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scalproie · 2 months

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So. I can't stop.

---

"What's a mother?"

The two souls, previously deeply engaged in their conversation, flinched at the voice of the young hellborn prince, who was peeking just behind their seats, brown eyes huge and eager to learn about the world.

The souls shared a look, and would no doubt be sweating if they still were in a possession of a body.

"Well, um... y-you see, Your Highness-"

---

"There is only me and you."

"You said that already, Father!"

The sparring room always made Jin feel small, smaller than he was anyway. His father only ever trained him in a single corner. Jin had no idea why it was even called that in the first place: Kazuya never granted access to it to anybody, and even then, no one admidst all levels of Hell was even close to be his match.

The room was mainly used for training anyway: it was important to Kazuya that Jin was proficient in their family's fighting style, so he personally took to supervise his son's education himself. Jin loved those sessions, not for the complex forms and stances he had to practice over and over, but because he got to spend time with his dad.

And Kazuya was always more patient with him during these moments, for some reason.

Hence why training time was also synonymous with interrogation time.

"I know it's just the two of us, its just-"

"Mind your feet."

"It's just that everyone I know has a mother. Or had one anyway. Or even is one. Everyone had one except me. Even Hell Embodied acts like your-"

Jin felt the intensity of Kazuya's stare. The Drop it. stare, he dubbed it. Right. However Hell Embodied acted toward its king aside, making any subtle mention of Jin's grandmother, whoever she was, was coming dangerously close to the topic of Jin's grandfather, and that was a big no-no.

Jin closed his mouth and swallowed, until Kazuya's eyes left him to go back to scrutinizing every little movement of his son, dealing him easy blows to block.

"Keep your elbows up."

"I-I guess I just want to figure out more stuff about myself. I mean I don't even know what I'm supposed to be the god of."

"You're my son. That's all that matters."

"Maybe, but if you could just tell me where I come from or how I came to be... I don't know, I just want to know more."

"You haven't earned the right to know more."

Kazuya never lied. Jin knew as much because it was one of the first thing his father taught him: to never lie.

For Kazuya, lying was just a way to hide weakness, and if you had to hide weakness, then you were just weak. And if there is one thing Jin, at his young age, learned that his father hated more than lying, it was weakness.

So, as Jin will find out later in his life, in order to keep the truth away from him, Kazuya simply would not say anything, if he could help it. Coming up with that sentence was a time and lifesaver.

"But you never tell me how to do that!" Jin pouted sadly. It was useless on Kazuya. "What can I do to earn it?"

He barely had the time to finish voicing his question that Jin was swept off his feet and landed hard on his back with a yelp.

"The first step would be not to leave such obvious openings, Jin."

---

"Maybe it's just like for us phoenixes!"

Xiaoyu was sitting on the windowsill in front of Jin, swaying her legs back and forth. Jin lifted his chin from his knuckle and turned his head around to look at her.

"What do you mean?"

Xiaoyu was his first friend his own age. Well, who aged alongside him, however slow they were. Who even aged at all really. She might also have just been his first friend ever.

She started showing up at the House of the Dead not that long ago, she was a young phoenix and, by her own admission, her bubbly happy-go-lucky personality usually gave her quite the issue to stay out of trouble on the surface. It doesn't help that she never really had the fear of death either.

She was still strong enough to climb back out of Hell on her own, though it often took almost as long for her to get out than for her to spend time on the surface before dying again.

Jin loved her visits because she always spoke in great lengths of what was on said surface and whatever she had seen and experienced, and he was always more than happy to listen. Even if his father had the same disdain for her as he would a mere pest, Jin respected her and even bore a bit of admiration.

"When we die, we turn into a pile of ashes, right? Well, if you divide the pile in two and someone very close to you bury half of it in the ground, when next you rise out of your ashes and you dig where half of you was buried, you will find an egg and that's how you get a baby phoenix! No mother involved! At least, that's what my yeye told me."

"I'm... not sure it works that way for us." Jin wasn't sure it worked that way for pheonixes either.

"It could though! You gods are such weird creatures. And besides! It would make us have something in common."

Her honest smile made him smile in return. Maybe she was right, maybe his origin being so vague did not have to matter so much if she could take her own in spades. Maybe he could just enjoy being himself.

The hole in the most profound part of his soul begged to differ.

Still, he appreciated her attempt to cheer him up more than he could ever tell her. With her black and orange foreign clothing and sheer warmth that emanated out of her, she was like a literal ray of sunshine that never would've made its way to him otherwise.

"Or maybe you can count the mother as the one who bury the ashes?"

"Wait, did you just imply you hatched from an egg?"

---

"Can I help you with anything, Father?"

"No."

"Oh."

Jin was pacing besides Kazuya's desk. He was a polite young man, never wanting to impose, as reserved as his father was, but eventually even he could not deal with his own boredom any longer.

"Could you still teach me anyway? Maybe that way I could, you know, fill in for you in case you ever wanted to... take a break?"

"No."

Well that was another unsuccessful attempt at purpose-seeking. Jin paced the halls of his home, having done so more times than he could count. Maybe that was his fate, haunting the House of the Dead. How ironic.

He even considered going chatting with his father's annoying jester, so something was clearly wrong with him.

He found his salvation in two shades having trouble with repairing one of the gemstones counting device, and he happened to have a knack for this kind of tinkering. After the two souls thanked him, they informed him his services might be needed somewhere else, in an adjacent wing of the house that Jin never went to often for lack of anything interesting over there.

He made his way to the location that was way, way more secluded than he expected. To his surprise there was no one but him there. Just him, and a door bearing a busted sigil of his father. Evidently the thing that needed repairing.

Well, nothing he can do about that one, but it meant that whatever door it was sealing was now open, and if it was a storage room for one of his father's fabled collections, then at least he would have some story to tell, and some bets to win.

He barely cracked open the door when his nose was assaulted by unknown and vivid smells.

What he saw inside blew all that he thought he knew away.

He stepped inside shaking like the leaves he stepped upon, not quite believing his eyes. Grass? Plants? Were those... flowers? And that-

Jin gasped. "A tree..."

As he made his way deeper inside, no daring to touch anything, focused on the massive cedar tree in front of him, he felt a weight upon his chest.

Eugh. What was this place?

Neverminding the unease, he kept going forward, toward the tree that felt more and more like it was calling him.

He stopped a moment in the middle of the garden. It felt like.

It felt like he belonged.

He raised his hand without meaning to, like the blood inside it was attracted to the bark. Like it was yearning for it.

It was almost burning at the touch. And yet. And yet it was smooth. It was strong.

He looked at his hand. That wasn't his hand. It was slender, softer.

Then it was like he was projected out of his own body, except it wasn't his body. It was a woman, with long black hair, dressed in white, her back turned to him.

He couldn't breathe.

She slowly turned around, and her face brought back old, old, old memories. Of some place else. That barely lasted a second.

He looked at her eyes.

Dark, rich brown.

Mother?

---

"What happened to my mother?"

All heads turned to Jin as he stormed inside the throne room, the last to lazily do so was Kazuya's.

"I ought to keep you busy if all you're gonna do with your endless time is bothering me with pointless things."

"I found the garden."

Oh, how Jin basked in the pause that information gave Kazuya.

A simple motion of the king's hand was all it took for all souls present to clear the room. Even as people hurried past him, Jin kept his eyes on his father, who was doing much the same.

When the place was empty save for the both of them and the doors closed with a heavy sound, then Kazuya spoke again.

"How did you-"

"She's out there, isn't she? She's on the surface, is she from there?" Jin felt manic. All this time, all this time, at any moment, Kazuya could've told him, all along he could've relieved the void in Jin's heart. Jin never felt such anger, the back of his eyes started to hurt, something threatening to break out. "Does she know about me...?"

Kazuya stayed silent, it was clear on his face that he, too, was wrestling with many many thoughts at the same time. He had many things to say, and he picked the worst option.

"You do not have ea-"

"Enough! You keep saying that! All my life you've been saying that!"

Jin was through with trying to earn. Jin was going to get.

"Father, if you say I haven't earned the right to know one more time I swear I'll-"

"YOU'LL WHAT? WHAT WILL YOU DO, JIN?"

Kazuya slammed his hands on the desk before him and rose from his throne. As much as Jin steeled himself for this confrontation, he could not stop his body to jerk back at the sound. It wasn't that he was scared of his father, no, it's just that Kazuya rarely ever shouted, never really needed to, so to hear him lash out that suddenly was... shocking.

What Jin hated more than his own reaction though, was the strange feeling in his chest upon hearing his father say his name for the first time in what felt like forever.

Unaware, or not caring, of the turmoil happening within Jin, Kazuya continued:

"Tell me how you will succeed in demanding anything of me where even the so-called "strongest" have failed before you? Tell me what you plan to do as you defy your king, your kin? There is only us. There will only ever be us. Are you that eager to write the next chapter of our family's bloody legacy?!"

Jin fell silent.

Was that it? Is that what the neglect, the distance, the privation was about? Was Kazuya expecting Jin to kill him for good eventually? To take his place? Was that all Jin was to him? A future rival? A threat-in-waiting? Did he thought so lowly of him?

Was he scared of his own son?

That selfish fool, that stubborn old...

Kazuya feared that Jin would kill him?

In this moment, Jin just might.

"Why keep-"

"Speak up."

"Why keep me at all then? You could've just gotten rid of me ages ago, threw me away far from this place, and you, there could only just be you" The sarcastic tone Jin wanted to carry gave way to something more coarse, more raw. Neither father nor son were good at hiding their true emotions. "You could've freed yourself from all... this."

Knowing the answer to this emptiness, this missing piece, that Jin felt for all his life was finally within reach gave him the courage to go on, to openly provoke Kazuya for the first time.

"Is that what you did? To her?"

The only thing Jin heard next from his father was a spark.

Then the pain registered. A shock so brutal and intense Jin could feel spasms reverberating throughout all of his body, long after he realized his father's fist was already gone. His fingers kept twitching on their own, his teeth clenched on their own, his eyes shut on their own.

He dropped to the floor, clutching at his abdomen when he recovered the control of his hands, and when he could breathe once more he fully tasted the metallic smell of the surrounding electricity.

Right. The King of Hell was the son of the old Lightning God, first.

Kazuya was now towering over Jin. Has he always been that fast? The fist that was lodged just a second ago below Jin's chest still clenched and shaking at his father's side, his facial traits were sharpened by the ominous red glow of his eyes. His voice was glacial.

"Hellborn Prince, you are to be confined to your chambers until told otherwise. Do not expect to be let out anytime soon."

"I'm going to leave, Father, I'm going to break out of this place," Jin managed as he struggled to get off the floor, his own voice burning with determination. "You cannot keep things as they were, you cannot keep me here, I'll leave even if it kills me."

The massive doors cracked open to let in the previously dismissed servants. Suddenly the silent throne room became loud again as guards swarmed in, their captain Bruce kneeling and lending a worried hand to help Jin up. Kazuya turned around to walk back to his throne.

"Take him."

Jin swatted Bruce's hand away as he got to his feet, eyes boring a hole to the back of his father's head, before following suite and making his own way for the open doors.

Take him? What is this. Is Jin officially a prisoner now? Those are still his chambers. He doesn't need anyone to take him to his own chambers. What his father should very soon worry about is how to keep him in them, that is a promise.

As he was about to exit the room, Jin took a last glare in the direction of the throne. Kazuya had just resumed dominating the room, seated upon it once more. He was also staring at Jin.

Deep brown eyes met sharp red eyes once more.

I will leave, even if it kills me.

Jin walked out.

Kazuya rested his chin on his knuckle.

"It will."

#why is this one even longer. still not a writer btw✌️#anyway wow I didnt know you could have so much fun with this #tagging later #Kazuya: you know what? YOURE GROUNDED. GO TO YOUR ROOM #Jin: THIS HOUSE IS A FUCKING NIGHTMARE #tekdes au

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turnscote · 3 years

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An AU where Luke was telling the truth about why he left and actually kept in touch with you.

Pair: Luke/MC Rating: G Word count: 1310 Synopsis: As much as you wanted to believe that nothing was going to change, it was inevitable. There is nothing more deceptive than an obvious fact.

Also on AO3.

It was perhaps late spring or early summer. You could remember how your nose was mildly itchy from the pollen as you found him sitting by the windowsill yet again. The breeze had felt warm, and the trees outside were rustling. It was supposed to be just like any other day until you heard the news that Luke will be moving away. In a week, nonetheless. It was surprising, but it wasn't entirely unexpected. Luke has always been a genius. You often teased him for being a nerd (affectionately, of course, to which he'd respond with a pout, and, oh, of course, you just had to pinch his cheek). Why wouldn't the National Central University, the country's top university, want him?

Promises were made. You're free to read Luke's Sherlock Holmes collection that he left at his parents' house. You'd call. You'd keep each other updated, about your lives, about your reading progress on his books, about all the food the capital has to offer. His moving away isn't going to change anything. You'd take good care of yourselves, even without having the other around, even without Luke chasing off any geese who would harass you, even without you apologizing to the grumpy neighborhood grandpa for the ruckus Luke had made. You two were going to be just fine. Right?

