#twdg gabegul

[ericsonclan]

Javi: Why are Gabe and Nurgul sitting back to back?

Mari: They got in a fight

Javi: Then why are they holding hands?

Mari: They get sad when they fight

[ericsonclan]

Gabe: I panic when people compliment me

Gabe: What the heck am I supposed to say?

Nurgul: Great job at practice, Gabe!

Gabe, flustered and panicking: MERRY CHRISTMAS

[ericsonclan]

Garcia Baseball Game

Summary: The Garcia family all come together to play a friendly game of baseball.

Word Count: 1954

Read on AO3:

Javi worked to double-check that he had brought everything. The baseball gloves were set in the corner. He worked to count the total: six for the adults and two that were for Luka and Maria. Next to the baseball gloves were the baseball bats and baseballs and beside that were orange slices, juice boxes, and a mountain of pudding. Javi let out a small sigh of relief; he had brought everything.

“Well, well, well, who is that devilishly handsome baseball player I see?” Santiago’s flirtatious voice made Javi look back at his husband. Santiago’s arms wrapped around Javi from behind, holding onto his waist as he pressed a kiss to his neck. Javi felt his heart beat wildly at the romantic gesture before he turned around and stole a quick kiss. The couple shared kiss after kiss as they held each other close.

“This is definitely the best welcome I’ve had before a baseball game,” Javi smiled as his hands took Santiago's. “You look great today by the way, totally knocked it out of the park,” He smiled as he took in how amazing the baseball jersey looked on his husband.

“Thanks, I do look pretty hot today, but no one looks better in a baseball getup than you. Definitely hit a home run marrying you,” Santiago could tell that Javi appreciated when he used baseball terms in his affection.

Javi was about to say something when suddenly a van pulled up next to the baseball field. The ignition was soon turned off and the door slid open, revealing Luka. Hopping down, his baseball cap fell over his eyes, Gabe quickly went to help his son while Nurgul helped get Maria out of her electronic rocker. The entire family was sporting the specially designed baseball jerseys that had the name Garcia emblazoned on the back along with their favorite number.

“Well, if it isn’t my favorite nephew,” Javi strolled forward, casually slinging a baseball bat over his shoulder.

“I’m your only nephew, Uncle Javi,” Gabe pointed out as he worked on getting the snacks and drinks from the back of the van.

“Yeah, but you’re still my favorite,” Javi grinned then started looking around. “So, where’s little grandy?” He moved his head this way and that to find his grandnephew.

“Right here,” Luka replied calmly as he held his baby sister in his arms while Nurgul got the electronic rocker set up.

“There you are!” Javi ruffled Luka’s hair then patted his back “And there’s my favorite little slugger,” He reached out his hand and smiled brightly when Maria’s tiny fist held onto his finger.

“Do you need some help?” Santiago jogged over to Gabe to assist with the cooler.

“Yeah, thanks,” Gabe readjusted his beanie so it didn’t slip in front of his eyes while he carried the cooler.

Santiago helped by grabbing the bag of orange slices that had been slipping off the top of the cooler. “Well, we certainly have enough food for all of us,” He led the way over to where all the snacks he and his husband had brought were.

“Oh, yeah, look at that. Well, Mari is eating for three so it should be fine,”

Just as Gabe said that another car pulled up by the baseball field. After a few seconds, Tenn stepped out of the car and jogged around it to help his wife.

“Thanks, babe,” Mariana awkwardly worked her way out of the car, careful not to bump her belly against anything. Tenn took her hand, helping any way he could. It was clear by his aura that he was a bit nervous about his pregnant wife.

“Look who finally showed up!” Gabe called out to his sister while she made her way over.

Mariana held a confident smirk her face as she looked over at her sibling. “Figured I could fit in a nap before I kicked your ass at baseball today,”

Gabe’s smile immediately turned into a frown at that. “Yeah, that’s not happening,”

“Hey, Tenn, how are you doing?” Nurgul asked as she wrapped her brother-in-law in a hug.

“Good, how about you?”

“I’m doing alright. Why don’t we get you and Mari in the shade for a bit before the game starts,” Nurgul helped Mariana over who kept eye contact with her brother, holding the same smugness she always did before she shifted focus and started up a conversation with Nurgul.

While Mariana sat next to the electronic rocker and talked with Nurgul and Luka, Javi and Gabe were figuring out the teams. It took a few minutes of debating but eventually, it was decided.

“Okay, so the teams are me, Mari, and Tenn on one team and Luka, Nurgul, Santi, and Gabe on another,” Javi explained as he finished setting up for the game.

“Aren’t the teams a bit uneven?” Nurgul looked over to see that Tenn was nervously checking in with Mariana to see if she really wanted to play baseball when she was this far along in her pregnancy. It was clear that she was far too excited to sit out.

“Well, I’m a team of three in myself so it should all work out,” Mariana rested a hand on her belly then strolled over to the field. “Since my brother needs all the help he can get, his team can be up to bat first,”

Gabe frowned at that then grabbed a baseball bat. “We’re gonna make you eat those words, Mari. Ready to kick some butt, Luka?” He looked over at his son with a confident smile.

Luka studied his dad’s face for a second; it was clear that this was really important to him. It was important to the whole family so even though baseball wasn’t his thing Luka knew he’d give it his all. With a determined nod, Luka walked over and got the small baseball bat that Javi had bought him. Mariana was the pitcher for the team and when she saw Luka walking up to the home plate her competitive aura lessened. Making sure not to throw a pitch that was too hard, Mariana watched as Luka whacked the baseball, causing it to fly a little ways through the air. Everyone cheered for the youngest player on the field and made sure to give him a bit of advantage and take things slower for him. Luka managed to land on second base by the time that Javi passed the baseball back to Mariana.

Next up was Nurgul who Mari also decided to ease up on which quickly became a mistake as the baseball bat emitted a cracking sound as soon as it connected with the baseball. The ball flew through the air, throwing Javi off who was trying to figure out where the ball was landing. Nurgul took this chance and sprinted with all her might while her team cheered.

“WOOO! That’s my wife!” Gabe crowed as he sat beside Maria, making sure that she was doing okay and not getting overheated. It didn’t take long for Luka to pass over the home plate along with his mom who swept him up in a hug.

“Great job, Luka!” Nurgul pressed a kiss to his forehead then set him down. Luka felt his heart warm with happiness, not due to his accomplishment but from making his mom proud.

Next up was Santiago who strode over to home plate and got in position.

“Looking sexy!” Javi called out to his husband.

“The view isn’t bad over here either,” Santiago flirted back and soon the couple was lost in their playfulness. Until a ball zoomed right by and landed directly in Tenn’s glove.

“Strike,”

Santiago’s eyes were large at Tenn’s words. “What? That was cheap!” He shot a look over to Mariana who held a smirk on her lips.

“All is fair in love and baseball,”

“So that’s how we’re gonna play,” Santiago refocused; he was just planning to show off how great he looked in a baseball jersey and have some fun but now it was on. Immediately he and Gabe got competitive with Mariana and Javi while Tenn remained neutral along with Nurgul and Luka.

It wasn’t long before the teams switched and Javi was up to bat. With a swift swing, the ball whistled through the air and into the trees. “Oops, sorry, old habits,” Javi gave a smile as he casually walked around the baseball diamond till he reached home plate.

“Oh, it’s on now, Uncle Javi!” Gabe got ready to throw another pitch, this time for Tenn. As luck would have it, baseball was not Tenn’s forte and he struck out.

“You’re playing a dangerous game, Gabe, going after my husband like that,” Mariana strode up to home plate and got ready. Gabe took a deep breath, doing a soft toss over which Mariana whacked a fair distance out in the field. Santiago jogged over with Luka to get it while Mariana began to walk around. Within seconds her strategy became clear as everyone was super gentle with her, letting her stroll all the way around to the home plate. Mariana was milking this pregnancy to her full advantage today. She locked eyes with Gabe as she continued past home plate for another home run, a trick she did again and again.

“What’s that? Is this my fifth time on home plate?” Mariana’s smile grew as her brother’s faltered.

“Whatever, just you wait,”

“Uncle Javi, should each time I step on home plate count as three since I’m carrying twins?”

“What? No! That’s not fair!” Gabe butted in. The two siblings kept trying to win over their uncle until Nurgul placed a hand on Gabe’s arm.

“Baby, just let her have this,”

Gabe wanted to speak against that but he nodded and sighed as he felt his wife kiss his cheek. “Our team is still gonna win though!” He shot a look over to Mariana who stuck out her tongue playfully.

After another few pitches, Luka seemed to be getting distracted by a small patch of flowers. They looked so pretty and it would be so peaceful to sit there. Jogging over, he tapped on his mom’s arm. “Can I sit over by the flowers with Maria?”

Nurgul looked at her son then over at the patch of flowers. “Okay, but I’m going to come with you. Let me just-”

“I can tell him,” Luka jogged over and tugged on his dad’s sleeve. Immediately Gabe stopped his competitive banter with Mariana and crouched beside his son to be at his level. “Hey, buddy, what’s up?”

“I know this game is important to you but there’s these flowers…” Luka fidgeted with his fingers for a couple of seconds, hoping his dad would agree. “ But I can stay if you need me to,”

“No, it’s okay, go have some fun next to the flowers,” Gabe rustled his son’s hair and watched as Luka ran over to help Nurgul and Maria go over to the patch. After giving Gabe a kiss, Nurgul then joined her kids over by the flowers where Luka sat, simply enjoying the flowers’ company. Gabe smiled at the sight of his family enjoying themselves before returning to the game. With only adults on the field now, he was sure this game was going to get even more competitive. “Okay, now I’m going all out!” Gabe tossed the baseball in the air and caught it.

“Oh?” Mariana’s eyes shimmered with confidence. “Bring it!” She knew she had this in the bag.

The siblings got caught up once more in the chance to win the bragging rights by winning this game, lost in an endless playful cycle of bantering and quips, making it an afternoon the Garcias would never forget.

[ericsonclan]

Thank you so much for the trade @bluebutterfly1 ! You did an amazing job capturing Nurgul 🥰🥰🥰

[ericsonclan]

Gabegul Headcanons

Nurgul loves giving hugs and gives Gabe plenty whenever he’s hit with a hard day.

Nurgul loves to knit and makes Gabe scarfs and beanies when she can find the materials.

Gabe knows that Nurgul freaks out from hugs from behind due to trauma so he makes sure to do other romantic gestures for her.

Gabe picks up wildflowers for Nurgul whenever he’s out on patrol.

Gabe made a little gravestone marker in New Richmond for Nurgul’s mom so she can visit her. Once New Richmond fell he made the gravemarker again at their new community.

Both of them love holding hands. 

Gabe is protective of Nurgul and tries to go out on scavenging missions whenever she’s on one.

Nurgul is one of the few people Gabe has taken to pay respects to Mari at her grave.

Nurgul sees Gabe’s inner strength and reassures him that he doesn’t have to prove himself to be worthy of anything.

Gabe enjoys listening to Nurgul hum and has gotten up the courage to try and sing for her even if he doesn’t have the greatest singing voice.

Both of them show each other the scars they have gotten over the years and are very open about their pasts with one another.

Nurgul learns how to make pudding and scavenges for the right ingredients to make some for Gabe’s birthday.

They both like watching the sunset together.

[ericsonclan]

Sweet as a Milkshake

Summary: Gabe tries to find the perfect outfit for his diner date with Nurgul

Word Count: 1423

Read on AO3:

Gabe could feel his frustrations growing. No matter what jacket he chose he looked like a total dork. He couldn’t afford to look like a dork today, not when he had a date with Nurgul. He wanted to look cool, mysterious, handsome not like how Gabe normally saw himself. Still each time he tried a new look he only found himself hating how he looked. When he looked in the mirror in a leather jacket he had stolen from Javi’s closet Gabe knew it didn’t look right. Tossing it aside with an angry huff he searched for a new jacket.

“Something’s got your beanie all up in a twist,” Mariana leaned against the doorway with her usual teasing smile.

“Not in the mood, Mari,” Gabe grumbled and worked on his quest for the perfect jacket.

“When are you ever in the mood for a healthy dose of my teasing?” Mariana kicked off from the doorframe. “So, what’s the occasion?”

“It’s nothing,” Gabe grumbled, tossing aside some failed choices. Mariana watched her older brother for a minute before a smile appeared on her lips.

“Are you getting ready for a date with Nurgul?”

Gabe froze. She had guessed right.

“Aha, that explains everything,”

“No, it doesn’t! Maybe I’m just trying on jackets to be cool,”

“Oh yeah?” Mariana sat down on the bed. “Then why are your ears turning red? They only turn that red when it's about Nuri. Plus you were blasting those cheesy love songs in your room again.”

“Shut up,” Gabe pulled on his beanie, covering his ears. He knew she was right. His ears only got red for two reasons: out of embarrassment from lying or because he was getting flustered. And Nurgul made him flustered in the best way possible. But it also made him a total mess.

“Whatever, so maybe I have a date with her. I need to look cool, something that doesn’t make me look like a complete dork,”

“Not possible, I’m afraid it's a terminal case of dorkitis that you have,”

A grumpy frown appeared on Gabe’s lips. “Ha ha. When did you become a comedian?” His voice dripped with sarcasm.

“I was born with these skills. Better watch out, Uncle Javi, I’m coming for your crown!” Mariana called out towards the kitchen downstairs. The constant laughter and flirations down there ceased between their uncles for a moment.

“And which crown would that be?” Javi yelled upstairs.

“The comedy crown! I’m the queen now so whatever I say goes! My first decree is that we have arroz con pollo for dinner tonight!”

“Neither of you even were comedic royalty,” Gabe mumbled but no one was paying attention to his pouting.

“Fine with me! Think we can cook that tonight, Santi?”

“Sounds good to me, mi príncipe. As long as we can- Javi, your sticks!” Santiago’s voice immediately changed in intonation.

“Oh shit! My cinnamon sticks!” Javi quickly dropped the conversation with his husband and niece as he struggled to save his snack.

“Well there we go, secured us a great dinner,” Mariana playfully kicked her legs while a smug smile rested on her lips. She hoped Javi would use the recipe they had found in their mom’s old things when they had moved. Her smile quickly disappeared though when she saw her older brother hold up their dad’s old army jacket.

“Why did you keep that?”

Gabe looked over when he heard his sister’s tense tone. “I didn’t want to throw it away. Wanted to keep a part of him I guess,”

“Yeah, well that is the reason why he abandoned us so maybe pick a better memento,” Mariana’s eyes glared at the army logo before she hid them. Her shoulders were tighter now and her smile gone.

