#you win a prize if you can name everything in the cart

[vicky-sarah-arts]

Day 2

Shopping

Just a small spout of baby fever

[swiftieblyth]

Troublesome Twin

Part three: The zoo

Warning list-

hunger games warning, abusive family, mother died in childbirth with the twins, Arachne, Coriolanus Snow, Dr. Gaul, violence, and murder.

I think that’s all, let me know if there’s more!

Word count- 1,919

“He’s sabotaging us.” Coryo stated to Tigris that night while the Grandma’am was in bed fast asleep. “That girl’s not gonna win these Games. You saw her. She’s underfed, unstable.”

“The Dean said it’s not just about winning.”

“Everything is about winning. If not the games now, then the crowd. Lucy Gray won’t survive a minute inside that arena.”

“So that means we have to make every second before then count.” Tigris stated.

Coryo was about to say something when they heard a light knock on the door.Coryo and Tigris looked at each other before Coryo went to the door.

He opened the door ready to tell whoever it was to go away, but was stopped by what he saw. 

The door opened and Y/N fell into his arms, unable to hold herself up any more. She was bloodied and bruised, face ghostly pale as she tried to catch her breath.

“Love,” Coryo let out, feeling his heart break at the sight of her like this. 

“Help,” Y/N whispered, barely able to stay awake. 

“Tigris!” Coryo called, scooping you up, and took her over to the old couch, laying her down on it. 

“Coryo?” Tigris called, as she ran in. “Oh my gosh,” she breathed when she saw Y/N. “I’ll go get the first aid kit.”

“Darling, where did he hit you?”

“My face.”

“Your face. Okay, I’m going to look at it, okay?”

“Coryo… I’m tired.”

“I know love,” he cooed. “But you can’t fall asleep yet. Let me and Tigris help you, then I’ll take you to bed.”

“Will you hold me?”

“Of course love. I’ll hold you all night. Just let me and Tigris help you.” Coryo cooed, looking at the blood on Y/N’s face.

Tigris came back and started handing Coryo a wet cloth to clean her face to see the wounds better as she got the alcohol and everything else ready.

“I’m going to wipe your face off, okay, love?” Coryo cooed. Y/N nodded as Coryo started to clean off the blood. “Do you wanna talk about it?”

Y/N shook her head, tears coming to her face. “I’m sorry.”

“Why are you sorry? You have nothing to be sorry for love.”

“I’m sorry, I can’t help you get the Plinth Prize.”

“You can, darling. Dr. Gaul has agreed to let you be Lucy Gray’s mentor along with me.”

“Really?” Y/N cried.

“Really, love.” Coryo smiled, whipping away the tears, and pouring some alcohol onto the cloth. “This is going to hurt, okay?”

“Okay,” Y/N breathed. Coryo started and she flinched away.

“Sorry.”

“It’s okay. Coryo…”

“What is it, love?”

“What are you going to do to get her to gain everyone’s attention?”

“I’ll get her to sing again. She sang at the reaping and everyone watched.” Coryo explained.

“I wouldn’t sing a note for you if I was her,” Tigris cut in. “I wouldn’t do anything at all. Unless I could trust you.”

“She’s district, Tigris,” Coryo explained, bandaging Y/N’s face. “She knows we hate her, and she wants us dead. How am I supposed to get her to trust me?”

“Imagine it was Y/N’s name that they had pulled and she had been ripped from you.” Tigris let out, gesturing to Y/N who was now resting her head on Coryo, as she was fighting her drooping eyelids to stay open. “You’d just wanna know that somebody still cared about her out there. Don’t discount her just because she’s district, Coryo. You might have more in common than you think.”

“Darling, you really shouldn’t be here.” Coryo let out, as the trains hissed.

“Coryo, neither should you.” Y/N retorted. “We’re both her mentors so if either of us should be here, it should be both of us.”

“Gosh you’re stubborn.”

“I know. And you love it.”

“That I do.” Coryo smiled, snaking his arm around Y/N’s waist.

A train came to a stop and the two watched as the tributes and peacekeepers made their way off the train, and to another cart. As they watched Coryo held onto Y/N a little tighter, and closer to him, to make sure she was okay. 

“Welcome to the Capital,” Coryo smiled at Lucy Gray when she walked up to them, offering a single white rose to her.

Lucy Gray looked from Coryo to Y/N to the rose. “When I was little, my mama used to bathe me in buttermilk and petals.” She explained, taking a pedal from the rose and putting it in her mouth. “Tastes like bedtime. You two look like you shouldn’t be here.”

“We shouldn’t,” Y/N replied. “But we’re your mentors.”

“Two rebels.” Lucy Gray recalled. “What do my mentors do besides bring me roses?”

“We do our best to take care of you,” Coryo cut in. 

“NO!” A tribute called, gaining everyone’s attention. 

“On your feet.” A peacekeeper ordered. 

“Good luck with that, gorgeous..” Lucy Gray let out, then walked to the cart with Jessup, the other district twelve tribute. 

“Coryo,” Y/N let out as they watched her go.

“I have a plan.” He explained. “But you have to stay close to me, and let me protect you.”

“Okay,” Y/N replied, taking Coryo’s hand and following him to the cart. 

As the peacekeepers were occupied by getting a runaway tribute, Coryo jumped into the cart with Y/N right behind him. He pulled her close to her as the doors shut and everyone looked back at them. 

“Hi.” Coryo said, holding Y/N close behind him to keep her safe.

“What’s the matter, pretty boy,” one of the tributs asked, walking up to him. “You and your pretty girl in the wrong cage?”

“No.” Coryo let out. “This cage is delightful.” 

“Get him, Reaper,” another tribute called.

The tribute, Reaper, grabbed Coryo by the color of his uniform and held him up to the wall, making fear grow in Y/N. 

“I’ll kill you and your pretty girl right now.” Reaper said.

“He’ll do it too,” the girl from his district added. “He killed a peacekeeper back in 11.”

“Quite, Dill.” Reaper ordered.

“I say we kill him,” one tribute called.

“I’m in,” another one added.

“Nothing left to lose now,” one added.

“Y’all got family back home?” Lucy Gray asked, making everyone look at her. “They’ll kill them if you hurt these two. Then you. Besides, they’re my mentors. I might need them.”

“How come you get a mender?” One tribute asked.

“Mentor,” Coryo cut in. “You each get one.” 

“Oh, and we’ll just trust you on that? Right?”

“We’re just here to help you,” Y/N cut in, making Coryo look at her. 

“Why does rainbow girl get special treatment, hmm? Why aren’t our menders here?”

“Just not inspired, I guess.” Y/N explained.

The truck started beeping and everyone looked around. The truck moved, and everyone felt them getting tilted down. Reaper let go of Coryo who quickly grabbed onto Y/N holding her as tight as he could. 

“Coryo,” Y/N let out, voice shaking.

“It’s okay. I’ve got you. Just hold on. Grap Lucy Gray.”

“Lucy Gray,” Y/N let out, offering her her hand. “Hold on!” 

Everyone fell out of the truck and into the Capital zoo.

Y/N let out a hiss as her already bruised face collided with the ground. 

“Y/N,” Coryo let out, going over to her, and helping her up. “Are you okay?” He asked, inspecting her face, a frown growing when he saw one of the cuts bleeding. 

“I’m fine Coryo.” Y/N let out. “We should check on Lucy Gray.”

“Of course, just stay close.” Coryo ordered, holding her as they walked to Lucy Gray. 

Fear grew in Y/N as she realized all of Penam was watching them, knowing that her father was watching her, ready to beat her again. “Coryo,” she peeped, holding him tighter. 

Coryo looked down at her and saw the fear on her face. She nodded her head to the cameras and Coryo quickly realized why she was scared. 

“Own it,” Lucy Gray let out. 

“Lucy Gray Baird,” Coryo explained. “May Y/N and I introduce you to our neighbors?” Coryo took his free hand and offered it to Lucy Gray as they made their way to the front of the zoo where Lucky the news host was on the other side of the bars. 

“Who are you sir?” Lucky asked Coryo then turned to Y/N. “Ma’am? What are you two doing in the cage here?”

“Hi.” Coriolanus smiled. “How do you do? My name is Coriolanus Snow, and this is my girlfriend, Y/N Crane.”

“Crane.” Lucky let out. “Does your father know you’re here?”

“Well, he does now.” Y/N let out, putting on a fake smile for show. “This is our tribute . Lucy Gray Baird from District 12.”

“Hi there.” Lucy Gray greeted the little boy across from her. “What’s your name?”

 “My name is Pontius.” The boy replied.

“It’s nice to meet you. Is this your sister?”

That’s Venus, she’s only four.”

“Well, I think four is a very smart age to be.” 

“Where’d you get that snake?” The girl asked. 

“Well, he found me. Must have been a music lover. My singing calmed him right down.”

“Can I touch your dress?”

“Of course. I like your dress too.” Lucy Gray smiled, then looked at Lucky for the first time. “Oh. And who might you be?”

“You don’t know who I am?” Lucky asked, as the cameraman laughed. “Don’t laugh. Not everyone has television out in the districts. I’m Lucretius “Lucky” Flickerman. But more enticingly, who are you, Lucy from District 12?”

“Oh. It’s Lucy Gray. And, I’m not actually from 12. No, my people are Covey. We’re like a family. We’re musicians by trade, and we travel from place to place as the fancy takes us. At least we used to. Before the peacekeepers rounded us up.”

“I see. But now you’re District 12?”

“If you say so.” Lucy Gray stated.

As Lucy Gray and Lucky talked, Y/N could feel the fear growing in her to face her father. 

“Coryo,” Y/N whispered. “I’m scared of what he’s going to do.”

“I know, my love.” Coryo whispered back, holding her as close as he could, and kissing her temple. “But I’m not going to let him get to you.”

“Do you know my mentors?” Lucy Gray asked, bringing Coryo and Y/N back to their conversation. “Says their names are Coriolanus Snow and Y/N Crane, and clearly I got the cake  with the cream ‘cause nobody else bothered to show up.”

“The Gamemakers did tell you to jump in the cage with them?”

“They didn’t tell us not to.” Coryo explained. “They just said it is a mentor’s job to introduce our tributes to the citizens of Penam.”

“And we thought,” Y/N cut in. “Well, if Lucy Gray is brave enough to be here, then why shouldn’t we be, too?”

“For the record, I didn’t have a choice.” Lucy Gray recalled.

“For the record,” Lucky let out to Coryo and Y/N. “I think you’re about to be whisked away.”

“Let’s go,” a peacekeeper let out, grabbing Y/N’s arm, and making her flinch. 

“Don’t touch her!” Coryo ordered, as they started to walk away, but was stopped by Lucy Gray grabbing his arm. 

“Get us some food, please. Jessup and I haven’t eaten since the Reaping.”

[sofiiel]

Date: theme park with Eddie

He asked for triple scoops at the cotton candy stand.

He nomed a piece of said candy and then kisses you so it melts as you kiss.

He's stuck between the biggest ride and the photobooth because he's torn between "I must ride the machine of death and terror" and "I need adorable snaps with my lover" his head is turning left and right as he tries to decide which direction.

Eddie picks the biggest ride. At first, he throws his hands up, and suddenly he's squeezing the life out of you, at the drop. Then that scream becomes a joyous cackle. He's having a blast, but he is still got his arms locked around you as best he can manage. You know, for safety reasons.

You've lost him in the midway games and can't find him. Eddie tries to win you the biggest prize, and he's tried three different games, several times. He trudges back to you with an arm fool of the smallest prizes and a pout - only to find you won him a giant stuffed creature. He did however win a kiss from you.

He spots a man walking on the tallest stilts he's ever seen and follows him around, asking questions about how hard it is to do and how long it took to master. He then looks at you. "Babe, we're getting stilts. I will play the filthiest solo on stage in those god-damn stilts."

Eddie wants pictures with all the characters and mascots. He's somehow dragged a few of them to get in the photobooth with the both of you.

You go on the water ride, several times. Mostly because it's really doing it for him to see you drenched from head to toe.

Smoking weed in the back corner behind something. He wants to be high as a kite when goes on the space themed ride and the haunted ride. If you don't smoke it ~ that's fine. He'll happily entertain you while you're 100% lucid by tripping out at everything.

In the haunted house, he accidentally backhanded one of the actors who jumped towards you after you got scared and scream "Eddie!". It was a natural reaction. He had to apologize and you two run before you get kicked out.

Doing a bungee jump ride. While preparing to go, Eddie's saying his last I love yous. "Babe, if the string snaps....I was happy to spend this one moment with you, than the rest of my life alone." But when you two jump he's nearly giggling and when it's over he looks at you saying "25 more times, please, please."

You two are doing the cutesy couples 'ha ha i bumped you silly!' thing with the bumper cars. Ignoring almost everyone else. Until one guy wanting to kill the sweetness rams his cart into you - Eddie goes off, terrorizing them the whole time while rage cursing. The guy might actually have whiplash.

Eddie bought a ring from the coin gacha, and offers it as a promise ring in the tunnel of love, when the couples cam is on you. You've got it on photo for all time.

Poor Eddie road the tilt'a'whirl after gorging on what amounts to carni food. You stood there rubbing his back and holding back his hair and desperately trying to tune out the retching sounds. "oh god that was stupid, that was so, so stupid." he's muttering.

Eddie loses you in the crowd for the smallest millisecond, and he's climbed up on one of the park statue's shouting your name out over the sea of people.

You've gotten matching touristy merch from the park and instantly change into it for the rest of your trip.

Every single ride must be ridden thrice. At the very least.

But if you don't like a ride, Eddie will happily go it alone, he's waving you to you and talking anytime he spots you. Even if he's way up high, he's shouting. "This is amazing!" - "You look so little!" - "Hiiii sweetheat!" - "It's too fast!"

You aren't leaving without a balloon animal, and one of those foam animals that 'walk' as you drag them with the wire leash.

He's taken to holding your hand the whole time, so he won't lose you in the crowd again.

At lunch eddie starts to wind down and he's in his 'yeah, I'm gonna be that boyfriend mode' and he's trying to feed you part of his food because "you have to try this."

Shhh, you've written your names in the bathroom stall with sharpie...and behind that ride you *probably* low-key banged behind.

Eddie's somehow ended up with 300 raffle tickets. He isn't sure how, and neither are you - you don't even know where the raffle is. but hopefully you'll win something nice.

There's a band of characters playing instruments to amuse the visitors. You sneak up to them and ask them to play a specific song and dedicate it to Eddie. When he hears it, Eddies looking at you the same way people watch the happy ending of romance movies.

He's doing that thing where he tries to hop over statues/trash cans/barrier things. As if it'd impress you and yes it goes wrong, and he gets a rude awaking in a very sensitive spot. - time to go kiss it better 🙄

He's collected so many pictures that it's ridiculous. You've had to buy a tote bag for all of them, plus the theme merch, plus the pile of little prizes.

On a forgotten note: Eddie lectures of park employees the importance of keeping his giant prize you won him safe every time he has to leave it to get on a ride.

Playing sheriff vs outlaw on the merry-go-round.

Cuddling close while in the animal exhibit as you marvel at all the creatures. Trying to pick out which animals remind you of loved ones back home.

Singing pirate shantys on the ship ride.

You have been at the park all day, night is falling and after watching a light show they put on. Eddie kisses you under the neon lights of the parks' entryway. He's paid off some rando to snap a picture of the moment for him without you knowing, so he can surprise you with it later.

[tagsecretsanta]

From @katblu42

From @katblu42 to @misstb2

Prompts: Christmas past Christmas cracker jokes Christmas paint job on the ‘birds

I’ll leave it up to you to work out which prompt I concentrated on!  I hope I did it justice!!

Notes:  I don’t know anything about patchwork quilting, so I hope that part makes sense. Cracker prizes are based on my own winnings as a kid, but I hope in the 2050s or 2060s they won’t be made of flimsy plastic!

The Stories They Hold

Every Christmas Scott insists that he is the one to fetch all the decorations from the storage locker where they spend most of the year tucked away.  On the rare occasions when MAX is unavailable to help transport everything up to the lounge, where Virgil and Brains will inevitably be securing the tree, each box and bag full of fragile cargo is carefully transferred to a cart and wheeled to the elevator.

It’s so different from collecting the boxes from the attic back at the old house, with the winter sunbeams through the slanted windows catching the dust in a golden glow, and the constant reminders to be careful as he passed each container down to waiting hands below.  But many of the contents of those boxes have remained the same, even after the passing of many years.

Scott enjoys the holiday traditions that the family has continued to uphold.  In fact, if he thinks about it, perhaps he was one of the driving forces behind a few of those traditions.  Particularly the insistence that the whole family, Kayo and Brains (and MAX) included, make the effort to decorate the tree and the Villa all together.

Of course, the occasional rescue would dash their plans, but most years they managed to have everyone play a part in placing all the decorations, old and new, where they needed to go.  Scott knew each person had their favourite ornaments, and often fond memories to go with them.

His own favourites were the “special” decorations – the commemorative ones that marked milestones.  There was one for each of them.  For the brothers these were of the “Baby’s First Christmas” variety, with the year of birth etched into the design somewhere, and usually the name of the relevant brother as well.  There was an ornament to mark Kayo’s first Christmas with the Tracys, and another for Brains, and even a teeny tiny MAX.  Grandma’s milestone decoration was a candle holder designed and made by Grandpa Grant from artfully twisted fencing wire and a few scrap parts into a star-shaped cage that sat on the mantlepiece.

Every year Scott personally hands each of these special ornaments to the relevant member of his family so they can hang them on the tree, or set them in an appropriately prominent place for display.

The baby decoration with his name on it is silver with little blue gems decorating the points of the snowflake design, and a darker blue ribbon looped through the top for hanging.  The silver scroll containing the engraved “Scott’s First Christmas 2034” wound between the bottom two points like a flowing ribbon.  Scott particularly loved how well it matched with the pair of bells commemorating their parents’ first Christmas as a married couple. 

This one is silver with royal blue acrylic glazed embellishments and a pale blue ribbon.  The bells dangle and even make the slightest tinkling noise as they do.  The only engraving, at the top of the housing for the bells, is the year the marriage took place.  Scott can still remember years where his parents had smiled all doe-eyed at each other while hanging it together on a prominent tree branch.  And later years where his misty-eyed Dad had hung it solo, a sadder smile on his lips.

***

This year Virgil is finally completing the last in a set he’s been slowly adding to the tree for a number of years.  It all started with the scale model of Shadow that had been part of the production process, which inspired him to make tiny model Thunderbirds as tree ornaments.  That first year he’d managed to create an even smaller scaled model of Thunderbird S, as well as matching scaled Thunderbird 4, and a Thunderbird 2 model that was technically smaller in scale, but looked comparable in size beside the other two before running out of time to make more.  Each of them was as accurate as he could make them, but with a few festive touches added here and there in the extra sparkly paintwork.

Thunderbirds 1 and 3 followed the year after, and he now has a completed FAB 1 on his workbench ready for Lady Penelope and Parker to add to the tree when they arrive at Tracy Island in a few days.  But the one that has taken him the longest, and caused the most frustrated cursing is the miniature Thunderbird 5 that has finally come together without any of the tiny appendages breaking.

As he applies the finishing touches to the painted details he finds himself remembering so many long-ago Christmases making decorations with his Mom and brothers.  Sometimes it had been paper chains and fold-and-cut snowflakes, other years it was popcorn garlands and shortbread cookies (or gingerbread ones, or sugar cookies) “painted” with coloured Royal Icing.

His head shakes a little at the memory of younger brothers getting frustrated, or losing interest and drifting away from the kitchen table leaving just him and Mom as the last two left finishing the crafting of hand-made ornaments.  None of those crafty decorations had survived this long – they were never really meant to.  But the drive to make his own Christmas decorations had never left, and he now knew how to make things out of much more permanent materials. 

He hadn’t really thought much about it before, but Virgil was sure this little tradition he’d fallen into was only partly due to his generally creative nature and mostly a way of connecting back to those happy memories of crafting and chaos with brothers, and quiet moments with Mom.  It didn’t feel like Christmas to him without a festive creative project to work on in weeks leading into the holiday.

The last thing to add to his Five ornament was a tiny little VT signature.  It was one of two things that Mom had always insisted on for all the decorations they made, and he could still hear the ghost of her voice whispering, “Always put love into to the making, then sign your name with pride.”

***

John knows this is the right box, knows exactly what he will find under the protective layer of tissue paper, but even so the moment he lays eyes on the Christmas tree skirt the memory hits him and wraps itself around his heart.  A vivid memory of Mom kneeling at the base of the tree absently smoothing her hand over the surface of the quilted skirt with a warm but far-away smile on her face.

When he’d asked her what she was thinking about she had beckoned him over to sit beside her.  She didn’t speak for a moment, as though she was working out how to explain something a little bit complicated.  Eventually she had explained that she was feeling the love in the stitches.  He didn’t understand and must have pulled a face that obviously said so, which made her laugh before explaining further.

She pointed out every patchwork star and tree and snowflake in the design as she relayed to him the way her own mother had told her that the beloved Christmas tree skirt was handmade by her grandmother – John’s great grandmother.  It had been a gift lovingly sewn and given to her parents “for Lucille’s first Christmas.”  And though she couldn’t remember her grandma, she could remember the way her mother had got all misty-eyed explaining how much time and care Grandma had put into making this gift, and how much she adored her baby grand-daughter. 

Even at that young age John had been able to see what his Mom meant about the emotion that was contained within this one decoration.  A great deal of care had obviously gone into painstakingly sorting all the little pieces and stitching them together so precisely.  And it was very evident that the skirt had been lovingly cared for ever since – kept clean and fresh, tiny tears repaired, fastenings re-attached.  He saw the beauty in the way the small geometric shapes combined to make the bigger shapes of the overall design, and the way the different patterns and colours in each piece of fabric worked together to blend or contrast with the pieces around them.  But the real beauty was in the way looking at it, and touching it could spark memories of people who were now long gone, and connect him somehow with them.