As much as you wanted to believe that nothing was going to change, it was inevitable. There is nothing more deceptive than an obvious fact. You know that. You sighed and closed Luke's copy of The Boscombe Valley Mystery. Ever since the age of five, Luke's presence has always been a constant in your life. Now you're left anxiously waiting for him to call.

Luke had told you earlier this morning that he'd be rather busy today, what with all the classes he got, and he's not even done with settling in. Despite his tight schedule, he still managed to take the time to text you several times throughout the day. Luke sent a picture of the egg sandwich he had for lunch. Apparently, he was in a rush in between classes, and the meal from the convenience store was all he could manage. He then complained about how it wasn't enough for him, how he regretted not getting more.

He promised he'd call once he's done with one of his assignments. You weren't expecting it to take this long. It was past 10 already. You had finished your homework hours ago, and that's why you're left in the state you are now. Laying in bed, The Boscombe Valley Mystery still sitting on your chest because you couldn't be bothered to get up and put it away. Is college that much harder? Luke must have been exhausted by now. Not wanting to keep him up just so that you could talk to him, you decided to text him to wish him luck on his work and that you two can just call some other time when he's less busy. You considered adding a cute sticker of a bunny with pom-poms but decided against it. You're a high school student now. Using stickers seems kind of childish and silly, doesn't it?

You finally got up, put the book away, and went to the bathroom to wash up before bed. By the time you came back, you notice your phone screen lighting up, informing you of a missed call from Luke. You hurriedly dialled him back. Within two rings, you finally heard his voice.

"Hey." There wasn't much energy to his voice. "Did I keep my Watson waiting?"

As odd as it may be, despite you never going anywhere and staying in Stellis, hearing Luke's voice made you feel like you're finally home once again.

"You're busy, Luke. I understand. You could have gone to bed right away, you know?" It really wasn't a big deal. Sure, you missed him, but you'd rather have Luke be well-rested.

"Oh, uh, well," you could hear a nervous chuckle from the other end of the line. "I'm not done with work yet, actually. It's much harder than I had anticipated." A pause. "I just wanted to make sure I could hear how your day was before you go to bed," his voice softened.

You let out a long sigh. Luke putting yourself over his own wellbeing. That's one thing that hasn't changed, huh? You couldn't admit that you thought that he was being very sweet and that you're honestly happy about it. You can't enable this behavior of his, can you? He seriously needs to put himself first.

"Okay, we'll make this quick then. You really need to take better care of yourself, Luke. Make sure you get enough rest."

"Alright, alright, I get it."

This is how it's always been. You two worrying and nagging each other, to the point that it may seem overbearing.

"So, the braised pork granny made for lunch, we still got plenty of leftovers left, so we also had that for dinner." You could hear Luke groaning in jealousy. Granny's braised pork was great. "I also read a bit of The Boscombe Valley Mystery."

"Oh! How are you liking it so far?" Luke clearly perked up at that.

"I haven't gotten very far yet, but I'm curious to see how they're going to prove James' innocence. All the evidence seems to be pointing at him right now."

A hearty laugh. Oh, how you love the sound of it. "You'll soon see, my dear Watson."

It's Luke's voice. It's clear it's Luke's voice. You'd recognize his voice anywhere. It's just, it doesn't sound the same over phone calls. Obviously, there's the slight noise, it's not a bother, but you do miss how clear his voice sounds in person. There's also the fact that his voice doesn't sound as deep, but that's fine, this is fine, it can't be helped. You're just glad you could still hear his voice to begin with. You're glad he'd make time for you instead of making you feel like you're left behind.

"How about you, Luke?" you asked. "What are you working on?"

"Oh, it's just some stuff on engineering chemistry. I also had to review some stuff for my engineering physics class tomorrow."

Science has never been your best subject, so when Luke explained further all the things he had to do, you were honestly feeling a bit lost. You loved hearing him talk about it so giddily, though. It reminds you of all the times when you'd have a nightmare disrupt your sleep and Luke would come over to your room and tell you the lamest science facts to distract you and get you back to sleep.

Luke seems to have noticed your quieter yeahs and mms to his stories. "Hey, you should sleep." You couldn't see it, but you got his gentle smile perfectly imprinted in your mind. That's probably how he looks right now.

"Sure, but," normally you'd be too embarrassed to ask for something like this. But you're too sleepy and you can't think straight so you went ahead with it, "Is it okay if we stay on the phone like this?"

It took a while for Luke to respond, but he finally said, "What do you mean?" as if in disbelief of what you're asking of him. That's fair. It is a ridiculous request, after all. It almost makes you want to take back what you just said. Almost. It must be all the K-drama you've been watching.

"You can get back to work, and I can go sleep, we just leave the call on."

"Alright," Luke said. "We can do that."

As you settled in bed, you could hear him tenderly say, "Good night, my dearest Watson."

This is nice too, you thought. Things aren't the same, but you two are going to be just fine.

#tears of themis #luke pearce #mine #this is my first time writing a fic!!!#also v self indulgent bc #no dying luke pls #rambles #lukerosa

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dallonm-archive · 3 years

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[image description: a cropped picture of a leafy orange tree in front of a vibrant blue sky. across the photo, in a white serif font reads "CAMP NANO WRAP-UP" in all caps. /end id]

whoops did not plan to do a post like this but also did not plan to work on more than one project 🤸 i hit my goal much sooner than expected but i still wanted to ride the camp nano wave so i kinda just. wrote what i wanted as long as i wrote every day lmao. now I'm more focused on planning and researching than actually drafting so I figured I could wrap up the month now! I'm v happy with the progress I made. I'm only sharing three, but I got progress on four projects and a short story 🤩

LIFE CYCLE OF MASSIVE STARS ; 22,803 words ; yeah I definitely needed a break after writing like 20k in like 2 weeks LMAO BUT it's going well and I'm enjoying drafting the rest much slower! I love this book sm (Context on the excerpt: someone asked Tomas what his dream house would look like and he just described his childhood house but like specifically how he remembers it from his childhood because even if he can go back to the house he can never go back to the home </3)

Fireworks shatter behind your heads. Streetlights drip onto pavement puddles. You don’t have an answer ready. “I think it’d be very rustic. Cosy, you know? Big windows with big windowsills you can sit on.” The house in your head is alive but hazy, images blended like a bleeding watercolour painting. “There’d be a big garden, but because it’s in the countryside it feels even bigger. Like it’s not in the middle of nowhere, but it’s quiet. Like you can hear the air in the morning.” When you speak, it’s 2004. Seven years old. The sleepy drawl of morning radio. Dad’s botanical office, watering plants with your elephant-shaped can whilst he lists their names. “I want loads of plants too. Monstera, dracaena, spider plant, ivy…realistically they’d be a nightmare to keep alive but like you said, this is a dream.” When you speak, it’s 2018. Twenty-one years old. Sat on a brick wall in front of houses whose windows bleed amber. One of them has a star ornament hung on the window. Another already has their Christmas tree up. If you gaze hard enough, you can draw out the silhouettes of people that move and speak and breathe and live in houses in the Netherlands and not England. “Yeah, a cosy house. One with lots of memories.” You smile at your silhouettes, you pretend they have faces to smile back.

Also Tomas came out as being on the aromantic spectrum last week everyone say congratulations Tomas :)

REVELATIONS, REVELATIONS ; 7,142 words ; I keep thinking I know this book and then it keeps punching me in the jaw. Had some plot revelations (aha) that I am both excited for and terrified of :) anyway here's Felix at a party he def doesn't want to be at (cw for alcohol and implied sex and drug use, nothing explicit)

The party is a feeble attempt to razzmatazz 1986 into something bigger than it was. Madonna’s album from summer whirls across the apartment. Groups of strangers with alcohol-flushed faces laugh too loud. Terry from Apartment 5 shoves through the door with a champagne bottle in each hand and Margot from Apartment 7 pours too much vodka into her Blue Lagoon. Cheap coloured lights soak the room in purple. Red solo cups discarded on the coffee table. The air fuzzy and neon. A man with a beer-stained shirt and pupils like Magic 8 Balls informs Felix that he and his boyfriend are looking for a third. Felix politely declines.

and here's a soft sapphic kiss with concerning undertones :)

Tonight her lips don’t taste like Jolie, they taste like her blood. But Dorothy has kissed Jolie so many times she’s not sure what “Jolie” tastes like anymore: sometimes it’s drugstore lipstick, sometimes it’s cherry cola, beer, bubble-gum, tobacco. Sometimes it’s sunlight, rain, fog. Tonight it’s blood, and the taste sticks to her tongue. Cars hum outside. The unshaded lightbulb casts them in a dull halo.

MADE OF INDIGO ; a novel idea that recently ambushed me and now I'm hooked. It's too early to properly introduce but: trans mlm romance! Road trip! Fleet Foxes vibe! :) the mental impact of unsupportive families and systematic transphobia :( anyway I've known Cyrus for like a week and I would die and kill for him. I'm not drafting yet, just playing with prose!

Cyrus has bulb-shaped fairy lights across his desk that flicker like the wings of a dying moth, but he keeps them up because he likes how they look in the sunlight. Cyrus sneaks cake batter and says he didn’t even though it kisses the corners of his lips. Cyrus fiddles with his beaded bracelet when he’s nervous. Cyrus has a moon-shaped reading lamp that he forgets to turn off. Cyrus will wake with dawn even if he falls asleep at two, three, four in the morning. Cyrus’ favourite colour is turquoise and his favourite flavour is cherry and his favourite season is summer and his favourite planet is Neptune. Cyrus says he doesn’t understand poetry but when I asked him why he chose his name he said he wanted to pocket a trace of sunlight even after the day is swallowed by the night.

since i didn't do a camp nano taglist i'll just torment the general one! ask to be added or removed;

@kowlazovdi @avi-burton-writing @ryns-ramblings @kitblogsthings @ezrathings @aetherwrites @radiomacbeth @bijouxs @bookphobe @haldimilks @alicewestwater @bookpacking @shaelinwrites @onlyganymede @theelectricfactory @write-like-babs @oceancold @veiliza @sidhewrites @wolf-oak @oasis-of-you @coffeeandcalligraphy @cecilsstorycorner @howdywrites @keira-is-writing @flip-phones

#its MY camp nano and i decide when april ends #long post #atlastracking #amwriting #life cycle of massive stars #revelations revelations #made of indigo #camp nano 2021

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foxymoxynoona · 3 years

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Absolutely love amended but I just can't see the happy ending man.. Surely there's affection between both of them, they care and want the best for each other, for sure. However it seems to me like there are too many flaws for it to work? With the big fight, we have a clear view of how they work with their defense mechanism under pressure and shock and it's not good. To me, there will always be an imbalance in the relationship, because no matter what, you say dumb shit you don't mean when you're angry and Jungkook will throw in the fact it's his money, his house and etc. while Belle will threaten to leave with the kids. It's bound to happen again, I think. And with Belle traumas, I'm quite sure she might, no matter how in love she falls, keep in the back of her mind the fact that Jungkook did pay for everything, that her situation now could be gone in a breath if Jungkook wanted to. But that could be entirely different once she starts her new job (so happy for her) and save enough money—again, her mind might just be full of 'secure the money so the kids can be safe if Jungkook ever kicks us out'? Unhealthy. So there's definitely a stronger one on the relationship, dependence happening. That's not good to me, if they're always going to come back to that fact at some point. Belle has always been on her toes, ready to leave to keep her kids safe and I don't see her fully trusting Jungkook, no matter what. And Jungkook could definitely question her intentions as time flies—if she loves him or if she's here for the money to keep her kids safe! The foundation is fragile, unstable imo. Also, Jungkook is quite childish at times, even if he does a lot of efforts for Belle. He gets hurt too and say stupid stuff, making her even more insecure. They don't communicate very well, do they? Patricia won't be here forever, they only speak their mind when she comes around. And she pointed out how Jungkook would go for the 'easy' explanation when the real one would just hurt Belle, but that would help her understand him. It's hard to change that too! And I don't agree on people blaming Belle only. They're to blame together, one is not wrong and the other right—they have flaws, on different levels, yeah, but that doesn't make one less important than the other. But sooo many, and some are yet to come into the mess of it all, like the basement thing! It's exhausting for both of them. And I'm sure they love each other but sometimes, love's not enough—sometimes things don't go the way you want it to and that's okay. I could see both of them being exhausted time after time because they don't communicate well and have awful defense mechanisms. I could also see Jungkook stuck in there bc he loved Belle when he was young and he loves to provide and he's like a puppy you know? Like he did her wrong in the past and now he's trying his best to make it right, kind of redemption? Blindsinded maybe, not true love. And Belle stuck in there bc she likes Jungkook, sure, but it's safer for the kids and she'll do anything to keep them safe and Jungkook does just that? Not that she would force herself into it but you know. Yeah. Just my thoughts, love you! ♡

This was really sad to me to read because it seems like such a fatalistic view of marriage and relationships. People just aren't perfect, and marriage puts someone right there in the mud with you when you going through shitty phases, but that doesn't mean it's not worth it. You don't have to be a perfect person to be loved or worthy of love. You can love someone at their worst, and I really don't see Isabella or Jungkook being at their worst now. In fact, the opposite, both of them actually feel safe and supported and accepted enough that they're starting to crack open pains and fears they have kept locked up --in some cases their whole lives!-- so that they can finally heal.