There was a sad silence between the pair of siblings. Gabe wasn’t sure what to say now. He was just as pissed at his dad as Mariana was but he couldn’t fully bring himself to throw out everything that his dad had given him. Seconds slowly ticked by until Mariana hopped off the bed.

“Wear this,” She grabbed a light blue zip-up hoodie with a dark blue hood. “You’ll still look dorky but I think Nurgul likes that about you. Don’t try so hard to be cool, just accept the dorkiness.”

Gabe took the hoodie with a bit of a confused look. “Oh, thanks,”

“No problem, see you later,” Mariana turned without another word and went to the door.

“Mari,”

She glanced back at her older brother “If you ever want to talk… about dad, I’ll listen.”

Mariana studied her brother’s expression then gave a short nod. “I know, thanks,” After a beat she left.

Gabe stared at the door then quickly looked back at the mirror. Pulling his arms through the hoodie sleeves he got it settled just right over his white shirt. Yeah, Mariana was right. He just had to be himself. That’s who Nurgul liked. Double-checking his hair and practicing his wave and smile for when he saw his girlfriend, Gabe strolled out. His feet whacked against the steps before he jogged to the door and grabbed his red converse. “I’m heading out!”

“Okay, be safe and back in time for dinner!” Javi called out from the living room.

“I will!”

“Be a gentleman and pay for the meal too!” Santiago’s voice chimed in.

“Yeah, I know.” Gabe double-checked that he had everything then opened the door and hopped down the front steps. Trying to still carry the cool swagger he felt he had a portion of, Gabe strolled down the street and made his way over to a nearby diner. He was hoping he’d arrive right when Nurgul did.

As fate would have it she had beat him to the diner and already saved them a booth.

“Gabe! Over here!” Nurgul gave a wave and a soft smile that made Gabe practically melt like butter on the spot. She looked absolutely adorable in her dark gray cardigan that wrapped around her form and covered a lighter gray top.  

“Hey, Nuri,” Gabe jogged over and gave a dorky smile. “Hope I didn’t keep you waiting.”

“Nope, I just got here,” Nurgul’s smile remained, making Gabe’s heart tumble around his chest.

“Good, I’m glad,” He quickly picked up the menu in front of him. “So, what should we get this time? Stick with our usual order of burgers?”

“Sounds good to me.”

“Awesome! Then for milkshakes, one chocolate, and one strawberry?” “Oh, actually, I was thinking… hmm, maybe it’s stupid,” Nurgul nervous played with her nails as her foot dragged across the ground.

“I bet it's not. What is it?”

“Well, when I first came to the States me and my mom used to watch a lot of romantic comedies to help learn English quicker. And in one of them I saw a couple sharing a milkshake so I thought it would be romantic if we tried it,” Nurgul tucked some of her short black hair behind her ear. Gabe’s face instantly heated up at that and he awkwardly fidgeted with his beanie.

“Yeah, I’d like that. Oh, here’s the waiter,”

Gabe quickly gave the order and to Nurgul’s surprise, he had made the milkshake order strawberry. After a minute the waiter brought the milkshake over with two straws. On top of the whipped cream stood a single cherry as well as a little heart symbol. Glancing over to his right, Gabe could see the waiter giving a thumbs up. That fact made both Gabe and Nurgul nervous.

A moment passed before both of them put their straws into the milkshake and reached out to hold the glass. Instantly their hands touched and their eyes locked. The couple became flustered, their faces heating up as they both glanced away. Neither one moved their hand though and Gabe’s soon rested on top of Nurgul’s. That gesture made Nurgul’s heart twirl around inside her chest and she couldn’t help but feel like she had stepped into an actual romance movie in an old-looking diner, sharing a milkshake with a boy she had had a major crush on for a while until she had finally got the nerve to ask him out. Now Gabe was her boyfriend and she could still hardly believe it. It really felt too good to be true sometimes. To meet someone as sweet and caring as him… it made Nurgul feel all warm and cozy inside. She wanted the feeling to last forever and it always seemed to whenever she was near Gabe.

[ericsonclan]

Never Forgotten

Summary: Gabe visits Mariana's grave and decides to take Nurgul with him this time.

Word Count: 2203

Read on AO3:

Gabe stood in the chapel. The warm lights of the early afternoon pierced through the boards on the colored glass causing oranges, yellow and reds to dance upon the floor. The faint smell of wax filled the rooms as the light flickered on the white candles that lit the metal chandeliers and the different candle stands around the room. Fresh flowers were placed around the memorial of those who New Richmond had lost.

Gabe’s eyes glanced at his dad’s picture. David stood in the photo smiling by a grill, ready to celebrate a day with his family. A lump of sorrow filled Gabe’s throat and he looked away. His hands focused on taking out Mariana’s old cassette player. Slowly he placed the headphones on and pressed the play button. A happy, quiet tune began to play, one that Gabe must’ve listened to a thousand times since Mariana’s passing. Gabe took a deep breath that came out shaky as his eyes traveled up to find his sister’s picture.

He soon spotted her bright smile and her eyes that shimmered with life and hope. Extending his hand, his fingertips brushed against the picture as tears began to slip down Gabe’s face. The song swelled slightly and Gabe felt his heart sting just as sharply as the day he had lost her. After a moment of letting himself cry Gabe recomposed himself and closed his eyes. He listened to a song that Mariana had always said helped her sleep during the early days when the world had ended.

As he became lost in the song Gabe could feel his sister within the music: her hopefulness, her light, her kindness. Gabe felt his body tremble slightly with emotion as more tears slipped down his face. After a moment of focusing on his sister an old memory bubbled forth within him. Immediately Gabe reached into his jacket and pulled out a small journal. Moving his fingers to the spot where the pencil was used as a placeholder he started to jot down the memory. Gabe was so caught up in writing down all he could remember that when he felt a hand on his shoulder he jumped. Spinning around he saw Nurgul with an apologetic smile on her lips.

“Hey, Nuri,” Gabe paused the music and took off the headphones, resting them on his shoulders. Quickly he brushed away his tears.

“Sorry, I didn’t mean to scare you or interrupt your private moment,” Nurgul’s eyes moved beyond Gabe and looked at the wall of all the people lost to this cruel new world.

“It’s okay, it’s no big deal,” Gabe’s hands reached up and began to pull his beanie over his ears. Nurgul picked up on this simple action, one that Gabe tended to do whenever he lied.

“No, it was. I came to tell you that your watchduty is in an hour but I can leave now and give you your space,” Nurgul smiled at her boyfriend then turned to leave when Gabe spoke up.

“Wait,”

Nurgul stopped and glanced back at Gabe’s tear-stained face.

“I don’t mind the company,” Gabe’s hands gripped onto the journal in his hands, his eyes heavy with sadness but deep within them Nurgul could tell he genuinely wanted her here.

“Okay,” She walked back over and stood by Gabe. The two shared a small smile before Gabe resumed writing down the memory. Nurgul stared down at the journal for a moment then forced her eyes to look away. It was rude to stare and it was even ruder to be invasive.

Gabe caught her glance before she could look away though. He didn’t say anything at first and continued to write. After a few minutes he placed the pencil back in the journal, closed it then put it back in his pocket. The two stood in silence, their eyes focused on the memorial.

“I was writing down a memory. It was a stupid, silly one,” Gabe shook his head with a  half-hearted laugh before sniffling. “Mari and I used to love watching Javi, my dad and Pipo, my grandpa, playing dominos. It always seemed like such a fun, competitive game even if it did make Yaya give my grandpa an earful,” Gabe smiled softly as he looked at the ground. “We used to want to play the game so badly but we were too impatient to learn the rules so we made our own. It got really competitive and silly. Mari kept making up ways for her to cheat and I would always get so grumpy whenever I lost but it was all in good fun,” Gabe inhaled sharply, trying to stop his emotions from overwhelming him once more. “I wanted to write down that since I’m the one that ended up living,” Gabe felt his throat tighten. He tried his best to not let tears slip down once more but soon they stained his face anew.

Gabe couldn’t stop the tears. He felt so alone in that moment until he felt a warmth take his hand. Glancing down, he saw Nurgul’s hand holding his. His eyes wandered up and he saw her kind, gentle smile. After taking a deep breath, Gabe continued. “Mari used to say that she wanted to write down anything and everything so she wouldn’t forget. She told me once that when she forgot a memory and it became gone, a small part of her disappeared too. So I want to honor her by writing down as many memories of her as I can.”

“I think that’s a beautiful way of honoring her,” Nurgul softly squeezed Gabe’s hand and he gave a short nod.

“I think she’d agree,” Gabe was quiet for a few seconds, waiting for the moment to pass before he asked Nurgul something. “Nuri? Would you like to come with me and visit Mari’s grave? I just think...” Gabe struggled to find the right words to express how much it would mean for Nurgul to visit his sister’s grave, even if it was just once.

“Of course, as long as you’re okay with that. I would like to pay respects to someone I’ve heard so many great stories about,”

Nurgul’s words made Gabe smile and he lifted up her hand, placing a warm kiss upon it.

“Thanks, I really appreciate it. We just have to find someone to drive us out there and grab some flowers,” Gabe placed away the cassette player and headphones and led the way out of the chapel.

“Okay,” Nurgul gently swayed their joined hands. She wanted Gabe to know she was right by his side as they stepped outside.

They were halfway through the courtyard when Gabe remembered he had watchduty. “Shit, I forgot I have watchduty in an hour. I don’t want to put pressure on this visit,” He swore under his breath and tried to shake away the frustration that was building up inside of him.

“It’s okay. I’ll ask Mia or Jimmy and see if they’re okay with switching shifts,”

“Really?” Gabe looked somewhat surprised by his girlfriend’s offer.

“Yeah, this is more important,” Nurgul got on her tiptoes and pressed a kiss to Gabe’s cheek then slipped her hand out of his. “I’ll meet you here in fifteen,”

“Okay,” Gabe gave a small wave, a happy smile on his face as he watched Nurgul run off to see if she could switch shifts for him. After waiting a moment longer Gabe walked off to find some flowers and a driver.

Fifteen minutes moved by quickly and soon Gabe was on his way back to the courtyard, two bouquets of purple and white hyacinths in his hands and Noah strolling beside him. Once he was in sight of the courtyard he noticed that Nurgul was already waiting for him. Her foot dragged absentmindedly across the ground as she patiently stood there until her gaze moved up and she spotted Gabe. Immediately a gentle warmth overtook her eyes and she gave a smile. Gabe walked forward and gave Nurgul a quick kiss.

“Any luck?”

“Yeah, Jimmy immediately said he had somewhere to be when I went to ask him but I got Mia to switch watchduty times with you.” Nurgul noticed the small flicker of annoyance in Gabe’s eyes at the news of Jimmy but it soon disappeared.

“Classic Jimmy. Glad Mia was willing to switch. I got the flowers and Noah,” Gabe held up the bouquets then motioned to Noah who gave a friendly wave.

“Hey there, just here to give you two a ride to C n C’s auto stop and make sure no crawlers get the jump on you,”

“Thank you,” Nurgul smiled at her friend and Gabe quickly added a thanks of his own.

“Heh, it's fine. Besides, isn't this the third thanks you’ve given, Gabe?” Noah teased Gabe lightly then started to lead the way to the cars. The two bantered for a while about this, both trying to get Nurgul on their side but Noah knew it was pointless to try soon enough. While Nurgul did stick by him and banter for a bit she always leaned more towards Gabe’s side.

The casual conversation lasted for a little while longer as they drove but as they approached the destination Gabe grew quiet. His hand held onto Nurgul the entire drive there, his grip slowly becoming tighter when Noah stopped the car.

“Let me just clear out those crawlers. Stay put,” Noah smiled back into the rearview mirror then got out of the car. Taking out his knife he made fast work of the living dead, their blood and brain matter soon slick on his blade and his shirt. After a few minutes he opened the car door. “Got some goop on my new shirt but besides that everything’s good. You ready?” His eyes met Gabe’s who gave a nod.

The three were shortly on their way to Mariana’s grave. A small wooden gravemarker that Javi and Gabe made stood in the pile on dirt.

As they approached the spot Gabe’s hand let go of Nurgul’s and he walked forward. “Hey there, Mari. Sorry I haven’t visited in a while. Javi gets worried whenever I come out here but don’t worry, I brought some people to watch my back. No muertos are gonna get me today,” Gabe smiled at the grave but the gesture didn’t reach his eyes. With a dry swallow he tried to find the right words, his lips parting for a moment before closing once more.

Gradually all of his walls were falling down, his emotions open and on display as he wore his heart on his sleeve. Kneeling down, he placed the bouquet of white and purple hyacinths on the grave. “I brought someone here with me today. Someone that I’ve been meaning to bring by for a while. I’ve told you a lot about her.” Gabe glanced back. “Nuri,”

Nurgul picked up on the subtle signal and walked forward. Slowly she knelt beside Gabe and placed down her own bouquet, paying respects for one that she admired deeply. “I’m glad I finally got to pay my respects. I’ve heard a lot about you. It would’ve been nice if we had gotten to meet,” Nurgul smiled at the gravemarker as tears began to trickle down her face. “I hope wherever you are you’re at peace.” She prayed that this small gesture honored the lost sister of the one she cared so much for. Nurgul stared at the grave for a moment longer before she heard sniffles beside her. Looking over, she saw Gabe blinking rapidly in a fruitless attempt at stopping his tears.

Gabe took a shaky breath when he felt Nurgul’s hand on top of his. “I think she would’ve really liked you. Probably tease me a lot about stupid shit. I wish she was here to tease me,” Gabe inhaled sharply, his voice becoming caught in his throat as copious tears fell from his eyes.

Nurgul turned to face Gabe and silently wrapped her arms around him. “Thank you for letting me visit your sister,”

Her words made Gabe’s eyes grow blurrier with tears and he grasped onto Nurgul, his emotions overtaking his body. Nurgul held onto her boyfriend tightly, letting him cry for as much time as he needed. Allowing him to show vulnerability in a world that did not always give you that luxury. Moments passed as Gabe continued to sob until he grew quiet but held onto Nurgul regardless. “Thank you for coming with me,” He whispered, his head tucked close to Nurgul’s ear.

“Of course, I’m here for you,” Nurgul held Gabe closer and he seemed to melt in her embrace.

“I’m here for you too. I’m gonna be strong,” Gabe’s words were muffled as he hid his face in her gray cardigan.

