#totally normal sworn brother activities!

[mapacart]

Domesticity

[beardedmrbean]

“You'd think the black community would understand how variations in skin tone happen in every ethnic group, all the screaming about colourism I see, but I suppose that may be reserved for people they don't see as white.”

My dear friend they can’t comprehend that Egypt was a huge trade hub so a lot of ethnics intermingle there much kind how people who have ancestry around Baghdad are mixed.

Also about the Jewish thing…I’m sorry for you guys think ancient people were always inbreed af?

I think a lot of black Americans in general are mixed, I mean I get red as fuck when I’m in the sun for an awhile or mad as hell. I’m pretty sure a like a Central Africans (where most black with slave ancestry are from) can easily spot us it been 400-150 years since we spent foot on Africa

I mean we can easily tell the difference between a white American who have mayflower ancestry to their British and other European counterparts

Also about Jewish skintones….

People know

The Jewish tribes

Intermingle

With the local groups

They settled down with

Well until they were kicked out, again and again

Also it why Jewish people can get TANS I think Jeff Goldblum is an obvious example because I could sworn he pale in some movies while tanner in others.

Not to mention we can tell like the whole Jew Afro thing I think….fuck I forgot his name, the chubby guy from the 21 jump street movies..like he look like a normal white guy but you see pics with him with his hair grown out you see his Jewish roots

Also yeah that thing about Prince of Egypt, oh you mean Jewish Americans eagerly joined an animated project about their people struggle which they can show to their kids and future generations for centuries to come? Vs the clusterfuck that it usually to get Israeli actors around that time?

Also since Rameses II is usually the presumed pharaoh that Moses called brother. And Ramses and along with his relatives mummies shows he ginger

It not rocket science to presumed that Moses and the other Jews were dark af because there had to be a reason why Moses was able to be raised as a Prince without suspicion

Sorry for the rant

My dear friend they can’t comprehend that Egypt was a huge trade hub so a lot of ethnics intermingle there much kind how people who have ancestry around Baghdad are mixed.

Interbreeding is such a bad sounding word for it, but it's totally accurate so ya, that's how ethnicities happen, Coptics in Egypt are a Christian ethnoreligous group. St Mark did his mission after the Resurrection in Egypt this is going to be one of the oldest Christian communities in the world and as far as I know the only one that's also a ethnicity too, Amish too maybe, since they pretty much keep everything in the group.

With the Jewish thing you'll hit similar as you will with the Copts, except Judaism is much older so you can't really pin any single skin tone to Jewish people.

The monarchy was abolished but this is Hali Salisi, last Emperor of Ethiopia and according to the Rastafarian movement the 2nd coming of Jesus. I have questions for Bob Marley.

Family claims lineage back to King Solmon through the Queen of Sheba, not sure how much I buy that but there are/were a lot of Jewish people in Ethiopia, bulk of them are in Israel making Judaism even more white than it was,,,,,,,,,

Pasty mayo munching crackers the lot of them, they need to activate their white privilege I guess.

The Jewish tribes Intermingle With the local groups They settled down with

To a point ya, in some cases it was unavoidable, still when you genetically test the two main European groups they come up closer to the MENA Jewish communities than the locations they settled in,

Not to mention we can tell like the whole Jew Afro thing I think….fuck I forgot his name, the chubby guy from the 21 jump street movies..like he look like a normal white guy but you see pics with him with his hair grown out you see his Jewish roots

It's called a "JewFro" not even a joke btw, you're thinking of Jonah Hill taller one here is Seth Rogan another of the hollywood types with the chosen hairstyle of the chosen people.

Whole VA thing for the most part people weren't paying attention to ethnicity till recently for the most part, Prince of Egypt is actually one that looks like a exception to that from everything I've seen.

also wat

Also since Rameses II is usually the presumed pharaoh that Moses called brother. And Ramses and along with his relatives mummies shows he ginger

Today I learned, granted the next paragraph is dissent to this one and we're not likely to ever actually know.

But maybe we can get some Scotts and Irish to adopt their own version of the hotep life, lmao.

It not rocket science to presumed that Moses and the other Jews were dark af because there had to be a reason why Moses was able to be raised as a Prince without suspicion

Probably not so dark, not in his youth at least. Up till very recently a tan put you in the lower classes because the wealthy didn't need to go out into the sun to labor so the aristocracy would have likely been lighter than the average man.

Now a tan means you have the time to waste laying out in the sun, or you like to hit the tanning booths or spray on places, whole other thing with all of that.

But I digress, he probably did look close enough that it wasn't anything anyone noticed.

__________________________

Something off the current subject for you under the readmore I think you'll like.

Keep forgetting to tack this one, mostly different subject matter, but if you do TikTok you in particular may get a big kick out of this account.

Not African Hippie Kenyan woman who came to the US, fell in love with a white dude, took him back home to meet the family and get married, in Kenya, traditional tribal ceremony and everything, and she has a lot to say

Easy on the eyes too.

I think this is called winning at life. Even with the 'Sears photo center' family pictures.

[janetbrown711]

“Why are you so nice to me” wakko or yakko max

To Wakko's delight, his brother kept good on his promise. Weeks passed and his brother devoted several days to restoring their bond just as it once was (the other days Yakko spent with Dot or with the both of them).

Heck, Wakko was so secure in his brother not abandoning him when Yakko asked if he could start up writing to Max again (at a much slower pace than before, he promised), Wakko said yes (barely) without hesitation. He knew that Max made him happy... and that he kinda owed it to Yakko to let him hang out with him again, as their little "not exactly falling out" was his fault (to him, anyway).

Everything was starting to seem... good- perfect, even.

However, Dot's birthday was rapidly approaching and Yakko was starting to get ideas.

"You know what we should do?" He said, lounging on the couch in the sunroom. "We should throw a ball for your birthday, Dot."

Dot perked up from her book. "What? Why? We never held balls for our birthdays before."

Yakko rolled his eyes. "That's because Grandma ruins everything. In this book I'm reading it says it was tradition for the royal family to hold big celebrations on their birthdays. I think it'd be fun- plus a great opportunity for you two to start making some friends."

Oh.

This again.

Wakko tried to laugh it off. "You'd have to get mum and dad to agree, and they've been pretty busy with the flooding in the west."

"Bah, that's mostly dealt with at this point. I'm sure they could use the break too," Yakko countered.

"B-but mom's coronation wasn't even that long ago," Wakko argued.

"It was over three months ago," Dot rolled her eyes. "I think a party would be fun," she looked to Yakko.

"Didn't you have fun at mom's coronation?" Yakko asked his middle sibling.

"Well I- I suppose I did..." Wakko thought back to the massive chalk drawing he had covered the floor with. It was pretty fun, and it made a lot of people happy.

"See? I'm sure a party in Dot's honor would be fun all the same- plus, making friends is great, I'm sure you'll love it," Yakko said with a reassuring smile on his face, though Wakko still wasn't quite convinced. However, he could see how much both of his siblings wanted this (even though the idea was only seconds old) and who was he to say no?

"Alright, I guess we can do that," He said, which made Dot clap in excitement as she began to detail everything she'd want for a party in her honor.

Wakko had a feeling this was going to be interesting.

.o0o.

As expected, their parents were ecstatic at the idea, and they spared no expense in attempts to create what they believed a much-needed celebration for the people of Warnerstock and their allies.

And to say it truly was Dot's creative vision would not be false. There were a lot of pinks- a lot, a lot of pinks. Though mostly tasteful, if you saw it it was hard to look away from.

But still, Wakko was happy for her, she was having the time of her life planning it all out with their dad, who was equally happy to spoil his little girl.

However, he knew deep down that despite what Yakko had sworn, her party was probably going to be very different from the coronation. He hoped it would be fun, but the more he watched decorations being put into place and talks about the guests and feasts the more he was beginning to worry.

He didn't say anything though, as the rest of his family seemed far too happy for him to want to bother them with his plight. They deserved this break, he was probably just being dramatic anyways. He'd be fine- and maybe make a friend just like Yakko said he would.

Wakko did his best to remain optimistic, despite the knots forming deep within.

It wasn't too long before the grand day arrived. Wakko had thought they had pulled out all the stops just for decorating but the day itself was insane too. Dot was showered in presents and even was taken out to town with William to go shopping for anything her heart desired, meanwhile Yakko, Wakko, and Lena stayed behind and supervised the final touches on the decorations.

Okay- really only Lena supervised, but Yakko and Wakko were technically there too. They didn't stay with her long, as she gave them a list of things to check up on so she could talk to some people which they were fine with.

Together, the brothers walked through the massive dining hall, checking curtains, flowers, vases, tapestries, etc. to make sure they were in the exact right places (not that the list really said where they were supposed to be) and checked them all off.

"So... are you looking forward to tonight?" Yakko asked, checking off 'left-most curtains'.

"Oh- uh- Yeah! I am... are you?" Wakko quickly said.

"Oh yeah, totally, it'll be great to see Max. It's been a while... you're still cool with that, right?" Yakko glanced down at him before checking another thing off.

Wakko nodded. "I won't try to prank or drive him away this time, I swear."

Yakko snorted. "I know you know better, I'm just asking if you're okay with me hanging out with him for tonight instead of you."

"Yeah, I am. You did say I should make friends after all," Wakko said, fiddling with gloves. Yakko looked away from the checklist and gave his little brother a side hug.

"I'm proud of you, you know that?" Yakko asked.

"Yeah, yeah," It was Wakko's turn to laugh.

"I'm serious-" Yakko let go and punched Wakko's arm lightly. "You're doing great. You should be proud of yourself too, you've come a long way."

Wakko smiled a little. "Maybe."

Yakko chuckled. "Well, it looks like we're just about done with this list. Wanna go turn it in to mom and go get changed into uncomfortable suits and greet guests for hours on end, or do you wanna just double and triple check the list until the last second?"

"Definitely check the list," Wakko laughed too.

And so the brothers did, until Lena caught wind of their shenanigans and forced them to start getting ready for the party (though they did cut a lot of time so technically they still regarded it as a win). At least those outfits weren't the worst they've ever worn (they were pretty confident nothing would ever top how itchy and miserable their funeral outfits were). Still, standing around and greeting people was a dreadfully boring job, not to mention awkward until their father and Dot eventually came to join them and actually do their job properly.

They knew their mom was busy, but leaving the two of them in charge was a little questionable.

Plus, after all that interaction, Wakko was starting to feel weird. Tired, but also not-? It was complicated. All he knew was that he wanted to be alone and maybe pace for a while, that'd be nice.

However, the party was to start in not too long, so he really didn't have time for that. He followed Yakko around for a while to the main party room where the people they had greeted before were all chatting amongst themselves. It wasn't too loud yet, but Wakko's tail twitched nervously as he weaved between people and conversations.

He hadn't been this nervous at the coronation- Wakko really wished he could figure out why he was feeling this way. Alas, he was unable.

He did feel a little better as Yakko and he found a spot of their own to chill in for a while, away from all the people.

"A lot of people came to this shindig, huh?" Yakko joked, "though probably no more than those who attended mom's coronation."

"Yeah..." Wakko said, trying to compare them mentally.

"More kids though, which is really good for you and Dot to make friends," Yakko said.

"Yep, yep," Wakko feigned enthusiasm.

"Are you okay..?" Yakko asked, causing Wakko to straighten out his act instantly and nod.

"Of course," he said. Yakko frowned.

"You don't have to lie you know," He remarked. Wakko bit his lip.

"M'just a little tired," he shrugged, figuring it was close enough to the truth.

"Are you sure you'll be okay?" Yakko asked worriedly.

Wakko nodded again. "I'll be fine, I'm probably just hungry."

Yakko laughed a little. "Alright, but you'll tell me if anything is wrong, right?"

"Mhm."

"Good."

The brothers stood in a bored silence for a while, before the rest of their family walked in and the festivities officially began.

It started with the feast, which was pretty harmless, as Wakko enjoyed talking with his family and the food was "quite excellent". The hall was filled with good cheer and hearty laughter, which he could appreciate.

However, after that, things began to blur.

It seemed only moments ago he was eating when suddenly everything was taken away and it turned into social hour. and Dot and their parents disappeared once more. He recalled Yakko asking if it was okay for him to go to Max, to which Wakko nodded and even pushed him away some. Oh god- he hoped that wasn't too aggressive.

Now he was alone. People were talking, walking, dancing, all sorts of activities. Wakko tried to take it all in, but all of the colors and sounds were starting to burn his eyes.

Friends. He was told he had to make friends.

He tried looking around for kids his age, but just turning his head made him dizzy.

Hmph.

Still, he was determined to function as a normal child would so he began weaving through the rapidly shifting crowd as he had earlier, just with a much louder and more busy crowd.

Suddenly his suit was starting to feel a lot more uncomfortable than before. God- if he could just find someone-

He bumped right into a lady in a bright purple dress. He quickly stuttered an apology before scurrying away as fast as he could, not even waiting for a response.

Seriously- was his suit trying to choke him? He pulled on it desperately, but if anything it just made the pull tighter. Wakko growled to himself as he walked further and further away from whoever that lady was, until he hit the wall.

At least the marble was cool, it was starting to feel like it was a million degrees in here.

Still, it wasn't enough. he still felt hot, and stuffy- was he even breathing anymore?

...Yes, yes he was. Rather fast though- oh dear, was that his heart? oh god- what was happening? Why was the music so loud? Why was his collar so tight? When was the last time he blinked? Where were these "kids" Wakko was supposed to make friends with?

Wait- no, he could see those. A group of them- shit, they were looking at him. Wakko noticed his nail was twitching nervously- he grabbed it and forced it to stop, but the kids laughed.

Wakko ran away again, covering his ears, his face turning red and the knot in his stomach transporting itself to his throat.

"No, no, no, no. Please, not now..." He pleaded with himself, but he didn't listen, and tears started to form. Wakko looked desperately for a quick way out, but still couldn't find any- curse the size of this place.

However, as his eyes darted around anxiously, he spotted something- a table covered in a white cloth that went to the ground. Without hesitation, Wakko went to it, making sure no one saw him before crawling underneath.

Wakko stayed there, covering his ears and rocking back and forth awhile, cursing his stupid brain for making these stupid tears that wouldn't end. He also cursed the stupid music for being too loud and the guests for being so many.

He wanted Mom.

He wanted mom to come and find him and scoop him up and take him to the playroom and sit in the rocking chair and rock him to sleep.

However, she didn't come.

No one did.

He was alone, and these tears weren't making him any calmer. Everything still felt so loud- it wasn't this loud before- he loved mom's coronation. Why was his brain so stupid?!

The young prince continued like that for a while, before someone came and lifted the tablecloth. He tried to make a run for it, but the someone grabbed his arm before he could- Wakko turned to look at their face and-

It was Max.

"S-sorry, I probably shouldn't... grab you," He let go, and Wakko scooted back, though he didn't leave. Max saw this as an invitation and joined him under the table.

"A-are- uh... Are you okay?" Max asked. Wakko looked away and shrugged.

"Right... not much of a talker..." Max recalled. Wakko nodded once, though he instantly regretted it, as it made his head feel weird.

Max tapped his fingers on his knee as he tried to figure something out. Wakko avoided any looks the Disney Prince gave him.

"Do you want some water? I can go get you some water," Max offered. Wakko sniffled and thought about it, before nodding once more (and regretting it once more).

with that, he disappeared, though not for too long.

Wakko noticed he stopped crying.

"Here, take this," Max handed him the glass. Wakko accepted the offering, taking a long drink.

Well, that felt at least a little bit better.

He glanced at Max.

"A-aren't you supposed to be with Yakko?" he asked.

"Dot was practically begging Yakko for a dance and I let him, it's her day after all," Max chuckled.

That made sense.

Wakko looked down at the glass, tapping his finger against it and looking at the water ripple.

"Do you need to step out of the party for a sec?" Max asked.

Wakko shrugged, taking a sip.

"Here- I'll help you find an exit," Max said, getting up and holding the cloth open for Wakko.

He hesitated.

He didn't deserve this- such kindness from the guy he locked in the tower mere weeks ago- it didn't make sense.

Then again, he'd give anything to get out of here.

Wakko listening to his senses and got out.

Carefully he followed Max through the gigantic room until they eventually reached a door, through which both of them slipped out of and into a calm and dark hallway.

Instantly, Wakko felt calmed, taking a deep breath.

"Wanna sit down?" Max asked, gesturing to the couches nearby. Wakko nodded. However, instead of sitting on the couch, he chose to lay on the cool floor, even taking off his gloves so he could feel the marble with his fingers.

Max didn't say anything for a while, not seeming to mind the silence. Which was good- because Wakko didn't feel like breaking it.

After a while though, a thought nagged at his brain.

Why.

Why on earth would Max help him? After everything he did? After everything he jeopardized? It didn't make sense.

Wakko sat up. Max looked at him but didn't say anything.

Wakko sighed.

"Why-?" He paused.

"Why... are you being so nice to me?"

