Morgan, Emily, and Penelope shared bemused looks, but they stayed put as Reid scrambled to rush after the woman. Emily was the first to whisper,

“Did you have any idea he was even dating?”

Morgan shook his head, small smile on my face. “Nah. I mean, I knew somethin’ was up. Kid’s been a lot happier the last few months. But I didn’t know he had a lady.”

“Or a baby on the way,” Penelope hissed, looking genuinely hurt. “I can’t believe he’d hide a girlfriend and a pregnancy from us!”

“I mean, it’s his life, Garcia,” Emily soothed, resting a hand on her friend’s arm. “We know Reid’s more reserved, and this is probably a big change for him. Keeping it quiet is probably easier for him right now.”

“I know, I just – I like to spoil. I want to buy cute baby things and dote on his pregnant girlfriend!” she whined. As Penelope and Emily went back and forth, Morgan kept his eyes on the aisle Reid had disappeared down. He didn’t hear either of them talking, let alone any noises from the aisle. Slowly, he started to creep forward.

“He told us to wait,” Emily began, and Morgan waved her off.

“I just wanna see…” he muttered as he leaned around the corner.

The aisle was empty. He spun to tell the other two just as he caught sight of Reid across the store, rushing out the door with the woman in tow. Both of them were giggling, looking pleased they’d given the others the slip.

“Alright, pretty boy,” Morgan chuckled to himself, shaking his head. “That was pretty slick. I’ll give you that.”

--

Spencer’s hand held yours tight as the two of you strolled through Target, headed for the children’s section. Your sister’s baby shower was that weekend, and you wanted to get just a few more things for her.

With her husband deployed overseas, you’d taken it upon yourself to make sure she’d had everything she needed when your niece arrived in just a few short weeks. Spencer, you were more than happy to say, was completely on board.

Honestly, he was almost more invested than you were with everything. He’d spent weeks researching the best stroller to get, and last weekend the two of you had spent your entire Saturday helping her assemble the crib and dresser she’d bought. Your sister absolutely loved him, and you had to admit you were already starting to feel the same way.

Maybe it was too soon to love Spencer, but how could you not? He’d been spending the little free time he had away from work with you, helping you take care of your sister like she was family to him.

“Does she have a winter jacket?” Spencer asked you as you reached the baby clothes, eyeing a display of fuzzy pink coats.

“I don’t remember seeing one. It wouldn’t hurt,” you admitted, and that was all Spencer needed to hear. He lifted your hand and pressed a kiss to your knuckles before letting go and hurrying off to pick out a coat.

Grinning to yourself, you watched him for a heartbeat before you turned to scour the racks of adorable onesies up ahead. Shopping for your niece was always a fun time with Spencer that left you feeling happier than you ever remembered being. Hell, even last week’s adventure at Bed Bath & Beyond had been amusing.

He’d practically scooped you up in his arms as he ran down the aisle you’d been in, whispering desperately that some of his team had shown up and the two of you had to make a quick escape. He’d felt terrible, sneaking you out like he did, but you understood. He’d told you when you first started dating that he wanted to wait a bit before introducing you to his team.

Well, more accurately, his family. It was a big step for him, he’d explained, and it wasn’t something he wanted to rush. Plus, apparently his team could be a little overbearing, and he’d wanted to spare you from their unyielding curiosity for the time being. You’d both agreed that you’d wait until after the baby shower so at least your family chaos could settle before he tossed you into his own.

Lost in your thoughts, you didn’t notice the other woman browsing the racks until you bumped into her. Both of you made noises of surprise and you instantly reached out to steady her.

“Oh my gosh, I’m so sorry! I wasn’t paying attention,” you said quickly, and she gave you a warm smile, shaking her head.

“Oh no, that was all me. I never look where I’m going.”

“Sounds like we’re both a little clumsy,” you laughed, and took in the handful of clothes she had. “Oh, you’ve got a little boy?”

“Two of them, actually,” she confirmed. “My youngest is just a couple months old.”

She pointed across the baby section to a tall, dark-haired man rocking an adorable baby in his arms. “That’s my husband and my youngest. My other son is –“

The little blonde boy from the park poked his head around one of the racks and you stared at him in surprise. His big blue eyes locked onto you, and recognition lit up his gaze.

“Oh, hi Henry!” The woman looked positively alarmed that you knew her son’s name, and more so that he recognized you in return

“Hi!” he said excitedly, rushing forward and looking around. “Is Buck here? Momma, she has a dog named Buck!”

“The big yellow dog from the park,” the woman said slowly, and as she knelt and scooped her son up, the memory of that day hit you full-force. You knew exactly who this was. Petite blonde with a husband and two kid, Henry… that must mean…

“You’re JJ,” you said, just as surprised as she looked. The woman was on guard; of course she was. She worked for the FBI and you’d just greeted her son and told her you knew her name.

“I’m sorry, do we know you?” JJ asked cautiously, and you gave her an apologetic smile.

“No, um, not really. I’m so sorry, this is so rude of me. My name’s –“

“Y/N!” All three of you turned to stare at the man who’d just come around the corner. He was still looking down at the shirt in his hand – pink jacket tucked under his arm – and hadn’t noticed the situation. “What do you think of this one?”

He held up the shirt that said I Found My Prince and His Name is Daddy just as he looked up at you. The smile froze on his face as soon as he saw the woman at your side.

“Hi Uncle Spencer!” Henry chirped excitedly. Spencer’s face turned an instant shade of bright red as he quickly hid the shirt. JJ slowly looked between you and Spencer, her eyes widening with each pass.

“Uh, Spence? I need an explanation here,” she said, voice tight with disbelief. “I seriously thought everyone else was just joking about this but – but are you two – are you having –“

You and Spencer looked at each other in alarm and instantly you shook your head quickly. “No! Oh, no. We’re – I’m not – no.”

Spencer came up to your side, still blushing furiously as he told her quickly, “JJ, this is my girlfriend Y/N. We’re shopping for her sister’s baby shower.”

“I’m not pregnant,” you felt the need to add just for good measure. JJ slowly gave a nod, still looking completely caught off guard, so you offered up a meek, “um, it’s really nice to meet you.”

“Why didn’t you tell us you were dating someone?” JJ asked him, sounding hurt. Spencer had told you JJ was his best friend, and you’d warned him she wouldn’t be happy he was hiding this side of him from her.

Spencer sighed heavily as he mumbled, “I just wanted some time to let everything settle. Y/N and I met unexpectedly and we were both caught off guard. We’ve been planning the baby shower and with everything else going on, I just wanted to wait a bit before introducing everyone.”

JJ pressed her lips together, but you could tell she wasn’t holding being upset. She just reached out and squeezed his arm. “I get it. Next time, though, you might want to be a little more up front with everyone. The rest of the team is convinced you’re having a baby with a mysterious stranger.”

Both you and Spencer giggled at that, and he gave you a sheepish smile. “Y/N warned me I was being a little too suspicious –“

“You practically carried me out of the store last week. Spencer. That’s more than a little suspicious.”

You and JJ laughed together as Spencer sighed and rubbed the back of his neck.

“Please don’t tell everyone just yet,” he began. “I really did want to introduce you all properly in a couple of weeks.”

“That’s not really an option,” JJ sighed, giving him an apologetic smile. When Spencer went to argue, she added, “trust me, Spence. You’re gonna want me to stop Garcia. She’s still trying to decide between throwing you a surprise baby shower or strangling you in your sleep, and I wouldn’t put it past her to pull off both.”  

Spencer actually grimaced and you just gave a laugh, shaking your head as an idea came to mind. You looked up at Spencer and offered, “What about this… my sister would love having more people around, and we’ve got plenty of room and food for a bigger crowd. Your team could come to the baby shower this weekend and we’ll settle all of this at once.”

Spencer smiled down at you in thankful surprise. “You wouldn’t mind?”

“Not at all. My sister would love to meet everyone, and,” you added, giving a smile to Henry. “Buck would love to see his new friend again.”

Henry gave an excited gasp and turned to JJ. “Can we please go see Buck, momma?!”

JJ smiled between the two of you and gave a shrug.

“Count us in. Just between us, though, I’d call Garcia tonight and tell her before she really does make a move. I can’t guarantee what way she’ll swing, but you know she doesn’t like being kept in the dark about family matters.”

Spencer chuckled, nodding in agreement. His arm came around you as you two said goodbye to JJ and Henry – giving a wave towards Will – and you both waited until you watched them head down an aisle.

“I’m so sorry to spring that on you,” Spencer said immediately. “It was really great of you to invite the team, but I don’t want to put you out –“

“You’re not putting me out, baby,” you promised, turning in his hold to wrap your arms around his waist and pull him closer. “I really want to meet your team, and this is the perfect opportunity. Besides…” you tugged the cute shirt out of his hand and held it up, getting the blush back on his cheeks. “You’ve apparently convinced them all I’m pregnant so we need to set the story straight somehow.”

Spencer sighed, though a smile played over his lips as he hugged you to him, starting to lead you back the way he’d come from. “Come on. There were other clothes I wanted to show you. Does she need snow pants? She really shouldn’t be out in the cold that long, but if she is she should be protected…”

You listened to your boyfriend launch into statistics about children and cold weather as you let him drag you around the kids section. Both your arms were full of clothes by the end of the night, and at this point your sister wouldn’t have room in her house for all the things the two of you had bought.

It was the least you could do, though. You owed your sister the world, because thanks to her (and Buck), you’d found yours in Spencer Reid.

