#whoa..... almost like.... we should prevent that from happening again..... like that was Bad or something......

[kalashtars]

sometimes I truly genuinely forget nuance is dead on the internet and then I have to read people who should be on the same side argue about politics on the internet and I start wanting to bash my head into a wall.

[spinoskingdom875]

Everyone gathered at Empire City Park for the Solar Eclipse. They sat down with picnic baskets and drinks waiting for the Eclipse to begin. Tails: Here you go. He handed everyone a pair of glasses. He gave one to Marine. Marine: Woo! This is gonna be a ripper! Sonic: Thanks, pal. These are some cool shades. Tails: And they're perfect for protecting our eyes when looking up at the Eclipse. Trikey: What will happen if we look at the eclipse without these? Tails: Well, the brightness would damage your vision, and you would go blind. Trikey: Oh dear. Then I'm glad you made these, so we can look at the Eclipse without hurting our eyes. Tails: And I have a pair for your new friend. He grabs a pair of solar glasses and hands them to Bumpy. Tails: So, you're Bumpy, correct? Bumpy: Uh-huh. Amy: When did you two first meet? Trikey: We first met in the forest, and we started playing hide-n-seek. And we also run around and pounce on each other. Bumpy: It was really fun, and now, I made a new friend, and hopefully more here. Amy: Aww, that's so sweet. We'll be glad to be your new friends. Bumpy: Aww, thanks!

Several minutes went by, and the sky began to dim. Eggman and Sage came by, and Cream introduced Trikey and Bumpy to Sage. Trikey was surprised to see the young girl. Trikey: Mr. Eggman, you never told us that you're a daddy. Is she your daughter? Eggman: Heh-heh, you could say that. She's not actually human, but she does have the feelings and emotions of one. She's Artificial Intelligence. The baby dinos were confused. Bumpy: Artif... Trikey: Artifishy... Bumpy: Uh, what does that mean? Eggman: Well, she's a type of fancy computer, and has the ability to perform tasks like thinking and learning, that would require the intelligence of living beings, such as you. Trikey and Bumpy: Whoa. Eggman: It's complicated, I know. That's why I love being an evil genius. Bumpy: Wait. He's a bad guy? Trikey: Yes. He builds lots of robots and uses them to fight against Sonic and his friends. Bumpy Gasped. Trikey: But he seems like a good papa to all of them, even Sage. Bumpy: Well, it's so nice to meet you, Sage. Sage: It's nice to meet you too, Bumpy, and Trikey.

They walked up to Tails who was on his Miles Electric. Trikey: Um, Tails? What is the eclipse about again? Tails: It's when the Moon passes between the Sun and our planet. It prevents the sun's light from reaching the Earth. He shows them a demonstration of an Eclipse on his Miles Electric. Tails: So, when the Moon is in front of the Sun, its shadow would cause the sky and our environment to get darker. Trikey: So, it will get dark down here? Tails nodded. Bumpy: Ooh. It sounds scary. Trikey: Yeah. Sonic: I wouldn't worry about it. Sure, it does get dark, but think about it like its nighttime. Knuckles: Then when it's over, the Moon will move out of the way, and the sky will light up again. Bumpy: Really? Sonic: Yeah, it'll be great moment. Trikey and Bumpy felt better.

Everyone continues eating lunch. Trikey introduced Bumpy to everyone, including Tikal who was also at the park sitting on a bench. They all chat as the sky becomes dimmer and dimmer. Vanilla: Oh. It's almost here. Be sure to put your glasses on, okay dear? Cream: Yes, Mama. We will. Marine: Hmm. Marine looks around the park. Marine: There are too many trees here. Should we find a better spot, or is this good enough? Charmy: Let me see, he puts on his glasses and flew across the park. He calls out to them by the park's steps. Charmy: How about here? Tails walks up with his device. Tails: This is perfect, and there are no trees above us. So, we got a good view. Tikal: Look, up there! The moon moves in front of the sun as the sky gets darker. Sonic: Glasses on, guys! Everyone puts on their glasses and heads for the stairs. Sonic: Hey, doc. You sure you don't need a pair? Eggman: Nah, I'm good. I modified my frames to withstand the eclipse's intensity. Sonic: Okay, then. Let's head over there and enjoy the show. They gaze up at the moon covering the sun, the light still leaking through. They all looked up in awe. Trikey and Bumpy hugged each other, still a little nervous. Tails held on to his Miles Electric, looking at the Solar Eclipse in the sky. The sky is now pitch black, the whole park is in total darkness, as lights flicker on throughout the city.

Marine: Crikey. That's a bright one, that is. Sonic whistles. Sonic: Isn't this quite a sight? Knuckles: Yeah. Tikal: This is incredible. I've never seen anything like it. Trikey: Me neither. Bumpy looks down. Bumpy: Trikey, look! They both looked to see fireflies flying around the park. Trikey: Why are they out all of a sudden? Bumpy: I guess they're confused because the eclipse makes everything look like it's nighttime. Marine: Don't forget about the crickets and cicadas. Them buggers can be pretty noisy at night. Sonic: They're thinking it's the evening since the sky is dark. Tails continues to make calculations on his device. The Solar Eclipse continued for several minutes. The sky remains dark. Afterward, the moon would move, and the sun's light would appear once again. The shadow departed over the park and the city. The whole area lit up.

Tails: Okay. You can now take off your glasses. They began to remove their solar glasses. Amy: Wow. That was amazing! Tikal: It was interesting. I'm glad I came to the park. Sonic: Yeah, what a show it was. Cream took hers off. Cream: It's over you two. You can take those off now. Trikey and Bumpy removed their goggles. Knuckles: What do you think? Trikey: That was... Awesome! Bumpy: Yeah! It actually does feel like it's nighttime! When will it happen again? Tails: Well, for this country, it would take about 20 years. Trikey and Bumpy: 20 years!? Cream: Wow, that's really a long time. I would be like Mama by then. Trikey Yeah, I would be like my mommy too. That really is a long time. Tikal: Well, let's be thankful that we were here to witness it. Eggman: Indeed. It is a once in a lifetime experience. Be glad that it happened, because it will be a long time until another Solar Eclipse will occur. Tails: Well. I feel like this will be a moment we'll never forget. Everyone agreed. Sonic nodded. Sonic: I hope the others got a good view though. Bumpy: There are more friends? Cream: Yes. And we'll be glad to introduce you to them. The baby Ankylosaur smiled warmly.

NOTE: Don't re-upload my pictures anywhere without my permission, please. Thank you.)

[13uswntimagines]

Complicated (Emily Sonnett x Reader)

Request: maybe the reader is really uptight and cold all the time until she meets emily and they somehow click + maybe the teams reaction?

Author’s Note: Hey dudes, so i know that this is a bit of a stretch for the prompt, but i just couldn’t seem to get this idea out of my head. I really hope Y’all like it! Let me know what You think!

You were… complicated. A stoic person with seemingly no heart. Someone with a massive aversion to touch and who most of the team had never seen smile. Or at least that’s how you were introduced to every newcomer to the team. They were warned to stay away from you, to avoid you in any of their shenanigans or face the consequences. 

You were never overtly rude- just detached, uninterested, completely and totally unapproachable by all accounts. Your aggression on the field was bar none and some of the vets had learned that pushing you led to the same result off the field. 

It was safe to say that most of the team was terrified of you and your stoic exterior, so they let you be. Well, except for a particular blond defender that you knew. You would never admit it out loud, but you had a bit of a soft spot for the bubbly defender. And she was determined to break through your tough outer shell. 

You sighed, staring with thinly veiled boredom at the women in front of you. Bonding nights were obligatory, but forced participation in the games they chose was not. Sure, you guessed you were technically playing truth or dare with the women, but no one dared call on you. You didn’t want them too. 

“Alright Sonny, your turn,” Alex smiled, sobering from the embarrassing story Sonnett had just been dared to tell. You leaned forward slightly, interested in what the woman would do. She sent Lindsey a mischievous smirk. “Well, I think I should pick the only person who hasn’t participated this evening,”

“Emily that might not be a good idea…” Kelley started, glancing worriedly at you. There was a reason they didn’t fuck with you. 

“Y/n, truth or dare,” Emily asked, raising her eyebrow at you, completely ignoring frat daddy senior. The rest of the team held their breath as you cocked your head to the side and squinted your eyes. 

“Truth,”

“But that’s boring,” Emily huffed, pouting. The corners of your mouth twitched at her adorableness and you rolled your eyes goodnaturedly (something that didn’t go unnoticed by a majority of the team's veterans). 

“Fine then, dare,” You raised your eyebrow, leaning back in your seat. The vets released their breath, glad that this was going well. 

“Yes!!!” she cheered, pumping her fists. Your lips twitched again into a playful smirk. She tapped her chin in thought, surprised she had gotten this far. You began to hum jeopardy theme under your breath, waiting for her to decide. And the vets yet again shared a look of disbelief. Emily was the only person who brought out this side of you. 

A mischievous smile broke across her features when she had finally thought up her dare. She wanted to do something that no one on the team had done. “I dare you to let me touch you,” 

Your smirk disappeared, your lips forming a tight line, your shoulders tensed, all humor evaporated like smoke. You didn’t do physical contact, just the thought made your skin crawl. “No,” you said sternly. 

“Oh come on. I’ll be gentle. You might even like it,” Emily pleaded, wiggling her eyebrows at you. You frowned. That was part of why you didn’t want it. You were terrified that you would like the comfort of her touch, and then what happened when she left? Everyone always left. 

“No, I change my mind. I chose truth,” You shook your head. 

“You can’t do that,” Emily whined. 

“I just did,” You said cooley, clasping your hands together, the glint in your eye just daring her to try and challenge you. 

She opened her mouth as if to respond, but Alex beat her to it. “Sonnett just let it go,” Alex said, eyeing you carefully. They didn’t need an explosion from you, frankly, she was surprised that one hadn’t happened already. 

Emily’s pout deepened. She crossed her arms like a small child, and just like that the tension left you. 

“Fine, but you have to answer the question I pick,” She huffed. 

You nodded once, biting the inside of your cheek to prevent a smile at her cuteness and gesturing for her to continue. 

Alex grabbed Kelley’s hand to prevent her from gaping at you. You never ever flipped back and forth between agitated and playful so quickly. 

“Why won’t you let us touch you? Like even a hug or a high five?” Emily asked, staring you in the eyes. 

You blinked, pursing your lips. “I don’t like it.”

“But how do you have a relationship when you won’t let people get close to you?” Emily pressed, refusing to stop this line of questioning. She really liked you, despite your brooding, and how did you have a relationship with someone who you couldn’t touch. That sounded like some fifty shades of grey bullshit and she wasn’t here for it. 

“I don’t. I’m going to bed,” You said stonily, standing and stalking towards the door, tired of this impromptu interrogation. Why was Emily so obsessed with touching you anyway?

*****

The silence that followed the slam of the door was defining, the team frozen by your sudden outburst. Emily’s mouth was left hanging at your reaction. Sure she had been warned of your moodiness, but with your playful behavior, in the beginning, she thought that it may have been safe to ask. To try and break past one of those walls. 

“You’re lucky she likes you kid,” Tobin said quietly, still watching the door. 

“You call that liking?” Emily snorted in disbelief. 

“She let you ask the question, that’s more than any of us have ever gotten,” Christen smiled sadly, patting Emily’s knee. 

You didn’t do games or get-to-know-you questions. Hell, the most the team had heard you talk was during strategy meetings. The last time someone had tried to get you involved in the team's bonding games, Abby Wambach had taken the field with a black eye (It wasn’t intentional, but pin the medal on the cutout was maybe not the best choice of games). 

“You also almost got her to smile,” Megan added kindly, trying to brighten her spirit. You liked Emily, and you always seemed to brighten around her. She didn’t want Emily to give up on you. You both deserved to be happy. 

“Why is she so grumpy all the time?” Emily asked, her eyebrows furrowing. 

“It’s complicated,” Kelley started, and Emily rolled her eyes. That was all anyone would say about you, and she found it entirely inadequate in describing the situation. 

“Y/n was hurt a long time ago, by the only person she’s ever loved. Just give her some time,” Christen said gently rubbing her back. It wasn’t their story to tell, but you liked Emily, and she would bet her hat that you would tell her eventually. 

****

“Emily this is a bad idea,” Rose whispered, huddling against the wall just behind the dining-room door. Sam and Lindsey nodded their agreement. 

Emily rolled her eyes. It wasn’t like they were gonna dump water on anyone. It was just confetti’s.“It’ll be fine guys, it’s just a prank,” 

She shushed the girls as footsteps approached. She stepped out behind the door, preparing to throw the confetti on her poor, unsuspecting teammate, only for strong hands to grip her wrists and pull her into their tall frame. 

“Whoa, there hot stuff,” You chucked, catching the woman, a smile hinting on your lips, the confetti bucket trapped conveniently between your bodies. 

“Oh, shit” Lindsey breathed out. 

“Sorry Y/N we-...” Rose stuttered, both women stopping when your gaze met theirs. All humor was gone from your eyes, and your lips curled slightly. They shrunk as far back from you and Emily as much they could. 

You glanced down, softening at the woman in your arms. “Try to time your pranks better next time, alright?” A smile hinted on your features at the woman’s too quick nod, and you squeezed her shoulders lightly, nodding back once. 

 “Ice Cream tonight?” You asked, completely missing the glances Rose and Lindsey were sharing. 

“Yeah, sure,” Emily smiled, eyes wide. You nodded, a soft smile playing across your lips. You squeezed her shoulder and leaning in to place a very soft kiss on her cheek before heading off. 

“What the fuck just happened?” Emily whispered, watching the slightly giddy way you walked away. 

“I think Y/N just asked you out,” Lindsey mumbled in disbelief. For a person with seemingly no heart, it was strange to see you acting so soft with their Disani. 

“She touched you,” Rose said, her mouth hanging open and her eyes wide. 

“Touch, she kissed her cheek,” Lindsey snorted. 

“Yeah, she did,” 

*****

Emily didn’t know what she expected from your ice cream date, but it certainly wasn’t your shy smiles and adorable jokes. You were warm and inviting with her (at least you tried to be) and Emily immensely appreciated the effort. For someone who everyone thought had no heart, she thought yours was beautiful. Hesitant and shy but very sweet. 

You had been polite, and courteous, even going so far as to insist that you walked Emily back to her room. You paused in front of her door, saddened that your night was about to be over. This was so different for you, but with Emily, opening up felt so much less scary. 

“You know, I could have walked here by myself. You’re only like 2 doors down,” Emily joked, and you rolled your eyes at the woman, pulling her hand to your lips. 

“Hmm, I know, but I wanted this to be perfect,” You smirked against her hand. 

“Well, it was pretty good,” She laughed, thoroughly enjoying your playful nature. She just hoped it didn’t disappear when you were around the others. 

“Just pretty good?” You asked, insecurity obvious in your tone. You never let someone get this close, you didn’t want to be a disappointment. 

“No, amazing,” she smiled reassuringly, taking a step closer to you. 

“I have something that will make it even better,” You murmured leaning in, draping the hand you were holding over her shoulder, and resting your hands on her waist. She tilted her head up, connecting your lips in a slow sweet kiss. Her hand traveled from your shoulder to toy with the collar of your dress shirt, and you tensed lightly. You relaxed when her tongue probed your lips, and you hesitantly parted them, your tongues sweetly touching. Her hand traced down your collar and settled on your chest, just above your heart, and she ran her fingers over the raised lines she found there. 

You pulled away when air became, resting for foreheads together. 

“Wow,” The breath from her words famed across your lips, and you felt a light pink bloom across your cheeks. 

“Good wow?” You asked.

“Fantastic,” She hummed, leaning up and connecting your lips again. The fingers not on your collar tangled in the baby hairs at the back of your neck, and you sighed into the kiss. 

You pulled away, a sudden smile breaking across your features. 

“Does this mean you’ll go out with me again?” 

“Absolutely,” she giggled. And you pecked her lips again, before pulling away to open the door for her. She leaned heavily against it and watched you retreat back to your room (totally not missing your little celebration that was not so different from Carli’s goal celebration, as you headed back to your room). She snorted. Cold-hearted her ass. 

*****

In the eight months since your date, you and Emily had only gotten closer. She was like a magnet, always drawing you back to her. You had gotten better about touch, and allowing your playful side out around the team. You loved her, and you would do anything for her. She was your person. 

You plopped down on the pitch, breathing heavily after your team (cool beans) beat Alex’s team (hot stuff) in the scrimmage. You had played alright, scoring 4 goals and leaving the other team’s defense useless. You were broken out of your thoughts by a blond shadow. You placed your hand on your brow, squinting up at the woman. 

“Good game, even though you didn’t really have to do much,” You smirked up at her, taking her outstretched hand to stand up. 

“Well spending all that time in the attacking half really made me tired,” She laughed, and you rolled your eyes at her. 

“Hop on,” You smiled, gesturing towards your back. 

The team was stunned, watching as you lifted one Emily Sonnett for a piggyback ride. What was even more surprising was the large smile plastered across your face at her repeated calls of giddy-up. 

“Is she?” Alex asked, unable to decide if it was the touching or the smiling that she was asking about. 

“Yep,” Kelley murmured back, smiling when you set Sonnett carefully on her feet and kissed her forehead. She melted a little at how softly you cradled the woman’s face. 

“She looks happy,” Alex hummed. 

“She deserves to be. They both do,”

[dreamii-yume]

Uwaaaaaa can I request some sweet crumbs of Idia and his s/o sharing a few kisses and being a cute wholesome family with Ortho?? <3

“Whoa! Nii-san!”

You flinched as you heard the little robot’s voice from outside the room, followed by something crashing. You slowly peaked through the crack in the door, making sure to stay as quiet as possible. There, you saw the Shroud brothers with the older one on the ground, seemingly had toppled over a table, blindfolded. Ortho, the younger one hovers above him, face-palming at what predicament his brother got in.

“I told you to calm down and go left, right? Why did you suddenly go right, Nii-san?” Ortho said with an exasperated sigh. “Come on, stand up, Nii-san! We’re almost there!”

Idia, having no vision at the moment, desperately clung onto the wall, his legs were shaking as different kinds of emotions swirls in his mind. “Your left is my right though!? Don’t give me directions when you’re up front!” Idia complained, his hands trying to find anything he can grasp onto. “S-Seriously...Where are we going, Ortho? We’re still in our dorm, r-right...? Your Nii-chan’s getting a little scared here, you know...?”

“Uh-huh! So, just be patient and follow my instructions, alright, Nii-san~? Properly this time!” Ortho strictly said, floating ahead with Idia on his own left to maneuver his way towards him, being blindfolded and all.

“...E-Even if you tell me that...Geez...” Idia mumbled under his breath as he began to follow his litte brother’s voice once again, trying his best to not anger the little one.

Ortho spotted you peeking through the door and gave you a close-eyed smile, putting his index finger in front of his mask. You covered your mouth to prevent a giggle, but you thought that little scene between them as brothers were really adorable. You gave him a thumbs-up before entering back in the room, making sure to close the door as quietly as possible.

It didn’t take too long for the doorknob to sound their arrival, aside from the few crashings of items outside and bickering of the Shroud Brothers. You quickly moved into position and grab the plate of cake that was assigned to you, slowly tip-toeing over to the side so that you wouldn’t be a burden to the main boy of the day. The door opened without much further interruption, revealing Idia still with the blindfold on and Ortho guiding him by the shoulders from behind.

“O-Ortho...? Where are we- No, wait, this place feels familiar, are we in my room? Ortho, what did you-“ Idia was about to continue his rant, but shrieked in response when Ortho soon giggled and snapped his fingers.

With that, his blindfold automatically detached from his head, and as soon as he opened his eyes, the whole room lighted up. A bunch of automatic party poppers bursts loudly in every corner of the room, confetti flying everywhere with his favorite idol music echoing loudly in the speakers. Idia could only watch with widened eyes as he looked around everywhere, it was his room but it was barely recognizable with all these physical and holographic decorations running around. “Surprise!” Suddenly two voices instead of one rang through the room, making Idia turn around and instantly heating up as other than Ortho, he saw you, holding a whole plate of cake.

“Surprise, Idia-kun!” You greeted with a gentle smile, walking towards him with the cake. It was clearly a hand-made birthday cake, a joint effort between you and Ortho as it was decorated by things that Idia loves. Something that should only be known to those who knew him in a personal level.

“(Y-Y-Y-Y/N)-shi...!?” Idia backed away as his face almost exploded from the amount of blood rushing to his face to see his crush, out of all people, greeting him on his special day. Expecting this kind of reaction, you and Ortho looked at each other and nodded in agreement before taking a deep breath.

“♪ Happy birthday to you~♪ Happy birthday to you~♪” You both sang in synch as Ortho lighted up the the candles on the cake you were holding. “♪ Happy birthday, dear Idia/Nii-san~♪”

You looked up at him, gesturing the birthday cake in front with a wide smile as Ortho supporting you from behind. “♪ Happy Birthday to you~♪” You both finished with a playful giggle, like little children surprising their teachers on teacher’s day. “Please make a wish for your birthday and blow out your candles, Idia-kun!”

“...W-What...?” Idia exclaimed, still confused on what’s happening and turned to Ortho in panic. Though, he couldn’t deny that the sound of your voice singing him a birthday song was soothing as hell. But that’s not the proper time for that! “Ortho...! D-Did you upgrade yourself or something...? Why...Why is (Y/N)-shi here and...and offering me a cake...I-I don’t think...I-Is this real...!?”

“Geez~! Me and (Y/N) (L/N)-san went all through these trouble just to prepare a simplistic birthday party that you’ll enjoy and that’s the reaction you give~!?” Ortho scolded his brother while you sweatdropped in the background, preparing to calm the little boy. You can’t see his mouth moving but you knew for sure that he was puffing his cheeks, his eyes says it all after all. “Nii-san, you’re so insensitive! You’re not gonna go anywhere in life if you’re always like this!”

“A-Ah, s-sorry...?” Idia apologized at the upset little robot, but then realizing that his brother just actually confirmed his questions. He turned to you and certainly, you don’t look like a holograph, no matter how realistic one could be at this time and age. You’re here, in flesh and blood, smiling up at him as if you were intending to make his heart stop from your presence alone, which it actually did the first time. “...(Y-Y/N)-shi is...A-Actually h-here...?”

You sweatdropped at his frozen self before taking a step closer to let him see the candles that he has yet left to blow out. “Yup, I’m here. Now, make a wish for your birthday, Idia-kun! The candles will run out soon if you don’t~” You reminded him. “It’ll be waste if that happens.”

Idia was at the point of hyperventilating now, whatever Ortho did to get you involve in this surprise birthday plan, it was certainly bad for his heart...In an ironically good way. He couldn’t formulate the proper words, let alone think of a wish to give to these candles, he can’t even bring himself to calm down. He looked around, trying to avert his eyesight, but doing so only prompted Ortho to cross his arms, giving him a disapproving look whilst shaking his head. He flinched, this school has definitely rubbed its dirt on his brother for him to be so strict, where was his cute little angel brother that follows his every call!? Regardless, he really can’t blame him for this, he’s happy that you’re here but at the same time, it’s just puts him in a tight spot...Which he absolutely hates.

“Well?” You called to make sure Idia was still in there and not brain dead like Ortho warned you about.

Idia looked up at you, and to Ortho, before looking down, he fiddled with the tip of his hair timidly. His face was flushing in embarrassment, you find kinda cute actually. “...None.” He said in a small voice, but enough for you and Ortho to hear, earning a shocking response from the two of you. “I have none...At least, not anymore...”

You and Ortho looked at each other, wondering what the older Shroud means. “I-I got the game I wanted recently, I already went to a virtual concert of my favorite idol, and my wish for that childhood game that me and Ortho loved was granted as well...And, um...” He explained, looking away, becoming more and more shy by the minute. “...One scenario I wished for this day is just...impossible so...”

“...And that is...?” You tilted your head to the side, curious to hear what the Idia Shroud hasn’t attained yet. However, Ortho beside you only blinked as everything automatically clicked in his own mechanical head. He widened his eyes in realization and even gasp slightly, observing how his brother looked at you.

Oh, that’s right...His brother always wanted you to...

