#we shoot one more day on saturday at a different location that will be FINE but. that still leaves at least 60% of the script to be shot
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this is still me so no writing tonight hehe
pls keep me in ur thots n prayers bc this is me rn
#ooc#moopisms#most of the shoot is unfortunately cancelled#the location wouldn’t work with us#the school won’t work with us#we worked for hours trying to come up with alternate solutions and eventually decided it would be best to pull the plug#so the director can maintain his artistic vision with a proper location#but that means most of the shoot is delayed at least several months#we shoot one more day on saturday at a different location that will be FINE but. that still leaves at least 60% of the script to be shot#i got us pizza for lunch bc we were all starving and when we were all leaving there was one slice left and i was like#you should have it.#bro looked ready to cry i swear#anyways i’ve gotten 9 hours of sleep total over 2 days so i’m incoherent so no replies#i’ll work on them later i prommy#tl;dr don’t be an assistant director LMAOOOO
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2021/07/07 Blog post by Wakana 「麺」と「MEN」が仲間入り!!〜私の昼食大革命〜
Super-Noodles have joined the ranks!〜My Great Lunch Revolution〜
❗This is Fan Club EXCLUSIVE content❗ ❗PERSONAL USE ONLY❗ Do ❗NOT SHARE❗ on other sites ❗ Join her FAN CLUB! Check out my detailed TUTORIAL ❗
Recently, I've come across something amazing that has shocked me to my core, the food of my dreams, it's truly revolutionised my daily diet. SUPER NOODLES! ・: * +. \ ((° ω °)) /.:+ ・:*+.\((°ω°))/.:+ ・:*+.\((°ω°))/.: + ・: * +. \ ((° ω °)) /.:+ (they are gluten-free). These noodles are made from rice. Some of you may wonder if these taste like Vietnamese pho noodles or vermicelli noodles since they are also made from rice but they are actually quite different in texture and taste. They are not as soft but instead they are firm and chewy like udon, ramen, and regular pasta (they are vacuum-packed as seen in the picture and it only takes a minutes to make them, amazing, right?).
For the most part I live gluten-free so I do my best to stay away from flour. For example, I usually eat ramen and udon about once a month or so, the last time I had pasta was in autumn last year (if I remember correctly?*laughs*). I had pizza at the end of the year! And I had some bread while we did a shoot the other day ♪ It was delicious ~ ♪
I'm not allergic to gluten, so I can eat it without any issue, and I honestly really love noodles and bread. But as we all know it's better not to eat too much flour. That's why I try to refrain from it. I love pasta so much that I used to eat it almost every day. Whenever I have some delicious pasta I get addicted and super greedy, I will feel the need to eat it again the next day and the next. That’s why I really try my best to stay away from that *laughs*. Pizza is really delicious as well, and when I eat it, I feel like having it every week, so it is also very high on my list of things I try to avoid as much as possible. There are many occasions where I am tempted to eat bread but I am not really addicted to it so I don’t suffer from withdrawal symptoms if I don't have it regularly, it’s not like I need to have it every day so I am fine with that *laughs*. Also, I don't have much desire to eat cakes or other types of desserts with flour, so I don't mind staying away from them. I have gotten stronger and more patient when it comes to udon and ramen so I can tolerate having them only once a month. I have actually not had udon in a while now ... since I love udon so much I want to eat it in Fukuoka ... (when I am in Fukuoka, I allow myself to eat as much udon as I want ♪)
Writing all of this I feel like many people might assume that I am overdoing it, that it might not be very healthy to deny myself all these foods but the truth is, this eating habit has become part of my life, it feels very natural to me. I have various options for my main and side dishes so it’s not troublesome at all and it doesn’t feel like I am missing out on anything(⌒ ▽ ⌒) ♪ And sometimes the ban is lifted and I will eat whatever I want ♪ But yeah, for the most part I just want to eat udon and pasta without having to worry about my body. And that’s possibe now. Thanks to the super noodles!!! My wish has come true!!!! (´ ; Д ; `) Really, a true revolution! These special "noodles" have joined the ranks of my favourite lunch foods (lunch is the only meal where I eat carbs)!! I have so much fun every day thinking of new ways to prepare my noodles *laughs* In the first picture you are seeing my basic lunch. Very lazily prepared *laughs*. And the follow-up picture is what happens if you use noodles instead of rice ↓ ↓ ↓ I added a raw egg to the hot boiled super noodles, some Saku-Saku Crispy Soy Sauce and then sprinkled some sesame seeds on top, pure heaven. If you add some tomato sauce, it tastes just like regular tomato sauce pasta. The noodles look like real pasta, but it’s all made of rice. And they taste just like pasta!! A huge surprise!! Noodles by themselves aren’t the most nutritious food so I always make sure to have miso soup or natto on the side *laughs*. My lunch is in the midst of going through a great revolution!
Hello, this is Wakana (0 ̄ ▽  ̄0) /
My introduction turned out really long *laughs*. Yup, it’s a long wall of text this time *laughs*. If you are interested in a gluten-free diet, there are so many powerful and useful foods that will help you on your journey and provide peace of mind! \\\\ ٩ ('ω') و //// ♪
By the way, today is July 7th! It's Tanabata ☆ o (^ ▽ ^) o It gets cloudy on Tanabata every year so as expected it’s cloudy in Tokyo tonight too ... a shame~ ( ̄ ▽  ̄;)
Time flew by, it's already been two and a half months since my spring concert ... How is time going by so quickly? Prior to the release of the live Blu-ray, Victor's Official YouTube Channel released a digest video! The trailer is about 7 minutes long and you really get a proper feel for the live *laughs*. Please be sure to check it out~ ♪
And the other day we got to finally announce the musicians for "Wakana Anime Classic 2021" which will have its first performance in Osaka on August 15!!! Tadaaaa!!!
Music Director / Piano: Shin Hashimoto (Sin) Violin: Koichiro Muroya Cello: Takahiro Yuki
Sin-san, the music director and pianist, has assisted me on many occasions, he contributed to the "Wakana Covers ~ Anime Classics ~" album and he has accompanied me on YouTube videos and other online events! The violinist Muroya-san has not only worked on my "Wakana Covers ~" album, he has also participated in the recording for many songs on my other albums! I have actually known the cellist Yuki-san ever since my days in Kalafina, back then he played the cello during various productions. Now that I have become a solo artist, he continues to be of help during recordings. Such a fantastic trio!! I think that the arrangements this time around will be simpler and the sound will be much more intimate. We want to carefully create immaculate arrangements so you can enjoy every second of the concert. I can’t wait for rehearsals to start ...! I think August will come in no time so I'm really just looking forward to the first live performance in Osaka (● ´ω ` ●) *excited* ♪
It's a little while before I can meet you in person but there will be an online sign event this Friday and Saturday ~ (* ^ ◯ ^ *) Just a little while longer! I'll be writing your names and adding my signature on these lovely sheets ~ (๑˃̵ᴗ˂̵) Please look forward to it~! !!
Well then, let’s meet on the weekend! Until next time〜☆( *'▽’*)/
*** Wakana ***
2021/07/07 Instagram post by Wakana
More location photos! I went to a place of my dreams ~ 🌿🌿🌿 A country of plants! ️😆😆 I have been there several times already, there are many plants, flowers, gorgeous pots and fashionable vases every time I come here, it's truly a magical land that I never get tired of ... 🥰💕 Details of this location will be announced at a later date 😊 Please be patient a little while longer🎵 The second photo is featuring colourul vases in the shapes of vegetables and fruits ~ 😍🍓🍋🍍 🍓 I was worrying so much about whether to buy one or not ❗ (in the end I resisted). By the way, today is Tanabata 🎋 Please spend a wonderful night with your wishes in mind ✨🌠🌟🌠
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#kalafina#wakana#wakana blog#fan club exclusive content#botanical land#wakana on instagram#long text post
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The Man the World Forgot
Part 1
summery: Chris was living the life. He was a famous movie star with all of his films a blockbuster hit. Millions of people around the world knew his name; Chris was the most famous person in the world. But that all changed in a matter of seconds. When Chris wakes up one morning and the world has no idea who he is. Not even his family and close friends. Chris Evans no longer exist, or more exactly he never did. No one remembered him, no one except Scarlet. Scarlet McLaughlin was just a normal college student just trying to make it to graduation. She discovers that she is the one who remembers who Chris Evans is. Together they try and work out why the world doesn’t remember the movie star. Will they be able to fix the movie stars life or will he just stay forgotten in the minds of his loved ones?
word count: 2.2K
Chis Evans’ Saturday night was just a regular Saturday night while away for work: he called Scott to talk to Dodger, went for a quick run before eating in the hotel restaurant. He watched the couple sitting next to him celebrate something and grew a bit jealous. All he wanted in life to find the right person, settle down, and have kids. Chris just never met the right person.
After finishing his meal, the lonely star went back to his room to get ready for his busy day of shooting in the morning. Normally he would at least explore the city a little but he wasn’t in the mood to explore the beautiful Big Easy tonight. Before the elevator doors closed a pair of newly weds game in and were giggling in the corner. Evans tired to hid as to not draw attention to himself but the couple were too entranced with each other to notice that there was someone else in the elevator.
When the now suffocating metal box reached his floor, Chris exited and walked to his room wondering when he would ever have what they had. He kicked his shoes off as soon as his hotel door closed behind him and got ready for bed. Once he got in bed, he decided against watch tv and just let the noise of the city ease him into slumber. But before he could close his eyes, he saw a light streak across the night sky. ‘A shooting star’ he thought. Chris closed his eyes and made a wish.
“I wish I could be normal and find the love of my life,” he whispered before finally going to sleep.
At midnight the sky exploded with light. The entire city of New Orleans went quite for just a second then roared back to life as if being rebooted. Little did the actor know that his innocent wish full of love and hope had come true but has also brought a twist.
Chris woke up to his alarm blaring at six in the morning for his call time at seven thirty. He has awoken with a new cheery disposition than when he went to bed. Chris had a feeling that today was going to be a great day. He was about to call Scott to talk to Dodge and his brother but decided to take a shower first cause he knew he would be on that call for a while.
After his shower, Chris put on simple jeans and a t-shirt then grabbed his wallet and phone to head to set. The bipolar southern weather had subsided and left a nice cool day, causing the actor to decide to walk the few blocks to set. While on his walk Chris noticed that he was actually relaxed. There was no people with cameras following him nor fans stopping him for a picture. He chalked it up to people still being hung over from their night on Bourbon Street. Chris then remembered that he still has to call Scott. He took out his phone and pressed on his brother’s name in his contacts and waited for him to pick up.
“Hello,” Scott answered in a confused tone.
“Hey man, I just called to say good morning to Dodge. Did I wake you,” Chris asked hoping that he didn’t. He sometime forgot that not everyone is on his sleep schedule.
“Who is this,” Scott replied.
Chis laughed thinking that this was one of his brothers pranks or that he had woken his brother up and he was so fresh from sleep that he was confused. “Scott its me. Are you hung over?” Chris asked as he stopped at a cross walk.
“Hi me but I still don’t know who this is. How did you get this number? You can’t just call me to talk to my dog,” Scott said in a slightly irritated tone.
Chris really thought that his brother was milking this prank. Which was fine. “Scott already very funny its Chris. Your brother. Now can I talk to MY dog before I head on set.”
“Look I don’t know who this is but I don’t have a brother. Don’t call here again,” Scott said before hanging up.
Chis looked at his phone after his brother hung up just to make sure he called the right person. He decided against calling him again just to check up on him partly because he wanted to wait til he had a lunch break in hopes that Scott would give up on this prank and partly because he was at his filming location.
He walked up to the security guard and gave him a smile as he walked by, but the guard stopped him. “Name,” the guard asked.
Evans wasn’t use to not being recognized but he chalked it to being protocol. He gave the guard his name and id and waited til he check is clipboard of approved people on set. “Your not on the list,” the guard replied handing back the id.
“There has got to be some mistake,” Chris said slightly annoyed, “Im the lead role.”
“You are not on the list, which means you don’t get in.”
Chris was now more annoyed so he took out his phone and called his agent Charlie to straighten this whole mess out. Once Charlie picked up the phone Chris skipped the pleasantries and just tole him how he’s not being let on set and that he’s about to be late.
“Who is this,” Charlie asked after Chris went on his little rant.
“Charlie, its Chris. Chris Evans.”
“Um i’m not in the office today but if you make an appointment with my assistant we can look into maybe representing you. I don’t know how you got this number but i’m going to give you my assistant’s and you just make an appointment,” Charlie replied in a professional manor.
“Charlie. Im already your client. Did Scott put you up to this,” Chris laughed at the extent of his brother’s prank.
“I know all of my clients and a Chris Evans is not one of them. Im sorry I think you have the wrong number. Have a great weekend,” Charlie replied hanging up the phone.
Chris was starting to really not like this prank. He had to be on set in five minutes, but his anxiety of the whole situation was getting really out of hand so he went for a walk around the city. Then he will be late to set and Charlie will call him back to apologize making the whole prank thing to rest.
Even though the city isn’t at its bullies at seven thirty in the morning Chris couldn’t deny the cozy and exciting atmosphere of it. Once again on his walk Chris was not bothered by fans nor photographers and for a quick second he wondered how extensive was the plank his brother was pulling. He pasted a Café Du Monde and realized that he had planned on eating breakfast on set. This place was on a list of places Anthony had told Chris to visit while he was in New Orleans. These beignets were supposedly the best things ever so Chris took his friends advice and decided to have an order for breakfast.
He sat down at a table outside so he could still enjoy the scenery of the old beautiful city and waited for a waitress to come over. Chris was entranced by some street players when his waitress came over and greeted him a good morning. He looked over and saw a young girl about seventeen in white button-up shirt with black pants, black bowtie, and a long green apron. The actor braced himself for the questions and her starstruck demeanor.
“Are you,” she started to say as she grabbed her notebook out of the apron.
“Chris Evans yes, how are you,” he said expecting her question of a picture and autograph. But it never came instead introduced herself and told him she was asking if he was ready to order.
This took Chris by surprise. Usually you women this this waitress would be hounding him for pictures and autographs and question but she did. He wanted to chalk it up to her being professional but there was a tiny voice inside his head the told him it was something else.
“Sorry um ill take an order of beignets and a café au Lait,” Chris ordered thankful for the pressure from Anthony for him to pronounce every thing he is going to eat in New Orleans correctly so he doesn’t look stupid. The Waitress gave him a nod and a smile before to put in his order.
The waitress came back three minutes later with the coffee and a plate with three beignets. She placed the items on the table and gave him the line of ‘hope you enjoy’ then went back to work. After he took one bite, he realized that Anthony was right about how delicious these things were. Chris was about to text his friend about how much he enjoyed the fried doughy treat but decided against because he knew Mackie was in the west coast for his film and its six am in Hollywood, also he didn’t want to take the chance that Scott had gotten him in on the prank as well.
For the first time in forever Chris Evans wanted to be attacked by paparazzi and to be swarmed by fans getting too close for comfort. So he did the only think he could think of. Once he finish his breakfast he paid and left a generous tip to the young highs cool student and walked to the place where he knew there would be people at eight in the morning: the Flea Market down the road.
Once he arrived to the Flea Market, he was overwhelmed over the amount of people there. Given that it was eight in the morning on a Saturday it wasn’t weird for this many people to be there, but the sight gave Chris a little bit of anxiety. He was starting to second guess being around so many people in this publish setting just to get recognized.
But once again while he was looking at all the different booths, no one stopped him, no one took his picture, and no one whispered about him behind his back. Chris decided to get Scott something from the flea market in hopes that it would make him fell bad for this prank; Chris had also gotten some souvenirs for the rest of his family while at the flea market as well. Once he was finished with his shopping, the actor headed back to his hotel room. He wanted to get some rest and just wake up from this horrible day.
On his walk back to the hotel, Chris thought that he should enjoy this albeit terrible anonymity he seems to have. He walked a little slower and just took in the sights of the historical buildings he was passing. And while he has heard Anthony complain about the streets being awful in the city he admired the imperfection of the cracks and the potholes, something that natives never have like.
He stoped at Jackson square and enjoyed one street performer groups’ show and looked around at the art work hanging on the fence. Some where simple and others where very detailed but all captured the story of the city that had persevered though many hardships. And after gazing upon what is St. Louis Cathedral, Evans really headed back to his hotel room.
This time the buildings were not the things that caught his attention, but the families that were out exploring the city as he was. One that stuck out in particular was a family with a small girl about the age of five who kept asking her father if they could take a horse ride. She was pointing to the white horse who was standing at the corner to the street waiting for the next people he was going to give a ride too. The father and mother exchanged looked and then agreed which caused the little girl to jump up and down with joy.
The sight made Chris’s heart swell. In that moment he didn’t see that family, he saw the family he hope to have in the future. He saw his littler girl jumping for joy over a horse while him and his wive looked upon her with such adoration. The family disappeared into the horse drawn carriage and Chris’s mind was back on his bed.
Chris was almost at his hotel room when he felt like he was being watched, which on a normal day wasn’t weird but on a day like today it was. He stopped and looked around him to see where this feeling was coming from. That when he noticed someone on the phone across the street staring straight at him. Chris knew that look on her face. Its the face fans get when they see him. This girl knows who he is. She is the only person who does. He knew he had to ask her why.
Part 2
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You Bring the Moon and Stars to Me (Part Five) - Tyson Jost
Synopsis: A Soulmate!AU where your soulmark only appears once you fall in love with your soulmate
Words: 7.3k
Warnings: mentions of injury
a/n: type of injury is purely speculation since the details were never released, also his injury happened at an away game but for the sake of the story let’s pretend it was a home game. im thinking there will be 3 more parts but dont quote me on that and ofc feedback is always welcome, i hope you enjoy!
Part One | Part Two | Part Three | Part Four
January 2019 - Loveland, CO
It was like the second you had Tyson back, he was gone again. The day they got back from their Eastern Canada road trip, he was on his way to Loveland to start working with the Eagles. He hadn’t been able to spend much time with you, his schedule being just as hectic as always. Especially with the additions of the extra workouts Tyson had started to partake in. You rarely saw his car in the driveway of the Rookie House when you were over at Caitlyn and Jack’s.
His hair had been extra messy the last night you saw him the day he went back down to Loveland for the first time this season. You assumed it was due to his hands continuously pulling at it from being stuck in his head about his new playing situation. Since then, the image of your best friend being down in the dumps hadn’t left your mind. Throughout the time of knowing Tyson, you only really knew him as the cheery guy with a smile on his face 24/7. He was the most strong-willed person you had ever known.
A week and a half later and he still hadn’t seen any NHL ice time, still working his ass off at the AHL level to earn his roster spot back. You’re sitting in one of the many conference rooms at your office, listening to an executive give their monthly project updates when your phone rings. You see Tyson’s face covering your screen, begging to answer his FaceTime. You hit the lock button on your phone, stopping the vibrations, and turn your phone over, turning your attention back to the presentation in front of you.
The vibration stops momentarily before it starts again, to which you ignore. The third time your phone rings, you know it must be important, so you excuse yourself as you push out of your rolling chair and leave the room.
As you slide to answer, Tyson’s face pops up onto the screen. His hair is wet and the lighting is terrible, so you assume he had just showered at the practice facility.
“What did you need? I was in a meeting.”
“Sorry, I’ll be quick. I know I was supposed to come over to your place later for my pre-game meal but I’m really tired,” He whines.
“And you couldn’t have just texted me that?” You ask a sharp bite to your tone. He knew you worked the third Saturday of every month. He had even admitted to you one time that he’d check your Snapchat location to see where you were when you weren’t answering, so you were even more confused when he called not once, but three times.
“I need a favor, I’m gonna take a nap on one of the guy’s couches. Can you bring me my game-day suit?”
“Sure, just text me the time you need it by and the address,” You agree. “I really need to go, though, so I’ll text you later.”
“Thank you, Y/n! Love you.”
You spit out a quick ‘love you’ before hanging up and shoving your phone into your dress pants pocket before walking back into the meeting and apologizing about the disruption.
You park your car in Caitlyn’s driveway before making a bee-line across the street towards the Rookie House. You lift your hand to knock on the door before you remember Tyson telling you that no one was home and you needed to find the spare key. You jog down the stairs to his bedroom in search of his game-day suit.
You look on his bed, which is a mess and un-made, causing you to roll your eyes, not seeing the suit he said he had laid out this morning when he left for practice. You move to his closet, hoping to see a suit in the front that had been previously picked out, but still no luck.
Instead of shooting him a text or calling him to ask where it is, you let your hands slowly pass over the multiple blazers he has hanging up. Your hand lands on a navy blue blazer with slightly exaggerated lapels, being unfamiliar with it you pull it out. Granted, you rarely say Tyson in suits, and even when you did you always noticed his love for different shades of grey. You smile to yourself as you pull it out and lay it over the bed smoothly before going back to his closet to find a dress-shirt to match.
A few minutes later you have a white-shirt with small polka dots on it picked out with his navy suit. Alongside that, you picked out his brown belt and grabbed his brown dress shoes, and started looking for a pair of socks. You pull open all of his drawers, finally finding the one that holds his socks and you end grabbing a pair of simple grey ones.
You set the suit and shoes in the back seat of your car once your back at Caitlyn’s before she’s walking out in a Colorado crewneck and jumping into your passenger seat.
“Can you look for a place we can get dinner after I drop this off to Tyson?” You ask of her as she buckled her seatbelt and you back out of her driveway. The two of you make banter and eventually find a wing place to eat as you drive down the highway to Loveland.
Once you arrive at the apartment Tyson had texted you the address of, you’re climbing up the stairs to the front door, suit, and shoes in hand, before rapping at the door. You kind of knew you were cutting it close with his suit delivery, so you were anxiously tapping your foot as you waited for the door to swing open.
Tyson opens the door a tired look on his face as he’s taking a bite of what you see is a home-made sandwich. “You’re a lifesaver.” He groans, stepping to the side to let you in.
“It’s not a problem,” You assure, folding over the suit over the tops of your arms. “Here’s your suit.”
“Where’s the one I had laid out?” He asked confused as he reaches for your outstretched arms to take his clothes from you. You knit your eyebrows in confusion as you think back to how you didn’t see a suit set out anywhere in his room.
“There was no suit laid out in your room, which is a mess by the way,” You point out quickly. “So I just picked one out from your closet, I hope you don’t mind.”
“Thank you,” Tyson smiles, rubbing his thumbs over the lapel of the blazer. The image of you browsing through his closet popped into his mind, a rather domestic image that caused his smile to grow wider. The thought of you doing that without being asked to caused butterflies to slight erupt in his stomach and his cheek started to heat up with the thoughts racing through his mind.
“I think you need some new socks, all of them were so boring.” Tyson laughs at your statement. “Get some striped ones or ones with polka dots, I don’t know, just not plain grey and black ones.”
He nods his heads stifling a laugh at your odd request before the owner of the apartment appears from a hallway in his suit. Tyson quickly introduces the two of you before he’s pushing you out the door so he can get dressed and head to the game. As you turn your body to head back to your car, Tyson stops you.
“I have exciting news before you go.”
“Yeah?”
“This is my last game,” He beams, his eyes squinting from how wide his smile is. “I’m playing against Vancouver after the all-star break in a few days.”
You shriek at the news your best friend is sharing with you, “Oh my God! That’s amazing!” You open your arms welcoming Tyson in a congratulatory hug. “Told you you were a superstar,” you whisper as you pull away. The two of you share a soft look before you finally let go of your friend saying you’ll see him later.
You and Caitlyn are sitting in the lower bowl of the Budweiser Event Center, enjoying your beers and each other’s company while also focusing on the two teams in front of you. The both of you had agreed how nice it was to be back at a hockey game, both of you not being able to attend any in a little over a month with how busy you were. It was especially nice seeing Tyson play, you could see the jump in his body as he floated around the ice seamlessly.
It’s late in the game when it happens. Tyson’s skating down the far half-wall about to cross the blue line to enter the zone with the puck when an opposing player plows through his lonesome figure, sending him into the wall with a very loud thud. You gasp, leaning forward in your seat and reaching out for Caitlyn’s hand. You watch him as he stands up, grateful for the fact that he’s even able to do that quickly given the harshness of the hit, but watch him as he skates away back to the bench slowly.
He immediately walks down the tunnel to the locker rooms and you lean in your seat further, bringing your free hand to your face to bite on your cuticles out of nervousness. Caitlyn squeezing your hand combined with the loud voice over the arena speakers announcing the penalties brings you back down to earth. Your fingers stay at your lips for a moment longer until the sudden urge to scratch at your elbow envelops your mind.
“Hey, he’s probably fine and just got the wind knocked out of him.” Caitlyn reasons. You both know she has no idea what she’s talking about, but the thought behind it is welcomed. The remainder of the game feels like a lifetime as you anxiously check your phone for texts from Tyson, tweets from the team, anything that may give you insight on what’s happened.
At the same time as the final buzzer sounding throughout the arena, your phone vibrates in your hand where you’re holding it tightly. A text from Tyson pops up.
Tyson: im okay
Tyson: sorry it took so long to text you i was going through concussion protocol
Y/N: so you’re fine?!
Tyson: no
Tyson: i have a concussion
You groan at the response, showing Caitlyn your conversation before typing out a response saying you’ll meet him by the locker room shortly.
Tyson emerges from the locker room, holding an ice pack to his left shoulder. Upon seeing the ice pack, your shoulders drop out of sympathy for him and you feel a pang in your chest. As he approaches you, head down to avoid the bright, white, LED lights in the hallway, you let out a low ‘Tyson’.
“Hey.”
“You said you just got a concussion,” you point to the icepack on his shoulder.
“It just hurts.” He winces, eyebrows knitting in pain. You give him a side-hug, careful to not aggravate his shoulder.
“I, uh, I’m going to need a ride back to Denver,” Tyson starts. “I can’t drive.”
You rub his good shoulder, trying to comfort him as you look back towards Caitlyn. “Can you drive my car home and I’ll drive his car home? You can just park it at your house.”
Caitlyn agrees, the three of you walking out to the parking garage making small talk before you go your separate ways. The hour-long drive is spent in quiet, Tyson leaning his head against the window with his eyes closed for the most of it. He only lifts his head when he feels the car drive over the junction between the black asphalt of the street and the concrete of his driveway.
The two of you walk into his home, him instantly making way down the stairs to his bedroom while you opt to go to the kitchen to get the both of you glasses of water. Another few moments pass before you decide to venture down to his room.
He’s in the dark, only his bathroom light illuminating his vast bedroom. He’s laying on his back in the middle of the bed, his legs dangling off the edge. He groans a little at the noise of your feet padding along the hardwood before sitting up and leaning back on his hands.
“You feeling okay?” You ask, moving to sit down next to him and hand him the other glass of water.