Mom had said her grandma died when she was very young, and her own parents were sadly gone by the time John shared this moment with her, but she said it warmed her heart to know so much of their love remained here in so many ways.  Especially at Christmas when we have all these lovely little reminders left they behind.

He knew his brothers may not fully understand it, but John made a point of always dressing the tree with the patchwork skirt each year.  Taking his time to check over the fabric, the stitching, the colours and patterns as he did so. 

Over the years he had needed to make a few repairs here and there, adding his own love into the stitches.  He’d had to learn about the art of quilting, and now had a greater appreciation for the effort and skill that went into finding the right type of fabric, in the right colour, with a suitable pattern, cutting it into the right shape, and with the weave in the right direction, and then keeping the stitches neat and even.

Kneeling at the base of the tree, smoothing his hands over the surface of the skirt he’s just carefully fastened in place, he smiles and wonders if his brothers know about his sewing skills.  His stitches lovingly intertwined with those of an ancestor he never got to meet, but whose love is still visible in her handicraft and the fond memories it sparked.

***

Of course, Gordon doesn’t like to confine himself to just one favourite decoration.  He has multiple favourites, all with a marine theme, and all handmade.  Not by his own hands though.  He didn’t think he really had the patience or the knack, but he did appreciate the talents of others. Four of these ornaments are his most favourite of all.

He remembers the annual craft sessions with Mom, but not with exactly the same fondness that Virgil does.  One year he had complained about painting pinecones and asked why they couldn’t paint seashells instead.  It was suggested that perhaps children who lived closer to the sea might make their Christmas decorations that way, especially in Southern Hemisphere countries where Christmas was celebrated in summer.  He was also reminded that in their land-locked state seashells were in short supply and pinecones were easier to get hold of.

Apparently Virgil hadn’t forgotten that little episode, and for their first Christmas on Tracy Island he had gifted Gordon a set of three seashells.  Each one sat in the display box “pretty side up” displaying either the soft pastel colouring of the outside, or the pearlescent inside, and had a little hole punched through and a ribbon attached for hanging on the tree.  He had loved them immediately, but when he picked up the first one he discovered their true beauty.

The other side of each shell had been painted with the most wonderful tropical landscapes, using a palette of colours based on the natural hues in the shells, and with little festive hints in the tiny details.  The delicate little paintings were so exquisite he had not been able to express in words how much he adored his gift.  He had simply launched at his big brother and wrapped him in a fierce squid-hug.

These three decorations provided the perfect accompaniment for his fourth most beloved tree ornament – a carved, wooden sea-star.  Grandpa Grant had made it for him one Christmas while Gordon had sat watching in stunned fascination.

He knew Grandpa had carved ornaments for each of his brothers, and some to give to friends or to donate to the annual community displays in the town square, but he’d never before seen anyone turn a little block of wood into something new.  As he’d sat beside his Grandpa on the porch, a growing pile of wood shavings at their feet, he’d been transfixed by the transformation taking place in those sun-browned, wrinkly hands.  That little block of wood became a quite realistic looking creature that would seem totally at home in a little rock pool somewhere.

Gordon loved Grandpa’s sea-star so much he had petitioned for it to be the star that topped the tree several years in a row.  He was denied on the grounds that it was too small.  That didn’t stop Gordon from making it a tradition to try and get the little carved sea-star as high up on the tree as possible each year, and taking great joy in putting it as high as he could reach.

This year he’d managed to get it almost a full six feet high, and he hadn’t used anything to stand on or increase his reach.  That would be cheating.

***

Gordon also had a hand in the creation of Kayo’s most treasured tree ornament.  The decoration itself is fairly ordinary – a red keepsake bauble with a pattern of tiny gold stars and trees, and a gold stripe around the middle where the hinge and clasp were hidden.  It wasn’t the bauble that she loved, but the little treasures she kept inside.  A collection that had been accumulating since the very first Christmas she’d spent with the Tracy family.

Back then she had been a shy, quiet little girl, unused to the noise and bluster of such a large family in the same space all at once.  The boys themselves, and their parents and grandparents, had been friendly and welcoming, but they were loud and always moving.  Even around the dinner table.  So, she had sat quietly throughout the meal, just watching and listening and trying to take it all in.

Then, after the main meal was done but before dessert, the crackers came out.  She watched the Tracys pair up and pull at the coloured paper tubes until they came apart with a little bang.  Thin paper crowns were placed on the heads of the “winners” of the tiny prizes of dice and moustache combs and hair clips . . . and tiny slips of paper were unfurled. 

She hadn’t encountered the tradition of terrible jokes inside Christmas crackers before.  As each one was read out the grown-ups mostly groaned, the kids would often giggle, and Kayo had found a smile spreading across her face at the silliness, and the absolute joy around the table.

She’d shared a cracker with her father and won her own crown and a tiny star shaped charm, and had the chance to read out her own mildly amusing joke.

Why has Santa been banned from sooty chimneys? Carbon footprints.

She’d shared another cracker with Gordon and lost, but the joke – read by Virgil because the small print and fancy font were difficult for a six-year-old – made her laugh heartily.

What do you get if Santa forgets to wear his underpants? Saint Knickerless.

A little later that day, when the table was being cleared, Gordon had approached her with a handful of slips of paper.

“Here.  So you can always have them to make you smile and laugh.”

She’d been surprised at first, not knowing what else to do but accept the gift and shove them in her pocket. There they had remained until later that night as she was getting ready for bed.  Kayo had pulled the half-dozen slips of paper out and did indeed smile at the memory of all the fun, and the kindness behind the giving of the gift.  She had kept them ever since, and added her favourite joke from every year.

Her collection now included gems like:

What do you call an old snowman? Water.

Who hides in the bakery at Christmas? A mince spy.

What do you call a penguin in the Sahara Desert? Lost.

What do you get if you put a bell on a skunk? Jingle smells.

How did Darth Vader know what Luke Skywalker got him for Christmas? He felt his presents.

What do you call a polar bear wearing earmuffs? Anything you like.  He can’t hear you.

What do you call a snowman with a sixpack? An abdominal snowman.

Why was the snowman looking through the carrots? He was picking his nose.

She hangs her ornament on the tree, not far from Thunderbird Shadow, and reflects on how lucky she is to be part of this family and share in simple joys like bad jokes around the dinner table.  She wonders whose terrible Christmas cracker joke will make it into the bauble this year.

***

Alan can remember so many happy moments from Christmases when he was little.  All involving his brothers, many with his Dad as well. He remembers some very frustrating moments around the holiday too – not getting the present he had so desperately wanted, or worse still, a brother getting the gift he wanted instead!  Not being allowed to open presents before everyone was awake.  Toys being damaged or lost before the day had ended . . .

But his strongest early memories of Christmas are of Dad lifting him up to place the star on the top of the tree. Apparently it had been a tradition since Scott was little, but old enough to manage the task.  Since then tradition dictated that youngest Tracy able to do so was the one who got to put the star on the tree.  The job had been Alan’s since he was three years old and he had no plans to give it up any time soon.

They had been through three or four different stars since then, and for a brief period the tree had been topped by an angel instead, but Alan couldn’t recall why.  In any case the decoration for the top of the tree was his favourite, because he had the honour of placing that final piece in place.  Plus he liked the teamwork aspect.

Scott had taken over lifting duty around the time Alan was five or six.  That was the Christmas before Scott went off to the Academy, and since he had the height and, in their father’s words, the “military bearing” to manage it, as well as the desire to have as many bonding moments with each brother as possible, Dad had relinquished that part of the job to him.

When the family moved to the island things had become a little trickier.  Now they had room for a much taller tree, and Alan was getting bigger.  Heavier.  That first year there had been failed attempts with lifts from both Dad and Scott, while Virgil and John had whispered to each other as they watched the proceedings.  Quite obviously a new technique was required – couldn’t get high enough with the traditional lifting method, couldn’t get close enough sitting on shoulders . . .

At Virgil’s suggestion the patriarch and the eldest had finally stepped aside for John to try.  There was brief discussion about John having no better (or worse) chance than those who had already tried, because he was much the same height, but Virgil smiled and told them to just wait and see.

John crouched a little and Virgil lifted Alan so he could stand on John’s shoulders and steadied him there as John took firm hold of Alan’s ankles and straightened to his full height.  Virgil had then acted as their spotter, standing ready in case of any wobbles.  Or worse.  But there had been no wobbles.  John’s grip had remained firm and Alan had felt on top of the world reaching out to the top of that giant tree to place the glittering star.

This technique should have continued to work just fine, but after the accident there was a mood change. That first Christmas without Dad, Scott had dared to suggest they just use a ladder to reach the top of the tree, but had quickly retracted the suggestion when he’d seen the crestfallen look on Alan’s face.

Gordon had started asking Brains if they could rig some kind of contraption – Mission Impossible style – where Alan could be suspended from the ceiling.  But Virgil had other ideas and whispered them in Alan’s ear.  It was an interesting plan for Mr Safety-First to have come up with, but Alan was excited to try it, and had full trust in Virgil’s heavy lifting muscles and past gymnast expertise.

The conversation amongst the rest of the family had died down as Alan and Virgil went running up the stairs to the mezzanine level and Scott had asked where they were going.  Without a word, they approached the railing as close as they could get to the top of the tree.

Everyone had watched in slightly terrified awe as Virgil hoisted Alan up onto his left shoulder, sitting so Virgil could wrap his left arm firmly around Alan’s legs to hold him in place.  Virgil raised his right hand above his head to hold Alan’s right hand, then leaned out over the railing so Alan’s outstretched left hand could snag the top of the tree and secure the star in place.

That manoeuvre only became easier over the next few years as Alan’s height increased, and thinking about it now Alan considers it to be kind of fitting that the brother who’s had the least amount of Christmases as star placer is now the one with the most years as lifting assistant.  He knows that Scott, and possibly John would prefer a less risky method of reaching the top of the tree, but they won’t say anything.  Virgil’s grip is as firm and dependable as ever, and Alan still feels on top of the world being held aloft to uphold the tradition.

***

For so many years Jeff had not had any reliable way of measuring when Christmas was.  He had kept his watch wound, but couldn’t be sure his count of days or months, let alone years was accurate.  But even if he had known exactly when each Christmas fell, he would not have felt much like celebrating.  The holiday had always been very much a family affair, and alone, so far away from them it could never be a true Christmas without them, whatever the date.

But, out there he had often turned to his memories of past Christmases.  The traditions old and new, the treasure and the trash, the tears and tantrums and general chaos, but mostly the love and laughter.  His heart had ached for his boys, but the memories kept him going, holding on, fighting to find a way back.

And now here he was sitting contentedly on his recliner in the sunken lounge watching, listening, making the odd suggestion as his nearest and dearest decorated the tree.  He laughed at their antics, tried not to chuckle too much at their banter, and felt his heart swell with pride at the way they all worked together.

“Here, Dad.”  Scott was beside him, holding out the pair of silver bells and smiling a little uncertainly.  “It’s your turn.  You should do this one.”

He needed to lean on Scott a little to get out of the chair, but once on his feet he managed the walk to the tree unassisted. Up close he took in the details of many familiar old decorations, all hung and placed just so with great care. His hand was a little shaky reaching out to hang the bells, and he wished he still had Lucy’s hand on his like in those early years.

Stepping back to admire the fully decorated tree, he glanced over to where his mother stood with Kayo and Brains over by the piano, and spotted his father’s wire star.  His boys gathered around him, admiring their handiwork, bringing his attention back to the tree and it’s glittering decorations.

If only these old ornaments could talk.  Not just trinkets and keepsakes, but ghosts of Christmases past. The memories, the love, the stories they hold . . .

[6rookie-writer0110]

I will keep you safe in my heart

Yelena Belova x Male Reader

Request - They are on a ferris wheel, and everything is going great - until it gets stuck at the very top. For thirty whole minutes. Male reader was reluctant to get on in the first place due to their fear of heights. Bonus if: Male reader is having a panic attack and crying in Yelena's arms while they wait for help to get them out.

Yelena still trying to figure out her life since she isn't a black widow anymore. Now she is doing stuff that she never experienced and she is happy about it. You go along with her to explore new things and she is having fun. Yelena saw a flyer about a Carnival and she is curious about it, she grabbed the flyer and went home to show it to you.

You have your headset on and you're playing online. You didn't hear Yelena come in or her calling your name. She takes off your headset

“What!? I was playing!” You yelled.

“You can play later, y/n,” Yelena said.

“Why, did pull you my headset?” You asked.

She gave you the flyer and you start to read it.

“So?” You said.

“Let’s go. I have never been to a carnival” Yelena said.

“Not even one time with your family?” You asked.

“No. They didn't take us out much to have fun. We did go to the park but that's it” Yelena said.

“Oh. Okay, we can go now” You said.

“Y/n, you need to change clothes I'm not with you in your boxers of the dog,” Yelena said.

She is talking about your briefs of Scooby-Doo and you have on a shirt. Yelena waits for you while you change.

While driving to the carnival, Yelena asked about the carnival. You had to explain what people do and what kind of games and rides are there.

---

You and Yelena start to walk around. She watches people having fun and playing games.

“Wow there is a lot to do,” Yelena said.

“Yeah, let's start on the games,” You said.

In the first game, you had to explain how the game is played. Yelena has to make three shots in a roll with a basketball. You made two shots then you watch Yelena play. She made three shots in a roll and she won.

Yelena became very happy that she won her first game. You cheered for her

“Now pick your prize, any plush you want,” She said.

“I can pick anything I want?” Yelena asked in shock.

“Yes, you can pick any prize you want” She said.

Yelena starts to look at all the plushes. She picked donkey kong plush, she can't stop smiling. And you took a picture of her.

---

You bought cotton candy and she loved it. But she loved snow cones the most that she wanted another one.

In the next game, you and Yelena start to play the balloon dart. But you and Yelena wanted to see who can pop the most balloons. You lost to Yelena and she won the huge plush prize. But you did win a prize of a snake plush and Yelena put it around your neck. And she picked a blue duck. You and Yelena took a selfie with the prizes.

“Oh, y/n I want to go on that” Yelena said.

She points at the Ferris wheel and heights give you panic attacks.

“I-I need the bathroom,” You said.

“Okay,” Yelena said.

You used the porta-potty fast then grabbed the hand sanitizer and used it on your hands.

“Don’t you want something else to eat?” You asked.

“I’m not hungry. I want to go on the Ferris wheel with you” Yelena said.

“I’m going to get a snack” You said.

You rushed to the line to buy sacks. You buy a lot of snacks and Yelena watches you eat.

“Y/n, let's go. You finished twenty minutes ago” Yelena

You start to freak out and you are trying to come up with a lie.

“I-I don't know, Yelena,” You said.

“It will be fun” Yelena smiled.

She doesn't know you have fear of heights.

Yelena grabbed your hand and drag you to the Ferris wheel.

✯ ✬ ✯ ✬

You and Yelena are in the cart. She is smiling and you start to breathe hard.

“Y/n, why are you breathing so hard?” Yelena asked.

The Ferris wheel ride is going fine, except for you. But once it reached the top it stopped.

“What the fuck!? Why did we stop!?” You freaked out.

“Y/n what’s wrong?” Yelena asked.

“We can't be stuck here! It's not moving!” You cried.

Yelena looked out the window. The worker uses a bullhorn

“Don’t worry, we are fixing the problem. Stay calm and everything will be okay” He said.

Yelena moved closer to you and she starts to rub your back.

“Y/n talk to me please,” Yelena said.

“I’m scared of heights. I hate the Ferris wheel. I didn't want to get on it, but you never been on a Ferris wheel”

You start to cry and Yelena felt bad. She wrapped her arm around you and you hide your face on her shoulder.

“Y/n, I'm sorry. I shouldn't have made you get on the Ferris wheel. I will never force you to do something that you don't want to. I hope you forgive me” Yelena said.

You break from the hug and she wiped your tears away. And her hands are still on your face

“I don't hate you, Yelena. And I should have told you about my fear of heights” You said.

“It will be okay. I'm here with you and don't feel alone” Yelena said and gave you a small smile.

During the 30 minutes of being stuck on the Ferris wheel, Yelena made you feel safe and calm. You and Yelena go home and she holds your hand while walking to the car.

“I hope you don't think I'm pathetic,” You said.

“You're not pathetic. I still like you and you being of heights won't change that” Yelena said.

You and Yelena smiled at each other.

[kikikittykis]

What They do At A Fair Demonslayer

Masterlist

Characters: Kyojuro, Tanjiro, Uzui Tengen, Inosuke, Zenitsu

Tanjiro Kamado

Tanjiro loves the smell of Carnivals

It’s all so happy and all the sweets and other foods

He likes seeing the performers If there’s a circus type show

He can’t stand the smell of the big rides

Because with big rides comes nausea and nausea becomes vomiting and vomiting well the smell is horrible

So it smells even worse to Tanjiro

Though he does like riding a few of them

He really likes Ferris Wheel

Zenitsu Agatsuma

It’s all really loud to Zenitsu and he’s afraid to go onto the rides and into the haunted houses

Unless you ask him that is

He’d do anything for you so that includes big rides and haunted houses

He likes the sounds of the kids laughing and some of the music though

Sometimes the ride noises overwhelm his poor ears

Inosuke Hashibira

Loves the deep fried well anything and everything which is fried in oil

Corn dogs, pickles, you name any oil fried food from a carnival he’ll eat it

He likes winning those hammer to hit the bell type games

He always gives the prize to you

Sometimes you’ll win a prize and give him it back he really likes that

At first he thinks that the rides are living and he can challenge them

You show him that their not and that you just ride on them

So he really likes the big rides

Tried to stand on the Ferris wheel

Almost got in trouble from the staff

MULTIPLE TIMES

Kyojuro Rengoku

Eats everything at the carnival and thinks it’s delicious

Snacks the entire time

Somehow doesn’t end up puking

Rengoku likes going the rides with Senjuro

Has a lot of fun with you on rides too

Loves the Ferris wheel with you

Teaches Senjuro how to beat the games at the fair

Senjuro somehow loses his money with a fortune teller

Uzui Tengen

Thinks it’s Flamboyant to go on rides and try not to puke

One time was a strongman at a fair

Likes to eat the snacks

Gets his face painted like a kid would

Gets matching paint jobs with you and his wives

Like some sort of flower or something like that

Maybe they even get his scar painted over their eyes

Tengen likes to ride the scrambler with each of his wives (Which includes you) at least once

Hah he squishes them everytime

Like they got flung against him and into his side of the cart

Then he squished them back

[buttterknifeee]

Sisters- Teen Titans x Aquagirl Reader

Masterlist

Summary: You don't get along well with your own siblings, but maybe you'll get along well with Starfire's super-cool, definitely-not-evil sister!

Pairings: Platonic! Starfire x reader

Word Count: 3575

A/N: Hey guys!!! Sorry for posting this so late I just did this one a lot slower lol. Unfortunately, school's starting soon so I won't be able to write as often. I'm still working on 2 fics so keep that in mind if you want to request!

Carnivals were the best invention in the world, you decided. The rides, the food, the games, and you only get to enjoy it a few times a year. So when the carnival does come to visit, you always make sure to enjoy it as much as you can.

“Don’t you just lovvvveee carnivals?” You say, walking next to Raven.

“Well, Beast Boy and Cyborg have been trying to win an animal from a single game for the past hour and Robin and Starfire are probably making out on the ferris wheel, so not as much as you.” she says, staring straight ahead. The others had paired up and set off when you first entered the carnival, so that left you with Raven. And as much as you love Raven, you love her in a “meditating/book club” way, not a “fun adventure” way. You approached the two boys as they finally won their carnival game prize.

“Told you we’d win a prize” Beast Boy grinned at Raven, holding a toy chicken to her face.

“A giant chicken. I must be the luckiest girl in the world.” She said sarcastically.

Suddenly, Robin jumped in front of the four of you.

“Titans! Trouble!” He yelled, standing up from a crouching position.

“Where’s Starfire?” Cyborg asked.

“That's the trouble,” Robin said, then promptly took off. The four of you followed him close behind. He brings the four of you to a dock, where you finally see the “trouble” Robin was talking about. Starfire was being chased by a flying, squid-like space robot with tentacles and everything. She flies past the five of you, the flying machine doing the same.

“Who’s her new best friend?” Beast Boy asks, staring at the scene before you.

“Don’t know, but I can’t wait to meet him,” Robin said.

Starfire hid behind you as the flying machine continued to follow her. Beast Boy turned into an alligator and tried to attack the robotic squid, but missed. You tried to hit it with jets of water, but it bounced off of its exterior. Raven threw a hot dog cart at the machine with her telekinesis, but it simply tore straight through the cart. Cyborg grabbed onto the tentacles and strained as the machine tried to get away.

“Don't know what you did to make this thing mad, Star, but it couldn't hurt to apologize!” Cyborg yelled, trying to keep a grip on the tentacles.

“I am… sorry?” Starfire apologizes confusingly, taking shelter behind a grimacing Robin.

Cyborg loses grip on the mysterious space squid as Robin jumps forward. He hits the machine hard with his staff and it falls into the water. A moment of silence falls onto the six of you.

“So, did we just win?” Beast Boy asked.

His answer came in the form of the machine crashing through the floor and back into the sky. Robin jumps onto it.

“Don’t see an OFF switch,” He yells. “Guess I’ll have to make one!” He punches into the side of the machine. The machine goes haywire, and Robin jumps off of it before it flies crazily into the sky and blows up. Since there were already fireworks, any regular citizens could have easily mistaken it for one of the big finals. You turned your attention to Starfire.

“Starfire, are you alright?” you ask. She nodded with a small smile.

“Whatever that thing was, it can’t hurt you now.” Robin said, now next to her again.

Starfire frowned. “But… why did it wish to hurt me at all?”

.

