#was how she was worried about flying home because they have three pets

[alienpistol]

if you're seriously laughing and giggling at the wildfires because you think California is exclusively populated by rich celebrities you're a fucking moron and an asshole btw

[thewriterg]

𝐰𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐞𝐬 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐡𝐞𝐚𝐝 𝐚𝐭?

pairing(s): peter parker x gn!reader, peter parker x widow!reader (can be read as any peter)

summary: Your head was always spinning, you couldn’t eat, and if you got up to fast your vision would be blurry for at ten minutes at a time coming home Peter didn’t expect you to see you as bad as he did when he came home and he’d do everything to make it better. You had to get better.

word count: 1.8k

request(s): Can you do like a Peter Parker x sick reader. Where like Peter was doing night patrol and came home to the reader asleep on the floor in the bathroom but like whining in her sleep because her head and stomach hurts. So Peter picks them up and they hug him so tight and tells him it hurts. Peter does everything in his power to make it stop hurting but you end up going to the doctor and find out they have a new virus that takes 2 weeks to recover from but a week before it isn't contagious any more. So Peter Parker has to take care of them for 2 weeks because she has it really bad.

warning(s): sickness, descriptions of throw(ing) up, blood, pain, crying, doctors, hospitals, medicine, pills, sickness, kisses, pet names, and language

A/n: —GIF: @dailymarvelstudios & @peterparkcr— umm so your girl’s motivation has been one to none and I re-wrote this like four times so 😊

Peter sat on top of a building watching the busy streets of New York pass by it was shy of 10:30pm and Peter was itching to get home to you not that he even wanted to think about leaving your side to go patrol anyhow

You were sick, sick was honestly a understatement for how you felt usually You and Peter would go on patrol together but not today The brunette sat in his seat antsy like

It, your sickness has been working up to this point for three days now.

First, it was not being able to keep food down even though Peter was worried you just blew it off as food poisoning and not having an appetite for anything

Next, was blurry vision every time you stood up Peter thought I was maybe from you lack of eating but when he saw that it made you so d i z z y it practically knocked You off your feet he knew it wasn’t the case

Last, was the headaches.

You don’t even know if you could call them just mediocre headaches

Because they weren’t

It felt like a hummingbird or a woodpecker just tapping their rough beaks into your nerve system

Or a lumberjack pulling a saw back and forth on the corners of your brain chipping it o f f piece by piece little by little

Peters senses we’re going haywire and yet it wasn’t because of any crime or any bullets flying towards his temples no.

It was radio silence on the Tuesday night of New York and he decided to call it early the world would do okay without Spider-Man for one night and the brunette began to swing his way back home to you

💌💌💌💌

“Darling, i’m home!” Peter made sure he wasn’t too loud to make your pain in your head any worse but loud enough so you wouldn’t be alarmed at his sudden presence

“Love?” Peter called out into the air again once he didn’t see you in your usual spot over the last couple of days your side of the bed was empty the covers pooling around the mattress

Peters heart began to die down in his chest once he saw the the bathroom light on letting a soft sigh escape his pink lips approaching the wooden door letting his fist softly hit the surface

“Are you okay in there?” Peter waited for a response and when he didn’t get one his heart was right back to its irregular beating patterns and his suit sticking to his skin didn’t do anything to help

“Y/n?” Peter never used your real name but he would go to any extent when it came to your health the Brunette listened closely and could hear you stirring and whimpering swearing that his heart stopped in that moment

“Darling I’ll break down this door I swear!” When seconds past and all Peter got in response was whining and labored breaths he didn’t hesitate to ram his shoulder into the door before the wood began to break under the force and finally flew open

The sight of you sleeping, bunched up, cradling yourself in a ball, sweat dripping down your forehead, and all around just sickly looking made Peters heartbreak in his chest as he immediately crouched by Your side scooping your overly warm body in his arms shushing you as the whimpers left your lips

“Oh baby…” The brunette trailed off, his eyes watering as he swept your hair out of your face as it stuck to your forehead from the cold sweat that rested in small beads on your body. When your eyes finally fluttered open they were dull, far away, almost lifeless.

“P-peter it hurts” You were whining now pressing yourself into Peter's abdomen as if he could take all the pain away and in every moment you were he wished he could

“I know darling, I know, I got you.” Finally standing to his feet with you in his arms legs wrapped around his l a n k y torso and head resting on his shoulder as he entered your shared room stepping in front of your bed going to lower your body on the cushion before you whimpered in protest clinging on tighter

“Okay, okay, I know” Peter reclined in his steps finally feeling your tears seep through his suit as he patted your back rubbing circles with his palm as your sobs voided his ears causing his heart to crack in two

“I’m sorry baby I’m so, so sorry I don’t know what to do.” Tears began to spill from the brunettes eyes as he began to dart around the room collecting clothes to put on your body Your crying never ceasing as Peter struggled to your sweatpants over your legs and soon enough you were heading out the window secured to Peters chest swinging from building top to building top

💌💌💌💌

Peter sat next to your bedside holding your hand with interlocked fingers even though it was one sided as you lied unconscious the team of nurses and doctors had to sedate your thrashing body much to the boys dislike it had been just about a day now and the doctor had diagnosed you with a immune virus that no matter how many health classes he took over his years of Highschool and now college had no clue where it began to start but it would take at least two weeks to drain your system with the prescribed orange pill bottle that the nurse had given to Peter to give to you

Peters head snapped to yours as your fingers began to twitch in his hold and his leg bounced up and down in anticipation because he couldn’t tell the difference between you waking up or your body having a muscle spasm

But Peters prayers to Thor and whatever God was out there were answered when you finally opened your eyes met with dim lights recommended by the brunette who knew they weren’t fun when you were out for a while and when you finally made eye contact his heart could just about burst in his chest

“You scared me ha lf to death you know that?” The boy stated gripping your hand a little tighter making sure you IV wasn’t in his path while you softly smiled at him rubbing your thumb back and forth against his skin

“I’m sorry” You moaned your head beginning to softly pulsate in your ears as you tried to blink the tears away from your eyes for Peters heart sake

“Here take these, helps drain the bug out of you faster” The brunette handed you a small cup that consisted of two white pills and a small bottle of water as you swallowed them down taking the water with you sighing into the small hospital room when you were done

“Mmm, I don’t think i want you out of me any longer” You responded taking your index and middle finger imitating a spider crawling up Peters arm onto his shoulder as he swatted your hand away and you chuckled in your temporary bed

“Please, god stop” You watched in amusement as the boy turned pink and bright red even after four years in a relationship and sixteen years in friendship things never change

“They tell you when I can get out of here bug boy?” You questioned stretching your arms over your head a slight arch in your back before settling in your seat looking over to Peter for an answer

“They said once you woke up they would have to do a few exams and depending how they turn out you could leave today or stay another week” Peter sighed taking hold of the hospital bed remote in his hand a pressing the big dull, worn, red ‘nurse help’ button

Soon enough there were two nurses to wheel you away for testing before You gave Peter one of your ‘spider-hearts’ you always did with your hands and he replicated the same until he could no longer see your figure and sighed sitting back down his seat fiddling with his fingers as he waited

💌💌💌💌

You were good to go the Doctor gave you discharge papers, Peter some instructions on how he should care for you the next couple of days to a week, and his signature to get a refill of medication when your pills has ran low since you had to take three a day but at least you were out

That’s how you found yourself in this position burrito’ed in two thick blankets as Peter spoon feed you alphabet vegetable soup May had made once she heard about your illness even though she was a bit confused on how you were in this predicament with your… abilities she still wished you a fast recovery and continued to call Peter over to bring you a new soup every two days declaring if you ate Peters soup you’d never get better

You’d never seen your boyfriend so offended

“Just two more bites” The brunette pleaded and you shook your head like a four year old refusing to eat the vegetables provided on their plate

“You know you’re a very difficult patient” Peter sighed pushing his glasses up on the bridge of his nose as You snorted rolling your eyes finally taking the bite of soup off the spoon into your mouth

“Says you remember when you got your wisdom teeth pulled?” You reminded your partner as he deflated sitting the semi empty bowl on the nightstand and tucking your head into your neck

“You promised to never bring that up” He whined and you felt the vibrations along with his cool breath traveling up the nape of your neck it could’ve made you shudder but you were to busy stifling a chuckle rubbing circles on the brunettes back

“I promised to never bring up unless you gave me a reason to plus this is like maybe the second time I’ve been sick in like… seven years” Your hands traveled to his hair now as you twisted his curls in between your fingertips

“That’s fair” Peter mumbled before rolling over to the side of you as you slid down to get more comfortable in your position

“You know the best thing about spider-perks” Peter piped up turning towards you as hummed with a furrow of your brows for him to continue his exploration

“I could do this… and not have to deal with the sickly consequences” Peters lips were on yours in a silent pause before he continued and you rolled your eyes before pecking his cheek before nuzzling into his side as he welcomed you with open arms

Even if you were a difficult patient Peter wouldn’t have it any other way

[mydyspraxiablog]

My dream job was feed cats and dog doing pet sitting but mum won't let me she thinking of by herself can and beside can't be Pet sitter with no mobie phone.

Now want cafe job feed cats and brush cats it look in Esschell on stone Rd only promble bus one hour so be different get up on there if miss bus which might won't looking first time for cat cafe

I dream going on to chalie cat cafe assistance on bus say " Cup tea on use" ask for volunteer to brush cat and feed cat and give me gift of sponder a cat. It had gift of £5 and spreader on cat mug then wake up only dream.

Now enjoy play sims 4 been trying boarding school challenge failing so decide do new download Littlesams Foster mob for Foster challenge but decide Foster teenage ( because in really life was Foster sister with flying colour and can't go without any Foster agent but flying colour) So thought Sims 4 Foster is close to really life and nobody want adopted teenage so Foster them I don't get babies because Sims 4 babies and toddler are nightmare but cute.

So today few Foster teenage didn't turn up so not worry about that and could not found all Foster child so decide Foster pets too cats kittens, adult,elderly cats ( because missing Sydnee and Annabel my really life cats which could find photo of both cats 🐈 but google deleted the photos as mum won't let paid for extra space on Google drive now missoft trying doing say things too.

I also Foster dogs on Sims 4 too but no pets coming yet try add Foster child from sims 4 gallery but won't work say can't download with out adults.

So have trying something different only downside with Foster mod because got little space some have deleted game and start again haven't work how do safe files for Sims 4 Foster family and Foster home guest learn things new each day.

This one my cat called Sydnee past way in May 2023 at age of 17 years old really miss her haven't see her twin sister too.

Wish could go back time save Annabel and Sydnee been here all see now in cat shed mum furniture in Snug turn in outside kitchen cat shed furniture and other Sumer house 🏠 is. Furniture mum furniture it driver me mad because can't get art things because block of furniture again.

So decide going get hamsters and two ginapigs and now not going on crusie going on float Hotel and one more holiday to Turkey then is dog and cat because hamsters don't living long but Ginera pigs last long but cats and dog hate lonely in rescue centres around UK it making use feeling get rid of cat and dog because Pet insurance not paid up even PSDA pet insurance didn't any more deal with Annabel broken shoulder and Sydnee posion from rats 🐀 in Stafford up Esschell Road from knob down old hotel 🏨 so not happy about that.

Even did spead nice meals there Trefoil guild and celery plus too.

I feeling can't rest because too noise at back of park at movent can't put Sydnee and Annabel ash down. My cats ashes down in between park and garden.

It Christmas coming up and wrong just have pets for Christmas for life and missing them but do feel should not gone holiday to Turkey three time this year I going once holiday next year at float Hotel only once beside got saving up Newphew and nices birthday and Christmas gift and save up money for sponder child so can go to school and help her family in Ethiopia " wish could help children in uk too but don't know what God rolls for me in this yet I things he test me and Saturn always try trick me goes another way. It very hard hear God voice at movent because he too quiet at movent maybe try do message in dream at movent pray to God ask what does he want from me? No awners at movent

I just wait and see but do want sponder another child Christmas day or my birthday but how can help those kids in uk won't have Christmas need help find how help those kids?

[originalwinnercheesecake]

What needs to happen in season 3 of the owl house part A

The owl house is entering its third and final season. Season 3 will consist of three 44 minute specials (I think. I heard a rumor that fan outrage forced Disney to lengthen the specials to 55minutes). Season 2 ended with the characters kinda spilt into three groups. Luz and her friends henceforth called "The Hexside gang" are trapped in the human realm. The adult CATTs members are back home on the boiling isles out of one apocalypse and straight into another, and King is trapped as the collectors playmate in what ever "owl house" he has made. I am imagining that each special will follow one of these three groups adventures as they all try to reunite.

Here is what I need to see happen with the Hexside gang.

Confirmation that their palismans came to the human realm with them. These kids have lost way to much already, give them their pets.

Give them all cute new human realm outfits

Make some pancakes

More of Camila and Luz interacting now that Luz is back with her original mom.

Do that kind of like how Amphibia did. Anne's parents came around to the Planters and Amphibia because going there helped Anne learn to be more outspoken, and more responsible in her actions. This show started with Camila being concerned with how overly impulsive Luz can act, and how she had no friends as a result. She has gotten a lot more focused and improved her social skills tremendously on the BI. That is probably what could make Camila see it as a good place.

Luz and Vee interacting together now that they are basically sisters. With Luz back will Vee change her human form much or will she and Luz go with the "yeah this is my twin" take?

Camila and Amity interacting and bonding. Preferably Camila bonding with all of Luz's friends, but if we are in a time crunch then at least her girlfriend.

Hunter and Flapjack discovering Caleb’s statue in Gravesfeild.

Confirmation on if Gus saw into Belos memories of Caleb and if he now knows Hunter is a grimwalker clone. It doesn’t have to be a big reveal. Just like have Gus be a bit more shaky and cling to Hunter a little bit more, so he can be sure Hunter is not going to disappear

Bonus points if Hunter at some point tells Gus that he does not mind him staying close to him if that’s what Gus needs, but to please not try and grab/hold his hand or anything because Hunter has a thing about people doing that. Really he seems to hate that so far in the show and while i do not need that explained (If he doesn’t like it, then he just does not like it). I would like it confirmed/acknowledged.

Take these kids to the Zoo

Let Gus see a giraffe. Tell me why giraffes where banished from the demon realm.... What are your powers Giraffes?

Give me Luz and Amity sharing a big stick of cotton candy

have Willow and Hunter looking at some human flowers there when a lady bug comes out of one and fly’s towards Willow, which scares her and causes her to run into Hunter. Hunter (pleased) makes a big show of scaring it off for her.

show everyone being scared for there families back on the Boiling Isles (they don’t even know if they are alive or not) and desperate to go back and rescue them.

I want Gus to see a reporter on the T.V. who reminds him of his dad. Willow to be learning some human dish with Camila then sadly remark how back home she always helped her dads with dinner. Have Hunter either fix up their ripped cloths or searching the web for clues on how to get back, then he remembers Darius teaching him how to sew and use penstagram. Give me Amity trying to pick out a pair of gloves, spotting two teens acting goofy near by, and trying not to break down with worry for her dad and siblings.

As for Luz we know she has pictures/video’s of Eda and King, and probably Lilith too, on her phone. I want her to treat those like she treated pictures of Camila. have look at the pictures as she lays down, talks to the pictures about how she is okay, that she misses them, and to hang on because she is coming back to help them.

We do need Luz’s egg to hatch.

I cannot decide if I want whatever is left of Phillip/Belos to be revealed and beaten in this special or kept a secret until the final when they are all back together.

have Camila and Vee step onto the isles at least temporary (have them move there with Luz) to reunite the witch kids with their families and say good byes (never say good bye).

[dragonmuse]

Oh no. You mentioned in an ask the possibility of Charlie meeting Lucius in a universe like 'one winged dove.' Is there any chance that he would ever come across Izzy and Lucius or even Read in 'one winged dove?' I personally consider this one of Izzy's most sane AU's, so I'm interested in how he would even view Charlie. Is he a one-night-threesome or a wounded bird, à la Read? Is the coast just too removed from Charlie's story? Could this actually be a healthy AU for these three? Will you ever tell me when to stop asking you questions, because otherwise I might never stop?

(Ask FOREVER, I love these questions so much! CW on this one, Charlie is dosed with something unspecified at a club that he did not consent to take.)

The phone ringing woke Izzy out of a dead sleep. He fumbled for it, dread growing in him. Lucius had gone out tonight and the clock gave a late hour.

"Hello," he sat upright, reaching for the bedside lamp.

"Hi," Lucius sounded stressed. Izzy turned on the light.

"What's going on?"

"I'm sorry to do this, but can you come get me and this dumb ass twink I just scrapped off the sidewalk? I don't know what he took, but he's flying and if I leave him here, I'm going to think about it for the rest of my life."

"Yeah, yes, shit," Izzy said immediately. "Where are you?"

“The Sweet Shop, you remember where it is?”

“Out on route 15, right?” 

“You’ve got it, horrible garish neon lights.  Nononono, you get back here. Right, I’m the...no, don’t- fine. Sure. Go ahead,” Lucius sighed. “He’s petting my hair. I think someone spiked his drink, I saw him earlier in the night and he was not this out of it.” 

“I can be there in twenty, fast enough or should I see if someone closer can get there?” 

“I can occupy him for that long,” Lucius decided. “And I’d like to just get him to bed. Or couch. Read there tonight?” 

“No, she’s at hers, but yeah if he’s whacked trying to get him up the stairs might be tough.” He pulled on shorts and sweatshirt, called it good on an outfit. His wallet and keys were in a dish by the door, a delicate clay piece that Lucius had bought years ago. Back when neither of them had been sure this was all for good.

But there were bowls for keys now, routines, and the worn away edges of their sharper parts. Fifteen years, no end in sight.  Izzy would do a lot worse  and harder things than wake up in the middle of the night to help Lucius scrape a kid off the ground to maintain that. 

He didn’t speed much, not liking his chances of keeping a civil tongue in his head to a cop at this hour, but there was no one on the roads. Twenty minutes was more like fifteen, especially when he found a parking spot practically in front of the place. It was a searingly bright monstrosity of a club, the light harsh on his night vision. There was a spillover of people outside, people in the height of their youth in beautiful outfits, smoking all manner of things. He could not have looked more out of place if he tried. Good thing he didn’t give a shit. 

“Over here!” Lucius called and Izzy spotted him by the doorway. The kid was draped over him  was a tall drink of water with a fine shower of golden hair and wearing only the faint suggestion of clothing. 

“You all right?” Izzy checked again as he got closer. 

“I’m fine,” Lucius smiled tiredly at him. “Sorry for waking you.” 

Izzy shook his head, “Don’t worry about it. How you feeling, kid?” 

“Mmf,” the boy said into Lucius shoulder. 

“Charlie,” Lucius nudged him a little. “This is my husband, Izzy. Say hello.” 

Charlie turned his head, bright eyes, long lashes and fine, barely there eyebrows. He did not look drinking age. 

“Hellloo, Izzy,” the kid slurred. 

“How old are you?” Izzy demanded. 

“Why?” Charlie attempted to stand up on his own power and wobbled. “If you’re interested, I’m legal.” 

“Classy,” Lucius sighed. “He hit on me too. The ID says 24, but...” 

“Yeah, no fucking way,” Izzy agreed. “But if he’s actually a minor, we can’t just take him home, we’ll get arrested for kidnapping.” 

“Nooo, I am,” Charlie insisted and fumbled into his wallet. There was the west coast ID card in front, but with shaky fingers, Charlie slid out another card. From a very familiar location. Very far away. “See?” 

Izzy took it and examined it. No way to be sure it was legit, but it certainly looked right and the year was far more believable. 

“19,” he told Lucius, putting the ID back in the wallet and returning it to Charlie. “Okay,  kid, did you come out with anyone tonight?” 

“Noooooo private secret stuff, shhhh,” Charlie mumbled. 

Shit. 

“Fine. You want to come home with us?” 

“Yeah,” Charlie gave him a look under heavy-lidded eyes that probably worked on other teenage dirtbags. “I’d like that a lot.” 

“I was going to ask how you found him, but I think I figured it out,” Izzy said dryly. 

“If you say anything about birds of a feather, I’m stealing the car and teaching myself how to drive on the way home,” Lucius glared at him. 

“Nah, you were never this ham-fisted about it. All right, let’s go then.” 

Despite being clearly high as a kite, Charlie managed to make it into the car under his own power, getting into the backseat and not even complaining when Lucius abandoned him there to get in the front passenger seat. 

“It’s dark, huh?” Charlie mumbled as Izzy started the car.  

“It’s late,” Lucius said quietly. “Not long to our place. Try not to throw up.” 

“I’m not sick.” 

“Yet,” Lucius mumbled. “We should put a wastebasket next to the couch.” 

The drive was surprisingly quiet. Charlie kept starting questions, than trailing off. When Izzy looked through the rearview mirror, the kid was mostly just staring at the road like it might contain the mysteries of the world. Lucius started to yawn, his own club clothes (tasteful and more of a suggestion of what might be to come rather than a full on offer) were wrinkled and sweaty.  

“I’ll get him settled on the couch,” Izzy decided when they reached the house. “You can go get ready for bed.” 

“You sure?” Lucius glanced at him. “I’m the one that brought him home.” 

“And he just needs water and sleep, I can get that done. Just help me get him inside.” 

“I don’t need help,” Charlie muttered, but he sounded half-asleep already. Good that would be easier. 

Charlie was too tall for Izzy to shoulder, so they leaned him against Lucius, with Izzy doing a careful spotting to get him up the stairs. The mosaic door still shone prettily even with just the one hallway light coming through. Charlie blinked at it, 

“You live here?” 

“We do,” Lucius confirmed as Izzy got the door opened. 

“It’s nice,” Charlie said vaguely.  

“Thanks.” 

Lucius dropped him onto the couch cushions and shook out his arm. He headed straight for the stairs, already unbuttoning his shirt while Izzy got the blanket out of the chest they used as a coffee table. 

“What’s that for?” Charlie asked, eyebrows flying up. 

“For you,” Izzy explained. 

“You brought me back here to smother me in a blanket?” He asked a little blankly. “Weird kink, but sure.” 

“Not sure,” Izzy said sharply. “Fuck, kid. Just lay down. You’re going to take a nap.” 

“No no, not supposed to spend the night,” but Charlie took the blanket. “Was just gonna blow off some steam then head out.” 

“Did you drink?” 

“Of course I did, one shot to get ready, two at the club,” Charlie shrugged. “Maybe one more after that?” 

“Did you take anything?” 

“Lucy asked me that too.” 

“Call him that to his face and he will throw an entire fit,” Izzy warned him. “Loud and endless. Did you take anything?” 

“No,” Charlie said sullenly. “I don’t take candy from strangers.” 

“Well someone slipped you something because your pupils are blown,” Izzy told him. “So you sleep it off here and we’ll figure out the rest in the morning.” 

“No sex?” Charlie determined with a pout. 

“Life’s a bitch,” Izzy agreed. “You don’t get to fuck the grizzled old man of your dreams. Lay down.” 

The kid didn’t so much lay down as he gently fell over and Izzy wound up shaking the blanket out over him and shoving a pillow under his head. Then he put a glass of water in his immediate eyeline, and a wastebasket next to the bed with a fresh liner. By the time that was done, the kid was knocked out. 

That was the best they’d manage tonight. Uneasy, Izzy left him there and trailed upstairs. Lucius was still in the bathroom, shower running. Izzy considered his options and went in, the steam blowing out. 