“...ce me...” You raised an eyebrow, leaning closer to hear what he actually said. It was barely a whisper, there was no way a normal human being like you could’ve heard that.

“Excuse me?”

Idia’s face got hotter, he whimpered at the intensity of the pressure and soon resorted into covering his face in embarrassment. Upon seeing his defensive position, you quickly backed away from him, realizing how rude you’re sounding like. “O-Oh, sorry! It’s fine! If you’re uncomfortable with saying it then, you don’t have to force yourself to.”

You reassured him as you remembered how scared and nervous Idia can be when it comes to social interactions. Instead, you went back into smiling as you kept your distance, holding the cake properly once again. Idia peeked between his fingers though, grateful that you stepped back but still felt somehow unsatisfied and disappointed with himself. “I’m sorry, wishes are not supposed to be said out loud, right? My bad~! Just feel free to blow out the candles in your own will~!”

Ortho flinched and quickly looked at Idia, signalling all his support to his timid brother, encouraging him to say what he wanted to say to you before its too late. Idia, felt that desperation, they were brothers after all and he just can’t left it hanging. “U-Um...” You turned back to him to properly hear what he has to say this time. Idia started breathing heavily, but you knew that he was probably trying to calm himself down.

Seeing how relaxed you are, not even weirded out the slightest of his actions, Idia could actually feel himself calm down. He was glad that you were quite the patient person, being able to tolerate him even if he’s like this. You knew that he was having a hard time so, you’re not saying anything, keeping yourself quiet to give him time. It’s almost like you understand his struggles, and that’s...He just loves that about you.

So with a deep breath he- “iwantedyoutonoticeme!” confessed in a single breath, which just lead to Ortho slapping his own forehead and you trying to process and break down what he just said. Upon realizing his mistake, he quickly looked up at you with his arms waving frantically, trying to explain his situation with the sound of his heart racing against his chest. “I-I mean! I love- NO. That’s not...! What I meant was, um-! I-I...Oh, God...!”

“I-I wanted you to notice me!” Idia covered his face as a last resort, so that he wouldn’t see your face during in his lowest. Seriously, someone just kill him now right where he stands, Ortho, please forgive your older brother. “Y-You’ll probably think I-I’m a c-creepy otaku but I like you! You don’t have to accept me but I always...I-I always wanted you to see me...”

Oh, god...This is the worst. He can actually feel tears slowly buidling up in his eyes. As embarrassing and scary this is though, he couldn’t stop his mouth from saying what he’s really feeling. He’s scared but he’s also desperate. “N-Not as the guy behind the tablet...O-Or the dorm leader of Ignihyde...” He said and finally gathered up the courage to look at you in the eyes. “But f-for who I am! I at least wanted you to notice me for that!”

“That! Is my wish!” Idia blurted out and blew on the candles rather aggressively that you were taken back with Ortho silently cheering in the background.

The guy kept his eyes shut as tears were prickling in his eyes, afraid to open them and see a look of disgust in your face. Well...He predicted it before and prepared for it but now that he’s in that current scenario, he realized just how scared he really is to face it. Meanwhile, you blinked repeatedly at his confession as you had never seen such a timid guy like him create an outburst as drastic as that. Your lips slowly formed into a calm smile and soon scooped up a decent amount of icing in the cake. “Idia-kun.” You called out, encouraging him to open his eyes, but smudged the icing on his lips before he could even have the chance to do so.

“Mmgh-!?” Before he could even fully open his eyes, he soon froze in his spot as he felt your lips on his, kissing him and licking some icing off. Ortho gasped and let out a sound similar to that of a squeal as he happily floats above ground.

Looking down at you, Idia was left without any functioning words to say but you just laughed back at him. You licked the remaining icing on your lips and wiped some from his own before looking up at him. “Granted.” You said with a wink. “You’re wish is granted, Idia-kun ♡”

He swears to God, Idia is in the verge of passing out, this was just too much! What the hell did you just say!? Y-You ki...kissed...! However, before Idia could fully deliver his explosion of different emotions, a sound of a camera shutter and flash engulfed the two of you and quickly turned to the mischievous robot boy in the other side of the room. “So cute~! Isn’t this great, Nii-san~!? You finally said your true feelings to (Y/N) (L/N)-san! Although you were all over the place with your confession!” He said, mildly roasting his older brother but still waved the camera with the picture he took in front of him. “But still, she accepted it! Congratulations, Nii-san! I should save this to my memory file just in case!”

“O-Ortho, you...!” Idia flushed red, while you couldn’t help yourself but laugh at the two bickering brothers, it’s really so adorable. You watched as Idia attempts to stop his little brother from possibly leaking the picture to everyone they know with sheer amusement in your eyes. Though, you let out a sigh of relief, cheeks slowly reddening in color as you finally come into terms with your situation. You were glad that you have confidence in your acting skills to be able to hide your feelings to a minimum when your heart was beating just as fast as Idia’s. It would’ve been a disaster if the both of you were to stumble over your words like that, yikes.

You watched at the scene in front of you with your eyes shining in relief and satisfaction. It ended up a happy ending after all, you honestly think Ortho’s the real winner here, pulling out such a massive match-making move. Letting out a breath, you walked towards Idia and clunged onto him with your usual smile, although your blush didn’t seem to disappear. “Wah...(Y-Y/N)-shi...” He stuttered, his body tensing up but his cheeks flared up, debating whether he should hug you or not. While he does that, you turned to Ortho and created a space in between you and Idia.

“Why don’t we all take a picture together instead?” You suggested, gesturing for Ortho to come fill up the space you made. “Come here, Ortho! I’m sure you’re the happiest one in here, even far more than the two of us combined, right?”

Ortho widened his eyes before nodding enthusiastically. “Of course!” He said as he flew right over the two of you and squeeze himself in between. A holographic camera came blasting out of his chest, ready to take a picture. “A picture to remember Nii-san’s special day and together with my new Nee-san~! Of course I’m the most happiest here!”

You and Idia looked at each other and couldn’t help but chuckle at the excited little robot. You leaned onto each other to fit the camera template, holding up a peace sign all the while.

“Cheese~!”

How does one translate Idia’s use of “-shi” as honorofics, huh. His otaku language is beyond me puhihi~

Aahh, I want to write another one~ You darlings such interesting hornii in my inbox that I just want to- ughh I want to write more but I need sleep...( ；∀；)

Should I write another one~? Aah, but I don’t think I have enough time~ (＞人＜;) I also might pass out lol I’ll still try though! If Decemember 18 comes to pass and I end up not posting anything then it probably means that I succumbed to the bed lol

Anyways, thank you for attending yet another Birthday Crumbs Celebration~! (*≧∀≦*)

[stillebesat]

Scales (6/7)

Sanders Sides: Logan, Deceit, Virgil, Roman, Patton Blurb: Deceit hadn’t expected his absence from the Mindscape to be noticed by the others…until Logic knocked on his door. Fic Type: General Warnings: Shedding (snake style), Minor Injuries, Minor Pain, Touch Starvation, Death Talk Taglist in Reblog.

To Catch Up: Prologue Chapter 1 Chapter 2  Chapter 3 Chapter 4 

Deceit had never thought of his scales as being beautiful. They’d made him a freak. An outcast among the others even among the Dark Sides. Their color always the same ugly shade of yellow green as the crayon in a Crayola pack. A visible sign of Thomas’s dislike of him. 

Sure, they were always slightly brighter, slightly less ugly right after his sheds, but he’d never thought of them as…

Deceit licked his lips, frozen in place as he stared at the new patch of scales Roman’s technique had revealed. 

Scales that--that were--Deceit could only think of them as beautiful. Iridescent. Shining like precious gems. The old sickly yellow had vanished, replaced instead with a vibrant display of golden yellows fading into emerald green which in turn faded to obsidian black.

Gingerly, not quite believing that this was real, he pulled free of Virgil’s grip to lightly touch the exposed patch, his fingers running over the smooth edges.  

“Whoa.” Patton whispered, his own hand hovering above Deceit’s. “You have rainbows on you, Ly!” 

He paused, heart skipping a beat as one finger hovered over the black areas of his scales. Morality was right. Where the scales had darkened, he could see rainbows shimmering across their surface. 

Rainbows. A visible sign of acceptance. 

He couldn’t believe it. Believe that--that they would appear...on him. 

“Almost.” Logan said, leaning forward to rest his head on Deceit’s human shoulder, breath ghosting across his cheek as he spoke. “It’s probably part of the composition of the scales and the light refracting off of them that--”

“They’re so...bea--bright.” Deceit whispered, unable to bring himself to speak the word ‘beautiful’ out loud. He was a Dark Side. He wasn’t meant to be...to be--”

“Bright? They’re perfectly glowingly gorgeous, my Lion King.” Roman proclaimed. “Exactly like a true Dragon’s scales should be!” He gave him a soft, pleased smile. “You have dragon scales.” 

He had dragon scales. 

Creativity’s idea had worked.

The tightness in his chest eased.

He could finally get his shed off.

“Well...if we’re all done gawking.” Virgil said, raising an eyebrow to Roman as he pulled at the sleeves of his hoodie. “Perhaps we should get a move on? I was under the impression Dee’s shed should have been off like...three days ago.” 

“Correct.” Logan cleared his throat as he pulled back, leaving Deceit’s shoulder feeling bare and cold. 

Deceit swallowed, human hand twitching as he fought the urge to pull Logan near again. It was...unexpected, this...feeling. How quickly he’d grown to like having the others touching him. He just wanted to--to--

As if reading his mind, Logan rested a hand on his shoulder, gently squeezing it. “Since the test has obviously worked, what do we do next, Roman?” 

Creativity grinned, spreading his arms wide. “Well. First I need to set the proper scene.  The commons is hardly warm enough for this to work properly.” 

Deceit blinked, looking around the living room. He couldn’t see why it wouldn’t work here. “Scene?” Couldn’t Roman just conjure more ash to--

“A beach!”

Virgil made a face, pulling his hoodie over his head, hiding his eyes. “Oh goodie. Heat stroke.” 

Roman shot him a look. “That’s what summer clothes are for Emo Edgelord.”

“Nope. You are not getting rid of my hoodie!” 

“Wasn’t planning on it Dark and Stormy, You’ll have a hoodie just watch--” Roman snapped his fingers.

The living room vanished in the blink of an eye replaced by the view of an ocean with waves gently lapping against the shore. 

Deceit inhaled, automatically lifting his head up to the sun burning overhead, his body already warming under the intense heat that was much stronger than what he could create in his room. Yet...he glanced from the corner of his eye to Logan. The sun’s rays weren’t as penetrating as he’d expected them to be. No...compared to the fire emanating from Logan’s steady hand, the sun’s heat barely seemed to scratch the surface. 

“MY EYES!” Virgil complained, jerking the hood of his now light purple jacket over his head as the carpet of the living room shifted to the same opalescent volcanic dust Creativity had conjured earlier. “ROMAN!” 

Dust that felt so soft and warm...that it took all Deceit’s control to not bury himself in it then and there. 

Even if he did have dragon scales, he wasn’t the Dragon Witch. He wouldn’t copy her. No. He wouldn’t! He---

“Hey! I can’t control the brightness of the sun, Dr. Gloom!” 

Virgil hissed, glaring at him under his hood. “You’re Crea--”

“I know what I am. That doesn’t mean I can make the sun darker! Especially not if we want--”

“A Beach party!” Patton pumped his hand in the air, now wearing blue swim shorts with white hearts on them. “Come on Virge! We can bury LyLy in sand-”

“Ash.” Logan corrected softly in Deceit’s ear as he again moved, carefully urging him to lay down. 

Ash that felt really good against the shed right now. At least better than the sweat sodden blankets he’d been under earlier. 

Despite his best intentions to not copy what the Dragon Witch apparently did, Deceit didn’t need any further urging before he rolled onto his left side, wriggling to bury himself into the soft opalescent dust as quickly as possible. He let out a soft sigh of pleasure, his tense muscles already relaxing. 

He had to admit...this didn’t feel half bad.

“-and turn him into a mermaid sculpture!” 

Roman chuckled, shaking his head as he moved with practiced grace to help partially bury Deceit, making sure his neck and head were supported while also ensuring that none of the shed was showing and that he could still breathe.. “Mermaid Deceit. That’s something. Though I would think more of an Eel--” 

“What about a Naga? That’s more fitting for Dee’s style.” Virgil muttered, carefully mounding the ash up around Deceit’s head, covering his hair as he raised an eyebrow to him.

Deceit made a face, careful to not get any ash in his mouth as he resisted the urge to stick his tongue out at Annie. He much preferred having legs thank you very much.

“A Naga?” Patton asked as he energetically pushed ash up and over Deceit’s stomach to cover the shed there.

“Half snake, Pat?” 

“Oh...well--”

Personally, and Annie was well aware of this, Deceit had always been drawn more to spiders than snakes. But with his scaled complexion and Morality’s now known fear of arachnids...it wasn’t a topic he felt he could bring up. 

He closed his human eye, slowly exhaling as he went still, his shed covered fingers digging deeper into the ash as Logan settled next to him, gently running his fingers through his regular hair.

 “Why not go build a sand castle or play in the ocean or something?” He mumbled, leaning into Logan’s hand as his fingers continued to run through his hair. The others could go have their beach party while he just--

“And just LEAVE you?!” Morality demanded, sounding scandalized as he patted Deceit’s leg. “No siree, mister! We’re. Staying. Right. Here!” 

“It’s not like this will take as long as the Dragon Witch.” Roman said with a shrug. “Just be sure to not move too much. The shed will only come off without issue if it’s evenly and properly dried out before we remove it.”

It made sense, though it still didn’t make sense that the others were actually wanting to...stick around to help him with this. “How long?” He asked, half curling up so his head was pressed against Logan’s leg, taking more comfort in having the Logical Side near him. He knew Lo would prevent the other three from doing something stupid and this-- 

This felt...felt so nice. Having them around. Not...screaming or being horrified. He never would have thought that they--that they cared--that this---would happen. That they would help a Dark Side like this. That they would consider him to be...Family.

“Well--depending on what size she is when the shed takes her...it can last up to a week before I’m called in to help--” 

“A WEEK!” Virgil repeated.

Deceit opened his human eye, tilting it so he could see Anxiety. “If mine can take up to three days at my size...it’s not surprising it could take her longer.” Though he would have to arrange to...see...if not meet this Dragon Witch at some point. He’d been under the impression she was a full dragon. Perhaps there was more merit to the ‘witch’ part of Dragon Witch than he originally thought. 

“Exactly! And I mean...that’s just what she’s told me.” Roman looked away. “Honestly, I do believe that she’s not being fully truthful on how long it actually takes. You know...to keep me from taking advantage of her during that time.” He ran a hand through his hair, a slight frown on his face. “Like I’d strike a worthy opponent when they’re down.” He mumbled in such a way Deceit was sure no one else was meant to hear it.

“But he’s already been this way for six days Roman!” Virgil hissed. “Are you saying we have to wait one more for it to work?” 

“That is currently unknown. With the change in his scales, Lyal’s timeline may have altered.” Logan shrugged a shoulder, trailing his fingers down the side of Deceit’s neck. “There really is no way to know for sure how long this will take until his next shed when we can give him the proper setup from the onset.” He reached, adjusting his glasses, eyes sparking with interest. “I would expect with how quickly the ash worked on his test spot, that we should not have to wait long though.”

True. Deceit flexed his fingers underneath the ash, the corner of his lip quirking upwards. His mobility had always been extremely limited under the shed. Being able to move his fingers now before doing anything to get rid of the shed had to be a good sign.

“So we just...wait?” Patton asked, fidgeting as he piled ash up and over his legs even though Deceit had no scales there needing to be covered. “Then use the brush--” 

“To remove it, yes.” Roman confirmed. “I can show you how to do it so it won’t hurt-- I mean, it took me a time or two with the Dragon Witch nearly biting off my head to learn how.”

“And with how long Lyal’s been in shed, we do not want to mess this up for him.” Logan cut in.

Deceit swallowed, heart skipping a beat. No...he really--if this was all some sort of trick--if Roman had made this all up. He’d--He’d---

“Oh yah. You do not want to get on Dee’s dar--well darker side.” Virgil said. “You do not want to see that--”

“Well I’m sure our mighty Lion King here will be less snappy at least, he doesn’t have the fangs after all to---”

Deceit raised his human hand, heart pounding in his ears as Roman fell silent, his hands hovering over his mouth just shy of completely covering it as everyone else froze.

“Ly?” Creativity breathed out softly.

If it had been his scaled hand doing the controlling, Roman wouldn’t be able to speak at all. 

“I don’t really need fangs now do I to express my displeasure?” He asked, trying to smirk though he could feel his lips trembling as he met Creativity’s wide eyes before letting his hand fall limply back to the ground, freeing the other from his control. 

He let out a shaky breath, pressing the scaled side of his face back into the ash, closing his human eye to block out seeing the others. 

A mistake. He shouldn’t have reacted so. They wouldn’t want---Creativity was helping him! And he’d just! He shouldn’t have--but THIS COULD GO SO WRONG. 

“Lyal.” Deceit jumped, eye opening wide as Roman gently pressed his palm against his cheek. “I promise you. Nothing will go wrong. I’ve had years of experience helping the Dragon Witch now. Your scales will be perfectly pristine when this is over.” 

So he said. But Creativity wouldn’t have to live with the consequences would he if this didn’t work right.

His scales malformed.

His arm left useless.

His face--

“Dude.” Virgil laid a trembling hand on his elbow, squeezing it. “Stop with the internal panicking already. We’re not going to let anything go wrong.” 

 “He has a valid reason to be worried, Virge.” Logan said before Deceit could do more than bare his teeth and hiss at the former dark side. His fingers trailed through Deceit’s hair. “We are asking Lyal to put a lot of trust in us currently. This is a huge step. For all of. One with an uncertain outcome for him.”

Roman scoffed, rubbing his thumb along Deceit’s cheek.  “Uncertain! What do--I told you! It’s exactly like the Dragon Witch!”

“We’re not going to hurt you, Ly.” Patton whispered, patting his knee. “We’re FamILY! We’ll be very very very careful with your scales!” 

It was one thing to hear it.

Totally another to let them--Deceit jerked, crying out as a wave of ice seemed to cascade through him like an avalanche. COLD! He rolled onto Logan’s lap, flinging ash onto the others as he pressed his face against Logic’s chest with a sob, grabbing onto his arm in a white knuckled grip, seeking to soak up every inch of warmth that Logic could give him.

Logan immediately wrapped his arms around him in a firey embrace compared to the glacier of ice running down his side. “Lyal--”

“COLD.” He gasped out through gritted teeth, his shed covered arm held close to his chest as he stared down to the now blackened shed that made him look like a partially burned corpse.  

The test spot hadn’t felt like this. It had been warm! 

Something was wrong. 

IT HAD GONE WRONG.

He had to get it off.

NOW.

He released Logan to grab at his ash covered shoulder, fingers digging at the shed before they were abruptly blocked by a currying brush appearing in his hand, sending a cloud of ash flying off his shoulder. 

“Gently, Decepticon.” Roman commanded softly, carefully pulling Deceit’s arm away from his chest. He offered him a calming smile as he placed his own brush on Deceit’s wrist, quickly working over the area with an experienced hand, the shed flaking away just like it had before, revealing scales that looked exactly the same as the ones on his stomach. “It probably feels like you were just dipped in a bucket of ice, but you don’t want to tear it off like that band-aid do you?” 

Deceit bit back a whine, shaking as Roman’s brush changed to a toothbrush to delicately work on his fingers. Cold was normal? HOW COULD IT BE NORMAL? “N-n-n-no.” 

“Then do what I do.” Roman said, eyes silently pleading as he worked the bristles over a knuckle. “You’ll be fine.”

He--he just--Deceit forced himself to copy Creativity and move his own currying brush in small circles, despite everything within him screaming to just tear it away.

This was a delicate process. He couldn’t rush---Deceit whimpered, his body trembling violently as another wave of ice washed through him, skirting around the areas already freed from the shed.  

He hated this. HATED IT. This wasn’t like the other sheds at all. Was this gonna happen every time?? “Can’t this go faster?” He hissed out. 

It was cold. So cold. He could barely feel the sun blazing over his head now. Only Logan’s heat against him had--

He stilled as warm fingers trailed along his scaled cheek. “Remember you’re not alone, Lyal. Not anymore.” Logan said into his ear as he gently scrubbed at the shed near Deceit’s ear with his own soft bristled brush. 

“That’s right!” Patton said, going for his side, working near his naval. “You’ll be free from it soon enough, sport. Many hands means less work!”

“Makes light work.” Logan corrected. “Though I suppose your sentiment works as well, Pat.” 

“Is there a procedure for hair, Princey?” Virgil asked hesitantly from behind. “I can work on that.” 

Roman hummed, glancing up to his hair, before shaking his head. “Not that I’m familiar with. That’s one thing that’s different from the Dragon Witch. She’s never had anything happen with her hair if the shed took her when she was more human.”

Virgil exhaled. “That’s so not helpful.” 

“Hey!” 

“Don’t worry, Princey. I’ll---figure it out.” Virgil said, flashing a comb before he set to work on the waxy covered bits of his hair.

Deceit took a steadying breath, his own attempts to free his shoulder becoming less frantic as he got distracted watching the others work, freeing more and more gleaming multi-colored scales from the shed. 

His fingers twitched one by one as Roman carefully freed them, revealing nails that had darkened and grown sharp, looking more like talons than human fingernails. 

“Those feel alright?” Creativity murmured, looking up to meet Deceit’s eye as he finished with his thumb. “Move them around. Open and Close. Did I miss anything there? A stray piece of shed caught in a crevice?” 

Deceit flexed and wiggled his fingers before clenching them into a fist, the talons scraping along his palm, but not drawing blood despite there being no scales there. 

“Seems fine.” He whispered, careful to not move his head too much so that Logan and Virgil wouldn’t accidentally hurt him as he let his hand fall open, noting how pink his palm was compared to the scales on the other side. Again he pressed his talons against the flesh. 

“Careful.” Roman warned. “I’m pretty sure you can draw blood if you try hard enough.”

True, even regular human nails could do that. “Talons.” He said, unable to hide his disbelief. He had talons now. 

“And...maybe a horn?” Virgil offered. “There’s a...bump here. I thought it was just a clump of hair stuck together, but--” 

Deceit stiffened before forcing himself to relax. “You’re kidding right? Please say you are.” That was just another--WHY A HORN!?

“I’m not actually. Feel for yourself.” 

He really didn’t want to. Why a horn?! What next? Wings? A TAIL? How much of a dragon exactly was he supposed to become with Thomas’s supposed growing ‘acceptance’ of him?! 

Letting his brush fall to the ash, he reluctantly reached up with his human hand, so as to let Roman continue working on removing the shed on his arm, to his hair. “Where?” 

“Here.” Virgil guided him to a spot a couple inches above his ear. 

Calling it a bump was an understatement. Deceit made a face as he felt the sharp point of what could only be the beginnings of a horn. “WHY?” He complained, dropping his hand, digging his fingers into the ash. 

He didn’t WANT horns. The talons were enough to deal with! Why did there have to be a horn too? Would it grow longer with each subsequent shed he went through? How long before he wouldn’t be able to wear his hat?! 

“Like I said before, dragons are much cooler than snakes.” Roman said, working on his elbow. 

“You’re not the one with the horn, Princey.” Deceit shot back, tilting his head as Logan began working on his ear. 

At least with snake scales he only had to worry about the scales and his hair! He didn’t have the first idea on what sort of care a horn needed, or the talons or...or even the dragon scales themselves!

“I’m sure the Dragon Witch can teach you!” Patton said, giving him a bright smile. 

Great. Being taught by a figment of the imagination. What next? 

“I think Patton’s done with your chest, Lyal.” Logan remarked, brushing the back of his neck. “If you would be so kind as to turn over, we can better access the shed back there.”

He exhaled, twisting to rest his head against Logan’s chest so he could give the others better access to his back. So help him if they discovered a wing back there. 

Still….this...this wasn’t so bad. 

With Roman coaching the others whenever they hesitated the process was going a lot quicker than it would have had he been attempting to remove the shed by himself.