“You already are,” Nurgul whispered and soon the two of them grew quiet, enjoying the hug for as long as they could. Eventually Gabe drew back just a bit, enough to hold the gaze of Nurgul’s dark eyes in his own, and began to share more stories of Mariana while Nurgul listened, smiling softly at the tales and the fact that Gabe’s smile had finally returned to his eyes.

[ericsonclan]

The Christmas Beanie

Summary: Mariana surprises her brother with a holiday beanie with a twist.

Word Count: 1138

Read on AO3:

Gabe was sitting at the dining room table, poking his grilled cheese with a small frown. It was already December and his brain had given him zero ideas for holiday dates with Nurgul. It was going to be their first Christmastime as a couple too which made it feel even more important. No matter how much Gabe tried to downplay it and act like it wouldn’t be a big deal it still felt huge to him.

Nurgul made him feel a way that had his heart tumbling around one minute before pounding so loudly due to the happiness she brought him the next that it felt like it could jump right out of his chest. As he mulled over the choices present in his mind which remained at a staggering zero he heard footsteps growing nearer. Gabe didn’t bother to look up, focusing all his attention on this important task at hand until suddenly he felt something whack against his head.

“Ta-da! Got you something, see? I can be nice when I want to,” Mariana sat down with a smile and leaned back in her chair. “Especially when it's making sure that you have a good first Christmas with Nurgul,”

Gabe looked over at his sister, his nose scrunched up until he glanced down, causing his mouth to go slightly ajar. There, in his hands, was a black beanie with a cartoon design of some mistletoe. Along the brim of the beanie in white letters offset by the red background were the words “Kiss This”. Gabe blinked in confusion at the gift, his mind already knowing why his sister had given him this but at the same time also not believing that she had. “What’s this?”

“That’s a beanie, Gabe. It usually goes on your head, like the one you’re wearing right now,” Mariana spoke in a slow, teasing voice which made Gabe frown.

“I know that!”

“Do you though? You looked sorta like a deer in headlights for a second there,” Mariana leaned back in her chair with a playful smile.

“Because I’m not going to use it,” Gabe huffed and hid the beanie under his plate of grilled cheese.

“What? Why not? You’d get free kisses from Nurgul,”

“Or strangers!” Gabe saw the look on his sister’s face. “What?”

“You really are a dumbass. You just invite her here and say you’ll go on a walk through the snow. Put on the beanie then bam! A kiss! Honestly, sometimes I’m surprised you have a girlfriend,” Mariana got up from her spot and started to stroll away.

“Hey!” Gabe shouted at his sister who soon disappeared out of the dining room. He stared at the doorway then down at the beanie. Grabbing the beanie from under the plate he studied it carefully. Fine, he’d prove Mari wrong.

Nurgul hummed a tune as she strolled up to the front door, giving a happy knock. Hearing the sounds of frantic footsteps she saw the door be quickly opened by her boyfriend.

Gabe smiled brightly at Nurgul; his usual orange beanie was on and he was sporting a dark blue hoodie. “Hey there, Nuri,”

“Hey,” Nurgul gave a soft smile, feeling her heart warm up like it always did when she saw Gabe. “Ready for the walk?” “Almost, I just gotta grab something. Here, come in for a minute,” Gabe opened up the door a bit too fast; his nervousness confused Nurgul. Then again he had a tendency to become a nervous dork whenever he was with her.

“Okay,” Nurgul walked in and took a seat on the couch. Her eyes traveled around the living room, spotting all the different Christmas decorations: the cute little reindeers on the windowsills, the bright and warmly lit Christmas tree and a Santa that Nurgul was sure Gabe’s uncle had chosen. The Santa had on some sunglasses and a holiday-themed baseball uniform. “I love all your decorations,”

“Oh yeah?” Gabe’s voice called out from another room. “Thanks, I’m sure you have some good Christmas decorations at your house too.”

“Yeah, my stepdad loves Christmas. Definitely something I’ve grown to love since I moved to the States,” Nurgul got up and examined a cute little ornament on the Christmas tree of Gabe and his family.

“Christmas isn’t a thing in  Kazakhstan?”

“Hmm, not really as big of a deal as here. We really get into New Year celebrations,”

“Then I definitely can’t wait to spend New Year’s with you!” Gabe replied as he stood in the dining room, staring at the beanie. He just had to go for it. Throwing off his usual beanie, he placed the mistletoe one on and worked to fix his hair for a second.

“Everything okay, Gabe?” Nurgul was starting to get a little concerned.

“Yep, just had to get the last piece of my outfit ready,” Gabe took a deep breath then walked out into the living room. He felt his heart pound nervously in his chest as he made his way towards Nurgul.

Nurgul turned around to face her boyfriend and was surprised when she saw he was wearing a new hat. “Aww, that's a cute beanie,” Nurgul smiled then glanced away, feeling her heart start to beat louder.

Gabe noticed that her eyes were now elsewhere, his heart dropping for a minute. “Yeah, it’s stupid. I’ll take it off,”

“No! I like it!” Nurgul’s hands covered Gabe's, pressing against the sides of his head. The two froze in that moment, looking into each other’s eyes as they felt their faces growing warmer. After a few seconds Nurgul leaned forward, capturing Gabe’s lips in a soft kiss. It was a short kiss but one that made Gabe smile like a dork.

“Whoa, best part of the holidays so far,” Gabe grinned at Nurgul then stole a quick kiss.

“So, still want to go on that winter walk?” Nurgul took both of Gabe’s hands in hers and swayed them back and forth gently.

“Yeah, but I should probably take this beanie off - don’t want strangers kissing me,”

Gabe’s words made Nurgul laugh. “I don’t think that will happen,”

“Yeah, you’re probably right. Okay, I’ll keep it on then,” Gabe was surprised by another quick kiss then Nurgul intertwined her fingers with his. Walking towards the door, Gabe made sure Nurgul’s scarf was snug enough then led the way outside.

As they wandered outdoors, snow slowly began to fall. The two shared a smile then strolled down the street, making their way to a place Gabe swore made the best hot chocolate. As they walked the couple continued to share small kisses here and there. Gabe stole a quick glance over at Nurgul and felt his heart settle into a happy warmth. Turns out this gift beanie wasn’t half bad. In fact, it seemed to make the holidays even better.

[ericsonclan]

Gabegul’s Understand My Ship 💕

[ericsonclan]

Inked with Love

Summary: Gabe goes to a tattoo parlor and tries to get up the courage to get a tattoo that he hopes will impress his dad.Chapter Text

Word Count: 1000+

Read on AO3:

Gabe would do it. He would get this tattoo. Those were the words that Gabe told himself again and again as he walked towards Inked with Love, a tattoo parlor that wasn’t too far away from his house. His converse squeaked against the sidewalk as he strolled forward, his hands nervously fidgeting with his beanie as he tried to summon up his courage.

The plan was simple: he would walk in and set up an appointment to get a tattoo on his right forearm. It wasn’t anything too complicated of a design, just the army symbol with his father’s army troop number under it. Gabe was hoping that way he could really show his dad that he was tough just like him. Maybe then he’d finally really see Gabe and respect him.

With that hope in his heart, Gabe jogged up the steps and opened the door to the tattoo parlor. A small bell jingled as he opened the door and he saw that some tattoo artists were already busy at work inking their customers. A girl with short black hair was just wrapping up with a customer as Gabe walked in. The girl laughed softly and brushed her short hair back, drawing Gabe’s attention to the small panda tattoo behind her ear. The panda was running and carrying a few flowers. Suddenly the girl turned around to see who had entered the parlor. Gabe felt his heart skip a beat when he saw her beautiful brown eyes and soft smile.

“Hi there! I’ll be right with you!”

Gabe nodded dumbly. “I’ll be right here,” He gave a dorky smile then began to fidget with his beanie as he internally scolded himself for looking so dumb. The girl didn’t seem to mind though and quickly returned to her conversation with the customer she had just finished tattooing. After finishing up the girl strolled forward and stopped in front of Gabe.

“Welcome to Inked with Love, my name’s Nurgul,” She smiled brightly towards Gabe.

“Gabe,” He mumbled and messed with his jacket. His eyes caught sight of a few more tattoos that were on Nurgul’s arms; one that particularly intrigued him was a vine of leaves. It traveled up from the base of her elbow towards her shoulder and disappeared under her lavender t-shirt’s sleeve. Gabe’s attention was quickly pulled away from that, however, when he felt Nurgul’s arms wrap around him for a few seconds. The hug only lasted for a few seconds but it made his heartbeat pound within his ears.

“Sorry, I’m a hugger.” Nurgul apologetically smiled then began to walk forward. “Anyways, you’re here for a tattoo so let’s get started on that.”

Gabe nodded and jogged forward to catch up with her. Nurgul directed him to a tattoo parlor chair and he sat down while she went to grab a chair to sit on as well.

“So, what kind of tattoo do you want today?” Nurgul asked and Gabe began to take off his jacket and roll up his right shirt sleeve. Nurgul paused for a moment as she felt her heart flutter when she saw Gabe’s muscles flex as he rolled up the sleeve.

“I want a tattoo on my right shoulder with the army logo and my dad’s troop number,” Gabe’s voice cracked for a moment due to nerves. He really didn’t want this tattoo but he had to get it. It  was the only way to impress his dad.

Nurgul seemed to pick up on his wavering feelings though. “Do you really want this tattoo?”

Nurgul’s question made Gabe glance up and look at her with big eyes. He studied her face for a moment before his own fell.

“No, I don’t,” Gabe whispered and let his shirt sleeve fall. He began to pick at the zipper on his jacket.

Nurgul watched him carefully for a moment. “Is there a particular reason why you have to get this tattoo?”

Gabe looked up at her. “My dad is Army so I wanted to show solidarity even if I’m not planning to join. Maybe that way he’d be okay with my choice,” Gabe mumbled and pulled on the sides of his beanie.

Nurgul was quiet for a few moments, considering what the best course of action would be. Based on the expression Gabe had on his face he really, really didn't want this tattoo. Although she understood where he was coming from when it came to wanting to make your parents happy. After a little while she spoke again. “Gabe, perhaps this is out of line, but I’m putting my foot down. I’m only going to give you a tattoo if you really want it.” Nurgul crossed her arms and tried to look intimidating.

Gabe wasn’t focused on her bluffed aggression though. He was more touched that someone valued his voice on the matter. His eyes shone with happiness that Nurgul had taken his side into consideration. “Thanks,” he took a deep breath before continuing. “Okay, I don’t want the tattoo!” Gabe declared this a bit too loudly and the tips of his ears began to grow red with embarrassment.

Nurgul’s eyes were wide for a moment before she began to laugh softly. That caused Gabe’s embarrassment to deepen even further. “Well, I’m glad to hear that. I’ll go get one of our books with some alternate options,” She rested her hand on Gabe’s arm for a second but immediately drew it back. Her heart raced as she got up and spun around. She wasn’t sure why she had done that.

She was nearly halfway towards the book when a realization struck her. Maybe Gabe didn’t even want a tattoo anymore. “One more question, do you still want to get a tattoo?” Nurgul looked back at Gabe who was a flustered mess at this point. He glanced up and gave a determined nod.

“Yeah, I’ve always wanted a tattoo, just not the one I came in here for,” He smiled sheepishly and scratched the back of his neck.

Nurgul smiled warmly at him. “Alright, then I’ll be right back with some choices,” She turned around and continued forward, quickly disappearing into a room before reemerging with a tattoo design book. Sitting back down in front of Gabe, she opened the book. “Now there’s a lot of options. You could go for something humorous or if you wanted you could still get a tattoo in the same vein, something manly,”

Gabe took the book and began to scour the contents of it. His eyes looked at each design carefully before he moved to the next page. A few minutes passed and he still hadn’t chosen a design when suddenly he spotted one that he liked. Nurgul noticed the smile on his lips and leaned forward.

“Find one you like?” Nurgul’s eyes wandered up and she saw that she was incredibly close to Gabe’s face. Both of their faces heated up as they looked into each other’s eyes before Nurgul moved back a bit.

Gabe cleared his throat and held up the book for Nurgul to see. “I like this one,” He smiled softly as pointed to a tattoo design of a deep pink gladiolus flower. Nurgul looked at the tattoo design then at Gabe’s happy face. It seemed like the perfect match for him.

“Alright, I can get started on the tattoo right away. Do you want it in the same spot as you pointed out before?” Nurgul asked while she gathered the supplies she needed.

Gabe shook his head. “Nah, I want it on my right shoulder blade. That way my dad can’t see it and get upset. He’d only really like it if I got an Army tattoo,”

Nurgul nodded in understanding. “Okay, I’m going to need you to take off your shirt for me then,” Nurgul said the words before her mind registered them. She didn’t have a chance to mentally prepare herself when Gabe took off his shirt, revealing toned muscles. Nurgul could feel her face heating up. She rose to grab some more supplies.

“I’ll be right back,” Nurgul reassured with a quick smile and jogged off to grab a few things. After a minute of finding the supplies and calming down her heart Nurgul came back, ready to be professional and give her customer the perfect tattoo. She quickly sat back down and instructed that Gabe turn around so his right shoulder blade was facing her.

Nurgul began by wiping the spot where she’d place the tattoo then got the stencil laid in order to properly draw it. Once that was done Nurgul got the needle ready. Gabe flinched slightly at the feeling of the tattoo needle touching his skin but after a little while he got used to the sensation. He looked over at Nurgul and saw that she was pouring all of her concentration into the tattoo. His eyes wandered around and spotted some more tattoos that she had on her body. They were all so cute and charming, just like her.

“I like your tattoos,”

Gabe’s compliment made Nurgul stop her work for a moment. Her eyes danced with happiness at those words. “Aww, thank you, that's very sweet of you to say. My friend Duck owns a tattoo parlor not far from here. He did most of my tattoos. He’s super talented.” Nurgul gave a smile then resumed her work. “Y’know, I think you picked a really fitting tattoo. It will look great on you for sure,”

Gabe flushed at those words. “Thanks,”

The two began to talk here and there as Nurgul continued her work. It took some time to complete the tattoo but it felt like it went by in a flash to the pair. They found it easy to talk with each other and found each other’s company pleasant. After a while Nurgul placed down the tattoo needle.

“All done. Here,” Nurgul helped guide Gabe to a mirror to check out his new tattoo.

Gabe took in the intricate details of the gladiolus flower, a bright smile appearing on his lips as he continued to admire it.