“He’s out.” 

“Good,” Lucius sigh carried over the pounding water. “Poor little fucker. 19.” 

“19,” Izzy repeated. “Good thing he washed up on your shore.” 

“Mm, paying it forward,” Lucius turned off the water, drawing the curtain back. Izzy gave him a slow once over, then handed him a towel. “Yeah, not tonight, I think. Be too twitchy.” 

“Mm. Yeah, me too,” Izzy shrugged. “Doesn’t mean I can’t enjoy a free show.” 

“Who says it’s free?” Lucius grinned, toweling off his hair. “I might need some sugar.” 

“I’ll make you pancakes in the morning.” 

“Deal.” 

They got into bed not long after, Lucius hand landing on the small of Izzy’s back as soon as they were settled. It was good feeling, a settling one, even with the new worry downstairs. Izzy’s eyes closed heavily. Sleep reclaimed him with a clawing hand. 

He woke up some hours laters, before his usual alarm. He listened carefully, heard the stirring down the stairs. Carefully, he rolled out from under Lucius’ arm and pulled his shorts on again. T-shirt too, even though he usually wouldn’t bother this time of day. 

Walking quietly, he caught their guest looking frantically at his phone which was apparently very dead. 

“I’ve got a charger,” Izzy offered and the kid jumped to his feet. Izzy stayed on the stairs. 

“Where am I?” He demanded. 

“I don’t know what you remember about last night, but you hit on my husband and he realized you’d been drugged,” Izzy said carefully. “We took you home and put you on the couch. No one else touched you and we can call you an Uber if you want to leave now.” 

Charlie looked at him warily. “How do I know that’s true?” 

“You don’t, but the door is unlocked and if you go down to the end of our street and turn right, you’ll get to town. There’s a diner with a hostess that’ll let you make a phone call if you’d rather.” 

“I...” Charlie looked to the door. “Fuck. My head hurts so much. I was drugged?” 

“Yeah, probably. You said you didn’t take anything,” Izzy came down the last few steps. “But you looked high as hell.” 

“Shit,” Charlie shook his head. “Okay, uh....can I use your bathroom? And maybe die of embarrassment in it?” 

“It’s not your fault,” Izzy said firmly. “But yeah, go ahead. It’s upstairs first door on the right. If you want to wash up,  a friend of ours is about your size. She’s got a spare change of clothes under the sink that you can borrow.  I’m going to start breakfast, you want some pancakes?” 

“Coffee?” he asked hopefully. 

“There can be coffee.” 

“Thank you,” Charlie said emphatically, waited for Izzy to go into the kitchen, then must’ve dashed upstairs. 

The pipes came to life, so he’d chosen to shower, for the best for all of them probably.  Izzy concentrated on putting together the batter, the simplicity of a repeated task easier than thinking through the sludge of his under-rested brain. 

“I take it our new friend didn’t cut and run,” Lucius slouched into the kitchen, wrapped an arm around Izzy’s stomach and dropped his forehead onto his shoulder. “Yay.” 

“You found this one,” Izzy reminded him. 

“I know, but can’t I still blame you? It’s contagious, maybe.” 

“Yeah, the worst STD, sudden impulse to not leave people to the mercy of other rancid humans.” 

“Mmfph,” Lucius said into his shoulder. 

They stayed like that while Izzy made the first few pancakes. Any temptation Izzy had to shake Lucius off had died somewhere in the far past. He liked the awkwardness of his affection, the way it was heavy and trusting. Even if it was a pain in the ass to flip pancakes that way. 

They both heard hesitant feet on the stairs and Lucius placed a last kiss on his neck before drawing away to pull down mugs. 

“Charlie,” he called out, “do you want coffee?” 

“More than anything,” came the soft answer and Charlie came warily into the kitchen. Read’s sweatshirt fit him well enough, the loose shorts close enough. They were both old and faded, things she wouldn’t mind parting with if they never made it back. 

“I’ll bet, how do you take it?” 

“Just milk, thanks,” Charlie watched Lucius for a moment. “Okay...yeah I do remember you. You had on that green shirt, open a couple of buttons. And you weren’t dancing.” 

“Don’t bother with it,” Lucius agreed. “That when the memories start to go sideways?” 

“No, we talked, I danced, got another drink...then yeah, then it gets hazy.” 

“Hard to know then, but I’ll call the club, tell them to run back the security tapes. They’ll figure it out and turn the guy in. They don’t want to get a reputation of allowing that.” 

“Why would they listen?” Charlie asked stiffly. 

Lucius turned to regard him with a smirk, “Because I am a gigantic pain in the ass, who knows half the gays in twenty mile radius and the ones I don’t know, I still recognize on sight. This isn’t a big place and I am not afraid of posting very obnoxious tagged messages on social media.” 

“Oh,” Charlie nodded slowly. “Okay. Uh. Thanks then. For everything.” 

“Do you have somewhere we can take you once you’re fed and rehydrated?” Lucius asked, attempting casual and not quite managing it. 

“I have a hotel room. I only came out here for a meet and our flights got staggered because of a ridiculous booking error. I volunteered to take the last one out, figuring I’d get a night on my own. Jokes on me, huh?” He sat down heavily.  

“Sometimes shit happens,” Izzy shrugged. “You didn’t know. Blame the asshole that did it to you.” 

“When’s your flight?” Lucius realized with concern. 

“Late tonight,” Charlie sat his chin on his palm. “Red eye. I was going to just hang at the airport once I checked out. Nap there, probably.” 

“Fun. Well, at least we’re not in a rush then,” Lucius gave him a tight smile and poured the coffee. 

Over breakfast, of which Charlie ate a disturbing amount, Lucius and Izzy teased out that Charlie was a competitive swimmer at a college on the other side of the country. He was an English major and had a friend named Amir. 

That was it. Lucius, normally great at getting people’s life story, was thwarted at every turn. It was friendly enough. Charlie was good at turning questions back on them, or evading with too much information about other things. It was good work, Izzy could appreciate it, but it wasn’t going to fix the issue. 

“Listen,” Izzy interrupted another evasion. “We don’t need to know your life story. We want to make sure you don’t die.” 

“Yeah, pretty much,” Lucius conceded. “I mean I’d like to know you, but we don’t have time for that. What I want to make sure is that we don’t drive you the airport, drop you into the abyss without anything else to guide you. You got anyone to talk to about this stuff? About going out like this?”

“I don’t need-” 

“Is there anyone?” Izzy repeated. 

Charlie hesitated, then admitted, “Amir and I talk about about it sometimes, but he’s got less experience than I do.” 

“Woof, okay,” Lucius glanced at Izzy. “I’ll start, you tag in?” 

“Yeah, go for it.” 

The crash course in safety didn’t take long really, but by the end of it Charlie looked like someone had slapped him. Izzy didn’t wade too far into his own waters, yet even the complications of consent beyond the bare minimum seemed to shake the kid up. 

“My parents think I’m still a virgin,” he admitted. “Never been kissed.” 

“Homophobes?” Lucius guessed. 

“No. My father and stepparent are queer,” Charlie shook his head. “I’m just not there yet.” 

“Story there,” Lucius determined and moved on. “We’ll give you our numbers. You have any questions, any fears, anything, you can reach out.” 

“Why? I mean you guys already did more than enough.” 

“Because no one did it for us and it fucked us up,” Izzy said, dropping his hand onto Lucius’ thigh. “Or fucked me up anyway. This one is good at muddling through.” 

“I had some help,” Lucius contended, lacing their fingers together. “So. Serious shit over. I was going to just sit outside and sketch this morning. Iz?” 

“Go for a walk on the shore.” 

“Walk or patio?” Lucius offered to Charlie. 

“Walk.” 

Charlie had a long stride and he was fast. He darted down the beach, but came back to Izzy when he gauged his pace and slowed to meet it after a while. 

“Have you lived here long?” 

“More than twenty years,” Izzy told him. “Started off back east, but this place settled in me.” 

“Lucius too? You have the same accent.” 

“Yeah, he came around a little later. Found him.” he pointed up the beach a little, “Right about there.” 

“Took him home like a shell?” 

“Something like that,” Izzy agreed. “Got married years later though.” 

“Why the wait?” 

“He was young. Not as young as you, but we both figured he needed some time to figure out if this was it for him. He left his whole life behind. When he rounded on thirty, it seemed like it was going to stick for good, so I asked and here we are.” 

“But he was out last night.” 

“I go out too sometimes,” Izzy shrugged. “Like he was saying, as long as everyone knows, can find a way to be okay with it,  and you talk about it, nearly anything can work. Luc told me upfront that he wanted to have some freedom. I asked if he’d come home after and he said yes and he always has. So. Hard to get worked up about it.” 

“Huh,” Charlie shoved his hands into the hoodie’s front pocket. “And you still talk about it?” 

“Gotta,” he sighed. “No one can mind read as it turns out.” 

“Mind reading would be a nightmare if it was real though,” Charlie grimaced. “Can you just imagine?” 

“Never really thought about it.” 

“Never having privacy in your own head? Some gnarly stuff happens in there.” 

“....you make a good point.” 

They walked for over an hour and when they got back to the house, Lucius had barely moved though his tablet had the full body of sketch on it, already gaining meat in details and the like. 

“My hand is cramping. I’m going to go pick up groceries. Charlie, come with me.You look like you can carry things.” 

“Uh, okay, is it a far drive?” 

“We’re walking.” 

Once they returned from that, Izzy drove Charlie and his now half-charged phone to his hotel. 

“You’re sure you don’t mind taking me to the airport?” Charlie double-checked. 

“We’re headed to dinner that way. On our way,” which was true as of the five minute whispered conversation they’d had while Charlie checked his phone. 

“You’re awesome! Thanks!” 

So Charlie and his carry on spent the afternoon watching tv with Lucius and then wandering into Izzy’s workshop to learn about the power of sanders. He ate the last of the banana bread Izzy had made earlier that week, even after murdering a burger for lunch. 

The airport really wasn’t far and Charlie and Lucius filled the drive arguing about books that Izzy had never read. It was easy enough to slide into the departure lane. Lucius twisted around before Charlie could get out of the car and repeated solemnly, 

“You need us, you text or call. Got it?” 

“I won’t-” 

“What the fuck else are we doing?” Izzy caught Charlie’s gaze in the rearview mirror. “You’re not alone, kid. And it doesn’t have to be life or death. Just whatever.” 

“Yeah, okay,” he said quietly. 

And then he was gone, swallowed by the crowd. 

“Think we’ll ever hear from him again?” Lucius asked, sadly. 

“Dunno,” Izzy sighed. “Probably not.”

But they did. It took a few weeks, but they got tentative texts about nothing at all. Just hellos and joking questions that they both responded to quickly every time. Then they came more often, once or twice a week. Once a phone call to Lucius about an essay, then another to Izzy about changing oil in his car. 

Tiny messages in bottles floating across the country. A bridge spanning thousands of miles. Being built. Tested. Holding. 

The call came late, they were both in bed this time. 

“Charlie?” Lucius answered. 

“I’m not okay,” Charlie's voice broke. “I need some help.” 

He was back in the house in twelve hours. He stayed for a week. He met Read and Anne. Spent mornings in Lucius’ studio, afternoons at the bike shop. He went for walks on the beach and was allowed out with them to Scout’s bar though he only drank soda. 

“If I call my parents and tell them, will you stay with me?” he asked the day before he was meant to go back. Back to a new therapy appointment and a promise to check in weekly.  

“Of course,” Lucius assured him. “Whatever you need.” 

They did. Quiet and present. Watching as the kid’s walls tumbled and crashed. They stayed quiet as a familiar voice crackled over the phone. Another problem, for another day. For now, they were just with him. 

And even years later when Charlie didn’t need much guidance or help anymore, he’d keep coming back for a week in the summer and another in the winter. A home away from home.

[doubledgesword-2]

Breeding Kink

I’m taking this as a kink instead so I hope that’s alright for the request! I apologize if it isn’t! I treated them like drabbles and if I’m honest I’m a bit disappointed in my work ;-; this rose tea is not my best.

Illumi

You opened your door to your pitch-black apartment with the same sluggishness and tiredness you had walking all the way from your work to here. Today had been one of those days, and those were fine once in a while...but the entire week? No, that was not normal. You had been on edge and stressed to the point of burning out. So the plans for this evening consisted of showering, eating something quick, and just dying on your bed. That was until you noticed the figure sitting on your sofa.

Illumi's back was to you; he was so still and quiet, you might as well think he fell asleep while sitting.

"You're late," his voice cut through the silence.

"I didn't know I was expected," you replied, and it was the truth; Illumi had left for a week on a job and didn't even called you. You weren't feeling particularly forgiving this evening, and the edge of your tone contrasted the calm and monotony in his

"It's been a long day, Illumi, is there anything I can do for you?"

Your relationship wasn't the best when it came to normal; there was a lot of miscommunication or lack of it. But Illumi did his best, he was interested in you, and that didn't happen often.

"As my love interest, you should always expect me is a quality that every wife should have. It's their job to wait for their husbands no matter how long they take" Illumi turned slightly to look into your eyes as he talked.

You perked up at the word wife; he had never made allusions to marriage, at least not directly like this. You knew his goals when it came to relationships. Still, you always expected him to leave you in the end for someone more suitable, almost royalty. After all, his parents were very demanding, and you knew you didn't fit the role of the perfect wife, starting with the fact that you worked a regular job and haven't found your nen if you even had one.

"But we're not married, Illumi. Besides, I don't think your parents would approve of someone as vain as me. I'm not strong, and I don't meet the qualifications. So..." you shrugged in the end, dropping your keys on the counter and your bag nearby.

Your hand went to flip the switch; all this talk in the darkness was unnerving you, especially when you took into consideration Illumi was an assassin. Right when you flipped the switch, Illumi's hand was on your wrist, turning off the lights once more. You could feel his toned chest as he pulled you close to him. For a second, you struggled in a fight or flight response, and Illumi's face went to the crook of your neck. His breath on your neck sent chills down your spine as he planted a feather-like kiss on your pulse. The action almost threatening, and it made you swallow. The fear and desire burned equally in your veins as he stretched your clothes, leaving a trail of open-mouthed kisses all the way to your shoulder.

"I think I've given you too much freedom. Do you think you're in control in this relationship?" He whispered to your shoulder, his other hand holding you tightly to him. "Do you think you can talk back to me just because you're tired? If you're going to be my wife, you need to learn how to behave properly."

Illumi slammed you down on the island counter, both of your hands twisted on your back held with one hand. You gasped and yelped as he did so. Whether it was from desire or fear, you didn't know. He bent over you, leaning close to the side of your head, nibbling your earlobe and whispering.

"Don't worry, I'll teach you" Illumi's free hand caressed your side, going down and squeezing everything he could. "The first lesson is to obey my every command. Can you do that?"

You nodded frantically, and he tilted his head innocently as if he wasn't holding you down or grinding into your hips slowly.

"Good girl" Illumi turned your body so you'd be laying on your back facing him. His hands went to your shirt, ripping it open, sending the buttons flying all around.

"Second, we have to continue the Zoldyck Legacy..." Illumi caressed a trail down your stomach and undid his pants, his eyes never leaving yours.

"I'll ensure you're filled to the brim, just to be sure it takes. We still have all night to try."

Hisoka

Hisoka had managed to find you where you were staying. You were on a short business trip. After he had disappeared to go on another gig, you didn't think it would matter if you actually did the same for the same reason. But Hisoka didn't like that. Like the petulant child he is, he was expecting to arrive home and be received and welcomed with a nice meal and some more relaxing activities afterward. But all he got was a nicely written note on the counter explaining your absence.

P.S feed your cat dummy :)

"Hmm," the cat meow made him look down to the fluff currently sitting at his feet, "She left you too, huh? Well, at least you welcomed me." He said in a bitterly playful tone.

After feeding the adorable and fearsome beast that guarded your apartment, he went on to look for you. He wanted your attention, and he wanted it now.

You had been staying at a company-paid hotel near the station. It was a relatively short trip, three days max, counting on everything going according to the agenda. After you had finished your last reports, you were set for a nice shower and sleep. Your stomach growling said otherwise, though. So you ordered some room service and went to shower quickly just in case the food came. When you were out in your robes, there was a knock on the door.

"Coming"

You opened the door, still drying your hair, when you looked up at the man serving you. It was Hisoka. Somewhere along the way, after he figured where you were, he had seen the boy coming up with your food, and once that was temporarily disposed of, he went on to serve you.

"Mmm, hello (Y/N)-Chan, how lovely to see you" he rolled the cart inside the room and closed the door by slamming you into it.

"Hisoka, w-what are you doing here?"

"I was lonely and bored. You left me all alone" He licked a trip up your neck all the way to your cheek.

"You leave alone all the time; what's the difference?" You were angry at that statement, 'how dare he?'

Hisoka's eyes widened for a split second, but not in shock, more in amusement.

"Oh," he chuckled, the tone dangerous, "my bad, little pet, I didn't realize this was such a sensitive topic" his tone was whimsical and mocking.

"Here, let's eat, and maybe you'll feel better" without giving you a chance, Hisoka grabbed your arms and flung you into the bed.

After your first release, you felt tired. You had been working nonstop for these two days. Your eyes closed, and his half-lidded ones are the last thing you remember.

"You actually passed out, doll. Was our sexy time too much to handle, or have I been mistreating you all these weeks I wasn't there, hmm~?"

You let out a breath at his playful look. He was rubbing circles on your exposed stomach while straddling you.

"Mmm, I think you're not relaxed enough; we might as well try again. After all, you let all my efforts slip out; I'll have to work hard to fill you up again~" he pouted playfully, looking over your tired form. "Don't worry, you can sleep while I'm at it, little fruit."

Chrollo

You were currently perched on your island counter chair like a vulture looking down at its prey. The entire week had been a mess of deadlines, due dates, and unhelpful people. To say you were stressed was an understatement. You were so stressed you no longer felt stressed.

That's how Chrollo found you when he entered your house. He could've used the front door, but he wanted to surprise you, and now he was worried about your confused face staring down the laptop screen.

You were so concentrated that when his hand laid on your shoulder, you jumped with a yelp.

"Argh, don't scare me like that," you chuckled, giving him a quick peck on the cheek but immediately turned to the computer screen once more.

Chrollo pouted slightly. He had been gone for an entirety of two weeks because of a small job; the least he expected was to be received with kisses, praise, and hugs like it was a kings parade.

He understood the stress, but he wasn't having it.

"Have you eaten anything?" He casually asked.

"Not really, but I can make you something if you want?" Chrollo gave a small smiled at the fact that you'd roll were willing to attend to him. You just needed to relax.

"Don't worry, love, I'll go shower" you nodded, and he turned, making his way down the hall and disappearing. You heard the water turn on muffled because of the closed door.

While you were concentrated on your work Chrollo slipped out of the bathroom, he grabbed you by the waist, spinning you and slamming you against the wall. His lips were possessive and angry as he kissed you. Sandwiched between his toned chest and the wall, you tried to push him back but eventually gave in to the way his fingers caressed your sides, his tongue forced yours into submission, and how he grinds his hips suggestively.

"Chrollo," you gasped when he finally let go of your swollen lips to suck on the skin of your neck. "I have to w-work."

At the mention of it, he bit down hard on your shoulder, making you Yelp.

"No more work" he licked the bite, leaving a trail of open-mouthed kisses. "I just returned, expecting my little darling to receive me with kisses and at least one hug. But instead," his free hand grabbed your hips tightly enough to bruise, "you've overworked to the bone" your hands held his head close to your chest, ruffling his hair in the process and making him look even hotter.

"I-I"

"It's alright, I know how you can make it better" kiss on your shoulder.

"for both of us" kiss on your jaw.

"I'm going to shower, and you're coming with me; after getting on your knees for me, you can let me fill you up nicely."

"But-t" a moan slipped your lips as his knee went between your legs.

"And if you keep protesting, I'll just keep stuffing you until you can't think straight. See if you can work after that"

I hope this was good! I’m sorry if I butchered this 😭

[tobesolonely]

it’s not christmas ‘til you come home

a/n: hello!! please enjoy this piece from my dad!harry universe! (u dont have to read any of them for it to make sense, but it would be cool if u did! loosely based on it’s not christmas ‘til you come home by norah jones <3 hope you enjoy! thank u to @harryysstyless​ for beta reading for me!! happy holidays everyone :)

warnings: SMUT, a bit of angst <3 word count: ~5.1k 

my ko-fi! thank you :)

December 23rd, 2:00 PM

For as long as you and Harry have been in a relationship, you’ve never not spent a Christmas together. 

Before expanding your family, you and he used to hop from party to party every Christmas Eve. Both of you would be absolutely trashed by the time Harry’s driver would drop you off at his house in the early hours of the morning. You’d sleep in until approximately noon, willing your hangovers to go away before finally making it down the stairs and into the kitchen to prepare two steaming cups of coffee. The two of you would then make your way into the living room and exchange gifts (where Harry always went way over the budget you’d set). 

Once you had your first child, Allison, your yearly tradition of party hopping and getting so drunk you could hardly put one foot in front of the other was no more. Instead, you and Harry opted for calm nights in, watching Christmas movies and drinking hot cocoa until she eventually grew tired and got carried up to bed. You would wait an hour or so before springing into action, playing Santa and setting out all of the gifts she asked for and then some. Harry never forgot to take a big bite out of the cookie and carrot left out for Santa and his reindeer.

This tradition stayed the same once your second baby, Oliver, was born. Even though he was too young to know what was going on, Harry was still excited to spoil him rotten this year as it was his first Christmas. However, given the current state of the world, you were afraid Harry would not be here for the first time ever.

“Mumma, when’s daddy coming home?” your six-year-old, Ally, asked for what had to be the seventh time that afternoon. “I made him a drawing for his gift ‘nd I can’t wait for him to see it!”

“Let me see what you drew for Daddy, love bug,” you say cheerily, purposefully glossing over her question. Ally proudly holds her drawing up next to her face. She looks up at you with wide eyes, awaiting a compliment from you. 

“That’s gorgeous, bug! Daddy’s gonna love it,” you inform her. “Maybe you can stick a lil’ bow on it and set it under the tree for him, hmm?” 

“Good idea, Mumma!” Ally runs to the box where you kept all the supplies for gift wrapping, digging around for a pink bow to stick on the corner of her drawing.

While she’s preoccupied with finding the perfect bow to place on her drawing for Harry, you take a quick glance at your phone. He still hadn’t gotten back to you since last night’s quick conversation when he very briefly mentioned he didn’t know if he’d be able to make it home.

He was filming in Los Angeles. You shared your uncertainties about him going before he departed but in the end, this was an opportunity you didn’t want him to miss out on. You read the Los Angeles Times free articles on your phone daily, keeping track of the state of the pandemic in Southern California. You knew it was much worse there than it was at home in London. You feared what you were afraid of was sadly bound to happen— Harry may get stuck in LA.

You didn’t want to say anything to your curious daughter because communication with him had been so sparse. You didn’t know anything for certain yet. But what were you supposed to think? You knew flying nationally wasn’t a good idea at the moment, never mind internationally.

“Hey bug, d’ya think you can watch your brother for a moment? Mumma’s gotta go make a phone call.” 

You hear your daughter let out a slightly irritated sigh. “I suppose I can, Mumma.” Ally responds with a voice laced with exasperation. You chuckle slightly under your breath at your overly dramatic (much like her dad) six-year-old and head into the kitchen, quickly dialing your husband’s familiar number.

