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gardenschedule · 29 days

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just insane mclennon things

John playing his and Yoko's sex tape in a band meeting

As the meeting was drawing to a weary close, John, not this day with Yoko, who hadn’t seemed particularly connected with what was going on, said he wanted to play us a tape he and Yoko had made. He got up and put the cassette into the tape machine and stood beside it as we listened. The soft murmuring voices did not at first signal their purpose. It was a man and a woman but hard to hear, the microphone having been at a distance. I wondered if the lack of clarity was the point. Were we even meant to understand what was going on, was it a kind of artwork where we would not be able to put the voices into a context, and was context important? I felt perhaps this was something John and Yoko were examining. But then, after a few minutes, it became clear. John and Yoko were making love, with endearments, giggles, heavy breathing, both real and satirical, and the occasional more direct sounds of pleasure reaching for climax, all recorded by the faraway microphone. But there was something innocent about it too, as though they were engaged in a sweet serious game. John clicked the off button and turned again to look toward the table, his eyebrows quizzical above his round glasses, seemingly genuinely curious about what reaction his little tape would elicit. However often they’d shared small rooms in Hamburg, whatever they knew of each other’s love and sex lives, this tape seemed to have stopped the other three cold. Perhaps it touched a reserve of residual Northern reticence. After a palpable silence, Paul said, “Well, that’s an interesting one.” The others muttered something and the meeting was over. It occured to me as I was walking down the stairs that what we’d heard could have been an expression of 1960s freedom and openness but was it more likely that it was as if a gauntlet had been thrown down? “You need to understand that this is where she and I are now. I don’t want to hold your hand anymore.”

Paul putting beetles fucking on his album artwork

John hiring a pig and posing with it solely to mock Ram even though he was scared of it

At the end of the day a farmer delivered a huge hog to the mansion [Tittenhurst Park]. It was John’s notion to parody the album jacket photograph of Paul McCartney’s Ram, which showed Paul wrestling with a ram; John would wrestle with a pig. We all went outside and stared at the large surly animal. It was much bigger than any of us had expected. John circled the animal warily. He liked the idea, but he didn’t like the hog. Dan stood poised to snap the picture. “Climb on its back, John, and grab its ears,” he said. John looked doubtful. He stepped closer to the animal. It let out a shrill, strange, sound. John stepped back, but we all urged him on. “You can do it, John,” I said. John approached the animal once again. “I can’t hold the friggin’ pig for too long. You get one shot and one shot alone,” he told Dan.

Loving John: The Untold Story, May Pang

John & Yoko attempting to get revenge married in Paris 2 days after Paul & Linda

“On March 12, Paul married Linda Eastman at Marylebone Register Office in London, amid scenes of hysterical grief from his female fans. None of the other Beatles was present. The news reached John as he and Yoko were driving down to visit Aunt Mimi in Poole. Yoko’s divorce decree had become final a few weeks earlier, and, in a resurgence of Beatle copycat, John told her they, too, must get married as soon as possible”

Philip Norman, John Lennon: The life

We chose Gibraltar because it is quiet, British and friendly. We tried everywhere else first. I set out to get married on the car ferry and we would have arrived in France married, but they wouldn’t do it. We were no more successful with cruise ships. We tried embassies, but three weeks’ residence in Germany or two weeks’ in France were required.

John Lennon

SALEWICZ: Well, I always found it interesting the fact that he got – I mean, it seemed too much like coincidence to me, the fact that he got married a week or month after you. You know what I mean? PAUL: Yeah. I think we spurred each other into marriage. I mean, you know. They were very strong together, which left me out of the picture. So I got together with Linda and then we got strong with our own kind of thing. And I used to listen to a lot of what they said. I remember him saying to me, “You’ve got to work at marriage,” which is something I still remember as a bit of advice. I still remember that. Um… And then yeah, I think they were a little bit peeved that we got married first. Probably. In a little way, you know, just minor jealousies. And so they got married. I don’t know if that’s – I mean, who knows… [inaudible] making it up, anyway.

September, 1986 (MPL Communications, London): journalist Chris Salewicz

Their belief in telepathy & shared dreams

NEIL: I’d just rather not say anything. It’s one of those situations. PAUL: Yeah. [pause] Well, that’s – that’s the trouble you see, there, ‘cause that’s it. It’s like, with our – heightened awareness, the answer is not to say anything, you know. But it isn’t. ‘Cause I mean, we screw each other up totally if we don’t do that. ‘Cause we’re not ready for your heightened… vows of silence. [laughs; hapless] We’re really not! Like, we don’t know what the fuck each other’s talking about, when that – we all just sort of get— NEIL: I think it’s just between the four of you, that get it. That’s what I’d pretend. PAUL: Oh yeah, right, yeah. But you see, that’s it, that’s why John doesn’t say anything. ‘Cause he, you know, he just… There was something the other day, when I said, “Well, what do you think?” And he just stood there and didn’t say anything. And then – and I know exactly why, you know. I mean, I wouldn’t, if… [long pause] Somehow. You know, there’s nothing really much to be said about it. You just – we all just have to do it, and all that, instead of like talking about it. But – but if one of us is talking about it, it’s a drag if the other three aren’t. Because then it sort of throws you off. [inaudible; voice marking tape slate] I mean, we’ve just been talking about it now for a few years, you know. Like this…

From the Get Back sessions (13 January 1969).

HINDLE: What do you think about language? JOHN: I think it’s a bit crummy, you know? It is a drag form of communication, really. We’ll get – we’ll get telepathy. I believe that. HINDLE: You believe that? JOHN: Yeah, sure. Sure. Sure as anything I believe. It’s too… Because now we need it so much. [...] There are – there’s people everywhere of the same mind and it’s just… even amongst ourselves we can’t communicate. Which is the hard bit, you know. HINDLE: Yeah. JOHN: Amongst the people that sort of really agree. HINDLE: Just ’cause of words? JOHN: Just ’cause of words, and upbringing, and attitude, and how you express your… Well, it’s just some – you’ve got to find a mutual sort of language to express yourself, you know? And my language is that— HINDLE: Unless you fall in love it’s impossible to communicate like that. JOHN: I mean, I wasn’t in love last year, but I was communicating quite well with people. Not as well, or maybe not as powerfully. ’Cause now there’s two of us, doing that, brrmmm, whatever it is. Sending out a vibration or whatever. But before it was me and… or me and George, alright, or whatever it was; we weren’t in love, but. You know. There’s enough in you to shove it out. It is just that bit. If you – if somebody comes in a room and he’s uptight and that, he can make the whole room uptight.

John Lennon, interviewed by Maurice Hindle (December 1968).

PAUL: I remember when John and I were first hanging out together, I had a dream about digging in the garden with my hands. I’d dreamt that before but I’d never found anything other than an old tin can. But in this dream I found a gold coin. I kept digging and I found another. And another. The next day I told John about this amazing dream I’d had and he said, ‘That’s funny, I had the same dream’. So both of us had this dream of finding this treasure. And I suppose you could say it came true. I remember years later talking about it – ‘Remember that dream we had?’; ‘Yeah, that was far out’. So the message of that dream was: keep digging lads.

PAUL MCCARTNEY TO THE BIG ISSUE. FEBRUARY 2012.

John climbing the wall to Paul's house because Paul skipped a session for his & Linda's anniversary

(Not confirmed but supposedly)

Paul being utterly convinced that John can't be gay because he didn't try it on when they slept in the same bed

I mean, if John was–the trouble is, see, is he’s not here to fend for himself, and we can’t ask him, “‘Scuse me, John, are you–have you ever been gay?” I mean, he’s the kind— I remember people used to ask that. There were lots of people asking cheeky questions, and they were always saying, “Well, why–have you ever tried homosexuality, John?” You know, they always used to ask all that kind of stuff. I remember John saying to them, “No, I’ve never met a fella I fancy enough.” And that was his kind of opinion. You know, “I may go–I may be gay one day, if some fella really turns me on.” He was–he was that open about it. But as far as I was concerned, I slept in a million hotel rooms–as we all did–slept in a million places with John, and there was never any hint of it.

December 24th, 1983: interview with DJ Roger Scott

“And I say, if he’s homosexual, I thought he’d have made a pass at me in 20 years, darling.”

Paul McCartney talking about John Lennon.

“Brian Epstein, the Beatles’ manager, was a known homosexual. Epstein was always polite and charming. It has been insinuated that John was drawn to Epstein. I believe there was no such relationship between them. John was macho. But if John was a homosexual, it would have made no difference to me. I’ve asked Paul McCartney, who laughed and said: ‘Why not me? I’m handsome.’ Then he said: ‘I was holed up with John in hotel rooms everywhere. There was never a suggestion of anything like that.’ I believe him.”

Julia Baird, in Boston Globe: Lennon’s half-sister remembers… (2 October 1988).

“All I can ever say about it is that I slept with John a lot because you had to, you didn’t have more than one bed - and to my knowledge John was never gay.”

Paul McCartney, The Brian Epstein Story

And maybe he's right to be offended?

Did Lennon have sex with other men? “I think he had a desire to, but I think he was too inhibited,” says Ono. “No, not inhibited. He said, ‘I don’t mind if there’s an incredibly attractive guy.’ It’s very difficult: They would have to be not just physically attractive, but mentally very advanced too. And you can’t find people like that.” So did Lennon ever have sex with men? “No, I don’t think so,” says Ono. “The beginning of the year he was killed, he said to me, ‘I could have done it, but I can’t because I just never found somebody that was that attractive.’ Both John and I were into attractiveness—you know—beauty.”

Yoko Ono: I Still Fear John’s Killer by Tim Teeman for the Daily Beast (13 October 2015).

There was even some discussion, albeit not very serious, of whether he should stick to his own gender. “John said ‘It would hurt you like crazy if I made it with a girl. With a guy, maybe you wouldn’t be hurt, because that’s not competition. But I can’t make it with a guy because I love women too much, and I’d have to fall in love with the guy and I don’t think I can.’”

Yoko on her and John discussing the terms of an open marriage in 1973 (John Lennon: The Life)

On that note, Paul's obsession with sleeping in the same bed as John

Paul McCartney answers questions for Q magazine, 1998

John and I used to hitch-hike places together, it was something that we did together quite a lot; cementing our friendship, getting to know our feelings, our dreams, our ambitions together. It was a very wonderful period. I look back on it with great fondness. I particularly remember John and I would be squeezed in our little single bed, and Mike Robbins, who was a real nice guy, would come in late at night to say good night to us, switching off the lights as we were all going to bed.

Many Years From Now

John and I always liked wordplay. So, the phrase ‘She’s got a ticket to ride’ of course referred to riding on a bus or train, but – if you really want to know – it also referred to Ryde on the Isle of Wight, where my cousin Betty and her husband Mike were running a pub. That’s what they did; they ran pubs. He ended up as an entertainment manager at a Butlin’s holiday resort. Betty and Mike were very showbiz. It was great fun to visit them, so John and I hitchhiked down to Ryde, and when we wrote the song we were referring to the memory of this trip. It’s very cute now to think of me and John in a little single bed, top and tail, and Betty and Mike coming to tuck us in.

Paul McCartney, on ‘Ticket To Ride’. In The Lyrics (2021).

“John and I grew up like twins although he was a year and a half older than me. We grew up literally in the same bed because when we were on holiday, hitchhiking or whatever, we would share a bed. Or when we were writing songs as kids he’d be in my bedroom or I’d be in his. Or he’d be in my front parlour or I’d be in his, although his Aunt Mimi sometimes kicked us out into the vestibule!”

New Statesman, “Paul McCartney - Meet The Beatle,” September 26, 1997

“I wrote all those songs with him so…. what can I say to people?? We were kids! I mean… we slept together, topped and tailed in beds and hitch-hiking and stuff, so,…. I mean, we were just totally you know,….. mates.”

Paul McCartney

John taking matters into his own hand to start rumours about him and Paul

The consensus among John, Paul and Yoko that if J&P could have been together, they would have

“. . . I mean, I think really what it was, really all that happened was that John fell in love. With Yoko. And so, with such a powerful alliance like that, it was difficult for him to still be seeing me. It was as if I was another girlfriend, almost. Our relationship was a strong relationship. And if he was to start a new relationship, he had to put this other one away. And I understood that. I mean, I couldn’t stand in the way of someone who’d fallen in love. You can’t say, “Who’s this?” You can’t really do that. If I was a girl, maybe I could go out and… But you know I mean in this case I just sort of said, right – I mean, I didn’t say anything, but I could see that was the way it was going to go, and that Yoko would be very sort of powerful for him. So um, we all had to get out the way.”

Paul McCartney, interview with German tv program Exclusiv, April 1985.

JOHN: It’s a plus, it’s not a minus. The plus is that your best friend, also, can hold you without… I mean, I’m not a homosexual, or we could have had a homosexual relationship and maybe that would have satisfied it, with working with other male artists. [faltering] An artist – it’s more – it’s much better to be working with another artist of the same energy, and that’s why there’s always been Beatles or Marx Brothers or men, together. Because it’s alright for them to work together or whatever it is. It’s the same except that we sleep together, you know? I mean, not counting love and all the things on the side, just as a working relationship with her, it has all the benefits of working with another male artist and all the joint inspiration, and then we can hold hands too, right?

John Lennon, interview w/ Sandra Shevey. (Mid-June?, 1972)

Y: After the initial embarrassment, that how Paul is being very nice to me, he’s nice and a very, str- on the level, straight, sense, like wherever there’s something like happening at the Apple, he explains to me, as if I should know. And also whenever there’s something like they need a light man, or something like that he asks me if I know of anybody, things like that. And like I can see that he’s just now suddenly changing his attitude, like his being, he’s treating me with respect, not because it’s me, but because I belong to John. I hope that’s what it is because that would be nice. And I feel like he’s my younger brother or something like that. I’m sure that if he had been a woman or something, he would have been a great threat, because there’s something definitely very strong with me, John, and Paul.

Yoko Ono, Revolution Tape, June 4th 1968

"We thought we'd do a number of an old estranged fiancé of mine called Paul.""

youtube

As a second choice from the Lennon- McCartney songbook, Elton suggested 'I Saw Her Standing There'. This appealed to John for its antiquity, and because its lead vocal always was sung by Paul. (...) There was a whisper of Royal Variety Show mischief when he announced "a number by an old estranged fiancé of mine called Paul" - no one yet knowing the estranged fiancés were long reconciled.

John Lennon: The Life, Philip Norman

You know, John loved Paul. No doubt about it. I remember once he said to me, “I’m the only person who’s allowed to say things like that about Paul. I don’t like it when other people do.” He didn’t like if other people said nasty things about Paul. And he always referred to Paul as his estranged fiancé and things like that, like he did on that [live] record ‘I Saw Her Standing There’ with Elton in Madison Square Garden.

1990: Former Beatles publicist Tony King

Married couple signatures

(and the reverse of that postcard...)

John publicly predicting Paul & Linda's divorce

You were right about New York! I do love it; it's the ONLY PLACE TO BE. (Apart from anything else, they leave you alone too!) I see you prefer Scotland! (MM) -- I'll bet you your piece of Apple you'll be living in New York by 1974 (two years is the usual time it takes you right?)

John's letter to Paul in Melody Maker, 1971 Finally, about not telling anyone that I left the Beatles—PAUL and Klein both spent the day persuading me it was better not to say anything—asking me not to say anything because it would 'hurt the Beatles'—and 'let's just let it petre out'—remember? So get that into your petty little perversion of a mind, Mrs. McCartney—the cunts asked me to keep quiet about it. Of course, the money angle is important—to all of us—especially after all the petty shit that came from your insane family/in laws—and GOD HELP YOU OUT, PAUL—see you in two years—I reckon you'll be out then—inspite of it all, love to you both, from us two.

John's personal letter to Linda & Paul, 1971

JOHN: Oh, [Klein]’d love it if Paul would come back. I think he was hoping he would for years and years. He thought that if he did something, to show Paul that he could do it, Paul would come around. But no chance. I mean, I want him to come out of it, too, you know. He will one day. I give him five years, I’ve said that. In five years he’ll wake up. YOKO: And people don’t understand, you know. There’s so many groups that constantly announce they’re going to split, they’re going to split, and they can announce it every year, and it doesn’t mean they’re going to split. But people don’t understand what an extraordinary position the Beatles are in, you know. In every way. They’re in such an extraordinary position that they’re more insecure than other people. And so Klein thinks he’ll give Paul two years Linda-wise, you know. And John said, “No, Paul treasures things like children, things like that. It will be longer.” And of course, John was right.

John Lennon and Yoko Ono, interview w/ Peter McCabe and Robert Schonfeld. (September, 1971)

#the beatles #paul mccartney #john lennon #mclennon #only a tiny fraction of insane things #they have such chaotic lore

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eddiemunsons80sbaby · 2 months

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Never Say Never

Chapter 13

Pairing: SingleDad!StevexReader

Summary: You are a 32 year old single mother, raising your seven year old son on your own. After being widowed at 30 and going out on awful dates with disgusting men for the past month, you have decided that you're giving up. You already had your great love. One person can't possibly get lucky enough to have two in their lifetime. But then your son starts playing baseball and the coach might just change your mind about that.

No posting schedule.

18+ only for eventual smut

Word Count: 8.1K

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Steve stretched up on his toes, holding the banner in place so Jonathan could tape it across the threshold between the dining room and kitchen. Robin and Dustin were blowing up balloons in the living room while Nancy and Karen worked on the food in the kitchen. Ted was where he could always be found, leaned back in a recliner, watching television, oblivious to the fact that everybody was helping but him.

Honestly, Steve could not figure out how he and Karen were still together. He couldn’t figure out how they’d gotten together in the first place. Nancy said her mom saw stability with her dad but they were the oddest couple he’d ever seen. And that was saying something considering who his parents were.

Karen was just so vibrant, upbeat, and full of energy. She still went to jazzercise three times a week. Her and Nancy had run a marathon last summer. She was the first to offer to help or watch Jere when needed. Ted was so boring and completely useless. Whenever he opened his mouth, everyone just stared at him because he added nothing productive to the conversation even when he actually decided to join in. He’d never shared those views with Nancy, obviously, as that was her dad but he was pretty sure she felt the same way.

Mike and El were up in Jeremiah’s room, amusing the birthday boy with a round of Battleship while he anxiously awaited the arrival of his best friend. Jere had been systematically kicked out of every room in the house. He’d been kicked out of the kitchen after he’d knocked an entire tray of strawberries to the floor, causing Dustin to announce he could run to the store and grab more before Nancy had a meltdown. He’d then proceeded to pop six balloons as he karate chopped and kicked them as fast as Robin was filling them. By the eighth time of him asking Steve if it was time yet, Steve had practically begged the two of them to get him focused on anything else.

“So, Nancy told me your new girlfriend is coming to the party,” Jonathan commented with a sly smile, climbing down from the stepladder. He was sure Nancy had relayed everything Jere or Steve had told her the minute she heard it. “Must be getting pretty serious if you’re inviting her to Jere’s birthday and introducing her to Nance. You’ve never brought a girl around Jere so quickly before.” He stepped back to assess his work, high fiving Steve when they both deemed it good.

“I don’t know. I mean, yeah. I want it to be serious. It definitely seems like it might be serious. But Jere had already met her before we started dating so her being around him this quickly doesn’t really count. We met because she wanted to set up a playdate for the boys.”

“You two exclusive?”

“Yeah. We agreed on that last week,” he laughed, shaking his head. “You would have thought I was some fifteen year old boy who’s never talked to girls. I don’t know why I had such a hard time just asking her to be my girlfriend. I’ve never had a girl get me so tongue twisted before but I like her. I really like her, man. She’s pretty amazing.”

“Sounds like it. Jere says she’s your Lois Lane.”

“Of course he did. Always a superhero reference with that kid. But he’s not wrong. I don’t know. We haven’t known each other all that long but it just feels…different, somehow. I’ve been in a lot of relationships, you know. Like, a lot, a lot.”

“You don’t have to tell me,” snorted Jonathan. “We all started taking bets on how long each lady would last. I lost on Janet by a week. Lucas rubbed that one in my face for a while.”

“You guys take…seriously?” Steve groaned, his hand slipping over his mouth and jaw. Of course his friends would make his sad love life into a game. “Please tell me no one is doing that this time. The last thing I need is her hearing that my friends are placing wagers on how long we last. I’m pretty sure she already thinks I’m some kind of lady’s man.”

“Nah, man. No one’s doing that this time. For one, we haven’t even met her yet. It’s hard to judge before actually seeing the two of you together. And according to Robin and Dustin, they think this one might actually stick. If those two are saying that, then I have to believe it's possible. They’d be the first to call bullshit.”