He ducked his head, watching the rainbows dance across the blackened parts of his scales as the others worked, a shiver running through him as he felt the brushes vanish in favor of soft cloths being rubbed against his scales.

If this was what being part of the FamILY meant…having everyone work together like this...to help him.

Perhaps it wasn’t so bad to be...accep--included. 

“Lyal.” Logan’s breath ghosted over his scaled cheek. “I’m going to remove the shed cap over your eye, do not move.” 

A faint pressure around his snake eye and suddenly bright sunlight streamed into it, nearly blinding him. Deceit winced, tears blurring his vision as he blinked for the first time in nearly a week, easing the irritation of having had it open for so long.   

“And done!” Roman proclaimed with a final swipe of his polishing cloth, gesturing for Virgil and Patton to sit back, though both appeared reluctant to do so, their fingers lingering on his scales.

He couldn’t blame them.

Creativity snapped his fingers, a large mirror appearing in his hands as he tilted it so that Deceit could see his reflection for the first time. 

Deceit froze. Staring wide eyed at the image confronting him.

And he’d thought he’d forgotten how to breathe before. 

“So~? Whatcha think?” Roman asked, fidgeting in place.  

Deceits shakily inhaled, as he slowly brought a hand up to his face, feeling the smooth scales there as he pushed away from Logan, shivering from the lack of heat as he sat up to get a better look at his new scales shining like a hoard of gemstones in the sunlight. 

Beautiful.

He couldn’t look away. “Is...is that really...me?” He asked in disbelief.

It had to be hadn’t it? This wasn’t some sort of cruel trick? 

Virgil squeezed his shoulder, smirking in the mirror. “It’s surprising isn’t it?” He said, softly. “What changes when you’re accepted.” 

Changes. Had Virgil--but this couldn’t--this was really was him? Deceit moved his taloned hand, the one in the mirror copying him exactly as he ran his fingers along his cheek, delicately touching the now pointed tip of his ear, before running up through his hair that now had golden highlights similar to Virgil’s own purple ones, feeling the obsidian colored horn barely visible there. 

And then there was his eye, no longer a cold pale yellow, the iris seemed to dance with an inner fire, flickering between orange and gold as an array of emotions rushed through him. 

Beautiful.

He--He was…

Deceit ducked his head, blinking rapidly as his eyes burned with unshed tears.

A Dark Side shouldn’t cry. Shouldn’t appear weak in front of the others in front of his--

Family. 

“You--” He swallowed hard over the lump forming in his throat as he ran his hand down his scales. Free. Finally free of the shed. He lifted his left hand, stretching it fully out and flexing his fingers. Watching as the rainbows shimmered over the scales. Unmarred. Working perfectly.

It--it---He looked up to Roman, Patton, Virgil and finally Logan their heat signatures now haloed around them now that his sna--dragon eye could see them properly. “Thank you.” He managed to choke out.  

Without their help--he had no idea how he could have--what would have--if he hadn’t come--if Logan hadn’t convinced him to--

Roman relaxed, offering him a nod and a soft smile in return.

“Of course, LyLy.” Patton said his own eyes shimmering with tears as he grinned wide. “We’re here to help you no matter what.” 

“And since the major crisis appears to be over.” Logan said, a tinge of awe in his voice as his fingers ghosted along Deceit’s scales. “We should now focus on the more minor issue of getting you something to eat. Maybe that soup I mentioned earlier.” A small smile played on his lips when Deceit’s stomach chose that moment to growl loudly.

He flushed, watching how the reds in the rainbows on his scaled cheek grew brighter than the other colors right before the mirror vanished, leaving him staring directly at the delighted look on Roman’s face. He looked away. “Ah...probably.” 

Already he could feel his mouth watering at the thought of having something warm going down his throat. Soup would do for now. Though honestly---Pizza too would be good--no he’d better be careful to not eat too much solid food right away after so long a fast.  

“Eat?” Virgil raised an eyebrow. “Now?”

Deceit shrugged, grimacing as his stomach growled again. “Yes? I...haven’t since--” He gestured to his scales.

“Wait.” Virgil grabbed his wrist, the shadows under his eyes growing dark. “You’re telling me...you haven’t eaten in SIX days?”

“WHAT!” Patton cried, shooting his feet, sending up a small cloud of ash as he did so. “No! No no no we can’t have that mister!”

“Why in the world would you--” Virgil demanded.

Deceit rolled his eyes. Oh, like Anxiety was one to talk about not eating for long periods of time! It wasn’t his fault he missed a week. “I can’t when I’m shedding, Annie.” 

Would it be the same now though? With his scales now taking after a dragon’s instead of a snakes? 

“Well, we can’t have you wait a second more LyLy! Soup’s coming. Hold on. I’ll be right back!” Patton turned, the beach scene shimmering around him as he vanished from sight. 

“Perhaps while Patton is getting that...it would be best for us to return to the living room, Roman.” Logan suggested as he too moved to his feet, offering a hand for Deceit to take. “Lyal will probably be more comfortable resting on the couch while we wait for his long overdue meal.”

Roman scoffed, raising his hand towards the sun as if to grab it. “Couch?! Living room?! How dull!”

Deceit glanced up to the sun as he took Logan’s hand, shakily getting to his feet. “Honestly...compared to the excitement I’ve been through today…” He barely flinched as Logic scooped him up into his arms, holding him securely before his knees could buckle again. 

Logan shot him another small smile. “Save your strength.” He cautioned.

Deceit sighed and nodded, resting his head against Logan’s chest without complaint, enjoying how the warmth was less...antagonizing to him now that he was free from the shed. “Dull sounds rather good to me Roman.”  

“Total Mood, Dee. Anything to get away from the fire demon in the sky.” Virgil said, again adjusting his lighter hoodie over his eyes.

“But what if we had an epic midnight beach party instead?!” Roman asked as he lowered his hand, the sun moving down towards the horizon with the gesture.

“Ohhh.” Virgil rolled his eyes, pushing his hood back. “You can make the sun set whenever you want and yet you can’t lessen the intensity of its heat?” 

“Hey!” Roman whirled pointing a finger at Anxiety. “Having Heat without Light is rather difficult to manage Dr. Gloom! The right conditions had to be met for Lya---”

“Yah, yah. Heat helps the shed, gotcha.” Virgil exhaled, glancing up to the stars that were appearing in the sky as the last rays of the sun vanished.

At least he still had Logan’s heat to rely on with the sun now gone. Deceit fought not to shiver. “What does this...party entail exactly?” He asked. 

If it was just sitting in the dark staring at the stars, he’d have to do a hard pass. Not even a thick blanket and Logan’s stories about the constellations would be enough to convince him to sit in the cold so soon after finishing the shedding process.

“Well, I was thinking we could have a fire.” Roman snapped his fingers, a roaring campfire appearing near enough to Logan and Deceit that he could already feel the heat from the flames.

Deceit reached out with his scaled hand, humming as the fire warmed his skin. Not as hot as the sun, or Logan’s body heat, but it was...nice.  

“Can’t have our Halfling Dragon getting cold now can we?” Creativity said with a wink. 

“But you can have me die from heat stroke?” 

“Oh hush, Count Dracula. I kept your hoodie! You can’t tell me--”

Halfing Dragon? Deceit made a face at that. Just because he had the dragon scales and the talons and the horns and…okay, he’d have to think of a better argument on why he wasn’t a...Halfling. 

“Ooooh a campfire! Perfect!” Patton exclaimed, suddenly popping back into view, once more in his normal clothes, with a large pot in his hands. It shifted to what looked like Virgil’s Halloween Cauldron complete with a thin metal handle as he moved to the flames. “I thought I smelt the smoke! I can easily make the soup over it like in those adventure stories!” He said as a pole and hook appeared for him to hang the pot on so it hung directly in the middle of the fire. 

Patton studied it, making minute adjustments to the pot before nodding to himself in satisfaction as he pulled out a long wooden spoon to stir the contents inside. 

“Exactly! We could even watch a Western movie!” Roman exclaimed as a large screen appeared behind him, the fire growing smaller so as to not compete with the light shining on the screen showing the Disney logo as the ash rose up around them forming large couches for everyone to sprawl on with a multiple of blankets piled nearby. 

“There’s a Disney movie that’s Western?” Virgil asked, raising an eyebrow. 

“Why yes, Zorro.” Roman grinned, looking pleased with himself. “The Lone Ranger was made by Disney was it not?”

Anxiety smirked. “My my, Princey. You can actually watch shows that aren’t a cartoon?”

“HEY!”  

Deceit’s nostrils flared, and he leaned towards the pot as the scent of chicken noodle soup wafted over to him, ignoring the other two’s bickering. “That smells awf--” He cut off, making a face as he quickly corrected himself. “Amazing, Pat.” 

“Lying?” Logan asked in an undertone as he sat both of them down on the couch nearest the fire so that Deceit could stay warm. “I take it the compulsion is coming back now that the shed is over?” 

Deceit exhaled as he adjusted his position so he was more comfortable resting against Logic. “No.”

Great. Now he’d have to be more conscious of how he spoke to the others again. Why couldn’t the shift to dragon scales have altered that particular quirk of his? That would have been extremely helpful. But nooo. He had to grow a horn instead.  

“Mhmmm.” Logan raised an eyebrow, eyes glittering with humor. “Pretty sure that’s a falsehood, Lyal.” 

Deceit stuck out his tongue as he grabbed a blanket to pull over them. “Forget what I said.” 

Logan chuckled, his fingers again running through his hair, moving in slow circles around the small horn. “I know.” He said softly. “You can’t always not lie. As Logic, I won’t forget that. I promise, we’ll work with you as your FamILY so it won’t be an issue.” 

Family. 

Butterflies danced in his stomach as Deceit partially curled up to make room for Annie to sit by his feet like a silent guardian gargoyle, watching as Roman and Patton worked together to get the soup and the movie ready.

He had to admit, he was growing rather fond of the concept. 

To Be Continued Epilogue

[janekfan]

Fair

https://archiveofourown.org/works/28298580

Secret Santa gift for @alextblue!

This was such a lovely prompt! I hope you like it!!

Keep it together or they’ll never invite you out again.

He knew when he woke up, tangled in the duvet and soaked in a cold sweat that it was going to be a bad day. No matter how deep a breath he heaved, none of the air reached its way to the bottom of his lungs, caught it seemed on the tight band crushed around his ribs.

Relax.

Just relax.

Everything is fine.

More than fine.

Great even.

Jon was meeting Martin and Tim at an outdoor festival and with the weather for once bright and sunny, it was going to be a wonderful day. In succession, he tightened each muscle, holding himself stiff before relaxing and shoving the thrumming anxiety to the back of his awareness where it hung like a trembling red wire.

Shower. Clothes. Hair loosely tied. Tea.

Stomach unsettled, his toast remained untouched on the counter.

Keys, wallet, phone. Each in their appropriate pocket.

Deep breath. Two. Three.

“I’m alright.” Because he was. There was no reason for this. None at all and he was going to end up being too much of a nuisance for his friends. Maybe he should cancel. No. No. Who knew when he’d get another chance to prove he was more than their arse of a boss and worth having around.

The train went well. He made it to the predetermined meeting place in the park early as was his wont and checked his phone for messages. Predictably, Tim was running a few minutes late but Martin would be here soon and sure enough Jon saw him weaving his way politely through the crowd, raising his arm up to catch his attention.

“Jon!”

“Martin.” When he dug up a smile from somewhere Martin’s face lit up in response and a jolt not unlike lightning ran up Jon’s spine. A strong arm landed over his shoulders and the smell of Tim’s aftershave assaulted him right before his enthusiastic greeting.

“Hullo, gents!”

For a little while, Jon was able to lose himself in the music, the sights, the people watching, settling his nerves with a pint and prattling on about obscure music genres much to Martin’s apparent enjoyment. Tim ribbed him good naturedly and only commented on the blush (not from Martin grinning at him, thank you very much) from the alcohol traveling up his neck and settling high in his face.

“Thank you, Tim.” Voice measured and academic, Jon accepted the next pint with a hand forcibly held still, relaxing on the bench with Tim sprawled comfortably next to him. Martin was locating food and would meet them back here.

“Whoa! Slow down, champ.” Jon had downed half of it without thinking and was now looking dazedly at the plastic in his hand. “You alright, boss?”

“Mm. Yes, of course. Was thinking, is all.” A knobby elbow nudged his side and Jon suppressed a ticklish yelp.

“Thinking.” The way he drew out the word and raised a brow made Jon grateful for his already rosy cheeks.

“Stop! No!” Tim raised his hands in supplication.

“Sure, sure, whatever you say!” He all but tackled Tim when he pulled out his phone and began texting and that’s how Martin found them, tangled up with each other, Jon’s fingers in a deathgrip around the device to prevent him from spreading gossip. Tim just laughed, loud and bright and Martin, the traitor, snapped a picture before doling out the kebab.

It was shortly after lunch that Jon felt the strain of the hours spent pressed between strangers and overwhelmed by sounds and colors and the deep breaths weren’t helping anymore. Instead, Jon’s whole chest ached from how tight it was strung, tied up in knots drawn tighter with each attempt. Incessantly, he checked his watch, trying to hide it from the pair chatting just ahead of him, but the minutes weren’t moving and all he wanted to do was escape the throng, nails digging painful crescent moons into his palms as he clenched his hands into aching fists. His heart was pounding, the sun beating down without mercy and he regretted his previous decision to quaff beer like there was a drought when the nausea returned.

Jon was on autopilot, eyes fixed forward, one step after another after another after another with his heart fluttering in a throat so narrow he couldn’t breathe, couldn’t speak. So he tugged on Martin’s sleeve, gesturing clumsy and stiff to the edge of the green.

“Just. Just be a, a minute, yeah?” The concern in his eyes was suffocating. He was ruining this.

“Everything alright, Jon?” He’d reached a hard limit. There were no more words left, no more air, so he nodded, flashed what he hoped was a reassuring smile, and walked away rigid and panting through an endless sea of jostling bodies.

Why couldn’t he just be normal? Why couldn’t he handle this like all the rest of them? Why did he have to be so difficult he needed to be invited to things out of pity?

What is wrong with you?

Jon hadn’t realized he’d yanked his hair out of its loose bun and was tugging on it until his head began to hurt. He stumbled more than once, vision going grey at the edges and what had only been anxiety before was swiftly sliding sideways into a panic attack. Dizzy. Where before he felt tense, as though breathing too deeply might crack him straight in half, now he was suffocating, arguing with himself:

Can’t breathe.

You can.

Back and forth, almost to the border and across the street to a bench, out of the way. Invisible. He’d fall apart here, scrape himself back together, and head back to find Martin and Tim. Ten minutes. He checked his watch. He’d give himself ten minutes. Panting, he pressed a hand to his breastbone, trying to force himself to calm down, relax, take in some air to prevent the black from spiraling further. Briefly, wildly he’s--

Dying.

Not. Shut up shut up shut up.

His ten minutes were almost up and it had been more like ten seconds. His chest hurt and he couldn’t breathe and his pulse was galloping out of control and filling his ears with a pounding, pounding, pounding. His fingertips were numb, he was light headed and trembling with his arms wrapped tightly around his stomach. He wanted Martin. He wanted Tim. He wanted nobody to see him like this. He couldn’t decide which was worse god he was pathetic just get ahold of yourself, Jonathan Sims!

Curled up impossibly small, wracked violently with chills and panic, Jon poured all his energy into staying silent and when a warm hand landed on his shoulder his shout of surprise was trapped behind clenched teeth. He looked up into Martin’s wide eyes and felt his own spill over with tears and a muffled sob. He’d been caught and the panic only rose higher until Martin laid a heavy hand across his shoulder blades.

“Jon. You need to take a breath.”

“C’c ah an’t.” He’d been trying. And failing. Always failing.

“You can, I promise.” And when he demonstrated, exaggerated, deep, Jon felt a pang of jealousy at how easy it came to him. “You can.” A sip of air made it through, then another. “Good, there you go, slow, good.”

“What’s happened?” With Tim came a fresh wave of tears and he sat beside Jon so that he was bracketed by the pair of them. “Oh, Jon. Okay, doing great, bud.”

“I’m,” he paused, swallowed another gulping breath. “M’sorry.”

“No reason to be sorry.” Jon wasn’t altogether certain Martin could be believed. “Just breathe, in, out. Good.”

“Okay…m’okay.”

“It’s alright if you’re not. Take your time.” Jon slumped forward under the weight of it all, exhausted and sore and full to bursting with guilt.

“I’m j’just. I’m sorry.” It wasn’t enough. His apologies never were and he didn’t know what else to say, what would make this better. “I didn’t mean. I.” Martin shushed his babbling, pressing a cool bottle of water into his shaking hands and wouldn’t hear anymore out of him until he’d downed at least a third.

“Jon?” The silence was becoming too much under the scrutiny of the pair of them and he just wanted to forget his little episode and get back to the festival so they would smile again instead of look at him with pity.

“We can, we can go back now.”

“Jon?” Of course, why would they want him to tag along anymore after this foolishness?

“Or I, I can leave, uh, go home. Yes. Yes, I’ll go home and see you at work. T’tomorrow.” Ignoring their noises of distress, Jon sprang to his feet and almost went down again when a wave of vertigo tilted the street. He was guided by careful hands back to the bench, head gently pressed down between his knees.

“Why didn’t you say you weren’t feeling well?” Tears traced his nose, falling to the pavement below but he forced them back, speaking in a very small voice in an attempt to contain his histrionics.

“Didn’t want to ruin our day.”

“What?”

“I know. I, I did anyhow, I’m--”

“You’ve not ruined anything, Jon.” Martin was so kind, too kind. And here he was squandering it.

“Yeah, boss. It happens, no harm done.” They didn’t understand and Jon clapped both hands over his mouth before it could all come bursting out, how much this meant to him and how upset he was to have lost his chance. It rushed forth anyway, too big, too vast, and not wholly intelligible.

“I know I was only invited because of Martin and I. I.” This was embarrassing and he wasn’t able to stop himself. He never could. “I was hoping I'd be w’welcome next t’time? If only I, I were on my best behavior.” Good lord, he was crying again, a mess, here in the street where he was probably drawing all manner of looks. They shouldn’t have to put up with this. “I, I know I can be, be awful. I don’t, I’m rude and quick to irritation and I’m, I’m--” Gasping. He’d worked himself into another bout or maybe he hadn’t even come down from it in the first place.

“Breathe, Jon.” Stern and his teeth clicked with the force of their collision. “Breathe.” Only when he wasn’t on the verge of passing out did Martin continue. “Jon, I’m sorry. I had no idea you felt this way.”

“If I’d known--” Tim was quiet. “I shouldn’t have assumed it wasn’t your scene. I didn’t. No. I mean, I didn’t, but that’s no excuse.”

“No, no it’s. It isn’t your--I. I.” It was him. “I.” Tim swept him up into an embrace, exerting the perfect pressure across his shoulders and he melted into the warmth like he’d done back in research a time or two.

Or three.

Maybe four.

“We’ll finish talking about this later, alright? When you’ve had some sleep.”

“I, I don’t--it’s…” When Martin’s firm grip enveloped his shoulder Jon gave up, let the rest of it all go. “I’m--”

“Don’t say it. Don’t need to be.”

“You’re our friend, Jon.”

“But--”

“Nope!” Tim helped him stand, took his arm in his and set off towards the underground. “Martin, my dear, my darling, if you’re amenable, I think I’d like to finish our spectacular day with a few drinks at mine.” Jon went red. “I don’t think you’ve yet had the pleasure of meeting my good friend Three-Shot Sims.”

“Tim!” Martin had the audacity to pretend to think about it.

“You know, Tim.” And both ignored Jon’s sputtering in favor of nearly carrying him down the street. “I don’t think I have!” With no other choice and knowing he’d be under no pressure to perform that particular introduction, Jon let Tim guide him along.

“Oh, Marto, my boy. He’s a real treat.”

[hy5ter1cal]

Yourself

(THIS IS A PART 2 TO ‘WHO AM I WITHOUT YOU,’ WHICH YOU CAN READ HERE)

A/N: Hi hello guys, I finished it like I promised, not really sure if I like the ending but you know it is the way it is. I would really appreciate some feedback on this because I dont really have any idea if you like this or not :)

Summary: What would’ve happened if the others didn’t get to Tommy and Tubbo in time? 

Warnings:  Swearing, violence, major character death, manipulation, lore spoilers

Word count: 2.4k 

“Alright, now I can take you to the real discs.” Dream said as Tubbo walked towards him. “What- and why now?” His questions were ignored by Dream who simply said to follow him. 

Dream took the lead as Tubbo and Tommy slacked behind. The taller of the two carefully leaned down and whispered for the other to stay close. Tubbo nodded and looked back at Dream who was standing on the very edge of the tall mountain. The wind was howling and the only source of light was the moon and for a moment Tommy wondered if Dream would fall off, and considered giving him a nudge in the right direction. He didn’t have time to decide as Dream spoke again. “Be careful when you walk down.” As he said it, he stepped on a pressure plate neither of them had seen. The Redstone flared to life and started to move part of the ground out of the way to reveal a narrow staircase that had been carved out of the mountain wall. 

“So- do we go down first?” Tubbo looked at Dream who gave him a curt nod. Tubbo let out a breathy okay as a confirmation that he had understood and gestured for Tommy to follow him. Tommy carefully made his way down as to not fall off, he could hear how Dream had followed close behind them.

The previous silence was broken by Dream who now seemed much closer. “You two think you can just show up and fight me to try and take back your discs.” They were quickly reaching the end of the staircase. “As if I don’t have a plan. You think that I’m a fool but that’s not how it works, Dream chuckled as they all reached the end. They were back on the ground again, no moonlight reaching them with the mountain towering above.

Dream brought out a torch and lit it, “you know, I’ve always been one step ahead of you guys-” Tommy huffed, he just couldn’t keep quiet anymore. “You’re just pure fucking evil man-” 

“You know, Tubbo thought I was his friend, Tommy.” Dream took off his mask, showing off his smirk as he walked closer to Tommy, torch in hand. “What an idiot, right? You also thought I was your friend,” Dream’s dark eyes met Tommy’s before he continued, “I made sure no one showed up to your stupid party so your only friend would be me.”

Tommy was quickly looking over the beach decorations one last time, covering a creeper hole and setting up parasols. He was buzzing with excitement, he might get to see Tubbo today. Tommy looked at his clock and noticed how the guests should arrive in about five minutes. He decided to have one last look around to see if there was anything else to fix up.

When he found nothing to fix he decided to wait. 

And he waited,

and waited,

and when nobody came he decided to check his nether portal to see if anything had gone wrong. When he found nobody outside the nether he went in. After the sickening teleportation to the nether, he looked around. Everything looked normal. The bridge was still there, no ghast explosions preventing someone from entering. “Why- No one’s here..” He whispered to himself. Tommy decided to look around and followed the bridge back to the main portal which led to the Greater SMP. Nothing. He found no one. 

He begrudgingly made his way back to his portal, hoping that maybe they had taken another route or perhaps a detour. 

Tommy returned to the overworld and only found one person. Dream. He was sitting in one of the beach chairs, drinking one of the drinks Tommy had prepared. 

“Hello!” Dream greeted Tommy with a smile, no mask in sight. “Hi..” Tommy mumbled as he slowly walked towards him. “Where’s everyone else? I thought this was a party?” Dream asked, sounding innocent. “Uh- well, I don’t know..” Tommy sighed as he sat down next to Dream who turned to look at him, sympathy in his eyes. “Well, I was running a little late so I was surprised when no one was he-” 

Tommy suddenly stood up. A sinking feeling reaching him. He was wearing armor that he wasn’t supposed to have. He immediately took it off and gave it to Dream, ready for him to blow it up or burn it. “I’m sorry- I forgot.” Tommy stuttered and hoped Dream wouldn’t be mad. Dream raised his eyebrows in surprise, “no, no Tommy it’s fine.” He turned to look at Dream, “really?” He smiled kindly once more. “Of course, Tommy. This is a party after all.”