“It's perfect!” Gabe beamed over at Nurgul who felt her heart pitter patter.

“I’m glad. I’ll help cover it so that it can heal,” Nurgul’s words pulled Gabe away from looking at his tattoo and soon he was back in the chair. After a few minutes of covering the tattoo with plastic wrap, talking over the healing process and paying, Gabe was all set to go. He carefully shifted on his jacket again and walked to the front door. Nurgul walked beside him and stopped when they had reached the exit.

“Thank you again!” Gabe smiled at his tattoo artist who returned it warmly.

“I’m glad I was able to find the right tattoo for you,” Nurgul’s smile grew before she realized something. This was the perfect opportunity to give him her number. She had had so much fun with him and his presence made her feel a special kind of way. She should take this chance before it was too late. Reaching around in her pocket, she got out a business card and grabbed a pen that was nearby. Jotting down her number, Nurgul handed it towards Gabe. “Here, in case you want another tattoo or just want to talk,”

Gabe’s eyes grew large as he took the business card with Nurgul’s number. He stared at it as if it was gold. An excited smile appeared on his lips. “Thanks! I’ll definitely send you a text soon,” Gabe’s words made Nurgul’s heart feel warm and fuzzy. Gabe gave one final wave then pulled open the door and disappeared down the sidewalk. Nurgul stood there for a moment before giving a happy sigh. She couldn’t wait to get Gabe’s text.

[ericsonclan]

A Traumatizing Gesture

Summary: Gabe decides to go and surprise Nurgul but when he gives her a hug from behind her reaction is not what he expects it to be.

Word Count: 1850

Read on AO3:

Gabe stared out into the world beyond New Richmond, the moans and groans of the dead slowly filling the air as they mindlessly wandered about. Sometimes it surprised Gabe how much suffering the muertos had inflicted onto the living with how oblivious they seemed when humans weren’t nearby. One muerto was busy walking forward, never getting past the point it was at due to it being stuck in a hole. Another was busy trying to get beyond a tree whose lower branch was deeply embedded in its gut, tearing through its flesh and making its rotten guts slowly spill out. Then again Gabe had seen the carnage that the muertos had caused, the horror that they’d brought as they tore the living apart as if they were nothing. Biting into their flesh and drinking their blood. So he would remain vigilant on guard duty, not only for any kind of herd or muerto threat but also for those of the human kind.

Time passed by slowly up there as Liam stood not too far away on another watch post. After a while though, Gabe's shift was done and he carefully descended the ladder back down to solid ground. Strolling forward through the main courtyard, Gabe stretched his arms and reached for the snack that he would eat in celebration of a job well done: pudding cups. Nurgul had been kind enough to sneak out a second pudding cup to Gabe from Javi’s special pudding stash. The small gesture had warmed Gabe’s heart and looking at the pudding cup again Gabe was reminded how lucky he was to have a girlfriend like Nurgul. Tossing one of the pudding cups in his hand, Gabe happily strolled forward and was about to reach for his plastic spoon when he heard a familiar voice.

“Gabe!” Jimmy scampered forward with his usual friendly smile that showed his carefree nature. “I was hoping I would find you. I have the next shift but I didn’t grab anything to eat so-” Jimmy paused when he saw that Gabe was holding the pudding. “Could you be a pal and part with your pudding?” Jimmy pressed his hands together and began to plead.

Gabe looked down at his pudding then over at his friend with a small frown. Normally he would tell Jimmy that there was no way in hell he’d part with pudding. An apple? Sure. Some random vegetable? Absolutely. But pudding was special. Still, Nurgul had snagged him a second pudding cup and he would look like a dick if he didn’t let his friend have one.

“Okay, fine,” Gabe tossed over the pudding cup which Jimmy caught with a grin.

“Thanks!” Jimmy paused for a second. “It's hard to eat pudding without a spoon. Do you have one to spare?”

Gabe groaned again and reached into his pocket beside his army knife, one of the last mementos of his dad. Rummaging around, Gabe soon found the plastic spoon and tossed it over to Jimmy.

With a happy laugh Jimmy jogged forward and whacked Gabe’s back a bit too joyfully before sprinting off. “Thanks a million, Gabe!” He gave one final wave and then was off like a shot toward the walls.

Gabe returned the wave, watching his friend for a moment, then turned to continue to wander through the town. With a tired sigh and a shake of his head Gabe took out his other pudding cup and tried a new method of eating it: squeezing the bottom of the cup to let the pudding fall out. It was a sloppy, haphazard eating experience but still a tasty one. Maybe Nurgul was right - he was too kind for his own good. Then again, based on all the time he had spent with his girlfriend he knew that the exact same was true of her.

After a few more sloppy attempts to finish his pudding cup Gabe tucked the now clean plastic cup in his blue hoodie and wiped away whatever pudding remained on his face. Soon his mind was focused on the next order of business: finding Nurgul. He had no more chores or duties for the next couple of hours so he wanted to spend those with his girlfriend if he could find her. It took him a while, asking a lot of different people including Noah and Mia who were on their way to discuss something with Javi. Eventually, though, he learned that Nurgul was on the rooftop of a building only a block away from where he currently was. Apparently she was busy planting something up there. Whatever it was, Gabe knew that he’d enjoy the simplicity of helping his girlfriend garden while catching up with her. With that thought in mind he set out to find Nurgul, his strides wider in an attempt to reach her faster.

It didn’t take long for him to slip into the building and walk up the stairs, skipping steps in order to reach the roof quicker. Soon Gabe’s hand was securely on the door to the roof and with a soft push he opened the door which made a faint creaking sound. Strolling out and scanning the area, he soon found Nurgul in the middle of planting some new flowers. A calming Kazakh lullaby left her lips as she hummed while she worked. Gabe’s heart softly fluttered as he looked at his girlfriend before he began to tiptoe over toward her. He wanted to give her a nice surprise, wrapping her up in a hug that he hoped was even half as good as her hugs were. Step by step he made his way over towards her then waited until she rose up to her feet before he tightly wrapped her in a hug from behind. “Surprise, Nuri!”

Nurgul immediately tensed up though, her breathing becoming uneven and sporadic before disappearing. With a panicked cry she squirmed to break free of the hug, tossing Gabe back and landing him harshly on the concrete. Nurgul’s body trembled as she struggled to catch her breath; it wasn’t until a couple moments had passed before she risked a glance over to see who was there. Her eyes grew large when she noticed it was her boyfriend. “Gabe!” Nurgul jogged over to check on him.  “I am so sorry,” She reached out a hand which Gabe readily accepted.

“It’s fine. Didn’t mean to scare you like that. How about we sit down for a bit?” Gabe motioned over toward the set of benches, each in front of a planter.

Nurgul gave a shaky nod and made her way over to the far left one while Gabe gently brushed the lower part of his back. That was definitely going to bruise. Spotting where Nurgul had taken a seat, Gabe joined but sat a few inches away, making sure to give her the space if need be. Both of them were silent for a few moments as Nurgul fidgeted with the hem of her grey cardigan. Gabe stayed quiet, waiting to see if Nurgul had anything to say before he started up any sort of conversation. After some time had passed Nurgul broke the silence.

“Sorry,” Her eyes remained focused on the ground.

“It’s okay, just surprising is all,” Gabe gave a reassuring smile but Nurgul didn’t seem to fully buy it.

“Did I hurt you?” Her eyes studied Gabe’s for a moment.

“Nothing that bad. It will heal in no time.” Gabe smiled once more then took a beat before continuing to speak. “Are you okay?”

“I will be,” Nurgul gave a smile that felt forced then glanced back down at the ground, the toe of her shoe gently brushing against the concrete.

“I really didn’t mean to scare you. I just thought-” Gabe took a deep breath, “I just wanted to surprise you with a hug.”

Nurgul was silent for a second. “It’s okay, just brought up bad memories,” Her voice became quieter towards the end of that sentence.

Gabe waited for a moment, wanting to ask if Nurgul would like to share but ultimately deciding against it. He didn’t want to force her to share tough memories; he knew he’d hate it if someone said something that made it feel like he had to do that.

“It was winter time,”

Nurgul’s voice drew Gabe's attention.

“My mother was sick, but we thought that if we were smart she could hold on until springtime and she’d get better. But that never happened,” Nurgul hid her hands away in her cardigan sleeves. “She turned that night and when I woke I thought for a split second everything was okay, that my mother was just holding me close. That wasn’t true though. The ulginder kept holding me, tighter and tighter until it felt like I couldn’t breathe. I thought it was all over but my winter coat gave me another moment to live and so when I saw a chance I ran. Leaving her,” Nurgul paused for a moment. “Leaving it behind. That’s why I reacted the way I did earlier.” Nurgul’s right arm wrapped around herself for a moment as if she hoped that action would crush any lingering panic and anxiety within her.

Gabe looked at his girlfriend, feeling his sadness build as he let that story sink in. An inkling of guilt burrowed deeply within. Seeing the expression Nurgul held, he wished he could help her feel better.

“Nuri,” Gabe slowly reached out his hand, intertwining his pinky with Nurgul’s. The small action startled Nurgul for a moment, causing her to instinctively flinch before she allowed herself to accept it. Slowly her pinky locked with Gabe’s. “I’m so sorry that happened. Losing a parent,” Gabe felt his throat go rough at a bitter memory before he harshly swallowed and continued. “It hurts, deeper than I’d ever want anyone too feel, especially you.”

His words made Nurgul’s lips tremble as tears started to slip down her face.

“I promise, Nuri, I won’t ever do that again,” Gabe looked over at Nurgul who gave a small nod. She continued to cry softly as her grip on Gabe’s hand tightened. Gabe silently supported her, letting all of her emotions run freely now that he knew the weight that his one unintentional action had caused.

After a moment Nurgul scooted over and slowly slid her arm around Gabe’s back. Ever so carefully Gabe moved his arms around Nurgul, making sure that he wasn’t doing anything that would cause her any sort of pain. The two soon sat side by side, holding each other close and letting each other’s presence communicate what they were feeling as the silence remained.

After a few minutes Gabe felt Nurgul’s shoulders relax somewhat as her head rested on his shoulder. Looking down at Nurgul he saw that her eyes were closed as she took slow, deep breaths. Silently Gabe pressed a kiss to her head then let his head softly rest on top of hers. Soon the world around them faded and the pair let themselves enjoy the comfort that came from sitting together in peace and silence.

[ericsonclan]

The Mystery Snack

Summary: Renata and Sophie prepare to sneak up to the surface when suddenly another merperson appears wanting to see the land dwellers again.

Word Count: 2876

Read on AO3:

Renata swam forward, her yellow tail cutting through the water with ease as she twirled amongst the seaweed. A large grin was on her face as she continued onward, not a care in the world. Her brown eyes glanced up at the waters above, noticing the small schools of fish and the warm sunlight that pierced through the surface of the ocean and highlighted the waters below. There really was no place to live like under the sea. Still, the surface was so mysterious with the land dwellers running around on things that looked like sticks and with their weird food. Renata still wasn’t over how disappointing that black block tasted.

“Stupid stale box,” Renata flicked her tail and did another small spin, instantly regaining her joy. Whatever, she was planning on meeting up with Allison today and after that she would finally go on that stealth mission that she and Sophie had been playing for ages. In fact, Renata was already forgetting sections of the three hour old plan. Her nose scrunched up in concentration as she continued forward before she shrugged it off. It couldn’t be that important if she forgot it.

With a happy, upbeat tune Renata made her way forward, dancing upon the small little pulls of the ocean below. Until her eyes caught sight of Allision; her blood red tail stuck out clearly in the water as it moved this way and that. The ends of her fins brushed against the sands of the ocean floor, moving at such an anxious pace that Renata grew curious at what could be getting her friend in such a mood. With a playful smile she swam forward and tackled Allison with a hug. “Surprise hug attack!” Renata declared loudly and spun the two of them around in the water for a few seconds.

“Renata!” Allison squirmed around in her friend’s arms for a moment. “You distracted me from the hunt!”

“Oops, sorry there. Whatcha hunting?” Renata’s eyes scanned the area and her smile faltered for a second when she saw a big shark. Without thinking twice she guided her and Allison into a hollowed out rock. “That was close! Mr. Grumpy Teeth almost saw us,”

“That's what I was hunting,” Allison mumbled, her tail flicking in anticipation of Renata’s disapproval.

“Allie, just because you got a badass shark tooth necklace doesn’t mean you won’t be this grump’s appetizer,”

Renata’s words made Allison glance down at the necklace that Renata had gifted her during their travels together before they found the place that they now called home.

“I know,”

“I mean, we snagged that off some shark that was totally dead. I’m pretty sure a whale sat on that shark or something but this one is bad news.” Renata’s tail curled around a little rock and began to whack it softly up and down.

“It could be a threat though,” Allison’s eyes watched the shark for a moment then looked over at Renata.

“It could or it could just be passing through. Best thing we can do is stay here for a little bit then head back home. If it decides to show its ugly mug in our home, then it's gonna learn what merpeople can really do!”

Allison was quiet for a moment, her hand playing with her necklace. She trusted Renata’s judgement here; she usually always listened to Renata’s decision when they revolved around things like this. Not when it came to dumbass matters though - that’s when Allison knew to not have a fin in those sort of things. Usually. “Okay, fine,”

“Wooo! Alright, I found some neato sticks so we’re playing tic-tac-toe!” Renata beamed over at Allison who nodded and took the stick.

It was an hour or so before the shark moved far away from them and off in a direction opposite to their home. Once the coast was clear Renata led the way before swimming around and around Allison. “Glad we made this a game day and not a hunting day!” Renata smiled over at her friend. The red-tailed mermaid gave a small smile in response.

“Yeah, I guess it wasn’t bad,”

“That’s the spirit! Now come on, let's get back home!” Renata grabbed Allison’s hand and pulled her forward as she swam. Soon the two friends were swimming side by side, happy and carefree. It wasn’t a long swim before they arrived back home to the giant sea stone that held dozens of caves that the merpeople had turned into a beautiful home with the help of rocks, shiny shells and the occasional hermit crab.

As Renata and Allison made their way through the entrance they spotted Oakley who was staring rather intently at a patch of seaweed. The merperson’s chestnut brown tail swayed slowly, moving with the ebb and flow of the thought process of their inner mind. After a moment or two of pondering Oakley opened their mouth with a pronounced ‘Ah’ sound and bit down on the seaweed. Chewing thoughtfully, Oakley went from a somewhat blank expression to one of disgust. With a ‘bleh’ sound, bits of seaweed swooshed away with a well-timed current. “Bad seaweed.”