“Trust me, Robin would have no problem calling it what it is. Hell, she wouldn’t even talk about it with all of you behind my back. She’d just tell me to my face. She told me Janet was crazy the same night she met her. She told me Jill was a narcissist after hanging out with her twice. She told me Heather was annoying and she’d never be able to put up with her if we stayed together. She told me Rachel was just using me to get back at her ex. She’s got everybody’s number from the moment she meets them. This is the first girl she actually hasn’t complained about.”

“At all?” Jonathan’s brows lifted in disbelief. “Hard to believe. Robin doesn’t seem to think anyone is good enough for you.”

“I mean, she was worried initially. She is a widow. Her husband was a Marine and he was killed in action. It happened two years ago and she hasn’t dated anyone since. Robin worried that maybe she would use me as her jumping board. You know, first relationship after losing her ex, a way to dip her toe into the waters. But after meeting her, she thinks she’s the real deal. The two of them have been getting along great, actually. They went out for dinner Wednesday night while I kept the boys.”

“Wow. Impressive. She approves and she wants to hang out with her. I’d say this girl has the Robin Buckley stamp of approval and I know how important that is.”

“Yeah,” snorted Steve, “kind of a necessity in my life.”

“Well, I can’t wait to meet her.” He nodded his head toward the kitchen. “I’m gonna go check on Nance. Make sure she’s got it all under control with the food.” He lowered his voice, hand up by his mouth. “And make sure she’s not getting too high strung over a kid’s birthday party. None of us need high strung Nance.”

Steve laughed knowingly. Nancy was the one you wanted when it came to organization but she could also be a little Type A about it. And if you let her work up too much steam, there was no slowing her down. That’s why Jonathan was so good for her. He knew exactly how to handle her when she was chugging down that track just a little too fast.

As Jonathan walked away, Steve made his way to the living room. Robin and Dustin appeared to have a system going. He would fill the balloon with air from the tank and hand it to Robin, who was tying them off. They probably had thirty balloons at this point, all yellow and black in honor of the special visitor that would be arriving later.

“You know, that’s probably enough balloons,” Steve teased. “Too many more and this house is going to lift right off the ground.”

“Nance specifically said she wanted fifty balloons,” Dustin snapped, grabbing another from the pile. “So, we are giving her fifty balloons.”

“Why fifty?”

“I don’t know, Steve,” sighed Robin, giving him that exasperated look she always gave when she felt like he was asking a stupid question. It happened far more often than it should. “Why don’t you go ask the mother of your child why she requires fifty balloons.”

It was a challenge and they both knew it. Nance would be at maximum anxiety level right now. She was handling everything for the part and until everything was checked off her list, until it was all exactly how she planned, and the event itself had begun, it was better to steer clear. Questions would only lead to icy stares and a sharp tongue. He knew way better than to get in her way.

“Nope. I’m good. Stepping into Nance’s rage cloud is Jonathan’s job now. And he’s in there doing it as we speak. I’m just gonna stay out here, far away.”

“What time is the girlfriend arriving?” asked Dustin, grinning up at him.

Steve looked down at his watch, “About fifteen minutes or so. I told her the same time we told everyone else.”

“Who? Lucas, Max, Hop, Joyce, Will, and Nolan? Speaking of, how did they get out of helping while I’m stuck sitting here blowing up an insane amount of balloons?”

“Talk and fill!” Robin snapped at him. “We’ve got eighteen more balloons to go before everyone gets here.”

“It’s the gang!” argued Dustin. “Well, and Steve’s girlfriend. It’s the same people who are here all the time. Who is Nancy trying to impress? Your new girl? You think she’s going to walk in and go, this party is okay but you know what would really have made this party great? Eighteen more balloons.”

“Do you want to deal with the wrath of Nance when she counts and there’s not fifty? Because you know she’ll count.”

“Damn it. She will,” he huffed, placing another balloon over the pump. “Why is your ex so scary?”

Laughing, Steve shrugged, “You’ve known her longer than me. You tell me.”

The front door opened, Will stepping inside with Nolan right behind him, balancing three very large wrapped boxes in his arms. Steve ran forward to help, taking the top two from him.

“What the hell, man? Did you buy him stereo speakers or something?”

Will smiled, “No.”

“You had to get him three things?”

“He’s my nephew. Of course I had to get him three things.”

“It was going to be five things but I talked him down,” Nolan said, dropping the box he still had with the pile of growing presents that sat in the corner of the living room.

“I’m his favorite uncle and I intend to keep it that way.”

Dustin’s lips came together as he blew a big raspberry, “Whatever. We all know I’m his favorite.”

“Sorry to burst your bubble but neither of you hold a candle to me,” Robin stated, tying off the next balloon, putting them at thirty-eight.

“You’re not an uncle. You’re an aunt,” Dustin pointed out.

“Doesn’t matter. I’m the favorite overall so that makes me the best.”

Steve shared a look with Nolan, both men rolling their eyes and shaking their heads. The truth was, Jeremiah adored everyone in his life and Steve would forever be grateful that he had so many people who loved him. Yeah. The pile of presents was large. But the support and devotion they all gave his son was more valuable than anything else.

Jeremiah had something that Steve never had growing up. He had a family. A family who cherished him, spent time with him, and supported him in everything he did. That kid had to have the biggest cheering section of anyone. The cheers were deafening when he walked across the stage at his Kindergarten graduation. His first baseball game was coming up in a couple weeks and Steve had no doubt that most of the people in this house would be in attendance to cheer him on.

“Will! Nolan!” Nancy squealed, exiting the kitchen, still looking picture perfect after hours of preparation for the party. She hugged each man in turn as if it had been months and not simply days, since she’d seen them last.

“Hey man.” Jonathan followed her, giving his brother and Nolan each a hug.

“Who’s manning the restaurant if you’re both here?” asked Dustin, remaining in his spot, dutifully filling the balloons until they reached fifty.

“Shelly is taking care of things for a few hours,” answered Nolan.

Will strolled into the living room, dropping down on the couch, “Yeah. She’s really been a lifesaver. It’s been nice having someone we can trust to handle things so we can actually both be off at the same time. You know, actually spending time with your husband really helps keep a marriage together. If she keeps doing such a good job, we might even consider taking a vacation.”

“We’ve always wanted to go to Hawaii,” Nolan added. “It seemed impossible but with Shelly, we might be able to do it.”

Will and Nolan were not legally married but everyone, including them, acted as if they were. They had a small ceremony in their backyard last year with just their closest friends and family. As far as Steve was concerned, they were married in all the ways that mattered. It was bullshit that the law wouldn’t recognize it. Steve had never seen a more positive example of what marriage should be.

Will had been so nervous to introduce them all to Nolan after they’d first met. He hadn’t told anyone that he was gay, yet. But it hadn’t been a huge surprise. Will, who’d never seemed interested in dating or girls. Will, who’d looked at Mike as if the sun shone on him since they were eleven. Yeah, they pretty much all knew. Steve was just happy he’d moved on from pining for something that was never going to happen and found someone who made him happy. There was nothing worse than pining for the wrong person. He knew. It was how he wound up married when Nancy came back.

The front door opened again, Hopper’s big voice booming through the house, “I hear we’ve got some kid in here who thinks it’s okay to keep growing and now he’s turning eight!”

“Shh!” Nancy chastised with a laugh, taking the gift bag from his hands to deposit it with the gifts. “Mike and El actually have him entertained right now. If he hears his Pops he is going to come running back down here.”

“So?” Hopper opened his arms wide. “The kid loves his Pops.”

“We all know he does but he’s been extremely underfoot,” Steve explained. “And he won’t stop asking when his friend, Eli, is getting here.”

“Eli? Eli with the pretty mom that you brought into the restaurant?” questioned Joyce, her lips curving up knowingly.

“Yeah, that Eli.”

“Oh, oh, oh!” Hopper bellowed, slapping Steve on the back. “You got a girl, kid? A girl who’s coming to your son’s birthday party? Sounds pretty serious! Why wasn’t I told about this?” He lifted an eyebrow at his wife.

“I just forgot to mention it,” shrugged Joyce. “Besides, you know now.”

“It is pretty serious,” Nancy smirked. “Steve is smitten. He gets all red in the cheeks when he talks about her.” She pinched his cheeks and he pulled his head away with a sigh.

“Seriously,” Robin snorted. “He’s like a little puppy who’s feet are too big, tripping all over himself whenever she’s around. It’s adorable, actually.” She tied off another balloon. “Fifty!” Holding up her hand, Dustin indulged her in a high five. “Jesus, that was a lot of balloons.”

“Great!” Nancy grinned. “Now we just need to tape them around the archway, along the table, and above the banner.”

Dustin groaned, head falling back against the couch, “Seriously? Nance, who are you trying to impress?”

“My son only turns eight once and I want it to be perfect. Now come on. We’ve only got a few minutes before Steve’s girlfriend and her son arrive and not long after that Batman will be here. I want this place birthday party perfect before Jere comes down.”

They all pitched in and with so many hands, they had the balloons affixed in no time with Nancy directing, of course, standing back, telling them where to place each one. In the midst of all the directing, grumbling, and complaining, Max and Lucas arrived, immediately being handed balloons and put to work.

Steve glanced over at the clock, edgy and tense when he saw that it was two minutes past the time he’d told you to be here. Had you decided not to come? Had the idea of meeting his ex been too much for you? He shook it off. He was being ridiculous. You'd never been here before. You probably just got lost or hit traffic or hell, maybe you had a hard time getting Eli out the door. He knew how easy it was to be late when you were managing a child.

A hand landed on his back and he glanced over to see Robin, “Calm down. I’m sure she’s coming. Not everybody is super punctual like your ex is.”

“I know, I know. I just…” His words cut off when your car pulled up out front, parking in front of a house across the street. “She’s here.”

____________________________________________________________

“Finally!” Eli dramatically cried from the backseat, throwing his hands in the air. You would have thought this drive took two hours instead of fifteen minutes the way he’d been moaning and complaining the entire time.

“Yes. We’re finally here.”

Unbuckling, you looked up at the cute little house that was your destination. The warm, welcoming brick home with brightly colored tulips in the garden should not be the most terrifying thing you'd ever seen. But your insides curdled as if this were a horror movie you were suddenly trapped in, doomed to face your inevitable demise.

Steve’s ex-wife was just there, right across the street. What was she going to think of you? Would she hate you on sight simply because you were the new woman? Would she be cold and nasty? Or even worse, would she be fake nice, that kind that was so sickly sweet it gave you a toothache even though you could hear the venom dripping underneath? What would she say to Steve after you left? Would her opinion convince him that dating you was a bad idea?

“Mommy! Don’t forget his present!” Eli yelled, unbuckling himself as you were stepping out of the car.

“I know, buddy. I got it.”

You popped the trunk, pulling out the small gift bag inside that featured Batman and Robin. Eli had begged to get Jeremiah the Diddy Kong Racing game for his Nintendo 64. It had been twenty-five dollars, a bit more than you'd planned on spending, but Eli had given you those big hopeful eyes and you just couldn’t bring yourself to say no.

It was his best friend’s party and you usually kept the budget around ten dollars for stuff like that. But it was also your boyfriend’s kid’s birthday so you figured you should spend more. How much more, you had no idea. You didn’t want to go overboard. Then everyone would look at you like you were trying to buy your way in and that certainly wouldn’t go over well with the ex. But if you didn’t get something good enough they would all think you were cheap and didn’t care enough about Jeremiah.

In the end, Eli had made the decision for you. You could always laugh it off with how badly he’d insisted on that particular gift for his friend. You'd never been so stressed just picking out a birthday gift. But this was already a very tight knit circle and you were the outsider trying to find your place. You didn’t want to mess it up.

Taking Eli’s hand, the two of you made your way up the sidewalk. Your son bounced with anticipation while you trudged like you were heading to the gallows. The front door opened just as you reached the bottom of the stairs and Steve stepped out, the mere sight of him soothing some of your anxiety.

“Hey! You made it!”

He opened his arms wide and Eli ran straight into them for a hug, sending Steve off balance. He caught himself, hugging your son before wrapping an arm around you, pressing a light kiss to your lips. You didn’t miss the variety of faces all looking out the front windows at you.

“Hey! You stepped on my foot!”

“Stop pushing!”

“I was here first!”

“Would you give the poor kids some privacy? They’re not animals on display at the zoo!”

“Quiet! They’re gonna know we’re spying on them!”

“We already know! You guys are extremely loud!” Steve bellowed, rolling his eyes toward you. “Sorry about that. They’re all very excited that you’re here.”

“Oh…that’s nice.” You swallowed down the anxiety that was creeping up. No pressure or anything. “Sorry. Eli couldn’t decide which Batman shirt to wear and I am pretty sure he tried on every single one he owns before we finally made it out the door.”

“No worries. The Dark Knight doesn’t arrive for another twenty minutes or so. You made it in plenty of time.” He grinned down at Eli and then leaned in, his hand resting on your low back, thumb brushing soothingly as he whispered, “It’s going to be fine. If you couldn’t tell, they are all really excited that you are coming.”

A nervous smile lifted the corners of your mouth as you nodded, inhaling slowly through your nose. You could do this. The worst that could happen would be that Nancy would hate your guts. That would be something you would have to navigate but you could. Couldn’t you? Lots of people dealt with exes who weren’t fond of the new girls or guys in their lives. You'd just never imagined you would be one of them.

You'd barely stepped inside when a voice called out your name and then arms were wrapping around you in a welcoming embrace. Brown curly hair covered your vision as you returned the hug, a bit overwhelmed and shocked by it to do anything but reciprocate. When the bearer of the hug pulled back, you were looking into the face of a very pretty woman with stormy blue eyes and the cutest little button nose you'd ever seen.

“H…hi…” you stammered, realizing this must be the ex wife as she was the only woman in the room that you'd yet to meet.

“Hi! I’m so sorry to just bombard you like that but I’ve been dying to meet you. Steve and Jere have talked about you so much. I’m so glad you two could come today. Jeremiah has been asking about Eli non-stop. He’s going to be so excited you’re here.” She paused, laughing. “Sorry. I’m Nancy by the way, in case you didn’t already figure that out.” She leaned down to Eli’s level. “And you must be the famous Eli. I have definitely heard all about you.”

Eli beamed, proud to be so well known already, “Jeremiah is my very best friend in the whole world.”

“And you’re definitely his. My son is very lucky to have such a kind friend like you.” Nancy reached forward, ruffling his hair. “Why don’t you head upstairs? I’m sure you’ll be able to find his room. You’ll be able to hear them. Jere is playing games with his Uncle Mike and Aunt El. He’ll be so excited you’re here.”

Eli raced up the stairs, feet pounding loudly with excitement. You stood, a little taken aback. Nancy was nothing like what you'd expected or feared. She was so warm and welcoming. You might have wondered if it was all an act but the woman seemed as genuine as they came. She truly seemed excited that the two of you were there.

“So, Batman should be here in fifteen minutes or so. Would you like anything to drink?” offered Nancy.

“I’m okay. Is there anything I can help with?”

“I was just going to bring in the food from the kitchen if you want to help with that. Robin?”

“Absolutely,” you replied, pleased to be put to use. The last thing you wanted was to be left sitting or standing around awkwardly. You smiled at Steve as you followed Nancy into the kitchen, thinking this might not be near as awful as you thought. In fact, it might actually be fun.

____________________________________________________________

Two hours later, the adults were enjoying drinks on the front porch while the boys were systematically making their way through all of Jeremiah’s birthday gifts. They’d already roped Dustin, Mike, and Lucas into a game of Cranium, opened every single superhero figure he’d received and had an epic battle in Gotham City, annoyed everyone with a Furby that you were sure was actually a demon, and now they were taking turns with Jeremiah’s new scooter. One boy would ride it while the other ran after him and then they would swap.

Batman had been a hit, as if there’d been any doubt. Both boys had been absolutely starstruck when he’d swept into the house, announcing, “I am vengeance. I am the night. I am Batman. Now where’s this birthday boy?”

The college kid playing him had done an excellent job. He had the deep voice and the build for the superhero. He’d allowed the boys to use his grappling hook and his boomerang and set up a game where the adults were the villains and he and the boys had to stop them. Eli and Jeremiah had been giggling the entire time, especially when they got to tie up Steve with rope.

You leaned into Steve from your spot on the steps and he pressed a kiss to your temple, squeezing your shoulder gently. Nancy was grinning like a fool at you, something she’d been doing for most of the party. Contrary to your fears, the woman seemed truly happy for you. Robin was watching you too, a very satisfied smile sitting on her face, making you a bit nervous as it appeared she might be scheming. Given what Steve had told you about his best friend, it wouldn’t be out of character for her.

“You know, now that all of the introductions have been made and you are officially a part of our group, I think it’s about time we had a girl’s night so we can all get to know her a little better,” Robin announced.

“Yes!” El agreed brightly, looping her arm through Mike’s. “We haven’t had a girl’s night with all of us in forever.”

“Yeah, we need to know all your deep, dark secrets now that you’re one of us,” Max teased.

“Good grief,” grunted Hopper, standing on the sidewalk, a wreath of smoke around his head as he watched the boys. “You’re going to scare the poor girl off before Harrington even has a chance. Take it easy on her, girls.”

“Oh come on, Dad. We’re only teasing her,” El laughed with a roll of her eyes.

Lucas snorted, “She goes out with all of you and she’s going to be looking for the exit real fast.” He yelped when Max elbowed him. “Ouch! You know I’m right. I love you all but you can be a bit…much.”

“Much?” demanded Max, eyes wide. “Seriously, Lucas?”

He shrugged, ducking when Max made a swipe for the back of his head, and you had to swallow down your laugh.

“I think if you have a girl’s night, you should go to Brewed Awakening,” Karen sang, joining the crowd, two mugs of coffee in her hands, one of which she handed off to Joyce.

“Where’s Dad?” asked Nancy.

Karen harrumphed, “Do you even need to ask?”

“Snoring in my chair?” asked Jonathan knowingly and Karen pointed at him.

“Of course. Where else would he be?”

“Why should they go to the coffee place?” questioned Will.

“So one of them can finally get our Robin here to do what she’s been too scared to do for months,” Karen stated, patting the dark blond on the head.

“What’s that?” you asked curiously, leaning forward.

Robin glared at Nolan as he answered, “Robin has had a crush on the owner for months but she’s too chicken shit to actually make a move. Her excuse was that she wasn’t sure if she was into women but we have definitely confirmed that she is. In fact, multiple people in this group have confirmed that fact. So, now she has no reason besides her own cowardice.”

“Are you talking about June? I love June!” you stated. “I get my coffee from there all the time and she makes the most delicious sandwiches. I’d be happy to help you talk to her.”

“Talking to her is not my problem,” huffed Robin.

“Like hell it’s not,” argued Steve. “You trip all over your words whenever she’s around. I always do more of the talking while you stand there staring at your shoes, mumbling nonsense every few minutes.”

“Well…I mean, she’s so pretty. It’s hard for me to even look at her, let alone talk to her. I’m scared I’m going to just blurt out the wrong thing or keep talking when I should shut up. You know me. Even after I’ve said everything that I need to say, I just keep talking when I get nervous and she makes me nervous. That’s exactly what I did with Vickie so I figure maybe it’s better if I don’t talk.”

“So take the girls with you for backup,” Karen reasoned.

Joyce agreed. “Yeah. You’re always more confident when you have your support system with you. They can start the conversation and then maybe you’ll find a way to finally ask her out.”

“It took this guy six months to finally ask me out,” Nolan laughed, playfully jabbing his elbow into Will. “He kept coming into the restaurant where I worked and ordering stuff. I swear, the one day he was there for breakfast, lunch, and dinner. When he came back in right before closing to order dessert, I finally asked him if it was the food he was coming for or me.”

Will’s face flushed scarlet. “I mean…” He shrugged shyly. “Look at him.” He gestured to the very fit man next to him. “Who wouldn’t have trouble talking to him? I never thought some super toned, athletic guy would be interested in a nerdy string bean like me.”

“Oh, I love my nerdy string bean,” Nolan crooned, kissing him on the cheek. “Nothing gets me hotter than hearing you talk about hit points and campaign plans. Plus, you’re easy to toss around.” He wiggled his eyebrows.

“Oh gross,” Jonathan groaned. “I do not want to hear about my brother making anyone hot and I definitely don’t want to hear about him being tossed around.”

You laughed, resting your head on Steve’s shoulder as you observed the playful banter amid the group. It was so nice how easy they all flowed. It was effortless, like a family should be. After the upbringing Steve had, you were thankful he’d been able to find such a supportive group of people to surround himself with. You were glad that you could now call yourself a part of that too.

“So Lucas, you must be pretty relieved now that tax season is over,” you commented.

The guy groaned, “Oh my god, yes. Why in the hell do so many people wait until the last minute to file? I have been working twelve hour days for the last two weeks.”