“I’m fine,” He mumbles and you know he’s just processing the injury and everything going on with his career so you stay quiet, letting him be the one to decide when to speak. Instead, you too lean back on your hands, resting yours right next to Tyson’s, pinkies touching. His hand flinches at the touch but he doesn’t move away.
“I just can’t catch a break it seems,” He breathes out barely above a whisper. He lays back onto the bed, falling into the fluffy comforter and rubs his face with hands.
“Tys,” you drag out. You twist your body around, tucking your legs underneath you on the bed to face him. There’s a pull in your body that wants you to reach out and move his hands from his face or even put a reassuring hand on his thigh but something in you stops you. “Things like this happen to everyone, you just have to get healthy and play just like you were when you got the call saying you were going back to the Avs.”
“But if I would’ve just been skating with my head up I could’ve avoided the hit.”
“That guy absolutely blew into you, I don’t think much would’ve stopped him from doing that. It was a dirty hit and he knows it.”
Tyson mumbles out an ‘I guess’ before sitting up abruptly with a groan. “You want ice cream? I want ice cream.” He decides, standing up and reaching out for you. You grab his hand, standing up from his couch and following him up the stairs to the kitchen.
“I didn’t think you health nuts even knew what ice cream was.” You joke, trying to lighten the mood. Throughout the whole time you knew Tyson and his roommates, the most unhealthy thing you had seen them eat were chocolate almond butter cups and those were from Whole Foods so it barely counted as junk food in your eyes. Tyson pulls out a pint of ice cream and you look to inspect it, noting the words ‘dairy-free’ on it.
You roll your eyes, “I take that back because of course you have the ice cream that’s considered healthy.”
Tyson laughs at you as he grabs two spoons from the drawer across the kitchen from you. He smiles instead of responding right away, and your face mirrors him, a large smile now playing at your lips.
He places the two spoons on the island next to the pint, going to the edge of the kitchen and turning the light off so the only light in the kitchen is the light from the entryway and the light on off the back door creeping through the large kitchen windows. Tyson takes a seat next to you on the barstool opening the ice cream and digging his spoon in.
The two of you eat the first few bites in silence before Tyson sticks his spoon into the pint one last time. “Thanks for coming tonight.”
“Of course, I do have one request though.” You start, Tyson raising his eyebrows in curiosity. “Can I help pick out your suits more often? That was fun.”
“That just means me bugging you more about my colorblindness, ya know.” He jokes. “But, I’ll take it.”
“I think you need to incorporate more prints into your closet, all of your suits are so plain.”
“I have two striped ones, what are you talking about?” He asks incredulously with a laugh.
You put your spoon in your mouth, eating the bit of soupy ice cream that’s still left. As you chew you mentally go through his closet. “Yeah, but you need some plaids and checks.”
“We’ll see about that.”
You laugh at his inability to stray away from solids, even though you’ve seen him in some crazy printed t-shirts before. You dig your spoon in the ice cream for one more bite before clasping the lid back on. Tyson moves to put it back in the freezer, but you stop him and do it yourself, also placing the two spoons in the dishwasher.
“So, what’s next?” You ask, talking about the next steps of his concussion injury and training.
Tyson leans back in his chair, running one of his hands through the hair on the back of his head. “Pretty much just rest until it goes away, then play some more in Loveland, then hopefully get the call to come back to Denver full-time.”
You watch him as he speaks from across the kitchen, focused on the softness and uncertainty in his voice. He was not only in physical pain from the hit a few hours prior, but also clearly mentally beating himself up. Tyson was one of the hardest workers you had ever met. He was someone that went to practice early and stayed late if it meant more ice-time and reps, someone that put in those extra miles on his morning runs, someone that watched and studied game-tape until his eyes were strained from the blue light of the screen. Knowing how hard he worked day in and day out only made your heart ache more at the circumstances the brunette found himself in.
You walk quietly over back to Tyson, standing next to him where he’s sitting. He turns around to gaze up at your face before you begin speaking.
“You’re the hardest worker I know, I believe in you.”
Tyson, in a moment of both vulnerability and bravery, lens his head forward and rests his head on your chest. You’re surprised by his actions and your movements are stuttered before you wrap your arms around his neck and run a hand through his curls. He lets out a hum, his eyes fluttering shut at the newfound comfort you’re giving him.
The two of you stand for a few more moments, reveling in the contact and the quietness surround you due to the late night and emptiness of the home. Your eyes glance to the clock, noting how late it’s gotten. You want to pull away to tell him you should head home soon, your breathing starting to slow due to being tired. Your early work morning combined with the whirlwind events that happened over the past two hours pushed your mind to the point of exhaustion.
However, you don’t move away, knowing this is what your best friend needs most right now. The feeling of comfort and being with someone that knew him as deeply as you did being something he desperately needed. An itch on your elbow pulls you out of your thoughts and Tyson whines when you slightly pull away to scratch at it, to which you chuckle.
“I had an itch,” You pause, leaning back away from Tyson so he has to sit up straight. “And besides, it’s starting to get late. I should head home soon.”
Tyson doesn’t whine again but slouches his shoulders and puffs out his lower lip, giving you a puppy dog look that you haven’t seen much when he’s sober. “Please stay.”
The request surprises you. Sure, the two of you are insanely close, but the two of you never really had sleepovers due to your schedules and only ever stayed over on drunken nights when it was an easy decision to make. Come to think of it, the last time you guys even slept in the same house was before you dated Aiden, when you shared a hotel room at the Landeskog wedding.
You contemplate the thought, being one that usually didn’t mind driving home at the late hours of the night. His eyes were puffy, a sure sign from how tired he’s been lately, the scrape underneath it from his visor bright red, and his overall aura was screaming please, so you give in. “I need sweatpants then.” you motion to the jeans adorning your legs and he jumps up.
“You got it.”
You follow him down the stairs back to his bedroom and watch him move around his room, cleaning up some of the mess and tossing you a pair of sweats.
Once you reemerge from the ensuite bathroom, you see Tyson laying down in bed, covers up to his armpits. He turns his head towards you then pats the emptiness beside him, gesturing for you to lay down. He’s got this dopey look on your face that melts your heart and you smile, holding your jeans to your chest tightly.
“I can sleep on the couch, it really isn’t a big deal.”
“It isn’t but why sleep on the couch when there’s a perfectly comfy spot for you in a bed?” He jokes. You can barely see his facial features now that you’ve turned the bathroom light off and you flip the flashlight on on your phone, being careful not to shine it towards his face. You smile nervously as you set your jeans down by your shoes at the foot of the bed and carefully climb into bed next to him.
“Maybe leave a little room for a girl, jeez,” You comment, trying to maneuver around Tyson’s sprawled out body. You miss the way he rolls his eyes as he dramatically pulls his body into a plank-like position. You set your phone down on the dresser next to you before getting comfortable despite the anxiety you’re starting to feel. Your stomach shouldn’t be in knots right now, should it?
“I know I said it before, but I really appreciate you coming tonight.” Tyson starts, sighing out a large breath of air. He’s twiddling his fingers in front of him, occasionally bringing them to his lips to bite on his hangnails. “It means a lot having someone by my side through all of this. It can be hard talking to Kerfy and JT sometimes.”
You turn your body to face him, still leaving a substantial amount of space between the two of you in the expanse of his king-sized bed. “That’s what best friends are for, Tys. Don’t ever hesitate to talk to me. It can be about anything, hockey, family, music, whatever you want and I’ll listen. Just know that you can talk to JT and Alexander too, they’ve been in your shoes being in the AHL and they just want to see you back with them just as much as the rest of us. Well, maybe not more than your family and me. We’re your biggest fans.”
“Biggest fans, eh?” he quirks an eyebrow up.
“Yeah, didn’t you know? We’re all in a group chat and it’s called Tyson Jost’s Fan Club. We just send pictures of you back and forth.” You joke, causing a loud, boisterous laugh to escape from Tyson’s mouth.
“You’ve never even talked to any of them besides my Grandpa, shut up.” He lets out once he’s calmed down from laughing, a loud yawn following.
“We should go to sleep, it’s been an exhausting day for both of us.”
“But I’ve missed talking to you.” He admits. And honestly, the statement has you thinking. This probably is the most time the two of you have spent alone together in months, so you give in and talk with him about anything and everything until he suddenly stops responding and you see his mouth droop open with heavy breaths of air coming out.
Sleep didn’t find you as easily, though, as you gazed at your best friend across the bed, thoughts consumed your brain. The two of you had nowhere near a physically affectionate friendship and all of the small touches and long gazes that happened throughout the day have a smile forming on your lips as you continue to look at the brunette in front of you. Yeah, the two of you laid soft touches on the other but it was usually when you had alcohol in your system or when you were especially tired. The look he gave you in the kitchen moments prior is what stuck with you as you drifted off to sleep.
The next few days for Tyson were spent just like that night. You would go over there after work and stay until you headed home later that night. As the days passed those late-night drives were spent with more and more yawns but it was worth it if it meant seeing Tyson and keeping him company.
That was until today. You had gotten behind on your project at work from being at Tyson’s so much recently so you had told him last night when you left his house that you’d see him in a few days. As your phone rang during your lunch break with Tyson’s face filling the screen, you should’ve known what he was about to say was coming.
“Please come over later, I’m going insane being by myself. The guys don’t get back from the all-star break until Friday and I can’t look at any screen or sleep because of my concussion so I need you to entertain me.” Tyson rushes out.
“Aren’t you supposed to see the team doctors today?” You ask confusedly. It was barely 1:30 in the afternoon so you thought he would be at the training facility still.
“I already did, I still have a concussion,” Tyson confirms. “I just have to go back every other day to get checked. They said it’s looking better and it’s less serious than they thought which is good.”
“Yeah, that’s good,” you nod. You really do want to see him later, getting used to seeing him every day for the past few days. Part of you knows that one day won’t hurt either of you and that you know you’ll just be at his place tomorrow, but something in your mind is telling you to go over there after work. “If I come over later, I’m bringing my laptop, I need to get some stuff done to prepare for a meeting I have on Thursday.”
“That’s fine, I’ll order us food even, as a thank you.”
You want to argue with him, not wanting him to spend his money on you but the two of you have had that conversation a hundred different times all ending with the same result. You usually said you made ‘big girl’ money and were proud of it to which he said he was proud too, but he also made ‘big boy’ money and had enough leftover to comfortably spend it on his closest friends.
“Sounds perfect,” You smile. “My lunch break is about to end, so I have to go but I’ll text you when I leave later.”
Tyson says goodbye and the rest of your workday flies by and next thing you know, you’re pulling your car into Tyson’s driveway. You see the garage open so you walk thought it, closing it as you enter the door inside. Once your dinner is consumed the two of you migrate to the living room couch where you pull your laptop on your lap to start working on your meeting notes.
“What’re you doing?” Tyson inquires, leaning towards you to get a better look at your screen.
“I have a meeting to kick-off a project later this week so I’m just making sure I have all of my notes done.” You explain, typing away at the keyboard. “It’s a bigger one, so there are a lot more steps and handoffs and stuff you might not understand.”
“No, tell me, I wanna know.” He urges, scootching his body closer to yours so your thighs touch. As he stops moving, you think of how easy it would to just fall into him and rest your head against the broadness of his chest. You focus more on the screen in front of you, dimming the brightness so it doesn’t hurt Tyson’s eyes and explain it to him. Before long, his head plops onto your shoulder, snores escaping his slightly ajar mouth. You gaze at him, noticing the cut that was once bright red on his cheekbone is now just a scratch and you reach out to run your finger over it. He stirs at the touch, and you freeze out of panic before focusing back on your laptop and continuing to work.
The stillness around you makes your eyes start to droop and you slowly start to slouch more and more on the couch before resting your head atop Tyson’s and joining him in sleep.
Your phone ringing on full-volume next to you pulls you from your sleep. You see Caitlyn’s name as you grab it and slide to answer the phone.
“Are you still at Tyson’s? I was closing my garage and saw your car across the street.” She asked in way of a greeting.
“Uh, yeah, we fell asleep.” You say, voice groggy and laced with sleep. You open your eyes more, looking to Tyson’s still sleeping figure and noticing the movement the two of you have made. His head isn’t on your shoulder anymore, as it fell in his sleep to use your chest as a cushion. His hand that’s closer to you is draped across your thigh the other outstretched along the couch. “What time is it?”
“Almost 10:30. Wait, what do you mean we? Like, you and Tyson sleeping together?” She asks, almost in a shriek-like voice. Your body jumps awake at the notification of how late it’s gotten, Tyson sliding off your body from the movement.
“I was working and he fell asleep next, well on me, and then I fell asleep. Shit, I didn’t think I’d fall asleep for this long.” You curse. Tyson stirs next to you, slowing opening his eyes and groaning at the disruption in sleep. “I gotta go though, I’ll see you tomorrow at work.”
“Who was that?”
“Caitlyn, she was confused since she saw that my car was still here.” You respond, sitting further up and moving your laptop to the coffee table in front of you. Tyson looks at his phone checking the time before letting a ‘holy shit’ seeing that it’s also pitch black outside.
“I’m gonna head out soon, I think.”
“You can stay, ya know.”
“Yeah, I know, but I don’t have any of my work stuff for tomorrow and I don’t want to have to rush around in the morning.” You explain, rubbing your hands along your thighs. You lean forward, pushing a hand through your hair to fix the mess that was caused from your nap and stand up. He sits up further on the couch before joining you in standing, a loud sigh coming from his mouth.
“I’ll still see you tomorrow though, eh?” He checks.
“Yes, I just have to make sure my work is all done since I clearly didn’t get much done here.” You laugh. He follows you to the front door of his house, unlocking and opening it for you. Once your coat is slipped on you open your arms to hug him, “Such a gentleman.”
“For you? Always” He jokes cheekily. You smile at the comment before pulling back, but Tyson doesn’t let go of you so easily. You look up at him, then back to your feet, then back up to Tyson once more.
“Okay, I really gotta go,” You yawn.
Instead of letting you go, Tyson moves one of his hands from around your shoulders to the back of your head and pulling you into him. His lips land on the curve of your forehead before he whispers out a bye. You smile and close your eyes in content at the gesture, before you walk down the sidewalk to your car, turning once to wave to your best friend. The smile didn’t leave your face the entire drive home, and you honestly probably fell asleep with the same glee-filled smile plastered onto your face thinking of the new addition of the physicality of your friendship and how you could really get used it.
February 2019 - Denver, CO
“Do you want to go get lunch together? I haven’t eaten out for lunch in so long.” Caitlyn asks, barging through your office door. You peer up at your friend, abandoning the email you’re working on in front of you.
“I actually have lunch plans with Tyson, we’re getting poke.” A slight frown playing at your lips, as you decline her offer. “What about margs sometime this week? It can be a girl’s night.”
She smiles at your suggestion nodding her head, “That sounds perfect! Do you want to go out for them or stay in?”
“Hmm,” you hum. “Let’s go out tomorrow? Taco Tuesday at Aztecas?”
“Ooo, yes! Meet there at 7?” She asks, moving further into your office and sitting in the chair on the opposite side of your desk. you nod your head in agreement, turning your focus into the computer screen in front of you again. “You’ve been spending a lot of time with him haven’t you?”
“Who?” You ask, directing your attention back to her from where you started typing at your computer again.
“Tyson.”
“Oh, yeah.” You say, quickly typing out the details of your email so you can focus on your coworker in front of you. “I guess we kinda have. When he got his concussion two weeks ago I was one of the few people that were in town with the timing of it all and stuff.”
“Every time I looked out my window, your car was in his driveway.” She notes, eyebrow quirked.
“I would just go there, like, right after work and then I’d leave when I wanted to go to bed. We would just get food and hang out, just like we used to.”
“You mean like back before you had a boyfriend?” She asks. “Like last season when you guys were always getting dinner together or like all summer when he was constantly calling you?”
As Caitlyn concludes her questions, you lean back in your office chair thinking back on the past few months. You hadn’t really paid attention to your new habits with Tyson, but you were spending way more time with him than usual, but you just thought it was the extra free time the both of you have had lately. When you were with Aiden you only saw Tyson maybe once a week and most times it was in a group setting.
“I guess, yeah.” You smile. You had thoroughly been enjoying all the time you spent with him lately, all the laughter and banter was welcomed and the two of you knew exactly what to do to annoy the other one without ever crossing a line. “Do you think we were touchy before, me and Tys?”
Caitlyn crosses one leg over the other, “I don’t think so? Like you guys were just always with one another when we were in groups. When you were drunk, though? That’s another story.”
With Caitlyn answering the question the way she did, you knew you had to address the newfound physicality and affection between you and Tyson. Before you can get into more detail on why you chose to bring that up Caitlyn asks you,
“Have you guys been more touchy lately?”
“We take naps together now, which is like, kind of a lot in a way? I don’t know,” You stop yourself, taking a deep breath as you try to gather your words to describe the feeling. “You know me, I don’t take naps but it’s like, we’ll be watching tv or something and he’ll just fall asleep and it’s not like he’s on the other side of the couch, Caitlyn. He’s right next to me and then he’s asleep with half his body weight on me and the feeling like, lulls me to sleep and we’ll wake up in the same position and not talk about it.”
Caitlyn watches you as you avoid her gaze as you talk, unsure of what she’s going to say about the new information. Especially when she was the one friend you had that really made you dig deeper as to why you felt certain things. The two of you hadn’t spent much time together outside of work lately, with her and Jack living together and you spending so much time with Tyson after his concussion.
“I also spent the night when he got hurt, like, as in I spent the night in his bed.”
“What?” She exclaims, jumping forward to the edge of her seat. “And you didn’t tell me?”
“Nothing happened,” You assure with a chuckle. “We fell asleep on opposite sides of the bed and woke up that way.” You think back to that night and how when you woke up, you would’ve assumed the two of you would’ve moved positions throughout the night, but you somehow didn’t and woke up face away from him, back inches away from his.
“How do you feel about those changes in your guys’ friendship?”
“I think I like it. Part of me kinda thinks I just like the extra attention I’m getting, but the other part just thinks that’s just how we are now, ya know?”
“I see what you mean about the just liking the extra attention part, but I think it’s just how you guys are. Even if the two of you weren’t being physically affectionate through your friendship, the two of you were still affectionate in other ways.”
What she says makes sense, as you think about all the small quirks your friendship consisted of. He was always getting you refills at parties and the bar, offering to be the one that drove, grocery shopping together, while you helped make sure he kept his room clean and urged to him to let loose with you every once in a while. He kept you young while you grounded him.
“All I know is that I haven’t even realized how much time I’ve been spending with him lately, which I’m really grateful for.” You smile softly. “He’s actually gonna be playing again in a few days I think.”
The two of you continue talking about Tyson being able to return to the team and solidify your plans for tacos and margs tomorrow before she’s bouncing out of your office.
A few days later, Tyson was thankfully cleared to play again. Spending the first few days back in Loveland before getting the call to return to Denver. A call you hoped, primarily for Tyson’s sake, that was a more-permanent decision the coaching staff had made. You hadn’t seen him much in those few days, letting him get acclimated to the pace of the NHL once again.
The three of you settle into your seats, feeling at ease from being back at the Pepsi Center for the first time since Tyson’s call-up. This time, however, you didn’t complain when Tyson offered to get the three of you tickets. You all hadn’t been able to go to any of the other games since Tyson’s call-up due to work events, Valentine’s Day, and your mom’s birthday, but as Tyson said the date didn’t matter as long as you’d come to one sooner rather than later.
It happens fast, you look from Caitlyn next to you to the ice in front of you due to an increase in cheering and you watch as Tyson catches as a pass on the edge of his blade before slapping a one-timer at the goal from the slot, goal horn sounding as the puck passes the goal line. You jump, arms thrusting in the air and loudly cheering ‘that’s my fucking best friend’ into the expanse of the crowd.
The next two periods flew by, Varlamov getting the shutout while Calvert and Agozzino added to the scoresheet. You all head out, walking towards the parking garage down the street you parked out as you send a great goal text to Tyson and telling him to call you when he gets a chance.
An hour later, when you’re back in you’re apartment getting your stuff ready for your workday tomorrow, your phone finally rings, notifying you of an incoming call from Tyson. When the facetime call connects, you see him, a wide-smile and wet curly hair all over the place.
“Hey! Great game!” You exclaim, the happiness behind your words coming though with the wide smile that’s filling your face.
“Thank you! I’m glad you guys were able to catch this game.” He smiles. His phone is shaking from him walking around his house, as you watch the background change from his kitchen to the stairwell to his bedroom before he’s plopping down onto his bed. “It was so good to score, y/n, I want to bottle that feeling.”
His eyes twinkle in the dim lighting of his room as he speaks, the sight of it making you feel more than elated for your best friend. “I’m really proud of you, I know I tell you that a lot, but you deserve feeling that way all the time, Tys.” You say softly, voice laced with sincerity.
“I just have to continue to play the way I did tonight, and then there’ll be no doubt I’m supposed to on the roster. I know my roster spot isn’t a given any night and it never will be, but I want everyone to be confident in the decision to put me in the line-up every night.” He rambles. As he speaks you’re making your way to your bathroom, ready to start your nightly routine.
You set your phone against your mirror as you put your hair into a low bun before grabbing a washcloth to wash your face. He starts talking your ears off about how happy he is to be back with the guys and the team chemistry as you finish getting ready for bed. You miss the way he looks at you as you brush your teeth since you’re too focused on the movements of your actions, but what you don’t miss is the ding on your phone with a new text message.
Once you’re done spitting out your excess toothpaste and wiping your mouth, you grab your phone and head to your bed before looking at the message. “Tyson, what did you just send me we’re literally on the phone.” You laugh before fully opening the text and seeing the picture attached. It’s a screenshot from your call taken only a few minutes ago. Tyson’s dark smiling face in the top right corner while your face fills out the screen. At first glance, it looks like an accidental screenshot but with closer examination as well as Tyson’s muffled laughs on the line, you see the toothpaste dribbling down your chin and your eyebrows are knitted with determination.
You groan loudly as you swipe back to your FaceTime call, “Tyson, I hate you.”
“No, you don’t.”
“You don’t know that, maybe I’ll just hang up and stop coming to your games” you stick your tongue out.
“No!” Tyson interrupts. “You have to at least come to my games, you’re my good luck charm now.” He pouts, mouth quivering from trying not to smile.
“Fine.” You huff, a smile cracking on your lips. The two of you talk for a little while longer, both in bed, eyes drooping and words slurred with sleep. You’re not sure when you fall asleep and you’re more unsure if you even hang up your call before you’re snoring.
You end up going to his next game two days later against Winnipeg, where he scored once again and recorded two assists. After that performance, he continued to insist that you were his lucky charm, to which you laughed and brushed off the comment.
tag list: @reavenedges-lies @oilers2997 (let me know if you wanted to be added!)
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Move to Safety: Chapter 2 (of 6)
After Adrien just happens to spy Nooroo in his father’s office, he’s sent into an panic. His father is Hawkmoth, which means that Adrien is in serious danger.
Thankfully the Dupain-Chengs are more than willing to step up to the plate and lend a helping hand.
links in the reblog
The next akuma attack was three days post-discovery. Adrien had been concerned- or, rather, frankly paranoid- about the sudden lull, but Plagg had reminded him that his father was busy at this time of the year, the end of the school year and exams lining up almost perfectly with the push to finalize the summer line, coordinate the summer runways and photoshoots, and in general make sure that Gabriel was in the best possible position going into the summer season. It meant long hours going over designs and then making sure that the finished product lined up with the vision, of making sure that staff were lined up for all of the events, of ensuring that Gabriel's international locations were doing well...
Well, it was really no wonder that Hawkmoth's activity had slowed for the time being.
During his first year as Hawkmoth, his father had left the coordination of pretty much all of those things to Nathalie and a couple of the senior designers, presumably so that he could keep akumatizing people at the same rate as he had before (the official excuse, of course, was that he had still been suffering from grief because of Mrs. Agreste's disappearance and wouldn't be able to juggle everything). Apparently things hadn't gone quite as perfectly as Mr. Agreste had wanted (and it was really hard for his designers and other staff to get last-minute things done when akumas were interrupting them practically every day), forcing Mr. Agreste to switch the majority of his attention to the company during the frantic rush. That in turn meant that his attacks had to step down for a period.
Of course, dialing back on the attacks didn't mean stopping them, as evidenced by the akuma alert lighting up Adrien's phone.
Adrien swallowed a groan as he silenced the alarm, sliding his phone back into his pocket before anyone could notice it. At least the akuma had showed up between classes, making it easier to slip away. He headed to the bathrooms, hiding in a stall until the other boys in the bathroom had cleared out and it was safe for him to transform. Chat Noir slipped out the bathroom window, then charged across the city to join Ladybug, who had gotten there before he had. She was already focused on the fight, eyes narrowed as she spun her yo-yo and sent bits of the melted marshmallow that the akuma was shooting at her flying away.
Chat Noir really, really wanted to taste the marshmallow and see what it was like- it smelled amazing- but Ladybug had had words with him about eating akuma-generated food before and he really didn't want to get scolded again.
(But marshmallow...)
"It's a chocolatier," Ladybug told him breathlessly as he dropped down next to her. "He was trying to make something with marshmallow filling and his intern accidentally tipped the entire vat over and spilled it. Or that's what I'm guessing, at least. It's hard to tell."
Chat Noir frowned as he extended his baton, pushing the Chocolatier back. "He got this upset over that?"
"It wasn't the first time that the intern has spilled stuff, I'm guessing."
"Gotcha."
Soon enough, their battle was in full swing. Chat Noir focused on the akuma as much as he could, but in the back of his mind there was the constant reminder that it was his father behind this. The same person who had (occasionally, rarely, once in a blue moon) tucked him into bed at night when he was younger, the same person who had used to proudly smile when Adrien first started modeling and showed a talent for it, the same person who Adrien had spent years of his life trying to please- that was the man terrorizing Paris, preying on people's emotions for- what? Presumably Mr. Agreste was trying to get Mrs. Agreste back, to prevent whatever it was that had made her vanish.
She wouldn't have wanted all this to happen, of that Adrien was sure.
The lump in his throat only went away when he remembered something Marinette had said the previous night as they had worked on their homework together shoulder-to-shoulder on the floor, wrinkling her nose in disgust as she pointed out that Gabriel Agreste, world-renowned fashion designer had been (perhaps somewhat indirectly, they didn't know how the akuma victims' personal preferences played into their outfit design) responsible for the parade of what were frankly fashion disasters. He had been the one to come up with the names, presumably had some hand in dealing out the powers, had definitely been the one responsible for his own (incredibly tacky) design as the Collector, and yet...
Audrey Bourgeois had just written a scathing column about the akuma designs, in an odd twist of irony. No wonder his father had been in a bit of a foul mood right after that.