You found yourself back in the tower after such an eventful night. Despite being attacked by some alien machine, Starfire seemed to be in a cheery mood.

“I shall thank you for my rescue by reciting the Poem of Gratitude, all six thousand verses.” She said, a giant smile on her face. You and the others stopped dead in your tracks, not excited for how the rest of the night will seem to go.

“I think ‘thank you’ cuts it,” You say.

Suddenly, you hear a voice. “I see you haven’t changed a bit.” The voice belonged to a girl who bore a striking resemblance to Starfire. She had long, black hair, and wore a black outfit similar to Starfire, except hers had more metal components. The mystery girl continued.

“When we were little, I was always rescuing Starfire.”

“Sister!” Starfire squealed, running to hug her. Starfire’s sister smiled, holding up a necklace with a large green gem as the pendant.

“A Centauri Moon Diamond?? Where did you get-”

“On the Centauri Moons of course.” the sister said, fastening the necklace around Starfire’s neck. “Oh look, it matches your eyes.” Starfire smiled brightly. You remember that you’ve been staring at the two of them interacting when she turns to the five of you.

“I wish to introduce my big sister,” Starfire said. Her sister stepped in front of her.

“Blackfire,” she said. “ And since Star told me all about the Titans in her transmissions, let me guess.” She walks over to Cyborg.

“Cyborg,” She guessed correctly.

“Pleased to meet you little lady,” Cyborg says, holding out his hand. She takes it and you hear the sound of metal bending. Cyborg holds up his hand, now bent out of shape.

“Little lady, big handshake. Well alright!” he says with a smile. Blackfire moves on.

“Raven. I like that gemstone on your Ajna chakra,” Blackfire says.

“You know about chakras?” Raven asked, mildly impressed.

“I got way into meditation on Altara Prime.” She says casually. She then turned to you.

“Aquagirl. Oh my god your outfit is soooo cute! And your hair, how do you get it so healthy?” She said, clasping your hands. Her voice was nothing like Starfire’s; it was much smoother, and more confident, not to mention she had the American accent down.

“Mix of coconut oil, avocado, and a cabinet full of hair ointments” you wink.

“You’ll have to give me tips.” she winked back.

She continued her introductions, finally getting to Robin. She was all over him, complimenting his outfit, calling his mask ‘mysterious’, etc. You saw Starfire steaming with anger, even if she didn’t show it. She intercepted them as Blackfire got close to his face.

“So beloved sister, what brings you to Earth?” Starfire asks, an annoyed grin spread across her face.

“I was in the quadrant. Thought I'd see if Earthlings like to party.” She said, hopping onto the couch. “Besides, I needed a rest. Nearly got sucked into a black hole on the way here.” Immediately, the three boys rushed over to her, the three of you girls still behind them. You rolled your eyes at the sight of the three teens crowding around Blackfire.

“Black hole?”

“No way!”

“Cool”

You could feel Blackfire’s smirk as she began her story.

“Okay. I’m cruising through Draconis Nebula and-”

Starfire interrupted. “Sister! That nebula is full of black holes! You know travel there is forbidden.” The four teens on the couch stared at her.

“Most fun things in life are. Now be a sweetie and bring me one of those sodas I've heard so much about.” Blackfire waved at her and turned back to the boys. You heard her continue the story, but all you could focus on was Starfire grumbling towards the fridge. You look at Raven; your way of saying Ill go after her.

You find Starfire taking a soda can out of the fridge, talking to herself.

“Starfire?” you ask. She flinches at your approach, almost dropping the soda in her hand.

“Oh! Aquagirl. You have caught me off guard, my apologies,” she rubs her neck, blushing.

“You alright? You seemed a little worked up back there,” you say as the teen straightened herself up.

“Oh it's nothing, it's just that…” she sighed, closing the refrigerator. “My sister has always acted in such a way that can cause me to feel… annoyed.”

“Oh well, if you ever want to talk about it, I’m always here.” She hugs you, still holding the can of soda.

“Thank you my friend”

.

The next day, You were sitting in your room. Starfire barged in while you were rubbing the water from your head with your towel.

“Oh hey Starfire! What's up?” you smile, putting the towel onto your bed.

“Aquagirl! Have you seen Blackfire?” she asked. You noticed that she seemed distressed, but decided to answer her question first.

“Oh! We just went surfing! She crushed those waves!” You say, reminiscing. She was surprisingly good at surfing, especially since she told you it was her first time. Starfire frowned.

“Oh. alright.” you frowned back at her answer.

“Well, I think she might be with Robin right now. Is everything alright?” you ask. Her face turns bright red at the mention of Robin’s name.

“N- I mean, yes! Everything is alright. I must go.” She slammed the door before you could say anything. You wanted to go after her, but you figured since she left so quickly, she's probably not in the mood to talk. You went about your day, still a little worried about her.

.

Nighttime fell, and you sat on the couch with the other Titans, relaxing after an uneventful day. Starfire skipped in holding popcorn, candy, and a bunch of CDs.

“Friends! I invite you to join me in the togetherness of a stay-home movie night. I bring you popcorn and non-cotton candies. Tell me, what sort of movie shall we view?”

“Action,” said Robin.

“Romance!” you cheered.

“Comedy.” spat Beast Boy.

“Sci-fi” Cyborg offered.

“Horror.” Raven said flatly. Starfire drops her goodies.

“Perhaps a double feature?” she asked.

“Forget the flicks, kids.” You looked up to see Blackfire, now dressed in Starfire’s clothes. “We’re going out!”

“We are? Where did you- How did you-” Starfire stuttered, obviously confused by her sister’s new look.

“Heard about a party downtown,” Blackfire continued, ignoring her sister. “Cool crowd, hot music”

“Sound’s nice!” you say.

“Yeah!” Beast Boy agrees.

“I’m in!” Cyborg says.

“Why not?” Robin smiles. Raven kept looking at her book.

“And it's in an abandoned warehouse,” Blackfire adds. Raven looked up from her book, her way of saying that she's in. You all began to leave. You noticed Starfire still standing where she was, looking a bit sadder.

“Starfire? you coming?” you asked, walking by her.

“Oh um, I guess I will go,” she said, hanging her head a bit. You looked at her but she didn’t meet your eyes. Maybe she’s tired, you thought, walking to catch up with the other titans.

.

You entered the party, taking in the colorful lights and dancing teens. You followed Blackfire onto the dance floor, who seemed to already be dancing.

“Step aside Earthlings, the queen of the galaxy has arrived!” she cheered, swaying her hips with the other teens. She looks at the rest of you, a smirk on her face.

“Now don't tell me you big tough superheroes are afraid of a little dancing.” she says, beckoning you to do so. The boys joined in, and you noticed that Raven left the dance floor with a boy. The only people who weren’t dancing were you and Starfire. Starfire looked scared, she was clutching her new necklace, and you swore that she said something about shovels. You came up to her and took her hand.

“Let’s go Starfire, I think you need some air.” you say, leading her to the stairwell.

You sat next to her on the roof, both awkwardly silent.

“So, what's wrong?” you finally say.

“It’s my sister again,” she sighs. “It feels as though she has stolen you all from me, and I don’t know how to keep that from happening.”

“Hey. we’ll always be your friends, just as you’ll be ours. And she didn’t steal us from you, we just thought she was cool and all-” you were cut off by a yell from the part below.

“YO A.G.!!! YOU GOTTA COME DOWN HERE!!!” Cyborg yelled. You looked at the direction of the sound and then back at Starfire, who was staring at the ground.

“Oh- uh they probably need me, I’ll be right back,” You say, rubbing her arm. “HANG ON I'LL BE THERE IN A SEC!”

You race down to the dance floor and see Cyborg dancing.

“YO THEY’RE TOTALLY PLAYING YOUR SONG!” he yelled. Ugh I should get back to Starfire but they are totally playing my song, you thought. You look at Cyborg again, who was waving at you to join him. You see Robin next to you and pull him aside.

“Hey Aquagirl! Where’s Starfire?” He asked. You cross your arms.

“She’s upstairs on the roof. Listen, she’s super down in the dumps right now, I think you should talk to her.” You say. He nods and leaves, heading towards the stairs. You sigh as you go back to join your other friends. You bump into Blackfire, who was now sporting a neon pink wig.

“Um, nice wig,” you say.

“Thanks hot stuff. Where’s Robin? I saw you with him earlier.” She asked, still dancing. You weren’t sure if it was the best idea to tell her.

“He’s uhhhhhhh….” you try to stall.

“... with Starfire.” she finishes. You turn to see her staring through the glass roof, where you could see Robin and Starfire sitting together. She turns to the rest of you.

“One sec guys!” She winks. Less than a minute goes by and she reappears with Robin. You make eye contact; he seemed annoyed by being back here.

“We HAVE to dance to this song!” she says, starting to dance again next to Robin. He steps away from her.

“Sorry, but I’m going to check on Starfire again.” Robin says, heading to the stairwell again. Blackfire follows him, trying to get him to return, leaving you with Cyborg and Beast Boy. They continue to dance and you roll your eyes.

Suddenly, you notice Starfire fighting something. You squint at her location, then realize that what she's attacking is one of the robots from yesterday. You look at the two boys who’ve quite literally been dancing the whole time.

“Cyborg! Beast Boy! Starfire’s in trouble!” You yell, already running towards the exit. Suddenly, another of those robots appears out of nowhere.

“What the- AHHHHH!!!!” you scream as the robot latches onto you and drags you away. The two boys try to follow you but a third robot attacks them, leaving you to still be stuck in the clutches of the space robot. You see Raven hanging out with the boy from earlier (they’d be a cute couple huh) and she spots you. She flies after you, flinging two robots towards the machine as you finally break free. Starfire crashes into the room through the ceiling and lands in the crates, Cyborg and Beast Boy still taking on the other robot.

All three of the robots start chasing Starfire, and she flies around the room trying to lose them. Cyborg knocks into them and lays some punches, you trying to short circuit them by spraying them with water. One of the robots hits Cyborg, sending him flying into a wall. Another one sends Starfire flying into a different wall, and she lands in a dumpster. You run to the hole in the wall to find the aliens trying to bring the whole dumpster into the air. You were about to try to strike them when you saw a flash- the flash of a birdarang. It cuts into the arms of the robot and drops the container. Robin joins the rest of you.

“Titans Go!” Robin yells, but Blackfire flies out in front of you. In a matter of seconds she demolished all three robots. You all surrounded her as she stood victoriously.

“Aw yeah! Good times!”

“Nice shot, Tex!”

“Very nice.”

“Couldn’t have said it better myself!”

“How did you know where to hit them?” Robin asked.

“Lucky guess,” Blackfire shrugged. Cyborg stepped forward.

“We could use luck like that,” he said. “Maybe you oughta join the team.”

“Me? A teen titan?” Blackfire asked, obviously flattered. You couldn’t help but notice Starfire looking away, a defeated look on her face. I should talk to her again, you decided.

.

You and Robin found Starfire standing on the roof of the Titans Tower. You found out that you both had the idea of finishing up your conversations, but it seemed that Starfire had different plans. You reach her as she floats into the air.

“Were you going to leave without saying goodbye?” Robin asked, causing her to whip around to face the two of you.

“A little rude if you ask me,” you tried to joke, but she didn’t laugh. Her head hanging, she slowly landed back on the roof, taking off the backpack she was wearing.

“Aquagirl, Robin, I- '' She began, but was cut off by the sound of a spaceship coming towards you. One of the aliens on board unleashes its arm, which is a tentacle much like one of the robot’s, and slashes you and Robin, sending you both to the ground. It then wraps around Starfire, pulling her into the ship.

Robin runs towards the screaming Starfire and jumps from the roof and towards the ship. You watch in horror as he misses, and begins the fall towards the ground. The ship continues its ascent into the air.

“ROBIN!” you scream, running towards the edge of the Tower’s roof. You can do this, you can do this, you can-

You focused hard, and raised your arms above you. A geyser of water shoots up from the shore and catches Robin. You raised the geyser up towards the hull of the spaceship, allowing the Boy Wonder to grab onto the bottom and make his way up. Seeing that he made it safely on board, you dropped the geyser of water.

You fell to your knees, breathing heavily. You haven’t made such a strong geyser in, well, never! Your vision was blurring as Beast Boy, Cyborg, and Raven all rushed onto the roof.

“Aquagirl! What happened?” Cyborg asked, helping you up.

“Starfire… Spaceship… Robin… I helped…” you huffed, pointing towards the spaceship, which was now far away from the tower.

“We gotta catch up to them. But how?” Beast Boy said, staring at the silhouette in the distance.

“Follow my lead.” Raven said, grabbing on to Beast Boy and Cyborg, who was holding into you. You watched as she made a dark portal in front of you. She pulled the three of you through it and you found yourself in the outskirts of the city, next to mountains and a river. You see Starfire and Robin up ahead, in front of a now toppled over spaceship.

“Starfire! Robin!” Beast Boy yelled as you caught up to them.

“Are you alright?” Cyborg asked. Suddenly, you see two aliens emerge from the shipwreck.

“Titans! Get ready!” he said, assuming a fighting stance, which you follow. You wait tensely as the aliens approach you.

“In the name of the Grand Centauri Empire, you are all under arrest.” one of the aliens says, showing off a professional looking police badge. You stare at it. If they're police, why are they arresting us? And why are we fighting them?

“Uh… you can’t be the good guys. We’re the good guys.” Beast Boy says, just as confused as you are.

“And we are the Centauri Police,” the second alien repeats.

“The Tamaranean girl is a liar and a thief.” the first police alien says, pointing at Starfire. “She's committed high crimes throughout the entire Centauri system.”

“I have never even been to the Centauri moons!” Starfire pleaded.

Suddenly everything clicked. The necklace, the events at the carnival, the events at the party. All evidence seemed to have pointed to Starfire, but they actually pointed at another person.

“But I know someone who has.” you and Robin say at the same time. You look at each other, obviously aware of who the other was thinking.

Blackfire.

.

Robin took off Starfire’s necklace for her and threw it aside. He faced the police aliens.

“You’ve been chasing the wrong girl. Where’s Blackfire?” Robin says. Before any of the other Titans could answer, you saw a figure flying through the sky.

“That Bitch!” you yelled, watching Blackfire make an escape.

“Don’t worry Star, she won't get away with this,” Robin says to Starfire, but her eyes are already glowing.

“No she will not!” she yells, and shoots off into the sky. You couldn’t see much, but there were flashes of bright green and purple in the sky. The Centauri police calmly rebalanced their ship and restarted it, its engine humming to life.

You then watched as they proceeded to fly up into the sky and capture Blackfire, similar to how they initially captured Starfire, and fly off into the night. You stared dumbfounded.

"What just happened?"

.

The next morning, you stood in front of the kitchen, making pancakes with Cyborg.

“Crazy what happened last night, huh?” you yawned, watching the pancakes sizzle on the stove.

“No kidding,” he said. “She would’ve made a great addition to the team, except for the intergalactic-criminal part.” You laughed, flipping the rest of the pancakes.

You climbed up to the roof, finding Robin and Starfire sitting together. God they’re probably being cheesy together you thought. You cleared your throat, the two of them jumping at your presence.

“Hey you two,” you winked. “Breakfast is ready!!!”

[givemethatgold]

Fix’er Upper Pt. 8

Pairing: Frankie Morales x F!Reader Warnings: none? Length: 2.1k Notes: I’m sorry, Cyn, I know I said there would be smut but I was just enjoying the slow burn too much. And I just feel like these two NEED this. Not me nervous to write about his p in her v, nooope. Also, I’m wine drunk and did not spell check this bitch, have fun with that. Divider by @firefly-graphics

Series MASTERLIST

The day of the fair had finally arrived and you woke with more than a little excitement churning in your stomach. Multiple meetings at the community center had given you a chance to meet more of the town's population and you'd gained a deeper appreciation for them. Small towns afforded very few entertainments, which had resulted in some of the older kids, driven by boredom, getting into trouble. Minor things like graffiti and trespassing, but the community knew if they weren't careful that things could escalate. So, instead of making the kids feel judged or harshly reprimanded, the town was working towards better programs and facilities to keep them busy.

It was an unseasonably beautiful Autumn day, the kind that carried memories of Summer on the warm breeze. Knowing that cold and snow were just around the corner, these "second summers" made people act a little more recklessly and freely than they usually might. You had a feeling that the crowds tonight were going to be bigger and rowdier than anyone could have hoped for.

Jacquie had stopped by later to offer you a ride to town but you had just sent your baking with her, insisting that you wanted to enjoy the sunshine and bicycle in.

Once you'd entered the main square you were blown away by the effort from the town. Banners, balloons, streamers, and posters were everywhere. A stage for musical acts and a ticket booth had been built and donated by Hank's Hardware, food carts selling anything and everything you could deep-fry were scattered down every road. Carnival games had been set up in rows down multiple, closed-off, streets, as well as people setting up face-painting, balloon animals, and a smaller version of the Saturday Farmer's Market. The high school football field had even been converted to a tiny amusement park with a Ferris Wheel, carousel, and swing ride.

It was still early, and there was still a lot to do before the fair would be open, but the excitement was already palpable. After making sure your pies had been marked down for the auction, you beelined for the water gun race game that you and a lovely woman named Heather had been assigned to operate. 

Too preoccupied with making sure you had the water tanks filled, the pumps were working, and your ticket box was in place you didn't notice how some of the other volunteers were acting strangely, making sidelong glances and meaningful head nods. 

Nothing seemed amiss once Heather had joined you. In fact, you were getting along with her so well the two of you had already made plans to meet for coffee the next day.

Soon, the fair was in full swing. The games booths were a popular stop with families and you were having the time of your life cheering for every child who tried their hand at your game. 

Eventually, there was a natural lull in the festivities as fair-goers drifted from the games towards the food and live entertainment. You were just suggesting making a quick snack run when Heather's phone rang. 

"Sorry, one sec, it's my husband," she grimaced, holding her finger up to stop you from leaving.

In a bid to give her a modicum of privacy, you tallied up the tickets and bunched them into coils for easier counting later. Heather's normally calm voice rose in pitch and urgency, drawing your attention back to her in time to see a look of alarm and annoyance cross her face.  

"What do you mean, burned? Like, burned burned? There's smoke?! Oh, honey, what on earth..." she paused, listening to her husband's voice some more, giving you an eye roll that clearly said 'Men. They're hopeless' and interrupted whatever he had been saying. "Alright, alright. It's slowing down here so I can run home."

Putting her phone back in her purse, Heather turned to you with a huff. "He's burnt dinner, and it sounds like my skillet is toast, too. I'm sorry to do this to you but I need to run to the store and bring dinner home. I've got the only car, so they're stuck."

Assuring her you could manage on your own, you shooed her away and told her to take her time.

Walking backward to wave goodbye, Heather kept spouting numerous apologies and promising she'd make it up to you on your coffee date. Giving one last smile she spun around and immediately ran into old Mrs. Crawley who was being escorted by no other than a very bored and trapped-looking Frankie Morales.

"Oh! Mrs. Crawley! So sorry!" She began, steadying the white-haired octogenarian, "I'm being called home, ditching my post, gotta run, bye!" With that, she was gone, weaving her way through the crowd of people.

Mrs. Crawley had glanced over at you when Heather had mentioned having to leave and was currently shuffling her way towards you, Frankie in tow.

"Frankie, be a dear and help this beautiful lady out while Heather is away."

It wasn't a question but you still felt the need to speak up, giving Frankie an out if he wanted it.

"I can manage-"

"But what about your-"

You'd both spoken at the same time and stopped mid-way through to let the other go first. Mrs. Crawley broke the silence instead.

"My hip is feeling much better, and I think I'll just make my way over to the bandstand," she gave Frankie a meaningful look accompanied by a rather sharper-than-expected slap to his cheek, "alone."

You both watched her walk over to the stage, stopping to wave at Jacquie and Agnes where they were organizing the bake sale.

"What on earth is going on," you thought to yourself while staring daggers at Jacquie from across the street. This had zero effect on her, she was just sending you lewd winks and had the audacity to give Mrs. Crawley a thumbs up. That conniving little-

"Emmmm... hi."

His voice, sounding uncertain and shy, brought your attention back to Frankie. Taking a moment to soak in his presence, you noticed how worn down he looked. "Good," thought the petty part of your brain, but she was easily squashed by the rest of it appreciating the rest of him.

Tight jeans hugging his thighs, the buttons on his shirt working overtime where the material pulled across his back and chest, his hair was long and getting shaggy but when you saw the curls peeking out from under his baseball cap you had to fight the sudden urge to run your fingers through it.

Your eyes traveled up his neck, noting the way his adam's apple bobbed as he swallowed thickly, and across his face. He'd trimmed his beard, filthy thoughts of how it would feel on your skin flashed in your head.

Finally meeting his eyes with your own, you had to take a breath before replying.

"It's nice to see you, Frankie." Your tongue darted out to wet your lips, drawing his gaze "I guess we should talk-"

You were cut short by rowdy laughter and a crowd of people bustling onto the street, another wave of ticket-holders were coming to try their luck and win the huge teddy bear prize each game boasted.

For the next hour, you were kept too busy to talk more than what was necessary for running the booth. You used the time to gather your thoughts and make a list of what you wanted to say, how you wanted to say it, and how you were going to start the conversation casually.

Frankie wasn't sure how he had ended up as Mrs. Crawley's crutch. One minute he was dropping off a crate of fruit for the apple bobbing contest and the next he was walking at a snail's pace listening to the old woman reminiscing about her long-dead husband. 

She was sweet, and he didn't mind the slow meander around the square. No, it was the subject matter that had bugged him. After his divorce was finalized and his daughter was taken from him, which he could see now was the right thing to do at the time, Frankie had accepted the fact that he was alone.

Just him, his trees, and the memories of what he did to end up this way.

Then, you had come along. The first woman to catch his attention in five damn years. It wasn't just your beauty, or your easy smile, or the curves of your body. It was your goodness, your innocence, your ability to worm your way into everyone's hearts and not even know it. 