“Uh- well where is everyone?” Tommy asked as he made his way to the beach chair next to the one Dream sat in. “I don’t know,” Dream responded, dragging out the ‘I.’ “Wilbur sent out the invites, didn’t he?” Tommy continued to ask Dream questions, thinking of a way that something could’ve happened with the invites. But when Dream answered, letting him know that he had personally made sure that everyone knew, Tommy was speechless.

“So where is everyone then!?” Tommy could feel anger building. A slow-burning in the pit of his stomach. He wanted to break something, hurt someone. 

“Maybe they just don’t want to see you.”

“What- You did that-?” Tommy breathed, desperately trying to look anywhere but at Dream who was right next to him. He wheezed out a laugh, “yeah, and you trusted me like an idiot! The person who had been against you in every war until that point. But you were just so desperate for a friend, that even I was enough.” Tommy swallowed as he realized Dream was right, he shouldn’t have trusted him. It was so obvious now. 

“So yeah, I’ve been one step ahead of you since the beginning.” Dream declared one final time, making it clear that he was right. “And- Tubbo. The reason I have the disc is because I blew up the community house and framed Tommy.”

“You blew up-” Tubbo whispered. “-and you were dumb enough to give me the disc.” Dream mocked as he turned around towards the mountain wall.

“L’manburg is gone, I have the discs and you two at my mercy-” Dream grins maniacally as he placed the torch next to him. “Do you have any armor left?” Tommy whispered to Tubbo who replied with a frightened ‘no.’

“-Now, follow me.” Dream exclaimed as a hole in the wall emerged, leading them into a mostly empty room. The walls were covered in torches that prevented any hostile mob from entering, and on the ground, built-in Blackstone and Obsidian was a platform. “Is this a trap-” Tubbo whispered to Tommy who turned to Dream. “How do we know we’re not just going to die here?” He asked, followed by Dream chuckling. “You know I could just kill you right here, I suggest you do as I say.” 

Tubbo quickly followed Dream’s directions and stepped onto the platform. “Hey- man why the fuck are you doing as he says!?” Tommy shouted angrily as he turned to look at his friend. “I mean- we’re pretty much dead either way.” Tubbo exhaled, anyone with a brain could tell he was scared, incredibly so. 

Tommy eventually decided to step onto the platform with Tubbo. Dream swiftly followed and flipped a lever, making the platform descend. “Whoa-” Tubbo stumbled forward and grabbed onto Tommy as not to fall. “What the fuck is happening-” Tommy mumbled as the platform continued to go down and shake.

“Listen, Tommy,” Dream started, “ever since you came here you’ve been a headache. You’ve brought war, terrorism-” What Tommy figured was an elevator finally reached a giant room. The walls were built from Blackstone and small Redstone lights covered the walls. The air inside the room was almost musty, this room must’ve been built a good while ago.

Opposite of the elevator they were currently riding Tommy noticed a big nether portal and- their discs. Their discs were there. “-you’ve made everything bad! But- the cause of all the war, of everything, is attachment.” Dream looked at Tommy. “Right? Your attachment to the discs, your attachment to Henry, to pets and friends. To land and countries. To items” 

The elevator finally stopped and Tommy made a move to step off but was stopped by Dream. “That- that’s the one good thing that you’ve done. The one good thing you’ve done is bringing attachment,” Dream walked off the elevator and into the room. 

“So, it took me a long time to realize how important attachment was. But when I did I became more powerful, and I realized how important you were.” Dream continued to walk, “Tubbo, Tommy, come look.” He permitted them to step off the elevator and they did. “Come- come see your discs,” Dream said as he led them to the big podiums where they were. “They’re right here.”

Tommy cautiously made his way to Dream with Tubbo following close behind. “There’s an ender chest there..” Tommy pointed out cautiously. “Yeah, Dream began, “you could take the disc if you wanted to but it doesn’t matter. I mean- I wouldn’t do it if I were you because then Tubbo will die-” Tommy’s mouth opened in shock, what was happening? 

Dream led them to the other disc which waited on the other podium. “They’re just laying there…” Tubbo pointed out, sadness in his voice. 

“You know ever since attachment became important, I cut my attachments.” Dream said. “ I blew up my house, I lost my friends.” Dream started to corner Tommy against the cold wall. “I lost my items, my crossbow, my- you know- everything that was important to me. I cut everything off because I realized attachments give people power over each other.” 

Tommy tried to find anything to say, but couldn’t. “I mean- the reason you’re here right now is because I have these dumb little discs.” Tommy looked to Tubbo and then back at Dream, “how- how did that not hurt you?” He managed to ask. “Because I lost everything to gain everything.” Tommy scoffed and pushed Dream away from him. “You didn’t gain shit you’re a sick bastard!” he shouted, Tubbo soon joining him. “Yeah, you don’t seem to have a lot right now.” Tubbo scoffed as Dream started to raise his voice. 

“If I can control the things people are attached to, I can control the server again!” He shouted and made a move to point at the other two, “because this isn’t Tommy SMP or Tubbo SMP it’s Dream SMP, right!?” 

Dream started to walk towards the duo, making them back up into the middle of the room. “I’ve constructed.. a prison. It’s inescapable. You can’t get out.” Dream locked eyes with Tommy. “There are hundreds of thousands of stacks of Obsidian, there are elder guardians, there are guards.” Tommy gulped, “What… how..?” 

Dream smiled and turned to Tubbo, “You know, Tubbo’s a pawn. He’s a follower and I’ve used him as much as I can-” Tommy butted in again. “Tubbo’s not a follower! He was the last president of L’manburg- he’s not a fucking follower!” 

“And where is L’manburg now?” Dream snarkily replied as he continued. “I’ve already gone over this, Tubbo’s a follower-” Yet again Tommy objected. “Stop! Tubbo’s not a fucking follower! You need him as much as you need me!” Tommy shouted in Dream’s face. He scoffed, “I don’t need Tubbo at all.” Tommy pushed Dream away, “Yeah you do because without Tubbo, what am I?” Tommy hollered angrily. “Dickhead,” he added at the end. 

Dream sighed, “Tommy, you want to be a hero. You want to be the hero of the SMP. Do you know what a hero needs?” Dream asked, “An origin story. You have Tubbo.” 

Tommy was stunned, he had always read a lot with Techno as a child, and he knew what Dream meant. The person that matters most to the hero always-

“No! Absolutely fucking not!” Tommy retorted as he shoved Tubbo behind him. “No, no you- I won’t let you.” Dream smiled once more and grabbed Tommy. “Look, I want to give you a chance to say goodbye.”

Tommy tried to squirm out of his grasp, “No! We’ll get out of here like we always do, it always works out in the end, right Tubbo?” Tommy looked at Tubbo who remained silent. “You’ll get out of here Tommy, but Tubbo won’t.” 

“You know…” Tubbo finally spoke up, looking into Tommy’s eyes. “It’s fine.” 

“No.. no, no Tubbo don’t!” Tommy shouted, still trying to break free. 

“It’s about time I guess,” Tubbo sighed and looked at the ground once more. “No! No, don’t just accept it Tubbo!” Tommy hollered as tears started to gather in his eyes. 

“Goodbye, Tommy,” Tubbo whispered as he walked towards them. Dream finally pushed Tommy away and brought out his axe. “No! No Tubbo don’t!” Tommy sobbed as he stood up and started sprinting towards them. 

Before Tommy even saw it he heard the sickening sound of metal slicing skin, then came the blood. There was so much of it, coating the axe and dripping onto the floor. Tubbo soon lost his balance and fell, and Tommy was there-

“No- no Tommy, you have to jump!” Tubbo laughed as they stood on the tall structure. Tommy gulped, water bucket in hand. He was about to say something when Tubbo decided to push him off. Tommy’s scream rang out over the SMP as he fell, and right before he fell, he placed the water that would save him from the fall. Tommy shouted in triumph as he survived, but then he saw Tubbo jump. Tommy knew he didn’t have a water bucket but knew what to do when he heard Tubbo yell: “Catch me!” 

-to catch him once again. Tommy gently held him as he tried to compress the wound, as if that would help now. “Tubbo, please don’t die.. not now!” Tommy sobbed as he searched Tubbo’s face for anything other than signs of pain. Tubbo’s breathing was labored as he reached his hand to lay atop of Tommy’s. “Tubbo.. please. I can’t say goodbye.. not now!” Tommy cried as Tubbo tried to move his hand. “It- it will be okay.” he tried to reassure Tommy, he always hated to see him cry. “But.. Who- who am I without you?” Tommy stuttered as their eyes met one last time. “Yourself.”Tubbo said as the message rang out in chat.

<Tubbo was slain by Dream using The axe of peace>

Tommy let out a cry akin to that of a wounded animal as he buried his face in Tubbo’s chest and sobbed. He could feel Tubbo turn to dust in his arms. Every second that passed he lost more of his friend. But suddenly the silence had been broken by the swooshing noise of the nether portal.

“I’m sorry Dream, but you should’ve paid me more.”

[jamilelucato]

3. Fight For Me [hog. heathers]

Summary: This story is based on Heathers, the musical. It’s set in Hogwarts, back in the last year Tom Riddle studied there. Y/N is a Ravenclaw student.

Pairing: Tom Riddle x reader

Heathers Series || Musical Hogwarts List A/N: If you wanna be tagged, ask! There are references in this that probably don’t match the period so please forgive me and let it slide. 

Warnings: some curse words and teenage drinking i guess

Tag List: @just-an-auror @starcrossedyanderes @doctorriddle @cchris-a @truly-insatiable @darkladyslytherin​

Not one single part of you wanted to go to the Gryffindor’s common room party, but you had to. Heather Chandler was already making your life a living hell, and you knew that if you decided not to show up, you would be dead in hell.

Myrtle helped you pick a look, and you helped her as well. You wanted so bad to tell her not to come along, but you knew that if she didn’t show up, Chandler would perceive it was because of you.

You walked in with Myrtle just behind you, but one step inside the portrait hole and your best friend was gone. It was Heather Duke who grabbed your arm.

“Come with me, would you? Need to get more alcohol,” she said, not giving you much room to say no. You weren’t even able to say hello to the students partying, and you were back at the cold corridor.

It wasn’t like you were going to say no if given the opportunity. Obey Duke or McNamara; it didn’t matter which Heather, you just had to say yes to all the requests.

Heather Duke was taking you down to the dungeons, probably to her dorm room.

“Motorbike,” she whispered the password and walked in the Slytherin room. “Are you gonna stay there?”

Surprised with the request to follow along, you walked in. You’d been to the Gryffindor’s already, and you had stopped by Hufflepuff’s to a girls-only party McNamara threw a couple of weeks ago — and you knew Ravenclaw’s room because it was yours, obviously — but you had never yet met the Slytherin’s room.

It was a cold place, with glass windows all around that showed the deeps of the Lake. It would be kind of unpleasant if it weren’t so classy and charming.

Heather Duke’s dorm was just as you imagined it — very tidy.

“Here,” she handed you a bottle of something unlabeled after she got it under her bad. “And take this and this too.”

There were three heavy (and dangerous) bottles in your arms and none on hers, but you knew it would be worse if you complained, so you just stared at Duke with a smile and walked away back to Gryffindor’s.

Perhaps now you’d be able to enjoy the party and even prevent Myrtle from doing something stupid.

Some boys with bigger arms than yours got the bottles from you and left you alone. The party was packed; students not just from Gryffindor but from all the other houses were there.

When Heather Chandler approached you, you were surprised because you had been distracted with the Hufflepuff playing card games.

“You seem to have learned your lesson,” she said calmly. It always impressed you how she could be so manipulative with a sympathetic smile on her face.

You looked back at her dark blue eyes but decided not to say something. What were you supposed to say? She wouldn’t like it if you said yes and she would be worst if you said no.

“I’ll go easy on you,” she continued, clearly glad you didn’t say a thing. “I guess you can be a Heather, after all.”

You were about to smile when she added: “But I’ll be still watching, y/N. One wrong move and you are...” she didn’t say aloud the last word; instead, she simulated cutting her throat with a finger.

You gulped, terrified. If Chandler was trying to make you feel more worried than before, she succeeded.

*** It took you a couple of shots to be finally free of guilty to enjoy the party, and after that, the only thing you could feel was happiness.

You danced with Heather McNamara; you played games with the Quidditch players; you drank alcohol with Heather Duke. Chandler seemed to be ignoring you, but with so much alcohol in your system, you weren’t able to care.

It was late on the night when you finally attempted to calm down, leaning on one of the walls of the Gryffindor common room. Maybe it is time to leave, you thought. The party appeared to be dying anyway.

“Hey, y/N,” Kurt Kelly approached you with a smirk.

Your tipsiness kept you where you were. The Heathers liked Kurt, so you should give him a chance.

“Hi, Kurt.”

Your politeness was all he needed to put one hand over your shoulder. It felt a bit to firmer than it should, but you didn’t complain.

“So Heather tells me—”

“Which one?” you interrupted, but he smiled and pretended not to hear.

“— that you are up to something spicier.”

“Such as?” you questioned, sensing something was off. Was he that close since the beginning?

“y/N, please, don’t make this difficult,” his tone was angry, but he kept the smirk, and he was definitely leaning in.

“Kurt, what are—”

“Shhhh,” he pressed his forehead over yours, and you knew what was about to come next.

But you sure as hell did not want it.

“Kurt, step back, please.”

Nothing.

“Kurt, leave me alone!” it seemed that the more you protested, the more he got closer. His lips almost touched yours, and you tried to push him as far away as you could, but he wouldn’t move, and he kept that stupid smirk on.

“Kurt, stop!” you yelled, but the alcohol seemed to make your voice low because nobody came to your rescue.

“She said step away, Kurt!” a male voice shouted, angrier than yours. He got Kurt by his arms and dragged him as far away from you as he could.

“Wtf, dude!” Kurt protested, realizing what was happening. He sure as hell wasn’t happy. “We were having fun, you dumb shit!”

“She didn’t seem happy to me!” the other one roared.

And then the first punch came — Kurt Kelly used his strong beater arms to beat the shit out of the other boy’s face.

But when you opened your eyes to look again, the other boy was unharmed.

Who is this boy? you asked yourself but didn’t manage to remember.

You stayed close to the wall as if the thing was protecting you. The rest of the students partying were all fascinated by the fight, or too high to even notice it.

You stared at the dark-haired boy defending your honour, and you were surprised to find such a good fighter with such a pretty face.

“Why when you see boys fight does it look so horrible yet... feel so right?” you rambled in a whisper, fascinated with the fight. “I shouldn’t watch this crap, that’s not who I am, but with this kid... Damn!”

Nobody noticed you were talking to yourself. Someone screamed “use your wands, you shits!” and the boys seemed to have heard because the dark-haired boy was the first to fetch his wooden wand.

“Hey, mister no-name kid, so who might you be?” you asked yourself aloud again, too drunk to control yourself. “And could you fight for me? And hey, could you face the crowd, could you be seen with me and still act proud?”

A part of your brain was trying to see if Myrtle was among the students watching the fight, but your eyes didn’t move from the dark-haired boy.

“Hey, could you hold my hand and could you carry me through no man’s land?” you finally stepped away from the wall, some random girl was helping you sit down in one of Gryffindor’s couches. “It’s fine if you don’t agree, but I would fight for you if you would fight for me.”

“Are you talking to me?” the girl asked, holding your hand. She probably thought you were in shock because someone had tried to kiss you.

You nodded but weren’t sure if she noticed.

“Well, whoa, he can punch real good,” you commented to the girl. “He has lasted longer than I thought he would.”

“Kurt?” she asked, looking at the fight. You were a little delayed about the whole thing — Kurt was the only one punching because the other one was casting spells only.

“No — the mister no-name kid,” you said, answering her question.

The girl laughed. Who was this red-haired chick?

If some night you’re free, wanna fight for me? If you’re still alive... I would fight for you if you would fight for me...

“He’s Tom Riddle. Seventh-year Slytherin,” the red-haired girl explained. “You’ve never met him?”

“No,” you replied. “Should I?”

The girl laughed again and got up from the couch, noticing who was coming towards you.

Heather Chandler.

She walked so slow that the boys had time to stop fighting, and Kurt ran away with blood coming from his nose and screaming in pain, helped by a Gryffindor boy who took him to the dorms. The dark-haired boy, however, seemed completely normal, but he also walked away from the Gryffindor common room.

“Are you with the Riddle boy?” Chandler asked furiously, looking down at you. She didn’t even dare to sit down.

“What?” the alcohol still affected you.

“Tom Riddle. Are you and him a thing?”

“No!” you sure wanted it, but the answer was still no.

“Why was he defending you?”

“Because, well, I was in danger!” you shouted, getting a bit annoyed with Heather.

It took her a long minute of silence before she continued. “Monday morning, Great Hall,” she said. “I’m going to kill you.”

“Because of Kurt?”

“I sent Kurt to you, and you were supposed to say yes!” she shouted, keeping her hands on her waist.

Heather McNamara sat down next to you, confusing both you and Chandler.

“Here, got you a bottle of water,” she offered with a tender smile.

You took it but were cautious about drinking.

“What are you doing, Heather? Get the hell away from her; she’s not our friend anymore!” with Chandler’s warning, McNamara disappeared.

You drank the whole bottle at once.

“Heather, please!” a bit more sobber with the help of the water, you were able to get up and hold Heather back. “We can talk this over.”

“You are a dead girl walking to me,” and with that, she walked away.

[actress4him]

Whumptober 2020 - Day 23

Today’s fic features young, black haired Shiro, and wittle baby Keef!

 As a side note, I just wanted to clarify that all of these fics take place in different universes (I don’t think poor Keith would survive all these things actually happening to him in one universe!). I say that because even though I most definitely subscribe to the headcanon that Keith experienced some not so great foster homes (as I’m sure you’ve noticed), I don’t stick with any specifics. So you’ll likely never see me mention the same foster home twice.

Read on AO3

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Day 23 - Exhaustion/Sleep Deprivation

Fandom: Voltron: Legendary Defender

Warnings: foster homes, referenced child abuse

“Hey, kiddo. You fall asleep waiting for me?”

Lifting his head from his arms, Keith blinked up at Shiro, then scrubbed at his eyes with the heels of his hands. “No. Just resting.” There was no way he could fall asleep, not with the way his brain was running in circles at ninety miles per hour.

Shiro frowned, settling down onto the bench next to him and resting a hand on his upper back. Keith tried to hide his flinch at the touch. “You look exhausted, bud. Everything okay?”

He nodded. “Yeah. I’m fine. Just, you know...nervous about the exam, I guess.”

His newfound mentor smiled knowingly. “Nerves keep you up last night? I can’t count the number of times that’s happened to me.”

Images and sounds from the night before flashed through Keith’s mind, and he barely held back a shudder. “I guess. Mostly, just, you know...studying.” 

“Couldn’t resist last-minute cramming, huh?” Shiro’s smile widened, and he ruffled Keith’s hair. Despite the friendliness of the gesture, his spine stiffened, waiting for it to turn painful. “I told you you had this in the bag. I’m certainly not gonna blame you for studying hard, though. As long as you at least got some sleep.”

The truth was he had only gotten an hour at the most, but he really didn’t want to tell Shiro that. Thankfully, he didn’t seem to be waiting for an answer.

Standing, he reached a hand down to Keith with a smile. “Ready to ace this?”

His stomach turned a flip. Ace it. Shiro expected him to ace it. He had to ace it, no matter what Shiro expected, because acing it was the only way the Garrison would look twice at a foster kid with a record like him. If he didn’t ace it, he’d be stuck in that house for the foreseeable future, or sent back to the group home, which was almost as bad.

Which is why he desperately needed to have spent as much time studying as Shiro seemed to think he had. He wanted to be studying that much. He just...couldn’t.

Now he had taken far too long to respond, and Shiro was giving him an odd look. “You sure you’re okay, Keith?”

“Mm-hm.” His head ached fiercely and he felt like he might implode from sheer exhaustion at any second, but those were the kinds of things that adults didn’t care about. All they wanted to know was whether he could do the tasks he was supposed to do, and the answer to that was yes. He hoped. 

Taking the offered hand, he stood from the bench. Immediately the room swirled around him, and his knees buckled. He vaguely heard Shiro shout his name from a distance before his head smacked into something hard and everything went dark.

When he opened his eyes, an unfamiliar ceiling greeted him. He blinked, trying to sort through the fuzziness in his head, until the smell of antiseptic assaulted his nose and woke him further. It smelled like the doctor, but why was he at the doctor he hated the doctor and he was supposed to be taking his entrance exam…!

“Hey bud.” Shiro’s voice pulled him out of his spiraling thoughts. “How’re you feeling?”

“Why ‘m I here?” Keith mumbled, then brought his hands up under him and pushed himself up, disregarding the way his head throbbed and swam. “What happened, what about the exam? I can’t miss the exam!”

“Whoa, whoa!” Hands came down on his shoulders, preventing him from standing. “Calm down, buddy. You had some kind of fainting spell and hit your head pretty good on the floor. You need to take it easy.”

“But the exam,” he protested, breathless. “I have to take the exam, I have to!”

“And you will. Just not today.”

Keith’s eyes went wide. “What?”

“I’ve already talked to the officer in charge of admissions. They’re gonna give you another chance to take it in two weeks.”

Two weeks. Keith slumped over, releasing his breath with a whoosh. Two extra weeks in that house, but also two extra weeks to study. This time, he’d make sure he actually could. Somehow.

“Keith...are you sure you’re not sick?”

He shook his head, slowly. “No. Just...tired. Like I said.”

Shiro studied him, making him want to squirm. “How much sleep did you actually get last night?”

Keith looked down at his fidgeting hands. “Some.”

“What about the rest of the week? Have you stayed up studying every night?”

“No,” he answered far too quickly. It was the truth, he hadn’t stayed up studying. That wasn’t the reason he hadn't slept. 

“Keith.” He couldn’t meet Shiro’s gaze, despite his firm tone. “Something is going on here. People don’t just collapse for no reason, and you’ve got huge bags under your eyes. Talk to me.”

He swallowed. “It’s just...hard to sleep. Sometimes.”

“Yeah?” Shiro’s voice had softened. “Why’s that? Nightmares?”

“No.” Yes, but not always. “My…” He didn’t want to say it, but he had to say something. “My foster parents fight.”

“Oh. I gotcha. And that keeps you awake?”

The way that Shiro just took the answer in stride made him pause. There was no sigh, no eye roll, no insistence that he was overexaggerating or that he shouldn’t make excuses for himself. Nothing like how many social workers and teachers had responded to his complaints over the years...before he learned to stop bothering to complain about anything that wasn’t life-threatening. It put a little spark of hope in his chest. Before he knew it, more of the story was spilling out.

“Yeah. They, um. They yell a lot, and sometimes...sometimes he throws things? So it, you know, it gets pretty loud. It’s been...worse. This week. And I’m the oldest there, so...somebody has to watch the babies, and make sure they stay in their room and don’t cry. He hates it when they cry. I don’t want them to get hurt.”

Shiro’s face was etched with concern. “Does he hurt them, ever?”

“Um...no, he...he hasn’t. Yet. I just...I don’t trust him.”

“I understand.” Shiro nodded, and Keith felt like he really, actually did understand. “I need you to tell me something, though. Has he...ever hurt you?”

“Um.” He continued staring at his fingers, heat creeping into his face. He’d known the question was coming, eventually. He thought he could trust him enough to tell the truth. It was just...scary. He wasn’t used to trusting anyone. 

The answer came out just barely above a whisper. “Sometimes.”

Shiro’s voice dropped in volume, too. “Can you tell me about it?”

“He…” His shoulders drew up around his ears. “Sometimes, when they’re fighting, she’ll leave. Like, get in the car, and...and drive off. And a lot of times...he’s not done. He’s still mad. So...so he…”

“He takes it out on you.”

Keith nodded slowly. “Yeah.” 

“What does...he do?”

He hesitated, torn between wanting to say and thinking he shouldn’t, but finally decided just to show him instead. Shuffling around on the bed, he eased his shirt up until his back - and all the marks on it, a few old and many new - was mostly bared.

“Keith,” Shiro breathed.

Yanking the shirt back down, he turned quickly and shrugged. “It’s not that big of a deal. I’m okay. And that wasn’t even last night, it was...I don’t know, a few nights ago, I guess. Last night nothing really happened besides them fighting, I was just…” He cut his eyes to the side. “I was scared.”