There's not really an "ending" in life until you die. There are always new challenges, new opportunities, new opportunities for growth. Does that mean that love and intimacy aren't worth it, that you shouldn't even try until you've reached some impossible place of perfection?

You also don't seem to think they're capable of growth but people are! Some things take years to heal or unlearn, sure, and I'll honestly be expediting some of that growth in the story compared to real life. Maybe that's just a difference in our view of people? I think that people can and do improve if the intent is there, and that intention to be better makes a huge difference. I see the ways Jungkook and Isabella have greatly improved in this story. Just because they aren't done yet doesn't negate all the progress they've made.

I've been married for almost eight years and we are still learning how to communicate, how to live together, how to support each other, and how to understand our own changing needs. Neither me nor my husband are perfect people, and we have had fight much bigger than any Isabella and Jungkook have had, but do I think our marriage isn't worth it? Nah. Even though sometimes we fight over the STUPIDEST fucking stuff. We have grown and changed as people, and it's sometimes been rough, but we've made it work so far. Isabella and Jungkook are just at the very beginning of their relationship and are rapidly learning so much about each other, and rapid growth can be painful, but they’re both invested. Why would that mean it's already time for quits? They haven't even gotten to fighting over fruit left on the counter or how to load the dishwasher or why would you ever NOT immediately clean up the bug you just squashed on the wall or why the fuck no one but me will put the empty toilet paper rolls in the bin THAT IS LITERALLY RIGHT THERE and they just line them up on the windowsill... like... wtf?!

You mention the fights as exhausting but you don't seem to be giving fair weight to the joy that they bring each other most of the time. If their relationship was nothing but fighting, that'd be one thing. You do make some good observations about their flaws and struggles! And I could absolutely have written a very tragic story of their marriage based on guilt and obligation and regret. I see so much love and admiration in their interactions though --playfulness and joy and gratitude. You don't see that too?

I guess this made me sad because it just seems like you are suggesting something should get thrown away because it's not perfect, when marriage is really learning about how to love and compromise on the imperfections.

#asks #personal #amended

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corancoranthemagicalman · 3 years

Note

💜💜🌻💜💜🌻💜💜

Thank you so much 💜 my day was stressful and mentally taxing but overall it was fine :) i am so so flattered/flustered that you want to gift me something in return- i never expect anything when i'm penguin anon. And irl i'm trying to be better at accepting things from people. so if you really would like to gift me something here are some tropes i like: cas gardening (sorry i can't get away from flowers/plants!), dadstiel with baby or toddler jack, general domestic fluff, anything that explores cas & dean healing/character growth 💜 but i honestly don't expect anything in return for my hearts and flowers. They are freely given 💜💜🌻💜💜🌻💜💜

-🐧🌻

I’m sorry to hear it was stressful for you, dear. I’m glad that overall it wasn’t too bad for you, though. I hope this cheers you up? I’m a few hours later with it because I get distracted big time in research. Like figuring out that Dean was 22 when Shrek came out. Which had literally no bearing on this, but was fun to figure out. The hearts and flowers are more than appreciated. 💕🌺🌺💕

🌻🌻🌻🌻🌻🌻🌻🌻🌻🌻🌻🌻🌻🌻🌻

When Dean was four, he watched his mother hold his baby brother to the blooming sunflowers she kept in the backyard. Mom said they were called Sunriches. They were named that because they were like golden suns. Dean thought the sun was golden, but when he tried looking at it, the sun was just a bright, white color. Blinding. Dad said he couldn’t look at the sun without hurting himself, so he stopped trying.

What he could look at was Mom holding Sammy. He was only a couple of months old, but Mom was excitedly talking to him as if he could talk back. Dad said he wouldn’t be able to talk for a while. That didn’t seem to bother Mom. She was content to describe the flowers to Sammy. They were taller than Dean was. Mom said they wouldn’t get any bigger, but one day Dean would be tall enough to hold Sammy up to the flower petals. He looked forward to that.

Mom looked pretty in her dress, from Dean’s memory of the time. Her skirt swayed in the autumn wind in time with the petals dancing in the breeze. It was ethereal, like a princess talking to animals. Except instead of a squirrel on her shoulder there was a baby in her arms. Dean thought it looked like magic.

A few months later, when Dean was finally trusted with holding Sammy in his arms, he was running out of his burning home.

He didn’t think about the sunflowers they left behind.

Read more undercut or check it out on AO3!

Later in life, when Dean was flirting too close to a stable relationship with a reporter, he idly thumbed at the petals of the Suntastic Yellows. He remembered his mom telling him that they were the tiniest sunflowers. The type they used in bouquets. Cassie had a small pot resting on her windowsill.

Cassie’s hands drew around his waist from behind him. Humming into his neck, Cassie drew him backward with her. He thought about it in an absent sense, walking away from the sunflowers.

“You know,” she whispered against the shell of his ear, “they say that sunflowers track the sun all throughout the day.”

“Oh, really?” Dean smirked, taking her lips in his own. She was wonderful, really. Too wonderful. Wonderful enough that Dean thought about confessing everything to her. Cassie would understand. She was clever and understanding. Hell, maybe she’d even accept him.

It was too bad, then, that when Dean told her what he did—what he was—that she didn’t believe him. Dean wouldn’t have believed himself either. Walking away with his keys in his hand and his heart at his feet, Dean wondered if this is what it would always feel like. If he would always have to walk away from the place his heart was trying to make into a home. Maybe it was something about being a sunflower. Always tracking the sun throughout the day.

Too bad Dean couldn’t find the damn sunlight.

“Dude, look!” Dean grinned during another part of his life, pointing at some old lady’s front garden full of Taiyos. “It’s like Shrek.” He teased his brother, elbowing Sam who only rolled his eyes in return.

“Shrek? Really?” Sam scoffed. “How old were you when that even happened?”

Dean huffed a laugh. “What? You’re telling me you didn’t go watch the cinematic masterpiece known as Shrek with all of your college buddies?”

Sam rolled his eyes again, huffing with a shrug of his shoulders. “Sure, Dean. And then we watched Holiday in the Sun right after, too.”

“Never took you for a Mary-Kate and Ashley fan, Sammy.” Dean grinned, watching the sunflowers swaying in the breeze from the corner of his eye.

They looked peaceful in the witness’ front yard. Untouched by the grueling werewolf that was lurking through the small town. Dean could hear Sam’s sharp inhale from beside him.

“I always thought sunflowers were… homey,” Sam confessed, watching the sunflowers dance with a furrowed brow.

Shooting Sam a crooked grin, Dean stepped forward toward the sunflowers but he didn’t dare touch them. “I’m not surprised,” he began. “Mom used to grow them. She started taking you out into the garden as soon as you stopped crying all the time.”

Sam was silent for a moment, causing Dean to look at him with concern. It wasn’t often that Sam was quiet, but when he was it was always a contemplative silence. “I didn’t know that.” He spoke softly.

“You wouldn’t have remembered.” Dean shrugged, stepping onto the witness’ walkway to begin making their way up to the door. “These are a bit taller than hers were. But then again, everything seemed taller then.”

There was another moment of contemplative silence, but it seemed Sam had nothing left to say. He knocked on the witness’ door, taking care not to meet Dean’s eye. Dean wondered what that meant. Wondered if Sam felt the same way when he saw sunflowers.

Then again, Sam had always been larger than life. Tall and proud.

When Dean was on the aching side of forty, he watched Castiel hold their four-year-old son to the blooming sunflowers he kept in the backyard. Cas had been enchanted by the Little Beckas when he had seen them. While they might not have been the tallest—or the smallest—of sunflowers, he had thought they were lovely. Dean had made a quip about their halo and bought Cas seeds the same day.

Watching Cas and Jack reminded Dean of being four and trying to see what color the sun was. It was blinding, something he felt he should look away from lest it hurt him. But he found that he couldn’t look away. He didn’t want to. He just wanted to watch Cas answer every question Jack had.

He was beautiful, Dean often thought, but especially in moments like these. The cuffs of his jeans were muddied and his bare feet were buried in the soil where he sat with Jack in his lap. Dean hated how Cas refused to wear shoes outside, but he had claimed to like being closer to the Earth. Dean couldn’t argue with him. He wouldn’t argue with him; not for what made him happy.

Cas turned to look at him, catching his gaze and drawing him closer with just a look. Dean moved without hesitation, standing beside Cas and kicking at his knee with his booted foot. His approach drew Jack’s attention away from the flowers, who clapped excitedly the closer he got.

“Whaddya think, Jack? Do you like the colors?” Dean hummed, watching Jack’s gummy smile as the kid waved up at him.

“Daddy says that sunflowers face East!” He pointed enthusiastically, laughing and reaching for the blooms in front of him.

Dean frowned, looking from Cas to the flowers. “I thought sunflowers rotated with the sun or whatever.”

Cas hummed, tilting his head with a nod. “They do, in their youth.” He pressed a kiss to the top of Jack’s head. “But when they mature, the sunflowers learn that they get the most light during the morning hours when the sun has just risen from the East.” Bouncing Jack momentarily and causing the boy to giggle, Cas turned to face Dean. “They just learn what’s healthiest for them. It just takes time.”

Inhaling sharply, Dean wondered if this was it. If this was his East. Watching a smiling Jack and Cas whispering about sunflowers that—while not the tallest or the smallest—were a halo of colors. Two colors that came together, that never faded, that bloomed to life in this tiny garden he called home. He was a dark heart and a bright halo, smiling toward the bright, white sunlight of a gummy smile and clapping hands.

With a grunt, Dean lowered himself to the soil, sitting beside Cas and wrapping his arm around Cas’ shoulder. “These little guys are pollen-less,” he spoke to Jack. “That’s why we got the honeysuckles.”

“Honeysuckles stand for devotion.” Cas’ voice rumbled gently. “In the ancient Celtic alphabet, the symbol that the Ogham carved into stone to represent the honeysuckle stood for following one’s path.”

Dean snorted a laugh, shaking his head. “Sort of counterintuitive. Since, yanno, Free Will.” He quipped, raising a curious brow toward Cas.

Bowing his head in concession, Cas continued. “Yes, that is true. The Druids meant it more like… trusting one’s gut. Rather than sticking to the story.” He grinned, rocking with Jack in his arms for a moment. “But the honeysuckle is rather hard to kill. That is why it means everlasting devotion.”

“Deaths don’t stick, huh?” Dean hummed, squeezing Cas closer into his side. “Sounds like someone I know.”

Cas exhaled a laugh, resting his head atop Jack’s. “The Chinese valued the honeysuckle for its healing properties. It can be a cooling herb to remove toxins.”

Dean pressed a kiss to Cas’ cheek, keeping his lips there for a moment longer before pulling away. “Even if the honeysuckle can’t heal ‘em, the sunflowers like the company anyway.” He smiled softly, watching as Cas’ eyes turned dewy toward him. “And ‘sides, the honeysuckle brings all the bees to the yard.”

Snorting laughter that Jack joined in without knowing the cause, Cas shook his head. “I suppose so.” His attempt to suppress a smile made Dean’s own grin widen. “But the sunflower is more than enough company.”

“Damn straight,” Dean whispered against Cas’ lips, kissing him slowly and savoring the moment.

Between them, Jack made exaggerated kissy faces, causing them to pull apart and watch him with amusement. He grinned, reaching up and holding Dean and Cas’ cheeks in his palms.

“Daddy and Poppa sittin’ in a tree!” Jack sang, giggling as he smushed their heads together.

Mocking a frown, Dean held his other hand out behind Jack’s back. His palm felt so large in comparison to how small Jack was. “Did Uncle Sam teach you that?”

“Yup!” Jack nodded enthusiastically, head bobbing as he continued to hum the song under his breath.

Cas gave another chuckle under his breath, looking from Jack to Dean. “I suppose we should head inside. We're still expecting Sam and Eileen for lunch.”

Dean stood with a groan as his knees ached. He reached out a hand to help Cas and Jack up, standing tall with his family in their little garden. Keeping their fingers intertwined, Dean didn’t have to think about the sunflowers they left behind.

They would be there as long as the sun was in the East.

#ask c #anon #🐧🌻 anon #destiel #destiel ficlet #spn #spn ficlet #flower language #sunflowers #dean winchester #character study #meta????#dunno #im bad at tagging

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imbackmrstark · 3 years

Text

《——————》

• l e m o n b o y •

It was the kid from next door. Brown, curly hair and those sweet, thin lips. His eyes, God, his eyes, Tony could stare into them for hours. He was barely 15 years old, the boy, maybe 16, Tony had never asked and never intended to. Talking, that was the problem. Tony never had a word with the boy, not even at the welcome party; the boy's family, the Parkers – he knew that from the door sign – only moved here a few months ago, Tony had fallen in love immediately. He couldn't take his eyes off the smaller one all day long, staring at him like a hungry lion at its prey, but instead of attacking the teenager, he just smiled insecurely every now and then. He looked like an angry hamster – a sweet, angry hamster. You couldn't take him seriously, he was far too cute. Tony was head over heels in love with the boy next door. And so it began that Anthony E. Stark watched the younger one from his room window every day as he built and hammered on something outside, curious what it would be.

