#uploading early cause ao3 is going down soon

[shootingthe-stars]

chapter 46 of nowhere man is out!

very interesting title i cant imagine anything big and important happening literally 200k in

chapter 46 or from the beginning!

[themadlostgirl]

Diamond Fire

Well, the semester is officially over for me! I have a new story up on AO3! It is another Loki x Reader cause that is what the people voted on. As I did with Vanir Princess I am going to post the first chapter here and if you want to read the rest, chapters will be uploaded every Saturday on AO3. Happy reading!

Read on AO3

~~~

When you were young your mother often said that mornings were meant for the birds. It was their time before the rest of the world woke up to sing their songs and greet the new day for everyone who still slumbered. Those who woke up before the birds were being disrespectful of their time.

You figured she probably said that to keep you from waking her and your father up too early when you were a kid. But there was also some truth to it. Because who in their right mind would want to be awake that early in the day? Certainly not you and certainly not now.

You hadn’t even opened your eyes and you were already wishing you were dead. There was a bad taste in your dry mouth and every part of your body ached. Shit…your head was pulsing.

You peeked an eye open and gave a silent sigh of relief that the room was dark. So you hadn’t gone home last night, daylight would have been streaming in by now. What time was it anyway? It felt like your brain was trying to turn gears through tar. You made to roll off the bed and hit something.

“Hnng.” whatever you hit shoved you off and you tumbled off the edge of the bed.

“Ow! Fuck!” you cursed as pain coursed through your already weary and sluggish body. It was too early for this.

Dragging yourself back to your feet, you swayed for a moment before taking a tentative step in the darkness. You hit a wall and counted yourself lucky for the support. You dragged yourself along until you found a handle. You opened it and were met with more darkness. You stumbled inside and clamored around until you found what felt like a sink. Oh thank the gods. You turned the tap and splashed your face with some cold water before ducking your head under to get a quick drink.

You were feeling more awake and your eyes were getting used to the dark. You could make out some shadows as you left the bathing room. You could hear someone else wandering around in the room but didn’t think much of it. Probably just Thor doing the same song and dance as you after a night of drinking too much…except, you were positive Thor’s bathing room was on the opposite side of his bedroom.

Thor…there was a memory there somewhere from last night about Thor. Ugh, your head hurt too much for this. You found the edge of the bed and sat down trying to get your bearings. It was also at this point you realized you were naked. Great. Now you had to stumble around trying to find your dress.

A door creaked open near you letting in a crack of daylight to pierce the dark of the room. You instinctively shied away from it. You peeked back at the door expecting to see Thor but were met with a different sight. Someone slimmer and with dark hair staring back at you.

Oh fuck no…

It suddenly all started coming back to you. What you could remember at least. There was a feast that you were working at. The warriors had just returned from a battle and you were celebrating the victory. Thor asked to talk to you alone for a moment and then…

“I understand that this may seem sudden but I figured it best to tell you as soon as possible. I need to start looking to the future.” Thor’s voice reverberated in your head. “I am going to ask the Lady Sif if I may court her properly. I feel it goes without saying but that means that we can no longer meet as we have been. It was great fun while it lasted though, right? Now we can move on with the rest of our lives.”

It had finally happened. The moment you had anticipating with dread for years. Thor had dropped you.

It was not the end to a real relationship. That’s what you had told yourself. You were never a proper couple. Thor never courted you. Your arrangement was that you were a couple of chums slaking each other’s baser needs and that when the time came that either of you wanted to put an end to it that would be it. No hard feelings. No feelings at all.

Gods damn you for breaking that one rule though!

You drank and made bad decisions last night, you remembered that much. You did not remember your bad decision of the evening ending with going back to Thor’s brother’s room though!

“Damn it all to Hel!” the croaky and weak voice of the only other person in the room drew your attention back to the moment at hand.

Prince Loki had his head pressed to the doorjamb and was muttering to himself. “No. No no no no no. Not like this. Why like this?”

You strained your brain to remember how you wound up here but you came up with nothing. After so many drinks everything went black.

“Why are you here?” Loki asked, turning to you with bleary eyes.

“Why are you confused?” Your own voice was hoarse and scratchy, even after having something to drink. “You must have been the one to invite me back here.”

“Why would I want my brother’s bedwarmer?”

“Alright, that comment was unnecessary.”

His face went pale and for a moment you thought he was going to hurl. “Fuck, he’s going to kill me.”

You realized you were still very much naked and grabbed the blanket to cover yourself. “If you’re worried about him being mad that we slept together then you don’t need to be. Thor broke off our arrangement last night.”

“He did?” Loki glanced back at you.

“Yes. So you don’t need to be worried about saving your own skin. He could not give a single solitary shit if I slept with you or anyone else now.” You padded around the room looking for your dress. “Since it seems you didn’t know it makes me all the more curious. If you didn’t want me then how did we end up here?”

“I uh…” Loki pinched the bridge of his nose, “I may have had a bit too much to drink last night.”

“So did I.” you sighed. “So, if we think about it, this really wasn’t our fault.”

Loki perked up a little at that. “We don’t remember it so it is like it never happened.”

“Exactly.”

“Good.”

“Glad we agree.”

“Now get out.”

“Gladly.” You found your dress crumpled into a pile by the door and slipped it back on. Loki had retreated back into his bedroom and slammed the doors shut.

You took his absence to try to straighten out your appearance as much as possible but you could tell it was a doomed effort especially without a mirror. You were just going to have to look like a mess as you walked home.

You quickly made your way out of the palace and back into the city. This had to be one of your worst mornings ever. You felt like shit, things with Thor were over, and you had to have a drunken rebound with his brother to top it off. You just wanted to get home and die in your own bed at this point.

Weaving through the streets and dodging the questioning looks you got from the townsfolk you finally made it back to your house.

The house wasn’t much. Something small and easy to take care of that you lived in with your best friend. Two bedrooms, a living area, kitchen, and a bathing room you had to share. Still, it could have been worse. You pushed the front door open and called out to the house. “I’m home.”

“There you are,” your roommate and best friend Bjorn poked his head out from the kitchen area. “I was wondering when you were going to make your way back home. Get caught up with Thor again?”

You plunked yourself down at the dining table and accepted the mug of warm tea he had prepared. “Not exactly.”

“What happened?” Bjorn took the seat across from you.

“Thor has officially dropped me for the Lady Sif.”

“Oh no.” Bjorn grimaced. “Then wait, where did you end up last night? Don’t tell me he got one last fill of you before he dropped you.”

“Um no…I actually uh…” you took a deep breath, “I may have drowned my feelings in alcohol and wound up in the bed of the other prince last night.”

“Rebound with the brother?” Bjorn sucked in a sharp breath through his teeth, “That is some messy business.”

“Very.” You leaned back in your chair. “It’s over though. It was a drunken one night thing that neither of us even remember so I’m going to do my best to forget it ever happened. I have more important things to worry about now. Like…getting all of my stuff out of Thor’s room.” You groaned aloud to the ceiling. You had always kept a few things in Thor’s rooms for times you ended up spending the night and such. Extra dresses and other amenities and toiletries. The thought of going back up to the palace to clear your stuff out of his room was making your headache worse.

“If you want I can go get your things for you.” Bjorn offered.

“Would you?” you relaxed, “That would be amazing if you did. I really do not want to face him right now, especially considering that I apparently fucked his brother last night.”

“Yeah, it won’t be a problem.” he tapped his mug, “Do you really remember nothing?”

“Not a thing.” You narrowed your eyes at Bjorn, “Which reminds me, where were you last night? I know for a fact that you were working the feast last night too. Weren’t you keeping an eye on me?”

“I didn’t think I had to. Besides, I had some business of my own to attend to last night.” There was a faint blush staining his cheeks.

“I see,” you chuckled, “What’s their name?”

“Haskell.”

“And it was good?”

“Very good.”

“Well at least one of our nights ended happily.” you finished off the tea and set your mug aside. “I’m going to get a few more hours of shut eye.”

“I’ll go grab your things.” Bjorn got up and started tugging on his boots.

“Thank you, Bjorn! You’re the best! I love you!” you called to him as he left.

“Yeah, yeah. Love you too, ya hot mess.”

You went back to your room and stripped out of your clothes from last night. You filled the wash basin at your vanity to clear any bits of leftover makeup from your face. You froze when you saw a number of dark bruises along your chest. Did Loki make all these hickeys? For goodness sake, you looked as if you had gotten riddled with arrows through not thick enough armor.

You washed up enough to not feel gross and slid back into bed for a few more hours of blessed sleep. Your mind would not let you rest so easily. As you laid there your mind kept going back to last night and this morning. You knew things with Thor were only temporary. You knew that when you started this damn relationship but the sudden dismissal had left you floundering.

It had been so long now since the two of you had gotten together. You worked as a dancer in the palace. You had wanted to be a musician alongside Bjorn but circumstances prevented you from pursuing your dream. So instead you had decided to be a dancer. It paid the bills and helped to keep a roof over your head. It also let you rub elbows with the nobles. That was how you had met Thor and your arrangement had began.

You would never admit it to anyone but you were a bit heartbroken as well. You had told yourself over and over that you were happy just being his friend. That it was all you needed to be happy. But that was a lie. It took his dismissal of you last night to finally realize that you had developed feelings for him over the years.

You would not blubber though. You would not make a fool of yourself lamenting what had never been.

“I understand. It was fun but I’m glad that you’ve found someone you want to build something with.”

You had told him that with a smile on your face. A simple and quick end without any hassle.

In all honesty you should have seen this coming. For the past couple of weeks all he talked about was Sif. Sif this. Sif that. Sif Sif Sif Sif Sif! How could you have been so blind?

You clutched your pillow close to your chest. Don’t cry. Don’t you dare cry! You knew this was going to happen! Feelings or not you promised yourself you were not going to ever shed tears over something like this. It’s no different than any other end to a relationship you’ve gone through. It was over. There was no use getting yourself worked up about it. It wasn’t going to change anything!

You took a few deep breaths and got yourself back under control. No tears. Never any tears.

You searched your mind for something else to focus on but unfortunately it kept going back to this morning. Out of all the people you could have drunkenly fallen into bed with it had to be Loki. Literally anyone else would have been better. That was just your luck though, wasn’t it?

If you were going to sleep with him it would have been nice to at least remember something of it. Not everyone could say that they had slept with both of the princes. You wracked your brain for something, anything, but only tiny snippets pulled themselves from the darkness. You weren’t even sure if they were memories or fantasies your mind was conjuring in place of them.

There was dancing…kisses…a pair of arms holding tight to your waist. You could remember stumbling around and giggling. Clumsy hands tugging at clothes, pulling at hair. Lips on skin further and further down. Heat…a deep ache…a hard and furious pace--

Alright that was enough of that!

You stared headlong at the ceiling. You were not in the palace. You were in your bedroom. You were not with Loki. You were alone. You cannot remember anything from last night and you wouldn’t want to anyway!

At least you could be assured that Loki wasn’t going to tell anyone about it. He was as unhappy that you were there as you had been.

That didn’t mean that nobody saw you leave with him last night. Oh gods, what had you done last night? How big of a fool did you make of yourself? Svana probably knew, you could always ask her how badly it went at the next dance rehearsal. It could not be as bad as the time you got so drunk you fell into a fountain. You didn’t remember a lot from that night but you did remember that.

Coincidentally, that was the evening that led to you getting together with Thor.

Ugh! Thor again. You pressed the pillow to your face and screamed. Why did your life have to be so damn complicated?

[bjy-on-ao3]

Hi, I really love your writing on Ao3! I was wondering if you could write an Adachi x reader where Adachi slips it in while reader is sleeping? Maybe halfway through being fucked reader wakes up but pretends to be asleep anyway because they are enjoying it? I imagine that they'd probably already have a preexisting sexual relationship and have talked about the sex that they are okay with (that could be a creative choice for you tho idc. manipulative adachi sexy). best wishes!

(As usual, you can find the AO3 version of all my uploads [and some things I don’t post here to tumblr] via my Masterlist blog page)

Here you are, anon! This one really struck a cord with me, and I knew I had to fill it, eventually.

Summary 

Adachi gives Reader a pleasant morning surprise to indulge a desire they previously confessed to him.

Tags/Warnings

Biting, Creampie, Dirty Talk, Hair-Pulling, Mildly Dubious Consent, Reader-Insert, Rough Sex, Shameless Smut, Somnophilia, Vaginal Sex

Rise & Shine (F! Reader/Tohru Adachi)

The early rays of morning scattered through the window blinds, bathing the otherwise dark bedroom in pale stripes of yellow and gold. The cloying spring heat had yet to creep in, some remnant of the coolness of night lingering, lending a refreshing feeling, rather than one hot and clinging. Tohru Adachi stirred on the bedsheets of the mattress next to the mostly shuttered window.

He started to disentangle himself lazily from the light sheets, but stopped. A look of confusion spread across his face when he noted sitting up wasn’t as easy as it should have been, the cause your prone form tucked so securely against him. He remembered falling asleep at your apartment after some drinks at Shiroku and a couple rounds of fun, but you had fallen asleep with ample distance between you. Adachi decided you must have unconsciously snugged up to him while the both of you slept.

Though he was confused, that didn’t mean Adachi wasn’t exactly displeased. Neither of you had bothered to re-dress at all before passing out the night before. That left you naked, pressed against him, at least before he tried to extricate himself from your grasp. His eyes roved unchastely over your bare skin, exposed where the sheets rode down past your hips. Lying flat on your stomach after he had escaped your cuddling, your arms splayed on the pillows, legs spread haphazardly. He eyed the swell of your chest pressing into the soft mattress and the tantalizing curve of your ass, his gaze lingering as his hunger was roused.

In that moment, Adachi recalled a conversation that had taken place between the two of you not long ago. You had opened up to him a little with your fantasies and wants, admitting with a thoroughly hot face and hushed tone how badly you wanted him to use you. You hadn’t described exactly how, though, only that your desire for him to use your body however he pleased existed. He remembered how excited the confession had made him, immediately diving into imaginations of how he planned to take you up on it. Somehow, though, the thought had slipped his mind until that instant.

The gears were turning in his head, and Adachi’s lips curled in a sinful, lecherous grin as he came to a decision. What better way to grant your wishes and use you only for his pleasure than to fuck you while you slept, when he had little reason to worry about your satisfaction or concerns. His cock jerked to life at the thought, and his mind was made up.

He drew the sheets the rest of the way off, flinging them to the side where they would remain unwanted and forgotten for some time. The full sight of your body laid out nude before him met him, and another punch of hunger seized him, his reacting in along with it. For a second, Adachi wondered if you would even notice. He couldn’t remember if you were a light sleeper who woke at even a hardly intrusive touch, or if you slept like the dead and would drowse through it all. But he was going to find out very soon. =============================================

It was the touch of something solid and cool between your legs that eased you from the warm, comfortable haze of sleep. It prodded at the soft pink of your cunt before slipping inside with little resistance. At first, you thought you were having some kind of vivid wet dream, but you recognized the strange dark line of half-consciousness, so it was no dream. Something had buried itself inside your cunt, wet and welcoming even while you dozed. The sensation of whatever it was wriggled and curled, easing in and out for a moment before withdrawing altogether.

The thick fog of sleep threatened to lure you back into its clutches with the retreat of whatever had been intruding; you had nearly convinced yourself even if it wasn’t a dream, you had  imagined it. Just a figment of your muddled, half-asleep mind. But whatever it was returned, clamping over your thighs and carefully prying them apart to spread your legs wider. The tip of something far more hot and hard poked at your slick lips, the sensation giving your growing consciousness a jolt. You froze, making yourself remain still despite coming further to, and the thick intrusion sank past your lips and your entrance.

A low, blissful groan caught your attention when the hardness filled you completely, and your cunt clenched reflexively around it. Several debauched noises longed to free themselves from your throat at the aching fullness, but you quashed them, forcing yourself to feign sleep. The groan no doubt belonged to the man you had fallen asleep beside the night before, there was no denying that. You were led to a conclusion even your hazy mind could make: Adachi was the one buried deep inside your cunt, basking in the tight embrace of your soft, wet flesh around his cock.

The realization didn’t alarm or upset you, though. In fact, it only made your cunt feel wetter, and your walls tightened around him again, eliciting another erotic, gravelly noise from Adachi, A wicked heat blossomed in your gut and made your heart drum in your chest, your pulse beginning to race. It almost embarrassed you how much being fucked while you ‘slept’ turned you on, and you wondered fleetingly if he noticed how readily your body responded to him. Would he think nothing of it and just assume you were still dreaming and none the wiser?

Any thoughts were drowned out, though, when Adachi’s hips pulled back and he thrust back into your heat, the start of a steady rhythm. He rocked his hips languidly against your backside, obviously in no rush. A series of small, carnal, and oh-so-arousing sounds drifted from his lips as he pumped his cock in and out of your core. Sounds quiet enough that if you had really been asleep, you doubted you would have noticed at all. You struggled not to react too noticeably to them or from the roll of his hips. But you couldn’t help squirming here and there, a muffled, sleepy whimper escaping every once in a while. You hoped Adachi chalked them up to simply unconscious and involuntary reactions.

Whatever the case, your wriggling and tiny, nearly incoherent gasps and murmurs spurred Adachi onward, and his pace increased, fucking you more thoroughly into the bed. Each deep thrust made you want to swoon and melt and moan. The weight of Adachi’s body pressed into your back, his skin already growing slick with beads of sweat, radiating heat against you.

“Y’know,” he growled casually in your ear, “you’re a really bad actor.” His pace didn’t stop, and he his came to tangle in the sheets beside your shoulders, giving him more leverage to pound into your cunt more roughly.

You ignored him, unsure if he knew you were awake and was telling the truth, of if he was searching for some kind of conscious reaction to find out. Things were too enjoyable though to let them end so easily. Until Adachi could prove you were awake, you were more than pleased to let him have his way with you.

A moment of silence punctuated only by the sounds of sex passed, and then a low, contemplative hum droned beside you. “Well, I guess if you’re really sleeping through this, I can do whatever I want,” he said coyly, and to some it might have sounded almost like a threat. Right then, to you, it was a sinful promise you silently bade him to fulfill.

His hips snapped harder against you, and it was even more of a struggle to fight back the noises that wanted to break free, each thrust so deep it provoked a guttural response. He adjusted himself, tilting his hips and pressing his body more firmly against yours. You didn’t know if it was out of mere convenience for him, or on purpose to overwhelm you and shatter your charade, but the new angle brought on a greater ordeal.

Each rough stroke of his cock, besides sinking so deep, brushed against a much more receptive spot that made your gut twist in a distinctly pleasant way. You tried to disguise the way you turned your head to push it into the pillows as an unconscious reaction, though you unsure how long Adachi would continue to buy your act, if he didn’t already know the truth.

Each time he drove back inside, you lost more resolve to keep pretending, and to disguise and smother your moans and the way your body so badly wanted to meet his thrusts. The molten feeling that had grown in your belly served only to weaken you further, welling up inside and proving more demanding and wild than the sounds of pleasure seeking escape.l

You pressed your face into the pillows more as a particularly stubborn moan bubbled up, much louder than any of the others, trying in vain to stifle it. Though as soon as the sound left your lips, smothered as it was, your little game of pretend was over. A rough hand tangled in your hair, grabbing tightly and jerking your head back and away from the pillows. Your new position left you no choice but to moan freely into the air, already hot and thick with sex and sweat. The stubborn moan seemed like the bursting of a dam, and there was no stopping the myriad cries that followed it.

“Are you enjoying yourself, sweetheart?” Adachi hissed in your ear, amused and breathless. “Pretending you had no idea what I was doing and getting off on being treated like the little cock sleeve you wanted to be?”

With your act revealed, you had no reason to try to fool Adachi any longer. You gave into the carnal heat swelling inside you, crying out and finally slamming your hips back to meet his. “Fuck, yes! Use me, please,” you begged, and Adachi’s stinging grip in your hair tightened reflexively. “I want to be your plaything; use me however you want!” your voice broke with your admission, shattered by a stroke that stole your breath away and made your made briefly go blank.

The words were a catalyst, stoking Adachi’s already boiling lust to even greater heights. He rutted harder against you, feeling the urgency of an orgasm dawning on him, your shameless enthusiasm speeding it along. He relished the outpouring of bawdy shouts and moans bubbling from your mouth now that he had called your bluff. His fingered remained snared in your hair, pulling your head back almost painfully and ensuring there was no chance to muffle a single sound more.

You could feel Adachi’s desperation mounting behind each thrust, even through the lingering haze of sleep clouding your awareness. You felt it in the tension of his body, pushing yours so forcefully into the bed, and in his fingers, both in your hair and on your skin. But you were already ahead of him. The sheer excitement of being fucked in such an obscene fashion made your body tense and burn white hot. Each time Adachi filled you up again, it forced another cry from your lips, and the liquid heat wound tighter and more intense.

Your breathing hitched, becoming quickly ragged and sharp, and Adachi’s was just as labored in your ear. You bucked back against him mindlessly, seeking the last little push you needed and thinking of nothing else. When you came, his named rolled off your tongue in waves, interrupted by moans that pitched more desperate and airy as he fucked you through your orgasm.

He bent his head, and his teeth scraped the nape of your neck, your shoulders, anywhere he could find to leave a colorful, stinging mark. The sharp sensations added to the ripples of pleasure dancing through you, and your voice cracked in your ecstasy. His tempo slowed, gaining force where it lost momentum, until the smack of his skin on yours was clear even through the chorus of groans and cries ringing out. When he finished, he bit down again, harder, so hard a moan turned into a brief yelp, even though he hadn’t broken the skin.

With each spurt of his cum that filled you, Adachi groaned, long and low, the noise feral and thick. The sounds made you shudder, and your cunt squeeze him tighter, even though your orgasm was wearing away and coming to an end. Finally, Adachi was spent, and you were left sweat-slicked and nearly panting, his grasp on your hair loosening. You couldn’t think beyond the feel of him still sheathed in your cunt, or the sound of his heavy breathing beside you. Even smothered beneath his weight, your mind had room only for the pleasures of the afterglow.

You rested limp and pliant against the bedsheets as Adachi released your hair, and when you lay your head on the pillows again, they felt blissfully cool. You were too tired and out-of-sorts to move when Adachi withdrew, vaguely noting the sensation of something warm and thick trickling down your thighs.Adachi didn’t bother laying back in bed, instead rolling to the side and getting to his feet. You summoned the energy to roll over and watch him as he went about getting cleaned up before searching for his clothes and re-dressing.

After several minutes, Adachi had sorted himself out and made himself presentable - or at least what counted as presentable for detective with his routinely messy hair, crumpled clothes, and crooked tie. By then, you had regained steady breathing, watching him lazily and propping yourself up on your elbow. He took one last glance over himself, patting the pockets of his slacks for his phone and keys and ensuring he hadn’t forgotten anything, Satisfied everything was accounted for, he walked to the beside, bending down and taking your chin between his thumb and forefinger before tipping your head to meet his gaze.

“I’ve gotta get going now, sweetheart. Be good while I’m gone and maybe I’ll indulge more of your sick little fantasies the next time I come over,” he promised, punctuating his words with a kiss. It was a gesture that might have seemed sweet or affectionate, were it not for the sharp, hungry bite he left on your bottom lip.

Then, he was gone without another word, leaving you with a burning face, an aching cunt oozing cum, and many angry marks that would soon turn various shades of blue and purple. Yet, you were left also with a bone-deep sense of satisfaction that outweighed everything else. You slid back down onto the bed, recounting what had just happened. Even just the memory sent your arousing spiralling out of control all over again.

It was going to be torture waiting for the next time you could get together.

[potterbite]

i can only be me with you

After one of Buck’s heroics spreads all over the news, Eddie finally sees what happened above ground when he was trapped almost a year before. 

On AO3.

As Buck and the team hops out of the firetruck, the rest of the station starts applauding; some are early for their shift that’s about to start, others preparing to head home. About twelve of fifteen people are just standing there, grinning at Buck.

“What - ?” Buck begins, looking to the others for some confirmation that they know what this is about. However, they all seem just as confused as he feels.

As the applauds die down, Bobby speaks up.

“What was that about?”

One of the women on the upcoming shift grins. “It’s gone viral.”

“What has?”

“The video from earlier today of Buck jumping out of that window to save the little girl.”

Oh. 

At this, Hen and Chim laugh while Eddie gives him a nudge on the shoulder, muttering, “Now you’re just like Firefox.”

-----

The thing is, it’s not like he had the time to think it through before jumping out of the window on the eight floor; it was all instinct, seeing that little girl fall through it with nobody else close by to help her. But on some level, he knew he still had the harness around his middle and he trusted his team enough to fully believe they would catch that rope before it was too late.

So he flew through the crashed window barely two seconds after the screaming five year old and caught her around the waist; she was so stunned she paused her screaming. They came to an abrupt stop at the fourth floor, hanging like a couple of ragdolls, and he could’ve sworn he heard someone from up above swear loudly in spanish. 

But it’s not like he thought that someone might be filming it all and uploading it to every social media plattform known to mankind or that it would be on all the big news channels less than six hours later. 

He won’t lie, he kind of likes it. But he’s still exhausted by the time he pulls the key out of the ignition in the driveway. He leans his head back and closes his eyes; his phone is finally quiet, blissfully so, after ringing every three minutes since he finished work four hours ago. Granted, he did turn off sound and vibration so the quiet might be thanks to that but he doesn’t dare to look and check for number of missed calls in the last thirty minutes.

A rapt knock on the driver window makes him jump, the top of his head hitting the roof of the car with a thump and his legs slamming into the steering wheel.  

He curses in pain, but still hears the muffled laughter; he flips the other person off. 

“Nice one,” Eddie comments as he opens the car door. Buck just grunts in response, shaking his legs a couple of times as he climbs out. 

“Don’t sneak up on a person like that.”

Eddie raises both eyebrows. “You’re sitting in my driveway. Chris heard you and wanted me to check you weren’t a murderer.”

Buck grins at this. “And he made you go alone?”

“I didn’t say it was logical. Now come on, dinner is almost ready.”

At least three or four times a week, Buck goes over to the Diaz house for dinner and to hang out with two of his favorite people. Also, ever since Eddie broke it off with Ana a few weeks back, Buck’s been afraid that Eddie might feel lonely. Whenever he asks about her though, Eddie doesn’t say much about the break up, only that it had been amicable and then he always gets this tinge of red on his cheeks that Buck absolutely does not find cute. 

“Hey kiddo!” Buck calls out as they enter the house through the kitchen door.

“Bucky! You’re on TV,” Chris replies and Buck sighs, standing next to Eddie by the counter. 

“I can’t look at that shit anymore,” he murmurs and the other man smirks.

“Not all it’s cracked up to be, being a celebrity?”

“I - “ 

“Bucky! Come see, they’re showing when you tried to save Dad, too,” Chris calls and well, Buck isn’t sure but it would seem his entire stomach flips at these words. 

Eddie goes still, a frown on his face. “What’s he talking about?”

Buck will absolutely not blush. “Probably just heard him wrong.”

“Dad! It’s really cool when Bucky screams like that, come see!”

Buck straightens. “He really shouldn’t be allowed to watch the news by himself, I’ll go put a movie on.”

He takes big strides towards the living room, but before he makes it all the way Eddie swishes past him as if he’s got wings. Eddie picks up the remote and rewinds a couple of minutes. And honestly, for a man claiming he hates technology, Eddie really loves that smartTV, even though he didn’t even know he could rewind until Buck showed him (something he regrets now). 

It’s not like Buck is ashamed of how he reacted that day when the ground collapsed on top of Eddie. Not really. It’s more that it feels like a pandora’s box he’s only ever opened on that day and he’s now deathly afraid of what will happen when he peeks under the lid again. 

But what can he do except stand there behind the couch next to Eddie and watch as the other man finds the right moment and press play? 

“Yes! Let’s watch it over and over again,” Chris claps. Buck ruffles a hand over his hair in response and the boy giggles.

“When was - ?” Eddie starts, but then he seems to recognize the farm. “Oh.”

In silence, they listen to the news anchor saying what a good guy Evan Buckley is and how he lost it when one of his own team members went under. There’s a drone shot from the moment of the collapse. A close-up on Buck’s face as he screams, and Bobby scooping him up.

Buck had known there were news teams there, of course, but he hadn’t realized they’d gotten him on camera as well. He’d ignored all reports from that day, preferring to not think about all the thousand things that could’ve gone wrong, so he’s never seen this before. But obviously, Eddie hasn’t either given the way he stares open mouthed at the screen. 

When he turns his head to look at Buck, Buck just shrugs sheepishly at him.

“That was so cool, right dad?” Chris grins, and Buck sees Eddie’s face soften. 

“Yeah, it was.” He looks up and meets Buck’s eyes for the fraction of a second and there’s another jolt in Buck’s stomach. “Time for dinner.”

-----

They don’t talk about what they saw on the news for the entire dinner or during the movie. 

Well, Chris does bring it up one time when he turns to Buck and asks, “Would you scream like that if I disappeared too?” with honesty only a child can muster. Buck doesn’t really know what to say to this so he grins and promises that he sure would. 

But even though Eddie acts normal, Buck can feel it in the air or when their eyes meet. It’s as if Eddie is screaming to say something but doesn’t want to in front of his son. Buck has no idea what that would be, because there’s no way Eddie could tell from those fast glimpses what really went on inside his head. The repeated mantra of ‘not him, not him, not him’ was not seen in his eyes, he’s sure of that.

If it were, Eddie would’ve caught on earlier. Maybe when he, Eddie, started dating Ana. Or when he broke it off with her. That fire inside of Buck’s soul dimming and glowing stronger was not visible through his eyes, because that would mean he’d lose his best friend. And that was not an option. 

But he’s still nervous when it’s time for Chris to sleep; is this the last time he’ll say goodnight to Chris like this? So when the boy takes Buck’s hand and says, “Can you do it instead of Dad?” he does. Eddie stays in the doorway to Chris’ room, silently watching as Buck tucks the boy in. 

“Buck?” Chris whispers so quietly Buck has to lean forward to hear.

“Yeah?” he whispers back.

Chris reaches for Buck’s face and moves it so he can whisper the words right by his ear. “I think he loves you, too.”

Buck blushes, straightening a bit. “Um, thanks buddy,” he replies, his voice still barely a whisper. He sneaks a glance at Eddie, who thankfully doesn’t appear to have heard the silent conversation. Then louder he adds, “Sleepy time.”

Chris nods happily, and has fallen asleep within three minutes of Buck reading his favorite book. 

As he stands up to leave the room, Eddie enters to give Chris a kiss on the forehead. Buck stays in the living room, not sure if he should take his opportunity to leave or just get this over with so he’ll know if their friendship is ruined or not.  

Before he has made up his mind, Eddie comes out and closes the door behind him. Buck opens his mouth to say something, anything, when Eddie meets his eyes and Buck sucks in a breath. 

“I’ve never seen that before,” Eddie says. Buck doesn’t even question what ‘that’ is, since he can only be talking about the video of Buck screaming at the top of his lungs. 

“No,” Buck says stupidly. “I suppose not.”

“I wish I had though.”

“Oh?” Buck isn’t at all sure where this conversation is going, but for some reason Eddie keeps moving closer to him, so he has no choice but to lean against the wall. 

“Yeah.” Almost chest to chest.

Buck licks his lips and swallows. His stomach does another flip then, because Eddie most certainly followed that movement with his eyes. 

“Why?” Buck asks even though he has difficulties concentrating when all he can think about is if Eddie can feel the beating of his heart when their chests are touching like this. 

“‘cause we could’ve done this much sooner,” he replies and surges up for a kiss. 

Buck gasps, and he can feel the smirk against his own lips. So as soon as his brain has caught up with what’s happening, he pushes off from the wall and flips them as some kind of revenge. He presses Eddie against it instead which makes him groans, and as his lips open Buck takes advantage of that and sneaks inside. 

As they battle together and Eddie’s fingers caress his neck, Buck nudges his thigh in between Eddie’s legs and gets another groan in appreciation; Buck savors that vibration as if he’s starving. 

He feels as if they should slow down, talk about what’s happening, why neither of them has said anything and what’s going to happen next. But then Eddie bites gently in his lower lip, making him moan and Eddie swallows the sound greedily. 

As if it’s the most natural thing in the entire world, he starts to back Eddie into the master bedroom, closing the door with his foot once they are inside.

What the hell, they can talk tomorrow instead. 

[visionsofus]

Hi! I hope I’m not bothering you but I was wondering if you’ve written Wanda’s first reaction to Vision’s human shimmer before?

hi! you'd never be bothering me! sorry this took a bit for me to get around to - my response ended up being a lot more long winded than I meant! thank you for reaching out with this, at the time I hadn't written anything like that but now I have ~ hope you enjoy 🥰

my inbox is open for anything and everything scarletvision

I just see you

synopsis: Vision hasn't seen Wanda in nearly a year, not since they both decided the danger was too great and they needed to go their separate ways. But he's still her emergency contact, so when Wanda ends up in hospital, Vision is the first to hear. Frantic, he travels to France, desperate to see her safe and harbouring hope that they might yet reconcile.

words: 4,140

read on AO3 here

There was a ringing coming from Vision’s bedroom.

It took a few shrill rings for him to realise that the noise wasn’t coming from inside his own head. Vision had been so wrapped up in his research that he hadn’t resurfaced for hours. It was a jarring thing to do all at once, to leave the carefully regulated interior of his mind and appear back in the physical world once more.

The ringing continued and Vision glanced around, his eyes adjusting quickly. Morning had quickly turned to evening and the pale walls of his room were lit up amber by the sunset.

The source of the sound was quickly discovered in the depths of his wardrobe, hidden within a pocket of a jacket he rarely wore. Vision fished the small flip phone out, anxiously. It had been a gift and the only person who knew its number hadn’t spoken to him in months.

Recalling that telephones only rang for a set time Vision hurriedly answered, lest it run through to the voicemail he’d never had cause to set up.

“Hello?” He said hesitantly, straining his ears to hear the person on the other line. The environment behind sounded busy, he could hear many voices piling on top of one another in chorus.

“Monsieur Maximoff?” The voice on the other side of the phone sounded stern, but unfamiliar. She was also speaking French. Vision did not know anyone who spoke French.

“I’m sorry, who am I speaking to?” Vision asked, fumbling for what to say and desperately grasping at the internet for a French translator. Mr Maximoff? He thought, who on earth was he talking to and how had they come across his number.

“Ah, Anglais.” The voice sounded more distant, as though she were talking to someone else. She returned, this time speaking in English with a heavy French accent. “Am I speaking to Mr Maximoff?”

Vision wasn’t sure what else he could say. “Yes, yes, you are. I’m so sorry, who is this?”

He was just about to trace the caller’s IMEI but the woman at the other end provided him with all the information he needed.

“Bonjour, Mr Maximoff. I am calling from the Toulouse University Hospital,” she said.

“Toulouse,” Vision repeated in astonishment. “Toulouse, France?”

“Yes, Monsieur,” she replied, sounding slightly vexed. “We had a patient brought in earlier tonight and you were listed as her emergency contact. Her condition is stable, but she had a hit to the head. We’ve observed her for a few hours, and she seems fine, but we wanted to advise you of the incident so you might pick her up.”

Vision breath caught in his throat as fear gripped his heart.

“To clarify,” Vision said shakily, “you are speaking of Wanda.”

“Yes.”

“Is she okay?”

He must have sounded rather strangled in his panic for when the woman spoke again her words were measuredly more soothing. “She is perfectly fine, Mr Maximoff. Just a bit shaken up with some light bruising and an abrasion on her forehead. We would like to monitor her overnight and if everything is okay, we can discharge her in the morning. Can you come to the hospital for then?”

“Of course!” Vision said frantically. “I can be there soon.”

She ended the call with a pleasantry in French that he didn’t recognise, but he was already on the move. He thought about leaving the phone behind, but decided it was better to have it near him in case the hospital called again.

Vision’s form blurred as he darted about the room grabbing at bits and pieces, he thought he might need. He wanted to travel light but also didn’t want to be caught unawares. He withdrew the travel bag he kept in his nightstand which contained any identification he needed to appear human. Vision had gotten his driver’s license once he had started making more solo trops and Tony had thought it useful. Vision obviously hadn’t taken the test itself; he was a better driver than any human and a test wasn’t needed to prove that.

He also retrieved his passport and the credit card he seldom needed to use. None of these listed his real identity, mind you. Instead, they displayed his human glamour with his pale skin and a head of sandy blond hair.

There was no way he could travel under his true identity without being clocked by the authorities as operating without the Accords’ instruction. Vision doubted that visiting your ex in hospital counted as noble activities that the United Nations would look favourably upon in the event he was caught. Especially when that ex happened to be an international fugitive.

With his ID secured and slipped safely into the pocket of his jacket, Vision made for the door. He was out of the compound before the building’s AI had the chance to trigger the system and notify Tony that someone had crossed the property line.

Vision had never had cause to test his super speed over such extensive distances. There had always been easier alternatives for travel.

Thankfully, progress went fast. Though it was frustrating having to stop at ever major border or airspace to disappear offline so he couldn’t be identified as a hostile flying object. When he did have secure connection, Vision kept an eye on the news in Toulouse, terrified that Wanda might be discovered. So far, the feed was quiet, and Vision had to rest on the assurance that the woman he had spoken with on the phone had said nothing to indicate she was suspicious of Wanda.