"Well, that was a bit of a sticky situation," Ladybug joked as she released the purified akuma at the end of the fight. She watched it go, fluttering over the sagging mountains of melted marshmallow. "Not a bad akuma, though." Her teasing grin turned towards him. "Good job not eating any of the marshmallow."
Now that the fight was over, guilt and anxiety promptly weighted down his gut like lead. He should tell her about Hawkmoth now, before they had to split and go back to their respective schools. But the lump in his throat was back in full force now, and he could barely form words around it. How was he supposed to tell Ladybug without letting on who he was? He hadn't figured that out yet. "I- yeah."
He didn't want to tell Ladybug who he was, not yet. He was worried about her treating him differently and thinking that he couldn't handle the fights anymore, worried about her judging him for not figuring it out sooner, worried- well, that it could mess everything up. He had begged Marinette right away after they got back up to her living room not to tell Ladybug who he was, in fact. Not that he thought that Marinette would go behind his back to do that, but he just- he wanted to be sure. He couldn't handle another reveal, not even with his partner.
She had tried to- to protest, he assumed, or at least tried to say something, but he had cut her off. With her family's support, he could manage his father's defeat without adding more identity reveals to the mix.
Ladybug's expression turned anxious, even as she tossed her Lucky Charm into the air to cast the Cure. "Are you okay, Chat Noir?"
"I-" He was choking on his own words. Ladybug's fingers ran down his arms, wrapping around his wrists steadyingly. "I, uh-" He had to spit it out, he had to!- "Yeah, I'm fine. Just- just tired."
Ladybug's eyes scanned over him, then nodded. "Okay. Take a nap? I want my partner feeling his best."
Chat Noir managed a smile. Today wasn't the day he would be telling his partner about his father, apparently. Next time, for sure. He had to pull himself together soon. "Right."
Adrien couldn't help but be thrilled to be allowed to have dinner with the Dupain-Chengs that evening. Nathalie hadn't even needed to consider the request before allowing Adrien to go, which was a relief.
If she or his father had noticed that he wasn't sleeping at home anymore, she wouldn't be allowing him out. The fact that he was still getting his freedom meant that so far, his nightly escapes were going unnoticed.
Of course, it was still early. Not even an entire week had passed yet.
"It's going to be weird to go home and then come right back," Adrien told Marinette with a small laugh as he helped her chop the veggies for dinner. He had headed over to her family's house right after school, and was going to be staying there until the Gorilla came around to pick him up (walking to and from Marinette's place to his own and without supervision could only happen during broad daylight, apparently), and then staying at home for all of thirty minutes or so before going right back over. "I'd rather just stay over, but I know they wouldn't allow it. I mean, it took how long for them to allow me to sleep over at Nino's house, and he's, uh..."
"Also a guy," Marinette filled in when Adrien floundered. She reached over to scoop up his chopped vegetables and toss them into the frying pan. "I get it. And I know you've mentioned that you aren't planning on telling Nino about, uh, everything, and you staying over here, but you could probably tell Nathalie that you're going to sleep over there on, like, a Friday or Saturday evening, so then you can sleep in on the weekend instead of having to wake up super-early. Unless she would check in with Nino's family ?"
Adrien blinked at the suggestion, pausing mid-chop and then setting down his knife to properly consider it. It was really, really tempting- they were just coming up on their first weekend with the new arrangement and even the thought of having to get up early so that he could go back to the mansion without being spotted sucked- but would Nathalie check in with Nino's family?
Ugh. He really, really wanted to, though. Being able to sleep in and then actually properly get to sit down and eat a Dupain-Cheng breakfast? That would be amazing. But did he dare risk Nathalie finding out that he was lying about his whereabouts?
"We could also claim that we're having a sleepover for all four of us here," Marinette offered after a minute had passed without Adrien saying anything. "That might be more acceptable. We can say that it's so we can do lots of studying for finals together, without wasting the time to go home and then meet up again the next day."
"Maybe," Adrien agreed, liking that more. "And we can actually study, and invite Nino and Alya over during the day." He grinned, remembering their last "study" session. "As long as they actually study and don't pull us off-track again. We'll have to tell them that they'll get booted if they start making out or flirting with each other again." He glanced over at Marinette. "This weekend, do you think? Or next weekend, so that I can be more fully rested going into finals?"
"Why not both?" Marinette smiled at his startled expression. "Mention both at once, and see if she'll go for it. If she says that two is too much, then decide which weekend you want to go for."
Adrien smiled. Marinette was so smart. "I'll do that."
They worked in silence for a few more minutes, Adrien finishing with the vegetables and Marinette taking over the cooking from him, expertly stirring things together and adding in spices. It smelled amazing. Adrien hovered, not sure what he could do to help, but he knew that if Marinette could think of anything for him to do, she would tell him.
"Ah, Adrien, I was hoping that you would be here!" Mrs. Cheng said cheerfully, sticking her head around the door. "I need something from your room and I was wondering if you could grab it for me."
Adrien blinked in surprise. "I- I mean, sure, I can go in, but- why do you need to wait for me? It's your house, you can go in."
"Oh, I couldn't! That's your room, sweetheart. I'm not going to go in there without your permission." Mrs. Cheng smiled at him. "It's your space now, and I don't want to intrude on it."
Adrien frowned, still not quite understanding. "But... it's a guest room. In your house."
"And we gave that room for you. We don't want to intrude on your space. It's your room now, not the guest room." Mrs. Cheng glanced over at Marinette, then back at Adrien. "Would it help to have you redecorate a bit? I know it feels like a guest room, but we can change it up a bit if it would make you more comfortable."
"Yeah, we didn't exactly have much time to redecorate for you when you moved in," Marinette chimed in right away, before Adrien could protest. She reached over and shut off the burner. "We can go do something about that right now, if you want. Dinner can wait for a little while."
Adrien glanced at Mrs. Cheng, but she was nodding and sliding into the kitchen behind Marinette to take over the cooking. "You two go do that. I'll take over this, and then I can come help once this is in the oven."
Blinking in surprise but not resisting- there was no protesting when any of the Cheng women put their minds to something, Adrien had learned that long ago- Adrien let himself be dragged down to the guest room's door, then nearly ran into Marinette when she drew to a sudden stop in front of the door. He blinked, then realized what was going on when Marinette stepped aside and looked at him expectantly.
She wasn't going to go into his room before him. He had to go in first and then invite her in.
"I'm really fine with you guys coming in," Adrien told her with a small, self-conscious laugh as he pulled the door open to the guest room that he was staying in. "I'm used to it. I mean, at h- at the mansion, the maid comes in when I'm not there all the time. And then Nathalie and my father just come in when they want- I don't know if they come in when I'm not there, but when I'm there, they just come in if they have something that they want to tell me. The Gorilla always knocks before coming in unless it's an emergency, but he doesn't always wait for a response before he does."
Marinette was frowning. "That's not right. I mean, sometimes my parents come into my room, but it's only when I've given them permission, or there's an emergency, or- okay, maybe sometimes they get a little over-excited when I have, uh, friends over and then they pop in, but they've gotten better about it after I talked to them about that. It's important to have privacy in your own room."
Adrien smiled slightly. "That sounds nice. I'd love to have- well, I think it sounds nice, to have a space that's private. To only have people come in who I want to come in, and when I want them to come in..."
"You'll have that here." Marinette waited until Adrien waved her in before entering the room. She glanced over the room, then winced. "Oh, this really looks like a guest room. It doesn't look like you've used the bed at all!"
"I wanted to keep it tidy!" Adrien protested. "In case...uh, in case anyone came in, I guess." He ran a hand over the top blanket. It had taken a few minutes that morning to get it perfectly straight, with sharp corner folds. "I wanted to keep it looking nice."
Marinette was staring at the bed in- surprise? Horror? "I think I was the one to make the bed last before you came, and it didn't look nearly this neat. And I only make my bed, like, half of the time when I get up. You don't have to get up early to make the bed to- to photoshoot standards."
Adrien swallowed. "Right. Okay."
"I mean, if you want to, that's a different story," Marinette said hastily, apparently completely misunderstanding his expression. "Then it's fine! But if you're just doing it because you think we expect it of you...that's not the case, not at all."
"Right." Adrien shuffled from side to side, looking at the room. "So, uh... where are we meant to start?"
He honestly didn't know. After all, it was a very nice room- a pale blue on the walls, some decorations that Mrs. Cheng had probably brought back from China and family photos hanging on the walls, some with Dupain-Cheng family members who Adrien recognized and others with people that Adrien didn't know- the Cheng grandparents, he was guessing, and some other extended family members on both sides. There was a bookshelf with an assortments of books- some baking, some cooking, some about family histories and culture in China. There were a couple books in Mandarin, and others in Italian. There was a dresser with an attached mirror part that had a gorgeous embroidered piece of fabric draped over it, with a couple knick-knacks placed on top of that, and a very standard bed: sheets, two pillows, a couple plain fleece blankets that had been folded at the foot of the bed, since it was too warm to use them. Under the windows there was a radiator, painted gleaming white. A storage chest sat at the foot of the bed, and a small table was next to the door, the perfect spot to set keys or a bag to grab on the way out.
In short: it might have been smaller than he was used to, but it was cozy and, like the rest of the house, had been put together to reflect the Dupain-Cheng family and their interests, instead of just being pulled from an interior design magazine.
"The bed," Marinette decided after a moment. "We have a bunch of sheets that we can use for this one, actually- uh, we keep them in this closet, actually."
Once again, it took Adrien a second to realize what Marinette was doing, and then he smiled. She wasn't going to go digging in his closet without him going first. He rounded the bed- there wasn't as much space as he was used to, but it was hardly cramped- and opened the closet, stepping aside so that Marinette could step in front of him to scan the piles of linens.
No matter how important Marinette found it for him to take the lead in his own room, the fact remained that he was significantly taller than she was and if she was going to help him out at all with figuring out which set of linens to pick, she needed to be able to actually see the options. The closet was pretty full of sheets and blankets, and Adrien had no idea which ones were the right size for his new bed.
"Okay, so this bed is the same size as mine," Marinette said, glancing back at the bed. "Which means that you'll be looking at this side of the closet. And, uh, I really had a thing for having a differently colored bed every week when I was younger, so that's why, uh..."
Adrien laughed. "That's why you have an actual rainbow of sheets in that size, you mean?" He reached out, running his fingers over the pile. There were a good eight or nine colors at least, which... well, that was pretty impressive. "How long did you spend in 'zillion-different-colors' phase?"
"A couple years?" Marinette shrugged at Adrien's expression. "I don't remember. But there were enough sheets that they never really got worn down, so we just stuck them all in here when I grew out of that and decided to decorate my room in a pink theme instead."
"Ah." Adrien looked at the closet again, then reached for a set that was a blue that reminded him of Ladybug's eyes. "I like these."
"D'you want help switching out the sheets?" Marinette asked, reaching in to help Adrien pull the sheets out without disrupting the rest of the stack. "And- hmm. We have a couple blankets that could go with those sheets. Not that you really need a blanket right now, since it's almost summer and it's getting hot, but if there's any cold nights and you get chilly, it's better to have them out and ready."
Adrien nodded as he picked out a green blanket to go with the blue sheets, though he had a really hard time imagining ever feeling cold here. Aside from the fact that they were above a bakery- the warmest possible business Adrien could possibly imagine, the entire building just smelled warm, if warm could have a smell- the whole atmosphere was just so warm and friendly and welcoming. "Help would be good. I can tidy up a bed in the morning, but making it from scratch I'm not great at." He grinned, remembering the one and only time when he had tried to make his bed at the mansion, after the maid had to leave early due to a family emergency and had only gotten as far as washing and drying Adrien's sheets. He had assured her that he could handle the actual bed-making so that she could go right home and... well, he had tried.
Fitted sheets were hard, that was all he was going to say. It did not help that his bed at the mansion was so large.
(There might have been some less-than-optimal language that he let loose while wrestling with the fitted sheet. No one could prove anything.)
"It's easier with two people, at least," Marinette said cheerfully, setting the linens down at the foot of the bed so that she could start stripping the sheets that were there. "Easier to wrestle with the mattress that way."
Adrien grinned. "Yeah. I've only got a white belt in mattress wrestling. Just a beginner."
Marinette snorted. "Does wrestling have belts? I thought that was karate."
"You question my qualifications? How dare!" Adrien flopped down on the bed dramatically, pressing the back of his head to his forehead. "...but you might be right."
Marinette laughed and gave his side a gentle shove. "Get up and help me, you lump."
"And now I'm being bullied!"
Adrien loved Marinette's unrestrained laughter.
It didn't take long to remake the bed with the new sheets. The blanket that Adrien had grabbed was a little large for the bed, but it didn't seem to bother Marinette. They just made sure that there was an equal(ly large) amount of blanket hanging down either side of the bed, placed the pillows on top, and then stood back to admire their work.
"You can bring some of your books and things over and we can make space on the bookshelf," Marinette said, leaning over to look at the bookshelf. "My parents can get another bookshelf and stick it in the living room and move their books there so that you have the space. They just have things in here because it had just been an extra room. And then I know I have pictures of you and Alya and Nino and I, and one of you fencing, and- oh, we can look. These others can probably find a new home, too. And the storage chest- that should be empty. It's mostly there so that visitors could put their suitcases inside and have them out of the way."
Adrien stared at Marinette. "That- that's a lot. Like, getting another bookshelf and moving it- that's pretty permanent. Like, Ladybug and I will defeat my father by the time summer starts, probably."
"Yeah, well, you'll need somewhere to live afterwards, won't you?" Marinette sat down on the bed, patting the space next to him. Adrien settled next to her, unable to resist the invitation. "And maybe the city will try to make arrangements for you to be able to stay at the mansion, but you can stay here, too. I know it's not as big, but..."
"I love it here," Adrien assured her, leaning back on his hands and admiring the room, too-wide blanket and all. He didn't need things to be perfect, or huge, or expensive. "If your parents are all right with me being here, I'd love to stay. I've had enough of the mansion for a while, I think."
Marinette's head rested against his shoulder. "Okay." He could feel her shift as she settled. "I'm glad you like it here. We just want you to feel like it's actually your space."
He still didn't think that that was entirely necessary, but Adrien wasn't going to argue with them. Instead, he leaned back into Marinette's side, enjoying the quiet warmth. After a few seconds, though, he couldn't keep quiet any longer.
"I haven't told Ladybug yet," Adrien said quietly, dropping his head back against Marinette's. "I tried, during the last akuma attack, but I chickened out."
"I- I can tell her, if you can't," Marinette offered after a moment. "Next time she comes nearby during patrol, or during an attack."
Adrien shook his head. "I swear that I'll tell her at the next attack. I just needed more time to figure out how. It's only been a few days." He swallowed, remembering the way that his throat had closed up around his words. He had wanted to tell Ladybug, but he didn't know how. "I don't- I've been trying to think of how to tell her without giving away my identity, but I just blank."
He could hear the frown in Marinette's voice. "Are you sure that you don't want to just tell her who you are? I don't- she doesn't seem the type to judge you about the whole situation, and it seems like it would be easier-"
"Not right now. It's not safe." Maybe the final battle was (in theory) in sight now that he knew Hawkmoth's identity, but he was leaning towards the safer option of not letting any more people find out who Chat Noir was. He had seen the downsides of when superheroes knew each other's identities in action with Rena Rouge and Carapace, and they did not need anything like that happening again. "Like, whenever we have distractions going on in our civilian lives, it shows during battle, even if we try not to let it. It's the same when we have superhero stuff that we're distracted by. This would probably be the same. Like, what if we know each other? What if we slip up and yell the other person's civilian name during battle?"
Marinette nodded, an odd expression on her face. "Yeah, I can see where that would be bad."
"It would be awful. Our advantage would just be gone." And since they currently had a serious one-up on Hawkmoth and Mayura, they really didn't want to lose that. "So I'm not going to tell her until Hawkmoth is defeated. And like I said, I don't want her treating me differently, either, and I worry that she might if she knew that Hawkmoth is Chat Noir's father. I can still fight."
Marinette was watching him consideringly, but she smiled when he looked up at her. "That's understandable."
"I just want to be careful, and not knowing each other's identities has worked out for us pretty well so far." Adrien let out a long sigh, trying to let go of the stress that he had been holding on to. "After he's in jail, though, I want to tell her. Hopefully we'll be allowed to then."
"I'm sure you will be." Smiling, Marinette leaned forward to give his hand a gentle squeeze. "But for now, let's not worry about that. After all, we have a room to redecorate."
By the time dinner was ready to come out of the oven, the guest room was...well, not quite Adrien's room, not yet, but it wasn't nearly as guest room-esq as it had been before. Marinette had pulled some photos she had of him and their friends from her room and put them in some empty picture frames that they had around so that he could put them up in his room, and Mrs. Cheng had cleared off the desk and dresser surfaces so that he could put some of his things on them. There was space on the bookshelf, too- apparently Marinette's parents had an extra bookshelf in their bedroom and could move things there- and even a little in the closet, though Marinette's parents were still brainstorming where they could move some of the stuff in there so that it would be accessible when they wanted it.
Adrien still thought that it was overkill, but the idea of having a room that he knew people weren't popping into without his knowledge was- well, it was really, really nice. And he couldn't deny that being able to make the space his own was a fun idea, and if he was going to stay there after Hawkmoth and Mayura were defeated, like the Dupain-Chengs were clearly planning... well, he would feel more comfortable if he felt like the space was really his own, Adrien knew that.
It was just that they were going so out of their way to accommodate him. Marinette's parents were busy, he knew that, and yet they had spent a not insignificant amount of time clearing out the guest room so that he would be able to move in more fully.
"You can bring more stuff over tonight, or whenever you have the time," Marinette was saying as they sat down around the table. "Books and more pictures and whatever knickknacks you want to have here."
"The Jagged Stone CD you signed," Adrien said immediately, grinning when Marinette blushed. "And the posters!"
Mrs. Cheng laughed. "Any possessions that my daughter didn't make and sign?"
Adrien had to think about it. "Uh...there's the jacket that Marinette made me last year. That isn't signed."
"I embroider my signature on everything I make," Marinette reminded him. "So that's signed, too."
That made Adrien pause. "Oh. Uh, then I guess other gifts that I've gotten from friends? I'll see as I go along, probably. And I'll probably wait to move a lot of stuff until after school is over." The and until after my father and Nathalie are in jail went unsaid.
"We can help," Mr. Dupain assured him. "We might need one person working the counter at all times, but the rest of my staff can keep the kitchen running in back. Just say the word."
Adrien couldn't hide his smile. "Thank you."
"And now- did you have a good day at school?" Mrs. Cheng asked, changing the topic, and Adrien couldn't help but smile as Marinette chimed in, telling her mom about the exam review that they were doing at the moment.
He loved having people who he could talk to about his father, because it made the whole process a little less lonely and he knew that he didn't have to handle it all alone (excluding Plagg, of course), but it was nice to talk about normal things, too. To be part of a normal family that sat down and ate dinner together, instead of sitting alone at his family's long dining room table and hoping that his father might show up.
Adrien wasn't going to be hoping for that anymore, that much was obvious. Even when he had dinner at home- and he was going to have to, he knew well enough that he wouldn't be able to get away with going to Marinette's house for dinner every night- he would be hoping that his father and Nathalie were busy, or even better, out of the house entirely.
It wasn't likely, but he could still hope.
The Gorilla picked Adrien up after dinner and he spent a cursory hour in his bedroom at the mansion (no one even checked in on him, which was unsurprising) before zipping right back over to Marinette's house. She let him in via her balcony, and Adrien gave her a quick hug good-night before heading down to his room.
As Adrien settled into his bed, he couldn't help but smile. The room felt a lot more comfortable now, even though they had only really changed a few things. That, and knowing that the Dupain-Chengs considered it his space, not just an in-use guest room...
He hadn't even known that he wasn't fully relaxing before but now, Adrien could sleep soundly.
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Chapter 11 -- Perfect Harmony | Charlie Gillespie
Summary: Emily Fox is a talented 17-year-old with a passion for all things music. Her dream is to become a successful singer-songwriter one day. But to achieve that dream, she needs to get into one of the most prestigious music schools in her district – it’s all been part of her plan since she was six. Sadly enough, those schools cost a ton of money that her parents don’t want to invest. They don’t even want her to pursue her dream. So, now Emily’s hustling, working at the music store to save up to get into college. That’s until she meets Charlie, an annoying seventeen-year-old boy with the same dream as her. The only difference is, he’s just doing it. He doesn’t need a fancy college to pursue his dream to become famous with his band. He just writes his songs and books small gigs here, there and everywhere. Will meeting Charlie defer her from her dream college, or will he actually help her achieve the dream?
Pairing: Charlie Gillespie x OC (Emily Fox)
Warnings: mentions of death, sexual assault
Important note: the characters of Charlie, Owen, Jeremy and Madison are based on the characters they play on the show and i do not own their names, only OC are mine. The songs aren’t mine either, they’re all from the show except for one.
Chapter eleven
~|Charlie Gillespie|~
Making out in the back of a music store has never been at the top of my bucket list, but I have to tell you, it’s the best thing ever. Unless one’s employer barges in every five minutes. Even though we only ever sneak off during her breaks or after closing time, Ash never really leaves us alone. Ever since she busted us after hours, she hasn’t trusted us alone for a second. It’s kind of annoying and pretty much the biggest buzzkill ever. “Ash, could you please stop coming in so often?!” Emily shouts at her on Wednesday. This time, we’d just been working around the store; Emily sweeping up and me sorting the invoices. “If you didn’t violate my trust, I wouldn’t have to come back so often!” Ash shouts back. I suddenly feel like I’m intruding and shouldn’t be there at all. “How in the hell did I violate your trust? It’s not like we’ve been sneaking off during my shifts!” This discussion is way worse than what their other discussions have been before. “Hey, Ems…” I try to chime in carefully. “Not now, Charles!” I immediately back off upon hearing my full name and return to sorting the invoices. “Tell me, Ash. How did I violate your trust? If anything, you violated my privacy!” “Your privacy? This is my store you’re talking about, Emily Fox!” Mmh, Emily Fox. Nice. Sounds cute. Not the point, though. “You shouldn’t be making out in a store people could just walk right into!” I really just want to leave and not be a part of this at all, but I don’t want to leave Emily alone either. “Fine! We shouldn’t have, okay? Can you get off our backs now?!” She glances over at me and offers me a quick smile, telling me it’s all right. “Fine! But if I ever bust you again not doing what you’re supposed to do, you’re fired.” “Honestly, you should be happy Charlie is helping out for free.” “Whatever, Emily. Just don’t let it happen again, okay?!” “Yeah, it won’t happen again, Ashlynn. Now, please leave, so I can clean up.” Emily passive-aggressively points at the door, arm stretched out entirely. Ash huffs once before turning around and leaving the store. The tension, however, doesn’t leave with her. It stays here. On Emily’s shoulders and hangs around us like a foggy mist. “You okay, Ems?” I carefully ask. She noticeably relaxes a little, her shoulders tensing a little less. She then lets out an exasperated sigh and walks over towards me. I think she wants a hug, so I start opening my arms until she walks past me and grabs the broom instead. “Hey,” I grab her hand gingerly. She looks up at me, her eyes dark and shooting fires which fade out quickly. “I’m fine, Charlie,” she manages a smile, but it doesn’t convince me. “You sure?” She nods her head and reaches up to kiss me on my cheek. I’m then left alone with the burning feeling of her lips still on my cheek whilst she goes to sweep up the place. From that day on, our make-out sessions have been put on hold until we’re out of the store and now take place in a dodgy alley between stores. “Are you sure we should be here?” I ask, pulling away from a kiss, and looking around feverishly. Emily’s chuckle reassures me the tiniest bit. “Relax, I used to come here with –” she freezes, her eyes widening. “With who?” I ask. “With whom?” she corrects my grammar, which makes me roll my eyes. “It doesn’t matter,” she replies and grabs my face to lead me towards her lips again. The half-sentence keeps haunting my mind though, so I pull away again. “Charlie!” she drawls out the last syllable of my name in an annoyed squeak. “I’m sorry, but now I can’t stop thinking about you kissing another guy here.” “You’re imagining me kissing another guy? Is that a weird turn-on I never heard about, or?” She looks adorable with her head slightly tilted and her eyebrows knitted together, her face only lit up by one streetlight. “No,” I scoff, “I just—” I can’t even find the right words to tell her what I’m feeling or thinking. There’s a lot going on in my mind and most of them don’t have to do with me kissing Emily. I can’t find my way through the word-jumble. “Hey,” she brings my attention right back to her, “If it’ll make you feel better, I know a different place we can do this.” She wiggles her eyebrows, pecks my lips once more, and then leads me out to the street again. It takes us a while to get to the location, but once we’re there, I realize we’re in front of her house. “Ems?” “There’s a fire escape ladder on the left side of the house, which leads to the balcony that’s connected to my bedroom. Climb up and meet me there. I’m going inside to distract my uncle Mitch.” Her voice is just above a whisper, and it’s sending shivers down my spine. “Ems—” “Go!” She kisses me once again before heading inside. Before she shuts the front door, she mouths a ‘go’. I listen like an obedient puppy and make my way into her yard. I pass a large window through which I can see Emily talking to her uncle. He seems like a cool uncle. Not one who’d kill me for dating his daughter, or niece. Emily spots me, her eyes growing wide. She jerks her head a little, telling me to move on with my journey. Suddenly, Uncle Mitch starts turning towards the window and in case Emily doesn’t save the situation in time, I squat down behind the bush in front of me. One, two, three, four, five. I peek behind the bush, finding no one in the living room; they must’ve split. So, I make my way up the balcony where I find Emily already. She’s turned on the many fairy lights in her room, which gives the small balcony a fairytale-like glow. “Never heard of a term ‘hurry’?” She asks and immediately plants her lips onto mine. I haven’t even gotten the time to get off the ladder. “Hey, this kind of looks like that scene in Aladdin, doesn’t it?” She points out with a smile, her hands still on my cheeks. “Should I have brought my magic carpet?” I ask while she steps away to give me room to get off the ladder and onto the balcony. With an amused smile on her face, she raises her eyebrows as if saying “really, honey?”. – I’m imagining the cute nickname. She wouldn’t actually call me ‘honey’, sadly enough. “Just kiss me,” I say, a little annoyed she doesn’t like my joke. “Wait!” she says and gets back inside her room. I watch her – and admire her – as she grabs a heap of cushions from her bed. “I locked the door, so I think we might be good on the adults-entering-unexpectedly front.” I chuckle a little and take a couple of the cushions from her. We place them against the railing. I sit down first, Emily following suit. At first, she just sits next to me, grabs my face and kisses me passionately. I’m a bit taken aback by the fire in her kisses tonight, but I can’t say I don’t like it. “Are you comfortable?” I ask her then, realizing she’s straining herself a little. Even though she nods, I still grab both her legs and swing them over mine, so she’s sideways. “Better?” She nods again before resuming our kiss with a faint smile on her face. I can’t help the smile tugging at my lips too. Being with Emily is unbelievable.