Before Renata could go over and comfort her friend for their terrible loss of potentially good seaweed, a new merperson spiraled forward. His firetruck red tail stood out loudly against the softer colors of the creatures nearby him.

“Knox!” Duck moved forward, abruptly stopping and causing a small whirlwind of water with his tail nearby. “I found a new patch of seaweed that we haven’t explored yet! Wanna go?” Oakley gave a small nod which made a happy smile appear on Duck’s lips. Interlocking his pinky with Oakley’s, Duck swam forward, slowly guiding his love away. Renata and Allison watched them for a moment when suddenly a loud voice appeared nearby.

“Allie!” Willy swam forward, his hands cupped together. “I found a super cool stone!” Revealing the stone, Willy watched as awe danced around in Allison’s eyes as she studied the smooth blue rock that changed from lighter shades to darker ones. “Pretty cool, huh?”

“Yeah, really cool,” Allison carefully took the rock and examined it for a moment longer before pressing a kiss to Willy’s cheek. That romantic gesture made Willy beam with happiness and twirl in a circle a few times in a row.

“I found a whole area like this! Come on, we gotta check it out!” Willy grasped Allison’s hand. The positive smile on his face made a new smile appear on hers.

“Okay,” Allison began to swim away then looked back at Renata. “See you later,”

“Okay! See ya!” Renata gave a wave then was off like a shot after moving her tail with a strong flick.

Twirling about, Renata made her way through the merpeople’s land. As she swam by, she noticed Nurgul’s lavender tail and saw that she was making seashell necklaces with Gabe before stealing a quick kiss from him. Both of them were overwhelmed by that action and their faces only became redder when Gabe returned Nurgul’s affection with a kiss of his own. Nurgul smiled softly at that and swam around Gabe and his orange and yellow tail twice then took his hand in hers. Renata smiled at the happy couple then swayed her tail back and forth at a fast pace, propelling herself forward.

Her eyes caught sight of Ruby who was beside Aasim, her azure tail curled around his black tail that held red accents. Ruby watched Aasim with a warm smile as he tried to carve some sort of writing into stone. After a moment she caught sight of Renata and gave a small wave. Renata returned it in kind then continued forward, her gaze turning to the water above and picking up on the fact that night was fast approaching. She had to find Minnie for some quality snuggling time before she went on this top secret mission with Sophie.

Moving her fin at an alarming rate Renata cut through the water and made a beeline right towards her and Minnie’s home. There, already relaxing, was Minnie. The redhead’s eyes brightened immediately when she spotted Renata, her smokey grey tail happily swaying. “Hey there, Ren,”

“Minnow!” Renata swam forward and immediately wrapped her arms around Minnie. Peppering Minnie’s face with kisses, Renata pulled back with a warm smile. “Did you miss me?”

“Yeah, I did,” Minnie held onto the hug. “Did you have a nice time with Allison?”

“Yep! But now I want cuddles!” Renata nuzzled her face against Minnie’s. The action made MInnie’s face heat up.

“Oh, okay. Yeah, I’m down for that,”

Minnie’s answer made Renata’s smile grow and soon the two of them were cuddling up close to each other, their tails gently intertwined as Minnie gave Renata a kiss before falling asleep.

Renata’s eyes fluttered open and she gave a loud yawn, smacking her lips together for a moment. Glancing over, she saw that Minnie was fast asleep. It would be tough to sneak out now. Minnie wasn’t exactly a heavy sleeper. Giving a soft kiss to her girlfriend, Renata then got to work, wiggling and squishing her body together to slip out of Minnie’s arms. It took some awkward movements and a weird sound or two but soon Renata was free.

Giving a gentle goodbye kiss so as to not wake up Minnie, she started to swim off. Then she suddenly paused. Her eyes traveled over to Minnie and she resisted the urge to give her love another kiss. She quickly failed. Renata swam over and kissed Minnie one more time then used the end of her fin to tickle her face before leaving.

It didn’t take Renata long to spot her best friend. Sophie’s shimmery white tail swayed ecstatically with her anticipation for this secret mission. Her eyes soon found Renata and a smile appeared on her lips. “Heya, Ren! I see you succeeded in step one,” Sophie swam over to meet up with Renata.

“Yep! And I only gave Minnie two goodbye kisses so she won’t be waking up unlike last time.”

“Yeah, midnight swimming with dolphins would’ve been a blast,” Sophie’s tail stopped for a moment. “Oh well, that will be the next mission but this one first! I gotta see if this black block was really stale or if you’ve been hiding secret tasty land dweller food,” Sophie’s eyes narrowed at Renata playfully.

Renata gasped. “I would never do that to my best friend! That black block is gross but I guess we'll just have to go up to the surface to prove it to you,” She shared an excited smile with Sophie until suddenly the two mermaids heard the flick of a fin slicing through the water. Spinning around, the two of them spotted the familiar evergreen tail and the freckled chest of Louis.

“Hey, I’m here for the mission!” Louis grinned over at the two mermaids, his tail swaying excitedly.

“Hmm, I don’t know,” Sophie crossed her arms and shared a secret look with Renata. “Can we trust him?”

“Hmmm, nah,” Renata answered and swam away with Sophie for a second before turning around and grabbing Louis’ hand. “Kidding! Okay, let’s go lick some weird land dweller food and see that stick lady that Louis likes!”

Louis sputtered a response but neither of his friends heard him in their excitement.

“Okay!” Sophie smiled and led the way. The three of them tried to be stealthy as they snuck out. They were less than successful. Sophie ran into a rock structure, accidentally knocking it over, and Renata got distracted by a funny looking crab while Louis tried to grab a fish in his teeth as a gift for the land dweller he was sweet on. Luckily for them though none of the merpeople woke up and so the trio soon swam up to the surface and towards the spot where Renata, Louis and Violet had run into those two weird-speaking land dwellers. Once they arrived though it was clear that the two stick folks as Renata called them and the stale black block were nowhere to be seen.

“Are they hiding?” Sophie’s face was barely above the water as she scanned the area.

“No, they love to be out and about,” Renata looked around. Louis nodded and started to speak but the fish in his mouth muffled his words. Spitting it out, Louis tried to speak again.

“Renata is right. Maybe they have a sleeping spot though. These rocks don’t look comfortable,”

“Yeah they look like real jerkfaces,” Sophie nodded in agreement to Louis’ words.

“Well if they do have cool sleeping rocks, then I wanna find them. That’s gotta be where their stash of stale food is too,” Renata dove down underwater and soon Sophie and Louis followed suit. The three of them searched around the area for a little bit before Sophie spotted a weird-looking wooden log in the sea. It had sticks poking out of it draped with strange white long seaweed. Without hesitating Renata and Sophie dashed forward, jumping and splashing into the water as they made their way forward. Meanwhile Louis was studying his fish gift.

“This is stupid, I can’t give a fish twice!” Louis frowned and tossed the fish over his shoulder. The dead fish plopped into the water then traveled along the surface’s currents. Louis thought deeply about what he wanted to give the land dweller who made him feel all warm and fuzzy. After a moment his eyes shone with the answer. “A jellyfish!” Louis jumped up in the air and dove back down into the water, determined to find the new gift.

Sophie struggled to get onto the weird floating wooden log. Her fin floundered about as she tried to get her full body onto its flat top. Once she was on the log she leaned over and helped Renata who gave herself small encouragements as she struggled along with Sophie to get onto the floating log. It took a few more moments but soon both of them were on the log and rolling about to see what they could find.

Sophie’s light blue eyes looked around for the supposed snack Renata had licked. Looking back and forth and back and forth as she rolled around, Sophie finally found it - the black block. “Heheh, found ya!” Sophie grinned then licked the shiny black item. Her smile immediately faded though and a small pout pulled on her lips. Renata was right, it was stale. Sophie continued to pout, upset by this news when suddenly she found a white, tiny three-pronged item. “Ooo! Ren! I found something!” Sophie whisper hissed over to her best friend who was currently busy sniffing a bag full of what looked like pebbles and sand. Rolling over, Renata stopped by Sophie.

“Look! Look! I think this is a tiny weapon!” Sophie held out the three pronged item.

“Ooo! Or a thing to help your hair be super smooth!”

Renata’s suggestion made Sophie’s eyes grow large and the redhead immediately began to run the three pronged item through her long red hair. She made a happy sound as she continued to brush her hair while Renata clapped along. Sophie was about to start up another round of brushing when her eyes caught sight of the bag again. “What's that?”

Renata followed her friend’s gaze and looked at the bag. “I don’t know but I hope it's tasty!” She pulled open the bag and dug around. Tossing a handful in her mouth, Renata let out a small gasp. “It’s good! It's tasty sand!”

Sophie immediately snatched some up and her tastebuds were bombarded with distinct sweet, salty and crunchy sensations. “It is tasty sand! This is amazing!” She smiled over at Renata who returned it and the two began to high five again and again and again. When suddenly they heard some sounds from inside the log and the strange dialect of the land dwellers.

“We’ve been compromised!” Renata yelled. She and Sophie began to roll over to the edge of the log. Both of them were in the middle of helping each other escape when Louis emerged from the water, a small pink jellyfish covering his eyes.

“Guys! Bad news! Jellyfish aren’t good gifts!”

“Not now, Louis! We have to get back home with the tasty sand!” Sophie jumped into the water, the food in the bag closed and secured.

“Okay! I just need help getting Mr. Jelly off my face!” Louis blindly swam forward, bonking his head on a rock a moment later. Sophie quickly pulled off the jellyfish then looked back to see that Renata had the three pronged item in her mouth. With a jump that Renata would describe as nothing short of godliness, although in actuality it was anything but that, Renata belly flopped into the sea.

“Ren!” Sophie called out to her best friend as she slowly sunk into the sea below.

“Haul ass, ladies! Back home we go!” Louis led the way back under the sea once Sophie had successfully grabbed Renata. The three of them successfully disappeared without being seen by the land dwellers. As they swam forward all three of them had one single hope: that they wouldn’t get caught sneaking back into the merpeople’s land.

[ericsonclan]

He Was a Skater Boy

Summary: Gabe skateboards over to Ericson High to have a pudding eating contest with his uncle when suddenly he meets someone he had never seen before.

Word Count: 2067

Read on AO3:

Gabe sprinted down the hallway of Delta High, his backpack whacking against his back as his sneakers squeaked against the tiled floor. “Shit, sorry, sorry,” Gabe dodged fellow students as he continued to run. His right hand clutched his skateboard tightly and he soon found himself outside of the school building.

Gabe tilted his head back and took a deep breath. That was it, the smell of freedom. His left hand sloppily readjusted his beanie and he set down his board to skate off to meet up with his uncle. Javi had told him that he had worked out a deal with a lunch lady at Ericson High to get them a mountain of pudding. It was finally time that they put their money where their mouths were. They were going to have the ultimate pudding eating contest.

Gabe had been sure to eat light at lunch to prepare in advance for this. His dad would be pissed if he knew that he had skimmed on lunch all in the name of a pudding eating contest. He would be furious if he knew it was to spend time with Javi. Gabe took a deep breath and shook off any negative thoughts. Placing his left foot on the skateboard he used his right to kick off and began the journey to Ericson High - the monster school.

Gabe zoomed forward and pulled his beanie down, turning his head to the side to avoid catching attention from Joey or Justin. Those two never let go of grudges and ever since Gabe had helped Violet they had always bugged him whenever they had the chance. Gabe skated forward and saw that he was reaching the staircase. As he hopped up, Gabe’s backpack lifted in the air before the board landed on the staircase bar. It screeched lightly as he slid down the bar; Gabe smiled to himself and hopped off to land with ease at the bottom of the stairs. Pushing his foot against the ground, he continued to skate forward.

Mariana was sure missing out today. It was just her luck that she got caught on a silly prank and her partner in crime had ratted her out. Usually Gabe would stay back for her and treat her to some popsicles but he really didn’t want to miss today. It was hard to find time to hang out with his uncle. Especially lately with how much his dad had grown to distrust monsters. Gabe turned his focus back on the joy of skateboarding. Today was supposed to be a fun day. He tilted his head back and let the breeze blow through his hair that stuck out of his beanie. Moments like this were when he felt truest to himself. School had always felt like an obligation and after seeing how cool Ericson High was Gabe had grown somewhat jealous of his friend Clementine. She got to go to such a cool place every day while Gabe had to deal with annoying bullies and uncaring teachers who sort of irked him.

But that was just him being jealous. He knew that monsters had to deal with way more shit from people outside of school and ever since Clementine had made it clear that she sided with the monsters she’d become a target too from some of the Delta assholes.

Gabe looked back at the sidewalk ahead of him and began to weave past the people going about their day to day lives. “Oops! Sorry!” He barely squeezed through a small opening and gave an apologetic smile back to the couple. “Have a nice day!” Gabe gave a short salute and felt his embarrassment grow as he skated on. That was really stupid. Shaking off the feeling, Gabe continued on until he saw the Ericson High building.

Monsters of all kinds were outside mingling after a long day of classes. A mummy was trying to impress her crush by showing how badass her bandages were but had got them caught up in a tree branch. It didn’t seem to make the invisible girl beside her think any less of the mummy though as she leaned forward and placed a kiss on the mummy’s cheek, leaving a large lipstick stain on her bandages. The mummy grew flustered before her joy overwhelmed her and she used the bandages that were dangling on the branches as a swing as she swung ecstatically.

Gabe smiled and continued to skate forward, doing a quick jump to spin around on his skateboard before continuing forward. His eyes scanned the area and he noticed Violet was leaning against the side of the school building with her hood up. Her wolf ears flicked this way and that as they popped out of the holes in her hood. Beside her was James who was excitedly talking about what sounded to be a double date. He held a pamphlet in his hand for an art museum. Violet nodded along and talked happily with her friend before another monster called her name.

“Violet!” Sophie crowed and waved around a stick. “Fetch!” Without warning the harpy let out a series of excited tweets and twitters as she threw the stick through the sky. Violet’s ears perked up while her tail wagged enthusiastically and she gave a hasty goodbye to the cyclops before scampering forward.

The werewolf sprinted past Mitch who was having a show of strength with Marlon. The two of them were completely lost in the arm wrestling competition but the minotaur seemed keen on showing off to a certain selkie who was busy talking with Ruby and another monster that Gabe had never seen before.