In the end, Vision managed to make it to France in just over two hours, having had to detour over the North Atlantic to avoid some nasty weather. Staying low to the ground and mostly hidden under the cover of night, he risked getting within two miles of the hospital before returning to the ground.

Vision ducked down an alley and took a moment to hide in the shadows. Taking a deep breath, he focused his energy on putting on the shimmer that made him appear human. It slipped into place easily. Straightening his jacket and running a hand through his hair, Vision ensured he looked relatively presentable before heading back out onto the streets of Toulouse.

It was an excruciatingly slow walk, but Vision knew he couldn’t risk drawing attention by walking any quicker than a human. Even in the early hours of the morning, Toulouse still had life to it. There were a few too many watchful eyes than he could be comfortable with. Even knowing that no one on this side of the world had seen his human form, it was still difficult to put the fear to rest.

Vision quickened his pace marginally as he reached the hospital’s entrance, figuring it might seem normal enough to hurry given where he was. In his head he reminded himself over and over that this was normal. He was here because he had received a call about his ‘partner’ who had been hospitalised. Vision felt sick even as he thought it.

Inside the brightly lit ground floor was a round desk with bright green letters hanging above that said la réception.Sitting behind the desk were three nurses. Vision caught the attention of the nearest and smiled politely.

“Bonjour,” Vision said, the language sounding strange in his mouth, “je suis ici pour Ms Maximoff.”

The nurse leant forward to catch Vision’s quiet tone. He was hesitant about using the last name ‘Maximoff’ and wondered why on earth Wanda hadn’t given them a false name.

“Ah,” the nurse’s eyes lit up in recognition and she turned to call over her shoulder, “Louise?”

Another nurse came around to the reception and as she rattled off something in French Vision recognised her as the stern woman who had spoken with him on the phone.

“Mr Maximoff?” She said with a welcoming smile.

“Yes,” Vision said hesitantly, “oui.”

“I though you would come by in the morning—”

Vision opened his mouth to provide reasoning for coming so quickly. He had forgotten how difficult it was, having to lie all the time when he was with Wanda.

“—but I understand you must have been very worried. If you would please follow me.”

Vision shut his mouth tightly, perhaps it was better to say less and let them assume more. The nurse turned away and walked down a long corridor to a set of lifts. She called one down and the doors opened with a chime, before gesturing for Vision to get in. As he stepped in, Vision let his hands brush against the control panel and shuddered slightly as he was absorbed into the hospital’s security system. It felt wrong, but it was better than risking someone having recognised Wanda already. Vision scrubbed through the security, uploaded a match of Wanda’s face and proceeded to edit all visual of her from the camera’s history. The system was too limited to even realise what was happening, let alone retaliate.

“Could you please explain what happened?” Vision asked politely as they reached the fourth floor and the elevator doors opened once more.

“I’m afraid I do not know much more than what I told you over the phone,” Louise said. “She was brought in about seven hours ago with a few other patients from a car accident. A vehicle lost control on the motorway and took out several other cars with it. A bit of a mess I am afraid.”

Lousie caught sight of Vision’s horrified face. “Not that Ms Maximoff was badly hurt,” she said hurriedly, “she is perfectly fine, and we will be able to let her out in the morning.”

Vision breathed out shakily as he was led down a brightly lit corridor. “Thank you.”

“Do not worry,” Louise gave Vision a comforting smile and stopped in front of a nondescript door. “You’re welcome to stay until morning though don’t tell anyone that I let you in out of visitor hours. There is a canteen on the ground floor, but it does not open until 7 I am afraid.”

“That’s alright, it won’t be a problem,” Vision said with a smile, eager to get inside the room and out of view of prying eyes. “Thank you for all your help.”

“D’accord,” Louise said her eyes crinkling in another smile and waving her hand, dismissing his thanks genially.

Vision managed to wait until she had retreated down the corridor before steeling himself and letting his human glamour fall. He did not want to see Wanda as anyone but himself.

As Vision erased himself from the corridor, he took the first step into Wanda’s cramped hospital room. The space smelt sterile, even to him and it was so wholly unwelcoming that Vision’s heart seized at the idea of Wanda spending hours here alone.

It seemed she wasn’t as troubled, instead lying sound asleep in the hospital bed. With the bed propped as it was, Wanda’s face was bathed in the light peeking through the blinds as car headlights flew past. Vision peered at her face intently, surveying the damage.

There was a graze across her forehead and a couple of stitches in her chin, but otherwise no other outwards injuries. There was a clipboard attached to the end of the hospital bed and Vision picked it up quietly to assess the doctor’s notes. It was in French, and shorthand at that, but he managed to decipher the words with the aid of his translator. MTBI. A mild traumatic brain injury, Vision thought. He knew it sounded much worse than it was and was comforted by the doctor’s following notes: no further cognitive symptoms, keep overnight, review in morning before discharge.

So there really was nothing else wrong. It was reassuring and he felt much better now that he was standing before Wanda’s sleeping form, her chest rising and falling steadily.

It was only then that Vision realised precisely how long it had been since he had last seen her. 8 months. Three seasons had passed since she had pushed him out of her life for good and he had let her. Wanda had sworn she didn’t want to see him again, and Vision had let it happen. He’d regretted the argument ever since it had happened

Now here he was, her unassuming emergency contact after a car accident. What if it had been something more final, what if that call had been made to deliver more devastating news, what would he have done?

Vision didn’t waste time pursuing such guilty thoughts further, instead going to Wanda’s side and sitting in the chair beside the bed. As he reached out for her hand, laying still atop the scratchy hospital blanket, he knew it was where he was supposed to be. As he took her hand her fingers twitched, registering the contact.

When Vision looked up, Wanda’s eyes were open, if slightly bleary. She blinked slowly in the darkness.

“Vis?” She whispered, her voice thick with sleep and exhaustion.

“Yes,” Vision replied, desperately wishing he could reach out and take her into his arms but knowing it was not his place to do so. Not unless she invited him to.

“It feels like you,” Wanda smiled and closed her eyes again, squeezing his hand. “I wish you were here.”

Vision frowned and wrapped both hands around hers. “I am here.”

Wanda stilled and Vision felt his hands grow warm and the familiar feeling of Wanda’s power. Perhaps just confirming it was him, or maybe it was a more involuntary reaction.

She sat up abruptly. “You shouldn’t be here!” The movement had apparently been too quick for her as Wanda winced and raised a hand to her forehead in pain. Vision jumped to his feet once more and helped her lie back down on her pillows.

“How did you get here?” Wanda asked, now wide awake and staring up at him.

“They called me,” Vision said slowly, trying his best not to distress her further. He thought about moving away from the bed to give her space, but she had grabbed a hold of his wrist and didn’t seem keen on releasing it. After so long without hearing her voice, Vision was content to stay as close as she would allow.

“The accident, was it bad?” He asked.

“Honestly,” Wanda said slowly, “I don’t really remember. It happened so quickly, nothing like a real fight. Just a flash of metal and I was lying on the curb. It barely touched me, but the paramedics insisted I come to the hospital.”

“As they should,” Vision said, unable to keep the distress from his voice. “What if something worse had happened? You really never know with head injuries…”

“Well, I feel fine now,” Wanda said relaxing somewhat amongst the cushions. “Did they tell you when I can leave?”

“In the morning,” Vision replied, “as long as the doctor checks you one last time before you leave.”

Wanda didn’t seem happy at the prospect of having to stay any longer than necessary but at least she didn’t push him to break her out of the hospital.

“I didn’t realise I was still your emergency contact,” Vision said quietly, looking intently at the mattress.

Wanda sighed quietly. “If you’re asking if there’s anyone else, there’s not.”

Vision stiffened. “I wasn’t prying.”

A few moments of silence passed by. “That doesn’t explain why I was listed as Vision Maximoff in your contacts.”

Wanda groaned and finally released his wrist, using her hand to instead cover her face in embarrassment. She sighed heavily and looked at the ceiling. “Let’s just say I was young, hopeful and in love.”

“That wasn’t that long ago,” Vision smiled, half-heartedly trying to joke past the growing discomfort in his chest. He hated that she used the past tense when talking about them.

“Yeah,” Wanda shrugged, “well a lot has changed. Being a fugitive changes things.”

Vision nodded, though he knew he’d never really understand what the last year had been for Wanda. “I hope it does not change everything.” He spoke slowly, afraid of saying something that might make her ask him to leave. “My feelings have not changed.”

Wanda bit her lip but seemed to be fighting off something like a smile. “Mine haven’t either.”

Hearing this made Vision breathe easily for what felt like the first time in months. Despite the circumstances, he was here beside her. Wanda was safe, light bruising aside, and through it all she somehow still loved him.

“I know things will always be complicated, but I hope you’ll think about letting me back into your life again,” Vision said softly, taking Wanda’s hand in his again. “It does not matter in what way or form, as long as I can be near you.”

“I’d like that,” Wanda said, her words barely above a whisper. Her chest shuddered as she yawned, wincing again as she shifted her head.

“You should rest. We can talk in the morning.”

Wanda nodded and let her eyes flutter close.

Vision stayed up for the last few hours of the night, a loyal shadow at Wanda’s side. All the while he counted down the minutes until they could leave and he could see Wanda safely to her house, wherever it was she was staying in Toulouse. It concerned him that Steve and the others probably hadn’t heard about Wanda’s accident, and he hoped they weren’t losing their minds with worry. There was another part of him that thought Wanda might be alone in France, she had always preferred staying in Europe when her small band of fugitives went their separate ways. But maybe that was just wishful thinking on his part.

It was foolish for Vision to hope, but he was starting to think the best way for this day to end was with him in Wanda’s bed. Of course, logically he knew they weren’t there yet. Even Wanda’s admission the night before to allow him back in her life felt like enough. But it was difficult to curb 8 months of longing.

As the clock ticked past 6am and the sky began to lighten behind the blinds Vision waited patiently, not wanting to disturb the rest Wanda so clearly needed. She had never been a quiet sleeper, always tossing and turning and mumbling in dreams. Vision was well accustomed with her habits, so it was unnerving to observe her stillness. But her breathing remained steady through until dawn. The only time Wanda had shifted was to roll onto her side, pulling their hands, which had found each other in the night, closer towards her.

Wanda finally woke around 7 and Vision busied himself by pretending to peer out the blinds and observe the street below.

“How are you feeling?” He asked over his shoulder, hearing the sheets rustle as Wanda sat up.

“Better now,” she mumbled. “But ready to get out of this place, I’d rather not risk it with the authorities in France again.”

Vision hated the way that Wanda said again. What had really happened in the months he hadn’t heard from her?

“No need to worry, I’ve removed you from security camera footage and before we leave, I’ll scrub us from the system again.”

Wanda rubbed at her eyes as she slipped out of the hospital bed. “Give me a chance to splash my face and change and we can get going.”

“No rush,” Vision murmured but it felt untrue. There was a rush. Even if he did remove them from the records there was no saying that a member of staff wouldn’t eventually recognise the name Maximoff and tell the authorities. Yes, the sooner they were out of the hospital, the better.

While Wanda was freshening up, Vision gathered her meagre belongings. Her necklaces, rings and phone had been left in a plastic tray on the bedside table. With everything safely in his pockets Vision slipped back into the hospital’s security system. From what he could tell, no alerts had been tripped but then again he didn’t know if the hospital had a specific code for ‘there’s an international fugitive on premises call the police’. Vision knew the hospital was nearly at capacity based on the records he had looked at, so the chances that their faces would stick out of everyone felt unlikely.

Nevertheless, it was better safe than sorry and there was no way they wouldn’t draw attention with him looking as he was. Once again, Vision closed his eyes and visualised his human shimmer, shivering as it fell into place. His skin tickled as his hair fell onto his forehead and Vision reached up to run a hand through it, a mannerism he had never had reason to practice but had seen others perform.

The bathroom door creaked as Wanda closed it behind her. It was a relief to see her out of the hospital gown and in something more Wanda.

“Vis how are you going to—” As she turned and caught sight of him, Wanda’s voice caught in her throat. She brought both hands to her mouth in astonishment.

Vision suddenly grew shy. Of course, Wanda had never seen him like this, of course it would be a shock. Did she even recognise him?

“It’s still me,” Vision said hurriedly, whether for her sake or his he couldn’t be sure. He rubbed awkwardly at the back of his neck as Wanda’s eyes continued to search his face in disbelief.

“I know,” she finally said, approaching him slowly. “I can tell it’s you.”

Just as she reached him the door to the hospital room slid open and a young woman entered.

“Bonjour,” Vision said hurriedly, taking a few steps back from Wanda and turning his attention to the doctor. Wanda’s eyes remained on Vision right up until the doctor approached her and asked her to do a few simply exercises. When she was sure that motor function was normal, they were told they were free to leave and to go down to the reception to begin the process of checking out. The doctor made Wanda promise to return to the hospital if she began experiencing anything like memory loss or migraines.

With the doctor gone once more, Wanda spun on Vision, getting far closer to him than she had yet. She reached up and placed a hand on his cheek, frowning.

“This is new.”

Vision nodded against her hand, relishing this one touch that he had spent months dreaming about. “I started working on this as soon as I left…”

He didn’t need to explain more and saw Wanda’s gaze grow shadowed as she presumably recalled their fight. It had been about their safety around each other, it always was. Wanda had been angry about Vision being put at risk around her, and he had been annoyed about the same thing for her. It had been so difficult to hide and meet up every few weeks back then, especially when Vision was so recognisable, and Wanda was being broadcasted around the globe. When Wanda had finally insisted on breaking things off, Vision had agreed. He’d returned to the compound and spent a week perfecting his new human mirage. It was all in the hopes that when she next called him things would be easier. But she hadn’t called.

“Do you have a—” Vision swallowed nervously, “—a preference?”

Wanda tilted her head curiously, “I don’t mind this new glamour, either way it’s you. But I prefer the you you.”

Vision tried to hide his relief as he raised his hand to Wanda’s which was still pressed to his cheek. Her thumb was running curiously circles over his skin. Carefully, cautiously, he took her hand and pressed his mouth to the back of her knuckles. The gesture’s effect was immediate, and Wanda closed her eyes.

“I miss being close to you,” she whispered, as they gravitated closer together. “I could imagine you; I could see you were safe on the news but nothings the same as having you here under my hands.”

Well, she’d had one more assurance than him at least.

It didn’t take much for Vision to pull her closer, hooking an arm around her waist and letting his human glamour fall. She sunk into his embrace, as he had imagined her doing for months and Vision wrapped his arms securely around her.

“Please don’t ask me to leave,” he said, strained.

“Alright,” Wanda said, her voice muffled as she pressed her head into the crook of his neck.

She drew back and took his face in her hands and kissed him. Vision’s legs nearly gave out from underneath him as her mouth moved softly against his own, something he hadn’t let himself dream of doing ever again.

Wanda smiled against his mouth. “We’re sticking together from now on.”

[moth-song-archives]

The Insatiable Flow of Time (1/8)

I remembered that I can make posts here too huh! Anyways, I wrote a post-MAG200 fic <3

I’ll reblog it again with the link to ao3 if you’d prefer reading it there :D

Rating: Teens and Up Archive Warnings: Choose Not To Use Categories: F/F Relationships: Georgie/Melanie, Georgie & Jon, Jonmartin (mentioned) Characters: Georgie Barker, Melanie King, Jonathan Sims, the Admiral, Basira Hussain (mentioned), Rosie Zampano (mentioned), Martin Blackwood (mentioned)

Additional tags: Diary/Journal × post mag200 × Post-Canon × Canon Compliant × Rated for swearing and me doing my best to write a fitting epilogue for my most fave story of all time × Bittersweet × Hurt/Comfort × Grief/Mourning × Gentle-Sad-Soft × Fluff × Non-Sexual Intimacy × Tenderness × Generally Hopeful Ending × Ambiguous/Open Ending × Catharsis × You know how TMA is a tragedy? ... yeah × Hope Punk × dealing with the fallout of surviving a literal apocalypse × Moving on and letting go × Trans Georgie Barker × Nonbinary Melanie King × Melanie uses any pronouns but needs to (re)discover this first × and is then mainly referred to with they/them pronouns for diary-simplicity × Melanie is ace in my heart ♡ × Jon is also enby but it only gets referred to in passing × Georgie has a Type™ × Character Study × i love them all so much × Nonbinary aspec author × it's very hope punk and somft BUT ALSO VERY SAD × in like a cathartic way × because i like causing pain :') × pre-written and updates every 2-3 days

I think I might use it to… rediscover myself. That’s what I liked about journaling in the first place, I think. Getting to think about things outside of my own head, putting it out there so I could move on? Maybe it’s time to return to old coping mechanisms and try again. Even if I haven’t really changed. Even if I should’ve changed. Right?

As the world tries to piece itself back together, Georgie grapples with her past, her present, and her future by keeping a diary. She also keeps having this strange, recurring dream that involves Jon. Post MAG200.

Finished at ~12k, will upload over the next couple of days <3

Day 3 - Evening

Melanie is sleeping. Basira is also sleeping, on the sofa in the living-room. She doesn’t really know what to do with herself, these days, so for now she’s staying with us.

I am not sleeping. I’m so far beyond tired that I can’t sleep anymore. It’s been... how long? More than a day, certainly. I’m at the kitchen table and the night outside is darker than any I’ve ever seen. There are no street lights and a million more stars than I could’ve ever imagined. I wish Melanie could see them too :(

Back before everything in my life went wrong, I used to be really good at this. I think I got my first diary when I was... seven, maybe eight? I used to be obsessed with it. I guess I stopped writing in college, after the incident, because it felt... wrong? Like I was lying to myself, trying to fabricate emotions that just weren’t there, keeping up with things that no longer seemed important or note-worthy. Mainly, I couldn’t make myself care about anyone or anything anymore.

I think I want to find that person again, now that it’s over. Try and… move on? And Melanie encouraged me :) I guess that’s the main reason. I found this notebook in one of the domains when we were rescuing people. I don’t know what I originally wanted to do with it, but I did end up forgetting about it until I went through my bag again today. It smells like fire and is a bit singed in places, but I kind of like that? I think I might use it to… rediscover myself. ...that sounds very pretentious, but this is just for me, so...

And I like that it’s just cheap paper scribbled on with a shitty biro. Maybe I’ll just burn it when all the thoughts are on the paper instead of in my head. When I can sleep again. And the prize for the most dramatic way of closure goes to Georgie Barker! But yeah. That’s what I liked about journaling in the first place, I think. Getting to think about things outside of my own head, putting it out there so I could move on? Maybe it’s time to return to old coping mechanisms and try again. Even if I haven’t really changed. Even if I should’ve changed. Right?

But I don’t feel any different. Shouldn’t I feel different, now that they’re gone? The entities, I mean, though Jon and Martin seem to be gone, too.

I keep remembering Martin’s expression when he told us to go early, how upset he was.

Honestly, I can’t say I’m surprised. As long as I’ve known Jon, he’s always done what he thought best. It used to drive me up the walls, but I also admired it, I think? I never would’ve told him that, but… Well. He’s gone now.

It’s over, all of it.

And I still can’t sleep.

And Melanie is still blind, and I still feel empty, and my fear still hasn’t come back. Everyone who died is still dead, and the trauma is still there. There were angry mobs in the streets, and people got killed.

I can’t quite believe that Jon and Martin went with them. I can’t believe they left us behind to explain the entire mess.

 We’re back in our old flat. It’s so weird to be back home. Everything looks the same, as though no time passed at all. Nobody knows what date it is. How long were we caught in there?

Outside, it feels like spring. There are birds everywhere, singing their hearts out. Sounds like more birds than there used to be, too. The trees are leafless and dead-looking, but Basira pointed out that they’re getting there... and it feels like spring.

I haven’t slept properly in 3 days because the questions keep me awake. It’s not that I’m worrying, really, just… thinking? I think I could sleep better if the worry had come back, but it hasn’t.

As far as we can tell, all modern devices are broken, too. Computers and phones and such, digital cameras, generators... we don’t even know what the rest of the world looks like. I hadn’t realised how much gets controlled by computers these days, we don’t even have central heating or water access in our flat. Rumours and news are spreading person-to-person, like in the Olden Days. We only have emergency systems that were installed in case of nation-wide blackout. I guess I’m glad we don’t actually have a blackout, we just need to get the computers back to work. (If I understood it correctly.)

Melanie thinks it’ll all come back to life in a few more days. I certainly hope so. I also hope I’ll stop feeling like this. Or rather, not feeling like anything. It’s so strange. Like in the first days after the incident, when I just felt numb?

They’re gone! I want to feel like a person again! What if I never get myself back?

 They’re actually gone.

 What will we do with our lives now? Basira isn’t the only one who feels uprooted. I think the whole world feels like that right now.

I hope my computer comes back soon. I miss music, and making things. My photos, all those memories.

I don’t want to lose all of that. I want to start fresh, but not without records of the past.

…I’ve had a lot of time to think about that, specifically. Records, and futures.

What the Ghost is done, right? There’s no fun in creepy ghost stories if you’ve been through an actual, living nightmare.

I think I want to start new with that, too. When everything works again, that is.

New world, new future, new podcast. I like that. I think. Make a record of what happened through eyewitness accounts? Or is that too similar to the Statements… then again, it’ll be more like interviews. And I think we shouldn’t forget.

We owe them that much.

I’ll have to talk it over with Melanie tomorrow. Maybe.

We’ll see.

God, I think maybe… maybe I can actually try and sleep tonight. Writing does seem to help.

 Note to self: thank Laverne for suggesting it. (Also for being there for Melanie. And listening to us. And stopping with that culty nonsense. She’s the only one we found so far, but she actually listened to us. Strange to think that in this world, I have to be grateful for someone not worshipping me for some dumb reason?!)

   Day 4 - Morning

So. Three things.

1) I did manage to fall asleep after all! I’ve always been a bit of an insomniac, especially after the incident, so actually getting some proper rest felt really good.

2) I somehow woke up right as the sun went up! I think I’ve never seen a dawn this beautiful? I watched it from the bedroom window and I’ll definitely describe it to her in detail when she wakes up! The Admiral was sleeping on our pillow, right next to her head, snuggled up against the back of her neck and shoulder... it was so cute. I can’t believe my phone and camera still don’t work! Melanie has that old polaroid camera somewhere but we haven’t found it yet, and I wish my art skills were any better. I did draw a sketch of the two of them though. I’ll cherish it forever, no matter how shitty it is :’)

After everything that happened, the Admiral is still a bit weird around us. He started out really aggressive, calmed down a bit, and now… now he’s weirdly skittish? Meows a lot. Keeps walking around the flat. The only thing that even remotely returns him to how he used to be is tuna. It’s weird.

But seeing him like that, with Melanie? I love him so much.

I think he’ll be okay.

But before I forget, and why I actually got out the diary at this ungodly hour instead of trying to go back to sleep now that the sun is up…

3) I had a really nice dream. And... I don’t even know. I think I want to try and hold onto the feeling? I don’t think I’ve felt that… deeply… in a long while. Maybe the last time was before all this, when we decided to move in together. Before all of this happened.

For a moment, I felt like I was whole again :’)

It didn’t even have Melanie in it, which is very rude tbh. I think Jon was there? The Admiral, too. We were just chilling on the sofa, watching netflix I think... It felt so... mundane??? Casual, somehow??? Like it was normal to feel like that and I just... I want THAT. I want to feel like that again, instead of this weird… blank nothingness? I want that all the time, not just when I’m riding a high or feeling so terrible that it pierces through.

I don’t know if that makes sense but this is just for me anyway so I suppose it doesn’t have to.

 I think I should feel bad about Jon being gone, but I still don’t even feel relief at it being over. Just this vague numbness.

I hate it so much, except I don’t, actually, I just know that I should?

Melanie keeps saying that I need a therapist but if we’re being honest here, I guess I need one the least? The whole goddamn world needs therapy right now. Including the therapists. And I’ve been dealing with this for a long time now.

I guess I keep hoping it’ll just go away somehow.

 Anyways. Enough introspection, I’m going back to bed. I hope I don’t wake them! :)

  Day 4 - Evening

 It’s night now, the sun went down hours ago. We have a bunch of candles, but I’m trying to use them sparingly, so I just have one lit. I put a glass of water next to the candle so now the light gets magnified a bit more. It’s a weird atmosphere, but I kinda like it? Feels… cozy! :)

I’m still not over how everything looks the same, but nothing works like it did before, and there’s this… burden? This collective trauma everyone went through. It feels so surreal. So many things are still broken… it’s like we woke from a collective nightmare, but pieces of it still remain, floating around.

And we just sent it away with the tapes. I really hope those other worlds are doing better than us, but what else could we have done? I… try not to think about it. I know I should, but I still can’t really bring myself to care, or even feel overly guilty for that? …

 Melanie fell asleep with her head in my lap half an hour ago. I was reading to her. She says she loves the sound of my voice, so I’ve started doing that in the evenings. (I still love that we had separate crushes from a distance on each other for ages because of youtube and WTG. We’ve been talking about that a lot, too.)

She still has nightmares, but apparently she’s also been having good dreams, and she looks so peaceful right now. The last few days have been a lot, but in comparison to before, and even before then…

It’s over. We made it out. We get to have a future together. I still can’t quite believe it. :)

 I guess I’m writing again (despite already having done so in the morning) because it somehow helped yesterday and I’m hoping to replicate that. And I have a lot to think about. It’s been a long day.

Basira is still out there, helping out where she can. I think she feels guilty. Melanie says she doesn’t because there was no other choice, but I know her, and I know that she’s lying.

There’s always another choice. We just say that to make it easier to bear.

I hope she knows she can come talk to me when she feels ready to tackle it.

I hope I ever feel able to tackle it myself. No. I will talk to her when I’m ready.

We did talk a bit about things, of course. Melanie doesn’t really remember her dreams, most of the time, but apparently she’s been alternating between horrifying nightmares and a really nice, recurring one that sometimes happens after the nightmares. She doesn’t really remember much of it, but she mentioned it after I told her about the Jon dream. Not what it was about, just… in general.

From the way she talked about it, I think her dad might have been in it? I’m actually not sure, but the way she smiled…

She has that little smile on her lips again, even now, dreaming. The soft one she gets when she talks about good things. About him.

About me.

(I still can’t believe she chose me. How impossibly lucky? How did I ever deserve her? But then, it’s not about that, is it? She is mine, and I am hers, and… life will be good. I know it will be.)

 She’s been smiling a lot more, these past few days.

[theonetheycallhannah]

The Treatment of Captain Syverson-Chapter 14: No Call No Show

Characters: Shane Benton (OFC), various other original supporting/secondary characters

Summary: We find out where Shane went Monday after work and exactly why she hasn’t been responding to any attempts at communication…and unfortunately, she’s not just taking some “me time.”

Want to reminisce about when this was just a happy little fluffy romance? Return to chapters past, or look at my other smutty drabbles here!

Word Count: 3.6k

Warnings:  SHANE FIGHTS BACK, BUT DEFINITELY GETS HER ASS KICKED, SO FAIR WARNING, IT’S VIOLENT. Language, mature themes, emotional abuse, mention of narcotics (morphine), vomiting, foreshadowing and mention of potential future violent/non-con/dub-con activities, but if those acts occur, they will not be portrayed on the page, but rather between chapter or section breaks, so don’t worry. Also, I use the “R” word, but not to discuss non-con, but rather to add an educational note about why one should yell “fire” when one is being assaulted. Basically no Sy material whatsoever, but he’s mentioned, so I’m tagging it as such! Shane being somewhat blasé about her mortality. I really don’t want to trigger anyone, so please read with caution or wait until you emotionally are ready to deal with our girl going through the shit.

Author’s Note: Really REALLY nervous about this one. This is not the resolution you are looking for, my friends. In fact, it’s not a resolution, at all. Lol. I foresee many people disliking this chapter for some reason or another. That’s actually okay. It’s not a chapter you’re meant to “like” per se. I don’t “like” it. I’m prepared for it to get very few notes, and I’m positioning it anyway. I think it’s some of my better writing, but I hated putting Shane through the ringer like this. It’s just one of those chapters you “get through.” And honestly, if you truly didn’t like it please give me feedback so I can improve and tweak. {For reasons other than “My beebeeeeee!” or “never mention anything less than consensual ever again kthxbye” because a) of all, MY beebee too, and b) of all, that’s what warnings are for and why they should be read.} That being said, I hope it at least tides you over until the next chapter. At least you know where she is…not that THAT’S a big relief under the circumstances! Lol!

Disclaimer: Unfortunately for me, Henry is not mine, le sigh, and all mention of him, his characters, any characters from his films, or his precious doggy, Kal, are strictly for transformative and recreational use. I neither ask for, nor accept payment for the work I post on Tumblr or AO3. Unbeta’d because this is for fun and escapism.

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Hope I’m not forgetting anyone! If you want to be notified when I post a new chapter or work, I’ll be happy to add you to my tag list! Stricken blogs are getting personal messages from me when a new chapter is uploaded because Tumblr’s faulty tagging system will not stand in the way of me delivering what the people want!(?) lol! (Although…their lackadaisical notification system might…sorry for that. I have no control. lol!)

X@X@X@X@X@X@X@X@X@X@X@

Previously, in Virginia…

"Shane left work Monday and hasn't been back since. No one has seen her. Apart from you, I presume. "

"I haven't seen her in about a week and a half. I'm training out of state for a job. I've been away from my phone since Monday, and I just got back to it now."

"She isn't…with you? I assumed…"

"Well, you know what they say, Susan. I'm coming back early if I can manage it. See if I can do something to help find her."

Three days earlier, in Missouri…

Shane blinked her eyes open to little avail. She couldn't tell where she was, other than what seemed to be the back seat of a fairly new-model large vehicle, like a Suburban or a Tahoe. She thought it was new because the new car smell was still overpowering the nicotine and tobacco odor of at least one of its occupants. She could also smell the sickly sweet stench of artificial cherry permeating the cabin. The source must be very close to her nose as she lay there helplessly restrained while the vehicle jostled down the road. The smell reminded her of the horrible liquid pain reliever her mother would give her as a child when she had a fever or leg pains. She had taken enough of it then to make her averse to most cherry flavorings as an adult. She wanted to retch.

She could also make out the faint glow of a dashboard lit with LED lights, brighter and softer than those of older models. But she soon had to shut her eyes again. Her head was throbbing and her memories were fuzzy. She remembered very little of Monday…was it still Monday? But she was trying to think, despite the pounding of many drums in her cranium where a brain should be.

She remembered staying at work late to finish notes. She remembered heading home…and she remembered forgetting her phone at her desk and deciding to turn around to get it…when suddenly she was surrounded by vehicles and unable to move without having an accident. Had she known the circumstances then, she would have tried to muscle through. The horrific events came flooding back in traumatic flashes like lightning, or the pulse of passing streetlights in an unfamiliar city.

She remembered…

The glass by her left ear shattered. A hooded, hulking figure reached in through the new opening, fumbling for the handle to open the door. She'd had the presence of mind to fight back there. To punch at the probing extremity. But the extremity hit back, landing a solid smack against her left cheek, stunning her for long enough that the cruel apparition found the unlock button, pressed it, and opened the door. She didn't go quietly. She fought like the hellcat her mother always told her to be. Her foot found the odd solar plexus and groin before enough dark nemeses arrived to overpower her. They dragged her away from her car and out onto the pavement of the church parking lot she'd used to turn around. She did not make it easy for them. She kicked and punched and tried to twist out of their grips like vices. She yelled "fire" as she was taught as a young woman, not knowing the men's intentions, but certain they weren't kind, and knowing that yelling "rape" was not always effective at summoning help. Either way, it didn't matter. She could have shouted anything. No one was near enough, or cared enough, to come to her aid. As soon as her soft hands hit the gritty pavement, though, the violence intensified. She lost count of how many times she got kicked in the back, stomach, ribs. One asshole even kicked her in the tit. She'd find out who that was and he'd find himself in a special brand of pain…if she ever got out of this alive. She heard them calling her awful names that she was sure she hadn't earned, and especially not from these guys. About six of them, she thought. She hardly knew six guys. She certainly didn't know six guys that would want her roughed up like this. She heard one of the men start to say "Come on, guys, we better save some for--" and with that, she blacked out to the tune of the distinct "thunk" of a wooden baseball bat making contact with the back of her head.

She wanted to forget…for it to be a terrible nightmare…to wake up.

But she was awake. This was a waking nightmare. The cold leather on her cheek was made colder by the harsh air conditioning blowing toward her from above and below. She shivered from the chill and from the terror she was trying to suppress. Where were they taking her? For what purpose? And for whom were they leaving parts un-bruised…though it didn't feel like it.

She finally felt them slowing, heard a turn signal clicking, the courtesy of which she applauded despite her position in the active abduction taking place, and felt the gentle displacement of her body toward the driver side, knocking her head into the door. A right turn. Not that it would matter too much, but at least when she escaped, and she made herself think "when" and not "if," she would know which direction to turn to get back to town.

The blow to the head had left her sensitive to light and sound. As she was yanked from the back seat, all she could see was the glow of a dusk to dawn light above them. Normally a soft, guiding light, this one just as well have been the sun itself the way it stung her tender eyes. She squinted against it, thankful as she never would have thought to be, when a shroud was placed over her throbbing head. She could still hear the power coursing through the bulb and fixture, though. Normally a dull hum, in the state she was in, it was as loud as accidentally switching your TV to the snow channel at full volume.

"Bring 'er inside." She heard an unfamiliar male voice say.

Two strong, ruthless hands grabbed her by the armpits, causing her to cry out in pain. Such a tender place to bear weight, and why even big strong Sy hated crutches…Sy. Would she ever see him again?

"Shut up, bitch, or we'll knock you out again." She believed them, and being fairly certain she had at least a mild  concussion, she wasn't sure what a second blow of an indeterminate velocity might do to her brain. She dealt with the stabbing pain as the men dragged her across what sounded like gravel, then grass, then something hard and smooth, maybe the slabs of an old, sunken, and somewhat uneven footpath. Soon, she felt the pain of her knees hitting what she assumed were porch steps. One, two, three of them. She was trying to concentrate through the fog now setting in, and maintain consciousness. Paying attention to the sensations, she told herself, was not only helpful for that task, it might help her escape. Remember the scents, too, she reminded herself. She tried to shake off the nauseating cherry and cigarette stench from her olfactory glands and take note of the bouquet around her.

Burnt leaves…gasoline…engine grease…the tang of sappy, just cut firewood…straw…manure…this seemed to be a farm. With a barn nearby…perhaps with horses. She loved horses. If she could find a gentle horse in the night…escape might be easier than she'd anticipated.

Entering the house was a noisy affair. There was a metallic keening from the spring of an aluminum screen door. She imagined it had one of those big swirly cross beams like her grandma's used to have that she always though was supposed to resemble a butterfly. A heavier, wooden door creaked open as the three figures muddled their way in, and the floorboards protested, as well, at the weight of her captors. So, she thought, not only a farm house, but an old farm house.

"Where do you want her?" the man on her left asked into what she only knew as the void, so far.

"Take her to the cellar. I've got things set up down there." a familiar voice chuckled and growled. How did she know the voice? Was he a patient? She couldn't think of anyone she'd treated that would want her abducted and brutalized.

"You got it, E." Ugh, for some reason it bothered her when guys referred to each other by their first initials. Girls, no big deal. But bros…there was something so thoroughly douchey and…familiar about it all…

"Hold on." the man called "E" said, and she heard footfalls approaching her. As he got closer, she smelled…patchouli and incense…and the sea…and it brought back a rush of pain from past trauma followed by literal pain from his punch to her gut. She hadn't been expecting it. Obviously. The wind had been taken out of her. Literally and figuratively. She did know this man…all too well.

"We've got some catching up to do, sweetheart." the pet name dripped like venomous honey from the tongue of the snake before her.

"Elliot." it wasn't a question. She coughed the name out like a pill that had gone down sideways.

Her escorts continued their transportation of her prone body to its destination…she didn't want to think FINAL destination, but the more she learned about her situation, the more she worried that she wouldn't make it out alive.

They had to get creative in carrying her down the narrow staircase to the cellar. They argued for a moment about who would take the top half and who would go backwards.

"How about the one who takes my top half goes forward and the bottom half goes backward?" These idiots. Where did Elliott find clowns like this who needed to be told by their prisoner the best way to sort out their domestic dispute.

She thought she felt them shrug, and silently take her advice as she felt herself being lowered down the stairs, feet first, panic threatening to overtake her restrained limbs.

When they got to the bottom of the stairs, they stood her up to remove her shroud, and cut the zip ties from around her ankles and wrists. She then noticed a small cell that reminded her of the ones in the sheriff's offices in some westerns she'd seen. She started to freak out, anticipating her future in that horrid place.

"Guys, please. No. Please don't do this. I don't know what Elliott's told you about me, but I'm a good person. I don't deserve this. I have a job and friends and a family who will worry sick about me. I am begging you to let me go. Please!"

"You're wasting your breath, lady." one of the men said, gruffly.

"PLEASE!" she appealed, desperate to get through. "Don't you guys have wives or girlfriends? Mothers, sisters, aunts, or female cousins? What if a woman you cared about was in this situ---" and before she could finish the question, one of the men punched her for what felt like the thousandth time tonight. She fell to her knees, vomiting. And the world went black again.