“Because they don’t want to pay the corrupt government their bullshit money,” Dustin snorted. “I didn’t file until the last minute I had to.”

“Yeah,” glared Lucas, “I know. I thought I was finally done and in strolls this dipshit at 9:30 at night.”

Dustin shrugged, “Listen, I did what I am supposed to but there’s nothing that says I can’t do it right before it’s due. I did it the night before so the postmark would be the correct date. I followed the rules.”

The conversation flowed easily. Max filled everyone in as much as she could on the case she’d been working on for the last month. Hopper dropped a couple amusing stories about arrests and stops he’d made recently. Mike dropped a bomb, telling everyone he’d finally decided to submit his book to some publishing companies. You were amazed to see how effortlessly it was to be in the middle of this large group.

Your pocket buzzed, interrupting just as Karen was sharing a story about a seventy year old woman who was putting everyone else at Jazzercise to shame. Pulling your phone from your pocket, you sighed when you saw it was Justin’s mom, Judith.

“Can you all excuse me for a minute? I have to take this.”

Walking toward the side of the house, away from the group, you braced yourself before answering. It wasn’t that you hated Judith but Judith could be…difficult. It had taken a long time for her to accept you, struggling to believe that anyone could be good enough for her son. She acted as if you were stealing her boy away from her instead of including you as part of the family. It wasn’t until Eli arrived that she finally seemed to begrudgingly accept that you weren't going anywhere. But she’d never exactly been warm or friendly with you either.

And since Justin had passed it had just become more complicated to navigate a relationship with her. She called at least twice a week, questioning you like she was a hard nosed detective interrogating you, as if she didn’t believe you could possibly take care of her grandson alone. She’d offered to let you and Eli move in with her and her husband after Justin’s death and had taken your refusal as a personal affront. Ever since then, things had been even more dicey between the two of you than they had before.

“Hi Judith.” You pressed two fingers against your forehead, willing yourself to be as upbeat as possible because the woman would notice immediately if you had any kind of tone.

“Aly, hello. I was just calling to check in with that grandson of mine. Can you put him on the phone?”

“Actually, he’s busy right now.”

“Busy? What do you mean busy? What could a seven year old possibly have on his schedule that would be more important than talking to his grandmother?”

This was exactly the kind of thing that grated you. This was what you tried to ignore every time. This level of self-importance that Judith placed on herself. She couldn’t stand not being number one in Justin’s life anymore so now she was vying to be Eli’s number one. There was not a reality where she could imagine her being less important than something or someone else. What she failed to realize was that love should not be a hierarchy where people were valued more than others. You could love multiple people and they could all be important to you.

“We are at his best friend’s birthday party and he is riding scooters with him right now.”

“Oh, well I’m sure if you told him that I was on the phone he could take a break.”

“No Judith. I am not going to do that. He’s having fun. I don’t want to interrupt him right now. Besides, that would be quite rude to his friend. He’s here for his party.”

“It would only be a few minutes.”

“I will have him call you when we get home later. I am sure whatever you have to say can wait a couple more hours,” you stated firmly and then sighed, softening your tone. “Besides, then he can tell you all about the birthday party.”

“Oh! Well, that’s true.” You could hear it. Judith was convinced, tickled at the thought of her grandson wanting to share all the details of his life with her. “Okay. But make sure he calls me. Make sure you don’t forget.”

“I won’t.”

“Well, I know how you get, darling. I know being a single mother must be challenging but you should really find a system for writing things down. You’re so forgetful these days.”

Your neck rolled at the dig. The truth was you weren't forgetful. You chose to forget that Judith had called on occasion because you could only take so many minutes of listening to her list all the ways that you were failing. You could only handle her reminding you how she’d offered to take you and Eli in so many times. And if you didn’t occasionally forget about her, you feared you were going to lash out at her. And no matter how Judith grated your nerves, she was still your son’s grandmother.

“I promise I will have him call you.”

Keeping the goodbyes short, you flipped your phone shut, the harsh snap satisfying. Inhaling slowly, you rolled your shoulders, relaxing yourself. The last thing you needed was to head back up there tense and ruin everyone’s mood.

“Hey, everything okay?” Steve asked as you approached, his eyes lasering straight through you, seeing through the mask you were attempting to wear. His hand settled on your shoulder and you felt your body respond, each tense muscle slowly loosening under his touch.

“Yeah. Everything’s fine. That was Eli’s grandmother. She just wanted to check in with him. I told her I would have him call her later after we got home.”

“Your mom?” asked Max with a tilt of her head.

“Uh…no…Justin’s mom, actually.”

Those eyes were burning into you even as you kept your gaze purposefully away from his. His hand trailed down your back, making slow circles through the fabric of your shirt, as if he could sense that you were on edge no matter how light you tried to keep your tone.

“Do they live around here?” inquired Nancy.

“No. They…they don’t.” Thank god they didn’t but you kept that particular thought in your own head. “They live over three hours away in Port Clinton, Ohio. It’s this city right by Lake Erie. We don’t really see them that much, honestly.”

“Oh. That must be hard for you two. Your parents aren’t close either, are they?” Nancy’s eyes were full of empathy, understanding from another mom. Most moms could at least envision how hard it would be to raise a child alone, empathize with the challenges. And really, for a while, until her and Jonathan got together, she had been doing it alone during the time she had Eli.

“No. They’re not. Even farther away actually, in Boston. But they usually fly out a couple times a year, around the holiday times. They…well…” You bit your lip, glancing up at Steve. You hadn’t dropped this particular bomb on him yet and this wasn’t really something you wanted to do in front of everyone. But you probably should, considering your mom had called two nights ago to tell you they booked flights for the week after school was out. “They're actually going to be visiting in about five weeks.”

“Well, that’s exciting!” beamed El. “Eli has to be happy.”

“Yeah. He is. They, well, they want to watch him play baseball. My dad is a huge Red Sox fan. He was even before they moved to Boston. I always tease him that that’s really why he wanted to move there. The job was just an excuse for him to be closer to his beloved team. And they…uh…they want to meet Steve, actually.”

Steve’s eyebrows lifted and your stomach clenched. Maybe this was all moving too fast. You'd barely been together and now you were asking him to meet your parents. Would this scare him off? For all the talking you'd done about taking it slow, the two of you seemed to be going from zero to eighty in a matter of seconds.

“You know, I can just tell them you’re out of town for work or something when they come,” you rushed to add. “My mom, while I love her, can be a bit much. The minute she found out I was dating somebody she was talking about a visit. I mean, she’s going to love you. She loves everybody but I know it’s really soon for all of that. It’s crazy, right? It’s not like we’re sixteen and you have to meet my parents before taking me out.”

Robin’s eyes went wide. “Damn. And I thought I rambled when I was nervous.”

Steve shot a glare her way and she held up her hands, leaning back against the post. “No. It’s fine. I’d love to meet your parents. Besides…” He paused, grinning, “...parents love me.”

“Its true.” Karen nodded. “I’ve adored him from the moment he walked through my door. I still love him even though he divorced my daughter.”

“But you got me in exchange,” teased Jonathan.

“That’s true.” She patted his shoulder. “And we love you too.”

“You really don’t have to if you don’t want to,” you told him. “I don’t want you feeling obligated or anything.”

“I don’t feel obligated. They can come to a game. I can cookout one day over at my place. In fact, let’s take them to Sage and Salt one night for a nice dinner.”

“Oh yeah!” Nolan agreed. “I will whip up some of my best dishes for your folks.”

“They will get the VIP treatment,” Will promised. “We’ll pull out all the stops for them.”

Joyce placed her hands on her youngest’s shoulders, “Will and Nolan will take really good care of them. And you’re not going to find better food in the whole town. Of course, I might be just a tad biased.”

“Maybe just a bit,” chuckled Will.

“You’re sure?” you asked Steve.

“Of course I’m sure. I can’t wait to meet the people who are responsible for you coming into this world.” He wrapped his arms around you, kissing your forehead. “Now I can thank them personally for making one of my favorite people I’ve ever met.”

“Oh my god,” gagged Dustin. “You guys are so sweet it’s sickening.”

“Don’t be jealous just because you don’t have anyone,” Mike mocked, slugging him lightly in the shoulder.

“You know, Dustin, there’s this girl at my work who…” Max began before Dustin cut her off.

“No. No. Absolutely not. Turn around and walk away with that thought right now. I am not going on any more dates that any of you set up for me. The last three have been a disaster. You’d think you don’t know me at all with the girls you try to set me up with.”

“Okay, even I will admit that Tammy wasn’t the best choice, but…,” Lucas admitted.

“But nothing! She was so self-involved. She kept pulling out her compact mirror to check her lipstick every five minutes. And every time I asked her a question or said anything, she said huh?” He opened his mouth wide, his eyes going glassy, clearly doing an impression of the girl. “She couldn’t even hold a simple conversation. And she kept talking about Devon Sawa.”

“I mean…” El shrugged. “He is pretty conversation worthy. Have you seen Wild America?”

Dustin’s eyes rolled up into his head as he gave a loud snort, “And Patricia! Are you kidding me? She told me she didn’t believe in dinosaurs and that fossils were planted by the devil to lure us away from God. You really thought I would mesh well with a girl who doesn’t believe in basic scientific facts?”

“Yeah, but I didn’t hook you up with either of them,” Max shot back. “Tammy was all Lucas and Patricia was all Robin.”

“To be fair, I didn’t know she was such a Jesus nut,” Robin defended. “I met her at the bookstore and she was standing in the Science Fiction section. I thought she’d be exactly your type.”

“The Science Fiction section that is right next to the Religion section?” demanded Dustin. “Did you even glance at the books that were in her arms because I guarantee you there was nothing there written by Dan Simmons or Connie Willis. But there was probably something written by men who claimed God spoke to them.”

“She didn’t have any books in her hands and you were so sad then. It had been months and you were still moping around about Suzie. I just thought going out with someone new might take your mind off of it or at least break you in a bit so you’d be ready to go out with someone new.”

“I was not moping!”

Steve guffawed loudly, “Oh yes you were. I found you laying in your bed, listening to Don’t Speak on repeat.”

“Whatever,” huffed Dustin. “The point is, I have learned my lesson. None of you are hooking me up with anyone ever again. I am more than capable of finding my own dates, thank you.”

“How about me?” you asked and they all turned to look at you. You smiled nervously, shrugging. “I mean, I’m not part of the group.”

“Oh, yes you are,” Mike stated. “Look, you’ve declared your relationship status with Steve. You’re even taking the step of introducing him to your parents. You have solidified yourself as a member of the group now.”

“Yeah,” agreed Lucas. “And I’m sorry to say, once you’re in there is no getting out. So, you’re stuck now.”

“It’s true,” Nolan shrugged. “Trust me. Once you’ve been inducted into the group there is no escape.”

Who were these people? Most people would be suspicious of a newcomer, or at least a little cautious, maybe a tad reserved until they got to know them but not them. They just accepted you. Steve was dating you so you were okay with them. Honestly, the way they just enfolded you into their group left you feeling so warm and fuzzy, like a sweater straight out of the dryer that just wrapped comfortably around your skin.

“Be that as it may, and for the record, I am perfectly okay with that seeing as I have no intention of trying to escape, I haven’t always been a part of this group. So you have no idea how my matchmaking skills are. And there’s this new nurse at my work. Her name is Heather and she’s really cute. Blond curls, gray blue eyes, adorable glasses…and she is totally into all that science stuff. I saw her reading "Neverwhere” the other day on her lunch.”

“A Gaiman fan, huh?” Dustin’s thumb and forefinger came to his chin, considering. Oh yeah, she had him interested. “That might have potential. How old is she?”

“Twenty-four.”

“Okay. What was she eating for lunch?”

“Why does that matter?” you laughed.

“Because it does. What was she eating?”

“A bologna sandwich, potato chips, and oreos.”

“Good taste in lunch food, too. Alright. I’ll tell you what. Since I don’t know you that well and you’ve never hooked me up with anyone, I will give you a shot. But just one. If this date goes sideways, no one…and I mean no one who is standing here right now gets to try to set me up ever again.”

“To be fair, I’ve never gotten a turn,” Joyce stated.

“Mama Joyce, while I love you with all the depth of the ocean blue, no thank you.”

Her mouth dropped open. “What is that supposed to mean?”

“You’re sweet. You’re kind. You’re everything a mother should be and for all intents and purposes, you’re all of our mothers. But you married Hopper so I’m not entirely sure of your judgement skills.”

“Hey…what the hell is that supposed to mean?” Hopper blurted, folding his arms over his chest.

“I mean, come on Hop. We love you but…it’s like she married Smokey the Bear.”

“Oh yeah? Come here, kid!” He lunged off the porch and Dustin shrieked, darting away from him through the grass.

Your initial fear for the guy dissipated when you noticed they were both laughing. Hopper grabbed onto Dustin, placing him in a headlock and rubbing his fist over the top of his head. Eli and Jeremiah noticed the commotion, Eli jumping off the scooter mid-roll, the new toy dropping to the grass.

“Uncle Dusty! I’ll help you!” Jere cried, racing for Hopper and wrapping his arms and legs around one of the big guy’s.

“I’ll help too!” Eli yelled, wrapping around the other one.

“Oh yeah? Think you can pin me down?” Hopper growled playfully, releasing Dustin. He lifted one foot and then the other, both boys giggling gleefully as he walked slowly around the front yard. “You can’t stop me!”

Steve’s arms wrapped around you from behind, his chin resting on your shoulder. You leaned into the solidness of him, watching with amusement as the boys released Hopper’s legs and ran at him. The big man dramatically fell to the ground with a loud roar. Mike and Dustin immediately leapt on him, the boys jumping on each of them, and Hopper bellowed loudly.

“See? You both fit right in,” he murmured, his lips brushing over your ear. “You belong right here with all of us.”

Yeah. It really seemed like maybe you did.

Chapter 14

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Thanks so much for taking the time to read my little story! Let me know if you want to be added to the taglist. 😊 And replies and reblogs are always appreciated if you enjoy it. ❤️❤️❤️

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literaturewithliz · 1 year

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Could I request a cute fluffy one shot for Draco malfoy accidentally falling for a muggle born hufflepuff, she likes baking and makes everyone birthday cakes if they want and he doesn’t get the hype about her and never met her but let’s say his friends asked her to make one for hi birthday and he’s just so confused and flustered

Thanks so much for the request! I love this concept so much, as a baker myself. I’m very sorry it took a hot minute, I just had no idea how I was gonna structure the fic, but then I just went with a couple of options and like how this turned out!

Draco was puzzled, to say the least.

He wasn’t puzzled by the fact that the box just outside of his dorm door had your signature on it, because cakes were kind of your claim to fame around Hogwarts. And the reason why was very clear. The immaculate silver piping along the edges of the cake could only have been done by your skilled hands. The Slytherin green icing on the base and top of the cake could have only been perfectly recreated thanks to your observant eye. And the fondant black, silver, and green Slytherin crest on the top was so obviously crafted with such care, that only you could have been the one to design it. Not to mention the artfully placed pieces of gold leaf and careful strokes of silver luster dust that seemed to make the cake shimmer.

It was perfection. So no, he was not puzzled that you had designed this cake. He was, however, puzzled by the fact that you had created this cake for him. The only time Draco could remember speaking to you before was in fourth year, after Potter had been selected for the Triwizard Tournament and Draco was so angry that he lashed out at the first person he saw after the feast. Who just so happened to be you. He had called your craft useless and uninspired. He could see the tears in your eyes after he had finished his rant, but all you had done was ask if he was alright. He spat an “I would be much more well if I never had to associate with the likes of you ever again!” and stormed off to his dorm. And you took that literally. Draco never did have to associate with you ever again, because you avoided him at all cost. He was in his sixth year now, and hadn’t heard your voice since his little rant.

So why was he receiving a cake from you? And how did you know it was his birthday?

Eventually Draco realized he must have looked like a complete idiot, just standing there looking at a cake as if it were on NASA’s Top Ten Unexplained Mysteries list. So he picked up the cake cautiously, and gently tore off the little notecard that was taped to the top of the cake box, the one that had your aforementioned signature in pretty loopy handwriting. He looked on the back of the card and found a message in the same handwriting: Happy Birthday, Draco! I don’t know much about you other than your in Slytherin, so I hope this is okay. Enjoy your special day! Best wishes, Y/N.

Draco thought this was more than alright. He loved the cake design, and if rumors were anything to go by, he would also love the taste. He was just still questioning why you had done this for him. The reason why was revealed when Blaise, Pansy, Crabbe, and Goyle waltzed into his room-uninvited- and stood in front of him, expectant looks on their faces. So this was why you had done this for Draco. Because his friends had paid you to. It was all making sense now. He could feel his ears redden a bit, mentally face-palming himself. What had he expected? For you to actually mean what you wrote about having a happy birthday or enjoying the cake?

Pansy cleared her throat, grabbing Draco’s attention. “Do you like it? We had that Hufflepuff girl make it. The one who’s known for her cakes? We didn’t really know what to tell her to put on it, so we just told her to put whatever she thought was best.” The truth was, Draco liked this cake more than he wanted to. He liked knowing that you had put work into something made for him, even if his friends were technically the ones who asked for it. But he didn’t want his friends to know that, so he just went with a normal amount of gratitude (normal for Draco anyways) and told his friends, “Yeah, thank you all,” and set the cake on his nightstand, where it would remain for the rest of the day.

Speaking of the rest of the day, it passed by in a blur. People exchanged respectful greetings and well wishes to him in the corridors, he went about his normal classes for the day, and went to the owlery to see if his parents had sent him anything. His mother had sent him a ring to add to his collection, and a couple of sweet treats, but he heard nothing from his father. Once again, what had he expected? It wasn’t as though Draco and his father had the warmest of relationships. He didn’t know if the lack of warmth was what made him sad, or the disappointment he got when the cycle never broke. All he knew was, he felt like he was about to cry in the owlery of all places.

“Are you alright?” a familiar voice asked from behind him. Draco flinched, startled and embarrassed that another person was seeing him this way. He regained his composure quickly, and replied with, “I’m perfectly fine.” He heard you shift from one foot to another, and turned around to see you standing there, with a small bag of owl feed in you hands. You didn’t look at him, keeping your eyes trained on something to the right of him. He followed your gaze to a medium sized barn owl with a name plate reading ‘Holly’. He walked left, giving you space to walk over to it. You nodded appreciatively, still not looking at him, and went towards the barn owl.

Draco felt awkward, just standing with you in silence, and he could tell you were uncomfortable too. He also felt confused. He didn’t know you had an owl, and why he hadn’t seen you here before, especially given your owls were right next to each other. As if you could sense his confusion, you finally looked at him just for a second, and told him, “It’s not mine, I’m just doing a favor for a friend.” “Oh,” Draco replied articulately. What was he still doing here? He moved towards the door of the owlery to leave, but your voice stopped him in his tracks.

“Did you like your cake?” you asked, slightly timid. Draco felt guilty, which was unusual for him. He knew that the reason you were so uncomfortable right now was because of what he had said to you two years ago. But Draco hadn’t ever felt bad about the way he spoke to people, especially not Hufflepuffs. So why did he feel like a terrible person? “Yes, it was fine,” he replied. “I’m glad it was fine. I had been hoping it wasn’t too useless.” Draco sighed, feeling defeated. “Look, when I said those things to you, I wasn’t mad at you. I was frustrated, is all, and took it out on you. So I’m… sorry.” It seemed like you could sense how difficult it had been for Draco to apologize like that, so you simply said, “Thank you, I forgive you.”

Draco nodded, moving to leave again, when your voice piped up, stopping him once again. “Are you really okay? You look like you have a lot on your mind.” “Like I said, I’m perfectly fine, and even if I weren’t, it wouldn’t be your concern,” he replied with a low voice. “Right, sorry. But you should know, it doesn’t help to just dwell on things, you need someone or something that brings you out of your head sometimes,” you shifted again, letting your right hand lift up to pet Holly. Draco thought on that for a moment, then before he could stop himself, he asked, “Is that why you bake?”

Oh no. Your gonna think he’s a creep now. Your never going to speak to him again. You- “Yes, I suppose so,” you replied, bringing Draco out of his downward mental spiral. Then Draco just stared. He wanted to ask what was causing you so much stress, since it must have been a lot, considering you seem to bake nonstop. But he restrained himself, thinking maybe that would be going too far. But he did say thank you. Then he turned to leave again, and you didn’t stop him.

******

Thank you so much for this request! I had a lot of fun with this! I didn’t know if you wanted this to end with a kiss or something, but I didn’t really know how to end this like that, because Draco seems like the type to need time before even thinking of a relationship, let alone kissing and affection. That’s just my interpretation of him though. Once again, I’m sorry it took a while.