"You were in trouble, I couldn't ignore that," Max shrugged. Wakko frowned, putting his gloves back on.

"I-i... Aren't you mad? At least a little?" He asked.

"It wasn't my first time being locked in a room for hours on end," Max snorted.

"Y-yeah, but I tried to hurt you. And Yakko..." Wakko looked at the ground. "I know how much you mean to him."

Max blinked.

"I- uh... well-" Max struggled with his words a moment.

"I don't... blame you, I guess. It's as new to you as it is to me and with a past and family tree like yours, I guess I don't blame you for lashing out? I dunno," Max shrugged, looking away.

Huh...

"Still... you didn't have to do this."

"I wanted to. Trust me, I would've helped any kid I found under there, but I'm glad it was you," Max said.

Wakko looked at him, deciding whether or not he believed that. Ultimately, he did.

"You know... Yakko talks a lot about you," Max said, piquing Wakko's interest.

"He worries a lot, but he says you're a really sweet kid, and I believe that," Max smiled a little. "You should be easier on yourself, you're still growing up you know?"

Wakko thought about that.

"I guess," He said. Max snorted.

"You know... you do seem like a pretty cool kid. I'm sorry if you ever felt I was ignoring you, I promise I'll try to make up for it too," He said.

Wakko thought about that too.

"Thanks," He said.

"I really do hope we can grow to like each other. Yakko means a lot to me and you mean a lot to him... you know?" Max blushed a little, scratching the back of his neck.

Wakko nodded, grinning a little.

"So... are we... cool?" Max asked.

Wakko thought about that as well.

"Yeah, we're cool," He said with his signature smile.

"Cool," Max grinned back. "Because I'm pretty sure Yakko might lose it if his dance with Dot ended and he can't find me."

Wakko laughed.

"Will you be alright?" Max asked, standing. Wakko nodded, getting up as well.

"I'm feeling a lot better... though I think I'll look for mum and dad," He said.

"Fair enough," Max nodded once. "Well- uh... see you around, I guess."

"See you around," Wakko laughed at his awkwardness before going back through the doors and back to the party.

Max followed soon thereafter, hoping Yakko wouldn't be too mad or worried at him for his sudden disappearance.

.o0o.

Yakko couldn't believe that a year ago today he thought his parents were dead. It baffled him honestly- he could turn his head and his parents were right there. They were never really dead- it shocked him to remember sometimes.

He also couldn't believe that only a year ago the most celebration they could share for Dot's birthday was a mini cake they had to sneak late at night.

And now look where he was- dancing in the middle of the ballroom with his little sister having the time of his life- despite the fact Dot couldn't stop giggling and he almost dropped her that one time.

However, he had to draw the line after three songs, which Dot understood, and he gave her back to their parents, hoping Max wouldn't be too mad about Dot taking up so much of his time.

"Ah, Max, there you are- sorry for dancing so long, I have a hard time saying no to her," Yakko laughed between pants, scratching the back of his neck.

"You just got done?" Max teased.

"Yeah, she really liked dancing," Yakko shrugged, putting his hands in his pockets.

"You look like you could use a breather," Max raised an eyebrow at him.

"Who, me? Whatever would give that idea?" He played back, wiping the sweat from his forehead.

"C'mon- let's go to the balcony," Max said, taking his hand.

When they got to the door Yakko paused as he looked back at his family, unsure. However, his parents looked at him, and after giving a fair look of warning, they both gave him a thumbs up and nod of approval, and Yakko went off with his prince.

However, they didn't pick a random one, they went all the way through the halls to the usual one they'd go to when Max visited Warnerstock (the kid had a thing for balconies).

"Ahh, fresh air," Yakko embraced the cool night.

"Yep," Max embraced it too, immediately going and leaning on the rails.

"Are you liking the party?" Yakko asked.

"It's pretty good- though a little crowded, but I always know how to find some space," Max answered.

"I feel that- when my birthday rolls around, I'll make it a lot less crowded. I don't know what Dot had against having it outside, but what are you gonna do?" Yakko shrugged.

"I think Wakko would appreciate a smaller shindig," Max said, looking at the garden.

"What makes you say that?" Yakko decided to take his place next to Max also leaning against the railing.

"Ran into him- he wasn't having the best time so I helped ground him again," Max said like it was no big deal.

It was.

"Grounded him? You- managed to calm him down? Is he okay? What happened?" Yakko asked quickly.

"Woah, woah, it's okay. He's totally fine, just... overwhelmed." Max said.

"Oh... well... I'm glad he's okay," Yakko took a deep breath. "And I'm even more glad you were able to help him- that's huge... really."

He looked at him when he said that last part. Max blushed.

"I would've helped anyone, seriously," He looked away.

"Mhm, sure," Yakko teased.

"I am serious though- it probably means a lot to Wakko- he doesn't accept help easily and to allow you... it means he's starting to like you," Yakko said in all seriousness.

"That's good," Max nodded. "I really do want your family to like me- I just... don't have the best ways of showing it, I suppose."

"Hey, you're doing great so far," Yakko held his hand.

There was a moment before Yakko realized what he was doing and both boys broke the gesture.

"Haha... yeahhhh," Max looked at the wall away from Yakko.

There was a stretch of silence between the two, neither knowing what to do. Sure they knew what they wanted but... things are never as easy as just doing what you want.

"My dad and uncles like you too- if you care about that," Max decided to say.

"That's good," Yakko smiled a little, rubbing his thumb on the railing.

Another pause.

"You know- It's funny to me how when we met you thought I might too cool for you," Max remarked.

"When did I ever say that?" Yakko said.

"You called me cool at least fifty times upon first meeting me," Max play punched his arm.

"As I recall, you called me cool, so who's the real cool one here?" Yakko punched him back and the princes laughed.

"Alright, alright, you got me," Max chuckled. "I was just trying to say you were totally wrong, I don't have a cool bone in my body."

"God- you're so cool you don't even know how cool you are. Typical," Yakko sighed teasingly.

"Hey, didn't I just say you're pretty cool too?" Max accused playfully.

"Oh please, you're way cooler. No trauma and with fluffy, luxurious hair like that? Please," Yakko rolled his eyes.

"Oh puh-lease yourself. Trauma is just a cool backstory and you're home is a lot more fun and a lot less crowded and your family is a lot more cool too," Max pointed his finger at Yakko.

"You're exaggerating," Yakko pointed back.

"Nope- not at all. You're one of my first true friends and that automatically makes you very cool," Max crossed his arms.

"Oh yeah? W-well-" Yakko paused, looking at Max carefully.

A pause.

Max's dark brown eyes shined back at Yakko, reflecting the stars that surrounded them wonderfully. His fluffy and luxurious hair framed his face with perfect ease. His signature smile slowly turned into that of curiosity.

Yakko felt his heart flutter.

"I'm not as cool as you think," Yakko stepped down, looking at the ground.

Coward.

Another pause.

"..."

"Well maybe you are right- maybe I am cooler than you."

"Wha-?"

Before Yakko could finish the sentence, Max grabbed his shoulder and pulled him into a kiss.

"S-see?" Max was internally "fjdkaf;sfj"-ing in his brain. "You've won- I'm a lot cooler."

"Y-yeah," Yakko could barely speak his face was as red as Wakko's hat. "You're... yeah," his face melted into a goofy grin.

"Oh god- I'm sorry- d-did you not mean that..?" Max panicked, quickly becoming embarrassed.

"N-no!" Yakko snapped to life. "I-i... I- uh..."

"I liked it," He managed to say. Max smiled.

"W-... Wanna do it again?" Yakko proposed, and Max nodded, and they shared another kiss.

Yakko knew it was corny to think, but it truly felt just like fireworks in his chest.

He liked Max- Max liked him. A part of himself was realized- and he felt alive. A good kind of alive- not the kind of alive that came from life or death situations.

"So... I guess that makes us even," Max joked. Yakko laughed.

"I guess so," He couldn't get himself to stop smiling- neither could Max. They looked at each other before bursting into laughter again.

"Man, we really should return to the party," Max said.

"Yeah, you're right," Yakko's face was starting to hurt from the smiling.

"Do- uh... do you think your parents will be cool... orrrr...?" Max asked.

"Psh, I'm sure they'll be fine," He said without hesitation.

"Cool," Max said, opening the door out of the balcony.

Yakko looked at him for a moment, trying to absorb the moment as best he could.

"You okay?" Max asked.

"Yep," Yakko said, taking a deep breath as he implanted it in his memory in his brain forever.

"C'mon, let's go before they think we've done something stupid," Yakko said, quickly joining Max and grabbing his hand before running back to join his family.

however, right before entering the party room once more, Yakko paused.

"Does this mean our friendship is basically ruined?" He asked.

Max thought about it.

"I wouldn't think of it as a ruining per se... maybe think of it as an upgrade of sorts," Max winked.

God, he was so much cooler.

"Cool," Yakko grinned, squeezing Max's hand.

"Well... uh- shall we?" Max let go and offered Yakko his arm.

Yakko thought about it.

Taking it would mean no taking it back- it would mean the whole party would basically know that they kissed (holy shit- they kissed! that was a thing that happened!). His parents, his siblings, practically the whole kingdom, and their allies.

Yakko couldn't imagine any other way to walk back in.

He took his arm.

"We shall."

Part 1 Part 2 Part 3 Part 4 Part 5 Part 6 Part 7 The End

[salparadiselost]

Demon au cat ask again: I totally forgot: anytime dick has his laptop out he suddenly has a lap full of demon demanding attention. Damian is the biggest offender.

The first time Dick ever got the experience of having a lap full of demon demanding attention...

It started with Jason, which wasn't surprising because he was the first.

Dick was humming to himself, foot tapping along with his keys across the keyboard. He was back at the Manor after taking some much-needed time away from Bruce. To be honest, he wasn't completely ready to come back yet, but he had an incubus to feed.

And though he wasn't completely kosher with Bruce right now, he wasn't cruel enough to let the impling starve or force him to feed from men he still wasn't completely comfortable with.

Things with Jason were... complicated.

The impling seemed to oscillate wildly between being an oversized cat in Dick's lap and trying to kill him.

Dick looked suspiciously up from his laptop, eyeing the impling.

Jason was rolling on the floor, attacking a teething toy that Bruce had bought him. He had been doing it for the last hour and seemed content with continuing to do so for another hour.

Slowly, Dick put his head back down.

Jason's second set of fangs were growing in and he was bitier than normal because of it. Poor thing's mouth was a mess as longer fangs spiked through his gums and he accidentally bit into his own lip. Teething helped, though in meant at least a dozen pieces of the Manor's furniture had bitemarks now.

It also meant Dick and Bruce's delicate human fingers were a prime target. Jason attacked the digits viciously, and though Bruce sat there and smiled because at least the impling wasn't cowering away, Dick did NOT enjoy this new habit.

Jason's fangs were small, but damn they were sharp. A demon's second set of fangs were their scary set—the ones they used for intimidation and striking killing blows. Their normal set could potentially pass as human, but the second set...

Jason snarled, flipping his toy over and rearing his head back to strike. He was lightning quick and dug his burgeoning fangs into the stuffed dog's mesh neck. A brief spark of triumph went through Jason's eyes and he growled as he bit down harder.

A shiver passed down Dick's spine.

It was hard not to think of his own vulnerable human neck in the place of the mesh dog's when his little brother looked like that.

Jason's eyes flicked up to meet his, and Dick could have sworn Jason sunk his teeth in a little more.

But then, in a split second, Jason threw his toy across the room and was pouncing on it again.

And he was back to being a kitten more than a man-eating lion.

Dick's eyes bounced as he followed Jason's rambunctious and rough play. The impling tore through the room, attacking nearly everything in his path.

Apparently, implings were hyper maniacs at this age and Dick often found Jason racing down the halls, leaping on to him from high places, and pouncing on anything that moved.

He especially loved attacking Dick and his skin was littered with bruises from "love bites" because of it.

Which made sense, if he thought about it. Demons were predators and evolutionarily relied on hunting abilities more than humans. They were meant to stalk and capture prey, that prey being primarily humans. It was probably driving his instincts wild to be surrounded by people that were subconsciously labelled as 'prey'.

Dick couldn't tell you how many times Jason had 'hunted' him at this point. (Especially one memorable moment where Dick had gone to the bathroom at night, only to be terrified by an impling staring him down from in the bathtub. He hadn't even known Jason was there until he sat on the toilet and looked over to see two eerie eyes staring into his soul while he tried to take a shit. Both of them had been scarred by that memory.)

He couldn't even blame the kid too much. Incubi were an extremely social species, but Jason was an only impling. He attacked Dick any time he saw him, but at least he was engaging.

Bruce had told Dick that when he wasn't here, Jason acted completely different. It still didn't trust Bruce and Alfred and it meant that he didn't let himself be an impling. Apparently, he was more hesitant, less active and hardly ever played anywhere that the men could see. It was night and day, comparing how Jason acted around Bruce to how Jason acted for Dick.

Dick wasn't even completely sure how he earned this privilege, but he hoped he didn't mess it up.

"Dick," Jason said, popping up at his side from seemingly no where.

Dick startled, computer rocking in his lap and heart instantly racing. "Jesus Christ, I didn't see you come over here."

Jason smiled, his growing fangs with bloody in his mouth. His eyes were sharp and predatory on Dick's face. "That's because I didn't want you to see me."

Ice ran through him and he made a full-body shudder.

Was Jason trying to give him nightmares of baby-faced brothers with too-large fangs in their mouths?

"Well you succeeded, bud," Dick ground out, trying to keep his tone light but it was forced. "I didn't see you at all."

"Good," Jason chirped. "Now I know I can sneak up on you any time I want."

Jesus... this kid really was trying to give him a heart attack.

"Why don't we not do..."

Jason moved, climbing on to the couch and shoving himself into Dick's lap. The computer fell and clattered on to the ground. Jason gave it a smirk with pride.

His summary report...

"Food now," Jason demanded, settling himself up on Dick's chest and sighing into his collarbone. "I'm hungry."

The incubus's little mental fingers poked at Dick's bond with him like he was trying to get Dick's attention.

Jason had never been this bold. Dick was still half-convinced that the impling might still be wary of him (or even hate him) half the time. Hell, Jason still attacked him.

Blankly, Dick raised a hand to Jason's back and held him. The impling murmured a happy note at the simple touch.

"Do you want me to take you to the kitchen?" Dick asked, getting ready to stand.

Jason shook his head quickly. "No, emotions."

The incubus's head landed on Dick's shoulder. "You taste warm and safe."

He...

Dick's arms tightened around the demon in his lap. The impling responded with a burst of happiness in the bond.

"Okay, you can eat."

The impling instantly took Dick's emotions, and the bliss of feeding settled into the room. Bright happiness was amplified and filled Dick's head. Jason made all the emotions bigger, fuller, and greater than anything Dick ever thought he could inspire.

On his lap, Jason went completely boneless, fully resting into Dick. He tucked his face up against Dick's neck and lazily pulled at the bond between them.

It didn't even bother him when Jason fell asleep with those new fangs pressed against his jugular.

~Kay

[gryffindorcls]

The Surprise Guest

Hello, lovely readers!

A few months ago I was asked to write a piece for the @mlpandemicreliefzine​. It was such a fun project to be a part of, and now that it's been out for a while, I am happy to share with you the fluffy Marichat one-shot I wrote for the zine.

Happy reading!

---

SUMMARY: One Friday night, Chat Noir accidentally barges in on a "girl's night" sleepover happening in Marinette's room. After being encouraged to stay, Chat joins the group in a game of truth or dare during which Marinette reveals the name of the boy she loves.

LENGTH: 2972 words

AO3 FANFICTION

---

RAP RAP RAP

Marinette’s heart stopped.

“Is someone knocking on a window?” Alya pushed herself off the ground and padded across the room.

“N-no! I...uhh...it’s probably just the wind!” Marinette sprang out of her seat and tried to pull Alya back to the circle of girls sitting in the middle of the floor. “Don’t worry about it! Mario Kart is waiting for us!”

RAP RAP RAP

“There it is again!” Alya stood on her tiptoes and peered out the window next to Marinette’s desk. “That’s funny I could have sworn-”

The hatch above the lofted bed swung open with a bang. All heads turned towards the sound as a mop of blond hair poked through the opening.

“Princess, are you in here? Are you okay? I was knocking, and I didn’t see...oops.” Chat Noir’s eyes scanned the room. “Hello, ladies.”

“Oh, look!” Alya locked eyes with Marinette and gestured towards the hatch. “The wind has a face.”

Marinette groaned and buried her face in her hands. “This can’t be happening.”

“Oh, but it is, and I can’t wait to hear you explain your way out of this one.”

“It’s not what it looks like.”

“Really? Because to me, it looks like one of Paris’s heroes is asking to come in, and judging by his cute little nickname for you, I’m guessing that this isn’t the first time he’s paid you a visit. How am I doing so far, Princess Marinette?”