~~~~~~~

There were no windows. There was no clock. There was just a small twin mattress in one corner of the cell, and a bedside commode in the other. As accommodations went, it was hardly a Hilton, but it could have been worse. It was all lit by a 60-watt bulb in one of those hanging fixtures her dad had always called a trouble light situated on a hook on the side of one of the exposed joists outside the cell. He'd had a similar one for the longest time. He and mom will be worried sick before long, if they aren't already, she thought. The light was aptly named for these circumstances she was in. Trouble. A heap of it. And no idea of how to get out of it.

And honestly, no idea why Elliott would want her here. How he could do such a monstrous thing as having her kidnapped. How he came to live in this place when he never worked a day in his life. She was so confused. She hoped at the very least, he'd give her answers before he murdered her, if that was his plan.

She had woken up on her side, almost her stomach, with her right cheek on the scratchy surface of the bare mattress. Whoever put her to bed had been wise to position her like this given the likelihood that she might puke again. She noticed a small bucket, presumably for that purpose, next to the mattress. There was a caseless pillow next to her head, but she hadn't found that comfort during her nap of…she couldn't tell how long. Not that it mattered. The more she slept, the less time she'd have to process this horror movie she was currently living out.

She heard the door open at the top of the stairs and Elliott shout at one of his flunkies, "What do you MEAN you didn't get her phone?" a pause while indistinct words came from said flunky across the room, or maybe the house. "Well, find it. Tear that piece of shit Explorer apart if you have to. I want that phone." She took exception to her sweet little Norah getting called a piece of shit. That was her Millennium Falcon. And yes, she'd gotten flack for naming her Norah the Explorer, but she didn't care.

Elliott stomped down the stairs, grinning the most infuriatingly happy grin she'd ever seen on him. She wanted to maul him. To tear those stupid eyes out of their sockets with her own fingernails. But she controlled her anger and resisted even acknowledging his greeting of "Hey, sweetheart."

She ignored him.

"It's good to see you."

Silence.

"I missed you."

She stared right through him.

"I heard you and that meat head soldier broke up."

She scowled at him.

"There she is. There's my girl."

"I'm not your girl, Elliott, and I haven't been in years. Why am I here?" She broke. She couldn't take it.

"We'll get to that why soon enough. First, let's talk about why you and Cap'n Crunch are no longer breakfasting together? Soggy cereal? Limp toast? Was he letting you leave the table unsatisfied?"

"As if you ever satisfied me when we were together." She spat back, calling Elliott out on his notorious selfishness in all aspects of life and relationships.

"I've changed."

"Bullshit." she rolled her eyes.

"It's true!" he insisted. "I can give you references."

"I honestly don't give a shit. We're not together. Sy and I are. Happily. And you better let me go soon. He was expecting me at his place after work. He's probably out looking for me right now." she lied. It was worth a shot.

"Now it's my turn to call bullshit, because I know that isn't true." He looked at her with that patronizing stare he had.

"You don't know shit, Elliott."

"I know that your boy took off over a week ago for Virginia and hasn't come back, at least not the way he left. I believe he's supposed to be gone at least a few weeks. Maybe a couple of months. He wasn't sure at last report."

She was literally willing him to burst into flames before her. Her gaze revealed her hand.

"Told ya. You think you're the only one with connections at the fort? I've got me a sweet little sergeant who works in ATC over there. She can out-squat anyone else on base…and let me tell you, it shows." he lifted his eyebrow, lasciviously.

"You disgust me."

"Why? You never seemed to mind my…sexy imagination." he winked at her.

"No, I'm happy that you're getting it good on the regular from an ass that won't quit. But come on. You clearly only got with this girl because you thought it would give you the upper hand against me."

"Well, that's very self-absorbed thinking."

"Really, Elliott? Do you see where we are right now?" they looked around at the dank cellar and he shrugged, unable to deny or rebut. "And this woman. Does she know about this little scheme?"

He gave her one of his more evil grins. "Who do you think kicked you in the tit?" Okay…she was new levels of pissed off now.

"Why…the actual FUCK am I here, Elliott!?"

"Well, Shane, you embarrassed me with that little stunt at the bar a few weeks ago. You thought you were hot shit, parading your sasquatch of a boyfriend around in front of me, in my town, humiliating me as all of my friends watched. And then that dickhead sucker punched me in the parking lot. I shoulda pressed charges. But him being a veteran, I knew how that woulda gone in this town. I didn't have a snowball's chance. So I waited. And I planned. And I was patient. And I watched for my moment. And it finally came. I've been watching you leave work every night for the past week, and you're always with someone, or headed somewhere else, or going straight home. Last night…last night I knew was the night when you didn't leave until after 7. You were the last one out, and I knew that it had to be then. The plan, not that you need to know, is to plaster your social media with humiliating photos, piss off everyone that you love, including your precious Sy, and alienate everyone you've ever cared about until you're miserable and alone."

Shane was crying now. She thought she might be sick again. She reached for the bucket. The delusion of this man thinking that anyone in that bar besides maybe the ones that were there with him that night gave a shit about him. Thinking that the town was his. He was a nobody there. He hadn't grown up there, he didn't work there, he didn't participate in community events. He was kidding himself if he thought anyone cared enough about him that he should feel shame over her relationship with Sy, especially five years after their relationship with each other had ended.

"How's that for a 'why,' sweetheart?" he boasted.

"It's making my ask myself a lot of questions. Like why I ever agreed to go out with you all those years ago. Why I didn't see the signs that you were a psychopath sooner. And why I put up with your terrorism for so long thinking you'd ever really change. I can't believe I ever slept with you, you absolute barbarian." and she heaved into the bucket, non-productively. She hadn't eaten since lunch, and that had to be well over twelve hours ago.

"Well, ya did. And ya can't change the past. But I'm about to take your future into my hands. As soon as we find your phone, we're gonna have us a ball, little girl."

"You honestly think I'll cooperate with any of that?"

"You won't have a choice." he held up a little glass vial. "Morphine. A tiny dose of this stuff, and you'll do anything I tell ya."

"Please. Just let me go now, and I won't press charges. I won't go to the cops, at all. I'll call in to work with a headache, or something and you can live your life with Sergeant Squats and we can leave each other alone."

"A good offer, but I need to get something out of this. I need my pride back."

"And you're gonna get that by dragging me through the mud online from my own Facebook account? Is that really the way you wanna do this? When you could just show me what a great life you've built for yourself. This is a great place here, it seems, I mean, I only smelled it, and felt how big it was while I was getting dragged around the place. But, Elliott, if you had just told me about all this, I would have been happy for you!"

"This place is Sasha's."

"Oh." she grasped for something, anything to make him see how insane he was being without saying the words. "Well, I'd still have been happy for you finding an established woman with a great job. Why couldn't you have just written me a letter telling me that? An email! Something."

"This is how it's getting done, Shane. Because this is the only way that truly ruins your life in the process. Because at the end of all of this, the backlash is going to be too much for you, and you're not going to be able to handle this life anymore…"

"No. Elliott, no."

"Yes. You're gonna take one last hit of the morphine and drive that shitty Ford right into the lake."

"You used to care about art. About beauty. You used to be sensitive. You used to have a soul. What happened, Elliott? What happened to your humanity?" Shane asked, crying, in mourning for the man he used to be. The one that she used to care for.

"I fell in love. And she broke my heart. And nothing has been the same."

"Elliott, I didn't mean to…"

"Oh, fuck, not you, don't be stupid. No, Kara. I met her right after you kicked me out, and SHE broke my heart." he  turned and started up the stairs, pausing to look over his shoulder and say, "I'll be back when I have your phone. And I'll bring friends." before he ascended, shutting the door firmly behind him.

She had never been so relieved to NOT have her phone in her life. Hopefully, her coworkers had it safe and sound, and locked up at work.

Up Next: Chapter 15-Recon

[lucas-koh]

Stitches - Bryce Lahela x MC II

Also uploaded to Ao3! Go check it out there if you’d like my user is margotmuses

Doesn’t follow canon, but elements of canon. FWB.

Song: Feel Real - Deptford Goth

Rating: M

Word Count: 3409

Please check out chapter one first if you haven’t already!

Taglist: @lahellacute @tyrilsnightbloom @bubblelaureno

Chapter Two: Suki’s Flip-Flop, Intensive, Very Long Day

On a pretty big whim, Sienna, Jackie, Aurora, and Elijah had decided to look at apartments and move in together on the walk home from Donahue’s. Turned out none of their current living situations were ideal, and as crazy as it sounded, Suki felt like this might just work out. Weirder stuff had happened, right? She’d lived with complete strangers in college, so this was no huge thing, really. Over the following week they scored themselves an absolute bargain of a stunning top level apartment which overlooked the classic Boston skyline. Somehow, they’d managed to convince the landlord to rent to them for cheap, and soon enough everyone started to move their stuff in.

To celebrate their gorgeous new apartment, the group decided that they would throw a housewarming party at some point in the next few weeks. Planning was immense - everyone wanted to do something different, plus finding time where everyone would be off work was difficult. Elijah had never thrown a house party before, so he was overlooking most of the planning, while Sienna and Suki did tasks such as stocking up on cheap booze. Aurora didn’t really want to get involved in the planning side of things, too focused on her studies, but was looking forward to the party all the same. She was crazy grateful to be able to move away from her overbearing aunt. Jackie also wasn’t so involved in the planning, but more out of lack of interest in making plans. After a week or so, they’d decided on a date. All that was left to do was to invite everyone. And, yeah, that pretty much meant everyone.