[x0401x]

Jeweler Richard Cobalt Short Story

The Checkered Half of Edward Baxter’s Life

Feel free to message me about possible corrections, and please consider supporting the creators by purchasing digital copies of the official releases: Novel || Manga || Fanbook. In case anyone is feeling generous: Ko-fi | PayPal. ( ╹◡╹)っ’･*

Raw || Index

He met him for the first time when attending a boarding school in Switzerland.

He had no plans for homecoming even as summer vacation came about. It was better to stay in Switzerland as things were noisy at home, his father had told him on the phone, and he was not a fourteen-year-old innocent enough not to catch onto the meaning of “I’ll have to look after you if you come back and this would reduce the time I have for my research” that lay underneath.

There was no helping it, so he secluded himself in the library. However, the library was full of children like him, with no place to return to. He gradually started feeling depressed.

Switzerland, which Queen Elizabeth also loved, had many picturesque tourist attractions. There was no lack of places to have a fun time from dawn to dusk and a pipe organ concert was being held at a church in town, which was quite close to the school, so he imprudently thought that it would be safe even at night.

Since he had an unnecessarily exemplary daily conduct, it was easy to earn permission for exiting the campus. The question of where he was going was disregarded, and it was hard for him when a nuance drifted about, saying that he should go play around a little, if anything. He already knew by then that he was most likely a child who did not specialize much at behaving like a child.

The summer city was brimming with sightseers. Made of brown bricks, the cityscape that looked like those from fairy tales was decorated everywhere with pink and white potted flowers. The city seemed to have many watersides, with restaurants lined up by the river shores, a big black dog that was probably someone’s pet dragging its leash around and waggling, looking like it wanted him to play with it. Just when he thought of playing a little, its owner apparently called for it from afar, so the dog turned its body around and rushed away.

The city was fun at night. Being able to get the feeling that he was with someone even without being accompanied was just what he needed.

He only realized that he was lost long after he had started losing his way. He was certain there was a church in that area where a concert was taking place, but while roaming around, what came into his field of vision was nothing but apartment complexes, garbage dumps and tunnels with no signs of life. He had apparently entered a residential area where the public order was not too good, but did not know how to get out. As he decided to just go back the way he had come from, there were people standing behind him once he turned on his heels.

“Yo.”

He was able to tell right away that they were around seventeen to eighteen years old because the boys were wearing parkas and baseball caps. With such looks that one would not see so often in a waterside of bustling terrace cafés, they spoke while chewing gums. Just as an earl would sometimes do, he pretended not to have heard them.

“Shortie, what’cha doin’ out here? Where yer papa and mama?”

“They not around? You alone?”

“Then don’tcha have a wallet with ya?”

“You’re as pretty as a doll, huh. Can’t talk?”

“Young Master, could you please spare us a blessing?”

Cold sweat beaded on his back as he wondered what would happen if he refused. He had begun having boxing lessons, but the classes were strictly separated by age and body weight, so he could not think of it as training for fighting opponents who were clearly older than him.

Just when unpleasant memories started whirling in his head as he pondered what he should do, what he had to do, what he was supposed to do to cut his way through a time like this all by himself, someone most certainly grabbed his arm from the side.

“Hey, Edward! Edward, isn’t that you?”

For a second, he did not know who the owner of that familiar voice was.

Brownish blond hair and light blue eyes, a knit vest and black slacks. Shiny leather shoes and an armor-like smile.

“Je... Jay!”

“Yeah, yeah. It’s me, Jay. I’m happy you remembered.”

The one who went around the boy from behind and hugged him from the shoulder was his cousin, Jeffrey, who was two years older than him. Even as the boy stared at him with eyes that asked why he was in a place like this and how he had gotten here, Jeffrey maintained the same-old theatrical face that he pulled off so well and hid behind his back the one who had the status of a younger brother to him.

“What’re you doing in this place? You’ll be late for the meeting if you don’t hurry. Won’t your uncle be mad if you make him wait any longer? He’s a really scary person.”

“I-I’m sorry. I will be going right away.”

“That’s it, so bye!”

Tightly hugging the shoulder of the one that he was supposed to protect, Jeffrey left the scene. Perhaps due to him handling the matter with such a lighthearted and loud voice, there were no signs of the two chasing after them.

“That was terrifying.”

“We’re leaving this place.”

“All right.”

Jeffrey walked in long strides from the semi-darkness where a fishy smell drifted about to the main street lined with the glow of light poles. The boy walked keeping his body close to Jeffrey’s, as it did not seem like the latter intended to let go of the shoulder that he was firmly holding onto otherwise.

“Honestly, good thing I was around.”

“How...?”

“‘How’, you ask? I’m your super hero, so isn’t it obvious that I’d rush to you when you’re in trouble?”

“Not that; what is the truth?”

“I meant it as the truth, though... Kidding. It was just a coincidence. If I’m not wrong, today’s the day that summer vacation started for you, right? My school was a bit faster to give us leisure time, so I planned to ambush you and make a surprise. But when I visited your school, they said you’d gone out all by yourself, so I was the surprised one,” the older cousin said cheerfully.

He was a man with a big heart, the kind that constantly changed his voice tone and facial expression as he spoke, who was always smiling and accepted first-thing the evaluation that he was charismatic yet shady. Moreover, he continuously took his little brother, who had been born to free-spirited parents and was younger than him, under his feathers. For the boy, his existence was much more than that of an older brother.

At the words “I’m the only one here”, the boy realized that he was relieved. The earl and the even older cousin from whom he would have to conceal this were not there.

“You okay?”

“Yes, but the earl and Brother Henry are not here.”

“Father was in Cannes, I guess. Henry is following him to make appearances. Looks like it’s a busy season for the high society.”

“How awful.”

“I wonder if they’re getting caught up with playing around. Aah, but Henry is a serious guy. Piano practice might be more fun to him than a casino.”

“I think I understand how he feels.”

“That’s right. Let’s go to Cannes with him someday too. Let’s live it up in a casino or something.”

“If I become penniless from buying too many books by then, what will we do?”

“Leave it to me. I might be like this, but I’m hoping to enter the financial business. I’ll lend you as much money as you want. With damn high interest.”

“You little—”

They shoved each other around as if to hug one another, and by the time they had all but arrived at the main street, filled as it was with human presence, the boy finally released a sigh. That was dreadful. He was not very used to being threatened. At school, he had already grown somewhat used to having his appearance mocked or people using the words “I’ll throw the trash away for you” as an excuse to touch his body, and had come up with countermeasures to some extent, but troubles outside the school were always beyond hypothesis.

As he gave an abrupt shudder upon recalling being sandwiched from front and back by two older boys, something landed on top of his head with a tap. It was Jeffrey’s hand.

Patting his golden-haired head in light rolls with the palm of his hand, the boy who was two years older grinned at him. “Well, first things first, you should start with not getting lost.”

“You were watching me?”

“I wasn’t. I ran around here and there because of that. It had me out of breath, but I was a prize-worthy elite actor for not letting it show, huh? I want a trophy.”

“Then how did you know I was lost?”

“You’re not the kind of kid who’d go to a place like that on purpose, Ricky.”

At that moment, the boy had the sudden realization that his cousin was a child merely two years above him, and so he was supposed to be protected, not to be protecting someone else. Fearing kidnappings, everyone in the earl’s estate had an enormous amount of money on insurance payouts. The fact that he would rather be someone who had next to no worries in going outside of school than have the presence of the bodyguards who would be tagging along with him in normal circumstances made the boy shiver again.

“Hum... Jeff, is everything all right for you? My apologies for that. Your guards—”

“You’re still on about that? Y’know, you could just leave it as ‘that was terrifying’. I lost my guards. I mean, it’s no fun with them. I think I’ll get a call from Father lecturing me again, but isn’t it kinda disturbing to have two old men in suits clinging to my back even when I go see my dear little brother’s face?”

He had probably taken that measure due to foreseeing that the bodyguards would scary his cousin, the boy realized. Before he sank into an apologetic sea once more, Jeffrey found a random shop at the side of the road and took a seat in the quiet interior. He ordered two lemonades. As he was striking a lighthearted talk about how they were perfect for Switzerland in the summer...

“Hum.”

“What?”

“Who was that Edward from just now?”

“Uh? Aah, no one. I let it out of my mouth without much thought.”

Jeffrey did not say, “It’s because they might memorize your name if I were so stupidly honest to call you Richard”. His consideration from not wanting to say it and expressly scare his cousin, as well as his carefreeness of not deeming it necessary to be said, were comfortable for the boy.

Edward, Edward, he repeated in his heart the unfamiliar name, and after drinking just a little bit of the lemonade, the boy whispered intermittently, “It’d be good if you had a name like that too.”

“Uh?”

As he said, “Like Edward”, Jeffrey laughed.

“Isn’t that ‘Jay’?”

“That was just because I didn’t manage to say ‘Jeffrey’...”

“Hmm,” Jeffrey interjected with an indifferent attitude, sucking onto the straw of his lemonade.

Aah, it’s the face of someone who’s planning something fun, the boy noted, and as he laughed a little, his older cousin showed a smile three times happier than that.

“Then give me one.”

“Uh?”

“You can give me a name like that too. Let’s make them secret names between us.”

“For Brother Henry too?”

“Keep it a secret from Henry.”

The smile of his cousin, who laughed without any maliciousness, was as sweet as nectar. The boy displayed a facial expression of sincere reassurance, then began turning over the name dictionary inside his head with “not this, not that either”. No matter what, his favorite names either were related to individuals from classic literature or leaned towards Japanese people, but none of them suited Jeffrey’s face.