Listening to Mrs. Crawley and the love she had shared made his chest ache, knowing he'd never deserve it himself he still found himself longing for the same. The first moment he had laid eyes on you, it was like a movie about his life had played in flashes in his mind. The meet-cute at the market, romancing you with thoughtful dates like picnics and driving up to the city’s museums and theatre. Getting married, growing the business, then growing your family. It had all played out in a split second but the impression it had left was immeasurable. 

Then, he'd opened his mouth and ruined the moment. Crashed into your truck and ruined the moment. Spooked and burned you, ruining the moment. Gained your trust, broke down your walls, and then left like a coward in the morning and ruined it.

Shaken by his inward reflecting when Mrs. Crawley was jostled, Frankie froze in place once his eyes were directed to where you stood. You were glaring over his shoulder and refusing to meet his eyes, understandably, yet he still felt his chest contract with the hope you'd look at him and smile. 

The way your gaze had eventually taken him in, once he'd been abandoned by a suddenly spry-looking elder, had flared that longing back into a roaring flame. The sudden need to work the booth gave him plenty of time to plan his speech: begging for forgiveness and admitting to the way he felt. While his mind was busy planning his speech, his heart was bursting at how comfortably and effortlessly the two of you worked with each other, like you’d been doing it for years.

Heather returned, strolling over with a barely concealed smile on her face, not looking at all like she'd just come back from a domestic emergency. This whole town could win an Oscar for their performance tonight, it was mildly humiliating but you knew they were acting out of love.

She thanked Frankie profusely for standing in for her and wouldn't take no for an answer after suggesting the two of you go and enjoy yourselves for a bit. Glancing at Frankie you shrugged your shoulders and made a face that said "why not?". He smiled and nodded back, grabbing your bag and slinging it over his shoulder before joining you on the bustling street.

You walked in comfortable silence for a while, relishing just being near each other and absorbing the jubilant energy surrounding you.

Frankie bought you cotton candy and you made him belly laugh when you showed him the few bottles of cider you'd smuggled in your bag. Seeing the way his face lit up, how he exposed that delicious neck when he threw his head back, hearing the joyous rumble from deep within, sent a realization slamming into you so suddenly it made you stumble.

You loved him.

You might not be in love with him, not yet anyway, but there was a lightness and a warmth in your heart and he had put it there.

Frankie had grabbed your arm when you had stumbled and when you didn't pull away from his touch, his hand slid down your arm and his fingers wove their way through yours.

Walking like this, hand in hand, you found yourselves at the rides.

"I've never been on a Ferris Wheel," he admits to you, craning his head upwards to stare at the top carriage.

Dragging your eyes away from his neck, again, it took your brain a moment to acknowledge what he’d said. "What?!" You expressed with mock horror, already making your way toward the ride’s gate, "Then let's remedy that!"

"I'm- uh this is stupid," he was barely moving with you and adjusted his hat, a nervous tick you'd noticed, "I'm scared of heights."

This admission stopped you in your tracks.

"Frankie." You deadpanned, gripping his hand and pulling on it to emphasize your words, "You're. A. Pilot."

He groaned and you were sure you could see a blush creeping up from beneath his collar, "I know! I know. It's just that, up there?" He stops with a sigh, gazing at the stars wistfully, "I'm in control. I trust myself."

"Do you trust me?" You ask him softly gripping his hand between the both of yours.

Frankie gazed at your face for a breath, not in a way that made you think he was hesitating, it was more like he was pausing so you knew the full weight of his words.

"I trust you with everything."

PART NINE

TAGS: If you’d like to be added, send me an ask or a message! If you’re on the list please interact, I love getting your feedback, hearing your predictions, and all the “these two idiots!” comments 

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[mandospace]

Promise (Boba Fett x Reader Smut)

Request:  Hello! I was unsure if you were still taking requests, but I was wondering if you could write a Boba x reader fic where they make a bet to see if reader would last a night as a his “bounty”. Kind of like a primal kink thing? 😅 Your writing is so amazing thank you so much for the Din and Boba content! ♥️

Requested By: @xothra

Word Count: 5,797

Warnings: SMUT! If you are under 18, DO NOT INTERACT! Primal kink, hunting (?) kink, slight bondage, fingering, spanking, PinV sex, strong language, a hint of fluff?

A/N: I am a whore for Boba. That is all. **gif cred to @humanveil!**

MASTERLIST

“Right there,” Boba groaned, jaw clenched tight. Pain radiated through his back, his muscles tight and tense from the stressful life he lived as a bounty hunter-turned-kingpin. “Fuck, your hands are like magic, princess.”

“Kriff, Boba, what did you do?” your hands moved down his back, fingers prodding the sore muscles. You shuffled down his body before sitting on the back of his thighs. Boba had come home from a long hunt, complaining about how his back was hurting. He never complained, so you knew he wasn’t feeling well when he collapsed on your shared bed within his chambers. His beskar armor and shirt was already stripped from his body, revealing the tight muscles that were colored with bruises, some fading and some new. When you offered him a back massage, he quickly nodded and turned over on his stomach. His muscles were extremely tense under your fingers as you tried to massage the tension away. 

“Dunno,” he mumbled into the pillow, eyes screwing tight at both pleasure and pain. Your fingers were cool against his back, a welcomed comfort after a long day. He barely registered your weight when you sat back on his thighs, too encompassed in your soothing touch. “One moment I was chasing after the quarry and the next my back was killing me.”

“Maybe you should take a break,” you rubbed soothing circles into the dip of his back. “Lay low for a while, let Fennec take over the hunting.”

“You saying I’m too slow, princess?” Boba quipped underneath you, turning his head to the side so you could hear him more clearly. “That I’m getting too old for this?”

“Never, Boba,” you smirked to yourself before leaning down and pressing your lips between his shoulder blades. He shivered under your touch and let out a small sigh. “All I’m saying is that maybe you don’t have to hunt anymore. Let some other bounty hunter chase after your enemies.”

“You do think I’m old.” Boba huffed, turning under you so he could see your face. You settled down over his hips and ran your hands up his stomach, stopping to play with the light sprinkling of hair on his chest. 

“Well...” your words trailed off, bottom lip catching between your teeth. Boba had a tough life- much tougher than most. Bounty hunting was never an easy profession for anyone, and it certainly wasn’t kind to him. Working for crime lords was always dangerous, especially one that owned a rancor and sarlacc. Life didn’t get any easier for Boba after he crawled out of the pit- it took him years to regain his strength and armor. Only recently have things started going his way, what with finding you and performing a successful coup. He shouldn’t have to work anymore, he deserves to relax and rule the Outer Rim with you by his side. “Why not relax and take a little break from hunting. Rest up until you’re feeling better, and then you can get back to chasing down quarries.”

“I am perfectly capable of hunting right now,” he playfully glared at you. Smiling, you ran your hands further up his body, cupping his jaw. Your body followed your hands and you leaned over him, nose brushing his.

“Darling,” you placed a soft peck to the corner of his mouth. “You couldn’t catch me if I ran out that door right now.”

Your mouth on his skin was distracting, but he still caught your words. “I could too!” Boba gripped your hips suddenly and flipped the two of you over so that he was now on top. He tried to ignore the slight pain that still radiated from his back. “You wouldn’t even make a mile outside the palace gates before I caught up to you. And that’s being generous.”

“Is that a challenge, old man?” you teased, teeth nipping down his jaw and neck. “I bet it would take you longer than a day to find me.”

“Oh really?” Boba couldn’t help the small smile that slipped onto his lips. He loved the playful banter the two of you sometimes shared. It always led to you in his bed, trapped between the mattress and him for hours on end. “What do I get if I win?”

It was Boba’s turn to tease you now and his lips started to trail down your neck. He stopped right over your jugular, sucking a dark spot on the soft skin. You tried to hold back the breathy moans that threatened to spill from your lips. “If you win, you could do whatever you want to me for a day.”

“I’m going to need a little more than that, princess,” he smirked against your skin. “What’s stopping me from taking what I want from you right now since you’re already under me?”

“Fine,” you relented. “A week.” If he won, it’s not like you were actually losing anything. A week filled with Boba doing whatever he pleased to you left you wet and needy beneath him.

“That’s more like it,” Boba growled before he pressed his lips against yours in a searing kiss. He wasted no time before he licked into your mouth, moaning as he forced you into submission. 

“But,” you broke off the kiss, chest heaving. “If I win, you need to take a break from hunting. A real break.” 

“You’ve got yourself a deal, princess,” he pulled your bottom lip between his teeth, biting gently. “I’ll have you back in my bed before the suns are down tomorrow. Then the real fun will begin.”

“Not if you can’t catch me, old man,” you winked before pulling his lips back to yours. 

Tomorrow, the hunt will begin.

___

“You can just forfeit now,” Boba hummed against your neck, pulling you tightly against his chest. It was the next morning and you were grabbing last minute items to throw in your satchel. You had everything a girl running from her bounty hunter lover could need- credits, food, change of clothes, and your blaster. “I won’t hold it against you. I’ll still uphold my end of the bargain and keep you in my bed for a week.”

You’ve never rolled your eyes harder than you did in that moment. “You know,” you turned in his hold and looked up at your lover. He was dressed in his armor except for his green helmet, ready to hunt you down and take what was his. “You’re awfully cocky for an old man. Aren’t you supposed to be done with such childish things?”

“Ha-ha,” he rolled his eyes. Boba brought a gloved hand to your face, gently cupping your cheek. The mischief in his eyes was replaced with seriousness. “Be careful, princess. Check in with me every few hours so I know you’re okay.”

“I will,” you turned your face into his palm, kissing the worn leather. “I’ll miss you.”

“Don’t worry, little one,” he glided his thumb over your cheek bone. “We’ll be back together before the suns set.”

“I think you’re underestimating my ability,” you placed a light kiss on his lips and pulled away before you could get lost in his touch. “I learned from the best, after all.” You started towards the large palace doors, satchel over your shoulder. The large doors opened with a creak. Excitement and adrenaline pumped through your veins. You’ve never been on the run before, but the thrill of Boba tracking and hunting you down was electrifying. Realistically, you knew Boba would find you fast on the desolate planet of Tatooine. The only advantage you had was that Fennec was driving you to Mos Eisley where you could hide more easily in the busy city. An enormous disadvantage you had though was that Boba knew where you were going. Even if you tried your hardest, you knew you couldn’t run away from Boba and keep him off your trail for long. Eventually, the skilled bounty hunter would find you and claim his prize; most likely before the end of the night. Joining Fennec on the speeder, you waved back at your lover before you sped away from the palace, wind whipping through your hair.

___

Mos Eisley was crowded with people. Shop owners were selling their various goods, hollering to potential customers to come view their wares. Food carts were everywhere and gamblers sat at their tables, playing sabacc and dice. Only a few fights broke out amongst people, but for the most part their shouting and yelling was drowned out by the din of the busy, sandy streets.

Fennec had dropped you off at one of the cantinas before speeding off on the bike. While she was a master of disguise and able to blend in plain sight, the news of Boba’s successful coup had spread and Fennec Shand’s name was in every vagrant’s mouth. She preferred to remain as inconspicuous as possible.

You had no idea where you should go or start. While you had teased Boba that you would be able to outwit him and that he wouldn’t be able to catch you, you realized that maybe you were in over your head. I mean, how were you supposed to outwit and win against the best bounty hunter in the galaxy? It wasn’t a title that he just gave himself, he rightfully earned it. Boba Fett was infamous- everyone knew who he was.

And you were supposed to be running from him.

Okay, yeah, you were screwed. But you couldn’t think like that right now- you had to think quickly and try to evade Boba for as long as you could. You weren’t doing this for yourself, you were doing this for Boba. He was pushing himself too hard lately, running the crime underworld while simultaneously hunting down his enemies. He deserved to have some fun. You knew he would love this- hunting you down like prey. It played perfectly into the fantasies that lived in his head. While he never voiced them to you, you never forgot the glint in his eyes when he first tied you up. It was only natural that desire fed into this one.

This was for Boba. And you were going to give him one hell of a hunt.

Your eyes scanned the streets of Mos Eisley, trying to think through and reason what would be the best course to take. Originally, you thought losing yourself in the bustling bazaar would be the best idea until you realized that’s exactly what Boba would expect you to do. You had to do better than that, you had to do what Boba would do. Maybe if you thought and moved like him, you could evade him long enough.

Deciding that standing in one spot wasn’t the best option, you started to move your way through the crowd. Your eyes searched high and low for possible hiding places. Boba would expect you to stay in town where you were familiar with your surroundings. When you saw the dewback nestled in a stable, you almost spent all of your credits on the beast. Going out into the dunes wasn’t a good idea, though. Tusken raiders have been moving a lot more than usual in the desert and it would be your luck to get caught by them. Passing by the giant green lizard, you patted its head and sighed. Another time, buddy.

You hadn’t been out to the town in some time. Things had changed in the central hub of Tatooine. While there were always going to be thieves and bandits and vagrants roaming the city, things seemed... more calm. People weren’t scurrying away from each other like they used to, afraid that someone would do them harm. They smiled more, talked with their neighbors instead of hiding their faces. You had never seen Tatooine actually, well, thriving since you arrived on the desolate planet. While you hadn’t resided here for long, you remembered how bad things were when Bib Fortuna ruled the area. Being out amongst the people of Tatooine made you realize that it was because of Boba that things were better. Yes, he was a crime kingpin, and yes, he knew how to be ruthless; but the people were so much better off with him in the Hutt palace than they’ve been in centuries. The thought made pride swell up in your chest. Your Boba was making this shithole of a planet just a little bit better.

“Do you miss me, pretty girl?” Boba’s gravely voice sounded over the commlink, startling you and the dewback you were still petting. Fumbling for the comm, your hands were shaking just from hearing his voice, you brought it up to your lips.

“Not at all,” you tried to sound nonchalant and not like he just scared the shit out of you. “Haven’t been to town in a while, it’s nice.”

“Well I miss you, princess,” his voice made your knees weak. He was far away from you, yet just the timbre of his words made you needy. “It’s only been a few hours but my cock is already throbbing with how much I need you.”

“Boba,” you scolded, cheeks flushing with embarrassment as onlookers gave you a look. They had heard him, of course. “You can’t... say those things right now.”

“Why?” he chuckled. “Did someone hear? Are you still in the bazaar?”

“Uh, no.” Shit, you were bad at lying to him.

“So you are in the bazaar,” you could visualize the smirk that you knew was on his face. “Mind picking me up some of those berries you love so much? I love the way they make your lips taste.”

You didn’t know how to respond to that, so you stayed quiet. Giving the dewback one last pat, you rejoined the busy crowd. Boba was getting closer to Mos Eisley and you didn’t have much time to find a good hiding space. You had to think fast.

“What, you’re not talking to me now?”

“I’m not not talking to you.” Switching the commlink to run through the small earpiece lodged in your ear, you noticed a small inn on the corner of the busy street. Maybe that would be a good place to lay low?

“Okay, then just listen, princess,” his voice was rough and made you whimper. You could feel how wet your underwear was becoming just from his voice alone. Good thing you thought of switching the audio of the commlink to your ear or else everyone would hear the filthy words Boba muttered. “When I catch you, and I will catch you, I’m going to tie you up and take you right then and there. I don’t care if anyone is around us, I’m going to make you scream and beg for my cock so everyone knows who you belong to.”

You had to find a hiding place and fast. Just hearing his words was making you soak through your underwear and you needed to get away from this crowd of people. “Promise?”

“Oh, I promise, sweet thing.” you were certain that he had a sly smile on his face under the helmet. “I’ll find you before the suns go down and claim my bounty. You’ll be the sweetest reward I ever get.”

You didn’t care if you lost the bet. Moving towards the small inn, you glanced down at your watch, noting the time. “You’ve got 5 hours until they set. Come and get me, Fett.”

“With pleasure.”

___

The inn was your best option in the small city so you purchased a room. Boba was just now leaving the palace, ready to start his hunt. While it wouldn’t be much of a hunt for him (you were too easy of prey), you were certain he would love his reward. The room was small, sandstone walls that held little to know decorations. There was a bed with simple colored sheets and a small bathroom attached. It would be enough for what you had planned for your hunter. 

You got to work.

When you were packing your bags this morning, you made a big show of grabbing only the necessities. Boba was trailing behind you the entire morning, his hands never left your waist. He was constantly trying to convince you to stay home with him and to give up the bet, but you didn’t fall into the temptation. You knew he would absolutely love hunting you, even if he never said it. Besides, you wanted to give him a real treat for when he finally caught you. Before she picked you up, Fennec had gone back to your chambers and collected the black bag with the items you had packed away while Boba was still asleep. That black bag now sat on the bed.

The satchel held what you needed for tonight. Candles, ropes, a brand new lingerie set you knew Boba would rip to shreds once he saw you in it. The black lace was beautiful and soft. Just imagining the look on Boba’s face when he sees you in it made desire pool low in your stomach.

You still had a few hours until you were sure he would find you. Fennec was nice enough to lay down a false trail to make things more exciting for Boba. What a nice lady when she actually wanted to be nice. You moved to the fresher and began to peel the clothes from your body. Even though you weren’t physically running from Boba, the day spent wandering through the streets of Mos Eisley left a thin layer of grime coating your skin. You wanted to be nice and clean for when Boba finally caught you. Turning the fresher on, excitement settled in your bones at the prospect of tonight.

___

Boba Fett had been on the hunt all day. The twin suns of Tatooine were moving low in the horizon. Sunset would be within the next hour.

Good thing Boba had already found you.

Once he realized Fennec had laid down a false trail for you, it was easy for Boba to find your real trail through Mos Eisley. Hishelmet allowed him to see your footprints in the sandy streets. He followed your every move, placing himself in your steps and lived out your day hours later. He noticed that you had stopped at the stables for some time, and when Boba asked the stablemaster about you, he learned that you spent a good part of your day petting the dewback the man owned. His heart thumped at the thought of you petting the great beast. Boba knew you used to have pets and that you missed caring for your animals dearly. He would have to get you one soon.

The suns were just starting to fall behind the sandy dunes of Tatooine when Boba arrived at the small inn. After tossing a few credits to the owner, he learned which room you were staying in. Boba could feel the excitement build up inside of him, just like it did when he was close to his other quarries. Stopping in front of your door, his cock throbbed painfully in his trousers at what would happen when he caught you. Boba didn’t wait a moment longer before turning the handle.

The room was dark, save for a few flickering candles that were scattered throughout the room. His visor easily switched into night vision to allow him to see, but he wanted to experience this with his own eyes. Lifting the helmet, Boba’s eyes rested on your figure and his cock jumped at what he saw.

You were lounging on the bed, scantily clad in black lace that barely left anything to the imagination. His eyes roamed up your body and admired the lace that hugged your curves perfectly. When he got to your chest, he noted that a small carton of berries rested on top of your cleavage and that you were lazily bringing the ripe fruit to your lips. Boba wanted to reach out and feel those lips on his own and taste the tartness of the fruit.

“Bout’ time, Fett,” you fished around in the carton before you found a particularly ripe berry and popped it into your mouth. “Was thinking you’d never find me.”

“I’ll always find you, princess,” his voice rumbled through his chest. “Looks like I found you before the suns set, too.” Boba nodded towards the small window, pointing out the setting suns. “I win.”

Picking up another fruit, you brought it to your mouth and bit it slowly, the juice spilling out and running down your chin and chest. You gave Boba a seductive grin. “Come and get your prize, my king.”

Boba’s eyes visibly darkened with lust and a growl sounded from his chest. His strides were long and quickly closed the distance between the two of you. Scrambling on top of the bed, he moved the carton of berries over on the side table. Boba dropped his head to your chest and ran his tongue over your breasts, licking the sweet juice off of you. A breathless moan left your mouth and your chest arched into his touch. His hands were rough as they grabbed at your wrists, bringing them up and above your head. Boba reached for the cuffs attached to his belt and snapped them into place around your wrists. He had you now.

“You thought you could run away from me, huh?” his voice was deep and gravely, sending waves of desire south. Boba grabbed the rope you had set aside on the table and tied your already cuffed wrists to the headboard. “Thought that you could outsmart me?”

His leather-clad hand trailed up your chest and settled at the base of your neck. When you didn’t answer, his fingers wrapped around your throat and gave it a slight squeeze- not enough pressure to cut off your air, just enough to slightly restrict your blood flow. “Answer me, girl.”

“No!” you gasped. Boba would never hurt you, you knew this, and this whole scenario was just pretend- all for Boba. That didn’t mean you couldn’t enjoy it too, though. You easily slid into your role. “I’m sorry, I won’t do it again.”

Boba hummed at your apology and released his grip on your throat. Air flooded into your lungs. Before he returned to touching you, Boba brought his hand to your lips. “Bite,” was all he said, and he nudged the soft leather between your teeth. You pulled off his gloves with your teeth before letting them fall to the bed. He returned his hands to your body, his warm skin sending shivers down your spine. His fingers were calloused, weathered from years of fighting. Hands moving to your breasts, Boba took them in his hands and gave them a squeeze. 

“Fuck, you look so good, princess,” Boba moaned at the soft feeling of your breasts in lace. Pulling down the lace cups, he released the soft flesh. He brought his head down and licked at one of your pert nipples, hand massaging the other. His mouth was warm over the sensitive skin and it felt delicious. He rolled his tongue over the bud before giving it a slight nip. A sharp gasp escaped your mouth and Boba chuckled. “Easy there, little one.”

You couldn’t help but whimper when Boba’s mouth switched to your other breast. His hand traveled down past your navel and cupped your warm pussy. “Look at this bounty,” he growled into your skin. His forefinger slid your black panties to the side and into your wet folds. “So wet, and all for me.”

“Yes,” you whined when his finger slipped past your tight entrance. He slowly pumped his thick finger in and out of your pussy, his lips trailing over your breasts while leaving marks across your chest. The rough pad of his finger brushed against the small bundle of nerves inside and your back arched at the sensation. “All yours! Fuck, Boba, please, I need you inside of me.”