One day – Tony just came out of his bathroom, hair freshly washed and with a towel around his waist – he saw a small booth with a sign on it saying "lemonade $2". A smile played around his lips and he completely forgot to put something on and comb his hair, far too distracted by the sunshine down on the street, which at that moment took some lemons and pressed them into a lemonade. That's when Tony started calling him 'lemon boy', whether in his head or when he talked to his parents about the Parkers boy.

He supported his elbow on the windowsill and leaned his chin on the palm of his hand while watching the neighbor. To live across from such a beauty is a curse and a blessing in equal measure. Tony thought that even a blind man would see how much he was in love and that scared him. He couldn't–.. to be honest, he didn't even try to talk his way out of it, he had no chance, he knew he had lost to this disgusting love. Pah, who needs love! The teenager pulled a face, he needed love. Oh dammit.

He let his gaze wander back to the street and only noticed too late that Little Parker had looked up at him. A sweet smile adorned his face and he raised his hand briefly to wave sweetly. Tony's eyes widened in shock before he threw back a quick smile and jumped away from the window, getting tangled up in the blanket and falling to the floor. A soft laugh was heard from the street and the older one puffed offended.

Tony wondered why the boy had just opened his shop at the beginning of his school days. Every day from 8am to 3pm at school and then up to two hours of homework and studying. How is he supposed to find time for his lemonade? Talking about school: The teenager was sitting right now in the school bus on his way to personal hell, while Parker was once again being brought fine by Auntie. Aunt... Tony had heard that the boy's parents had died and that he was now living with his aunt and uncle. Even though he loved them, he felt bad for him. The brown-haired teen got up and grabbed his bag when the bus came to a halt, then left it to find his friends with a quick glance. That was the less difficult task, but getting there first... almost impossible.

"Tonyy!" A girl with brown hair waved at him before she ran to him with her bouncing boobs to give him a cheerful hug. "How was the holiday, big boy? You're fine?"

"Sorry, but who were you again?" Faces and names, not Tony's domain at all, especially when he sees so many of them a day. Most popular boy in school problem.

The girl made an offended expression on her face and was about to start complaining when she was harshly interrupted.

"Stark. Why don't you stop flirting and join us? We've been waiting here forever." That voice... That fucking voice. It could only come from one lady, and you better not fuck with her. A request was a request and she never took no for an answer, never ever.

"Natasha, darling... Of course, I'm on my way," he replied instantly, looking forward to having his peace and quiet from all the annoying students, because one thing was made clear on the first day of school: James Barnes hates people and will beat up anyone who didn't get official permission to stay near him. Even Steve, an old best friend, now just a friend, to get him into the group took days and now... now the two of them can't be separated anymore. They are one of the favorite couples at this school.

"Hey man," Steve grinned at him slightly, his typical greeting after the holidays, just to get warm again. They parted quarrelling back then - Tony had caught him sleeping with his girlfriend, now ex-girlfriend, Pepper, and instead of an apology he only got to hear that she was a slut and he just wanted to show him that she was wrong. It took years to stand so close to him again without Tony wanting to punch him in the face.

"What's up?" He wasn't a real speaker, he hated this job most in everyday life anyway. He listened to his friends most of the time and answered everyone only the most necessary questions. Only with some of them he could come out a bit more. For example his best friend Rhodey and maybe even a little bit with Natasha.

The happy expression on his face when the bell rang couldn't go unnoticed by his friends, which is why a little grin crept across Rhodey's face before he put his hand on Tony's shoulder and went to class with him. The hours stretched like chewing gum and the teenager became so bored that he voluntarily started talking to the people around him. Sometimes a little word with the girl next to him and sometimes a few sentences with a buddy of his named Thor. They got along well, even if Thor wasn't the brightest candle on the chandelier. It was always funny to listen to the boy, how he put up crazy theories. Weirdo. After the English lesson they walked together through the corridors to their lockers, which happened to be close together. On the way there, the paths of Tony and the Lemon Boy crossed, who smiled softly, then immediately looked down at the floor again. At school Tony wore the pants, here he was braver and here he could stand his looks and smiles. At home then rather less, the boy made him weak.

"Earth to Stark," Thor curiously waved his hand in front of his face to regain the attention he was currently giving the sugar sweet boy. And by "giving" he meant staring at the boy like a stalker, so that even he noticed it and speeded up his walking with red cheeks. Maybe Tony was creepy, yes, maybe, but it was all due to stupid love. If it didn't exist, none of this would've happened. He puffed, glanced back up at Thor, who raised an eyebrow questioningly. "Why don't you ask him out?"

"Just shut up, you have no idea." He grumbled discontentedly and turned back around to see Bucky leaning against Tony's locker, smiling knowingly. Of course he knew what was going on in Tony's head. He'd been through the whole thing himself. With Steve, in fact. He shook his head, his hair falling unintentionally into his face, so Steve's hand slid towards him instantly and brushed a strand of hair out of his face. Of course the blond guy was not far away from his lover, always at his side, that asshole. Tony rolled his eyes, stood right in front of them and showed with a quick movement of his head that he wanted to get to his locker.

"What do you want, idiot? Ohh, your locker. Ah sorry, but I am standing here right now, find yourself another place, will you?" Bucky replied with wagging eyebrows and a smirk on his lips.

"Fuck off or I'll punch you in the face, idiot." Tony's nerves were shot to shit. First the beautiful boy who gave him a smile and now a fucking bastard who interrupted his daydreams. "Come on, just say what you're getting at. Come on, one word and I'll show you some respect, you little pain in the ass."

"I haven't heard so many words from you in a long time, you little bitch." He laughed happily, like this was all some sort of game to him. Being a bit annoying to his friends, his favorite hobby, it seems. Not to Steve, apparently, because his body showed something quite different. He was tense and his hands were clenched in fists as if he was about to intervene any second to protect his lover, even if he could do it well himself.

"Okay big boys, that's enough." The redhead who almost always got Tony out of difficult situations, intervened again. "There's a real tense atmosphere here, don't you think?"

"Completely agree with you," confirmed Thor, who was a little tense himself. It wouldn't be the first time that Bucky and Tony would fight, it happened almost every month, but it hasn't been as bad as today for a long time.

"The motherfucker's in love, totally, and he knows that I know and he knows that I know who it is and that... that scares him." That grin on his face and those eyes that radiated such joy, like he thought he'd won. Tony couldn't help himself. He swung and punched the asshole right in the face.

"Tony!!!"

"Gee, I've already apologized. He's just a little drama queen, we all know that." Tony paced the hallway outside the hospital room trying desperately to talk his way out. Meanwhile, Thor sat in the far too small chair and watched him pacing as if it was even remotely exciting.

"Holy shit, you broke his fucking nose!" Clint, another friend of Tony's, or rather Natasha's, interfered and threw the facts back on the table. Tony shrugged his shoulders.

"He provoked me. He always provokes me. I hope this has taught him a lesson."

"Absolutely, motherfucker," Bucky muttered sarcastically as he came out of the hospital room with Steve holding his hand and his face in pain. He had a white bandage on his nose and some blood on his upper lip. Tony leaned against the opposite wall and crossed his arms in front of his chest, raised one eyebrow while trying not to look as if he was actually worried. "Don't pretend, you son of a bitch, I know you love me and you're really, really sorry. And you know what? I forgive you, okay? Because I love you too, pal."

"Dude, what? I don't love you, man. That's totally gay, stop fucking around. Damn, now I've wasted my time with all this shit too. I'll see you guys tomorrow, you little pesky kids." He shook his head with a sigh before he pushed himself off the wall and walked down the corridor to the exit. It was already 4pm, he had wasted a whole hour.

When he opened the glass door and went outside, he saw an all-too-familiar brunette sitting there on a small wall with his arms wrapped around his backpack and fear in his eyes. Tony curled his eyebrows. What was Parker still doing here? He didn't want to, but he had to. He gathered up all his courage and walked towards the boy, who noticed his neighbour much too late and quickly looked up with big eyes.

"Hey, lemon boy," murmured Tony softly, avoiding eye contact most of the time, but when the boy didn't answer, he raised his head. "What are you still doing here?"

"You're Tony S-Stark, right? The boy next door.. right?" The smaller one wiggled his legs unsteadily around and bit his lower lip.

"Yes, I am, but that wasn't my question." He shifted his weight to one leg, tried to look a little cooler and also tried not to stare at the kid the whole time.

"Oh, yeah, right, sorry. I... um... Ben, my uncle... he was gonna pick me up, but he doesn't answer, and, yeah, so..-"

Tony took a deep breath before he just let his question shoot out of him. "Will you walk home with me? Then we won't be alone and I don't have to feel bad about leaving you here. I'll have to walk anyway."

"I, um... Sure, why not. I'm Peter, by the way, I'm not sure if you knew that yet. So, um, yeah..." He bounced off the wall and shouldered his bag before he walked down the street beside Tony. He was glad he was asked, he would never have dared to walk alone along the main road and then across country roads while it was already getting dark.

"To be honest, I didn't know, sorry." The older one gripped the straps of his backpack tighter so his ankles turned white. He looked down, barely daring to look at the smaller one, but he was so incredibly beautiful, how could he not?

Tony had to admit that his idea to ask Peter to come along was really good, considering the long way in darkness. Living in a village two hours away from the nearest school and then having to walk across country isn't the yellow of the egg, but Tony was used to it. He grew up in this house and even his parents always had to go this way back then, so he couldn't complain. As long as you caught the bus that ran twice before and after school, everything was fine. If you got detention or missed it, you were just unlucky and had to walk or to ask someone to pick you up. When Tony looked at the boy, he shivered under the cold of the night and he couldn't help but take off his jacket and put it over his shoulder, even if he was freezing to death himself. Peter looked up in surprise, then smiled thankfully and squeezed himself a little more by Tony's side.

"Are you afraid? I mean, in the dark?", asked the taller one quietly after a short time, while he was about to protect the boy with his arm.

"When I'm alone, sometimes." muttered Peter uncertainly, then looked up with his round eyes. Tony just wanted to bend down and kiss him, but he didn't. He'd talked to the boy for the first time today, so he couldn't ambush him with a kiss.

"And now? Are you afraid?", the older one asked after a long time of silence, just looking straight and avoiding trembling. This cold was killing him and the sweet boy with the far too big jacket next to him as well. Tony's jacket was like a blanket for Peter, his fingertips could barely be seen and then there was this magical smile on his lips.

The next moment the little one shook his head to answer the question that was asked a few minutes ago. "Somehow, no. This jacket makes me feel safe, I don't know... Thanks again.", mumbled Peter and crawled a little more into the fabric.

"Just the jacket?" He squinted his eyes over to Peter, suppressed his grin when he noticed the red cheeks.

"No, because of you too, my hero." Peter raised his arm and pointed to the first houses they saw after two hours walking. "Almost there!"

"Finally. My feet are killing me and I'm hungry, too. It's all Bucky's fault."

"Who's Bucky? Ah, wait, is that the boy with the long hair? The one you punched in the face?" They turned into a street and walked a few more blocks until they were in front of their homes and they were still standing outside to continued their talk. "Why did you hit him, anyway?"

"Not so important. He was an asshole again, and he was begging for it." Tony shrugged and walked towards Peter's house like it was normal, leaving him stunned. "You coming? I'll take you home like a gentleman."

"Oh, yeah, yeah... thanks, um, sorry, I'm coming." Peter hurried to get to Tony and smiled thankfully at him, while he was already knocking at the door. It was opened by a young woman with long brown hair who looked surprised and then tore Peter into her arms with relief.

"Oh God Peter! I was so worried! Ben feels so bad, he had to work late and his phone... and... and..."

"May, breathe! It's all fine, Tony brought me home, nothing happened." Peter slowly separated from his aunt and looked over his shoulder, smiling, at Tony, who only raised his hand briefly.

"Thank you, Tony... How can we ever repay you? You know what... You come over for dinner tomorrow and Ben takes you back after school, no buts."

A smile was on Tony's face and he quickly thanked her. "See you tomorrow, lemon boy."

It was until late in the evening - Tony was sitting up in his room, on his bed, thinking about what happened today - when he noticed that Peter still had his jacket. He sighed and looked over his shoulder out of the window to look into the boy's room. Apparently he was already asleep; the light was off and the curtains drawn. He just hoped that the younger one would give him his jacket back tomorrow.

Being back at school the next day and standing next to Bucky was more than uncomfortable for him. The teachers had all put a few more eyes on him and he felt like he was being watched almost the whole time. While he listened to the others talking, he kept an eye out for the boy he saw after a few minutes with another boy and a girl. And what took his breath away was that Peter was wearing his much too big jacket and looked outrageously cute. Without thinking about it, Tony walked up to the boy, ignoring that his friends were silent and watched him. After a short time Peter looked up and smiled softly, raised his hand and waved briefly before Tony stood right in front of him.