Suki’s mind had been pretty occupied, mostly by a certain sun-kissed surgeon who’d swayed her to The Stone Roses. Since that first night, Suki had only seen Bryce in passing in the corridors, always taking lunch breaks and the like at different times due to the different demands of their jobs. He’d wink or grin at her and for a moment she’d be completely focused on only that. Not to mention the all-consuming sexual chemistry they had with each other being sparked each time they merely passed by one another. She was continuously bothered by the strange familiar feeling she felt with him, increasingly frustrated that she couldn’t pin it down.

About two and a half weeks in, Suki was suffering from an absolutely awful day. None of her patients were looking at a positive outcome, and she was feeling utterly helpless about it all. Existentialism: Doctor’s edition. She’d shut herself away in a supply closet to be alone with her thoughts. And to cry. What good was being doctor if you couldn’t save lives? And everything felt like a minefield. One wrong move and it could all implode. Misdiagnoses were so easy to make and so incredibly dangerous, she could prescribe someone a medicine they were allergic to and make their symptoms broaden, or even just upsetting someone because there was nothing she could do. She worried she wasn’t ready for this job. It was all very well reading up about illnesses and treatments, but actually putting it into practice? Dealing with real life people? So incredibly intimidating.

Abruptly the door creaked open and Suki jumped back.

“Oh! Sorry, I didn’t… think anyone was in here.” It was Bryce. Of course it was. He looked just as good as ever, framed in the dark by the light from the hall. “I just needed to get some suture kits...”

“It’s fine, just shut the door,” her voice cloyed but she tried to subtly wipe the tears from her eyes.

He did as she asked and came closer towards her. Even though it was dark, he noticed the red rings round her eyes and wet cheeks.

“Hey, hey. What’s going on?” His voice was soothing and gentle, his usual cocky demeanours put on a shelf.

“It’s just… I feel like I have too much power. I pretty much get to decide who lives or dies. I get to decide which words to use to ruin someone’s life I-“ she couldn’t help it as the tears began to pour out again. She wasn’t sure why she was baring her soul to Bryce, but something in her knew he would know what to say. He stood and listened, watching patiently. Bryce stepped in so he was closer to Suki.

“If I tell someone I’ll save their life, but I can’t, how am I supposed to live with myself? How do I tell a parent their six-year-old will never see it to seven? Bryce…” she continued, her eyes were wide and glassy as she stared up at him. Hearing her say his name like that stirred something in Bryce he wasn’t quite comfortable admitting.

“I know. But you’re damn good at your job, Suki. If you tell someone you’ll save their life, and you do, how do you not believe in yourself? How do you tell an old man he’s in remission? There are so many good parts to this job. It’s hard as shit, yeah, but we knew that. It was never going to be easy.” He lifted up his free hand and ran his thumb softly along her eyes to clear her tears.

“But it’s my fault. If I fail a patient... Maybe I shouldn’t be here.”

He laughed a brief hearty chuckle. “You made It through med school, climbed your way to the top of the medical interns at Edenbrook, and you really think you’re in the wrong place? I’ve seen those rankings, Moore. You’re good crop.”

She gave him a lopsided smile. His confidence had a way of rubbing off on her.

“Every doctor has their moment of doubt. It’ll pass.” He continued.

“How do you do it?”

He shrugged. “I just know I’m damn good at what I do. It’s still early days, Suki. Just let it come and go.”

She nodded and felt the desire to hug him. Lucky for her, he held his arms out to her and she collided with his hard chest, again. She still had her arms crossed in front of her, but moved to cradle her head into the crook of his neck, shifting her body so she was leaning into him. Bryce’s arms enveloped her, like a large, hard, teddy. She felt like a baby, cocooned and cooed at by the light soothing motion Bryce was drawing down her back. It felt like the most natural thing.

“Shit. I guess you are damn good at what you do,” she said. Her voice was muffled by Bryce’s scrub top, but he heard her all the same, and couldn’t help but grin at the girl in his arms.

“I told you, I’m a talented guy.”

She pulled her head back after a minute, looking up into his brown eyes, which were honey like his skin usually, but deep and alluring in the dimmed light of the supply closet. His arms still cradled her.

She suddenly wanted to tangle her fingers into his hair and kiss him passionately. Because despite the snark, the ego, the cockiness, he’d made her feel better after an incredibly difficult day. And there was definitely something scandalous about being in a supply closet together. The thick sexual tension that had been whirring for two weeks now was at an all time high. Her eyes flirted down to his plump lips, still ghosted with a smile. Her heart was pumping right out of her chest, she was surprised he couldn’t feel it against his own. The chemistry could be cut with a knife. She tightened her arms around herself as she made the flash decision. Without giving him too much time to back out, Suki swiftly moved forward and pressed her lips to his.

He hesitated at first, still as stone, giving Suki a moment to freak out – shit, he doesn’t want to be doing this. I made the wrong call - before he pushed his lips back into hers with fervent want. They reacted to each other like it was something that had been simmering for way longer than just two and half weeks. Their mouths clambered almost clumsily around each other. Bryce’s hands moved up her back and to her neck with a caress, before he steered her round and pushed her up against the shelves. A few bits of equipment fell down, but they didn’t care. Suki pulled him as close to her as she could, hands gripping his waist. She could feel his muscles move under her fingers as they kissed, which sent a jolt through her stomach. She was actually kissing him. For some reason, the idea felt unattainable and the fact that it was happening felt fantastical.

His lips were soft but applied pressure, his tongue demanding and dominating. Suki let out an unintentional moan, causing a gruff noise from Bryce’s throat, and she could feel him smiling against her lips. Caught up in the passion of the moment, and wanting to savour every part of this, Suki lifted up a leg and wrapped it around Bryce’s hip. He responded by pressing his body tighter against hers and removing a hand from her neck to support her leg, copping a feel of her backside on the way there.

Suki didn’t even care that the shelves were digging into her back. All she cared about in that moment was getting as much as she could out of Bryce. Because, god, was he hot. His kisses were practised and skilled, clearly something he’d done a lot. She pulled him closer towards her, and he removed his lips from hers to burrow his face into her neck and suck at that sweet spot. She gasped at the sensation, earning a cocky chuckle from Bryce. If he gave her a hickey, she was dead.

To avoid that possibility, she pulled his face from her neck to meet her lips again, deepening the kiss, and finally threading her fingers through his floppy hair in the way she’d wanted to before.

A loud creak and unexpected light falling on her shut eyelids indicated that the door had been opened. Suki opened her eyes wide and looked over to the door to see an older Doctor. Oh god. She knew this guy. Dr Zaid Mirani – her attending. The leg which had been round Bryce’s hip dropped immediately.

“Can you give us a minute?” Bryce asked, frustrated, eyes shut and forehead against Suki’s, not giving a single shit that they’d just been caught in the act, not even bothering to see who it was.

“I need some scissors. Don’t let me stop you,” Zaid snapped.

At this, Bryce sighed and stepped away from Suki. Suki tried turning away coyly so that Zaid didn’t see her face, moving away from the shelves to give him access. There was a deafening awkward silence as Zaid rummaged through the shelves to find what he needed, Suki looking anywhere but at either of the men in the room. Bryce’s eyes watched her, flattening her hair down on her head and smoothing down her clothes.

After what felt like far too long, Zaid left without a word. The door shut behind him and Bryce and Suki were sent back into dim light. She looked over to Bryce finally, who was leaning against a cupboard with his hands in his pockets, a humorous smile playing on his lips. Even in the dark he looked good, hair ruffled from her fingers and lips swollen from relentless kissing. Ah, shit. He looked so good. Unlike Suki, he hadn’t taken the time to refine his appearance. But, she kind of liked it that way.

“That kinda killed the mood,” he said, pushing off the cupboard.

“…yeah. We should get back to work, anyway,” replied Suki. She was hot from embarrassment, again. This boy sure knew how to get her flustered, both unintentionally and intentionally. That kiss sure had some intention behind it. It had been a nice distraction, and admittedly she felt much better, but it was time to get back to reality.

He chuckled and scratched his thumb over his chin. He didn’t seem embarrassed at all. Then again, asking a resident to leave so they could continue their steamy make-out didn’t strike Suki as something someone who was easily embarrassed would do. Unluckily for her, Suki was a stickler for humiliation. Maybe hooking up with Dr Bryce No-Fear wasn’t something a blubbering blushing mess should repeat.

Bryce walked toward Suki, and she almost jumped back, worried he might try again. For a couple of reasons: worried they’d be caught again, and Suki would never live it down with herself, but also worried she wouldn’t be able to stop at a sensible place. He was too sexy, and too experienced. But he reached behind Suki to grab a suture kit. The whole reason he’d even been here in the first place. He held it up to show her, before making his way to the door.

“You’ll kill it out there, Dr. Moore,” he reassured before opening the door, letting the light flood the room again, and shutting it behind him once again leaving Suki in the dimness.

She crept out of the supply closet, not looking where she was going and accidentally ramming straight into Jackie.

“You look a mess!” Jackie laughed, noting Suki’s scruffed up hair and creased scrubs.

Suki cursed herself internally as she once again started to sweat.

“Oh! Long day, is all. I’m only halfway through, too!”

Jackie side-eyed her blustery response. “I’ve got to get this shot to this patient. You’re lucky this time, Moore.”

—-

A couple of hours later, Suki was finally grabbing a bite to eat when she received a page from Aurora.

Suki rushed into the room, where Aurora was already debriefing the resident. Shit. It was Zaid. She prayed that he hadn’t caught her face before, that it had been too dark and she’d turned away quick enough that he hadn’t recognised her.

“Hey, Aurora. What’s the situation?” She breathed out, exhausted from speeding up there. Aurora looked grateful as she turned to Suki.

“Moore,” Zaid greeted tightly. Something told her that he had definitely seen her face earlier. He didn’t seem like the type to bring it up, though.

“Ms. Redford was admitted for a broken neck, but her blood work looks incredibly strange…”

—-

“So, Dr Mirani’s a pretty grumpy guy, but why do I feel like there was a reason he was short with you earlier?” Aurora asked as the walked down the corridor to their next patient. Damn her for being smart and perceptive.

Suki weighed up whether or not to tell Aurora. It might be quite nice to have someone on her side, to tell all the awkward stories. She hadn’t done the whole secret make-out since college, and back then, she had a roommate to gossip about it with. At the end of the day Suki still barely knew Aurora; sure, they lived together, but they hardly even had a chance to be at the apartment together with their different shifts and the like. And when they weren’t at work, they were sleeping or eating. Maybe that meant telling her would feel like less of a big deal? Then again, even the idea of saying it was making her cringe. Plus, Aurora was great but she might not be too impressed that Suki had been taking time out of work to make-out with a surgical intern. In a supply closet which anyone could walk in on. And, had walked in on. A senior attending. She decided against it.

“I don’t know. I just don’t think he likes me much,” she wasn’t a very good liar, which Aurora seemed to glean; but she didn’t push further.

—-

After what felt like the most exhausting day ever - having difficult patients, a mental breakdown in a supply closet, a hot make out session in the same supply closet, being caught by her attending, and then having hours more of gruelling work – Suki threw herself onto her bed dramatically. It felt like her whole body, including her internal organs, was on fire. She eventually got up to change into her pyjamas, clean her face, and brush her teeth. There was a knock on her door. She opened it to reveal it was Elijah.

“Hey, what’s up?” He asked, it looked like he’d been home a while. Suki was happy to see him nonetheless.

“Just winding down after work, you know.”

“Yeah, today was a long one,” he added awkwardly.

“Tell me about it.”

He seemed like there was something he knew, or wanted to say, but didn’t.

“Movie?” Elijah asked.

“Sure, I might pass out though.”

She followed Elijah to the sofa and let him load up Netflix. She pulled off the fluffy blanket from the arm and snuggled into the crook of the sofa, next to Elijah’s chair. They put on a classic romcom and settled in to watch it, everyone else either asleep or working. Suki and her other roommates had become close quickly, but she still felt she wanted to bond more with them, get to know them better. She truly loved each one of them, and they each had their own personal qualities which enriched the group.

“So-“ Elijah finally came out with about a quarter of the way in, only to turn and see Suki had passed out.

Elijah tucked her in on the sofa and shut the TV off so she wouldn’t be disturbed. He would have to talk to her again another time. He wheeled away into his own bedroom.

—-

Around an hour later, Suki woke with a stir, taking a moment to recognise her surroundings. She must’ve fallen asleep here, and she noticed how she was tucked into the blanket. Elijah. How was she ever going to bond more with her flat mates If she couldn’t even stay awake to watch a movie with them? She sighed, folding up the blanket to place on the sofa arm again, and made her way into her own bed.

In the dark of the night, Suki’s thoughts wandered to Bryce’s lips on hers, his hands on her neck, his lips on her neck, his body close to hers…

She thought about that smirk and that laugh, the way his hair felt under her fingers, his taut stomach muscles under her hands. The way he tasted clean, faintly minty, the smoothness of his lips on her own. The feeling of her leg wrapped round his hip. If Zaid hadn’t interrupted when he had, Suki wasn’t sure she would’ve been able to stop. Truthfully, it had been a while since she’d slept with anyone, and a while since she’d actually been so sexually attracted to someone.

But she tried not to think about it. He’d helped her out of a tight spot earlier, and she’d thanked him. Now, she would have to put in all her effort to be a better doctor. Not try to sleep with the other interns. No matter how sexy their body and face and demeanour was. She wondered why he’d been so kind to her, taken the time to reassure her and validate her thought. Perhaps just a ploy to get that kiss, or something more, but Suki wasn’t really sure she cared if it had been. Even so, he’d seemed genuine. She supposed he was a doctor after all, helping people was second nature to him.

Come to think of it, the way they’d kissed in the supply closet struck that odd feeling in her again. How did she know him? Did he know her? Was she just superimposing someone else on to him to make him more appealing to her carnal desires and more of a mystery to solve? Maybe it was that if she let herself get hung up in this completely farcical idea, she could ignore what she was really thinking about deep down: her failures as a doctor.

So, maybe she didn’t know Bryce at all. She just liked how he looked and wanted there to be something. They say if you desire something, it pops up everywhere. So, those feelings of déjà vu, maybe they were all in her head. Or maybe she was just spiralling, after the ridiculously lengthy and eventful day. Her eyelids started to drop unintentionally. Maybe she would think about this tomorrow, instead…

[knittingdreams]

Fireheart - Chapter 1

Okay, I guess I’m just gonna start uploading this here because the more the merrier, right? This is the third platform where I’m uploading this story lol But I just really want people to read, cause... That’s why I wrote it, to try make people smile (okay, and cry a little) and I’m in love with it <3

You can find many many chapters in Ao3  

So, first and foremost, thank you @fleetingpieces for believing in this story when it was just a random idea in my brain that went something like “OMFG! What if Celaena was in a world without magic and she had to attend HS?” And then I started babbling for like... an hour... and through it all, @fleetingpieces listened to my rambling and interjected with ‘ahs’ and ‘ohs’ and ‘aws’ and then told me I should really write this story because she wanted to read it... so... I better stop rambling and let you read it ;)

CHAPTER 1

Returning to the Living

She was so used to getting up at twilight and staying up all night, that being in the principal’s office at the early hour of seven thirty in the morning felt almost like torture. And Celaena Sardothien surely knew her fair share about torture.

“Good morning, Miss Sardothien, please come in,” the principal called as he signaled her in from the door of his office.

Begrudgingly, she followed him in as she stifled a yawn. She sat down in front of the old man, arranging her skirt and tucking in the front of the uniform’s white blouse.

“It is a pleasure to have you in our school,” the principal started. “I hope you settle quickly into the spirits of Adarlan Elite High, and to make sure of it, I have arranged for the president of the student council to give you a tour of the grounds. He was kind enough to come in early for this.” His voice was monotonous, like he was bored of speaking with teens all day, but he sounded stern at the same time, as if 'settling into the spirit' actually meant 'sticking to the rules'.

He had no idea that wasn’t going to be the case, Celaena had already broken more rules than most students, and she had yet to start her first day.

She heard the steps in the hallway before the door opened, and she turned around with her best smile at the same time as principal Allsbrook spoke again.

“Chaol Westfall, this is our new exchange student, Celaena Sardothien. Miss. Sardothien, this is Mr. Westfall, the president of the student council.”

If it wasn’t for all her training, her jaw would have fallen open; she knew him. The guy standing by the door wore his uniform immaculate and perfectly ironed, there was even that straight little line at the front of his dress pants. His white shirt was tidy and tucked in, his tie pulled almost all the way up; his chestnut hair was cut short on the sides and a little longer in the middle, styled with gel; and his copper-brown eyes were piercing into her, his eyebrows slightly lowered.

She was pretty sure he had recognized her.

“Morning, Celaena,” he said, smiling politely.

“Good morning to you, Chaol, it’s a pleasure to meet you,” she said in an effort to be polite back, if only to keep the charade of a good girl in front of the old man sitting at the desk. 

She hoped for the slight chance that he wouldn't remember meeting her a few weeks back, or that he didn’t recognize her with the small change of appearance. 

“Okay, off you go into the tour, I have plenty of things to do, and another student to greet soon,” the principal dismissed them with a wave of his hand.

Celaena followed Chaol out of the office, hoping that he wouldn’t mention the day they ran into each other in the secretary’s office. She hadn’t thought there would be any students in the school's grounds during holidays; but of course the nerd of the class had been there and had almost found her hacking into the school’s database. She had been fast, getting off the computer, jumping over the counter and seating in the waiting area just before Chaol had walked in the door. 

She had claimed to be waiting for the secretary, that there were some papers she had to hand in; and she hoped that’d been enough to fool him.

“So, why does a senior student transfer schools?” Chaol asked her after showing her around for a while. “Wouldn’t you want to graduate with all your friends?” 

“I transferred because I had to move here, and the reason I moved is none of your concern,” she quipped, not being able to repress the little hiss sound escaping her lips. There was something about the guy, he was already pissing her off.

“Interesting,” he muttered under his breath. “Well, welcome to Rifthold then,” he said as he led her towards a new hallway. “So, this is the cafeteria,” he pointed to a set of double doors at the end of the hall. “And the gymnasium is in the next building over, out that side door,” he added, gesturing to their right.

They walked around for a few more minutes while she pretended not to know the place like she knew the palm of her hand. She had meticulously studied the blueprint of the building, and had snuck in during the night a few times to get familiar with her new surroundings.

“That’s about it, you can ask around if you get lost,” he finished, looking at his wrist watch. “We should go now, or else we’ll be late for the first period, missing homeroom is enough. Let me see,” he added pointing at the schedule in Celeana’s hand.

She passed it over to him and Chaol looked at it quickly and smiled, but there was still an odd look in his eyes. She could tell he didn’t fully trust her; she’d had to work on that.

“We’re together for the first two periods, so follow me,” he said.

“Sure thing,” she replied, flashing him with one of her best grins.

They walked into the classroom, and Celaena was already calculating her odds. Would this be the type of school where they had you introduce yourself? She half hoped not, but a part of her hoped it was; it would be good to read people’s expressions from the front of the room. And she couldn't deny she'd enjoy the attention. 

She was only half disappointed when the teacher barely looked at her and nodded. “Oh, yes, one of the new students,” the guy said. He must have been in his late thirties, and looked a bit bored, but Celaena couldn’t help but notice how he glanced at her up and down quickly. “Just grab a seat wherever you want,” he brushed her off.

She analyzed the room and decided to sit around the middle, but to one side, so she’d have the security of the wall to her left, and the gossiping girls sitting to her right. She could already hear their whispers and see their eyes turning her way, heads close together as they talked. 

“Oh my God,” one of the girls was saying, “I think she’s got potential for prom queen.” Her voice was a little too loud to be considered a whisper.

“Shush, she can probably hear you! But you’re right, she’ll be good competition for Lysandra. Do you reckon she’ll join the bees? Looks like the type,” the second one replied.

Lysandra, she saved that name into her brain. Probably the queen of this school; pretty girls normally meant trouble, so she’d better keep her eyes and ears on that one.

“Have you seen the new junior already?” The first one asked after a few more hushed whispers. Celaena leaned on an elbow closer to them, pretending to look at the front while she eavesdropped.

“I haven’t, but I’ve heard he’s to die for!” 

“He’s really tall and handsome." Celaena rolled her eyes at that. "I hope I have some classes with him…. Do you know what his name is?”

“I think it’s Samuel.”

“Okay, attention class,” the teacher interrupted.

Celeana was glad for the interruption, she had had enough of the girls' gossip for the moment being, and she hoped her school year wasn’t going to be all like that. That is, if she even got to the end of the year. Gossip was a good source of information, but it was also unreliable, and annoying. 

The first few classes went by fairly quickly, she sat to one side of the classrooms, interacted with a few students, and mostly listened to what everybody had to say about her and the other new student. Not many dared approach her, she must have looked as grumpy as she felt due to the lack of sleep. A few had said hello and introduced themselves, and she had filed every face and every name she could into her memory.

It was after her third class, while she was leaving some books in her locker, that she finally ran into him. Or most likely, that he found her.

“Hello, gorgeous,” he said in a mocking tone, standing behind her.

She turned around and glanced at the hallway, making sure that there were not many people around and that no one could hear them. 

“I still don’t know why you’re here, but just stay out of my fucking way, Cortland! Don’t ruin my plan,” she yelled under her breath, looking around to the few people still lingering in the hall.

“You know perfectly well why I’m here, and I can't get in the way if I don't even know what your plan is," he hissed, and then he popped a hand against the locker, boxing her in.

Celaena wasn’t unaccustomed to him being so close, but his simple presence could still piss her off.

“Yes, I do know why you're here,” she replied with a huff. “It's because Arobynn doesn’t fully trust me after the... incident,” she finished, trying not to think about that night. "But I don't know why he'd trust you," she added, narrowing her eyes and almost spitting the last word out. 

She pushed his left hand off the locker in one quick motion, almost making him stumble. He had probably been expecting the move, as he shifted the weight to his right foot and popped his right hand on the other side of her head instead.

Sam Cortland looked at her with his brows tucked together, his face merely inches away from hers. It looked like he was going to keep arguing, he opened and closed his mouth. He looked hurt for a second, and angry, but then he turned around, looking ahead into the now empty hallway. The first bell had rung already.

“I’ll be around if you change your mind,” he replied over his shoulder before walking away.

“Asshole,” Celaena breathed as she closed her locker and walked quickly to her next class. She didn’t need the kind of attention that being late to class would give her, especially not for the class she was heading to... Especially not when she was about to see Aedion for the first time after nine long years.

She made it in time, and entered the room just before the teacher called the attention of the students. Celaena was glad for it, as she saw Aedion eyeing her when she walked in. She had to concentrate not to look at him directly as she made her way to the back of the class, where he would have to turn around if he wanted to look at her again. 

Once she was in her seat, she let her long golden hair fall as a curtain to the side of her face, covering her from Aedion’s turquoise eyes. He was sitting only two rows in front of her to the right, and she had a perfect view of his profile. 

“Welcome class, I hope you’re enjoying your first day so far. I’m Ms. Doranelle and I will be your math teacher for this term,” the short woman at the front said. She proceeded to write her name on the board and asked them to open their textbooks on page 15.

As soon as the lesson started, Celaena tucked her hair behind her ear, and looked at Aedion more closely. She had to admit, he had grown into a fine young man. He had broad shoulders that filled in the school’s jacket nicely, and his blond hair was only a shade lighter than hers. Celeana could tell he spent a lot of time in the sun, as his skin had a slight shine to it, same as his hair. She looked at her own hands, her ghost pale skin so opposite to his, and wondered if her skin would acquire that golden tan too if she started spending more time outdoors during the daytime. 

She’d probably find out soon.

“Celaena, what’s the answer to question five on the textbook?” Ms. Doranelle asked, probably catching her daydreaming.

She let her hair fall back onto her face, and read the question quickly.

“Twenty five,” she replied immediately, trying not to sound too cocky. 

A bit surprised, the teacher raised her thick eyebrows at her, but then nodded.

“Yes, that’s right… Just, don’t get distracted,” she added before continuing with the lesson.

As she looked to the right, Celaena caught his eyes. Aedion Ashryver’s turquoise eyes were just as she remembered them; but she didn’t really need to remember, because they were equal to the ones she saw in the mirror every morning. The golden ring around his pupils was visible even from a few seats away, and Celaena was glad she had chosen to wear brown contacts, since to anybody paying only a little attention, it would have been so obvious that their eyes looked alike.

Aedoin squinted his eyes, as if trying to figure out if he knew her from somewhere. Looking away would be suspicious, so she held his gaze, little snippets of memories coming back to her.

She remembered the two of them running around her parent’s yard back in Terrasen, playing tag; kicking each other under the table during the ostentatious business banquets, and being told off for it. She recalled Aedion curling up on her bed during a sleep over because she had had a nightmare; and him fighting with some bullies in primary school after they had pulled on her braids. 

And her last memory, that of Aedion hugging her goodbye before moving away from Terrasen when his father had been transferred to run the company in Rifthold. That had been barely a few weeks before the accident, before her whole life had come crashing down. She had been so excited for the visit, thinking she’d finally be reunited with him.

But it was all so different now, and none of that mattered. Neither of them were the kids they used to be, they were strangers now. And as Aedion Ashryver looked away, Celaena Sardothien kept her eyes on the back of his head, thinking how she would find out the truth, and take her revenge. She was sure he wouldn’t be an obstacle, he was merely a suspect. 

Here’s my version of Celaena for this fic, with contact lenses and all <3

----

Annnnd that’s it for today!! All comments and forms of love are highly appreciated, we writers live on coffee, sugar, and lovely comments in case you didn’t know <3

I will do my best to remember and update this often! How often? Not sure yet, maybe 3x week? 

[adabofblessings]

Wisdom Teeth

I do not own Transformers.

Word count: 4.6k 

Uploaded on: ao3 and fanfiction

Summary: Jack gets his wisdom teeth out. The outcome is expectant and the Autobots are severely confused. 

.0.

The clacking sounds of fingers tapping against the keyboard was all 3 humans could hear from the Dentist waiting room. One woman sat in the middle while two teenagers sat beside her, swinging their legs and letting their feet slide against the white-spotted tiles.

The one teenager on the left twirled hair around fingers, a bored expression on her face as she examined the faded hot-pink streak on the tips of her hair. The other teenager on the right, who looked much younger than the girl, pushed his glasses up to perch his nose and tapped his fingers against the side-bar, making a rhythm out of the tapping.

The black-raven haired woman wore nurse scrubs and a worn out cardigan that framed her thin shoulders. She had a magazine in her lap, her cyan blue eyes scanning the page before turning the page and resuming her reading.

Finally, the silence had broken when the Japanese teenager groaned out loud, her eyes snapping to the ceiling with an exasperated look.

"Ugh! When is Jack coming out? It's been like, forever!" She exclaimed, throwing her arms up in the air as if the emphasize.

"Its only been less than an hour," The nurse said quietly, not bothering to look up to the impatient teenager.

The youngest teenager leaned forward and craned his neck towards Miko. "Getting Wisdom teeth is longer than filling in a cavity," Raf explained with a small grin. "Its a surgery in your mouth.

The woman finally looked up from her magazine and smiled. "Raf's right, Miko," June said to the restless girl.

Miko rolled her eyes and huffed, leaning back and crossing her arms to her chest.

"I just wanna see Jack all dopey like," Miko mumbled, pouting slightly. June quirked her eyebrows up. "Miko, laughing gas does cause you to be...loopy, but sometimes it doesn't usually affect some people."

Miko groaned out loud and ran a hand over her face. "So I waited for Jack for nothing?!"

June sighed and pinched the bridge of her nose. "I could be wrong," she reasoned quietly.

"You better be," Miko muttered under her breath, ignoring the chills that ran down her spine when she saw Jack's mother giver her a stern look.

"I didn't think you could get your wisdom teeth in at 16," Raf said thoughtlessly.

The nurse turned her head to the youngest teenager and her lips tugged up. "You can actually get your wisdom teeth as early as 14," she explained. "I believe Jack got his when he was about 15 years old."

Raf widened his eyes. "Seriously?!" he exclaimed, quite astonished. He briefly wondered if he was going to get his wisdom teeth by his 14th birthday. The boy looked down to his feet. "That sounds painful..."