The boy made up his mind about the fact that a basic name would be best and raised his head, peeking at his cousin’s eyes. “James.”

“‘James’?”

“James.”

“Huhu, roger that, Edward. I’m James, yeah? Aah, what’s my family name? Anything but ‘Bones’, ‘kay? I don’t like martini that much.”

“Jeff, you already drink?”

“We’re talking about James now and Jeff has nothing to do with it.”

While he jokingly raised the lemonade’s straw, spinning it in twirls like a magic wand, the boy observed him as if looking at a gemstone that emanated a dazzling shine. He was a wonderful person who could do anything and who showed concern for the boy – more than that, the boy considered him someone special and could not come home to anyone else in the world, no matter where he searched. He was a treasure that the boy most definitely could not exchange for anything, not even if an ancient king came up to him with an elephant loaded to the brim with pearls, rubies and emeralds on its back, and whenever the boy was in bad health, he would always think that, if they were ever pulled apart to places where they could never see each other again, he would cry profusely.

He was the one who promptly contacted the boy whenever anything happened in general, driving away the latter’s nightmares, so the honor of granting a name to someone like that gradual and silently filled the boy’s heart, turned into a word and overflowed, “Ya’aburnee.”

“Hm?”

As Jeffrey had apparently not heard it well, the boy repeated the word for him, “Ya’aburnee. The word is cut between the ‘ya’ and the ‘aburnee’. The accent is on the first vowel.”

“‘Ya’aburnee’, huh? It’s pretty yet has a mysterious ring to it.”

“It is Arabic.”

“Learned a new word again, huh, you damn prodigy?”

“I am no prodigy.”

“I meant an ‘effort prodigy’. ‘Cause you’re a hardworker. Okay, my secret name is James Ya’aburnee. Edward, what about you?”

“Uh?”

“What’s Edward’s family name?”

Taken aback, the boy hung his head after a moment of indecision, looking depressed. When Jeffrey asked what happened, the boy timidly raised his face. “Hum... The two are real brothers, so they have the same family name.”

As he said so with a voice that sounded like it was fading, Jeffrey’s eyes widened just slightly, and after nodding with a “hun-hun”, he grinned. That smile of Jeffrey’s was even now said to be difficult for his parents to distinguish whether it was fake or not, but the boy was able to tell the difference. If a dimple appeared on his left cheek, it was not a fake smile. Jeffrey himself had told him that.

There was a dimple on his elder cousin’s left cheek.

“Heeh~! That so?”

“It is so.”

“Then James and Edward are really just like us.”

“Uh?”

“I mean, we’re real brothers, right? That’s how I think.”

As Jeffrey ill-manneredly drank the remaining part of his lemonade in slurps, the clerk made a disgusted face at him. The headline on the magazine that she had in hands read, “How to Date Rich Men”, and so the boy felt like saying something rude to her, such as, “I think the person you just glared at is probably richer than the ones in that magazine”. It felt like he could do anything that the boy usually was unable to. He was cheerful, bright and warm at heart.

As he sat quietly without saying anything, Jeffrey smiled subtly and gently rested his hand on the boy’s golden-haired head. “Wanna go back to school? Or not?”

“I want to be together for a bit longer.”

“Okay. Then let’s do that.”

Holding hands with his “little brother” of two years bellow him, Jeffrey escorted him to a hotel near his dormitory, converting into a parent and calling the boy’s school to request permission for him to spend the night out, and after checking into one of those cheap inns that was would be crammed with skiers in the winter, the two immersed themselves in conversation on their bed the all night long.

Jeffrey talked about their homes and families. About his friends. About financing, which he was studying. About drama theory. About how he felt like throwing up from agony when preparing for an assignment where he completely slipped into the role of a prime minister who had only managed to rescue 150 civilians alive out of 300 that had been taken hostage by terrorists. About how he cracked up when he was told, “Everyone will stop trusting you” after he showed off too much the chameleon acting that he had mastered in drama class.

Jeffrey’s talks were not tiring – all topics were interesting, adding gemstones of lustrous gleam to the boy’s heart one after another. In return, the boy talked about the satisfying life he led in at the Swiss lodging house. About the bright sunlight, the climate that was warmer than England’s, the ever-white snowy peaks overlooked in the distance, the lively teachers who were like sportsmen. About how he not have many friends, but believed that it was due to him not conducting himself like a child, so there was no helping it, and how he would not mind it much if he did not have anyone, as long as he had Jeffrey.

As he was sprawled on the bed while resting his cheek on one hand, Jeffrey tipped Richard’s head back down. “You shouldn’t please me so much. Or else we won’t be able to stay away from each other.”

“What is so bad about that?”

“When you start hating me, I don’t want you to think, ‘I hate him but I can’t let go of him’.”

“I believe something like that will never happen. So that is okay.”

“There you go again saying something that makes me happy... Y’know, Ricky, people have this thing called a ‘rebellious phase’.”

“It seems I do not.”

“Plus, it’s pretty scary afterwards; I read a paper that said reactions also happen.”

“I do not have that, but thanks.”

After rubbing each other’s heads into a mess, they resumed the talk about Edward and James. Where the two of them lived, if their relationship was a favorable one, if they had any other acquaintances and what they usually did to pass the time. Dreams and jokes mixed up with the human drama built up amidst their sleepiness, and so they became yakuza, lived in Japan and fought over whether or not to put wasabi on sushi, but were the good-natured kind of duo that would always make up immediately. They did not endeavor illegal activities and instead were yakuza who respected the old-fashioned thinking of “humanity and justice”, of lending a helping hand to people in trouble, and did not bear tattoos as they were a little scary. Amongst the yakuza, there was a pledge called sworn siblinghood, but since they were blood-related siblings, so there was no need for such a thing.

By the time they had started to doze off, the boy woke up with a start. Jeffrey was not making a drowsy face. His bottomless eyes, which appeared to be looking into somewhere far away, even so maintained their focus immersed on Richard’s face.

“Hey, Ricky, what’s the continuation to that story?”

“Hueh?”

“What happens to Edward and James in the distant future?”

Amidst the sensation that he seemed to be airily drifting towards the world of dreams, the boy tilted his neck. He had no idea why Jeffrey was asking something so obvious. His mouth moved in a natural manner, “They continue getting along forever.”

“I see. Go rest already,” Jeffrey said, getting up from the single-person bed, giving him a pillow and putting a blanket over him, then tucked himself into his own bed and attempted to sleep.

He did try to fall into slumber, but upon noticing his small cousin staring at him with eyes that seemed to be imploring for something, he took his pillow and went back to the boy’s side. Like two hatchlings huddling their feathers onto each other, the two children slept while dreaming about the future.

The next morning, Jeffrey took a still sleepy-looking Richard back to school, scattering an amiable “I’m leaving him in your care” all over the place, shaking people’s hands here and there and returning to his angry-faced bodyguards’ side. Gossip ran about like gale amongst students with time to spare, saying that the second son of an earldom – a brilliant honors student even within a famous public school from England – had apparently come to see a sibling of his who was in this school, which became a rumor in the whole school at one point, but said rumor, like a mirage faintly surfacing over a lake in the summer, was gone before autumn came around.

“Let’s decide on your name.”

“Eh?”

“Calling you ‘Seigi’ would have a bad effect in a situation where there are only enemies. If I call you by a completely different name, there is the possibility that you would not be able to react, so I believe a name somewhat similar to your own is safer.”

“Then, ‘Seigi’, ‘Seigi’, ‘Seigi’... Make it ‘Seiji’.”

“Too close. Some people might mishear it as ‘Seigi’ instead. Think of a surname. I will call you by that.”

Richard had started saying odd things about perhaps having to throw fists at an accessories shop that was disseminating fake turquoises. For me to come up with a fake name. Indeed, revealing our true names even if by accident could be a dangerous situation.

I squeezed up a knowledge that I didn’t have, deep in thought. Something that sounded kind of similar to my real name. Yet was a different name. Hmm.

“‘Nakata’, ‘Nakata’, ‘Nakata’... ‘Yamada’, Yamada? No, ‘Tanaka’ is also... Ah~, I wonder which. Yamada or Tanaka?”

“Then let’s make it Yamada. Yamada Seiji-san. I will be counting on you. I am Edward Baxter.”

“Where’s ‘Richard’ as the base for that?”

“I will be in your care.”

“My pleasu~re.”

Wearing a red open-necked shirt that looked like it could show up in contests for rare clothing articles, I sat on the Jaguar’s passenger seat. However, in terms of outfit eccentricity, I didn’t feel like I could beat the man sitting next to me. White, white, white. It was thoroughly white from top to bottom, the hairstyle pulled all the way back. It was a bit of an underground person look.

“I’m checking just in case, but what kind of setting is this Edward Baxter-sensei from?”

“A messenger from the Great Universe who miraculously predicts fortunes and foresees the fate of gems.”

“Uh. Got it. I’ll do my best not to laugh.”

“Obviously. Laughing at a messenger of the Great Universe is insolence.”

“Hahaa~”

The Jaguar sped up like always. If this car had a voice, it felt like it would frantically cause a stir, asking, “Mister, aren’t you too different from usual?” but the Jaguar was reticent and loyal.

As the vehicle kept running, my nervousness increased a little. I wanted to say something, but Richard’s profile was rock-hard. It would feel awkward if I discussed about tea and snacks that had nothing to do with it here and now. But I wanted to talk. I was able to come up with just one thing when wondering what I should say.