Her short black hair and warm brown eyes captivated his attention as he skated by. The pure white feathers that covered her arms enhanced her beauty and her laugh made Gabe’s heart flutter. He was completely lost in the moment as he watched the swan monster whisper happily with her friends while they watched the arm wrestling competition.

Suddenly Gabe rammed into something heavy, knocking the wind out of him and causing the skateboard to go flying out from under his feet. Gabe landed hard on his ass and hissed in pain.

“Look out!” a voice called out and Gabe’s eyes shot up to see Louis’ head falling right towards him. Gabe immediately held out his hands and caught the frankenstein’s head just in time. The two stared at each other for a moment before screaming. After an instant’s panic though, both settled down.

“Thanks, buddy! You were really thinking ahead there!” Louis grinned at his own joke and Gabe gave a small laugh.

“Yeah,” Gabe’s smile faltered for a moment as he rose to his feet. “Sorry about that - I wasn’t watching where I was skating and-” Gabe took a deep breath, letting his thoughts catch up with his words. “Sorry.”

“No need to apologize. Just gotta redirect my body towards my head,” Louis smiled brightly and tried to use his head to motion towards his body. The frankenstein’s body was failing miserably at retrieving Louis’ head as it blindly walked forward and fell faceless first into a trash can. Louis’ smile faded instantly. “Damn it, now I’m gonna smell bad in front of Clem.”

“I’m really-” Gabe was cut off when the monster he had been caught off guard by yelled something.

“Hey! Stay away from my friend!” The cygnus rushed forward and began to hiss and snort as she busked at Gabe. Her arms were outstretched and her white feathers ruffled as she tried to intimidate the human. “No Delta High bullies here!”

Gabe blinked in confusion then looked down at his letterman jacket. Shit. Of course she had thought he was trouble. Most kids at Delta High weren’t kind to monsters.

“No, Nurgul! He’s cool! He’s one of the good humans!” Louis reassured the cygnus who still seemed unsure as her chest heaved with emotion. She kept trying to have an intimidating aura but Gabe instead found the whole thing incredibly cute. Silently Gabe lifted up Louis’ head and placed it back on the frankenstein’s body. Louis’ body raised its hands to readjust his head into place. “See! A good one!” Louis exclaimed loudly.

“Yeah, I didn’t run into him on purpose or anything. My name’s Gab-” Gabe was distracted when a monster who hadn’t spotted his skateboard suddenly slipped on it. “Ooo!” Gabe winced in guilt. He had to grab that board.

Nurgul slowly lowered her arms. “If Louis says you're good you have to be. It's nice to meet you, Gaboo. My name’s Nurgul!” The swan monster smiled kindly over at the human.

“No, my name isn't Gabu, it's Gabe,” Gabe corrected and Nurgul gave an embarrassed honk at that mistake.

“I’m sorry! And I’m also sorry I thought you were a bully just because you’re a human. I actually made this mistake before with Renata, assuming she was dangerous as a huldra when she’d really a sweetheart,” Nurgul motioned over to the huldra who currently had a stick in her mouth and was shaking her butt in Violet’s general direction, flexing that she was still a better fetcher which made her a better friend. The werewolf growled lightly and seemed annoyed by Renata’s cockiness until Sophie intervened.

Nurgul didn’t look up at Gabe and instead focused on preening her feathers nervously in a mixture of embarrassment for her mistakes and nervousness at the fact that she thought Gabe looked hot. This was all too much.

Gabe glanced over her way and gave a soft smile. “It’s no big deal. It was all my fault for not paying attention to where I was going,” He awkwardly fidgeted with his beanie. He was about to continue talking with Nurgul when he suddenly heard his uncle’s voice.

“Gabe!” Javi’s tail wagged excitedly when he spotted his nephew and a happy smile pulled on the corners of his lips. Javi turned to say goodbye to Santiago who gave Javi’s hand a squeeze before stealing a quick kiss. The werewolf’s tail swayed back and forth wildly and he immediately returned the kiss which startled the mothman and made Santiago’s cheeks flush.

With a quick goodbye Santaigo walked off towards the library and Javi jogged over to greet his nephew. He immediately wrapped Gabe in a hug and his tail happily whacked against Gabe's legs. “I’m glad you made it! Ready to lose in a pudding eating contest?”

“Yeah, I can’t wait!” Gabe smiled up at his uncle then realized that Nurgul was still there and grew embarrassed. He had to get Javi away before his uncle had a chance to pick up on his little crush. Javi’s ears twitched this way and that and it seemed like it was inevitable that he would pick up on that fact when Gabe spoke up again. “Why are you stalling? Know you’re gonna lose?”

That seemed to divert the werewolf’s attention. Javi’s eyes shone with determination. “Those are big words coming from someone who’s lost the last two matches.”

“Well, I’m winning this one!” Gabe laughed as Javi swung an arm around his shoulder.

“Let's not wait then! Onward to Puddingland!” Javi’s tail wagged out of control at the thought of pudding. He began to lead the way towards the school with his nephew in tow.

“Bye, Gabe! It was nice meeting you! Sorry again!” Nurgul waved at the human who shyly waved back with a small smile.

“It's okay! Bye, Nurgul!” Gabe returned the wave.

Javi’s eyes traveled from his nephew’s face then to the cygnus then back at his nephew. A teasing smile pulled on the werewolf’s lips. “Looks like someone has a crush,”

Javi’s words received him a playful jab while Gabe tried to cover his ears which were turning red. The human guided them over to pick up his skateboard to ensure no one else slipped on it before he spoke up. “No, I don’t!”

Javi laughed and ruffled the top of Gabe’s head, causing his beanie to nearly fall off. “Good for you. Now how about you tell me all about it while I win this pudding contest?”

Gabe felt overwhelmed and tried to persuade his uncle to focus on something else but his mind was set. With a resigned sigh, Gabe prepared himself for the ultimate pudding contest which was now sure to be filled with plenty of teasing and questions.

[ericsonclan]

Family Fun and Competition

Summary: The Garcias gather together for a night of family fun.

Word Count: 3719

Read on AO3:

It was a cloudy day today. The sky looked slightly grey and gloomy and the wind outside was cold and dreary. But that didn’t seem to bother the sleeping couple. Javi’s arm lazily moved forward and wrapped around Santiago’s waist. Santiago muttered something in his sleep about the fantasy novel he had stayed up far too late reading. Shifting his body back, Santiago basked in his husband’s warmth as Javi moved his face closer to Santiago’s back. After a moment the couple’s legs moved closer together, gently intertwining as Santiago blindy reached for Javi’s hand. Giving it a sleepy kiss, Santiago quickly fell asleep. Javi hummed at the soft kiss on his hand and wrapped Santaigo closer to himself. He buried his face into the crook of Santiago’s neck and exhaled deeply. The warm breath tickled Santiago who laughed and wiggled around.

“Stop, that tickles,” Santiago mumbled and snuggled his face further into his pillow.

“Sorry,” Javi whispered and yawned loudly. Tilting his head back, he slipped his arm off of Santiago’s waist which his husband didn’t seem happy about. Santiago made some comment while still half asleep which made little to no sense to Javi. Javi looked at the alarm clock, blinking a few times to make sure he read the time right. “Shit, it's already ten thirty.”

“So? It's Saturday - we get to sleep in and cuddle,” Santiago reached for Javi’s arm and wrapped it around his waist again.

“Babe, we have to get up,” Javi tried to resist the urge for more cuddle time; the bed was so comfy and Santiago was so warm.

“Why? It's not like we have any plans today,” Santiago intertwined his fingers with Javi’s.

“Actually we do. Gabe and Nurgul are coming over for family game night and Mariana is here with Tenn for the long weekend.”

Javi’s words made Santiago shift around and get up. His hair was all messy and fluffy. “Shit, that's right,” He searched around blindly for his glasses. After a moment or two he was able to find them and placed them on his face. Looking over he saw the loving smile of his husband.

“Good morning,” Javi surprised Santiago with a kiss that definitely helped wake him up.

“Good morning,” Santiago returned the smile before lifting up his pillow to rest his back against. “So, what things do we need to do in preparation for tonight?”

“Make pudding, wash the blankets, go shopping real quick for some snacks and order the pizzas.” Javi listed item after item on the to do list, lifting up a finger after each one.

“Alright, breakfast first then we make pudding,” Santiago stole a kiss from Javi then hopped out of bed. Getting his morning slippers on, Santiago opened the bedroom door and the two walked to the kitchen together. Breakfast wouldn’t be anything fancy, just some cereal and orange juice. The two quickly poured their cereal and milk and made their way to the table. Both were quiet for a minute or two, letting themselves wake up and hoping that the food helped with that too. Santiago glanced up and saw that Javi was smiling at him. “What?” he asked before taking a bite of cereal.

“Nothing, you’re just making eating cereal look sexy,” Javi gave a flirtatious smile while Santiago’s eyes grew large at the compliment. He could feel his heart fluttering from the line. Javi lifted up his cup of orange juice and was sipping it happily when Santiago spoke.

“Not as sexy as you drinking orange juice,” Santaigo smiled when he saw Javi choke on the orange juice. It soon changed to concern though when Javi started coughing. “Are you okay?” “Yeah, I’m fine, I’m fine. Just wasn’t expecting that.” Javi smiled and soon the two resumed eating their breakfast, casually talking about this and that.

Once breakfast was done and the bowls, cups and spoons were washed the couple moved onto the first task on their list. “It's pudding time!” Javi had a bright smile on his face while he got out two mixing bowls, one large and one small, a pot to cook the pudding in and saran wrap. Meanwhile Santiago was getting out all the necessary ingredients: sugar, cocoa powder, cornstarch and milk.

“You still got your bedhead,” Javi laughed as he ruffled his husband’s hair.

Santiago blushed lightly and reached for Javi’s hair. “Yours is pretty wild too!”

The two laughed together as they played with each other’s hair before returning to the task at hand. Santiago read the instructions while Javi placed all the dry ingredients in the small bowl and mixed them. Santiago then reached over and grabbed the milk, measuring it out then placing it in the pot. Turning on the heat, Santiago gently whisked the milk while Javi poured in the dry ingredients.

“I want a turn stirring too,” Javi smiled over at his husband.

“Okay, I’ll give you a turn for a kiss,” Santiago looked over at Javi who quickly agreed and gave Santiago a kiss before grabbing the whisk. Javi hummed happily while he stirred the pudding, singing a little tune about the tasty treat. Soon the chocolate pudding had formed and Javi took it off the flames.

“Oh! Maybe we should make some vanilla pudding too,” Santiago suggested then opened the fridge and peeked inside. “We have caramel sauce too so we can make it extra special.”

“Nothing’s ever wrong with more pudding!” Javi declared happily and soon the second batch of pudding was put on the stovetop as Santiago whisked away. After a few minutes both puddings were ready and had cooled down enough to be placed in containers. With some quick saran wrapping the pudding was safely secured and placed in the fridge.

“Okay, that's one task down. On to the rest!” Santiago led the way to the next task. The couple shared a smile; they couldn’t wait for tonight and were sure the others felt the same way.

“I think the dough’s risen enough, Nuri!” Gabe called out to his wife who was currently giving their black and white husky Arwen some ear scratches.

“Okay, I’ll be there in a minute,” Nurgul rose up and started to make her way to the kitchen with Arwen in tow.

“Where’s Luka?” Gabe glanced back at his wife.

“He’s asleep. He tired himself out from playing so much with Arwen earlier but I’ll wake him up before the babysitter is here.” Strolling over to the sink, Nurgul quickly washed her hands and dried them off while her husband worked to take the risen dough out of the bowl. Gabe fumbled around with the baursak dough with one hand as he placed some flour down on the counter. After a minute or two he began to roll out the traditional Kazakh style dough when suddenly Nurgul peeked her head out from behind him to take a look.

“Oh, baby, you should put some more flour on the rolling pin,” Nurgul instructed. She grabbed some flour and dusted it on the roller. Placing her hands on top of Gabe’s, she began to help roll out the dough. Gabe could feel his heart flutter and felt his cheeks growing warm. “Now you’ve got the hang of it.” Nurgul looked up and smiled at her husband who was glancing back at her. She moved her hands away when suddenly Gabe reached out for them.

“Wait, it’s more fun to roll out the dough together,”

Gabe’s words and his sudden action made Nurgul’s heartbeat quicken. “Okay,” Nurgul had the softest smile on her face that made Gabe’s heart melt. He quickly stole a kiss from his wife then continued to work. The couple rolled the dough together in harmony as Nurgul lightly hummed a tune.

Once the dough had completely been rolled out they began to slice it into patterns. Gabe made his baursak pieces square while Nurgul made circles.

“Not doing too bad with making baursak,” Gabe smiled over at his wife who chuckled softly at the flour that had gotten on his orange beanie. Gabe looked confused until he followed Nurgul’s gaze towards his beanie. “Oh shit, did I get dough on it?”

“No, just some flour. Your beanie will survive,” Nurgul moved forward and captured her husband’s lips in a gentle kiss. Gabe could feel his ears grow hot and wanted to cover them with his beanie but his hands were covered in dough and flour. Nurgul didn’t seem to mind his reddish ears though and continued her work. “I think you’re doing a great job,” she commented as she finished up her last few circles.

“Thanks,” Gabe cut the last few squares with his knife then went over to wash off his hands. Arwen looked up from her spot in the corner of the kitchen, her ice blue eyes searching for snacks, but soon saw they were not ready yet and went back to sleep.

Nurgul moved over and looked at the pan that was filled with some oil for frying the dough. Seeing that it was bubbling a bit, Nurgul turned down the heat to medium for a few seconds before she began to place the dough to fry. She was about halfway done with the first batch when the strings to her apron became undone. Nurgul was busy trying to balance all the different things in the kitchen and couldn’t seem to find a second to re-tie her apron.

“It’s okay, Nuri. I got you,” Gabe jogged forward and wrapped his arms around Nurgul’s waist to reach the strings. After a few seconds he had tied them and turned his attention to his wife whose face was extremely close to his. The two were flustered in that moment, both wanting to go in for a kiss but their minds were overloading. Nurgul was quickly pulled away from it though when she could see the dark exterior of the baursak.

“Oh, damn it,” Nurgul refocused on cooking and Gabe soon joined in as well. Luckily for them they had been able to rescue the fried bread just in time before it burnt. After a few more batches the baursak was made and placed in bowls and saran wrapped to be transported over to Javi and Santi’s place.

“Looks like we finished just in time,” Gabe looked up at the clock on the oven.