That’s how we spend every night from Thursday on. On her balcony, making out. Every night except Saturday. Emily asked Ash beforehand if it was cool the band would come and rehearse in the store tonight. “Well, as long as you don’t have make-out sessions with all of them, I’m fine with it,” Ash had said, to which Emily had rolled her eyes. Hard. “Are you guys decent? We’re coming in!” Jeremy’s voice sounds just after the bell ringing. “What do you think we’re doing in here?” Emily makes the mistake of actually reacting. “You don’t want to know what he’s thinking,” Owen tells her instead, slapping Jeremy on the back of his head. The dark-haired boy lets out an ‘ow’ before glaring at the blonde one. “Right, I don’t,” Emily’s mouth curls up into a smirk, and I know exactly what’s coming. “What I do want is hearing you guys play.” I knew it and I can’t stop my eyes from rolling. “What do you want us to play?” Owen questions as he takes his spot behind the drums. “Now or Never,” Emily and I say in unison. She furrows her eyebrows at me, giving me an adorable version of her scowl. “You ask me to play that all the time, Ems,” I tell her, hanging the strap of the guitar over my shoulders. “Eh…” she squeaks out as if thinking about whether it’s true or not. “I mean, you can’t blame me, Charlie, that song is really good.” She shrugs her shoulders then and gets behind the counter for the broom. “One, two, three!” Owen counts us in once we’re all ready to go, and off we go again with the same song. But I don’t mind though, it’s for Emily. And it’s adorable how much she loves this song. She can even sing along now. Just like last week, she sings along during the bridge, which doesn’t even surprise me anymore. I just love hearing her voice blended with ours. “You know you have this cute thing you do with your leg when you’re playing?” she asks me when we finish the song. My eyebrows knit together as I look down at my leg as if I’d see it now that we’ve stopped playing. “What do I do with my leg?” She imitates me, pumping her leg forwards ever so often. “I don’t do that with my leg!” I scoff, not entirely sure if it’s actually true or if I should be offended, for that matter. “Yeah, you do,” all three of them reply, but not at the same time. My mouth drops open in shock. “I do not!” The words come out in some sort of a squeak, my voice failing on me a little. “You do,” Emily mouths to me while Jeremy places his bass on the stand for a break. “Hey, Emsie-girl,” he captures all of our attention, mostly with the nickname. “Have you decided if you’ll join Sunset Curve or not?” She did ask for a week exactly a week ago. I’d almost forgotten. Emily’s mouth opens like she’s going to say something, all three of us staring, awaiting her response. “I mean, is it a good idea with me and Charlie…” she asks carefully. “Why would that change anything?” I shoot back, a little offended she’ll use our relationship as a reason not to join our band. “Fleetwood Mac? ABBA? They split up because they couldn’t work together anymore due to break-ups between each other and stuff…” “So, you’re thinking we’re going to break up too?” I ask, a little offended. “No!” she responds instantly. “No, I just… I don’t know, Charlie…” I walk up to her, my guitar still strapped across my torso, and grab her hand in mine. “If you want to join the band, we could just try it, okay? If it becomes even a little straining to what we have, we’ll quit,” I propose to her. “Quit what? Us or the band?” she whispers, not wanting the boys to hear and be offended too. “The band,” I reply in the same whisper. “Hey! We heard that!” Jeremy chimes in again. Emily and I look up for a second, decide to ignore it and turn back to each other. “So, what’s it going to be, Ems?” I look at her with hopeful eyes. Hopeful she’ll say yes. Hopeful I finally get to write songs with her and actually sing them too. “Uhm… Yeah, sure. I’ll join Sunset Curve!” The boys and I all erupt into loud cheers. I give her a kiss on the cheek and then trade my electric guitar for an acoustic one. I know exactly what this moment asks for. “Sunset Curve is reborn!” Owen throws his hands into the air. I strum my guitar, a melody flowing out of the instrument in my hands. “Come on, Jeremy!” Owen says and starts tapping his own body. A bit of body percussion thrown into it, perfect. “One, two, three, four,” he counts us in, and Jeremy begins to sing whilst Emily goes back to cleaning up the store. “Can you, can you hear me” “Yup, loud and clear!” Emily says in a normal tone, totally ruining the vibe a little. “Gotta get, gotta get ready,” Jeremy goes again. “'Cause it's been years,” I sing. “I mean…” Comes from Emily again. I give her a glare and then start following her around the store. “Oh, this band is back,” Jeremy sings, joining me in the chase of Emily. “Oh, this band is back,” we all sing together and Owen shuffles behind us in tow, still tapping his own body. “Whoo, ooh, ooh, ooh Whoo, ooh, ooh, ooh Whoo, ooh, ooh, ooh” Emily stops at the sheet music station, grabs a couple of sheets and then moves back to the piano with her entourage behind her. “Can you” “Yes, we can,” Emily and I now sing together. At least she’s singing now. “Can you hear me,” Owen and Jeremy go. “Loud and clear!” “We gotta get,” “Wanna get,” “We gotta get ready” “'Cause it's been years, hey” Our voices blend together nicely. Especially with Emily’s voice harmonizing with ours. “Oh, this band is back Oh, this band is back Whoo, ooh, ooh, ooh Whoo, ooh, ooh, ooh Whoo, ooh, ooh, ooh Whoo, ooh, wee, ooh!” The boys and I then start scatting – or trying to, earning a weird glance from Emily. “I cannot scat,” I say, but continue anyway. “No, you cannot,” Emily replies teasingly. She shoots me a teasing smile my way too, and I nearly melt on the spot. This girl is honestly going to be the death of me someday.
Taglist: @parkeret @lukeys-giggle @hannahhistorian92 @gingerxarmy @marinettepotterandplagg @lovesanimals @thequirkybookaholic
Lemme know if you want to be on my taglist for this story/any of my other works!
#julie and the phantoms#julie and the himbos#charlie gillespie#jeremy shada#owen joyner#madison reyes#oc emily fox#charlie x oc#luke patterson#reggie jatp#alex jatp#julie molina
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Somebody to die for.
Finan x OC; The Old Guard inspired Alternative Universe
Summary : Victoria’s life is rather simple until she has a car accident from which she ends up miraculously unscathed. A series of weird events animates her daily life, everything seemingly bringing her to a strange man. Until this very man knocks at her door.
Spotify Playlist • Masterlist
A/N : Happy Sihtric Saturday, and a Sihtric moodboard to go with it! I am so sorry i disappeared from Tumblr! I posted on Ao3 the chapter and totally forgot to do it here and then kept pushing back the moment because of work... Sorry again and here is the chapter!
Warnings : death, blood, violence... A lot of ugly things lmaoo
Chapter 12 : I'll find you here inside the dark
The sound of the rain falling on the car’s roof makes Vicky grow impatient. They are parked in front of the building serving as the foundation headquarters in Munich for thirty minutes now, waiting for one of the employees she has drawn to potentially come out of it. Victoria is pretty sure that they aren’t keeping Finan here, nor doing all their experiments she has been seeing through Sihtric’s memories, giving her shivers, but somewhere more isolated. But obviously she wasn’t able to locate the place with Sophie and so they turned to a more lopsided plan: following one of the employees who would hopefully get there.
“We’re going to spend the night here.” She sighs, sinking in the backseat.
“It’s not even midday.” Osferth replies, staring at her in the rearview mirror.
“With that shitty weather it feels like it.” She childishly replies, her only way to fight her frustration.
For three days she has been seeing Finan in her dreams weak and tortured. She knows Sihtric is using him to make her come by herself and Finan pretends to hold on not wanting to alert her. It makes her heart squeeze to see that he is protecting her despite his own suffering. It reminds her of his promise and how he truly meant it.
“Là!” Sophie suddenly says, pointing at a man with a long coat and brown curls. “It’s one the scientists, no?”
Vicky narrows her eyes and leans forward, her hand gripping the passenger seat. “It does look like him.” She confirms, her gaze following him as he stops next to a car.
“Then we follow him.” Osferth declared, starting the car once the man had driven away.
Vicky sits back correctly in her seat, heaving a sigh of relief. If they want to be sure to take them by surprise, they have to find out where they are before the end of the day and not give Sihtric the chance to possibly know where they are. The whole drive, Vicky kept her eyes covered to not give the Dane any clue of where they were.
Osferth keeps a good distance between them and the man’s car to not be noticed. Though, when they are out of the city, the monk fears that they start to be too obvious, so when the man turns at a crossing, Osferth drives straight and they use Sophie’s phone to search what Vicky could describe as a mansion in the area. When they find what looks like one, the monk parks the car at a reasonable distance and they get out of it. He opens the trunk and unzips a bag in which they have hidden guns. Osferth hands her the one Finan has kept from the attack in London. She observes the weapon between her hands. She has never used one like this before, only the old rifle, and she is now wondering if she’ll be able to use it. But most of all, will she be able to kill someone if she has to?
“Vicky?” Osferth's voice brings her back to reality as he is now handing her a magazine for her Colt. “It's just in case, you won't have to use it if it goes as planned.”
She takes it and puts it in her pocket. “But you will?” She asks him.
Osferth hesitates, his fingers tightening around his own revolver. He doesn't have to speak for her to understand that it doesn't please him more than her to have blood on his hands, but they have to. He shakes his head, instructs Sophie to wait here in the car and to not hesitate to leave if things go wrong. She reluctantly accepts his last demand before pulling him down in a kiss.
“Fais attention.” She whispers to him. (Be careful)
He smiles at her. “Promis.” (Promised)
Then she turns around to take Vicky in her arms. “You too, be careful.”
Victoria nods the most confidently she could, but her hands are shaking. Sophie waves them goodbye as they start to walk away in the forest. Osferth is silent beside her and she can almost hear her heart beating hard, her guts twisting in her stomach. She's about to do the bravest, or maybe craziest, thing she has done in her entire life, something she has only seen in movies until now. And if in theaters it generally are the good guys that win at the end, she doubts reality to be so kind.
After several minutes walking between the trees, they finally perceive the mansion. They crouch behind a bush at the end of the forest to observe the area. The building is huge, three floors and a basement Vicky remembers from her dreams, where Finan should be.
“First we free Finan.” Osferth says, making Vicky look at him. “Then, Sihtric. With luck he'll find us first.”
“Alright, but how do we get in?”
“By force.” He answers staring back at the building.
“Alright.” She says after a heartbeat, they are so close now.
“Let's go then.”
Osferth stands up and walks toward the mansion, Vicky close behind him. They cross no one until they step in the hall, the man they have followed to come here. He stares at them with wide eyes, about to ask them what they are doing here but Osferth pulls out his gun. The man drops his pile of documents to raise his hands in sign of peace.
“Bringen Sie uns zu Ihrem Gefangenen und wir werden Ihnen nicht wehtun.” Osferth explains to him, turning the barrel of his gun peacefully. (Take us to your prisoner and we won't hurt you)
Vicky looks everywhere at once, scared that someone else arrives while the man hesitates. But he finally agrees and Osferth kindly smiles at him when he takes the lead toward the basement. He hides his gun in the inner pocket of his coat but stays close behind their now hostage. They take a long corridor, Vicky's breath becoming more and more erratic at each step. This plan can fail in a thousand different ways and she seems to keep discovering a new one the closer they are from their goal. Feeling her anxiety, her friend briefly glances at her.
“Everything will be fine.” He reassures while the man struggles with his keys.
“Sie werden Sie erwischen.” He stammers, looking at them however with more confidence. “Es sind überall Kameras, jemand wird es schnell genug bemerken.” (You're going to be caught. // There are cameras everywhere, someone will know soon enough.)
“Machen Sie sich um uns keine Sorgen.” Osferth replies but the German keeps staring at him, this time more defiant. (Don't worry for us)
He suddenly turns around and raises his fist wrapped around the carabiner to try to hit Osferth in the face. Vicky doesn't have the time to warn the monk that he has already moved aside grabbing his wrist and pushing him against a wall. She closes her eyes when she notices that the monk pulls out his gun and jumps at the shooting sound resounding. Her heart beats even faster in her chest and she dares not opening her eyes.
“He isn't dead, Victoria.” Osferth says after she hears him taking the keys from the man. She opens her eyelids and he is handing her the rattling of keys. From the corner of her vision she perceives the man, bleeding out but still bleeding as he lays unconscious. “You go downstairs to fetch Finan. I stay here to cover you.”
“I thought you were fetching Sihtric?” She frowns at him, taking the keys.
He briefly looks to the other side of the corridor. “The sound will have alerted others, it's better to keep the way clear. And Sihtric might stand with them.”
Vicky takes a deep breath and nods before opening the door, calming the shake of her hands. She turns for one last approving sign of her friend before climbing down the stairs appearing behind the door. She runs, careful not to stumble and fall, but she can't prevent the want for everything to be over. When she reaches the end of the stairs, she hears footsteps approaching and when two armed men appear right in front of her, she's paralyzed. They bark something in German at her and as she doesn't answer, they point their guns at her. The one on the left shoots her in the middle without more hesitation. The strength with which the bullet hits her makes her stumble and fall back, gasping for air and of surprise.
She feels the panic running in her veins, the pain growing in her stomach as the men approach her. But slowly, the ache eases and she calms down, searching for a way to get away from this situation. She remembers how Finan killed the men in her flat and decides that it might be her best solution. She slows her breath and closes her eyes, pretending to be unconscious. One of the men kneels at her side and starts to go through the pockets of her jacket while the other speaks something in a walkie-talkie. Victoria tightens her grip on the carabiner and then throws her fist in the man's jaw.
The shock of pain knocks him and he falls next to her. She sits up, wincing at the still sharp pain in her stomach and meets the other's wide eyes. He shouts at her and before he can shoot her again she grabs her Colt. Without thinking, not even taking the time to aim, she pulls the trigger and hits the man in the thigh. She watches the man fall to his knees, crying out in pain, not realizing what she just did.
She shakes her head and leans over the knocked man to take the keys hanging on his belt. She then stands back on her feet, following the path Sihtric did in her dreams until she finally recognizes Finan's cell's door. She heaves a relieved sigh and unlocks the cell before pulling the door open. Her breath runs short when she finds Finan sitting in a dark corner, his head falling forward.
“Finan?” She calls him as she steps carefully towards him.
He doesn't react, even when she kneels in front of him. She studies him briefly, his clothes are dirty and torn in parts, his hair is messy and his beard has grown out of control. She slides her hands behind his ears, her thumbs grazing over his cheeks, to lift his head.
“Finan, come on, wake up.” She says as he still doesn’t react. She nervously looks behind her shoulder, fearing that men could arrive. She shakes his shoulder with one hand but nothing again. “Come on, we have to leave.” She urges him before resting her forehead against his, feeling his slow and difficult breath on her face. “Please, I need you.” She begs him.
She looks up to the ceiling when she hears agitation upstairs. She swears, realizing they have no more time. She gives up the kind way and decides to wake him up, so she slaps him across the face.
“Wake up!” She shouts at him, her voice startling him along with the blow.
Finan opens his eyes abruptly, gasping for air and raising his hands to push her away instinctively but she moves faster than him and grabs his wrists. He stares at her in the dark, narrowing his eyes until he succeeds to recognize her.
“Vicky?” He whispers, his voice hoarse.
She smiles tenderly at him, brushing back the hair falling over his forehead. “It’s me.”
He huffs, though it sounds more like a sob as he leans forward to bury his face in her neck. She holds him tight, enjoying their reunion despite the urgency of the moment. Feeling his weight in her arms, even if his state is still worrying her, warms her heart with relief.
“We have to go.” She says, moving away but keeping her hands on his shoulder. “Can you stand?”
When Finan nods she stands up and stretches her hand to help him, though he still has to lean against the wall to succeed. His legs shake a little but he gives her a lopsided smile as if everything is fine. It isn’t, but Vicky knows they don’t have another choice anyway. She grabs his hand to wrap his arm around her shoulders while her own encircles his waist. They slowly walk out of the cell, Finan’s body heavier against hers at each pace. When they reach the stairs, she notices how his gaze hovers over the two unconscious men before falling on her. She pinches her lips, not proud of it but it was necessary.
“Osferth waits for us upstairs. He covers us.” She explains to him before they start to climb the stairs.
When they finally are on the first floor, the fight’s noises have faded and only a few unconscious or dead men lay on the ground. She bites her lips nervously, not seeing Osferth. He might have left to find Sihtric after all so she doesn’t sink in more worry and keeps walking, careful to avoid the bodies on the floor. When they reach the end of the corridor, the monk appears in front of them, breathless and covered with blood.
“Oh Christ.” He whispers when he studies Finan still held by Vicky.
He moves to take her place which she gratefully gives him. “You haven’t found Sihtric?”
“I did, but he lost me.” He admits.
“But I have to meet him!” She protests, raising her hands annoyingly.
“I know.” Osferth affirms to try to calm her. “But we have to leave before reinforcements arrive.”
Victoria grips her hair nervously, hesitating between following Osferth’s command or running on her own after Sihtric. But Sihtric is a warrior as good as her two friends and she’s far from overcoming them even in training. If the Dane captures her, all of this would have been for nothing. She sighs and reluctantly accepts to leave. She takes the lead of their escape, her Colt lifted at eye level, ready to shoot whoever would present themselves. There’s a heavy silence in the mansion as they head to the front door and the same expending on the outside. It doesn’t reassure Vicky who keeps looking around until they are in the forest. When they are far away, they allow themselves a break, especially for the Irishman. He leaves Osferth’s side to lean against a tree, his fingers curling on the bark as he throws up the little content of his stomach, exhausted by the effort. Vicky comes to rub his back kindly while he takes back his breath and composure, chewing her inner cheek in worry.
“Sophie is waiting for us in the car, it’s not far.”
“Alright.” He mutters, straightening his back. The concerned look that they both give him doesn’t go unnoticed to Finan. “I’ll be fine.” He assures them, waving a hand.
Vicky and Osferth don’t object, even if they doubt the truthfulness of Finan’s affirmation, they don’t have any other choice than continue to walk. It obviously takes them much more time to join the car, both of them supporting the Irishman and it’s a real relief when they finally see the car with Sophie waiting outside. She immediately runs to them to check if they are all fine.
“Bordel, are you all alright?” She asks them, her eyes however lingering on the man between them, grimacing slightly.
Osferth grabs her arm tenderly, his thumb rubbing the fabric of her jacket. “We are, but the further we are from here, the better it will be.”
She nods and they all take place in the car, taking back the road quickly. All the pressure on Vicky’s shoulders seem to disappear as she stares at the landscape outside, leaving her totally drained of energy. She briefly thinks of the two men she fought in the basement, her guts squeezing at the idea that they could be dead by now, because of her, but the thought fades as soon as she turns her head to Finan. He has already fallen back to sleep his cheek pressed against the window. She knows they are still in danger as she failed to meet Sihtric, but right now she can’t help but feel like nothing more can happen to them.
Tag : @for-bebbanburg @osferth @maggiescarborough @finansarms @dumbledoreisnotmyhubby @solinarimoon
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What's in a Dream?
Seriously. Tell me. Because I have been having quite the week of crazy dreams vivid enough for me to remember them days later and they've been....stressing me out a bit. It's hard to get a restful night's sleep when you dream like this.
Dreams I've had under cut because of length:
Tuesday Night: We were in the middle of nowhere. Desert sort of landscape. The place where three dirt roads came together. My siblings and I were 'camping' and had pulled over to investigate an old camper trailer that had been left to rot. Typical 'weathered, been sitting here exposed to the elements for ages' type of wear and tear. It was basically a skeleton of a trailer. There was even an old mattress off to the side in the dirt that was more bedsprings than mattress. Mom was there and was like "Okay, let's get in the car." so my siblings and I (3 of us) got in the car/camper and Mom started heading towards the edge of a cliff. As we were more in redrock country now/kinda on the edge of like a Grand Canyon sort of viewpoint. And I was like "Mom, you need to brake" and she was like "I'm just turning around." But she hit the brakes too late and I closed my eyes and steeled myself as the car skidded over the edge of the cliff. Because my eyes were closed I only felt the swooping sensation of falling. But when I opened my eyes again somehow the entire family had got ejected from the car before it crashed somewhere at the bottom and we landed on the side of the red sandstone cliffs which turned out to have a bit of a trail -a sketchy trail with plenty of open air where you had to edge along the side of the cliff and risk a couple of jumps over open air in order for all of us to make it safely back to the top of the cliff. My main injury was a large rose thorn that had embedded itself just above my elbow on my left arm. I pulled it out, leaving a large puncture wound there, as my phone rang. When I picked up it was my "Dad" on video call (said Dad looked like Thomas Sanders) and he was frantically packing a suitcase on the bed -throwing white clothing around- as he was talking to me reassuring me that he was on his way to rescue us and that we're all going to be fine and he'll be on the next flight over.
Wednesday Night: I was with other people in a Aquarium/University/Mall conglomerate building. The idea was to go see a show. Whether it was a movie in the theater or a show in the Aquarium is unclear, but while I was trying to grab food from the food court, someone like a 'big boss' Fury sort of figure informed me that I was a criminal and that they were trying to capture me. So instead of enjoying a show, my life got turned upside down and I had to run away from my family and friends because I didn't know who to trust and I was haphazardly trying to gather 'supplies' because I was like only 15 or so in the dream and didn't have access to everything regular adults did so I was scrambling to find money and gather clothing and my photographer cousin ended up running into me while I was on my college campus and secretly trying to help me out, but we couldn't meet for long as I was constantly running through the hallway like areas between buildings filled with grass and trees and windows that you could look inside to the classrooms and such.
Thursday Night: Me and a guy were walking along the banks of a pond when we saw this male figure (who looked kinda like the human version of Frankenstein from Hotel Transylvania 4) with half his body covered in a grey/brown mud dragging himself along the bank like a zombie sort of creature. He was doing this in a successful attempt to scare me and the other guy away from the reeds of the pond/lake we were at because (POV switch) I -the square jawed handsome guy- had just killed my wife. How I killed her? No idea. Her body (she looked like the mother from Gilmore Girls) looked like she'd been lounging on the couch and had just died. One hand propped under her head, a smile still fixed on her face even as her unseeing eyes stared at me. But there were no signs of injuries. No obvious cause of death. She was just dead. And me -the husband- decided the best way to hide the body would be to bury her in mud in the reeds of a lake, but as I was finishing the burial, I could hear this couple walking nearby, so I smeared mud on the left side of my body and began dragging myself over to them to act like a ghost or zombie so that it would scare them away. But (POV switch) I -the girl- decided that I'd had enough of creepy zombie people and returned to my dormitory (which reminded me of Hogwarts) to change my clothes and return to class. Only, when I tried to go take a shower, the girls showers were full. So I decided that I would go get clean in the boy's area. So I walked, basically naked with only a towel covering my bottom half but my top exposed through the hallways filled with guys who were standing there flummoxed that I was walking around like that and that I didn't seem to care (I did, I was just putting on an act) that I was walking around half naked in their presence.
Friday Night: I was in my bedroom, which was located on the North side of the house/apartment I lived in. I was in a basement room, in the back corner of the house with the driveway next to one window, and the backyard was behind the west one. I could hear a guy outside moving around and occasionally going into the backyard to 'do his business' aka pee on our walls. It turns out some college guy was using the driveway -which was between my house and the neighbor's house (but reminded me of my grandmother's driveway up in Wyoming) as a camping spot with a tent and everything. Which we couldn't have him there because we kinda needed the driveway to park our cars in, and when my roommate A came downstairs to talk to me about the issue, we heard the guy come down behind the house again to pee on our walls, but when he finished there was a cop there who arrested him for trespassing, but also ended up arresting Roommate A because apparently the 'special insect killer' pesticide she used to protect the plants growing on the side of our house carried an ingredient that was spelled something like "Beilium" and that was in fact a poison to humans so the cops thought that she was purposely planning to kill people because as the college students of the forensic's class told us when at least four of them descended on me and Roommate A and Roommate T that in our applications to live in the place we'd put various gothic things like ...idk... "Love tombstones, Wanna dance on graves. Best roommates are the dead ones." etc. But all three of us had filled these out in that way just to show that we had a different sort of humor compared to the other people in the area as we didn't want just 'anyone' to join us in the house to be our roommate and so the three of us had to convince these college aged investigator people that we weren't actual killers, and this was happening in my room/the kitchen so I was puttering around and grabbed a beaded bracelet of like a phoenix where the bird was 3D in beads sitting on top of the bracelet, but the bracelet was made of a tinfoil/blanket material and it folded out and became this big blanket and I was struggling to fold it back up into it's original bracelet shape (I think the colors were red and silver? maybe gold?) but it refused to fold that small and end up covering like my entire arm instead of just my wrist. I ended up giving up in favor of us taking the college students -who were outside with us talking about where they were meeting for their college graduation and basically saying "we don't know but we'll know when we know" as the closing ceremony would be happening 'soon' but first we would go grab a bite to eat and we cycled through the options but I ended up seeing Roommate A/ my sister sitting at a table of an 'Arby's so we went inside to order food to continue our discussion, but as we sat at the table the lights around us flashed three times. Which was code for "Active Shooter in the building." Everyone around us froze, counting the flashes and such and when I looked up there was a 'gunman' standing in front of the counter, with two fast food workers in black standing among the customers seated around eating their food trying to talk the gunman down. There was a buzzing in my ears making it so I couldn't understand what the shooter was saying, but the basic gist was that he would ask each person a question and if they didn't answer it right, he would shoot them. So there was "Garbled question" then BANG. Garbled question. Another BANG. And I was staring at my Cousin A who was sitting at the very front with wide eyes staring at the gunman as he turned to her to ask her a question---
Saturday Night: I had just arrived at work and was preparing to go clean the cat adoption center, only as I came into the room it turned out the adoption group we were partnered with had dropped off like 40 cats/kittens into the room. But instead of trying to fit them all into the ten cages we had, they'd placed like maybe twelve of them in the cages and then left the rest of the cats out to freely roam around the tiny adoption area, though the group had left their traveling carriers around with the doors open so the cats could seek shelter if needed,but they'd left the door to the adoption center open as well meaning that the cats could have free access to the rest of the store. However for whateve reason they had basically stuck to their enclosure. So I didn't have to worry about finding any cats elsewhere they were in this area. And one of the cats was this adorable black kitten that, when it moved, the light would catch on the fur reflecting a shimmering green peacock coloration. (the eyes on the feathers) in the fur. The kitty even had some peacock feathers along its tail. And I knew my sister would love this cat as she loves peacocks and wanted to get a cat but couldn't because her husband didn't want one, but I pulled out my phone to try and take a picture of the kitty to send to her to see if this would be the cat that would finally convince her to go ahead and get a cat, only I couldn't get a good picture because all these people kept coming into the store. First it was a huge class of like pre-schoolers/kindergartners. Then it was a group of older adults with special needs, as well as a group of people who looked to have come from a nursing home, and each group tried to come into the adoption area -which was filthy because there were cats out of their cages so there was cat littler everywhere and some of it had gotten wet from spilled water bowls and mixed from spilled food bowls so it wasn't the safest/cleanest place to be at the moment as I hadn't had time to clean the room yet. And to top it off, it was only like 7:30 in the morning. So we weren't even OPEN yet. We didn't open until NINE. So I had to fend off each group -which all had the same feisty Karen woman (who looked like our 'favorite' red headed regular customer we get into the store (she's difficult to work with)) and inform them that they couldn't be in the store at this time because we were still closed and for their safety they would need to leave. So I had to tell the group of thirty children and their six adult minders, and then the group of special needs visitors with their tenders, and then the group of nursing home people and their nurses that we were CLOSED and to leave and NONE of them were happy to hear that. But like...they were the ones who'd snuck into the building through the door of our vet clinic and not through the main store doors. So I told them to come back later. That no they couldn't see the cats as I couldn't have them in the room while I was cleaning, and that they needed to leave. No one was happy to hear that, and in the process somewhere i lost my phone and found it again in a classroom. But as I was trying to gather the supplies to clean the cages while sending people away these two girls approached me looking for replacement lightbulbs for their reptile cages and they couldn't find them. Which...we still weren't open for the day, but I ended up leading them to a little outside giftshop area where we kept our Christmas decorations -leading them through a random loading dock area filled with people working on stocking the store and such- and showed them where the lightbulbs were -though I didn't see them at first as they'd changed locations and I only found them as we were about to head down the stairs and back outside- so I was showing each customer the lightbulbs they would need for their individual lamps----
And yah....