“Unfortunately, you’re doing pretty well.”

Chat ducked behind the lip of the opening. “Did I come at a bad time?”

Marinette pinched the bridge of her nose. “I told you that I was busy today.”

“I forgot.”

“Obviously.”

“If he’s here, does that mean there’s an Akuma?” Rose smashed her hands against her cheeks. “Is it after one of us?”

Chat shook his head. “No Akuma tonight. Everyone is safe.”

“If there’s no Akuma, then why are you here?” Alix narrowed her eyes. “Are you two dating or something?”

“No!” Marinette raised her hands in front of her. “It’s nothing like that. He just visits sometimes.”

“Yup!” Chat chimed in, “Every Wednesday, Friday, and Sunday night!”

“Not helping!” Marinette hissed at the boy through gritted teeth.

He sunk further behind the ledge. “Sorry.”

“You have scheduled visits!” Alya chuckled and placed a hand on Marinette’s shoulder. “Girl, I expect details.”

Chat cleared his throat. “Should I just leave the snacks and go?”

“Aha!” Alix exclaimed, pointing towards the hatch. “He brought snacks. They’re totally dating.”

“We’re not dating!” Marinette stamped her foot on the ground. “We’re just friends. I swear!”

“I don’t know. My brother always brings his girlfriend food, and he’s always talking about how in love with her he is.”

“Chat is my friend.”

Alya crossed her arms. “And tell us, how did you manage to become friends with him?”

Marinette looked at Chat, and after finding the silent look of approval in his eyes, she swallowed and took a steadying breath. “One night I was really upset, so I decided to sit out on the balcony. I may have started crying, and that’s when Chat found me. He told me he was also feeling down, so we talked for a few hours. He checked up on me the next day, and that’s when we realized that we enjoyed hanging out with each other.”

“Did you invite him to hang out with us tonight?” Mylene asked, cocking her head to the side.

Marinette sighed. “No, I did not.”

“You know, I should just go.” Chat tossed a canvas bag overflowing with snacks onto Marinette’s bed. “I’ll see you on Sunday, Princess.”

The unspoken sadness behind his words sent a pang through Marinette’s heart. “No, stay. It’s fine. Besides, I think Alya would kill me if I told you to go home before she had the chance to grill you at some point tonight.”

“You know it.” Alya chuckled and shot a finger gun in Chat’s direction.

“Wait.” He peeked the rest of his head over the ledge. “Really? I can come in?”

“Yup, and we were just about to play Mario Kart.” Marinette watched as Chat hopped onto her bed and scrambled down the ladder. “Did you want to play with us?”

“Do I?” He vibrated with excitement as she handed him a controller. “Is this what normally happens at sleepovers?”

“Have you never been to one?”

“No. I’ve only ever seen them on television and in movies, but those people are always doing each other’s hair and playing Truth or Dare.”

Alix’s eyes lit up. “Ooo, yes! We should play Truth or Dare.”

“No!” Marinette switched on her computer and loaded the game. “We are not playing Truth or Dare.”

“Ugh, lame!”

“We are playing Mario Kart, and then we are watching a movie.”

“I don’t know, Marinette. Playing Truth or Dare with a superhero sounds kind of fun.” Alya shot her a grin.

Marinette glared at her. “Video Games. Movie. Bed. That’s it.”

“You know,” Chat interjected, “I’ve never played Truth or Dare either.”

“Of course you haven’t.”

“It could be fun.”

“But you know what would be even more fun?” Marinette leaned in and flicked Chat’s bell. “Kicking your butt at Mario Kart...again.”

He chuckled. “That’s some big talk coming from someone who’s about to get crushed.”

“So says the boy who loses every time he’s played against me.”

“Oh, it’s on, Princess.”

“Jeez, if you two lovebirds are done flirting, some of us are ready to actually start playing,” Alix huffed, flopping onto the floor.

“For the last time, we are not dating.” Marinette crossed her arms and looked at Chat. “Right?”

“Yeah, we’re not.” She could have sworn that she saw his eyes dim when he spoke his confirmation, but surely it was just a trick of the light.

“See!” She said triumphantly. “We’re just friends.”

“Could have fooled me!” Alix held her stomach and laughed. “I’m just kidding. Anyway, are we playing or not?”

“Yes.” Marinette pressed start on her controller. “We are.”

As the first race began, she settled herself next to Chat Noir, accidentally brushing her knee against his. Her heart sank when she felt his body stiffen under her touch. Usually, Chat had no problem getting close to her. More often than not, they found themselves wrapped around each other under piles of blankets.

She couldn’t help but wonder if she’d done something wrong. Maybe he was upset that she’d said no Truth or Dare. Maybe she was too harsh. Maybe she should have said yes. After all, it was his first sleepover, and playing Truth or Dare wouldn’t be out of the ordinary.

Despite the internal debate that raged through her mind throughout the gaming session, Marinette came first in almost every race. After her eleventh win, she leaned over and rested her head on Chat’s shoulder.

“Better luck next time, kitty.” She looked up only to see him quickly turn his head away.

He must really be upset with her.

Alix slammed her controller onto the ground. “Ugh, can we do something else now? I’m getting bored.”

Alya rolled her eyes. “Are you sure you’re not just getting tired of losing?”

“Actually, I also wouldn’t mind doing something else.” Rose set down her controller and smiled. “Marinette, didn’t you say that we were going to watch a movie tonight?”

“A movie would be cool,” Juleka mumbled under her breath.

Marinette looked at Chat Noir. “Well, I’ve been thinking about it, and I thought that maybe we could play Truth or Dare...as long as we’re careful, that is! We’d have to promise to not ask Chat anything that could reveal his identity.”

Alix threw a celebratory fist into the air. “Yes!”

“Are you sure, girl?” Alya furrowed her brows. “You seemed pretty against it before.”

She nodded. “I’m sure. Besides, I think our surprise guest really wants to play. What kind of hostess would I be if I denied him the full sleepover experience?”

He met her gaze. His mouth rounded into a small “o” as a dusting of pink peeked out from underneath his mask.

“Are you okay?” Marinette asked tentatively.

He cleared his throat. “Uh, yeah. I would love to play!”

The rest of the group excitedly agreed and reformed a circle in the middle of the floor. The first few rounds filled the room with laughter as Mylene did the worm and Alya showed off her best Nino impression.

Once the giggles died down after watching Alix's reaction to putting ice cubes down her shirt, Alya adjusted her glasses and smirked. “Alright, it’s your turn, Marinette. Truth or dare?”

The last thing Marinette needed was for someone to dare her to kiss Chat Noir. “Truth.”

Alix rubbed her hands together. “First truth of the night. Let’s make it a good one.”

A wave of regret washed over her. “Oh, no.”

“Oh, yes! Who do you have a crush on right now?”

“I guess I should have seen that one coming.”

A pang shot through Marinette’s chest. She lowered her head and swallowed the heartbreak that threatened to resurface.

It had only been three months since she’d made the choice to move on from Adrien, and the wound still felt fresh. She’d done her best to bury the feelings she had for him, but her heart always circled back to the selfless boy who shines brighter than the sun.

However, she learned that as long as she didn’t actively think about Adrien, the hole inside her heart wasn’t as noticeable. Chat’s visits had really helped take her mind off of everything, but now it looked like it was time to face her feelings head-on.

“Oh, I know!” Chat blurted out, “It’s Luka!”

“No, it’s not.” Juleka’s hands covered her mouth while she spoke. “Marinette turned him down when he asked her out.”

“Wait, really?” He turned to Marinette. “Isn’t he the boy you’re in love with?”

Alya shook her head. “No, they had a connection, but I think we all know who really captured her heart.”

“Who?”

“You mean you really don’t know? She never told you?”

Hot tears welled in the corners of Marinette’s eyes. “I’m trying to move on.”

“Do you still love him?” Rose asked quietly, "Because it's okay if you do. Feelings like that don't just disappear overnight." “Yeah, but it doesn’t matter now. He’s with someone else. I lost my chance.” The words tasted bitter on her lips.

“No, you didn’t.” Juleka shook her head. “Don’t tell anyone, but I saw Luka kissing Kagami last weekend.”

A collective gasp filled the room as Marinette’s head shot up. “Are you serious?”

“Mmhmm, he doesn’t know that I know, but she comes over a lot.”

Alya nudged Marinette’s arm. “I think you just got your second chance.”

“But he and Kagami were so close!” Marinette grabbed her pigtails. “I could have sworn that they were dating.”

“You know, I don’t remember him ever saying that they were dating.”

“I guess I just assumed. I thought I saw them kiss.”

“I don’t think they did. I know he didn’t tell Nino that he kissed her, and those two pretty much know everything about each other.”

Chat held up his hands. “I’m sorry, who are we talking about right now?”

“It’s a boy from our class. You might know him. He was in that fragrance ad that seems to be on every billboard in the city.” Alya pointed to the class picture hanging on Marinette’s wall. “His name is Adrien.”

“Hold on.” The intensity in his eyes startled Marinette. “You have a crush on Adrien Agreste?”

“Um, yeah?” She shrugged. “I thought he was dating Kagami, so I tried to make my feelings go away. It didn’t really work.”

“But why?” His voice had dropped to a whisper. “Why him?”

Marinette thought back to her encounter with Adrien in the rain–the day love became more than just a word in the dictionary. “I accused him of something when we first met, but instead of getting angry and brushing me off, he reached out to me and asked to be friends. Is he one of the most beautiful people I’ve ever seen in my entire life? Yes, without a doubt. But it was his kindness and selflessness that made me fall for him.”

“You really love him, don’t you?”

“With all my heart.”

“Is that why you were crying that night on the balcony?”

“Yes, but you made me feel a lot better. Thank you for that.”

Chat pushed himself off the ground and began pacing around the room. “I...he made you cry! You’re so sweet and kind, and he hurt you. How are you not mad at him?”

She reached up and grabbed Chat’s hand as he passed in front of her. “It’s not his fault! I never had the courage to tell him, so he doesn’t know. He’s a wonderful person.”

“Doesn’t sound like it.”

“Chat…”

“He broke your heart, Marinette.”

She shook her head. “No, if we’re being honest, I kind of broke my own heart. I never told him how I felt.”

He took a deep breath. “You should tell him.”

“I can’t.”

“Why not?”

“What if I’m not the one for him? He deserves to be happy!”

“I have a hunch that things will work out pretty well if you tell him.”

“Look, it’s not that I haven’t tried before.” Marinette buried her face in her hands. “But all of those attempts ended in disaster. How would this time be any different?”

“Easy.” Alix pointed to the cell phone on Marinette’s desk. “I dare you to text him.”

Marinette crossed her arms. “Nice try, but it’s not my turn right now. It’s Chat’s.”

“Fine. Truth or dare, Chat Noir?”

He plopped down on the ground. “Dare.”

“Excellent.” Alix grabbed the phone and handed it to Chat. “I dare you to help Marinette send a text to Adrien.”

“No!” Marinette snatched her phone out of his hands and held it against her chest. “Why?”

“Because it’ll be hilarious.”

"But it's my phone!"

"And it's his dare."

Marinette grabbed Alya’s arm. “Help.”

“No can do, girl.” She shook her head. “Alix is right. He got dared.”

With a sigh, Marinette reluctantly handed her phone over to Chat. “Please don’t do anything too embarrassing.”

“Trust me, Princess. I’ll make sure you get that date.” He took the phone and got to work.

“You may have to spell it out for him. Adrien’s a great guy, but he’s a little dense in the love department sometimes.” Alix’s laugh rang through the room.

Chat glared at her. “Rude.”

“If you knew him, you’d agree.”

“Unfortunately, I have a feeling that you’re right. Rude, but right.”

Marinette didn’t know if she should scream or run away. “Please don’t tell him that I like him in a text. That should be something I tell him to his face.”

Chat ran his fingers through his hair. “I know. All I did was write out a message asking him to meet up with you in the park tomorrow.”

“Did you already send it?”

“Yup.”

“I...but...what if he’s not free?”

“Oh, he’s free.”

“How do you know?”

“Uhhhh.” Chat scratched the back of his head. “I read somewhere that his father is out of town for the next week. I guess I just assumed that Adrien had nothing on his schedule.”

Marinette did her best not to hyperventilate. “Okay, yeah...this is great. Goog...I mean doog...I mean...oh, no, I’m stuttering again! It’s been weeks since I’ve done that. I’m going to make a complete fool out of myself tomorrow!”

“No, you’re not.” Chat rested a hand on her shoulder.

“How do you know?”

“Because you’re amazing, Marinette, and he’d be crazy to not like you back.”

His smile melted away her fears and calmed the restless beating of her heart. It was amazing how safe he always made her feel, both in and out of the mask. Marinette knew she was lucky to have him as her partner and her friend.

“I know everyone didn’t get a turn to go, but I really don’t think we can top that round.” Alya walked over to Marinette’s computer. “How about we watch that movie now?”

“Works for me!” Marinette leaned against Chat. “Want to sit next to each other?”

He nodded. “Yeah, I do.”

While Marinette set up the movie, her guests made a cozy nest of blankets and pillows on the floor.

When she was finished, she took a seat next to Chat. She soon found herself wrapped in his arms with her face against his chest.

Although sitting like this had become a regular occurrence between them, tonight felt different. Instead of the loose hold she was accustomed to, Chat held her as if she’d slip away if he let go. To her surprise, she really enjoyed the change.

As the movie droned on, the steady beating of Chat’s heart relaxed every fiber of her being. Reflexively, she reached her arms around him, snuggled closer to his side, and reveled in his warmth.

All too soon, Marinette gave into the heaviness of her eyelids. Still vaguely aware of the world around her, the whispers of an oncoming dream beckoned her further into the depths of her subconscious.

She felt a gentle pressure against the crown of her head before a hazy voice etched its words onto her heart. “You make me happy every single day. You always have, and now it’s my turn to make you happy. You’re the perfect girl for me.”

And for the first time in months, Marinette was at peace.

“I can’t wait for tomorrow, Princess.”

That night, she had the sweetest of dreams, and the next morning, she woke up with Adrien’s response in her notifications.

[nowandajenn]

Blue Christmas-Three

Pairing: Chris Evans/OC Kelly

Summary: After almost three years of marriage, everyone would tell you that Chris and his wife Kelly are the most stable, solid couple they know. But behind closed doors, things are tense as they keep trying for a baby, to no avail. When a secret threatens to shake their solid marriage to it’s core, will they be able to pick up the pieces?

Warnings: ANGST on a serious level, physical violence in the form of a vicious bitch slap, language.

Author’s Note: So about 3/4 of this chapter has been re-written. Hope you enjoy!

Time stands still for me. I’m not sure how long I actually stand there in the middle of the kitchen with Chris on his knees in front of me, desperately clinging to me and apologizing with tears running down his cheeks. It’s almost like my brain temporarily shuts down to try and process what happened before coming back online. 

When I finally gather myself, I back away from Chris, breaking his hold on me. There are tears burning in my eyes and I can feel the pizza and wine in my stomach trying to work it’s way right back up my esophagus. Chris takes a step towards me and I instantly put a trembling hand up to stop him. 

“No.”

“Honey, please.....” he tries as he takes a step closer towards me. 

“NO. Don’t.....don’t fucking come near me right now. I can’t......I can’t......” I raise my head and I look at him standing in front of me, and I feel like I’m looking at a complete stranger. My Chris would never do this to me. My Chris was my best friend and my lover and he would NEVER break my heart like this. 

Hot tears flow from my eyes unbidden, and I stifle a sob with the back of my hand. 

There are so many questions that are flying through my head, and so many things I want to say, and all I can do is stand there sobbing, holding onto the counter top for support. 

“Ray, please, baby.....” Chris says, his voice rough and thick with emotion. 

Before I even know what I’ve done, Chris is stumbling back, gasping in surprise and shock, my hand print blooming bright red against the fair skin of his cheek. 

“Don’t you fucking DARE! Do you hear me? Don’t you DARE fucking call me that right now. How could you do this? Can you tell me that? Huh?” 

There’s so much anger and sadness bubbling up out of me that I can barely breathe, not to mention the massive ache in the middle of my chest that makes me wonder if I’m having a heart attack. 

I turn around and wipe my face and try and get my breathing under control. 

It’s because you haven’t gotten pregnant.

He wants a family and you’re obviously not going to give him a baby.

He found someone younger and sexier. Someone with a better body than yours. 

He’s sick of you. Six years was the limit. It was good while it lasted, I guess.

You never really stood a chance anyway. Who were you kidding? There are millions of women that he could have his pick from, and you thought that he was just going to stick with YOU for the rest of his life. Silly rabbit. 

I look out the kitchen window at the snow coming down and blowing across our backyard, and trying to figure out the likelihood of me wrapping my car around a tree if I try and drive in this. At this point, if it’s between that or staying in the same house as my husband who just told me he cheated on me, I’m willing to take my chances with the snow. 