Heading your pleading, Boba pulled his finger from inside of your cunt. You missed the feeling of being full by his fingers- he had barely touched you and you already started to feel the frustration tear up in your eyes. He didn’t pull his finger fully away- thank the Maker- instead, he began to circle your clit slowly.

“You need me, princess?” Boba nuzzled his face against your neck, nipping at the skin over pulse point. “Hmm? Need my cock inside that pretty little pussy?”

“Yes,” you moaned. You couldn’t take these teasing touches anymore. Pulling at your restraints to reach for him, you learned that there was no way you were getting out of those without help. “Please.”

“I don’t think you deserve it.” he pulled his hand away from your aching pussy, completely. Now the tears really started to well up. You tried to show him how much you needed him through the look you gave him. “Good girls don’t run away.”

“Boba, I’m sorry, I-“ you were cut off by your own yelp of pain when he brought his hand down on your ass. The pain turned to pleasure when he started to rub soothing circles into the reddened skin.

“Good girls listen to what they’re told,” Boba grabbed at your hips and flipped you over onto your stomach. The rope attached to your cuffs and the headboard tightened with the torque of you flipping. His fingers gripped the thin fabric of your panties and pulled- torn fabric falling to the bed. Boba’s hand came down on your ass again before rubbing the flesh. “Are you going to listen, princess?”

“Yes, I’ll listen- I’ll be good!” you cried into the pillow your face was buried in. You could feel his hands massaging your ass cheeks, playing with the pillowy flesh. Arching your back, you pushed your ass back into his hands, displaying your sopping pussy for him.

“Good,” Boba praised while taking his hands away from you. You almost whined out again when he removed his hands from you, but when you heard the zipper of his pants being pulled down, you relaxed and arched your back more. Boba took his hardened cock in his hand and brought it to your soaking pussy, rubbing the hot head through your folds. He kept running it through your slick, gathering as much of your arousal as he could. The tip of his cock brushed against your clit and you let out a breathy moan.

“Boba, please,” you moaned into the pillow. He was teasing you- he knew this, and he made sure that you sure as hell knew it. He kept brushing it over your clit, holding it there for a second- the pressure was delicious- before dragging it back down to your entrance. It was tantalizing- agonizing.

“Don’t worry, princess,” Boba chuckled at your begging. He notched the head of his cock at your entrance and pushed in. “I’ll put on a good show.”

The feeling of Boba splitting you open was something you’d never forget. No matter how many times the two of you had been together, you never got used to his size. It was both painful and pleasurable during that first thrust of his hips. His cock stretched your velvety walls almost to their breaking point. Pain dissolved into pleasure as he fully sheathed his cock inside of your dripping pussy. You couldn’t help the cry that fell from your lips- you were just so full.

Boba’s grip on your hips tightened when he started to thrust into you, setting a bruising pace. Moans of pleasure slipped past your lips and landed on the pillow. You tugged on the restraints, trying to ground yourself from the intoxicating pleasure. Boba’s hips snapped against your ass and the lewd sounds of skin slapping against skin reverberated off the sandstone walls.

“Fuck, princess,” Boba’s arms wrapped tight around your waist, tugging your hips back in time with his thrusts. You were so tight around him- a vice in the best way possible- squeezing him just right. Boba dropped his mouth to your back, kissing and biting marks against your skin between his grunts of pleasure. His hands roamed up your stomach to your breasts, cupping them with a squeeze. The black lace was still in the way, keeping your soft skin out of reach. He made quick work of the thin lace and the ruined material joined the tattered pieces of your underwear. You were completely bare before him now and Boba growled at the sight- you were breathtaking. “So-so good, so beautiful.”

Boba’s name was constantly falling from your lips. Each brush of his hard cock against your velvety walls brought you more and more pleasure. It pooled low in your stomach and spread through your veins. “Wa-want to t-touch you.”

Boba didn’t reply, instead he reached above you for your restraints. He made quick work of your bindings and soon enough you were free. Boba wrapped his arms around your waist and tugged you back against him. The cool beskar of his cuirass dug into your back and imprinted its shape into your skin. Boba dropped his head to your shoulder and nuzzled his face into your neck. Hands roamed up your stomach and cupped your breasts. His large hands pushed and pulled at the soft flesh, pinched your peaked nipples between his thumbs and forefingers. At this new angle, Boba’s cock brushed against that bundle of nerves inside of you.

“You’re mine,” Boba growled into your neck, nipping and kissing purple marks into your skin. His teeth sank into the junction of your neck and jaw, tongue swiping over the fresh mark. All you could do was nod and moan in agreement- he kept pounding into you at just the right angle that was making you see stars. His hands kept roaming over your body, kneading whatever skin he could get a hold of. Your arms were reaching up and behind you, holding his head against you so his lips never left your skin.

"Fuck, you feel so good, princess,” Boba moaned against your neck, lips trailing up to your ear. His hot breath fanned over the shell of your ear. “Do you feel that, baby?” Boba grabbed one of your hands that was holding his head to your skin and dragged it down your body before resting over your stomach. His large hand rested over yours and pressed it into your skin. “Do you feel my cock deep in your stomach, little one?”

You did. The feeling of his cock pushing deep inside of you made your stomach bulge out slightly. The feeling of Boba using you to reach his high drove you to your own.

“Boba, I-” you were cut off by your own moan. His cock kept brushing against the bundle of nerves inside of you. It was driving you crazy.

“I know, princess,” Boba nipped at your ear, growling out your name. “Come for me, little one.” The arm around your waist pulled you tighter against him while the other trailed down your stomach to where he was pounding into you. The rough pads of his fingers dropped down to your clit and began to rub quick circles into it. “Come all over my cock.”

His words in addition to the motions of his fingers and thrust of his cock inside of you made the metaphorical dam inside of you break under the pleasure of it all. Your orgasm spilled over and flooded your veins, waves of pleasure wracking your body. The feeling of your velvety walls clenching around him drove Boba closer to his own high.

“Fuck, princess,” Boba moaned lowly in your ear whilst pulling out of you quickly. You missed the feeling of being full of his cock but before you could whine out a complaint, Boba was flipping you over onto your back. He grabbed your ankles and tugged you to the edge of the bed, wrapping your legs around his waist. Boba dropped his forehead to yours and his hot breath fanned over your face. He pressed a searing kiss to your lips and drank in your breathless moans. The feeling of him pounding into you was almost too much- you were so sensitive from your previous orgasm. “You take me so well.”

“Come inside of me, Boba,” you bit down on his bottom lip and he growled. “Fill me up.”

“Fu-fuck, princess!” his hips stuttered against you as his balls pulled up tightly. He ground his cock inside of you and he came hard, his cum painting your walls. The warmth of his seed and the throbbing of his cock sent you over the edge again. Your nails trailed down his muscular back, leaving angry red marks over his tan skin. Boba settled inside of you and moaned your name against your soft lips. He trailed kisses over your face, lightly kissing your chin, cheeks, nose, eyelids, before placing a final one to your forehead. Hands came up to cradle your face and he placed another kiss to your hairline. 

“You did so well for me, little one.” Boba nuzzled his face into your hair and tucked your head under his chin. He rolled onto his back and pulled you on top of him. His beskar armor was cold against your skin but you didn’t care. Boba’s arms were around you and his cock was still buried inside of you. He placed another kiss on your hairline. “Sorry if I was a little rough with you.”

You placed a kiss to his green cuirass. “I didn’t mind. I like it when you get a little rough.” Boba chuckled underneath you and he brought his hand to your hair, combing through the tangles. “Though, I’m not sure my outfit liked it.”

“Sorry,” he laughed. “I’ll buy you a new one. Any color you want.”

“Hmm...” you hummed in contemplation, trailing your finger over his armor. “Maybe a dark green one? With red accents? I’d like to match your armor- maybe even wear your helmet while you fuck me.”

His cock twitched inside of you at your words. “Don’t make any promises you can’t keep, little one.”

“Oh, that’s a promise I fully intend to keep,” you leaned up and pulled him into another kiss. You pulled his bottom lip between your teeth, biting gently. “Just like I intend to uphold our bet.”

“I can’t wait to take you on every surface of the palace,” he pulled you into another kiss, licking into your mouth. “I bet I can make you come so much that you won’t be able to walk straight for weeks.”

“Is that a challenge, Fett?” your hips shifted slightly, his cock hardening inside of you. 

“It’s a promise.”

[kieraelieson]

Three Times Patton Got Lost in a Market

Thomas was walking through the old store with his mom, careful to hold her hand while they shopped.

“Oh, look! There’s a wind chime! It’s just like the nice neighbor lady!” Patton said.

Thomas stopped to look, and his mom stopped too, looking at something else across the aisle.

“It isn’t exactly the same,” Logan said. “Hers has a hummingbird on top, but this one has a butterfly.”

“And anyway, this one has prettier colors when the light hits it,” Roman added.

“Oooh, the red really is pretty, Roman!” Patton said excitedly. “And the purple, and the yellow!”

“It’s exactly the colors of the most beautiful rainbow reflecting back from a pot of gold,” Roman said dreamily.

“Mom!” Virgil suddenly shrieked, alerting them all to the fact that Thomas’s mom was no longer beside them.

Instantly, there was a pandemonium of overlapping voices, all very confusing, and Virgil at the front screaming.

“Quiet!” Patton yelled, as loud as he could, and then felt a little like crying. He didn’t like yelling, but this was important!

“But we have to find Mom!”

“We should run after her!”

“If we yell someone will hear!”

“Listen to me!” Patton yelled again. “Remember what Mom said? If we get lost in the store we stay put, and if we see an employee then we ask them to call mom for us.”

Virgil bit down hard on his sleeves, and Patton took his silence for agreement.

“That is indeed what Thomas was told,” Logan admitted.

“I still think we should go find her!” Roman protested, though less pointedly than before.

Thomas plopped down on the floor.

“Ok. That settles it, we’re waiting for mom,” Patton said. “Let’s look for more pretty things while she comes to get us. Roman, what else can you see around us that looks like a rainbow?”

Roman grumpily crossed his arms. “There’s a rainbow on the lawn decoration.”

“Very good!” Patton said. “Logan, can you see anything that’s science-accurate?”

“Science-accurate is a very vague phrase, but I suppose you could be intending to direct me to the collection of decorative barometers.”

“Oooh~ yes, the water swan neck thingies~” Roman said.

Logan launched into an explanation of barometers, most of which Patton didn’t understand.

He checked on Virgil, who was scanning the aisle they were in over and over again, and chewing holes in his poor sleeves.

“She’ll be here in just a minute, don’t worry,” Patton said gently.

Virgil nodded slightly, but didn’t stop checking the ends of the aisle and staring down each person that passed.

And then his eyes went wide. Patton turned to look.

“Mom!”

“Thomas, I thought I lost you for a minute there! Stay close, ok?”

Thomas took his mother’s hand and nodded.

Patton let out a sigh of relief. They weren’t lost anymore.

••^*^••

Thomas was a bit worried about high school, and especially the test coming up, and Logan and Virgil were mostly helping him with that. But now he had to go to the store for groceries. And Roman was exhausted after being all excited over the play and was sound asleep.

So Patton was helping shop!

He smiled confidently, prompting Thomas to look at the list again. He needed to get the ingredients for tacos, and some bread, milk, eggs, and ice cream. Yum!

Now what all went into tacos?

There was meat, and sour cream, and little shredded lettuce, and cheese, and taco shells, or was he supposed to get soft tortillas?

Patton considered, wandering into the store towards the food. Maybe both? Yeah. Both. Oh! And there was the bread! That would probably have tortillas near it!

Patton hummed happily, finding the bread that looked the same as what mom had been getting, noting the brand name. Nature’s Own. Huh.

Now tortillas… what kind did they normally get?

He finally just picked the one that had blue on the label.

Virgil popped up, startling him for a moment, especially with his intense frown. “People are staring. We’re taking too long near the bread, and your humming is gonna make people think Thomas is weird.”

“Oh, it’s alright!” Patton said cheerfully, glad he hadn’t dropped the tortillas. “I didn’t get in anyone’s way, and they haven’t said anything yet about thinking Thomas is weird.”

“Yeah…” Virgil glared at the people milling around and shopping. “Well they could. Just… keep it quiet.”

“Will do!” Patton grinned, and Virgil sunk back out.

Next he had to find… well, next he had to find the next thing. Should he keep walking and hope to see them, or should he seek each one out? He’d stumbled upon the bread, surely he would stumble across the rest.

Patton hummed happily and kept walking, skipping along beside the cart as Thomas pushed it. Thomas must really be out of it, poor guy. But Patton could help him cheer up!

Pretty soon, they had almost everything! Except for taco seasoning. And Patton wasn’t sure if they were supposed to get the kind that was in packets, or the actual spices. And he also wasn’t sure whether he should look in the spices area or the Mexican food area. Or where those areas were.

Surely they’d passed those special Mexican drinks a while back. But where?

Patton encouraged Thomas to turn around and go back, but after several aisles he still couldn’t find anything he was looking for. He turned back around, and then again.

“Perhaps… I need to go from one end all the way to the other…”

Virgil popped up again, rather grumpy looking, but not as much as earlier. “That’s gonna take too long. We’re already late, and Mom is gonna need Thomas home son so she can make dinner.”

Patton sighed. “Ok. Logan, help please, I’m lost.”

Logan popped up, looked around, and then pointed. “That aisle.”

“But how do you know?” Patton asked.

“There’s a sign above it.”

Patton looked up. “Oh. Yeah.” He chuckled. “I should’ve thought to look for signs. Thanks, Logan!”

“You’re welcome. However I do suggest we attempt to make our trip home expedient. I’ll need Virgil’s full attention and assistance to prepare adequately for the test.”

“Will do!” Patton said, already spurring Thomas towards the aisle.

••^*^••

“I have created the ultimate maze!” Roman said excitedly. “It is called Infinite IKEA!”

Patton clapped excitedly, and even Logan gave a single clap.

“I really don’t see the point—“

“The point is a race, Emo Nightmare, and the winner gets to pick which old reruns Thomas watches tonight.”

Virgil tried to pretend he was still disinterested, but Patton could tell he was excited. “So what would we have to do to win the race?”

Roman grinned. “I’ve hidden a copy of each of our logos in the store somewhere, except for mine, which Logan hid by sinking in and placing it in a random place, so he doesn’t know the layout of the store yet. You have to find your own logo, and then exit the store!”

Oh, so that was why Logan had a bump on his head. He’d probably tried to rise up too close to a shelf. Ouch.

“Everybody ready! Set! Go!”

They all rushed into the store. Patton looked around excitedly, getting more excited to see that the store was full of items that came from houses where Thomas had lived or visited. He ran to the section of beds and flopped onto the biggest one.

He let out a comfy sigh, looking up at the roof which, rather than being metal supports and too-bright lights, was intricately painted with something that glowed.

It was amazing.

“You did a really great job, Roman,” Patton said, even though Roman was probably running ahead to win the race— oh! This was a race!

He jumped up and started walking, looking around for his heart with glasses.

After the bed section, where he wished he could stay and flip onto each one, he wandered into the lamps and chandeliers section. That was beautiful. He was still dazzled and in awe walking out. It even had that massive one Thomas had seen in the one hotel once.

And then came books, where Logan was!

“Hi, Logan!”

“Ah, greetings Patton.” Logan was looking through the books, just as captivated as Patton had been by the beds.

“Find your logo yet?”

“Not yet. I’m not overly concerned with winning, and Roman has certainly made this an interesting place to browse.”

“Mhmm!” Patton looked around. “Where are the kids books, I want to see if the Winnie the Pooh book is still chewed on or if Roman made it brand new.”

“That way, two shelves down,” Logan said, rather distracted by a book he’d picked off of the shelf.

“Thank you!”

Patton found the children’s section, and then found the book. It was still chewed on the corners. He smiled, and flipped through the thick cardboard pages. Thomas had loved this book.

And then, when he opened the last page, his logo fell out.

“Awww, look!” He picked it up, and found that it was a sticker. He promptly stuck the sticker to his chest and put the book back. Now all he had to do was find his way out!

He wandered into the next section, which was all dark and purples and blues and blacks and everything cozily packed together.

There was even a sign warning him away from certain aisles, because there would be spiders, and Patton was very glad Roman had thought of that.

And then he remembered the sunglasses stand sitting at the beginning of the lights aisle. That was probably for Virgil. Roman had been so thoughtful in building this! Patton hoped Roman would win. He certainly deserved the prize after putting all this together.

There was a whole section of Disney, all the movies, and posters, and any Disney themed toys and figurines, and even cardboard cut outs! It was lovely and chaotic and colorful, and it bridged Virgil’s section with Roman’s very well.

Roman had every single picture Thomas had ever seen, which was so many pictures!! Patton looked in awe until he realized that the paintbrushes weren’t just for show, some of them had been used. There was a little black cat in the corner of one painting, and a little V, and the paintbrush was in a cup of black water.

Patton found a picture of a field of flowers, and picked up the paintbrush, dabbing a bit of pink onto the picture. It turned instead into exactly the kind of flower Patton had been envisioning! He smiled wide and painted another, and another, and another, and each one turned out beautiful!

He ran to another painting and gave a little boy in the background a balloon and a smile. And then he gave the lady sitting in a rocking chair a baby to hold.

He finally had to stop himself. He could stay here forever, but he probably should get to the end of the store so he wouldn’t worry the others.

He got to the end of Roman’s section, only to find a massive blanket fort. He kept himself from exploring, and passed through, coming out at… the beds again?

Ohhhhh, right. It was a race and a maze.

Patton flopped down on the bed Thomas had grown up with, wrapping up in the blanket. He let out a happy sigh.

“Logan! Roman! Virgil! I’m lost! But I’m also gonna stay lost!”

Roman rose up and leaned against the footboard, a pleased smile on his face. “Enjoying the store?”

“I’m loving it!” Patton said happily, sitting up. “You did a really good job!”

Roman glowed. “I guess I’ll have to leave it up for you to wander in then. Once Virgil finds the exit I’ll put it somewhere more obvious so you can get out once you’re done.”

“Oh, did you and Logan already get out? Who won?”

“Logan, but only by a few minutes. He hid my logo in a hard place! How was I supposed to guess he’d put it under the makeup stash?”

Patton chuckled. “Wait, I didn’t see that.”

“It’s in Virgil’s section, in one of the spider aisles. I can un-spider it for you if you want.”

“Well, let Virgil have his fun first, but I’d really like that.” Patton smiled. He could have fun in here for a long time. “You did an amazing job with the paintings too! I loved those!”

Roman puffed up happily. “I did, didn’t I?”

There was a distant, triumphant, “Ha! I made it! Wait, Princey beat me? Aww.”

Patton giggled.

Roman patted his shoulder. “Have fun.”

“I will!” Patton said happily, eyeing the blanket fort which he now had time to explore.

—————

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[sunsetcurvetaintedhotdog]

Let’s Be Kids Again ☀︎

Summary: Reader is having an awful day but luckily Luke is there to help her.

Warning: Probably some language and bad grammar

Word count: 1,766

Honestly, two more weeks left of school, and these teachers don’t give a crap. “UGHH!!” I quickly stood up from my desk because if I keep looking at all the missing assignments and projects that I have to turn in I’m probably gonna lose my mind.

Lately, I’ve been feeling like work just keeps piling up and it’s a never-ending cycle of turning in twenty assignments by the end of the week and then still being behind on fifteen more. I should be out right now not stuck inside on a Saturday. I could’ve gone to the boy’s rehearsal and just sat there. But no here I am stuck in my bedroom with papers all over the place.

I hear a knock at my door “Sweetie Luke’s one the phone come downstairs.” I quickly open my door and bolt downstairs.

Luke and I are best friends although I don’t really like saying it because it reminds me of how much I don’t want to be friends with him. I want more. I’ve had a crush on him for a while now still trying to adapt to the new feeling. I’m not gonna say anything tho it will ruin our friendship if he doesn’t like me back and just make everything awkward between all of us.

“Hey” I heard Luke’s mom talking through the other line “Luke wash the dishes before you leave please I don’t know how you could live in your own filth” on the other side of the phone Luke rolled his eyes at his mother exaggeration, there was only three cups in the sink “yea, yea, ok”. I started giggling at his antics knowing exactly he’s only saying that so she could get off his back. He’s not really gonna do the dishes.

“Hey, ok so I was thinking we could do something tonight. Reg really wanted to go to the new carnival that just opened. Something about needing to get his future told I don’t know” he let out a sigh “what do you think?” As soon as I was about to say sure I remembered the nightmare of homework I have upstairs waiting for me. “Ugh i cant i have homework sorry Lu”

“Forget about homework you could do it another day” “Lu I can’t just forget about it it’s due in a few days” Luke is now pouting “So, you’ve done a lot over the year getting a few bad grades won’t harm you come on party pooper” suddenly a light bulb goes off in his head “Bet i can win you at bumper cars loser has to buy the other one food?” He was teasing her and he knew it. Since they were little they always did bets sometimes going to far as none of them wanted to lose. He knew she wasn’t gonna turn down a bet.

“I hate you. You know that” Luke smiled in victory. “Yes, i love you too” he said with the biggest smile ever. He loved hanging out with her. More at carnivals her unmatched energy always amazed him she was so energetic and he loved it. Someone had to keep up with him right..

“Ok find I’ll meet you at the carnival” “ok see you there” I placed the phone back on the wall and went upstairs to change. Once I was done I headed out but my dad stopped me. “Finished your homework already?” “Uh...um... yea didn’t have that much apparently” yea that was a lie but that was tomorrow’s problem. I walked out and headed to the carnival which was only a few blocks away from my house.