Those are the dreams I've had this past week.
Overall my takeaway is that every aspect of my life is somehow stressing me out currently. Yaaaay.
#stilledreams#dreams#I don't even know how to tag this#but beware the dreams are rather crazy#vent post in a way because AHHHH#i like dreams as much as the next person#but this is getting to be a bit much
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Can I Steal You for a Second CH28
Summary: Adrien is forced to participate in a new dating show, but becomes more excited when Ladybug says she’ll participate as her civilian self.
AKA: AU where Adrien doesn’t know Marinette, the superheroes are 22 and Gabriel is mean and ruthless but not Hawkmoth.
Read on AO3
Start from the beginning Chp 1 on AO3
Chapter 28
The van ride back to the mansion was blissful. Marinette was giddy about how well her conversation went with Adrien. The whole night was wonderful, and the icing on the cake was that she didn’t even have to pretend to like Lila since the two never spent any alone time together.
As she walked in the front doors, Marinette heard a scream and was tackled with a hug. “Thank God you came back! I don’t know if I could have handled it if you went home and left me with Lila alone!” the voice of Juliette moaned as she squeezed the life out of Marinette. When Juliette finally let her go, she was greeted by Lucie as well, who hugged her enthusiastically.
The two girls dragged Marinette to the couch and asked her for every detail about the three-on-one date. She told them all of the awkward details, all except her declaration of love for the cameras. That she wanted to keep to herself a little longer. Right as she finished explaining that she didn’t know who had gone home because she left before she could find out, the door opened. All three girls held their breath, only to let out a small sigh as Lila entered the room.
Lila paused on her way towards the stairs and gave a curt, “What are you three staring at?” before disappearing out of sight.
Juliette just rolled her eyes and carried on like there had been no interruption. “Oh well, we can’t have everything in life.” Marinette and Lucie both began laughing as Lila huffily reentered the room.
She sat down on the couch and crossed her arms, quickly followed by Victoria, who was armed with her signature clipboard.
“Great, now that we’re all here, we can discuss what next week is going to look like.” She conferred with her clipboard for a moment before continuing. “As you know, the next stop on your journey is Hometowns, where Adrien gets to meet your parents. The dates have already been planned for you as well as the locations, which will be in your town but not your house, for safety reasons, except for Miss Dupain-Cheng.” The other three girls turned and looked at Marinette, but she just shrugged, not understanding what made her different from the rest.
Victoria moved on as if nothing had happened. “That means you will get to see your family for the first time as well. You are not permitted to stay the night with them. You will wake up the morning of your Hometown in your assigned hotel room in your hometown, and you will come back the night of to that same room, are we clear?”
Every girl gave a mumbled, “Yes ma’am,” before Lila spoke up, “What about my parents? Are we going to Italy and for how long?” Her voice was strained and she didn’t seem very excited about seeing her parents again.
“They are already notified of what is to come and they will be arriving in France a day prior to your Hometown and the leaving the day after shooting.” Victoria said, matter-of-factly. Victoria finally looked up from her clipboard and made eye contact with all of the girls, “Any other questions?” Marinette had a couple of questions, but she didn’t want to ask in front of the other girls and embarrass herself. Victoria gave a satisfied smile and seemed to relax a little. “Anyway, I wanted to congratulate you four for making it this far. We appreciate your dedication to Adrien and to the journey and I hope you’ll be patient with us, as these next few weeks are very critical to the success of the show and everything that happens from here on out will be closely monitored.” With that, she turned on her heel and left the room.
The girls sat quietly for a moment, allowing what was just said to soak in. Lila was the first one out of the room, and the other girls soon followed, wishing the others goodnight.
Marinette laid in her bed, with Tikki on the pillow next to her, thinking about Victoria’s final words. “Do you think they’ll notice when you disappear as Ladybug?” Tikki asked, voicing the question Marinette was pondering.
“Honest, Tik, I don’t know. I’m just going to have to be more careful, I guess, and hope that no one finds out.”
----------------------------------------------------
The next three days felt longer than normal. Without the cocktail party to stress about Friday and Saturday, the days stretched on and on. By Sunday afternoon Marinette was itching to transform. Right before she could escape, she was cornered by a random producer who wanted to officially inform her that her Hometown date would occur Monday, since she was the only local girl and Lila’s parents couldn’t fly in until Thursday.
Realizing that she only had mere hours before truly seeing her parents again made her want to jump and scream with excitement. She had miss them so much, even though they were minutes away from where she was now, it was still exciting to think that soon she would see them with Adrien in tow.
The thought of Adrien meeting her parents gave her butterflies. She knew that she was in it for the long haul, but it was still weird to think that she’d been in a relationship with Adrien long enough for parents to be involved.
As she rounded the corner to her room and walked inside, a horrible thought struck. “What if they don’t like him?” Marinette asked the room at large.
Thankfully, only Tikki answered, “What if who doesn’t like whom?”
Marinette met Tikki’s eyes, and she must have looked truly worried, because Tikki immediately flew next to Marinette, offering up one of her precious cookies. “What if my parents don’t like Adrien? Like how are they to know that he’s my soulmate who I’ve been in love with for seven years? What do I do if they decide he’s not good enough for me or if there’s something completely wrong with him?” Marinette gasped as an even worse thought came, “What if they decide that I’m not good enough for him and they adopt Adrien and disown me and then I’ll be homeless and living on the street and I’ll have to beg for money and sleep in a cardboard box and my only friends will be the mice that live in my alley and the toothless hobo they call Smelly Todd.”
Tikki grabbed Marinette’s cheek and forced her to make eye contact with the god. Her blue eyes bore into Marinette’s and she felt her breathing relax and her heart rate go down. “Be sensible, Marinette. None of that is going to happen. Your parents are going to love Adrien because they will see how much of a gentleman he is and how much he loves you. Once they see how much you two care for each other, there won’t be any objections.”
Marinette felt herself nodding, Tikki’s words flowing over her and calming her down significantly. “You’re right Tikki,” she sighed, slumping down onto her bed. “Thank you for not letting me become a hobo and being friends with Smelly Todd.”
Tikki gently patted her cheek, “I’ll always be here for you, Marinette.”
Almost an hour later, Marinette was still thinking about all of the possible ways this meeting tomorrow could go, just without the hyperventilating, when she transformed and disappeared out of her window.
----------------------------------------------------
Chat had actually beat Ladybug to their meeting spot, and, as if it was some unspoken agreement, as soon as Ladybug’s feet hit the roof, both of them dropped their transformations.
Plagg just glanced between the two of them as Tikki flew to join him. “Why does this feel like an ambush?”
Marinette gave a nervous giggle and moved to sit next to Adrien, who suddenly looked very stressed and worried. She gently grabbed his hand and he quickly entwined their fingers together as he took a deep breath and addressed the kwamis. “We need to talk about our new powers.”
Tikki let out a small sigh, “We figured you would eventually.”
“We just need a better understanding of how they work, so we know how to better control them.” Marinette said calmly, giving Adrien’s hand a small squeeze.
Plagg let out an exasperated sigh that caused Adrien to roll his eyes. “What do you want to know? They’re new and better and that’s about it.”
Adrien opened his mouth to say something, but Marinette beat him to it. “Please, Plagg, we need more information. We’re trying to figure out what happened during the last akuma attack, and how we can try not to destroy all of Paris while we’re saving it.”
“The thing is, Marinette, we can’t give out too much information. You have to figure out the new powers for yourself.” Tikki floated over and gently put her hands on Adrien’s other hand. She was looking at him so sadly that it made Marinette’s heart hurt.
Adrien stared down at his lap and whispered, “I just need to understand how I cataclysmed Montparnasse Tower.” Tikki and Plagg shared a look, and Marinette had a feeling that a mini argument was going on between them. After a few beats, Tikki huffed a “Fine!” and Plagg sped over towards Adrien, forcing him to met his eyes.
“Hey, kid, I know how much this has bothered you this week. But you need to know it wasn’t fully your fault. These enhanced powers allow for your cataclysm to last longer than it did before, which you couldn’t have known.”
“You mean like more than five minutes?” Marinette asked, genuinely curious.
“Kind of. It’s hard to explain without demonstrating it, but you can use your power more than one time. You have more control over it.”
Adrien’s jaw dropped, and he stuttered, “M-more than one time?”
“Yeah, aren’t you listening?” Plagg asked, giving Adrien a teasing look before continuing. “Let’s look at what happened with Revengapop.” Adrien physically flinched at the name, but didn’t stop Plagg. “You summoned the cataclysm to destroy his popcorn-making machine. But, as you landed from your jump, you touched the roof with your right hand to balance yourself. Your cataclysm was still active when you touched the roof, therefore it cataclysmed the building. You could have done more damage, except once you realized what you had done, you willed the cataclysm away.”
As he was talking, Marinette replayed the event in her mind. She could see Chat jumping towards the machine, and then landing in a lunge with his right hand on the roof. That was when the building started to collapse, and she went into overdrive and grabbed the akuma while using her Miraculous fix.
“So, you’re saying that he can cataclysm more than one thing with a charge? Like it’ll just keep going until he’s done using it, and then he can just turn it off?”
“You got it, LB.”
“But wait, how does the countdown work, if he can cataclysm a number of things?”
“The timer is the tricky part,” Tikki cut in. “Your timers last longer than 5 minutes now, but it will only gradually increase over time. So now you may have 5 and a half minutes before you detransform, but it’ll eventually become longer and more permanent as you continue to get older.”
“But when do the timers start counting down?” Adrien asked, his gaze dancing between the two kwamis.
“Yours, kid, starts once you turn the cataclysm off.”
“And yours, starts once you are done using your Lucky Charm, usually by throwing it for the Miraculous cure.”
“So, you’re saying I can fight an entire fight with a cataclysm charge on my right hand and my ‘kind of, sort of’ five-minute timer won’t start until I turn off the power?” Marinette noticed that the light was slowly coming back in Adrien’s eyes, and he actually seemed to be getting excited about all of this rather than worried like he was before.
“Yes, but that’s honestly all we can tell you. The rest of it you have to discover for yourself.” Tikki was calm, but it was clear that she was done talking about this topic with the Miraculous holders. Adrien, however, was not.
“So, the bigger jumps and connected thoughts and being able to walk around quieter are all part of the enhanced powers package too?”
Plagg nodded excitedly. “My favorite is the enhanced strength. With it, you can lift the largest piece of camembert ever made!” Marinette laughed at the thought of Chat just casually holding a piece of camembert the size of a car.
As Adrien and Plagg continued to get excited about all of the new powers he has, Marinette’s mind went into overdrive. There was something that Tikki had said after the Task when they learned about all of this that she needed to ask about.
“I have a question.” She announced, which shut the boys up pretty quickly. “Tikki, when you told us about our new powers, you said more danger could come with it, and that we needed to be more careful. What exactly did you mean by that.”
Tikki paused, as if contemplating the best way to phrase her next statement. Do you remember the akuma Timebreaker?” Marinette nodded, thinking of that akuma from long ago. That was an akuma she would never forget, as she ended up working with another Ladybug as well as a Chat Noir, one Ladybug from the present and one from the past (of like 5 minutes, but still). “Do you remember how Chat got hit by Timebreaker and he dissolved?” Both Marinette and Adrien nodded grimly. They didn’t like to talk about all of the times something horrible had happened to Chat during a battle, but that particular instance was one of the worst. “If that were to happen now, your enhanced powers as Ladybug would go away until you saved Chat.”
Marinette tried to comprehend what that would look like. Her timer would go back to 5 minutes exactly, her lucky charm wouldn’t be as strong, and she would be without her partner, which is always her greatest weakness. The idea upset her more than she thought it would.
Tikki let her words hang there before speaking again. “That’s why I warned you to be careful. If something happens to either of you, even if it’s something that the Miraculous cure can fix, the other will suffer greatly.”
Marinette and Adrien exchanged a look. She could tell that he still thought she was the reckless one out of the two of them, but arguing about it won’t fix the problem. “I promise to be more aware of my actions, if you are.”
Adrien smiled that beautiful smile of his and answered, “We both know I’m not the reckless one, but I promise the same. I’ll be safer if you’ll be safer.”
Marinette rolled her eyes, but leaned into him and rested her head on his shoulder. “I meant what I said at the date last week. I only want you to be safe.”
Adrien turned his head and kissed her forehead, “I just want us to be safe together.”
Marinette closed her eyes and smiled, enjoying this moment with Adrien. Of course, that’s when Plagg decided to clear his throat causing Marinette to open her eyes.
“I hate to break up this moment, but I want cheese before we go patrol.” Adrien rolled his eyes and pulled away from Marinette gently, digging in his pocket for some cheese. He tossed it to his kwami as Marinette stood up, looking for cookies for Tikki.
“Don’t worry, Marinette, I don’t need cookies to transform.” Tikki said with a laugh as Adrien whipped towards her appalled. “Plagg’s just needy.” Marinette laughed as Adrien murmured, “I knew that,” before calling his transformation. Marinette watched as he was bathed in green light and then suddenly, Chat stood before her. She let out a small sigh, which caught Chat’s attention.
“What was that, princess?” He asked with a smirk.
“Oh nothing. I just don’t think I’ll ever get tired of watching you do that.” Chat let out a small growl-like sound before stepping forward and kissing Marinette aggressively. She got lost in the kiss as his claws ran through her hair and she was finally able to appreciate how skin tight his leather suit really was. Before either of them took it too far though, they broke apart and Chat rested his forehead on Marinette’s.
“We have a city to patrol,” he said rather breathlessly, the sound of which sent shivers down her spine.
“You’re right,” she sighed, wishing for once that she didn’t have to be responsible for the entire city of Paris. “Plus, we’ll have plenty of time for that kind of stuff in the fantasy suite.” She watched Chat gulp and grow slightly pale under the mask, which caused her to laugh. It was nice to know she could still get to him.
She quickly called her transformation, and the two of them flew off into the night.
~~~
Soooooo sorry friends for the long wait! My sister was having trouble finding the inspiration to write, BUT she FINALLY got her act together AND mapped out the rest of the story, so we have almost reached the end of this journey together! Thank you all so much for the support and the constant notes and shares. You guys are the best and this story wouldn't continue to exist without you!
Aaaanyway, we hope you all enjoy the new chapter!
Let me know if you wanna be added to the tag list
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#can i steal you for a second#ml fanfic#ml fic#MLB#miraculous ladybug#Marinette Dupain-Cheng#Adrien Agreste#ml ladybug#ml ladynoir#Ayla Cesaire#ml bachlelor au#ml bachelor#ml au#The Bachelor#bachelor! Adrien#chat noir#plagg#ml tikki#tikki#tikki and plagg#ao3#ao3 work#original content#original characters#Chris Harrison#Lila Rossi#Gabriel Agreste
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A Rescued Cat and A Cute Vet
More about Simon and Baz and their cat, Snowball!
A continuation of the fic that @imhellakitty requested. @pipsqueakparker I’ve written another part :)
Read it on ao3
***
Simon
“You spent the night again?” Penny asks before I’ve even stepped all the way into our apartment.
She must have been waiting for me. I told her where I would be and that I wouldn’t be home last night, but I guess it was too much to hope for her to leave it at that.
“It was late, and I didn’t want to drive home, so I crashed at his place,” I explain, trying to pass her and get to my room, but I have no such luck.
“I know you think that I’m being intrusive, but seriously, Simon, are you using protection?”
I can feel my face heat up all the way to the tips of my ears. “It’s not like that. He isn’t even there at night. He’s working.”
“He’s just downstairs from you. He could come up on a break to see you.” I shoot her a glare, and she says, “fine. What do you mean it’s not like that?”
I shrug. “We’re just hanging out. I go by the clinic when I get off work and hang out and talk to him if he isn’t busy.”
“And you just hang out in his apartment while he’s working?” She asks, making it sound weirder than it actually is.
“I go up to play with Snowball. I lost track of time last night, and Baz let me crash at his place. He wasn’t up there with me until he got off work this morning.”
“So, are you two a couple, or are you hanging out as friends?”
“I, uh, I’m not sure. We haven’t talked about it in so many words.”
We’ve kissed a few times, and it’s nice, but I don’t know if that makes us a couple.
It has been a couple of weeks since I found Snowball, and Baz and I have spent a lot of time talking to each other. Well, as much time as we can when he works nights while I work days. This usually means that I stay up far too late texting him and am exhausted the next day.
“You should talk to him about it,” Penny says.
“I will. I’m going back over there later. He has the night off, so we’re going to hang out.” Penny’s face lights up, and I cut her off before she can say anything. “I won’t need protection.”
“I wasn’t going to say anything about that.”
“Yes, you were.”
She rolls her eyes. “Fine. I was. But only because I care.”
“And I appreciate that, but you don’t need to worry. If we do ever get to that point, I promise that we will be safe.”
“Good. That’s all I wanted.”
And with that, I make my escape as quickly as possible before she can continue this awkward conversation about my uncertain relationship with Baz.
***
When I arrive at Baz’s apartment that evening, I start smiling as soon as he opens the door.
It’s a weird reaction, but it’s difficult to hide how I feel when I’m around him. Fortunately, he returns the smile and gestures for me to come in.
We stop for a moment just inside the door, and I let my eyes drift down his body, taking in his appearance.
He’s wearing loose sweatpants and a grey t-shirt that brings out the color in his eyes, which are framed nicely by the way that his hair falls down around them.
He never wears his hair down. He usually keeps it either slicked back or tied back out of his face. This is a change and a very attractive one
Snowball comes bounding over and weaves between our legs, mewing at us, wanting attention.
Tearing my eyes away from Baz, I lean down to pick her up. She purrs as I scratch behind her ears, but a moment later, she jumps out of my arms and runs off towards Baz’s room. She’s taken up residence in one of the drawers of his dresser, and she spends the majority of her time there.
“Are you hungry?” Baz asks, wearing a fond expression. “I was just about to make something to eat.”
“Yeah, I could eat,” I say, smiling wider when he reaches for my hand.
***
After we eat, we end up lounging on Baz’s bed, watching tv. After a while, our hands find each other, intertwining between us, and sometime later, I end up tucked against his side.
This is what a couple does, right?
Or maybe we’re just really close friends. We did just meet, and we don’t know a lot about each other. For all I know, he’s got a line of other guys who come in after I leave.
I take a deep breath and try to clear that thought from my mind. Penny’s right. I need to talk to Baz about this.
But not right now.
It’s starting to get late, and I’m fighting to keep my eyes open, too comfortable in Baz’s arms to stay awake.
“M’tired,” I murmer. “I should probably get going.”
“Why don’t you rest a minute?”
I start to protest, but I’m interrupted by a yawn. Maybe he’s right. I should get a bit of rest before I go.
“Okay. I’ll leave in a couple minutes,” I say even as my eyes fall shut.
Baz pulls on me a bit, and I roll into him, burying my face in his neck and inhaling his scent. My hand falls on his chest, just over his heart, and I fall asleep to the beat of it.
***
When I wake, it’s morning, and I’m still pressed up against Baz, our legs tangled together now. We must have drifted even closer to each other in our sleep.
I hadn’t planned on falling asleep on his bed. I wasn’t even going to stay the night, but I guess the lack of sleep recently finally caught up to me.
I shift slightly in his arms, wondering how long I’ve been asleep, and he starts to stir, too, lifting his head to look at me.
“Sorry,” I whisper. “I didn’t mean to wake you.”
“It’s fine.”
“What time is it?” I ask, regretting it when Baz pulls away from me to search for his phone.
“Half past ten,” he says.
“Crap. I’m going to be late for work.”
“Sorry. I didn’t mean to fall asleep.”
“It’s okay. I’m the one who passed out in your bed.”
“A stranger’s bed,” he murmurs against my hear.
“A hot stranger’s bed,” I reply, grinning at him. “But you’re not a stranger anymore, you know.”
“I do. I also know that you need to get going.”
Despite his words, he pulls me close to him again, brushing his lips over mine, and it’s a struggle to pull myself from his arms.
Reluctantly I slide off the bed, out of arm’s reach from Baz’s inviting embrace.
“Want to come back over tonight?” He asks, stretching, and my eyes immediately fall upon the strip of skin that is revealed when his shirt rides up.
“Won’t you be working?” I ask once I’ve managed to force my eyes back up to his face.
“Yes, but you could still stop by to see me,” he says, and when he looks at me like that, how can I say no?
“Alright. I’ll drop by when I get off work but just to say hi. I need to spend a night in my own bed before my roommate thinks I’ve moved out.”
I locate my shoes by his bedroom door and tug them on. I’m still wearing my clothes from yesterday, so I’m going to have to stop by my house to shower and change, which is going to make me even later for work.
“Wait, one more thing,” Baz says, just before I step out into the hall.
“Yeah?” I ask, turning back to him.
“When is your next day off?”
“Saturday.”
“Great. I’m transitioning back to the day shift at the end of this week, and I should be off that day as well, so I would like to take you out on a proper date.”
“A date?”
“Yeah. Unless you don’t want to?”
“No, I do. I just wasn’t sure if were doing that. Dating, I mean.”
“Oh. I thought it was obvious.”
“How? You never said anything about it.”
“Well, I don’t make it a habit to kiss people I’m not dating. And I’ve never invited anyone up to my apartment before.”
“Really?”
“Are you surprised by that?”
“I mean, you’d known me for all of 20 minutes before you said I could come over.”
“You are the exception,” he says quietly, and I take a step back into the room. “From the moment you stepped into the clinic, I knew that there was something different about you. Something that I wanted to get closer to and learn more about.”
“Oh,” I say softly, and it’s more a rush of air than an actual word.
I have no idea how to respond to that. Even on my best days, I can’t find the words to describe how I feel about him, and right now, I’m late and in a rush, and every word that I have learned to speak has suddenly left me, leaving my mouth dry and empty.
I want to tell him that I feel the same way, that when I saw him, I knew that I would never be able to take my eyes off of him, but when I open my mouth, nothing comes out.
Baz sits up quickly, a new expression on his face, something like panic.
“That was too much, wasn’t it?” He says. “I should have just kept my mouth shut and not said anything.”
“N-no,” I say quickly. “It wasn’t too much. I just—.” I laugh nervously. “I really like you, too. I had a similar feeling when I saw you.”
Baz has crossed the room now, and he wraps an arm around my waist and pulls me into a deep kiss that has me seeing stars.
“See you tonight,” Baz whispers when he releases me.
“See you.” I reply, and I stumble out of his apartment in a daze.
This whole thing has turned out even better than I could have imagined.
Now, I have a cat and a boyfriend.
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mood swing
➡ summary: bla bla you are happily married to jungkook and he’s perfect, you are perfect until he starts to behave strangely.
➡ pairing: jungkook | female reader
➡ words: 5k
➡ genre: fluff | expecting parent!au
➡ note: sorry for the summary. i don’t know how to put it in short. and this story is originally written with kim jongdae as the main character in my asianfanfics account but since he is off limits now, i decided to change it into jungkook and repost it here. unedited. pardon my vocab and grammar.
Waking up in the morning was never something that you can do with such ease but today it feels different, a good different you might say. There are no words to express it – you know that day when you felt extra giddy that you don’t even know why – that is probably the most exact explanation that can explain your feelings at the moment. You’ll take it as a calling card for something good that might happened later.
You sit on the bed and ruffle your messy bed-hair, and eyes squint to avoid the sun rays that pierce into the room as you forgot to close the curtain last night. Taking a glimpse, you could see the blue skies, feel the calm breeze softly graze over your skin, and the ambient temperature… it compliments everything.
You’d love for a good starter.
While slipping on your slipper, you take a quick glance at the figure sleeping soundly next to you, with his mouth slightly open, creating soft snores.
A smile crept on your face.
You have always wondered. How can a fully grown-up man still look like a baby when they were sleeping?
Perhaps every single person that you love will always look good no matter what they do. Seeing how calm the man is in his sleep, you wish to crave the image in your memories.
Lightly caresses Jungkook’s hair, you gave him a peck on the cheek. It is still early and you decide to let him sleep in for another minute since he’s probably tired from all of his work.
You tie your hair into a messy bun and were about to leave the bed but Jungkook’s arm swiftly caught you by your waist and pull you until your back hit his bare chest. You yelp as you felt him snuggling closer.
He mumbles something along the line like ‘if you leave the bed, I’ll freeze to death’ which you chuckle and lean your head on top of his bare chest, peppering it with chaste kisses.
It made a wide smile to appear on his face.
Giving the last peck on the tiny mole just right under his left nipple, you then look at him sternly.
“Enough. I need to cook breakfast and clean the house.”
“It’s Saturday,” he whined.
You give him a pat on his shoulder before detangling his arms from your body after so much difficulty.
“I know. That’s why I need to clean up the house. We’re both busy on weekdays and have no time to clean the house. I can even see a thick fine dust in our room.”
He makes a face, still keeping his eyes close and snuggles more into the blanket.
“Will you let me do my chores now, Your Highness?” you joked.
He sighs and points at his left cheek. You knew it was a signal for you to give him a kiss but you pinched his cheek instead and ran out of the room, laughing.
“Wait until I’m all awake!” you heard him holler from inside the room.