“Is there... a family in the setting of that Baxter-sensei? Or does he not have any, since he’s a messenger of the Great Universe? Sorry. You didn’t think that far, did you?”

When I asked that, Richard briefly made a strange face. Unlike his usual refreshing smile, that expression could only be described as a “suggestive grin”, with a gaze that didn’t appear to be looking at me but at something in the distance.

Then he stated, “He has no relatives whosoever.”

“Roger that.”

And so, the two of us headed to the shop of shady history. Edward Baxter-shi, who claimed to have not a single relative, seemed to be making a just slightly sad-looking face within the glass of the windshield. However, Yamada Seiji courteously pretended that he was not at all seeing the weakness of a messenger of the Great Universe.

He had no idea what Nakata Seigi made of it, though.

[naturaldisasterfanfiction]

33.

I went alone for the walk today, doesn’t bother me but Robyn woke up late and also Fenty is being a little pain with her crying, so she stayed at home and I am alone. Being off social media has been a blessing, but I do find myself checking my phone and have nothing there to look on. I did try twitter, but I am not feeling it like that, it’s boring but Mijo has told me that I need to come back and take care of the business I left, Ant wants me back. I did like run off here, but I don’t want. to go back, I just want to stay here now. I am comfortable with the peace, the open fields and it’s a weird feeling to be spoken too like I am only normal, it’s calm “hi there” some older gentleman waved at me “you remember me? We met at the pharmacy” squinted my eyes at him yanking Zeus back as he tried to sniff him “oh yes, you told me you seen me around and you live around here. We meet again” getting my hand out to him “we do, I saw you yesterday, but you had your Rihanna with you, I didn’t want to harass you now” I chuckled “it’s ok, she won’t mind. She says I need to make friends; I am sure she won’t mind you now unless you’re a bad influence on me” he just laughed “maybe back in my youth but I have the missus at home, she is driving me crazy, so I walked out. You should come over and visit, I told the grandchildren I met a gentleman named Chris and they said Brown, I goes possibly. He is just a nice young man, and what a beautiful dog” looking down at Zeus “yeah, I bought him with me from Cali, I couldn’t’ leave him behind. I have so many other dogs but he made the cut” watching him pat Zeus’ head, Zeus is staring like he is about to give him treats “nice seeing you, we will meet again I am sure of it” nodding my head “and I will visit your home of course, I need to know my friend now” I chuckled “you do that son” he has such a weird and funny accent, it’s so strong too and I like it.

Throwing Zeus leash to the side, this home has been more entertaining and loud too like now. Taking off my jacket and making my way to where the commotion is, Robyn has been ever so happy with everything, like we are all getting along just the weakest link left the chat so who cares. I hope they ain’t annoying my daughter with all the loud noises and shit, they have music on too. I stopped midway just looking at Noella, Majesty and Robyn in the kitchen “you’re back!” Robyn half shouted over the music “clearly yes, y’all singing or cooking?” I questioned; Robyn stuck her tongue out at me as she made her way around the kitchen counter “I could stay awake just to hear you breathing” Robyn sang to me “Watch you smile while you are sleeping, while you're far away and dreaming” I laughed at Robyn being stupid “I could spend my life in this sweet surrender, I could stay lost in this moment forever. Where every moment spent with you is a moment I treasure. Sing with me!” Robyn placed the pan at the side before she came into me, wrapping her arms around my neck “Don't want to close my eyes, I don't want to fall asleep cause I'd miss you, baby. And I don't wanna miss a thing” Robyn sang to me “you’re stupid” laughing at her “we are singing and cooking, I love you” Robyn pressed a kiss to my lips “I love you too” mushing her forehead “also your boyfriend is back, he is his bedroom, Dennis that is” oh yes, Dennis is back “I will go and seen him, and Robyn” moving back from her “keep that smile, I love you” I am excited that Dennis is here.

Knocking on his bedroom door “it’s the maid” I said outside his door “I hope the maid bought snacks, come in!” he shouted, opening his bedroom door “my man, welcome the fuck back with extra luggage!?” his room is filled with cases “I am moving in, come here. I actually missed you” Dennis climbed over the case “Robyn calls you my boyfriend now” hugging Dennis “she is jealous, I was going to tag you in a post, and I see you deleted the page. I wrote such a beautiful post too” I chuckled “you can tell me in person, I been bored without you. What did you post!?” Dennis got his phone out of his pocket “I saw you struggling on Instagram, I felt really upset for you. Everyone was getting at you for nothing, innocent man I say. Yes here, I posted it anyways” he turned his phone to me, taking his phone from him “wow, look at that smile! Too many teeth showing” I laughed, this was taken on the wedding day in Mexico “the sparkle in your eye, the happiness on your face and I captured that. I mean nobody can see much but a white background from the wall but read it friend” looking at the caption “He is a friend which I have known longer then just the months I have spent time with, he is a good man and a good heart. Misunderstood to many but not to me, here is to more memories with this man, love looks good on you, the look of happiness and nobody will take that from you” I read out, that got me choked up “wow, thank you Dennis. Robyn made me get rid of it but it’s the best thing to do, clear my mind” Dennis nodded his head “not just me, when you deleted it many people were worried about you, I have messages under this post from fans” Dennis took his phone from me “oh please tell me Chris is ok but you are loved, but we have some more things to do. We have got more footage to do, voiceovers also, so work is not done” I can tell Dennis has his work cut out for him.

It sucks so bad that I can only smoke in the games room because it’s classed as my own room, Robyn said I can do it in other rooms but like what if Fenty is there, so I have to be good. A blunt a day keeps the stress away, and also I am having to facetime that bitch, when I say that bitch I mean Amikka but this time she said she will let me see Aeko on his own, the facetime connected and I can just see my son stood there looking “champ! What’s good my boy?” Aeko ran over to the phone “dad” he waved at me “you look so grown, look at your ginger hair” he touched his head “yes, your hair. I miss you; I really do. I love you” Aeko ran off “I play ball, look” he ran out of the camera, god knows where he is going to get “you’re getting ball, showing dad your skills?” I can hear Amikka say “tell him how you have been doing so good at practice” Aeko is staring at his mom ad he walked back to the camera with the ball in hand “my ball, you say it” he said to his mom “tell him, say daddy I did good” my son speak so well, proud of him “I did good” he dropped the ball “show him your award, go on. Get it” Aeko ran off again, my son is just everywhere right now “you don’t need to hide, if we have to speak it had to be about him and you don’t like that” I said to her “I rather not, go on show him your award” I grinned down at the phone as Aeko placed the paper all up in the camera “awwww, I am so proud of you son” he is doing well “I come dad house now” Aeko asked, the thing is Aeko hasn’t asked that unlike Royalty that does that a lot “you will be, we just need to sort some things out and you will see me” I am taking her ass to court.

Robyn held her hand out to me, holding her hand as I sat next to her “how is Aeko?” she asked, I didn’t think she would ask about my son in front of her family but she did “he is good, showed me his awards he got from football practice, super proud of him. He looks so grown, happy I would say and then he asked about coming to me which he never has asked that before. I am guessing she has been putting it in his mind, so I am like I need to take her to court quick. She didn’t come into the camera at all, she stayed away. I think she is getting it but like, I want to feel more towards my son. I see his happiness and he does make me happy but like, I need more” Robyn squeezed my hand “that will come once you remove the toxic bitch, he can come here, and we will help get you to feel more for him. He deserves to see your love too, things will happen. Don’t worry” Robyn is such a good woman to me “thank you, you think I could have them both here?” Robyn smiled “yes of course, I mean it’s a big thing, but I married you for everything around it, including the kids. I see us being happy, hopefully this Christmas. I would like Fenty to see them as their older siblings, to know them. I feel like Royalty is fine, but your son is a little I don’t know but we shall see, don’t worry” I sighed out “thank you” Robyn shook her head “so we are going bowling, just a little time out. Well mommy said it, Noella booked a place for us” nodding my head “that is dope, I am down for it. It will be nice to do something together” we can have some fun.

Fenty is not happy at all, she keeps on having these crying performances, but she is ok once she is picked up “you want me to put her in the car seat?” I asked Noella, Robyn is still upstairs but is coming down “we will wait until Robyn is down” she has a point, god knows how long she will be, my phone started ringing in my pocket “first family outing” Dennis said, his camera is out so he is working “and it’s a disaster, we are late” answering the call from Ant “what’s up nigga?” walking around Dennis “did you get the gifts I sent?” he asked, I paused thinking “no, when did you send them? You know the UK mail can be long” walking into the second living room “Zeus, come on boy” let me put him away while we’re out “should be there soon, I got the little princess some clothes and dresses. I wanted to actually ask you, when are you planning on coming back. We need to go through some things with you, being your manager I need to be in the know and I feel like I am not” opening the garage door for Zeus to go down “that is the thing, I am literally under Robyn. Like whatever Robyn want me to do, I will do it” closing the door and walking off to see what they are doing “Robyn’ bitch then?” he laughed “not exactly, it’s called being there for your other half. Ant, if I needed to hear you just be a dickhead to me I would have asked, I am doing just fine here. I don’t think I need to be going back to Cali when there is nothing for me there, just Royalty but I will be back for her” I was expecting Robyn to dress up but she stole my sweatshirt and made it look cute, she has put minimal makeup on, she just dressed up a little bit “we ready? I have packed it all” nodding my head “I heard that you are going under Roc Nation, you can deny it all you want but you will fall under that umbrella. Fenty Brown entertainment? That has been popping up, if you don’t need me then say it, I won’t be offended” I have no idea what is happening “Ant, I don’t know. There is a lot of things in the air. Once a special project is being done then it will be back to me” I mean what else does he want “well I will be waiting” I know a lot of people are.