“Hello?” 

You let out a sigh of relief upon hearing Harry’s low, hoarse voice. 

“Hi, honey. Just checkin’ in to see how things are going…” you hear shuffling on his end. “It’s December 23rd, you know.”

“I know, love.”

“Did I wake you?”

“Six in tha’ mornin’ here.”

“I’m sorry, H. S’just Allison keeps on askin’ when you’ll be home and ‘m just so worried you won’t make it home on time and you’ll miss Oliver’s first Christmas—“

“Darling,” Harry interrupts your anxiety-fueled ramble. “‘M gonna make it home. Have I ever not been there when I said I would?” 

“No,” you say quietly. “I’m just worried, Harry. I hear traveling is going to get very strict because they’re trying to prevent people from going anywhere for Christmas…”

“Fine, then I’ll get my own plane with jus’ me and a pilot. Wear a mask the entire time and whatnot. Yanno I can make that happen if it’s necessary, pet.” 

Harry’s calm demeanor about the whole situation brings you a bit of peace. Perhaps you were catastrophizing something that wasn’t as big of a deal as you thought it was a mere two minutes ago. If he wasn’t worried about not making it home, you didn’t see any reason to stress about it— not for one second longer.

“Okay then,” you reply, still a bit wary of his travel plans. “What shall I tell your daughter? She’s drivin’ me up the walls asking where you are every twenty minutes.”

Your husband lets out a breathy laugh, causing you to giggle along with him. “Tell her not to eat up all the Christmas cookies before I get a taste of one.”

December 24th, 8:45 AM

Part of you was hoping you’d wake up on Christmas Eve and Harry would be tucked into bed next to you, plump lips parted, the sound of his snores the only noise in the room. However, you were a rational woman, if nothing else. You knew he wouldn’t be by your side when you woke up. 

You make your way down the hall and peek inside your son’s room. He was fast asleep, plump thumb in his mouth. You smile at your sleeping baby and gently close the door behind you, deciding to let him sleep in a bit longer before waking him up to feed him. 

Next, you walk to your daughter's room, gently pushing open the door in case she was still sleeping. Instead, you find her sat at her desk, deeply focused on what appeared to be another drawing. 

“Good morning, lovebug,” you greet your daughter in a sing-songy voice. “You’re up early. What are you working on?”

“Makin’ a letter for Santa,” she replies, not bothering to look up from what she was doing. 

“A letter for Santa?” You start racking your brain for anything you and Harry could’ve possibly forgotten to get for Ally, but you finished your Christmas shopping for your children way back in November.

“Yes,” she answers matter-of-factly. “‘M askin’ him to make sure my Daddy is home by tonight so we can eat cookies together and watch Toy Story, Mumma.” 

“I’m sure Santa will make that happen for you,” you reassure her. “You’ve been a very good girl this year, been so helpful with Olly and doin’ so well in school. The least Santa can do is get you whatever you want.” You see her smile as she digs around in her crayon box.

“Can we wait ‘til Daddy gets home to make Santa’s cookies, Mumma?”

“Sure we can, bug,” Ally claps her hands together excitedly, bouncing around in her tiny chair. “Gonna go make some pancakes, does that sound yummy?”

“Can we have chocolate chip pancakes please?”

“Are you askin’ me that because your dad isn’t here to throw a fit about it?” You give her a knowing smile, causing her to giggle.

“Maaaaybe…” Your daughter turns to face you, swinging her legs back and forth.

“If I make your chocolate chip pancakes, you can’t tell your dad. Deal?” You hold up your pinky. Ally gets up and runs to you and you bend down slightly so she can link her finger with yours.

“I pinky promise, Mumma!”

“Our little secret, yeah?” she nods. “Keep an ear out for your brother for me, bug. I’ll be downstairs.”

December 24th, 3:00 PM

“Love? ‘M afraid I got some bad news...”

As soon as Harry’s voice comes through on the other line, you can tell whatever news he’s about to share with you won’t be what you’re wanting to hear.

“What is it?”

It’s silent for what feels like entirely too long. You get up from your position on the couch next to Ally, telling her you’ll be right back. After breakfast, she convinced you to watch Toy Story with her, which quickly turned into a whole Disney movie marathon.

“Not so sure I’ll be able to make it home.”

You’re not sure if it’s his calm tone that bothers you, the fact that you didn’t want him to go to Los Angeles in the first place, or simply the fact that you and your children missed him terribly and haven’t seen him in nearly a month–– but your mood changes from relaxed to undeniably outraged in three seconds flat.

“You’re kidding.” Your tone is sharp, venomous. Harry once again takes a moment before responding, knowing that the current tone of your voice means he’d best proceed with caution.

“‘M not, love. I woke up early and everything to try and get this sorted out, it’s 7 AM so I was gonna try and catch an early flight––”

“I told you I didn’t want you going to LA,” you cut him off, voice rising slightly. “You knew how bad the pandemic was getting there. I told you this would happen.”

“What do you suppose I do then, Y/N?” His tone is becoming equally as sharp. “Y’want me to tell ‘em, “Sorry, I don’t give a fuck about the travel restrictions. My wife wants me home so let's make it happen!” ‘S that what you want me to do?”

“Don’t be a smartass, Harry,” you spit. “I’ll give the phone to your daughter and you can tell her you won’t be home in time for Christmas, then.”

“Y/N…” his tone is calm again. Fearful. “Don’t make me do that.”

“She woke up early to write a letter to Santa to tell him she wants you home by tonight, Harry,” your tone softens as well. “Even Olly has been asking for you. Swear his new favorite word is ‘dada’.” He laughs at this as do you, and the shared tension that was present just minutes ago dissipates. 

“Just… lemme try a few more things before I tell her, yeah?”

“Harry, it’s already three here,” you gently remind him. “Even if you do make it home today, she’ll be asleep by the time you’re home. I think you just need to tell her.”

Your husband sighs, knowing you were undeniably correct. “Alright. Give Allison the phone, please.”

December 24th, 8 PM

“Almost time for you to head to bed soon, yeah Allybug?” Your daughter lets out a loud sigh in response, not shifting her gaze from the television to you. Ever since Harry told her he wouldn’t be home in time to eat cookies with her, she’s hardly said a word. She’s never experienced a Christmas Eve without her father so understandably, she was missing him tonight.

You shift Olly, who was falling asleep nursing on your lap, into a different position so you could face your daughter directly. From your new position, you can see just how tired she looks. 

“‘M not sleepy, Mumma. Gonna stay up and wait for Daddy,” she informs you of her new plans. “When Daddy is home that’s when it’s time for bed.”

“Ally, remember what Daddy told you on the phone earlier? Santa won’t come unless you go to sleep.”

“I don’t wanna sleep,” she’s quickly starting to grow upset. “Not until Daddy tucks me in!”

You purse your lips, not wanting to argue with your headstrong daughter when your son was so close to drifting off into his nightly milk coma. Turning your attention back to the movie that was quietly playing on the television, you decide to drop it for now and try again later.

December 24th, 9:05 PM

Not more than an hour later, Olly is upstairs in his crib fast asleep whilst Ally is still laying on the floor in front of the Christmas tree, fighting sleep. She was determined to stay up until her father walked through the front door, and you knew getting her to agree to go to bed was going to be a battle and a half.

“You’re not ready to go to bed yet, Ally?” Her eyes fly open once she hears you addressing her.

“Not yet, Mumma. ‘M not sleepy yet.” Her words are a little slurred due to the exhausted state she was in. You hum in response.

“Could’ve sworn your eyes just shut for a minute there,” you pause for a second to see if she’ll look your way. “Must’ve just been my old lady eyes playin’ tricks on me, y’think?”

“I wasn’t sleeping!” She immediately defends herself, frown lines indenting her forehead. “Can we drink more hot chocolate?”

You knew if you wanted your daughter to fall asleep within the hour, another sugar rush wasn’t the best idea. You instead offer her a hot cup of sleepytime tea and she excitedly agrees once you tell her it’s her father’s favorite type of tea to drink at bedtime. You place her down on the kitchen counter while you fill the kettle and wait for it to whistle.

“What are you looking forward to the most from Santa, bug?” 

Her eyes light up at your question. “Well, I really want a new bike! ‘Member Mumma? How I asked him for a pink bike? And I also want a cool swing set! Since we haven’t been able to go to the park in so long,” her smile falters and she looks down at her dangling feet. “I want Daddy to come home the mostest, though.”

Your heart feels like it’s going to break in two upon hearing your daughter admit that Harry being home would be the greatest gift of all. “So do I, lovebug. He’ll be here in the mornin’ to watch you and your brother open all the gifts Santa got you though, don’t you worry.”

For everyone’s sake, you hoped that was true.

December 24th, 11:50 PM

Sleep wasn’t coming easy. 

You finally got your daughter to bed at around ten o’clock and waited thirty minutes before laying out your children’s gifts. It took much longer than it usually did considering you had to do it all on your own. Harry was usually the one to quickly assemble the larger toys while you laid everything out around the living room. 

Despite it taking longer than desired, you were proud that you got it all done without waking your children up. Consequently, that meant you were now left all alone with your thoughts considering you had no more tasks to occupy yourself with. 

You kept contemplating calling Harry, but you weren’t sure if he was busy on set or not. Surely he was immersing himself in work to distract himself from the fact he would not be spending Christmas with his family. 

Deciding you may need a cup of the sleepytime tea you offered Allison earlier, you quietly get out of bed and open your door, sock-clad feet padding softly against the wooden floors. It’s unnervingly silent in your home–– the tea kettle coming to a boil being the only source of noise. You keep unlocking and re-locking your phone, finally deciding to call your husband to see how he’s spending his day. It goes to automatic voicemail.

You assume the reason for this must be that he’s busy filming on set and set your phone down with a sigh, standing on your tiptoes to retrieve a mug from the cabinet. You mutter a slew of curse words under your breath intended for Harry who always puts the mugs up far too high even though you tell him not to.

Right as you begin pouring the now boiling water into your teacup, the faint jingling of your front door causes you to startle so badly that you nearly drop the kettle on the ground. You try to think back to everything Harry ever told you to do in the event of an intruder but your mind goes blank from fright. Deciding to use the scalding water as your weapon, you slowly creep towards the door, your only plan being to fling the water on whoever it was as soon as they got the door open. As soon as you hear the lock click, you flick the lid open that covers the spout and draw your arm back.

“Shit––”

“Harry?”

Your husband jumps slightly, his eyes blinking rapidly in an effort to adjust to the dark living room. You reach beside him and quickly turn on the light, shakily letting out a breath you didn’t realize you were holding. He looks exhausted, his hair is an absolute mess, and his eyes are red from sleep deprivation–– but he’s home. You set the tea kettle down on the coffee table and fling yourself into his arms, breathing in the scent of the man you haven’t seen in a month. He drops his bags at his feet so he can properly embrace you, pulling you into him.

“Merry Christmas, darling,” he presses a kiss to the top of your head and stays like that for a moment saying nothing, just breathing you in. “Missed ya so fuckin’ much.

“How? I thought…” you trail off. “You said that they said…”

Harry laughs quietly. “Remember what I told ya? I said to ‘em, ‘Don’t give a fuck about your travel restrictions! M’wife wants me home.’” You laugh at him, knowing he was far too kind to talk to anyone that way. 

“Yeah, okay,” you reply sarcastically. You pull him in for another hug, placing wet kisses along his jawline. “I’m so happy you’re home. The kids are gonna be over the moon, especially Allison.” Harry hums, surveying the room.

“Looks like you did a good job in here, Mrs. Claus. See ya even assembled some toys all by yourself,” he quirks an eyebrow. “Were you jus’ pretendin��� not to know how to do it all these years so I’d be stuck with all the hard labor?”

“Maybe.”

He pulls you back into him, tickling your sides. “My sneaky girl,” he bends down so his lips are level with your neck and sucks gently, causing you to let out a quiet moan. You see his eyes land on the tea kettle that was sitting forgotten on the coffee table. “Making a cuppa? Can I have one? ‘M freezin’.”

“I can think of something else we can do to get you warmed up,” you reach for his hands, interlocking his fingers with yours. “If you know what I’m gettin’ at.”

“Hmm…” Harry releases one of his hands from your grip and taps at his chin, pretending to be deep in thought. “Not too sure I can say I know what you’re sayin’. Maybe you should just tell me?”

You frown. “You’re really gonna make me say it, huh?”

“Y’know I’d give you the entire world if you asked me for it. All you gotta do is tell me what you want from me and it’s yours–– ‘m sure you’ve known that since the first day we met, though.” Harry takes a step back, crossing his arms across his chest. Even in his thick winter coat, you can see the way his biceps flex, and it makes you even more feral for him.

“Fine,” you say quietly, feeling yourself start to grow shy under his intense gaze. “I’m kinda... in the mood.” You say it so softly that it would most likely be inaudible to Harry if he wasn’t standing mere inches away from you. Harry throws his head back in laughter and you quickly shush him, not wanting any of your children to wake up.

“In the mood? C’mon, pet,” he uncrosses his arms and reaches for one of your hands. “Tha’s not tellin’ me what you want from me. Tell me exactly what you want, lovie.”

“You know what I want, H,” you tell him with a hint of annoyance in your voice. “It’s been a month. Yanno I want you to fuck me, why are you makin’ me say it?”

Harry gives you a shit-eating grin. “You jus’ said it. I didn’t make you say anything.”

You roll your eyes at his immaturity, already in the process of lifting your nightshirt (one of his old t-shirts that’s become just a little too tight on him) over your head. “Are we gonna get to it or not? Because if not, I’ll just go back to makin’ myself some tea and call it a night––”

Harry takes half a step towards you and reaches up to cup your face, colliding his lips with yours. His lips are a little chapped and taste of his favorite rose lip balm. You feel your body relaxing into the kiss, knees going weak as he walks you back onto the couch.

“You’ve been eatin’ up all the sugar cookies, haven’t you? Can taste it on ya. Thought those were for Santa,” he’s pulled away from you to examine your face. “A bit naughty of you, wouldn’t ya say?”

“Please stop referring to yourself as Santa when we’re about to have sex, Harry.”

“You’re not bein’ very kind to the person that’s about to go down on you, are you?” He sucks harshly on the valley between your breasts, wanting to be sure a deep-colored bruise will appear on your skin later. “That’s okay. It is Christmas, after all. ‘M in a giving mood.”

“Stop talking and get to it then.”

Harry slides off the couch and onto his knees in between your legs, gently kissing your thighs. “Cute pair of undies–– s’like you knew I was comin’ home tonight.” Before you can respond Harry’s fingers are tugging at the waistband of your underwear, eager to get them off of you. He presses light kisses to your core, mumbling about how much he missed the smell of you and how sweet you tasted. 

One hand is resting across your stomach while the other one is in between your folds, spreading you open. You try squeezing your thighs around his head, overwhelmed by the feeling of your husband’s lips around your clit after being away from him for so long, but he removes his hand from your stomach and pushes your thighs back apart.

“Feels so good,” you’re breathless, tangling your fingers in Harry’s hair as his hollowed cheeks begin to suck more roughly on your clit. “Missed you so much. Missed this–– us.” 

Harry pauses momentarily to look up at you. “I know, angel. God, do I know.” He attaches his lips back on you, swirling his tongue around your clit as you  choke back your moans. The hand that is holding you open moves down to toy at your slit as he wordlessly checks to see if you’re okay with his fingers being in you. 

“Please,” you say softly, encouraging his next move. He spits on his index and pointer finger before slowly sliding both of them in you, immediately curling them up. “Oh, Harry. Fuckin’ love when you do tha’...”

“Know you do,” His response is curt, simple. He’s focused on the task at hand–– getting you off. He uses the hand that’s lying across your stomach to rub tight circles on your clit, sensing you’re nearing your orgasm from the way you’re starting to clench around him. “Such a good girl fo’ me, darlin’. Gonna make a mess on my fingers in a second, aren’t you?”

You nod as you try to control your breathing and the loudness of your moans. The last thing you wanted was for your daughter to come down to inspect the source of the noise. “Fuck, Harry.” 

“Come on, darlin’,” he gently pinches your clit, causing your body to jolt at the sensation. “Gimme a good one. A lil’ welcome back gift for me, hmm?” 

Your hips are bucking up to the rhythm of his fingers slipping in and out of you as your orgasm quickly approaches. “Har, I’m close…” it comes out sounding more like a warning than a statement. He moves the two fingers he has inside of you in a back and forth motion, coaxing your first orgasm out of you.

“Tha’s my girl,” he whispers, not stopping his movements even as your back arches as your first orgasm rolls over you like a giant wave. “Givin’ me a good one jus’ like I knew you would. Jus’ like you always do. M’ sweet girl.” As you’re starting to still, Harry pulls his fingers out of you and holds them up to your mouth, instructing you to suck them clean. 

You prop yourself up on your elbows so you can properly lean in to steal a kiss from him and notice a rather sizable tent has formed in his pants. Harry gives you a sheepish grin as he palms himself, hissing from the feel of his palm against his cock.

“Want me to do somethin’ about that?” You scoot over on the couch and pat the spot next to you, signaling for your husband to sit beside you. He lifts himself from his seated position, stretching his legs out a bit before plopping down beside you.

“Are you offerin’ me a blowie?”

“I mean, yeah?”

“Can we skip that an’ you can jus’ ride me instead? Think I’d quite like that.”

“Oh you would, would ya?”

Harry nods and unzips his pants, taking himself out. He licks his hand and gives himself a few pumps. “Still on birth control, I’m assuming?”

You roll your eyes as you move to straddle him. “Only been gone for a month, Harry. Of course ‘m still on it, you goof.”

“Can never be too careful. I don’t think now’s a good time for another lil’ one, do you? Think we should at least celebrate Oliver’s first birthday before we try for another one.” His hands are on his hips as he lines you up over his cock, helping you slowly sink down. You missed the burn of him which was even more intense than it usually was considering it’s been a while since he’s taken you.

“I think you’re right,” you reply. You rest your head on his shoulder while you adjust to the size of him, needing to take a moment to yourself before attempting to move. After a short adjustment period you begin rolling your hips, grinding against him in a way that was also bringing pleasure to your clit, still swollen and sensitive from your last orgasm.

Harry’s eyes are fixated on the way your breasts bounce in front of him, the way your stomach slightly jiggles each time you crash back down onto him. His lips are caught in between his teeth; you’re hoping he doesn’t break any skin so you don’t have to hear him whine about how badly the bruise hurts him later.

“Ridin’ me like your life depends on it,” Harry mutters. “Fuckin’ love takin’ you like this, angel. So fuckin’ deep.”

You simply hum in agreement, brain far too foggy to form a coherent sentence. Harry notices your movements starting to become smaller, lazier, so he puts his hands on your hips and decides to take over. He’s thrusting up into you like you’ll up and run away from him if he doesn’t give it his all. He cups your face with one hand and gently guides you towards him, pressing open-mouthed kisses against your lips.

“Fuck, H,” your eyes are squeezed shut and your wrap your arms around his neck, feeling your second orgasm quickly approaching. “Rub my clit please, almost there.”

Harry’s fingers immediately come down to rub at your slick nub, not faltering his relentless pace in the slightest. “Clench around me again, lovie,” his voice is higher than usual, whiny, and you know your husband is just as close as you are. “Love when you do tha’, jus’ need you to do it one more time.”

You do as he wishes once more, knowing once he cums you’ll be directly behind him. Harry lets out a string of expletives as he releases inside of you, pulling you tightly against his chest as he rides out his orgasm. You continue riding him, not slowly down as you chase your own release next.

“Harry,” you’re in a trance-like state, chanting his name over and over as you bring yourself over the edge. “Harry, fuck!”

“That’s my good girl,” he says quietly, rubbing your back as you rest your head on his shoulder while you catch your breath. You feel him beginning to soften inside of you so you lift yourself off and lay back on the couch, legs still shaking. It’s quiet for a couple of minutes as the two of you reveal in the afterglow of your orgasms, Harry gently running his fingers along your leg.

“Round two in the shower?”

December 25th, 6:42 AM

“Mumma! Santa came and he left lots of toys–– Daddy?”

Harry lets out a dramatic “oof!” as Ally jumps onto him, pulling the covers back. Her eyes are wide and she giggles are Harry pulls her into one of his infamous bear hugs, placing kisses all over his face.

“Mornin’, love bug! What’re you doin’ up so early?”

“It’s Christmas, Daddy! Santa came!” she sits back on her feet, a confused look on her face. “Did Santa bring you on his sleigh last night after me ‘n Olly went to bed?”

“Y’know what? He told me to keep it a secret, but he did,” Allison gasps in response to his news as she processes it, placing a little hand over her mouth. Harry sits up and gets out of bed, scooping her up in the process. “How ‘bout we go make Mum a cuppa before we see what Santa got for you and Olly? Tha’ sound good? Let’s let them sleep for a while longer, hmm?”

As you hear them exit the room you take a second to reflect on how lucky you are to spend another Christmas with you beautiful family before drifting back off into a deep, albeit short, sleep.

[writersrealmbts]

Clearwater Springs: Part 9

SDescription: ot7 x reader, reader’s choice, fairy/supernatural/soulmate au. The choices you make influence the story! In this world, war-torn and ragged, you’ve been offered a home and a job working as a librarian. Will you meet your soulmates? Will you ever find the shelves behind the piles of books? Who knows.

Warnings: idk

Posted: 08/18/2021

Tags: ot7 x reader, supernatural bts, soulmate au

3,463 words

A/N: Okay! Remember, two free-write and one survey chapter, which means the next survey chapter will be chapter 11 (technically they all are at this point), which means that the survey at the bottom of this post will be on part 10 as well. Sorry for the wait.

Previous ~ Next

You were in a warm cocoon, and you weren’t about to disturb it.

Yoongi was in cat form again, stretched out against your back, purring now and then in his sleep.

Namjoon was snoring, but you didn’t care because he was warm and his heartbeat was strong, and he was well-built. Strong enough to make you feel safe, soft enough to keep you comfortable. He was your haltija.

You lay in a comfortable doze for a while, smiling when Yoongi moved so you could pet him and he fell asleep again.

But then someone was sneaking in and over, fluttering above the ground and peering at you.

You yawned a bit, then turned to reach out both hands to him.

Jimin smiled and took your hands, gently pulling you from between the other two and into the air.

You grinned as he set you down on the floor by the bed, admiring his wings. His feathers looked shinier already, and the colors of his feathers seemed more vibrant. Happiness made such a difference in fairies.

Jimin tugged your hand gently, pulling you out of the room and down to Jin’s room.

The door swung open silently, revealing the most adorable sight of Jin and Jungkook cuddling. Jungkook’s arms wrapped around Jin, and head on Jin’s shoulder but still tucked close to Jin’s neck. Both of them looked so peaceful.

Jimin shared your smile, then tugged your hand again as he carefully closed the door.

Taehyung was being bearhugged from behind by Hoseok, drowsily watching some cartoon show that had the volume down as low as possible without muting it.

Hoseok murmured now and then, and pressed airy little kisses just barely into Taehyung’s hair--probably completely unfelt by the dryad. But he glanced over and smiled contentedly at you before whispering something that got a sleepy smile out of his companion.

You tugged on Jimin’s hand this time, drawing him into the kitchen. “Help me make them breakfast?”

He nodded.

You weren’t an exceptional cook, but you could make basic foods, and the boys didn’t seem to mind basic foods. “Did you sleep well, ma mignonne?”