#draco fanfiction #draco malfoy #draco angst #draco malfoy x hufflepuff!reader #draco malfoy x reader #harry potter #Harry Potter fanfiction

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glasskey · 2 months

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Lawrence & June's Mix tape Vol. 2

This mix tape contains easily my favourite Lawrence and June moments and it takes us all the way from the shadowy hallways of Lawrence’s abode to the far reaches of Canada.

I'll bet that felt good.

From the moment we meet Eleanor, she is seen constantly stifling a mouthful of secrets and covering up improprieties, like dead bodies with a pretty new flower bed. She’s the voice of Lawrence’s conscience and he does just about everything he can to keep her out of harm’s way. In the episode Unknown Caller we learn that Lawrence was once young and sensitive, partial to making Eleanor mixtapes, far from the shell of a man who now keeps her hidden.

After June and Eleanor’s jaunt down to Hannah’s school, Lawrence notices the fresh air and sunlight has done Eleanor the world of good. Consequently he asks June to start spending some time with her to hopefully alleviate the effect, the horror show he calls home, is having on his wife.

Never one to miss a trick, June takes the opportunity here to really stick the knife in Lawrence and give it a nice deep twist. Given the delicate state of his wife, why hasn’t he gotten her out? Doesn’t he realize he’s killing her with his own creation? June’s not asking questions, rather confronting Lawrence with the truth of what he already knows. Lawrence looks like he’s been hit, she’s found a deep painful recess where his guilt festers every single day. There’s no rage, no threat, nothing except suddenly the appearance of a deep wound as Lawrence chokes out the words “I bet that felt good”.

It seems both a dig at her for being so underhanded and an acknowledgement that June has so very many, many justifiable grievances. I mean who could blame her for wanting to indulge in a little knife twisting after so many years of abuse? June’s stay in Lawrence abode is simultaneously therapeutic, illuminating and empowering to say the least. Prior to this Gilead had been a nameless, faceless construct. Now June’s like Dorothy finally discovering what a huge liar the Wizard of Oz actually was, just a sad old man with a slight of hand and a world full of regret.

It came for you.

Lawrence has constantly argued the merits and rewards of Gilead with June, always assuming that he would never have to bear any of the costs, but this is the moment that he finally has to pay the piper. Lawrence is extremely skilled at psycho analysis of all those around him, but he can barely stomach the hideous reflection in the mirror. The fact is he’s a whole lot of talk and not much action, in other words, Lawrence isn’t a TRUE believer. If he was he would participate in the ceremony and he would demand compliance from Eleanor. From the get go their relationship appears different; he loves her, dotes on her, fiercely protects her and Junes attempts to manipulate him through acts of infidelity are brutally rebuffed. Eleanor is the figurative voice of conscience calling from beneath the floorboards, and it’s no coincidence that Lawrence goes to great lengths to keep her away from official guests lest she blabs.

During the forced ceremony she screams and wails loudly, Lawrence pleads for her to be quiet, pledging his undying love and begging for her forgiveness for doing the one thing he swore he would never do. It’s all for naught, Eleanor is absolutely inconsolable, he promised this would never happen. It’s fucking heartbreaking to see Eleanor’s incredible distress at what is about to happen to June, she’s fragile, helpless and utterly cornered. Ironically it is June who soothes her and leads Lawrence through what must be done.

This ceremony engineered by Fred, is the moment that directly results in Eleanor’s death in later episodes. This scene elicites the devastatingly cool and casual “at least it wasn’t you” mic drop from June, and undoubtedly earned Fred a blind eye from Lawrence as Nick dragged him off to die. During S3 we observe a growing if not begrudging respect for June from Lawrence and the idea that he now has to rape this woman in front of his beloved wife is utterly horrifying. June sits waiting calmly for the inevitable, she understands this moment of panic and trauma all too well, and above all the absolute futility of fighting it. This is the moment that Gilead in its full walking womb, horror show glory “Comes to his door”, and rips the veil off Lawrence’s illusions. His wife is the voice of empathy and conscience and he finally understands, his monstrous creation will surely kill her sooner or later. As Lawrence and June share a drink, he offers June a way out and a means of escape for his wife, but as we later learn, tragically it’s too little too late. The deed is done and for the remaining seasons Eleanor will haunt Lawrence’s every step

You really think this is still your house?

The beginning of the episode Mayday scares the absolute shit out of me, June is just getting her first introduction to Gilead, watching women being brutally categorized as she is herded into the back of a truck. June begs for help, the guard remains indifferent. The entire scene reeks of desperation, fear and dark unknown territory. Deep trauma lives here. “To the ruthless go the spoils” June muses, so what is she willing to do to get 52 children out of Gilead? Everything it seems, for her power now lies in her willingness to die for her cause. June officially has nothing to lose and everything to gain; she doesn’t know where Hannah is and Nick is very likely dead. For a dictatorship like Gilead that relies on fear to maintain order, individuals like these that inspire leadership, are a fucking nightmare.

The minute June returned from the hospital, super twitchy and scheming gleefully about escape plans openly, Lawrence should have known his power was a thing of the past. From the very first shot of this end of season showdown between June and Lawrence, it’s obvious he’s not going to win this one. June sits at the head of a long dining table with a gun in the center like her sword laid out for battle. Lawrence ever the expert in human behavior, senses June’s dangerous instability. He tries to gently navigate her and wrestle back control without enraging her further. She plays with her gun like she’s twirling her hair, musing over the brutal injustice of being a woman in Gilead.

“This is still my house, young lady” he stammers pathetically in the face of her frightening new found power. “You really think this is still your house?” she scoffs, his home is festering with rebels and his previous authority now means nothing. As Osborn so eloquently warned him at the start of the season “they’ll put you on the wall, even a commander”. With the words “get me a fucking map”, Osborne makes it clear that not only will Lawrence be steering clear of their plans, he WILL help facilitate them. The reality is Lawrence willingly relinquished his control the minute he adopted the most notorious handmaid in Gilead and turned his home into a half-way house for rebels. “You’re not going to be any trouble are you?” Lawrence asks June when she first arrives “No sir” she replies, but make no mistake, news of June Osborne had reached his gilded prison long ago.

Gilead's gonna Gilead.

In S5 the boundaries between Canada and Gilead began to get a little hazy, with audiences wondering why Lawrence was able suddenly to stroll in and out of Canada. As we later discovered this blurring of the lines was an intentional device used to demonstrate Gilead’s ability to seep across the border. At the inception of New Bethlehem, Lawrence shows up on June’s doorstep to ask for her help to make it look legit. She’ll get to live there with Nick, Luke, Hannah and Nicole, like one big Gilead sized Brady bunch, but there’s just one catch; Hannah still has to do the whole “child bride” thing. She’s seriously conflicted, understandably she is desperate to be with her child but this is a bridge too far. She pleads with Lawrence to stop it and he shrugs it off with an almost resolute “Gilead’s gonna Gilead”. June launches into a blistering attack about how he’s responsible for all of Gilead’s horror but apparently she’s not telling him anything he doesn’t already know.

“I was trying to save humanity…..and I did it, I fucking did it, then it got away from me….it went septic”. Lawrence is calculating and manipulative, however June always manages to pry out his emotional core and here he finally breaks down admitting the incredible weight of his conscience. He can barely live with himself; Gilead’s like a wound and Lawrence is desperately trying to stop the rot. Currently Gilead looks like a U.N. nightmare, but perhaps given a generation or two the fanaticism may ease up just a wee bit, he argues to a skeptical June. Hannah might get the short end of the stick but Nicole won’t. He needs June’s thumbs up if he wants to actually get any outside residents to pull up sticks and move there.

But Lawrence also needs HER, he knows that in the larger scheme of things Osborne gets shit done. Lawrence may have built the village, but he’s certainly smart enough to realize that it was the gutsy little handmaid who managed to smuggle out a planeload of children, when all he’d done was sit around in his dusty old house for nigh on a decade.

Cups of sugar

Make no mistake, this IS the Lawrence and June break up scene and it’s no coincidence that next episode Nick and Lawrence break up too. Here the gloves are off, Lawrence tries to lure her with the promise of Hannah and Nick, but in exchange he demands she relinquish her pride and forsake her beliefs. June is enraged that they are being used as bartering chips. It’s crystal clear in this moment that just as Lawrence has the power to withhold Hannah from June, so too he holds Nick firmly in his clutches.

Lawrence’s reference to Nick and June’s relationship to “a cup of sugar” is dropped as a humorous quip but it’s insultingly reductionist and he knows it. Just as living next door to her enslaved daughter should be enough, an affair with the man she loves should also suffice. As far as Lawrence is concerned, June should be grateful, just as Nick should be grateful for his pseudo family in the burbs, why can’t they just be happy with the scraps?

June doesn’t pull any punches, here she tells him point blank that his dear departed wife had died from the heartbreak of the man he’d become. She reveals she’d watched Eleanor die and did nothing to stop it. Despite his existing suspicions, Lawrence is devastated by June’s admission none the less. I was reminded of the June and Serena break up scene in S3 in which they both collapsed into a smoldering, teary wreck of raw brutal truth. Lawrence spent both S4 and 5 trying to become “a better man” but ultimately he couldn’t help himself. He’s a political animal, and after losing Eleanor, giving Gilead a nice little make over was pretty much all he had left to live for. Lawrence knew that Nick and June were desperate to be a family again and he used it for currency to bring one of Gilead’s most notorious rebels to heel, and hopefully his own life some meaning.

Instead of thanking him for his offer, June promptly disintegrates into an inhumane fit of furious rage. Lawrence’s proposal of a life half lived in New Bethlehem is nothing but an attempt to bend June to Gilead’s will once again, and a way to hopefully finally ease his conscience. I was always confident in Lawrence’s abilities to maneuver pieces across the board, but watching June literally frothing at the mouth and seething with venom, I couldn’t help but wonder if maybe Lawrence hadn’t gotten just a tad bit greedy this time, and bitten off more than he could chew.

Join me next time for a Mixtape from our favourite S4 and 5 bromance: Nick and Lawrence.

#handmaids tale #june osborne #hulu streaming #june x nick #max minghella #nick x june #nick blaine #the handmaids tale hulu #osblaine #elisabeth moss #commander lawrence #bradley whitford #THTplaylists&mixtapes

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typingdyslexiaisathing · 1 month

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A Crime In the Devildom (Obey Me!) fic part 2

Part 1 may be found here. Next Part 3 here.

Content: Lucifer and the brothers bring their very upset pact human back home. Established relationships, mention of violence, injury, blood, mention of death.

The entrance to the Demon Lord's Castle closed as Lucifer shifted his hold on Marzena. His brothers hovering around him to be as close to their beloved pact human as physically possible. Which Lucifer was unable to get angry over after the fiasco this day had been. So he walked slowly forward as his brothers rambled amongst each other. Slow enough for Asmodeus to take out a compact brush and begin to brush Marzena's hair for her. His words soft and sad as he made sure to start at the ends and work his way up. "Just look at your hair. All snarled and with split ends besides. You really should let me give you a trim. If not a full spa treatment. That will be a must for tomorrow. No arguing."

Mammon gave a huff to cross his arms and fume and cuss over the fact this all happened. His anger let loose to the open air as Beelzebub moved to stand at Lucifer's other side. His big hand gently touching at Marzena's foot where she lost her shoe from the earlier fight. His words rumbled out like a bear. "I know we don't need to be on guard anymore. But I think we should set up a bodyguard system for a week or two." Lucifer nodded as Leviathan finally looked up from his phone. The Avatar of Envy scowling to make a comment. "The social media sites have blown up already. Marzena is being called a criminal by the family of the suspected serial killer. The rag tabloids already have articles spinning fake news about what happened. This means trouble."

Belphegor groaned as Satan shook his head. The blonde noting with serious tones as he mused, "That's one way to cause a debacle. Lord Diavolo ordered the family to not say anything until he made his official announcement on the case to the Devildom. This will mean more work for him as well as us. I vote we keep Marzena at home until Lord Diavolo gives the all clear." Lucifer sighed to see the sense in this as Mammon grinned at the idea. The silver haired demon openly stating, "A fine idea! I will gladly say that the Great Mammon will be happy to be Marzena's personal bodyguard to tutor her on what she misses in class and see to her every need! Since I'm just such a great guy!"

All the brothers roll their eyes for Belphegor to snort. His own words pointed as he shakes his head. "Or stay at home to gamble on your phone all day. Perhaps even give a special interview on Marzena's behalf to earn some Grimm. I vote you be tossed to Cerberus when we get home." Mammon squacks as Lucifer notices Marzena shiver in his arms. The human giving a few snickers to then have a sniffle escape. So Lucifer tells them all, "Stop. Marzena is already past her breaking point. We focus on the now and see to her needs. Satan. The command from Lord Diavolo was for us to be her jailers. As such, we will be staying home from RAD. Leviathan. I expect you to stay home as well. So you may keep tabs on the social media feeds and alert us as needed."

Leviathan blinked to then nod as they all reached the House of Lamentation. Where there was a very unexpected surprise. Someone had left a black envelope taped to the front gate. One that Mammon snatched up before anyone could warn him. The Avatar of Greed ripping the envelope open to then yelp and drop the envelope. Since a dozen or more nasty looking crimson spiders pour out of the envelope to swarm up his arm. Biting and hissing to leave purple toxin wherever they touch. So Mammon is snarling as Satan rips Mammon's uniform coat right off his body to start wiping the spiders off his arm with the coat. While Mammon smacks at the spiders for Asmodeus to give a shriek of pure horror. So Lucifer hands Marzena over to Beelzebub for the Avatar of Gluttony to take to the air with his cargo. More spiders spilling free of the envelope for Belphegor to shout out, "It's a summoning curse! Back up!"

The brothers jump back as Lucifer throws a spell of flames over the envelope. Which destroys the envelope in seconds, but not the spiders. Who seem to feed on the magic flames to multiply. So Lucifer gives a rumble of pure fury as Leviathan chooses to wash the spiders away from him with a blast of water. Which has Belphegor get the idea to curse the spiders around him with a quick ice spell. The spiders freezing to then turn to flakes of dust. So Leviathan copies Belphegor to use the same spell. Asmodeus doing the same for the spiders to soon be no more. So it is that the brothers gather around again to look very upset as Marzena presses herself as close to Beelzebub as possible. Her words hurting as she asks, "Mammon? Are you okay?" Mammon cusses as Lucifer takes Mammon's hand to look his arm over. Where Mammon's skin is burned like someone dunked his arm in acid. Blood dripping down his arm and elbow for Lucifer to sound highly agitated. "He will be fine after a good night of sleep and a lecture about being more careful. So let's head inside and do a full sweep of every nook and cranny of our home. Leviathan, call Solomon to help with the sweep of the house for anything we didn't have in the house already. I will take no risks that some fool didn't break in and leave more gifts for us."

#obey me!#obey me shall we date #obey me! shall we date?#obey me: one master to rule them all #obey me! fanfiction #obey me! fanfic #fanfiction #Obey Me! Shall We Date?#Obey Me! One Master To Rule Them All #Obey Me! Nightbringer #obey me nightbringer #omswd #obey me swd #shall we date obey me #obey me fanfiction #obey me fanfic

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naffeclipse · 1 year

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Naff. Naff! Naff!

First of all I need you to understand the sheer willpower it took to be a responsible adult and read college stuff first before diving into this chapter. A GOOD amount of willpower. It was the right decision as I would have kept zoning out thinking about this chapter because Oh. My God.

So starting from the top!

Ahhh! The little motions of Moon so tentatively trying to get some contact, but so afraid of being rejected like it has been happening killed me right from the start. Just that... that silent request. Now that they agreed to tell the truth they had hope that it would be accepted but still, it only goes to show how much it was affecting them. That distance was really hurting them.

It really felt like they were all breathing a little easier at the start. Y/n obviously needed the distraction, but them talking about Vanessa and how they really thought that Sun and Moon would like her was such a warm moment. Because they say before them, she's the only person they are close to! After all the anguish of the last chapters, it really seems like it would be the most wonderful thing to have those important to them all in one room and getting along!

Too bad the hunter had those hopes of everything being alright snatched immediately.

Seeing Vanessa's stuff was so intriguing! The candy wrappers caught my attention because I kept wondering if they were used as bait to lure the children, or if it was a nod to the tapes in security breach because if I remeber correctly 'Vanny' liked candy a lot, while Vanessa preferred not to eat it.

And oh my gosh the book!!! I'd totally forgotten with all that was happening recently, and we finally got a look at that missing page! No wonder the boys were worried, because it was a pretty suspicious similarity, although they might have been fine at the start. Who knows if after the rake incident y/n would have connected the dots, looking at them closely, though.

And oooooooh, all the evidence of the children in the vehicle. The toys, and the blood. Blood on so many things and some long dried. What a nightmare for Vanessa, who we know has had more lucid moments in all of this.

But what was the most chilling to me was the dark fliud soaking the bed. Like, until now, we have seen only trickles from the animatronic vessel. The most we have seen I think was when the body of the guy possessed by Shoh was found, and that was only dribbles from his face. It just makes me imagine how horrifying this must have been for Vanessa. The demon must have let her sleep in order to keep its vessel healthy enough to keep using. But that means she had to sleep in that. Keep adding to it every night? We know the liquid presents itself with strong emotions (or as leftover of possessions). Does this mean it happened the most after kills? Could she feel the demon's delight in what it did while she literally had to cry those emotions out??? Just oooough! ;o;

But continuing with the tour of Vanessa's home! Omg, Henry's book!! Ahhh, that's so cool! And like, if it wasn't for the current circumstances, it feels like something y/n would have loved to have found way before due to their curiosity about cryptids. I was so curious and the description of Chica gave me so many thoughts! Henry seems to be really interested in this type of demonic cryptids! The fact that he has interacted succesfully with them and everything is so so cool! (Makes me wonder what the possible existence of Charlie in this could be! Was she his child and then was attacked by the demon that now posseses Vanessa and then her fate drove Henry to investigate the demonic entities? Or maybe Marionette is a cryptid of their own hmmmm? Maybe she doesn't exist XD)

But I digress! I like that Henry is so objective about the demons. Making it clear that they follow their own rules but their ways can be seen as a type of kindness! And then we have the description of the boys and oh my gosh wasn't that the last piece of the puzzle? And the boys knew it. Moon's feeble attempts at making them stop reading made that clear, because they wanted to explain themselves, but like this it will not happen in the way they planned. But the book in a way is a good introduction, because it doesn't paint them as complete monsters, but considers their tentative good side. A good side supported by children even!

(sidenote: I find it so significant it described the boys as the ones that cared the least about adults. I'm sure in the future it might make y/n feel special XD)

But ooooh, when the book just kept slapping them with evidence that sounded way too familiar and then it was undeniable! The flash of red they literally saw at the start of this episode, before going to meet Lambert! And I absolutely loved how you put the same description of "pale unblinking glow" that the book had into the narration a couple of lines later when they turn around to see them. Really see them. It's such a powerful line to indicate that finally the connection has been made. No more denial. Time to face the music.

(and oh goshhh the detail of their heart picking up in panic and the boys immediately smiling desperately!! )

And THEN! Shoh appears! And decides to throw them off a cliff! Hunter was already on the verge of panic and now there is a second demon. (Remembering the ask you answered that said Lambert would assume he wouldn't survive if he knew for sure there were two demons. Such a neat detail that Y/n made the same assumption!)

And ahhhhh!! When they somehow survive such a fall, and then Moon is grabbed and y/n cries out for him! Because they might just have had the worst revelation of their life, but damn it that care is not just gonna evaporate!

And yes, hi, can I just say I knew it!!! >:D Shoh totally lost her tongue! And I'm so glad it was y/n who took it! I was so expecting it to be the boys that would grab it and rip it out, but it was the hunter in the end and I find that they totally deserved the credit for that particular blow!

(sidenote: as the battle went on and the boys joined in, I just had to wonder why them in particular trigger their fear so badly. I know the knowledge that Shoh is a demon affected them, but it seems the effect of just the boys presence has been paralyzing so far while when facing Shoh Could it be that physically the shadowy look and the glowing eyes just look too similar to the first demon they encountered? Hmmmm)

And then oooooh boy, Shoh took revenge for her tongue kgfdhgjk, just straight up tore that arm! Ouuuch, poor boys! Too bad for her that was not enough because they sure did finish her! If I remember correctly there was mention that they tore into her chest, so I can't help but wonder if the fact that they were wounded so seriously made them instinctively go for the place where a heart would be even if they already knew she didn't have one!

(sidenote 3: Naff, I'm praising you so much for your action scenes! The pace in this one was just impeccable and it was so impressive the way you divided the attention between the fight and the internal turmoil of the hunter! That's not easy to do but I was immersed from start to finish!)