Climbing into back of the car next to Fenty in the car seat “it’s the longest I have heard her silent you know” she is asleep “I know, she has been just wanting nothing but snuggles and kisses. I adore her so much Chris, she even smiled at me, but I am excited to be going out, well not out out but just something, you know” nodding head “yeah, it’s a change. You know what, I don’t get why people are angry that I am with you, like you are helping me. They are calling me your bitch, it’s like they want me to be in a dark place. They want me back in Cali” I thought I would tell Robyn this, she deserves to hear it “of course they do, we will go there Chris” squinting my eyes at Robyn “would you trust me to go back there alone?” I mean that is the real question, I am sure she doesn’t “honestly, probably not. And that is not because of you but what is around you. There is a lot of temptation around and I still think you are healing from the abuse you put yourself through, I feel like your friends are pieces of shit that want you back for their own gain, that is the truth. If you want to go Chris then, I mean who am I to stop you, I say that and I am your wife, but I feel like you are an adult, but I am just on the fence. If you want to go back then” Robyn drifted off “as your wife I will let you but deep down I don’t want you too, and I know it will be stupid shit. I know there will be something like Rihanna’ baby daddy seen out with another female you just was walking with, do I need that when I am trying to build an empire with us both and trying to push away my record label and telling everyone he is a changed man. Yes fuck their opinion but I can’t hide you, you need to be an adult too. But I think you at times have lose that sense, you have your moments” I couldn’t help but laugh, I don’t know why but it’s Robyn knows me “I have a lot of things there still, if England is my home then I do need to go there” Robyn is looking at me in fear, I mean it’s scary “not now but like maybe sooner then you will be going” Robyn is not impressed.

[izayoichan]

Rylan takes Lobo with him, calling his dad, asking him to come pick him up and help him get some gifts, looking at Lobo with a smile. 

“According to dad, your kind likes this way of travel, hopefully, he is right”

River, on the other hand, does like Rylan told him, and messages his mom while he waits for the train. She calls him, which means he gets around 15 minutes of his mom yelling at him over him sneaking out and disobeying her. Once she gets tired of yelling he finally speaks. 

“Can I still spend Christmas with my boyfriend or am I grounded?”

There is a complaint on the other side followed by a fairly unhappy: 

“Okay, you can” “Thanks... My train has arrived, I'll call you later.”

Hanging up his phone, he hurries so he catches the train, finding a seat by the window, waiting for it to take him where he wants to be. 

“Okay, that's all of it.”

He smiles at his dad, the three off them vanishing and reappearing outside his home.

“Just need to wrap it all, come on Lobo, you'll have to be introduced to the house overlord.”

Chuckles, taking the large dog with him to introduce him to Felix, hoping the two off them will get along. 

River sighs his train stopped in Windenburg due to their being reindeer on the tracks, stressing slightly as it means that he might not make it. Taking up his phone, quickly messaging Rylan.

“Train is delayed, stuck in Windenburg. But I'll be there in time for dinner, maybe? Do you guys celebrate Christmas eve or just Christmas day? I never get that.”

Rylan looks at the message, having an idea, messaging him quickly while at the same time walking to see if he can find the person who would need to agree to do it. 

“I can ask if Hayle can pick you up if you want, travel by dragon flight? Oh and a bit of both, but mostly tonight with opening gifts and such..” “That would be awesome! Just try not to scare the train driver.”

Erased the part of the message where he complained about having already spent the rest of his savings on the train ticket before he sends the message, getting off the train quickly. Walking up to his dad, he notices Felix sitting there with him. 

“Hey dad, could you do me a favor and pick up River in Windenburg? The train is stuck there, something about reindeer on the tracks.”

He notices Felix come walking, looking at Lobo, then ignoring Lobo

“Well.. that went decently.” 

He lets Lobo off the leash so he can wander around the house getting to know it. Felix following him around as if making sure he doesn’t do anything bad. 

“Oh, sure. He would just have to find somewhere a bit hidden, then I'll find him.” "Thanks, I don't quite want the reaper portal thing to be sprung on him just yet.”

Picks up his phone and messages him.

“My dad is on his way, just find somewhere a little hidden and he will be able to find you, sorry I didn't suggest it earlier, not quite used to my dad letting anyone but us on his back.”

“Okay, on the alleyway next to the station.” “He should be there in no time, so see you soon.“

Waves at his dad as he flies off, knowing he doesn’t really use much time when he has no passengers. River sits on a box waiting, playing games on his phone when he is suddenly interrupted by a police officer. 

“Hey kid, what are doing back here?”

River looks at the man and gets up, cursing under his breath, this was really not what he needed right now. 

“Huh... waiting for my friend." “Back here? What's in the bag."

He takes out the package and shows him, internally begging for Hayle to show up, knowing just how this normally ends. Hayle flying quite high above, finding River simply by his smell, noticing someone else there with him landing out of sight, and for the first time in more years than he can remember, changes into his fully human form.

“Ah, there you are River, sorry it took so in that last store, and they still did not have it...”

He smiles at River and the police officers.

“Perfect, I see you at least got your’s that's good.”

He looks at the police officer.

“Is there a problem?” " Mister Hayle?...”

He is at first surprised to see him without his horns, or scales then rushes to him past the police officer

“Sorry, just wondering what a child was doing alone in the alleyway. Good to see you have adult supervision, no need to take you to the station, I will, however, still want to see that package!”

Holds out his hand for the package

“Come on, it's wrapped! I had...”

starts becoming honestly distressed, as he looks for the receipt.

“See, I bought it today, it's a DnD set it's for boyfriend I” “I need to check it for drugs... “

Takes the package from his hands and rips the wrapping off then shakes the DnD box in front of them, almost as if mocking them. River looking on horrified, magical energy starts lifting up, becoming clearer he is going to zap the officer.

Hayle shakes his head, noticing the magical surge in River as the police officer keeps acting like a douche, putting a hand on Rivers's shoulder. His magic suddenly dissipating, Hayle's magic field nulling his. 

“So let me get this right, you are accusing my son's boyfriend of having drugs in a D&D box... am I understanding this right? If I am, I would like your name, your badge number, and the name of your superior officer so I can make an official complaint about your behavior.”

Although his voice is calm, there is something about him, in general, that would make almost anyone's skin crawl slightly. 

“So, I suggest you give that back, and walk away, or I can promise you this won't end well for you.”

The police officer flinches standing back, suddenly immensely frightened by the man in front of him. Quickly shoves the box back into River's hands.

“Sorry, sir! No need for that! It won't happen again!”

He walks away very quickly leaving the two behind, River just staring at the box and knees down picking the ruined wrapping and ribbon he had so much work making perfect his body starts trembling like he's about to cry. Hayle kneeling down putting an arm around him. 

“Hey, it's okay, we can stop by somewhere and get new paper and a ribbon. I'm sorry I wasn't here faster, I thought people like him only existed in movies my husband has made me watch.”

River holds his breath and gets up, clearly holding back the tears.

“I-its okay... “

Puts the box inside the bag alongside the ruined ribbon and sighs

“I... I don't want to be a bother. I already made you take human form and... Calm my magic I don't want to bother further.” “You are not a bother River, and it's kinda nice to take the full human look on occasion.

Put’s his arm around River's shoulders.

“So, where do we get paper and ribbon, want to go to another town maybe, or should we mock the policeman by getting it here? 

smiles gently at him, hoping to undo what that asshat has done. A part of him still wanting to scare the hell out of him before leaving, knowing his dragon form would do just that. He also knows what his husband would think off it if he did.

River looks up at him and smiles nodding.

“There must be some store nearby with wrapping paper. If no, I can always use a newspaper sheet. Won't look as fancy as the paper that that idiot ruined but... Or just a pretty Christmas bag, that can work too.” “Well come on, let's see what we can find, who knows, maybe we can find something randomly extra for my husband, to actually surprise him. He is horrible with gifts, he always finds them and manages to guess what is in them.”

Pulls River with him out into the street, looking around, noticing what he guesses is some sort of book store. 

“Ah, there, they have to have stuff like that there.”

Vy sits close to the window looking outside to the snow, licking his lips in anticipation of the tasty treats to come.

“Ice in cakes? Is it good?”  “Yeah, it's macaroon, small flat cakes, with icecream slices in the middle, you can try one if you want?”

Looks at Vy, letting his mind wander slightly, the many what if's that he keeps asking himself playing on his mind.

“Can I?”

He looks at the food that gets delivered as they talk, then picks one macaroon up and smells it with curiosity, finally takes a bite, taking in the taste, let's go of a small chirp. 

“Tasty! I like it!”

Hayden chuckles, just watching Vy taste the cookies.

“It's fascinating how they can make them, warm cookies, cold ice cream. Now, you need to taste your cake. Oh and the coffee!”

Vy licks his fingers to get all the sugary goodness of the macaroon and nods

“Do you want to... oh... it's true, warm... They need to make a pistachio ice cream cake! That way the two of us can eat it because it's cold! Though, I like these macaroons”

Grabs his cake slice and coffee, and takes a bite of cake, chirps louder, making people look around for a bird. Covers mouth giggling.

“Sorry, just! gooood!”

Hayden chuckles as people turn their heads looking for a random bird in the cold. “Hmh... well you know they do make things if you ask. We should ask, so we can share someday. And I can eat cake, even if it's not cold, just not warm coffee.”