You hang the last cloth onto the hanging line before you head inside the house. As you walk past the living room to get into the kitchen where the laundry room is located, your nose crinkle in irritation at the scene in front of you.
On the coffee table, you spot two empty cans of diet cola, an empty packet of chips, and a half-bowl of popcorn.
“Honey, make sure you clean that up, okay. I just finished vacuuming that side an hour ago,” you emphasize it for him to take the hint.
He lifted an OK sign with his fingers but his eyes never left the screen.
You looked at Jungkook sprawls on the couch, looking bored at the tv program with the remote control in his hand. As he was flipping through the channel, you watch as his free right-hand reach over to the bowl and pop a fistful of popcorn into his mouth.
This is strange, you thought to yourself.
For someone who always takes good care of his health, seeing Jungkook munching all of the snacks is still a rare sight for you to see. Usually, he’d been the one who would refuse to eat fried chicken for supper because he doesn’t want to destroy his muscles.
Perhaps today is his cheat day.
You shrug and went back into the kitchen. That is when your jaw dropped for the second time.
“Honey did you… use the microwave for the popcorn?”
He looked over his shoulder, at you. “Yeah.”
“O.M.G.”
You want to laugh. As far as you know, Jeon Jungkook, the man you are married to was never – by never you mean absolutely never – fond of using the microwave because he thought it would explode or something but seeing him with the freshly ‘popped’ corn has caught you in between thoughts.
He wasn’t possibly lying to you this whole time… oh, never mind.
He’d probably found courage from his dream or something so you don’t really want to think a lot about it right now. You wanted to get done with the chores and get some rest.
“Shoot!” he suddenly shouts.
His loud voice sounds alarming that you put down the laundry basket swiftly and make a beeline out of the laundry room towards him in the living room.
“What? What happened?”
He points at the screen and your eyes followed.
“That bulgogi looks so delicious right now.”
Your brows crease as you let his words to digest in your brain. That running is all for nothing. What a waste of breath.
“I thought you injured yourself or something. Honey, you scare me.”
You forget to mention that you married an impulsive person. He loves to do things unexpectedly which is not something new so you didn’t find this quite odd.
“I’ll cook it for today’s lunch then,” you said while thinking of the ingredients in the fridge that is probably enough for you to create the recipe.
You pick up the trash and put away the bowl but he sat up almost immediately and grabs your hand when he saw you putting away his popcorn. “No-” he said with a mouth still full, “Don’t put it away and… I want to eat Bulgogi now.”
You stand straight.
“Honey…” your word trailed off, mouth open and loose like a fish that jumps out of the water as you stare at Jungkook as if he had just grown a pair of golden horns.
“Babe, we have just eaten breakfast about an hour ago, and do you even realize that you’re eating snacks right now?” you ask, hands on your sides.
He looks down to the bowl he snatched from your hand and pout. He put the bowl back on the table and stares at you with his doe-like eyes.
Your breath hitched.
It is your weakness. You always tend to give up whenever he acts cute around you. He used it a lot to get away from trouble whenever you sense one.
“This is a bit weird but I am hungry... again and I don’t know why…” he mumbles.
He himself notices that he is being extraordinarily irritable to you but he also couldn’t find the answer to his strange behavior. All he knows after he had thrown up twice after breakfast, his desire to eat increased almost to the point that he hates and loves it at the same time. It seems like his mind and heart are not on good terms today.
“I’ll cook it for today’s lunch. Not now. Period!” you speak with a stern voice before going back to clean up the mess.
There’s no way you will starve your husband but it makes no sense for a person who always takes care of his body to suddenly change overnight.
You steal a glance at Jungkook, trying to see any hint of weirdness - despite from him already being weird - in case a hungry demon possesses your husband while he is sleeping last night.
“Look at that.” his voice trailed as you followed his eyes to the TV channel again.
“Gosh, that looks delicious.” you heard him.
Reluctantly, you heave a loud sigh.
“Fine. I’ll cook it for you– wipe off your drool!”
It didn’t go unnoticed. With you being a keen observant, it is easy to figure out Jungkook’s peculiar antics today, again, after lunch. Usually, he would help you do the dishes - more like he would just back hug and pamper you with kisses while you were the one doing the dishes - but today, after he finishes the meal, he quickly went into the bedroom and came out ten minutes later with a face pale as if he just saw a ghost lurking around in the bedroom.
You had your brow raised. “You okay? Did you throw up again?!”
He makes an unpleasant expression and you quickly rush to help him settles on the couch. You then took the chance to put the back of your hand on his forehead to feel his temperature but it feels normal that you can’t conclude that he is having a fever. You were about to help him lay down on the couch when he, out of the blue, push your hands away and wrinkles his nose in disgust.
What?
You are shocked, your body went rigid and both hands that he pushes away froze on the spot. It made you lost for words. He turned away slightly, avoiding your eyes. You stood there, the body still half-bent, staring at him without blinking.
Jungkook groans, snapping you out from your thoughts. His face starts to appear a little reddish and skin glistens with sweat that has made you worry but you hesitate for a second.
It was the first time Jungkook ever pushes you away. He is usually the one to initiate intimacy between both of you and when he rejects you, it is sure taking a toll on your emotion.
It feels like your throat is tightening as if you had swallowed a huge golf ball that is hard to pass through. It is hard to admit but sadness flowed through your vein and it is messing up with your mind. You are a little bit confused and hurt of course; contemplating whether you should ignore his antics or do the exact opposite of it.
Back when you were still in college, some students call you land mine. If you miss your step, it will kaboom!
You don’t really show your emotion but if there is something that makes you extremely sad or angry until it reaches your limits, you can blow up, creating a big, big mess.
This whole thing with Jungkook, it upset you, seriously but even he doesn’t know what’s happening to him. You both do get into a lot of fights before marriage but now that you both are tied, you always told yourself to understand that compromise is a necessary part of any successful, enduring marriage. You always stick with the belief that in marriage, two people need to work together as a team and each person must give and take once in a while. You love Jungkook so that’s why you always go with the first option.
Let’s pretend that it didn’t happen.
You are trying to be rational at the moment. Jungkook may be older but it doesn’t mean that he is matured enough (sometimes) during fights. His competitive spirits are out of this world while you are always the forgiving one. It seems unfair sometimes but so far there isn’t any huge problem regarding this and you are pretty much cool about this; only if the problems are tolerable enough for you to take in. You have a deal with much more head-splitting matter even before you met him so it’s easy for you to tolerate with him.
While you are still on freeze, Jungkook then pushes himself to sit and lean his back to the back rest of the couch; his breath quivers in soft, short gasps and eyes completely train on you. It flashes with different sorts of emotions, making you gulp unconsciously.
“Are you okay?” you start off slow when he doesn’t seem to be talking soon.
At your word, he reaches over to hold your hand and you took his action as an apology. He has the soft look that you recognize whenever he is feeling apologetic to you. Knowing that he is not good with words, he always shows it through actions and you appreciate it much, especially in this kind of situation.
“Want to tell me what is going on?” you asked again.
Jungkook pulls you into a hug for just a few seconds before releasing you. The same, disgusted expression plasters on his face again. You pout.
“Why do you smell like trash?”
Blinks.
“Sorry?”
You blink at his sudden question. Contrary to his innocent face, his question has taken you off your feet. You grimace for standing up way too quick, making you a bit dizzy. You compose yourself, try to ease the dizziness. When the sensation is gone, you find yourself glaring at him.
“What do you mean I smell like trash?”
He nods.
“That wasn’t very nice of you.” you mutter, discontent by his word.
Jungkook is currently taking a nap on the couch in the living room. Heavy silence settles all over the house, only the sound of the wind, the trees and rustling of leaves from outside can be heard as you keep the backyard door opened. Usually it would calm you down but today it gives off the feeling for an awkward silence.
You are currently sitting at the dining table, with your laptop, and a few papers work that you think it’d be great if you can at least do some work to kill some time.
You pause your work for a moment and turn to look at your husband on the couch. You will never get yourself used to the image presented in front of your eyes. He looks so peaceful, looks much more normal now. Jungkook’s sharp features are much softer in his sleep. His heart thumps in accordance with slow breaths, his chest rising and falling rhythmically.
Despite that, your mind keeps working madly, making you wonder. There are tons of questions that come into your mind at the moment. What if once he wakes up, he’ll do something weird again? Will there be an explanation for his behavior? Again?
You draw a deep breath, throwing away the negative thoughts you had and just hope for everything will be fine after he wakes up.
As you were about to get yourself another cup of coffee, you heard the beeping sound coming from the front door. On alert, your feet scramble to the front door but before you could see the ‘intruder’ from the peep-hole, someone walks into the house with food containers wrapped in bojagi on both of her hands.
“Mother!” you gasped, rushing to help your mother-in-law.
She smiled when she saw you.
“How are you doing, sweetie?” she greets as you took the items from her hands. You let her take off her shoes while you bring the food into the kitchen.
“Everything is perfectly fine, I guess?” you answered from the kitchen, unsure if your answer is the one she has been wanting to hear.
She stopped to look at her son sleeping on the couch and she clicks her tongue in disapproval.
“Look at him. Useless. How can he choose to sleep while his wife is struggling alone?” she complains.
She went over to him and gave a hard smack on his bottom when the man yelp but he went back to sleep just like nothing happened.
“Why did I give birth to a lazy kid?” she mumbles, walking into the kitchen.
“You brought us so much food. You must be busy this morning. How are we going to finish all of this?”
The elder woman helps you to unpack and store the food she brought into the fridge.
“I cook this,” she pointed at the side dishes she brought, “…and your father-in-law helped me to grill the eels.”
“Speaking of father-in-law, where is he?”
She shrugged. “I don’t know. Perhaps he went to drink rice wine with his friends somewhere around the neighborhood.”
“Day drinking?” you asked, surprised.
Jungkook’s mother scoffed. “You know him! No matter how many times you told him it’s bad for his health, he’ll never listen.”
You bite your inner cheek.
She has been talking about her husband’s bad drinking habit every single time someone talked about him. It always put you in an awkward position. One wrong word could make it difficult for you. You can act silly with your parents but you have no intention to do the same with your parent-in-law. Having them to trust you with their son is already a big honor for you.
“You brought mulberries too?” you decided to change the topic.
“You said you love it when you went to our house at that time.”
“That was around two months ago.”
She nudged your side lightly. “I have quite a strong memory for someone old like me.”
You chortle. “What are you talking about? People used to call you my older sister when I was back at your house.”
You both laughed at that.
It was so long since you visited your in-laws because of your work but you’re glad she is here right now. Her presence can take you off from Jungkook’s ‘problem’ for a moment.
“But you need to hide that. If Jungkook found it, he’s going to eat it. He knows he has severe allergy on berries but he still ate it.”
You nodded, remembering the moment when you and Jungkook first met. It still made your lips curve up at the memories.
It was three years ago, you were hanging out with your friends at your favorite bar when Jungkook approached you (while pretending to be cool) and asked if you’d like to go for another round with him.
He was flirtatious at the time and you find it funny but it was cringe-worthy especially when he reached for your drink for a sip. He was so into himself, oblivious that your drink was black mulberry margarita – which not even a minute later, got him struggling on the wooden floor of the bar, clutching on his throat for help.
It caused quite a scene at the bar with the bright blue and red lights ablaze from the ambulance at such a small alley and paramedics carrying a stretcher with a clumsy man on it who apparently has allergy on berries but completely forgot about it in the sake of flirting with a woman he caught his eyes on.
You and your mother-in-law were chatting at the backyard when your ears caught a crashing sound coming from the kitchen. Your conversation halted, you immediately spring up from your sit.
“What is that sound?” the old lady asked.
“I’ll… go and take a look.”
You rushed inside and straight into the kitchen only to find your husband lying unconscious on the marbled kitchen floor. In a silent panic, your eyes travel to the shattered glass pieces near his place, clear evidence for the crashing sound you heard before.
“H-Honey…” your voice trembles.
You stood frozen at the threshold of your kitchen, unable to move. Your heart starts to beat faster as sweats started to form on your body.
“Oh God!” your mother-in-law rushes past you and crouch at her son.
“Help him, sweetie!”
It was your mother-in-law’s voice that snapped you out from your walls and you rushed to help her by grabbing the broom to swipe away the glasses.
“I think he ate the mulberries.”
The woman sighed in both frustration and also alarmed by the situation. Although she is scared for her son’s health, it is not the first time that Jungkook ever collapsed after eating berries. Even when he was a lot younger, he used to ask help from their neighbor to bring him to the hospital because he didn’t want his mother to get mad at him for eating berries in secret.
“Call 119.”
You stare at Jungkook who is currently resting on the hospital bed after his treatment. The soft snores coming from him tells you that he is doing better now.
“Silly.”
It was exactly as you and your mother-in-law expected.
Jungkook had woken up while you and your mother-in-law were having a conversation in the backyard, totally oblivious at the situation. Jungkook, on the other hand, had found and eaten the berries you had hidden deep inside the fridge which triggers his allergy.
It was a close call but the medical staff manages to soothe his allergy reaction from entering critical state after giving him shots and drawing some blood for proper diagnoses.
“Mrs. Jeon?” the previous doctor visited the bed again with a piece of paper in his hand.
“Um…” you started as he looks up at you.
“You’re talking to two Mrs. Jeon here.” you point at yourself and your mother-in-law.
A loud chortle erupts from him. “Sorry about that. Can I talk to patient Jeon Jungkook’s wife then?”
“Can both of us...”
“Oh, sure.” he nods and moves closer to you while your mother-in-law stands on the side of the bed with ears wide open to hear something from the doctor.
“From the blood sample here,” he points at the paper, “we didn’t find anything that could trigger his nausea as you mention but we found that the patient has an allergy for berries. Are you two well aware of it?” he asks both of you.
“Yes, we…” you glance at your mother-in-law before continuing, “…we knew about that.”
He nods in confirmation and proceeds explaining about the cautious steps you and your husband need to take to reduce his allergic reaction.
Your lips were press into thin line the whole time. This whole situation bothers you.
You had told the doctor that your husband was feeling sick since the morning and had it check just in case it was something serious.
It can’t be. He threw up twice and when the doctor said it was nothing, you just couldn’t get it away from your head. There’s no way a perfectly fine man would throw up for nothing unless Jungkook had been drinking behind your back, probably while you were sleeping, and woke up feeling hangover from the drinks he had.
But it doesn’t seem like that either. You would’ve known it right the moment you wake up.
“You seem to worry about it a lot,” the doctor comments after looking at your trouble face.
“It can’t be nothing. He was fine before breakfast and after that he threw up twice and…” you rake your brain trying to remember anything out of the ordinary that Jungkook did today.
“…ah, he also said I smell like trash.” You unconsciously sulk.
Your words went clearly into your mother-in-law's ear and she gasps dramatically, hands move up to her chest. She looks at her son on the bed and gives a brutal smack on his stomach.
“This brat! How could he say that to his wife?!” she scolds the unconscious man angrily.
The doctor laughs full-bellied at the sitcom playing right in front of him. It was funny to him although he has seen patients get beaten by someone but not by their own mother who is exceptionally protective over their daughter-in-law.
“Mother…” you quickly grab her hand before she could slap Jungkook again. “People are watching.”
He wipes off the imaginary tears before scanning the paper again, acting like nothing happened.
“He is negative on food poisoning.” he looks at you both, “and from what you had told us, there is nothing that could trigger his nausea unless…”
“Unless?” the older woman inquired.
He smiled knowingly. “Unless he is starting to experience his morning sickness.”
“I have morning sickness?”
You and your mother-in-law jumped on your spots, startled at the intrusion of a new voice joining your conversations.
“Ah, you’re awake.” The doctor said in a matter of a fact tone.
Your eyes went agape at your husband. You were too focused on the conversation that you didn’t even hear him waking up. He’d probably have been listening to everything.
“Are you feeling better?”
You brush some hair out of his eyes as the man observes his surroundings before his eyes fixed on the man in his white attire staring back at him with a serene smile.
“What do you mean I have morning sickness?” he asks the other man, ignoring your question. He just wants to make sure he’s not hearing things.
You turn back at the doctor. “Yes, what do you mean by that?”
He clicks his tongue before securing the glasses on his nose bridge.
“How do I start... okay. This case is very rare but it is scientifically proven…” he stops to observe your faces but it only leaves a giggle out from his mouth.
The three of you had the same expression (brows knitted and mouth slightly ajar in confusion) that give out the idea that you wouldn’t even understand a word he’s going to say unless he made it short and simple for you to understand. Science is not particularly your favorite.
“Sorry, I’ll try again.” He clears his throat. “So, if the wife is pregnant, the husband can experience morning sickness instead of his wife. It is also called sympathetic pregnancy.”
Jungkook looks at you. He too as confused as you are. There’s a line forming between his eyebrows as you both try to absorb the new information ‘prescribe’ to you.
“My wife’s pregnant?” Jungkook asks.
“We need to test it out before confirming. I’m just stating my conclusion since there is nothing serious found from your blood sample, Mr. Jeon.”
“Babe…” Jungkook suddenly grabs your hand, making you look down at him.
His expression had you under a strange mix of feelings, joy, and uneasiness. He is probably feeling the same as you. You won’t deny that the doctor’s word has caught you feeling excited.
The last time you and your husband tried for a baby was probably a month ago. It could be that you are pregnant. You always have an irregular pattern of your period and seeing that you are not experiencing any morning sickness at all risen the probability.
You try to hide the smile growing on your face.
You’ve always wanted a baby with Jungkook. You both even tried to have a baby when you were still dating but it was vain.
This might be your chance to strengthen your bond with Jungkook, to be tied by a child.
You caught the expression on your mother-in-law’s face. You can tell that she is hoping for the miracle as well.
“If you want to, we can get you tested.”
The weather is gorgeous today. The day looks exactly like the one on your postcards. Baby blue skies came in contrast with various colors of the autumn foliage that strangely fits together perfectly. The air smells crisp and cold with a little feeling of damp and especially more earthy.
However the weather is getting a lot colder as the summer has lost its heat and the cold from autumn is ready to say hello to the world.
You shiver as you approach the door to your backyard.
“Honey, get inside. It’s cold.”
You beckon Jungkook to get inside the house. He is sitting inside the hanging chair while staring at that one pot of strawberry that miraculously survives through the heat of summer and now bearing delicious looking fruits.
Jungkook stands up from his sitting and walks towards your welcoming arms but you stop him when you saw the thing on his hands.
Your brows crease. “Why… are you holding that?”
He looks at the baby shoes you bought yesterday and gives a pat on the embossed decoration of a brown bear on it before smiling.
“It’s cute.”
“I know. But why are you holding it?”
He then shoves the shoes right in front of your face, “It’s for the baby. Look, this is too cute, right?” he asks you to agree with him eagerly.
He looks totally adorable that you wanted to pinch his cheeks.
“I really hope I can get into that weird mind of yours.”
You move into the house and he follows, shutting down the door.
“I’m just… so happy,” he said, hugging the shoes for one last time before putting it back to where it belongs, on top of the shelves, and approaching you.
He pulls you into a hug, with your back sticks to his chest while he rests his chin on top of your head. Back hug is practically easier than normal face-to-face hug since there is a huge obstacle standing in the way.
“Everyone’s happy. I am happy.”
You are genuinely happy.
It turns out that after the pregnancy test, you are positive of pregnant for three weeks. It feels like a huge something has been left off your body for passing level one of marriage life as if a bundle of joy has been thrown to not only both of you but also to the people around you. Your parent, your parent-in-law, and your close friends, they were on cloud nine, congratulating you and your husband for the news.
You and Jungkook spent the next day together, just lying on the bed while hugging each other without any words uttered. There are simply no words to describe your feelings.
Elated, excited, euphoric, you name it.
The both of you spend your days ahead, planning and getting ready for the future, and decided to name the baby Jeon Jungsoo after your last ultrasound scan as the obstetrician confirms that your baby is going to be a boy. You wanted the baby to live an outstanding life, just like his name.
“Today it was just the two of us and next week we are going to have my copycat running around the house,” Jungkook whispers through your hair and tightens his arms around your body.
“I hope he won’t be as naughty as you when you were a kid.”
He pushes you to face him. You chuckle as you saw his face. Pouting and brows knitted. His ‘trademark’ of a sulking face.
“I’m not naughty. Who said that?”
“Your mother.” You stated in a matter of a fact tone.
“Oh…”
His shoulder drops. He can’t argue when the facts came from the truthfully right person that is authorized to say that.
“Will you be a good daddy then?”
His face immediately glows. He snorts, looking haughty all of sudden as he expands his chest like a superhero just saved the day.
“Abso-fucking-lutely,” he whispers at that, afraid that the baby could catch it and come out from you and greets ‘hi, daddy. you are abso-fucking-lutely good looking!’ to him.
“I’ve waited for this my whole life!”
You snicker at that. “Yes, you sure do but I’m the one who has to bear your weird antics for twelve weeks straight, thank you.”
He grins sheepishly, follows you like a lost puppy into the kitchen.
“Sorry about that but aren’t you glad I’m the one having it?”
You had to stop whatever you were doing at the moment at that remarks. You send a piercing glare at him.
“You eat and I throw up. Heh?” he lifts his left shoulder cutely.
“You have the audacity to say that with me looking like this?!” you point at your bloated stomach.
“Try to imagine that you are the one carrying this 25kilos worth of… of watermelon in your stomach, and your kidneys just wouldn’t let you live in peace all day long, and the pain on your back always makes you think back if all of this worth your time and efforts and… and now you’re in your last trimester week and this weird yellow liquid keeps oozing out from your breasts that you need to put tissues on it in order not to stain your shirt like… like… I don’t know. What do you think, Jeon Jungkook? Still thinks that your morning sickness is much worse than all of this?”
You need to catch your breaths after firing each of your words out of your mouth like a torpedo that evidently has hit him direct to the core.
His brain stutters for a moment while every part of him goes on pause while his thoughts try to catch up with every single word. It leaves him speechless and Jungkook mentally admits that he loses. He didn’t even realize he has both arms up in the air as if he is surrendering to you now.
“Happy now?” you snapped, but immediately bite on your lower lip afterward to prevent that smile from escaping.
Gosh, he looks so cute!
“Babe…” Jungkook suddenly calls for you.
“What?”
“You… look so hot right now.”
“F.U Jungkook!”
#jungkook#bts series#bts scenarios#bts fanfic#jungkook series#bts writing#bts#bts fanfiction#kpop writing#kpop series#jin#suga#namjoon#jhope#jimin#taehyung#bts fic rec#boring beauty#mood swing
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Black Coffee
Summary: Coffee aroma surrounds you as you prepare for a long day of studying in your favorite coffee shop. Your focus is shattered by a handsome stranger demanding a very large favor-pretend to be his girlfriend. Pairing: Bucky x Female Reader Warning(s): Cursing. Innocent fluff. Bucky’s eyelashes. Word Count: 1,383 Beta Reader: My darling honey bun, @supersoldiersruined-me Notes: Congrats Christina, @stuck-y-together, on 1K!!!! My prompt was “I was trying to get my morning coffee, not get kidnapped by some strange man.” Prompt is bolded. Age wise, reader is a grad student or older. No cradle robbing, Bucky. Coffeeshop image credit to @saturday-studying. All other images from google.
You’ve been at Quay 4, your favorite coffee shop, for about a half hour now. It’s taken you this long to set up your study space exactly how you need. You managed to snag a booth located near the giant windows; lending you a gorgeous view of the Brooklyn Bridge and the East River. Your laptop is plugged into the socket, your textbook lays open, highlighters and colored pens organized in rainbow order, and your notebook open to a fresh page. Set off to the side is a large coffee alongside an equally large cinnamon roll. You were ready for the long haul. This exam was still nearly a week away but you wanted to be prepared. Nothing but focus in your future.
You scowl at the window adjacent to your booth. A man was peering inside, effectively shattering your already shaky focus. What did this guy want? His face disappears from the window and you look back the blank page ready to begin.
The bell on the shop door dings. It’s staring man. He’s attempting to catch his breath while searching around frantically. Curious as you may be, it’s study time. You pick up your favorite pen when you feel the stare. Scratch that. You feel the presence. Someone is standing at the edge of your table; anxiously shifting their weight from one foot to another.
“I need your help.” You look up to see the same man who was creeping in the window. You lower your pen ready to chew him out and he takes it as permission to sit down. Not just down. In your half of the booth, annoyingly close to you. “Follow my lead and I’ll make it up to you.”
The door to the shop dings once more and the strange man’s arm shoots into the air to beckon the two men over to the booth. Your booth.
“So this is the girlfriend, Buck.”
“This is her!” He throws his arm around you.
Your brows raise on their own volition. Your face must be too shocked for Mr. Stranger’s desire cause he nudges your foot gently under the table before continuing.
“Sorry hun. I know I forgot to mention Sam and Steve were coming when you asked to get coffee. Didn’t mean to surprise you.”
“No I’m sorry. I wouldn’t have crowded the table with all my study materials if I knew we’d have company…” You pause unsure. “Babe?”
It didn’t suit him as a pet name. You made a mental note to choose a different one next time. What was his name again? Buck? Not sure if that’s a full name or a nickname. I guess you could work with it. Bucky suggests Sam and Steve get coffee, adding his own black coffee to their order so he can help you pack up. You groan internally having got it perfectly arranged only a short while ago.
“Details. My name is James but I go by Bucky. My favorite color is red. We started dating a month ago. We’re taking things slow ‘cause I have a fear of rejection. We met….we met…crap.”
“Here at the coffee shop?” You offer. You genuinely surprise yourself. You feel compelled to help Mr. Stranger. No. Not a stranger. Bucky. “For someone with a fear of rejection, selecting a random stranger to fake date seems a bit bold.”
He’s stunned but chuckles lightly. You tell him your name, nickname, and corresponding details. “I bought you a cinnamon roll and had it sent to your table asking you to chat.”
“You’re good at this. Fake date often?”
At this point, Sam and Steve have gathered their drinks from the counter and are headed back to the booth. You lean over and whisper in Buckys ear “it pays the bills”.
He’s laughing in earnest when the pair sit down. They slide a bowl sized mug of black coffee over to Bucky. “
“Where’s the sugar?”
“You said a black coffee.”
Steve brings his fingers to his face and pinches the bridge of his nose. He’s clearly heard the ensuing argument one too many times before.
“Tin man, if you want sugar it’s not a black coffee.”
“Yes it is! Sugar doesn’t change the color.”
“Just order a coffee with no cream add sugar.”
“They don’t add enough!”
Steve delicately spoons the whipped cream off his own mug and eats it while checking the weather on his phone. His disinterest in the argument at hand is comical. He ignores his friends not unlike a stoned faced parent. You’re still reeling at how passionate your “boyfriend” was about black coffee.
“Fine I’ll go get the sugar.” Bucky huffs. Sam coughs lightly, something sounding oddly like diabetes, and pulls his hand from his jacket pocket dropping what must be 30 packets of sugar onto the table.