“That's good. Can you get the cinnamon sugar while I send Javi a quick text that we’re on our way?” Gabe nodded at Nurgul’s words and sharing one more quick kiss the couple went to work on getting ready to go.

“You grabbed everything right, Tenn?” Mariana looked up at her boyfriend as she reached for the items she had placed in the island of the car.

“Yep, I have the drinks and the Switch controllers,” Tenn displayed the custom controllers decorated with a design he and Mariana had made.

“Awesome!” Mariana pocketed her phone and keys then closed the car door before jogging over to intertwine her hand with Tenn’s. It took some maneuvering with all the items Tenn was trying to carry. “Here, let me carry something,” Mariana offered and took a pitcher of lemonade before her boyfriend could protest. Mari smiled and leaned forward, getting on her tiptoes to give Tenn’s cheek a soft kiss. “Alright, ready to win game night?” “Yeah, I think we can win this time,” Tenn smiled softly at his girlfriend.

“That’s the spirit!” Mariana swayed their joined hands back and forth as they walked up the driveway to her uncles’ house. With an energetic knock, Mariana waited by the front door with Tenn. They heard some footsteps before Javi pulled open the door with a big grin.

“Mari! Tenn! You’re finally here!” Javi gave them both hugs before helping them with their supplies as they entered the house.

“Sorry we’re late, traffic was bad,” Tenn apologized but Javi waved his hand dismissively.

“It's all good. In fact, you must have a secret pizza sense I don’t know about, Mari, because you two arrived just after the pizza man left.” Javi smiled teasingly over at his niece.

“What can I say - it’s a gift of mine,” Mariana gave a smirk then placed down the pitcher of lemonade.

“Mari!” Nurgul’s gentle voice called out as she moved her way through the kitchen to give her sister-in-law a big hug. “It’s so good to see you! You too, Tenn.” Nurgul pulled back from Mariana and wrapped up Tenn in a soft hug.

“It’s nice to see you again, Nurgul,” Tenn smiled kindly while he glanced over to see Gabe had made his way over to hug his sister before Mariana began to tease him.

“Ready to get your ass kicked in Super Smash Bros again?” Mariana had a smug expression on her face.

“Yeah right. I’m winning this time!” Gabe returned the expression then looked over at Tenn. “Hey, Tenn.”

“Hey, Gabe. Should we grab some dinner?” Tenn offered. That made everyone’s attention return to the pizza. Soon all of them had grabbed paper plates and were piling their plates high with pizza. Everyone let Nurgul have first pick for pizza since they knew she would gravitate towards the margherita pizza. Once everyone had gotten pizza and salad they began to catch up on life. Santiago had quickly gotten caught up in discussing a fantasy world with Tenn who listened with a gentle smile on his face while Javi gushed about how proud he was of the pudding he and Santiago had made for dessert.

“So, Mari, when are you going to pop the question?” Santiago asked when Tenn had gone to grab some more lemonade.

“What?” Mariana’s face grew warm. “I, well, you see- Is that flour on Gabe’s beanie?” Mariana’s distraction worked for a second as Gabe swore under his breath. He had forgotten to get the beanie cleaned off before heading out.

“Alright, guys, that enough,” Nurgul reached out a hand and rested it on Gabe’s arm which made him seem to calm down from his heated argument with his sister.

“What did I miss?” Tenn sat down next to his girlfriend who wanted to speak up and warn him about what he had just stepped into.

“We were wondering about when Mariana would propose,” Javi said with a smile, making Tenn choke on his lemonade.

“Tenn!’ Mariana patted his back while he continued to lightly cough.

“Oops, maybe that was too much for Tenn to handle,” Santiago gave a teasing smile.

“You two,” Mariana glared at her uncles, trying to come up with a new distraction to get the heat off of her and Tenn. “Remember that time Gabe was getting ready to propose and he messed up his practice speech and asked where the bathroom was in Kazakh?” Mariana’s diversion worked and the table started to all talk at once about that. Gabe tried to defend himself while he pulled his beanie down to cover his ears that had grown red with embarrassment.

“I think it was very sweet that Gabe wanted to ask for my father’s blessing in Kazakh.” Nurgul smiled lovingly towards her husband and soon the conversation shifted again. Javi and Nurgul had gotten up to grab the pudding and baursak while Tenn had offered to help make tea with Santiago. After a few minutes dessert was served and everyone enjoyed the tasty sweets.

“Mmmm, this baursak is really good,” Javi exclaimed and dunked another piece of fried bread in cinnamon sugar before tossing it into his mouth.

“Aww thank you,” Nurgul smiled and took a bite of the chocolate pudding. “This is delicious too.”

“I’m glad. Santi and I have become the masters of pudding,” Javi declared proudly and sent a smile over to his husband.

Everyone continued to enjoy the pudding and baursak. Gabe ended up consuming way too much pudding and rolled onto the couch with a groan as Tenn worked with Javi to set up Super Smash Bros Ultimate.  

“Are you okay?” Nurgul asked her husband while gently rubbing his back.

“Too much pudding,” Gabe’s face was covered with his beanie.

“Sounds fake but okay,” Mariana’s words made Gabe pull up his beanie to glare at his sister.

“It’s not.”

“Whatever you say. Either way you’re losing the match.” Mariana smugly stated as Tenn walked over and sat behind her, softly wrapped his arms around her waist.

“Bold words, but all of you are losing to us!” Santiago dramatically pressed the button to select the game.

The opening song and visuals began to play before Javi worked to set up the first match.  Santiago got first pick for stage and chose Yoshi’s Island. Once that was complete all of them chose their characters. Nurgul immediately selected Jigglypuff and changed it so that her Jigglypuff had a bow on it. Nurgul smiled softly at the sight. Gabe chose Roy and Mari chose Ike while Tenn moved the analog stick towards Rosalina and Luma. Javi and Santiago were the last to select their fighters. Javi decided on Captain Falcon and Santiago went with Yoshi. The stage soon loaded and the fighters were all ready to duke it out.

“You may be wondering why I chose this stage,” Santiago pushed up his glasses with a smug smile. “It's for the home field advantage!” He pressed a series of buttons that made Yoshi get in his egg and roll directly towards Roy and Ike. Gabe and Mari dodged it easily though and before Santiago could redirect the egg it flew off the stage and he lost a life. “Damn it.”

“It’s okay, babe. You still have two lives,” Javi smiled at his husband then used a fire punch directly on Yoshi. Santiago’s eyes grew large and he chuckled.

“Oh, so that's how we’re going to play it!” Santiago charged at Javi. The two were completely lost in their own battle while Tenn and Nurgul were getting in crucial hits that would knock out the others. Gabe and Mariana had ended up losing lives easily too because they had gotten caught up in their sibling rivalry. After some heated gameplay and competitive talk, Tenn had won the first match. Rosalina and Luma struck a cute pose while the rest of the characters applauded begrudgingly.

“Good job, Tenn!” Mariana leaned back and gave her boyfriend a kiss. The romantic gesture flustered Tenn who was just as surprised as everyone else that he had won. Nurgul was the next to pick the stage and choose one of the Pokemon Stadiums. Everyone stuck with the same characters and the rivalry continued. Gabe stared at the screen. A pineapple that would heal him stood before him. The only issue was that Mariana’s character Ike was right beside it.

“Go for the pineapple, Gabe,” Mariana taunted her brother who debated on it before ultimately charging forward. It was the wrong move as Ike lifted up his sword and harshly knocked Roy off the stage.

“Damn it!” Gabe yelled and fell backwards on the couch.

“Ha, ha you always did fall for the simple traps,” Mariana smugly declared before Santiago sneak attacked her. Yoshi made a sound and stuck out his tongue, swallowing Ike before pooping him out in an egg that fell off the stage.

“Hey! Uncle Santi, no fair!” Mariana looked over at her uncle who was rather pleased with that sneak attack.

“All’s fair in love and Super Smash Bros,”

Those words fueled a fire within Mariana. “Gabe, truce! Let’s kick our uncles’ asses!”

“Wait, why am I getting targeted too?” Javi asked while he avoided a sleep attack by Nurgul before tossing a pokeball which let out a Vupix who blew fire at Jigglypuff.

“One, you’re married to Santi, and two, you just attacked my wife so all bets are off!” Gabe did a flurry of sword attacks on Captain Falcon which made Javi panic before getting competitive.

“Oh, I’m gonna teach you how to really play this game!” Javi sent a fire punch at Gabe that sent his character flying up before he used another fire attack that grabbed Roy and exploded him.

Mariana and Gabe tried their best to win. Nurugl and Tenn had already gotten all their lives used up and were watching and cheering on their significant others as they charged ahead to attack their uncles. Sadly for the siblings, Javi won that round and was pretty proud of it too.

“You just wait until we start this match!” Mariana selected the Temple stage and soon the fight continued. Javi had grabbed a mine and tossed it within the temple before using taunts to annoy the others.

“Show ya moves! Show ya moves!” Captain Falcon declared loudly and saluted.

“I’ll show you some moves!” Gabe moved his character forward and attacked only for Nurgul’s sleep attack to reach him. “What the-”

Mariana laughed. “Looks like Nurgul’s sweet lullaby put you to sleep,” she teased her brother who was growing flustered.

“Shut up,” Gabe grumbled before his eyes grew large when Nurgul set up a devastating attack while his character was still asleep. “Wait, Nuri!”

“I love you,” Nurgul said with a sweet smile before Jigglypuff viciously attacked Roy and sent him flying off the stage. “Sorry,”

“It's okay. I love you too,”

“Whoa, your wife kicked your ass,” Javi laughed and hopped forward, accidentally stepping on the spot where he had set the landmine. Within seconds Captain Falcon flew off the stage. After a few minutes all fighters had been defeated except for Mariana and Gabe. The siblings shared a look before they both slammed their thumbs on the analog sticks, making their characters dash forward. It was a close match; both of them only needed one more good hit to win. Mariana set up an attack and was sure Gabe would fall for it but to her surprise he didn’t and made her waste an attack, leaving herself wide open for the finishing blow.

“I win!” Gabe used a harsh sword attack and threw his sister off the stage. He jumped up and cheered loudly as Roy stood with his victory pose.

“This is just the beginning,” Mariana’s words made Gabe sit down and soon the matches continued. Everyone was really getting into the game and having a blast. It was another great family game night together.

[ericsonclan]

An Unexpected Encounter

Summary: While the Garcia family attempts to find a place they can call home they come across a rather odd stranger...

Word Count: 1626

Read on AO3:

They’d been driving for days. Searching for somewhere, anywhere, that they could find food and shelter, get a chance to rest and perhaps even the energy to start to rebuild something that would last. But there was nothing but danger; that was all they had found for a long time. Perhaps they should be thankful. They had a working car and a tankful of gas, both rarities so many years after the world had fallen – over a decade. Not just rarities, miracles. But cramped together in the confines of the tiny Honda Civic with no end in sight, none of the Garcias were feeling particularly grateful.

Santiago could feel his eyes drifting shut as he continued to drive down the long-abandoned road. He was dog tired. So was everybody else though. They’d almost gotten cornered a couple hours ago when they tried to scout out an abandoned store to sleeping for the night. He and Javi had fought their way through while Gabe shielded Nurgul and Luka. One of the muertos had taken a swipe at the baby. Nurgul had impaled its skull with a frantic cry and crushed its corpse underneath her as they ran. It had been far too close a call.

Glancing over to his side, Santi saw that Nurgul was still awake in the passenger seat beside him, looking dazed as she cradled a sleeping Luka in her arms. Javi and Gabe were conked out in the back seat together, both snoring. The sound was comforting in a sense. It reminded Santi that they were still alive. He looked back to Nurgul. “Do you want me to try to get the lever unstuck again so you can get some rest?” The front seats reclined, providing the most comfortable sleep one could hope for in a car, but the passenger side’s lever tended to be extra finicky.

Nurgul shook her head, giving a weak smile. “I’m good. I just want to stay up a bit longer, make sure Luka’s really settled down,” She gazed lovingly at the infant in her arms, still just a few months old. It was clear the close call today had shaken her.

Santiago nodded in understanding. “Alright. If you change your mind, just ask,”

They drove on in companionable silence, watching the sunrise as it peeked above the horizon through the trees that lined both sides of the worn-down road. Suddenly Nurgul’s eyes widened in shock. “Santi, walker!”

Santiago looked up just in time to see what she spoke of. Swerving wildly, he dodged the grubby form, barely avoiding hitting the muerto. His adjustment was too rapid though and the car skidded as he desperately pumped the breaks, the front end dipping into a ditch along the edge of the road.  “Fucking shit!” Santi swore, pounding a fist against the wheel. His eyes shot over to Nurgul who was protectively hunched over a crying Luka. “Are you alright? Were either of you hurt?”

“N-no,” Nurgul let out a shaky breath. “Is the car OK? Does it still work?”

“Nuri?” Gabe’s voice had a note of panic as he woke and leaned forward. “What happened?”

“We’re OK,” Nurgul took her husband’s hand and gave it a gentle squeeze.

“Nearly hit a walker back there,” Santiago stated, unbuckling his seatbelt. “Couldn’t risk hitting it head on and causing a bigger crash. It’ll probably take all of us to get the car out of the ditch though,” He made eye contact with his husband through the cracked rearview mirror. Javi was still somewhat caught in the dregs of heavy sleep and simply gave a silent nod before stepping out of the vehicle himself.

After getting out, Gabe hurried round to the other side of the vehicle to help his wife. “Honey, just stand to the side, OK? I don’t want you or Luka in the path of the car when we lift it up,”

“But you may need the extra help. I can shift Luka to my back in the sling. There’s nothing around except that one-” Nurgul paused, her eyes scanning the road. Where had that muerto gone?

“Need a hand?” an unknown voice had all four of them flinching and looking over to the source in bewilderment. There standing before them was what they had assumed at a distance was a wandering muerto. Considering it had just spoken though, it must not be a muerto after all but rather an extremely bedraggled human. They appeared to be covered in dark dried mud and a variety of leaves and other bits of fauna. Their clothes were hardly distinguishable from their body, the mud was caked on so heavily.

Javi stepped forward, placing himself between the stranger and his family. “What are you doing out here in the middle of nowhere all by yourself?”

The stranger shrugged. “Got left out here. They said the community was running low on supplies, so sacrifices had to be made. I was a sacrifice. Except I didn’t die. I never do,” They stared blankly at the group for a second longer, their expression unreadable.

“Well… I’m Javi,”

“Oakley,”

The silence was drawn out again.