He smiles honestly just enjoying watching Vy be happy and enjoying the cake and for at least a short while, not worrying about the people around him. Vy smiling at him, actually glowing green as he takes a piece of cake and holds it out for Hayden.

“Try!” “ Wow... that is really sweet, but still good”

finding himself chewing on the many layers of taste from the cake, the frosting and everything surprising him along the way. Vy nodding eating a bit more and drinking the coffee

“It is very nice here. Cozy and nice! Thank you for bringing me here! How much is the cake?” “Ehm... I didn't really check, why? You want one more?” “We could take some for your parents and Rylan but I don't know if I have enough.” “Oh... how about we just buy a cake and share it after dinner? We could split the cost, or I can just pay for it?”

He notices Vy looking through his money, figuring he might not have enough money Vy looking up at him and nods happily.

“Yes! But... I only have... 5 simoleons...I need to make new trinkets to sell in caster's alley.” “Hmh.. how about we get a cake, you pay five simoleons I pay whatever is left, then it's from both of us right? I think they would love to have that as a surprise.”

“ Okay. I pay 5!” “Okay, I'll go order one, and we can finish our tasty treats while they pack it and make it ready? If you are okay to sit here for just a little while I order?”

He did notice how he shrank a bit when they entered, not wanting to just leave him there if he didn't feel safe.

🎶

Beginning - Previous - Next

[creationsrandom]

My family and I live in a house surrounded by fields, even if we still have houses near us; Yesterday I woke up and after ten minutes when I was still asleep I heard a noise of my sisters and my mother crying, running I put on the first sweatshirt I found and ran where the noise was louder, I found my two sisters and my mother in tears with our cat in her arms, full of doubts and fears, I approached them and the cat as quickly as possible, and in a flash I saw the white patinas in the eyes of the small animal, it was as if I had no more strength in the legs and I shook in the eyes while a vise squeezed my stomach and heart; but immediately I had to force myself to console them, slowly I took my younger sister and carried her into the house while my mother did the same with my older sister; we sat my younger sister still with the cat in her hand while my younger sister cried and I consoled her my mother tried to calm the upper one after more than half an hour with her sitting in the center to console her my mother and I managed to take the cat out of her hand and bring her inside where we put her on the armchair and while she was crying we convinced her to lie on her bed to be more peaceful; we managed to do the same with my other sister and after a while they fell asleep, so I went out and went to where the poor cat's body was, and I was able to let off steam by stroking his cold and lifeless body, even if the thing what made me fall apart was the fact that it was hard and when I touched it I couldn't move any muscle, it was as if it made him even more dead than he was, while my mother went to her room I asked him what had happened, and she he told me that it was the dog of the neighbors who always kept the dog with a leash of 3-4 meters to bite him during a walk and the dog owner decided to let him die bled in the cold of a field with full wind alone, without warning us and without the possibility of trying to save it. I sat outside in a chair staring at the box with the poor cat inside, my mother came to console me sometimes even if she couldn't see it crying and then came back also seeing the fact that I don't cry in front of other people, at a certain dot she told me to take him to my room if I didn't want to leave him alone; once inside my room I put him on a chair next to my bed and lay down beside him; I tried not to fall asleep but I felt like after a roller coaster ride seeing the strong emotions I just felt, so I was in a state where I wasn't sleeping but I wasn't even awake, until my sister woke up, came to my room and collapsed new to cry. We all went to the garden and collected the objects he liked: the kennel from when we took him away from the street, a box of his favorite food and the pajamas where he slept; my mother and I decided to put him in a place where he often played, with a shovel I started digging while my upper sister and my mother gave me a hoe and a yellow scoop once the pit was finished we went to say hello for the last time; that was one of the most painful things I have ever experienced, because the thought that this was the last time I touched him, caressed him or even just saw him assailed me. Taking everything, we put it in the hole and with the yellow shovel we put a little bit of earth each and then covered it with earth; while I covered him my older sister went to get a seedling that we placed on top of her grave and my mother took two stones to make a similar tombstone; we all stayed there crying, making a group hug and crying, so we all returned in shifts; I who wanted to show myself strong for them finished consoling them mine on a white chair and secretly burst into tears; once I got back it took me a long time to fall asleep; so I decided to go in the middle of the night to water the plant. I woke up with my sister telling me that she had brought me some juice; and all day today I heard the crying of all three from all the rooms. That cat was called Zoro (like the character of One Piece) since when I found him in the middle of the street, my younger sister had fought to stay alive since he could not even keep up and did not poop or pee since he did not he had drunk and eaten enough; he was a playful man who at first had some difficulty staying with the other animals we keep at home; he was solar fun sociable and curious. And I will miss you

[haileybeehappy]

Calum Hood, My boys

summary : Calum, the dogs and you have a day out

warnings : flufffffff

word count : 975

    Calum had just got back from a long song writing session, all the way in New York City. He loved traveling but he hated being away from you. The second he got back to your shared apartment the two of you were cuddled into bed with Duke and your new puppy Norman. The both of you went and got him before Cal’s trip to New York. He was a little mutt the same size as Duke, before Cal left he was worried the two would not get along and the first few days they were weary of one another but now they were inseparable. Norman a little ball of golden red fur laid on your lap, and Duke on Calums. No matter what Calum will always have a favorite. You even joke that he loves Duke more than he loves you. He denies it of course but no one believes him, not even the fans.

    “We should go somewhere,” You huff, bored. Calum looks at me from his phone and nods.

    “Where do you wanna go?” He clicks of his phone and resituates himself, still keeping Duke in his arms but facing towards you.

    “How about the P-A-R-K?” You spell it out so the dogs don’t hear it, but both of their ears pop up showing that they understand. Calum nods and you both move to get out of bed, the dogs shoot up and bolt for the door.

        The four of you now walked on a long path around a field in the middle of nowhere really. There is one family here having a picnic at the opposite end of the field. So we let the boys off leash to play for a bit. Cal throws a ball for them, I sit on a blanket reading. Norman became bored being the old man he is he came and sat at my feet, once Duke noticed his friend was gone he soon followed. Cal plops next to me.

    “Traitors,” He scoffs kinda sounding hurt. All three boys now fighting for a place on your lap. Calum picks up Norman and Duke, one in each hand. He lays his head on your lap and places the two pups on his chest. You have since put the book down and have one hand running through Calums hair and the other petting with Norman. Calum is running his fingers through Dukes longer fur.

    “My boys,” you whisper. You then stop petting Norman, pull out your phone and take a picture at the perfect angle you get all three of the boys in the picture. You post it with the caption. ‘My Boys’ Within literal seconds it was circling not only instagram and twitter.

    An hour later the four of you were packed back up into the car on your way back to the house. The two dogs were in the back seat, you both obviously in front. Calum had his hand rested in yours like always. Johnny Cash played on the speakers, you had all the windows open. Your right hand was out the window and you had your head rested on the door. You were wearing one of Calum’s old flannels and a pair of his Raybans. He kept glancing at you. He hadn’t told you yet but you knew. He loved you and you loved him.

    “Hungry?” he asks you. You lift your head and you yell over the music and the sound of the road,

    “Duh,” you laugh. You pull into some fast food restaurant. The two furballs try to make their way to the front at the mention of food. You get a milkshake and fries and Cal gets a burger and fries. Also a four pack of nuggets for the dogs, you roll your eyes. He parks in the parking lot with the food for the four of you. He carefully peels the breading up from the chicken and gives it to the dogs before starting on his own meal. Heart attack in a bun. Its covered in bacon and cheese. He had devoured the sandwich before you have even finished half of the milkshake. You laughed lightheartedly at the curly haired kiwi across from you. He currently has a fistful of fries in his mouth. He was just smiles.

    “Take a picture,” but it was just a muffled jumble of words. You pull out your phone and take a few pictures. He ends up finishing both his meal and your fries. Once he finished he pulled out of the parking lot and you headed home.

    Being the ‘instagram model’ you are you had posted your guy’s day. Now there was pictures from your day all over the internet and some people hated it. Others shipped you harder. You two had been doing this for years but the comments still get to you. Many of them saying it was for publicity or that you were in it for the money or fame.

    “You know babe, they’re just jealous,” I nod. Tears still clouding your vision. “You know I was going to do something today but I never found the right opportunity.” He slipped off the couch, on one knee and wrapped his hand around yours. “Y/N I have been in love with you from the second I saw you front row on tour. I knew the second I ran into you twice in one day, even if you were stalking me that you were the one for me.” He pulled a ring out of his pocket. Tears were streaming down your face at this point, you had the biggest smile on your face and before he could ask you were in his arms screaming yes. He just laughed. When you separated he slipped the ring on your finger and connected again with a kiss. “Now post that on instagram,” He jokingly laughed.