“If you had the packets already why-”
“Enough you two. We came here to meet Buck’s girlfriend not force her to listen to us bicker.”
Your hand rests on the table, toying with the edge of a napkin. Bucky scoots his hand over from his side of the table to rest gently atop yours; fingers gently intertwining.
You look over to him but the words die in your throat the second you meet his eyes. You hadn’t had a chance to get a good look at him since this whole ordeal began.
He was handsome, ruggedly so. He has full cheeks and even fuller lips. His eyelashes are annoyingly long; the kind women curse men for. He’s wearing a plain white t shirt with a light bomber jacket thrown on top to combat the light breeze today. His shoulder length hair fell in shiny waves. You were close enough to feel comforted by the wafts of his body wash. He was expressive with his eyebrows. Wait. No. He was raising them in a slightly panicked inquisitive expression.
“Doll? Sam asked you a question.”
“God you two are gross already. Already drowning in each others eyes.”
A staccato beeping interrupts your assessment of Bucky and returns functional ability to your brain. Steve’s brows knit together as he reads a message off his phone.
“Nat needs us to help set up for that thing tonight, Sam.”
“Damn. I hoped we were off the hook.”
“It would appear not.” Steve’s standing, throwing on his jacket. “Sorry we didn’t get to chat more hun. We’ve been dying to meet you.”
“More like didn’t believe you exist-” Sam huffs as he’s met with a sharp elbow to his ribs. He feigns hurt before his expression changes to one of mischief. “Barnes, why don’t you bring your girl tonight?”
“No!” Bucky shouts abruptly. “I mean, she has an exam to study for. School comes first and all.”
Sam snatches a piece of paper off your stack of study materials. “Schedule says the exam is in four days. You think you can take the night off for some fun?”
You stutter responses with three pairs of eyes staring you down before gaining composure. “Studies have shown study breaks improve information retention… ”
Steve smiles genuinely while Sam raises a smug brow at Bucky. “Great it’s settled. See you tonight, guys.”
Once the two men are out of sight, Bucky collapses back into the booth next to you, jostling his coffee dangerously. His head is cradled in his hands as he mutters to himself. You sip your own beverage waiting for an explanation but none comes.
“Darling?” you say in mock voice to get his attention. He startles as if you had teleported into the booth.
“You have to come tonight. If you don’t, Sam will never let me hear the end of it.”
“Hold the phone, dude. I was just trying to get my morning coffee, not get kidnapped by some strange man…” An attractive and pleasant smelling strange man.
“Let’s not exaggerate, doll. A rooftop barbeque with the Avengers is hardly kidnapping.”
Your eyes go wide. You know who the strange cute man is. How did you not see it before? If this was Bucky Barnes, Winter Soldier, they had to have been-shit.
“I had coffee with Captain America and Falcon. Cool cool cool.”
Bucky smirks at your nonchalance. “Does that mean you’re willing go eat ribs with me tonight?”
“I guess I could use a study break.”
#stuckytogether1000#Bucky x reader#bucky x female reader#bucky barnes#bucky fanfic#bucky barnes fanfiction#bucky barnes x reader
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Story I Wrote at 10 years old
(Warning: It’s quite shitty and cringe worthy)
Prologue
Year: 3016
The humans had barely saved themselves. By building a dome that acted like the Sun and protected them from “The Explosion”, the humans had accomplished their greatest achievement yet.
The Dome was full of the most advanced technology programmed to act exactly like the atmosphere but with false projections showing the Sun, clouds, and stars. Though it did more than just that, The Dome also brought the world together in peace during a race against time. One wrong move could kill all of humankind.
But what was “The Explosion”?
And what caused it?
Chapter 1: Big News
Astra POV
Year: 3015
My name is Astra, Astra Cosma Stellar and I was just a normal 12-year-old, until today...
“Astra wake up!” shouted Mom, “ Astra! For heaven’s sake just wake up!”
“But Mom, there’s no school!”, I shouted back.
“And there’s a reason why, but we don’t know yet.”, she replied,” We’ll find out in the news, and it’s coming up in five minutes, so you better hurry up!”
Oh right, I forgot. “ Can I call Nebula so we can watch it together? She’s just next door!”
“Sure Honey, but make it quick!”, Mom said.
Ugh. My long purple and sea green hair just had to be so messy right now.
Nebula Galaxia Nova was my best friend since we moved here, 777 Starlight Way in Comett, California (we were the only state that still had an Old Era name).
As I was running to her house, she saw me through the window and decided to go outside to meet me.
“Hey Astra!” said Nebula.
“Hey!”I replied, ”Do you want to come to watch the news at my house?”
“Sure!” she said,” but I wonder what the big news is, I’ve always wanted to be on an adventure.”
“ But it’s not like Earth is about to explode and we’re all going to die!”, Nebula laughed, her short, silver hair flying as she chuckled.
“Of course not, that would be taking things way too far,” I said.
Back at home, Neb and I waited for the news on my family’s Hologram TV (HoloTV for short).
And then it finally happened, it felt like the TV screamed at us “BREAKING NEWS!!!” the reporter said.
”As you all know, WWIII just ended and there is only peace now, but what scientists didn’t predict was that their idea of harnessing the Sun’s energy for the war would use almost all of it.”
“ This means that if we don’t think of a solution fast, it will explode in one year, killing all of humanity!”
What!?
I felt a sense of foreboding.
A sense that there was an adventure ahead of me.
Chapter 2: (Untitled?)
Nebula POV
Oh my goodness! We’re all about to die!!!
Astra and her Mom are panicking, I’m panicking, the WHOLE STREET is panicking!!! We all knew we were going to die, it was inevitable.
“Neb! Hey Neb, are you alright?”, Astra yelled. She was snapping her fingers in my face, and her blue eyes were full of concern.
“I’m fine”, I said.
The truth was, I was not fine. Why would anyone be?
Wait a second… I’m overreacting. No one was panicking, only I was.
Then it happened again, “BREAKING NEWS!!!” the reporter shouted,
“We have a solution.”
“Dr. Bliss, would you have the pleasure to explain to us this miraculous idea?”
“Yes, I would, Hello my name is Dr. Maple A. Bliss and I am a scientist at the WSC (World Science Corporation).”Dr. Bliss said,” The new solution the WSC has proposed is that we build a high-tech unbreakable glass dome hereinafter “Project Dome” with projections and simulators for the sky, and more that can also protect us from the explosion.”
“May I ask, how will we build it in time?” asked the reporter.
“Well, because the whole world is at peace, many other countries have offered to help us build Project Dome by having their best engineers build their area of the dome, which will be assigned. Our area, of course, is Comett”, Dr. Bliss replied,” but even with this plan we are still skating on thin ice.”
Oh, shoot. I thought we were saved. Oh, I guess some things are too good to be true.
“Thank you Dr. Bliss.,” said the reporter, “ Coming up next! Deadly hovercar crash on highway A70…” Astra’s mom turned the TV off.
“Bye Astra! Bye Mrs. Stellar!`` I said. “Bye!”, Astra replied.
Back at home, I went straight to my parents. They didn’t watch the news, so when I told them… well, my mom sort of freaked out and got all overprotective.
While I was in bed, I heard my parents talking, so I decided to go downstairs and eavesdrop.
“That’s it!”, my mom said,” We’re moving! This town just keeps getting even more dangerous!”
“Shh! Sky, I have to say, that is a great idea, but what about Nebula and Astra?” my dad replied quietly,” What about my job? It took me a long time to get a job as the mayor’s assistant.”
That was it, we were leaving. No more Astra. No more ice cream. Just silence.
“But that’s exactly why!”, my mom finally said,” If we don’t leave soon, they’ll start dragging you into this mess.”
“Don’t you see? Our whole family could be in danger.”
Chapter 3: Crystal Cream
Astra
Today was Saturday, and I was so excited about my ice cream day with Neb!
When I walked over to her house she was ready, but for some reason, something was off. It seemed like her happiness was fake and she was worried about something. I don’t think it was about the news.
“Hey Neb, is everything alright?”, I said.
“I’m fine! Don’t worry about me! I’m fine!”, Nebula replied.
Uh oh, I knew something was wrong.
Two years ago, in fifth grade, my teacher Miss. McGrayer gave us this advice: “Usually if anyone says they’re fine, they’re not.”
Let me add on to that: “Usually if anyone says they’re fine, they’re not. Especially when they insist they are.”
“Come on, stop daydreaming let’s go!”, Neb said in her “fake happy voice”.
“Neb, just tell me the truth or we’re not going for ice cream!”I ordered (maybe a bit too demanding because right then she started to cry).
“Neb, I’m so sorry! We don’t have to talk about it if you want.`` I said apologetically.
“And there’s nothing ice cream can’t fix!”I added, trying to lighten up the mood.
“Okay, let’s go”, Neb said between sniffles.
This time I heard a little bit of genuine happiness in her voice.
Going to the ice cream shop is always fun with Neb, and we go as much as we can. We’ve even memorized each other’s orders. Mine is a Milky Way Mousse Sundae with extra whipped cream, and Neb’s is a Simple Supernova Sundae.
Today we did the usual, talk while eating our ice cream and stalling as much as possible.
As we were walking back from our favorite ice cream shop in the whole galaxy (located in the Solar City Plaza), The Star Scoop, we heard very indistinct whispering and followed it to an alleyway.
“Are you sure we should eavesdrop? I don’t have a good feeling about this.”, Nebula whispered.
“It’s fine (*cough*cough*)!”, I whispered back,” Anyways I thought you wanted to go on an adventure?”
“Yeah! But not a dangerous, risky one! “she said angrily.
“Shhh! They’ll hear us! That’s even more dangerous right?”, I whispered.
“Alright, alright, let’s start eavesdropping.’’, she said.
“Okay, let’s review the plan I came up with,” a girl’s voice whispered,” We’re going to hire, I mean, ask someone to help us who has connections to the city so that they can help us bomb this part of the Dome. And what I’ve concluded is that if one unfinished part of the Dome breaks, it will create a domino effect which will shatter the rest of the Dome.”
“Thank you, daughter, for explaining the plan you came up with,” whispered a man’s voice,” But my question is, how will we survive?”
“Easy!” she whispered back,” I called in a few favors and had a compact ship built just for us.”
“Oh no.”,Nebula said after leaving the alley,” Did we seriously just hear a plan to hijack the Dome? We have report this to the police!”
“No Nebbie, I think we’re going to have to do this ourselves.”
Nebula POV
I felt different after splitting up with Astra (to go to the store to buy a few groceries), like everyone’s life was in our hands. I knew that I should’ve stopped Astra, but once that stubbornly determined girl’s mind was on something, it was impossible to change it.
But I was so busy thinking about what happened, that I bumped into a girl about my age.
“I’m so sorry!” she said,” My name is Crystal Starr what’s yours”
Something about Crystal’s voice was familiar but wrong. I was suspicious.
“Um, Nebula…” I replied slowly.
“Hey, you sound kind of sad. Is it because I bumped into you?” Crystal asked.
“No”, I said.
“Whatever it is, you’ll be fine,” she replied,” Anyway, do you want to be my friend?!”
“Okay...”
“But first, can you do me a favor?” she said,” Do you know anyone important in the city? If you do, can you introduce me to them sometime?”
“Sure!”, I replied,’ My dad is one, so I’ll have to introduce you anyway!”
“Bye! I have to get home now!`` said Crystal,” Same time, same place tomorrow!”
Something about Crystal made me uneasy, so I decided that it would be good to tell Astra.
After getting back from the store, I dropped off the groceries and went to Astra’s house.
When Astra opened the door, she grimly said, “ Nebula! Guess what I just found out.”
#original#original story#original character#10 year old writing#old writing#what i meant is that i wrote this when i was ten#should i rewrite it and actually make some sort of book?#writing#none of this makes sense#i don't even write 1st person POV anymore
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Could you do something with Keith and Pidge adopting a baby Galra?
Oh mah GOODNESS YYYAAASSSS!
Trigger Warning: Mentions of Neglect and Abuse of an Infant
It wasn’t often that Ezor and Zethrid needed to call him in for a second opinion so it always left him a bit perplexed. Through his time working with them he’d gotten a better understanding of why Lotor had held the pair in such high regard. They were both skilled, efficient and, despite occasionally still falling into bouts of childishness, were rather responsible and good at taking initiative. As far as the humanitarian operations the Blade had shifted to focusing on were concerned, the two were truly a Godsend. So, when he received a message from Zethrid explaining there’d been some complications on their latest assignment that they were unsure of how to handle, he’s been a little confused. Especially given he’d made it pretty clear that he had other matters to take care of at home and only wanted to be called in for something of dire importance. It was just fortunate for them all that he and Pidge had been at the Garrison base when he got the call and agreed to meet up with them to discuss whatever it was that had them so uncertain.
When their ship landed and they began to walk out, though, he figured it out pretty quickly. Specifically since the loud, piercing wails were pretty common knowledge.
“Why do you have a baby?” He asked worriedly, quickening his steps to meet them and get a better look at the little screaming bundle Ezor was holding rather awkwardly. With a careful motion, he took the little form from her, carefully cradling them so their head was tucked into the crook of his arm and their body pressed securely against his chest.
The little thing paused a moment, looking at him with large yellows eyes. Or, rather, yellow irises that had small, red diamond-shaped pupils swimming in them. Pairing that with the almost lavender tint of their skin, Keith knew this infant had some amount of Galra lineage in them. There were thin wisps of navy blue hair along the top of their little head, curling long enough to just brush the tips of their little goat-like ears, the very tips of which were the same blue hue as their hair. Going from along their hairline and down along their forehead, all the way down along their upper eyelids, were also twin white zig-zag marks. They reminded him a bit of lightning bolts.
And then, seeming to be tired of staring at Keith in return, they started shrieking with renewed vigor, this time going so far as to flail their tiny fists up and out.
“Yeah, he’s been like that the whole ride,” Zethrid groaned with a tired wince.
“So what happened? Why do you have him?” He asked again, reaching down to try and tug the blanket back over him, but then paused. The little guy’s entire left arm, from his wrist up to just below his armpit, was wrapped up in medical gauze.
When he glanced up at them, Ezor nodded with a grim expression. “Yeah, that’s part of it. See, we went to the planet Nuestow at the behest of the coalition, since they’ve been having some trouble in the last few phoebs - erh, sorry, months - since the Galra occupation on their world was lifted and… We found him, left in a basket in the middle of this field, with some beast starting to drag him off by his arm!”
“I killed it. Sorry not sorry,” Zethrid said bluntly.
Ezor was cut off as the hanger doors opened at the other end and they all turned to see Pidge walking in, a playful look on her face as she pushed along a stroller, but then she froze when she saw the screaming baby in Keith’s arm. “Oh, my God!” She gasped, pushing the stroller along and fast approaching them. Amber briefly perked up in the stroller where she was sleeping before deciding that she was too tired to deal with whatever had her Mommy to frazzled and slumped back in her seat. “What happened to them?” She asked, stopping beside Keith and reaching to take the baby from him.
“Ezor and Zethrid were just explaining that to me,” He said while carefully handing the tot over. Immediately Pidge was softly cooing, adjusting her grip on him a bit so he was laying against her shoulder, one arm supporting him while her other hand came up to soothingly rub his back, swaying just a little bit with him. Keith watched as the infant’s good fist curled around the fabric of Pidge’s shirt, shoving his little face into her more and quieting down just the slightest bit. He then glanced back over at the two and nodded in encouragement.
Ezor took a deep breath before continuing. “Okay, so, like I said; baby boy here was abandoned and about to be eaten by a wild animal. Zethrid killed the animal and we got him away from it, but then we got in trouble with a cluster of Nuestrians that were hiding in the bushes. Turns out they were using him as… Well, as bait, to lure the beast out so they could kill it and eat it,” She rushed out, eyes darting between different points in the hanger and the two young parents before her in discomfort at the full details.
Keith gawked at her and Pidge let out a horrified, strangled noise. “They were using him as bait? He’s a fucking baby!” She snapped angrily.
“Yeah, I wanted to kill them for that. Sorry that I didn’t,” Zethrid said with a small snort.
The other woman held her hands up. “Hey, don’t shoot the messenger, now!” She lowered her hands at a small, muttered apology from Pidge, but it was clear she was still fuming underneath it all. “So, it seems that this little guy’s got no parents. His father was Galra and forced to leave the planet when the Galra occupancy was lifted, and his mother died while hunting. None of the rest of the tribe members wanted to take him on because of… Well, you know… So they figured they’d just… You know.” She said, lapsing into vague terminology.
“That’s absolutely disgusting!” Pidge hissed quietly.
Keith reached one arm out and pulled her over to him, using the other to gently guide the stroller closer. He tipped the little visor on it up a bit, verifying that Amber was still asleep, before tipping it back down again. “Have you been able to locate the father?”
“Well, yeah,” Ezor trailed.
“But he’s already started shacking up with a new mate, and he said that he doesn’t want this kind of trouble,” Zethrid finished. “And we tried to reach out to the organizations we normally rely on for finding homes for orphans, but the ones that got back to us really don’t have the resources or room for another mouth to feed. So… We figured it’d be best to come and talk with you about it all in person.”
“You made the right call,” Pidge groused beside Keith, reaching into her shorts pocket and fishing out her cell phone. The two Blades cast curious glances over at their leader, who merely shrugged as his wife held her phone up to her ear. “Hey, Mom? Yeah, can I ask a little favor? Hmm? No, no, everything’s fine with us. I just… No.. I… Yes, Mom, I know we’re doing a family dinner on Saturday night. I just… Can you please bring the spare car seat we have at the house for AMber down to the Garrison base? We’re gonna need it.”
The three watched as Pidge regaled Colleen with the story about the Galran infant now dozing off in her arms, the three of them picking up on the same outrage on the other line. With that handled, she clicked her phone off and slipped it back into her pocket. “So, I take it he’s yours now?” Ezor asked, leaned forward and cocking her head slightly.
“Yes. He deserves to be in a family where he’s going to be loved and cared for,” She seethed before carefully adjusting her grip on the little baby sleeping in her arm. She situated him so that she could hold him with one arm before grabbing the stroller with one hand and starting to gently push. “Now, while you finish up here, Mr. Senior Blade Operative, I’m going to wait for Mom to show up with the car seat so we can get this little guy settled in at home.”
The three watched her as she finagled her way back out, somehow managing to push the stroller with only one arm.
“She’s a fiery little thing,” Zethrid commented, her tone filled with amusement. “Must be why she’s such a good fit for you, boss.”
Keith hummed and nodded as he watched her go. “So, did things go well otherwise?”
“Because of our interference, they may have some complaints about the quality of the Blade’s assistance. Figured we’d warn you about that, too,”
“Well, if they decide to play it like that, that’s fine. We’ll just let the coalition know that they’re comfortable with murdering babies to compensate for their own inability to hunt properly. See how they like having their dirty dealings brought to the attention of multiple galaxies,” He scoffed with a roll of his eyes. He then gave them a quick nod. “When you draft up your reports, make sure to make note that I’ve been personally talked to about the situation and agreed with every action you’ve taken.”
Zethrid offered him a thumbs-up and Ezor nodded. “Have fun with the new baby. Let us know how his arm heals up,” She said, offering him a playful salute before the two of them headed back on board. They’d most likely file their reports and then head off to get themselves some food, maybe hit a bar. Normally he’d chide them about professionalism, but he opted against it. He wouldn’t blame them for needing something stiff to take the edge off after the day they’d had.
With that handled, he headed out to the parking lot, where Pidge was waiting. The back door was open, with the stroller parked nearby. When he poked his head in, she was huddled up in the back seat, both babies curled up against her in her arms, humming some tune to the pair of them. He smiled a bit as he peered in, resting his arm along the top of the car. “Want me to go ahead and fold up the stroller?”
She jumped a bit before looking over at him. “Oh, yeah. Thanks,” She said quietly before looking back down at the two. “He’s not much bigger than her, so they’re probably around the same age.”
He paused in collapsing the stroller to look over at her. “You know, you’re right. About that, and about him needing a good family,”
“I’m sorry I kinda decided that we were gonna take him without really asking you, but… Just look at him, Keith,” She mumbled, looking up at him pleading eyes before looking back down at the infant. As if he knew they were talking about him, he let out a little squeak of a yawn, mouth opening wide to reveal one small tooth and a pale pink forked tongue. He then shifted to nuzzle back down against her, trying to get even closer. “He’s so sweet. How could anyone ever want to hurt him?” She pressed, choking up a little bit.
“I don’t know, but he’s not going to have to worry about that with us,” He said, leaning over to press a quick kiss to the top of her head before getting the stroller packed away. Once it was put away, he returned to hover in the doorway. “Well, since he and Amber are about the same age, we can just treat them like twins. Her crib will probably be big enough for the both of them, and she’s got more onesies then she knows what to do with, so can get him dressed in some real clothes and let him sleep in a real bed until we get some stuff of his own. Figure we can do that tomorrow, depending on how he’s feeling.”
Pidge offered him a small smile and nodded. “Thank you for being so cool about this,”
He smiled and chuckled. “Hey, I’ll be honest; I was considering it before you came in. Then again, I’d adopt all the orphans in all the galaxies if I could,” He mused, reaching in to gently stroke one of the Galra infant’s cheeks. The little guy tilted his head to press into his touch, letting out a small chirping noise of contentment. He kept up the gentle caress and glanced at Pidge, watching the exchange with a bright smile on her lips. “Have you picked a name out?”
“Noah,” She said, without looking up from him. Amber let out a small grousing noise and nuzzled closer, moving until her forehead bumped lightly into the other infant’s. The two of them both whined, briefly opening their little eyes to blink at each blearily. Amber let out a small sigh of some sort, while Noah’s little ears twitched briefly, before they hunkered back down against Pidge, slumping with their foreheads pressed together.
Keith and Pidge both chuckled a bit, taking this as Amber’s way of approving of her new brother. “Welcome to the family, Noah,” He cooed softly.
#crumbles grumbles#Voltron legendary defender#Pidge Gunderson#Keith Kogane#Keidge#Kidge#Peith#Kidgemas#TW: Child Abuse#TW: Child Neglect#my fics#I had another idea for this that was significantly more depressing#But decided I needed to do the fluff instead
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CHAPTER 10!!!
SUMMARY: UA Hero Course - Third Year. Shigaraki Tomura and Dabi have been classmates and rivals since their very first day at UA. But with new feelings developing how will they cope given their history of fragile and often violent encounters? Their dance begins after a partnered training exam goes wrong, leaving Shigaraki wounded and Dabi feeling guilty. AU.
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CHAPTER TEN - FRIDAY
~ Dabi and Kurogiri, Friday Afternoon ~
The bell ending the school day died down. The series of doors had already slammed open, the stampede in full effect.
Dabi, head and shoulders above a number of students, squeezed in between traffic going both ways, looking for - of all people - Kurogiri. Usually he was easier to spot, but Dabi had to remember Kurogiri could easily disappear in an instant if he wanted to. And being that it was officially the weekend, he probably had somewhere to be in a hurry. Maybe. What did Dabi know? He and Kurogiri were not really friends, actually he knew very little about Shigaraki’s best friend - outside of what he learned from being in classes with him.
He was about to give up on his location mission when, speaking of the devil, Kurogiri was walking towards him, his bored expression turning into one of annoyance in preparation for an unwanted interaction with Dabi no doubt. Dabi naturally had to smirk and if there was a wall present to lean on, he would have lazily leaned in and blocked his way. As it was, he merely stepped directly in front of Kurogiri’s path, pausing for a few seconds before getting to the point. Kurogiri looked like he wanted to hit him. Or worse.
“So… I was thinking.”
“Funny.”
“Yeah. It happens sometimes.”
“Were you concentrating really hard?”
“I was. This is really important, you know.” Before Kurogiri could deflect with more sarcasm, Dabi continued, “So you got the invite to my party?”
“I’m pretty sure the entire school got the invite to your party.”
“Just our year.”
“So almost everyone.”
“Well, I want everyone to come.” Dabi said, emphasis on the word everyone. “Are you going to come?”
‘Why do you care?” Kurogiri asked, head tilting to the side. He wasn’t sure why Dabi was so interested in his RSVP all of a sudden.
Dabi chewed on his lower lip, combing his fingers back through his hair. “Look. I’m just going to be honest with you.” He started, “It might land me in a whole lot of trouble with a certain mutual… friend but…”
“Ah.” Kurogiri interjected, before a Dabi could finish his sentence. “This is about Shigaraki.”
Dabi eyed the other boy. “Yes.”
“Are you two dating or something?”
“What!?” Shocked, Dabi almost choked on his own words.
“No? Just making out then?”
“We’re not…” Dabi stopped himself there. What was the point of denying or lying about it? No, he and Shigaraki were not officially dating but that was the end game. Well, at least for Dabi it was anyway. Kurogiri was bound to find out the truth eventually - once Shigaraki got comfortable and accepted the idea of being in a relationship.
“Is it that obvious?” Dabi asked.
“Depends.” Kurogiri shrugged, “I like to think I know Shigaraki pretty well, so to me, yeah, something is different between you two.” He explained. “And let’s face it, the whole class has noticed you have both been more… amicable with each other these days. It’s not just me.”
“Right.”
“I mean, he hasn’t said anything directly to me, and I didn’t really think you two were... doing whatever it is you’re doing, I’m sure no one does, but I knew something had changed.”
“Regrettably, I am not doing anything with Shigaraki that I couldn’t talk to you about. I won’t go into details of course, because he’d probably kill me, but I could and still manage to keep it PG rated. Mostly.” Dabi explained with a smug grin.
“Please stop. That’s already TMI.”
“Anyways, back to the party.” Dabi began, “He said he would come if you did.”
“That does not sound like something Shigaraki would say.”
“Scouts honor.” Dabi responded, holding two fingers up with sincerity.
“Were you ever in the scouts?”
“Er no. But they’ve got pretty good morals and codes and shit, right?”
Kurogiri looked at him, unimpressed. “He wants me to say no.”
“Yeah, I think he’s counting on it. That’s why I am here politely requesting that you come to the party. I really like him, and I want him there. I need him to be there.”
Kurogiri sighed, resigned to help for God’s knows why. Maybe it was more for Shigaraki’s benefit than it was for Dabi’s. His best friend didn’t trust easily, and he didn’t have many friends, so if Shigaraki was willing to allow Dabi close to him, maybe it was worth fostering that friendship or relationship or whatever it was they had now.
“I’ll see what I can do.” Kurogiri stepped around Dabi and continued down the hall. “No promises though.”
“Hey, thank you! I’ll owe you one.” Dabi couldn’t contain his excitement, fist pumping silently behind Kurogiri’s retreating back.
~ Shigaraki and Kai, Friday Night ~
“Ha Ha! Die Freaks!” Yelled Kai at his screen as he blasted away, shooting anything and everything in sight.