“You need to get away from me. Right now. I don’t want to look at your face.” I tell him, my back still turned to him. 

“Kelly....PLEASE...”

I turn around and it feels like all the energy and fight and will to live just leaves my body in a rush. 

“Chris, if you love me, and you’re truly sorry, get the fuck away from me. I’m saying this for your own personal well being. If I have to be in the same vicinity as you for another minute, one of us isn’t going to make it out alive.”

When Chris finally gets the message that I’m not going to talk OR listen to anything he has to say right now, he finally backs off and leaves the room, looking about as miserable as I feel. 

Everything I thought I knew about my life and my marriage and my husband all came crashing down tonight, and I don’t know where to even begin trying to make sense of it all. All I do know for sure is that I have to get out of here. The one place in the world where I feel absolutely safe and secure and comfortable suddenly feels like a jail cell where the walls are slowly closing in on me. 

Chris is in our bedroom when he hears my car start, and his heart jumps into his throat. With Dodger on his heels, and completely ignoring the need for a coat or boots, he runs out the front door just in time to watch me pull out of the garage and into the street without a single look back. 

The great thing about driving in a snow storm is that there aren’t many other people out on the roads, besides plows and salt trucks. The bad thing is having to put everything else out of my head except keeping laser focus on the road in front of me. Pushing the button on the steering wheel, I call my twin brother Connor.

I almost hesitate, thinking that I shouldn’t be calling so late, and I’m shocked to look at the clock on the dashboard to see that it’s only a little bit after 9pm. I could have sworn that it was so much later than that.

“Hey, I was just thinking about calling you.” he says, bypassing a greeting. 

I take a deep breath, trying to hold in the tears that are threatening to start again. 

“Hey, listen......I need a place to crash for a while.” I tell him. 

He hears a small waver in my voice and it’s like our weird twin bond immediately activates. 

“Are you okay?” 

I choke out a strangled laugh. 

“Not even a little bit. I’m in the car right now. I don’t know how long it’s going to take me to get to your place.”

“You’re not seriously driving in this, are you?” 

“Yeah. Listen.....I’ll tell you everything when I get there. I just....I couldn’t stay at the house.” I say. 

“Okay. Okay. You know you can stay here as long as you need. Just please, for the love of everything holy, be careful. Get off the phone with me and pay attention to the road. Drive slow.” Connor tells me. 

The drive that normally only takes about 30 minutes takes just over an hour, and by the time I pull in the driveway of Connor’s house, my knuckles are killing me from the death grip that I’ve had on the steering wheel the whole time. 

I see the porch light come on and Connor opens the door, stepping out onto the porch. I grab my small duffel bag from the back of the car and slowly make my way up to the front door. 

“Is Olivia asleep?” I ask. 

“Yeah, she’s down for the count. She’s been playing in the snow practically all day, so she was nice and worn out.” he tells me. 

The thought of my five year old niece being awake and seeing me a mess is the last thing I want. 

Connor leads me into the house and I set my coat and bag down before following him into the kitchen. 

“Is this going to be a beer conversation or a whiskey conversation?” he asks, one hand on the handle of the fridge and one hand on one of the upper cabinets. 

“Chris cheated on me.” 

He whips his head towards me so fast that I hear the bones in his neck crack. 

“Whiskey it is.” he mutters, grabbing the bottle and two glasses. 

He sits down across from me and pours me a glass. 

“Wait. You have to start from the beginning here. What the hell happened?” 

“I came home from the studio and I was sitting in front of the TV with Dodger eating dinner, and he came home and told me that he slept with someone.”

“That doesn’t make any fucking sense. Chris loves you. Like, he loves you so much that it’s sickening. Why the hell would he.....” Connor trails off, completely at a loss. 

“I don’t understand this.” he mutters. 

My chest feels like it’s being squeezed from the inside out and I’m afraid that I’ll never be able to stop crying. The image of Chris having sex with some nameless, faceless woman keeps playing in my mind, and I can’t get it to stop. 

“I’m going to fucking kill him.”

“I don’t understand this. Things were fine. We’re happy........were happy. Everything was fine. Everything was-we were good. I mean, how long has this been going on? Was this the first time? I mean-Jesus. What else is he keeping from me?” I’m rambling at a million miles and hour, hiccuping between the tears, and I’m a mess. 

A thought occurs to me and I look up at my brother. 

“This is my fault.” I whisper.

Connor’s heart breaks and he’s never wanted to punch his brother in law in the face more than he does now. 

“Listen to me right now. This is not your fault. You did nothing wrong. This is completely and totally on him.” 

“But what if......what if he did this because I can’t get pregnant? What if he’s sick of trying with me? What if he doesn’t want to be with a woman who can’t give him kids? It has to be me.” 

“Can I offer you a silver lining?” Connor asks as he pours us another drink.

“How can there possibly be a silver lining to ANY of this? Tell me.” I demand.

“I know this is going to sound shitty, and I really don’t mean it that way, but.....at least you’re not pregnant and having to go through this right now.” 

My heart clenches in my chest at the thought. 

“Cheers to that.”

By the time we hit the bottom of the bottle, it’s almost 3am and I’m well past drunk and basically a complete mess. Connor manages to get me a pillow and a blanket and watches as I pass out on the couch almost instantly.

My first thought when I open my eyes the next morning is that I feel like I’m dying. My head is throbbing, my mouth tastes like a sewer, and the sun is shining brightly into the living room. I manage to sit up on the couch, my stomach rolling and twisting. I can’t seem to cry anymore, but big dry sobs erupt from my chest as I hang my head. Everything is completely upside down and I have no idea how to get control of any of it. Any time I’ve ever been this upset and this lost, Chris has been the one to bring me back to myself and put me back together.

“Aunt Kelly!”

I internally cringe at my niece’s ear splitting enthusiasm so early in the morning, but I wipe my eyes and try and pretend that I hadn’t just been on the verge of losing my shit again only moments before. I hold my arms out for her and she climbs up on the couch with me. 

I pull her into my lap and snuggle her close, almost on the verge of tears again. 

“I missed you!” Olivia tells me. 

I stroke her light brown curls and smile. 

“I just saw you last week, bug.” I remind her. 

“That was too long ago!” she says. 

“Is Uncle Chris here? Did he come with you?” she asks, looking around for him. 

I shake my head. 

Not this time, kiddo. I just wanted to come and visit with you and your dad for a while. I’m feeling kind of sad and I wanted to be around my favorite people.” I explain. 

She seems to accept that and grabs the remote to turn the TV on. 

“Olivia, come and eat your breakfast. Let’s let Aunt K wake up a little bit. She’s not feeling too great right now.” Connor says. 

He gets her set up at the kitchen table with a plate of pancakes and comes to sit down next to me. 

“How are you feeling?” he asks. 

“Like I want to die.” I tell him honestly. 

“Well, drinking your way to the bottom of a bottle of Jack will do that to you.” 

I lean forward on the couch and press the heels of my palms into my eyes. I have no idea what to do next. I don’t even know what to do in the next 5 minutes. Everything is completely up in the air and it’s terrifying. 

“I don’t know what to do.” I say softly. 

“Well, considering the shit ton of snow that fell last night, and the fact that you’re in no condition to be in public, let alone work, I would suggest calling Allie and telling her not to bother coming in today. Or tomorrow. I don’t think you’d be doing much business right now anyway, to be honest.” Connor tells me.

“Okay.” I agree. 

He slips his arm over my shoulders and pulls me in close to him. 

“Listen, I can’t imagine what’s going on in your head right now, but I want you to know that I’m here for you. You can stay here as long as you need to. If you need to cry or vent, I’m here. If you want me to kill Chris, I’m your guy. Whatever you need, I’m here.”

When I grab my phone, I see that I have 63 missed calls from Chris and 102 text messages. I shake my head, not even ready to deal with any of that, and call Allie to let her know to stay home today and tomorrow. She asks if I’m okay because I sound like I’ve been crying, and I assure her that I’m just fine. 

Using the last of my willpower for the day, I delete all of the messages, clear my call history, and shut off my phone.

P.S. For those wondering about Kelly’s violent reaction to Chris calling her “Ray”, no you’re not missing anything. It’ll all be explained eventually.

Kinktober 2020: @saiyanprincessswanie​ @superquirky-blog

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[anothertimdrakestan]

Totally F*ckabke

Tim Drake x Reader

(SFW don't worry haha)

Words: 1.8k

Requested? Yes! From a lovely anon!

“Hi! Can I request 20 with civilian fem reader and Tim?” (20. well fuck me. "gladly")

LINK TO PROMPTS  -> REQUESTS ARE STILL OPEN!

Ok so I don’t know who you want to say what and I believe with every ounce of my being that it could 1000% go either way and it’s totally cute so I decided why not write both! Thank you for the inspo!

Reader -> Tim

Public speaking was never your strong suit. You’d like to meet a person who doesn’t get sweaty, jittery, and just a complete nervous wreck during presentations. It didn’t help that this was one of those shitty presentations where the class got graded on paying attention so all eyes really were on you and you were the last presentation of the day. With note cards shaking in your sweaty hands you slowly walked to the front of the room, looking at your classmates who looked bored out of their mind.

Making your way to the front of the room you stopped when your teacher screeched “Timothy! No sleeping in class! What is this? The fourth time I’ve caught you this week?” Glancing up you watched as the school genius rolled his eyes, lazily sauntering to the front of the class slumping into a front row seat. With a yawn Tim propped his head up on his arm mumbling something about the irrelevance of this class for someone of his intellect. While you couldn’t help but agree, you needed to ace this presentation to secure your grade for the semester.

Finally done with the situation, the class’s attention turned to you. Taking a deep breath you began, hoping you wouldn’t run out of time before the bell; trying not to look at the notecards was easy for the first few slides, but nearing the end you needed to be reminded of a key fact to your presentation. Looking down at your notecards you realize you’d smudged almost all the words with your shaking, sweaty hands. So frustrated with yourself you just let slip “Well fuck me” with a groan. While this may have shocked any normal class it was what Tim said next that shook the world.

“Gladly” With that your high school classroom descended into chaos. Your teacher continuously switched between yelling at you for cursing and Tim for even worse while some people in the class whooped and patted Tim on the back and certain girls glared at you for drawing Tim’s attention. Standing in front of the class, a blushing mess, you wanted to melt into the floor and die in one of the cracks in the floor.

Suddenly the bell rang, the majority of the students in your class stood up as you froze, realizing you probably just flunked this class. Deciding you needed to stay back and beg for the teacher’s forgiveness you pressed yourself to the wall and watched students filter out, some winking at you, some glaring, and some making wildly inappropriate gestures.

After begging for another chance and explaining your outburst your teacher let you off, clearly more upset with Tim, who had already left the classroom. As a student who normally worked really hard she let you go, but you had to make a whole new presentation as punishment. More work, but not a flunk so it was a win. Thanking her profusely you practically skipped out of the class, all had not been lost!

Abruptly turning towards the exit you missed a certain classmate waiting outside the classroom for you. “Y/n- wait up!” recognizing the voice you rolled your eyes and kept walking, but you couldn’t help a little smirk at the idea of Tim - Mr. Future Wayne Enterprises CEO waiting for you. As you opened one of the double exit doors he sprung out the other jumping in front of you, looking a little regretful and surprisingly nervous. Stopping in your tracks you crossed your arms and waited for him to talk.

“So, um, I just wanted to say sorry cuz I, um, I just kinda blurted it out and I’m really sleep deprived - like all the time, I practically live off coffee you don’t even know - that’s not the point, basically totally my bad, but like: can you blame me you’re really pretty and very nice plus I think you’re smart even though you don’t show it off but what I mean is, uh, please accept my apology. Plus I heard you get to do the presentation again so that’s good!” Finally he paused to breathe, you took a moment letting it all sink in and somehow finding his exasperation cute. Tim looked up at you with expectant eyes. With a sigh you decided it was fine. Smiling up at him you nodded. “It’s okay, plus pretty boy you’re not so un-fuckable yourself” watching his face flush was payback enough.

“Well if you think so, maybe I can... make it up to you? I can help you with the second presentation?” you agreed, liking the idea of getting to know the sleep deprived, fast-talking, genius coffee monster. “It’s a date!” you smiled, exchanging numbers before you walked off, unable to wipe a grin off your face. What you didn’t notice was Tim behind you grinning punching a fist in the air mouthing “YES” as you walked away.  

Tim -> Reader

With a yawn you cursed yourself for covering the late shift for y/b/f at Big Belly Burger, especially after a long day of school. No one ever came in but the store was open 24/7 so for the night it was just a chef who was surfing the internet with earbuds in and you, trying not to sleep on the cash register. When the clock hit 3am you decided it was time for your shift drink, black coffee. 

While you were in the back grabbing a coffee mug you could’ve sworn you heard the entrance bell jingle, but it was probably just your imagination. Stretching your arms you made your way back towards the coffee pot and saw four boys sitting at the bar. Every single one looked different, the tallest looked bored, like he didn’t want to be there while the second tallest looked expectant, constantly messing with the shortest, ruffling his hair, pinching his cheeks, and just constantly mothering the young boy who looked about ready to fight anyone who messed with him again. In the back of the group was a lean looking boy, he yawned and looked intently at the coffee pot you had begun brewing, he pushed his slightly messy hair back and you couldn’t help but trail your eyes down to the skin showing when he raised his hand... 

“Hey princess a little help over here?” the tallest boy raised an eyebrow at you, snapping you out of your moment as you rushed up to the counter with a smile. “Yeah, sorry, long night. No one usually comes in this late but what can I get for ya?” putting on your best smile you couldn’t help but steal glances at the yawning boy, while the other two older looking guys were good looking, he was the only one who radiated kindness and a lack of the overconfidence the other three carried themselves with, he reminded you of yourself. 

Taking their order you had to shake the chef awake, but he began preparing the food. Walking out you noticed the boys had stayed at the bar, clearly waiting to order drinks from you. “Alright what do we want? Milkshake, coffee, soda pop, or water?” the tallest answered first, “Chocolate milkshake!” while the kid looked up at the once motherly figure as he replied, “I’ll do a vanilla and Damian, uh the kid, will take a water. What about you Tim?” mentally logging the two youngest’s names you and Tim made eye contact for the first time, looking directly at you he lost all form of language. Trying to cover for him you asked, “saw you looking at the coffee pot earlier, can I get you some?” he nodded, looking down as one of the boys started laughing. “Jay stop please” came from Tim. 

Trying to break some tension you said “So little fella here is Damian, tall and brooding is Jay, english major is Tim, and the one who paid is Dick” you waited for confirmation. Slightly impressed the boys nodded, adding that they were brothers. Chatting while you prepared and blended their shakes you realized they were the Wayne brothers, but you didn’t want to embarrass them. You were so tired, your brain holding no self control, wanting to learn more about the boys, especially Tim. Learning that Dick demanded they bond every other week and this was tonight’s chosen activity you understood the different boy’s emotions. 

While handing each boy their drink you held on to the handle in hopes you’d touch Tim’s hand. “Uh it’s hot here, grab the handle then I’ll let go” feeling his hand wrap around yours made the both of you blush and clearly distracted Tim as he dropped the mug of coffee. “Well fuck me” Tim groaned, he jumped up glaring at his brothers as the laughed, the two of you began wiping up the mess. Tim hopped over the bar to help you clean on your side where the majority of the coffee was spilled, you couldn’t help but be impressed with his agility. While both of you bent down below the bar you decided to be brave, whispering in his ear, “you said ‘fuck me’ and I just want you to know I would gladly” he completely flushed and you popped up, throwing out paper towels. 

Tim eventually rose from behind the bar, still blushing uncontrollably and smiling. “Shit lemme get behind that bar I want what Drake’s having princess” Jason began to get up with a smirk before he was pulled down by Dick. “Sorry buddy she’s clearly going for Timbers.” Dick smiled approvingly while the youngest Wayne rolled his eyes, tired with the flirting. “TT y/n I believe it is, I can see our food is ready but please take all the time you need trying to get with my brother but can I please eat while the two of you idiots make eyes at each other.” a wildly embarrassed Tim leaped over the bar again, this time going for Damian. 

Spinning on your heels you grabbed the food and placed it in front of each boy. As they ate you chatted with them. Damian and Jason were clearly bored with the small talk while Dick couldn’t stop grinning. Before leaving Tim tried to hype himself up to get your number. As the other boys walked out he stayed with hopeful eyes. Not having to say anything you knew what he wanted. “Would you like a receipt?” you asked with a wink, again unable to form coherent words he nodded. Handing him your number on a folded piece of paper, you kissed his cheek over the bar and waved goodbye. Watching him walk away unable to wipe a grin off his face as his brothers patted him on the back you felt like you could actually see a future with Tim.

[shaonsim]

Thoughts on the portayal of in laws on ITV

I am conflicted. I really am.

On one hand, I have seen my mother with her in-laws, and they weren't aren't kind to her. Taunts, thinly veiled insults, everything is fair game. My mum really doesn't care about how they treat her, and because we live in separate families, it doesn't matter. Unless we are all gathered together for some cultural events (mainly Durga Pujo).