But talking about turmoil! Ahhh, I was just waiting for the moment they would snap. And I just gotta say! The doppelganger's impression of what Sun and Moon would see when the truth came out now seems mild in comparison kfsdjkjfg And I mean, completely justified! The hunter has been stretched too thin for far too long now, and now the demon that just tore apart another demon in front of them started reacing for them? No wonder they would have a full blown panic attack when seeing there was nowhere to run!

Ahhh and then the boys trying to help them calm down! With how fast their heart was beating, I wonder if they worried somwhat that y/n's heart would give out if they didn't calm down soon enough.

Oh, I gotta say how nicely the next scene is sort of opposite to the main secret of the fic. The denial of any signs of the hunter's dear friend being anything more than an animatronic vs the denial of a demon not about to tear them apart despite the evidence of their protection after they admitted to what they are. But ahhh they are really looking now, and I like that even exhausted as they are, they really are thinking about everything now.

(sidenote I lost count: They KISS THE SCAR!! Ahhhhh!! Just the- the contrast!!! The fact that the injury was made in the most malicious of ways by an awful being, only for Eclipse to come and use their mouth not as an attack but as a sign of affection and to show they really do mean it that they would never hurt them)

Ahhh, and the fact that y/n also has that "it's them" moment! Because it is! Suddenly their friend doesn't seem like a lie after all and that's a whole spectrum of confusing emotions but. They can look in the demon's eyes and see them.

(sidenote: hehe, the "you wish to write this down" made me smile. Even through all the terror, it's so them to want to study and know more)

God, I also love so much how they're still so unsure and having a constant back and forth from oh, yeah they're my friend after all, and oh god this is a demon and if they wanted they could kill me, but then again they haven't but- but DEMON. The line of it being pointless to run? Ooooh, I kinda want to know what the boys would think of that particular thought, because on one hand it's an objective fact. On the other, it's a clear sign that y/n does still very much feel like potential prey. Like they really don't have much choice here and are kinda resigned about this all. I guess in a way they have reason to be wary of y/n having their weapons. If they decided they suddenly wanted to use them, attempting to stop them would make this a lot more unpleasant for everyone and they probably would be in trouble if after a fight like that they were hit with any of the weapons. But also! They shouldn't be surprised they were screaming. XD Lots of the screaming poor y/n did they didn't even hear because they were swallowing it all dlkghjk

Oh, and finally! I wanted to comment on some of the symbolism sprinkled in this final part! Just! Like the fall and the destruction of the airstream, matching so well how the metaphorical rug was just pulled under their feet. How both physically and knowledge wise, everything they knew was destroyed. Oh, and the blue and red bandages to cover the wounds! To signify that the boys will help them heal from new and old wounds!! And related to this how after feeling that they've been sinking in panic and drowning in fear, they are offered one animatronic hand and one demonic hand to get out of the gully! And they take it! They might not be sure how to feel about them yet, but for now they can at least come to accept that the demon and the one they knew as an animatronic are one and the same, and they are choosing to let them help to get them out of this dark pit they have found themselves in!

I am so extremely excited for what's to come, Naff, you have no idea! I'm keeping my eye open for that possible conversation about the hunter they killed and how the future dynamic will go! It seems they will be fighting for a while with y/n's instincts and their fear for them, not to mention the matter of the whole heart eating deal! While they know this is what they are, I can see y/n not being ok at all with innocent people being considered alternatives for food when there are no rulebreakers around (because even the rulebreakers deserving it will probably be hard to convince them of. I feel like the hunter is gonna be staring at their moral compass for a good while to try and find their north here).

But kjfgdhkhjgsdf it's 4 am now so I gotta go pass out now XD (If you find anything that sounds a bit weird sorry about that, brain is more wired to speaking spanish than english at this hour XD)

Outstanding chapter! You knocked it out of the park with this reveal! 1000 000/10 Also you are the Sonic the Hedgehog of writers with how fast you have been posting these kjhdfghj

Amazing work as always!! <3

ALSDFJASFD AHHH CHATOIK I have been drinking in this comment since you first sent it and I adore every last word ♥

Charlie is a part of this AU! I haven't considered the Marionette but now that you mention it, I see her being much like the boys in terms of being child-friendly but very terrifying to adults hehe

OH! I'm so glad you noticed that little tidbit because yes, the boys tore into her chest out of instinct—that's what they know to attack and are used to doing so, and regardless of a demonic cryptid lacking a heart, it will still do a great deal of damage!

The boys could sense how erratic and rapid Y/N's heart was and that scared them the most. It was even worst than when they were enduring a night terror so the boys truly feared literally scaring Y/N to death!

If the boys knew that Y/N thought it was pointless to run, they would be so crestfallen and want to do more to reassure them that they're safe. There's no need to run even if what Y/N said is true.

Lots of screaming is a good summary of Part 3 LOL Y/N can have a little scream of frustration, as a treat (it's the opposite of a treat to Eclipse.)

Oh ho, I am very excited about that conversation of Eclipse eating rule-breakers and non-rulebreakers alike as well, and this time, there's no thirst for blood to distract Y/N from the reality of it :)

Awww, thank you so much for reading and commenting, babe! ♥

#chaotikanvas #cryptid sightings #cryptid sightings spoilers

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kieuecaprie · 10 months

Note

I must ask... Does Elpis have any particularly strong opinions on any of those funny managers? :3

As tempting as it may be to give you the full list and go off one by one, which would indeed be easy, it's probably best to pick off a few notable ones that caught the deer's eye (or ire).

Prethinker (Brian) - Elpis tried to reason with him but got shot down because they're just a "dumb animal" with "no intellect to speak of". So now they just plain hate him, full stop. Not enough to want to end his existence, more like they want to style on him in his own battle of wits. So, their opinion? "I despise him and I want to beat him at his own game, maybe then he'll realize what a pompous mee he is."

Duck Shuffler (Buck Ruffler) - Initially, when they moved to Toontown, they were somewhat intimidated by this manager's presence due to them being a newbie in the Toon Resistance at the time, but after training and getting acquainted with Buck, they really want to join Buck on his escapades to the casino and win BIG BUX. Their opinion of Buck is: "Used to be scary but is actually just a little goober. An idiot. A dummy. And if anything happens to him, I will shoot everyone in this room, and then myself."

Rainmaker (Misty Monsoon) - After an initially rough encounter with her, Elpis just kind of feels sorry for her because it just seems like she wants to have a good time but can't due to 1) some toons attacking cogs on sight and 2) her boss wouldn't like it. Nevertheless, they have attempted to make contact with her and tried their hardest to make friends with her. So far, they have been attempting to bring her a picnic and is currently trying to figure out her favorite drinks, which would be easy if it weren't for the fact that, well, robot and robots don't take kindly to most toon drinks, if at all. She is one of the biggest reasons why El has the opinion that they could potentially make friends with the cogs in the end, and maybe get them to loosen up and not be so stiffy and all about money and profits. Their opinion of Misty is: "One day I'll show you that toons and cogs can get along, Mity. I'll keep trying, no matter how long it'd take, for both of us."

Major Player (Dave Brubot) - I haven't experienced his fight in-game yet, despite having MML kudos awaiting promotion to level 10 because I'm slowly working on everything else first. I can wager that Elpis was initially weirded out when they found out about the video tape containing said manager's hijinks (if you could call eating cereal several hours straight as such...) but hearing that he was behind the snazzy tunes in the buildings they've invaded as well as hearing about the live performances, they're pretty much a fan. Maybe not as crazy as some because they tend to carry an air of composure (as much as a toon can be anyhow), but if they were to actually meet Dave, they'd probably be inwardly screaming the entire time.

Firestarter (Flint Bonpyre) - Actually feels really sorry for this dude, to the point where they've started to hype him up whenever they cross paths and encourage the poor guy, even when he accidentally sets something flammable on fire. This, of course, also means they want to crush him with a boulder but it's because they love him (platonically speaking, btw).

Chief Operating Officer (Thomas Saggs) - Not a manager, per say, but at the moment he gets a special spot here. Despite disagreeing with Thomas's opinions on some things (such as not really doing much to stop the cogs from taking over), they do find some common ground in a lot of things, as well as just generally appreciating the discussion as it is a welcome break from the wackiness of the toons and the outright hostility from most cogs. They have quite a bit of respect for him and are probably gonna be sad when the Toon Resistance decide to take on the Boardbot HQ, whenever it finishes construction that is, 'cause that means there's a possibility of fighting him.

High Roller (High Roller) - NON-CANON - Absolutely loves High Roller, in fact, they love High Roller so much that they have a shrine dedicated to Their Quackjesty in their home's attic. They never leave home with the green rubber duck and will happily shout out HR's favorite catchphrase: "It'ff High Roller time" and then High Roller all over the floor. Okay, okay, but to be serious about this, if High Roller were to exist in canon, they'd be a big fan of the fused cog, maybe not to the craziest extent but they'd still carry the green rubber duckie and be proud of being a member of the Low Rollers.

---

Those are the ones that kind of stood out to me right now either because I haven't truly experienced their battles in TTCC yet or because I haven't given too much thought to Elpis's opinions of a particular manager at the moment.

#kieuecaprie ocs #kieuecaprie asks #photondoesstuff

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scribbledonausednapkin · 11 months

Text

The Girl Who Got Frozen

Summary: In the summer, Shauna found purpose in the shed. In the winter, she uses it as an excuse to live in the past. Or another one-shot of how Shauna Shipman became Shauna Bates.

Warnings: Mentions of Canon death/hallucinations/corpses

Word Count: 1.1k

Cross-posted on AO3

It happened all at once. Snow fell and Jackie froze to death and Shauna was suddenly stuck in time.

When Shauna was sixteen she got really into saints. Tragic, morbid, figures loved after death. It was interesting and Shauna rarely questioned why she liked something, only that she hoped it made her seem deeper than she felt.

One time she was flipping through some book she found with those black and white old-style illustrations she loved and she stumbled upon the Forty Martyrs of Sabaste.

They shared the same story as a lot of saints - they refused to renounce their faith and were sentenced to death - but Shauna remembered this story in particular because the method of execution was strange.

Forty Catholics were made to lay in a nearly frozen pond after openly confessing their faith. Then they were given an option for redemption: if they renounced their beliefs, a warm bath awaited them; but at daybreak, they were all dead. So, the forty frozen bodies were burned and cast into a nearby river.

Shauna always wondered what those forty people must have been thinking as they willingly felt their organs shut down from the frigid waters they were submerged in. They probably prayed.

Shauna stared straight ahead, seeing nothing but her memories playing on repeat in her head, like watching a movie at home. At the end of the reel she would rewind the tape and sit idly as the memories played in reverse with no sound.

She didn’t feel the log under her cold sweatpants. She didn’t think about the meat that was slowly dwindling every time she split it into twelve more tiny pieces. She didn’t feel the chilling breeze across her pregnant belly. She didn’t think about Jackie’s body propped up in between the corners of the logs.

Shauna remembered the Forty Saints of Sabaste not even because she thought it was weird or strange she realized, but because it was kind of pathetic.

“Well, it is. I mean you have a warm bath waiting for you, just lie . God would understand.”

The chipper yet cutting voice of Jackie Taylor sliced the air, leaving a gash over Shauna’s chest and she gasped. Reality shifted as she teleported from the past back to the meat shed in the middle of the wilderness. Her eyes jumped to the body in the corner of the small alcove. Rigor mortis had set in and her best friend’s limbs were stiff, locked in place. She would have hated that. Jackie was always stretching, always worried she was going to pull a muscle.

“It’s important to stay flexible.”

Shauna stared at the body of her best friend, cocking her head. Her chocolate brown eyes widened in fear. It was all in her mind, she knew. Shauna knew Jackie better than anyone so obviously -

“Oh, that’s funny.”

Shauna gazed at Jackie. Frozen Jackie in her varsity soccer jacket.

“What is?” She asked shakily. Her eyes glazed over, tracing the sharp features of the corpse until the figure was only a vague image of her friend.

“The fact that you think you know me, Shipman,” Jackie’s voice taunted.

“You’re my best friend,” Shauna whispered, her bottom lip quivering.

“Oh really? That’s not what you said before you kicked me out of the cabin,” Jackie’s voice stabbed her brain and Shauna’s eyes watered. She could even picture her facial expressions she would use. The way she would toss her sun kissed waves.

“I didn’t mean it. We were in a fight,” Shauna defended, her voice heavy with emotion, “We would have made up -“

“That’s convenient for you to say. You’re not the one who froze to death.”

Shauna swallowed hard, feeling her heart shrink into itself.

“It’s true,” Shauna’s voice cried, but it was barely audible.

Tears began to flow down Shauna’s frosted cheeks, unstoppable in the face of her own delusion.

This was her fault. This was her fault. This was her fault. This was her fault.

Shauna’s breathing was rapid, running away from her and she couldn’t breathe.

Her fault. Her fault. Her. Fault.

“Woah, chill out. You’re being crazy right now.”

Shauna choked on the heaviness of her tongue. She tried to breathe, sucking up the wet snot that threatened to droop down her lip.

Through bleary brown eyes she could swear Jackie was blinking at her with her typical expression of judgmental warmth.

“Okay - okay. There’s no need for waterworks, alright?”

Shauna didn’t feel her body as she stood from her place by the bear meat and took the few steps across the shed to sit on the log beside Jackie.

“You know I didn’t mean what I said,” Shauna told the corpse. She sniffled, wiping her eyes and nose with the edge of her sweatshirt.

“Obviously,” Jackie replied slyly, rolling her eyes, “what would you do without me?”

Shauna let out a scratchy laugh, deep and laced with the pain of her clenching heart. Her stomach was empty, but somehow still a heavy pit holding her in place. Tears welled up again, and through blurry vision she watched Jackie brush back a piece of her dark brown hair from her eyes.

“I honestly don’t know,” Shauna choked out.

Shauna had never been a crier. In fact, she had always been proud of how unaffected she was by things that made others bawl their eyes out. Now she couldn’t stop crying. Feeling the infinite flow when she shouldn’t have anything left to give. Her head was hurting, everything hurt. Everything -

“Hey, hey.” Jackie caught her attention again. “You don’t have to worry. I’m here.” Shauna wiped her eyes, peering at a smiling Jackie in her blue and yellow soccer jacket, her open heart pendant hanging gently across her collarbone. “I’m here as long as you need, okay?”

Shauna gave a small smile, wiping away the last of her tears. She could finally breathe again.

“Okay.”

“You know I didn’t mean it either, right? You’re the best friend I’ve ever had,” Jackie said, eyes gleaming with affection.

“Yeah. I love you, Jackie.” Shauna sighed, leaning in to lay her head on Jackie’s shoulder.

“Love you too, Shipman. Who knew you were such a big softie?” Jackie nudged Shauna and she blushed, looking down. “Now, can we go back to the Saints thing? Because I don’t get it. Is lying, like, against the rules or something because otherwise it just makes no sense.” Shauna shook her head, a simple chuckle escaping her chapped lips.

“Um, yeah. They’re Catholic, Jackie,” Shauna answered, raising her head and her eyebrows as she explained, “and lying is a sin ?” She dragged her words for emphasis.

“Oh,” Jackie pursed her lips. “Right.”

Then Shauna and Jackie made eye contact, bursting into laughter that echoed into the white powdery abyss of the wilderness beyond the meat shed. Shauna no longer had to rely on the past. She didn't have to rewind the tape, she could make new memories with Jackie.

#yellowjackets #yellowjackets fanfic #jackie taylor #shauna shipman #shaunajackie #shauna x jackie

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mikasimaginairyworld · 1 year

Text

The Umbrella Academy: Firecracker - Extra Ordinary (3/30)

Umbrella Academy Masterlist

warnings: blood, violence, guns, substances (alcohol)

word count: 3458

My name is Vanya Hargreeves. And this is my story.

We were never a real family. We were our father's creation, family in name but not in fact. In the end, after our brother had Ben died, there was really nothing connecting us. We were just strangers living under the same roof, destined to be alone, starved for attention, damaged by our upbringing and haunted by what might have been. We all wanted to be loved by a man incapable of giving love.

Our father never missed an opportunity to remind me that I was ordinary. A hard thing for a little girl to hear. If you're raised to believe nothing about you is special, if the benchmark is extraordinary, what do you do if you're not?

Luther and Allison had been staring at the same recording for over an hour now. It showed mom, Grace, bending over Reginals. Hargreeves. as he was struggling from a heart attack.

"What is she doing? The tea? Did she poison him?", Luther asked again.

"I... I don't know.", Allison sighed.

"Where did you find this?"

"I was looking at old footage of us when we were kids. I saw the tape just sitting there."

"Dad must have started using the security system again. He was getting more and more paranoid. He thought people were out to get him. Well, I guess maybe he was right.", Luther commented seemingly to himself.

"But mom? I mean she's not capable of ... Is she?"

"Let's gather the rest."

Eudora walked up to Diego annoyed. He was at the crime scene. Again. "Do you seriously still not understand the chain of custody? If you touch it I can't use it.", she asked.

"Let me save you some time running ballistics. These nine-millimetres haven't been manufactures since..."

"1963. Odd, I know. Just as odd as the fingerprints we've found on the knife yesterday that apparently matched an unsolved case from 1939. Matching casings were found in the murder scene last night.", Eudora finished his sentence.

"In the span of 24h I've had attacks in two different part of town. Whatever this is, whoever this is, they're not slowing down. So, if you really give a shit and got any fresh ideas, I'm all ears.", she admitted.

Diego promised to hunt the attackers down.

Five grunted softly as Nailah sowed up the wound on his upper arm. She put on a colourful bandaid and smiled at Five's annoyed expression. "You okay there?", she asked and wiped her bloody hands on a towel.

"I've had worse.", he said and put on a new uniform.

Nailah took another huge sip of whiskey. They bottle was nearly empty. "Do you always get drunk this early?", Five asked stuffing Delores back into the duffel bag. Nailah shrugged: "Only when I had to save my lovestruck idiot brother." Five rolled his eyes and threw a bloody towel at her. Then he climbed out the window. Nailah contemplated staying at the academy but curiosity got the best of her. She soon followed him and climbed down the fire escape only to find Klaus in the garbage can.

"You know there are easier ways out of the house, buddy?", Klaus asked Five and took a hit from the cigarette.

"This one involved the least amount of talking. Or so I thought.", Five admitted and glanced up monitoring his tipsy sister balance down the fire escape.

"Hey, hey, hey! You need any more company today? I could you know, clear my schedule.", Klaus offered and took a sip from his flask.

Five eyed him sceptically: "Looks like you've got your hands full."

"Oh this, no! I can do this whenever. I'm just -", Klaus was interrupted by Nailah jumping down into the garbage and landing pretty much on him.

When they both emerged again giggling Five threw them a disapproving look which only intensified when Nailah took a sip from Klaus' flask.

"I'm done funding your drug habit.", Five announced and walked up to a car only to highjack it and drive away.

"Maybe I just wanna hang out with my brother. Not you.", Klaus shouted at Five directing the last part at Ben's ghost. Nailah scanned the air on her side and shyly waved. Ben smiled lightly and waved back. "Mi hermano!", Klaus tried again.

"Alright, I'll keep and eye on him.", Nailah. said climbing out of the garbage can. She threw Klaus a 20dollar bill made her way to follow the car. Klaus send her a kiss inspecting the money. "I love you!"

As expected Nailah found Five not far away from Maritech Prostetics. She spied at him from the car mirror and as soon as he began talking to Delores she opened the car door.

"What the hell, Nailah!", Five said as she sat down on the passenger's seat without saying a word.

"No, I'm not drunk. I'm working.", Five said and Nailah looked at him confused. "Who are you talking to?", she asked confused. "Delores?", Five matched her tone. "Right."

"Yes, it's about the eye thing. This is the place it was made. Or will be made. We just have to wait."

Nailah looked from Five to Delores with a disturbed look which Five just ignored. "Oh my god.", Nailah whispered and took a huge sip from the flask she had stolen from Klaus.

In the evening Nailah had gone to get them food. The sun was shining a pretty orange light at the streets and soon Five dozed off.

He was woken up by Luther banging on the car window. Luther opened the door and tried to climb inside hitting his head repeatedly.

"You okay?", Luther asked.

"You shouldn't be... How did you find me?", Five asked confused.

Luther mentioned to the back seat and when Five looked back he saw Klaus dancing with Delores. "Hey, a little privacy guys. We're really hitting it off back here.", Klaus snarked smelling Dolores' neck. Five threw an empty coffee cup at him making Klaus scream.

"God, how do they keep finding me?", Five asked himself banging his head on the steering wheel.

"Who?"

"Nailah and Klaus. They keep finding me. Have all of you developed some kind of freaky superpower while I was gone or something?"

"Nailah's here?"

"Went to get food.", Five said not looking up from the wheel.