June hummed. "Jack said it was the worst pain he felt in his mouth. Unfortunately, you can't avoid it forever."

Raf shuddered. Thank God he was still 12...and a half.

"I mean, you might get it over with as soon as possible," Miko piqued in.

"Miko's right, the more your gums are tender, the more it'll bet easier to get them out."

Raf shrugged. "Still sounds painful."

"All surgeries are painful, Raf," Miko pointed out with a smirk.

As soon as Miko finished her sentence, the door opened and a woman came out with a mask around her neck, a clipboard in her hand and a lab coat draped around her body professionally. She smiled at them. "June?"

June sat up and placed the magazine on her seat. She turned towards the woman and closed distance between them and returned the smile. "I'm June Darby."

The dentist nodded. "Jack did really well on the surgery," she remarked, earning for June to sigh in relief. "He'll need at least three days of rest. I would suggest soft foods, cool liquids for about week and then bland foods up until his gums are fully healed."

She looked down towards the clipboard. "Swelling and discomfort will occur several hours after the surgery, reaching a maximum within three days. An ice pack on his cheeks for forty-eight to seventy-two hours will help the swelling. After the third day, a warming pack may help diminish the swelling and stiffness."

June nodded as she listened intently.

"And how many times do we have to change his gauze?" she questioned.

"Every thirty to sixty minutes until the excessive bleeding will subside; the oozing will stop in the next twenty-four to forty-eight hours."

"And his medication?"

"You are really on top with these questions, huh?" The dentist asked, impressed. June smiled and inclined her head. "All in the work of being a nurse," June joked.

The dental surgeon laughed and shook her head. "I should have known, seeing as you are wearing nurse's scrubs," she said with an quirk of her lips.

June smirked and shrugged. "New style, apparently."

"Hmm, yes, besides that, the prescription will be at your local pharmacy. Make sure he eats with the medication to avoid nausea. After four days or so, use warm salt water to clean out the wounded gums, a syringe will help, three times after every meal,or gargle. Jack should be very light when he brushes his teeth once he's able too."

June nodded as the dentist handed her a piece of paper with the same instructions she explained and looked them over before returning her gaze towards the dental surgeon. "Thank you for taking care of my son," June said gratefully, holding out her hand.

The dentist shook her hand and grinned. "No problem, he was a pleasure," she said. "We just finished cleaning everything and he'll be ready to go. Would you like to see him?"

"Please."

The dentist turned around and June followed pursuit. She stopped abruptly and turned her head to give Miko and Raf a stern look. "Behave you two," she warned. "I'll be back to retrieve Jack and then we'll get the medicine before we go to the Autobot base."

Miko gave her a sarcastic salute while Raf nodded obediently.

When June left with the surgeon, the Japanese teenager took out her phone and pressed a recording app. Raf bit his lip as he watched Miko hold her phone out and zoom to the door.

"Are you sure Jack would want us to record him while he's on laughing gas?" Raf asked nervously.

Miko waved him off with a scoff.

"I would want someone to record if I was high on laughing gas."

"Yeah, but this is Jack we're talking about."

"He'll be fine."

.0.

When June entered the room, Jack was still sitting on the dental engine chair, his electric blue eyes blearily looking at the wall straight in front him, his hands clasped together and reclined back slightly.

The mother chuckled as she saw peaks of tousled black-raven hair from the blue cushioned head rest.

He jolted as soon as he footsteps, craning his neck around and looking at his mother with a look of daze.

June couldn't help but smile in amusement. Her son was so out of it.

"Hey, sweetheart," June greeted softly, walking beside him and placing a hand over his folded hands. "How're you feeling?"

"Mmf..." Was all Jack could produce as he lolled his head back, feeling his eyes droop.

A hand gently nudged his shoulder and he made a tired noise, opening back his eyes and tiredly blinking.

"You can rest when we go home, hmm?" June said quietly, brushing away the bangs from Jack's forehead and leaning down to press a loving kiss. Technically, they weren't going home and if weren't for her work to be shoving down schedules at the worse times, they would've been going home so Jack can rest.

But work always seems to call her at the weirdest times. The Autobots had agreed to watch Jack for the remainder of the day and a little bit into the night, but she didn't really explain that Jack was getting surgery...more like getting his teeth fixed, but hey, she was half-correct.

June watched as Jack nodded sightly and sat up as much as he could from sitting in the reclined chair.

June felt hands wrap around her own and tug her down as Jack maneuvered his legs to dangle off the seat. She helped him off the dental engine chair and let him get used to walking, though he was very unsteady and sluggish.

"Alright, one step at a time," June ushered softly to Jack.

While slowly walking down the hall, Jack was very adamant about what was in his mouth.

"Wh' do hafe marshmellows in my mout'?" Jack asked, his voice muffled by the copious amounts of gauze. He lifted his finger to prod his swollen cheek, but June was quick to gently hoist his hands away from his face.

"Don't touch your face, it'll agitate you," she reprimanded softly.

In all her years since he was a toddler he whined so childlike.

June sighed and opened the door to the exit, guiding the teenager to follow her. Soon enough, two other children hopped from their seat and sped to them. Miko grinned wildly, holding up her phone to Jack's frontal view while Raf merely looked in astonishment upon seeing Jack's puffy cheeks.

"Woah, you're like a chipmunk!" Miko exclaimed, snickering behind her phone as Jack an audible noise that sounded like a small purr.

"How many gauze does he have in his mouth?" Raf squeaked out, wincing on seeing his cheeks dusted with red. "Seems pretty full."

June smiled reassuringly. "It'll only be in for another two to three hours until the excessive bleeding stops, Raf."

Miko snorted and leaned her phone closer to Jack's face.

"Whad'you say, Jack, ready to get to the base and let everyone see you?" Miko inquired, a smirk gracing her lips. Jack frowned as much as he could and lazily grabbed Miko's phone, shutting it off and pushing it to Miko's face.

"Hey!"

Jack let out a stifled laugh, a gleeful look on his face.

"Told you Jack wouldn't like it," Raf drawled out loftily, arching an eyebrow.

Miko huffed and bumped Raf with her shoulders. "Shut up."

"Alright you two, why don't you help me get Jack to the car while I talk to the dentist about his medication," June said with the corners of her lips tugging up in amusement.

Raf relented immediately as he went beside Jack's side and held onto his arm. Miko, however, was reluctant.

"Come on, Miko," Raf urged. "Its a two person help, seeing as I'm too short if Jack goes tumbling onto the ground."

"Yeah, but he's drooling," she said, uncomfortably looking at the bloody saliva drooping from Jack's dried lips. Raf gave her an unimpressed glare as June released a sigh, but grabbed a tissue and wiped the saliva from the oldest teenager's mouth.

She looked at the younger girl. "Better?"

Miko shrugged but eventually walked over to Jack's other side and intertwined her arms around his arm.

June nodded firmly. "Good, now lets get Jack in the car and then we get his medication and then get to the base."

The teenagers nodded in reply before hauling the taller teenager out the door. June smiled, watching them leave through the door and to the car. Ever since June could remember, Jack always had a challenging time making friends, but since the Autobots barged into their lives unexpectedly, it brought Jack's inner self out.

And she was grateful that Jack had good friends that he could rely on.

.0.

The moment June's car entered the base, the smell of metallic and copper flared into the medic's Olfactory sensors. He blanched visibly and whirled his helm away from the station and towards Nurse Darby's car, optics scanning for any injuries while they slipped out of the car.

Miko popped out from the car and smiled at amber and white mech. "Miss us, Doc Bot?" she asked in an enthusiastic tone.

Ratchet narrowed his optics, a look of scrutiny on his faceplates.

"Who's bleeding?" He inquired urgently. "I can smell you humans blood."

The CMO's optics landed on Raf and he scanned him for any injuries. With relief, the youngest boy was uninjured. He checked on Nurse Darby, who was on the other side of driver's seat.

There was a loud moan and then shuffling from between. Before Ratchet knew it, Jack was out of the car and sluggishly walked beside June, leaning heavily against her.

"Jack?" Ratchet asked, quirking an optic ridge questionably.

The raven-haired teenager dazedly cracked his eyeballs open, and Ratchet was quite surprised on how Jack's vibrant blue color was almost misty and dull like.

But those eyes widened in surprise as the teenager gasped out loud, making Ratchet even more bemused.

"Holy crap!" Jack exclaimed, pointing straight at the medic and mouth open to reveal these white, wet...mesh? "The sun is right in front of me!"

Ratchet blinked and before he could deny Jack and also question his delusions, Raf and Miko burst out laughing as they hunched over and hugged their forms.

Complete confusion spread across the medic's faceplates, internally worried for the oldest teenager. He looked over to June with a look of bewilderment and concern.

"Nurse Darby?" he questioned weakly.

June chuckled and patted Jack's shoulder gently. "Jack got his wisdom teeth out, and he got laughing gas before the surgery," she explained.

Ratchet inclined his helm, his processor muddled with unanswered questions that started popping up. He wasn't very knowledgeable on human medication or surgeries in that type of matter, and has still yet to learn more about human customs.

But, he's not the only Autobot that needs to learn more about human cultures.

"Laughing...gas?"

"Its just a sedative to help calm the patients and make it easier to relax."

"Hey mom!" Jack's eyes were wide enough to pop out of his brain. "You're talkin' to th' sun! Tha's so cool. Sunshine is really huge!"

"He's basically drugged up," Miko called out, an amused smirk gracing her thin lips as she looked at Jack's excitement over Ratchet being the sun.

June shot her a glare before sighing and giving the Autobot medic a weak grin. "Essentially, Miko is correct, but its completely legal...under medic purposes."

"I see," Ratchet murmured, rubbing his digits under his chin as he examined Jack. "So, I am guessing that the symptoms to this...laughing gas is hallucinations?"

June gave him a rueful smile and Ratchet knew by her expression that he was indeed correct.

"When I thought that Jack was just getting teeth fixed, I did not expect for him to be this...out of it..."

"Neither did I," June admitted, grimacing a bit. She shook her head and gestured her hand towards her son. "He shouldn't be that hard to care for. The laughing gas will wear off pretty soon. Raf and Miko will change his gauze every thirty to sixty minutes until the blood subsides as well."

She averted her gaze towards the two teenagers. "Right?"

Miko huffed but nodded in reply as Raf gave her a small incline of his head, the glasses falling off the perch of his nose.

Good kids.

June's lips quirked up into a happy smile and she looked up at Ratchet's large frame. "Thank you guys for taking care of Jack, I really appreciate it," she said sincerely. Since finding out about the Autobots' existence, she was reluctant for her son to help them out, but turns out that they help out with children as well.

They've basically became family afterwards.

A very odd, dysfunctional but no one really minded it.

She heard Ratchet grumble a 'You're welcome' without turning around to face her but she'll take it.

June turned her heel and was almost surprised to see Raf and Miko helping Jack up the stairs and to the Children's corner.

Yes, very good kids.

.0.

"Jack, why is your face so...chubby?" Arcee questioned as she approached the children's corner, where Jack was lying on the long couch, his face turned towards the blank TV, mouth slightly open and revealing white...puffy things.

Miko nor Raf was with Jack, which was unusual because they were rarely apart, unless they were hanging out with their guardians.

She noticed that the TV was not even on, which made her raise her optic ridge in confusion.

"Jack?" she asked again.

"Mmm..."

Arcee leaned forward, her facplate turning worried. "Jack, are you okay?"

He blinked slowly and opened his mouth again, only for drool and blood to spittle out. Arcee grimaced and leaned back, her helm averting to Ratchet's frame who's back was facing her.

"Ratchet, something is wrong with Jack," Arcee called out, worry lacing with her tone.

Without bothering to turn around to face the blue femme, the medic grunted out loud.

"Jack got his wisdom teeth out, and the dentists gave him a medication that helps relax the patient. He'll be out of commission for a day or two."

"Wisdom...teeth?" Arcee blinked, cocking her helm to the side. "He has wisdom in his teeth and got them removed? Doesn't he need them if he needs to excel in school?" she asked.

She heard Ratchet groan out loud.

"No, its just to remove the teeth so his mouth will have space-it has nothing to do with wisdom," Ratchet grumbled out.

"Oh."

Arcee returned her gaze towards the teenager boy, wondering briefly how he can breathe with all those gauze in his mouth. She leaned forward once more and squinted closely.

No doubt that Jack was completely out of it when it came to his awareness. His eyelids were heavy and his face looked swollen with his red and chubby cheeks. His body lethargically moved uncoordinated and he blinked blankly in front of him.

"Jack?"

"Mmm...ye'?"

Arcee blinked in surprise. That was the first response of words he said since she tried to ask him if he was alright.

"So you got your wisdom teeth out, huh?"

She watched him and all she noticed was him trying to roll his shoulders. Though it was bit hard considering that he was lying on his stomach and half of his body was hanging off the couch, including his head.

The blue femme smirked and quirked an optic ridge. "Ratchet says that you were given medicine to help you relax." She hummed playfully. "You're definitely more relaxed than I have seen you in the last days."

Jack tried to lick his dry lips but it looked like he was struggling to do the basic movement for his mouth with the gauze cramped inside.

Arcee used a single digit to gently tap his lips. She smiled reassuringly.

"You shouldn't talk with things in your mouth," she reprimanded lightly. "Just get some rest."

Something in his electric blue eyes changed momentarily. It was a brief, grateful shine to his eyes before it became dull and tired.

Arcee smirked and shook her helm as she straightened her frame. Jack always talked with his eyes-every time. That was something Arcee had to learn from her charge. That his emotions didn't cross his features on his face but rather in the depth of his pupil and irises.

She had to admit that organic eyeball irises were perhaps the most beautiful things she has seen since arriving to earth. Each and every human has different eye colors and shapes.

Autobots had wholly blue optics while Decepticons had crimson red, but each Cybertronian had a different shape to them.

But with humans...they had depth to their irises. If Jack was in the sun with his blue eyes, would turn into the color of a electrifying blue color and when he was inside it was a dark sapphire or deep-sea type.

If Miko's chocolate brown eyes shone just right where the sun would reflect her irises, it would become a bright, hazelnut color. Like a glint of sun penetrating the thick, gooey honey humans adore.

If Raf's cognac irises shone with the sun, it would become a toasty-orange topaz color. He had darker flecks around the outer rim of his irises but it complimented him greatly.

The glasses made his eyes pop out more, surprisingly.

Arcee shook her helm again and grinned quietly.

Admittedly, Team Prime has talked about their detailed eyeballs. Optimus was more observant about their eyes, noting how Jack's pupils would widen when shocked or surprised. Miko's would dilate when excited or hyper while Raf's would do the same but when he was afraid.

It was weird to say that humans definitely had a lot more traits to express their emotions, but it took time to find the true characteristics they use to express their true feelings.

Arcee released a heavy vent before turning around to face Ratchet.

"I'm heading out for a drive."

And with that, she headed out for a quiet drive.

.0.

It was getting late and June had still yet to come pick up Jack.

Arcee had offered to take him off, but with Jack still not capable of controlling his strength, both Ratchet and Optimus had declined and just suggested to let June pick up Jack whenever she was done with work.

However, Jack was getting better. He still was a bit dopey, but he was definitely better than before. He no longer thought that Ratchet was the sun anymore, so it was good thing that loopy medication was getting out of his system.

Though, the exhaustion kicked in pretty fast and Jack promptly slept most of time at the base.

When Raf and Miko left, they had popped some new gauze into Jack's mouth, and then told Ratchet and Optimus that Jack should be able to know when he needs to put new gauze in his mouth and to be careful.

True to their word, Jack was more than capable to change his gauze, much to Rachet's and Optimus' relief.

'Til then, Jack spent most of his time lounging around the children's area. Ratchet had gone to recharge after a hard day of experimenting and doing research. Bulkhead and Bumblebee accompanied their charges home and Arcee was doing the night shift.

Which left the Prime at the main room station with a slightly dopey and quiet teenager. Regardless, Optimus didn't really mind the boy's company. He held this sort of quiet, yet kind atmosphere.

Though, the boy didn't really seem to move whenever Optimus would glance at the children't corner.

The Prime could only assume that he was asleep from the quick surgery in his mouth.

An hour or two later, however, when Optimus checked on him, he was up, blearily rubbing his knuckles against his tired eyes. The Prime approached the children's area upon noticing how Jack sat up and mumbled something as he unsteadily stood on his feet.

He seemed to still be in the stage where he was trying to wake up.

Optimus tilted his helm slightly and looked at the teenager with a soft gaze.

"Is there something you are looking for, Jackson?"

Jack jerked and looked up, his face full of surprise on seeing the Prime asking him.

He probably did not notice me, the Prime mused silently.

Nonetheless, Jack relaxed his shoulders and looked around, black-raven hair swaying with each movement of his head.

"Mmm...'auze..."

Optimus leaned forward, a look of confusion crossing his stoic features as he met face-to-face with Jack.

"Hmm?"

Jack slowly returned his gaze towards the large 'bot and pointed to his mouth, full of the sullied and wet gauze. It was still slightly bloodied, but it was to know that Jackson's gums were no longer bleeding heavily.

"Oh."

Optimus turned away from Jack's slim form and scanned the children's corner.

He spotted it easily and with careful digits, he plucked the package with his foredigit and thumb and gave it to Jack.

The teenager gave him a grateful look and took the gauze within his own hands and opened it up. Optimus watched with fascination as the young organic spat out the old gauze and popped in the new ones, tucking it safely on the far side of his mouth.

It was astonishing to see such tactics to stabilize cuts and wounds for humans. Cybertronians only used a special tool to seal up their wounds and they were fine afterwards.

But with humans, they needed specific method to make sure that they and their wounds were healing properly.

The Prime was so immersed in his own thoughts, that he didn't even realize that Jack neared around his helm and looked at him dazedly. When he finally came his senses, Optimus bashfully noticed Jack's form near him.

"Is there something you need, Jackson?" His bass-like tone was soft and quiet, something that most people he have met was in awe of. His voice could be soft as a calm river and then become loud and clear like a dagger.

Jack didn't say anything, but he did raise his arms up.

Optimus blinked.

When the Prime didn't answer, Jack curled and unfurled his hands into fists quickly, as if to signal him.

"Up."

The single word processed into his processor, and yet, he still didn't understand it.

"What do you mean 'up'?" Optimus questioned patiently.

"Pic' me up," Jack replied sleepily. To say that Optimus was shocked to hear the oldest teenager asking him to pick him up. Jack never really asked to be carried around as much, mostly because Arcee's shoulderplates were too small, so he always opted to walk beside the comrade.

Optimus returned the look with hesitance.

"Are you sure?"

Jack nodded and reached out for him, practically stretching his arms to its capacity. "Please?"

Optimus was still reluctant, but he granted Jack's request and held out a servo for the teenager to climb on. The boy hopped up, almost stumbling off the Prime's servo. Luckily, the blue and red mech was quick to react and cupped the young organic in his servo.

He heard Jack sigh in reply and relief flooded the Prime's wires.

The Autobot leader looked down and with complete bewilderment, he saw that Jack had lied down and curled in on himself, snuggling into the Prime's servo with no warning whatsoever.

Optimus has never seen Jack do this before. The teenager was pretty independent when it came to transportation.

Cautiously, Optimus drew in his servo to his chassis and watched in awe as Jack instinctively touched his chassis lightly with his tiny hand. A small smile graced the Prime's lipplates, his spark thumping against his spark chamber with quiet fondness and anxiousness.

One move and he could practically snap the teenager's spine in half, and be damn if he did that to any of team Prime's allies, especially the children. But as the minutes passed and Jack's soft breathing was the only sound Optimus could hear, he relaxed and released a delicate vent.

Children...

Regardless of their species, they were all unique and gifted with so many things the Prime has yet to learn, that including Jack, Miko and Raf. He was always so busy with decoding and tracing energon signals that he had very little time learning of their lives.

There was so much that he wished he could learn upon living on earth.

What was out there...what mysteries it holds.

Like a silent fox, he hovered closely to Jack's form and tenderly touched his helm against the boy's soft and tousled hair. He could feel the tiny head lean into the contact. The Prime couldn't help but smile softly and close his optics, savoring the warm contact between he and the boy.

His frame purred quietly, as if he was soothing a sparkling of his own.

It was like Optimus was reaching out with much affection than Jack was .

The blue and red mech couldn't see it, but the corners of Jack's lips tugged up softly upon feeling the warm metal touch his forehead. It was comforting...both to Optimus and Jack.

Optimus had to admit that he didn't show affection very much, but when he did...

He relished every moment. And he hoped that Jack would too.

"Goodnight, Jack," Optimus murmured.

.0.

Goodness, this one-shot was pretty dang long! Thank you so much for reading and I hope you enjoyed this fic!

[babyboy-bangtan]

By Chance Chapters 1-4

A misunderstanding gone viral puts you on BTS's radar, which leads to a series of events that finally culminate with you meeting them for the first time.

✚ Pairing: Sub!BTS/Female Reader ✚ Word Count: 3.3K ✚ Rating: M ✚ Warnings: None for now. ✚ A/N: This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, businesses, places, events and incidents are either the products of my imagination or used in a fictitious manner.  Read on AO3

Chapter 1:  Before

Beep. Beep. Beep.

No.

Beep beep beep. Beep beep beep.

Absolutely not.

Beep beep beep beep beep!

Jesus Christ, fine.

You groan and grab your phone from your bedside table, turning off the alarm. It's not possible or even logical, but you really feel the big 5:00 A.M. on your lock screen is making fun of you.

You really want to die.

As you take a deep breath and pull the covers off of you, you get angry at your own stupidity last night. You had no business staying up until 1 a.m. watching Netflix knowing very well you had to be on the makeup chair at 6, but you went and watched a show anyway.

Actually, no, scratch that. This is Netflix's fault. It's their fault for making it so that you want to binge their goddamn shows. You're merely a victim of a very successful streaming platform.

You should sue them. 

Well, once you're done filming your movie for them, that is. Once you're done with the movie and the promotion for it you'll sue them for robbing you of your precious sleep, because that's unforgivable, despicable, heinous, wretched—

Before you can continue with your methodical planning of the lawsuit you're going to throw into Netflix's face for making you stay up late at night and then get up early to film their movie, your phone ringing pulls you out of your angry thoughts.

It's your stylist calling.

Right, you asked her to call you because you were not sure you weren't gonna sleep through the five alarms you set for this morning— but against all odds, you actually woke up with the first one.

"Good morning. I promise I'm up." You reassure her before she can say anything. "I'm gonna shower soon."

"That's fine." She laughs. "I'm just calling cause you told me to last night."

"I knoow." You drawl out. "I was worried I'd ignore the alarms. But I'm up. No worries."

"Alright then. See ya in a bit, dude."

"Byeeeeeee!" You say, throwing your phone into your bed after hanging up.

Your bed, the love of your life. So soft, so inviting, so beautiful and ready to keep you comfortable for as long as you need it to. Except you need to be sitting on the makeup chair at 6, so no more bed for today. You take a deep breath and walk to the bathroom, as ready as you can be to star the day after only getting 4 hours of sleep.

"Good morning Timmy." You greet your costar with a kiss on the cheek. 

"Good morning to you too." He says, biting back a smile. "You didn't sleep well, did you?"

"I have a right to remain silent." You reply, taking a sip of your coffee before walking past him. He catches up to you quickly. "Did you sleep well?"

"I got up at 5 a.m. so, of course not." He says, rolling his eyes at you. "I got like 5 hours of sleep only."

"Ha!" You say, stopping as you grip the handle of the makeup trailer's door. "I slept 4. I win."

Once you're both on your makeup chairs, you laugh as quietly as you can when you notice Timotheé dozing off while his hair is brushed, and you grab your phone to distract yourself. You can't really sleep when you're sitting up even if the fact that your stylist is working on your hair is really relaxing you, so you might as well try to get a bit more awake than you are now. 

While you're telling her about the interesting article you just read, your phone vibrates in your hand, interrupting you. You quickly open the text when you see is from one of your friends, thinking that if she messaged you at 6 a.m. then it must be something important.

Or... maybe not. What you got instead of an important text is what you're pretty sure is a screencap of a Buzzfeed headline.

DID [Y/N] REALLY MEET BTS WITHOUT ANYONE OF US KNOWING?

You absolutely did not. You'd definitely remember meeting the most famous boy band in the world.

You quickly type a response.

      Lmao no I didn't       What's that about?

It only takes her a moment to reply.

      It's just clickbait but it's like a thing right now       People went nuts thinking you'd met BTS       Because someone uploaded a video to youtube called [Y/N] BTS       But it was just a behind the scenes video       But then this tweet went viral

She then sends you another screencap, this time of a tweet with over 100k likes that's quoting another tweet with a video you recognize as the behind the scenes video you filmed for your last movie.

When you think [Y/N] met BTS but the BTS actually stands for Behind The Scenes 🤡

You actually laugh at that.

      😂😂😂 my god       Thanks for keeping me up to date with news about myself

She quickly responds.

      No prob, Bob. Also you were trending on Twitter on #1 and #2 because of it       Now you're like below the 7th but i got proof

She then sends you another picture, this time of the trending topics list. There it is at number 1, "[Y/N] BTS" and at number 2 is just your name. Below that one it's BTS alone.

As far as you know, BTS and kpop fans have the power to make anything trend on Twitter, so you're not that surprised to see they got you trending because they thought you'd met them. You're a bit surprised about the fact that it was over a complete misunderstanding, but stranger things have gone viral in the past and they will continue to do so in the future.

You wish your friend good luck at work today before you start telling your stylist about what just happened, and she just rolls her eyes and complains about people making news out of literally nothing nowadays. You agree completely— this isn't even the first time you are trending on twitter because of something silly— so you just drop the subject and go back to talking to her about the article you read. However, the thought of meeting BTS stays at the back of your mind for some reason.

You've only heard a couple of their most popular songs, which were admittedly very good and enjoyable, but you'd be lying if you didn't admit you'd love to meet them soon. They're huge right now, and even though you wouldn't call yourself a fan considering you don't even know all their names, you still recognize how incredible their journey has been and how talented they are.

Well, that and the tiny detail that every single one of them is absolutely stunning.

Chapter 2:  Jungkook

"Who's [Y/N]?" Jungkook asks suddenly with a little frown as he sits on the floor after dance practice, scrolling through his phone. He's sure he has heard your name before, but he doesn't really know anything about you.

"Uhh... isn't she an American actress?" Namjoon replies, downing half of his water bottle. "I think I saw one of her movies. A period drama. She's pretty good." He pauses. "Why?"

"[Y/N] BTS is trending on Twitter." He replies, reading through some of the most popular tweets about it. "Apparently there was a misunderstanding with a video." He shrugs, opening the video in question.

It's you wearing one of those 19th century dresses, but the effect is lost because the fact that you're wearing a modern coat and sunglasses. If he understood you correctly over the awful sound quality, you were on the first day of shooting.

"What are you watching?" Hoseok asks, standing behind him.

"The video people thought was of her with us. It's a behind the scenes video of her movie." He replies absent-mindedly, focused on his phone. "I think it's from the one you watched, Hyung." He tells Namjoon, looking up at him.

You seem to be at a dance practice now, with who he assumes was your costar. It looks like some kind of waltz, and you both seem to be already good at it— there's no way this is the first time you're rehearsing it. Suddenly, the man flips you around gracefully and presses his front to your back in what Jungkook assumes was meant to be an intimate moment, but only a second later you start twerking and then everyone is laughing.

Him, too.

"Come on, we have to go." Hoseok says, tapping his shoulder.

"I'm coming." Jungkook replies, still watching the video even as he stands up. "She's funny." He says to the rest, occasionally looking up to make sure he doesn't run into a wall.

"What did you say happened with her?" Jimin asks, massaging his shoulder with a grimace.

"Apparently someone uploaded a behind the scenes video of one of her movies but since it said BTS people thought it was about her meeting us."

If Jimin— or anyone else for that matter— cared about his response, Jungkook didn't realize. He clicks on the next suggested video and keeps watching, not paying attention to anyone else. It's during his viewing of that video that Jungkook decides he'll watch the movie Namjoon mentioned as soon as he gets free time to do so, and then he'll see what other movies you've done to see if anything interests him.