“Hey.” A gentle hand was placed on his knee. “I’d be scared, too. And it is a big deal. Nobody should be allowed to hurt you like that. That’s not okay.”

Keith shrugged again. “I thought...I thought if I could pass this exam and get into the Garrison, then that’d be over, so I figured I’d just put up with it until then. But every time I try to study, I get interrupted by them fighting, or telling me to do chores, or...or the babies need me, or...something.” Tears pricked at his eyes. “I’m sorry, Shiro. I really tried to do my best.”

“Hey, listen kiddo. You don’t have to apologize to me.” The hand still on his knee squeezed. “I want you to get in for you, not for me. And it doesn’t sound like any of it was your fault. Including today.” 

When he looked up, Shiro was smiling sympathetically at him. “You’re exhausted, Keith, and I don’t blame you. But hey, now you’ve got two more weeks to get ready for the exam, and in the meantime, I think you and I should go and talk to your social worker. I know it’s a pain to have to change houses again, but I don’t want you staying there anymore. Or the other kids, either, if we can help it.”

Keith nodded, though a bit reluctantly. “Yeah. I guess that’s probably best.”

“And maybe this time around I can actually help you out with your studying a little. If whoever you’re staying with next doesn’t mind, maybe you can even spend the night at my place a time or two. Make sure you get some sleep in a place that’s nice and quiet.”

Though he could hardly believe what he was hearing, Keith found the corners of his mouth quirking upwards. “Yeah. That...that sounds really nice.”

[puttingfingerstokeys]

and we danced

I’ve had this one sitting around for a bazillion years. Sequel to Faraday Cage, though I think I started this one first. Oh well, that’s been happening a lot.

Faraday Cage

prevented timeline 

Sunset in Beverly Hills was a time of peaceful winding down for some—very few, of course, but some—and for Johnny Cage in particular, it was a time to sit on his patio, crack a beer, and play with the new turntable Cassie had gotten him to replace the one that had been lost in the move. A few boxes of records stood about like milling party guests and he was going through them, deciding what to listen to first. There were albums of many genres, and not all of them were his. He held a Doors album that had belonged to his late ex-wife, Sonya Blade, and gripped his beer a little harder than was perhaps necessary.

 The sun sank lower, casting red-orange hues over the expanse of his home and yard, staining everything a rust color while the sky ran through shades of pink, lavender and, to the east, blue, Stygian and star-dotted, though only for the moment. As night’s blanket fell, the lights of the city—the brazen neon refusing to relinquish its hold upon the evening—would drown out those points of light, irreverently casting them aside as if they were shards of glass, rather than precious diamonds. A lot of life’s like that, Johnny considered, choosing a record and placing it gently upon the turntable, lowering the needle with relish.

 An almost muffled crack of thunder—how a lightning bolt could be muffled would forever remain a mystery to the aging actor—resounded across the yard just as night took hold and his hanging “fairy” lights came on, activated by the lack of ambient illumination. He looked up to see the protector of Earthrealm, Raiden, striding across the expanse of grass which marked his yard. He was glad his fences were high and his neighbors were, in all likelihood, out on the town.

 “Whoa Raiden—somethin’ wrong?” He was immediately alarmed and set his beer aside to stand and face the deity. In his defense, Raiden walked everywhere with purpose, as if something urgent was happening someplace and it required his attention. Johnny chalked it up to being a god, though perhaps it was simply Raiden’s personality. Some people had a hard time differentiating between Raiden’s duty and personality; they so often coincided that even the god himself seemed helpless in the face of that gap—if indeed gap there was. But Johnny knew better. The gulf was spanned with firm ties, but there was a divide. 

 “No, Johnny Cage,” said the god of thunder with relief in his voice. “I am sorry to have alarmed you.”

 “I wasn’t alarmed—just… y’know…” Johnny sat back down before realizing he should offer a chair. He stood once more and gestured to his.

 “You were,” the god corrected, “because you rarely refer to me in that way unless you are alarmed.”

 Johnny felt himself go red to the ears as Raiden took the offered seat and he retrieved another from the garden shed which was positioned off to one side of the patio. A push mower and a few lawn grooming implements were also placed therein, but for the time being, he was only interested in a chair. Grasping it with one hand, he lifted it and closed the doors behind himself, returning to the record player, the records, and the literal deity who had settled in his seat.

 “Should’ve known,” Johnny amended, setting his own on the other side of the player so he could still manipulate it. “I mean you’re… not in armor, so I guess shit can’t be that bad.”

 “An astute observation,” responded Raiden, regarding the machine, speakers, and vinyl disks. He touched none of these, knowing that even his presence could upset electronics, but wondering after their purpose. He was certain that the machine itself would be adversely affected by his lightning, even if the discs were not. Raiden was not ignorant of mortal machines or customs, just too busy to become intimately acquainted therewith. No one seemed to hold it against him.

 Rather, they found it endearing. This, for some reason, did not upset him. It delighted the god of thunder to know people found him… approachable. Long ago, he had relinquished the cloak of aloofness, finding mortals and their lives to be far too fascinating and precious to loftily hold himself above them. The irony is in my tardiness; Fujin understood eons ago what it has taken me much longer to learn. I am a fool.

 “So why are you here?” Johnny’s words fled his tongue before he could restrain them and he blushed once more as he reached for the beer he had discarded. “Sorry—not what I meant. What’s… uh… Up?”

 “A desire to commune with a friend,” said Raiden simply but in his usual elaborate fashion that made Johnny wonder if he should also be speaking that way—it was like feeling underdressed at a gala or five-star restaurant, but with words. “I would have called,” Raiden added after a moment, “but…” His hands rose, palms skyward to indicate that he had no means by which to contact Johnny—e.g. no cellphone. Magic amulets, of course, were plentiful if one knew where to look, but there was no need to saddle Johnny Cage with such an implement when he could simply touch down in the man’s back yard and speak with him personally.

 For Johnny’s part, the thought of Raiden texting sent a hysterical thrill through his body and he restrained the urge to laugh aloud. He made a mental note to say something to Cassie later, but for now, it was more important to focus on the fact that Raiden had come back after that weird afternoon a few weeks ago—or had it been months—when he had kissed him! 

 Johnny had been sure that would be the last he would see of the god of thunder, though he had hoped this would not be the case, and he had resigned himself to only hearing peripherally from the guy when Earthrealm was in peril. He had even gone through the “is he avoiding me” phase before the resignation had set in. It was almost thrilling to feel so young and stupid again. Next to him, I guess I am young and stupid.

 “Well, I’m havin’ a beer and listening to old records—and I’m all outta beer. Lemme put this sucker on.” He did just that, gently laying a record on the turntable and placing the needle, standing with what he felt was a thunderous crack of his knees and then straightened. “You want one?”

 “My body is a temple, Johnny Cage; I do not imbibe.”

 “Could be an amusement park, Sparky,” came the reply, but as he had never forced his alcoholic preferences on Liu Kang or any of his other White Lotus or Wu-Shi friends, he did not press and headed inside to grab a second beer and maybe breathe a little. In the background of his retreat, Jim Morrison’s voice filtered through the air and filled his back yard.

 Johnny’s fingers closed on the handle of his refrigerator door and he pulled it open, feeling nothing other than casual affection toward the strange being on his porch. As he reached toward the next beer, however, his mind began racing along, out of control. It felt as if casual affection was morphing. He needed the alcohol and the comfortable haze it promised. 

 His hand closed about the chilly bottle and he stood, regarding the singular illumination provided by his refrigerator and realized that he’d forgotten to turn any lights on. Sunset had come and gone and here he was, standing in his dark kitchen with the god of thunder relaxing on his patio and listening to the Doors. His heart began to pound and he fumbled with the bottle opener magnet. Casual affection was, indeed, quickly giving way to something which scared him.

 When he finally managed to free his bottle of its troublesome top and return to the door, intent on gaining the patio without fumbling anything, Raiden had once more removed his hat and cap and was running his fingers through his hair. Johnny wasn’t sure the guy knew he was standing there, hand poised just above the handle of his slider, watching that silvery-white stuff flow and wave, catching the warm illumination of his yard lights. Once more, he was assailed by the desire to see it spread out upon a pillow beneath him. 

 Johnny shook his head to clear that thought, swallowed hard and tugged the door open. Raiden straightened and shifted, softly glowing eyes turning toward his host. In the back of his mind, the actor wondered if Raiden could read minds. He had never asked, but he certainly hoped this was not the case. 

 “I apologize for arriving unannounced,” Raiden said, inclining his head. His hands had dropped from his hair and were poised almost demurely in his lap. Johnny shrugged and remembered that he was supposed to walk out and join Raiden on the patio, rather than standing in the doorway, frozen by the man’s divine beauty. 

 Fortunately, the possessor of the divine beauty in question did not seem to notice and as Johnny uprooted himself, he turned, politely, and resumed his relaxed position on the seat. Johnny could not help noticing, with offhanded curiosity, that the seat didn’t sink much with the god’s weight as it did with his own. Weird.

 “It’s fine,” Johnny assured him, raising a hand. “Really. It was just gunna be me and this record player.” He reached over and turned the volume dial down so they could converse without difficulty. Raiden’s voice, he had noticed, was firm, but gentle—except when he was pissed. The commanding tone doubled his voice, amplifying it to the point where it seemed to come from everywhere and rattled in Johnny’s ribcage and skull. He was glad this was not the voice he was hearing. “I’m glad you’re here, actually.”

 Once more, Johnny’s words were getting ahead of his brain and, as usual, he could not retract what had been said. It wasn’t a lie, of course, or an exaggeration, but some things were best left unsaid. He lifted the beer to his lips defensively, but the statement was already out there, hovering in the air between them.

 Raiden watched him with a Mona Lisa expression, almost half of a smile, certainly relaxed, and knowing, as ever. Johnny prayed he would not ask why the mortal was glad to see him. He did not have the energy for that explanation, short though it should have been. Just tell him you wanted to see him again because you’ve got a thing for him, simple as that. Liu was right. Better to get it out in one go and see what happens. Worst he can do is vaporize me.

 Johnny decided that was an unkind thought and busied himself digging through his records; better to do that than prolonging the awkwardness of the utter lack of conversation. Fortunately, Johnny was the only one feeling awkward, as Raiden seemed content with the musical quietude and had settled back in the provided chair, inscrutable eyes focused on nothing in particular, and then falling on Johnny’s back as he crouched near a box, having himself a trip through memory lane. A warm wind began to pick up, coming off the ocean and bringing with it the smell of salt.

 “That you, big guy?” Johnny, as usual, broke the silence. Raiden shook his head.

 “No,” he responded. “I am the god of thunder, Johnny Cage, not wind.”

 There was humor in his tone and a levity that Johnny had come to appreciate, even to crave. It was so rare, even now, when everything seemed to be at peace. Shifting from his crouched position to one of kneeling, Johnny clutched a record in one hand and reached for the turntable with the other. Raiden could not see what was on the cover, but even if he could, it would be insignificant. In all his time and travels, he had rarely taken the opportunity to sit and absorb the music of Earthrealm—or any other realm, for that matter.

 “Raiden I—”

 “Johnny Cage—”

 Both men paused as they began simultaneously and then that strange, utterly human embarrassment settled over them like the blanket of night which had tucked itself in for the evening. Johnny turned to face Raiden, still half-crouched. The god of thunder was sitting forward, elbows on his knees, glowing eyes meeting Johnny’s without reservation. There was something in those eyes; right then they were not as inscrutable as they had been in the past. Or maybe I’m just getting better at reading him, Johnny thought, unsure if he was comfortable with this.

 “Please,” ushered Raiden finally, extending a hand toward his mortal companion. Johnny shook his head.

 “Age before beauty,” he insisted, attempting to introduce humor to a situation in which it may not have been appropriate, a very on-brand move for him. His heart was seizing and then hammering and then fluttering, as if there was some kind of small bird within, fighting desperately to escape. Johnny was not even clear within himself just what it was he wanted Raiden to say, or what he himself was attempting to express. He had been content simply allowing his mouth to run away with him, to see where it would take this situation. Now, faced with the reality of what a runaway tongue might cause, he was terrified. To busy his hands, he gingerly switched records as Raiden conceded. 

 “Very well, although I have heard on the breeze that some mortals find me to be… exquisite.” This, too, seemed to be an introduction of humor, so Johnny didn’t feel as silly as he might have done otherwise. Raiden sat back, looking almost impish, and certainly amused.

 “Fujin promised he wouldn’t tell!” Johnny’s tone was jesting, but his heart continued its staccato tattoo. He had not, in fact, spoken with Fujin in quite some time—like Raiden, the man was busy. If he had, it certainly wouldn’t be to confess some kind of high school crush on a celestial being’s equally divine brother. Twins, he reminded himself, they’re twins—Thunder Cat told Cassie and me recently. Weird. 

 They were night and day, Fujin and Raiden, but Johnny assumed that twins among gods did not operate the same as mortal twins. Or perhaps they did and he simply had no firsthand knowledge. The only twins he had ever encountered were a pair of actresses in one of his films—notably not the Ninja Mime franchise. The music began, but it was secondary to the melody of Raiden’s voice as he spoke.

 “He did not have to,” said Raiden, his tone warm, almost inviting—or maybe that invitation was a misinterpretation of Johnny’s fevered mind as he tried to lose himself in a swig of beer and an ‘80s power ballad whose title was lost in the cyan pools of Raiden’s eyes. “I know it is not an appropriate custom,” he continued, “to leave someone for long periods of time with no contact, but the nature of my—of what I am—dictates that I must. Forgive me for that, if you can.”

 “Anything,” Johnny breathed. He realized that he had not yet been able to return to his seat, so enraptured was he in Raiden’s gaze. The soft, warm illumination of his backyard lighting fell upon Raiden’s statuesque face and, rather than making him look ghoulish as it might do to just about anyone else, he became an older Adonis, still painfully handsome—beautiful, even—but no longer pretty in that fleeing way of youth. His face lacked the innocence of a younger man and Johnny realized he had come to appreciate this, craved it too, along with much else.

 “Your kindness does you great credit, Johnny Cage,” Raiden said.

 It ain’t kindness. This is so far beyond that, Johnny thought, his mind losing itself in that strange warm haze of beer, good music, and good company. Without thinking, Johnny shifted once more, moving closer to the god of thunder and reaching out toward him, laying a hand upon his knee. There was a low buzz when he did that, not a sound, but a feeling under his palm and fingers, dancing up his arm. He squeezed, feeling his heart clambering in his throat and wondering if Raiden’s was doing the same—or if he even had a heart. What operated within the body of a being like him? 

 Was it all clockwork, or maybe ethereal light? He had seen Raiden bleed and the blood was red, but when it caught the light, it was clearly shot through with veins of gold, unless his eyes deceived him all those years ago. When it hit the ground, it clattered as if solid. He did not understand this, but all the times he witnessed this, Johnny had been more than a little preoccupied. Gods were not supposed to bleed; it was anathema to their nature. Yet Raiden and Fujin could bleed and, more than that, they chose to bleed for the peace and safety of Earthrealm.

 “You don’t have to say anything,” Johnny advised, speaking low, loud enough to be heard, but not to drown out the music. He was responding to a look on Raiden’s face that suggested he was searching for words. His smile was more tentative now, leaning in the direction of the Mona Lisa, inscrutable and ethereal. He clearly wanted to relax, to allow whatever was happening within him simply to happen. The mortal could almost see the fight in his eyes. It broke Johnny’s heart and he wanted, all of a sudden and more than anything in every realm, to help Raiden move past whatever was slowing him down, whatever strange barrier stood between the god of thunder and his happiness, his own desires. 

 The deity had no trouble being decisive, even vicious, and dropping one whopper of a hammer when the need arose, but that need was never his own; always, it was someone else’s burden, though he would remind Johnny Cage that it was a responsibility he had chosen and for which he would fight to the death—maybe beyond. This scared the actor, sometimes. He didn’t know if he had ever, or COULD ever, dedicate himself to something with such vehemence. Had he expressed this aloud, Raiden might simply have pointed out his daughter, Cassandra Cage. 

 “I do,” rumbled the god of thunder. “My silence has done damage in the past.”

 “Everyone’s has,” Johnny reminded him, moving so he was crouching before Raiden, both hands comfortably on the man’s knees. His connection with the ground seemed to be strong enough that the current was running harmlessly through him. Raiden’s corona of electricity was not arcing or dancing about, seeking to harm him. It simply flowed, rather like water, from the eternal battery that was the thunder god, into Johnny Cage, and down through the earth. Whence beyond that was anyone’s guess. “But this isn’t silence, is it?”

 Raiden reflected that it was not, in fact, silent in that yard. There was music, and there was the two of them, and they were capable of conversation, of healthy discussion, and of much else. He moved with a deliberate purpose that froze Johnny momentarily, both hands finding either side of the actor’s head, a motion he had seen turn healthy muscle, bone, and gray matter into so much electrified pulp. 

 Rather than lightning from Raiden’s fingers, however, he felt the soft press of lips on his own, not urgent, but hardly tentative. This, he realized, was a version of Raiden who knew what he wanted, even if part of him was still unsure he should want it. Johnny would like to flatter himself—it really would be hubris at that point—and think that Raiden had spent all that time away thinking about him, about how to do this. If no one disabused him of that little flight of fancy, he would gladly go on pretending it to be the case. 

 To that end, Johnny returned the gesture, pressing into it and forcing Raiden back into the comfortable seat. The beer spilled somewhere in the grass and its memory was lost in the haze of heat the actor had found between the two unlikely beings—and between Raiden’s thighs. 

 Johnny’s hands were now gripping these, firm and powerful, through the strange material of his pants. He had in the past made a mental note to ask Raiden of what his clothing was made, if it could be manufactured for himself and the SF “kids” (when you were old, everyone was a kid). Right now, that thought was not even in the same galaxy as the rest of his mind. Right now, he only felt that heat; he was a being of pure sensation and would be more than happy to drown in it.

 Slowly, gently, his hands slid upward. His thumbs soon found Raiden's hips through the fabric of what Johnny considered his "habit". His grip tightened briefly, testing the waters. The music hummed on, but Johnny heard nothing. His focus was solely on Raiden, whose grip had shifted to the front of his shirt, grasping the lapels of Johnny's button-down. He seemed content to keep the Hollywood superstar as close as he possibly could. Johnny's hands traced the curve of Raiden's waistline which, though offset by leather and cloth, was pleasantly molded, almost perfectly to Johnny’s grip, like the narrow portion of an hourglass. 

 He heard himself moaning quietly into the kiss while the epiphany of his attraction to the thunder god’s shape washed over him like an ocean wave. His heart's rhythm had regulated itself and was thudding along steadily, if a bit strongly. Blood was rushing to all parts of him and he felt himself break out in a sudden sweat. Maybe he's frying me and doesn't realize it; isn't this what radiation poisoning feels like? He had to remind himself that Raiden was not, in fact, radioactive. 

 “Dance with me,” Johnny heard himself say suddenly, breaking the kiss with plenty of surprise, but no reluctance at all, eager to share this next, utterly unforeseen desire. Raiden, too, seemed more than a little astonished, glowing eyes widening momentarily, before softening. In fact, his entire countenance softened, assuming the look of something more accessible than merely a benevolent deity which, Johnny reflected, he was. He’s seen some rough shit, thought the actor as he stood, hearing his knees crack once more as he did so, pulling Raiden with him. So have I. Now I want some peace and quiet.

 Raiden stood willingly, unsure of what was next. It was a refreshing feeling. In all the eons of his life, he had rarely felt unsure of something and also been very comfortable with it. Lack of information had often led him to make poor decisions. This was not one of those situations, however. He was not really making any decisions, save to follow Johnny’s steps as the mortal pulled him close, wrapping one arm about his waist and taking his other hand.

 Johnny was surprised, as he had been when noticing the lack of weight upon the chair, at how easy it was to heft the god of thunder, so to speak. He was not picking the man up, yet, but even the act of moving him from a seated to a standing position was utterly without strain. It felt natural to draw Raiden to himself, pressing their bodies tightly together, all potential awkwardness draining away in the notes of the song coming from the speakers attached to the turntable. 

 When he held out his hand to receive Raiden’s, the god of thunder offered it with no hesitation or complaint. When Johnny pulled him close, he did not protest. When they began to move to the ebb and flow of the music, it was very much as if they were made for this. When the mortal manipulated the deity’s movements and body into a deep dip, he felt Raiden bend and ride along with the motion. 

 When he kissed the god of thunder, both men held tightly to the lifeline the other had become.

[depressedkakashihatake-fics]

Fond Memories

Hatake Kakashi (No Ship)

1563 Words

For: @caffeinatedshinobi

Spending his night out with friends was a rare occurrence, one that was meant to be treasured and remembered fondly on a bad day, or during the last precious moments of life.

Instead, Kakashi was trying to get drunk, and fast.

“Whoa slow down,” Gai’s hand came down over his glass, preventing him from shooting back his third cup of sake. “What is the rush, Rival? We’re supposed to be relaxing.”

“I don’t think ‘relaxing’ is a word that exists in Kakashi’s vocabulary,” Glaring over at Asuma, he huffs when his friend simply responds with a playful smile. “You know it’s true. Your idea of ‘relaxing’ is reading that book of yours.”

“That is relaxing for me,” He grumbled, though it was sort of a lie. Most days he just read his book because it was easy to do. It didn’t involve a lot of energy, no emotional investment since he knew what was going to happen, and it kept his mind occupied. “Fine, let’s do something ‘relaxing’ then. What’s relaxing?”

He looks to Kurenai for an answer. There’s no way he trusts whatever idea comes out of Asuma’s mouth, and he’s pretty sure Gai doesn’t know the meaning of the word ‘relaxing’. The only time he relaxes at all is when he has a stick of dango in his hand.

Taking the hint, Kurenai leaned back in her chair and took a moment to think about the request. After a few minutes a small smile started to pull at the corner of her lips, meaning she had come up with an idea.

“Let’s share memories,” she leaned forward, her smile so big it could almost rival Gai’s regular toothy grin. “Talk about our favorite memory with our team. How about it?”

That didn’t sound nearly as exciting as she made it seem.

“Does anyone even have a favorite memory?” He asked, relaxing into his chair and watching as everyone turned to look at him. “What?”

“Surely you have a favorite memory of the time you have spent with your team, Rival,” There’s a worried look on Gai’s face.”A time when you looked at your students and couldn’t help but smile, or feel like everything was perfect for just a few minutes.”

Bold of Gai to assume he liked his students.

“Even if you aren't particularly fond of your students,” Good old reliable Asuma. He always seemed to know what was on Kakashi’s mind in moments like this, and he held no judgement unlike a certain Taijutsu expert currently gasping in disbelief. “There must be one moment where you looked at them and thought ‘huh, they’re not so bad’”

Not so bad?

That was possible, though he’d have to think about it to remember such a scenario since most of his memories with Team Seven involved endless headaches. Naruto being a constant pain in his ass, Sasuke being...well, Sasuke. Sakura was in there somewhere too but she didn’t stick out as much.

It was a downfall of not being a complete monster, but he appreciated that there was at least one normal person on his team. It was also a result of being the smartest out of the three, so he didn’t have to worry so much about her doing incredibly stupid shit.

He’d have to think really hard to come up with a fond memory that didn’t involve contemplated murder.

“Oh no, he’s making the thinking face.” Asuma’s voice cut through his thoughts, followed by Kurenai’s laughter and the distant sound of Gai asking him if he was alright.

He ignored it all, determined to find just one fond memory with his team of gremlins.

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

Ichiraku Ramen

Not his favorite place to eat out at, but these days it was the one he saw the inside of the most. All thanks to one orange clad genin currently in the middle of screaming about how he’s going to be Hokage one day.

Quite the dream to have, for a kid who can’t keep his trap shut on a mission.

“You don’t believe me?” Taking his chopsticks, Naruto poked Sasuke in the nose. “It’s true. I’m going to be Hokage and i’m going to prove to the whole village that i’m the strongest there is.” 

“You might want to focus on learning how to throw a kunai properly first,” Sasuke swatted the chopsticks away from his face. “besides, what are you going to even do as Hokage? Make it a law that everyone has to eat at Ichiraku Ramen every day?”