“Hey there trouble” ah trouble the infamous nickname that Alex gave me when we were 12. Luke had made a bet on whoever can scare Mrs. Frances, our 7th grade science teacher, the hardest got to name the their band. Because of me the bands name is Sunset Curve, a huge victory for me but I can’t say the same for Mrs. Frances. She had to eat lunch with a frog that day...ops... yea no I wasn’t sorry it was hilarious but if it wasn’t for me Sunset Curve would be named Bloody Devils cause Luke thought it was cool.

“Hey Al, oh I like your.....” I was cut off by Reggie putting his arms around me and Alex. “WHOS READY TO RIDE THE HORSES!!” Yea Reg has a thing for horses that explains ‘Home is Where my Horse is’.

“Reginald relax go get a corn dog or something” Bobby rolled his eyes at the over excited Reggie bouncing on one leg. He truly loved carnivals. “Ok I’ll be right back after the corn dog we have to get our future told I heard the one here is really accurate I want to know if I end up marrying Reese Witherspoon.”

“Ok guys what do you want to do first? Ferris wheel, go-carts, games, ...bumper cars...” I side glanced at Luke and he was already looking at me. “Oh your on” with that me and him were racing to the bumper car line bumping into each other once we got there. He quickly grabbed me by the waist so I wouldn’t fall on the other people. We were both laughing and smiling like idiots. “We should’ve walked” I said wiping my tears off my face. “Yea probably” he chuckled. “Ok so Al and Bobby get to choose who wins.” i said “Ok deal if I win you have to buy me the biggest ice cream cone they sell here” he said “Ok and if I win....um I want.... “ I looked around and the saw the big pretzel cart “The biggest pretzel they can make” “Deal” we did our handshake and turned around to stand in line.

“Ok Al, Bobby, focus you need to make sure you watch to see who wins” Luke said Alex and Bobby nodded and we were off into our own bumper cars. Me and Luke were bumping off each other and hitting other strangers cars. I think I might get a neck cramp. But it was really fun and I think I won. We got off giggling “ Ok so who is the lucky winner” I asked “Luke I’m never getting a car with you, y/n won” Alex said “yea totally destroyed you dude” Bobby added. Luke let out a snicker “yea please I let her win..” “sure you did bud” Bobby patted Luke on the back and went off to flirt with a girl he had seen earlier in the line. Reggie isn’t back so he might be stuffing his face with corn dogs. “And then there were three” I sighed. Alex turned around from walking in front of me and Luke “yea well make that two there is this really cute skater over there and I think I might go talk to him so peace out” he turned around and walked away. He quickly glanced back and winked at me “have fun”.

“Ok that makes two then, you up to take me on the pretzel offer” I asked Luke, he looked down at me with one of his gorgeous smiles that can brighten up the whole town. Geez why is he making it so hard not to fall in love with him. “Anything for you” he kissed the top of my head and we headed to the pretzel cart. We ordered and sat down on a bench to eat the pretzel. He took many bites but whatever he did pay for it. Still I won so I don’t see how it’s fair he got part of the prize, oh well. “So homework is stressful right?” he asked. I groaned “ugh yes I just wish I could be a kid so I wouldn’t have to do so much work and the only thing I would have to worry about is sleeping in nap time” I rested my head against his shoulder and he rested his against mine. “ Ok then, let’s be kids again then” I looked up at him confused “what?” “Let’s be kids again, let’s ride everything here and completely forget that we have responsibilities for tonight. How does that sound” he was practically buzzing now with excitement “I’m down” I said. “First one to throw up cleans the others room for a week” he said “Bet!”. We got up and starting riding everything that we could.

It’s been two hours and I’m waiting outside the boys bathroom with a water bottle for Luke. Can you guess who won. “Ugh that last ride really pulled some strings” he said. I giggled at him handing him the water bottle. “Up for one more tho” he groaned “depends, i don’t think my stomach can take anything else. “Ferris wheel?” I asked. He nodded and we headed there. Now getting into the ride we sat next to each other and the ride starting going up. The sky was a beautiful mix of pinks, reds, yellows, and blues. He wrapped his arm around my waist and I laid my head on his shoulder while we just admired the sunset. Well i did, I didn’t know that Luke wasn’t looking at the sunset he was looking at me like if I were the most beautiful painting he’s ever seen.

“Y/n...” i glanced back up and what he did next really surprised me. He pushed his lips against mines and I didn’t react I was frozen in place. He was about to pull away when I finally starting kissing back. He took his hand and put it on my cheek and I tangled my hands in his hair. This was amazing I always loved carnivals because of the adrenaline a ride gave you but this completely ruled out that feeling it felt passionate and warm. My stomach was doing flips and I was loving it, everything about this moment was just perfect.

When we finally pulled away we pressed our foreheads together still with our eyes closed “You don’t know how long I’ve been wanting to do that” he let out a shaky breath “then do it again” I whispered. He leaned back in to kiss me. This kiss went on a little longer and it was even more passionate than the one before if that was even possible. Now there was nothing stopping us we both know how we feel about each other and we can be together now.

Now not only do I have my best friend with me constantly but I think I might have found my soulmate. I am completely utterly in love with Luke Patterson.

[novelconcepts]

Not sure if it’s Drabble worthy. What if Peter and Rebecca don’t die and therefore Bly doesn’t need a new Au Pair. Do Jamie and Dani still meet somehow?

There is a woman in the pub. Not, strictly speaking, an oddity--there are people here every night upon Jamie’s return from the manor. People with drinks and conversation, taking up space she doesn’t have the energy to deal with. 

This woman, though. This woman is strange simply because she isn’t. Because there is a look about her, too normal, too put-together. Because her eyes are too bright, and her hair too shiny, and she is--most important of all--not of Bly.

Not Jamie’s problem, either, she thinks, pushing past the woman’s table with little more than a glance.

Blue eyes, she registers. Blue eyes, catching hers for a bare moment. 

Jamie keeps walking.

***

The woman is back again. Still looking a bit too clean, a bit too bright to be allowed in a smudgy place like this. She’s seated at that same table, nursing a drink with her eyes on a book, and she is...

Just a woman, thinks Jamie, whose day has been marked by Miles’ attitude and Flora’s perfectly splendid’s, and whose head is in all honesty ringing just a bit more than she can stand. 

She could use a drink tonight. Could use a bit more than a drink, really--could use a long rest, a long break from memories of Peter fucking Quint moving about the house like he owns the place. Tonight, she’ll settle for the drink. It’s cheaper than therapy, easier than talking to Hannah or Owen about the whole business. Certainly easier than cornering Rebecca, pressing her toward sense.

Problem is, there is a woman in the pub. 

At her table.

She drinks at the bar instead and finds her eyes searching out that woman’s face in the mirror. Finds herself coming back time and time again to the curve of the woman’s cheek, the angle of her nose, the way she bites the edge of her thumbnail as she turns the page. 

Her eyes never raise, never seek Jamie’s in return, though Jamie is certain--judging by the insistent tap of one boot under the table, the fidgety quality of her fingers around her glass--she knows she is being watched. 

***

The woman, she supposes, has nowhere else to be. What must that be like? What cart must have overturned, tipping her onto the pavement of Bly, to this pub, to this dark corner of the world? 

Jamie can remember all too well what it feels like to have nowhere to be. To just stumble into whatever place will hold a person up. This woman, with her tailored blouse and her hoop earrings, doesn’t much look like Jamie had, living that sort of life. But what does Jamie know?

Blue eyes. Shiny hair. Very little else.

Jamie has taken in a drink every night this week, less for the value of the alcohol, more out of curiosity. Could the woman really be here each time she walks through the door? Could this same woman always set up shop at her table, alone, peaceably making her way through a battered paperback?

So far, survey says yes. 

And the week has been long, it’s true: Rebecca, growing agitated as tensions between Peter and the rest of them wind ever-higher. Last night, Hannah had gripped her steak knife as though considering plunging it into Peter’s thigh. Tonight, it had taken every ounce of Jamie not to take a swing with the expensive wine bottle he had produced from thin air. 

Deserve better, chick, she’d thought as Rebecca had soothed Peter’s glower with a kiss. You have to see that. 

Rebecca, predictably, does not. 

Jamie, sitting here with yet another drink, watching the strange woman at her table in the mirror, isn’t sure who she is to talk. 

***

Someone is trying to talk to the woman tonight. Someone--a bulky man in his mid-thirties who Jamie has already marked as endless trouble--is trying to take a seat at the woman’s table.

Jamie watches with hackles raised, glass poised at her lips, waiting. The woman looks like the sort to make polite conversation, to smile warmly, to find herself in a bad situation before she realizes. Not that it’s any of Jamie’s concern. Not that Jamie ought to be making noise in the pub above which she sleeps. 

The man is leaning across the table, his huge hand reaching for the woman’s book. His grin is sloppy, his eyes ale-muddled, and when he moves toward the woman’s hand, she recoils. Glances toward the bar. 

Glances directly at Jamie. 

Hell, thinks Jamie tiredly, because this isn’t the way. This is never effective, never wise. Keep to yourself, keep your bloody head to your own bloody business, that’s the trick. 

The woman’s eyes are so goddamned blue. 

“Saved me a seat, I see,” Jamie hears herself say, cocking her hip against the man’s chair with a fuck out of it smile. He squints up at her, clearly trying to piece together some bleary vestige of memory. 

“You’re,” he slurs, “upstairs.”

“Seem to be down among the locals tonight,” Jamie says cheerfully, and gives him a single jerk of the head in warning. He frowns, pushing himself clumsily to his feet. 

“Borin’ conversation anyway.”

Jamie watches him go, raises her glass to her lips, smiles when he shoots a dark look over his shoulder. She does not look at the woman, not until she hears a soft voice say, “Thank you.”

American, realizes Jamie. 

Mistake, realizes Jamie.

“Hang a jacket over the seat next time,” she suggests on her way back to the bar. “Dissuades the stupider ones.”

***

The woman buys her a drink. 

She seems, Jamie notes with some alarm, to have registered Jamie’s schedule. How Jamie seems to walk in around eight every evening, her shoulders tense with a day’s battles still hanging tight. How Jamie has long given up trying for her usual table, sacrificing it in the name of pretty blonde Americans. 

There is a drink waiting for her--her usual, though in a place like this, it isn’t hard to guess. 

“That one,” the bartender--tonight, a fiftyish woman with a smirk--says, and points exactly where Jamie expects. She glances over, finds the American with her own glass raised. Eyebrows arched. Head gesturing for Jamie to come on over.

Mistake, she thinks again, even as she’s obeying.

“Wanted to thank you again,” the woman says, as Jamie hovers beside the second chair. There is, she notes, a denim jacket tossed over its back.

“Not a problem.”

“Sit?” the woman suggests, and Jamie finds she can’t locate a reason not to. She settles awkwardly, trying not to dislodge the jacket, all-too aware of the filthy floor beneath her boots. 

“Really don’t think,” she begins, but the woman is saying something. She blinks. “Sorry?”

“Dani,” the woman says again, touching a hand to her chest. “Dani Clayton.”

It’s a bad idea, Jamie thinks distantly, because the woman is so goddamned pretty, it hurts. She’s pretty, and she’s smiling, and there’s something about her eyes that makes Jamie’s pulse do tricks she hasn’t entertained in years. 

“Jamie,” she replies, and allows the woman to clink a half-finished glass against her own. 

***

Dani, as it turns out, actually works here. 

“Just started,” she says, almost sheepishly, when Jamie makes blustery noises of surprise. “On the early shift. Just to have something to keep me busy, until I figure something else out.”

She’s in England, she says, on a sort of personal retreat. A finding myself sort of adventure, she adds with a laugh that rings in Jamie’s ears like the best kind of music. 

“Better places to do it in,” Jamie points out, “than a hole in Bly.”

Dani shrugs. “I like it. The people are nice, mostly. And it’s quiet.”

“Home wasn’t quiet?”

Dani doesn’t answer. Dani doesn’t seem to like to talk about herself all that much, Jamie is noticing. She likes, instead, to talk about the town--the strangers, the clients, the newness of it all. She’ll talk about the beer, about the book resting at her elbow, about the weather. Most of all, she asks after Jamie.

“Not much to tell,” Jamie says--a lie, if you go back far enough, but honest enough for now. “Groundskeeper, over at the big house down the way.”

“What does that entail?” Dani, unlike most, actually sounds interested. She is the oddest bird, Jamie thinks, and is startled to find a sense of light affection behind the notion. 

“Gardening, mostly. Keep up the grounds, like I said--minor repairs about the house, too. Make sure everything keeps moving.”

“You like it?”

“Love it,” Jamie says honestly. Dani smiles. 

“That’s what I want. Something I really love. Thought for a while it would be teaching, but...”

“Kids,” Jamie says. “Take a lot out of a person. That why you’re here?”

Dani thinks on it, seems to step right up to the edge of a reply before changing her mind. “Couldn’t be at home anymore,” she says instead. It’s a non-answer, Jamie recognizes. A too much truth answer. 

“Fair enough,” Jamie tells her, and doesn’t push.

***

“So--he lives there?” Dani is three drinks in to Jamie’s two, her hair falling across her forehead as she tries to piece it all together. Jamie shakes her head. 

“Nah, not most days. Hannah, she lives there--full-time, I mean. And Rebecca, she moved in couple of months back. Kids love her. Quint, though, he’s...” She can’t find a nice way to put it. Isn’t sure why she’s even bothering. “A cockroach. Hard to kill, harder yet to wish away.”

“Sound like you’ve tried,” Dani says with a faint smile. Jamie shrugs.

“Waste of everyone’s time. He’s Henry’s fuckin’ lapdog. Long as he’s pulling at the leash, we all just need to make do.”

Dani mulls this over with the interest of someone who has not a single face to put with any of these names. “Rebecca really likes him, huh?”

“Likes him. Stuck into him. Not much of a difference.” Jamie leans back, pouring the remainder of her drink into a single swallow. The idea of it, of Peter’s hands on Rebecca’s waist at dinner, still makes her stomach sour. “You ever just--you ever meet someone who is like a human pair of handcuffs?”

Something flickers in Dani’s eyes. She nods once. Jamie sighs.

“That’s Quint. Fucker never met a woman he didn’t try to win--and I do mean win. Like a prize. Like women are little more than trophies to be locked behind glass.”

She watches Dani rub absently against her lips with the back of one hand, unable to tear her eyes away until Dani says, “I don’t understand.”

“It’s like,” Jamie begins, trying to find the best way to explain, “like he thinks she’s property, right? Like he thinks any choice she makes without his say-so is a fucking--”

“Not that,” Dani says quietly. “I mean I don’t understand how people can do that. To each other. When they say they love--I mean. It’s the wrong way around, isn’t it? Trying to own someone out of love? You can’t do it. That’s...they’re not...”

“They’re opposites,” Jamie finishes. Blue eyes skip up, hold hers, don’t so much as waver. Dani’s lips turn up at the corners, her head giving a single nod. 

“Yeah. Exactly. How do people mix that up?”

“No idea,” Jamie says, and swallows against the clamor of her own heart.

***

Peter tried to pick a fight this afternoon, out among the roses. Would have succeeded, Jamie thinks with no small amount of shame, had Miles not been lurking just behind him, watching everything.

She is vibrating when she reaches the pub, every motion just a little more exaggerated than she likes. She slams down into her usual seat, hands clenched into fists against the table. 

“Bad day?” Dani asks, sliding a plate toward her. Half a sandwich, carefully set aside as if for Jamie all along. 

“Not great,” Jamie agrees. She softens, looking Dani over, reading the tension behind her smile. “Look like you can say the same.”

Dani glances over her shoulder, eyes finding the mirror behind the bar and darting jerkily away again. “Hard to explain,” she says. 

“Do you want to?” Jamie asks. Dani’s eyes land on her with all the abrasive surprise of an explosion. Jamie taps light knuckles against the tabletop. “Just sayin’. If you want to get it off your chest--”

Dani shakes her head. “It’s...really hard to explain,” she says, almost apologetic. “It--it makes me sound...kinda crazy.”

Jamie has never met someone who looks less crazy. Someone who holds herself with such steadiness, though her hands are twitchy and her smile doesn’t always reach her eyes. 

“If you want,” she says, knowing she will, in a moment, let the moment slide. “I don’t mind.”

There’s silence between them, a great comfortable swell of it that shouldn’t exist in a small pub, on a night like this, between two women who barely know one another. Jamie lets it ride, taking a bite of sandwich, watching Dani read her expression with tentative interest.

“I had a fiancé,” Dani says at last, and Jamie feels something in her stomach turn over. And then a second time, when Dani adds, “He died.”

“Dani. I’m so--”

“He died,” Dani says, staring grimly ahead as though trying with everything in her power not to glance toward the mirror again, “and I had just--I had just told him I couldn’t--”

She hesitates, pressing her face into her palms. When she lifts her head, her eyes are blazing. 

“I’d just broken--up with him. Broken the engagement, broken the whole--because he wasn’t what I--and then he died. And sometimes, I...I...”

Jamie waits. Dani sucks in a ragged breath.

“I see him. Sometimes. In mirrors, mostly. In--and it’s insane, I know, but I can’t stop.”

“S’why you came here?” Jamie guesses. Dani nods. 

“Crazy, right?”

Jamie shakes her head slowly. She’s not much for ghost stories, for fairytales, for dreams made flesh. Loss, though? Grief? Missing who a person was, who they could be? Those aren’t the marks of a crazy person. Those are just...

“Sounds like a rough time,” she says, and lets herself reach across the table. Dani’s hand is soft beneath her own, and she is suddenly too aware of her own callouses, of the skid against Dani’s skin when she turns her hand over and squeezes Jamie’s fingers in return. 

“Thank you,” she says softly, and looks once more toward the mirror. Jamie watches her: the tension in her brow, the way her eyes seem to narrow. “I think I...needed to tell someone. Finally.”

She’s still holding Jamie’s hand, even as she turns the subject to the day’s customers, to Jamie’s plans for tomorrow. She’s still holding Jamie’s hand, and doesn’t even seem to notice.

***

There is a fight, but it isn’t Jamie who starts it. Isn’t Jamie who finishes it, even. 

Jamie is only stupid enough to step in the middle. 

“Your eye,” Dani says in greeting, standing briskly up from the table. Jamie, who is aware she is no longer bleeding, aware that the glass thrown could have done significantly more damage on a less-fortunate occasion, waves her off. 

“Bit, ah. Messy at the house tonight.”

Bit messy is a gentle way of putting it. In truth, it had been a horrorshow: Hannah already furious with Peter for having barricaded Rebecca in the bedroom all afternoon, Peter furious with Owen for having enlisted Rebecca’s help with dinner, Rebecca wound tight with the rising pressure of a situation primed to go bad for days. When the glass had been thrown--by Peter or by Rebecca, Jamie still can’t say; she suspects it had really slipped from a gesticulating hand, regardless, given momentum by a moment of frustration more than genuine violence--it had been the bomb they’d all been waiting for.

Rebecca had stormed off to her room. Peter, out of the house. Hannah had collected the kids, both of whom were sobbing, and Jamie had pushed Owen’s helpful hand away and cleaned her own wound. 

“Theater,” she says now, aware of Dani’s eyes on her, of the abject concern in Dani’s face. “S’all it was.”

“Not good for the kids,” Dani says quietly. Jamie sighs.

“None of this is good for ‘em. Miles, he keeps...picking up shifty habits from Quint, and Flora’s enamored with the whole rotten mess. Thinks it’s romantic.” Jamie shakes her head, winces when her head rings back in answer. “Like there’s anything fuckin’ romantic about the way he talks to her.”

Dani is quiet a moment. She reaches across the table, presses her fingertips very gently to the place along Jamie’s brow where the glass had landed. 

“Lucky it didn’t break,” Jamie murmurs, almost unaware of leaning into Dani’s hand. “Shouldn’t have gotten in the...”

Dani is gazing at her with eyes too blue, an expression too meaningful. Jamie reaches up, closes her own fingers around the hand gingerly exploring her brow. 

“I’m okay,” she says. “Really.”

Dani seems not to believe her. Dani, whose palm slides across her own, thumb working a swipe along Jamie’s skin. 

“Do you,” she begins. Clears her throat. Tries again. “Do you want to go somewhere?”

Dani nods.

***

She leads Dani upstairs, and even as she’s unlocking the door, she thinks, Mistake? This is, she knows, the kind of thing a person can’t take back. The kind of give that can’t be explained away. 

Dani has not stopped looking at her since leaving the pub. Dani has not let go of her hand. 

Dani, she is sure, feels it, too. 

She’s aware of all the bits of the flat that feel wrong when set alongside Dani Clayton: last week’s shirt tossed over the back of the sofa, last night’s cup on the counter, last month’s dust painting the bookshelf. All the little merits of a life lived alone, she thinks. If she’d known--if she’d planned--it would look different.

Not much different, maybe, but enough.

Dani is looking around with an expression Jamie can’t read. It isn’t unease, or polite interest, or even amusement; it is, Jamie thinks, genuine awe. It is, Jamie thinks, a hunger to belong. 

She’d fit in, she catches herself thinking, watching Dani walk slowly around the flat with the faintest smile at her lips. In that house, with the rest, maybe better than I do. She’d fit right in.

“This is yours?” Dani asks, not gesturing at any one thing in particular, and Jamie nods slowly. 

“Serves its purpose.”

“I’ve never had this,” Dani says. Her eyes linger on Jamie’s face, and she adds hastily, “A place of my own. It seems...quiet.”

“It is,” Jamie says, and wonders if there isn’t more to it. If I’ve never had this is reaching for more than four walls and a bed Dani wouldn’t have to share. 

***

They don’t really talk about it, as Jamie’s flat commandeers the pub’s place in line altogether. Sometimes, Jamie even finds Dani seated on her steps, book propped upon on her knees, waiting patiently to be discovered. It never feels like expectation, Jamie notes with feelings too big to look at for long. It only ever feels like Dani, warm smile and easy hand accepting Jamie’s for balance, has belonged here all along.