In the same moment Luther's car door was opened and Nailah stood there with two takeaway cups of Chinese noodles. "Get out of my spot, Luther.", she snarled at him. Luther didn't move. Nailah shrugged and just climbed on his lap. Luther closed the door and Nailah handed Five his portion.

"Everyone get out! You can't be here! I'm in the middle of something.", Five hissed.

"Any luck finding your one-eyed man?", Klaus asked as Nailah began slurping her noodles. Five whispered an exasperated no.

"What's he talking about?", Luther asked.

"Does it matter? It's Klaus.", Nailah commented between bites.

"What do you want, Luther?"

"Um, so Grace may have something to do with dad's death. So I need you both to come back to the academy, alright? It's important."

"'It's important'. You have no concept of what's important.", Five laughed dryly.

"Hey! Did I ever tell you guys about that time I waxed my asshole with chocolate pudding?", Klaus asked earning an annoyed glance from Five.

"Yes. It was disgusting. Don't do it again, I'm eating.", Nailah snarled stuffing her face with another huge bite of noodles.

Klaus didn't listen: "It was so painful."

"What are you still doing here?", Luther asked and Five threw him out of the car. Luther promptly placed Nailah in the backseat.

"What the hell are you up to, Five?"

"You wouldn't understand."

"Try me. Last time I checked I'm still the leader of this family."

"Well, last time I checked I'm 28 years older than you.", Five countered and Nailah laughed at the comment.

"You know what your problem is?", Luther asked now clearly annoyed.

"Really hoping you'll tell me."

"You think you're better than us. You always have. Even when we were kids. But the truth is, you're just as messed up as the rest of us. We're all you have. And you know it.", Nailah had finished eating and was staring at her brothers from the backseat.

Five's jaw tensed: "I don't think I'm better than you, Number One. I know I am. I've done unimaginable things, things you couldn't even comprehend."

"Right.", Luther scoffed.

"Just to come back here and save you all."

At this instance Klaus ran across the busy road holding in his arms a handful of stolen snacks with the shipowner chasing him.

"Hey, bitches!", Klaus shouted running in front of the car and crashing into an old ambulance. Nailah giggled at the sight.

"Now I'm starting to wonder if that was the wisest decision.", Five said eying the spectacle on the street.

Luther sighed heavily: "Fine. You coming, Nailah?"

He left the car and before Nailah followed she leaned forward and whispered to Five: "He's right. We're all you have. I recommend you don't screw it up."

"You really think mom would hurt dad?", Vanya asked after everyone had watched the tape.

"You haven't been home for a really long time, Vanya. Maybe you don't know Grace anymore.", Luther said.

"If he was poisoned it would have shown on the coroner's report.", Diego countered.

"I don't need a coroner's report to tell me what I can see with my own eyes."

"Maybe all that low gravity in space messed with you vision. Look closer.", Diego commented and let the tape run again. "Dad has a monocle. Mom stands up. Monocle's gone. She wasn't poisoning him she was... taking it. To clean it."

"Then where is it? I've searched the house including all of her things, she doesn't have it.", Luther asked still not convinced.

"That's because I took it from her. After the funeral.", Diego admitted. A murmur went through the siblings.

"You've had the monocle the whole time? What the hell, Diego?", Allison asked clearly angry.

"Give it to me.", Luther demanded extending a hand.

"I threw it away.", Diego sighed."You what?", Luther shouted and Allison scoffed.

"Look I knew that if you found it on mom you would lose your shit, just like you're doing right now.", Diego smiled at Luther proving his point and demonstratively pointed a knife at him.

"Diego, you son of a bitch.", Luther growled and paced towards him only stopping when Nailah placed a hand on his chest and Vanya told them to calm down.

"Look, I know dad wasn't exactly like an open book. But I do remember one thing he said. Mom was designed to be a caretaker but also as a protector. She was programmed to intervene if someone's life was in jeopardy.", Vanya explained.

"Well, if her hardware is degrading then we need to turn her off.", Luther thought out loud.

"Whoa, whoa, woah, wait. She's not just a vacuum cleaner you can throw in a closet! She feels things, I've seen it!", Diego shouted.

"She just stood there, Diego, and watched out father die.", Luther reasoned.

"I'm with Luther.", Allison announced circling the edge of her whiskey glass.

Diego scoffed: "Surprise, surprise."

"Shut up."

Luther and Diego looked at Vanya who began stuttering. "Yeah, she shouldn't get a vote.", Diego said.

"I was gonna say that I agree with you.", Vanya defended herself.

"Okay, she should get a vote. Nailah?"

"Luther and Ally. We can always reprogram her but now it's better to keep her harmless."

"Shit. What about you stoner boy? What do you got?", Diego asked Klaus.

"Oh so now you need my help? 'Get out of the van, Klaus', 'Oh, welcome back to the van'."

"What van?", Allison asked confused.

"What's it gonna be, Klaus?", Luther asked impatiently.

"I'm with Diego because screw you. And if Ben were here, he'd agree with me.", he said offended then hissed at air next to him.

"So we've got what? 3-3?"

"Vote's not final yet. We have to wait for Five. The whole family has to vote we ow each other that.", Allison said determined and everyone went up to their rooms to wait for Five.

In the evening the two figures that had chased Five and Nailah in the mall quietly entered the academy. "Cha-Cha.", Hazel said motioning at the giant painting of Five hanging in the saloon. "That's out kid, Hazel. Let's go get him."

They began walking the corridors until they stumbled upon Diego in his leather outfit. Metal wished at Cha-Cha and Hazel adjusted their creepy masks and they gun clocked as they fixed on Diego.

"Diego, have you seen... oh shit.", Nailah left her room and saw Cha-Cha and Hazel with their guns pointed at them. As soon astray started shooting Diego and Nailah began running. Diego threw his knifes at the shooters but they just bounced back from the masks.

Diego and Nailah hid in a dent in the walls waiting for the attackers. As soon as they were close enough Diego grabbed Hazel's gun and flipped the man over while Nailah ran towards Cha-Cha. As soon as she realised the woman's gun pointed at Diego she pulled him back to where they had been hiding and the siblings ran towards the saloon.

"I had him.", Diego growled.

"I know."

Keeping running, Diego and Nailah jumped down the railings and landed on the plush sofas in the saloon. The attackers' bullets followed not soon after and both Diego and Nailah hid behind a decorative desk. The bullets send shards of furniture flying and both covered their heads with their arms. As soon as the series ended they first checked each other then looked at the holes the bullets had drilled into the painting of their father. Nailah grinned at Diego at the sight and he returned a small smile.

"You okay?", he whispered.

"Got hit on the side. Not too bad.", Nailah admitted lifting up her dark red cropped sweater to reveal a rather deep slash from a bullet.

Suspicious of the silence Diego peaked from behind the desk making the attacker open fire again. "Shit.", Nailah curse covering her head again.

Suddenly the fire stopped and they both heard strained groans. Looking up they saw Luther throwing punches at the woman and Allison kicking the man's gun away. Suddenly the man got ahold of Allison's neck and began choking her. Diego immediately ran up to him and began hitting him in all the most painful places. Nailah soon joined him jumping on his back and making him turn around. providing the perfect opportunity for Luther to land one of his legendary killer-punches. Luther then grabbed the man by the collar and send him flying right into the table in the entrance area.

"Who the hell are these guys?", Allison asked panting heavily.

"You're welcome.", Luther said to Diego.

"We were doing fine.", he snapped back.

"Oh, yeah. You really had them...", "You ever heard of a rope-a-dope?", Diego interrupted.

Before they could throw any other insults at each other the woman began firing again. Covering their heads all of the siblings ducked.

"Let's get out of here now. Go!", Luther said guiding Allison away while Nailah and Diego crawled back behind the desk. Luther began turning around to get them bother but Diego stopped him: "Luther, go!" Diego screamed and surprisingly the giant actually listened.

"I lost my gun.", the man said while the woman announced she would go after Luther and Allison. The man entered the saloon and opened the weapons cabinet.

"If he even touches my spear I will end him.", Nailah hissed.

"Oh yeah? Try not losing too much blood then we'll talk.", Diego mocked her glancing above the desk.

The man chose a morningstar and at the same time Vanya's voice echoed through the hall: "Guys? Is everyone okay? Hello? Guys?"

"Shit.", Nailah cursed.

The man swung the Morningstar at Vanya who luckily ducked. Before he could do it again Nailah kicked him in the back of his knee. The man stumbled and Vanya ran away.

The man turned to Nailah who was standing there with fire in her eyes. "Come at me, man. Let's se what you got."

Before he could swing at her Luther's voice caught his attention: "Hey, asshole. Go pick someone your own size."

The man looked from Nailah to Luther, decided that she was not worth the trouble and came swinging at Luther. Nailah scoffed offended but rushed to Vanya to help her get behind the bar too safety.

Luther quickly disarmed the man and soon they began throwing each other around. As soon as Nailah was sure Vanya had even a glimpse of safety she rushed to help Luther. Small sparks began flying from her fingertips as she approached the fighting men. Luther body slammed the man into ground and punched him in the bag before stepping on him.

"Vanya?", Luther asked after seeing Nailah standing with fire now coating her whole palms.

Suddenly the man rose up and grabbing Luther from behind send him flying to the floor. The man then ran away with Nailah chasing small fire-balls after him most of which blinked out when they hit the walls. Thank god they were fire resistant otherwise the whole academy would have burned down.

Not wasting any time Nailah rushed towards Luther after making sure the man was gone. "Luther!", Allison shouted also rushing to him.

"Come on, get up.", Nailah said while Allison and Diego helped him up.

"You've gotta cut down on that fast-food, soldier.", Diego commented.

Looking up they saw the woman with a knife cutting the rope holding the chandelier on place.

"Out of the way!", Luther shouted pushing all of his siblings away from him. Diego hit his head on the wall, Allison slid nearly to the floor and Nailah got another scratch at her already aching wound.

The chandelier came crashing down, crushing Luther under its weight. "Luther!", Allison cried.

Panting Allison and Diego stood up while Nailah leaned on the wall, clutching her side, all of them with terror in there eyes.

Immediately Luther rose up, shaking the chandelier away. The weight of the ornament pulled on his clothing until it ripped. In front of them stood Luther with an incredibly creepy body similar to a gorilla. The hairy, scarred skin glistened with sweat in the moonlight. Nailah gasped. Allison and Vanya just stared. "Holy shit.", Diego muttered.

Luther's gaze locked into Allison's eyes, searching for anything else than pure shock and horror. But he didn't find anything else. Disappointed he quickly made his way to his room.

"Who were these people?", Vanya asked cleaning the dust off of her with a towel Allison had given her.

"I don't know. But we're lucky to be alive.", Allison said handing Nailah a towel as well for her incredibly bloody slashes.

"You sure you're okay?", Nailah asked Vanya from behind gritted teeth.

"We should ask you that.", Allison commented motioning at the blood trickling from Nailah's side. Nailah just waved them off with a grin.

Diego came pacing into the room and threw an emergency kit in Nailah's direction. "Diego?", Allison asked.

"What are you still doing here?", he asked Vanya with an annoyed expression.

"I'm just tying to help."

"No, you could've been killed.", Diego shouted at her angrily. "Or gotten any of us killed.", he added in a quieter tone.

"She is a liability.", he said looking at Allison.

"Allison?", Vanya asked but Allison just looked down.

"I think what he's trying to say is that this kind of stuff is dangerous. Just look at Nailah. You're just...", Allison began explaining.

"Not like you.", Vanya finished with a sad expression then stood up to. gather her things.

"No, that's not what I... Vanya, wait!", Allison began again.

"Let her go.", Nailah said finishing patching up her wound. "it's safer for her.", she added wiping the blood off her hands.

-> The Umbrella Academy Masterlist

#umbrella academy #luther hargreeves #klaus hargreeves #allison hargreeves #diego hargreeves #five hargreeves #vanya hargreeves #nailah hargreeves #series #netflix #Netflix inspired

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idreamofhazel · 2 years

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The Boyking-Chapter 13

A huntress has set out to end the reign of the new king of hell. But killing a Winchester is never easy, and she might find that Sam isn’t who she thought he was…

Masterpost here.

Chapter Word Count: 1867

Warnings: show-typical gore

A/N: Beta’d by @impala-dreamer.

“There’s been attacks for the past two months, each on the night of a full moon. But the police haven’t put two and two together.” Dean briefed Dallas en route. Apparently, he’d made contact with the local law enforcement after the first suspicious death, a strategy he'd made a habit over the years, she learned. “The victims show typical signs of a werewolf attack,” he continued. “Large claw marks, a missing heart. And, so far, the victims have been in the same neighborhood, which means our wolf isn’t straying too far from home.”

“But,“ Dallas interrupted, looking out the window. The sun sat on the horizon like a fat orange-yellow egg yolk, staining the sky and puffy clouds in similar shades of the color. “The moon isn’t out.”

She didn’t mention it in the hotel room before they’d left. They had needed to be on their way as fast as possible. The sun being out wouldn’t change that fact that a person had died, but it would affect the way their case could play out.

“Both the other attacks were the same,” Dean stated solemnly, watching the sky slowly turning more orange, tinging the edges of the clouds on the horizon almost red.

Dallas felt the uneasiness with which Dean added the last piece of information. She understood what it could mean for this case if a werewolf, or werewolves, were acting… different, strange, unpredictable. She didn’t speak the obvious thing that was understood between her and Dean—that Lilith, or some other demon in her ranks, could be behind the murders, pulling strings they didn’t yet know existed.

Instead of saying all of that, Dallas changed the subject. “Pretending to be FBI… I’m impressed.” She wasn’t lying.

Dean shrugged. “It’s part of the job. You get that.”

Dallas shook her head. “I can count on one hand the number of times I’ve pretended to be an officer. I don’t know how to make all those fake badges and stuff.”

“Really? How’d you manage this job?” He sounded genuinely surprised.

“I pretend to be other people, nothing illegal,” she said with emphasis, “Reporters, friends of the deceased.”

“You must be real good at talking to people then.”

Dallas laughed. “Right. Me. Good at talking to people.”

“You talk alright with me,” Dean replied plainly.

“Only when bribed with beer. Which was shit by the way.”

Dean chuckled. Dallas found herself annoyed at the sound. She hadn’t meant to be funny. She’d meant to prove to him that their conversation minutes before had not been genuine.

“There were limited selections,” Dean added with another laugh.

Dallas scowled as the Impala’s tires hit gravel, driving up an alley situated on the backside of two quiet streets. They had a full view of the row of backyards on both their right and left as they stopped a ways back from where a group of officers were working. This neighborhood had probably never seen so much activity. Caution tape roped off an area behind a garage whose door stood right on the edge of the alley. Neighbors in their backyards were trying to get a look at the scene as police erected a divider, blocking the view of the body from the peeping toms.

And it was a good thing, too, because as Dean and Dallas approached the scene on foot, the mauled body laid in plain view, slumped against the metal door. Several swipes of claw marks tore across the poor man’s abdomen, chest, arms, and legs. Even his face. But as Dallas surveyed the bloody damage, she noticed something odd about the body.

“The heart’s not missing,” Dallas whispered to Dean as they approached an officer, or at least there wasn’t a heart-shaped hole in the man’s chest, she thought to herself.

Dean nodded discreetly before flashing a fake badge at the man who’d approached them, a lanky, blonde-haired officer whose uniform looked like it belonged to someone a few inches shorter than him.

“Officer Stark,” the man said with recognition to Dean. What he lacked in the ability to find proper fitting clothes he made up for with a smile and charm. He firmly shook Dean’s hand. “It’s good to finally put a face to the name.”

Dean gave the man a friendly smile. “Same here, Johnson. And this is my associate, officer Rogers.” Dean signaled to Dallas. “Sorry I didn’t mention her before.”

Dallas shook the man’s hand, then, thinking quickly because she didn’t have a fake badge like Dean, her hand went to her pockets, pretending to look for her identification.

She groaned, rolling her eyes. “Damn, Stark, did I leave my badge back at the motel again?” Dallas whined.

Dean sighed and shook his head with feigned embarrassment, playing along. “You’d forget your own head if it wasn’t attached.”

“Oh shut the hell up,” Dallas teased. She looked at Johnson, hoping he was as friendly as his smile. “I can run back and grab it real quick-“

“No, no,” he said, confirming her hopes. “You’re with him, it’s fine. Besides, y’all might not want to waste any time checking this out.”

Dallas gave the officer a big smile. “Thanks, I appreciate it. So what happened?”

“I was hoping your partner here could shed some light on that,” he said, “We’re confused as hell. Especially after what our witness has told us.”

“Witness?” Dean asked.

The officer turned around and pointed to the opposite edge of the crime scene.

Dallas hadn’t noticed her before–the child standing with her mom and a female officer, facing away from the gore and death.

Johnson turned to face Dean again. “My officers say the child saw a man. Just a man. We can’t get much else out of her.”

Dallas continued watching the child, the way her head hung down, the way she leaned into her mother, trying to get further away from what she’d seen by melding into her caregiver. The behavior was, simultaneously, painfully familiar and strange to Dallas.

“You mind if I try to talk to her?” Dallas asked. Dean didn’t protest.

“Go ahead,” Johnson replied.

The officer called to his partner and waved her away from the interview. She looked almost relieved to have a break from trying to get through to the kid. As Dallas made her way over to the child and her parent, Dean began walking around the roped-off murder scene, conversing with Johnson about evidence they’d found.

Dallas introduced herself to the mom first, dark-haired like her daughter and with freckles dotting across her concerned features. Then Dallas crouched, getting at eye level with the child who couldn’t be more than five years old. There were wet teardrops staining her yellow t-shirt.

“Hey there,” she said softly. “My name’s Dallas. What’s yours?”

“Are you a policeman?” the girl asked, looking up with chocolate-brown eyes to match her hair and a dusting of freckles like her mother.

“Sort of,” Dallas answered. “I’m here to help the police.”

“I don’t wanna talk about it anymore.” The kid clung to her mother further, gripping the woman’s denim jeans with her small, dirty hands. She must have been playing outside when the attack happened.

The mother comforted her child, stroking the top of her head and her shoulder. Dallas’ throat tightened. She cleared her throat, getting rid of the uncomfortable sensation.

“You know,” Dallas started, taking in the girl’s trembling figure, “I know what it’s like to be really, really scared. It’s ok to not want to talk about it. Because it makes it feel like the bad guys’ really here again. Is that what it feels like?”

The girl looked wide-eyed at Dallas and nodded shyly, sniffling subsiding.

Dallas continued. “You don’t have to tell me anything, but it’s real important that you know the bad guy is gone. He’s not here anymore and he can’t hear you. And he won’t be here when you go home. I’m going to catch him so he can’t hurt you.”

“But what if he does come back?” the girl said softly, tears forming in her eyes again. “What if he breaks my door and comes into my room and my mommy doesn’t hear and he gets me?”

“Did he look strong enough to break a door down?”

The girl nodded. “He was really really strong.” She looked down at the ground, then whispered. “He had claws but nobody believes me.”

“I do,” Dallas stated. “You know, my… friend and I,” she pointed to Dean, who was talking with some officers, “We are really good at catching guys like this. It’s our job. So, I’m going to tell you a special secret.”

The girl’s eyes widened again and she loosened her grip on her mother’s clothes slightly. She held her attention to Dallas’ kind but firm face.

“Does your mommy have any silver jewelry?” Dallas asked.

The girl looked at her mom and her mom nodded despite looking confused.

“Ok, good,” Dallas continued. “All you have to do to keep a man with claws away is wear mommy’s jewelry. Just a necklace. Or a bracelet. They hate silver.”

“Really?” the girl gasped.

“I swear it.” Dallas put her hand over her heart. What she had told the girl wasn’t a complete lie. Silver did affect werewolves, but a piece of jewelry would do nothing to stop one. But the child didn’t need to know how to kill the creature. She needed to believe she could protect herself so she’d feel safe enough to sleep tonight.

“Ok,” the girl said, her voice strengthening. She loosened the grip on her mother even further. “That’s good because he lives behind us.”

“What?” The mom grabbed her child’s shoulder.

“I see him when I play sometimes. He talks on the phone a lot.”

Dallas looked up at the child’s mom to give her a reassuring look, then focused back on the little girl. “Thank you for telling me that,” she said to the kid again. “That’s really, really helpful.”

Dallas stood and turned to the mother. “We’ll take care of this, ok? Do you have somewhere you can stay if you don’t feel safe?”

The mother nodded. “My sister’s.”

“Ok, good. Maybe stay there a couple nights. Be sure to give the department a call if you need anything.”

The woman nodded before ushering her child back to their yard. Dallas watched as the pair entered their home from the back door. Once they were fully inside, Dallas turned back towards the scene and came face to face with Dean. He wore a soft expression on his face.