First he just stared at the little one, then opened his mouth and closed it again until he remembered why he came here. "My jacket."

"O-oh, yeah, right, sorry about that." Peter was about to take them off when Tony took the hem of the jacket in his hands and tightened it more.

"No, don't. It looks really good on you, makes you even sweeter," murmured Tony softly, just looking at his chest.

"Um... Thanks? I can give them back to you after dinner tonight, though. I mean-" When Tony looked up, he saw Peter biting his lower lip uncomfortably.

"You can keep them." The teenager smiled slightly, then nodded again, let his hands slide off the jacket, turned around and went back to his idiot friends, who all grinned at him knowingly. "One word and the next nose's broken."

"Since when?" Steve asked quietly, nodding towards Peter, who was giggling around with his friends.

"Since when what? Since when am I in love? Since when do I want to turn my whole life upside down for this one person? Since when would I do anything for that one person? Holy shit!" Tony angrily ran his fingers into his hair and ripped it. "I've been so fucking in love and I have been ever since I first saw him..." Unintentionally a tear of desperation rolled down his cheek as he squeezed his eyes to avoid the glances of his friends.

"Actually, I was going to ask you, since when are you into guys too, but it's probably not important. Come here." Steve then opened his arms and pulled his old friend into them, then held him tight. Tony put his head on Steve's shoulder and sighed deeply.

"It's okay, Stark," mumbled Bucky after a short while, before carefully putting his hand on Tony's back.

Tony then tore himself away from them, straightened his clothes, wiped away his tears and put on a smile. "Whatever, boys. Class is about to start, we should go inside, don't you think?" He didn't even wait for an answer, he immediately went into the school and to his locker to get his new books. As he turned around and walked on, a small figure suddenly stood in front of him, looking worried.

"Are you okay, Tony? I just.. saw you.. with the blond guy. You looked sad. Is it because of the jacket? Does it mean anything to you? Do you want it back?" Peter's eyes radiated such warmth and such concern for nothing. Tony felt bad that Peter thought it was his fault. Even if it was, but he didn't want him to think it was. He shook his head.

"No. It makes me happy that you're wearing mine. It's just... nothing." The taller one leaned his side against the lockers, looking down with a would-be cool look at the boy, who pressed his lips together, shook his head and flinched slightly when the bell rang. "Don't you want to go to class?"

"I'd rather talk to you. You're not well, something makes you sad...", Peter said, crossing his arms in front of his chest and panting discontentedly.

In the corner of his eye, Tony noticed Bucky and Steve walking past him, smiling softly and winking at him. They really could never stop. Deep inside, Tony wanted to prove something to them, just kiss the boy, but when he looked into the dark brown round eyes, he couldn't bring himself to do it.

"Shall we go to the library? Talk?", asked the younger one quietly, pulled gently on his sleeve and then went with his neighbour into the room of books. Once there, Peter sat down with Tony at a table that was a bit more private and then looked at him gently. "I haven't known you long. In fact, yesterday was the first time we spoke. But... I feel like I've known you for years, it's weird. And I just want you to be happy... that you know that you can talk to me when something's wrong.. And you can even come over to me anytime.. We could sit in my room and do something. Play games or talk or just lie on my bed and... It sounds crazy, sorry."

"It doesn't sound crazy at all, it's rather nice. I'd love to come to your house sometimes and do stuff like that. Or invite you over to my place. You know, Peter, I like you. I really like you a lot and that scares me a bit," confessed Tony with an insecure smile on his lips. Peter struggled with himself for a few seconds, but then smiled and nodded in agreement at him.

"If you're coming for dinner tonight, we can go to my room afterwards.. if you want?"

Tony nodded quickly, maybe even a bit too quickly.

Tony smiled slightly at the unfamiliar man as he took off his backpack and put it on his lap as he sat in the Parkers' car. His friends, who were waiting for the bus as usual, looked at him in confusion and then grinned a little. He couldn't even remember when the last time was when he was picked up from school in a car and apparently you could see it in his face because Peter, who was sitting next to him, was smiling happily at him and if Tony was honest, it was the most beautiful thing he had ever seen.

"So, Tony, I heard you're coming over for dinner later?", asked Mr. Parker him after a short time in which Tony and the boy were just looking at each other smiling.

The teenager looked up quickly and nodded at the man. "Yes sir, that's right. Um... thanks again for picking me up and, of course, for the dinner later."

"Wow, easy, boy. No problem. I'd really do anything to thank you for bringing my boy home. I still can't forgive myself." With clenched lips, the man kept driving, only looking back through the rearview mirror once in a while.

"Ben it wasn't your fault, okay? Your boss was giving you trouble again, you couldn't help it. I was safe with Tony, he even gave me his jacket." Peter talked about Tony as if he was head over heels in love with him, as if he wasn't even there right now and Tony only noticed much too late that he was grinning up to his ears.

"You're welcome, little lemon," muttered he with a smile, placing his hand delicately on Peter's knee, who widened his eyes a little, but then wrapped both his hands around Tony's wrist and smiled sweetly at him.

"'Little lemon,' sweet... Look, Pete, he even has a nickname for you already. I think you're gonna be great friends," said Ben as he rounded the last corner and pulled into the Parkers' parking lot. "All right, guys, get out and get in. May should have dinner ready by now."

"Oh eat already? I was counting on tonight... um, yeah, okay, well, then now." Tony scratched the back of his head slightly, then got out of the car with Peter and Ben and went into the house behind them, where it already smelled wonderfully of food.

"We're more like those people who eat lunch instead of dinner, so don't be surprised. I hope you don't mind," Peter asked the taller one quietly, looked up at him and seemed a bit anxious. He was apparently panicking that Tony maybe leave because he might not be hungry.

"And we talk about dinner all the time." Tony laughed briefly, then put his arm around Peter's shoulder and walked into the dining room with him. "No, that's okay, I'm hungry anyway."

The room wasn't really large, but therefore totally cosy and the brown, long table that was standing there seemed to have already gone through some moves. The chairs seemed to be comfortable, Peter also immediately dropped on one and knocked on the chair next to him, indicating to Tony to sit down as well, which he did directly. After a short time the woman from last night entered the room with a pot in her hands, which she placed on the table in front of Peter and Tony. May smiled happily at Tony, greeted him very briefly and then sat down on the chairs opposite of them with Ben.

"So Tony, how you doing, my boy? Why don't you get something to eat, come on. Have as much as you want." May took the big spoon and filled Tony's plate so that he thanked her overburdened and looked at Peter, who also put something on his own and started eating.

"I'm fine, thanks for asking." Tony smiled broadly, kept peeking over at Peter, eating carefully and full of manners.

Suddenly it became quiet in the room and the two boys looked up in wonder. May had a satisfied smile on her lips, exchanged a few glances with her husband, who nodded knowingly and shoved another spoonful of food into his mouth.

"Peter, my boy... Tony look at you like you're his entire world..", recognized she warmly, as warmly as Tony's cheeks after he had noticed how he had been staring at the boy the whole time.

"T-That's not true at all!" Tony tried to talk his way out, his cheeks should be as red as strawberries.

Peter's eyes fell on Tony's plate and he hesitated briefly before opening his mouth and quietly asked if he was finished and if they wanted to go to his room. He nodded quickly, apologized to the adults and then went upstairs behind Peter.

Tony tensed as he sat unsteadily on the edge of Peter's bed. The boy himself, meanwhile, grabbed all his dirty laundry off the floor and tossed it into some corner before scratching the back of his head in shame.

"I'm sorry.. about.. you know. I forgot to clean up..." Peter shyly clasped his hands in front of him and rocked back and forth unsteadily while he smiled slightly.

"That's okay. At least your room can still be considered as a room." A soft laugh escaped his throat and a moment later two brown eyes looked at him, squinted a bit because he had to grin too.

"Yours that bad?" The boy asked, tilting his head and grinning broadly.

"Oh darling, you have no idea. My room resembles a jungle and to be honest, I don't really feel like changing anything about it." Tony shrugged his shoulders indifferently, before he slid a little to the side to make room for the other, who now wanted to sit down on the bed as well. Unlike Tony, however, he crawled back to the wall, against he leaned with a smile.

"You don't have to sit there like that... Come here." Peter lightly tapped the mattress beside him with the flat of his hand, and after a moment's hesitation, the older one took a seat beside him.

He made himself a little more comfortable before looking down at the boy with a smile. Just a little, they were almost at eye level as they sat there like that. Peter bit his lower lip briefly and batted his eyelashes quickly as he tried to tear his gaze away from the other. Silence fell between them and when Tony realized that Peter would not be looking at him anytime soon, he gently took his chin with two fingers and delicately turned his head in his direction. His smile fell easily, so captivated was he by the eyes in front of him.

"So.. You gonna kiss me.. or?" Peter murmured softly as he got closer and closer to the teenager. Along the way, he tried to read the other's body language so as not to have misinterpreted anything.

"So you want me to kiss you?" Tony asked in a somber voice before carefully sliding his hand up Peter's leg to his hip to pull him even closer. "I mean.. we're both boys and..–"

"I don't care. Doesn't matter. I want it, kiss me." He took it in his own hands now and pulled Tony close so he could feel the other's breath on his lip. "Kiss me..."

Tony opened his mouth in surprise, clawing deeper with his fingers into flesh beneath him before making a tortured sound and placing his lips on Peter's. He wasn't sure if that had been the boy's first kiss, but instead of asking, he just pressed his lips to the ones in front of him again. Peter ran his delicate fingers into Tony's hair and tugged lightly on them, so he was separated from the younger one with parted lips.

"Wow..."

"Wow....."

"Um. Can we just... lie here a bit now? And do nothing? While Holding hands?"

"Yes.. Yes we can."

• T H E E N D •

Thank u for reading c:

#starker #peter parker #tony stark #peter parker x tony stark #implied stucky #implied ex-pepperony

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spacesuitsforemergency · 4 years

Text

The Rise Of Iron Maiden

Chapter 5: The Return of Iron Maiden

Word Count: 2.9k

Originally Requested by: @amateurwriterbigdreamer

Previous Chapter: Failure to Launch

Next Chapter: Whatever it Takes

A/N: hope y’all don’t mind it from Tye’s POV, it just adds to the story and develops his character. Y/N gets her character arc going too towards the end.

5 YEARS LATER

•

Tye sighed in boredom as he wandered around the halls of the Avengers Compound, his home for 8 years now. He was 21 now, legally an adult. He could’ve gotten his own place 3 years ago, but he felt he would truly be alone if he did that. You lived with your parents and younger sister in the countryside, your dad wanting to isolate you from the hero life. This meant Tye hadn’t seen you for almost two years now, his only friend left was taken from him. He knew Tony didn’t mean any harm, he just wanted his daughter safe, but it still confused him.

Tye was always confused these days. He lived with Natasha Romanoff at the Compound, the only one left that was willing to stay with him. Clint had disappeared off the face of the planet, despite not being taken in the Snap. Tye was lost without his own best friend, Jaime Reyes. Jaime and him stuck together no matter what, and Tye never knew what to do without him. He was confused, on why the world seemed to take everything away from him. His mother, his father, his grandpa, his best friends, his team, his mentors...

“...Will you find out where he's going next?” Natasha asks holographic Rhodey. Tye realized he walked into the meeting room, where Natasha was having her weekly check in with the other teams.

“Nat...” Rhodey trailed off.

“Please.” She took a shaky breath.

“...okay...” Rhodey nodded, saw Tye, then cut off his side of the connection.

Nat started to cry miserably, and Tye didn’t know whether to make his presence known or just leave. He decided on the latter, turning to walk out silently.

“Tye?”

Tye winced, feeling like he was intruding. He turned slowly, a pang of sadness stinging through him when he saw the sorrow in Natasha’s eyes.

“Nat, Uh...Sorry, I didn’t mean to just barge in-“

“It’s okay.” She chuckled, wiping her eyes. “You want some dinner?”

“Uh...no, I’m good.” Tye shook his head, seeing the half eaten PB&J on her desk. “See you’re eating healthy.”

“Oh, what’s the point of keeping up a proper diet anyways?” She laughed, despite the few tears rolling down her face.

“Good point.” He cracked a grin, which she rarely saw the young man do. “So...anything bad happening anywhere?”

“No. Everything seems under control.” Nat shook her head. “Why? You worried about something?”

“It’s nothing, mom.” Tye shook his head. When he didn’t get any response, he looked up from staring at the floor, seeing Natasha staring in surprise at him. “What?”

“You called me mom.” She said, the shock evident in her voice.

“I did? Oh...uh...sorry, I didn’t mean to it just kinda-“ he started to awkwardly walk away.

“No no no!” She stood up, clearing her throat and a smile spreading across her face. “It Uh...you think of me as a mom?”

“I mean...yeah.” Tye mumbled, embarrassed. He wasn’t used to letting his emotions or thoughts be exposed like this. “You practically raised me ever since I got...stuck here. I’ve always looked up to you.”

“That...really?” She smiled wider, tears running down her face again.