The fact that you're beautiful and when you smile his tummy feels tingly has absolutely nothing to do with that decision.

Chapter 3:  Jimin

The thought of the video Jungkook mentioned at dance practice comes back to Jimin all of a sudden late at night, when his mind is restless and the painkillers haven't eased the ache of his shoulder just yet. He can't sleep, so he might as well distract himself a little until they kick in.

He doesn't remember your name correctly; he misspells it several times until he just searches "Actress behind the scenes video mistaken bts band" and several recent articles appear.

[Y/N], that's right. That was your name. The names he'd been trying weren't even remotely similar.

He opens one article just for the sake of it— it's a very clickbait-y one, but he figures it's likely all of them will be— and starts reading an unnecessary long version of what happened. The gist of the article is what Jungkook already said: people confused a behind the scenes video of your movie with a video that involved them, and it went viral.

There are other suggested articles about you at the end of the one he just read, and one specifically catches his attention.

"[Y/N] gets bold on new Vogue Magazine interview: 'Gender roles are such bulls**t.'"

He quickly opens the original article instead of the mess he's sure is the one on the clickbait site, and he can't hold back a gasp at the picture of you that appears in front of him.

He figures he shouldn't be surprised considering what year it is and how normal it is to see women in suits nowadays, but he can't help but get his breath taken away when he sees a woman wearing one. He doesn't know what it is, and it's not really every suit on every woman that does it either— but the one you're wearing on that photo definitely fits the bill.

Your hair is purposefully messy— the kind of messy that can only be achieved by having a hair stylist work on you for a considerable amount of time, he knows that very well— and your face is covered in natural-looking makeup.

Except for your eyes. They did a beautiful job with them.

You are most certainly not wearing a bra and he knows that the fact that it's just noticeable enough is also very intentional, and there's something about the pose you're doing that is making his palms sweat.

Chin tilted up.

Eyes half lidded, looking down.

Mouth slightly open.

White dress shirt, with just two buttons undone.

He almost wishes you'd gone for another one as well, so your cleavage would be visible.

Almost.

The picture is perfect as it is. Can't be improved by anything.

The quote on the clickbait site isn't even the most interesting part of the article; you talk about leaving social media because the pressure of making sure people liked you affected your mental health, about going to therapy since you were a teenager, and about how annoyed you were a couple years ago when the movement #AskHerMore was in full swing and you still felt reduced to only the way you looked at the Oscars, where a movie you were in was nominated. If Jimin understands correctly, a video of you looking very annoyed at the questions went viral.

"It was very frustrating," The quote begins. "because on one hand you had what was supposed to help the interviewers realize that you want to talk more about the movie you worked so hard on, but so many of them simply didn't care. I guess what really got to me was that there were people saying that women get asked about their looks because their dresses are so beautiful and of course people notice them, but I was wearing the most generic black suit you've ever seen. And still they kept calling me bold and chic and other things just cause I had fu**ing pants on."

He opens a new tab and quickly types "[Y/N] Oscars suit outfit" before he even realizes what he's doing.

And there it is: the same feeling he got a few minutes ago when he saw the first picture of you.

Breathless, palms sweaty.

He scrolls through the image results, opening and looking at related pictures of you in suits from other events. It seems that it's a preferred outfit for you along with jumpsuits, and there's an occasional dress now and then.

He sighs and goes back to the article to finish it and look at the rest of the pictures from the Vogue session.

"It doesn't just happen to me." You say in another quote. "There are other women who wear suits and it gets treated like some kind of big deal when they're just clothes. And men have it way, way worse. At least we can wear a suit normally but if men want to wear dresses or skirts or even clothes that deviate from what so many people consider masculine, they'll have people criticizing them and disrespecting them in horrible ways. They're just pieces of fu**ing fabric! Gender roles are such bulls**t."

Jimin smiles at that, and at the fact that the writer of the piece comments that you get very passionate when talking about such things. He likes it.

A big yawn interrupts his train of thought, and he realizes his shoulder hasn't been bothering him for a little while now. He leaves his phone on his nightstand and gets comfortable under the covers, thinking it would be nice if they had actually met you, instead of it only being just a misunderstanding.

Maybe one day.

Chapter 4:  Jin

Because Jin is sitting next to Jungkook inside the van, he can't really help but be distracted by the videos the younger has been watching nonstop on his phone. As it has been for the past couple of weeks, he's watching another one of your interviews. 

It's astoundingly obvious to everyone that Jungkook has developed a crush on you.

"You're still watching videos of her?" Jin asks, but the taunting tone in his voice goes completely over Jungkook's head. He's too focused on the video.

"Yes. Do you want to watch?" Jungkook asks, offering an earphone for him innocently. Jin finds it impossible to resist the cuteness so he accepts it, taking it from his hand and putting it on as he wraps his arm around Jungkook's shoulders.

It's an interview, and you're sitting next to an actor he doesn't recognize.

"Who's that?" He asks Jungkook, pointing at the guy.

"I don't know." Jungkook shrugs, truly not caring even a tiny a bit about who the man is. 

"Okay." Jin replies, shaking his head at Jungkook with a smile. There's really good chemistry between you and the man— you laugh together a lot, and he feels a spark of recognition at the back of his mind when he sees your smile, but he can't tell where it comes from.

"Have you seen their movie?" Jin asks, returning the earphone to its owner. Jungkook nods as he puts it back on.

"It's very good. I liked it."

So he has seen the movie, but he still doesn't know who the actor is at all? There might be a possibility that the crush is a bit more intense than Jin previously believed.

"What else has she worked on?" He pries, wondering if he's confusing you with someone else or if maybe he did see something you were on, even if it was in passing. There's something familiar about you and it's starting to annoy him to not know what exactly.

"Lots of things. Several movies. She was on a show when she began acting. I think her first job was on CSI or one of those American crime shows with a thousand seasons." Jungkook focuses on his video again and Jin pulls out his own phone, quickly searching for your name.

He opens your Wikipedia page and goes straight to Filmography, where he can see right there on the Television section that your first credit is actually CSI.

CSI: Crime Scene Investigation.

2013.

Oh, no.

The name of your character. Jin knows it. God, he'd recognize it anywhere. The name of the episode right next to it only serves to confirm what he's fearing.

He immediately types "[Y/N] CSI" and swallows a gasp when he sees the pictures that pop up in front of his eyes, careful to not alert Jungkook or the others.

Oh god, no.

Jin knows who you are very well.  He hasn't really watched the episode you appeared on in a while, but he used to do it so often that he memorized exactly what happens every single second you're on screen.

Your hair was a different color and you were younger—  that's why he didn't immediately recognize you. Back when you were on that episode it was futile to try and search for more of your work; CSI was your first role and he couldn't find any information about you at the time. He didn't really search for you again after that; he was very aware that shows like that have hundreds of guest actors that sometimes end up reduced to extras for the rest of their careers.

Well, this was clearly not the case for you.

The memories of the scenes he knows so well flash quickly on his mind, and he swallows with slight difficulty as he feels his ears getting hot.

Your hand is wrapped around the guy who plays your boyfriend's throat— and without showing too much it's clear you're on top of him while you have sex. His hands are tied with a scarf to the bed, and he's blindfolded.

"You like that, baby?" You whisper into the man's ear with a smile, biting his earlobe.

Jin shakes his head, trying to get rid of the very intrusive thought of you lovingly choking a guy during sex. He's in a van with the rest of the guys, the last thing he wants is for them to notice something is wrong.

He closes all the tabs and puts his phone away, moving his head to look out the window instead, hoping the sight of the buildings and streets will distract him. He's glad the whole BTS thing was a misunderstanding and you didn't actually meet them, because he has no idea how he'd react if he had you in front of him in real life.

How do you possibly greet the person you used to masturbate to on a daily basis?

If you’ve made it here: thank you so much for reading!

[suituuup]

Pride Shenanigans

For @lilhan (ugh, it won’t let me tag) who requested fluff + smut. Thank you for your donation! :)

rated: E

word count: 2300

ao3 link

*

Beca can’t really remember what sleeping in feels like. Waking up past eight a.m. hasn’t been a thing ever since they became moms, and while she was hoping their kids would inherit her love for sleep, she wouldn’t change her current situation for the world.

Her heart has just felt so incredibly full for the past five years.

Shortly after Avery’s birth, Beca re-negotiated her contract to be able to work more from home and take care of her daughter. It just made sense, as she was growing tired of being in the spotlight and spending more time on a plane than at home with her family. As grateful as she was for her five-year-long successful career as a singer, she was more than happy to step back into a part-time producer role.

Still though, waking up at the crack of dawn kinda stings. Beca’s still half-asleep, having snatched Jacob and shoved her nipple into his mouth before his cries could wake up her wife. They left him to sleep in their bed after his middle of the night feed, she and Chloe being too exhausted to carry him back to the nursery. 

Beca was concerned at first about this co-sleeping thing, afraid she might roll over and squish their baby, but turns out she’s super cautious even while asleep.

The door squeaks open less than a minute after she started nursing, and Avery’s red head of curls pops at the foot of the bed as she climbs up, crawling on all fours like she does every day for their morning snuggling session.

“Morning baby,” Beca greets with a tired smile as Avery plops down beside her. “Did you go potty?”

Avery nods proudly. “I’m a grown up now.”

“Oh yeah?” Beca chuckles. “Since that’s the case, can you go make Mama a cup of coffee? And sweep the house and take out the garbage?”

Her suggestion’s met with an incredulous frown. “Mama, I’m not Cinderella.”

Beca stifles a laugh, smoothing her hand over Avery’s curls. Their daughter has such funny comebacks, most days. “Oh, my bad.”

Avery places her hand over Beca’s mouth, her nose scrunching up. “Mama, you stink.”

Beca hears Chloe’s barely contained giggle as her jaw drops. Avery’s attention’s already shifted to Jacob nursing. She’s silent for a while, lips pursed.

“Is one of your boobies making chocolate milk and the other normal milk?”

“No,” Beca laughs. “Just normal milk in both.”

“He eats a lot, ” she blurts out next, blinking.

A minute later, Avery announces she’s off to play with her toys and leaves the room, Chloe rolls over.

“She’s a trip,” Beca says, shaking her head as she tries to keep her amusement at bay. When Chloe leans in for a kiss, Beca pulls away lightly. “Careful, apparently I have bad morning breath.”

“Don’t care,” Chloe mumbles, pecking Beca’s lips a few times. “Happy Pride, babe.”

Beca smiles. The first Pride they went to was when they’d only been together about three months. Chloe had convinced a reluctant Beca that it would be fun, and that day happens to be one of Beca’s favorite memories over the last decade. “Happy Pride.”

“Happy Pride, baby boy, your first one,” she then gushes to Jacob, brushing a kiss to the crown of his head. “Still up to go to the parade?”

They ended up not going last year as Beca felt too sick with nausea at the start of her pregnancy, and it also happened to be very hot out.

“Yeah, definitely. I checked the weather, it shouldn’t get too hot.”

Chloe pushes a kiss to her cheek. “Okay, I’m gonna go make breakfast.”

They’re off to the parade a few hours later. Avery is wearing her ‘ my moms rock’  shirt gifted by her aunt Aubrey and Chloe painted a rainbow on each cheek. Beca kept the colors to a minimum, sticking to the face painting but otherwise wearing regular clothes, while Chloe sports her rainbow shorts and her white shirt with a cute dinosaur waving a pride flag.

It’s only an afternoon out, but they look like they’re off on a week-expedition between the stroller for when Avery gets too tired, the diaper bag and the picnic bag containing their lunch.

Chloe has Jacob strapped against her chest in his sling carrier, and Beca doubles-check that they have everything before they’re on their way.

“There might be a lot of people where we’re headed so don’t let go of my hand, K?” Beca tells Avery as they hike down the steps outside their brownstone. They live in family-friendly Park Slope, which comes alive each year during Pride as it’s also notorious for being a gay neighborhood. “And if you lose us, you find another mommy, alright?”

Avery’s Wonder Woman backpack also has Beca and Chloe’s contact information in case that happens.

“I know, Mama,” Avery says, her pigtails bouncing with each excited step. “Maybe we’ll see Noah!”

“Who’s Noah?” Beca asks in confusion.

“He’s my boyfriend,” she replies in the most natural way, and Beca gulps, glancing to Chloe. “He wears cool shirts. And he likes to clean.”

Chloe chuckles. “Then you should definitely hang onto him, sweetie.”

Beca glares at her wife for encouraging their daughter. “Don’t you think it’s a bit early to have a boyfriend, baby?”

She ignores Chloe’s eye-roll.

“Mama,” Avery sighs, in a clear ‘we’ve talked about this’ tone. “I’m a grown up, now.”

“Right, right,” Beca clears her throat. “So what do you guys do together?”

“We talk about dinosaurs and rocks.”

Beca visibly relaxes. “Oh, okay.”

They turn left on the main street and Avery asks Beca to carry her on her shoulders so she can see better.

“All good?” Beca asks, glancing towards Chloe as she holds onto Avery’s ankles to steady her.

“Yeah, he’s out,” she says as she rubs their four-month old’s back, then points across the street. “The park’s that way.”

“Mommy, Mama, look!” Avery gasps. Beca figures she’s talking about the group of five Queens, each dressed in one of the colors of a rainbow. “They’re so pretty!”

“Yeah,” Beca agrees with a smile, happy that her daughter seems to be enjoying their little outing so far. They get to the park ten minutes later, where stalls of face painting, refreshments and art and crafts are set up along one side. They find a spot under a tree, and Beca sets Avery down to spread out the blanket while Chloe unstraps Jacob.

“What’s LGBTQ mean?” Avery asks a bit later as they eat their sandwiches, pointing at one of the rainbows flags sporting the acronym.

Jacob is chilling on the blanket between his moms, munching on his teething toy.

“The L is for Lesbian, which is romantic love between two women,” Chloe starts. “The G is for gay, which is the same but between two men, the B is for bi, which is when someone has romantic love for both men and women,” she pauses, giving Avery time to process her words. “The T is when for example, a man feels like he’s actually a woman inside, in his heart, and he wants to live with his true self. And the Q… stands for Queer, and it celebrates all gender, boy, girl and those who don’t really know, and all the ways that people can love each other.” She smiles, feathering her fingers through Avery’s hair while Beca watches on, her heart soaring with love whenever she witnesses Chloe being the wonderful mom she is. “Some of that might a bit complicated for you to understand still. The most important thing to remember is that LGBTQ and Pride is all about love; how people find love in the world and how people love themselves for the way they are.”

“And love always wins over hate,” Avery states, causing their moms to look at each other with fond smiles. Chloe often says that, and clearly it made an impact on their daughter for her to remember. “Can I get a facepaint, Mommy?”

“Sure, baby.”

They eat lunch and Avery gets a rainbow dinosaur drawn on her cheek, and they lounge for a bit at the park before checking out the parade, heading home when Avery starts getting tired and cranky. After a nap for all members of the household, they bake a rainbow cake and watch a movie before dinner, and Beca feeds Jacob while Chloe takes care of Avery’s bedtime routine around eight.

Once Beca’s done, she flops back on their king-sized bed with a tired sigh, grabbing her phone and opening up instagram. Of course Chloe’s already made a post about today, uploading a picture of their family at the park with the caption:

Happy Pride everyone! #loveislove ❤️ 🧡 💛 💚 💙 💜

Beca comments with a simple heart, setting her phone down when Chloe pads into the bedroom.

“Everyone’s asleep!” Chloe says in cheerful whisper, shutting the door behind her.

“Yay!” Beca whispers back, humming in delight when Chloe climbs on top of her and kisses her softly. “Today was a good day.”

Chloe grins. “Yeah.” She nudges her nose against Beca’s. “Are you super tired?”

The suggestiveness in her tone makes Beca shiver, and she shakes her head, leaning up to brush another kiss to Chloe’s lips as her hands slide under Chloe’s shirt to map the muscles in her lower back. Intimate moments have been scarce ever since Jacob’s birth, and Beca’s been craving more alone time with her wife over the last few months.

“We should go away soon,” she murmurs against Chloe’s lips, sighing in contentment as Chloe skips down to kiss along the side of her neck. “Just the two of us.”

She’s been reluctant to be away from Jacob for more than a few hours at a time, but he’s almost six months old, and she knows Chloe’s parents would be thrilled to have their grandkids for a whole weekend.

“Mhm,” Chloe hums against her skin, teeth grazing Beca’s pulsepoint. “We can get a hotel with a view on Central Park and sleep all day long.”

Beca groans at the thought. “Yeah. Uninterrupted sleep sounds fucking amazing.” She moans when Chloe’s hands slips past the waistband of her cotton shorts and cups her through her underwear, her back arching into the touch. “Fuck, Chlo. Missed you.”

“What do you want?” Chloe breathes, lifting her head to kiss her. “Fingers? Mouth? Strap-on?”

“Not the strap-on. Too long,” she husks, dragging Chloe’s t-shirt up and over her head. She sits up to get rid of her own shirt, her full breasts bouncing with the movement. “Take those off,” she adds, urgency leaking in her tone as she tugs on the waistband of Chloe’s pajamas bottom. Laughter bubbles up her throat when she sees Chloe’s rainbow underwear, because Chloe is  so  extra. “Oh my god.”

“You like?” Chloe asks with a cheeky grin, and Beca flips them over without warning, not sure where that sudden pelvic strength is coming from given the fact that she gave birth four months ago.

“Yeah,” Beca rasps, her lips trailing down Chloe’s chest and pulling a nipple in between them while her hand finds the other, rolling the pink bud between her thumb and pointer finger. She continues down Chloe’s smooth and toned stomach, hooking her pointer fingers into the waistband of her underwear and dragging them down her legs.

Standing up, Beca shimmies out of her own panties and settles back on the bed with her head towards the foot, sliding one leg under one of Chloe’s and the other one over her opposite hip, shuffling closer until their wet cunts make contact.

“Shit,” Chloe exhales, propping herself on her elbows as she grinds her hips down, matching Beca’s circular motions. “ Baby.”

Beca answers with a moan, a zap of pleasure coursing through her whole body as her clit rubs heavenly against Chloe with each pass. She grips Chloe’s bent knee for leverage, her rhythm picking up.

It feels so fucking good, until--

“Wait,” Beca hisses, pausing. “I’ve got a leg cramp.”

Chloe flops back with a giggle. “Fuck, we’re old.”

“Let’s switch,” Beca suggests between pants, knowing Chloe has more stamina and is overall in better shape.

“K.”

Stealing a kiss from Chloe’s lips on the way, Beca settles on her back, one hand curling around Chloe’s hip to steady her as she gets on top, sitting astride Beca in a more upright position.

Beca’s hand moves to Chloe’s thigh while Chloe braces her on Beca’s stomach as she resumes their previous rhythm, only the pressure is much better with that angle. A whimper flits through Beca’s lips as she fights to keep her eyes open. “Fuck, just like that.”

“Huh-huh,” Chloe manages, trapping her bottom lip between her teeth as her head tilts back and her back arches, the movement making her hips buck into Beca’s. “Oh god.” 

“Chlo,” Beca croaks out, digging her nails into Chloe’s flesh as she feels herself nearing her climax. “M’not gonna last long.”

“Me either,” Chloe murmurs, locking eyes with Beca as she picks up in speed.

Beca’s free hand curls into the sheet as she teteers towards the edge, her hips bucking hard as she comes. She twists her head and muffles her moan into the pillow as Chloe keeps going for a few more beats until she cries out, shuddering through her own orgasm.

Watching Chloe come is still hands down the hottest thing Beca’s witnessed to this day.

Flopping onto her side, Chloe cups Beca’s cheeks and tugs her into a tongue-heavy lip-lock.

Beca chuckles when they part, chest heaving up and down. “Happy fucking Pride.”

[fluffypeachwriting]

Welcome to the first installment of my Hypmic Burlesque AU (definitely inspired by the 2010 film)! This is only an introductory chapter but it won’t be the last so I hope people stick around for more installments! It won’t be like a full fic with a coherent plot, just little snippets of the AU, so updates won’t be as regular or in chronological order.

Edit: I’ve uploaded it to Ao3 (in case anyone prefers reading there) with the title Show Me How You Burlesque! I’ll include links in future updates too!

The song sequence Ramuda performs, Guy What Takes His Time, is this one, and Tough Lover, mentioned near the end is here!

Rating: Mature/No Warnings Apply

Words: 1740

A guy what takes his time, I'll go for any time I'm a fast movin' gal who likes them slow Got no use for fancy drivin', want to see a guy arrivin' in low. I'd be satisfied, electrified to know a guy what takes his time

Backup dancers let Ramuda take the spotlight as it turned on, and he revelled in it, puffing out his chest with the swell of music. This was by far not his first performance of this particular song but the first chords of the song resonated in him like he had never heard them before. The pink feather fans parted to reveal him perched on the piano, like a clam opening to reveal the treasure inside. It was planned to be this way, with the pearl costume and its subdued colours bringing out the natural beauty that was contained within.

Natural, though nothing close to pure.

His nickname would suggest that. His fans called him the ‘lamb’ of the burlesque stage. It wasn’t just a small play on his name, as he was frequently seen adorned with his favourite fluffy white coat when he wasn’t dancing, usually holding onto the arm of a rich hotshot that took his fancy at a party that night. But he was anything but a weak animal, as he was just as deceptive as he was cute. His dainty little body was seen at every big party and club in town, buttering up everyone who caught his eye, never seen hanging around alone. He lived fast and hard.

He wasn’t past stepping on the spines of his rivals in stiletto heels to reach for the crown.

Ooh. Maybe I should make a king themed costume. Yeah, something super lavish and shiny.

A real wolf in sheep’s clothing.

Not only that; the manager had threatened to ‘cook and serve him with mint garnish’ when he got on her nerves, along with other more colourful insults. He knew she loved the club really, so pushing her buttons from time to time wouldn’t do too much harm.

In his heart Ramuda loved the club as well, and everyone else too. The other dancers and their strange banter was kind of endearing to him, the band was reliable as always, the bar and tech staff taking care of the behind the scenes stuff, and… he did love the manager too. In an odd way. There was nothing remotely intimate about their relationship (save for a very drunken night soon after Ramuda’s employment but bringing that up would have him incinerated on the spot) as they spat all kinds of insults at each other daily while knowing that if worst came to the worst, they would have each other’s backs.

I really do mean, the worst.

And they would be together to see it, like a weird package deal. They went back too far for him to get fired on the spot, if ever. Though that wasn’t to say that he never caused any trouble in the club. Always teetering on the line, laughing whatever predicament he caused off while applying his make-up while the other dancers dealt with the fallout. They had no idea why the manager put up with him for so long at first, until they saw him dance. She had scooped up his talent and put him to work early on as the club’s first full-time dancer. And he was showing no signs of stopping soon.

You could speculate that he was built for doing this, even from one glance at him. It was almost uncanny. His hips swerved through the air as smooth as whipped cream and his shoulders shook with laser precision, every movement constructed to entice the viewer and pry more money out them night after night after night.

Lustful intensity oozed from his body language while he mimed as if he was singing; he’d asked the manager if he could sing during the performance, pouting when he was met with a firm ‘not yet’. Ramuda was known behind the scenes for being notoriously bratty when he wanted to get his way, and with the amount of money he brought into the establishment it wouldn’t be a surprise if the costume was actually composed of real pearls.

As if anyone could ever refuse his demands in the first place.

His look was finished off with dramatic pin-up style make-up and pearl jewellery to match the costume. He was undoubtedly radiant. Every inch of flawless skin was shimmering with the powder puff he’d meticulously applied just a few minutes ago before rushing onto stage and claiming it as his.

This was his speciality, commanding every head in the room with a sultry but oh so deliciously unattainable aura. It was the fact that he was always out of reach that made him such a tempting treat for the eyes.

As he gracefully lounged upon the piano the audience was being scoured by his all-seeing gaze, and you wouldn’t be able to tell if he was just acting or if he was searching for someone. It was a total cinch for him, maintaining a watchful eye over everyone while executing a perfect performance. Either way, he was the predator and they were the prey, being devoured by the small man. When he flashed his teeth in-between lines, there was a glint of malice that sparkled with a twisted form of integrity.

He sold undeniable perfection without letting it slip out of his possession.

Right now his mouth was curved into a cheeky smile as he mimed singing. He couldn’t be more content with the crowd wrapped tight around his finger, like how one hand was wrapped around the neck of the champagne bottle and tap tap tapping in time to the song. You could say that they were in a strong chokehold, but he wouldn’t be that mean.

Usually.

He tipped his head back just as he tipped the bottle towards the glass, spilling the alcohol everywhere except the glass (intentionally) and setting it down with a satisfied smile. The words he mimed were asking for a slow lover, not a tidy one.

Ramuda himself had yet to find a lover that suited his needs and wants. For now he was happy with a life of self-indulgence and luxury, holding onto the arms off all kinds of people. The kinds that had lots of money to throw around.

That led his mind to wander and remember another man who wished to dance at the establishment, a man who didn’t look a day over 20, who’d seen Ramuda perform a few times and stopped him to ask for his advice. The young man was in for a rude awakening when Ramuda told him the harsh, bitchy truth of the job. That was a few weeks ago now, but he could remember him and the young man standing in the cold rain just outside the building like it was yesterday. The man didn’t look completely deterred after that, despite the rain soaking through to his skin.

Perhaps he would be coming back soon, Ramuda hoped. He would be a fun one to mess with.

He hopped off the piano giggling to himself, then ran one hand up his neck and through his hair, relishing in the small moment before the next section of the song.

His strikingly icy blue eyes blew wide open in fake shock as the upper half of his costume was tugged off by a string, flying off-stage. He snatched one of the giant feather fans from a backup dancer and held it close to his chest (as if he wouldn’t be happy to bare it all, but burlesque was all about the foreplay and nothing more, and Ramuda was a tease at heart) and continued to strut his stuff.

His hair, pin-curled just for today, bounced around his face as he tottered around the band members, the pearls on his lower half shimmying over his soft skin with each perky little step. The stage lights were close to being unbearably warm but he walked with a cool aura that would send a hot chill down your spine if you approached the stage. It was a wonder how anyone kept up with him.

The two other dancers accompanying him tonight were considerably bigger in stature and build than him yet they were completely outshone. This specific fact was something Ramuda thought was hilarious. A duet had recently been choreographed to Tough Lover for them after being in such high demand from the audience, some even mentioning it directly to the manager, but they had yet to agree to it. Ramuda knew they would crack soon enough, it was only matter of neither man wanting to say yes first at the risk of their bad-boy exteriors wearing off. The two men were so alike in dignity and enthusiasm yet they fought in a typical cat-and-dog fashion at every opportunity. This, Ramuda thought, could be the reason they clashed so often. Whenever Ramuda (as cute as he thought they were) silenced them because they got too annoying, they were practically at his knees without question or thought.

He didn’t know exactly why. Maybe it was because Ramuda had had others fired before for less.

This certainly wasn’t an admired quality. On the few occasions during the songs that he made eye contact with either of them Ramuda could sense their envy of being the man to rake in the most money and attention.

What Ramuda couldn’t sense, surprisingly, was the man sitting in the shadows near the back of the hall. A past dancer of the club who was let go a few months back.

He was sitting there out of envy.

Staring Ramuda down with a deep-seated contempt that he hadn’t felt quite to this degree before.

Hate watching, you might call it.

Ramuda settled into the finishing pose of the song, his costume pulled completely off now with some miscellaneous musical equipment covering the goods. A quick wink earned him a long whistle. Each hoot and holler from the crowd was fuel to the fire.

Hate watching?

No… he was studying.

The lamb disappeared from view as the lights dimmed and the other man left the building just as fast. He didn’t want to think of it as cowering, but he did nonetheless.

He was a real sheep in wolf’s clothing.

Things were about to get interesting around here.

[loyalflutist]

Satisfying Her Urge (Edeleth) [R-18*]

Rating: Explicit Archive Warning: No Archive Warnings Apply Category: F/F Words: 5,490 Summary:  Byleth and Edelgard enjoyed their times together. However, the times they've had for their nightly adventures had diminished. As the days pass, Byleth became impatient, the lustful demons eventually driving her to an intense session with Edelgard. 