So, coming from that background, I do agree that there is a lot of tension between a person and their in-laws. You just earn another family, out of the blue, and it is hard enough to live completely peacefully with your own family, let alone be buddy buddy with some stranger in a matter of days. I get that, and I love a decent dose of kitchen/family politics. It is a gold mine to find out more about the characters and their worldview, and it creates opportunities for new sub-plots or mini-tracks and I love those.

Besides, let's face it, we are all petty humans, of course there will be family politics if a few of us are thrown together for a long time. Even the heroic warriors and Mahaveers, of whom we read in our Epics, weren't free of family politics. I will even go as far as saying that the main point of the Epics is family politics. That's how we are.

^ One thing that irks me a lot is that we rarely see the troubles the male characters face with their in-laws. At best, we have a rich guy X poor girl trope where the husband is so nice and humble and is best friends with the girl's sibling and is adored by his mother-in-law. If the father-in-law is in the picture, then he too, loves his Damaad. Which is a total lie. It doesn't always happen like that, and there is a lot of room for the writers to explore. Ego hassles, other complications..

^^ A trope I actually like, and I like it a lot, is when two siblings get married into the same family. Oh, how I love this trope. So much potential! The parallels - the newfound tension between the siblings because of the change in dynamics!!

¦¦ That said, I also enjoy healthy relationships where everyone does get along, at least for the most part, because heyy, who has the time and energy for constant DRAMA™. No one. That's who. So just happy, normal stuff, with minimum arguments is awesome. Not always, but for the most part, it's okay and kind of enjoyable. ¦¦

Something that happens a lot with the portrayal of in-laws on ITV, is that their hatred and/or jealousy stays the same. It doesn't increase, nor does it fade into cold indifference. Like, why?

Why?

Shake things up!

Nothing stays constant forever. Especially when it comes to family dynamics. Note the usage of dynamics. Something that moves, changes.

Coming to Nanads and Jethanis, the women older to our female lead (or the female character in question) - I am really fond of the 'I don't like you and I won't hide it' trope. It's something I have touched on in my Fic Which Must Not Be Named.

Didibhai had not been one to welcome Tara with open arms. Of course, she had welcomed Tara as her sister-in-law, and no, she had never made any trouble, and she had been never managed the art of throwing insults wrapped in a smile (that level of passive aggressive behaviour was better suited to her brother), but from the first day itself, she had made it known that she didn't like Tara. If there was anything that defined the Lahiri siblings, then it was their honesty. They were always very open about their displeasure. Even now, Didibhai barely spoke to her, unless it was about the kids (Mahi was a prominent figure in their discussions, with both her and Tara being of the same age) or Mr Lahiri himself.

See? They are not bffs, but they aren't sworn enemies either. And they both know how the other person feels about them. I like this.

Now, for Nanads who are younger to their Bhabis, they are usually put in two groups - either they love their new BFF, or they hate the stranger who trapped their brother in a relationship. I think everyone knows which one I prefer.

((It is the first trope I enjoy))

Devars are either creeps, coming home drunk and leering at their bhabis, or dal badlus who switch sides and support their Bhabis no matter what.

<< Dal badlus are fine, but I love it more when the Devars stick with their brother and the camaraderie remains the same between them. >>

Grandmothers/fathers/uncles/aunts, as in the senior citizens are often shown as loving the leads, and I am okay with that. They have another generation to argue with. Plenty of scope.

I am a sucker for supportive and affectionate uncles/aunts, and we often get one of them. And for balance, we get the negative uncle/aunt.

(( I love balance. ))

Now, let's come to the part I hate about family politics. CRIMINAL ACTIVITIES. Gone are the days when our men and women were content with ruining food and burning clothes/photographs. Now they cut the brakes of cars, give supaari to goons, or worse, put fake molestation charges or actually molest them.

Yuck. Yuck. Yuck.

((Wrote it thrice for emphasis))

Now, what I would like for the writers to do, is to use the family dynamics as an undercurrent, instead of, you know, the whole plot. Too much of anything is annoying, especially if it is family politics and drugging/kidnapping/accidents.

Turn down the DRAMA quotient and add some actual plot. Every character starts with a hobby, career or other socio-economic struggle, so shift the focus on to those things for a moment.

--- This is it for now, but I might add things later if I remember stuff. Feel free to give your opinions.

[princesse-de-ravenclaw]

The Kissing Booth part 7

Word Count: 1,671

The next morning, Y/N actively avoided Regulus in the dining hall. ‘It’s just for a little bit. I’ve got to get my story straight and calm down, and then everything can go back to nearly normal. Nearly,’ she told herself. As she made to take the first bite of her breakfast, a voice called her name. “Y/N, come sit with us!” Emma Vanity motioned for Y/N to join her and Regulus. Y/N faked a smile and stood up. “You better get your shit together,” Y/N muttered to herself as she made her way to where her best friend was sitting. “Hey, guys. How was your night?” She asked Emma. “It was fun! After the festival, Regulus and I gathered a lot of snacks and sat by the fireplace in the common room,” Emma smiled. “That sounds really nice, I’m glad you enjoyed yourself,” Y/N smiled and winked at Regulus. “We did have a good time... Y/N are you alright? You look a little ill, no offense,” Regulus gave her a concerned look. “Hm? Oh yeah I’m peachy. Just a little tired. I didn’t get much sleep last night, I guess I just had too much excitement left over from the festival. No worries though,” Y/N rambled. Regulus and Emma exchanged glances, but neither of them spoke.

“Anyway, Regulus tells me that you two are skipping the dance tonight, what do you have planned?” Y/N asked, praying that this would distract them from her suspicious behavior. “I think we’ve decided on roaming Hogsmead,” Emma answered with a smile. “What about you? Are you spending the night with anyone special?” She waggled her eyebrows at Y/N. “What? Me? Merlin, no! No way! I don’t have anyone special. In fact, I’ve pretty much sworn off men completely, really. No dating for me!” Y/N babbled, laughing nervously and fidgeting with the ends of her hair. “Are you sure you’re alright?” Emma raised an eyebrow. “She’s probably gotten ill from kissing my brother at the booth last night,” Regulus answered, and Y/N couldn’t tell if he was kidding or not. “You should probably go see Madam Pomfrey and ask her to disinfect you,” he suggested. Y/N’s guilt made her stomach churn so intensely that she thought she was going to hurl.

“You know, I am feeling kind of feverish. I think I will stop by,” Y/N stood up, trying to hide her shaking hands from Regulus and Emma. How did she ever think that she would be able to do this? She couldn’t lie to Regulus, he was practically her brother! Y/N clutched her guilt-induced nauseous stomach as she sulked down the hall towards the hospital wing. A familiar voice pulled her out of her thoughts. “Y/N, are you alright? You look a little green..” Sirius stepped in front of her to examine her face, and Y/N quickly looked around them and pulled Sirius into the nearest storage closet. She muttered a silencing spell before she started nearly hyperventilating.

“I can’t do it, Sirius. I can’t do it. I can’t lie to him, I have to tell him and we have to stop whatever this is we’re doing because he’s gonna be so upset- Merlin, I don’t know if he’s ever going to talk to me again after this-“ “Y/N, stop. Breathe,” Sirius interrupted her and placed his hands on her shoulders. The weight of his hands helped Y/N feel more grounded. She took a deep breath. “Look, Regulus is the one who made this so complicated, anyway. He’s the one who decided that you and I couldn’t interact because you were his friend. That was shitty. Us being together and keeping it from him is shitty. We’re even,” Sirius shrugged.

“This isn’t about getting even, Sirius,” Y/N chided. “This is about you wanting something and Regulus, my best friend, wanting something else,” she huffed, putting her head in her hands. “Well.. what do you want?” Sirius asked her. Y/N snapped her head up. “What?” She asked incredulously. “Regulus doesn’t want you anywhere near me, and you know what I want, but what do you want?” Sirius asked again. “What I want doesn’t matter,” Y/N shook her head. “This is bigger than ‘what I want!’” She exclaimed. “It really isn’t,” Sirius shook his head. “This particular situation is solely based on you doing what makes you happy. So what do you want?” He asked, softer this time. “I-“ Y/N hesitated. “I want to be with you,” she whispered. “Then we’ll try this,” Sirius took both of her hands in his and have them a gentle squeeze. “But I don’t want to hurt Regulus. And I don’t want to lose him,” Y/N shook her head. “So we’ll see where this goes. When the time comes, we’ll tell him. He loves you, Y/N. If this is what you want, and if I can make you truly happy, I’m sure he’ll understand,” Sirius assured her. Y/N nodded. “Come here,” Sirius opened his arms and Y/N stepped in to hug him. “It’s all going to work out. Alright?” He assured her, holding onto her with one hand and using the other to rub the back of her head.

“Are we still on for the dance tonight, or do you want to skip it?” Sirius asked after a few minutes of silence. “No, I want to go. I think it’ll be fun,” Y/N told him. “You could always say you’re going with Remus. I don’t think he has a date,” Sirius suggested. “Oh, no way. Severus is convinced that Remus is some kind of mythical beast in disguise and Regulus totally believes him,” Y/N shook her head. “I’ll just stick with telling him Marlene invited me to go with the group.” Sirius tried to hide the panic building inside of him. “What-“ he cleared his throat, “what kind of mythical beast?” He asked, trying to sound casual. “Huh? Oh, I dunno. He just thinks he’s bad news and that he’s hiding something,” Y/N shrugged. “Interesting,” Sirius choked. “I don’t think he knows that you guys are animagi. He just wants a reason to dislike Remus,” Y/N assured him. It occurred to Sirius that while Y/N knew about the animagi, she probably didn’t know why they did what they did. “Well then it’s probably best you tell him the thing about Marlene,” Sirius nodded. “Hey,” Y/N cupped his face. “It’ll be okay. They aren’t going to find out,” she assured him. Sirius reached up and placed his hand on top of Y/N’s and gave it a gentle squeeze.

“I am going to go see Pomfrey about getting a tonic to calm my nerves, but I’ll see you tonight, okay?” Y/N told him. “Sounds good to me,” Sirius leaned down and placed a gentle kiss on Y/N’s lips. “You have to wait at least five minutes after I leave to leave this closet. Okay?” Y/N warned as she reached for the door knob. “Yeah, yeah, you’re embarrassed to be seen with me, I get it,” Sirius teased. “Not funny,” Y/N quirked a brow, but gave him a smile as she slipped out the door. Sirius did as Y/N asked, and waited not five, but six minutes after she left to exit the closet. As he was closing the door behind him, he heard a scoff from behind him and turned around to find Regulus, looking displeased. “Hooking up in a supply closet, classy. Really,” Regulus spat. “I don’t know what the hell happened at the booth last night, but keep your disgusting, whore hands off of my best friend. She deserves better than to be tainted by you,” he snarled. Sirius raised his hands as if to surrender. “I’m not trying to steal your best friend from you, Reg. That’s something no one will ever be able to take away from either of you. But maybe you want to consider not keeping her on such a tight leash. She is your best friend, after all. Not a pet that you can command to obey your every whim,” and with that, Sirius turned and walked back towards the dorms, leaving Regulus fuming.

Later that day, Regulus stormed up to Y/N in the Slytherin common room. “Do you think I keep you on a leash?” He demanded. “I- what?” She asked him, caught off guard. “Do you feel like I keep you on a leash?” Regulus repeated. “Like you aren’t free to do as you please?” “Um, no, not really. I mean, you’re definitely the bossy one between the two of us, but I don’t feel like you would try to stop me from doing anything that I wanted to do, as long as it’s safe, that is. Well... almost anything,” Y/N shrugged. “Almost? What do you mean almost? What wouldn’t I let you do?” He asked. Y/N nearly choked. “Well,” She mustered. “Um, Marlene invited me to go to the dance with her and a group of friends tonight and I wasn’t sure I was going to accept her offer because I know you don’t care for that crowd,” she told him. It was a lie, but it was a half-lie. She was worried about how he would react to her going, but she hadn’t planned on bringing it up until he just approached her. She hated herself for becoming so good at lying to him.

“I mean, I don’t care for them, but it’s you’re life. If you want to go, then go. Have a good time. I won’t be there to keep you company, so go with them. I don’t expect you to obey my every whim, you know,” Regulus replied, a hint of defensiveness in his voice. “Well-I don’t think you expect that-um, okay, I guess? I’ll go?” Y/N agreed, confused. “Good. I want you to be happy. I love you,” Regulus grumbled. “I.. love you too..?” Y/N assured him. Regulus gave her a quick and slightly rough hug before marching off to his next task. “I’m glad we had this talk?” Y/N called after him, still completely and utterly confused.

[lurafita]

Petvengers Chapter 3

Read chapter 1 here: Chappy 1

Read chapter 2 here: Chappy 2

:-) Guess now what kind of animal Stephen gets, and see if you guessed right later in the chapter! Cookies for everyone who knows who Detective Davis is. :-)

To stave off any confusion that might come, MJ's parents are divorced, and Michelle has no blood-related siblings. *Insert name here* has no blood-related siblings, and his mother died.

Regarding the pet introduced in this chapter, please remember that this is a fanfic. I therefore take some liberties with the laws on which animals can and can not be held as pets. 

Dr Strange

America may be the land of the free, but it was sadly not the land of good tea. Not if you asked one Dr. Stephen Strange, Master of the Mystic Arts.

He could have sworn he still had a stash of the fine leaves he had brought back from his last visit to Kathmandu, but he hadn't been able to find it anywhere. His quest to find a vendor that sold decent tea, had taken him almost all the way to the ends of Manhattan, but at least he now had something to tide him over with, until the next time he was due to visit the monastery. If it weren't for the almost unbearable summer heat outside, the trip might not have been so bad.

Since he was in his civilian clothes, he headed for the nearest alley to open a portal to the Sanctum. No need to draw attention to himself, after all. He wasn't Stark.

He had barely stepped foot into his home, when he heard the voice of the boy, Peter, coming from the sitting room.

"-which is why MJ is currently getting ready for a 'get to know you' dinner with her possible new stepfather and brother. Ned and I researched the guy beforehand, of course, but he checked out. He is a police detective with the Brooklyn devision, and so far we haven't found anything that would point at him being dirty or the likes. No shady connections to the Mob, no underhanded courtroom deals, no crooks or witnesses that vanished under suspicious circumstances while connected to any of his cases, and no secret Swiss bank accounts."

Stephen could only shake his head at what he heard, even as a fond, little smile stole itself across his lips. Kid was watching too much TV. It seemed Wong shared this perspective, as he could hear the other man next.

"While your devotion to assure your friends safety is admirable, don't you think that hacking into the police stations database is taking things a little far?"

How Wong could say something like this, and still sound completely relaxed, was a mystery to Strange. He himself was contemplating to inform Stark of his ward's latest shenanigans, so that the man could perform some damage control.

"One can never be too certain. But don't worry, we made up for the hacking by strengthening the departments firewall. Their data was almost as easy to get to as the hospitals. I actually think I met Detective Davis as Spiderman once, and he seemed like a pretty nice guy. I'm not actually too worried, but I will be keeping an eye on things."

By then Stephen had made his way to the room, where Peter and Wong were talking, both had a glass filled with cold water before them on the table, while the Cloak of Levitation had draped itself beside the teenager on the couch, apparently listening in on the conversation as well.

"As long as you don't commit any more felonies while 'keeping an eye on things', Spiderman, that's perfectly alright."

The boy immediately grinned at him.

"What's up, Doc?"

Stephen sighed. Sometimes he really despised Bugs Bunny. Wong nodded at him in greeting and the Cloak fluttered one of it's corners, which was it's way of waving hello.

He continued on to the connecting kitchen, and started boiling the water in his teapot.

"What brings you here, Peter? And how come your canine companion isn't with you?"

Out of the corner of his eye, he could see Peter pout.

"It's too hot for Hope. We went for a walk yesterday morning, and he burned his paws on the asphalt. Colonel, too. Tony sectioned off a few yards behind the tower, and had a company deliver some soil and fast growing grass seeds. And pavilions for some shadow. So any outside activities for the animals are restricted to the new backyard, until this heatwave passes. But it's just as well, because Arthur is still getting used to his new leg Dad and Bruce built him, and he still needs to take things slow. And Eames can more easily stretch his wings there, without bumping into anything and having to maneuver around walls and stuff."

Stephen, thanks to Wong, knew all about the little arachnids efforts to turn Stark tower into a zoo, and could deduce that Colonel, who had also burned his paws, was one of the pets that Peter had coerced someone into adopting. 'Eames', likewise, must be an avian type of animal that now belonged to one of the Avengers. But he had no idea who or what 'Arthur' could be.

"Arthur? Did the Avengers get a new member?"

To his surprise, Wong answered the question.

"Arthur is Sergeant Barnes adopted, young raccoon, who lost his hind leg to a hunter trap. He is very cute. Peter sent me pictures."