He didn’t need to hear Naruto’s enthusiastic ‘yes’ to feel sick to his stomach. He was already eating more Ramen than he could handle. How Naruto survived on the stuff every day was beyond him. 

“I think the most important thing you’re forgetting here is that a Hokage should be a good leader,” Sakura spoke up. “How can you be a good leader when you can’t even get along with your own teammates?”

Point for Sakura, again.

So far she was winning in his ‘who gets to be my favorite’ competition.

Not that it was hard with teammates like hers.

“I can learn,” Naruto protested. “Besides, we have the best Sensei out of all of them! We’ll be the strongest in the village, all three of us.”

He can’t tell if Naruto is just being nice, or if he actually believed what he’s saying. If it’s the second one he has to question Naruto’s logic in calling HIM the best sensei in the village.

That title clearly went to Gai, but it might help that his students were less determined to put him in an early grave.

and that he had actually wanted to be a Sensei, unlike Kakashi.

“You’re not wrong there,” Sakura beamed. “Kakashi-Sensei’s far from perfect…” rude. “but he’s an amazing Sensei. Don’t you agree Sasuke-kun?”

Ok, he could forgive the rudeness for that one.

Turning his eyes towards Sasuke, he waited for a response to Sakura’s question. A smile pulled at his lips when he saw the Uchiha glaring over at him.

“He’s not terrible,” Sasuke admitted in a hushed tone. “I’ve learned from worse.”

It wasn’t the best compliment, but he was willing to take it.

“Hey, Sensei,” Naruto nudged him in the side. “You like teaching us, right? Showing us how to be the best shinobi in the village.”

How had he ended up with Minato-sensei 2.0 staring up at him with bright blue eyes and a smile that could melt any heart

Well, any heart that wasn’t his.

His heart and soul thrived off of being the guy that showed affection through insults and jabs. Probably not the best trait to have when one is a Jonin-sensei.

“Of course i like teaching you,” he turned his attention to the bowl of still untouched Ramen sitting in front of him. “There’s no other students dumb enough to get hit with the ‘thousand years of death’ twice.” 

No, he was not going to let Naruto live it down after he had successfully used his father’s goofy old attack on the kid again during training today.

“S-sensei…” Naruto’s head hit the counter, his voice full of shame and defeat.

Good.

He was getting too comfortable. Too chummy.

“Best Sensei maybe,” Sasuke grumbled beside them “biggest ass hole for sure.”

Well, at least they were starting to understand him. They couldn’t fully appreciate his personality if they thought he was just socially awkward. They needed to accept that their sensei was a bully just as much as they were.

It’s what made them all a perfect team, even if he did want to murder them all most days.

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

Smiling to himself, Kakashi turned his attention back over to Kurenai, who began to look very concerned as soon as he did.

“D-is everything ok?” She asked cautiously. “Did you come out of your thoughts in one piece.”

His friends were just as much ass holes as he was, and he loved them for it. 

“I thought of a fond memory,” he informed her, laughing to himself as he thought back to it once again. “I guess i do have one of those.”

Gai’s hand came down on his shoulder hard, shoving him forward suddenly and forcing him to reach out and grab hold of the table for support.

“That’s great, Rival!” Gai’s voice boomed in his ear. “Tell us! What is this fond memory of your team you found?”

“Mmmm, i don’t think I will,” there’s a sense of pride that bubbles up inside of him when all three of his friends slam their hands down on the table in protest. “It’s my memory to enjoy all on my own.” 

“You can’t just…” Asuma’s words devolve into a string of nonsense while Gai starts screaming about ‘youthful passion’ and ‘rivalry’. Meanwhile, Kurenai just leans back into her chair with a groan and closes her eyes, clearly done with the entire situation.

This.

This was relaxing for him.

Annoying all of his friends with little to no effort and watching them react with a variety of different emotions.

This is why he hung out with them.

Because they made his life interesting, and they never got so used to his trolling horrible ways (As Asuma liked to refer to it) that they stopped reacting.

This is what he loved about these three and he never wanted it to change.

[dimensiontripperhibiki]

The End is Where we Begin

Crisis AU. Instead of Barry being told by the Monitor that he’s going to die in Crisis, Kara is told instead. She sets out to prepare herself and her family and friends for her ultimate demise. Supercorp.  No actual character death in this by the way!

“Would you be okay without me?” The question came out of nowhere and having been engrossed in the movie they were watching, Alex did a doubletake and looked at Kara in surprise. “What?” “Without me.” Kara wasn’t looking at Alex. She was watching her own fingers fiddling with the blanket draped over the two of them. “Would you be okay?” Alex reached for the remote, pausing the movie. She’d known that something was wrong. Kara had been unusually quiet all night and she’d only eaten half the pizza she usually would. The other two were still on the coffee table in front of them. “You mean if you moved away or something?”

Kara shrugged her shoulders. “Yeah, I guess. You could say that. Or maybe if I wasn’t around for some other reason. Like if something happened to me. You know, the thing with Rein happened last year and I’ve almost died more times than I care to count since I became Supergirl.”

“Where is this coming from?” Alex frowned, turning more on the couch so she was facing Kara. “What’s going on?” Kara bit her lower lip, managing a slight shrug. Feeling Alex’s hand come to rest on her arm she felt her eyes prickle with tears. She quickly blinked them away. “Can you answer the question?” “Of course I wouldn’t be okay. How could you think that?” Alex shook her head in disbelief. “I’ve told you so many times, I can’t lose you. I don’t know what I would do if anything ever happened to you.” Kara nodded mutely, swallowing against the lump in her throat. “You’re kind of scaring me, Kara,” Alex admitted nervously. “Tell me what’s going on. Why are you suddenly thinking about this stuff?” “We both know it a possibility. I just have a bad feeling, Alex. Like something is going to happen to me.” “Like dying?” “Right.” Kara nodded in response. “And I just want to know that you’ll be okay so I can…” “What? Go gently into that good night?” Alex’s tone was slightly harsh when she spoke but there was no disguising the worry in her voice. “If thinking I’m going to be okay will help you do that then no, Kara. I won’t be okay. Not by a longshot. Losing you would destroy me.” Kara felt her eyes dampen slightly as she recalled the Monitor’s words to her. “Alex…” “In the coming crisis, Supergirl must die.” “It’s not gonna happen.” Alex wrapped her arms around Kara from the side, drawing her close to hug her tightly. She pressed her lips firmly to Kara’s hair. “I’m never going to let anything happen to you.” Kara sniffled softly and nodded her head, letting herself relax into Alex’s gentle embrace. She closed her eyes as Alex’s fingers gently combed through her hair and after a short while she felt herself starting to drift off. It was only an especially deep breath from Alex that dragged Kara back into consciousness. “I think I’m going to get some sleep.” “Oh. Yeah, of course. Seems like you need it.” Alex gave a gentle chuckle when Kara elbowed her gently in the ribs. “Ow!” “Will you stay? I mean...stay with me?” Kara asked quietly as she pulled herself away from Alex. She bit her lip as Alex studied her closely but her nerves melted away when her sister flashed a warm smile. “Sure. Get ready for bed and I’ll put this pizza in the fridge for tomorrow.” Alex replied as she used Kara’s knee as leverage to push herself up off of the couch. Kara watched Alex for a moment before she got to her feet and walked into the bathroom to brush her teeth. She went through her usual nighttime ritual before she padded into her bedroom and slipped into bed. “In the coming crisis, Supergirl must die.” Kara stared at the Monitor, her expression blank as she tried to take in what he was saying. If she was honest, she was still stunned by the fact that he had appeared in the middle of her apartment, seemingly out of nowhere. “What does that mean?” “Something is coming.” The Monitor replied in his usual monotone drawl. “Something which will force you to make the ultimate sacrifice for those you love. And the billions of lives at stake.”

Kara was broken from her thoughts by Alex plopping down on the bed next to her. She turned over to face Alex, watching as her sister got under the blankets with her. A small smile tugged at her lips as she watched Alex shiver and try to wrap the blankets tighter around herself. “I hope you’re not going to steal all of my blankets tonight.” “You invited me in here, remember?” Alex grinned at Kara. “You practically asked for your blankets to be stolen.” Kara turned her face into her pillow to hide the smile that tugged at her lips. “Whatever.” She didn’t get a response from Alex and she looked up again to see that Alex’s eyes were closed. “Do you remember when we used to do this as kids?” Alex smiled softly at the memory. “You mean when you used to crawl into bed with me and I’d pretend to be annoyed about it for five minutes until I gave in?” “Mmhm,” Kara mumbled in response. “You���ve always been the person I feel safest with. Back when I had nightmares, nothing could calm me down like you did.” Alex opened her eyes to look at Kara, noticing the sadness reflected in Kara’s blue eyes. “Well, the feeling is mutual.” Kara felt her eyes prickle with tears once more and she moved forward, wrapping her arm around Alex’s waist. She buried her face in Alex’s chest to hide her tears. “I’m sorry about bringing that up before.” “It’s okay.” Alex murmured, her arms going around Kara. “There’s no limit to what you can talk to me about.” She felt Kara nod into her chest and waited for a moment before she continued. “I meant what I said though. I’ll die before I let anything happen to you. You should know that by now.” Kara hummed in acknowledgment and Alex sighed softly. “Get some sleep. I’ll treat you to breakfast tomorrow. Deal?” “Leftover pizza is breakfast,” Kara mumbled before she pulled back just a little. “Pizza can be lunch tomorrow,” Alex smirked in response. “I’m buying you real breakfast.” Kara smiled warmly in response. “Thanks, Alex. You’re the best.” “I’m aware.” ---- The second Kara opened the door, Nia knew that something was up. Kara was wearing a weird, almost crazy smile on her face. “Uh...hi.” “Hey, Nia!” Kara’s voice came out a little higher than usual and she quickly ushered Nia into the apartment. “Thanks for coming!” “You’re welcome?” Nia asked unsurely. She heard Kara close the door behind her. A moment later the Kryptonian was brushing past her, hurrying toward the kitchen. “Can I get you anything to drink?” “A glass of water would be nice. Thanks.” Nia hung up her bag and jacket and ventured into the kitchen behind Kara. She accepted the glass of water offered to her with a small smile. “Thanks.” She took a sip, watching Kara begin to nervously fidget in front of her. Slowly, she lowered the glass and set it on the kitchen table. “What’s wrong?” “Am I that obvious?” Kara asked with a small smile. “We’ve been friends for a while now, right?” “Right?” “And...I like to think we’re close friends.” Kara continued anxiously, wringing her hands in front of her. “Like I am with Brainy, James, Lena…” She grimaced slightly at the last one. “Well uh...like I was with Lena. Not that I don’t want to be friends with her again. I do. I definitely do, I’m just…” “You’re rambling, Kara,” Nia said with a soft smile. She reached out, placing a hand upon Kara’s to stop her fidgeting. “What do you need from me? A kidney? Because I’m willing but I didn’t think you of all people would need something like that…” Kara managed a soft laugh at that and felt herself calm slightly. “I need a favor. A really big favor. And I need you to keep it a secret from everyone. Nobody can know.” Nia frowned at that but nodded for Kara to go on. “Okay, I promise.” “There’s this...person I know. Well, he’s not really a person, more like...a being. Like a god. Almost.” Kara answered carefully. “And he’s told me something about my future. I need you to tell me if it’s true.” “You know a god?” Nia asked in confusion. “Like Thor?” “No. Can we focus?” Kara gripped Nia’s hand back. “This is really important. Will you do it? Please?” “Use my dream powers? Of course.” Nia answered without hesitation. She noticed the worried look on Kara’s face. “There’s something else.” “He needs to be here,” Kara admitted, tugging Nia toward the couch. “To...sort of give you a boost. And so you can see what he knows.” “I guess it’s fine,” Nia replied, trying to wrap her head around the fact that she was about to meet a god. “So you can just call him?” “I’ve never tried.” Kara took a deep breath and closed her eyes. “Uh...hey! Monitor?” She heard a gasp from Nia and opened her eyes to see the Monitor had appeared next to them. “Whoa. I didn’t expect that to work. You just appear when I call you?” “Not always.” The Monitor answered, briefly glancing at Nia before he turned his focus back to Kara. “However it is imperative that you understand the threat which is to come. And your role in preventing it. Therefore I will help you to see the truth. Along with Dreamer. Of course.” Nia sat down heavily on the couch. “You know me?” The Monitor nodded. “You too will have a role to play.” “Can we just get this over with?” Kara sat down next to Nia. “Very well. Close your eyes.” Kara glanced at Nia and reached for her hand, grasping it tightly. “Just in case.” She mumbled before she let her eyes close. She felt a touch to her head and she opened her eyes. She expected to see the room she had been in, but instead, she found herself in the middle of the street, people running past her. “Nia?!” “I’m here.” Nia appeared next to Kara, glancing around. “What the hell is…” Kara grabbed Nia’s arm, trying to back them both away as a wave of red rushed toward them. She barely managed to stumble back before they were engulfed. Everything turned black for a split second and then the next few minutes were a series of flashes. The DEO being wiped away. Brainy. Nia. James. Catco. Her mother. Kal and Loius with the baby. Alex getting caught up in the red mist as she tried to help people escape it. Lena struggling to find a solution until the very end. Over and over again, the scenario played out in different ways, finally ending with Kara herself flying into the red wave. Kara gasped as she was dragged back to reality and she quickly jerked her hand away from Nia’s. The Monitor was gone. “Kara…” Nia’s voice was trembling as she stared at Kara. “What the hell was that?” Kara opened and closed her mouth a couple of times, unable to get her words out for a moment. “The Monitor was right. I-I have to die.” “What are you talking about?” Nia got to her feet, anxiously staring down at Kara. Kara’s fingers dug into the couch, inadvertently piercing the upholstery. “In the coming crisis, Supergirl must die. That’s what the Monitor told me. If I’m going to save everyone else, I have to sacrifice myself.” “Kara!” Nia exclaimed loudly, trying to break Kara from the trance she seemed to be in. She was relieved when Kara met her eyes but it did nothing to ease the panic she felt. “This can’t be right. There has to be something else we can do. Anything. You can’t just give up.” Kara bowed her head, trying to hide the tears that filled her eyes. “You saw it, Nia. All of those timelines. Billions of them. And there’s only one way to stop what happened.” “It can’t be!” Nia sat down on the coffee table in front of Kara. “W-We just have to tell Alex. Maybe we can figure something out.” “We’re not telling Alex!” Kara’s voice was sharper than she intended it to be as she looked up at Nia. “Not yet. You can’t tell anyone about this, Nia. You promised.” Nia gritted her teeth. That was a promise she wished she hadn’t made. “You can’t do this alone, Kara.” “I’m not alone. I have you.” Kara forced a smile to her face but it quickly slipped away. “Thanks for doing this for me. I know it couldn’t have been easy to see all of that.” “Kara, are you okay?” Nia asked gently, concerned by the way Kara seemed to be shutting herself off from what she was feeling. Or trying to at least. “I’ll be fine.” Kara lied, slowly getting to her feet. “I just need some time to process. Um...you should probably be getting back to work, right?” “Well...yeah but I can stay if you want me to.” Nia said even as she followed Kara to the door. “It’s fine,” Kara replied in a strained tone of voice. “This crisis isn’t coming anytime soon. We have some time. I think.” “O-Okay.” Nia took her things from Kara and watched as Kara opened the door for her. “I don’t like leaving you alone like this.” “I’ll be okay.” Kara’s voice shook as she spoke. “Alex will be back soon. I’ll be fine.” Nia wanted to argue but Kara seemed so opposed to letting her stay that she relented, her shoulders slumping. “We’re going to figure this out. We have to.” Kara nodded and watched as Nia walked out of her apartment. She didn’t give Nia a chance to turn around before she closed the door behind her. As soon as the latch clicked into place, Kara felt her knees weaken beneath her. She lowered herself to the floor, still clutching the door handle and finally let her tears flow, unhindered. She wasn’t ready. Alex wasn’t ready. She still had so many things she needed to do. To make amends for. ---- Lena glanced up at the sound of a soft knock at her office door. Her brow furrowed for a moment before the door opened and Kara walked in. Lena sighed and made a mental note to fire her new secretary. She got to her feet, closing her laptop. “Something I can help you with, Miss Danvers?” “Sorry. I hope you don’t mind me stopping by like this.” Kara said as she walked toward Lena’s desk. A few months ago, Lena would have rushed to assure Kara that she could stop by whenever she wanted. That she always had time for the reporter. “I must admit, I am surprised to see you stop by like this.” She gestured toward Kara’s clothing. “I thought you were more partial to red and blue now.” “I didn’t want to come over as Supergirl,” Kara answered quietly. “I do need to ask you something though. For work.” “So that’s why you’re here.” Lena was annoyed that she felt somewhat hurt by the revelation. She schooled her expression to not show it. “What is it I can help you with?” “I was wondering if you could help me with something.” Kara rested her hand on the back of the seat in front of her. She didn’t want to sit down and she was sure Lena wouldn’t appreciate the suggestion that she intended to stay for a prolonged time, but she needed to do something with her hands. “I was wondering if you know of anything that could make...something or someone disappear.” Lena stared at Kara for a long moment. “That’s all? You don’t have anything else for me to go off of?” Kara nervously bit her lip. “It’s um...like a red wave? And it wipes out everything in its path. Including people.” Lena briefly pursed her lips. “You’re talking about anti-matter. Only a theory of course but...theoretically, anti-matter could destroy everything it comes into contact with. Without exception.” Kara’s grip on the back of the chair tightened. “Is there any way to stop it? If it enters our universe?” “There’s no way that I know of.” Lena frowned at the sound of a creak. “Supergirl, you’re breaking my chair.” “Huh? Oh, sorry. I’m so sorry.” Kara quickly let go of the chair and stepped back. “I’ll replace it. I’m sorry.” Lena nodded slowly, not entirely sure what to say. She was still furious with the Kryptonian. Still hurt beyond repair but something wasn’t right. Kara could barely look at her. “Why did you need to know?” “What?” “About the anti-matter.” Lena walked around her desk to sit on the edge of it. “Is something happening?” “Maybe…” Kara replied faintly. She took a deep breath to calm herself. “Sorry. I’m acting...weird, right? I’m just frazzled and it’s been a long week. Sorry.” “Stop apologising.” “Right,” Kara muttered, cursing her lack of focus. She almost regretted not coming in her suit. She could have used the confidence boost. She was silent for a minute, trying to think of what else to say. “Lena, listen. I’m really sorry. For everything.” Lena frowned. “I thought I told you t-” “Stop apologising. I know.” Kare interjected before Lena could finish. “I just needed you to know that I’m sorry. I’m never going to not be sorry for what I did to you. And our friendship. I betrayed you and everything our friendship stood for. I just hope that you’ll be able to forgive me someday.” She watched Lena look away and figured that was her cue to leave. She didn’t want to push. She was surprised that Lena had allowed her to stay in her office for as long as she had. “I should be going. I’m…” “You’re keeping something from me,” Lena interjected, crossing her arms in front of her chest. She noticed surprise flash across Kara’s face. “You’ve lied to me enough that I know what it looks like now.” “I’m not lying to you. But there is something I need to tell you.” Kara said reluctantly. “And I will. I just don’t know how to say it yet. I don’t know if I even want to say it. To you or anyone else.” “If that’s the way you feel.” “I should go.” Kara said quietly. She waited for an answering nod from Lena before she turned and walked back to the door she’d entered through. She paused with her hand on the door handle. “Lena?” “Yes?” “Me coming to see you is never just about work.” Kara didn’t look at Lena as she spoke. “I miss you.” Lena opened her mouth to reply but before she could say anything Kara was gone, shutting the door carefully behind her. Sighing, Lena pinched the bridge of her nose. “A solution for anti-matter.” She mumbled to herself, slowly lowering her hand. She glanced over her shoulder at her laptop. She’d been working non-stop for what felt like weeks, barely giving herself time to eat and sleep. She supposed a break to work on a new project wouldn’t hurt. TBC (I think. If you guys like it. Just experimenting here!)

[clownsgobeepbeep]

So, it is war between us!

Skiiiiiiin

Hopefully this is good ^^'

“Can we watch Boorhees after?”

“You wanna watch Friday the 13th after this one?”

“Yes!”

Davey gave a nod as he chuckled, sitting in front of his nephew who immediately dropped the topic in question. His attention had soon returned to the items before him: large papers and small tubs of paint that he constantly dipped his little fingers into. He then smeared the paint onto the papers, attempting to paint a tree.

“What kind of a tree is that?”

“A me tree.”

“Me tree?”

“No, me!” Rowan giggled as he pointed to himself, accidentally painting a red dot onto the apron he wore to prevent a big mess.

“A you tree?”

“Nooo, me!” the toddler repeated before Davey gave a laugh.

“Oooh! A rowan tree!”

“Ye.” Rowan nodded as he painted little red dots onto the tree, these resembling the berries on the trees. “What you making?”

“I’m painting a jellyfish. Like the ones your mama Jelly likes.” Davey spoke as he presented his painting, noticing that Rowan hadn’t even looked up from his own art. Davey quietly chuckled to himself before turning his attention to his other nephew who was seated on the couch behind the pair. “How you doing Basil?”

Basil’s eyes were practically glued on the TV screen that was on the other side of Basil and Rowan, Halloween 2 playing on the screen. In his little hand was a stick with cotton candy that he bit into every now and then.

“Oh, I’m fine Uncle Davey. I love the movie and cotton candy my Auntie Ally made.” Davey spoke in a high pitched voice before using his own voice. “Oh that’s so good to know Basil. Nice that you’re having fun.”

Davey looked over at the screen, of course Basil would be so entertained with Michael Myers chasing down his victims.

“Davey? Sweet Cheeks?”

“Y-yes?” Davey’s cheeks slightly flushed at the sound of one of the many nicknames his wife used for him.

“Dinner’s ready! Should I bring the bowls over or could you bring the boys?”

“Um…” Davey glanced over at the toddlers who were each still occupied with their own things, but he knew how to get the attention of at least one of them. “Who’s ready for some pasta?”

“Pasta!?” Rowan piped up, nearly spilling one of the cups of paint as he hopped onto his feet and nearly ran to the kitchen. Davey however caught him mi-air.

“Whoa, whoa. Slow down there.” he laughed as he set the squirming Rowan down, then standing up himself. “We’ll be there in a bit Ally.”

“ ‘Kay!” Ally called back as bowls being moved around were heard, starting to be set up.

Davey picked up the TV remote to pause the movie, receiving a sudden reaction from Basil who whipped his head around, almost offended.

“Relax, we’re just gonna go eat now. It’s dinner time.” Davey assured him, Basil giving him a look before giving in and sliding off the couch. With the hand that didn’t hold onto his cotton candy, he took Davey’s hand as Rowan took the other. Together, they all made their way to the dining room.

“What make Auntie Ally?” Rowan asked his aunt as they saw her setting down the bowls of food.

“I made some pasta with pesto sauce.” Ally described as she handed Rowan a silicone fork after she helped him onto a chair. “And do you know how the pasta is shaped?”

“How?”

“It’s shaped like bunnies!” Ally exclaimed which in turn made Rowan gasp loudly, and he excitedly waved his arms around as he looked down at the bowl of green pasta.

“Yeeesss!” Rowan cheered before digging his fork into the pasta, immediately shoving the gathered pasta in his mouth. “I wuv it!”

“I’m so glad.” Ally giggled before watching Davey help Basil up onto his own chair, the toddler being handed his own silicone spoon much to his dismay. Not even forks were harmless in his tiny 4-year old hands. “Hopefully Basil also likes it.”

“I’m sure he will.” Davey grinned as he pulled a chair out for Ally, hearing her whisper a thank you before he took his own seat.

“It’s sooooo good!” Rowan agreed as he shoved more of the pasta bunnies into his mouth, almost finishing the plate. In turn, he coughed as he choked just a bit. Nothing too bad.

“Whoa, slow down!” Davey laughed as he patted Rowan’s back. “I know it’s good, but take it easy, kay? I need you alive for when she picks you up.”

“Okay!” Rowan happily swung his little legs as he continued to eat his pasta a bit more calmly.

Davey looked over at Basil who scooped up his pasta in a much tranquil manner.