A/N: It’s been a while since I’ve last uploaded any work on here. I kept doing it on AO3, but forgot this since I don’t visit Tumblr too often. However, I will still keep putting up my works, even if it’s at a slower pace via Tumblr. If you wish to see them as soon as possible once they’re up, feel free to subscribe to my AO3 account under the name “KazueEmiko”! 

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To Byleth Eisner, restraint had always been a part of her life. Whether out on the battlefield or dealing with social situations, she had always kept herself under control. She partially blamed the Crest of Flames for afflicting her with stoic features and the inability to express complex emotions. However, upon her meeting with Edelgard von Hresvelg, the stunt in her emotional growth melted away. Once love bloomed, all boundaries were open before her eyes.

But that meant she had some difficulty pulling the rein back too.

Especially when pressure was built.

“…during my time out on the field, trust is important.”

Edelgard sat in the second row of the Black Eagle’s lecture hall, her hands on the wooden desk, staring at their professor. The teal-haired woman slowly paced back and forth in the front of the classroom, white chalk in one hand. Byleth would occasionally stop in front of the blackboard and draw arrows and write notes. But she would never stop speaking, her lecture droning on about trust and bonds.

“Trust is crucial,” she said, stepping behind the podium. “If you do not have trust, then it would be wise to stay away from the battlefield, lest you wish to die an early death.”

Caspar crossed his arms behind his head. “Kinda silly you have to say that, Teach,” he remarked.

Byleth blankly stared at him. “When all reasoning leaves you in a fight, most people’s instincts tell them to run away. Stay away from it. Abandon their comrades in favor of saving their own life.” The ex-mercenary placed the chalk onto the wooden surface, grabbed ahold of its sides, and sighed. “You would be surprised who stays and who runs.”

“We aren’t like that though,” Caspar said with sharpness. “At least, not for me. I’m not a chicken.”

“Caspar,” Linhardt grumbled in the background. “She means what you say if you were never in a situation may differ once it actually happens to you.” The young boy resumed planting his forehead on the table, mumbling incoherently. Caspar tried to shoot a retort, but it fell on deaf ears, the student dozing off to dreamland again.

When he groaned, it elicited a chuckle from Hubert. “It would do well to not only pay attention in class, but to use your critical thinking skills,” Hubert said. “Then again, you lack the skill, so I suggest you learn how to get one.”

“What did you just say to me?!”

Caspar rolled his left sleeve with a snarl. The instant Caspar got up from his seat and marched to the magus, and before Byleth and Edelgard could stop the two males, the monastery’s bell chimed in the background. They froze in spot as Bernadetta sprung to her feet.

“Oh, f-finally!” Bernadetta said. “W-We can go back to our room!”

Bernadetta shakily sighed, gathering her written materials into her bag. Unfortunately, Dorothea’s friendly slap on the shoulder threw her into disarray, causing her to make a mad dash out of the classroom without her belongings. That led to Petra running after the frightened student with bags at hand, calling out to her until the class could hear her no more. Dorothea followed them, jumping to the air of stray papers. Linhardt stretched his arms and slinked away from the lecture without another peep. As for Caspar and Hubert, they decided it was not worth pursuing their argument, though it lowered their tolerance for each other. Ferdinand dragged the two boys away from the classroom, admonishing them for their unprofessional attitude. Though it appeared that the instant he suggested teatime to settle their differences, Caspar and Hubert socked him squarely in the face, a vocal “OUCH!” heard.

Eventually, the lecture hall emptied out with the other students, leaving behind Byleth.

Or so it should’ve been just Byleth.

The professor raised her brow, staring at the remaining student. She placed the textbooks in a neat pile on the podium, dusted her hands on her legs, and approached the house leader. Edelgard stood in front of her desk. Hands behind her back, she watched Byleth come close.

“Is something the matter, El?”

“Please don’t use my nickname,” the student pleaded, feeling heat collect under her cheeks. “Someone could hear it.”

“Aren’t we alone, though?” Byleth inched closer until their face was directly in front of one another. Looking down at her girlfriend, she cracked her rare smile. “I sense no one nearby.”

“Are you sure?”

She nodded. “I’m sure. If you want to be extra cautious…” Byleth took Edelgard’s hand and, without further ado, left the premise, leaving behind their belongings.

“Where are we going?” Edelgard asked.

No answer.

Edelgard drew her lips to a line. She was not a pushy person, but it would do well to have some form of communication. A response would be great, especially if they left the classroom in a hurry. Byleth glanced over her shoulder. Edelgard frowned. Then, Byleth tilted her head.

“Remember what I taught in class today?”

“About trust?”

“Yes.”

“So, you’re telling me that I should trust you.”

“Yes.”

Edelgard’s shoulders slumped and strained a smile. Perhaps it was a surprise Byleth wishes to show to her. Yes, that might be it. It would explain her lacking response to her earlier question. But it appeared that their trip was shorter than anticipated.

Byleth clicked the door shut and locked it behind her back once they entered Byleth’s dormitory room. Edelgard, standing near Byleth’s desk, drifted her fingers over its surface, her lilac hues directed at the scribbled scrolls. She paused and looked up once Byleth approached.

“Is there a reason why you wanted to bring me here?”

“Yes.”

Byleth inched closer. Instinctively, Edelgard stepped back. Her back immediately bumped into the sturdy furniture, her hands grabbing its edge. Her breath hitched once their face was in proximity. Looking into each other’s eyes, Edelgard could see Byleth’s navy hues reflect her face. It showed a young lady, no younger nor older than 18, staring up at the person she called her girlfriend. Heat discolored her cheeks.

“Byleth…”

“El…”

The older woman leaned in. Edelgard knew where this was going, so she closed her eyes, tilting her head up, ready for what was to come.

Byleth kissed her softly on the nose… and stepped away.

“H-Huh?” Edelgard opened her eyes. As if she could read her mind, Byleth faintly smiled. “Edelgard,” she said. “I want to continue teaching you what kisses mean.”

Oh… oh, it was that. Edelgard was a bit disappointed, but perhaps she had read one too many erotic literature a few nights ago. The build-up was almost perfect. Invitation to a lover’s private bedroom, the physical closeness, and the kiss… That shattered in less than a minute. The house leader scratched her cheek and glanced away. Then again, she felt ashamed. Edelgard ushered her own lustful demons back into the abyss. She lowered her head and chuckled.

“What does this kiss mean then?”

Byleth’s hands slowly reached up until she cupped Edelgard’s soft cheeks. She leaned forward, planting another tender kiss on the tip of her nose. “This,” she said. “Represents a desire to care for someone. To be nice to them.”

Then, she moved her lips up to Edelgard’s forehead. She planted a kiss. “This represents dominance.” One of Byleth’s hands began to snake behind the back of her head, fingers gently combing through her white locks. Then, she hovered her lips above Edelgard’s.

“This…” she leaned in. “Represents how much I love you.”

A kiss on the lips.

Edelgard smiled into her girlfriend’s lips and retaliated with her own. When they parted, their blush was dark. Byleth leaned in once more until their forehead touched. They stared into each other’s eyes. At that moment, the older woman rested her hand on Edelgard’s chest.

“Your heart is racing…”

“So is yours— or so I would like to say…” The house leader’s gloved hand smoothed her chest, the corner of her lips pulled down. “I could never get used to your still heart.”

Byleth’s eyes were crinkled. She took her hand and removed it from her chest. Pressing the back of her hand to her lips, she said, “My heart may not beat, but I’m happy with you.” She kissed her hand. “El, I love you. I love you so much.” Then, Edelgard’s eyes widened, Byleth biting the tip of her glove. She slowly slid the glove off with a gentle tug. In its full glory, scars exposed themselves to the open. Edelgard bit her lower lip. Once the white material dropped to the floor, Byleth’s eyes darkened. “I can’t hold myself back anymore.”

“Hold yourself back?”

“Yes.” Byleth pulled Edelgard towards her and buried her face into her shoulder. She deeply inhaled, allowing the fragrance of scarlet carnations to fill her sense. The older female closed her eyes and, after craning her head, planted a kiss on her girlfriend’s neck. Edelgard immediately reached up, but was stopped short between their embrace, her hands trapped to gripping Byleth’s dark overcoat. She squirmed and felt her face become hotter as Byleth whispered into her ear, “This represents my desire to have you all to myself.”

Heartbeat. Edelgard’s ears heated up and she tightened her grip. Through her flushed features, she whispered, “I want you too.” Edelgard leaned upward to capture Byleth’s lips.

“Mmph!”

Byleth’s eyes widened, noticing her lover begin to insert her tongue inside of her mouth. She tried to move away, but her aggressive kiss enticed her to stay. The professor’s eyes narrowed, unintentionally letting out a groan into Edelgard’s mouth, feeling the heat build-up from within her chest. Edelgard was taking the initiative, but when they parted, Byleth instantly moved to attack, locking their lips once again.

“You don’t know how much I want to do this to you,” Byleth panted after parting. “I’ve been holding myself back for so long. We've been so busy and everything.”

Although they tangled their bodies and ate up each other’s nectar in the past, it was at odd intervals. With their profession on the line, their reputation, and their setting, Byleth and Edelgard hardly had some alone time with each other. Or rather, some alone time that lasted long enough to sustain their sexual hunger. Byleth’s fingers slid down until she came upon her shoulders. Then, she unclicked her red cape.

“Please, let me love you.”

“You know I can’t say no to that.” Edelgard shrugged off her cape, letting it plop to the floor without a sound. She smiled, starting to peel off her uniform bit by bit, eyeing her girlfriend. The sight of Byleth widening her eyes with a slacked jaw made her giggle. “But you’ll have to bear with me for a bit.”

She kicked her leg out and stripped her bright red legging. Her pace was agonizingly slow. And that was her intention. The rising emperor smirked when Byleth’s features became beet red, imaginary steam wafted from atop her head. Edelgard, in her white undergarment, walked towards Byleth. It was her teacher’s turn to back away. Her knees gave away, back falling upon the mattress from behind. Byleth’s chest rose and fell, her navy hues staring at Edelgard.

Edelgard climbed on top of her dressed professor, her knee snuggled between Byleth’s thighs, and placed a hand beside her head. She smirked and bit on the end of her remaining glove, pulling it out to expose another scarred hand. Byleth felt a puff of hot air seep into her head.

“You’re so sexy,” she whispered. “This can’t be a dream.”

“Then it would be a lucid, wet dream for you, hm?” The student laughed and pecked her nose. “What do you want to do now, my teacher?”

Byleth felt her core twitch in response. But she bit the bottom of her lip and locked her arms around Edelgard’s neck. She pulled Edelgard close until their lips met again, their eyes closed. Byleth poked her tongue, inviting Edelgard to open her mouth. A sweet moan vibrated the inside of her mouth as Byleth’s tongue snuck inside. But Edelgard was not one to timidly let Byleth dominant her, the young lady probing and pushing at Byleth’s. During their exchange, Edelgard’s hands slowly crept to her clothes.

“Take… these off,” she commanded with bated breaths. Another kiss was given on the lips, albeit shorter. “I can’t be the only one without my clothes.”

And she listened to the future emperor’s wish. Byleth sat up after Edelgrad removed herself, watching her lover remove and throw the clothes onto the ground. Those plump breasts freed themselves from her black shirt, surprising Edelgard that she wasn’t wearing any garment for it.

“No matter how many times I’ve told you to wear a bra, you still didn’t listen to me,” she said.

Byleth tilted her head. “I’ve never worn it before I became a professor. Why should I now?”

“Ugh, you are hopeless.”

Then again, they’ve developed into fine shape. The times she’s held them in her hands, they were soft and bountiful. A perfect substitution for a pillow whenever they slept together. Edelgard glanced down at hers and pouted.

“Perhaps I should not wear a bra either…”

“But I like your cute breasts the way it is now.”

“I don’t know if I should be angry at you for saying that.”

“It’s the truth. And easy for my mouth too.”

“YOU—!”

She was cut off short once Byleth stripped entirely. Whatever seething fury she had about her size, it vanished in a blink of an eye, the toned body becoming her eye-candy. Both now in their undergarments, one in a lone black underwear, and another in a pair of whites, Byleth captured her hands. A twinkle in her eyes, she said, “Let’s do something different.” The older woman remained seated and pulled Edelgard towards her again. However, she had her student face forward, her breasts pressed against her sturdy back. Edelgard shuddered, her lilac hues shifted to the side.

If she recalled, in those forbidden erotic books, they’ve mentioned that in this position, Byleth could touch her in all sorts of places. And Edelgard would be powerless to stop her.

“Hnngh!?”

Byleth bit into her shoulder. She did not harshly dig her teeth into the smooth skin, but the teal-haired woman impressed with enough force to leave a red mark. Arms wrapped around the now-squirming royal, she proceeded to kiss the same spot. She faintly sucked on the marker, kissing and sucking. Soon, Byleth moved closer to her neck, repeating the same action sequence, spreading the hickeys in a trail.

“T-That’s sensitive— Ah!”

Edelgard quietly cried out, bringing up her hands to cover her mouth. Byleth paused and whispered into her ear with a tinkly voice, “I want to hear you, El.” Then, she blew a hot breath, eliciting a yelp. “Let your voice out.”

“W-What if the others hear?” she said. “I can’t have Hubert hear me.”

“That won’t be possible.” Byleth’s hands slowly crawled to their next destination, Edelgard unaware of her advances. “No one should hear us.” She slid her slender fingers over her lover’s mounds, a soft whine escaping Edelgard. Byleth cocked her head at an angle, staring down at those perky breasts, her fingertips brushing over the covered erected nipples. Another whine. Byleth felt her heart race and she massaged them with care, saying, “But if he did, I won’t mind. I’ll deal with him later.”

“Y-You— Ah! You… you speak as if you know how to— Nngh… deal with him.”

Edelgard sharply inhaled when Byleth’s cool fingers slid under her garment. The fabrics that rubbed against her already-hot skin and direct contact with her sensitive mounds made sitting still difficult. She gasped again when Byleth pinched her nipples.

“I do know. I’m sure Hubert would approve me pleasuring the person he’s served his entire life.”

“Why would you tell him that?!”

“I won’t.” One of Byleth’s hands slipped out to undo Edelgard’s bra, tossing the white material next to her large overcoat. She resumed her ministrations on her breasts, chuckling and planting a kiss to her cheek. “But Hubert can’t say anything if it makes you happy. He’s told me so.”

“He told you— Nfh… gh!?”

The sensitivity oddly kicked up a notch upon hearing Hubert’s response to their explicit activities. Edelgard had tried to hide it, their relationship already placing a strain on Hubert’s tolerance of Byleth. She struggled to keep her groan down once one of Byleth’s hands roamed downward to her stomach… side… then abdomen. Rubbing them as they shared another passionate kiss, Edelgard finally heard a click in her head.

That explained why Hubert backed away from their relationship… and he was kinder to Byleth.

“Ahh… gh…”

Knowing that intensified her heat, her core burning with great fiery.

Byleth broke their exchange, a thin string of saliva connecting them, breaking in a matter of seconds. Panting, she leaned into Edelgard’s back, her breasts and hardened nipples pressing again into her girlfriend. She couldn’t calm her pounding heart with their exchange. Although she was giving more than receiving, the fact that Edelgard’s flustered features were bright red, her eyes clouded, and mouth occasionally singing lovely, lustful tunes tickled her hot core. Byleth rested her chin on the girl’s marked shoulders.

“You’re so cute.”

She traced the outlines of her white underwear, lightly scratching her crotch’s surrounding with her fingernails. And that made Edelgard wiggle in her grasp.

“B-Byleth!” she called out. “That… that feels good—!”

Byleth smiled. “I’m happy to hear that.” She eyed her lover’s reaction as her fingers eventually hovered above the white garment. A tap. When she retracted her finger, a small portion of her fingertip was wet. Edelgard, through her fast, hot breaths and moans, closed an eye and glanced down. Another wave of heat washed over her at the sight of her girlfriend’s finger. “You’re so wet, El.”

Another tap— This time, she continuously patted on Edelgard’s underwear, going up and down vertically. The taps soon transitioned into flicks, eliciting more gasps and moans from the noble. Once she felt the fabrics soaked enough to become visible, Byleth removed her busy hand from Edelgard’s breast.

“I’m going to take this off, okay?”

A pause. Then, Edelgard nodded, turning her head to look at Byleth. “Please,” she pleaded and captured her lover’s lips again. “I want to feel your touches.” Byleth’s eyes darkened again, an animalistic urge to tear off her garment and bring her to euphoria in a matter of seconds. She wanted to ravage her. To eat her up. To drag her on until she fell unconscious.

But she tried to hold herself back.

At least, for now.

Byleth stripped the soft, wet material from her girlfriend and, just like their other clothes, threw them off the bed. She groaned into the young lady’s mouth, her dominance faltering. Edelgard was fully bare, sweat glistening on some parts of her naked body. The Black Eagle’s house leader took initiative and nibbled on Byleth’s lower lip.

“Mmm… El, you’re so beautiful…”

Edelgard’s eyes squeezed shut when she felt a pressure applied to the nub in her crotch.

“A-Ah…” she moaned, barely cracking open one eye, staring at her teacher’s fingers. Byleth’s thumb pressed upon her clitoris, the bundle of nerves rattling underneath. She continuously did so as if it were a button, her other hand rubbing the outside of her labia. Mini explosions of euphoria colored her sensation, slowly overwhelming her sense of sanity.

“N-Ngh!”

The way Byleth pressed, hard, upon her clitoris, caused her to cry out.

“AH—!”

Byleth captured the hard nub between her thumb and index, pinching it.

“AH! B-Byleth— Not so— Nnngh! Not so rough— HAH!”

Keeping the clitoris in her grasp, Byleth rolled it between her fingers as if it were a ball.

“W-What are you— Wait—! A-AH! No— Don’t— H-Hyaaaah!”

Byleth’s other hand began to sneak two fingers inside of her moist labia, stroking the starting point of her inner walls.

“D-Don’t stroke so roughly— Nnngh! More! Byleth, I want— I want more!”

Edelgard arched her back, thrusting her lower body into her touches. If she had any shred of dignity left, she now had none of them. Her eyes heavy-lidded, Edelgard choked back an outcry as Byleth’s fingers worked through her. One focused entirely on her favorite spot, the clitoris, and another in her vagina, stirring and rubbing the throbbing walls. Edelgard started to grind into her hands until Byleth accidentally stuck two fingers deep inside of her moist cavern, Edelgard’s face twisting.

“Are you okay, El?!” Byleth stopped everything, looking with beads of sweat flying. “I’m so sorry, I didn’t know I was going too fast.”

She felt a steel hold grip her wrist, forcing her fingers to remain inside of Edelgard’s inside. When she shot a worried look at Edelgard. But her expression loosened. Edelgard shook her head and softly growled, “Don’t you stop.” Byleth felt a switch flick on as she mumbled an “okay.”

Byleth resumed her ministrations, circling the stud and pinching it while rubbing her inside with two fingers. The rubbing came to a pause. Then, Byleth dug them as deep as she can into the cavern and curled her fingers up.

“Oh!”

A jolt of pleasure electrified Edelgard, her muscles jerking. Byleth narrowed her eyes and gave her another finger, stroking her inside, the rubbing also intensified on her clitoris.

SLICK

SLICK

SLICK

The wet sound of her pumping fingers and touches washed over Edelgard’s ears. She thrust her hips out again, moving them back and forth. Edelgard tried to grind as hard as she can on those three fingers and lean into the pleasurable rubs on the sensitive bundle of nerves.

“AH—! AH! Byleth— BYLETH!” she cried out, riding on her girlfriend’s hands. “I-I’m… I’m close—!”

Even though her muscles in her arms burned and sweat dripped down Byleth’s face, she grunted in response, burying her face into the girl’s shoulder. Byleth deeply inhaled, trying not to move her own hips against the fabrics of her mattress. She had to quell the monstrous desire to grind against her girlfriend’s back. Edelgard whined once Byleth bit hard, Byleth’s eyes squeezing shut.

She had to control herself.

She had to pull her rein back.

She—

“A-Ah— AHHHHHH!”

She snapped her eyes open and removed her mouth. Feeling Edelgard’s vagina clench around her fingers, Byleth immediately rubbed the nub well after Edelgard’s climax, her stiffened body jerking in her grasp. The orgasm slammed into Edelgard like a tidal wave. Hard. Although she came down from her high, Byleth didn’t stop, her rubbing only intensifying.

“Nnngh—! S-Stop—HAH! N-Not again— AH!”

Byleth bit back her own moan, aroused and full of heat from the sweet groans and cries from Edelgard. Beautiful. So beautiful! The beast inside of her had awoken! The teal-haired woman continued to focus onto Edelgard’s favorite erogenous spot: the clitoris.

Twisting it.

Pulling it.

Pinching it.

Rubbing it.

Ah, if only she could put her mouth on it…! But in this position, Byleth opted to continue using her fingers, instead, littering kisses and hickeys throughout the sensitive nape of her neck.

“I’m coming— I’m coming—!”

Byleth planted one last kiss before she roughly tweaked her overly sensitive nub.

“El…!”

“A-AHHHHH!!!”

Her efforts paid off. The pleasure that rippled through Edelgard spiked again before she could descend back to ground level, her back arching violently. Unlike previously, there was a silent scream, Edelgard unable to vocalize the near-whitening experience. Byleth bit back a cry, albeit for a different reason, an accidental bonk on her nose from Edelgard’s head bursting waves of pain throughout her face. The older woman shook off the anguish as her girlfriend collapsed into her arms, her breaths fast and spent.

“A…. Ah….” Edelgard lulled her head to the side, resting the side of her face in Byleth’s arm. She shakily brought her hand up to her chest, feeling her heart race a thousand miles. “That… hah…. was amazing…”

“I’m…. I’m… glad…”

“…Byleth?”

The Black Eagles student looked up. Her eyes widened and she scrambled to her knees, facing her professor. “Oh my gosh, are you okay?”

“I’m okay,” Byleth waved her hand and removed another from her nose. “It’s… Yes, I’m okay. It’s not bleeding.”

Edelgard felt sweat fly out of her head and sat on her knees, hands rested on her legs. She lowered her head, strands of her white hair slipping out of its place and hanging over her eyes.

“I am so sorry! I… I didn’t know I hurt you while we were doing it!”

“Things happen,” Byleth said with a strained smile. “But you… feel good, right?”

“Gosh, I… Why are you asking me that?” Edelgard leaned in and pecked her red nose. “I love it. I love every part of it.”

“Then I’m glad.”

Byleth glanced down and noticed her damp underwear. However, she pushed aside her own needs, happy to sate both her girlfriend and the erotic, horny beast that howls for food. As she reached for a tissue box near her bedside and wiped Edelgard’s bodily fluid from her fingers, the student too looked down to her teacher.

“…”

“…?”

Byleth felt her back press upon the mattress, her navy hues widening, staring at Edelgard from above. When she tried to move her arms, Edelgard had pinned them near her head. She smirked.

“I think it’s unfair that I’m the only one that’s feeling good.”

“Edelgard, you don’t need to— Hey! Don’t take it off!”

“Your words fall on deaf ears, my teacher,” Edelgard threw the wet garment aside, bringing forth a glorious sight. Beautiful is an understatement. No words could describe the lovely, toned figure before her. Edelgard exhaled, pulling out a faint gasp from Byleth as she stared at her wet nether region. “You always steal my breath away.”

“Huh, so you could say something cheesy too.”

“Professor!”

Now it was Edelgard would was red on the face, more so than Byleth! Byleth laughed and looked at her girlfriend. “What will you do now, El?” she smiled. “Will you ravage me like how I did to you?”

“Ravage? I am no savage.” Edelgard released her hold on Byleth’s wrist. She descended down her body. Byleth nearly choked on her own spit once a hot breath puffed upon her crotch. She propped herself up with both elbows, staring with wide eyes at Edelgard. Edelgard’s hands pressed upon her thighs, pushing it down, and eyed the moistened region. “I’m simply quelling your aches.”

“O-Oh, don’t be silly, I do not ache—”

“Byleth.”

“H-HNNGH?!”

The first stroke of her tongue on Byleth’s flower bloomed pleasure in seconds. Byleth tossed her head up, her hands fisting the dark mattress underneath. She let out a long groan, Edelgard tasting her again with another flick of her tongue. The noble raised her head with crinkled eyes.

“You shouldn’t lie to me. What happened to your lecture from earlier?”

Byleth moaned again before an objection left her lips, Edelgard tackling the wet premise. Vibrations fluttered through her sensitive region, the two groaning simultaneously. The young lady adjusted her upper body, keeping Byleth from snapping her thighs together, and took her time licking her folds.

Up and down, up and down, up and down.

Edelgard’s heart fluttered when Byleth clenched the bedsheet again. The teal-haired woman’s arms wobbled, her breathing ragged, Edelgard’s tongue undoing her little by little. Byleth was so used to giving, and she was used to receiving very little. It was her job as a mercenary. It was her job as a professor. It was her job at the monastery. But Edelgard was different. She kissed the hardened pink nub, eliciting a sharp gasp from Byleth.

“You’re…. really good at this, aren’t you— Nngh…. AH!?”

The kiss was followed up with sucking, and Edelgard sucked on her clitoris. Hard. Byleth’s arms collapsed, her back plopped back on the soft bed, a whine leaving her. She nearly bucked Edelgard off with her hips from the abrupt intensity! The student huffed and braced an arm across her hips to hold her down. Her mouth devoured and greedily tasted her sex, Edelgard sent to Cloud Nine from its sweetness.

“Haaah…. Haaah!”

Byleth could not sit up. Instead, her hands reached down to grab ahold of Edelgard’s head, her fingers tangling with her white hair. Although she had climaxed twice from Byleth’s help, the house leader felt her core heat up, the sexy moans and cries from Byleth tickling her to arousal. Edelgard pressed her hips into the blankets, the rough texture brushing her sore clitoris. She softly gasped and repeatedly ground into it.

“Nngh… This is addicting…” Edelgard whispered. Once she said her confession, Byleth bucked under her hold, Edelgard’s arm muscles tensing. In response, Edelgard enveloped her mouth over the entirety of her region, her tongue sliding around the entrance. She kept on licking, the strong, sweet, nectar-like smell of her bodily fluids seeping out from its warmth. And Edelgard lapped it all up. “I love you so much, Byleth.”

When she bucked into the blankets again, her tongue returned to her clitoris. She flicked her tongue on the bundle of nerves, occasionally running the entirety of her entrance vertically. And Byleth felt her abdomen burst in an explosion.

“A— AHHHHH!”

She had not climaxed, but her muscles from inside and out were twitching, her head thrashed left and right.

“NNNNNGH! Your— Your tongue— NGF— GH, AH!!”

“Oh, Byleth—!” Edelgard groaned, her thrusting becoming wild. Her licks were becoming sloppier, but the intensity increased by two folds, her focus now entirely on the clitoris only. “You’re so… beautiful— Nngh… I love you…. I love you so much, Byleth!”

The build gradually grew in time, the pressure of her stroking tongue increasing at the same rate. Byleth, and the swirling roll on the blankets growing the same way. Their pants were loud in the bedroom, hot breaths puffed from their mouth, as they desperately attempt to hit euphoria and relieve their aching core.

“I-I’m— I’m too close—!”

“Me… Me too— Hngh!?”

To their surprise, Edelgard climaxed for the third time, albeit it lasted shorter and with less intensity than the previous two. Her student slumped, her breaths fast. Yet her recovery was quick. Byleth immediately howled once she felt her tongue flick between her folds again. The bud of her clitoris was held in the warmth of her mouth, and she sucked on it like a baby.

Byleth slowly raised her head, her eyes staring up at the ceiling, and could barely cry out anymore. The pleasure was overwhelming. It had taken all forms of reasoning from the teal-haired woman, her throbbing bud enveloped and melting in her mouth. Byleth felt her soul transcend to the next plane as her fingers deathly gripped Edelgard’s head.

“….a….. Ah….. AH…… AH…. AHHHHHH!!!”