“Oh don’t cry! This is sappy enough as it is!” Tye grumbled as Natasha laughed at his reaction. She rounded the desk and pulled him into a hug, Tye stiffening at first. He eventually grew comfortable enough to hug her back, feeling safe in her arms. It reminded him of his mother’s hugs, but somehow Natasha’s were more...genuine. Loving. It was nice. Something Tye wasn’t used to.

“I’ll tell you a secret, kid.” She ruffled his hair as she pulled back. “I’ve always wanted a son, and I am so happy you’re the one.”

“Okay, that’s enough love and affection for one night, Nat.” Tye shuddered, making her laugh again.

“Don’t you mean mom?” She teased.

The mother and son (sort of) whipped around when a hologram popped up, seeing footage of what looked to be a security camera.

“Oh! Hi. Hi! Is anyone home? This is Scott Lang. We met a few years ago, at the airport? In Germany? I got really big, and I had my mask on. You wouldn't recognize me.” Scott Lang, AKA Ant Man waved at the camera.

“Is this an old message?” Tye asked.

“It’s the front gate.” Nat stared in disbelief.

“Ant Man? Ant Man, I know you know that. I need to talk to you guys.” Scott shouted.

Nat typed a few things into a control panel, and the door opened. Scott looked between the camera and the door for a moment before finally letting himself in. Scott found his way to where they were standing, in complete shock. Scott Lang was supposed to be dust right now, along with half the universe.

“Scott? Are you okay?” Tye asked the man, now nervously pacing.

“Yeah. Fine. So you do know me? Or are you just going with the name I gave you?” Scott asked.

“No uh, my friends broke into your house a few years ago. Before the Snap, remember a guy in a spider suit and another in a beetle suit?”

“Right! The Bug Squad!” Scott smiled excitedly. “That was so cool.”

“Scott, focus.”

“Right. Have you guys studied Quantum Physics?”

“Only to make conversation.” Nat said, though neither guy could tell if she was joking.

“Sorry, no.” Tye pursed his lips.

“Alright. So... five years ago, right before Thanos, I was in a place called the Quantum Realm. The Quantum Realm is like its own microscopic universe. To get in there, you have to be incredibly small. Hope, she's my...She was my...She was supposed to pull me out. And then Thanos happened, and I got stuck in there.” Scott explained.

“I’m sorry, that must’ve been a long five years.” Nat said.

“Yeah, but that's just it. It wasn't. For me, it was five hours.” Scott shook his head rapidly. Tye looked at his mom, bewildered.

“See, the rules of the Quantum Realm aren't like they are up here. Everything is unpredictable. Is that anybody's sandwich? I'm starving.” Scott asked, already shoving half of it into his mouth.

“Scott, what are you talking about?” Tye asked, crossing his arms.

“What I'm saying is, time works differently in the Quantum Realm. The only problem is right now, we don't have a way to navigate it. But what if we did? I can't stop thinking about it. What if, we could somehow control the chaos, and we could navigate it? What if there was a way to enter the Quantum Realm at a certain point in time but then exit at another point in time? Like... Like before Thanos.” Scott slowly explained, motioning wildly with his hands.

“Wait, are you talking about a time machine? Like from Back to the Future?” Tye raised his eyebrows.

“No. No, of course not. No, not a time machine. It's more like a... Yeah, a time machine. I know it's crazy. But I can't stop thinking about it. There's gotta be some way...There's gotta be...some w... it's crazy.” Scott rambled.

“Scott, I get e-mails from a raccoon, so nothing sounds crazy anymore.” Natasha scoffed.

“So who do we need to talk to about this?” Scott asked them. Nat and Tye exchanged glances again, both knowing the answer.

•

You tapped your fingers impatiently on your windowsill, looking out the window of your bedroom.

You had received a text from Tye Longshadow for the first time in months, and they were coming to your house. You were sworn to secrecy, so that your dad couldn’t prepare for the attack. You were anxious, wanting to see them so bad.

Your dad had isolated you from anything that had to do with being Iron Maiden. That included a lot of people in your life. You were mad at your dad, for taking you away from what little you had left. You missed Tye, you missed Natasha and Steve, and Rhodey and Dr. Banner. Thor and Clint, even though they weren’t really around anymore. Even Nebula and the rude raccoon. You were forbidden from putting on the Iron Maiden suit, and you didn’t know why you listened to him. You were an adult, you could make your own decisions. Plus, you’d never listened to him before. Maybe you listened this time because the guilt of not listening before the Snap dragged you down. But it also dragged you down as a person. You weren’t as happy or sarcastic anymore, you’d lost the classic Stark Charm™️.

You looked at the photos on your window sill, smiling sadly as you reminisced about what felt like your past life. One photo was you and your team after your first official Avengers permitted mission, all beat up and tired, sitting at a pizza booth. The other was of you and Peter in middle school, holding the first prize ribbon of the science fair. The last was of you and Eduardo, the love of your life. Peter had snuck a picture of you two sitting across from each other at a diner, smiling and looking into each other’s eyes. Your fingers were intertwined in the picture, and all you wanted to do was feel his hand in yours again. To hear his voice in person, not just from old videos. To smell the scent of his fancy cologne. To look into his beautiful, big brown eyes. To feel his lips on yours...

You look up when you see a black Audi pull into your driveway, and you bolt downstairs. Your mother was thankfully working in her office, so you didn’t get scolded for running in the house. You ran down the gravel pathway, passed your dad and little sister, running to your last friend standing. He let you hug him, and to your surprise he hugged you back.

“Good to see you.” You say as you pull away from Tye.

“Yeah, you too.” He nodded.

“You still wear a headband, I see.” You grin teasingly.

“You still haven’t gotten taller, I see.” He retorted.

•

“Now, we know what it sounds like...” Scott trailed off after the heroes explained their (currently) hypothetical plan to you and Tony.

“Tony, Y/N, after everything you've seen, is anything really impossible?” Steve asked. He knew you had taken up your time studying everything, following your father’s footsteps.

“Quantum fluctuation messes with the Planck Scale, which then triggers the Deutsch Proposition.” You mumble, lost in thought.

“Can we agree on that?” Tony asked his fellow Avengers. They all look at each other, clueless. “In Layman's terms, it means you're not coming home.”

“I did.” Scott shrugged as Tony handed them drinks.

“No, you accidentally survived. It's a billion to one cosmic fluke. And now you wanna pull off a...What do you call it?”

“A time heist?” Scott suggested, a goofy grin on his face.

“Yeah, a time heist. Of course, why didn't we think of this before? Oh, because it's laughable? Because it's a pipedream?” Your dad scoffed.

“The Stones are in the past. We can go back and get them.” Tye explained.

“We can snap our own fingers. We can bring everyone back.” Natasha added.

“Or screw it up worse than he already has, right?” Tony raised an eyebrow.

“I don’t believe we would.” Steve said confidentially.

“Gotta say, sometimes I miss that giddy optimism. However, high hopes won't help if there's no logical, tangible way for me to safely execute said time heist. I believe the most likely outcome would be our collective demise.” Tony ranted.

“Not if we strictly follow the rules of time travel. That means no talking to our past selves, no betting on sporting events-“ Tye listed.

“I'm gonna stop you right there, Tye. Are you seriously telling me that your plan to save the universe is based on Back To The Future?” Tony asked his ex-mentee. “God, I’m gone for a couple years and you start saying stupid shit like this?”

“...no.” Him and Scott mumbled in unison.

“Good. You had me worried there. 'Cause that'd be horse shit. That's not how quantum physics works.”

“Tony...We have to take a stand.” Natasha tried to persuade him.

“We did stand. And yet, here we are.”

“I know you got a lot on the line. You got a wife, daughters. But I lost someone very important to me. A lot of people did.” Scott said desperately. “And now, now we have a chance to bring her back. To bring everyone back. And you're telling me that won't even...”

“That's right, Scott, I won't even. I have kids.”

As if on cue, Morgan runs out onto the porch, your dad picking her up.

“Mommy told me to come and save you.” She said shyly, weary of the new faces.

“Good job. I'm saved.” Tony kisses her on the head as he picked her up, before turning back to the heroes. “I wish you'd come here to ask me something else. Anything else. Honestly, I...I missed you guys, it was...Oh, and table's set for seven.”

“Tony, I get it. And I'm happy for you, I really am. But this is a second chance.” Steve tried to reason with him.

“I got my second chance right here, Cap. I can't roll the dice again. If you don't talk shop, you can stay for lunch.” Tony said, and it stung when he didn’t point to you too. You watch him leave, ignoring his orders to come inside.

“I’m in.” You tell them.

“Won’t your dad...?” Natasha trailed off.

“He’s not in control of me.” You shook your head. “If there’s even the slightest chance this will work, I’m in.”

“It’ll definitely work if we have a Stark with us.” Scott grinned.

“Glad to have you back, Iron Maiden.” Steve pat your shoulder.

You smile, not hearing yourself be referred to by that name in such a long time. It made your heart fill with pride, and fueled your determination.

“Y/N Stark.” Tony said from the doorway.

“Don’t leave without me.” You tell them, glaring at your father as you push past him.

“Y/N, where are you going?” Your dad demanded.

“With them.” You spat as he follows you upstairs. “I’m going to try. Unlike you, I have hope.”

“It’s not that I don’t have hope. I just can’t risk any of this.” Tony insisted.

“Any of what? What kind of life is this, dad? Sure it’s great for you, but did you ever stop to look at it from my perspective?” You ask as you grab a bag from under your bed, tossing your photos from the windowsill into it.

“All I’ve ever done is protect you.” Your dad says through his teeth. “Why are you doing this? To get back at me?”

“No dad! I’m doing this because I want everyone back! This is my chance to save everyone! It’s my fault Thanos did this in the first place! If I was stronger, Eduardo would still be here! Peter! Jaime! Bucky! Wanda! The Guardians! Doctor Strange! Sam! Don’t you care about any of them?”

“Of course I care about them! But I care about my family more!”

“They’re my family!” You yell at him, the frustration that you’ve been bottling up for years finally pouring out.

“So that’s it?” Your dad scoffs and shakes his head in disappointment. “What if you screw this up? Huh? What if you make things worse. You’re willing to risk your mother’s life? Your little sisters, for your boyfriend?”

“You know what? Yes.” You snap, zipping your bag up and tossing it over your shoulder. “Not just for him. For everyone. For my life. I want my life back, and apparently that’s something you can’t give me.”

You storm out of your room and down the stairs, seeing Morgan sitting at the table, eating lunch. She grins when she sees you, looking at your bag.

“Where are you going?” She asked as you walked over and kneeled next to her seat.

“I’m gonna go see some old friends for a little bit. Think you can hold down the fort around here?” You ask her.

“Yeah.” She smiled.

“Are you sure? It’s gonna be tough without me.” You tease her. “You’re gonna have to make sure daddy does the laundry right, you know how he always mixes up the soaps. And you have to make sure to save daddy from mommy’s scolding. Think you can take it, soldier?”

“I can take it.” She nodded happily.

“Alright.” You hug her. “Love you, kiddo. See ya later.”

“Bye.” She waved at you until you shut the door, and walked down to the car with the others.

“Iron Maiden and Apache Chief, back again.” Tye fist bumped you.

“Iron Maidens back in the game!” You cheer happily.

“He’s scared.” Natasha said to Steve and Scott.

“He’s not wrong.” Steve shrugged.

“Yeah, but I mean, what are we gonna do? We need him. I mean, we managed one Stark, but we need both. No offense, Ms. Tony Starks Daughter. What, are we gonna stop?” Scott rambled nervously.

“No, I wanna do it right. We're gonna need a really big brain.” Steve shook his head.

“Bigger than his?”

#the rise of iron maiden #eduardo dorado jr x stark! reader #tye longshadow #natasha romanoff #scott lang #steve rogers #tony stark #morgan stark #pepper potts #avengers endgame #marvel #request #young justice #peter parker #spiderman #jaime reyes #blue beetle

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1-800-hellraiser · 4 years

Text

(Just a P.S.A, this is more of a 'father and daughter' type thing, in this oneshot, you're 15. MAPs are disgusting. Thanks for coming to my TED talk.)

Requested by: no one

Pages: 7.5

Words: 2,733

Genre: fluffyyyyyyyy

Associated song: Daddy Issues - The Neighborhood

!TW! Mentions of family issues, mental and emotional abuse, blood, murder and some swearing.

<3<3<3<3<3<3<3<3<3<3<3<3<3<3<3<3<3<3<3<3

"And if you were my little girl, I'd do whatever I could do. I'd run away and hide with you, I love that you got daddy issues."

Throughout your life, you were a good kid. You followed directions, you were kind and friendly, everything a parent could ask for in a child. Except, your parents were different, your parents hated you. They would call you names, manipulate you and put you down. You obviously hated it, so, one day you snapped. You killed your family, you didn't feel guilty.

Now, you live in a mansion with a bunch of serial killers, some human, most not. They are your family now, and you're glad to call them that. One being in particular that makes you feel this way is Hoodie. He was the first one to take you to Slender's mansion. Since then, you've been training to becime a proxy, just like him.