[shywriting]

Addition PT 3 (FINAL)

Pairing:Connor x reader

You never grew tired waking up in your lovers embrace. Connor always made sure to give you a decent amount of space to breath, while still having an iron type grip on you, as if you would leave him in the middle of the night. Slowly turning over you where greeted with the fave of your wonderful android boyfriend, sound “asleep” and seemingly not budging. That was until you made one too many movements in an attempt to rebury and cling yourself back to him like a koala. Connor’s eyes fluttered open with a smile gracing his lips as he gently kisses your hairline signifying his consciousness. “Good morning my love.” He says quietly almost afraid to break the peaceful silence. With your eyes meeting you match his sweet smile and peck him quickly on the lips before jumping out of bed. As soon as you’re up Connor stealthily wraps his arms around you again dragging you back down to the bed to shower you in short sweet kisses, before finally releasing you after endless pleas of getting ready. “Are you ready?” He finally asked after waiting at the door for a good five minutes. You would come out of the room only to decide that it’s too warm to wear a jacket, or it’s too cold to wear a tank. The Android was anxious, to say the least. It was one thing dealing with Sumo, he was technically not his dog. But this, getting a dog, he knew would be a responsibility, especially with someone, but he loved you and wanted so badly to give you what he couldn’t that he would have to settle on a dog for now. At least until the laws changed that fact. “Alright I think I’m ready!” You said smiling as you threw your arms on your sides. “Actually, one more minute!” He rolled his eyes and grabbed your arm slightly pulling you towards the exit before you could take up more time. “I can sense your stress levels are increasing, may I ask why that is?” He asked on the drive to the shelter, his eyes dawning that signature puppy dog look, something that always broke you, and the bastard knew it. “Connor...” You practically sigh his name as you futz with a loose thread on your shirt, a vain attempt to avoid those eyes. “I thought you where excited?” There it was. You could see his slight head tilt out of the corner of your eyes and you knew you lost. “I am! It’s just, I don’t know, never owned a dog I guess. Worried that we won’t find the right one, maybe.” “We will don’t worry, and if not, we’ll keep looking until we do.” He took you hand in his, squeezing it. The ride there was silent after that, save for a few mentions of names for the pet. Once the two of you finally got to the shelter you could see all sorts of different dogs clearly barking from the window. Their tails wagged so fast that it brought their butts along with it. They were clearly excited to see new people in their field of view. “Hello, what can I do for you today?” A nice older looking woman asked with a gentle smile on her face. “We’re here looking for a dog.” You said while leaning on the counter top. Tons of papers scattered across the desk about specific animals and how to take care of them. “Anything in mind?” Her voice was shaky and a clear case of smokers voice. Raspiness was an understatement. “A large dog. Any breed will suffice.” Connor interjected while his eyes wandered around the office space, no doubt analyzing his surroundings. “Well follow me. We have some large dogs in the back near the play area.” She motions for both of you to follow. As you pass by you see all sorts of different rooms for animals. One for cats lay off to the side where a ton of sun was getting at it. All of the cages near the window had the cats bunched up at the edge sleeping to soak up the heated rays. The closer you got to the dog section of the shelter the more you could hear the howls and barks of what sounded to be a ton of dogs. “Well here’s our dogs. If you see one you want a one on one with just let me know so I can open the cage.” “Thank you.” Connor nodded his head and directed his attention onto you after he saw you heading for a cage on the floor. You had no idea what came over you, you just saw the dog in the cage silently sitting in front, it’s tail thudding against the steel floor and the tongue sticking out. It was at the very least part German Sheppard. Whatever the other part was, you had no idea. “Which one are you looking at?” Connor asked kneeling down to your level. His eyes met the puppies and you could see his LED swirl to a quick yellow before turning back to its calming blue. “A German border collie. A mix.” He stated “Ah her names Snickers. We just got her in a week or two ago. Vet says she’s around two.” “She’s adorable!” You say sticking your fingers through the cage, allowing Snickers to sniff and lick at your finger. “She is. Are we able to take her out?” Connor asks mimicking you, taking Snickers attention away from you almost immediately. The elder lady nods and you’re unlocking the gate then and there. Snickers was a very energetic dog. Once she was out of her cage she wanted to play preventing either one of you to pet her. Always trying to latch on to Connor’s sleeve, her ears were skewed and flopping up and down as she jumped. It didn’t take much to calm her down however, after around fifteen minutes of play she cuddled up on Connor’s lap, just a bit too big to be completely on him. The Android was confused at first what to do. A dog never went from a hundred to a zero in front of him, granted all he had of experience was good ol Sumo, who didn’t play much as is. The sight made your heart swell as he carefully rested his hand on her head and started petting it with a contented smile on his face. You knew that this was the dog he wanted and you had to agree. When his deep brown eyes met yours, you nodded. His smile widened as he started laughing, getting the attention of the old lady. “Well?” She asked almost as if she knew the answer already. “We’ll take her.” You smile placing your hand over your boyfriends to solidify the family you both now had. “Beautiful, we can go through the process today and then take her home.”

The paperwork was a lot more than you thought, but Connor and Snickers helped you get through it. Bringing Snickers home was worth the paperwork too. Once unhooked from her new paw printed leash she bolted into the house to explore. The sound of clicking paws could be heard everywhere you went as she went room to room. The end point for her was the couch in the living room where she promptly passed out seemingly content. “I think she likes her home already.” Connor stated as he placed an arm around your waist, pulling you closer to him, kissing the crown of your head. “Yeah, now it feels more like a home.”

[cinnamonsugarsheith-blog]

Tried something a liiiittle different with this one. Prompt was vet!Shiro. (I think she was expecting something like Yukinayee’s AU, but got this instead. In which our collective children are presh.

Warnings: Basically my toeing the waters of writing ASD!Keith. Mentioned character death, therapy doggos, disjointed fic~ Rating: Teen Pairings: Sheith, historical Shadam

Keith was anxious. He knows he shouldn't be anxious. Rosie is a great girl. But Dr Shirogane was a new vet, and even though Matt assured him he was a really nice guy, and Keith was sure he was... But they'd been seeing Dr Allura since Rosie's very first puppy shots... Keith sighed in relief as he pushed the door open and saw Matt at the receptionist desk--err not Matt. Girl Matt? Matt came through the employee door behind it. "Oh hey Keith!! This is my baby sister Pidge. She's doing her summer internship here!" The girl pushed her glasses up her nose and gave him a smile. Her name tag said Katie. This was too many new people in one day... "H-hi" he stuttered "I'm Keith." A hard swallow. "And this is Rosie." He gestured at the compact pit sitting calmly at his feet. Katie-Pidge stood up and peeked over the counter. "Well aren't you a pretty girl?" She offered Rosie a treat and Matt disappeared into the back to let the doctor know they were in.

Matt waved them back into a room and took Rosie to get her weight. When he returned Keith helped him lift her onto the table. She wasn't very big, but she was solid, and Matt, he would joke, was a string bean. Keith looped her leash around the holder and pet her to distract her from being so high up. He heard a soft click and looked up to see a man, Dr Shirogane, coming in. He was a head taller than Keith and wider and the white coat was pulling across his shoulders over his black scrubs. "Hi, I'm Dr Takashi Shirogane. You can just call me Dr Shiro though. You must be Keith? And Rosie?" Keith curled his fingers more tightly around Rosie's collar. "That's us." "Allura has all sorts of wonderful notes about the two of you in her file. I'm glad you decided to stay with the practice.” His hand landed firmly on Keith's shoulder. "Just an annual today, right? Nothing you want me to look at extra close?" He held his hand out to Rosie, waiting for her to give him a sniff and an excited tail wagging before petting her head. "Just the usual. I have her ESA recert papers too, if you don't mind." "Of course. My Kuro's are up this year too, too bad I can't sign my own." He laughed and gently pulled Rosie's mouth open to look at her teeth. Keith squirmed a little and glanced at Dr Shiro's metal hand, holding one of Rosie's ears back so gently. "They're connected," he said softly. "What, I--" "My arm and having an ESA. It's okay. I don't mind." Shiro gave him a calm smile and went back to peering into Rosie's ear. Keith felt himself burning with embarrassment. He mentally talked himself through how he must have gotten weird looks and questions all the time and how its not that embarrassing to get caught looking at such a high tech prosthetic and... Talking himself through it was not working as well as he was telling himself it was.

Dr Shiro signed the ESA papers and handed them back to Keith once he'd finished checking Rosie over. "Um, Keith, this..." Shiro rubbed the back of his neck as Keith folded up the papers and shoved them into his back pocket. "This isn't standard, but uh... Would you like to get coffee? I'm new in town and... Well I'm sure you know how hard it is to find people who want to socialize when you always have a dog with you." He gave Keith a smile. Rosie nudged his hand, making him remember he needed to respond. "Yes! Yes please-- I--" he reached up and scrubbed his hand over his face. "Coffee would be good." Dr Shiro’s friendly smile was too bright and his hand was on his shoulder again. "Relax. No pressure." He held a card out to Keith. Keith took it, unsure of when a number had been scribbled on the back in dying black pen, and left with a quiet “thanks.” Matt checked them out and gave him a wink, mouthing 'call him!'

-o-

"Well," Dr Coran started during their session two days later, "I take it since we are talking about it now, that you haven't called him?" Keith sighed. "I suck at talking to people. I've been seeing you for three years now and it took the better part of that to get comfortable. I can't even keep a normal friendship, let alone date." "What about Lance?" Keith snorted. "The jerk whose ass I kick in WoW every other day? Hardly. He thinks we are sworn enemies." "Well then what about Hunk?" Keith hummed. Hunk lived next door and brought him cookies and Tupperware full of delicious food in exchange for watching his apartment when he flew out to Hawaii to spend the winters with his family. Hunk.... Hunk could be a friend. "Maybe." "Or Matt?" Keith shook his head. He'd never seen Matt outside of where he worked, even though they followed each others social media now. Matt's little sister had friended him the other day, but he hadn't decided what to do about that. She seemed nice, and she liked Rosie. Coran sighed. "Keith, if he needs a support companion, he's bound to have as many difficulties as you do. Especially with having lost a limb. It might do you well to find someone besides me to talk to about things?" Keith nodded. "Can I?" He held up his phone. "Please!" There was a twinkle in Corans eye as Keith tapped out a quick message. Hey, This is Keith. Rosie's owner. Would you like to go to the park sometime? He held the phone out for Corans approval. He handed it back with a nodd. Keith took a deep breath and hit send.