Said teen scowled at the Sorcerer Supreme.

"Which you would have gotten, too, if you finally accepted my friends request on Whatsapp."

Thankfully that's when the kettle let out a shrill whistle, and Stephen could finally start brewing himself a cup. He would not be able to get through what was to follow, without a nice cup of tea.

"Peter, you have my number for emergencies and other important things, not to spam my phone with pictures of every cute, little critter you come across. I remember the day you adopted Hope. Wong's phone vibrated so much with received messages from you, it fell off the table. Also, I don't have Whatsapp."

Completely ignoring everything else the man had said, Peter zeroed in on that last statement.

"What about twitter?"

"No."

"Instagram?"

"No."

"Tumblr?"

"I don't even know what that is."

"You gotta have Facebook at least! Even Steve has a Facebook page, and he uses a flip-phone!"

"Definitely not."

Peter, seemingly beyond shocked, turned to the older monk beside him.

"How do you live with him?"

Wong sighed, shook his head, and took a sip of his water.

"'Tis the cross I must bear."

Thank the Ancient One that his tea was done! He took a long drink, disregarding the scalding temperature, and sighed in relief. Better.

"Why don't we get back to my first question, shall we? What brings you here, Peter? Do the Avengers need assistance?"

Peter grinned and dove for his backpack.

"Nope! I just brought over the next part of the Harry Potter movies for Cloakie!"

He quickly yanked the movie disk out of his backpack and held it aloft triumphantly. And then the Cloak of Levitation, an ancient, magical, powerful artifact, that was revered by many, fluttered in absolute excitement and tackled the teenager in a hug, while also grabbing the movie.

Peter laughed, Wong smiled, and Stephen resisted the urge to burrow his head in his hands, and instead took another sip of his tea.

After he had managed to untangle himself from Cloakie, Peter downed the rest of his water, thanked Wong for the beverage, and stood up.

"Alright! I should be on my way now."

"Do you want me to open a portal into the tower?" Stephen offered, remembering the sweltering heat outside. Peter shook his head.

"Thanks, but I wanted to fit in a little patrol before going back. Though I don't expect a lot to be going on, with the temperatures outside. Thank God the suit has air conditioning. Bye Doc, bye Wong, bye Cloakie!"

Two "Bye Peter"'s and a full body flutter from the Cloak, and the young superhero was gone. With the closing of the front door, Strange sat down on one of the couches and relaxed. He liked Peter a lot, but the boy could be a bit taxing at times. As he drank his tea and watched the Cloak fly off in search of his laptop to watch it's new Harry Potter movie, he never noticed the deeply amused, knowing and conspiratorial little grin Wong was wearing.

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

"So, MJ said the dinner went really well. She likes the guy, said she had a good feeling about him."

Ned told Bethany, the shelter worker who had been there when Michelle and Peter had guided Sam and Bucky into pet adoption. Peter had boosted himself up on the reception counter, and was carefully stroking the soft feathers of the big snow owl perched on his arm. While Bethany wouldn't normally allow a visitor to have one of the animals in the open like this, and in the buildings lobby to boot, she had made an exception for Peter. Not only was the boy extraordinarily good with handling the animals, he had also needed a little pick-me-up, seeing as the persisting hot weather had not allowed for his dog to accompany him to the shelter.

Peter added his own little tid-bits.

"The son had apparently been a bit quiet, but she said he seemed very sweet."

Bethany nodded.

"Well, I believe anyone would feel a little awkward, meeting their father's new girlfriend, and girlfriend's daughter. How old did you say the boy was?"

Since Peter was very busy smiling over the cute faces the owl was making as he pet it, Ned answered the question.

"11. Though MJ did get him to talk a bit about hobbies and stuff. She said he has a real interest in art, especially graffiti painting."

Peter chimed in then.

"Which means he and MJ will have plenty to bond over. Hopefully she doesn't make him take up her 'painting people in distress' thing. Otherwise my frowning face will likely be the first of many, to one day appear on walls all over the city."

Ned paled visibly.

"Dude, that's horrifying."

Bethany laughed softly.

"Now, now boys. You shouldn't fret about things like that. My wife always says that artists carry old souls. Anything they draw, is worth drawing. Even a frowning face."

She winked at Peter. Bethany was totally cool. She was 58 years old and had been together with her wife since they were both 20. When America finally lifted the ban on gay marriage, they had been one of the first same-sex couples to tie the knot in 2015. Peter opened his mouth to reply, when his ears picked up the distant (though rapidly closing in) sounds of screaming and cursing. He grinned.

"Ned, get your camera ready. Operation: Harry Potter, is about to begin."

The other boy obediently pointed his camera towards the entrance, and before Bethany could ask what the boys were talking about, she heard a male voice screaming at someone or something to: "Stop it, goddammit! You insufferable piece of magical cloth! If you don't let me down this instance-"

And then suddenly the doors burst open and what looked to be a man, swaddled in... a red cape?.. came literally flying in.

Peter jumped from the counter (carefully though, so as not to unsettle the owl still perched on his arm), and took a few steps forward.

"Cloakie, you made it!"

Then the cape seemingly unraveled itself from the man (giving the poor guy quite the spin in the process), and came floating over to the teen and owl.

While Bethany was still trying to cope with the fact that there was an apparently living article of clothing, hovering in front of Peter and seemingly ogling the owl (which ogled back just as much), the man the cape had dragged into the shelter (and boy, that was definitely a line of thought she never expected to have) was slowly getting his bearings again. Then he pinned a very pointed gaze at the two teenagers, and made a notable effort to keep his voice calm.

"Peter. Ned. Would it be correct for me to assume, that you are to blame for my unwilling journey through the streets of Manhattan?"

As Ned tried to shrink back behind his camera (that he still kept resolutely focused on the sorcerer), Peter just grinned brightly at the man.

"Absolutely. Very astute of you. Guess that's why you are the Sorcerer Supreme."

 (Oh, so that was that magical superhero that her wife had told her about. Really, her love was such a fangirl where New York's hero community was concerned. Well, at least that entrance made sense now.)

The man, (Dr. Strange, if Bethany remembered correctly), narrowed his eyes at the teen.

"And for what possible reason, do you require my presence?"

Cloakie had extended one of it's corners to lightly pet the white owl on the head. The owl seemed to like it.

"We need a designated adult to sign the adoption papers for Hedwig. She is a 9 year old snow owl. Her owner was a huge Harry Potter fan, which is why he named her Hedwig. He sadly died in an accident not too long ago, and his remaining family didn't have the kind of space to take Hedwig in."

The eyes narrowed further.

"If you want to adopt another pet, then get your aunt or Stark to sign the forms."

Peter shook his head.

"But Hedwig isn't for me."

Bethany looked on intrigued as suspicion formed in the sorcerer's eyes.

"Peter, I'm not getting a pet."

The teen rolled his eyes.

"I know. Hedwig isn't for you, either. She is for Cloakie!"

As if to underline his point, he lifted the arm with the owl a bit, drawing all eyes to the way the Cloak of Levitation cooed (could a cloak coo?) at Hedwig.

The look on the doctor's face right then, was one that Bethany had seen many times on her sister in law, when she had to explain to her 4 year old daughter why she only got one birthday every year.

"Kid, the Cloak of Levitation may be a sentient being with it's own will, but it cannot adopt an animal."

Peter gave the man the most deadpan look that Bethany had ever seen him make.

"I. Know. Which is why we need you to sign the paperwork. Didn't I say that? I thought I said that."

He looked questioningly at Cloakie, who nodded in agreement, and then went right back to petting the owl.

Stephen decided not to suffer any more of this lunacy, and waved his hands to open a portal to the Sanctum. Before he was able to fully step through, however, the Cloak had settled around his shoulders and dragged him back into the shelter's lobby. He directed his stern gaze at the Cloak.

"I don't care how much you love Harry Potter, you will not keep an owl in the Sanctum."

The Cloak folded both of it's lower ends together, in an imitation of a human folding their arms over their chest. Stephen pointed a finger right at it.

"Don't give me that look. We are not taking that owl home, and that is final."

Hedwig, (with a little whispered encouragement from Peter), took matters into her own hands (claws? Wings?) and gave the teen an affectionate headbutt, before flying off his arm and right through the still open portal, into the Sanctum. While Stephen was still trying to process this fully, his magical cloak fluttered in excitement and dove right after it's owl. The portal closed right behind them. Stephen stared.

Before he had the chance to chase after his wayward magical artifact, Peter was suddenly before him, shoving a bunch of papers and a pen into his chest.

"Great, doc! I knew you would come around, though there was really no need to get Hedwig to your home in such a rush! Now, let's just quickly take care of the formalities. You wouldn't want Bethany to think that you were kidnapping her animals, right?"

The wide, brown eyes looked meaningfully first at him, then at the older woman behind the counter, then at a still filming Ned.

Master of the mystic arts, Sorcerer Supreme, protector of the magical realms, Doctor Stephen Strange, let out a long suffering sigh, and grabbed for the adoption forms.

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

When roughly twenty minutes later, a portal opened up in the sitting room of the Sanctum Sanctorum, through which stepped a thoroughly annoyed Stephen, Wong was already prepared with a cup of steaming tea.

"The Cloak and Hedwig are in the upper level, playing a game of tag." He quickly handed the cup over, completely ignoring the calculating eyes his friend was bestowing him with. "I have already placed different perches for our new roommate all over the house. The special bird feed is in the kitchen."

Then the older monk calmly sat down in his armchair, and resumed reading the thick tome of incantations before him.

"You were in on this, weren't you?"

Wong casually turned a page.

"I have no idea what you are talking about."

Stephen swore loudly, took a sip of his tea, and vowed to find a way to get revenge.

[starlight-drive-in]

All My Life, for You - Ch. 8:

Fic Description:

Mi-Cha and Saeyoung have been happily married for 5 years and their lives have never been happier. The same could be said for Saeran who is now in a much healthier place than he was a few years ago. The twins are close once again, their lives are healthy and normal for the most part. It would seem the picture perfect happily ever after, if it weren’t for the fact that someone who has been looking for them for a long time is about to make an unwelcome appearance.

Saeyoung has two things in this world he has sworn to protect, and nothing is going to stop him from keeping his promise this time.

Relationships: Saeyoung Choi/MC (named), Saeran Choi/OC

Chapter Description:

The trio arrive home safe and sound and the boys get to work. Some light is shed on exactly who they are dealing with. Unknown manages to help in an unconventional way.

AO3 Link | First Chapter

After Saeyoung has properly cleared the security checks, the trio pass through the expansive garage and into the household/bunker where they’ve lived together for the past several years. This is home for all of them, but the dead silence and darkness leaves a strange unfamiliarity to the place. The air has a slight staleness to it after being devoid of life for a few days. Luckily this is easily remedied with a few voice commands for the lights and central air. Mi-Cha and Saeyoung dump their suitcases unceremoniously in the living room while Saeran opts to head straight down the hallway to his bedroom with his.

Mi-Cha plops herself down on the plush red couch, letting out a long sigh as she stares up at the ceiling and yawns. “Long drives make me so tired,” she says.

Saeyoung chuckles, “You weren't even the one driving, I’m the one that should be tired.”

“You love driving, plus I'm pretty sure you require like ⅓ the amount of sleep as a normal human being.”

“Are you calling me weird?” Saeyoung pretends to be offended.

“No, baby. I’m calling you extraordinary .” She says, standing once again to give her husband a light embrace.

“Ready to get to work?” Saeran asks his brother from the hallway, having returned from his bedroom. “I already started our computers, so whenever you’re ready,” he adds before turning into their now shared, glass-enclosed work area.

Mi-Cha gives Saeyoung another quick squeeze and releases him, patting him on the shoulder as she passes by him and heads into the kitchen. “You go get to work, I’ll bring you guys some lunch.”

The boys settle into their work stations, previously this room had been just Saeyoung’s work area, but after Saeran moved in the older twin rearranged the room and purchased Saeran a new setup since his had been lost in the dissolution of Mint Eye. At the time it had been almost a peace offering, a testament to the fast that Saeyoung wanted his brother in his life and wouldn't stop trying to prove it to him. Saeran didn’t use it at first, not sure how he felt about working back to back with Saeyoung, but eventually, he warmed up to the idea.

After the twins started taking freelance jobs together they both realized the value of another set of eyes. Saeran could spot a missing character in Saeyoung’s code that had been stumping him for weeks and Saeyoung had a lot of suggestions on how Saeran could organize and streamline his workflow. Together they had become even better than they had been apart, finally able to play on each other's strengths and weaknesses instead of battling against each other. It was different for both of them to have someone else to rely on, but nice.

The twins pick up where they left off. Saeran resumes the search for his stalker, made much more convenient by his usual monitor setup as opposed to one laptop screen. He had reviewed the public CCTV footage from that night, but what he really needed was the footage from the club. Hacking the public CCTV had been a breeze but he was having a harder time hacking into the clubs security system, where he knew the best shots of the two people he saw that night would be.

“What kind of club has security this tight?” Saeran wonders allowed in frustration as he hammers away at the impressive firewall the club has.

Saeyoung glances over his shoulder and hops up “Oh! I almost forgot.” he walks over to his brother's workstation. “May I?” he poses.

“Sure?” Saeran says doubtfully, moving out of the way to give Saeyoung access to his keyboard.

He watches as Saeyoung enters a few quick commands and the wall comes down no problem.

“How did you do that?” Saeran asks, slightly exasperated.

“That club’s security was one of my jobs a few years ago, some high-profile heiresses had been known to frequent the place at the time and their daddy’s paid a pretty penny to upgrade the security to keep any creeps away from them. Surprised they’re still using it honestly.”

Saeran chuckles shortly “How is that you still find ways to make my job harder, even now that we work together?”

“Hey!” Saeyoung exclaims, heading back to his desk. “It’s totally not my fault this time.”

Saeran begins to flip through footage from the night before and mumbles “It never was.”

Saeyoung smiles, and after a few minutes, turns his attention back to his task of hacking into the cameras around their childhood home to try to get an idea of what kind of activity could be going on there. Unfortunately, he doesn’t get very far before realizing that’s going to be impossible. “They're all out…”

Saeran swings around in his chair. “What do you mean?” He wheels over next to his brother and looks at the map Saeyoung has open on one of his many screens then types in an access point where he knows a camera should be. Nothing. He checks the data log. “Disabled two weeks ago?” He types in another, same thing. Saeyoung watches as his brother checks a few more, before finding one that's still running, about 3 blocks away from the house. “Anything within a few blocks has been shut down,” Saeran says, confirming what his brother already knew but that Saeran had to check for himself.

Saeyoung nods. “Any camera even remotely near the house is down. That doesn’t make any sense, the only people with access to the CCTV systems would be people like us or-” and his eyes go wide.

“The government,” Saeran says, finishing the thought.

“This isn’t a coincidence” Saeyoung states.

They both know what it means. Saeyoung stands and begins a slow pace around the room “I don’t understand, why us? Why now?”

“You know why us…” Saeran deadpans, turning around in his chair and watching his brother.

“Yea... I know but, why does he still think we’re a threat? It's been 26 years, we haven't caused him any trouble. We-"

Saeran stops him "He doesn't care, the threat we pose to him is in our very existence. He's never going to stop. Maybe it just took him this long to find us. Maybe someone from the agency sold you out, whatever the reason, I think it's safe to say we know who's behind this now and we need to be extremely careful."

"Yea… any luck with the club's footage?" Saeyoung asks.

Saeran wheels back over to his side of the room. "Footage from last night is still downloading. I'm hoping I can get some clues into what I - er, what Unknown saw during the switch. What he was warning me about"

Saeyoung goes back to his computer, he’ll admit he hasn’t been keeping as many tabs on their father as he probably should have been. The intrusive thoughts start again. I’ve become careless, this is all my fault.

Mi-Cha enters the room with two plates of sandwiches finding both boys with their faces only centimeters from their monitors. Saeyoung is typing away vigorously, his brow is furrowed. Saeran is closely watching surveillance video of a street corner. “You two sit with your noses in your screens and wonder why your eyesight sucks” she teases.

Neither twin acknowledges her poke at fun as they thank her for her offering and return to their posts.

“That bad huh?” She tries.

”We’re pretty sure this has something to do with our father.” Saeyoung fills her in.

A chill runs down Mi-Cha’s spine, although not that any of their potential enemies were unthreatening, but the Prime Minister bears a certain foreboding aura about him that not even RIka or the agency could compete with. He was above the law. Hell, he practically was the law.

“Do you think this has something to do with him running for president again?” Mi-Cha asks

“He’s running again?” Saeran asks, obviously surprised.

“He announced it this morning, I just saw it on the news.”

Saeyoung pulls up articles confirming what his wife saw.

“He fell out of the race quickly last time but he’s even more popular than he used to be. Especially after he pulled that publicity stunt with helping find homes for all those orphans last month.”