“You enjoying the pasta, Basil? I’m sorry we couldn’t find any shapes you would like.” Davey ruffled his nephew’s hair. “We could try to get you some dinosaur shaped ones. Or maybe Halloween ones with little bats and pumpkins.”

“Pumpkins.”

“Yeah, pumpkins.” Davey nodded before hearing Ally drop her fork on her plate, and he looked up at her, taking notice of her shocked expression. “What?”

Davey blinked as Ally’s eyes peered at Basil who continued on with his pasta business.

“Basil, do you want the Halloween pasta?” Ally asked the toddler who gave a nod.

“Halloween.” he repeated after her, a hint of an Australian accent present.

“Oh my god.” Davey now realized. “I...I have to call my sister!”

“Indeed.” Ally smiled as she gently pinched Basil’s cheek. Basil in turn, only continued to eat his pasta as if nothing grand had ever happened.”

_____________

“Skin. Skiiin. Skiiiiiin.”

“Rowan, why are you saying that?”

“Saying what?”

“Skin. Why are you saying that?” Ally asked as she tucked the boys into her and Davey’s bed, letting them sleep there until their parents came to pick them up.

“Oh. Because I hear it a lot.” Rowan shrugged with a giggle as he snuggled into the blankets and pillows, cuddling with his plush bunny that Ally handed to him.

“Where do you hear it?”

“My room. At night. After mommy and daddies go to sleep.” Rowan smiled as Ally gave him a weird look. “Stops when deer daddy comes.”

“Davey?” Ally called out to her husband that soon came into the bedroom.

“Yeah?”

“Um, I think maybe we should stay in the room with the boys.”

“Oh? Is everything okay?” Davey held Ally’s hand as she stood up and led him a bit away from the boys.

“Rowan was saying he constantly hears something saying ‘skin’ in his room. It is heard when their parents go to sleep.” Ally whispered, filled with concern as Davey looked at the boys for a moment.

“I’m...I’m sure it’s nothing. I know these boys and I know their parents; they would have realized if something was up with their boys. Especially with how talkative Rowan can be.”

“I...I guess that’s true.”

“And look, if anything, I have a feeling it might just be Basil. We just learned he actually speaks, so...I dunno...skin might be a word he really likes and he says it when his parents head off.”

“That would make a bit of sense.” Ally gave a smile as she felt a bit more comfortable. It really did make sense, and had it really called for any concern, Davey would have known. “Okay. Let me just finish tucking them in and I’ll meet you in the living room.”

“Sounds good.” Davey nodded. “You still up for Candyman?”

“Of course.” Ally returned the gesture before speaking in a volume she hoped Rowan wouldn’t hear. “Make sure to get the cheese puffs.”

“On it.” Davey snickered with a grin before making his way out, Ally then returning to the boys.

“Auntie, are you gonna read story?” Rowan sweetly asked before Ally sat at the edge of the bed to ruffle his hair.

“I already read you a story. Two, in fact.”

“I want another oooone.”

“No, no. You have to take a nap. Then I can read you another one.” Ally leaned down to kiss the top of Rowan’s head.

“Okie.”

“Okie.” Ally repeated before turning to Basil. “Don’t think I forgot about you.”

Basil gave Ally a side look before his eyes looked back to the front, soon shutting as he played coy.

“Basil,” Ally laughed before leaning over to now kiss his cheek. “Such a cutie. I also have your little Sin-A-Ma-Jig.~”

Basil now opened his eyes before he turned to his side, being handed his singing toy that he squeezed a few times.

“Skin-na-ma-rink.” Ally sang with the toy before fixing the blankets that covered Basil. “You boys have a good night. Sweet dreams, don’t let the bed bugs bite.”

“Good night Auntie.” Rowan yawned before he hugged his bunny tighter, soon going out as it too Basil a few moments to finally fall asleep too.

Ally smiled at the sight of the peacefully slumbering twins before turning off the lights, making sure to leave on a small projector that made stars on the ceiling. She left the door a little open before walking down the hallway, soon entering the living room where Davey laid on a couch with blankets and a large bowl of cheese puffs.

“How are they?” Davey asked before shifting so that Ally could comfortably lay between his legs.

“Both went out like a light.” she responded as she snuggled against his chest, feeling Davey drape a blanket over the two which already had Ally shutting her eyes.

“It looks like you’re going out too.”

“I’m just very comfortable on my Snuggle Shark.” Ally batted her eyelashes at Davey who looked away rather flustered, watching the movie that had been playing. “I love those boys Davey.”

“Me too.” Davey gave a sigh as he ran his fingers through Ally’s hair.

“You know,” she started. “I can’t wait till we have our own little ones.”

“Yeah.” Davey nodded, but he soon stopped himself once he properly processed the words. He looked down at Ally who only gave him a sly smile, soon burying her face into his chest before watching the movie. Davey, on the other hand, couldn’t help but give a flushed smile as he also turned his attention to the movie.

“Skin.”

“Did you say something?” Davey looked down at Ally again.

“No.” she shook her head.

“Oh. Okay. I must be hearing things with all this…”

“This what?”

“Well, ya know.” Davey made a motion with his hand as Ally looked up at him with a smirk. “Kid talk.”

“Uh huh.~”

“I mean,” Davey shrugged with a shy smile. “I know we’ve briefly mentioned the topic before but...I also...yeah…”

Ally watched Davey fumble with his words a bit, chuckling to herself before she brought herself closer to his face to plant a kiss on his chin.

“We could always start planning to have a little shark of our own.” Ally breathed out before pecking his chin once more.

“Oh, I see.” Davey basically giggled at himself at the suggestion, but the moment was soon ruined by a single word.

“Skiiin.”

“Okay, you had to have heard that.”

“Heard what?” Ally made a weird face.

“Skiiin.”

“Um,” Ally now sat up as she furrowed her brows. “I told you something was wrong!”

“Skiiin.”

“No, no. I think I know where it’s coming from.” Davey reassured her. “Just stay here, I’ll be right back.”

“Skiiin.”

“Are you sure? I can come with you.” “Skiiin.”

“Trust me, it’s all okay. I’ll be right back.” Davey removed himself from the couch before making his way to their bedroom. He immediately turned on the light to look at the sleeping boys, neither one seeming like they had woken up.

Davey gave a “hmm” as he slowly approached the bed, closely examining the two boys.

Rowan was in a deep sleep, arms and legs clearly sprawled under the blankets as his bunny was set on his chest. Meanwhile, Basil slept on his side, hugging his Sing-A-Ma-Jig tightly.

“I know you’re awake.” Davey claimed to the latter of the two, not receiving any response. So, he reached out and took hold of Basil’s toy, immediately feeling a grip from Basil. “I know you’re awake Basil.”

After a few tugs, Basil finally opened his eyes and glanced over at Davey who gave a sigh and chuckle.

“Buddy, come on. You have to go to sleep.” Davey insisted as he ruffled Basil’s hair, then he reached down to poke Basil’s toy. “Was that you, or this little guy?”

Basil looked down at his toy, giving himself a moment before he squeezed its belly.

“Skiiin.”

“Oh my god.” Davey gave a bit of a laugh. “Okay, well...I just need you to go to sleep, okay?”

The toddler stared up at Davey, giving him a single blink of his eyes that looked almost judgemental.

“Look, if you go to sleep, I can ask Ally to fire up her cotton candy machine and I’ll send you home with some cotton candy in some cool shapes.” Davey attempted to bargain as his nephew actually gave the offer thought. “Come on Basil. You really have to sleep, I shouldn’t be bargaining with my 4-year old nephew.”

Basil once again only blinked up at Davey.

“If you won’t sleep for cotton candy, at least sleep for me.” Davey grinned, but Basil only gave him a weird look. “Alright, alright. If not for me, sleep for your mommy. I know she’d be happy if I told her you were being a good boy and went night-night.”

At this, Basil could do nothing but give a sigh before rolling onto his back, toy hugged tight against his chest before he shut his eyes.

“I’m watching you.” Davey joked as he slowly stepped out of the room, finishing the interaction by turning off the light as he officially made his way out and back to the living room where Ally eagerly awaited him.

“So?”

“It was just Basil.”

“Really?”

“Well, not Basil-Basil. He was playing with that toy of his.”

“Skinamarink?”

“Skina-what?”

“Skinamarink, that’s what the toy sings.” Ally explained as Davey as he took a seat beside her. “Skinamarink, a-dink, a-dink. Skinamarink, a-doo, I love you. I love you in the evening underneath the moon.”

“Not ringing a bell.”

“Davey! You’ve babysitted these kids before!” Ally laughed as Davey gave a shrug. “But I don’t understand how the toy would say ‘skin’ and only ‘skin’.”

“Maybe Basil broke it and instead of making such a big deal he decided he liked it that way.”

“Maybe.” Ally gave a bit of a shrug as she resumed snuggling up to Davey, his arms wrapped around her as he nuzzled his nose into her hair. “Are we still watching the movie?”

“Yeah, of course.” Davey nodded as he cuddled with Ally, beginning to feel his eyes grow heavy as they landed on the TV screen.

“Skiiin.”

“God dammit.”

“What?” Ally lifted her head, also having found herself falling asleep.

“Skiiin.”

“Oh dear.” Ally rubbed her eyes as she woke up a bit more. “Davey, just leave him be.”

“Skiiin.”

“I would, but he has to take a nap. Or else he’s not gonna sleep at his own house.” Davey shook his head as Ally carefully removed herself from him. “I’ll be right back.”

“Mmkay.” she gave a disappointed hum as Davey made his way to the bedroom once again, turning on the lights in an instan to see Basil with his toy propped up on his chest.

Basil ever so casually looked at Davey, maintaining eye contact for a few seconds before his attention returned to his toy. Soon enough, he continued pressing the toy’s stomach before that dreaded sound was heard once again.

“Skiiin.”

“So, it is war between us!” Davey claimed, partly as a joke but still a bit serious as he approached the apathetic Basil. The toddler didn’t even bother to look at him as he continued to squeeze his toy. “Basil, come on. We talked about this.”

Finally, Basil looked up at Davey who gave him a semi-stern look.

“Skiiin.”

“Basil.” Davey repeated. “Please, you have to go to sleep buddy. You don’t want your mom to be upset, do you?”

Basil blinked at Davey, then shook his head no.

“Then you have to go to sleep, okay?”

Davey stared down at Basil who only stared back, blinking at him every now and then without any response. It was clear that Basil was just not feeling it; he was only going to continue playing with the toy unless Davey took it away, which Davey was not about to do. Unfortunately for him, there weren’t very many other options to hand to Basil in exchange for the toy.

“Okay, let’s make a deal.” Davey thought. “If I let you watch Candyman with me and Ally, will you go to sleep?”

Almost immediately, Basil gave a nod.

“Yeah, I had a feeling you’d say yes.” Davey helped Basil sit up. “But that just leaves me with the question...what to do with Rowan? I don’t want to leave him alone, but I also don’t want him waking up with the movie…”

“How about, you take Basil with you to the living room, and I take a nap with Rowan?” Davey now heard Ally behind him. “I’m actually getting a bit sleepy.”

“Oh, well that solves that.” Davey grinned as he picked up Basil, his nephew of course not letting go of his toy.

Ally gave a hum before kissing Davey’s lips, and then kissing the top of Basil’s head.

“You two have fun.” she spoke as she climbed into bed with Rowan, hugging the toddler to herself as he unconsciously snuggled back. “Nighty night.~”

“Sleep well.” Davey bid his wife before turning off the lights, soon walking out with Basil in his arms. The two were now in the living room once again, Davey laying on the couch as he let Basil lay on his chest.

“Did you know that the second Candyman movie is named ‘Farewell to the Flesh’?” Davey told Basil who looked over at his toy, giving it a single squeeze. “Yeah, Farewell to the Skiiin.”

Davey chuckled to himself as he fixed Basil’s hair, then giving him a kiss on the forehead.

Basil sprawled out all of his limbs on Davey, all but one that held onto his toy. He set his head down on Davey, eyes beginning to shut as he spoke one last word.

“Skiiin.”

“Yeah, yeah. Skiiin..”

[saharamae21]

Never Ran Smooth (Part 7)

Hey everyone! Working really hard to try to update more! Let me know what you think! | Part One | Part Two | Part Three | Part Four | Part Five | Part Six | 

__________________________________________________

Give me your hands, if we be friends,

JJ’s POV:

After hours of blaring music and yelling, my dad had finally passed out. This is why Savannah can never get involved with me. I would tear her down to my level. I would just ruin her life. I winced in pain as I brushed against the bruises my dad had given me and roughly packed a bag. I needed to get out of here. As I slipped past my dad on the couch, a wave of rage overcame me. I can’t do this anymore. He makes me miserable. He’s given me nothing. He’s the reason I’m worthless. I shook as I pulled out the gun and aimed right at his sleeping body. I felt tears well up in my eyes and moved away quickly, shoving the gun back into my bag. In the end, he was still my father.

When I got to John B’s there was someone already there. They watched the house from a car as we slipped into the Pogue and took off.

“First, I almost get strangled to death by Kooks,”I started. “and now I'm on the hook for 30 grand. We should just dip.”

“Okay, where do you wanna go? Hm?” John asked with a hint of annoyance.

“Yucatan,” I said, earning a laugh from the boy. “No, I'm dead serious right now. Surf all day, and then we can just live off lobsters we catch with our bare hands.”

“You just wanna leave 'cause you got your ass beat?” he asked, rolling his eyes. No. Maybe if I just left, Sav would be better off. Maybe if I left, my dad would get his shit together. Maybe if I left, everyone around me would get by a little easier. Not only that, maybe if we left I could save John B from becoming like the two guys who were fed to the sharks.

“You didn't see the photos,” I mumbled.

“Think about it. They're willing to kill for the gold,” John B paused. “then it's gotta be out there.”

“One hundred years, people have been tryin' to find this Royal Merchant,” I said raising my voice. “and no one succeeded. And you think you are gonna be the one that actually finds it? When will you get it in your thick skull? If you keep goin' down this road, you're gonna end up just like your dad!”

I felt him shove me. I saw the anger on his face. I watched as he began to struggle with his own thoughts and actions.

“I can't give up, JJ!” he screamed back at me. “The last time I saw that dude, we got in an argument, and then he took all of our rent money and dipped for this Royal Merchant. And then I told him he was a shit father. and you know how the rest of the story goes.”

“Bro, that wasn't your fault,” I said softly. I just wanted him to stop blaming himself for this.

“It doesn't matter whose fault it is, JJ!” he yelled. “Do you not understand that? I can't give up on the hunt, man. I don't care who's out there, who's gonna try to kill us. Do you understand that? I can’t just leave. I get you think you have nothing here JJ, but that isn’t true. What about Pope and Kie? What about Savannah?” I cringed when he said her name. I remember the look on her face when I told her we would never happen. She deserves more than me.

“What would Savannah do if you just left one day JJ?” he asked me. I avoided his gaze. I felt guilt well up in me as I imagined her looking for me. “When are you going to stop thinking you're bad for her and realize how good she is for you?”

His words burned me. They sat in the back of my mind for the rest of the day. I had made my decision to prevent her from being hurt by my lifestyle. Now night was upon us and the Midsummers event was in full force. I was dressed the nicest I’ve ever looked as we pulled the boat up to the dock of the hotel.

“Okay, look, I need you to get this to Sarah,” John told me.

“Ooh! Can I read it?” I asked, already sneaking a peak. “Hold up. Are you mackin' Sarah Cameron?”

“Would you shut up?” he asked, clearly embarrassed. This new information made my stomach churn. He was macking on a Kook and I couldn’t even accept the fact that I might like one.

In the end, I agreed to be his little messenger and sneak into Midsummers. I made it into the backyard and admired the decorations Sav had thought about. She really had a talent when it came to picking out things that sparkled. Then my eyes landed on her. She looked radiant and fresh like the decorations themselves. She was beautiful from head to toe and every single part of me wanted to go up to her and ask her to dance, but then my eyes found their ways to hers. There was her black eye. The one she had gotten while trying to protect me. The guilt began to overwhelm me. Where there was me, there was bruising and hurt, and she wasn’t an exception to that rule. I was a danger to her.

“Hey!” Pope yelled. Thank you for interrupting my thoughts.

“Dude, don't sneak up on me like that right now,” I said awkwardly as he embraced me. “Whoa. Unexpected PDA there, Dr. Spock.”

He looked so distressed, but it made me happy to know he was okay. “But, uh... hey, love you, too, man,” I said while placing a quick kiss on his cheek.

“Did Shoupe do that?” he asked, motioning to my face.

“Oh, this? No. This is-- It's my dad. You know? Has that right jab,” I said jokingly. I didn’t want him to worry. “Can really snap it off at times. It's nothin' that hasn't happened before.”

I explained that we were going to be rich. I explained that John had a plan. And most of all I explained to him that nothing that happened to me was his fault. I smiled as I left him to do his job and went back to the mission of finding Sarah Cameron. As I dodged my way through the crowds I found Sarah dancing with her little sister. I awkwardly slipped her the note and tried to get out of there as quickly as I could, but felt a hand grab mine. It was soft and warm and I knew exactly whose it was before turning around.

“Are you okay…?” her voice was shaky. Princess.

“I’m fine,” I said as I turned around. I heard her gasp and instantly her hand was on my face. I winced in pain and pushed her hand away. She muttered an apology, worry filling her eyes.

“Who did this to you?” she asked. I saw a single tear slip down her cheek. I wanted to reach forward and wipe it away, but at this moment she seemed a million miles away from me.

“Don’t worry about it,” I scoffed. She wasn’t going to let this go though. I opened my mouth to give her an explanation, but was interrupted by the last person I wanted to see.

“I'm wonderin' if you could get me a mai tai, my friend,” Rafe’s voice rang out.

“Grow up Rafe,” Sav said, defending me no matter what.

“You guys look spiffy,” I joked. “You know, uh, I got a couple of orders ahead of you, so why don't you guys just go ahead and wait by the bar?”

“No, we're going…” Rafe started. “help yourselves to hors d'oeuvres.”

Then a guy I didn’t know spoke up. I had seen him around a few times, but never once has he picked a fight with me.

“Guys, JJ's gonna serve us some hors d'oeuvres,” he smirked, but not at me. He was looking past me, right at Savannah. I saw the anger on her face.

“That’s enough Jasper,” she said, her hands balled into fists. “Leave him alone.”

“I'll be right back, okay?” I said. I was going to do anything to get Sav out of this situation before it got ugly. But then they followed me. I ran through the hotel and into the locker room. I sighed and tried to find a place to hide, but there was nowhere to run. Next thing I know, I’m being escorted out by security. At this point I might as well make a scene.

“It's okay, everybody! Do not panic. Leave it to the men and women in uniform,” I yelled as I looked up. My eyes met Savannah’s dad’s who looked disgusted by my actions. It was too late to go back now though. “Let's hear it for them. Rose! You look like Lady Liberty.”

My eyes once again fell on Savannah, who laughed at my joke. She looked like she was building up courage for something. I hated when I was right.

“Let go of him!” she yelled. I watched as she ran up to where I was. “You can't boot him! I invited him here. I'm a member of this club.”

“Savannah!” her dad yelled and marched down to where she was. Kie and Pope followed shortly after. When her dad finally made it to her, he grabbed her arm roughly. She pushed him away and then a sound echoed through the silence. If this wasn’t a scene before, it certainly was now. Nicolas Stryker had just struck his daughter in the middle of Midsummers. “You will not embarrass this family anymore.”

I knelt down beside her, expecting her to be in full tears like at the movies. Yet, there were no tears. No emotion was in her eyes as my fingers guided along her cheek. She pushed my hand away and got up, looking at Kie, Pope and I.

“C’mon…” she said quietly. “You guys have somewhere to be right?”

I grabbed her wrist, making her come with us. The only thought going through my head was: I have to get her out of here. I have to make sure she’s okay.

“If you leave, don’t bother coming home,” he dad muttered after her, but she kept walking. I held her wrist tightly and just kept my face forward, not checking on her in the slightest. If I looked at her, I would be filled with rage at everyone. Is this how rich kids were treated too?

The rain was whipping through the air as we drove to the lighthouse. Kie was arguing back and forth with John B over the Sarah Cameron predicament, but Pope and I focused our attention on Sav. She sat silently, staring out the window even though we weren’t moving anymore. Her knees were hugged into her chest and there was no emotion on her face. I felt Pope nudge me and gesture towards her. I gave him a look as if saying no, but there was no arguing with him at this moment. Finally giving in, I went and sat next to her. I couldn’t bring myself to say anything though. She just sat there unfazed by me. I slowly reached up and moved a piece of hair from her face. God, she is so beautiful. Unable to make the words come out, I just pushed her head to lean on my shoulder. “You don’t need to force yourself,” she mumbled and leaned her head back up.

“I’m not,” I said and placed her head down once again. “I’m just trying to be a good friend.”

She kept her head there and closed her eyes, squeezing them tightly like she was going to cry. I felt her wrap her arms around my neck. Her hot breath against my neck made my heart pound.

“Just let me stay like this for a second,” she whispered, pain echoing inside her voice. She clung to me as if she needed me by her side. What she needed was love and if I gave her that, only bad things would follow. Instead of loving her, I reassured her everything was going to be alright, but even that must have been too close, because John B almost died less than an hour later.

___________________________________________________________

Tag List : @jjmaybangme

[bangtan-sonyeonddaeng]

Hybrid! Yoongi Scenario|

Your day started off a mess. You woke up late, and were consequently late to work. In your rush you had completely forgotten your umbrella. And now as you stand outside running through the puddles, clothes becoming soaked as the water sloshed up you began to feel the frustration settling in. You were exhausted and just wanted to get home. You race to the bus stop and finally make it to the shelter. You sit on the bench, breathing heavily as you try to catch your breath. While you are sitting there, you notice a small black form across the street underneath a bench and shivering. You become curious, walking across the street. As you get closer you notice its a black cat with piercing green eyes. It’s wary of you, looking like its ready to run. You kneel down sitting on your heels, uncaring that you are becoming soaked again. The cat hisses at you.

“Hey there, none of that. I’m not going to hurt you I promise.” You hold your hand out and the cat bats it away with its paw. 

“You’re a feisty little one aren’t you? I promise you don’t have to be afraid of me. Do you want to come home with me? It’s gotta be better than staying out here shivering in the rain.” The cat stares at you and seems to be thinking over your words. It cautiously steps out from under the bench, before bumping its head against your hand. You smile and scratch its ears and can hear the loud purrs escaping from its throat.

“Yay! Okay but you have to be quiet! I need to take the bus to get home and they can’t hear you or they’ll kick me off.” The purring immediately stops and the cat hops onto your lap. You scoop the tiny creature into your arms and under your coat to hide. There is a rather large lump and it is painfully obvious you are hiding something, you just hope no one cares enough to confront you on it. 

You step onto the bus and make your way towards the very back, hoping not to draw attention to yourself. You glance down at the inside if your coat and see the furry critter fast asleep. You smile and scratch its head, earning an odd look for the woman sitting closest to you. You make a face at her and she quickly turns back around to face the front. 

You stop off at the 24 hour mart near your house to buy the supplies you need to take care of your new friend. You set up a nice bed in the living room. The cat is still asleep, poor little thing seems to have had a rough go of it today just like you.  You set it gently on the bed and pat its head earning a content noise. You are exhausted after the day you’ve had, and walk back to your bedroom to collapse onto the bed. You are just about to drift off to sleep when you hear scratching and a soft meow at your door. You stand up and open the door and see the cat standing out there staring at you. 

“Oh? You want to sleep with me?” The cat walks into the room and jumps onto your bed and looks at you expectantly. 

“Alright little one you can stay here tonight.” You lay on the bed and pat your chest and the small dark cat curls onto you and purrs contently. 

“I should probably think of a name for you huh? Are you a boy?” That earns you a meow. 

“Okay, how about shadow?” A low growl escapes his throat. 

“Mittens?” That earns you a bop on the nose with his paw. You giggle. 

“Alright how about Min? Or Minmin that’s cute right?” The cat meows and begins purring again happily.

“Alright, Min it is then.”