He nodded emphatically. “Yesterday was tiring.”

Yoongi stalked in, scowling tiredly at you. “You left.”

“Sorry, mon chat minou,” You apologized, leaning over to peck his lips.

His eyes widened.

Jimin huffed, latching onto you again.

You leaned back into his arms and tilted your head back for a kiss.

He hesitated, but did kiss you—softly. As though you were a bubble that would pop at any moment. His lips soft against yours.

You brushed his cheek with your fingertips, keenly away of two more sets of eyes on the three of you.

Hoseok, probably already knowing the outcome, came over and claimed his kiss. “Morning, aluemdaun.”

You hummed happily at his casual compliment, curling your fingers around the neckline of his shirt. “Darling.”

Taehyung’s eyes were wide, and he slowly came forward.

You watched him with a soft smile. “Good morning, Taehyung. Did you sleep well?”

Taehyung nodded slowly.

You kissed his cheek, brushing over the spot where you kissed him with your thumb as you looked over his face. “Good.”

“So...does everyone know...about….” He gestured vaguely to your arm.

You nodded, smiling a little more. “Everyone knows. You can ask them anything about being soulmates that you want. You can touch them, hug them, kiss them, and they’ll have no room to complain because they’re stuck with all of us for the rest of our lives—provided all goes well.”

Taehyung started to get hints of excitement in his eyes. “Hugs?”

“As many as you like. Jimin gives especially good hugs.” You nodded toward the fairy, who was still cooking under your instructions.

Yoongi took Taehyung’s hand. “After we’re out of their way so they can make breakfast.”

Taehyung didn’t seem to accept that, turning and hugging onto Yoongi despite the werecat’s protests—loud as they were.

But Yoongi waddled himself and Taehyung out of the kitchen, and out of your way. And Taehyung forced his hugs on the werecat without avail.

You returned to your fairy, directing his actions with little gestures, happy when the food turned out well—just as Namjoon, Jin, and Jungkook joined everyone downstairs.

Jimin greeted them with a chirpy ‘Good Morning!’ while ushering them to the table. “We just finished making breakfast!”

Jungkook looked like he was still half-asleep, movements languid as Jin helped him to a spot at the table.

Yoongi was still trapped by Taehyung. “Stop it. Stop it. Let’s not do this. Stop it.”

Taehyung ignored him, nuzzling the were-cat’s neck until suddenly the were-cat shifted and escaped. Then he pouted, looking hurt and sullen.

Jin chuckled sleepily. “Come here, Taehyungie, we’ll catch him later for you to cuddle. Sit next to hyungie to eat.”

Hoseok easily claimed the seat on the other side of Taehyung. “Yoongi-hyung was probably just hungry, Taehyung. He’s not very forthright, but—” he dropped his glass, eyes glazed and far away. He frowned, hands hovering shakily over his plate.

You glanced at Jin for a moment.

Jin got up and went around to Hoseok’s side.

Hoseok’s gaze cleared slightly, but he looked shaken. “I need my crystal ball. Need to get upstairs.”

“I’ll help you,” Jin whispered softly, helping him up. “Even breaths, Hoseokie. Keep calm.”

Hoseok nodded, leaning into Jin. “Need to look. Need to see.”

You watched them go with a little worry, but you knew Hoseok would be fine as long as Jin was with him.

Today, you had work to do.

After you had made sure that Taehyung, Jungkook, and Jimin had ingested an adequate amount of food—and helped Yoongi make plates for the two that were absent—you went to your room, silently asking your waters for some good working clothes.

Your waters ignored you and gave you a dress, but at least the dress wouldn’t expose your body every time you moved.

Jimin was waiting with Parsley by the front door. “You’re going to the library, right?”

You smiled and nodded. “I have work to do. Are you coming with me?”

“You can’t go alone,” He said nonchalantly. “Too dangerous. Especially with a dark mage about.”

“True. But I wouldn’t like it if you didn’t want to come with me.”

“I want to,” He answered quickly, looking a little sheepish. “I really like it there. High ceilings. I can fly even though it’s raining.”

You smiled. “Alright, then.”

You peeked into the living room, noticing that Taehyung had ‘captured’ Yoongi again and that both were watching a movie with Jungkook and Namjoon. “I’m off to the library with Jimin. Be back later. Someone check on Jin and Hoseok if they don’t come down in an hour?”

“Mm’kay,” Namjoon answered distractedly, but you saw Yoongi look over at you and nod.

Rain didn’t bother you that much, it was just water after all, but Jimin seemed a little averse to it, so you made sure he had the umbrella. Not that it was much of a rainstorm, the gentle pattering drops far more soothing than harsh. Pleasant and somewhat warm.

There was a truck sitting in front of the library, and Valina was under the overhang of the doors, glaring at another person.

Jimin gently touched your shoulder and took off to watch from a distance, a distance from which he could easily intervene if he needed.

You carried the closed umbrella up to those waiting, wondering what was going on. “Hello Valina, how may I assist you?”

She glanced at you, eyes widening slightly, panicked a little.

“Ah! You must be the librarian, I am Grendel,” The dark mage said, turning toward you and bowing.

You froze, but tried not to display your panic. “A pleasure, I’m sure.”

“Yes, well, you see, as well as conducting my own business, I was asked to convey this load of books to this…charming town’s library.” He eyed you. “I had not realized that this library was run by a xana.”

“I had not realized my species could be of any interest to any being other than my own kind,” You answered evenly. “There is a room around the side of the building for after-hours book deliveries and donations, and the sign is right there, as well. I believe that lettering is large enough for any to read.”

“Ah, but I have…certain donations that need special care, and I wished to convey the instructions in person—as I was telling this…fiery, young woman.”

“That’s witch to you! And I told you I could have given her the instructions.” Valina crossed her arms.

“And I told you, there are certain things that only a librarian can understand. This place has special vaults for…dangerous tomes, does it not?” He turned to you.

“We would have to ask the owner of the library,” You answered vaguely. “I have not been informed of any. If you would be so kind as to deliver the rest to the side room, I will call the owner and have him come and talk with you.”

“I was specifically instructed—”

“I understand,” You cut him off. “However, I have no answers as to security for dangerous tomes, and for that, the owner is required. Once he has answers in regards to the safety of such tomes, then we may further discuss the tomes staying here. Until then, please patiently wait in the delivery room around the side of the building. I shall not ask again.”

“But—”

“You have about five seconds before I start singing: can you bare it, mage?” You asked, eyes narrowing in a challenge.

His mouth clamped shut and he bowed stiffly. “As you have asked, so shall I do.”

You nodded firmly and moved to the front doors, waiting until he was pulling the truck to the side of the building before unlocking the front doors and ushering Valina inside.

“Are you crazy? He’s a dark mage!” She hissed the moment the door closed.

“I am…very…aware…of…that…,” You said in between trying not to hyperventilate in the ensuing panic.

Jimin landed and quickly wrapped his arms and wings around you, forcing Valina to back up. “You’re crazy. You’re absolutely crazy.”

You just hugged him back with all of your might. “Need to call Jin.”

“I’ll do that,” Valina said, regarding you and Jimin and just a tiny bit disconcerted.

“It’s a trick, right? He’s just trying to get to you, right?” Jimin asked, sounding panicked.

Parsley twined around your feet, mewling.

“Where’s his pheonix?” You whispered.

You saw Valina look up sharply.

Jimin let go of you and shrunk, darting off to look.

You went to the desk slowly, sitting down and beginning your work. “He stop at your shop first?”

“Not exactly. Had a feeling.” Valina leaned against the counter, frowning. “A faun pointed him out to me, and my brain worked from there. My coven will ward the town. We’ve already been setting up protection wards on people’s houses, so most people should be safe at night. Except your house. But you have a haltija.”

“And a were-cat, and a djinn, dryad, seer, incubus-fairy mix, and a human that I swear has magic in his blood.”

“Mr. Kim definitely has magic in his blood,” Valina said, eyes flashing pink. “Ancient magic, but it is there. His family tree is made of touched and clearsighted.”

“Touched and clearsighted?” You asked.

“Touched people have a sort of intuition, they get a sense for things quickly—especially in regards to the magical. They tend to become fighters, people who protect others from…less-savory magic. Clearsighted folk can see through all magical protection that would confuse other humans. Why do you think he didn’t become a slobbering fool upon seeing you? Yes, he sees you’re hot as hell, but, because he has clearsight, he is able to resist that pull and instead focus on you as a person. Me? I have special charms to resist folk like yourself and stay a decent witch.” She looked you over and quickly looked away. “Though, I think it’s about time I recharge them.”

“I appreciate the effort,” You murmured, thinking about Jin and grateful for the distraction that she had been trying to give you. “There’s still so much I don’t know about the world and about people. I only knew my people.”

“Might help if you came into town more often.”

You looked at her quietly until she met your gaze with a little regret.

“Nevermind, that would be mass chaos and not pleasant for you. Forget I mentioned town. Let me ward it for your protection first.”

“Don’t go to any extra trouble on my account.”

“I won’t. My coven planned on putting up warding to protect from…unwanted behaviors.”

“You’re the police of the town, aren’t you?”

Valina grinned. “Yup! But don’t worry, we have people we answer to as well. Now, if we could get real town status, then we’d probably elect Mr. Kim as mayor—”

“Never gonna happen,” Jin said firmly, walking quickly over to you. “Are you okay?”

You nodded, standing up. “I sent him around the side to the drop-off area and Jimin is looking for the Pheonix, but he’s been gone since Valina called you.”

Yoongi shifted and ran out to see if he could track down the fairy.

Hoseok was looking a little…out of breath.

Jungkook seemed to be visually assessing you.

Namjoon was talking to the doorway.

Taehyung was looking around, awestruck. “Hyung…this place is so beautiful….”

Jin kissed your forehead and then glanced at Valina. “Got any extra protection charms?”

She patted her pockets demonstratively. “I was in a bit of a rush, toots. Apologies. Take the Djinn with you, he can use magic to protect you and it’s stronger than even a dark mage’s. He can protect you if he wishes.”

Hoseok gripped Jungkook’s arm. “No.”

Jungkook looked both surprised and hurt. “I can do it, hyung.”

“No, it has to be…” Hoseok looked desperately at him, then at you. “It has to be you. I…can’t tell you why…but I know….”

You could tell it was killing him to say it, tearing him up inside. “Okay. If you say it must be so, then it must be. Jungkook could protect us from here, correct?”

Hoseok considered for a moment, then nodded. “Yes.”

“Okay, now please sit down. You look so pale,” You pleaded softly, gently, touching his arm.

He relaxed a bit and pliantly let you guide him to your chair.

“Jungkook, Taehyung, Namjoon; please look out for Hoseok, I have a feeling he’s going to be having a rough day,” You asked, picking up Parsley and setting her in Hoseok’s lap. “Pet the kitty.”

Hoseok let out a small breath of an amused laugh, then did as told.

Then you and Seokjin went outside to meet the dark mage.

Grendel was waiting, looking patient, casually unloading boxes from the truck, but he quickly set aside the box he was carrying as he noticed your approach.

“This is Mr. Kim, the owner of the library. Mr. Grendel had inquiries about secure vaults for…dangerous tomes.”

Jin nodded. “I am only allowed by the government to approve of certain types of tomes. What is the nature of the tomes?” He pulled out some paperwork.

“One is a necromancers guide made with dragon leather,” Grendel said, looking worried.

You couldn’t help the gasp that escaped you.

Grendel nodded. “Dark magic that must be locked away and never let out again. And that one…that one should remain off-record if possible.”

Jin was quiet, partially frozen. “Where is that one?”

“Still on the truck. I didn’t want to unload it if it couldn’t stay here.”

Jin nodded slowly. “I know a place where it can go. I’m assuming you don’t want to know it’s final location either.”

“That would be correct.”

“Okay. And the other tomes?”

“A Demon Book, a Crimson portfolio, and the notebook of…Fausto Vilareyo,” Grendel finished, not meeting your gaze.

Your heart seemed to stop.

Jin was looking to you. “Fausto Vilareyo?”

“The first dark mage,” You answered, trembling.

Jin nodded slowly. “All of these fall within what I am able to take in. I will care for the notebook and the necromancer’s guide.”

You nodded. “I….”

“Can you go get me some notecards?” Jin asked, providing you with a brief escape. “And a pen?”

You nodded, turning and fleeing the presence of such an evil book.

The others startled when you hurried in.

“Everything okay?” Yoongi asked, pausing in his task of what appeared to be drying Jimin’s wings.

“Yes. Did you find the pheonix?”

“No,” Jimin said, drooping. “No sign of it.”

“That’s fine,” You said hastily, grabbing some things for yourself.

“Slow down,” Valina advised, “before you drop everything you’re trying to pick up.”

You just nodded and raced out again, pausing before the corner and composing yourself.

Grendel conveyed the instructions for the last two books, then bowed. “I thank you for guarding these relics. It has been a long journey to find a safe resting place for them.”

You dipped your head very slightly. “War makes many things difficult, though they be difficult to begin with.”

“Very true. I must be off. Many more false trails to lay,” Grendel said, bowing once more. He hesitated in leaving, though. “I know it may not mean much, but I apologize for the wrongs that have been committed toward your kind. I had never seen one of your kind in person before now and I regret not knowing. I do what I must, though, and for that I know I would never be able to listen to your songs. Thank you for your benevolence toward me, even knowing I am of the kind that is dangerous toward yourself.”

“If you continue to remove dangerous things from those who would abuse them, then I wish you luck,” You said, meaning it. Not just anyone would turn over what they had found to be locked away. And while his dark magic was fresh and potent, perhaps it was because he needed it to get those items. “May I ask, what were you doing in the forest?”

He blinked in surprise. “The forest? Oh…I…I’d actually heard that the forest was quite nice and I have this stupid pheonix that’s bound to me and he goes and gets into all sorts of trouble if I don’t properly exercise him.” He looked around. “Thinking of…you haven’t happened to see a pheonix?”

You shook your head rapidly.

Jin shook his head as well.

He sighed. “He probably went after the dragon magic, the stupid fledgling. Well. Either he gets eaten or he learns a lesson. Thank you for your time.” He bowed again and hopped into the truck.

“Dragon?” Jin asked, eyes wide.

“The river dragon, probably,” You offered.

Jin looked at you like you’d grown a second hand.

“Jungkook and I ran across him when we were passing the time before going to look for you. He’s my river-kin, apparently.”

Jin shook his head, showing you the vaults for the books you would care for, how to access them and such. “Of course he is.”

“Hoseok looked pale.”

“Yeah. He’s not as strong as he likes to convey.”

“Are any of us?”

Jin kissed your cheek. “Probably not.”

You ran your fingers along the mortar between the bricks. “Do you think he had an ulterior motive?”

“I don’t know. I guess we’ll find out. You want to stay at the library?”

You nodded. “I have work to do. Jimin will probably stay with me.”

He nodded. “I don’t think Taehyung will leave now, either. Is that okay?”

“He’s cute. Jimin and I can keep an eye on him.”

“Okay. I’m going to take the others home, then. Make sure Hoseok gets some water, food, and rest.” Jin kissed your cheek. “Don’t speak a word to the others about what books are hidden in the vaults. Or about the books I will be hiding. It’ll be safer.”

You nodded firmly. “Agreed. It’s for their own well-being. Hoseok knows.”

He nodded. “Probably.”

Yoongi stalked up in his black and grey form—his largest form—and then paused, getting ready to leap into Jin’s arms.

Jin stroked Yoongi’s head. “Hey. We’re okay. Thanks for worrying.”

Yoongi just snorted and rested, acting like he’d intended to fall asleep in Jin’s arms.

You reached over and scratched his head, then went into the library to finally do the work that you hadn’t been able to get done in the past three days.

–

Post-Chapter 9 Survey

Previous.  Next.

Masterlist.  Clearwater Springs Masterpost.

–

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[findingjoynweirdstuff]

Dream SMP Recap (July 8/2021) - Flying Pigs

Fundy and Foolish have a literal custody battle over Fundy’s son, Yogurt. 

Drista visits after her dog died and causes chaos with Tommy, forming a bomb squad of people riding flying pigs.

---

VOD LINKS:

Ponk

Foolish

Tommyinnit

Captain Puffy

---

- Ponk continues taking down the rest of his casino

- Ponk meets Foolish at the casino site and tells Foolish that he wants to commission a Lemon Tree opposite of where the original one stood. Foolish is reluctant, saying the Lemon Trees have never worked out

- Foolish asks about what “Little Red” was, but Ponk says it’s best not to talk about it

- Ponk notices the Bruno Mars beacon and mistakes Prince Philip for Emperor Palpatine

- Ponk pays Foolish for the tree

- Ponk is overjoyed when they get a pet Endermite, but unfortunately it despawns while Foolish is running to get a nametag

- Ponk wants a new Lemon Tree so that if anyone messes with it, he has an excuse to fight them

- Foolish discovers Karl’s secret Tommyinnit Hate Club

- Foolish and Ponk talk about exploding each other

- They mine up the floor and Ponk tells Foolish about Salamone, the pillager who killed a lot of people who used to live down underneath the casino after Ponk took his legs. Salamone was the enforcer for his essential oils shop

- Ponk shoos Foolish away. Foolish returns to the summer home and gets rid of the top hats on the statues

- Later, Foolish heads over to Las Nevadas where he finds Fundy calling from a distance. They compare outfits

- Foolish shows Fundy the outhouse that doubles as a helicopter

- Fundy is rusty at Minecraft and suggests a PvP battle, but Foolish tells him about how he’s never killed anyone. He checks his statistics and somehow, Foolish has gained three player kills but he’s not sure when 

- Fundy goes over to check on how Yogurt’s been doing. Foolish says he’s been taking care of him. Fundy tells Yogurt to look at him, but Yogurt turns to look at Foolish instead. Fundy is horrified, worried that Yogurt might not recognize him anymore

- Foolish says he is Yogurt’s father and that it is better this way

- Fundy desperately throws Yogurt some berries to try and get him to look, but again, Yogurt turns to Foolish instead

Fundy: “Do you not remember me?!”

- Foolish says that Yogurt must have started seeing him as a father figure instead. Fundy wants the PvP battle immediately. They prepare items

- They can discuss who gets Yogurt on weekdays and weekends after the battle. They decide to fight under the Eiffel Tower. Fundy declares that he will prove himself as a father today

- They negotiate the terms and Foolish counts down from ten to begin the duel. He charges at Fundy, and Fundy screams and runs away, logging out

- Fundy comes back and they start again. Fundy runs away again, but after getting a couple hits on Foolish he gains confidence and wins the first round

- They begin the second battle and Foolish charges forward while Fundy hides. But Foolish has an idea to up the stakes: climb the tower.

The two climb up opposite corners of the tower and run along the sides. Foolish gets some hits, but Fundy wins the second battle as well and the duel as a whole

- Fundy goes to feed his son some berries, and Yogurt looks at him again! Fundy is overjoyed, making happy noises

- He tells Foolish to go, so Foolish leaves Fundy with his son

- Foolish continues working on the hotel

- Drista found out about her dog, Bruno, dying, and is displeased. Tommy has the idea to go to Las Nevadas where he’s set up a new place with Wilbur, since Drista isn’t old enough to gamble

- Tommy runs over while doing his best Philza Minecraft impression with C418′s Sweden playing in the background

Tommy: “I will repent my sins through the coin of the game.”

- Tommy makes it to Fort Big, thinking he’s safe. He goes to chop some wood and that’s when Drista appears, immediately stabbing him to death

- Drista teleports him back. She is dual-wielding Netherite knives. Tommy starts up a conversation and tries to explain what happened. Drista gives him Regen so that she can stab him more

- Tommy walks over to Las Nevadas and claims that Drista isn’t allowed on this territory. He tells her she’s not the legal age to gamble. Drista points out he isn’t either

- Tommy shows her how to use the gambling machine. Drista still isn’t pleased over her dog dying

- Tommy tells Dream that his sister is mugging him for her dog dying

- Tommy starts sneaking away and Dream tells Drista, who chases him down

- He asks what he can do to make it up to her. Drista wants to vandalize  someone’s house and gives Tommy a Wither rose

- They start walking back, and Tommy tells Drista that he wants to grief Captain Puffy

- Drista spawns in a dog, gets Tommy to tame it and then promptly slaughters it

- They make it back to Tommy’s house and Tommy sees Puffy’s redecoration. Drista wants to vandalize Sapnap’s house

Drista: (looking at the picture of Prince Philip) “Oh my god it’s Philza.”

- Tommy takes down Puffy’s decorations while chatting to Drista

- They walk down the path and Drista spawns another dog. Tommy tames it and Drista kills it again

- Tommy takes her over to Kinoko Kingdom and teaches Drista how to speak imaginary French

- Sapnap comes over briefly in real life, then logs in in-game while Tommy gives Drista advice on how to say no to drugs

- Sapnap tells them to leave, threatening Tommy with what he said yesterday

- Drista takes Tommy into the sky on a flying pig and he and Sapnap have an echoing shouting match

- Drista flies Tommy over to a building and Tommy lights TNT on the roof

- Tommy sets the massive OwO sign on fire and the pig catches fire too

- At Drista’s request, Tommy DMs Techno asking what pigs eat. Techno says potatoes

- Drista tells Tommy to TNT Church Prime but Tommy refuses. They land in the Holy Land and Tommy tells Sapnap to come to Church Prime. Sapnap joins the flying pig team

- Drista asks where Technoblade’s house is. They call Dream and ask him

- Tommy realizes Techno is in prison and Sapnap suggests they bomb the prison. Drista flies them over there and Techno logs on and joins the call

- Drista teleports Techno out and he rides a pig, happy to be “canonically” out of prison. Techno joins the flying pig bomb team

- Drista flies the three of them around until she stops at the Big Innit Hotel. Tommy doesn’t want to TNT the hotel, but Drista gets him to anyway

- Tommy tells Drista he wants to destroy the YOU </3 LITTLE PENIS sign. Puffy starts shooting at them. They land on the sign and start destroying it

Only ENIS remains.

- Tommy and Puffy die and Techno takes their things. Tommy says they should imprison him again. Sapnap and Techno negotiate with Puffy while Drista and Tommy fool around in the graveyard

- Drista sends Tommy a picture of Georgina

- Tommy starts rebuilding his house out of oak wood. Puffy comes over and joins VC and they banter

- Drista bans Tommy from the server

- He comes back and does not like when they start adding a granite wall. He goes over to Karl’s studio thinking it’s Puffy’s house and bumps into a glass pane repeatedly trying to get to the water, not realizing there is glass

- Tommy plays sad Minecraft music because Drista is girlbossing him, then Mask

- He calls Dream again, then gets some sea pickles to give to Drista so that he can be forgiven. Drista forgives him. She plants the pickles in the Holy Land and says he could’ve just done that from the beginning

- Tommy speaks with Dream, who tells him that in the future Tommy will still have to make it up to Drista. Drista comes back to say that there is one thing that she asks of Tommy: that he builds a Drista Hotel with a brand new dog named Brunoto (Bruno 2)

- Tommy gets one of the Drista Daggers and logs out

- Later, Puffy builds a house out of granite and blackstone opposite of Tommy’s house and removes the section of Holy Land wall blocking her therapy office

---

Upcoming events remain the same.

[solalunar-eclipse]

A Gift To Remember

Summary: Shadow receives a gift for his birthday that causes a series of very interesting (and often cute) events.