She squeezed her eyes shut and immediately sat up. Just like Byleth did to Edelgard, Edelgard made sure to drag her out into another round, her tongue abusing the hypersensitive area. A voiceless scream ripped through Byleth’s throat as she stiffened, her orgasm dragged on for what seems like a forever.

“Oh… Oh my gosh…”

Byleth flopped back on the mattress and released Edelgard's head. The highness that filled her body to the brim evaporated upon coming down to reality, her chest rising and falling. Byleth saw her girlfriend slowly crawl up to her outstretched arms. Edelgard laid down on her side, head resting on one of them. The two females stared at each other. Then, they softly laughed.

“Ha… haha… You…” Byleth shakily exhaled and turned to Edelgard, reaching over to tuck a stray strand of hair behind her ear. “That… was amazing…”

Edelgard closed her eyes and smiled. “I’m happy to hear that.” But their conversation did not continue past that point, their heavy eyelids closed and fatigue settled into their bones.

From the distance, right outside of the door, Sothis, once again, stared at the locked door, a pulsating red anger mark visible on her head. It had been hours, the sun had set, and darkness replaced daylight. She crossed her arms and grumbled.

“Great. Does that mean I have to sleep outside again?"

Meanwhile, Hubert and Ferdinand snuck into their quiet classroom, gathering their teacher's and Edelgard's belongings.

"What could have possibly transpired that they left their things behind?" Ferdinand asked.

Hubert paused. He glanced up at the ceiling. Then, his frown turned upside-down and his cheeks were inflamed. Hubert dryly swallowed and hastened his pace. "They... might've been busy with a matter." He grimaced, failing to dispel the heat. "It's best you know nothing about it."

"Why?"

"I will not repeat myself twice."

Ferdinand was about to open his mouth, but... clamped it after seeing Hubert's flushed features. "Oh." He shifted his gaze and adjusted his hold on Byleth's supplies. "...oh." It didn't take a whole minute for his face to turn bright red.  

[velociraptoraddict]

Part 3 Invader Zim Fanfiction Review

Part 1 and Part 2 can be found here!

Before we get started, as always, please let me know if any of the links provided don’t work, so I can correct them as soon as possible! I also welcome recommendations! So if there’s a fic that you don’t see on any of the lists, that you think I (or anyone else) should check out, please share! This Hyper-fixation Train is not slowing down and I need enablers 8D

And as a friendly reminder, anything crossed out is considered a Spoiler so read those parts at your own risks! And on to the Review!

Maneem  Mekrelmar Danem Sempadinum Scarazial and Zaygam by @hecallsmehischild

This is a six part saga totaling 242,514 words. Originally posted on Fanfiction.net on an unknown date in the early 2000s and re-uploaded to Ao3 on 05-26-2016 and marked complete on 08-18-2016 (though the total write time was estimated 7 years). There are a total of 174 chapters.

I’m going to do something a little different with this one because it is a six part series. I’m mostly going to review it as one fic with a quick rundown of the different segments. So I’ll only provide the link for “Maneem” but you should easily be able to find the rest from the there. If I review each one individually, by the time I got to “Danem” and the others, they would all have to be scratched out due to spoiling revealed plot twists from both “Maneem” and “Mekrelmar”. However, because of how long and complex this whole thing is, I am going to need to delve a bit more in to spoilers than I like just to cover the over all plot, so be warned! I will say this series was AMAZING and would probably be best read blind! There are so many exciting twists and reveals and the Author (You may recognize from the Part 2 reviews such as “Spacejerk” and “Misdirection”) as always, is able to pull you into the story, make you fall in love with these characters, and does not pull any punches when it comes to emotional drama! I teared up during the epilogue! This Author has made me cry on two different occasions now!! If you love soap operas, you’ll love this series!  

“Maneem” We start off with Zim finding out that his mission on Earth was a joke. In a state of shock, he wonders out into the streets of his neighborhood. He is not wearing his disguise and is very obviously an Alien. Dib finally gets what he’s always wanted, and Zim is arrested. Zim then goes to court (stay with me here lol), and a Judge sentences him to spend 3 months living with a host family to prove that he is not a danger to society. If he fails to do so, then he will be surrendered to the Swollen Eyeball for them to do whatever they please. And this is where we meet Della, Tom, Mikko, and Tiana, they’re original characters that play very important roles throughout the whole saga, I love them all for different reasons but Della and Mikko are definitely my favorites <3! This is a Found Family Fic. Della and Zim’s interactions are rocky at first but so sweet and wholesome later on, and Mikko’s growth from a frightened mute little girl to a spitfire fighter is done so well and I just absolutely adore her! Although, in the beginning, there is definitely a lot of headbutting, as the saga goes on these characters become Zim’s family, and they really grow close. The first half of “Maneem” is mostly Zim settling in with this new family of his, so a lot of slice-of-life fluff and drama. But soon, Dib hacks into Zim’s PAK and reveals that Zim has had a truly horrific up bringing, complete with brutal torturous training and both emotional and physical abuse. One punishment Zim had to endure during training was being exposed to a new alien species called a Morflar. Morflars are like living shadows that hunt and eat Irkens, slowly killing them in the most bone chilling way possible. Morflars play a pretty big part later on. But something else is revealed in Zim’s memories that truly gets the plot moving! After seeing something truly horrific, Dib kidnaps Zim at gunpoint and forces the alien to take him to Irk for a rescue mission. Here is where we meet Gloria (I wont say much about her due to spoilers but I really fell in love with her and her relationships with other characters by the end of this saga!). A few things happen, and “Maneem” ends shortly after a second trip to Irk for a rescue is successful. Overall, “Maneem” is a pretty quick read, and due to its age (about 12 years old) it is missing a few of the finer details that the Author’s more recent fics have. However, even in these earlier chapters, the Author does such a great job with emotion and character interactions, that you hardly notice the jumping in scenes. And the writing style really improves later in the saga! It’s just obviously different from how the Author currently writes, so there’s a noticeable difference if you read their more recent fics first, but if you read this one first, then you wont even notice any of it, and you will truly be blown away when the writing improves later on. 

“Mekrelmar” takes place about two years later, basically Dib wants revenge for what happened to Gloria, and convinces Zim to reluctantly tag along. Chaos ensues and Zim ends up being left behind on Irk, leading to a bit of torture and another rescue. Here is also where the Swollen Eyeball starts to enter the story in a major way, though they really don’t start to shine until “Danem”. The Author also does something with Gaz’s character in this series that is absolutely enjoyable and clever! I will not spoil it but it’s clever and works so well with the world the Author builds here. Even if the reveal is a little out of the blue XD

“Danem” takes place five years later, and here is where a lot of crazy stuff really starts to happen! There was actually a real-life five year gap between “Mekrelmar” and “Danem”, so not only does the writing style improve, but the Author’s ability to foreshadow really shines here! You can tell that the next four segments were all well planed out, as a lot of different twists and mysteries are introduced and slowly hinted at, before finally being answered many many chapter later! You wont be able to put it down! We start to learn a bit more about what Gaz can do. And Zim just has an All Around No Good Very Bad Time with a lot of stuff, I know I say this a lot, but this Author is so good at emotional trauma!! We also get a special surprise in the form of a familiar bond reveal, the Author does such a great job with the reveal too, it’s hinted at and you can almost guess what it is, yet it still takes you by surprise when it is confirmed! I was screaming out loud with how well done it was, and how excited I was about the implications of what the reveal would mean for the rest of the story. Mikko also continues to get some character growth and I gotta say, I really do love her X3. There’s more stuff with the Swollen Eyeball as well, which gets dark just as a heads up, there’s a bit of gore and psychological damage. It’s all very well written! We’re also introduced to another new character who plays a larger part later on, Agent Tunaghost, she’s one of the few characters who actually uses logic and is smart enough to know that everyone else needs to see a psychologist lol.  Also, trying to avoid spoilers, the Author does an absolutely amazing job at a character redemption, someone who you absolutely despise in the first two segments becomes a beloved character in this one going forward. It’s so well done! This Author really writes trauma, angst, and emotions so well. Though fair warning, there is a Character Death in this segment. Towards the end of “Danem”, I really fall in love with a particular character and their behavior towards Zim (XD man it’s really hard to say stuff without spoiling it, like I don’t even want to name the character because that will spoil stuff from the first two segments)

“Sempadinum” takes place almost immediately after “Danem”, and it is an emotional roller coaster (lol I feel like I say this a lot, but seriously the Author is sooo good with making the reader feel for these guys!). It mostly focuses on Gloria’s recovery from all the horrible stuff that’s happened to her in the past, as well as a budding platonic relationship that I truly was platonicly shipping and gushing over by the end of the saga! When you read it, you’ll understand why I’m emphasizing platonic lol, but seriously I absolutely adore these two together! Tunaghost is again the only one to actively suggest a psychologist for these poor folks, too (and she’s 100% right). Also, the Earth is in danger (cause of course it is) from the Irken Armada, and the Author has a really clever way to save it that really got me gushing over this characterxcharacter relationship lol. Overall “Sempadinum” is very well written, with great character development and exploration of their emotions and traumas. Plus there’s so much happening plot wise, that I can’t even touch on because of spoilers!! And sooo much foreshadowing shows up that isn’t answered until very far down the road, showing that the Aurthor planned everything out and did such a great job writing it all! We also start to get a few more hints on the Big Bad that first appeared in “Danem”, though we wont really see them till much later, and let me tell you, You will Never Guess the true identity of this Big Bad! But once they’re revealed, the hints laid out up to that point can be puzzled out. Lot of hindsight needed though XD

“Scarazial” takes place immediately after “Sempadinum” with a very heart wretchingly emotional wedding. We’re also introduced to Riddick, who is an absolute delight! As with a few other character introductions in this saga, Riddick starts out a bit as a jerk (though absolutely fun), trust me, you’ll love him by the end! With a few more appearances from the Big Bad, and a few other mysteries that need to be solved (that I can’t hint at cause it involves characters and spoilers from previous segments) “Scarazial” ends with Zim finally snapping and going insane, and it is really a fun/terrifying thing to watch!

“Zaygam” takes place immediately after “Scarazial”, and is the last of this six part saga. I can’t say much without spoilers other than it wraps up every loose end perfectly and the epilogue got me all chocked up! I actually had to pause reading for a few hours and I still ended up losing a few tears when I picked it back up mid-chapter! One thing I can say, there is an odd introduction of a new character, it seems a bit out of left field, and doesn’t make any sense at first (especially since it comes immediately after an April fools chapter lol), but trust me, if you keep reading to the end you will quickly fall in love with this idea that is presented, and everything else that this 6 part saga has to offer! 

Please give it a read!

13/10 Very long, but so so good! The writing, plot, and characters are so well done and the depiction of emotional trauma and ptsd is handled well. And the Character redemptions are amazing, plus the ships!!! This also has my hands down absolute favorite depiction of Red!

Between The Stars by andystarr aka @andyyoureastarr

This fic is 2,111 words. Originally posted on 01-04-2020 and so far only has one chapter.

I’ve reviewed this Author’s fics before, but this is a brand new one! And although there probably isn’t enough of it for me to truly review it, based off what is out so far and the Author’s other works I am 100% confident that I can recommend it! The Author introduces a new alien species that appears to be blood thirsty similar to the Irekns, they discover Dib post alien abduction via “the really dumb aliens who think he’s [Zim] a human and try to fuse him with stuff” from the show. Dib ends up killing his captures before his supposed “rescue” and the chapter ends on a pretty ominous note. 

?/10 Since there’s only one chapter so far I don’t want to give it a rating, but knowing the Author’s other work I’m sure it’ll have a perfect score.

Breaking Routine by GalaxyCuup aka @galaxycuup

This fic is 6,188 words. Originally posted on 12-02-2019 and last updated on 12-13-2019. It has two chapters so far.

This is another one that’s a little harder to review since it’s still so new, but the two chapters that are out so far, are so well written, and hold so much promise for the future! This is a species swap AU where Zim is human and in Hi-skool and Dib is the Irken Scientist who has come to Earth to study and research it. The Author also posts pictures IN THE CHAPTERS!! They are so good!! The characters are very well written and their interactions are fun to watch. Plus with this being a species swap, it means their personalities are still sorta there, but their cultures and up bringing are very different so they react to things differently than their canon selves would, which make it a very fascinating read and a fresh take from all the other versions of these two that I’ve seen so far. Zim is his usually hot headed self, but being a teenager it seems to get him into more trouble than he deserves, while Dib has that air of infatuation and child-like wonderment with the planet Earth and everything new around him. I’m very curious to see where the story goes from here and what these two will do if Dib’s Irken self is ever revealed.

?/10 It’s still new so I can’t quiet give it a full score, but I see a lot of potential and the unique take combined with the artwork is so good that I definitely recommend it, and look forward to reading more.

Chomp by VelociraptorAddict aka unashamed self promotion

This fic is 12,280 words. Originally posted 12-31-2019 and last updated 01-18-20. It is updated weekly and so far has 4 chapters posted.

We start off with an introduction of a new Alien species, not much is revealed about them at first besides the fact that they require to “Bond” with others in order to survive off their own planet. More is revealed little by little as the story goes unfolds. This alien is sent to Earth/Urth to gather information for an upcoming invasion, and ends up forming a Bond with a young girl to do so. This girl later moves across the country and starts going to skool with Dib. One day she makes the mistake of admitting she doesn’t believe in Bigfoot, which leads to Dib confronting her to try and convince her otherwise. However, during the conversation it is revealed that she does believe in ghosts, and Dib’s need to be validated for his belief in the paranormal, means that he quickly sees this girl as someone who will actually listen to him. So he attaches himself to her and assumes they’re friends. Unfortunately for the girl, she has a pretty big secret that she doesn’t want this potential paranormal investigator to find out, the Loughran. 

Unfortunately, it is not a secret she’s able to keep for long. Dib quickly becomes suspicious that she must be hiding something, when another new student (Zim), comes to their skool and Dib accuses him of being an Alien. The girl seems to flip between agreeing with him and denying the existences of aliens all together and Dib finds it very suspicious. When a fight breaks out at recess between Zim, the girl, and something invisible, Dib quickly and adamantly demands answers!

This part of the plot moves pretty quickly, but it is simply the set up for what’s to come.

?/10 It doesn’t feel right scoring my own fic, but I will admit the writing style itself could use a bit of improvement and it could definitely use a lot more descriptive text. However, the character interactions and dialogue portions are done well enough. And I’ve been doing enough of these fic reviews that it’s about time I put my money where my mouth is and started writing my own, right?

[realfuurikuuri]

Chapters: 11/? Fandom: Mao Mao: Heroes of Pure Heart (Cartoon) Rating: Teen And Up Audiences Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings Summary: 

MissingArm!AU: When escaping the cave, it wasn't his tail that got crushed. In exchange for his innocence, he gained a sordid past. The Pure Heart Valley seemed like a good place to escape. To start a new life with a new family to forge a new identity. However, when the past rears its ugly head Mao Mao's forced to step up or be put down.

AN:  Finally back at the end of the century. The reason for no uploads on either the MMHOPH Headcanon blog (it's on Tumblr, go check it out) or on fanfics is because Persona 5 Roya came out and I finished that on Monday at 140 hours. Don't expect things to get to active too soon either, cause finals are next week. Regardless, let things get back to the usual. In keeping with Persona 5 Royal let's make today's song recommendation Beneath The Mask - Persona 5. Follow @spookylovesboba on Twitter and Tumblr and I hope you enjoy the chapter.

Direct AO3 Link: XXX

Mao Mao breathed in the fresh morning air. It was good to be outside again. Even if it was just to drop Adorabat off at school. He waved goodbye to her as she went inside, but he didn’t leave right away. He still felt terrible. It hurt to walk, and he couldn't lean too far on either side thanks to the hole. Camillie gave antibiotics and painkillers, alongside an extensive list of their side effects. The painkillers made his insides feel like cold porridge, and the antibiotics made his stomach feel weird. Nausea they caused together was unbelievable.

Nausea made it hard to remember if the school always had three students. He wasn’t sure, but he put aside his suspicion. It was probably another side effect. It was probably amongst Camille’s list of warnings; he couldn't know for sure.  It was way too early for any of this. It was too early for Mao Mao and certainly too early for Badgerclops. He was still asleep, and still drooling on his shoulder.

Mao Mao poked him until he woke up. “Huh, I was paying attention to the movie,” he yawned.

“It’s not movie night. We’re dropping off Adorabat.”

“Oh! Bye,” Badgerclops said waving.

“You’re at nothing, she’s already inside.”

“Oh. Well, that’s good, let's get you back to HQ.”

“No.”

“What? You should stay in bed, off of your feet, doctor’s orders.”

“Yeah, but I want to go out to do something. Let’s get a pizza.”

“Doctor also said no solid foods.”

“Smoothies then.”

Mao Mao revved the engine making Badgerclops tightly grab onto his waist. “You sure you don’t want me to fly,” Badgerclops asked.

“It’ll be fine.”

“A sick man with one arm shouldn’t be driving anything.”

“I said it’ll be fine.”

Mao Mao pulled back the accelerator, letting the Aerocycle fly off. Badgerclops may have had a point, but he wasn’t let anything stop him from enjoying his day.

* * *

Mao Mao was still stubborn as all hell. Not even a trip to the hospital would change that. He and Mao Mao went from one end of town to the other, walking the streets looking for one place that served smoothies. He told Mao Mao more than once that the only food places were Muffin’s Bakery and the convenience store. Watching him Mao Mao hobble around would be funny if he hadn’t nearly died less than a weak ago.

“Hey, Mao Mao!”

“Wha-”

Badgerclops had the small man tucked under like a football before he knew what was happening.

“Badgerclops, I am asking politely, but firmly to put me down before someone -and I mean you- gets hurt.”

“Awww, Is da wittle baby who just got outta the hospital mad.”

Mao Mao didn’t appreciate the humor. He wiggled like a worm and gnawed on his right hand, which probably would’ve hurt if it wasn’t made of metal, so Badgerclops just kind of ignored it. He walked through the narrow alleys towards Muffin’s bakery at the town square. He thought Mao Mao would stop eventually, but if Mao Mao was anything it was stupid. And also stubborn. Chomp! Chomp! Chomp! It was like a toddler using a teething ring. What was kind of funny at first became annoying, and now was just kind of gross to watch.

“You have to stop that before you hurt your teeth, and you and I both know that I don’t know how to schedule a dentist appointment,” Badgerclops said.

“I will when you put me…,” Mao Mao slowly fell silent as they entered the large open plaza of the town square.

“Hey, Badgerclops. What is that?”

“That’s the blob monster.”

“THE WHAT !”

Badgerclops flinched. Mao Mao slipped from his grasp ready to split his head on the pavement, but a cat’s gonna do what a cat's gonna do. He righted himself in the air to land on his feet. A much worse choice. Mao Mao’s eyes went wide from the pain before he fell down on all fours.

“Oh my god! I’m so sorry.”

Badgerclops went to pick him up, but he was waved off. “The blob. The blob. Tell me about the blob.”

“Cool it. Camille  high-blood pressure would give you a stroke.”

Mao Mao took a second to gather himself, clenching his fist before letting it all go. “All. Alright. The blob. What is the blob?”

“You should do that more often. You’re a very tense person,” Badgerclops teased.

“The blob.”

“Right, uh, the blob is a blob. Its big, gooey, kidnaps villagers-”

Mao Mao inhaled sharply and he tapped his foot.

“-it’s not all that bad. They’re unharmed, just a little confined. It hasn’t even taken anyone important.”

“Sheriffs? Is that you?”

Mao Mao and Badgerclops leaned forward, craning their necks and squinting their eyes. It was hard to see at first, Badgerclops had to open his cybernetic eye to actually see that King Snugglemagne was now a hostage. Mao Mao rubbed his temples why Badgerclops cursed fate for always making him look like a fool.

“Sheriff! It's utterly dreadful. Could you hurry and get me out? I’d certainly rather you didn’t forgo saving me like last time.”

“I’ve never done anything like that. I do my job, and I do it very well, thank you very much.”

“You did nothing when I was trapped in a net by that ruffian that looked a lot like you.”

For a second, Mao Mao raised a non-existent eyebrow, but his fur stiffened and he reached for his sword.

Aw shit.

Badgerclops stepped in front of the cat. “Let’s slow down. He didn’t mean to insult your son.”

“Don’t worry. I’m just cutting him out,” he said,” if I take a little off the top, oh well.”

He raised his sword up. Badgerclops quickly grabbed the blade before he could bring it down. “No, I mean they blob fights back if you attack it.”

“How do you know?”

“I kicked the blob once and it fought back. It gave me a nasty bruise.”

Mao Mao looked Badgerclops up and down,” where’s the bruise?”

“It was at the beginning of the week. It healed.”

Mao Mao started Badgerclops in the eye with frigid intensity before he sheathed his sword. Thank fuck he believed it.

“So, what do we do,” Mao Mao asked.

“Get lunch?”

Mao Mao nodded in agreement. “Sure. Let’s go.”

“Excuse me? Still stuck! Help!

He and Mao Mao tuned out the king. They turned around and began to walk away.

* * *

“Jellybeans aren’t lunch.”

“Then do you want a milkshake?”

“You know I’m lactose-intolerant.”

“Then hush-up and eat ya’ beans.”

Mao Mao grumbled, doing as he was told. He and Badgerclops sat on the bench just outside the gas station. Muffin’s Bakery was the first, but considering Muffin’s was trapped in the blob (and the broken storefront) it wasn’t open. The gas station was the second choice. It didn’t really offer food. Just the usual cheap snacks, and milkshakes for some reason. The blob had tagged along for what it was worth. Unfortunately, it had to carry most of the kingdom with it.

“Are you going to save me,” the king asked.

“We’ll get to it eventually,” Badgerclops held the drink in front of Mao Mao,” got you a milkshake.”

“I told you I can’t drink milkshakes.”

“Is it like cobbler? A hero's code thing? I won't tell anyone if you do.”

“No! It's ‘cause I’m not a kitten. Adult cats are all lactose intolerant.”

“Can Jǐngtì still drink milk or has it gone the way of the dodo? Might invite him here some time.”

The last part was said quietly, an absent thought that wandered out, nonetheless, Mao Mao’s ears perked up.

“Why would you invite Jǐngtì?”

Badgerclops awkwardly cleared his throat before speaking. “He helped me fix up HQ a bit.”

Mao Mao didn’t say anything. He pressed his fingers together. Thumb to index, thumb to middle, thumb to ring, thumb to pinky in calming repetition.

“Oh, and while we were cleaning we found this.”

Badgerclops pulled out a golden finger. It took Mao Mao a second to realize what it was. How did that happen? Did he do that? Oh shit, he probably did. He had to stop himself from snatching his father’s finger away.

“You know what this is,” Badgerclops asked.

“Think so.” Why did he say that?

“Are you gonna tell me?”

Mao Mao bit his tongue before he could let the name slip out.

“You want it back," Badgerclops asked.

“Yes, please.” Mao Mao wasted no time tucking the finger in his belt when it was handed back.

“So, do you remember what happened?” Badgerclops started.

“What happened when?”

When I was away.”

“No.”

“You don’t? You don’t remember what happened, how you got those wounds, who visited you? None of that?”

“I was pretty wasted and these drugs aren't helping my head, so what were we talking about before this?”

He could catch Badgerclops grimace at the rough change of subject, but Badgerclops was kind enough to oblige. “Something about Jǐngtì and milkshakes? You think he could drink milk?”

Mao Mao paused to think for a second,”...he might. He’s always had some… issues.”

“I don't mean to pry, but do you mind if I ask why?”

“No it's fine, but uh...what I mean is… well, you know how kittens can’t regulate their body temperature?”

“I did not know that, but continue.”

“Well, that’s supposed to go away by like, age 4, but Jǐngtì still can’t do it. It's fine since it's summer, but I’ll probably give him a coat when it starts getting cold.”

“Seems like a double-edged sword. Can’t stay warm, but can still enjoy cheese.”

“Yeah, the doctor’s say it because he’s a hybrid. Certain genes just don’t mix. He also has an issue with his eyes-”

Mao Mao cut himself short. Why was he being so open about all of this? Was it also the medicine?

“You good,” Badgerclops.

“Yeah, I think I’m fine. Where was I?”

“Something about his eyes.”

“Right, Jǐngtì’s pupils are larger than normal, so he can see really well in the dark, but he squints during the day or in a decently-lit room.”

“That’s one reason to wear sunglasses indoors.”

Mao Mao chuckled. “Yeah, I guess it is.”

“I checked on him while you were away. He’s holding up well. He even helped me fix HQ.”

Mao Mao twiddled his tail through his fingers,”...I’m sorry.”

“What? No, no, it's fine-”

“No, I mean it. I shouldn’t have caused you so much trouble.” Mao Mao choked up.

“I- I shouldn’t’ve-”

Badgerclops placed a supportive hand on his shoulder. ”If you ever feel… down again, just know I’ll be there to help you get back on your feet. Don’t be afraid to ask.”

Mao Mao closed in for a hug. He sniffled but managed to wipe the tear from his eye. “Yeah, thanks…I’m feeling better already.”

“Yes this all very touching,” Snugglemane interjected,” but I still don’t see you trying to help me.”

“Oh be quiet,” Mao Mao said, flicking a pink jelly-bean at the king. The shot missed its mark by a decent margin, helplessly bouncing off the blob.

“Geez, if I was the broad side of a barn that might’ve almost hit me,” the king retorted.

Mao Mao harrumphed and waved the king off. He wasn’t in the mood for jackassery. Even if it was coming from the guy that paid him. He was tired of eating jelly beans, so he began throwing them at the trashcan. It wasn’t too different from flicking a paper football. Although, jelly beans were much harder to aim. Badgerclops nudged him, holding out as his hand as they both began to take aim. Everything was going fine if you ignored Snugglemagne. Eventually, Mao Mao got tired of the nagging and flicked a bean at him.

“Stop that,” Snugglemagne whined.

Instead of stopping Mao and Badgerclops chuckled like Beavis and Butthead. At least they were chuckling until Mao Mao caught something out the corner of his eye. He shoved Badgerclops aside before throwing himself back as something smashed through the bench with comet-like fury.

Badgerclops coughed out,” what the hell was that,” as the dust cleared.

When everything settled, Snugglemane was face down in the dirt. Everything fell silent. Badgerclops inhaled sharply; Mao Mao began to laugh.

Badgerclops shot him a glare. Mao Mao quickly cleared his throat,” must be the medicine,” he mumbled.

Badgerclops was really proving himself because his eyes softened after a second. “Do you have any idea what happened?”

“I threw food at it, so it threw ‘food’ at me?”

“That… actually makes sense.”

“So, what do you want me to keep throwing jelly beans at them? It might get the rest of the kingdom?”

Badgerclops placed two fingers to Snugglemagne’s pulse before giving him a thumbs up. Mao Mao couldn’t lie to himself. It was kind of cathartic to watch the blob chuck Sweetipies a 100 MPH.  With every toss the blog got smaller and smaller. When the last one was free the blob sorta imploded. It bubbled up before shrinking down with a disturbing noise and spreading goo everywhere.

“What the hell just happened?”

“It got too small thus it lost structural stability and collapsed.”

“I don’t know what any of that means, but I do know that everything worked out in the end.”

“Someone’s going to have to clean all this goo.”

“And it won’t be us,” Mao Mao said,” c’mon we have to pick up Adorabat from school.

* * *

They were only slightly late when picking up Adorabat from school. The rest of the children -or maybe they weren’t actually children Mao Mao honestly couldn’t tell- poured out from the school. She hopped down the steps before flying over.

“Mao Mao! Mao Mao!”Adorabat said as she zipped around them.

Badgerclops metal arm extended out and held the child in place. “Woah, there little buddy. What’s gotten you up?”

“The teacher says we’re going to be doing a play!”

“Really? That sounds nice.”

“The teacher says it’ll be next week. You’ll come, right?”

“Sure. Sounds fun.”

Adorabat slipped out of Badgerclops’ grip, flying an inch from Mao Mao’s face. “You promise?”

“I promise,” Mao Mao chuckled, patting her head.