“I heard the way you talked to the kid. You’re a natural,” he said.

Dallas straightened her posture and crossed her arms. “It’s part of the job,” she said coolly.

Dean watched her for a second, lips parted with the beginnings of a response, but he decided not to say whatever was on his mind and thankfully changed the subject. “So, did I hear the kid correctly? The guy lives on this street?”

Dallas nodded. “Yep. Right there.”

She pointed to a yellow-paneled house, a residence that sat directly beside the victim’s, and watched as Dean’s face became sharply focused. “We’ll pay him a visit tonight.”

#the boyking #boyking!sam #supernatural fanfiction #sam winchester fanfiction #sam winchester x oc

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ask-spw-mercenary · 2 years

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11:30pm…

Umbra had gotten a phone call from Eddie, stating to come to his home. She wasn’t walking or going out on her own this time around. Arden and Thomas were driving her this time because of what happened last time she went on her own and now that Arden had recovered from his leg injury, she knows that he ain’t gonna let that shit slide. Still when they finally arrived at Eddie’s house Umbra thought that maybe this would be normal. Maybe this wouldn’t result in anything. As the family of three get out of their car, Arden approaches the door and knocks. “Hola! Moriarty, ain’t it?”

When the door opens, the group is greeted by a middle aged man with tired eyes and a beer bottle in hand. “Yeah… and who are you?”

“The father of your sons friend.”

“Oh…” Mr Moriarty scratched his chin. “So he wasn’t lying… ah well come on in.” The man moves out of the way as Arden, Thomas and Umbra enter. “My wife ain’t here, so I don’t care about what you do so long as it doesn’t bother me.”

“What about your son?” Thomas asks in response to not picking up a another scent.

“The little one must be in his room. I’ll call ‘em down.” Mr Moriarty then approaches the staircase. “Eddie! Eddie! Edward Moriarty get your ass down here!”

While Arden and Thomas would witness whatever the hell Eddie’s father was trying to do and mentality face palming, Umbra would notice the basement door being open a crack. “Wait… Mr Moriarty?”

The man would then look at Umbra after being called. “What in the bloody ‘ell is-?” He then sees the basement door being unlocked. “Wait, I didn’t go down there.” Mr Moriarty then walks over to the basement door. “No one goes down here aside from me… so who-?”

“Alright lemme look.” Arden says, moving past Mr Moriarty and entering the basement. The mercenary is followed by Umbra and soon becomes aware of that as soon as he’s in the basement. “Wait, how did you-?”

“Dad… this isn’t crime fighting. I can help you look at a basement.”

The mercenary sighs. “Fine.” The two of them then begin to look around the basement for a little bit, before Arden sees a VHS tape with a target on it. The mercenary picks it up. “The hell?” He then runs back upstairs as Umbra follows. “Moriarty was this tape always in your basement?”

When Arden pulls out the tape, Mr Moriarty looks angered. “No. I would’ve known what the hell is in MY basement.”

Umbra then coughs, putting all eyes on her. “Why don’t we just watch it? Wouldn’t that answer our question.”

“You know what, great idea sweetie.” Arden says, before seeing the VHS near the TV. “And I know just how to play it.” The mercenary then walks over to the VHS and turns it on, along with the TV. Then the tape begins to play and then…

“Hello? Is this thing on?” A shot of Eddie in a green tuxedo plays on camera. “Ah good. Now then, if you’re watching this… you must be one of the people who understood my ciphers. They didn’t accomplish much, in fact I was just getting rid of them, before my operation got found out, but I did hint at my personal project with one of those ciphers and it was sent to the one who FINALLY found out about the operations of my bikers and the lucky person who got that little riddler was… Umbra Presley! So if you’re watching this Umbra, I want you to see THIS!” The camera then pans to a corpse with metal wings, legs and a metal jaw. “Project: La Rata Alada… my bat, and I finally have the means to power him up, curtesy of a green haired brute I hate!” He then takes out a vial of blood. “If you’re watching this after your friend, Kuro invades my hideout, then I just want to say that you got conned, scammed and outsmarted. Also, if you want to find me, you know where to find. If you don’t, it will be amusing to watch you fumble as I finally raid that convoy that goes through town every night! So please, to anyone watching this… make my first big league heist a genuine challenge. Oh and dad, if you’re watching this, please go dig yourself a hole because I’m going to a better man than you ever were.”

As the tape ends, Umbra is left with a sense of betrayal, Arden and Thomas are left in shock and Mr Moriarty is seething. “That little-!” Before the middle aged man could finish what he was gonna say, Umbra rushes past him.

Arden takes notice of this and gives chase, but Umbra uses Redbone to make herself a set of wings, so she begins to fly. Arden watches as she flys off, while Thomas exits the house with Arden. “Thomas, I think I know that she knows where that teenage Riddler is hiding.”

“That boy also said something about a convoy and had some kind of… cyber chimera!” Thomas points out. “What heist needs a cyber chimera?!”

The red haired jester then thinks before he realizes the nerds target. “Oh no… we gotta follow Umbra FAST!”

#(The Foundation’s Devil) Arden Presley #(Electro Vampire) Thomas #(Shadow of The Chaos) Umbra #(Smart Yet Self Absorbed) Professor Edward Moriarty #Vento Aureo #the mastermind arc #plot

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eristic-kaleidoscope · 1 year

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Angel Numbers || Kenshin || 3.4 || RE: Adrik Bestie, Azr, Erik A || ATTN: Eureka

As Adrik calls attention to him, Kenshin instinctively bites back a sigh. Here we go… however, as they begin to explain their own situation, he pauses. Considering the current situation that’s rising, he figures he’ll have to respond to a few things, and make sure everything is correct. Especially with that blunder from earlier, he needs to correct some things. Nodding at Azr, he quickly speaks up once more.

For starters, he flashes a quick fingergun to Adrik, before dropping it. “Can confirm, they act like this around me. Granted, it’s to get a rise out of me, and it fucking works. So, yeah, I can absolutely confirm that they’re playing dumb a lot of the time.” And he means this NICELY.

“I can say for certain now, Adrik is right. Everything that’s defending themself, and everyone defending them, it’s right. It seems right.” Siding with Adrik, what is the world coming to.

“To back up a few things, Kokone wouldn’t have done this. She wasn’t wet, and even if she was, she would never get her electronics wet. And don’t say that she took off her mask to go swimming, because that’s bullshit. She would only take off her mask around me and when she feels comfortable, so if she wanted to take a swim, she would have found some way to keep herself dry. Same with the rain, she would have stayed the hell out of it. Plus, our investigation team can confirm, she didn’t even take off her mask when offered something to drink, so why would she for something much greater?”

“As for the mushroom, Adrik, I can confirm the whereabouts of that as well. In fact, Kokone has it. She wanted to eat a mushroom during the investigation, so Byrne got her one from the garden to have later. The missing mushroom is from them, and not Eureka. And you’re right, there was nothing else missing from the greenhouse, even with Eureka saying that.”

Yet at that request, he stands there for a moment, rattling his head for thoughts. “The time in the kitchen…. I can confirm, Eureka had been digging around the fridge, where she grabbed an apple, ate it quickly and then-”

“......then.”

“.......”

And then. It fucking hits him.

“Son of a BITCH-.”

“EUREKA.”

Noting his volume rising, partially from frustration that the thought slipped his mind, Kenshin takes a deep breath, before pointing a finger in her direction. “....I remember what happened afterward. You had a fucking bowl with you that you rinsed out after eating the apple. That must have been it, because what would you even use with a bowl if you ate only an apple? God fucking damn it, it was right there-!!”

With that, Kenshin sighs, dropping his hand. “If Eureka went swimming, she could use the excuse that she was caught out in the rain considering the fact she was soaked. Plus, I was onto something with the red residue being from something red, could it be from her jacket? Ae-Ra could have clawed at her jacket, getting that residue. And I think you are strong enough to keep Ae-Ra pinned to a pillow while you injected her with poison.”

His gaze grows rather cold. “Not to mention, you are rather smart enough to make some sort of poison, AND you would be someone to have electrical tape. Considering we found none missing anywhere, it would make sense that you would have that on hand and be able to make a poisoning weapon like that.”

With that, his eyes go back to Adrik, flashing them a look. He’ll be DAMNED that they fucking worked together to get to this conclusion. What the hell is happening. Quickly, he looks back at the electrical engineer.

“...anything you’d like to say about that?”

#submission #Kenshin #trial3 #chapter3

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nahasimpact · 2 years

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Kenneth hagin healing scriptures mp3

KENNETH HAGIN HEALING SCRIPTURES MP3 DOWNLOAD

I have the CD and the book, I have listened and read them over and over.A digital download will allow you to instantly download and enjoy this teaching rather than waiting a few days for a physical product to be shipped to you. Especially nice to listen too when I am too tired to read and just want to relax. When I was trusting God for a healing about 12 years ago, I wrote down healing scriptures and carried them with me all the time to read whenever I had time. Several months passed before my healing was manifested, but after I committed my problem to the Lord, I continued to thank Him, never doubting that He would see me through, and praise be to His Name, He did and I am stilled healed today. I am so thankful for the teaching I have received from your "Word of Faith" magazine and the many books, tapes and CDs, I have received from you. I truly appreciate having been introduced to your ministry as a young child, my mother, who has now passed on to glory, read your "Word of Faith" magazine faithfully. She was healed from arthritis when I was about 5 or 6 yrs., I can still remember how she suffered and when she was healed. This was the first time she was healed, at the time very few people in our area had been taught about divine healing and didn't want to hear anything about it and most refused to accept it. I am truly thankful that she had a receptive spirit and continued to trust the Lord throughout the remainder of her life. I am now 62 years old and have had many healings through out the years. I could never thank you or God enough for you Your ministry has had a great impact on my life. My husband and I listen to this CD whenever we deal with symptoms of sickness.īuilds your faith as you soak up God's promises for you. It is very comforting to hear the Word of the Lord when you don't feel well enough to read it. I like this CD very much because Brother Hagin includes the book, chapter and verse references for every Scripture he reads, so you can look it up for yourself if you desire. These scriptures were feeding faith to my spirit during a 6 hour operation. (The anestheologist even change the batteries in my replay recorder.) I had no pain despite extensive surgery and have been restored to complete health despite a worrysome diagnosis. The word of the Lord became truth over my body and my circumstances. Now I give these to others in needs of faith building - to play 24/ whether they are sick or not.If you need healing, you can’t sit back and wait for God to drop it down on you. That’s exactly what you have to do if you want to obtain healing. In fact, in every area of life obtaining the victory boils down to one thing: Just take God at His Word. What He says-what is written in His Word-is the absolute truth and it really will work if we will only take hold of it. The fact of the matter is, healing is no problem for the Lord. The only hard part is getting people to believe what He has said about it so they can receive their healing. He said it this way: “I have set before you life and death, blessing and cursing: therefore choose life, that both thou and thy seed may live” (Deuteronomy 30:19). We must choose to take what God has offered. And we must do that-“by force” Matthew 11:12 says. You have to do what it takes so you can rise up in faith and take what rightfully belongs to you! If you need a healing, you can’t sit back and wait for God to drop it down on you. Having faith in God and His Word is the bottom-line answer to every problem regardless of what others may say. People are not short of well-meaning advice. I’m sure you’ve figured that out, especially if you are believing God for healing. More than likely, you’ve also figured out that most of what people say is not productive advice. I can tell you from experience, the answers that actually work are found in one place-the Word. God’s Word has the power within it to bring itself to pass. Not only that, God’s Word teaches us to think His way which is the higher, better and smarter way (Isaiah 55:8-11). That becomes possible when His Word, His way of thinking, crowds out other thoughts and ideas. Then you can pray in faith and receive what you need. “Therefore I say unto you, What things soever ye desire, when ye pray,” Jesus said, “believe that ye receive them, and ye shall have them” (Mark 11:24). It means “to take.” We could say, “What things soever you desire when you pray, believe that you take them.” That is a brief lesson on faith right there! Faith believes it takes what is needed when it prays. That’s exactly what we must do when we pray for healing. He clamps down hard on that bone and refuses to turn loose of it! We must take healing like a dog takes a bone.

#Kenneth hagin healing scriptures mp3

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writerleo86 · 2 years

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Armor Champions Super R - Season 3 - Episode 166 (Do Not Copy)

Inside an old temple hidden in an island that was outside of the country Greece, the blue screen across the brown eyes of the orange-armored guardian -- Kody of the Hard Rock -- had vanished. Meanwhile, the hazel-haired youth looked forward in complete shock once he heard what the elderly priest told him and his two teammates.

"Kody?" cried Relena of the Cosmic Fire. "What's going on? You know this guy?"

More priests arrived and stood around the young champions. Among them was a tall woman with a slender figure and light skin. She had long and straight purple hair with the frontal hairline taped. She wore makeup consisting of red lipstick, purple around her pink eyes that had on black liner, and a small red dot on her forehead. And she had on the standard white robe along with brown sandals.

The head of the beautiful priestess remained down as Jede of the Cosmic Fire had asked "Is there something the matter?"

Then Kody faced his teammates and he ordered calmly "We need everyone here immediately. This changes the situation indefinitely."

"Are you certain?" Jede questioned. "Have you any idea of who we are against?"

Kody lowered his head and answered "Yes, I do."

Moments later, the entire team had gathered around Kody of the Hard Rock at a grassy yard behind the sacred temple. And Kody started to inform his group about the attackers of the temple.

Meanwhile, a large dark void appeared at the front of the old temple. The two warriors -- Aiden and Sapphire -- had walked out of the vanishing portal. And they found themselves standing before the old temple.

"This must be the temple that is held by Nebula of Palamas," reported Sapphire.

The pink-armored guardian -- Aiden of the Half Moon -- walked toward the wooden door of the temple.

"Well," He told his partner. "Let's search for that scum Alexandrite might be hiding inside."

Aiden soon opened the door. And the pair walked inside.

Then the pair searched around the main room under they spotted the elderly priest walking toward them.

"We are having many visitors home come today," implied the elder.

He finally spotted Aiden who stood by the left side of his partner Sapphire.

"Why, Prince Aiden," The elder greeted. "You are most welcome here."

Aiden walked a few steps toward him and asked the old man "You had others visiting here?"

"Yes," answered the priest. "Young people that wear armor similar to yours, Milord."

"They must be Jede and his group," Sapphire reported. "We must had arrived a few moments after they did."

And the priest informed them "The young people are still here. In fact, they are gathered at the back of this temple."

Sapphire shook his head and he replied "Kody Perez is surely telling his team about a member of the Nightmare Pirates now."

"Do you mean Ronan?" asked the elder.

"Do you know about Ronan?" cried Aiden.

The elder answered "This Ronan. He was the one that fought our lady Nebula. And he along with his people had taken her away."

Suddenly, the two champions turned their heads to the left side.

"Can you feel that?" asked Aiden.

"Yes," replied Sapphire. "These large sets of ki are coming from another area."

Aiden walked toward the door and told Sapphire "We must be going. One of these guys might be our target."

Armor Champions Super R -- Episode 166: Aftermath -- The First Meeting Retold

At another small island, two of the villains stood behind as the large man called Grif fired a barrage of small golden energy around the once-beautiful forests from his right palm.

"Just don't overdo it this time," The fair woman told him. "We are not to kill anyone else."

"Oh let him have his fun!" The younger man replied. "It wasn't that long ago when you went overboard, Misha."

"Shut up, Jester!" yelled the woman.

The body of Grif suddenly froze as his right hand remained forward.

Misha soon spotted the shadow of the giant was taken over by another shadow that came from the heroic Desoto of the Black Shadow standing behind the tall captive.

"What the hell is that?" She cried.

Desoto gave out a great smile and yelled "Gotcha ya big bastard!"

Two more champions -- Billy of the Ice Dome and Joey of the Energy Tree -- appeared above her as Misha looked around.

The rest of the team gathered around the three villains as Jester cried "And what is this?"

First, Aaron of the Silver Light attacked the face-painted warrior by firing a barrage of small globes made from pure light using his left hand. Jester jumped into the sky and rolled backward as Misha appeared to his attacker from a quick flash. She tried to stab Aaron using her short sword which she held in her right hand. So, Aaron held her wrist with both hands and he flipped Misha to the other side. Misha landed on her Left Knee as she blocked a low Right Kick by Relena of the Cosmic Fire using only her wrists.

After his shadow returned, Desoto began attacking Grif using a spinning Left Chop Heel. But Grif grabbed his opponent's ankle with both hands. He soon threw Desoto across as Joey of the Energy Tree flew toward the giant.

Before landing on the ground, Jester threw a pair of small knives from his left hand at the expecting Aaron. The silver-armored warrior quickly threw his hands away and created a barrier of golden energy around himself which protected him from the sharp projectiles.

After that, Billy of the Ice Dome blew a barrage of large balls made of blue energy as they were all followed by a white light. Jester took out a long black rod from underneath his coat. A large frame of black cloth soon formed at the front of the rod which guarded the clown-like individual from every projectile.

Meanwhile, Kody of the Hard Rock tried to strike her with the front part of his Blue Staff. But the clever Misha escaped by moving to the right side. Then she tried to slice his neck using her blade. And Kody blocked the attack using the other end of his long weapon. That was when Relean ran toward her and attacked with a flurry of strong punches.

Behind the large trees nearby, the two champions from the future -- Aiden and Sapphire -- had watched the rest of the battle.

"So," Aiden implied. "The Nightmare Pirates are facing the gang right now."

Sapphire had watched as Desoto blew a small ball of purple energy from his palm at his large opponent. Grif ran toward him as the projectile shot his chest. Then the pink-haired man gave out a Downward Hook Punch using his Right Fist. And Desoto dodged it immediately by hopping to the right side.

"Jede and everyone," Sapphire revealed. "They all have become even stronger. Their ki have risen since they had fought past members of the Crystal Kingdom. Relena Haruno has also come to her own."

Aiden gave a strong grin and he commented "I'm not surprised really. Each of them got to where they are now because of hard training and believing themselves."

Both teams gathered together and faced one another at separate sides.

Misha who stood at the middle of her team had walked forward. And she pointed the tip of her blade forward with her right hand.

"Grif!" She ordered. "Let's end this now!"

A familiar face suddenly called "Wait a moment!"

The small group including Misha faced behind them and spotted someone walking toward them from the shadows.

"Who is that?" questioned Aaron of the Silver Light.

The wicked man named Alexandrite stood before the villainous group as he held out his left hand. On his hand were three small shards of black crystal that gave out dark energy.

The hidden pair behind the trees had spotted the gloomy villain and Aiden cried "So, he is here!"

Jede of the Cosmic Fire finally noticed the three shards on the newcomer's palms.

"By Lady Athena!" Jede cried. "Is that what I believe it is?"

"Wat da hell?" yelled Desoto.

"That is!" reported Kody of the Hard Rock. "These are shards that come from that! The Legendary Black Crystal!"

Alexandrite ordered the three villains "Take this, the three of you."

Each of them grabbed a shard. And the trio held on to their item as black electricity gathered around their hand. Their eyes began to glow black as they faced the questioning champions.

"Do any of you know this guy?" asked Aaron.

Jede looked again at the newcomer who gave out a vicious grin.

And the champion in red armor cried "This man... He is a denizen of the fallen kingdom -- The Crystal Kingdom!"

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xoxo-teddybear · 3 years

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Bakugou Turns Into A Dog - Bakugou Katsuki

Bakugou x f!reader

Warnings: Fluff, crack, lowkey pervy Katsuki, cursing, (writing not spell checked!)

BAKUGOU’S MASTERLIST

Request: Bakugou’s been hit with a quirk that has given him the body of a dog. He’s still has his own human thoughts and voice but now..he’s a dog. Just how will he abuse his new power with f!Y/N

It was supposed to be a normal day! Well, as normal as it could get for UA. But of course, trouble just had to strike, and of course the ones at the center of it all was the infamous Bakusquad. More specifically, the man the group was named after.

“I-...I can’t believe that actually just h-happened!” A cheerful blonde cried out as tears fell from his face and laughter rang out from his voice.

“C’mon man, don’t be laughing at what just happened. This is serious,” Kirishima said with concern as he looked down in his arms.

“Are you serious? This has got to be the best thing that’s ever happen since we met Bakugou!” Kaminari replied with while once again dying of laughter.

“IF YOU DONT SHUT THE HELL UP RIGHT NOW SPARK PLUG, I’LL BLOW YOUR ASS TO BITS!” Bakugou barked out.

“Oh yeah? With what quirk lil pupper?” Denki slickly replied while booping his nose. Bakugou’s been making fun of Denki for the longest, this was the perfect revenge. His dear friend has been turned into a dog! Not just any dog, and not the dog you would expect. He wasn’t a german shepherd or rottweiler. Katsuki Bakugou sits in Kirishima’s arms as a fluffy, blonde, angry pomeranian.