Word count: about 7500 words

Author’s Note: I didn’t realize today was Shadow’s birthday! At the moment I’m more than a little confused because the release dates for SA2 say everything from the 18th to the 23rd, but this seems to be the one, so here this is!

Also, to that one anon whose question about this fic I never quite managed to answer- sorry about that and I do hope you’re still here to read this!

...

The main room of Team Dark’s home was, on a normal day, at least somewhat clean- which was in and of itself surprising, considering the fact that three teenagers lived there. (It was, of course, slightly less surprising when it was noted that one of these teenagers was a giant robot, one was already a businesswoman, and one had grown up in an incredibly clean environment.)

At the moment, however, said room was currently rather less clean, instead covered in various colorful signs, streamers, balloons, and other such decorations. After all, today was a very special day.

When Shadow and Rouge had discovered they shared a birthday (or creation day for Shadow, technically), they both became infinitely more determined to celebrate it for the other’s sake. This had actually, interestingly enough, also ended up making them enjoy their own festivities more than they had in quite some time.

Omega, meanwhile, had officially decided that this was his favorite day of the year.

Over the past few days, Rouge had already received a few presents from various people she knew in the line of clothes, makeup, or jewelry- but as much as she loved gems, her favorites so far were definitely the ones Omega and Shadow had gotten for her: a laser cutter that could slice through anything and a pair of (stylish) infrared goggles, respectively.

Shadow had just opened his present from Omega, which happened to be a sword that looked very cool...but was also longer than his actual body. This wasn’t actually as big of a problem for him as might be expected, as he’d gotten used to handling weapons several times his size during the alien invasion a little while back. 

He had, however, been told rather quickly by Rouge to put it away ‘before you slice the wall in half, this place does cost money, you know!’.

Next, Rouge placed her present in his hands, but at first all Shadow could do was just stare at it. This was likely because the gift wasn’t actually wrapped, but instead consisted of a box made of wood slats and filled, oddly enough, with paper shavings. There were quite a few ribbons on it, though, in an attempt to make up for the lack of other decorations.

“I couldn’t wrap it, or else the present wouldn’t have worked.” she explained, sitting back down to watch him open it.

After prying off the top and shifting aside some of the paper pieces, the hedgehog froze.

Inside, there sat a single white chao egg.

Carefully lifting the egg out of the box, Shadow held it gingerly, as though he were afraid it might try to bite him if he wasn’t gentle enough.

“Rouge…” he began nervously. “Don’t get me wrong, I really appreciate this, but...are you sure I’m the best person to be taking care of a chao?”

“Of course, hon!” she said. “You’ve taken care of them before, haven’t you?”

“Yes, but…” Shadow protested, “...are you sure I’ll be able to do as well at home? The garden is their natural habitat…”

Omega folded his arms. “YOU ARE THE ULTIMATE LIFEFORM. OF COURSE YOU CAN RAISE A CHAO.”

“That’s right!” Rouge added. “The chao are always happy when you take care of them- this time isn’t going to be any different.”

“…I suppose so.” Shadow conceded, taking a deep breath. He began to rock the egg slowly from side to side. “Here we go-”

A crack appeared across the pristine white surface. The split spread rapidly while Shadow sat and watched, making sure not to move the egg about much. Chao had to hatch their eggs on their own- it was the way they first began to strengthen themselves. 

Rouge laughed. “See? You know exactly what you’re doing!”

Shadow studiously ignored her and continued to focus on the egg. Then, suddenly, a chirp came from inside and the whole top half came flying off.

The hybrid looked at his newborn chao...and his heart (though he’d never admit it) immediately melted. Soft, big eyes gazed up at him, an overjoyed smile on the creature’s face. It cooed happily upon seeing him give a small smile back, and he reached out and began to gently pat its head.

The chao broke into an even wider smile as its eyes closed blissfully, the little sphere above its head popping into a heart. Shadow continued to pet it, offering gentle words of praise, and might have continued like that for the next ten minutes had a camera noise from Omega not made him look up in alarm.

“ADDING IMAGE TO FILE: SHADOW BEING SOFT.” he declared, while Rouge looked on with a giant grin.

“You will do nothing of the sort-” Shadow growled, jumping to his feet, before a soft whimper from his chao stopped him. Its eyes were watery, wide and distressed, and the hybrid immediately scooped it up in his arms, holding it close. It relaxed quickly, snuggling into his chest fluff, and he shot Omega one last semi-serious glower before turning his attention back to the newborn.

Omega promptly took another picture.

…

Later that day, at the party that all of their friends had thrown for them, the chao and Shadow were nearly inseparable. It tended to rest in his lap when he was sitting or rode in between his ears whenever he stood up to get something. Eventually, though, the excitement of a new environment overwhelmed its initial nervousness, which unfortunately led to Shadow returning from the dining room with his hands full of plates of food to discover his chao crawling along the precarious edge of a bookshelf.

Suddenly, the chao’s footing slipped, and Shadow froze, unable to move or do anything- but then Sonic of all people noticed and was already there, leaping up and catching the chao before resting it snugly in his arms. “Looks like someone’s already progressed to the giving-their-owner-a-heart-attack stage, hm?” he asked, smirking at the little creature.

“Thank you.” Shadow said as his chao was returned to him, trying very hard to ignore the way his hands and Sonic’s brushed in the process.

(He’d been nursing a bit of a crush on the hero for a while now, but had decided to ignore it until it wore off. Sonic had admirers from all across the globe vying for his attention- it was absurd to think that anything could happen between them.)

…

Over the coming weeks, all three members of Team Dark made sure to rework their schedules so that someone was always home to watch over the chao- no more climbing on bookcases for the little one now. Shadow did most of the caretaking, feeding, training, cleaning, and providing Chaos Drives (mostly green) to the chao. Rouge did, however, occasionally claim she could ‘handle the extra work’ to give him some spare time and Omega even took it upon himself to watch it every so often.

Sometimes, Shadow and his chao would even cook together in the kitchen (a hobby he’d discovered he enjoyed after finding out that Rouge tended to eat takeout all the time- “You can’t live off that day in and day out- you’re not me, Rouge!”). The sight of a tiny pale blue creature determinedly lifting a bag of flour and flying it across the room was awfully cute- especially after Shadow bought it a tiny apron in what he unconvincingly claimed was an accidental purchase. 

Shadow never made accidental purchases.

As much as the hybrid took care of it, though, the chao also seemed to be helping him. He smiled more, glowered less, and generally seemed more tolerant of mistakes than he had been in the past. Nowadays, errors that would once have caused him to go off on a rant or huff about were now met with a calmer ‘it’s okay’ or an offer for help fixing it.

He often laid a hand on it in his sleep or curled around it protectively, and could easily be seen patting its head, carrying it around, or even- when he thought he was alone- nuzzling it gently. The amount of time and care he put into making sure that his chao was happy would have been astonishing to anyone who hadn’t already seen how much he cared about his friends.

It was no surprise then that, before long, Rouge and Omega woke up one morning to find the chao inside a cocoon (and also a very stressed-out Shadow).

The hedgehog promptly called in sick for the entire week- an incredible occurrence for him. He’d originally sworn that since he couldn’t get ill, he’d give his sick days to others when they needed it, but now that was all out the window. He wanted nothing more than to stay home and essentially sit and stare at the cocoon until it hatched.

While the two other members of Team Dark managed to convince him to eat, sleep, and do chores on regular intervals, whenever Shadow had a spare moment he’d stay in his room, watching and waiting. Their friends got so worried that Rouge and Omega had used everything in their power to coax him out of the house twice over those five days, but he refused to do any more. Even then his outings had to come with the promise that they’d both stay home, check it every five minutes, and call him the absolute moment something happened.

On the sixth day of waiting, the cocoon began to hatch while Shadow was attempting to discreetly read out loud to the chao from one of his favorite books. The moment he saw the split, he dropped the novel, jumped up, and shouted louder than he had in months- “Rouge! Omega! It’s HAPPENING!”

He hovered so closely around the cocoon that Omega had to physically pull him back as Rouge reminded him to give the chao more space. Within moments, the split had widened enough for a single black paw to poke out, feeling around carefully for some sort of purchase to pull itself the rest of the way outside. Soon enough, it had succeeded, earning- impressively enough- widened eyes from Omega and a gasp from both Shadow and Rouge.

Frowning light blue eyes were set in an equally grumpy (albeit adorable) face, with two little black ears and three tiny quills on the chao’s head. The ears and quills both had red stripes, as did the arms, legs, and even its tail. A red crescent shape sat on its chest, and two tiny purple bat wings flapped slowly behind it.

In short, it looked a lot like a tiny Shadow.

The hedgehog in question reached out carefully and began to pet his chao, offering some quiet words of praise, but before long it flew up and settled in its favorite spot in between his ears. When Shadow turned around to face his friends, they were met with the sight of a little glowering creature settled on top of his head…which really did look far too similar to the hybrid himself when he was irritated. 

Rouge covered a smile with both of her hands. “Shadow...hon…”

He frowned at her, only serving to make the resemblance more obvious. “What?”

“It looks exactly like you!”

“Not really- it has blue eyes and...bat wings…” He looked up at her suddenly. “Rouge...how much time have you been spending with Spark again?”

“Oh, just a little- wait, Spark?” she said quickly, redirecting his attention.

Shadow flushed a bright green at that. “I might’ve already picked out a name...does it sound alright?” he asked, studiously looking anywhere but at his friends.

The chao chirped at the name and snuggled a little further into the fur on his head, seemingly pleased with the title. 

He began to smile at that. “You like that name, do you?” he asked teasingly.

“It sure looks like it! I think it’s a lovely name, hon.” Rouge added.

The chao cooed, cementing its name with all of the team (whether Omega would admit it or not).

Now, if anything, Shadow and his chao were even more close than before. Rouge even bought it a tiny leather jacket to match his style, which was quickly deemed by everyone (especially their friends, to whom she’d sent about fifty photos) the most adorable thing ever. 

...

One day, Shadow came home from lunch out with Silver and Blaze only to discover a quite unexpected scene- though he really should have seen it coming, considering what he’d noticed after his chao had hatched. Rouge was kneeling next to the sofa, scratching Spark behind the ears and saying in what could only be described as a baby voice, “Who’s your favorite momma? Me, that’s right. That’s right, isn’t it?”

“Uh….” he interrupted, feeling more than a little uncertain as to how to respond to this. He was torn between “I didn’t know you had a baby voice” and “I’m glad to see you and Spark getting along” and wasn’t entirely sure which one to go with here.

The bat, on the other hand, jumped a good three feet in the air at the sound before glaring at Shadow furiously. “Don’t startle me like that!” she shouted, more than a little tense...and also a bit worried?

The hybrid didn’t react, instead saying “It’s nice to see you spending time with Spark too, Rouge.” with a smile. 

She relaxed a little at that, and Shadow sighed. “Rouge, I wouldn’t make fun of you- I do the same kind of thing, don’t I?”

“You’re right, you’re right.” the bat admitted. “I just had to! It looks like me- it even has my wings! How could I not?”

Shadow moved to sit down on the sofa at that, reaching out to pat the chao as well. Rouge smiled at him gratefully, and then they both looked down at the cute creature in between them, who was promptly staring up at both with a confused look on its face. After a moment, though, it seemed to realize that everything was alright and nuzzled both Mobians before curling up on the couch happily.

…

Another time, the entire team was out grocery shopping at their favorite store when Spark’s eye was caught by the soft, warm cinnamon buns sitting behind a glass case. After a minute or two of desperate pulling at the seams- to no avail- it flew over to Shadow and began to poke at his shoulder until he turned to look at it.

“Yes? What is it?” he asked, giving the chao a little scratch under the chin.

The chao pointed excitedly at the sweet treats, but its expression melted into one of dismay upon hearing him say “No, Spark, that’s not very good for you- and it’s too big for you to finish all by yourself, too.”

It mimed a clock insistently- they didn’t go to the store that often, after all- its frown deepening all the while. Shadow felt a little uncertain- he enjoyed giving the chao treats, but was now really the best time to feed it so much sugar? It could end up flying all over the place, and he really didn’t feel like getting banned from yet another grocery store. (The last one had been because Omega got a little too excited while messing around with the shopping cart and had melted it and twisted it into a knot...somehow. They were rapidly escorted out after that.)

Suddenly, though, the chao shuffled forward, took one of his fingers in between its tiny paws, and stared up at him with the softest, most pleading look it could possibly manage, its eyes wide and mouth quivering. “No...no, come on…” Shadow protested weakly, but already his resistance was melting away. It practically seemed to be saying haven’t I been good all week? Can’t I please just have this one treat? and the hybrid was in no condition to fight back.

Within moments, Spark was holding a cinnamon roll and dug into it with glee, only pausing once to nuzzle Shadow happily and offer him a quick bite as thanks. He accepted the gesture of appreciation easily (even though now his face had sugar on it after the chao’s affectionate thank-you) and was more than happy to see his chao smiling broadly with the treat in its hands.

…

The chao was, of course, still a great help to Shadow as well. One night in particular, it woke up to the sounds of quiet whimpering and began to look around, startled. For a moment, it turned to its caretaker for help- and then discovered that he was the one in trouble.

Shadow was curled up on his side, his brow creased in distress and his whole body shaking terribly. His eyes were squeezed tightly shut and occasionally the most terribly saddening sounds would escape his mouth. Once or twice, a tear escaped and trickled down his face.

Spark crawled up to his face gently, licking away the tear and nuzzling his cheek. Shadow shuddered briefly, but seemed to relax almost infinitesimally when the dark chao pressed itself against his chest for a moment. Eventually, the creature managed to get him to roll onto his back, at which point it crawled onto his chest, hoping that this would help him begin to relax.

It really did work- within moments, the small, warm weight on his chest made Shadow’s breathing even out and his shivers ease as the nightmare that was plaguing him began to fade.

Spark curled up, pleased with itself, and fell back asleep not long after.

…

There was just one problem amongst all this newly-discovered happiness that came with the chao. Ever since it had evolved out of its cocoon, Omega seemed as though he were hardly willing to interact with it.

Rouge or Shadow would hand it over to him, only to get it back less than a minute later. He spent the least amount of time with it out of the three, but when he was asked if he didn’t like the chao, he never said as much. 

Omega didn’t tend to lie...but then why wouldn’t he do anything with it?

Once or twice, they’d caught him merely staring at Spark as the little creature sat on the couch, his optics clicking but otherwise utterly silent. The two Mobians hardly knew what to make of it- he’d never acted like this before.

They finally had the opportunity to discover why he was behaving strangely several days later, though, entirely due to an accident on Shadow’s part. Rouge and Omega had been answering a distress call regarding some rogue G.U.N. robots and needed to call in the hybrid to help. He’d driven his motorbike directly to the scene and leapt straight into battle…

...and hadn’t noticed Spark peeking out of the bag he’d left on his bike.

The chao- while fast, to be sure- was in no way prepared for a full-on battle. While at first it had hoped to help its little family, flying about uncertainly in hopes of doing something, it quickly discovered that the only thing it could really do was to hide behind an upended concrete slab and hope it wasn’t noticed.

That, unfortunately, didn’t quite work out.

It didn’t take long before one of the rogue drones spotted a fourth heat signature aside from the three it was fighting and began to stalk towards it, charging its laser cannon in the process. Shadow, confused at first, felt his stomach drop in horror upon seeing his tiny chao shaking in fear as the machine advanced on its hiding spot. He hadn’t thought to bring a Chaos Emerald, believing this would be an easy battle- and Rouge was busy in the air.

The laser cannon on the drone was almost fully charged, and Shadow fired up his skates in a futile attempt to somehow reach Spark before-

A white hot blast lit up the area.

Shadow couldn’t have stopped the strangled cry that came from his mouth if he had wanted to. The smoke began to clear, and he almost couldn’t look…

Something stirred within the haze, and as it cleared away, Shadow felt his whole body sag with relief upon seeing Omega shifting to an upright position from where he’d shielded the chao with the back of his chassis, blocking the full force of the laser. He let out a sigh as he caught a glimpse of Spark held safely in Omega’s hand as the other one retracted to reveal a flamethrower.

“MY TURN.”

Within moments, the drone was just so much melted slag on the floor and the battle’s tide was turned. Shadow and Rouge dispatched the other robots and then rushed to Omega, who had held onto the chao this entire time.

“Omega...thank you.” Shadow said, taking Spark from his friend and holding it tightly.

“IT WAS- zzzt- NOTHING.” Omega said, a sudden staticky buzz splitting his sentence in two.

“Omega?” Rouge asked, her eyes narrowing. “What happened to you?”

“NOTHING.” he said hurriedly, his voice still glitching. “WAIT- DON’T YOU D-DARE-”

The three had already begun looking to see what had happened...but then froze when they saw the damage his back panel had taken while shielding Spark from the blast. A giant, smoking hole of warped and fused metal was burned into his chassis, revealing a bunch of melted and sparking wiring that definitely needed urgent attention.

“Omega…” Shadow looked horrified.

Rouge frowned, confused. “Why would you do this to yourself? I know how much you hate having to go get repairs.”

The robot let out a burst of static that sounded almost like a resigned sigh. Turning around, he muttered, “IT’S LI-LITERALLY YOU. AND ROUGE. BUT TINY. THAT APPEARS TO HAVE… STRANGE EFFECTS- zzzt- ON MY BEHAVIOR.”

“Do you...not like those effects?” Rouge asked, now clearly shifting into ‘I’m figuring things out’ mode. “Is that why you’ve been avoiding it so often?”

“I AM A ROBOT OF MASS DESTRUCTION. I AM NOT SUPPOSED TO CARE FOR TINY CREATURES SUCH AS THIS ONE. I SHOULD NOT FEEL ANY ‘WORRY’ ABOUT IT- AND YET-” Omega cut off there with a frustrated crackle.

Shadow still didn’t understand. “You’ve always been a robot of mass destruction, but you never thought it was weird to worry about us before.”

“THAT WAS DIFFERENT!” Omega insisted. “YOU BOTH ARE POWERFUL. IT IS NATURAL THAT RESPECT AND CONSEQUENTLY OTHER THINGS SHOULD COME FROM THAT. BUT THIS-! IT HAS NO DESTRUCTIVE QUALITIES! BUT STILL I...YOU KNOW...”

“It’s official, Omega.” Rouge said at that, a smirk growing on her face. “You’re becoming more and more like us...organics are always weak for cute things.”

“IT IS SHAMEFUL THAT I SHOULD COME TO THIS.” he grumbled.

“It’s not so bad, really.” Shadow said, placing a hand on his arm.

“And that’s coming from the guy who never used to admit he cares about people!” Rouge insisted. “Omega, you know you don’t have to be embarrassed about that kind of thing here- you’d never make fun of Shadow for not being tough all the time, would you?”

“I GUESS NOT…” he said, still seeming irritated.

At this point, Spark flew up to sit in Omega’s hand, looking up at the robot with its little frowning face, before reaching out and patting a single finger solemnly with its paw.

“OH NO.”

“Oh yes.” Rouge answered, grinning. “Let’s get you to Tails now though, okay? Then once you’re fixed up you can come home and pet the chao.”

Omega turned his head away and refused to dignify that with a response.

(He did, however, pet the chao when he got home. Nobody teased him about it, for which- while he’d never say it- he was rather grateful.)

…

It was inevitable, eventually, that Team Dark’s schedule wouldn’t be perfect and that they’d all have to be out and busy at some point. This, of course, meant that Spark would have to be dropped off at the chao daycare. 

Shadow had managed to force himself to reconcile with that fact, but the chao wasn’t nearly as good at that sort of thing.

On the day of, it was sobbing desperately, clinging to Shadow’s jacket with a tight grip as though it’d been handed a horrible punishment instead of a day spent at the warm, welcoming building in front of it. “It’s going to be alright. You’ll be okay, it’s just for a day. See, the Mobians who run it are very nice- won’t you look?” the hybrid whispered in a soothing voice, gently rubbing Spark’s head.

Omega stepped forward. “DON’T YOU...WANT TO SHOW HOW BRAVE YOU CAN BE?” he said awkwardly. Talking to the chao was still taking some getting used to for him, but he was definitely trying his best.

Rouge smiled warmly at that. “Of course! We’ll all be so proud of you, don’t you know that?”

“We can make a cake especially for you when you get home too, alright?” Shadow said, and that was the final thing the chao needed to hear. Wiping its eyes with a final few sniffles, it flew over to the little walkway towards the entrance and stood up tall, its body shaking slightly with leftover stress and its attempts not to cry.

“We love you!” Rouge called, blowing it a quick kiss.

“See you soon.” Shadow said gently, waving with a smile.

“YOU’LL BE THE BEST ONE THERE.” Omega added, shuffling in place a little.

The chao whimpered briefly, but then turned away and bounded into the daycare before it could lose its nerve. 

Throughout the morning, it remained relatively antisocial- a bit like the hedgehog whose appearance it had taken- during the music and karate lessons. The other chao all babbled and played together, being mostly neutral and hero-types, and the few dark chao that were there wanted to cause an awful lot more trouble than Spark was in the mood for.

One thing that it noticed very clearly, though, was the extraordinarily frustrating presence of a royal blue hero and speed-type chao.

This chao didn’t seem to think even once (let alone twice) about anything it did. It banged on the drums until Spark’s ears were sore during music class and then somehow managed to smack it in the face during karate lessons twice, and all the while it chatted away with about five other chao all around it.

Needless to say, by midday, when it was playtime, Spark had just about had enough.

When the blue chao rushed directly through the little sand city that it had been carefully building, swiping everything away with a single dash, Spark growled, picked up the plastic shovel it had been playing with, and threw it so hard it whacked the other creature in the arm.

Snarling, it began to stomp off when it felt a hand on its shoulder. The blue chao darted away and began hurriedly to try and rebuild the city, occasionally glancing up at Spark with an apologetic expression in its eyes.

It...looked awfully sad, actually.

Suddenly, the dark chao remembered how it had quickly stopped banging on the drums when the teacher had told it to, and how it had looked rather guilty when it had smacked Spark in the face, and how excited it was when talking with the other chao…

Maybe it was just a little clumsy sometimes.

Spark sighed a little. The other meant well, it decided, as its anger began to fade. It appreciated the apology...but now the sculptures were gone and it couldn’t get them back. Then, though, its gaze fell upon a pair of toy cars sitting nearby. 

Pulling the blue chao over to a strip of flat, packed earth nearby, it gave one car to its surprised companion and then set its own down at a line that could work quite well as the start of a race.

Soon enough, the other creature worked out the idea and began to cheer with delight, and before long they were racing cars like they’d been friends since the start. Eventually, they even switched to running races themselves, over and over again until they were all worn out and collapsed on the cool grass in a heap. Before long, though, they were up and at it again, only this time they started with a building game, and then had a little fun with the musical instruments, and soon enough Spark couldn’t help but wonder how they had ever fought in the first place.

Eventually, they decided that their next activity would be a race to the top of the jungle gym they noticed nearby. Spark was determined not to lose as it scrambled up the bars. It pulled itself paw over paw up the structure, getting closer and closer to the top, until-

Suddenly, a bar that it had been sure existed in front of it only a moment ago was now clearly just a little too far away, and the mistake caused it to reel forward, desperately clinging to the slippery bar it sat on. It twisted head over heels until it slid and fell all the way back to the ground, the wind slammed forcefully out of its little lungs.