“D’you ever just,” Jamie begins, cutting herself off before the rest of the words can spill out. Dani, curled on the sofa with a blanket half-tucked around her, furrows her brow. 

“What?”

“Feel like someone was always there,” Jamie finishes after a moment’s deliberation. It’s too much, probably, but she walked in on Peter and Rebecca screaming at one another again, and Flora spent the whole day in a sulk, and Hannah’s got a weariness around her eyes Jamie doesn’t like. Maybe it’s just a day for too much. 

Dani doesn’t seem to think it’s too much. Dani is nodding.

“Like you don’t even have to introduce yourself, really, because you remember them from another life. Yes. Yes, I’ve...felt that.”

It’s romantic rubbish, Jamie wants to say, something out of one of Flora’s story-time adventures, but the words seem to settle along her skeleton like she needs them. Like they’re offering some kind of strength she didn’t realize she was lacking. 

Dani is gazing at her, her expression fixed and unblinking in a manner that should be off-putting, and Jamie finds herself pulled irresistibly in. Finds herself leaning across the sofa, her thigh pressing to Dani’s, twisting at the waist to face her head-on.

“I’ve never,” Dani says softly, though her head is inclining, her lashes fluttering against her cheek. 

“Don’t have to,” Jamie replies, though her blood is singing, her fingers itching to delve into thick blonde hair. 

“But we could...” Dani is an inch away, and Jamie wants nothing more than to close the gap. Wants to take something for herself, for once, something soft and warm and easier than it ought to be. 

She hesitates. Flexes her hands against her own knees, resisting the urge to grab for Dani’s shirt. 

“Dani, I don’t want to--”

Dani is leaning back, nodding feverishly. “Right. I’m sorry. I’m so sorry--”

“No, listen.” She allows herself this, one hand reaching for Dani’s fingers, unfolding the instinctive fist she’s made. “I'm not...people don’t make sense to me. Understand?”

Dani shakes her head, puzzlement spreading over her impending humiliation. Jamie closes her eyes. 

“There’s a lot to it, and if...if you want to hear it all sometime, I’ll...but for now, just know that people are hard for me. Exhaustive. Complicated. They ask too much and they return too little.”

“Even me?” Dani asks, eyes shining, and Jamie smiles grimly. 

“Even you. Even me. Everyone, understand? But sometimes I still want...”

Dani waits. Dani, who never hurries Jamie anywhere. Who never tries to argue Jamie into a corner, or tells Jamie she needs to be kinder, or sneers for Jamie to get out of her way. Dani, who only sits on Jamie’s sofa, watching Jamie with an intensity no one else seems to possess. 

“If you do,” Jamie says, almost helplessly, letting one hand brace beneath Dani’s elbow. “I want--”

***

Some people--some women--kiss to escape. To flee from their lives, to hide inside Jamie’s hands and lips and fleeting desire. Some women kiss to build up armor: to convince themselves they really are brave enough, even for a night, to be someone else. Some women even kiss to shame themselves, because the memory of Jamie on their skin will rise up at unexpected moments and make them feel something, anything, even if it’s terrible. 

Dani doesn’t kiss like any of those women. 

Dani kisses like she wants. Simple and steady and nothing more. Like she wants to be kissing Jamie, wants to be learning Jamie, wants the want of it as much as the thing itself. There is no shame, in the way Dani kisses her. There is only breathless excitement, Dani moving across the sofa to press tight to Jamie’s frame along the cushions.

“I’ve never,” she says again, only this time, she’s curling the words into the underside of Jamie’s jaw. She’s letting them spill across Jamie’s skin from within the loose grip of Jamie’s arms, her hands wound tight in Jamie’s shirt, her voice jittery with anticipation. 

“If you want to stop,” Jamie begins, and Dani is shaking her head, kissing her neck, murmuring against her in such a way, Jamie can’t help but shiver.

“It’s what I--it’s right. The right way.” She lifts her eyes, and Jamie can’t help but grin at the joy reflected back. “I’ve never done it the right way.”

Jamie wants to know what that means, what the wrong way was, but it doesn’t seem a question for now. Now is just Dani, the one golden light untouched by a bleak day, the one bright spot after a tattered house Jamie doesn’t really belong in. Dani, who sighs against her lips, smiling, like she’s never been so happy to kiss someone. 

She’s waiting for Dani to reel back, to gasp, to mention the fiancé again--but Dani only presses in closer and lets her mouth linger against the thunder of Jamie’s pulse beating along in her throat. Dani only finds her lips with such a sound of relief, Jamie can do nothing but grip at her back in response. 

Have we done this before? she thinks with feverish uncertainty. Have we been here before? Dani is new, each press and slide of fingers along her skin calling forth unexpected sounds, but Dani is also right. Like meeting someone and knowing they were meant to be in your story the whole time. 

“You’re sure?” she asks, though Dani is gazing down at her with such obvious desire, it makes her stomach clench. 

Dani, in answer, kisses her as no woman has ever kissed her, and Jamie lets herself fall. 

***

Dani is still in her bed come morning. 

Dani is still wrapped around her, naked skin and rapturous smile, and Jamie thinks, How can I be so happy, when the rest of it is falling apart?

“All right?” she asks, half-expecting the awareness of the previous night--of their slow stumble across the flat, of Dani’s shirt over her head and Dani’s hands cradling Jamie’s skin--to crash in around them both like a bad dream. Dani only wriggles against her under the blankets, face pressed to Jamie’s shoulder. 

“Yes. Are you?”

No one has ever asked that, Jamie realizes dimly. Not even the first girl she’d ever loved, the one who had taken Jamie by the shoulders and kissed her hard enough to hurt. Jamie, who had only been preoccupied with the sense memory of a moment like that, with the teeth buried in her bottom lip and the hand cupped between her legs, hadn’t much cared at the time. 

Now, though, with Dani looking at her this way, she can’t imagine being with someone who doesn’t ask. Who doesn’t trail the tips of their fingers along her shoulder, her collarbone, her neck, and smile like they knew all along they were needed here. 

“I’m glad,” she hears herself say, morning rasp tracing the words, “you stayed.”

Dani is still beaming when Jamie kisses her, the implication of I am, too buried in the gentle press of her hand against Jamie’s cheek.

“Are you going to be late?” she asks a little while later, when there’s fresh sweat on her breast and Dani is gulping air against her neck. Dani shakes her head, dusting light kisses across Jamie’s skin. She swallows, laughs, groans when Dani finds a particularly pleasant spot in the hollow of her throat and sets to exploring it properly. “Keep doing that, and I will be.”

And would that be so bad? To leave the house for a day. To pretend like it isn’t all imploding around her, a little family divided by one man’s arrogance. Like Jamie doesn’t feel, more and more each day, as though she is the odd one out, the seventh wheel amid three solid pairs.

Dani, still teasing the clench of her stomach with curious fingers, says, “Guess you should go, then,” and Jamie thinks no one has ever said as much to her with less pleasure. No one has ever sounded quite so inclined to keep Jamie close. 

“I’ll be back,” she promises, and Dani--spilled across her sheets like she was placed by some grand wish--grins all the wider.

***

Rebecca spends the day in silent fury, tears running down her cheeks. Hannah spends it trying to keep her lips pursed around I told you so-shaped phrasing. Owen spends it in the kitchen, head down, and Jamie spends it teaching the kids how to properly weed out a garden, just for the distraction of it all.

Peter, they tell her, is gone. 

Peter, they tell her, left last night. 

“Gone where?” Dani asks when she pushes into the flat that night to find her still here, wrapped in one of Jamie’s favorite shirts and a pair of shorts. She has spent the day, she says, feeling intrusive, feeling as though she ought to be somewhere. Jamie, unable to explain the ease with which she does it, only leans in to kiss her slowly. 

“Here,” she says. “Meant to be here.”

As for Peter--she doesn’t much care where he’s skittered off to. Good fucking riddance, in her opinion. 

“Rebecca probably doesn’t agree,” Dani says, folded onto one of the sparse kitchen chairs with bare feet and a worried expression Peter doesn’t deserve. Across from her, Jamie sighs. 

“Maybe he’s got the right idea.”

Dani tips her head, waiting, and it strikes Jamie that this is an already that doesn’t make much sense. Like the comfortable silences, Dani’s capacity to already understand when she needs to talk something out, when she needs to come to a matter on her own terms without being rushed along, is a thrill. 

“Been thinking,” she goes on slowly, giving voice to thoughts she’s been batting around for months, “maybe I’ve outstayed my welcome, as it were. At the house. With the others.”

“You said you loved it,” Dani points out. Jamie sighs.

“Love the work. Love the people, some of ‘em. But there’s something about it--something about being bound to the place that feels...”

Suffocating, she doesn’t say. Like trying to walk against the wind. Like a clock ticking down.

“Been thinking for a while,” she says instead, “about moving on. Traveling some. Can find good work for my hands anywhere, can’t I?”

Dani doesn’t answer. Dani seems to recognize this is Jamie’s future to parse out, Jamie’s thoughts to sift through. Dani having spent a night in her bed is not qualified to deter or convince her. 

“It can be lonely,” she says, when Jamie goes quiet. “Traveling without a destination.”

“You’ve been doing it,” Jamie points out, smiling a little, and Dani looks almost embarrassed. 

“Seemed the only thing to do, at the time. If I had to do it again...”

“You’d stay home?”

Dani laughs. “No. No, absolutely not.” Her hand slides across the table, tangling with Jamie’s fingers. “But...I don’t know that I’d do it alone again. If I didn’t have to.”

Jamie says nothing, the words revolving around and around between them. It’s too early to say it, she thinks. Even if she feels as though she’s known Dani far longer than these few weeks, these spare bundles of days spent talking, laughing, kissing, it hasn’t been long enough to say a thing like this. 

Dani is watching with serious eyes, with a strangely calm expression, and Jamie wonders if she can see it in her eyes, the thing she is deliberately not saying out loud.

***

She expects to find Peter back again the next day, but his absence is etched into every inch of wallpaper like a smoke stain. Rebecca seems to be moving in slow motion, going about the business of teaching the kids with very little investment. Hannah and Owen exchange concerned looks over the lunch table, and Jamie--who had enjoyed a languorous morning with Dani in her entirely too-small shower--finds herself thinking again of this house, how good it is at building pairs of people. How, without her pair, Rebecca seems lost. How, without Jamie around each morning, Hannah and Owen seem to be revolving ever nearer to one another. 

And maybe that’s for the best, she thinks. Maybe it’s like science, like the simplicity of an atom. Maybe without Peter holding her to the structure, Rebecca will ultimately bounce off again, vanish into a space built for, instead of around, her. Maybe Owen and Hannah will finally speak of quiet lovely truths they’ve been dancing around for years. Maybe it will all balance out. 

“Where are you off to next?” she asks Dani one night, the two of them curled close in bed. Dani, who had been drowsing against her shoulder, raises her head. 

“Kicking me out?” There’s a smile on her lips which, when paired with the genuine edge of worry in her voice, makes Jamie’s heart hurt. 

“No, I--I mean, I know it’s...early. And you can say no. Please, by all means, say no if you--”

“Ask,” Dani interrupts gently. Jamie sighs. 

“I’m going to call up Wingrave. Let him know he’ll be needing a new groundskeeper for the autumn season. I can’t...”

Keep listening to the walls breathe around me, she doesn’t say. Keep watching Rebecca mope, and the kids checking every window for Peter fucking Quint’s reflection. Can’t keep still in this place that only ever wants a person to stay the same. 

“I can’t,” she repeats solidly. “I was wondering if you’d...if you wanted...”

It’s been a week since opening her bed to Dani Clayton, and a week is nothing. A week is barely a breath, in the grand scheme of things, but there are feelings Jamie can’t bury once dug up. Certainties she can’t turn from, once looked in the eye. There is something about the way Dani exhales across her skin in her sleep, about the way Dani kisses her with open abandon when Jamie touches her, about the look in Dani’s eyes when she thinks Jamie doesn’t see. A week in her bed. A month in her life. 

Sometimes, she thinks recklessly, you know it’s worth trying for.

“If you wanted the company,” she says finally. “Not even forever, if you didn’t want--”

“Forever’s a long time,” Dani replies, though she’s smiling. Heat winds its way up Jamie’s neck, settling between her shoulder blades, at the small of her back where Dani’s hand seems always to grip tight around her shirt. 

“It is. Yeah.”

“Start smaller?” Dani suggests quietly, even as she’s pressing close, one leg sliding between Jamie’s beneath the sheets. “Only, I knew someone once, who demanded forever. It...didn’t work out.”

“Smaller,” Jamie agrees, relieved. Dani smiles against her lips, each kiss a little longer, a little more wanting than the last. “Little at a time, maybe.”

“Company would be nice,” Dani answers, and then she’s kissing Jamie for real, pressing Jamie into the sheets, and Jamie doesn’t care that the summer has been a mess of other people’s feelings, that the house is a cataclysm of old ghosts and unpleasant exhumations, that people are rarely worth the effort sunk into them. Jamie doesn’t care about anything just now except the distinct sound of Dani’s laugh in her mouth, the distinct pressure of Dani’s fingers against her heart. 

A woman in her pub. An event built of a dozen tiny accidents, a dozen roads taken without expectation of consequence. Maybe in another life, Dani would have chosen the next village down the way. Maybe in another life, Jamie would have been too wary to meet her eyes. Maybe in another life, Rebecca would never have come to teach those kids, Peter would never have made a misery of that house, Owen and Hannah would have built a love in Paris to put them all to shame. Other lives. Other roads. 

In this one, Jamie dreams of adventure, of a soft hand tucked into her own, of blue eyes and a brave little grin, and thinks, Half the fun, isn’t it? Never knowing where you might land. 

[justsomerandomfanfic]

The Fair - The Avengers

Title: The Fair

Ships: Tony X Pepper, Steve X Loki, Bucky X Sam, and Wanda X Vision

Additional Characters: Peter, Bruce, Thor, Natasha, and Clint

| Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 |

WC: 915

Warnings: Fear of heights

The sun beamed down on the hundreds of families occupying the fairgrounds on the chill October afternoon. Loud children ran from booth to booth, trying to win plushies or obtaining their seventh cotton candy of the day. Parents ate hot dogs and elephant ears as they watched their kids ride on the many bright and blaring rides. The fairgrounds were filled with joy, laughter, and overall happiness, as the day went on. 

Tony stood at the entrance of the fair, among his Avenger friends, slightly surprised as only a few kids, and adults, came up for pictures or autographs. Tony had decided on the Avenger’s day off, that they should go to the fair that had arrived in town only a few days ago. The Avengers had all agreed to go, knowing it had been a long time since they actually had fun as a family, not only a team. 

“Alright, if you all will excuse me, I heard they have an ‘all you can drink.’” Tony spoke up, before scadadling away and into the fair.

Peter bolted into the fair, straight to the ring toss booth, ready to dominate the game that, sadly, was rigged. Wanda took Vision’s hand and dragged him along, and soon enough the rest of the team headed in. 

Sam and Bucky walked side by side, looking at each booth, ride, and attraction. Bucky looked around the fair in a child-like wonder, eyes wide as he looked at everything around him. He hadn't been to a fair or carnival in a very long time. His memories from his own childhood were very foggy but he could still taste the cotton candy on his tongue. Sam pulled on Bucky’s hand, dragging him out of his childhood memories. Looking at Sam, Bucky automatically noticed Sam’s bright eyes and arm out-stretched, pointing to the tallest rollercoaster in the fair.

The Crazy Coaster. 

Bucky quickly shook his head, slowly backing away from the roaring coaster, sadly, not getting far with Sam’s hand still holding his. Sam smiled teasingly, pulling Bucky back towards him a bit. A smirk settled upon his face as Bucky visibly gulped and shook his head once more.

“Come on, Buck. Just one coaster. It’s not even that bad.” Sam tried to convince him, but Bucky was having none of it.

“Oh, no. You had to choose the tallest coaster in the entire fair. What about that one?” Bucky asked, pointing over to the smallest coaster in the fair, a kiddie coaster by the name of ‘The Baby Dragon.’ Having a maximum height of three feet, and a running time of probably ten seconds. Sam shook his head at the idea with a laugh.

“That’s for toddlers, Buck.” Bucky sighed, knowing it was impossible anyway, he’d probably break the tiny coaster.

Bucky’s eyes slowly rose up to look at the looming coaster, watching as the carts raced on the track at high speeds, the riders screaming their heads off. Looking back to Sam, he looked at Bucky hopefully. Bucky knew that going on the coaster would make Sam happy. 

“Only once, okay? We don’t have to go on it millions of times or anything. Just once.” Sam spoke, and Bucky sighed.

“Okay… Fine. But, I want something out of this.” Bucky spoke, as Sam quickly dragged them into the long line.

“Of course, Jamie, what do you want to do after?” Sam asked as they slowly moved up in the long line.

“I want you to win me something in the game booths.” Bucky softly demanded, and Sam nodded with a smile.

“Absolutely, I’ll win you the biggest prize they have here. “ Sam spoke up with a chuckle, wrapping his arm around Bucky’s shoulders.

Wanda and Vision walked through the midway, looking at all the food venders and the foods they were selling. They were both trying to find something to munch on as they walked through the fair. Vision was looking around each food vendor’s booth, trying to see if anything caught his interest. Even though he couldn’t eat, he doubted that Wanda would like deep fried oreos. Wanda looked around as well, trying to find something. She was beginning to give up when she saw it. Cinnamon pumpkin cotton candy.

Wanda loved Fall. It was her favorite season. The beautiful yellow, orange, and red leaves fall gracefully from the trees. The pumpkin patches near Halloween. And, baking cinnamon pumpkin bread with none other than Vision. Wanda longed for the Autumn days where she could snuggle up next to Vision, read a good book, while a heavy blanket covered them both. Sipping Cinnamon hot chocolate in front of the fire, going on long walks through Central Park all bundled up, and handing out candy to the children on Halloween. Pulling Vision to the vendor's cotton candy booth, she ordered two cinnamon pumpkin cotton candies.

“Two cinnamon pumpkin cotton candies, please.” Wanda asked, trying to hide her excitement.

Vision looked down at her with a soft smile, seeing the joy in her eyes as she made her order.

The vendor prepared their cotton candies and handed the cones to Wanda and Vision. 

“That’ll be six dollars.” He spoke, and Wanda handed him the money.

“Thank you, ma’am. Have a nice day you two.” He spoke with a tip of his hat.

Wanda smiled and nodded in thanks, before beginning to walk around the fair with Vision. Wanda eating her cotton candy, and Vision watching her in full admiration by her side.

[fridayfirefly]

Fairest of the Fair

Read Fairest of the Fair on AO3

Masterlist

Written for Maribat March Day 9 - Teen Titans

"We've got five hours until the fair closes. That's five hours of funnel cake, Ferris wheels, and rigged carnival games," announced Dick as they stepped out of the car in the parking lot of the Jump City Fair. It was a tradition for the Teen Titan team to visit the fair every year. At first, it had been an effort to humanize them to the citizens of Jump City, to show that they were more than just superheroes. Now, the reason that the team went every year was simply that it was fun.

"I can't wait to try everything." Marinette had been looking forward to the Jump City Fair all summer. It was her very first American fair, and Gar had promised that he would show her around, giving her the full fair experience.

"C'mon, I smell funnel cake." Gar grabbed Marinette's hand as they ran through the crowds.

Marinette laughed. "I was coming with you, you don't need to pull me along."

Gar let go of her hand and pouted. "We need to get there faster. Just think of all the funnel cake we're missing out on while we're standing around talking."

"We can still hurry. I just don't want to run into anyone." Marinette giggled as she followed Gar through the crowd. He wove in between the crowds of people like an expert, scampering right through the chaos of the fair crowds without disturbing a single person. Marinette found it a little more difficult - she was much less nimble than Gar, but every time she fell behind he waited for her to catch up.

"I followed the smell of funnel cake right to its source and here we are." Gar stopped in front of a food stand proclaiming itself to be All-American Funnel Cake. "This is the best cuisine America has to offer."

"Of course. Everyone knows that the greatest American delicacies are carnival food. Who needs gourmet crêpes and macaroons when you can have funnel cake and corn dogs?" joked Marinette.

"Exactly. I'll order our food, you find us a seat."

Marinette strolled through the seating area, trying to find a bench that wasn't covered in syrup and melted ice cream. When she finally found a suitably clean chair, she collapsed into it. She was already sweating from the hot August sun beating down on her, and she couldn't wait to get her hands on something to drink.

"I got the funnel cake and lemonade," said Gar as he set them down on the table.

Marinette grabbed the cup of lemonade and took a long sip of it, savoring the chill. "It's so hot out here. How do you stand it?"

Gar shrugged. "It's all part of the fair experience. It's miserably hot in the day, but it still manages to get uncomfortably chilly once the sun goes down. That's why I brought a jacket."

Marinette shook her head. "If I were wearing a jacket right now, I would probably pass out from heatstroke. Your ability to withstand extreme heat must be one of your superpowers if you aren't even sweating."

"Stop talking about me and start talking about funnel cake," Gar whinged. "You came all the way to America just to try some."

Marinette laughed. "I came all the way to America to join the Teen Titans. The funnel cake is just a bonus." Taking a generous bite of the carnival food, Marinette proclaimed, "I like it."

"Yes!" Gar cheered. He pulled a piece of paper out of his pocket and marked something down. "Step one: have Marinette try funnel cake. Complete."

"You have a list?"

"Your first-ever fair is an important occasion. I want to make sure you didn't miss out on anything."

Marinette smiled. "That's sweet of you. So what are we doing after this."

"After this, we play the rigged carnival games. Then we ride one of the many spinning rides. Then we'll get roasted cinnamon almonds. Then we check out some of the art competitions. Last but not least, we ride the Ferris wheel as the sun sets. Then we meet up at the car with the rest of the Titans to watch the fireworks and go home after."