Saeran scoffs. “Well, isn't that ironic?” he says venomously.

“He just loves children doesn't he?” Saeyoung adds, matching his brother’s tone.

“I’ll say,” Mi-Cha responds sympathetically. “Anyway, since a big chunk of his supporters come from all his campaigning with “Save the Kids” it makes sense he’d come after you guys now. If people found out about what kind of father he truly is…”

“It would destroy him and oh, what a shame that would be,” Saeran says in a distantly familiar taunting voice, that neither Saeyoung or Mi-Cha have heard in quite a while.

“What are you thinking?” Saeyoung turns to him just in time to see his brother place his hand on his forehead and hiss.

“You ok?” Mi-Cha inquires?

“Y-Yea, I just… have a headache. I’m gonna go take something for it. I’ll be right back.” Saeran excuses himself.

When Mi-Cha is sure Saeran is out of earshot, she turns to her husband. “He’s worrying me, it’s been a long time since he switched like this, I think it happened this morning also.”

Saeyoung nods. “I’m worried too. It makes sense though, tensions are high right now. Just be ready in case he switches fully.”

"I should be the one telling you that," Mi-Cha tells him, "Unknown likes me, remember?"

“How could I forget?” Saeyoung answers before sighing at his wife’s point "Do you think he’ll ever forgive me?”

Mi-Cha purses her lips and hugs Saeyoung’s head to her side as he is still seated and runs her fingers through his curls. “It’s hard to say, he obviously hasn’t been one for talking anytime he’s showed up. But with everything he went through, it's no wonder.” She sighs, “But Saeran’s not stupid and he knows him the best that anyone can, so if he says Unknown might be changing, then I’d like to believe him.”

“Yea, me too. I know he wouldn’t say something like that unless he thought it was true, with Unknown slipping through more often, I’m guessing we'll find out soon enough.”

“Just be ready,” She tells him.

“Hey! That’s my line!” Saeyoung whines.

Mi-Cha giggles, “Not anymore! Now eat your lunch.”

“Yes, Ma’am!” Saeyoung teases turning his attention back to his computer.

Mi-Cha leaves the workroom, finding Saeran in the hallway on the phone, evidently finishing up a phone call.

“Thanks, Dr. Lee.” He says into the receiver

“Yea, Thursday is still good, and I’ll try the journaling thing for sure. See you then.” He finishes up and returns his phone to his pocket.

Mi-Cha smiles at him politely. “Sorry, didn't mean to interrupt.”

“No problem, I just wanted to get Dr. Lee’s opinion on the…”

“Switching?” She finishes for him.

“Yea.”

“What did she say?” Mi-Cha pries gently.

“That I ``should attempt to seize the opportunity to create a better harmony amongst my system.`` and that my alter reaching out to me first is something that I should take as a good sign towards achieving that.”

“That's great!” Mi-Cha says brightly, “I’m assuming you didn't go into all the details?”

He scoffs “Of course not.”

“Still, I’m glad you talked to her.” She smiles at him, “I’m really proud of you, you know that right?”

His eyes widen as he coughs out an awkward half-chuckle, “It’s nothing to be proud of, really.”

“But it is.” She argues, “Look, I know you’re basically programmed not to accept compliments but we’re both really proud of you, and the RFA too.”

He looks down, avoiding her eyes and feeling a bit embarrassed both from the call out and the compliment. “Thanks, Mi-Cha.”

“Anytime.”

“I’m gonna get back to work now.” He says, moving back to the workroom

“Don’t forget to eat!” She chides.

“Yes, Ma’am!” He obeys.

“You two are more alike than you even know,” Mi-Cha says under her breath as she retreats to her and Saeyoung’s bedroom to unpack.

--

Saeran settles back down at his workstation, finding the footage from the club fully downloaded. He presses play and moves the scrubber to around the time he knows he was there. Finding the part of the recording where he walks in, he sits back and watches. At first, it’s the part he remembers, walking in, trying to blend in and dancing . He feels his cheeks begin to heat up as the embarrassment from watching himself dance sets in.

Then comes the switch. It’s almost uncanny how obvious it is. He watches his form shift from an awkward shuffle to something much, much different. Something almost... sensual? His cheeks heat up some more and he really hopes Saeyoung isn’t watching over his shoulder, but he's too afraid to look.  

He watches as his - or rather Unknown’s attention is drawn to someone entering. “That’s him!” He hisses out, Quickly whipping his head around to see if his brother heard him, no longer possessing the same fear from a moment ago. Luckily he finds Saeyoung with his headphones on, intently working on something. He breathes a sigh of relief.  

“But then who was that other guy?” he continues to think out loud as he watches his alter on camera follow the hooded man from a distance, assessing the situation. While still dancing like that. He cringes again. The hooded man takes a seat at the bar, takes out his phone and proceeds to take what appears to be not so stealthy video recording of him. He’s sloppy, and he has no idea who he’s dealing with.

Unknown does not make it obvious he’s realized what's going on, of course. He bides his time, watching the man and takes a moment to 'send' that text to Saeran, warning him. Then he does something Saeran doesn't expect but isn't exactly surprised by. He watches as Unknown approaches a woman, innocent-looking enough but he knows how good he is with words. He whispers in her ear, she whispers back, they chat a little bit. He seems to ask her something, she pushes his chest playfully and shakes her head “no” but then he hands her a 50,000 Won note. Saeran gasps and thinks absently about the ins and outs of money management when someone else lives in your body. Back on screen, the girl stares at him for a second then shrugs, pocketing the money and approaching the now distracted man at the bar.

The woman does a marvelous job of distracting the man. “Picking girls to do your dirty work again I see,” Saeran mutters. He doesn’t know where his father managed to find this guy but he needs to fire him or hire more just like him rather. This would be a lot easier if all his lackeys were this oblivious. Unknown walks behind the man and swipes his phone off the bar, and head to where Saeran is pretty sure the bathroom is.  

He returns a few minutes later and places the phone back in its spot he then looks directly into the camera and motions to his back pocket, and… winks ?

The girl stays a few minutes longer before excusing herself and going back to her group of friends. The man grabs his phone and looks around the club, assumingly for his target. But Unknown has managed to hide behind a speaker tower. The man gives up easily, leaving the club. Unknown approaches the girl again, whispers in her ear assumingly thanking her and pecks her cheek lightly. She bashfully covers her smile and nods. Saeran touches his lips as heat spreads over his face again.

And then he switches back, once again the awkward dancing boy in a crowd of strangers. The man he had confused with his stalker walks in and goes to sit with his date. He feels like a fool all over again. He watches himself leave and feels a little bad as the girl who helped out his alter looks around in confusion for him.

“You’re never gonna get a girlfriend like that bro.” Saeyoung’s voice comes from behind him.

“Ack! When did you get there? How long have you been watching?’ Saeran says, caught off guard.

“Long enough to watch you kiss a girl and then run away,” Saeyoung says incredulously.

“I didn’t kiss her!” Saeran defends

“But you ran.”

“I don’t even know her! I don't have time for this! I, I have to go check my pockets from yesterday.” Saeran gets up.

“Umm? Ok?” Saeyoung says confusedly as Saeran heads out of the room again.

Saeran returns a minute later with a small note written on a brown paper towel.

“What’s that?” Saeyoung asks.

“A note, from my other half.”

Saeyoung taps his chin thoughtfully “But I didn’t write you a note.”

Saeran rolls his eyes. “Not you. I’m talking about the other guy in my head.”

“I’m wounded, I thought I was your other half.” He whines, attempting to wrap his arms around Saeran, which he dodges effectively.

“Save it for your wife, would you?”

“Boo, fine.” Saeyoung gives in. “So what’s it say?”

“It says ``Shut up Saeyoung.``''

Saeyoung shrugs “Sounds about right.”

Saeran takes a deep breath “It actually says that the guy that had been following me had a physical description of me as well as a bunch of photos me from that night. He deleted them. He didn’t have enough time to properly go through everything on his phone but says it looks like they weren’t uploaded anywhere else and that there hadn’t been any communication with anyone for a few hours, so it should buy us some time and… shit.”

“What?” Saeyoung asks urgently.

Saeran hesitates “There was also a description of Mi-Cha, which he altered some details of, hoping to throw them off a bit, but not make it too obvious.”

Saeyoung peaks over his brother’s shoulder, now stone-faced. “Shit,” he says, voice thick with worry again, it was enough to know they were onto Saeran but Mi-Cha too? “That’s… bad.” he mutters “But kinda good? In a way, I guess. I don't like that they’re on our trail but… I guess I'm almost glad he was there? At least we have a better idea of what we’re dealing with thanks to him.”

“Me too, I don't think I could have been able to do what he did, My plan was just to run.” Saeran skims over the note again. “Oh, it looks like he also put a tracker on his phone.”

“Nice, we can start looking into that." Saeyoung pauses. "Um, is there anything about me?” he asks wearily.

“Nothing,” Saeran responds empathetically.

Saeyoung purses his lips and nods. “At least we know what they have on you guys, that’s more important anyway.”

They both fall silent and Saeyoung turns back to his screen. After a few moments Saeran speaks up again “Hey, Idiot” he calls, and Saeyoung turns to him, “You’re important too.”

[new-face-of-fear]

Regression

It was nearly three in the morning when Bray found himself locked in the bathroom, continuously splashing cold water on his face even though it wasn’t helping him to get the stability he was speaking. The compound was quiet save for the crickets and frogs outside. The family members that weren’t sleeping had retreated to their rooms or cabins--all except for him. He had been in his room, laying next to Cat as she slept. He should have been sleeping. She had certainly done everything that would normally wear him out. But the low he had been riding on for these past few weeks had taken a sharp turn south, and his mood had dropped so much that he hadn’t been able to just keep laying there. He hadn’t wanted her to happen to open her eyes and see him there, sinking into an abyss that was all his own.

For the life of him he couldn’t figure out just why he felt like this. He didn’t know why he had such anticipation for everything to go wrong, except for the fact that it always did. It either did it just to do it, or it did because he fucked things up like a total idiot. He didn’t know why that even on his good days, he couldn’t muster up a genuine sense of happiness. Every morning it was a struggle to get out of bed. Every day he felt like he was wearing a mask, and nobody could see that he was screaming on the inside, becoming more trapped in himself no matter how hard he fought to get out.

Things hadn’t been the same since he had come back from losing his mind. They all thought he was getting better, but he knew the truth. A part of him hadn’t come back with him. A vital part, one that had been essential to the walls he had built over the years to deal with the uglier parts of his mind and emotions. Or maybe it was still there, but it was a piece of a puzzle that was too damaged to fit properly anymore.

What he wanted was a drink. The one vice he had sworn against the most vehemently had become something he craved. He had gone out Wednesday night, lying through omission about where he was going so he could go to the bar and get just drunk enough to numb himself. He didn’t try to fool himself into thinking it would make him better. He knew it wouldn’t. He wasn’t completely stupid. But numbing himself to forget about everything for awhile made it easier for him to regroup and have the strength to fake it all again the next day. It was the one friend he had that he could confess these things to and have it understand. His brief conversation with Mary hadn’t made him feel better. There was no absolution in confessing he didn’t feel right. She just kept saying he was a fighter, that he was strong and all these things that he didn’t believe because he didn’t feel that way. He hadn’t talked to Luke or Erick or Braun because it wasn’t really like them to talk about their damn feelings. And Cat….

He finally turned the water off, but he didn’t immediately move to dry his face off, or even look at himself in the mirror. As weak as he was right now, Cat was that much stronger. Mil’s momentum in the temple was fueling a power trip in her now. Her mind games with her old flame Jeremiah Crane and her tormenting of Brittany was only fueling her on more. The things the Temple did to her when it was awake…she was the dangerous woman who had gotten his attention in the first place, but not the nurturing one who had been his rock during one of his darkest hours. He hadn't had her full attention, even with her being there with him. He was on a backburner in a way, and even though she had softened after their last trip to the church, perhaps sensing that something was amiss, he didn’t want to show weakness and actually ask for her help. He didn’t want the volatile, evil part of her that became more pronounced when Temple was active to think of him as weak and useless. He had been going decently strong at work, and hadn’t had a noticeable meltdown outside of it.  He wanted to keep it that way. He wanted her to believe he was okay now, because it was better than her seeing the truth and deciding enough was enough.

He finally did look up at the mirror, his lip curling in disgust at his own reflection. He hated what he saw. He hated the growing bags under his eyes. He hated how pale his face looked. He hated the scratch on his cheek--Cat had hit him the other night when they had been in the church, when she had taken full control of things and tied his hands to the altar and cut away his clothes. Slapped him and then backhanded him, her ring causing the mark there. Luke had seen the cut and the bruising around it, and that had caused a very uncomfortable silence throughout the day. Bray was sure he was assuming Cat had just gone and hit him during an argument again, but neither of them actually had talked about it. Bray wasn’t even sure if he wanted to offer up the real truth, because the truth was that encounter had basically seen him desperately trying to appease her by being good just so he could cling to a scrap of attention. Pathetic was what it was. For all the power he wielded in the Family, for all the talk he did in the ring, it didn’t mean a goddamn thing in the end.

Snarling he punched the mirror hard, grinding his knuckles into the glass so the broken bits would be embedded, and he would bleed more. He didn’t care if one of the others heard him. He didn’t even care if they walked in and saw him at this point. Fuck it. He was sick, and he had always been sick. He was fucking broken, and even being saved by Abigail hadn’t fucking worked. Had he been so far gone by the time she found him that he had just been fooling himself thinking she had made something out of him? Maybe. But why hadn’t she seen it? She should have known. She always knew.

Or maybe he had imagined all of this. Maybe he had died back in that house, beaten to death by his father like he had feared, and he had imagined all of this happening. Or maybe, and perhaps more accurately, his father had just managed to kill him on the inside, and he had just finally realized that he had never been saved or fixed, because there was nothing left inside of him. Just this blackness that wouldn’t stop until his body was buried six feet under the ground.

Letting out what could only be described as a howl, he punched the mirror again. And again. And again. He punched it until there was barely any glass left in it, and his fist was bleeding profusely. He stopped and looked down at it, fascinated by what he saw. A high pitched giggle escaped him now, and he found himself stumbling backwards, his back hitting the wall and his legs slowly sliding out from under him.

“Oh brothers, let’s go down. Let’s go down, come on down….” he started singing under his breath, barely aware that there were footsteps coming down the hall. He didn’t care who was coming. Let them see. He was too tired to hide anymore. “Come on brothers, let’s go down, down in the river to pray….”

[whatwouldfrogsdo]

Surprise (or Simplicity)

Day 2 of Nursey Week

Or, 5 times Derek was surprised by his sister and once he surprised her.

Triggers for talk about racism // children swearing // coming out (and a couple of instances of misgendering before they knew) // talk about mental illness and medication (#4 references the ficlet I did for Day 1).

Also read on AO3 here.

It had always been easy to surprise Derek. Leila Nurse had discovered this at the ripe old age of six when she found that no matter how many times she played peek-a-boo with her baby brother, it never failed to amuse him. By the time he was three, and she was eight, the activity that gave her the greatest joy in life is watching his eyes widen in astonishment over something she had done. In those first years, she wasn’t always kind about it, taking a thrill out of jumping out from behind doors and creeping up on him while he was walking out of kindergarten. She was eleven, and Derek was six, when she realized that scandalization was another way she could draw that response from him.

1.

“What’s up with you?” she asked, eyebrow arched when she found him sat behind the curtain of the dining room one evening.

“What am I?”

She stared at him like he was being stupid. “What do you mean?”

“Tommy Marks asked me today, but I didn’t know what to say.”

“Tommy Marks sounds like a shithead.”

In normal circumstances, she would have immediately moved on to ask what his teacher had said, but he was six, and she had just sworn in front of him, so she waited a little time to appreciate the way his mouth dropped a little open and his eyes bulged. “That’s a bad word.”

“Not when it’s describing racist fucks, it’s not,” she said. Middle school had been great for learning language that would get a response out of Derek, even if she did know she would be in an awful lot of trouble when this conversation inevitably got repeated over dinner.

2.

Derek didn’t know how to cry around anybody who wasn’t Leila. When he was younger, he could around his parents, but gradually (and much more quickly than any of his classmates), he had started to realize that crying demanded a reaction from people, and usually it turned him into somebody who was being demanding, who was a problem to deal with. So, he took the advice of the first lines of that Avril Lavigne song Leila and her friends were always singing karaoke to and he chilled out. He became the definition of chill, and if that meant holding in any hurt until he was on his own, so be it. Only his sister got to see his tears, and that was because he had seen her ugly-sobbing over Destiny’s Child going on hiatus. And again when they reunited.

That didn’t explain why; standing outside the building that one day would hopefully be his school, but for now was just starting to be hers; he wanted to cry so badly. Leila was happy and bouncing as she talked to her new dorm buddies, and her house counselor and anybody who happened to pass. His parents were smiling while they chatted to the principal, words like ‘opportunity’ and ‘quality’ and ‘intelligence’ floating back to Derek. He just felt sad.