Spark gasped soundlessly, trying and failing to pull air back into itself. After several agonizing seconds, it finally caught its breath- and then nearly got it knocked back out again by the impact of its new friend.

Regaining focus, the dark chao realized with a start that its friend was practically wailing into its chest, the soft blue creature shaking with desperate, panicked sobs. It looked up quickly, its eyes swollen and teary, and then reached out with its paws and hurriedly patted Spark’s body down, as though to reassure itself that the dark chao was still there. 

The creature in question sat up and pulled its friend into a tight hug, feeling nothing less than awful as the blue chao sniffled and whimpered worriedly in its arms. Eventually, it managed to calm down enough to amble over to a small nest made of blankets especially for tired chao and lay down there next to Spark. The two chao curled up together, nuzzling gently as the shaky breaths of the blue one finally evened out.

Spark felt the little ball over its head pop into a heart shape, and noticed briefly that its friend had done the same. They remained curled up like that for the last half-hour or so of their time in the daycare, alternately simply cuddling or talking about their respective owners.

Spark hoped they’d get to spend more time with this friend of theirs soon.

…

Shadow pulled up to the daycare on his motorcycle at closing time, doing his best to smooth out his frazzled quills. It wouldn’t be very good to let his chao know that he’d been nearly as worried about it as it had felt itself. 

He sighed, making his way towards the entrance of the building- and instantly felt the last wisps of his composure vanish upon seeing Sonic standing just inside. Before he could panic and flee the area at top speed, his legs (which didn’t seem to have received the message just yet) carried him through the door and inside.

Almost immediately, the blue hedgehog turned to face him with a bright smile. “Oh! Hey, Shadow!” Sonic said happily. “I didn’t know you brought your chao here, too! I’ve gotta say hi to the little guy again sometime!”

“This is my first time bringing it here. If it’s alright with that…I suppose you may.” the hybrid said, trying his best to sound coherent and cool (but actually just seeming stiff and awkward).

They talked for a little while as they waited for their chao to come out, chatting about their lives and friends. More than once, Shadow had to pinch himself in order to stay focused. His mind kept threatening to wander off into dreamland when he was around the hero, ready to admire his many great qualities (and wonderful appearance) at the drop of a hat.

Eventually, though, he became a bit worried by the fact that chao after chao were wandering out through the playroom door, being collected, and leaving…but neither Spark nor Sonic’s chao had even showed up. Soon enough, the two decided to walk into the room and find their tiny charges themselves.

“Uh, hi, mixter!” Sonic greeted the leopard who ran the daycare. “Didja see my lil’ buddy somewhere around here?”

“Oh, hello Sonic!” they said brightly- clearly the hero had been to this place quite a few times before. “Yes, your chao is over there in that nest there, sorry. I just hated to disturb those two…”

Shadow frowned. Those two?

His question was promptly answered when Sonic whisked aside the blanket covering the nest, only for both of them to stare at the sight inside.

Two purring chao, one clearly Sonic’s and the other obviously Shadow’s, were snuggled up together with big hearts floating over their heads. Even the hybrid’s dark chao, notorious for its ever-present frown, looked completely at peace with a small smile on its face.

He tried his best not to freak out.

“Erm…” Shadow began eloquently.

“Uh…” Sonic replied.

The two chao perked up at this, looking happily at their owners before nuzzling gently together in a manner that made Shadow’s stomach leap into his throat and then crash straight through the floor. In a further twist (both in events and in the striped hedgehog’s internal organs), Sonic’s chao then leapt happily into his arms, leaving Shadow to stare at the tiny version of his crush cuddling into his chest fur.

He sincerely hoped there was a convenient couch nearby for him to sit down on.

“Blu- come on-” Sonic began, looking oddly panicked for some reason, but then Spark sprang eagerly onto his shoulder and the hero rapidly fell silent as the dark chao nudged his cheek.

The two hedgehogs stared at each other for a long time. Shadow tried to move or do something other than just stand there, but it was awfully difficult when the hero was looking at him with those wide, soft green eyes….

“Er…Sonic?” Shadow finally choked out, in an odd, strained sort of tone.

“Yeah?”

“I think I’d like my chao back now.”

“Yeah.”

They each handed over their respective creatures, though Shadow felt rather reluctant to let such a tiny version of Sonic out of his arms. And for a moment he could almost have sworn that the hero held Spark a little longer than necessary, too…

…

Once he got home, the hybrid collapsed onto the couch and covered his eyes briefly with a hand. Spark, who had at first rushed into the kitchen (not having forgotten the promise of cake), came back and began to tug on his arm briefly before realizing that maybe Shadow wasn’t quite up to doing much of anything at the moment.

Rouge and Omega walked in just a moment later, their work having ended a little after Shadow’s. Upon seeing him slumped on the furniture, though, their greetings were cut short and instead replaced by worried questions.

Shadow sighed. “Spark...just spent a bunch of time cuddling with Sonic’s chao. And he noticed.”

“And that’s a good thing, hon.” Rouge shot back, having resisted a facepalm the moment she realized what all this was about.

“It is not!” the hedgehog cried out, before realizing that Spark was more than a little stressed by his tone of voice. “I’m not mad at you, don’t worry, it’s just...I already make enough of a fool of myself around him on my own. He’ll figure it out soon enough if we keep this up.”

“SO LET HIM.” Omega said. “EITHER HE STARTS DATING YOU OR HE’S AN IDIOT.”

Shadow blushed furiously. “It doesn’t work like that!”

“EXCEPT WHEN IT DOES.”

“Why don’t you tell him, hon?” Rouge asked. “I mean…” and here she developed a devious smile, “...didn’t his chao technically also act all affectionate with yours?”

The hybrid’s ears were bright green by now. “He’s nice to everyone, Rouge.”

At this point, Spark- who had left temporarily to get a pencil and paper- held up a drawing it had made of the scene at the jungle gym earlier. Shadow, of course, immediately began fussing over his chao, checking for any bruises or scrapes, but the bat in particular saw something entirely different.

“Kinda...reminds me of what happened on Space Colony ARK.” she mused. 

Shadow’s head shot up at that. “What?”

Rouge smirked, but it was bittersweet this time. “Your fall...it really hurt him too, y’know? He didn’t go out in public for a long time after that.”

“He...he never mentioned that to me…”

“He wouldn’t have!” she said. “Sonic isn’t the type to ‘bother’ others with his feelings.” Rouge explained, doing air quotes at one point.

“HE ALSO STARES AT YOU WHEN YOU ARE NOT LOOKING.”

“He what?!” By now Shadow had been reduced to just looking back and forth between his two friends. 

Spark flew in front of Shadow’s face and began to mime something. First pointing at Shadow, then a heart, then talking, then a hedgehog with all its quills pointed down…

“No! I can’t just tell him!”

“We’re hanging out with his team next week at the park- you should do it then.” Rouge replied, ignoring the last thing he’d just said.

“Did you not hear me, I can’t-”

“YOU WILL NEED SOMETHING NICE TO WEAR.” Omega said loudly over the rest of his sentence.

Spark cheered approvingly.

“So...you three have just decided for me whether or not I’m going to confess to Sonic.” Shadow sighed, beginning to resign himself to the fact.

“Absolutely, hon!” Rouge said brightly, slipping an arm around his shoulders.

He glowered at all three of them, but it lacked any real malice. “Alright, I’ll play along...for now.” he grumbled.

“EXCELLENT. LET THE PLANNING COMMENCE.”

…

One week later, Shadow was standing in the middle of a patch of grass, feeling like his knees were about to buckle as sweat trickled through his quills. He was no longer resigned to telling Sonic about his feelings and was in fact considering jumping into the nearby lake and hiding there for the duration of the hangout. His stomach- along with whatever scraps of resolve he may have had- were currently all the way back at their house.

On top of all that, he was frankly surprised he didn’t just spontaneously burst into flames when the other three Mobians showed up, Sonic in the lead.

“Hey guys!” he said excitedly. “Long time no see!”

Rouge snickered a bit at his catchphrase (it was one of many) but Shadow just felt his ears burn. He was just so cute and cheesy and already the hybrid’s mind was devolving into a mushy mess.

“Rouge, Omega.” he greeted them each, but he seemed to pause for a second on the last name. “...Shadow.”

The hedgehog in question thankfully managed a reply, and then the fun began in earnest. Knuckles and Shadow competed in several arm-wrestling matches with narration from Tails (“...aaaand Knuckles looks like he’s in the lead!”) and commentary from Omega (“YOU’RE LUCKY I DON’T ARM-WRESTLE OR ELSE BOTH OF YOUR ARMS WOULD BE BROKEN.”). Rouge and Sonic were busy pranking other innocent people, though once in a while the latter would look over at the competition, distracted.

Eventually, Tails and Omega got bored- which of course meant Knuckles and Shadow had to play the role of caretaker (“No, you can’t blow up trees. No, not even for ‘science’.”) for a little while.

At one point, though, Rouge got bored with the pranks and had dragged the echidna off to a park bench and was now flirting with him enough to turn his face as red as his spines. Tails had promised to behave- which now meant that he was halfheartedly attempting to convince Omega not to modify his cannon to launch ducks from the nearby pond- leaving Sonic and Shadow to themselves. Blu and Spark had been playing in the grass all this time (since both of them had brought their chao without really realizing that the other would do the same), and Shadow had very definitely not been thinking about how lucky his chao was that emotions were easy for it.

He remembered the talk his friends had given him before this outing then and wondered if maybe, just maybe, it could be that easy. Before he could stop himself, he’d already spoken.

“...Sonic?”

“Yeah?” the hero asked, turning to face Shadow.

“I...wanted to talk to you about something.” he said, regretting everything already because look how stupid he was about to seem...yet Shadow Robotnik the Hedgehog had never been one to do things by halves.

“Oh, really?” Sonic said, and now he almost looked relieved, for some reason. “I, uh, was actually hoping to do the same. That’s cool, what is it?”

“No, no, you go first.” Shadow urged him, hoping that he’d take the offer.

Unfortunately, today was not his lucky day. “No, man, you asked first! Go ahead, what was it?”

“Really- it’s fine.”

“No, you had something you wanted to say!” Sonic insisted.

“It’s okay, I swear-”

“Well, I guess-”

“I mean, if you want-”

“Okay-”

“You see-”

“I like you!”

Both hedgehogs shouted the words at the exact same time, before freezing and staring at each other.

“Wait…” Shadow began.

Sonic’s eyes were wide. “You like me back?!?” he gasped, hands flying up to his mouth.

“...yes.” he admitted, looking off to the side in embarrassment. Then it hit him. “Wait. You like me back?”

“Of course! How could I not?” Sonic asked incredulously. “You’re smart, funny, nice-” He’d begun listing off attributes while counting on his fingers, but cut himself off upon noticing Shadow’s confusion.

“Yes, but you’re a hero. The world’s hero.” Shadow began to frown, staring at the grass. “Why would you settle for someone like-”

“No.” Sonic growled, and the hybrid looked up suddenly to see his face twisted in anger. “Don’t ever say that.”

“But everyone thinks it…” Shadow protested weakly.

“Yeah, well, ‘everyone’ isn’t part of my love life.” Sonic assumed a slightly less aggressive stance, placing a hand on his hip. “Whoever’s been telling you that can either leave you alone or get their face introduced to my sneakers.”

Shadow blushed. “Nobody needed to. I just assumed...but perhaps I shouldn’t have.” he added quickly, seeing the hero begin to glower again. 

“That’s right!” he said, zipping over to stand directly in front of Shadow. “No assumptions here- talk to me from now on if something’s worryin’ you, ‘kay?”

Then, he seemed to notice the sudden stiffness in the hybrid’s posture, as well as the green flush slowly creeping up his ears. Sonic leaned forward with a smirk, resting his forearm on Shadow’s shoulder. “Thinkin’ about something?”

Shadow gulped.

For once, he decided that he could do what he wanted. So, he slowly reached up a hand and touched the peach fur on Sonic’s arm gently, like it was the most delicate thing in the world. 

Rather more quickly, Sonic turned a shade of bright red to rival Omega’s paint job.

“So, uh…” he began, his voice shaky. “Erm...do ya feel like sitting under that tree? Together?”

Shadow agreed, and the two walked over to the shady patch, sitting down and resting against each other. Soon enough, though, Sonic turned to face Shadow, a little nervous. “Do we, like, need to talk about this? Figure out...what to do about…us?” He started turning pink again.

“Maybe later. We have a lot of time, after all.” Shadow said, trying to contain the soaring feeling inside when Sonic said ‘us’- until he realized that he didn’t have to any longer.

“What’re you smiling about?”

“You. And me. Together.” Shadow said simply, making Sonic laugh and snuggle up against him, resting his head on a black-furred shoulder.

“Wow. That’s, uh….that’s new. I really like it though.”

Then, the hero looked up at him. “I really like you, too.”

At this point, a loud whistle could be heard from Rouge, who was standing not too far off and had likely heard a lot of what they’d said. Sonic just giggled, while Shadow shot her a death glare. She just winked and mouthed I’ll keep them occupied, at which point the hybrid tried not to show how very much he appreciated that and failed miserably.

And Sonic was purring now. Which of course meant that every single brain cell in Shadow’s head was promptly dead for the next five minutes.

After he’d recovered from that, Shadow wrapped his arms tightly around his...boyfriend? Maybe? He thought for a moment. “Hey, Sonic?”

“Yeah?”

“How do you feel about being my-” Shadow paused briefly to cough, trying to get the words out- “-boyfriend?”

“I think I like that a lot.”

Shadow smiled warmly, feeling the beginnings of a purr rise up in his own chest.

“I like that a lot, too. Almost as much as I like you.”

[blu-joons]

DATING ATEEZ A⇴Z HEADCANON ⇴  Kang Yeosang

A ⇴ AFFECTION

The best thing about Yeosang was that he had an incredible awareness of the exact time when you’d need a hug. Whenever you were in search of affection, he was always there ready to wrap his arms around you and hold you close.

B ⇴ BEFORE DATING

You were introduced through Wooyoung at an Ateez event, who was convinced the two of you would get along. Needless to say, the two of you very quickly found yourselves in flowing conversation as you got to know each other, proving a very smug Wooyoung to be right, much to his delight.

C ⇴ CONFESSION

When Wooyoung caught on that Yeosang seemed to like you, he was very quick in pushing his best friend to confess to you. When the two of you were at another event, Wooyoung practically cornered Yeosang into your private space, leaving him no choice but to start a conversation, with Wooyoung not stepping aside until Yeosang had told you how he felt, asking you out on a date with him too.

D ⇴ DATES

Your perfect date nights with each other were usually spent in front of the console playing whatever game one of you wanted. The two of you weren’t overly competitive, often playing laid on top of each other, relaxing and just enjoying being around each other. Most of the time, Yeosang won anyway, the far better gamer, but he was never one to rub it in your face. Usually, when one of you got hungry, takeout would be ordered too, with both of you snacking in between rounds of whatever game you were playing.

E ⇴ EXPERIENCE

Yeosang had never really had any dating experience before meeting you, leaving him incredibly nervous about what was right and what was wrong. He tended to open up to Wooyoung the most about what worried him about dating, sometimes stupidly trusting him to give him some advice and pointers about what to do. Luckily for him, Jongho would usually be on hand too with much more sensible advice that Yeosang could listen to, helping him find his feet in the crazy world that was dating.

F ⇴ FIGHTING

He was very sensitive to arguments and disagreements, Yeosang always worked hard to stop them from happening, as usually it would end up with his emotions running away with him. You often found yourself getting frustrated with how hard he worked, which meant he took very little care of himself. Whilst he would protest that he was fine, you’d know better, usually managing to wear him down until the emotions of all of his hard work hit him and he’d end up admitting that he needed a rest. Huge fights very rarely occurred between you both, both of you were far too calm and mature to let that happen.

G ⇴ GETTING TO KNOW HIS FAMILY

Before meeting anyone else in his family, Yeosang made sure to introduce you to his elder sister, trusting that she’d be able to make you comfortable and give you the best impression of his family. Not to mention how often she begged Yeosang to introduce you to her, as she was so desperate to meet you.

H ⇴ HOME

A lot of your time together was spent at your place, as with two others living in his dorm room with him, alone time with Yeosang was very rare. Whilst he made sure to be at the dorm for work, when a day off came around, he’d usually find himself instinctively on his way over to your place to spend time with you.

I ⇴ “I LOVE YOU”

You were the first one to say those three words when you flew out to surprise Yeosang whilst he was on tour. Seeing him was incredibly overwhelming for you, and before you’d really had the chance to process that he was back in front of you, you were whispering your confession into his ear whilst trying to keep it together.

J ⇴ JEALOUSY

When other people get very close to you, Yeosang is most definitely aware. His observant eyes can sometimes be a bit of a downside for him as he picks up on even the smallest of things that many people, including you, would ignore. He’s also very sensitive, and so if it feels like someone is getting close to you, he’ll instantly close off. He’s mature when he’s jealous, he doesn’t tend to make a scene, but you’ll know by how quiet he becomes that something isn’t right and that he isn’t comfortable in the situation.

K ⇴ KIDS

Being such a thinker, Yeosang can’t help himself but to often think about the future with you and the possibilities of having a family too. Whilst he doesn’t think too far in depth about things, he certainly has certain things that he dreams about, and hopes will happen in the future. Most of these thoughts are ones that he keeps to himself, happy in his own bubble of imagining what his life one day might look like.

L ⇴ LAUGHTER

Yeosang doesn’t stress about much, and so he’s usually naturally got a smile on his face and laughing about most things too. His positive and carefree attitude often rubs off on you too, relaxing you when you’re stress and encouraging you to smile, even on some of your most difficult days. He knows how to hold a room from his times as an MC, and so he’ll almost always manage to capture your attention with the things that he has to say, making sure that you’re always laughing, or at least smiling, when he’s talking to you too. Whilst he isn’t the loudest member of the group, he’ll still always have you laughing.

M ⇴ MISSING

Around the others, Yeosang always at least tries to pretend as if he’s fine, being mature about the situation and trying to deal with the hand that he’s been dealt as best as he can. However, as soon as he’s by himself, he’ll struggle more over being away from you and the emotions that he so often holds to himself go. He also hates to let you know that he’s missing you when he speaks to you, but as soon as he goes quiet, you can tell that he’s beginning to struggle with being away from you. He hates making others feel bad when he misses you, whilst others are happy, he tries to do the same as best as he can.

N ⇴ NICKNAMES

You tend to shorten Yeosang’s name whenever you want to give him a nickname, neither of you are massive on soppy pet names, preferring to keep things simple whilst still making sure to address each other sweetly.

O ⇴ OBSESSION

Yeosang is obsessed with your smile, knowing that you’re happy when you’re around him is all that ever matters to him, leaving him in a positive mood too.

P ⇴ PDA

He’s very reserved when it comes to affection in public with you, he’ll do enough to keep you safe, but aside from that, he’s very quiet. You’ll only ever receive a kiss from Yeosang when he’s sure that no one else is around and watching, other than that, it’s usually a hold of your hand to keep you protected by his side.

Q ⇴ QUESTIONS

When you spot that Yeosang is deep in thought, you’ll love to ask him what he’s thinking about. It often leaves you in surprise that his mind could think about such things, and lead to an interesting debate between you both too.

R ⇴ RANDOM FACTS

If the two of you are out in public on dates, Yeosang will love to take one of his drones to fly about so that the two of you can remember the place and the memories made. He has a hard drive specifically for the trips that the two of you have taken so that you can look back over them one day. You’re not exactly allowed to touch his drones, knowing how protective he is, but you still love to sit back and watch.

S ⇴ SEX

Intimacy with Yeosang is always incredibly sweet, he’s always very affectionate and talkative, usually in hushed tones with plenty of sweet nothings being muttered by him. He’s not massive on being a dom, the two of you tend to have equal control when it comes to intimacy. Neither of you take the lead, instead you just work off of how you’re both feeling and perhaps who needs the attention a little bit more.

T ⇴ TEXTS

He can always pick up on when you’re low or high, and so Yeosang will always make sure to text you when he can tell you’re not feeling great. He’s very good at spotting things, even through a text or a simple voice note.

U ⇴ UNIVERSE

The thought of his future is what makes Yeosang happiest. He’s only ever really had the group to reflect on when it comes to the years ahead, so now that he can think about you too, it makes his future all the more exciting.

V ⇴ VACATION

When he’s got time off, Yeosang enjoys staying at home with you and basking in the home comforts that he misses out on for so many months throughout the year. He’ll dedicate most of the time to what you want to do though and make up for the time that he leaves you doing things by yourself whilst he’s busy.

W ⇴ WHINING

Yeosang isn’t someone that tends to whine a lot, he might get a little bit louder, but he’d never whine, understanding that sometimes you need your space.

X ⇴ XXXXX

Kisses from Yeosang are always incredibly sweet, he loves to leave light pecks against your skin that he knows will make you blush and often leave you coming back to him because you want a little more. When the two of you are cuddled up, he can’t help but kiss against you, usually using his kisses to let you know how he’s feeling rather than bothering to break the soft atmosphere by using his words.

Y ⇴ YOU

You were always there for Yeosang, which was something that he never took for granted.

Z ⇴ ZZZ

He’d always cuddle you close at night, with his strength and tightness changing depending on your mood. If you’d had a bad day, he’d hold you extra tight, however if you needed a bit of space, he’d just hold your hand instead.

---

Masterlist

[multiplefandomsblog]

Celeste x reader x Kirigiri SFW & NSFW head-canons

request; celeste x reader x kirigiri? :o

warnings; fluff, i really don’t think there’s any explicit warnings in the sfw part, nsfw section: handcuffs, edging, i didn’t put any explicit descriptions of sex nor scenarios, degrading names, gn!reader, vanilla, mention of vampire roleplay, biting, unedited.

note; sorry i took so long!! I had to study their wiki pages and shit to remember their characters, its been some time since I’ve played THH. anyway, thank you for requesting. also sorry if this was a bit lazy, i feel like i didn’t do this one as well as the others, i’m really sorry.

≈SFW≈

◊ Okay, I feel like Celestia would be the one to spoil the both of you rotten. She’s always buying all three of you matching clothes so you could go out together looking ✨fly✨

◊ If you or Kyoko ever tried denying her outfits, she’d be a bit flustered and upset though she wouldn’t show it. Buuut eventually, you both cave in because you can notice the difference in her attitude, however slight it may be.

◊ “S/o, Kyoko, my darlings. I may have gotten carried away, but I think you both would look wondrous in these- Oh. You don’t… want them? I see. *sad face* Alright then, I guess I’ll just… I..” Yuuuup, you broke her. Congratulations, you jerk. 

◊ Whatever gender you may be, it doesn’t matter, she will buy you a huge fluffy dress (But if you’re not comfortable with it, she’d totally be willing to get you something else).

◊ Celestia calls you both her darlings. She’s always saying hers, or mine in front of your names and/or pet names.

◊ Kyoko isn’t big on pet names, whether she’s on the receiving end or serving; though she doesn’t mind it when either of you calls her one. Just nothing too ridiculous, she’ll flush an adorable shade of red but scold you for it later. She prefers just calling you both by name.

◊ The caring one of the relationship would either have to be you or Celestia. Kyoko doesn’t take care of herself too well, as she’s very passionate about her job; so passionate to the point where she forgets that she’s human and that her very human body needs food and sleep.

◊ Celestia takes care of herself extremely well, I imagine she has a very strict skin routine and diet. But since she’s also passionate about her job, I imagine there would be times where a round of gambling goes extremely long or tie, but she’d be very adamant on winning so she’d go a little over the top and stay there for days, weeks if she had to. 