Luckily, kinda, the only thing that changed about Bakugou was his body. He could still speak and understand the human language and he could still think like one too, but now it’s all that in a fluffy, round, adorable body. Now, he was all bark and no bite......sorta.

“OW!” Kaminari yelped as Bakugou latched onto his finger and growled. Passerbys watched as the young group of teens watched their friend throw his hand around in pain with a tiny floof dangling on it. Kirishima went in to grab Bakugou and calm Kaminari down.

“Damn, you little rugrat,” The electric blonde started, “just wait till Y/N sees you, she’s gonna die.” Kaminari teased. Once those words left his mouth, Bakugou’s puppy eyes went wide.

‘Oh hell no!’

Kirishima saw how his friend was shaking in his arms and grew concerned so he asked, “hey man, are you alright there Bakubro?”

Bakugou was extremely nervous. He couldn’t let his longtime crush see him like this! Like a weak, soft, puffball! If you saw Bakugou like this, the second he’d turn back to his normal self, he’d dive out the nearest window anytime you were around.

The entire Bakusquad knew of Katsuki’s little (HUGE) crush, and the fact that one of them was now able to use that information against him mortified the lil guy now.

“Aww c’mon Denki, that’s not very nice,” Mina said as she pet Bakugou’s little head before he snapped at her hand. Thankfully, she dodged it.

“Yeah well Kacchan hasn’t been very nice either! Damn mutt nearly bit my finger off!” This received a growl from Bakugou, which was unsurprising pretty normal.

“At least the cops told us the quirk will ware off in two weeks.” Sero stated. Kirishima joined in.

“Yeah. Sheesh, I still can’t believe what happened. That random criminal really jumped outta nowhere.” The red head said.

“Tch, I still can’t believe someone could be stuck with a shitty ass quirk like that. Turning people into pets. Ridiculous.” The blonde dog said.

“Imagine what it’s like being on the receiving end of that quirk. Must be just as ridiculous.” Mina teased.

Bakugou jumped down from Kirishima’s arms before speaking. “Yeah! No shit Pinkie!” He said while standing on his hind legs and motioning towards his new body with his front paws as if he were human.

——————————————————————————

As the group made it to the front doors of the dormitory, Bakugou stopped them before entering.

“Listen up dumbasses! Nobody better say SHIT to Y/N. Just say I’m some random dog found on the street and you guys opted to take care of me till you found me a home. If she asks what happened to me, tell her I was forced onto a trip with my parents. Got that?!” Bakugou strictly spoke.

“Got it!” The group said in unison, but a certain blonde had a different plan in mind. As they entered through the doors, Kirishima hid Bakugou into the side of his jacket but it only made comical sense that you were the first person to greet them.

“Oh! Hey guys!” You said with your award winning smile as you walked towards the group. Before anyone could say anything else, Kaminari spoke up.

“Hey Y/N! You wanna guess what Kirishima has in his jacket?” Denki exclaimed.

“Oh, no I’m sure Y/N has better things to do!”

“Maybe she shouldn’t,”

“I don’t think that’s a good idea,”

The 3 friends were throwing out excuse after excuse to keep you from seeing the little devil.

“Woah woah! Hey! You guys! Chill. If you don’t want me to see then I won’t force you. It’s fine.” You kindly said.

‘Whew’ the squad all thought

‘She is so awesome!’ Bakugou thought while in the jacket

“Oh c’mon guys, show her the puppy!” Kaminari said. Now that grabbed your attention.

“Wait? Puppy?! That’s what you guys are hiding. Awww no fair!! Can I please see it! Please please pleaseeee!!!” You begged. After your constant pleading and the squad’s constant denial, Bakugou thought he could just give in this one time. He knew that his friends would cover for him and say he’s just some random dog and you would drop it so he began to stick his snout out of the jacket. Kirishima took it as a sign to show him to you.

“Oh my goddd!!! It’s so cute!!! Boy or girl?” You kindly asked while petting Bakugou’s head, something the dog was enjoying a little too much.

“It’s a boy,” Kirishima said. “We found him on the street so even though we’re kinda busy we wanted to take care of him and heal him up till we can find him a new home.” Mina added on.

“Guyssss c’mon!! Tell her the best part! Tell her exactly who that dog is.” Kaminari begged. The Bakusquad including the dog looked towards Kaminari with a warning look, but Kaminari didn’t care. The ultimate revenge starts now.

“Y/N! That’s Bakugou!” Kaminari exclaimed. As everyone started denying it, you looked towards the dog and saw that it did resemble Bakugou a lot, but then again Bakugou did look like an angry pomeranian time and time again.

Before you chose to listen to one or the other, you weighed your options. Kirishima the chivalrous and honest, the manliest man, or Kaminari the jester himself? It’s was obvious who you were gonna listen to.

“Oh stop that Kaminari. Bakugou may look like a fiesty fluff ball from time to time but he’s not really a dog.” You said while petting the pupper’s chin. Everyone sighed in relief at your words.

“But that’s really-“ Kaminari was cut of with Sero wrapping his tape around his mouth.

“Hey if you guys need a healer, I could use my quirk to help out with that. It may not be a full on healing quirk but it should help the little guy. Plus, I don’t mind spending the next...?” Kirishima helped you out.

“Two weeks,” he said.

“Right, I don’t mind spending the next two weeks with the little cutie.” You said. The dog’s eyes went wide at that as a plan came into mind but the Bakusquad once again started denying, saying it was fine but you insisted since Mina just previously said they were all busy. Throughout the chaos a VERY human like sound came from the creature in Kirishima’s arms.

“Woof.” Bakugou said with such a casual demeanor. He said ‘woof’ in such a human like voice, it was absolutely absurd. As everyone looked down at the dog, the only thing that could be heard was Sero awkwardly giving out a cough to break the silence.

“Ok...well umm that may be a sign that he’s ok with me taking him!” You said with an excited smile. Kirishima looked at the dog and as Bakugou looked back up at him, his best friend knew that he should give you the dog.

“Ok Y/N, he’s all yours. But you’re right about one thing. Since he does look like Bakugou, we named him Blasty, so that’s what you should refer to him as,” he said while placing the dog in your arms. The pomeranian was excited as what appeared to be a small smile showed up in his face and he squirmed around in Y/N’s arms, cuddling up against her pillowy breast.

“Awesome! For the next two weeks, it’s me and you Blasty!” You said while carrying Bakugou in the air facing you and looking at him. He was too cute so you pulled him in for a hug and kiss on his little head. Everyone could see Bakugou had a smug look on his face.

“Alright guys! I better get to healing him!” You said as you ran off with the pupper still holding a smug look, this time directed at Kaminari.

“Looks like your plan backfired dude,” Sero said.

“And it looks like Bakugou is gonna be enjoying these next 2 weeks a little too much,” Mina said and the group shared a laugh. Well, except for Kaminari who was kinda irritated that his revenge failed, but happy for his friend nonetheless.

——————————————————————————

Once you got back to your room you placed Blasty on your bed and started to check him for places where he needed healing.

“Huh, looks like you’re not really injured Blasty. Oh well, that’s fine! Just means I can spend more time with you without having to worry!” You said while rubbing his head. Bakugou leaned into your hand with a small and then rolled onto his back for belly rubs. He was hoping you would pet him some more but you didn’t.

“I’m sorry Blasty, but you need a bath before you hang around anymore. Let’s go!” You picked him up and he was wide eyed and bushy tailed. A bath. Whatever. As long as he got your attention. You placed him in the tub but realized you would be getting your clothes dirty, so you changed into some pajamas you wore the night before that were sitting in your hamper in your bathroom. Basically, you changed right infront of Bakugou. He was staring at you as if you were a meal. As you undressed infront of him he saw you in your panties and bra, matching of course, and damn your body was the exact definition of perfect. He licked his lips as he stared until you put on a cami top and black booty shorts.

“Damn..” he whispered.

When you came back to Bakugou you went down to his level and began to scrub him. You reveled in your touch and soaked in the hot water. When you took him out to dry him off you looked at the time and noticed it was pretty late.

“Alright, I guess we should head to bed. I’ll put on a move and we can sleep. Here, let me go set up some pillows for you to sleep on.” You said as you grabbed your spare pillows and placed them on the floor for Blasty.

As you got into bed you felt a little movement on your mattress. Apparently Bakugou hadn’t appreciated being on the floor. He wanted to sleep next to his future girl. So when you turned over and looked at him, he gave you puppy eyes.

“Oh...why the hell do you have to be so damn cute,” you said as you picked him up and placed him on your bed. Bakugou cuddled up in your chest and took in your delicious scent. You both drifted off to sleep while Bakugou was just having happy thought.

‘This is gonna be the best 2 weeks of my life!’

——————————————————————————

Ohhh what a week. You thought taking care of Blasty would be fun and exciting and adorable but it was that and more. It was also kinda frustrating. The damn dog would “bark” and growl at everyone, especially guys who tried to talk to you, and would only eat human food. He refused dog treats and never wanted to approach other dogs. Hell, this dog didn’t even go outside to use the bathroom. He went into the actual bathroom! Oh and don’t even get Y/N started on the “barking.” That dog had the most clear and humane “woof” any dog’s ever had! Another thing! This dog’s behavior is a little outta line. When Y/N would shower, it would try to follow her in and just sit there. When she would change, it would lay on her bed smiling and staring at her. When she would sleep it would ONLY cuddle into her breast or booty and one time when she woke up in the middle of the night, Blasty was up too. Again. STARING. What is up with this dog?

——————————————————————————

“Ugh!” Y/N said as she face planted the table. Her lunch completely disregarded and the Bakusquad (minus Bakugou because apparently he had to go on a trip with his parents...or so you thought) watching as the blonde mutt poked around her head on the table.

“Having fun there Y/N?” Mina asked to which Y/N replied with a stare and a twitching eye.

“Blasty is INSANE!” You roared out. The Bakusquad and Blasty (aka Bakugou) watched on. “Don’t get me wrong, I love having the little guy around but he has some weird habits for a dog. He won’t eat like a dog, use the bathroom like a dog, interact with other dogs, and don’t get me started on the barks! I’ve never heard a dog say WOOF like a human,” you took a breather before continuing, “another thing, Blasty is a lowkey perv sometimes. Well if he were human at least, but he has perv tendencies. Like the staring whenever I’m a little underdressed or in the tub or SLEEPING.”

With that rant, Bakugou felt his ears fell and he backed up into a corner on the table. He was starting to feel insecure. Had his crush really thought of him as a pervy little thing? When you saw Blasty’s reaction, you noticed he might’ve understood what you said.

‘Can he....no there’s no way.’ You thought about the dog. Was there a possibility he could understand everything you just said?

“Oh Blasty, don’t be so dramatic. I’m just saying, for a dog, you’re a little weirdo, but it’s okay because for the time being, you’re my little weirdo. I still got love for you!” You said while holding him up in the air. Once again, the dog had a reaction to your words.

The squad was starting to notice the gears in your head turn and Kirishima quickly took him away for a little “walk.”

“Oh hey Y/N, why don’t you finish your food and I’ll take Baku- BLASTY! For a walk. Yeah, maybe he needs some outdoor exercise.

“Oh no Kiri it’s fine I-“

“THANKS!” The red head said as he dashed out the cafeteria with the little floof. Oh well, might as well enjoy your last few minutes of peace.

——————————————————————————

“What the HELL SHITTY HAIR!? She was all up on me back there! You didn’t have to drag me away!” Bakugou spoke as Kirishima held him from his armpits.

“Sorry man, but you were the one who said you didn’t want your cover blown and she was starting to figure it out. And c’mon Bakugou, she knows you better than someone who would go on a trip with his parents. Not only that but your looks are so obvious. What dog had red eyes and spikey blonde hair?!?” The red head explained. The blonde dog only crossed his arms in a very human like manner and turned to the side.

“We’ll be fine, the quirk will ware off in another week so get over it. Besides, there’s no way she’ll know! We have everyone that was there covering it up for me. It’s fine!” Bakugou replied.

His best friend sighed before saying “alright man, if that’s what you want,” and placed him down to head back to the cafeteria.

“Thank you! Jeez, now let’s get back to the cafeteria. I wanna have lunch with my Y/N.” Bakugou walked on all fours with his head held proudly.

“You may be a tiny dog, but that huge crush on her that you got going on is still going strong,” the red head said.

“You’re damn right, Shitty hair!”

As the boys walked, they didn’t know that from around the corner, Y/N heard everything.

‘Bakugou?! Quirk??? CRUSH?!!?’ Oh this was too good. With this new information, Y/N walked off with a smirk and a plan.

——————————————————————————

The next few days passed and like always, you work up with Blasty, oh you mean Bakugou, on your chest. You slightly smiled knowing this past 2 weeks, your crush had been coddling over you. You got even more excited knowing your feelings were mutual. You woke up and got ready for the day.

Now, the same thing happened as always. You got up and went to the bathroom to shower and Blasty would follow. He would watch you undress and step in the shower and step out and change. You would pick him up, hold him tight, kiss his forehead, and then be out the room. This time, your routine felt a little different knowing it was actually Bakugou staring at you this whole time.

Oh. He had seen you naked multiple times. You didn’t know whether to be embarrassed or flattered. Oh well, he kept on staring is he must’ve been enjoying the show, except this time, you actually gave him one. You slowly stripped outta your clothes and made slight and soft R-rated noises as the warm water hit your skin. You bent over as you put on your underwear and slowly got dressed. You couldn’t believe yourself. Serving these looks to a dog.

Bakugous cheeks would be so red under that fur, the way you moved this morning was everything. He didn’t even notice the drool slipping from his mouth. As you stood there in nothing but your panties and bra, you turned towards Bakugou. And idea came to your head.

“Hey Blasty! You wanna help me pick out a look today? We sure are lucky the school staff has an all day meeting! Free day for us!” You picked Bakugou up and held him against your nearly bare breast. Bakugou just had to rub himself in between your mounds a little, and you noticed this, and released a slight whine.

“Mm..hey Blasty, stop that.” You placed him down and dressed into a mini skirt and tube top. You matched with a pair of everyday causal heels and went out with Bakugou following along. He would walk directly under your side and look up. He enjoyed the view of your lace panties and the jiggle of your ass everytime you took a step. Man, was this a perfect Friday or what?

Well it would’ve been if it hadn’t been for a certain Icy-Hot. What Bakugou didn’t know, was that you texted Todoroki the previous night to help you with this little plan of yours.

“Hey L/N.” Todoroki greeted you with kid kind eyes and gentle smile.

“Todoroki, stop that. I told you that you’re one of the people who can call me Y/N.” You said.

“Well alright, then I insist you call me Shoto in return.” He said.

“Only seems fair!” You said with a giggle to which Todoroki stared at.

“You have such a beautiful smile.” He complimented. You blushed at his words, especially since Todoroki really wasn’t one for..umm..emotions.

“Thanks,” you bashfully said while stepping a little closer. As Bakugou watched this whole interaction go down from below, he couldn’t help but release a small growl. No way in hell is Half and Half taking his girl!

“Actually, there was a reason why I called you over.” Todoroki said before speaking again. This caught your attention and Bakugou’s. “I was wondering if your wanted to go in a date with me. Tonight. It could be really casual and we could even do a small movie night here in the common rooms. Just you and me. What do you say?” He asked. Bakugou was fuming.

“A date huh? Mm, I’m sorry Shoto, but I’ve actually kinda been waiting for Bakugou to get back.” You said which made Bakugou flip his head towards you.

“Bakugou?” Todoroki asked.

“Yeah. I’ve had a small crush on him for awhile, and I was hoping my first date would be with him.” You explained. The cartwheels Bakugou’s heart was doing in his tiny body was ridiculous.

‘She likes me back She likes me back She likes me back!!!!’ The dog thought to himself. His tail began wagging and his smile grew bigger than ever.

“Well I heard he’ll be gone until Saturday,” Todoroki started, “so how about just for tonight, I keep you company with a movie, maybe some chocolate, maybe some flowers, and see where the night goes?” He asked. Bakugou snarled at the two toned boy with his fangs until he heard your voice.

“Sure!” You said.

“Really?” Todoroki asked.

‘Really?!’ Bakugou thought.

“Really!” You said, “Bakugou will be gone for another week so I see no harm in hanging as friends!” You smiled once more.

“Great! This’ll be amazing Y/- OUCH” Bakugou had interrupted Todoroki by latching onto his leg and holding on with his life as Todoroki did everything he could to shake the blonde mutt off. You reached for “Blasty” before apologizing to Todoroki.

“I’m sorry, Shoto. He gets like this sometimes.” You explained.

“Ah..no worries. Uh, I’ll see you later tonight?” Todoroki asked you.

“Yeah, definitely. See you then!” You said as you walked off with a grumpy pomeranian in your arms.

‘On every level. WHAT THE FUCK?!?!?’ Bakugou thought to himself as you carried him away.

—

You walked into your room to with Bakugou to freshen up a little for your date with Todoroki. A little sprits of perfume here, a dash of blush there, and a little tweak with your hair. Your outfit was cute enough for a friendly little date. As you turned to Bakugou, you saw his sad puppy face.

“Oh, don’t worry Blasty! I’ll be back in a few hours! I’ll see you soon, ok?” You said as you kissed his forehead and made your way to the common room. Just before the door shut, Bakugou slipped out with you. If he couldn’t be on this date with you, then he’d just have to ruin it for Todoroki.

As you finally came in contact with the handsome boy, he greeted you and spoke of your plans

“We’ll be watching a movie, but we gotta get some great snacks first.” He said.

“How about just some popcorn and candy, they’re already right here in the dorms. Come over here and help me prep!” You said pulling on his hand and dragging him to the kitchen. Bakugou didn’t take too kindly to this and quickly went to tear Todoroki’s jeans and bite his ankle.

“Ouch!” Todoroki screamed in pain.

“Are you alright?” You looked around and saw his lower leg had been damaged.

“Yeah, I’ll be fine. Just a scratch.” He said reassuring your troubles.

“Well alright, if you say so.” You said and resumed your snack prep. But that was only the start of this horrible night. Throughout the date, Bakugou tortured the poor boy and did everything he could to ruin the little get together. He ate the popcorn and candy while your backs were turned, he chewed on the wires to the TV, stopping you guys from watching, and even peed on Todoroki’s leg while you guys just sat and talk. Although Todoroki saw this coming with Y/N’s plan, he had enough of torment from Bakugou. He decided to move into the final plan, right here right now.

“Y/N, you’re an amazing girl and any guy would be really really lucky to have you,” Bakugou watched this little speech from afar, growling at the two, “and I know you’re waiting for Bakugou, but since he’s not back yet, I kinda just wanna end this night with something special.” He said as he began to lean in, you had no intent on stopping him. Seeing this, Bakugou began to run towards the couple with every intent on stopping this kiss.

“HEYYY!!! Those lips are reserved for me!” Bakugou screamed and you both turned towards the little dog. Bakugou jumped into the air to leap onto Todoroki and at the strike of midnight, His body turned into a human again (fully clothed, don’t worry) and fell on Todoroki, making them both fall back.

“You stay away from my girl, icy-hot!” Bakugou said while on top of Todoroki, clinging to his shirt.

“She’s all yours, you angry pomeranian,” Todoroki said as he escaped and ran to his room. Bakugou only looked back at you with a fierce smirk. He walked up to you, grabbed your face and pulled you in for a kiss that you happily returned. He pulled away after a minute and began walking with you hand in hand.

“You’re mine now.” Bakugou said

“Whatever you say....Blasty.” You snickered.

Bakugou turned his head in shock. “You knew?” He asked.

“Of course I knew. I knew Blasty was you, I knew it was you whenever you stared at my naked body, I knew it was you whenever you cuddled into my chest, I knew it was you when I overheard you speaking like a human to Kirishima. It also helped that I just watched you transform back to your normal self. But me knowing it was you was the whole reason why I came up with this plan with Todoroki. It’s about time you made a move on me, Blasty.” You said with a teasing voice.

Embarrassed and frustrated at the fact he’d been caught, Bakugou let out an outburst.

“YOU FUCKING TEASE!” he screamed with his hands holding little explosions.

“Yeah, but now, I’m your tease. And it’s ok, because I know you like me. It’s easy to tell with that kiss and whole possessiveness. But that’s fine, because I really like you too Blasty.” You said with a smile as you wrapped your arms around his neck and Bakugou returned it with a smirk and a hug.

“Damn straight, Princess.” He said as he held onto you tight. “You’re mine.”

A/N: y’all this is not spellchecked bc after the week I’ve had, I just couldn’t. I’m sorry if this isn’t to your liking but I had to finish this so I sloppily wrote it down. I hope you enjoyed it at least! See you next time Bear Cubs💗🧸

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