You see him as a father figure, you never said anything about it though. You don't want your relationship with him to be ruined. You're scared that if you tell him how you'll feel, he'll abandon you. The only one who knows about this is Slender, since he's the only one (other than Hoodie) that you trust in the mansion with this information.

You have a big day ahead of you today. You go on your first mission with Hoodie. You've been living in the mansion for about six months, those months have been used as training months. Now, you're ready for you're first misson as a proxy. You're excited, but also very nervous. What if you mess it up. What if the target gets away. What if you lose Hoodie. What if you lose his respect. What if-

"Good morning Y/n. You have to get up to get ready for the mission. You've got thirty minutes, I'll be waiting downstairs." You turn in your bed to face Hoodie. You take your hand from under your covers and give him a thumbs up. He chcukles at your action and closes the door.

After Hoodie leaves, you roll to the edge of your mattress and sit up. You raise both your arms above your head and stretch your back. You get up and pad over to your dresser. You open up the first drawerbto get undergarments and socks. The next drawer, you pull out your f/s (favorite shirt). You open the second to last drawer to grab some denim jeans.

You walk over to the bathroom built into your room. You put your clothes on the edge of the sink, and grab the towel that you used yesterday. You gently turn the handle to adjust the temperature. Silently taking off your pajamas, you toss them on the floor. Making a mental note to get them when you get put of the shower, you step into the shower.

You step out of the shower and grab your towel. Wrapping the towel around you, you pick up your pajamas with a dry hand, then toss them in with your dirty clothes. You pad back in to the bathroom and dry yourself off. After you dry off, you style your hair how you want. After that, you put on some deodorant and start putting on your clothes.

"Damn, this smells good." You comment to yourself about your body fragrance. You look in the mirror above your sink. You twist and turn a bit, then put your hands on your hips confidently. "I look like a boss ass bitch," You comment at your reflection. You walk out of the bathroom and grab your combat boots that are put neatly next to your bedroom door.

Sliding on your boots and tying them tight, you grab your weapon of choice. A simple aluminum baseball bat. You also grabbed your plain black zip-up hoodie, and headed downstairs. You try your best to walk down the stairs as quietly as you possibly can. You don't want to wake anybody up. Especially Jeff, you rather not get stabbed today.

Silently stepping off the last stair, you gently speedwalk to the living room. The living room is also close to the kitchen and the front door. The only thing dividing the kitchen from the living room was a counter. Bringing yourself back from the decor of the murder mansion, you turn to see a smiling Hoodie. He doesn't have his mask on yet, which suprises you greatly.

Hoodie always wears his mask, even if its unbearably hot outside, or when he's sleeping. You don't understand how its comfortable, but you learned from living with a bunch of serial killers to just not question it. "You ready to go?" His soft tone brings you back from your thoughts. You just simply nod and walk out the door with him.

The pastas and proxies don't normally have to use cars to get to their destination, but there are rare occurrences where they do. Only on missions that take more than an 45 minutes in walking time. This one was not an exception, just driving to this person's house will take you and Hoodie about a hour and a half.

The only car the pastas and proxies have is this big white van. Dubbed 'the candy van' by Jeff and BEN. Because of it's nature in media, you can see why the name sticks. You hop into the passenger seat and make yourself comfortable. You silently stare out the window into the vast forest that surrounds you.

You see why Slender put the mansion in the middle of a forest. Even if most of the inhabitants are stuck there, at least they have a beautiful view. You're torn away from your fixation on the forest by the revving of the ignition. You steal a glance at Hoodie, then relax into the questionably stained seat of the van.

The car ride was full of you seeing Hoodie become more, how do I put it, talkative? Yeah, he told you a lot about his past, you knew some if it, but not all of it. You feel honored to have this information and trust. So, its only fair you tell him your story as well right? You told him everything, everything from the nitty-gritty, to your favorite memories with friends. Mini road trips are magical.

Hoodie pulls into a rocky drive way at an unknown l youocation. The little GPS on his phine still showes about a five minute walk to the destination. He takes his phone, turns it off, and slips on his ski mask. He glances over at you, you are spacing out at the forest in front of you. "You okay?" His voice cuts through the air like a knife. You blink a few times, trying to get your train of thought back on track. "Yeah, I'm good, I just spaced out," You explain sheepishly.

Hoodie nods understandingly. You both hop out if the car parked in the dense forest area, and make your way to the victim's house. "So, what's the sitch Hoods?" You ask, not knowing the plan because you and Hoodie forgot to talk about it on the way there. But it was worth it.

"A woman by the name of Annie Butler has been sticking her nose where it doesn't belong. She's finding out way too much. So, we have to take some files of hers then kill her." You nod, hyping yourself up to do this. Admittedly, you are a bit anxious, but that won't stop you from gaining more of Hoodie's trust and respect.

You are hoping you don't fuck this up big time. You cant lose the bond that you and Hoodie have, it's way to important to you. You give a gentle sigh and keep walking with Hoodie.

Eventually, you arrive at the house of the person of interest. The house is white and the trim is a robins egg blue. It looks like the house of the traditional nuclear family, but with a bit more, suspicion. You start walking towards the house through the drive way before Hoodie grabs your arm.

"We gotta go around back to break in, she'll see us comming up the driveway." He informs, you blush, embarrassed about not thinking about that. You follow Hoodie around to the back of the house. Annie has a very nice white patio with a glass table and five black metal chairs with white cushons on top. She has a medium sized firepit adjacent to the patio near the backdoor.

"I think we should sneak in through that window." You say, pointing to the window next to the patio. Hoodie nods and you both start to walk over to the window. Once you reach the window, you slide up the protective screen and pull up the window.

Luckily, this lady is dumb enough to leave her windows unlocked. You set your butt on the windowsill and stick one leg in, then your torso, then the other. Hoodie follows in suit as you stand in the garage. You see the door that leads from the garage to the house and go to open it. Unfortunately, this lady is smart enough to lock the doors.

"What dumbass doesn't lock their windows, but locks their doors?" You say, Hoodie chuckles softly at your jab. You smile and fish around in your pocket, you grasp the cold metal and pull out a bobbypin. You pick at the lock for a while before hearing a small 'click'. You try the handle again and the door opens this time.

You and Hoodie both sneak into the house, you do not see Annie yet. "I'm going to go check the kitchen, you check the living room," You give Hoodie a thimbs up and tou both ho your separate ways. You silently pad over to the doorway leading into the living room and peak inside.

The living room walls are painted a light grey. There is a black couch on one side of the wall, and a flat screen t.v on the other. In the corner between the couch and the wall is a house plant in a modern, porcelain plant pot. Above the couch sat a few picture frames with pictures of what looks to be Annie and her family. You give a slight smile, she looks so happy in the photos. You see no sign of Annie.

You meet Hoodie at the foot of a stairwell. It probably leads up to her room. "This stairwell leads up to Annie's room," called it. You and Hoodie walk up the steps, being as quiet as humanly possible. You both see two doors "Her door is the left one" Hoodie states nonchalantly. You silently step towards the eggshell white door. You take a deep breath, and roughly shove the door open. Bat in hand, you speedwalk into the room, Hoodie right behind you.

You see Annie sitting at a desk with a monitor on it. She flinches into her chair and whips her head at you and Hoodie. "W-who are you, and what are you doung in my house?" Annie gets up from her chair and stumbles backwards a bit. "You know too much, we can't have that, we know what you know." Hoodie states reaching for the handgun in his hoodie pocket.

"S-STAY BACK", Annie shouts, pulling a meat cleaver from under her pillow. You chuckle lowly, "Do you really think we're afraid of you, Annie?" You seer, she gives you a look of shock and horror. "How do you know my name?" She questions, you laugh in her face. "Oh dear Annie, we know every little thing about you~" you laugh and step towards her menacingly. She stumbles backwards and falls on her butt, she scoots as far away from you until her back hits her bed.

You tilt your head to the right, signaling Hoodie to go get her files. You slowly and menacingly step towards Annie, every step you take your bat hits the floor with a solid 'thunk'. Your standing toe to toe with Annie's shaking form, you raise your bat. "P-please don't." She whimpers, her arms blocking her face. You chuckle and get ready to swing the bat.

"Too late, sweetheart." You say as you bring the bat down as hard as you can onto her head. Blood spews all over everything. Annie lets out a scream as you bring down your bat once more on her head. She lets out a gurgle as blood drips down from her bashed in skull, out her nose, and her mouth. Hit her with your bat right in her temple to make sure she's dead. Once you know she's dead, you lean on your bat, and try to wipe spewed blood off your s/t face.

"You got the files?" You turn to Hoodie, he holds up a thick manilla folder. "Ok, let's go." You say, as you start to navigate to the front door, Hoodie follows in suit. You both find your way out of the house, and take a trail through the forest to get to the van, so you won't get noticed. You finally get to the dirty white van and you hop into yhe passenger side.

Almost as soon as you both get on the road, you pass out. Who knew bludgeoning someone to death with a bat could knock the energy out of you. When Hoodie sees you passed out, he smiles and chuckles softly. It's normal for a new proxy to clonk out after their first mission.

Once you and Hoodie got home, it was about 5:30 pm (17:30). Hoodie gently shakes you awake. "Y/n, you gotta get up, we're home now." He whispers gently to your sleeping form. You stir and slightly open your eyes, you blink and sit up straight. You yawn and stretch a bit. "How long was I out for?" "About 45 minutes." Hoodie informs, you nod, grabing your bat and getting out of the van.

You and Hoodie proceed to walk back to the mansion. "Hey kid, you did a great job today, I'm proud of you." You smile, still sleepy and out of it. "Thanks dad." Hoodie stops in his tracks, you turn back and let what you said sink in. "UH, I meant thanks Hoods, eheheh." You say and speedwalk as fast as you can to the mansion.

As soon as you enter the mansion you haul ass to your room. You shut the door and run into your bathroom. You sit in the toilet seat, trying not to hyperventilate as you flip your shit. You just called Hoodie dad, you're royaly fucked. You start toncry a little before you hear a knock on your door. You stop everything you're doing.

"Y/n, please come out, I need to talk to you." You jear Hoodie's soft voice call from your door. You sigh, fuck it. You get up and trudge to the door. Your shaking hand grips the knob and turns it slowly. Your door creaks open to reveal Hoodie. "I'm so sorry for what I said I didn't mean to say it out loud I don't want you to think of me any less and I would like to forget this ever happened." You spew out, flinching back when you're finished. Hoodie frowns underneath his mask and puts a hand on your tense shoulder.

"It's ok Y/n, I never knew you thought of me that way, but, It's okay." He almost whispers. You start to shake again, Hoodie sees this and engulfs you in a hug. He gently rocks you back and forth as you let out muffled sobs of shame. "It's okay honey I'm here, I'm here."

"Love is just a history that they may prove, and when you're gone, I'll tell them my religions"

#marble hornets #creepypasta #marble hornets brian #marble hornets hoodie #hoodie #fluff #oneshot #short story #writers on tumblr #<3 <3 <3 #ilysm <333 #ily <3333

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patrocool · 4 years

Text

It was early morning in Financial District. Commuters bustled around the siblings as they exited the subway station onto William Street. The pair stopped abruptly in front of the shop just outside of the station, much to the dismay of a woman behind them, who nearly ran into them with a curse.

Sarah Jacobs had worked hard to get to this point. And damn it, she was proud of herself. Sure, it didnt look like a lot right now- a tiny little hole in the wall right next to the entrance to the A and C train that was probably about the size of her bedroom in her tiny Manhattan apartment- but it was hers and she was proud to own the place.

Davey held up the key with a soft smile. "Planning on going in any time soon?" He asked lightly. She grinned as she took the key from his fingers and unlocked the door, stepping in. It was musty, dusty, dirty, and a bit stuffy, but none of that mattered. What mattered was what it was going to look tomorrow, and then the next day, and the day after that.

She clapped her hands together and set down her bag of cleaning supplies. "We've got a lot of work to do, Davey!"

ii.

Davey carefully placed the finishing touches on the flowers in stock, making them look nice in their holders. He stepped back, hands on his hips, and smiled. He turned to watch his sister as she carefully wrote the last few things on her chalkboard behind the counter.

The store looked perfect. Picturesque, to the point where Davey wouldnt be surprised if photographers came in looking for the perfect picture. Sarah set down her chalk and brushed her fingers off on her apron. She turned, nervously brushing stray hairs behind her ears, and straightening her light blue blouse. "Hows it look, David?"

He gave her two thumbs up. "It looks like a hipster's wet dream," he promised her teasingly.

She laughed and threw a rag at him. "You're such an ass, get out of my store with your gross face! You're gonna be late for class."

He snickered and leaned over the counter to grab his bag. "I'll turn on the open sign and unlock the door on my way out. If I dont, you probably never will."

As he left, he saw a young woman hesitating outside, looking curious. He held the door open. "Going in?" He asked.

She shook her head and hurried away down the street. He shrugged and headed to class. Sarah would have customers soon enough.

iii.