◊ That being said, they are both very passionate about their jobs so I feel that they are unfortunately prone to neglecting you at times. But don’t worry! They always make it up to you 10x more, and it’s always worth it.

◊ Kyoko would probably make it up to you both by trying to be a bit more affectionate with you. She is well aware that she isn’t always affectionate, so she thinks if she gives you guys a bit more affection, you’ll forgive her? ...Please?

◊ Bbgirl is trying-

◊ Most likely though, she’d talk to you first. A formal apology and everything, if you’re lucky, she’ll buy you a stuffed animal or flowers as she apologizes. 

◊ Since Celestia is just, a very fancy and aesthetic person, I feel like all dates with her would reflect that same fancy aesthetic. She goes out of her way to set up a fancy table at a reserved place where none of you can be disturbed. Expensive teas, china, scones, sweets, those little stands with the layers of pastries; she has it all ready for you two. 

◊ You’d all be sitting on cute chairs sipping tea in cute cups, butlers at your every need, it’s a really cute almost dream-like date. Kyoko would talk about her cases(leaving out things that are confidential of course,) you’d talk about everything and anything, and Celestia would just quietly listen to you both talk, a small smile adorning her face. She loves taking care of the both of you, the reason why she has dates like these are for, 

She wants to spend time with her darlings because she misses them.

She wants you both to relax and destress, she hates the idea of either of you overworking or forgetting to take care of yourself.

◊ Though if you’re not into that, the closest thing that isn’t fancy or organized(though it would take some time for her to practice not being organized) would be a picnic date. With a very very wide blanket. That’s thick. And lots of bug spray. 

◊ Dates with Kyoko would probably be short coffee breaks, she doesn’t have a lot of time sadly, so halfway through the date, she finishes her coffee and leaves early, leaving you and Celestia to spend the rest of the time together.

◊ Dates with her would mostly just be when all three of you go to bed, talking about each other’s days or just talking about stuff that has zero meaning as you all fall asleep.

◊ It kind of makes her a bit upset when you and Celestia have an inside joke or seem a bit closer; as much as she loves seeing you both happy with each other, she can’t help but want to be in on it too. She feels a bit guilty for being so busy with her job.

◊ So when she does feel a bit left out, I think a way to make her feel more included would be small little ‘I love you’ texts while she’s working or even better, surprising her by picking her up on her lunch date to get a quick lunch. 

◊ I think something domestic Kyoko enjoys a lot, is when either of you cooks a bento for her. You can really cook something terrible for her, or even ugly, she doesn’t care; she loves it so much. It’s the thought that you would cook for her that gets her. When she comes back home, the first thing she will do is thank you and hug you real tight. It’s one of the more rare moments where she actually displays feelings of love and gratitude.

◊ Despite getting judgemental looks from Byakuya and aw’s from Hina, in the end, Kyoko doesn’t care one bit. She will eat and enjoy the food in its entirety, she doesn’t care if it affects her reputation as a cold person, she just wants to eat the food.

◊ Though she is unfazed by practically everything, she gets a bit taken aback that you cooked food for her, the shock is evident on her face when you hand it to her before she goes, or drop it off at lunch hour. I don’t think she ever had anyone cook meals for her, or at least, doesn’t remember it; so she’s always pretty shocked when you do. She feels her heart palpitate a little louder and maybe smiles a little smile when you’re not looking. She appreciates it a lot.

◊ Though Celestia doesn’t cook, I think you’d have to be the one to cook for Kirigiri. Celestia enjoys gyoza a whole lot, so if you were ever to cook gyoza for her… well, she’d probably be brutally honest about what she thinks about it. Though she’d give you constructive criticism, and eventually you’d get it right through trial and error and Celestia’s taste buds.

◊ Celestia isn’t big on public areas for dates, like movie theatres, for example. If you ever wanted to watch a movie, she’d probably rent an entire movie theatre for just you three to chill in. As you can see, she’s not too big on being with large groups of people, or just anywhere that isn’t exactly ‘clean’. 

◊ I don’t think either of them would be one for PDA either. Other than mild flirting from Celestia, you all don’t do PDA at all. But there’s this intimate vibe that you all seem to share that has people assume you’re all on a date together. It’s like this bubble, it’s quite peculiar. 

◊ Celestia would never lose her cool because of you both, only for you both. But even so, she avoids losing it in front of your eyes. If she ever had to fight someone for you or intimidate them, she would probably ask you to go occupy yourselves with something else so she could go off without hesitating.

◊ Though if she was ever about to lose it and either of you notices it, a simple hold of her hand calms her down immediately. Her rage wordlessly disappears. She’ll even give you guys a small little forehead kiss in thanks.

◊ Kyoko’s an ‘it’s the thought that counts’ kind of person. So whenever you or Celestia spoil her with expensive gifts, she’ll enjoy it but she’s a bit concerned about how you’re spending so much money on her. She honestly prefers handmade gifts; whether they’re crafty or a bit imperfect, she cherishes them more than you know. 

≈NSFW≈

◊ Oh boy. *cracks knuckles* here we go.

◊ Kyoko hides her moans and expressions, she was raised not to show any unsightly emotions and so, that(sadly) comes into play in bed.

◊ Oh but Celestia teases her until she does, to get that satisfying plead out of Kyoko Kirigiri of all people, it drives her near mad in love. 

◊ Kyoko is definitely vanilla, and would probably want to stay vanilla. There aren’t many things she’s into, as a result of not knowing any kinks. I don’t think she’d be too willing to try any kinks either. Unless you explain it to her, then maybe. Just maybe. 

◊ Kyoko is a soft dom- HAH just kidding! The moment you admit just a little bit of top energy on her, she submits easily. Not in the typical way you’d think, but she’d let you do all the work, you’d have to guide her. I don’t think she has any sexual experience, so she’d have sex relying on you both(for once). 

◊ That’s where Celestia comes into play. I don’t know if this is canon or you know, but I head-canon that she has a surprising amount of sexual knowledge and kinks. 

◊ Kyoko isn’t the biggest fan of you and Celestia having intercourse without her, as I mentioned earlier, she does get a little left out, so knowing that you left her out of something as intimate as sex gets her mad for a couple of days. Even holds a small grudge. 

◊ But it wouldn’t last long, you both would eventually make it up to her since she doesn’t exactly enjoy discussing her feelings, you would have to be the one to speak up first. 

◊ Celeste would definitely ask you both if you were ever interested in trying out role-play with her, specifically; vampire role-play.

◊ Speaking of vampires, she really enjoys it when you lightly bite her. Not enough to leave a mark, if you leave marks on her she’ll get mad. Though she enjoys leaving marks on you both, she enjoys those short moments where someone stares at you guys’ hickeys and she just,, gives them a knowing, intense glare.

◊ Celestia isn’t big on degrading you both unless it’s something like, “My good little mutt.” Degrading names, sure. But not full-on degrading. She lies all the time but lying about this doesn’t sit right with her, she doesn’t want to hurt you both in any way. 

◊ Celestia enjoys being praised, it definitely gets her to spare you an orgasm if she’s edging you. You really have to praise her about everything about her for her to actually let you get off; although Kyoko is known to be silent, Celestia somehow gets her to plead for her. As a result of teasing lies like, “If you don’t obey, you won’t get to get off darling.”

◊ Celestia dominates both of you, simultaneously. Kyoko doesn’t have enough confidence in her ability to please you both to top, and unless you are somehow able to overpower her, she’s always going to be the one who orders you to do things. 

◊ I can totally imagine Kyoko littering millions of butterfly kisses on both your bodies, but they’re so soft and cute you both start to giggle a bit. “Why are you laughing? Is it bad?” She looks genuinely confused and a little sad- and then that both shocks you into showering her with reassurances, any leftover lick of laughter completely vanished.

◊ Celestia is a huge tease- like, just, the biggest tease. She’ll hover her lips over yours, blow at where you need it most, foreplay lasts longer than you would want it to, but in all honesty, it definitely makes the first stroke of pleasure well worth it. All that anticipation, build-up, is all worth it as she finally gives you what you want.

◊ Kyoko is more intimate, every moment with her is just, so full of love it gives you whiplash from Celestia’s little fun. She always has a hand on your back. It’s such a soft and fleeting touch, you both sometimes wonder if it’s even there.

◊ Something I could imagine happening is Celestia just- pulling out soft hand-cuffs from nowhere as a surprise for the two of you, asking you to tie her up. Seeing as how Kyoko is usually around handcuffs often from her detective work, she’s a little confused as to why people would get turned on from that or even introduce that to the bedroom. It’s the last thing she’d expect. She’s a bit nervous to use them(receiving and serving), and doesn’t see the purpose, but when she caves in and says yes anyway, she finds she actually likes them? 

◊ She wouldn’t admit it though. And it definitely ruins her image of handcuffs; any time she sees a perp in handcuffs, she can just see the pleased looks on your and Celestia’s faces.

◊ Celestia would look down at you with this red gaze that leaves the two of you utterly speechless and aroused, even as she’s bottoming, her piercing gaze reminds you who’s in charge.

[amaya-chwan]

Takeaways from Therapy Game Restart 14 + Illustration Book Release Date

Hello again everyone! ❤️💛💜

It's finally here... chapter 14! In all its glory! 😍🥰✨

Before we get to our takeaways, just some news I missed in the last post!

🎉 SENSEI'S ILLUSTRATION BOOK WILL BE RELEASED AROUND THURSDAY, 23RD SEPTEMBER! 🎉

Image taken from this Twitter post from Dear+!

It is titled "日ノ原巡イラスト集　DARLING" and boasts a collection of illustrations from Sensei's works so far: Secret XXX, Therapy Game, and Kamisama no Uroko.

The current price is ¥2970 with tax (¥2700 without tax). If you'd like to preorder it on your proxy shopping service, I've found it on the Comi Comi Studios website here! The bonus for purchasing it on this website is a B5 clear file~ I haven't seen it on Animate just yet, so fingers crossed it'll appear on their website soon with another (different) bonus! ❤️💛

Alright, with this amazing news done, let's move onto our takeaways, the long awaited takeaways! Thank you for being so patient with me! 💜

My short life update: currently in week 8 of lockdown and I haven't left my house in a long time other than for exercise or groceries. But I do have my vaccination appointment booked so YAY! 🎉

Here are our takeaways for this chapter:

Oh man, we pick right up from the last page of chapter 13. MINATO, BB, YOU LOOK SO PAINED! 😭

Sensei is the BIGGEST tease... that's all we got of that Minato and Shizuma scene...👀😭

The female staff at the veterinary hospital have really mellowed out! They're not bad, after all. ☺️

Oh dear, Nakajou-sensei, please get better ASAP!

Whoa... did Onodera just...?? I'm starting to think back to that Onodera discussion we had a couple of months ago... 🤔

Poor Shizuma, always roped into Onodera's workplace stuff! IT'S BECAUSE YOU HAVE GREAT PEOPLE SKILLS, SHIZUMA! PROUD OF YOU! 😍🙌

Man, Onodera has a really... blunt way of saying things to her human clients. Wow, brave. 😲

But I will say, Onodera really is good with animals. 🙌

Yet again, I think about that Onodera discussion we had... 🤔🤔

And that’s it for this chapter’s takeaways! For a more detailed breakdown/summary of this chapter, please continue after the cut! There may or may not be a surprise scene (or two) there. Please keep reading if you want to see~  😉✨

Our chapter begins where we left off in chapter 13--Minato pinning Shizuma down on the bed. Shizuma looks up at Minato and reflects on his actions that caused the pained look he is seeing.

Image taken from this Dear+ Twitter post!

On the next page (title page), the dialogue reads: Shizuma wants to understand what it is about his director (Onodera) that is making Minato uneasy. // However, that beautiful liar hides it well...

(I believe we are taken back to the morning before Shizuma and Minato meet up for their date.)

The title page features Onodera walking back to the clinic, bread in hand, with a cat cozying up on her leg. We are then brought to the clinic's lunchroom, with the female staff and Shizuma on break. The roster in the room shows that Onodera is extremely busy, Nakajou-sensei has afternoon house call appointments, Tatsumi is Nakajou-sensei's support for these appointments, and Shizuma has a half day and finishes in the afternoon in lieu of working on his scheduled day off.

Shizuma asks his coworkers what presents they like from their partners and takes note of their answers. One of the female nurses asks if it's Minato's birthday. Shizuma confesses that their relationship has been affected by the various things happening lately, so he wants to get Minato a gift before seeing him later that day.

The nurses quickly pick up that the gift is a "tribute" of sorts as this line of work means a lot of missed appointments and dates, and Shizuma confirms their suspicions. While the nurses realise male-male relationships and male-female relationships aren't that different in this aspect, everyone in the lunchroom is alerted to someone shouting Nakajou-sensei's name.

Shizuma and a nurse see Tatsumi with Nakajou-sensei, who has collapsed on the floor. While the staff are concerned about Nakajou's well-being, she brushes it off as a dizzy spell. Before they can help her up, Onodera sweeps her off her feet and carries Nakajou to her (Onodera's) office. While Nakajou asks Onodera to put her down out of sheer embarrassment, Shizuma and Tatsumi are in shock, with Tatsumi commenting on Onodera's manliness in that moment. One of the other nurses gently smacks Shizuma's shoulder and tells the two to grab a blanket and a drink for Nakajou.

In her office, Onodera asks Nakajou why she's been overworking herself to the point of collapsing. The nurse (who gave the gentle smack) very obviously hints to Onodera that it is her fault. As Nakajou calms the nurse by saying that's just how the director is, Tatsumi asks Nakajou about their afternoon appointments. She says she'll be fine to go after a little rest, but the nurse says she mustn't overexert herself.

After a few back and forths about who should go and the clients' needs/personality (picky about the vet, had a pet that doesn't like men, etc), Onodera says she will go. The nurses are shocked and reminisce about all the issues they've had when Onodera interacts with the owners. Tatsumi and Shizuma stand there, and can very clearly imagine those situations happening.

While Onodera rearranges and informs the nurses of the shift changes to accommodate Nakajou-sensei, Shizuma has a terrible premonition that unfortunately comes true: he is appointed as Onodera's support for the afternoon house calls.

Wearing a sulky expression, Shizuma packs the necessary equipment in Onodera's car and reminds her that he has a very important engagement that night that he cannot miss, and as such will leave immediately after the house call appointments are done. Onodera bursts his bubble, and tells him to give up on those plans while he can since this is the line of work he's chosen.

As Shizuma reads the client files, he questions Onodera on why he is her support when he's never attended to these clients before. While Onodera tells him that good coordination is important with a physician's support and that he's the only one she can rely on to give her an honest opinion and calm the clients, Shizuma realises that he's basically the mediator between her and the owners. She confirms that this is his strong point, has great expectations for him, and proceeds to drive. Shizuma then reads the patient files at lightning speed, realising there's a threatening 'something' that Minato has sensed, but that's just how the director is. He then vows to make it to their meeting tonight, no matter what.

The first three house calls, as expected, involve Onodera insulting and angering the owners--Onodera tells the first client that his insistence on seeing Nakajou rather than a 'young' director is having a negative effect on his pet who needs immediate medical care; Onodera offends the second client, inferring from their conversation that her pet's appearance is more important than the need to shave their fur and get an ultrasound done; Onodera accuses the third client of being irresponsible in caring for his exotic animals and asks for more effort on his part. In all three scenarios, Shizuma awkwardly smiles while trying to ease the tension.

The scene skips to Onodera and Shizuma arriving at their fourth and final house call for the day. Just as Onodera explains to Shizuma that she must check a whole host of things at house calls (and indirectly be too blunt about it with the owners), Shizuma asks her to consider the owner's feelings and change when and how she says things. She glares ahead in silence, and Shizuma is just glad that she is now aware of it. He again reminds her to talk with the owner nicely and gently as he probably won't be able to help with the next client as their pet dislikes men. Onodera tells him to just sit in the corner and witness the client become furious while he doesn't help, making him feel slightly guilty for saying that. He is now adament on not helping her.

They reach the owner's home and we meet an elderly woman named Shiratori and her 9-year-old male cat, Tono. Shiratori apologises to Shizuma as her cat doesn't like men. Tono hisses at them as Onodera opens his cage, but is then coaxed into submission by Onodera who covers his vision with a towel and takes him into her lap to calm down. Shiratori and Shizuma are surprised at his sudden docile nature, with Shizuma witnessing how well she deals with animals.

As Shizuma looks on at Onodera while she completes a check on Tono, he sees she is crumbling at the friendliness and talkative nature of Shiratori, who sings nothing but praise for Onodera and how her family must be proud to have such an amazing daughter. Aiming to ease her troubles and remembering the earlier guilt-trip she gave him, he redirects Shiratori's attention to her broken fly screen and offers to fix that plus everything else that needs repair in her home.

Onodera watches as the two leave the room for a bit before apologising to Tono for ignoring him. Tono looks on at Onodera happily while she asks him how he can live with such a lively human and to tell her his secret to this. She brings him into her arms once more to check his limbs, and as Tono looks up smiling at Onodera, Onodera sees her reflection in Tono's eyes, and both seem to realise something.

BG Text: Stare...

Suddenly, Shizuma and Shiratori, who are busy fixing the window, hear a loud crash and rush into the room to find Tono atop the cabinet and Onodera on the floor, with her hair in disarray. In the next panel, Tono is shown to be hiding in the bookshelf, looking on irritatingly at the humans. Shiratori apologises to Onodera, who shakes it off and says it's nothing to worry about and no harm's been done.

Shiratori asks if Onodera will fix/tie her hair up again, but when Onodera says her hair tie was broken when Tono used her as a launchpad to get on the cabinet, Shiratori runs to get her a new one. As Shiratori gushes over the 3 piece dopey looking character hair tie set she received as a present from her grandchild (and lets Onodera pick one), a greatly displeased look is plastered on Onodera's face. Shizuma, in shock, notices her displeasure and hopes she just thanks Shiratori for it. And Onodera does, bringing a great big smile to Shiratori's face.

As Onodera and Shizuma leave, Shiratori says she's glad to have talked with Onodera and invites her to come over again. As she says this, we see Onodera looking back with a blank look in her eyes.

And that’s it for this chapter! THANK YOU FOR READING THIS FAR! 💜 While I was surprised at the lack of Minato in this chapter (Sensei legit is such a tease, LOL 🤣), I'm happy we can learn more about Onodera. Ngl, I'm starting to really question if Onodera is male or female now, given what transpired in this chapter. I guess we shall see in the next one!

I also changed the formatting a bit and removed the bullet points. Please let me know which format is better/easier to read! Ahah!

EDIT: Spelling and grammar checks are done! Didn't change a lot, but hope it reads better! 💜

📢 As always, please support Hinohara-sensei by purchasing her books and CDs! 📢

And please also refrain from resharing these translations and images outside of this post! Thank you for understanding! ❤️💛

There won't be a chapter in next month's (September release) Dear+, so I shall see you in two months for the next chapter (Dear+ November Issue, to be released in October).

As always, stay safe during these turbulent times and look out for each other and for your loved ones! 💜❤️💛

[lovely-angst]

favorite hero

an excuse to write for hawks lmaooooo

word count: 1.5k

genre: fluff

summary: bakugou was on break during his work study, so you decide to pay him a visit. but how would he react when your favorite hero pops in, causing you to go start struck?

12.16.20

-

“Hey, still doing work study?” you ask through the phone as you walked down the streets. You had just gotten done shopping at a pro hero merchandise store, scoring some goodies for yourself.

“Yeah, we just got finished patrolling with Endeavor, so he let us take a break,” Bakugou says on the other side as you give him a hum. “Is it okay if I visit you right now then? I’m just a couple minutes away.”

“Let me ask half and half since it’s his dad’s agency,” Bakugou says before he pulls the phone away. 

You walk towards a bench to sit down at as you wait for Bakugou’s answer. You could hear him asking Todoroki if it was alright for you to visit while the three were on break. 

“Sure, I’d love to see (Name),” you heard Todoroki say, Bakugou barking back at him for trying to flirt with you when Todoroki just enjoys your presence, “I’d love it if (Name) came too, Kacchan!” “Who asked you, Deku?” 

You giggled hearing their banter before Bakugou brought the phone back, “Half and half says it’s okay for you to come, so hurry up before we have to get back to work,” he says and you were up on your feet. 

“Okay! See you soon, Katsuki!” ending the call, you slip your phone away before crossing the street to the convenience store to grab a few items before making your way towards the Endeavor agency.

Just like you said, it took about five minutes before you saw the trio outside the large building waiting for you; Midoriya waving at you excitedly while Todoroki gave you a small smile. Meanwhile, your boyfriend rolled his eyes at them before walking up to you, slipping a hand around your waist. 

“Thank you for allowing me to come during your break, Todoroki,” you say with a smile. “Also, I got you all some water,” you say, reaching into the plastic bag to hand each of the boys some water. 

“Thank you, (Name)!” Midoriya exclaims, accepting the bottle from your hand. “You’re so kind,” 

You let out a giggle, “It’s nothing. You’re all working so hard! I would have gotten some onigiri for you all to snack on, but I didn’t want Endeavor to get upset if you ate something unhealthy on a work study day,” you explain, passing the last bottle to Bakugou. 

“That’s very thoughtful of you,” Todoroki says with a smile.

“Jeez, stop babying them so much, Bakugou says, squeezing the bottle as a streamline of water shoots into his mouth. 

“You went to the pro hero shop today? What did you get?” Midoriya asked excitedly as you glance down at your bag before a large smile crosses your lips. “Oh! Let me show you!” you squeal giddily as you began to jump in place, reaching into your bag. 

“Tah-dah! I got the latest Hawks postcards from his latest photoshoot and I even got a cute little phone charm of him! I gotta replace my old one,” you say, showing the two boys the merch you had bought. Bakugou was not impressed.

“Ah, so you’re a fan of the number two hero?” Midoriya says, looking at you with a soft smile as you nod at him in joy, “He’s my favorite!” 

“Hey, you said I was your favorite!” Bakugou says beside you, offended, “You are my favorite! But Hawks is my favorite pro hero,” 

He pulls his arm away from your waist to cross his arms with an angry frown, he hated it when you went on about Hawks. “What’s so good about him anyway? All he has are his wings,” is what Bakugou would always tell you whenever you gushed about the number two. 

Chuckling, you lean against your boyfriend to comfort the pouty male. “don’t be mad at me, Katsuki.”

“He stops by the agency often these days,” Todoroki informs as you perk up, “apparently he’s been going on a lot of missions with my dad.” 

“Oh, to be able to see him in person!” you cry, clutching onto the small Hawks charm. “Don’t worry, (Name)! One day you will be able to meet him!” Midoriya says and you can’t help but believe him. 

Suddenly, somebody dropped down from out of nowhere beside you, causing you to jump before turning towards whatever appeared beside you and your friends. 

“Heard you kids talking about me. I couldn’t help but drop in to see what’s up,” All eyes focused on the male on the side, beautiful red wings perched on his back. 

“Hey Shouto, doing some work study today under Endeavor again?” he says with a smile as Todoroki nods. 

Golden eyes shift towards yours before locking onto your own. His gaze shifting downwards towards your hands that you had brought up towards your mouth, seeing the Hawks keychain that dangled down for him to see. 

“Don’t tell me you’re one of my fans?” He asked with a large smile, his wings puffed out fluffily as your heart began to pound against your chest.