“What the hell are you doing?” Barked Shigaraki, tugging his headset down and peeking over the edge of his laptop at his new friend.
“Killing Mexican Outlaws.”
“We were supposed to keep that one dude alive for the bounty, idiot.”
“Ah fuck. I died.” Kai grumbled, removing his headset and tossing it absently onto the floor. He had hoped to show Shigaraki up by charging in head first but apparently the other boy had already mastered the game. “My bad.”
Shigaraki snickered and shook his head. “That’s what you get for trying to take on the entire Del Lobo Gang by yourself. I was just behind you, you know.”
“Yeah, yeah.” Kai’s scowl grew deeper as Shigaraki smiled triumphantly.
“Are you going to spawn back in or what?”
“Let’s take a break, my eyes are starting to hurt.” Kai sighed, putting his laptop aside. He turned to look back over his shoulder at Shigaraki who was lounged comfortably on his bed, his back against the headboard.
“Amateur.” Shigaraki mumbled, teasing the other boy with a grin.
“You haven't been sitting on the floor for the past two hours. My ass is numb.” He got up to his feet and grabbed his soda before plopping down onto Shigaraki’s bed.
“I’m joking, dick.” Shigaraki said, reaching for his bottle of water. “Pass the Dorito’s.”
Kai grinned in return, shuffling further onto the bed and offering a new unopened bag of Cool Ranch which he had recently learned were Shigaraki’s favourite.
“Thanks for the sweatshirt by the way.” Kai said, crossing his legs and tugging on the end of the material. It was a heavy black hoodie that fit him almost perfectly. They were so similar in size and apparently, they also had the same internal climate control issues. Always cold.
“I want it back before you leave.”
Kai snorted a laugh, “Fine. Black is your colour anyway.”
“Oh, you noticed.” Shigaraki replied, sarcastic
“It’s hard not to notice. Everything is black.”
“Good for hiding blood.”
Kai’s brows popped up.
“I’m joking.” Shigaraki exclaimed.
“True though.”
Shigaraki eyed his new friend before stuffing a handful of chips into his mouth.
“So, are you going to Dabi’s party?” Kai asked breaking off half a Twizzler and chewing the flavoured licorice.
“What?” Shigaraki stammered.
“You got the invite, right? For next weekend.”
“Oh. Yeah.” Heat immediately flooded Shigaraki’s cheeks and he glowered at Kai. “I don’t know if I'll go. Probably not.” He sniffled with disregard and lowered his chin, playing it off like it was nothing, no big deal.
“Really? That’s… surprising.” Kai commented.
“Why is that so surprising?”
“Well, you and Dabi seem pretty close.”
Shigaraki scoffed in contention.
“So, you’re not? Actually, at first I didn’t think you were friends at all but…”
“I just… Parties are not my thing.” Shigaraki interjected before he and Kai went down the complicated friendship rabbit hole. “Too many people, too much noise. No thanks.”
“Hm. I guess I can understand that.” Kai concluded, “We can hang out or something instead. I don’t think I’ll go either.”
“Oh, let me guess, you don’t like parties either?” Shigaraki ventured, thinking Kai was only going along with his weekend plans because he was trying to get into Shigaraki’s good books.
“I like parties fine. But me and Dabi aren’t really friends.” Kai shrugged his shoulders.
“Whatever.” Shigaraki took a deep drink from his water bottle, “Can we get back to the game or are you still being a little bitch?” He taunted, trying to diverge the conversation away from Dabi and his stupid party. He dragged his laptop back in front of him and repositioned his headset.
“Ass.” Kai leaned over the edge of the bed and picked up his own laptop and headset from the floor, resting the gear comfortably on his crossed legs, “Don’t get upset if I accidently shoot you in the back.”
~ Shigaraki, Kai and Kurogiri, Sometime early early Saturday Morning ~
“Are you dead again?”
Kai scowled at the other boy. Truth be told, he just wasn’t as good a gamer as Shigaraki was but that was no reason to rub it in his face. Also, they had been playing for hours, Kai was having trouble focusing.
“Oh c’mon, quit sulking. We’re a team remember? If you die, I lose too.” Shigaraki paused and then tilted his head, like he was pondering something. “If anything, I should be the one brooding. You shoot like a fucking storm trooper. Couldn’t hit a…”
An empty water bottle whooshing past Shigaraki’s head stopped him mid-sentence.
“Shut up.” Kai grumbled.
“Missed again! You just proved my point, idiot.” Shigaraki asserted. And even though he looked ticked off, Kai couldn’t contain his grin, amused by the casual and comfortable banter between him and his new friend.
Pound, pound, pound. Both boys started at the sudden knocking on Shigaraki’s door. “Yeah?” Shigaraki answered, tugging his headset down.
“It’s me.”
Kurogiri.
Shigaraki set his laptop aside and then hopped off his bed to open the door for his best friend.
“You’re up late.”
“Yeah. I can hear everything from my room you know.” Kurogiri was leaning against the door frame, his cell phone in his hand. He looked bored - although perked up a little at the sight of Kai sitting on Shigaraki’s bed.
“You two look comfortable.” He commented, observing the nest of drinks and junk food they had created on the bed. He snickered at Kai, who merely raised his brows.
“Hi.” Kai greeted with a quick wave.
Kurogiri nodded his head in return before strolling into the room. Shigaraki closed the door behind him.
“You want to take over? I am being completely destroyed.” Kai declared.
“Understatement.” Shigaraki mumbled, Kai’s mouth settled into a hard line. Kurogiri snorted a laugh and shook his head.
“I’ll pass.”
“So, what’s up?” Shigaraki asked, folding his arms over his chest.
“You see Dabi’s invite?”
Shigaraki rolled his eyes and quickly returned to his spot on the bed, his head falling back and hitting the wall behind with a loud thud.
“We’re not going.” Kai answered, speaking for both of them. He offered Kurogiri a rope of licorice from his opened bag of Twizzlers. Since he had started at UA, he and Kurogiri hadn’t really spent that much time together, he was hoping they could be friends too. “We already talked about it.”
With an arched brow, Kurogiri accepted the offered candy, “You making decisions together now?”
“No.” Shigaraki hissed, rolling his head back up to look at his friend. “I just said I’m not going.”
“And I want to go. But I don’t really know anyone so if Shigaraki isn’t going then I'm not either.”
“I kind of want to go.” Kurogiri revealed, shrugging his shoulders nonchalantly.
“What?” Shigaraki replied, dismayed. He scowled. “Why?”
“Aren’t you a little interested in seeing the Todoroki Family Home? I mean, Endeavor lives there. How often do you get a chance to see the home of a Pro?”
“I don’t think he’s going to be there.” Kai interjected.
“I know.” Kurogiri countered, “I’m still curious though.”
Shigaraki eyed his best friend suspiciously. Why the interest suddenly? Kurogiri never gave Dabi a second thought, and he definitely wouldn’t have accepted an invitation from him - for anything. What had changed? Not a second later, realization hit him smack in the face and heat flooded his cheeks. Did Kurogiri know something? Had Dabi actually talked to him? And if he had, what did Kurogiri know? What was he hiding?
“Since when do you give a shit about Endeavor?” He questioned. Kai glanced over at Shigaraki before looking back at Kurogiri. He knew he was missing something but didn’t want to seem like a third wheel. It probably didn’t matter.
“I don’t.” He replied confidently, and then added. “But why not go? Could be fun.”
Shigaraki scoffed.
“Kai, you want to go right?” “Ah.” Again, he glanced quickly over at Shigaraki. “Yeah. I’d go. If you both do.”
Shigaraki huffed and drew his knees up to his chest, wrapping his arms around his legs.
“We don’t have to stay long or anything. Drop in and drop out.” Kurogiri reasoned with his best friend, pushing the subject gently and trying to make the idea of going to the party somewhat more appealing. He had to tread lightly and gauge the other boy’s reaction based on the words he was saying. The current outlook was positive, Shigaraki was close to accepting the invitation but one wrong word and it could turn ugly really quick.
He was fine either way, whether they went to the party or not did not matter to Kurogiri. He was doing this only for Shigaraki, and coincidentally, partly for Dabi as well. He said he would try and get his friend to the party, with no promises. He was fulfilling his side of their agreement.
“That’s a good compromise.” Kai agreed, biting back a grin. He didn’t want to seem too keen, but he was kind of looking forward to going to Dabi’s party with Shigaraki. He didn’t care to go by himself.
“So how about it?” Kurogiri asked, hopeful.
“Okay, fine.” Shigaraki finally muttered, “I’ll go to the stupid fucking party. Can we stop talking about it already?”
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Chapter One – Accidental Attraction
Chapter Two – After Care
Chapter Three – Dazed and Confused
Chapter Four – I Like You
Chapter Five - Friends and Enemies
Chapter Six - Confrontation!
Chapter Seven - Transfer Student
Chapter Eight - A Period of Learning
Chapter Nine - Work and Play
#shigadabi#shigaraki x dabi#shigaraki tomura#shigaraki#dabi#toya todoroki#chisaki kai#overhaul#kurogiri#my hero academia#mha#my hero academia fanfiction#mha fanfiction#boku no hero academia#boku no hero academia fanfiction#bnha#bnha fanfiction#fanfiction#ao3 fanfic#archive of our own#ua high#alternate universe#au
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With Great Power - Chapter 1
Fic Title: With Great Power
Chapter: 1
Fic Summary: Thomas Sanders is just a regular social media personality. But when he gets bit by a spider during filming one of his YouTube videos, his whole life is about to turn upside down—whether he (or the aspects of his personality) want it to or not. Platonic LAMP/CALM + Character!Thomas. Spider-Man AU (but more the concept of Spider-Man and contains no spoilers for any particular movie/comic series).
Word Count: 3188
Warnings: (on a chapter-by-chapter basis) news broadcast discussing vehicle-related violent crime, Cartoon Therapy references (not significant to plot), spiders, spider bites, cursing, panic (but not an attack), death mention, nausea/vertigo, please let met know if I missed anything.
A/N: I went to see the new Spider-Man movie and got inspired. This fic is not based on the new movie, so no spoilers there; just inspired this project. It was one of those things that started as a small idea and soon snowballed into a locomotive trying to run me over with all the ideas I started getting for it. First multichapter project for this fandom, so… I’m both scared and excited to undertake this project. Deeply appreciate anyone willing to be along for the ride. <3 Please, please let me know your thoughts!
Extra shout-out to @creativenostalgiastuff, @vigilantvirgil, and everyone else who offered writing advice, reassurance, and encouragement through the chaos of my nerves and self-doubt in writing this first chapter. I appreciate the heck out of it.
Tags at the bottom.
When Thomas wakes up to the sun streaming in through the blinds of his bedroom window late Saturday morning, he contemplates rolling over and trying to go back to sleep. Filming for the next Cartoon Therapy had gone late into the night last night, and Thomas hadn’t collapsed into his bed until somewhere around 3 in the morning. He blindly reaches a hand out for his phone tossed haphazardly amidst the covers and squints blearily at it to check the time.
It’s almost noon. Besides, he has a text from Joan saying they have an idea about how fix part of the script that just hadn’t been working for them last night. They were already two days behind schedule. Thomas figures it’s probably time to get rolling.
He shoots a text back to Joan telling them to swing by whenever and they could head to the location. Kyle and Terrence were scheduled to stop by to film their part of the episode in the early evening, so if they hurried, they could probably knock out the script problem in the scene between Elliot and Picani before they arrived. If they worked late enough, they could maybe even make up one of the days they were behind.
Best laid plans, says a vaguely foreboding voice in Thomas’s head. He sits up and rakes a hand through his fading purple hair. He sends out a quick tweet, Busy day of filming ahead! Can’t wait for you guys to see this one, because he knows he won’t be online much at all today and locks his phone before quickly getting dressed.
He stumbles half-awake to the kitchen and pops a bagel into the toaster. He mindlessly turns on the television with the remote he’d set on the counter from the night before. The voice of a female news anchor fills the quiet apartment as Thomas turns to the refrigerator.
“—night. Police are interrogating the suspect now. According to preliminary reports, the man driving the bus claims to have no memory of the incident. The driver of the other vehicle is in critical condition, and two civilian deaths have been confirmed so far. The Congressman believed to be the actual target has issued no formal statement at this time, but he is expected to hold a press conference this afternoon.”
Thomas sighs as he reads the headline at the bottom of the screen. Bus Crash Is Suspected Assassination Attempt it reads in big block letters as the camera switches to an aerial view of the crash. Thomas’s chest twists with compassion.
The scene switches back to a different news anchor. “This is another installment in a long line of increasing instances of violent crimes and death brought about by people claiming to have no memory of the incident itself. And we have here with us an expert in—"
He’s pulled from the broadcast at the sound of the toaster popping up and a subsequent ding from his phone. It’s a text from Joan. We’re here. Thomas switches the television off and grabs his keys and phone, thinking in the back of his mind that maybe the next video they do ought to be a new installment of “reasons to smile”.
…
“Picani, there’s… something I should probably tell you,” Joan says, delivering their line as Elliot. There’s a pause, and then they shake their head. “Wait, I want to re-try that.”
Thomas gives Joan a patient smile and nods. Joan repeats the line, adjusting where they put emphasis and how long they paused before breaking character and giving a satisfied nod. They were happier with that take, and Thomas admits that their delivery fit the moment a bit better as well.
The lighting fixtures in front of the couch cramps the relatively small office space, and Thomas glances around the room as Joan responds to a text they apparently received from Terrence about costume design for Corbin. The blue Stitch poster, framed still from Spongebob, and Steven Universe merchandise hanging on the wall pop against the cream colored paint above the brown couch. It stirs—unexpectedly, although not for the first time—something inside of Thomas. A reminder of where he is, what he was getting to do every day…
Ten years ago, if you’d asked him, he never would have guessed that he’d be making YouTube videos full time. He’d graduated with a degree in chemical engineering, after all. But then he’d discovered Vine, and one thing led to another… and here he was. Writing, acting, directing, and producing videos for real life people who were incredibly kind and supportive of him. His life had taken several crazy twists, especially in recent years, but he liked where he was. He still had plenty of dreams and aspirations, but he was putting content out in the world that was making a difference to people. Making people smile. He was getting to do… really freaking cool things. Every single day.
“You okay, man?” Joan asks, breaking into his thoughts.
Thomas blinks and shakes his head. “Yeah. Sorry. Just zoned out, I guess.”
Joan quirks an eyebrow at him. “We can take a break if you need it.”
“I’m good,” Thomas replies, swiping the bangs out of his eyes. “Any update from Terrence?”
“He’s on his way.” Joan adjusts the hem of their skirt. “Kyle said he’d be a couple minutes late, but I told him that was fine.”
Thomas nods. “No, yeah. It’s all good.” He flips through a couple pages of the script, re-reading a few lines. Joan arches their eyebrows at him, but Thomas purses his lips in thought before looking back up. “I was thinking last night about this scene where they talk about Mitchell—" Thomas glances down at the script in his hands and cuts himself off at the sight of a huge, dark spider sitting on his hand. “Shit!”
Thomas jerks his hand hard. The spider goes flying through the room. His heart is pounding in his throat. “Where did it go? Where did it go?”
“What?” Joan asks, faintly alarmed. “Where did what go?”
“You didn’t see it?” Thomas asks them, incredulous. “It was huge and on my hand and---eugh.” He shakes his hand out again, shivers running down his spine.
Joan glances around the room. “You mean like a fucking spider or some shit?”
Thomas nods, cradling the hand it had been on. It’s no secret just how much he hates spiders. He knows it isn’t even entirely rational, but something just really freaks him out about them. And it had been big. And on him. Thomas fights back another shudder.
“Did it bite you?” Joan asks.
“Did it what?” The question itself is enough to send a ripple of alarm through Thomas.
Joan shoots him a look that is something between sympathetic and slightly amused. They hold out their hand. “Here. Let me see.”
Hesitantly, Thomas lets Joan take his hand and glances around the room while they investigate. His brown eyes scan the dark wood floor, the shelves along the walls, even the cream walls themselves. There’s no sign of the arachnid, and if he’s being honest with himself, he isn’t sure if that makes him more anxious or relaxed. He feels Joan rub their thumb across the heel of his hand, then pull it closer to their face.
“What’s the verdict, doc?” Thomas jokes when Joan doesn’t say anything for a moment. He can’t quite manage to sound as lighthearted as he wants to.
Joan sucks in a breath through their teeth and releases Thomas’s hand. “It looks like you might’ve gotten bit, but it’s not anything dangerous as far as I can tell. Maybe wash it out or put ice on it or something just to be safe? We’ve got time to kill anyway.”
Thomas blows out a breath and stands. He cringes a little as he realizes he dumped the script unceremoniously onto the floor when he’d seen the spider on his hand. He gingerly hops over the loose pages. “I’ll fix that,” he promises before hurrying out of the room and down towards the bathroom.
…
Thomas looks down at his hand as he runs cold water over it. The bathroom of the office space is empty on a Saturday afternoon. The fluorescent lights above illuminate dark tile, and a light blue wall does little to absorb the terrible bathroom lighting. He glances around—noting the dark blue stalls and pristine white sink—as if it will somehow distract him from the thoughts growing louder in the back of his head.
“Thomas,” Logan says as he appears behind the internet personality, his voice dripping in annoyance and frustration. He smooths his striped tie against his black polo as Thomas meets his gaze through the mirror. “Will you please explain to Virgil that the likelihood you are in any danger—immediate or otherwise—from a simple spider bite is miniscule at best?”
“Thomas,” Virgil quips as he appears beside Logan, his hands shoved deep into the pockets of his hoodie, “will you please tell Logan that miniscule is not zero?” Thomas sighs and glances at the two’s reflection in the mirror.
Logan crosses his arms over his chest. “Virgil, I am quite aware that the quantity expressed by the term ‘miniscule’ is not equivalent to zero.” He waves a dismissive hand. “But worrying over such small odds—”
“I don’t know, kiddo,” Patton cuts in as he appears as well, his brow furrowed in concern as he briefly meets Thomas’s gaze through the reflection. The cat hoodie is tied around his shoulders. “Spiders kind of freak me out.”
“He has called them ‘creepy crawly death dealers’,” Virgil adds, pointing a finger at the father figure. “And that was when they weren’t even real.”
“Have no fear, Padré,” Roman announces, appearing behind Thomas between Patton and Virgil. The red sash stretched across his white suit stands out sharply against he blue bathroom stalls. “If such a poisonous pest were to harm our host, I will die defending you all—”
“Die?!”
“Actually,” Logan says, adjusting the frame of his glasses, “the spider would not be poisonous. I believe you are looking for the term ‘venomous’, in this instance. Something is only poisonous if the consumption of it results in sickness or death, whereas--”
Thomas twists the faucet off and turns around to his bickering personality traits. “Guys,” he says. “Can we just, like, chill? For one second?”
Virgil bites at his thumbnail, his gaze zeroing in on Thomas’s hand. “Is it red? Does it look infected?”
Logan moves to stand beside Thomas as the host takes a closer look at the appendage. Thomas shrugs as Logan looks back up at Virgil. “There may be some slight reddening of the skin,” the Logical Side explains, “but that is normal in this case.”
“Are you sure?” Virgil asks, a slightly challenging edge to his voice.
“Of course he’s sure, Virge,” Patton offers softly. “Besides, we trust Joan, right? And Joan didn’t seem to think anything was wrong or dangerous. Just thought we should clean it to be safe.”
Virgil takes a breath and nods. “Okay. Sorry, I just…” he trails off with a sigh and shoves his hand back into his pocket. He curls in on himself a bit.
“It’s all good, Virge,” Thomas assures him. “You’re just trying to look out for me. And I hear ya. But I don’t think we have anything to worry about.” He gives his Anxious Side a small smile and sees the corner of Virgil’s mouth quirk briefly.
“Cool,” he says, but the way his shoulders relax betrays the relief he evidently feels. Thomas feels the lingering tension release in his own chest too.
As the aspects of his personality sink out, Thomas grabs a paper towel and dries his hand before hurrying back to the office. It’s just a small spider bite. He has nothing to worry about.
…
When Thomas wakes up the next morning, it’s to his cellphone ringing. He scrubs a hand across his eyes and picks it up, seeing Joan’s smiling face and name on the screen. He swipes to answer it, pressing it to his ear.
“Yeah?” he asks, his voice gruff from lingering sleepiness. “What’s up, Joan?”
“I—Did you just wake up?”
Thomas glances at the clock on his bedside dresser. He was supposed to be at the office fifteen minutes ago. He scrambles out of bed. “If I say yes, will you hate me?”
“Yes,” Joan deadpans. Thomas huffs a faintly embarrassed laugh.
“I’ll be there asap,” he promises. He pulls the phone away from his hand and presses the red button on the screen to hang up. Except when he moves to pull his finger off the screen, it doesn’t move.
Thomas frowns, tugging harder to get his finger off the screen. He feels the joint stretch slightly, but the tip of his index finger stays stuck to the screen as if superglued on. When he tries to drop the hand holding the phone, it stays trapped to the device as well. Thomas feels his confusion only deepen. It’s not like the phone itself was sticky when he picked it up. So why the hell couldn’t he let go of it?
He tries wrenching both hands apart from the device at the same time. The feat, however, is to no avail; he feels a few of his knuckles pop and winces slightly. He takes a seat on the bed and looks closer at the device in his hands. It doesn’t appear to be covered in any residue. Neither do his hands.
Weird…
Thomas purses his lips, then wedges his feet up against his phone and tries to push it out of his hands.
It’s exactly the wrong thing to do, apparently. His phone stays glued to his hands and—much to his dismay—his feet. Thomas rolls back on his bed, his fingers and sock-clad feet stuck to his cell phone, causing him to be folded up in an awkward pretzel. Thomas stares at the white ceiling of his bedroom and sighs.
Maybe this is some weird fever dream. Something in the back of his mind reminds Thomas of the rumor that you can’t read while you’re dreaming, and he cranes his neck over to the shelf in his room. The fourth Harry Potter book sits on the corner and sure enough—even though he’s looking at it upside down—he can read the title easily enough.
Not a dream.
Huh.
Thomas takes in a deep breath and releases it slowly. Maybe he’s just psyching himself out or something. All he really needs to do is not freak out and just let go. Right? What was that breathing exercise Virgil taught him? In for four, hold for seven, out for eight? Thomas closes his eyes and tries it.
A moment later, he hears a quiet thump against the mattress and can flex his fingers. Thomas lets his legs fall over the edge of the bed and his arms flop to his sides and stares for a moment longer at the ceiling. If he’s being honest, he isn’t entirely convinced that what just happened was even real.
He blinks hard and shakes his head. He thinks about reaching for his phone again, maybe to text Joan or even send out a tweet, but he stops short. Maybe he’s being paranoid or stupid or superstitious but the suddenly the last thing he wants to do is touch his phone again. Thomas huffs a breath. He just needs to wake up more. A cold shower and he’d be good to go. And he’d never mention whatever just happened to anyone ever.
Thomas rolls off the bed and stands, raking a hand through his hair. He wanders over to his closet, stepping carefully over discarded dirty clothes that litter his floor. He sighs as he looks at his options, all too aware that he is running very late and yet somehow still unable to shake the uneasiness in his stomach from whatever it was that had just happened. He isn’t sure how to make sense of it other than to try to push it to the back of his mind.
Thomas shakes his head quickly and leans a hand against the wall as he attempts to focus on the clothes hanging in his closet. Just pick an outfit, Thomas, he tells himself firmly. You don’t have time for this.
He pinches the bridge of his nose and settles on a pair of jeans and one of the dark t-shirts on the hanger. He moves to pull his hand away from the wall to grab them, except… it’s stuck.
“What the…”
For all of Thomas’s efforts the past couple of minutes to push the alarm and confusion to the back of his mind regarding the instance with his phone, the panic slams back to the forefront. Thomas braces a foot against the wall and tries to wrench his hand free and then immediately feels like an idiot.
Because—and he feels like he really should have predicted this outcome of events—his foot sticks to the wall too.
Thomas grunts in effort, bracing the other foot against the wall up closer to his hand and pulls. He manages to wrench his hand free—the outer layer of paint rips off the wall where his hand had been and stays stuck to his fingertips and palm. He nearly loses his balance, his weight wobbling and his arms flailing in a frantic attempt to maintain his balance.
When he regains it, Thomas can feel his heart in his throat. He’s standing upright, on his feet. So why is he looking at his ceiling?
Because he’s standing on the wall. His feet are planted firmly against the beige wall, his body parallel to the floor, and Thomas suddenly feels faintly dizzy. He can feel himself swaying and blindly reaches his hands out to steady himself. He squeezes his eyes shut as his hands connect with something solid.
Maybe that whole thing about not being able to read while dreaming is a myth. This can’t possibly be real. For some reason, the thought eases the surge of panic-induced bile raging in his stomach, and Thomas feels his feet pull off from the wall. But they don’t land on anything concrete. Thomas feels a sharp pull in his shoulders, his feet dangling in the air.
When he opens his eyes, he realizes that the thing his hands had connected with when he’d started to sway was, in fact, his bedroom ceiling. Thomas yelps, kicking his feet back towards the wall. He isn’t sure if he’s relieved when they stick again.
Thomas hears a familiar whoosh and cranes his neck towards his bed, trying to not let dizziness over take him from seeing his bedroom upside down. Virgil is looking at up at him, his Anxious Side’s eyes wide and his hood pulled up over his sweep of bangs.
“Thomas,” he says, his voice loud and distorted. “We have a major problem.”
…
Tags: @helloisthisusernametaken, @ren-allen, @quoth-the-sparrow, @princelogical, @random-pianist, @ravenclawicecream, @erlenmeyertrash, @milomeepit, @at-least-seven-pretty-potatoes, @rileyfirstname, @pinkeasteregg, @sassy-in-glasses, @generalfandomfabulousness, @lacrimosathedark, @thepoolofthedead, @monikastec, @heir-of-the-founders, @yourworstnightmare999, @artistictaurean, @kanejandkruge, @cdragontogacotar, @candiukas, @damienswifeolicitydallysgirl, @angst-patton, @savingshae, @noneed4thistbh, @awesomelissawho, @unikornavenger, @bopthesnoz, @spiralofsilencetheory, @finger-gunsss, @crownswriter123, @swlotakulady34, @jemthebookworm, @blue-fluffy-dragon
#sanders sides#sanders sides fanfiction#platonic lamp/calm#platonic lamp/calm fanfiction#sanders sides au#spider-man au#with great power#chapter 1#tw cursing#tw nausea#tw violence mention#excited for the things that lie ahead in this fic#first chapter needed to set some things up#but i hope you enjoyed it#ive got a lot in mind for this story#ill stop rambling in the tags now#ksjfskdfjlskjf#new year new fic i guess hah
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