After the fourth day of trying to peek in the flower shop to and from class, Katherine Plumber finally gave in and slipped inside. A soft ring of the bell alerted the quiet shop, and she looked around in awe. Exposed brick on one wall, plants in baskets hung from the ceiling, fairy lights strung across the walls. Beautiful displays of potted plants and cut flowers alike. A chalkboard hung behind the counter listed prices and deals and specials, and then the most beautiful woman Katherine had ever laid eyes on came out of the back room, smiling brightly at the sight of a customer.

Dark hair in loose curls that reached her ribs, brown eyes that seemed to sparkle in the light, circle frame glasses perched on her nose. She wore a yellow turtleneck and high waisted mom jeans with scuffed converse, and a well worn apron. On her apron, someone stitched in the name "Sarah" with blue thread.

"Can I help you with anything?" The shopkeeper asked her cheerfully, and Katherine never felt more out of place.

"Just- just looking," she stammered awkwardly. She tugged at the sleeves of her leather jacket, glancing down at the pins and patches adorning it and hoping there wasnt anything that the sweet shopkeeper would take the wrong way. Usually, she didnt care if other people didnt like her opinions, but damn it, the girl was pretty as all get out, and her big ass "punch nazis in the face" patch on her back didnt really fit with the whole soft flower shop vibe.

She bit her lip, looking at the plants and trying not to stare at the girl. She focused on the many different colors of roses instead.

"'Fuck Cops'- now that's a sentiment I can get behind," the girl said, but she was so much closer this time, and Katherine jumped at the sudden noise.

Katherine blinked slowly. "Oh, uh. Yeah," she said, and laughed a little, internally cringing. God, she sounded like an idiot.

She giggled. "Sorry, I'm just excited to see a customer. I havent had a lot so far, I just opened a couple days ago."

"I know," Katherine said quickly, and quickly winced when the girl cocked a brow. "Sorry, no, I meant, I know you opened a couple days ago, I take the A train to school every day, so."

She snorted and nodded. "I see, a bit less creepy when you put it like that," she said teasingly. She held out a hand to shake. "I'm Sarah. Welcome to Newspaper Row Flowers."

"Katherine," she replied, shaking her hand. She smiled a bit. "You know Newspaper Row was actually over on Park Row, right? Next to City Hall?"

Sarah laughed, cheeks pink. "Oh, I know. It's because my great grandmother used to own a flower shop over next to the old Tribune building on Park Row, and that's what she called it. She lost her shop in the Depression though, and died when I was young, and it was my mom's dream to open a flower shop in her honor. She never managed to, and uh. Well, she died too, a couple years ago, so I did it."

Katherine's heart felt like it was melting in her chest. God, how could she already have so much affection for this girl she only just met? "I'm sorry for your loss. But you've really created something wonderful here, and I'm sure they would both be proud."

Sarah beamed, and Katherine would do anything to make her smile like that again.

iv.

"And so Davey's like 'what the fuck', and Les is like 'who is this guy' and Jack is straddling the windowsill, looking at us like he expects my dad to get a gun, and finally, Dad is like 'hes not Catholic, is he?' And poor Davey is like 'no, pa', and for some godforsaken reason, Mom assumes that means hes Jewish. And knowing he doesnt have a family, immediately invites- and by invites, I mean loosely intimidated- Jack to come celebrate all holidays with us. And so now, instead of breaking it to Mom that Jack isnt religious, Davey just let's them believe it. Cause I mean, they're pretty fine with the whole gay thing, but god forbid we be romantically involved with someone who isnt Jewish." Sarah finished explaining with a laugh and roll of her eyes. "So yeah, that's why Jack is here fucking around with a dreidel even though Hanukkah has passed. Hes convinced that theres a secret trick to it that he has to master by next year."

Jack looked up and pouted sourly in her direction. "We all know Davey cant be that good based on luck alone!" He said for the thousandth time.

Katherine laughed, elbows on the counter. Her red curls were pulled back in a ponytail and she had her signature leather jacket on. "Sounds like your family is a real fun bunch. Ironically, my dad is the exact opposite, he doesn't care if I dont marry into a Jewish family, but he very much cares if I marry a girl."

Sarah made a face. "Gross. He sounds like such an ass whenever you talk about him."

Katherine nodded. "Probably because he is," she said very seriously. And then the two erupted into giggles.

"Ew, go get a room," Jack complained.

"You're in my shop, Kelly!"

"Sarah, I need your help with something." Katherine came in looking nervous, an expression Sarah rarely saw on her friend.

"Of course, anything, what do you need?" Sarah said immediately, abandoning the flowers she was making out of newspapers.

Katherine swallowed, pausing. Her fingers fidgeted with the necklace around her neck. "Um. Well. There's uh... there's this girl I really like. And she... she's just amazing, and I want to tell her that I really like her. And she loves flowers, so..."

Sarah smiled and cooed, even though her chest hurt an awful lot. "That's so-" heartbreaking? Disappointing? Sad? "-cute! Flowers are such a good way to express feelings. Do you want to do it through flower language or do you have specific flowers you want to do it with?"

Katherine bit her lip. "Well, I was hoping a bit of both, but I'm not sure what kind of flowers she likes, so I was hoping you'd help with that."

Sarah nodded. "Of course! Let's get to work, hm?"

In the end, the bouquet consisted of red carnations (admiration), gardenias ("you're lovely"), mistletoe ("kiss me"), and white violets ("let's take a chance on happiness"). Sarah very gently wrapped the stems in newspaper and tied it with some twine while Katherine wrote something on a card.

Katherine paid and took the bouquet from Sarah, carefully fixing the card in it. She stayed after the transaction, simply standing there and staring at the flowers in her arms.

"What are you waiting for? Go get your girl!" Sarah chastized with a laugh. She needed Katherine to leave so she could take an early lunch and cry a little.

"You're right," Katherine said. She took in a big breath and let it out slowly before jutting her arms out, offering the bouquet. "Here."

"What?" Sarah asked, eyebrows furrowed. "Did you change your mind or-"

"They're for you," Katherine said, staring at the wall. "Just- read the card?"

Sarah blinked slowly and took the bouquet carefully, and opened the card.

In it was written simply:

"I like you, Sarah. Have since I first came into your shop. And I'd like you even more if you went to dinner with me?"

Sarah very gently put the bouquet down on the counter. And then she kissed Katherine.

A year and a half later, Sarah come home to find a bundle of myrtle at her place on the table. Instead of a string, there was a ring. Myrtle, the Hebrew emblem of marriage.

Katherine cleared her throat, smiling softly. "Your parents will have at least one kid who marries into a Jewish family. If-if you say yes, that is."

Sarah's eyes filled with tears. "How could I not?"

#newsies #newsbians #sarah jacobs #katherine plumber #katherine pulitzer #5 plus 1 #flower language #flower shop au #aesthetics #newsies fanfic

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fineillsignup · 6 years

Text

Who Is Responsible When It Becomes a Triangle (NaruSakuSasu, T, 1/?)

@senju-sandwich I am your fic exchange secret Santa in July-ish type person!

Your prompt: "Soulmate AU where just cause you’re soulmates, that doesn’t mean things will be perfect and easy. Maybe Sasuke or Kakashi as anti-soulmate stuff but gradually being okay with it. BAMF Sakura, team 7 friendship & family or romance if you’re going with NaruSakuSasu, but I’d love a happy Team 7 no matter the ship."

I have always wanted to read a NaruSakuSasu with a one-sided soulmate triangle (Naruto -> Sakura -> Sasuke -> Naruto). So I took this as the universe telling me to write it myself.

I know it’s supposed to be a finished one-shot fic for the fic exchange--but even though I was really trying hard to get it finished, I just couldn’t manage it, and it was really messy at the end. So I’m publishing it as a chaptered fic instead, starting with the prelude, which I am fairly pleased with. I hope to get the entire story finished ASAP, final word count maybe 4 or 5k.

Available on AO3 or below!

Sakura started believing in soulmates at nine years old.

"Why can't we learn something interesting in kunoichi class," Ino said that day, nice and loud so that Suzume-sensei could hear from the other end of the table.

Suzume-sensei, mid-sentence about table manners, paused, looked at Ino, shut her mouth, and opened it again, and shut it again. Someone giggled. The swots and good girls, like Sakura, held back smiles.

Emboldened, Ino added, even louder, "I mean, what's the use of learning about how to drink soup? Don't we all know that already from our families?"

The orphans and the low-class students in the class nodded and laughed even harder at this, so as not to give themselves away.

"Well, what do you think is interesting, Yamanaka Ino?" Suzume-sensei suddenly barked, her curls swaying in stark contrast to the rigidity of the rest of her body.

Ino was not so easily daunted. "Something we haven't learned elsewhere—something exciting! Seduction technique or, or... or soulmates!"

The mention of "soulmates" set a hum and chatter among the girls.

"Yes please do teach us about soulmates!"

"Do they really exist?"

"Course they do; my big sister's got one."

"Girls!" Suzume-sensei shrilly cut through the chorus. "We are here to learn useful etiquette for disguising yourself in your future missions! Soulmates are not useful for kunoichi!"

The teacher never really got it together after that, and the class ended with the bell, but Sakura learned that soulmates were real. And when she filed back into the the classroom and eyed the dark, sharp hair of Sasuke-kun, she knew who hers must be.

———

Sasuke started believing in soulmates at seven years old.

"Mama," he said, as his mother tucked him into bed, "what is Ayako?"

His mother nearly stumbled, first in her movements--an impossible thing for the effortlessly graceful kunoichi--and then in her words: "Nobody. Who told you...? Nobody."

"But Father has it written on him," Sasuke protested, interally hoping for a praise on how clever he was to be able to work out the kana he had seen written on his father's chest.

"Nobody," repeated Mikoto, distressed. "I think you're old enough to bathe without your father from now on. Goodnight."

"Nii-san," he managed to say to his brother's disappearing back some days later, "wait, Nii-san!"

To his delight, Itachi paused and looked back.

"Do you know what is Ayako?"

Itachi looked down at him. "You saw it written...?"

"On Father," Sasuke agreed eagerly.

"Did you ask Father?"

"No.. Father doesn't... I asked Mama, but she was unhappy..."

Itachi also looked unhappy, in the very slight downturn of his mouth. "You'll learn when you're older how an Uchiha earns their eyes."

"But I want to know NOW," Sasuke protested as Itachi started to turn to go. "Why do you always say later, later, later, Nii-san! If you tell me now, I can practice for later!"

All he got were fingers to the forehead, until a horrible night sometime later.

"Foolish little brother," his parents' murderer said, "you want to know how to get eyes like mine? By killing the one whose name appears on your chest—your soulmate."

———

Naruto started believing in soulmates at four years old.

"What?! Why ya gotta choose HIM?" Naruto screamed at the new parents leading the toddler away at the orphanage. "He still pees in a diaper -ttebayo! He's not a big boy like me! I wouldn't make any mess or... well, some mess, but I'd help clean up..."

The two new parents only rushed away faster. The blond's shoulders slumped.

"Naruto-chan," creaked the tremulous voice of his foster mother, Kaede-baa-chan. "Shall I tell you a secret?"

The little jinchuuriki clambered up into the ancient woman's lap. She only smiled, despite the pain of the cancer in her bones.

"You're soon to age out of the orphanage, my boy," she said. "But don't worry about that. Whether you get parents or not, one day, a name will appear here." She traced a line over his heart. "And that will be the one who will be your heart's joy, the only one who can make you truly happy in this world. And once their name is on your chest, when you touch them..." She lowered her voice to a whisper. "Your fingers will glow."

"Really?" Naruto whispered back enthralled.

"It isn't real for everyone," Kaede-baa-chan conceded, "but I believe it will be for you. There will be someone out there who is special—oh, but VERY special!"

"And I'll be special for them too dattebayo!"

———

Kakashi was twenty-six when he told his three cute little genin that soulmates were a lot of bullshit.

"Ninja don't get soulmates," he said brutally. "Ninja can't find happiness in another person, and ninja don't get happy endings."

"Didn't any of the Hokage have soulmates?" Naruto asked, or more challenged. Sakura looked destroyed. Sasuke wasn't looking at any of them.

Kakashi thought of Minato-sensei, whose flame-haired bride somehow unleashed the beast that killed them both.

He thought of Lord Third, who lost his wife in the same attack.

He thought of Lord Second, who died alone, and Lord First, whom they said was dead inside from the moment Uchiha Madara left the village.

"None of them," Kakashi lied.

Naruto huffed. "Well! I'm gonna be the first Hokage with a soulmate then 'ttebayo!"

———

Sakura's fingers glowed first, wrapped around a cursed boy in the Forest of Death.

Sasuke's fingers glowed second, as his face hovered over an unconscious boy in the Final Valley.

As for Naruto's fingers, they didn't glow until a pink-haired girl embraced him in the hospital and told him that next time they'd rescue Sasuke together.

Kakashi, sitting outside on the hospital windowsill, let out an unheard breath.

Well, he thought to himself, this is another fucking disaster.

Kakashi as Team 7 sensei:

#narusakusasu #narutogiftexchange #gift exchange #my fanfic #love triangle #soulmate au #kakashi didn't sign up for this shit #senju-sandwich #naruto fanfic #long post #cancer mention #fictional peril

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