"That all sounds like fun to me." Marinette finished her lemonade and funnel cake, then turned to Gar. "Ready to go lose at some carnival game?"

"I was born ready." Garfield grabbed Marinette's hand and led her to the carnival game. There was a hoop toss game, a game where you popped water balloons using oversized darts, a game of knocking down coke bottles with baseballs, something vaguely resembling ski-ball.

"Which one should I pick?" asked Marinette.

"They're all varying degrees of impossible, so just pick the game with the best prizes."

Marinette scanned the rows of colorful stuffed animals until she saw the one she wanted, on a shelf beside the ski-ball tracks. "I want the green kitten," she exclaimed, pointing.

"Why?" Gar sounded amused by her enthusiasm.

"It reminds me of you," Marinette admitted.

Gar smiled. "Okay, I'll help you win. We'll win it together."

Ski-ball was harder than Marinette remembered. After twenty minutes and twenty dollars, she and Gar still hadn't managed to get all ten ski-balls into their respective holes.

"Face it, Gar, we just aren't good enough to win."

Gar shook his head. "I'm not leaving until I win you that kitten. One more set of ski-balls." He handed a five-dollar bill to the game attendant. "Do you want the first ball?"

"Sure, but this is the last time we play. I'm not letting you spend all of our food money on this ridiculously impossible game." Marinette grabbed the first four balls off of the counter and gently rolled each one of them up into the first hole, and Gar successfully rolled the next four balls - the first eight were easy. It was the ninth and tenth ball that they failed on. "I'll take nine." Marinette brought her arm back, then swung it forward and released the ninth fall. It landed perfectly into the ninth hole. "It's all on you, Gar."

He narrowed his eyes, plucking the ball off of the counter. This was the closest they had gotten to winning. He swung the ball forward, tracking the arc with his eyes until it... landed right in the final hole.

"You did it!" Marinette cheered, grabbing Gar's hand and lifting it up in the air. "Winner!"

"Here's your green cat." The game attendant handed the stuffed toy to Marinette, who clutched it against her chest.

"I love it! I'm naming him Milo and keeping him forever."

"Alright, now that you've won your first rigged carnival game, you and Milo need to pick out one of the many rides here to try it." Gar pulled a map of the fairground out of his pocket and started pointing out rides. "I recommend the Merry-Go-Round, the Tilt-A-Whirl, and the Paratrooper."

"Which one is closest?"

"The Tilt-A-Whirl is just to the left and around the corner."

Marinette grabbed Gar's hand and pulled him along. "Let's go!"

Together they ran through crowds of people, darting around people and out of the way to avoid bumping into anyone. They made it to the Tilt-A-While and rode until Marinette got so dizzy she couldn't walk in a straight line and Gar laughed so hard his face turned red. Then Gar and Marinette made their way to the Merry-Go-Round, where they rode it a couple of times. Then they met up with Dick and Kori and got more carnival snacks with their friends.

"Say cheese!" instructed Marinette as she paused to take a picture of her friends for the official Teen Titans Instagram account.

Kori grinned and pulled Dick closer to her. Gar reached for the camera in Marinette's hands. "Turn the camera around and make it a selfie."

Marinette did as instructed, moving her own head in front of the camera and grinning as she took the picture. She quickly typed a caption. Enjoying cinnamon glazed almonds (Beast Boy's favorite) and butterbeer at the fair. Hope everyone's having a great day in Jump City! "And... post!"

Marinette sat down to enjoy the snacks, Gar slipping his hand into Marinette's. "Try the cinnamon almonds first, they're delicious."

"They'd better be," teased Marinette. "You've been hyping them up all week."

"I could write poems about these almonds, they're so good. And I know I could probably get them any day of the year, but I only ever get them when we go to the fair so that they never lose their appeal."

Marinette popped a handful in her mouth and hummed in appreciation. "Oh, these are good. I'm going to have to get a recipe for these, so I can make homemade cinnamon almonds."

Gar's eyes lit up. "Homemade cinnamon almonds. That might be the best combination of words I've ever heard in my life."

Marinette playfully narrowed her eyes. "What about 'I love you.'"

Gar's eyes widened. "Um, third-best combination then. Right after when you told me, 'I love you', and when I told you, 'I love you.'"

"Good save. The execution could use some work though. I give it an eight out of ten," joked Dick.

"I'll be generous, and give it an eight point five," added Kori.

"Hey, only I get to tease him," protested Marinette as she gazed at Gar lovingly. "Now feed me more almonds."

Marinette ate another serving of almonds and drank two glasses of butterbeer before Dick and Kori decided to separate from them and find the trapeze tent. Gar got his list back out, checked off the activities they had already completed, and announced, "Now it's time for more rides. Paratroopers, here we come!"

Just a few minutes later, Marinette was pressed against Gar's side as their cart swung through the air. "This is nice," said Marinette. "The Jump City Fair gets the Ladybug stamp of approval."

"Just wait until you see the fireworks. The grand finale is amazing. You'll love it," promised Gar.

"I bet I will." Marinette rested her head on Gar's shoulder as she watched the world spin around them.

When they got off the ride, Marinette and Gar walked hand-in-hand to the art competition tents, where paintings were hanging all around the tents.

"Look at this one!" Gar pointed to a painting of the Teen Titans in action, fighting the H.I.V.E. Five in the streets of downtown Jump City. "This one has my vote!" Gar called out.

"Shush," said Marinette with a laugh. "You're biased."

"Nope. No bias here. Just pointing out what is objectively the best painting he's ever seen."

"Oh really. If you're such an impartial judge, tell me why it's objectively the best painting."

"Because you're in it, Buginette." Gar grinned at her, pointing at Ladybug in the picture, fighting Jinx with her yoyo.

Marinette laughed. "You're so cheesy."

"To be fair, you did walk right into that one," Gar defended himself as they left the art tent. "If you're going to leave yourself vulnerable to compliments, I'm going to take that opportunity to compliment you."

"Oh, look at the sunset!" exclaimed Marinette as she saw the yellow, pink, and orange sky.

Gar slipped his hand into Marinette's. "It doesn't hold a candle to you."

Marinette got onto her tiptoes and pressed a kiss to his cheek. "You're too sweet. Now let's go ride that Ferris wheel."

Gar and Marinette walked to the Ferris wheel hand in hand, getting into a car and riding it all the way to the top, where they could see the sunset reflecting off of the ocean.

"You were right, it does get cold," said Marinette with a shiver.

"Here, take mine." Gar took off his jean jacket, laying it across Marinette's shoulders.

Marinette smiled. "How about we split the coat while we're up here. We'll just have to squeeze together." Marinette pressed herself up against Gar, moving the jacket so that it draped over both of their shoulders. Sighing softly, Marinette watched Gar with a smile on her face.

"What are you thinking about?" asked Gar.

"I just don't want to forget this moment."

"I can fix that." Gar pulled his phone out of his pocket, started a video, and turned his camera around so they were both in frame. "How are you feeling, Buginette?"

Marinette kissed his cheek, then smiled for the camera. "Perfect."

"Jump City Fair is a success." Gar ended the video as the Ferris wheel started up again, moving them back down to the ground.

"Every day with you is a success."

The fireworks started as they walked back to the car, bright and colorful. Marinette slid her hand into Gar's gently rubbing circles with her thumb. She knew that he used to be scared of fireworks - still was, a little bit - as a result of his animal tendency. Gar flinched back as the boom of fireworks sounded above him.

"Focus on my voice," said Marinette. "I love you. I love you more than all the stars in the sky. I love you more than all the drops of water in the ocean. I love you forever."

Gar wrapped his arms around Marinette. "I know. I love you too."

@maribatmarch-2k21

[dangan-writing]

Hello there! You can find them underneath the cut.

Have a wonderful day!

Mod Hiyoko

Icon Created By: twisted-lies

Kokichi

Kokichi's practically a child himself.

That's why when he's getting along with you, you're partners in crime.

But when you're not getting along, you won't speak to Kokichi for weeks because of how stubborn you both are.

Even if Kokichi doesn't admit it, your opinion matters a lot to him.

If you tell him that you don't trust someone, a member of DICE will take care of that person and you'll never see them again.

He'll also use you as an excuse a lot.

"Nee-heehee, sorry but I can't hang out with you tonight. Y/N doesn't like you and that's a big no-no in my book."

The amount of pranks you pull together is insane.

That's why people often warn you that your older brother is a bad influence, and ask how you can trust a pathological liar.

Kokichi will notice if it bothers you right away and reassure you.

Or at least, try his best to reassure you.

If he's bored, he'll pick fights with you for no reason.

Whether that's blaming you for something you didn't do, taking your things without asking, or calling you mean names... Kokichi will find a way to get under your skin.

When you call him out on it he'll fake cry.

"You're so meannn! You know I only bother you because I love youuu."

And that's not a lie.

Although he will bother you again.

Rantaro

If you're interested in something, so is Rantaro.

He'll make origami, practice Jiu-Jitsu, or even go scuba diving if you ask.

If you're presenting at school, he will definitely be in the audience recording it.

Sadly, you don't get to see Rantaro a lot because of how much he travels.

But he always brings you a souvenir and awesome story to tell you!

All of your friends are jealous of all the cool things you own because of Rantaro.

If you host a sleepover, he offers to paint everyone's nails and braid everyone's hair.

Rantaro could honestly be the Ultimate Therapist with the amazing advice he has for you.

Of course, he can be brutally honest.

What he tells you isn't always what you want to hear.

But he only says it because he knows it's true and wants to help you.

Rantaro hopes that he can take you on vacation outside of the country when you're older.

He's seen beautiful places and wants to show you every single one of them.

That will definitely take a while.

Nagito

Nagito would most likely avoid you a lot.

You won't understand until your older, but he doesn't want his bad luck to harm you in any way.

If Nagito knows he won't have to worry about bad luck on a particular day, he'll make sure to spend time with you.

If you went to see a concert with him, you'll somehow find yourself backstage.

If he takes you to a baseball game, congratulations, you now have an autographed ball because you know Nagito's going to catch it.

He'll definitely want to take you to an amusement park... and win every prize that's available.

"Here you go! I'm glad that you were able to get a present out of my pathetic talent."

Seriously, if you went to an amusement park with Nagito, you'd have to bring a shopping cart to hold all of the stuff you won.

It doesn't matter how young you are, your older brother's Hope Rants™ are inevitable.

He won't talk to you like a child, either.

You hear the full, unabridged version.

You're the most important person in Nagito's life, and the only family member he has left, so your opinion is very important to him.

That's why he justifies all of the crazy things he does to destroy despair with, "if I do this for the sake of hope, Y/N will have a better life."

Nagito makes sure that you don't have to worry about money.

99.8% of his lottery winnings go to you.

If you ever have questions about your parents, Nagito will ignore the guilt he feels and tell you everything he remembers about them.

He might not see himself as talented, but he's definitely the Ultimate Older Brother in your eyes.

[whataboutmyfries]

Russian roulette

Hello Hello! As promised, the new chapter of Russian roulette! Thank you so very much to @ttylfedora and @asunshinepuff for being my wonderful Betas and giving this chapter some semblance of punctuation.

As always, credits for the cubs goes to @lumosinlove!

~

Chapter 4

Finn sighed, propping his head on a hand as he drove, the street lights flashing over the car in the dark. Finn looked over at Logan, his small form spread over the passenger seat, his head resting against the cold window while he slept.

Finn’s heart clenched painfully at the sight. The flashing lights made Logan look like an angel fallen from grace; incandescent, gorgeous and utterly unattainable. His breath hitched ever so slightly, gone in an instant as he turned back to the road.

He’d dealt with this for eight years. What’s a few more?

~

“Tremz, Tremz, we’re here.”

Logan woke to Finn gently shaking his shoulder, quietly calling his name. He slowly blinked his eyes open, “‘M awake, ‘m awake.” he shook his head blearily, trying to shake off some of the sleep.

“C’mon, up you get,” Finn grunted, tugging him out of the car, wrapping an arm around his waist. “Let’s get you in bed.” Logan groaned, leaning heavily on Finn as he muttered something about fishes and bedrooms.

By the time they got to the door, Logan was properly awake; though his arm stayed wrapped around Finn’s shoulder, the heavy warmth sending a shiver of delight down the redhead’s spine.

“Fish, I can walk back to my room myself, y’know.” Logan teased. He turned to look at his friend, his hand slipping off Finn’s body. Finn huffed a laugh, though he felt a strange sense of disappointment at the loss of contact.

“Go home, get some sleep, meet me back here tomorrow. We have to see what we’re going to do about Lizard and Leo .” it’s a little repetitive so i think one tomorrow works

Finn just looked at Logan, melancholy and regret swimming in the hazel irises.

“Go home, Logan. Get back to your own bed, it might help.”

“This is my home.”

“I know.” Finn sighed. “I know it is, but it shouldn’t be. Home should be somewhere you can be safe, somewhere you can call completely your own.”

“Is this not a place I can be safe? A place I can call completely mine?”

“Fuck, Tremz,” Finn shoved a hand through his hair in frustration. “Stop being so difficult, you know what I — you know what? Nevermind. Goodnight.”

Logan’s heart ached to say something, anything, to get that look off of Finn’s face, but he came up empty. He could do little but watch as Finn walked away, his lithe figure disappearing into the night.

Logan hated his flat, the empty space altogether too full of absent reminders of the person he had been, the person who’d let things go so horribly wrong. It had driven him mad; those one cosy, warm rooms once filled with laughter and merriment reduced to bleak snapshots of memories lost to time, black and white mementoes of love and companionship. The keepsakes on his mantle no longer bringing him laughter and happiness but left to rot like relics of a person who had once been.

His lungs grated against his ribcage as he let out a sigh, the breath making his shoulders slump lower, his head dipping as his feet dragged sluggishly on the polished marble floor. One foot after another, he reminded himself; one foot after another.

~

Finn parked his Maserati in the garage, letting out a deep, slow sigh as he let his head thump back against the headrest. He was so goddamn tired as of late. What with the recent loss of a high-profile asset — and friend— and the stranger-who-wasnt-really-a-stranger dropping by with seemingly perfect timing, it had all been a little much lately.

He ran his hands through his hair, relaxing a little in the star-flecked comfort of the night. His breath shook a little. He leaned forward, resting his head against the cool steering wheel, the light of his phone illuminating his face from his lap.

‘I’m sorry about today, but you know I can’t go back there’ No prizes for guessing who that was from.

Finn closed his eyes, thumping his head against the wheel gently. Ignoring the notification in favour of unlocking his phone, he connected it to the car’s music system, the soft, slow strumming of the guitar soothing his nerves, the heavy weight of being him falling away for a few blessed minutes.

With that, Finn pulled right back out of his garage and drove into the blissful peace of the night.

The tension leached out of Finn under the steady thrum of the engine. The smooth, cold texture of the steering wheel under his hands a comforting presence, the soft movements of the car a balm to his emotions.

Finn barely even noticed when the mechanical edges of buildings and skyscrapers faded to the soft, flat land of the country.

And then he was flying.

His beloved car pushing her limits underneath him, faster, faster, faster, until the world around him was a blur, until the steady thump of his heart, tangled with the rhythm of the soft bass coming from the speakers was the only thing keeping him anchored to his reality. He was soaring, higher, stronger, faster; battling the winds themselves to touch the stars, dancing with the soft moonlight, playing amongst the clouds.

And for a few blissful moments; Finn was nothing and everything all at once; a gust of wind trapped in a cage, a shard of starlight caught in a jar, a famed mob boss looking for freedom.

~

Finn walked into their shared office feeling infinitely lighter, the rumble of his vehicle a song in his blood and the flash of starlight dancing behind his eyes.

Logan looked up from his laptop, shoving his pencil behind his ear while he leaned back in his chair

“Well, you look like shit,” he grinned, nudging forward the cup of steaming coffee that Finn had just now noticed was sitting on his desk. “Did you get any sleep at all last night?

Finn’s mind flashed with the image of the sunrise on the horizon while he had driven straight to Headquarters and he flashed Logan a winning grin “Like a log, you?” he lied easily, sliding over the desk to sit on his chair.

“Lo, I have something important to ask you.”

The man in question turned around in his chair, tipping his head to the side as he looked at his friend. “Sure, what’s up?”

It took an unjust amount of willpower for Finn to ignore the way the light twined through Logan's hair, weaving through the chocolatey curls. He cleared his throat roughly, forcing himself to look anywhere but at him.

“Are we going to help our friendly neighbourhood Houdini?”

Logan scrunched up his nose in confusion, laughing when he finally realised who Finn was talking about.

“Houdini?!?! Of all the brilliant magicians, you went with Houdini?”

Finn crossed his arms, pouting. “Well, who else was I supposed to think of?”

“Literally anybody else, Dynamo, David Blaine, The Horsemen, Robert Angier? I don’t know, maybe his own father? Have you even seen the prestige?”

Finn’s sigh of exasperation was only betrayed by the way his lips twitched up at the ends. “Oh shut up, you know who I’m talking about. Anyway, what do we do?”

Logan’s smile faded into a frown as he chewed his lip thoughtfully.

“I don’t know. He did know Lizard’s name, besides, his father was an asset too. Liz knew him well.”

Finn hummed, a small knife already spinning around his fingers. “You’re not wrong, but how do we know we can trust him?”

Logan shrugged, “I can ask around if you’d like that better, but I think we’re alright. Bliz knows him too. Says he’s a good kid.”

Finn hummed, already lost in thought.

Logan sucked in a deep breath, “I think we should do it.”

Finn’s amber eyes snapped to Logan, and he nodded, a wayward red curl falling into his eyes.

“Yeah….I think so too.”

~

“Hey! Portami il vecchio mazzo di carte per favore? voglio provare qualcosa.” Leo called, shuffling his deck of cards in increasingly complex ways.

He missed a particularly risky shuffle, and the cards flew out of his fingers, falling to the green grass of Natalie’s backyard.

“Porca puttana” Leo muttered, stooping to pick up the cards for what felt like the hundredth time that day.

“Language!” Natalie called from the kitchen, stirring a pot of something that smelled absolutely divine. “And it’s about time you stopped anyway, dinner’s almost ready.”

Leo sighed, picking up his deck and tapping it on the side of his shoe as he walked into the house. He paused to kiss Natalie on the cheek before dropping his things on the couch to help her in the kitchen.

“Nat, you are a goddess, this smells incredible.” Leo sighed, stirring the pot Nat had put him in charge of. “Dio santo, Nat, could you take over for a sec? I left my phone in the yard. I’ll get Bliz on the way back?”

Natalie rolled her eyes at him fondly, shoving his shoulder as she took the spoon from his hands. “Of course you did. Go get it. And bring Kase too.”

Leo nodded, slipping his shoes on to walk to the yard, whistling as he went.

He was so preoccupied with looking for his phone; he didn’t notice the tall man striding towards him, his gait soft and even.

“Leo Knut?”

Leo could’ve sworn he’d had half a heart attack in the split second it took him to turn around to face the stranger, his heart beating double time as he looked around for something— anything— he could use as a weapon.

But the man just raised his hands, taking a step back.

“O'Hara and Tremblay want to see you.”

~

Leo’s leg bounced under the table, his eyes glazed over with the look of someone who wasn’t quite present.

“Knut, are you listening? We need the plans.”

“Huh? Oh, um, it’s actually pronounced ‘newt’ not ‘nut’. And how do I know you’re not going to take the plans and sell me out the second I walk out of here?”

Finn and Logan exchanged a look, a silent conversation clearly taking place as they met each other’s eyes.

“Because you’re planning the damn heist right here with us.”

Leo wished he could say he handled the situation like a normal person, casually accepting the information and moving on, but that would be a lie. Instead, it took him a solid 20 seconds to even begin to process the fact that they had said yes.

But in true magician fashion, Leo had his bearings back before anyone could notice.

“Pleasure doing business with you gentlemen,” He said, shaking their hands over the table. “But I hope you know that I have an insurance policy against you should you choose to fuck me over.”

Both Logan and Finn startled, Logan’s hand immediately going to his gun. “What the fuck did you do.”

“Don’t cross me and you won’t have to find out, Mio Signore,”

Leo could feel Finn’s searing stare on the back of his neck as he walked away. “I’ll stop by tomorrow evening with the drive and the laptop.”

~

Leo’s mind kicked into overdrive the second he entered his apartment. Drive, map, encrypted journal. He wasn’t quite sure what had possessed the two of them to help him with one of the riskiest plans he’d ever heard in his life, but damn him if he wasn’t going to milk it to his advantage.

It always gave Leo an electric sort of thrill to start a new project; dark rooms, hushed arguments, pages and pages of data and plans the heady adrenalin rush of it all. And so Leo flicked the lights off, settled in with a mug of coffee and cracked his knuckles. It was going to be a long night.

~

Logan stared at Finn as he paced the office, watching as his friend ran his hand through his dishevelled hair.

“Lo, this is going to be the single most dangerous mission we have ever agreed to.”

Logan swiped a bit of sweat off his cheek, going back to cleaning his gun as he replied.

“I know. I know it is Harzy. But we’ll be going in hot, we’ll plot out every possible outcome. You know we will.”

Finn turned to look at him, the corners of his mouth twitching at something he saw.

“What? What is it?”

“Nothing you just…” Finn walked over to Logan’s desk leaning over the table to run his thumb across his friend’s cheek wiping a stripe of black grease off his face.

Logan went so uncomfortably still he wasn’t sure he’d ever move again.

Finn, meanwhile, went right back to his pacing, rambling about men and ammo and whatnot. This mission was going to be a hell of a ride if they kept going on like this.

Logan wasn’t sure he’d survive it.

But damn if it wasn’t a heavenly way to die.

“Lo, you’ll train with me, won't you? I might be a little rusty at hand to hand.” Finn said sheepishly, rubbing at the back of his neck.

Logan winked. “Always, it’s been a while since I kicked your sorry ass.”

Finn’s expression morphed into one of mock hurt. “Next time at target practice, I’m pinning your face to the board”

~