The response was almost instant. I'd like that a lot. Maybe Voltron Metro park? It's not too far from the office. I could pick you up if you wanted though? Keith made a noise that had Coran lifting an eyebrow and he waved the phone in front of the therapist. Coran only laughed good naturedly. "That, my boy, is called a gentleman!" Keith's phone pinged again. Or we could meet at the office, or if you'd prefer to drive that's okay too. Whatever you want. And again. Sorry to be so weird, I don't get out very much. :o) That had Keith smiling. Who used o noses on their smileys anymore? He shared the thought with Coran who insisted that was a perfectly normal thing to do. Keith had a small smile when he typed out... If we meet at the office it has to be a day Matt doesn't work. :) Good point! Would tomorrow work? Text me your address, I get off at 6. :o) Sounds good Keith felt like throwing up as soon as he hit send and dropped to the space between Corans armchair and the coffee table next to Rosie. He looped his arms around her neck. What on Earth had he just done. He felt Coran move around to sit on the couch, hand lightly touching his shoulder blade. "It'll be all right. And if not, then you will do better next time. Would you like to schedule for the day after tomorrow just in case? I'm sure I can fit you in." Keith nodded. "Just in case."

Shiro pulled up in front of his apartment building at 6:45. A hulking black Sheppard sat in the back seat. Shiro got the dog out of the car and let him and Rosie sniff each other out for moment before shoving them into the back seat together. But they made seemingly fast friends, easily starting to yip playfully and tug on ears as they tussled. "She thinks she's bigger than him, doesn't she?" Shiro laughed at the antics as he and Keith got back into the front. "Definitely." "So, Keith, what do you do?" "I'm a student.... Should I um... Dr Shiro still or?" "Oh just Shiro is fine!" Shiro laughed. "This is social. What do you study?" "Astronomy and aeronautics." "That's amazing. Do you want to be an astronaut?" "Oh I uh... I couldn't. ASD and needing Rosie and all that. Maybe design rocket ships or something though." Shiro smiled. "I was a pilot before I was a vet. Briefly anyways." He held up his arm as if to explain. "My boyfriend at the time was too and he was ASD. It’s definitely still an option, Keith.” This was too deep for first date? Social outing? He hummed noncommittally. "How did you go from being a pilot to a vet?" "Well after wallowing for a month, my brother dragged me to a therapy group.  They talked about service animals and stuff, but being a vet didn't click until I was offered a full ride at a school of my choice due to my injuries. Basically the Garrison didn't want to get sued." He snorts. "Nine years later and I'm a vet!"

When they got to the park they walked around the outskirts of a field centered with a jungle gym. The dogs romped along beside them, pouncing each other and playfully chasing. Keith watched them fondly, playing nervously with the leash he had brought along in case. "Do you mind if I...?" He gestured towards Keith's hand. "I'm sorry about being so touch forward at your appointment. I know that can be... A problem." Keith glanced and offered his hand. This he could do. Coran would be so proud. A blush stained Shiro's face. "Is this a date?" The blush darkened. "I-if you want it to be?" Keith surveyed him. "I would like that." He was definitely doing that thing. That made most people freak out. Where he said things too plainly. Mmmm Shiro must have been uncomfortable if he was blushing. Maybe he should stop talking. Shiro gave him a fond smile. "You remind me so much of Adam..." Keith tilted his head in question. "Um my uh... Copilot. During the crash." He flexed his hand tellingly. "And my boyfriend."

Shiro bought them coffee's from a snack vendor and they settled together under a tree, the dogs  curled together nearby. Kuros much larger form curled completely around Rosie's wriggling one. "I'm sorry I didn't mean to make you uncomfortable earlier, Keith." It's okay was the right thing to say in this situation. He took Shiro's hand instead. Shiro gave it a gentle squeeze. "I have to get used to being uncomfortable to make things more comfortable..." "I suppose that’s true. But I wouldn't want to overwhelm you..." Keith swirled his coffee in it's paper cup and gave a crooked smile. "I think I wouldn’t mind that so much."

Keith positively gushed about Shiro and Kuro at his appointment the next day. Coran talked him through his feelings about the initial stages of relationships, friendships and romantic ones, and wished him luck. Keith found himself on park benches with Shiro into the evenings with more and more frequency through the next months. Shiro never pressed past holding his hand, and Keith had initiated  tucking himself close to Shiro's side with Shiro's arm wrapped tightly around his shoulder. "I want to kiss you." Keith said one day, when he climbed into Shiro's car. Shiro made a choking noise. "Keith?" "Can I?" There was a look of determination on his face. "Of course." Keith turned in his seat, and pushed himself into Shiro's space. Before fumbling with where to put his hands. Shiro gently helped guide them to his shoulders. Keith licked his lips nervously and leaned forward. It was a feather light brush and when Keith pulled back Shiro was twitching with his effort not to chase him. "Can I?" He asked before cupping Keith's chin. Keith nodded and Shiro leaned up, gently pulling him close again. He kissed Keith chastely, sweetly. Brushed his fingers across his cheek and into soft black hair. He let Keith pull back after a moment. Keith situated himself back into the passenger seat and Shiro pulled out of the parking lot without saying anything else. It could wait for the park bench under the stars, when Keith tucked himself against Shiro's side to hide from the cooling autumn and let Shiro run his fingers through his hair.

And they did... Shiro nuzzled into Keith's neck, planting soft kisses. Keith felt at ease and snuggled close to the older man. "I like this." "Me too, baby..." Shiro was enjoying each touch he didn't feel Keith flinch away from and had his fingers tangled in his hair. "Thank you for trusting me." Keith hummed. "I like when you play with my hair." "It's very soft." Shiro gently pulled Keith into his lap. "Special conditioner. Lance recommended it. I told him it sucked." Shiro laughed at that. "I like that too... When you laugh." "Stars are coming out, baby." Shiro glanced towards the sky. Keith looked up and took one of the hands circled around him. He used Shiro's hand to point out different stars and rattled off facts about them. When they finally made their way back to Shiro's car, sleepy puppies in tow, Keith looked at Shiro rather bashfully. "I want you to stay." "Stay?" "At my apartment." He noticed Shiro's heavy swallow. "Keith, we kissed for the first time today... I don't want to rush anything." Keith shook his head. "No pressure." He quipped back to that first day in the exam room. Shiro got it and leaned across the middle console to press a playful smooch to Keith's cheek. Keith grinned and scrambled to kiss Shiro in turn.   "You're sure?" Shiro surveryed him carefully when they pulled up to the apartment building. "Yes." Keith tugged Shiro's hand shyly as he unlocked his front door. "This is cosy." Shiro toed off his shoes and looked around the little studio apartment. Most of the walls were littered with star charts and posters of nebulas. Kuro began sniffing everything out and wagging his tail. Rosie planted herself as the foot of the bed, on a red throw that was very clearly Hers. Shiro let himself be pulled over to Keiths unmade bed, and let the smaller man cocoon them in blankets. "This is nice." Shiro rubbed his hands slowly but firmly over Keith's back. Keith made a quiet noise and pushed himself up, hovering over Shiro. "This is okay?" "Yeah, baby, this is perfect." Keith leaned down to kiss him with a smile that made Shiro's chest hurt.   "Can you stay?" He  whispered, tucking himself back around the older man. "If that's what you want... I should probably warn you that sometimes I have nightmares." "Oh... What do I do... If that happens?" "Talk to me, don't startle me... Sometimes I lash out. Kuro usually barks to wake me up." Keith nodded seriously. "Do you want...not jeans?" "I'm not sure I'll fit in your pants, baby..." Keith hummed and sat up. His hands were on Shiro's waistband, unbuttoning and unzipping and tugging before Shiro could process it. "Jeans aren't comfortable." Shiro chuckled. Keith always wore track pants. He supposed he wasn't wrong though. He helped Keith get them off and let the boy settle back against him. "Thank you, Keith." "You’re welcome...For what?" "Letting me into your space, baby." Kuro hopped up on the bed then, settling next to Rosie along their legs.

Keith slept easier than usual that night, and Shiro slept more soundly. They only woke up when the dogs started whining to go out, and Shiro pulled his jeans back on and sleepily nuzzled into the back of Keith's neck at the doorway while they watched the dogs pad out into the grass. "Next time, maybe you can stay at my house?" "Okay." Keith said simply, relaxing against Shiro. "It's Saturday... Do you want to do something together? Besides go to the park?" They ended up at an arcade. Keith was way too good at racing games, and Shiro handed Keith his ass on a platter at the fighting games. They had dropped Rosie and Kuro at Shiro's and Keith talked absently about how one day he'd have a yard like that for Rosie to run in. Shiro had to hold his tongue on saying he would for this to be Rosie's yard too. He was finding more and more that Keith made him act without thinking. And knew eventually it would probably be to Keith's detriment. So for now he kept the thought to himself.

Shiro knew his luck had run out when he sat up in a cold sweat at 3am. He'd been dreaming about Adam. The crash.

Kuro pushed into his lap and Keith sat close, but not touching, trembling just as hard as Shiro. His hands were gripped tightly around Rosie's collar.

"I'm sorry," Shiro said thickly.

Keith knew this was where he was supposed to say 'its okay.'

This time he said it, and touches Shiro's arm with the lightest fingertip graze.

"You loved him."

"I did... Do... In a way."

Keith made a small noise.

"I think I love you."

Maybe not all his luck had run out...

"I think I love you too, Keith."