Over the next few weeks you begin to notice some odd things happening in your home. Your shampoo and conditioner seems to be running out faster than you remember. And you could have sworn 2 pairs of pants and a sweater were missing from your closet. Not to mention your fridge also seemed to have food periodically go missing from it. You are discussing these strange occurrences with your coworker. 

“Did you even consider the fact that maybe the cat you brought home is a hybrid?” You drop your chopsticks on the table and nearly choke on your rice. 

“There’s no way! Hybrids are so rare and most of them have owners.”

“Maybe his abandoned him.” 

“Min can’t be a hybrid. And besides why would he hide it from me? There’s no reason for it.” Your coworker contemplates this for a moment.

“The only thing I can think of is that he’s scared y/n. His old owners probably abandoned him and he thinks maybe if he stays in his cat form you’ll see him as defenseless and needing to be taken care of so you don’t abandon him too.” You heart sinks at that before the panic settles in.

“Oh my god. If he really is a hybrid then I’ve been such a shitty owner! Making him sleep on the cat bed and having him eat that horrible canned food. Oh he’s probably starving! I need to go to the store and get him some real food.. wait what do cat hybrids even eat?!”

“Whoa whoa whoa y/n calm down. You don’t even know if he is a hybrid. Why don’t you go home and talk to him first. I’ll tell the boss you got food poisoning or something. Just ask him and go from there.” 

“Okay, you’re right. Thank you by the way you’re the best. I’ll see you on Monday!” You rush out of the restaurant and head home. The bus ride seems to take longer than normal as you can’t wait to find out if you do actually have a hybrid living with you. 

You open the apartment door and see Min sleeping in the cat bed, but his ears seem to perk up when he hears the door open. You walk over and scratch his head and he slowly opens his eyes. The look he gives you is almost... fond?

“Hey there Min, did you miss me?” A meow. 

“Well good because I missed you too. Listen I need to ask you something and I need you to be honest with me.” He tilts his head at you and seems confused. 

“Well, you see it’s just that me and my coworker were talking and… okay there is no way for me to just beat around the bush.. are you a hybrid?” You notice the fur on the back of his neck stand up and his ears flatten against his head. 

“It’s totally fine if you are, Min. I just need to know so I can take care of you properly.” He seems to make himself smaller and averts his gaze.

“Minmin, please. Just be honest with me I won’t abandon you I swear.” You swear he sighs as he gets up and stretches and walks away. You think you are wrong about this whole thing until you see a man’s face peek around the corner of your bedroom door. He’s wearing the sweat pants and sweater that went missing from your closet weeks ago.

“Holy shit you really are a hybrid!”

“U-um.. yeah. Hi.” 

“Hi! Oh do you have a name already then?”

“Well, my real name is Yoongi. But you can call me Min or Minmin still. It’s um.. cute I like it.” You smile at that. 

“Okay.. but I don’t understand. Don’t you have an owner already?” His gaze falls at that. “I’m sorry I didn’t mean to bring up a bad subject. Come here.” You pat the spot on the couch next to you. Yoongi sits on the far end, away from you. 

“Min, come on I won’t bite you come closer to me.” You pat your lap and he hesitates for a moment before laying his head down on your lap. Your hand rests on his head and you begin scratching behind his ears. He visibly relaxes at that. 

“My old owners abandoned me.”

“What?! Are you serious?! Where do those assholes live I am going to beat the shit out of them and then report them to the authorities it’s illegal to abandon a hybrid!” You move to stand up but Yoongi keeps his head firmly on your lap to prevent you from getting up.

“It was my fault y/n.” 

“What do you mean?”

“One of the kids in the house… I swear to God this kid just kept trying to provoke me so I would lash out and get kicked out. He never liked me from the start because I took the attention off of him.. Anyway. He kept pulling on my ears and tugging my tail no matter how many times I asked him not to. One time he pulled a little too hard and my instinct reaction of course was to scratch and bite him. They threw me out and told me to never come back. I was on the street for two weeks before you found me.” 

“I’m so sorry, Yoongi. But that wasn’t your fault at all that brat had it coming if you ask me. I would have done the same thing.” 

“Really?”

“Yes, really. Gosh I can’t even imagine what you’ve been through.” You continue running your fingers through his hair and he purrs happily. 

“Yoongi.. do you want to stay with me?”

“Um… Y-yes I’d like to. If that’s okay with you. You’re.. nice.” He says this with a small smile on his face.

“Of course it is. I would love to have you here with me. This is your home now. You’ll always have a home with me, I promise.” Yoongi’s eyes open at that and he smiles at you widely. 

“Okay.”

“How about if tomorrow we go get you a collar, I’ll register you too so we can make it official. We can get you some clothes and go shopping for some food you’ll actually like.” Tears well up in his eyes as he sits up. He wraps his arms around you and nuzzles into your neck. 

“Thank you y/n. Thank you so much.” 

After that day you two had grown quite attached to one another. You absolutely adored Yoongi, loving to spoil him and take care of him to show him how he should have been treated all of this life. And Yoongi absolutely adored you in return. He was your life companion. He was your best friend as you were his. As you grew older, Yoongi noticed you becoming weaker. The smallest things would tire you and you began to struggle to even do simple things like cook or clean up the house. You were aging, however hybrids do not age nearly as fast as humans so he still had the same youthful energy he did when you met him. In spite of all this, you were incredibly stubborn. Not allowing him to help with anything and staying determined to keep your independence. 

Everything came to a head one day when you were standing in the kitchen cooking. You had been standing for a little too long and your legs gave out and you collapsed onto he floor. 

“Y/n!” Yoongi rushes over to you and looks you over to make sure you’re okay.

“I’m fine Yoongi you don’t need to fuss over me.” You wave your hand as if to dismiss him.

“Goddamnit y/n stop being such a stubborn old fool and let me help you!” 

“This stubborn old fool is going to clock you if you keep disrespecting me you brat!” You muster up your most intimidating glare but Yoongi immediately starts laughing at you. You can’t help but laugh along with him. 

“Y/n.. please it’s my turn to take care of you now. You’ve given me everything. A home, a life, you’ve shown me what it’s like to be loved unconditionally by someone and also love them just as much. You’re getting old. I know you hate hearing me say it but you’re going to seriously hurt yourself if you keep being so stubborn. Let me help you.” You sigh in defeat. You look up at him and smile. 

“Alright, Yoongi. You win.” You hold your arm out and he stands to help you get up off the floor. He walks you over to the couch and helps you sit. He pats you on the head and you laugh at that. 

“Now you stay here. I’ll finish up dinner.  Like I said, It’s my turn to take care of you so you just stay there and don’t move a muscle.” He walks away and you look after him with a fond smile on your face. You can’t help but think that horrible day at work was the best thing that ever happened to you. If you weren’t late, you never would have had to stay past your normal shift. Which means you never would have met Yoongi. He looks over his shoulder feeling your gaze on him and smiles, feeling grateful for the hardships he endured because they lead him to you. 

[ayamari-no-goshi]

Eidolon 9 | (T)

ff.net | AO3

Fandom: Danny Phantom (DP)

Summary:  AU: What started off as the result of a simple act of rebellion ends up causing his life to spin out of control. How will young Danny cope with the results as well as a past that has a strange habit of coming back to haunt him.

Warnings: rated T for violence, mentions of death, kidnapping, and various other things

Parings: hints of Danny/Sam much later on

Notes: originally uploaded to Ff.net. Cross-posted to AO3 and tumblr

9. Shattered Impressions

"I have you now, Ghost Child."

Panic began to set in as Danny tried to rationalize the scene in front of him. A strange gun -which looked incredibly dangerous - was no more than a couple of inches away from his head. It seemed to be connected to the arm of what was best described as a very large metallic man, a robot maybe, which had a flaming green mohawk. If the situation did not look so bad, he probably would have made some sort of comment about its choice of 'hair'.

"You're puny," it told him after it used the muzzle of the gun to lift his chin, forcing him to look at its face. Danny was more than a little surprised to find its voice sounded relatively normal. There was no metallic interference. "It's hard to imagine you have the sort of power my employer thinks you do."

As he continued to nervously look the being in the eyes, he prayed for a distraction, anything that would take its attention away just long enough for him to escape from the gun's cool metal. With each passing moment, he was becoming more and more aware of how close it was to his neck. If the robot decided it was going to fire, there would be no escape.

"Interesting…" The unfamiliar voice of his captor caught his attention. Instead of focusing on him, it was now absorbed with something on its arm. A computer? No, that wouldn't make any sense. Why would a robot need a computer? Shouldn't it be able to do all its thinking, or whatever, in its head?

As if it knew he was staring, the robot turned away from its arm and gave him an evil grin. "My scanners indicate you certainly have the potential. Although my employer wants you alive, there's nothing in my contract that says I can't test your worth first." It stepped back as the gun on its arm began to whine as it raised the weapon to the level of his head. "Let the games begin!"

Until that moment in time, Danny never believed the stories of how time seemed to slow in life threatening situations. Knowing what was going to happen yet unable to turn away, he watched as a light from inside the barrel appeared. He could hear his heart pounding in his ears, alerting him to the danger and yet blocking out any other noise.

The force of an impact and a face full of dirt brought him back to the fast-paced world as a blast sounded from somewhere of to the side. Confused and not entirely sure if he was still alive, he glanced around and immediately caught the glare of an incredibly angry goth girl. "What do you think you're doing?" she demanded as she pulled him off the ground. "If you didn't notice, that thing was aiming at your head!"

Still puzzled as to how he had fallen in the first place combined with resurfacing memories of the danger, he couldn't give her an answer as she began to lead him, as fast as possible, away from the danger. Although he was vaguely aware of Tucker was running beside them and the robot-thing was somehow chasing them from the air, nothing else was registering; even the explosions occurring at a faster and faster rate behind them, causing them to stumble and trip as they ran.

…

He wasn't sure how long they had been running, nor did he know exactly where they were. Looking around, he found himself in a small, dirty, and poorly lit alleyway which suggested to him that they were now in a rougher part of town. He had heard stories about places like this, Winston loved to scare him with those stories when he was younger, and hoped that this particular one would receive no other visitors. Though it was true he would rather deal with an actual person than the flying monstrosity they had hopefully lost, neither were welcome thoughts.

He glanced at his friends who were using the moment to catch their breaths. Tucker was sprawled out on the ground, seemingly too tired to do much else. Sam on the other hand, was still standing. It was clear she was just as tired as Tucker, but her alert posture told him she was not about to let her guard down. Danny couldn't blame her. Whatever had been chasing them had the ability to kill.

Why had it come after them –him- in the first place? Didn't the robot-thingy call him a ghost? Why? Weren't ghosts the spirits of those who had passed from life and had come back for one reason or another? He wasn't dead. The dried blood on his face from his cut was his proof. Someone who was dead couldn't bleed, right? Yet, the thing, the actual ghost, which had cornered him in the cemetery, said something similar. Hadn't it said he did not belong in 'this world' and he felt the call of the 'other side'?

He shook his head as he tried to push his thoughts away. With the situation at hand, there were more important concerns that required his attention.

"Hey, are you alright?" Tucker asked, causing Danny to jump.

"Huh? Yeah…" Danny rubbed his neck in embarrassment as he glanced at his friends. "Sorry, I was just thinking… Are you guys okay?" There was no immediate answer, which worried him. There was something off in the expressions of his two friends. It almost seemed like they weren't sure who he was. "Guys… you're starting to freak me out. What's wrong? Did I do something?"

"Danny… we're your friends, right?" There was a hesitance in Tucker's voice as he spoke. If Danny didn't know any better, it almost seemed as if the other boy was carefully choosing his words.

He had a feeling he was not going to like where the conversation was heading when he cautiously replied. "Yeah… But what's that got to do with anything?"

"Are you stupid or something?" Sam yelled, causing him to flinch. Now that her anger was completely directed at him, he understood why Tucker was afraid of her. "Danny, if we really are your friends then we have a right to know what's going on, especially if we might end up in danger. Now spill it! What was that thing? What does it want with you? What are you?"

His cautious confusion began to change into anger as he returned her glare. "Is that's what's wrong? Here I thought someone might have been hurt. Look, like I told you the last time, I have no idea what's going on! I've never even seen that thing before tonight, so how was I to know it had a vendetta against me?"

His expression softened after he finished. His outburst was enough to stem his anger, allowing him to relax just enough to plop down on the ground. He allowed himself to rest his arms on his knees before he spoke again. "I don't know how else to explain this to you… All of this craziness started a few weeks ago. Now that I think about it... Everything seemed to start right around the time I met you two…:"

"So you're saying this is our fault?"

Catching the warning tone in her voice, Danny held up his hands, hoping the gesture would prevent her from attacking him. "What? No! I'm not saying that at all! It's just it seemed to be the starting point of everything. Until then, I was perfectly normal."

"Normal? We were just chased and attacked by a flying metal robot! How is that normal?" As she spoke, Sam kept moving closer to where Danny was seated, and although he tried to scoot away from her, she reached down and grabbed him by the shirt. Knowing it was not a good idea to try and fight her, he allowed her to pull him up without a struggle. Her violet eyes bore into his icy blue ones as she continued to speak, almost daring him to do say something that would put her even further over the edge. "I don't know what's going on in your little world, Danny, but it's certainly anything but normal. Here we don't periodically fall through solid objects. Here we don't get chased by flying robots! Here people get exhausted when they are forced to run for their lives for fifteen minutes. Here we don't have people whose blood is two entirely different colors. Here…"

Danny pulled away as he cut her off. "Whoa, back up a minute. Different color blood? Where did that come from?"

"You're serious?" An incredulous expression crossed Sam's face.

"Yes, I'm serious."

"Sam, I'll take care of it," Tucker's voice was soft as he placed a hand cautiously on her shoulder. Although it was clear she was not done with her rant, Sam relented. Giving himself a moment to compose himself, Tucker sighed and adjusted his beret before he looked back over at Danny.

"Sam and I noticed it after we ran out of the park after the initial attack," Tucker told him as he warily locked eyes with him. "You had a cut above your eye, and at first I thought grass had gotten stuck to your face due to the blood and because you fell, but I realized that just didn't seem right. The green stuff was an unnatural color and seemed to be dripping down along with the regular blood. I'm surprised you didn't notice it."

Feeling uneasy, Danny reached up to touch the, thankfully, closed wound. He had thought those types of head injuries were supposed to bleed a lot… Maybe he hadn't been injured as badly as he initially thought. But, he still needed to test what his friends had said. Taking care to not completely reopen the cut, he carefully rubbed the fresh scab until he felt a trickle start to run down his face.

When he pulled his hand away, he was mortified by what it revealed. Blood is supposed to be a red so vivid that few natural colors can match it. There should not be any other color seen until it starts to dry, especially not a toxic, glowing green.

What was this stuff? It seemed to have the same consistency as his natural blood, but what would make it that color? Nothing came to mind as he watched the multi-colored liquid begin to mix into an ugly brown as it began to dry. Concerned, he used the back of his hand to wipe the injury above his eye, and once again, he pulled it back to find the same odd mix of colors.

He tried to say something as he frantically tried to get the foreign substance off his hand, but nothing intelligent came. The green stuff hadn't been there the previous week; he had fallen and scraped his knee pretty badly. He would have noticed a weird green tinge… so what changed? What was happening to him?

"So… I take this as an 'I didn't know'," Tucker stated as he watched Danny fall back to the ground as he continued to stare at his hand.

"I-I don't understand…" Danny's voice was nothing but a horrified whisper. "What am I turning into…?"

xxxxxx

"Sam, I don't think you can argue with that…" Tucker told her as the two of them watched their friend begin to shake as he wrapped his arms around himself, perhaps to give himself some sort of comfort. "You can't fake that kind of fear…"

"Oh, and you're suddenly the expert on that?" Sam snapped at him as she continued to watch the boy on the ground. Nothing about this made any sense, and it hadn't even since she had seen him get his leg stuck in the floor of his house. Whatever was happening to the boy was not possible, and the possibilities of the impossible were scaring her. Usually she was fine with the dark and morbid fantasies that frequented her mind, but they were far less appealing when they applied to the possible monster she had thought was her friend.

Momentary confusion caused her to glance over at Tucker as an unusual thought came to the forefront of her mind. "You know, you seem surprisingly okay with this," she told him carefully while watching his expression. "I would have thought you would have run screaming and not looked back a while ago…"

"Really? And here I would think that you'd be handling this sort of weirdness better than me. I mean, it is sort of your thing," he replied with a smirk. Although Sam was somewhat put off by it, she had to agree with him. Tucker's expression once again became serious as he looked back at Danny who had not moved. "I don't know what's going on… and you have no idea how badly that metal thing scared me earlier, but I don't think how I feel can even compare to how Danny does. And, even though I might regret this, I'm going to stick with him."

"But…"

"Sam, he's your friend too," Tucker interrupted as an uncharacteristic note of anger colored his voice. "I think your problem is you don't want to admit you're also scared."

She was going to argue back when she realized he was absolutely right. She was afraid, and if there was one think she couldn't stand above all else was her being afraid. Danny had never hurt her, and his expression had clearly told her every time he had denied having any information about the strange happening he was not lying. She had just wanted to pin the blame on him since there was no other outlet.

Not wanting to admit she was at fault, she slowly moved towards Danny and cautiously placed her hand on his shoulder. He jumped as he looked up at her. His eyes, that strange and unique crystal blue, briefly showed her the chaos and terror lurking beneath the surface before he seemed to regain himself. "Come on," she told him softly as she offered to help him up. "We need to head back to my house… My parents might have noticed we're gone." Danny did little more than nod as he accepted her hand.

"Do you really think it's safe? What if that thing is still around and follows us back?" Tucker asked her as he pulled out his PDA. She was actually surprised it had taken him so long to do so; usually he couldn't last a minute without it.

She gave him a troubled look. "Do you have any better ideas? We can't stay out here."

"Point taken… Well… according to my PDA, we've got a while to go before we can get back. All that running we did really got us off track…"

"Alright, we better hurry then. The faster we get back, the better."

"As long as we don't run, that's all fine and dandy." Sam sent a glare at Tucker, which he countered with mock version of his own. "What? We ran all the way here from the park, and unless we end up in mortal danger on the way back, there's no way I'm running again."

"Big baby."

"Well, I'm sorry we can't all be as athletic as you."

"You could be if you ate something else other than meat all the time."

"Hey! I take offense to that!"

Sam smiled as the confirmation she won this round appeared in Tucker's expression. She was about to say something else when Danny's soft voice interrupted. "Guys, is this really the best time for this…?" Surprised, she glanced over to see if he was okay. Although it was very clear he hadn't completely recovered from his scare, traces of humor could be seen in his eyes. That was a good sign. Well, at least she hoped it was.

xxxxxx

Although he was still more than a little freaked out, Danny was starting to feel a little better. Too much had happened in one day for him to worry about it, so he decided it would be better to push his concerns aside until the next morning. Maybe everything would make more sense, or maybe he and his friends would awaken to realize they had the craziest dream. He could certainly live with that.

He looked up as the three of them walked. The night was oddly clear making it perfect for stargazing. If it was any other night, he would gladly welcome it, but now the clear skies made him feel unusually vulnerable. Although they were making good time, they were still too far away from Sam's home than he liked. What he wouldn't give to be safe behind some sort of walls.

A sudden chill started to creep through his body, causing him to shiver, and his breath became momentarily visible before it disappeared in faint wisps. "Guys…" he said cautiously, breaking the temporary silence between them, as the chill swept through him again.

"Not this again! Didn't this happen right before…." Tucker's words were cut short as Sam placed her hand over his mouth. He quickly swatted it away and glared at her. "What was that for?"

In response, she returned his glare with one of her own, which caused him to shrink back. "Don't say it! You don't want to jinx us! Come on, let's pick up the pace! Maybe we can get back before…"

"Try all you want. You won't be able to make it back… alive."

Danny froze as he tried to pinpoint the origin of the voice. This was just too coincidental. Was that cold feeling some sort of warning?

"So…" Tucker whispered as he looked up as he finally spotted the robot, who was currently watching them from several feet above. "If we make a break for it, how far away will we get before it catches us?"

"Do you really think that you can continue to run from me, Skulker, the Ghost Zone's greatest hunter? Please, the three of you aren't even a challenge," it told them as it descended. "Although I could easily spend all night chasing after you, I'm on a schedule." It glanced over at Sam and Tucker and grinned as it produced a long glowing blade from its arm, "And you two are of no use to me."

He watched as the robot moved towards his friends in a manner that reminded him of a hunter stalking its prey. If they decided to run, he knew they were not going to be able to get away this time. This was all his fault! That thing, Skulker, was after him!

Danny had begun moving even before he realized it. "You leave them alone!" he thundered as he crashed into the robot. Stumbling backwards after the initial impact, he tried to refocus as the pain swam through his body. Okay, so running into a solid hunk of metal was not his smartest move, but at least it got the thing to focus back on him. "Sam, Tucker, run! Get away from here while you can!"

"How touching." Skulker's tone and expression hinted it was starting to become annoyed with the situation. Danny barely had time to register its movement before it attacked him. The punch to the gut immediately filled his mouth with the taste of blood which was intensified with the backhand which sent him reeling to the ground.

"To bad you're in no shape to help them." Even though his head was swimming, Danny managed to pick his head up just enough to see his tormentor standing over him. Its twisted smile was the only thing he could identify as his vision started to dim. "Maybe if you were stronger this would be a different story, but you'll never get that chance." With a laugh, it turned and started back towards his friends.

Why? Why did it have to end like this? There was nothing he could do anymore. He could hear his friends frantically calling his name. Why did they stay? Why didn't they run like he told them too?

He could feel the cold tears running down his face as he fought to stay conscious while his friends screamed for help. Dammit! Why was he so useless? He couldn't let them die!

A new sense of resolve flooded through him as he tried to push himself upright. His vision was still hazy, but he could just make out the shapes of his friends and the monster pursuing them. One of them was on the ground while the other was frantically trying to help. Skulker was not going to let them escape. Its hulking shape was standing over them with its blade raised.

"St-stop!" Danny stammered in a desperate plea. He had to get over there! He had to help them! "STOP IT!" As he yelled, an icy pain, completely different from his previous aches, and a thousand times worse coursed through his body. Yet, unlike the previous pain, this one seemed to make him more alert, and he managed to pull himself off the ground.

He could tell that his friends and Skulker were surprised by his sudden movements, but any further movements he saw were lost as another wave of pain over took him. It was almost as if it was consuming him – wrapping him in icy tendrils electrifying his body. With each icy wave, he could feel the life being leeched out of him replacing it with some sort of unknown power.

From somewhere deep in his mind, he understood that he could use this power, whatever it was, to help his friends. He would worry about the price he was paying for it later; now, he was going to give it everything to save them.

He yelled something at the metal being… what, he wasn't sure. Although he wasn't exactly sure how it reacted, he knew he had gotten its attention. In that stunned moment, he let the power direct his movements as if it was his marionette and charged the creature. Instructions seemed to be flowing into him as he dodged and deflected the blows coming from the metal monstrosity.

He had to get in close; that was the only way to end the fight. Skulker's movements were becoming harder to dodge as the seconds ticked by. He couldn't tell if this was because Skulker was starting to clue into his movements or if it was because the power had been circulating through him was starting to fade from his body.

It was then that he saw it, an opening. Skulker had swung at him just a little too hard, causing its recovery to be a just a little longer. In that brief moment, he placed both of his hands on the creature's metal chest and concentrated. The power that had been swirling beneath the surface of his skin, giving him strength, flowed into his hands and concentrated itself. When the intensity of it threatened to harm him, he pushed it out of him with as much force as he could muster. The result was an intense flash of green light that knocked both him and his opponent back.

Regaining himself, he just managed to catch the sight of Skulker grasping at the hole in its chest as he turned and ran towards his terrified friends. Knowing that he hadn't done enough to put Skulker down for the count, he grabbed them and tried to lead them away. A strange feeling, different from the others that had plagued his body in the last couple hours, flooded his body. The next thing he knew, the three of them were standing in the road in front of Sam's house.

He had no idea how he had managed to get them back so quickly. As he let his friends go, his world began to spin. Pain was gnawing at his body, pulling him into darkness. The last thing he thought before his face met the pavement was to wonder if this was what dying felt like.