“We should go. Let her settle in,” his ma said, and she put a hand on Derek’s shoulder to urge him to turn away. Leila didn’t even seem to notice, too engrossed in her new friends.

They were halfway along the path back to the parking lot when the shout came.

“Wait. Wait!”

Leila was running towards them, and she tugged Derek back. Their parents stepped a little way off to give them privacy.

“I have a present for you,” she told him, shoving something into his hands.

It was a book. The cover didn’t look like much, just a reddish color with writing on it:

Annie Allen Poems by Gwendolyn Brooks Author of A STREET IN BRONZEVILLE

Underneath, there was a review.

“I don’t know poetry, but this book made her the first African American to win a Pulitzer Prize for Poetry. Maybe now you can find something you connect with,” Leila told him.

As far as crying was concerned, Derek was now too shocked for that sort of emotion. He had mentioned in passing that they had been doing poetry at school - all Dr Seuss and Jack Prelutsky and Lewis Carroll. He was fascinated by the language of it, but he had complained that he just didn’t get it. Some of the nonsense poems, yes, he understood that they were only focusing on the language, so he loved them, but he felt a distance from so many of the others. He hadn’t expected Leila to even remember the conversation, let alone act on it to give him a present.

“Why?”

She smiled at him, her eyes twinkling in the way they always did when she had managed to catch him off-guard. “I can’t have you forgetting about me while I’m here, can I? Besides, you’re gonna be so bored now I’m not there.”

3.

“What do you think they want to talk to us about? Ma sounded serious.”

Derek shrugged, but in truth he wondered if he had an idea. “Lei, I— I mean. Earlier this year—”

“I know.”

His foot slid and he ended up falling down the last three steps.

“Fuck’s sake, really?” Leila asked in exasperation. Derek just stared at her.

“What do you mean you know?”

“I mean Andy rang me. You think you can go through shit like that at Andover and it not get back to me? Anyway, Dad talked to me about it last week, too. That can’t be what this is about.”

Derek bit on his lip. “Oh.”

“Maybe one of them’s coming out,” she suggested.

“It’s Ma and Dad. What are you even on about?”

She shrugged again. “Okay, that was a joke, but it could totally happen.”

Derek rolled his eyes and headed for the sitting room. “Let’s not try and guess, okay?”

Their parents were sat on the love-seat, hand-in-hand, and they smiled at their children as they settled on the couch opposite. Their ma opened her mouth as if to speak, but no words came out, and she looked to her partner for help.

“I know this will be a little hard to hear, and definitely an adjustment to get used to when you’ve grown up calling me ‘dad’—” In the pause that followed, Derek started to panic. Were they adopted? Did that even make sense? “I’m trans. I’d like, when you’re ready, if you two could start calling me ‘mom’ instead of ‘dad’ and using feminine pronouns, but—”

“What?” Derek said, and he could see on his parents’ faces that he had spoken too sharply, but he turned to his sister without apologizing first nonetheless. “Did you know about this too?”

“What?” she echoed. “Do I look like I knew?” The answer was that she looked just as surprised as he felt, but that didn’t stop Derek from pushing.

“You just said on the stairs—”

“Oh my God, it’s just a coincidence! That’s great, Mom. We love you.”

Shaking his head, Derek whispered, “You know everything.”

4.

“Oh, hey,” Skye said, glancing up as Derek walked into their freshman suite after class. Derek raised an eyebrow. Skye was the quietest of all the girls in their suite, and he wasn’t sure that she had ever spoken to him directly before. “A girl came by looking for you. I let her into your room.”

Derek frowned. He wasn’t expecting anybody. Lardo, perhaps?

It wasn’t Lardo sat in Dex’s desk chair and looking incredibly amused as she pushed his pens slightly out of line with each other. Derek’s mouth dropped open slightly. The last person he expected to see in his college dorm was his sister, especially now that she was well on her way to being a more successful business tycoon than either of their parents.

“I wouldn’t do that if I were you. He flips out if I touch his stuff.”

Leila turned to grin at him. “And here I thought you’d learnt not to touch other people’s things after I confiscated Tigger.”

“You didn’t confiscate him, you stole him, Lei. And I was three, you could have just let me play Barbie with you.”

She laughed, and jumped to her feet to throw her arms around his neck. “I missed you, Der-bear.”

“What are you even doing here?”

Her expression turned to serious when she pulled away. “Shitty rang me.”

It took Derek by surprise, sometimes, that Leila and Shitty were friends. He and his sister hadn’t overlapped at Andover at all, her being five years older than him, but she had been there the same time as Shitty. In fact, she had known him before he became Shitty, and it frustrated Derek no end that she wouldn’t reveal his real name. “What did he ring you for?”

“He said you weren’t doing so well.”

Derek groaned, and backed up so that he could sit on his bed. “I’m doing fine. I stopped sleeping, so I went on the antipsychotics and my first day on them they decided to do hazing. It just took me by surprise, and shit happened, but I’m fine. I’ve been taking sleeping pills, too, just to be sure. It’s all chill”

“Have you seen a doctor?”

“I rang my one in Andover.”

Leila sighed and flopped down next to him. “Okay, aboowe, I’m glad you’re trying to take care of yourself, but you do need to get a doctor closer to here, and you need to let other people look after you properly when something happens.”

“It’s chill.”

“It’s okay if it’s not, though,” she told him. “And I’m serious about the doctor. If only because it’s ridiculous to have to drive up to Andover every time you need a prescription.”

Derek let his head come to rest on his sister’s shoulder and breathed out a sigh. “Okay.”

“Promise me you won’t deal with all of this on your own.”

“I promise. There’s a few people now, on the team, who know at least bits and pieces.”

“Including your roommate?”

“Er, no. Dex doesn’t know anything.”

“You know it’ll be easier if he does.”

Derek didn’t know what to say. Leila had no idea of the relationship between him and Dex, and trying to explain the complexities of how they got along, or the way that there was only a small collection of things Derek could actually talk to Dex about, was impossible.

When he didn’t respond, she just knocked her shoulder against his and pulled his laptop onto her knees, guessed his password right on the second try and brought up Netflix. Derek tried to remember the last time things were so calm and simple between he and Leila. A great deal of childhood had been arguments and tension and the constant feeling of being overshadowed. Even at Andover, the upperclassmen had all looked at him and immediately said “You’re Lei’s brother.” That had become his persona for two years until everyone who had known her had graduated. Derek wondered if what fixed their relationship was just them growing up or him finally going to a school where the only person who knew her was Shitty.

“I’m glad you came,” he muttered, and when she looked at him, he could see she wasn’t expecting him to say anything like that.

“Of course I did. You’re my baby brother. It wasn’t too bad a surprise, then?”

“Nah. Since when do you care if it’s a bad surprise or not?”

She gave him that same look she had perfected when she was eight; the one which said he was being stupid. “I’ve always cared, Derek.”

5.

“Happy birthday.”

Derek had been on his way, with Will, to the Haus when Leila rang. He smiled. “Thanks. Are you doing anything for it?”

“I’m sure it’s supposed to be me asking you that.”

“Come on, Lei, you know I’ve never been into it.”

“Birthdays? Whatever you say, baby bro. As you ask, I actually have had a lovely evening with Louis, and I do have some news for you, but as it’s your birthday, I won’t tell you now.”

“What’s your news?” Derek asked immediately.

“No, I’m not stepping on your birthday.”

“I don’t give a fuck about my birthday, Lei, what’s your news?”

Will’s steps had faltered and he was staring at him, but Derek tried to ignore this, waiting for Leila’s reply.

“He proposed.”

“Oh my God. You’re—You’re engaged?”

“So, yeah, for your birthday I was thinking—”

“Leila Tajel Nurse, are you engaged?”

“I don’t want to ask Mom to give me away because that just seems messed up. I mean we’ll see what she says, because maybe she wants to, or maybe Ma wants to, but if— I mean— Will you—”

Derek had apparently walked into the Haus in a trance because Will was now guiding him into a chair at the kitchen table. “Oh my God.”

“Is that a yes? Now can I actually tell you what your birthday present is?”

“What’s your obsession with my birthday when you just got engaged?”

“It’s today! My baby brother is nineteen, let me tell you what your present is!”

“Fine.”

“Rangers tickets in Boston. Two of them. I thought you could take your boy. He’s a New Englander, right? Bruins supporter?”

“I don’t have a boy.”

Will shot him another look, and Derek winced apologetically, but as Bitty walked through at that moment they both straightened their faces and said nothing about it.

“Mhm, sure,” Leila said.

“Lei, I have to go, I love you. Con-fucking-gratulations, oh my God.”

“Okay,” she said with a laugh. “Love you, too, you nerd.”

She hung up before he could say anything else.

There was a long pause, and then Will said slowly, “Uh… What was that about your birthday?”

“Oh, she wanted to tell me my present.”

“Is it— When is it?”

“Today,” Derek said with a shrug.

Will shook his head in disbelief. “Of course it is. Valentine’s Day. Of course.”

+1.

Derek strolled into the building as if he belonged there, went straight up to the desk, and asked, “Could you direct me to Leila Nurse’s office, please?”

Confidence was key, and that was probably why the receptionist didn’t ask for any ID before pointing at the lift, telling him to go to the sixth floor, and that it was the first door on the right.

“Can it wait?” his sister called through the door when he knocked.

“Nope.”

There was a long pause. “Uh… Come in?” He had a feeling she hadn’t been able to place his voice from the one syllable, which was why she sounded so confused. His deduction was proved when he pushed open the door and watched as her jaw went slack and her eyes went wide. Derek could see why she enjoyed making him look like that.

“Hey, sis.”

“What are you— How—”

“We were playing Ohio State.”

“Right, and you thought a four hour drive in the wrong direction wasn’t much of a detour home?”

Derek just smiled. He could spring that particular surprise on her in a little bit. “What can I say, I missed my big sister.”

“It’s been years since I was last big compared to you.”

“I take offence to that,” he told her. She just laughed. “Anyway, I’ve got two hours until I have to get to the airport, but I’m all yours until then.”

She stared down at the file in front of her for a few minutes. “Sure, I’ll take a long lunch. You came up here on your own?”

“Nah, Will drove, but he’s, uh, in a meeting.”

She narrowed her eyes at him. “Uh huh. I went to loads of meetings in other states when I was a junior in college. That’s totally normal.”

“Sure is!” Derek chirped.

It wasn’t until they were strolling along the River walk with sandwiches from Lunchbox Deli that Derek turned towards the only part of Detroit he knew, and told Leila they should go that way. “Will might nearly be done,” he told her.

She narrowed her eyes again. “Where did you say his meeting was?”

Derek took a few more steps before he indulged her. “Oh, he and I have been talking to the Red Wings. I’m probably signing this year, but he wants to finish his degree.”

Egg mayo splattered over the sidewalk.

“That’s disgusting,” Derek told her, and he shoved the last of his tofu burrito into his mouth.

“You’re— the NHL?”

Finally, he let himself grin, and he practically bounced as he turned to face her. “I’m going to play in the NHL. Well, maybe. I might never get beyond AHL, you know, but they scouted me, they want me, they’re—”

He trailed off into a laugh, because he had an armful of his sister, and she was squealing into his shoulder. “I can’t believe you’re going pro. I’m so proud of you.”

“Thanks,” he said, not letting go. “And we’ll both be in Detroit, if it works out.”

“Oh my God. No. Find your own city.”

“I’m going to live in your apartment.”

“No.”

Derek laughed, and swung his arm around her shoulders as they carried on down the pathway towards the Joe Lewis Arena.

[ageofwrathrpg]

Name: Gavriil “Moose” Moiseyevich Mussorgsky Age: 34 Ability: Darkness Manipulation Faction:  LESYAS as a BODYGUARD Faceclaim:  Max Riemelt Availability:  OPEN

THE STORY || CW: Death

Mr. and Mrs. Mussorgsky were devastated when their child was stillborn —but with one tragedy came a miracle, as a human woman had given birth in the same hospital and passed away, leaving her nameless infant son without a family or a history. After losing their own child, they wouldn’t let this one grow up without a family, so in a fit of grief, they made a deal with the staff to take the unwanted child as their own, completely unaware his father had been a Vila.

Everything about Gavriil’s childhood was blessedly normal. He was the only child of a nuclear human family, a straight A student who beat himself up internally any time he scored a B or lower because he dreaded the expression of disappointment on his parents’ faces. He discovered at an early age his love of scary movies and ghost stories, so his friends often referred to him as ‘the horror geek’, a label that he accepted with pride. When he was thirteen, Gavriil was in the midst of telling his friends a terrifying campfire tale when the shadows around him began to move and take the form of the Hook Man of whom he spoke; this petrified his friends, no doubt, and caused them all to run away from the scene, only to eventually come to the conclusion that one of the other campers must have been playing a trick on them. But Gavriil knew better.

Keeping his ability to himself, he practiced in secret long after bedtime; lights out was the perfect time for training and by the time he was sixteen, he learned to travel through shadows. It was by happenstance that his ability was witnessed by another Vila--more specifically, a Lesya by the name of Mikhail Kadyrov who convinced them to join their cause. After finally coming out to his family about his ability, they were surprisingly supportive of his decision and gave him their blessing to do good things and to “show the world that there is light in darkness.” From that moment on, he trained with the Lesyas and became one of their strongest bodyguards to date.

THE CHARACTER

Despite the fact that he wasn’t born into the life of a soldier and does not have a tragic backstory like a majority of his fellow Lesyas, Moose fits right in. He’s compassionate and smart as well as determined and fiercely loyal. Though he doesn’t always say what’s on his mind, he does occasionally come out with a comment worthy of his nickname, the “Sniper of Snark”. He’s trustworthy and others know he has their backs in a fight. He is a master at Darkness Manipulation, able to travel via shadows as well as create weapons from the very darkness that most people fear. Moose is understandably assigned mostly night duty and is happy with his station protecting the upper ranks of the Lesyas, whom he considers his second family. He does still keep in touch with his family and wishes all humans could be as accepting as them.

CONNECTIONS

Mikhail Borisovich Kadyrov -  Mikhail is the best friend a guy could ever ask for; he introduced him to the proper trainers for his ability, taught him how to fight, and encouraged him to reach his full potential. They know each other so well that they are able to communicate simply by looking at each other. He’d probably be stuck at some boring desk job if it wasn’t for Mikhail, instead of fighting the good fight to better the world. He would defend this man to his dying breath.

Havaa ‘Rainha’ Darekovna Akhmadova -  Though meeting her when they were both teens, he addresses her as Rainha and considers it an honor to be her bodyguard … not that she needs it, which she totally doesn’t. He admires her and thinks of her as the strongest woman in the world and while he refers to her as ‘Madam’ while in the company of others, he calls her ‘Rainha’ in more lax settings. 

Sergei Arsenyevich Vosteck - Due to the level of mastery when it comes to his ability, Moose is the top of the line when it comes to being a bodyguard and one of his most frequent assignments is to this kid from the moment he was brought in. Watching Sergei grow up was heartbreaking and he can’t help but feel for the little guy, even went as far as to give the kid what later became Sergei’s signature black gloves. He’s sworn to protect Sergei until the very end.

Alina Yurievna Koblenko - Though she has a reputation now of being a fierce bitch, Moose is very much aware of the real Alina; they attended the same schools growing up and he sometimes wonders whatever happened to that nice, mousey girl. Maybe she had some pent-up sexual aggression and was finally able to let it all go once her uncle was out of the way. Regardless, he remains friendly toward her, though she is far too intimidating for his tastes.

Nikolas ‘Pup’ Andrej Salko - Nik is the street rat who is more like a little brother to Moose than anything. Having the same ability of Darkness Manipulation, he enjoys showing ‘Pup’ the ropes and is actively trying to recruit him to the Lesyas. He worries for Nik, however, considering the boy lives in a bunker with no windows or doors and only a hole for the sake of ventilation. What if someone finds that bunker? What if that someone is not friendly and actually tries to flood that poor kid while he sleeps? He’d be much safer with the Lesyas. Maybe he’d actually be able to keep one of those stray dogs he likes so much.

[[ More Connections ]]

ETC

Moose, as he prefers to be called by his friends, is a total horror junkie and loves to tell scary stories. 

His preferred method of travel is shadow shifting. Why? Because it’s cool.

Halloween is a fun time when he and Mikhail join forces to create the most fucked up haunted experience anyone could ever dream of. 

He was involved with theatre while in school and is a very good actor; it’s not unheard of for Moose to play with voices or easily ‘step into a role’ to get a job done, or even just to mess around. 

Having been a fan of Edgar Allan Poe his entire life, even before he discovered his ability, Moose became even more obsessed with the writer when he discovered Poe was also a Vila with the same ability as himself; he’s secretly convinced that since he never knew his biological parents, Poe may be an ancestor of his father … which would just be really, really cool.