“So, Oakley, would you like to help us get our car out of the ditch? We could give you a ride for a while as payment,” Javi offered cautiously, eyeing the young adult for any sort of hidden weapons.

Oakley blinked. “Do you have granola?”

“What?”

“Granola,”

“…No.”

“Oh. OK then,” Turning away from them, Oakley began to head toward the woods.

“A fine attitude to have for someone who got us into this mess!” Santiago grumbled. “No wonder they got left out in the woods!”

“Let’s just focus on getting the car back on the road,” Javi replied with a world-weary sigh, stepping down into the ditch beside his husband and nephew. They had bigger concerns than figuring out that bizarre, fleeting social interaction. Working together, the men tried their best to lift the front end high enough to clear the ditch. Their feet struggled to find leverage in the damp earth, slipping again and again as they struggled. Nurgul guided their efforts from her place upon the road, directing them in how to adjust the angle of their approach while she bounced a crying Luka, trying to calm him as best she could.

It took twenty minutes to free the car from the muck and mire and have both tires back upon level ground. All four now worked as a team to push the car back far enough to safely get into it before reversing and driving off. Once it was deemed safe to enter, Santiago stepped inside to restart the car. It took a few more tries than it had before, but eventually the engine sputtered to life and he was able to safely back up the car onto the road itself. Immediately the others moved to get back in the car as well. They were all tucked safely within in once more when Nurgul paused in buckling her seat belt. “Look. It’s them,” She gestured towards the woods where the mysterious mud-laden stranger had just emerged and was walking briskly toward the car.

“Should I drive?” Santi asked, his hands upon the wheel.

“Give them one second,” Javi replied, his hand drifting down to the gun holstered at his side. Oakley didn’t seem to be the type to willingly cause harm, but just in case he was ready to draw. Rolling down the window a crack, he spoke up. “What do you want?”

“I would very much like that ride after all,” Oakley stated calmly, standing beside the open window.

“What made you change your mind,”

“The herd,”

That’s when they heard it: the faint moans and shuffles of a herd from somewhere in the distance. Soft, but distinct. That wasn’t the noise of a few wandering stragglers. That was the sound of a migration. Anything in its path would be consumed. That included Oakley if Javi refused their request. Javi eyed them suspiciously. They were utterly unreadable. Their eyes held no discernable emotion in that moment: no malice, no pain, no fear even in the face of an approaching herd. He wasn’t sure what to make of them. His family didn’t owe them anything, especially after their dismissal of the crash they had caused. But he couldn’t in good conscience leave them to die. He unlocked his door. “Alright. Get in. Gabe, make room,”

“What?! Are you crazy?” Gabe exclaimed, his eyes hardening.

“We can’t just leave them to die, Gabe!” Javi locked eyes with his nephew.

Gabe’s anger held for a moment then faltered. He couldn’t abandon them for dead either. “Fine. But they’re sitting next to me, away from Nuri and Luka,”

“Of course,” Shifting toward the door, Javi motioned for Oakley to circle to the other side of the car. They did so quickly. Opening the other car door, they silently took a seat beside Gabe, As soon as the door closed, Santi put his foot to the gas and they were off like a shot, getting as far away as they could from the sounds of impending danger. A minute or two later they couldn’t even hear the herd anymore. But it was back there, looming, coming steadily for them without fail. They couldn’t risk simply driving till they ran out of gas. They needed to find somewhere to ride out the storm, a place with thick, sturdy walls that could withstand a herd.

Javi looked over at their newest passenger who was gazing out the window in calm interest. “Oakley. We need to find shelter. Do you know anywhere we can be safe, at least till the herd passes through?”

Oakley’s eyes shifted to the floor. They nodded slowly. “I do,”

[ericsonclan]

Betrothed Through Thick and Thin

Summary: Nurgul journeys to the Kingdom of Richmond to perform her duty on meeting and marrying her betrothed, the crowned prince of Richmond, Gabe.

Word Count: 1000+

Read on AO3:

An unearthly groan escaped the walking corpse’s withered lips. Its blank, milky eyes looked lazily up at the cloud before getting distracted by the sound and movement of a nearby bunny. The small brown creature twitched its nose this way and that as its beady eyes stared in horror at the living dead that was ever so slowly making its way towards what it hoped would be its next meal. The muscles stretched and grew thin on the arm of the living dead, another sound wheezing out of its rotting lungs when a steel blade sliced through the air and became embedded in its head. With a grunt the wielder of the curved sword pulled the metal clean from the walker’s skull, making blood and brain matter pooled out as it collapsed, truly finally dead.

“I hate this land,” Nurgul muttered and flicked the blood off her blade. Her brown eyes searched around the dirt road before her, noticing the different members of the living dead that roamed around aimlessly. A pair of them were fighting over the carcass of a deer that had been out for many days. Flies buzzed around it while filthy teeth tore at its molding flesh. Nurgul’s face twisted in disgust at the sight. To think that things like this lived just beyond the Moonstar Mountains.

Her eyes wandered back for a moment to look at the mountains. Their snowy peaks on top of the dark grey bases looked smaller to her now that she had journeyed all this way. Beyond them was her home, a place she couldn’t return to for she had a duty to perform: marry the prince of the kingdom of Richmond. Nurgul let out an anxious sigh, her sight turning to the sky where her hawk, Botakuz, flew free. The hawk’s red-brown speckled chest stood out prominently as her wings of brown and white carried her along the wind. She would be Nurgul’s eyes in the sky to spot the kingdom she would be making her home. There she would meet her betrothed in order to form a treaty in case there ever came a day the living dead made it past the protection of the mountains and entered her lands. She prayed that day would never come. So she would do what was necessary for her kingdom.

But that didn’t mean she had to be kind to her betrothed. She wouldn’t say good morning to him or wish him luck when he went hunting. That would really show him that she was simply marrying him for the treaty and had no positive feelings towards him in particular. Nurgul paused for a moment, wondering if those standards she was setting were too mean, but she quickly shook her head. No, they were just mean enough.

The princess smiled to herself, proud of her plan when suddenly she noticed some of the walkers were getting too close for comfort. Nurgul huffed and used her curved blade once more to end the hollow existence of the living dead. Her sword's movement sliced the tip of the walker’s skull clean off but the brain still remained intact. Its decaying hands blindly reached out, brushing against her white horse’s tail that flicked frantically at the feeling of other hands tangling in its mane. Botakuz swooped down, her talons extended as they dug deep into the living dead’s exposed brain and tore it to shreds.

“Whoa, it's all right, Jirtez,” Nurgul patted the horse's neck. The gesture calmed down the noble steed who snorted and shook his mane. “We shall survive in this land.” he princess gave the same promise that she had made to herself all those months ago when she heard the news of the arranged marriage. As soon as she had learned of the terrifying creatures that haunted this land, Nurgul knew that she must make herself as strong as steel.

So Nurgul had trained for countless hours, bettering herself so that she wouldn’t die a meaningless death in this terrifying land that she would be sent to. Her bow clinked slightly on her back as she clicked her heels against her horse’s side to pick up speed a bit more to hopefully avoid any more close calls with the living dead. The feathers on her tall light blue hat blew gently in the wind while her eyes once more ventured to the skies. This time though it was to take in the beautiful white, fluffy clouds that lazily made their way through the sky. She loved the clouds, how carefree and beautiful they were, how they set her mind and heart at ease.

The princess’ attention quickly turned away from the sky though, knowing that she couldn’t risk cloud watching on her journey in these lands. Her sword quickly became slick with more blood as she cut down a member of the living dead that had been drawn in by the sound of hooves hitting the dirt road. Nurgul kept her focus entirely on the road and any threats nearby until her hawk gave a cry that made her eyes look up and see the greystone castle peeking out from the walls that surrounded it. This must be the kingdom she had ventured all this way for; the kingdom of Richmond.

As her horse trotted closer to the walls, Nurgul noticed that she was nearing the southern entrance. Colors of midnight blue and silver filled her eyes when she took in the sight of flags and tapestries that adorned the walls near the gate. Nurgul guided Jirtez towards the direction of the gate and held her right arm out. It held a simple brown leather arm guard for Botakuz to safely land on. She curled her right hand into a fist to prepare to receive her pet.

“Bo-” The princess’ word stopped short when she noticed a young man who was diligently working to master the sword. He stood with a determined stance, his black arming cap sitting proudly on his head while he swung the sword. His warm brown eyes didn’t seem to match the small frown on his face when he noticed that he had messed up a move. His simple clothes made Nurgul recognize him to be a peasant boy. She smiled at his hard work; it wasn’t easy to train with the sword. His brown hair blew ever so slightly with the breeze when suddenly he gave too mighty of a swing that caused his broadsword to become stuck in the tree.

“Damn it!” His voice rang out throughout the open field. He placed his foot on the tree to try and help as he pulled with all his strength in hopes of releasing his weapon. That was when Nurgul noticed that quite a few members of the living dead had been drawn in by his voice and training. Their decaying flesh hung off all areas of their body as they moved towards their potential next meal. The unnerving moans and groans of the walking corpses made the young man look up with fear in his eyes. His hands grew sweaty and his attempts to free his weapon became more frantic. Nurgul knew in an instant that she must help him. Clicking her heels against her horse’s side, she rode forward into battle.

Gabe couldn’t believe this. Not only had he messed up a whole lot in the new moves he was trying to master but now his sword was stuck in a tree. What made the situation even more shitty was the fact that not one, not two, but six living dead were wandering towards him. He hadn’t told Mariana or Javi where he was going nor was he close enough to call for help and have it arrive in time. The only way he could make it out of this was if he somehow got the sword unstuck from this tree, fought them all off until they were defeated or found an opening. But it was no use. His broadsword was embedded in the tree, he wouldn’t have the amount of time he needed.

Gabe wouldn’t survive this; he would get eaten or turn. That was the fate that awaited him. His eyes shook with fear as the walkers drew near when suddenly a girl dressed in a beautiful, intricate light blue dress appeared before him on a pure white horse. Her steel curved sword shone in the sunlight and with a quick swing of her weapon she ended the miserable existence of one of the living dead. Gabe stood in awe at the sight before him. The girl rode forward and circled around the walkers in order to herd them and guide them away from Gabe.

“Are you alright?” The girl’s kind eyes looked into his. He blinked and his mouth hung slightly ajar at the sight of the warrior noblewoman in front of him when he realized he should probably say something.

“Yes,” Gabe’s voice had gone slightly higher than normal for some odd reason. He cleared his throat. “Yes, thank you!”

The girl smiled then turned her attention back onto the threats in front of her. Her curved sword slashed down at the living dead, cutting off some fingers and hands in the process. Gabe continued to work to free his blade, hoping he could help the one who had saved his life but it was no use. So instead he opted to give tips and call out encouraging words.

“You have to aim for the head!” Gabe’s advice made the princess glance over at him.

“I already knew that, but thanks!” She sliced through a walker’s skull, causing the top half to fly back and land by Gabe. “It is the most basic knowledge to deal with these threats in this land.” The noblewoman continued to work to defeat the living dead surrounding her. Her white horse kicked back a walker and she gave a grunt as she embedded her blade into the skull of another member of the living dead.

“You’re doing great!” Gabe called out, not sure what else to do when suddenly he noticed a particular walker getting rather intrigued by the girl’s feathered hat. “Watch out, that one on your right is trying to grab your hat!” The prince’s warning gave the noblewoman just enough time to move away and guide her steed back.

Gabe let out a relieved sigh when he noticed a new member of the living dead stumbling towards him. It let out a series of gurgled groans. Its arms lazily reached out before the right arm’s deteriorated muscle slipped off the bone. The walker didn’t seem to care though and moved forward as its intestines jiggled around its rib cage before splattering to the ground. Gabe shifted his weight and with a well-timed kick he took out the living dead’s knee. He smiled to himself, thinking that Clementine would be proud of him. But he soon realised that he had not thought past that one move.

“Careful!” The girl rode forward, her sword piercing through the back of the living dead’s skull. Thanks to the move, the noblewoman’s face had ended up rather near Gabe’s which made the crowned prince of Richmond blush. The girl seemed to get overwhelmed by how close their faces had gotten but she soon drew back and returned her attention back to the fight.

“Watch out for the two on your left!” Gabe warned and the noblewoman gave a small nod of acknowledgement as she kicked off the living dead from her sword. With a mighty swing she took down the two that Gabe had warned her of.

That left only one: the decaying corpse that had been kicked by her steed was now moseying over towards her. The noblewoman gave a swing but had aimed too low, her blow causing the walker’s head to disconnect from its body and roll on the ground. The girl quickly turned her horse round whose hooves crushed the beheaded skull underfoot. With a shaky sigh the girl sheathed her blade and gave a warm smile. Silently she extended her right arm with a curled fist. “Botakuz,” The noblewoman spoke in a calm, commanding voice and within seconds a hawk flew down from the sky and landed on her arm guard.

Gabe stared with a mixture of wonder and surprise at the sight. The noblewoman gave the hawk a few headscratches then looked over at the prince.

“I’m glad I reached you in time. I am Nurgul. May I ask what your name is?” The girl let down the horse’s reins gently and let it trot in place for a minute.

“I’m Gabe, crow-” He quickly stopped himself, not wanting to have someone know that he had snuck out of the castle nor have this girl that was clearly out of his league think that she was out of his due to his status.

“It's nice to meet you, Gabecrow,” The girl gave a gentle smile.

“Shit, no, that's not my name! It's just Gabe.” the prince explained to the noblewoman who looked surprised and slightly embarrassed by her mistake.

“I’m sorry, I-”

“There you are!” Mariana stormed out of the gates, sword in hand as her light purple dress swayed with her rapid movement. “I’ve been looking everywhere for you! You can’t just ditch your duties or you’ll make for a real dumbass king!”

“Mari!” Gabe’s eyes widened at the sight of his little sister and he began to try to explain.

Nurgul felt herself reeling slightly from the sentence she had just heard. A king? Her eyes wandered down and caught sight of the royal colors of midnight blue and silver that peeked out from under Gabe’s plain brown shirt.

“You,” Nurgul’s voice made the royal siblings stop butting heads and look over at her. “You’re Gabriel Garcia, crowned prince of Richmond.” She shook her head softly in disbelief.

“Yeah? But it's not really that big of a deal,” Gabe awkwardly scratched his neck and gave a shy smile.

“It is a big deal.” Nurgul muttered then looked up and locked eyes with him. “For I am going to be your wife.”