“H-Hawks! I can’t believe you’re here!” you squeak, hands shaking with excitement and shock. “Can I get your autograph?” you ask and he nods right away, “Of course! Anything for such a cute fan of mine,” he coos, you using all your power to not faint and die in front of Hawks like an idiot. 

Bakugou gawks at how freely the hero was flirting with his girlfriend. Just because he was a pro hero, the number two pro hero, didn’t mean shit! 

“What would you like me to sign, little bird?” Hawks asks, taking out a marker from his pocket as you hand him the postcards shyly, “Oh? You got the latest ones!” he notes with an amused look, “And what would your name be?”

“(Name),” you say quietly. His gold eyes glance up at you before giving you a playful wink, causing you to cover your face with your hands from embarrassment.

“(Name), a lovely name for a lovely fan of mine,” he says, scribbling some words down, along with his signature. “Here you go, dove!” 

“Thank you so much, Hawks,” you say, taking the postcards back, glancing down to read what he had written down. 

‘To (Name), the cutest songbird of mine. 

- Hawks’

You couldn’t help but squeal at the note and the pet name. This day just keeps getting better and better!

“Do you like it?” He asks and all you could do was nod, a large smile planted on your lips. “I love it! I’m so happy, thank you again, Hawks!” 

“Don’t thank me, I should be thanking you for supporting me! It’s always nice to see such adorable fans of mine,” he says and before you can say anything back, Bakugou pushes you behind him. 

“Hey, back off. Just because you’re a pro hero doesn’t mean you can keep hitting on my girlfriend like that. You’re lucky she loves you so much,” Bakugou sneers as Hawks raises his brows, amused.

“Oh, I’m sorry. I didn’t know this little bird was your girlfriend. Better treat her right, or else I just might have to come and sweep her away,” he says playfully, irking Bakugou as you squeak behind him.

Before Bakugou could explode, Endeavor’s loud voice cut through the air. “Hawks! Stop bothering the students!” 

“Sorry, Endeavor! They’re just so much fun,” he replies and you have to rub Bakugou’s arm gently to soothe him. 

Endeavor had come out to retrieve the boys to continue their work study, which meant you were going to be left alone with Hawks, to Bakugou’s dismay.

“Don’t worry, I’ll make sure this little dove makes it to the train station safely,” Hawks says with his friendly smile, igniting Bakugou’s anger some more. Noticing your boyfriend’s hesitation, you quickly run up to him, “Don’t worry, I’ll send you a text once I get home safe, okay?” 

Bakugou stares at you quietly before tilting his head to quickly press a kiss on your cheek, “Make sure to go home right away,” he whispers, pulling away from you to catch up with Endeavor. 

Giving him a small wave, you turn back to Hawks, still shocked to see your favorite hero. “Shall we get going?” 

The walk to the station was a quiet one, for you were too shy to say anything to your favorite hero. Hawks thankfully spoke up for you, “Your boyfriend is definitely something,” he chuckles and you smile. 

“Yeah, but I love him for it. He knows exactly what he wants and he works hard to achieve it,” you respond, already missing Bakugou. “Thanks for walking me to the station by the way,” you say once the two of you had arrived.

Flapping his wings, he smiled, “Of course. Get home safe, okay dove?” Nodding, you give him a wave, watching him turn around and fly off into the sky.

Taking your phone out of your pocket, you decided to send Bakugou a quick text before heading towards your train.

‘You know I love Hawks, but I really love you 1000% more. Don’t forget it <3′

[starshipsofstarlord]

Can you do part 2 of chandelier?

Chandelier

This is part to to this imagine, find it here

Pairing | dark!Wanda Maximoff x reader

Summary | the suburban life that you have been locked in soon takes a turn whence another being, with radiating power is revealed to be causing such destruction. Perhaps Wanda isn’t the bad guy, or at least, not the worst villain that has you under their thumb. Witches, and their possessiveness!

Warnings | mentions of death, violence, witches, magic, imprisonment, angst, spoilers for Wandavision. I fixed the Ralph Bohner plot because I could

Quick link to my masterlist, if you’re interested in reading more of my crap 😬

Time had surpassed, and continuing to live under the restrictions of Wanda hadn’t been so bad. She was your wife, the Maximoff that owned your heart, a red beam of scarlet that floated around in the depths of your head. Her influence left a pressure inside of you, a mark and a reminder to her that you belonged to her.

One thing that you knew for certain, was that you needed to escape these red restrictions, and break free of this place that you were forced to call home. It was tough to slip from the penetrating gaze of the possessive redhead, but to your luck, your nosey neighbour had decided, on this fine evening, to walking into the kitchen, and stir up some gossip with your partner.

Agnes, as she went by. It always seemed like she wanted to be away from that husband Ralph of hers, but you couldn’t blame her, you wanted nothing more than to escape the possessiveness of your wife. She was no longer the same woman that you had met, she was crafted by loss, that tormented her into being a captive. Using the excuse of protecting you to her advantage, claiming that you would not appreciate what lay on the outside of Westview.

Party girls don't get hurt

Can't feel anything, when will I learn?

I push it down, push it down

I'm the one "for a good time call"

But you couldn’t help but feel completed as you reached the borders of the town. It was surreal, you felt ecstatic to leave this little prison, that was in deep disguise to convince all residents that their home was real, and not all an illusion painted by a certain redhead. She saw you as a new canvas, which she kept overlapping with white paint to make blank for another piece of mindful artwork.

Turning once more, to ensure that the woman of your nightmares hadn’t decided to appear behind you, within a second, you lurched forward, pushing your body through her borders, feeling each atom in your atom tug apart and put itself back together, as you fought with just your own body to break through the access and exit point of her false reality.

That’s all this was, an illusion, masked in amounts of power that could possibly kill you. But death by attempted escape was better than remaining here, in this vast plain, that was all meant to occupy the mind, fooling it into thinking that this was a normal life. Instead, you knew how absurd it was, there were tweaks every now and then, until you were transferred into a different time.

Right now, you were in the 2000s, but you needed to get back to 2023, the real time line, the universe outside of these red orbits that stood strong, and pained your skin, pushing a power that you did not know that you could feel beneath your flesh, making your body burn from your withdrawal from its sharp contents.

Phone's blowin' up, ringin' my doorbell

I feel the love, feel the love

One, two, three, one, two, three, drink

One, two, three, one, two, three, drink

One, two, three, one, two, three, drink

One. Two. Three. A yell bellowed from your throat as you fell out to the other side, collapsing on the ground, as your fingertips dug into the surface below. For a moment you frowned, before you glanced behind you, seeing the grand gesture of magic in its place, and you out of your own. You picked dirt up with your hands, it felt real, not like molecules that had been wedged together to create the appearance of such a natural substance.

The sound of footsteps had you rolling over, preparing to attack whomever had decided to disturb your peace, crouching on your knees as you glared up. It was a woman, one that you vaguely remembered, before your ever so loving wife had informed you that she had moved away, something about her mother not feeling well. All though, that may have been an illusion too, for all you were aware.

Nobody escaped Westview, until you. There was no route out, you were sure the chase wasn’t over, Wanda would come after you, numbing your mind with her tugging hands, that swirled with her red essence. The woman emitted grave power, and you far well knew that she would use it for when the time came. She would make you her prisoner once more, a dull and empty shell that would be ordered to do nothing more than return her affections with a plastered smile.

“Geraldine?” You asked nervously, realising that the woman appeared far different than the version of her within the Hex. She had portrayed nothing more than a fine friend to the deluded woman, supporting her magic show and coming over for tea in the morning, until she mentioned... Sokovia. Sokovia, her home, that had fallen against the battle with Ultron! You remembered!

Throw 'em back 'til I lose count

I'm gonna swing from the chandelier

From the chandelier

I'm gonna live like tomorrow doesn't exist

Like it doesn't exist

“Geraldine doesn’t exist.” She smiled softly, holding out a hand so that she could assist you to your feet. With sly eyes, you took it, untrusting of anyone at the moment. “My name is Monica, I have the intent of stopping your wife, she’s dangerous. She’s expanding these borders, and soon, I have no doubt that she will eat up the whole world, turning it into her playground.”

Playgrounds. They had been another thing that you noticed specked around the town, though there never seemed to be any children to play in them. That gave you some relief, unless they were locked up, stowed away to be kept of the suburban life. Wanda didn’t want children anyway, she wanted you, her baby, her fine darling, her pet. You were nothing more than a decoration within her false realm, a means to keep a smile stretched upon her sinister face, and a stopper to her darting red eyes.

And thus you stood on your own feet, no scarlet shadow behind you, whispering thoughts that were not your own in through your ear. Gulping, you looked Monica up and down, nervously seeing if she were to fade into the air, as many things did when the times changed, as they converted into more modern alternatives. A part of you had wished that you would grow with the changes, become stronger, become a free woman.

“I am not her wife.” You admitted aloud, feeling a heavy weight roll off your chest. There, you had said it, and for the first time, you hoped that the redhead heard you, you could imagine her scowl right now. That, that would be something that was sure as hell real, and not a part of her sketch script, her sitcoms were curtains.

They could be opened or closed, but often of a night, were shut to keep the silhouettes of monsters out. She was the monster, hiding from herself and the reality that she had came from. Though, the woman could not accept that she was the villain here. The creator of the dialysis that was affecting the lives of many, but for what purpose.

I'm gonna fly like a bird through the night

Feel my tears as they dry

I'm gonna swing from the chandelier

From the chandelier

But I'm holding on for dear life

“We have to stop her.” Monica spoke, getting out of the vehicle, you following behind her, as she moved closer to the collateral red veil that reached high up into the sky. Sounds from Jimmy insisted that she remain, and that another way in could be found, but all of you knew that was a long shot. And there was no time to wait around, not as purple grates were seen through the crimson walls of her boundaries, bursting like fireworks against her protection system.

And thus, you, gulping down the sensations of fear prickling at your fingers, followed after Monica, whom walked through the moulded fire, stepping into the plain that digressed your body, pulling it as though it were trying to reform your genes, affecting your DNA. As you succumbed to the sensations, you felt a burst in your chest, an ignition of something greater deep inside you.

But unlike Wanda, you were not going to use it for your own sinful convenience, you were going to stop her. You gasped as you fell out the other side, your limbs feeling like they were aflame, askew with treacherous fire. Turning to Monica, you saw that her eyes had transformed into an ambient blue, piercing your soul.

Won't look down, won't open my eyes

Keep my glass full until morning light

'Cause I'm just holding on for tonight

Help me, I'm holding on for dear life

Won't look down, won't open my eyes

“Your skin.” She spiked, raising her hand to her own cheek as she looked upon you. It was separated into sections, adjoined by the bone, as neon orange kept it attached, like cracks that had yet to be partitioned. There was no time for idly finding a mirror to squalor through at your own appearance though, no. You had returned to this hell for one reason only, and that was put an end to all this consuming madness.

And so, the pair of you walked through the town, not having to go far until you saw the ongoing battle. Agnes, as you had known her, was in the sky, along with you alleged wife, purple robes floating from her body, her hair crazed and wild, much like her eyes. She was no friendly neighbour, she was a reaper coming out to play, throwing lilac bursts of power towards Wanda, whom returned the favour with her own red energy.

“How do we get to them?” Rambeau asked, frowning as she watched their exchange with worried irises. To answer her question, your body aligned itself to rise, transcending towards the two warriors, your eyes hot and fiery as they flared remarkably at the sight of the bewitched competition.

At your presence, Agnes smirked, and Wanda’s face paled, soaking in the sight of your skin glowing with your own source of power. “If it isn’t your wife, just on time to join us for the main course.” Your nose curled at the sound of her distorted voice, as your head raised itself, glaring upon the scene. “There’s something different about you, I can’t quite put my finger on it.”

Keep my glass full until morning light

'Cause I'm just holding on for tonight, on for tonight

Sun is up, I'm a mess

Gotta get out now, gotta run from this

Here comes the shame, here comes the shame

To emphasise her point, she emitted a pulse of her magic towards you, it hitting deep in the pit of your chest. Though, it didn’t explode, or send you hurtling back, instead it grew brawlingly in your chest, brewing like a potion, and expanding every human structure that you could feel kept your skeleton upright.

As your head fall, and you remained in your place, Wanda frowned, head tilting as a crown appeared upon her forehead. She could not understand how you had changed so clearly. You were definitely not her wife, you were an image of her enemy, floating alongside her, standing for your cause. That was to end her, and this place she had formatted to become her home; your home.

When she had learnt of your betrayal, escaping whilst she was distracting by this opposer of hers, she had been filled with various emotions. Angry was one definition of how she had felt, but another had been determined. She was determined to get you back, and wash away all thoughts of ever leaving her again. But as she looked upon you, for some reason, she knew that her tricks wouldn’t work.

One, two, three, one, two, three, drink

One, two, three, one, two, three, drink

One, two, three, one, two, three, drink

Throw 'em back 'til I lose count

I'm gonna swing from the chandelier

“What are you?” She asked in that distressed accent of hers. What were you? It was unknown, or at least to your own knowledge, you were a vision, a bird set free, no longer trapped behind the bars of a cage. Wanda tried to thrust your to the side with her elegant will, but instead of obeying her technical whim, you tilted your head.

It came as a shock to you as well, having expected to be thrown around by her wishes, but instead, you remained, only absorbing her tainted force, your hair blowing from the sweeping of the stormy wind as you poised the two witches with your amber gaze, keeping your pupils locked on them, as a hurricane rounded through the air, grabbing every form of their power.

The walls of the Hex slowly faded, swirling in the air before coming on command towards you, roping around your limbs before sinking into your flesh, leaving Agatha with a studying from onto her trialed face. She was watching, rather than fighting with you, picking out the little details like she had done with Wanda.

From the chandelier

I'm gonna live like tomorrow doesn't exist

Like it doesn't exist

I'm gonna fly like a bird through the night

Feel my tears as they dry

She was the scarlet witch, the most powerful sorceress of all, but you indeed were something else. Monica squinted from below, as she saw a streak of blue oncoming towards her, his willpower transcending through her, as he crumbled mistakenly to the ground.

He was a fake, or was he. As he tripped, Monica caught sight of the flaring purple beads around his neck, and thus, she knelt upon his chest, as she looked at them. This Pietro was being controlled, and she assumed it was through the ancient jewellery, and so, she pulled it from around his neck, scattering the beads upon the street.

As the man looked up, he was astounded. There was a fiery bird igniting in the sky, its wingspan spreading far, as it reigned terror upon all. He was amazed to see the sight once more... she was supposed to be dead. She had sacrificed herself, turned into particles within the universe. But it seemed as though the winged creature, pardoned by great force lived on.

I'm gonna swing from the chandelier

From the chandelier

But I'm holding on for dear life

Won't look down, won't open my eyes

Keep my glass full until morning light

'Cause I'm just holding on for tonight

Help me, I'm holding on for dear life

“Jean?” He whispered to himself, with a frown, his hand covering his mouth as he thought of his old friend that had facaded into meandering smithereens. Monica sighed at the man, walking closer, as she crossed her arms, looking down upon where he had crashed, and was laying upon the ground.

“Ralph Bohner?” She asked, watching as the stranger frowned at the title that she assumed of hun. With speed, he assisted himself up, brushing his hands on his legs, as he kept blinking up at the apocalyptic sky.

“No, I feel sorry for a dude with that name.” He lightly chuckled, finding the boner joke rather hilarious. “Peter Maximoff is the name, my fine lady.” She shook her head at his efforts but... Maximoff? What about Pietro?

Won't look down, won't open my eyes

Keep my glass full until morning light

'Cause I'm just holding on for tonight

On for tonight, on for tonight

“She’s the dark Phoenix.” Agatha gulped, her face contorting into one of fear and worry as she looked on at the way your arms spread like an eagle, igniting with their flame like aura. She had heard ancient stories, but they were not from this time. And here you were, facing off against her and the scarlet witch.

They had no chance against you, but Wanda did not know that, and as she readied to face off with you, she found herself being pushed to the ground, by nothing more than your stern gaze. Agatha too was pulled in by your sway, as you forced both to descend, and be grounded.

With a curve of your neck, they found themselves trapped against telephone lines, lines of their own magic pulling at them like strands. They were tied up, like the witches of old, powerless to those that stalked them.

'Cause I'm just holding on for tonight

Oh, I'm just holding on for tonight

On for tonight, on for tonight

'Cause I'm just holding on for tonight

All of a sudden, Wanda felt overcome with regret, as she was put in this position. She tried to escape, but Agnes as she had called herself priorly shook her head at the silly girl, understanding that this was the end.

“We are no match for her Wanda. She is not a witch, she is being far more powerful. Fall to her mercy, or you will receive the brunt of it.” Westview had fallen, and thus, Wanda realised that by taking you, you had taken everything right back from her, reciprocating the notion that she had described to be love.

She held on, wanting the night to be over, as she saw Monica, the woman that had tried to help her, behind you. And the man that had posed as her biological brother. There was no hope left for her, no saving her. In the end, she had became the villain. Her and Agatha were not so different after all.

'Cause I'm just holding on for tonight

Oh, I'm just holding on for tonight

On for tonight, on for tonight

[coffee-or-murder]

For the list of 69 questions, for whichever three seem like they'd be fun for this set: 2, 11, 25, 38, and 55~~~

This one almost didn't fit lol. I got a bit rambly.

Three characters 

2 - What was your original concept for this character? How did playing them change that concept?

Lemon - So when I was invited to the group I really wasn’t sure what to play, just that I knew I wanted to play a caster. The very first concept for Lemon was a wizard developing spells to help her bake, but when I found out we had a wizard and a druid someone suggested I complete the circle of caster nerds as a knowledge cleric! Then Lemon was added to the Bakhouzin family, which I’d been developing off and on for roughly two or so years by that point. Originally she wasn’t going to have anything to do with the Family Business, but after sitting on it I thought it was weird she wouldn’t be affected by it at all, and the original thought I had for her to leave home didn’t work as well. So instead of leaving home to discover new recipes to impress her family, she was sent away for her safety after her mother shoved her into an arranged marriage. Lemon was also supposed to be much more mischievous right off the bat, but after thinking of her emotional issues that got scrapped until she’s more secure in her position with the team.  

Laura-  A sassy NPC who no one would remember, but then Vaska got attached and now she’s my most adjusted character with the most bonker’s parents. Daughter of a bard who owns a seaside tavern and The Great Dread, a shark/angler fish dread wave mistresses. Her husband lovingly calls her Katherine, Katy, My dearest love, etc. Laura’s parents are so sappy. She still doesn’t have a class yet, but I think she would be a sorcerer/warlock!

Amaryllis - So she originally was traveling out of her home country to make a name for herself so her noble mother would claim her and she wouldn’t be a bastard anymore. In the oneshot she was attentive, curious, and only picked one fight with a rude captain who shouldn’t have been in charge of anything. Playing her that way made me realize she would be much better suited as a hero turned villain with a redemption arc. So The Lion Empress was born! Upon returning from attempting to make a name for herself, she survived a murder attempt by her mother and the other higher ups in her family, and started a violent military takeover against the corrupt nobility :D Now she reigns as The Lion Empress, working to weed out the corrupt nobles, protect the people, and somehow find a way to transfer power without the country collapsing around them.  

11 - If they have a pet or animal companion, how do they spend time with them? If they don’t have one, what sort of animal would they be interested in raising, if any? 

Lemon - She wants one so bad and was very tempted to try to argue to keep a mimic, but the party all seemed pretty strongly against it so she didn’t push. Lemon would be too worried about keeping a pet alive in the field, so currently she’s leaning towards finding a way to get a familiar so she can have a flying snake friend. The noodle would be cuddled and worn under her scarf, fed bits of food, and she’d share snark with them about things she notices but are worried the party wouldn’t like her snarking about. . 

Laura - She would love to snuggle with a ship cat, but something about her tends to make animals a little nervous. Maybe it’s the teeth? Other than that she doesn’t have a strong urge either way! Pup is enough of a responsibility for her. 

Amaryllis - As a child she wanted a pet griffin, because she’d settled on the idea from reading tales of old knights that she should have an animal companion tied to heraldry. Now she doesn’t have time for a pet, let alone something that outlandish. Instead she visits her father and pets his dog or spends time in the stables with the horses. Overall she still prefers her plants to animals. 

25 - Who is their best friend? 

Lemon - Coyote was her first friend, and Blair and Adja were practically her little siblings, but Tadhgan held the honor of Best Friend for a long time even with all the attempts at flirting. Lemon made up her mind early on she wouldn’t lose him as a friend because he was too important to lose, but that didn’t stop her from getting butterflies anytime they lingered a bit. 

Laura - Within the oneshot she was played in Felix! He’s a human fighter and a bit of an asshole, but honestly her best friend on the ship. She loses to him at Pearl in the Deep a lot, and they tease each other over nearly everything. 

Amaryllis - Zadok hands down. They have seniority over any friendship she may make later in life. They met as children, before they turned 9, and have been inseparable ever since. They became her most trusted general and right hand when she took the throne. 

38 - Do they see themselves as an important part of their party? 

Lemon - That is a complicated answer, the short version is “no but maybe sometimes”. She’s pretty sure the party would do just fine without her in basically everything, but how much of that is her own self worth issues and how much is based in any fact is up for debate. But please don’t debate her she might cry

Laura - As one of the ship’s medics and one of the best at tying knots? Absolutely she’s important. Also who else would keep Felix from being an actual asshole? She’s good for ship morale!

Amaryllis - As empress she recognizes her worth as a piece in the larger political game. This does not stop her from creating plans on how to handle various situations if she were to die, or be killed in battle, or assassinated, or if removing her from power would lead to a more secure future for the people and those she loves.  

55 - They’re seeing their greatest wish come true–what’s happening? 

Lemon - Her mother disappeared under mysterious circumstances before her engagement. No one questions it. There was no contract. Uncle Benji starts to talk about moving her in with him or letting her keep the house but lo and behold, her father comes home. He explains why he left, and Lemon actually thinks it was for good reason instead of what she suspects is just an excuse not to be around his failure of a marriage and useless daughter  and it takes awhile but they figure out where they fit and have an actual relationship. Lemon discovers in her own time that as much as she loves Tadhgan they aren’t suited in the long run, because she doesn’t actually just want to be a baker in Shireforth and never leave home or develop her magic. Her father is there for her first heartbreak and has actual advice and offers care and support for his daughter. After all that she is able to leave home and join the party on her own terms. Lemon has the time to discover what she actually wants to do with her life, still meet the friends she comes to love, and not be terrified of messing things up all the time because she has a home to return to. 

Laura - Her Pa and Ma get to live together the whole year instead of having one 24 hour period together on her birthday every year. Ma gets to move between the sea and land and see the tavern Pa built for her. The women she loves are on the same ship as her and their captain is lovely and capable. Gets an extra smooch from her partners. 

Amaryllis - Her mother claimed her as heir, and while they never quite had the relationship she dreamed of they are an effective team. Her mother and father make amends and while they don’t start a relationship they can be in the same room without one or the other leaving immediately. Amaryllis is able to make reforms in the nobility without mass bloodshed. The people know her as kind and strong and reliable. When the Boar comes to their borders she and Zadok are able to speak with her, show her what they’re doing to make a smooth transition of power. Amaryllis never meets Sterling, and falls in love with Eilidh instead while they all work together to make their kingdom better.  She and Zadok and Eilidh start their relationship under better circumstances.