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clickerflight · 3 months

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Fleeting: Part 2 - Jaguar

I finished this earlier this week and just forgot to post it. Introducing a new character! She is very cool :)

Masterlist

Part 1

Content: Female whumpee, vampire whumpee, human whumpee, whumpee on whumpee violence, pet whump, captivity whump, dehumanization, interrogation, torture, broken leg, minor character death, cannibalism? I guess? Let me know if I missed anything this part is a bit crazy.

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Jaguar laid out on the cold stone. There had been a time where it had bothered me. At least, she was pretty sure there had been a time. She couldn’t really remember. She couldn’t really remember what it was like to be warm, to have soft things. She knew those things existed, she knew she had experienced those things, but she couldn’t actually picture what she was doing or where she was or who she had been when she last had those things.

Now there was cold hard stone, silver chains coated in something to keep it from burning her, and hunger. There was always hunger. Even after she was fed she was hungry. There were just too many years to catch up on and too much silver and too many beatings to heal from for her to free herself from her exhaustion and hunger and aching pains.

Speaking of being fed, Jaguar heard movement outside her enclosure. Out in the hall. The only thing she knew of besides this room as she caught glimpses of it through the door as it opened and closed for her prey.

She sat up, licking her lips and whiskers, prowling back and forth now, her back hunched up as she paced on all fours as far as her chain would allow her, a soft clinking filling the room where the chain wasn’t coated and where her claws clicked on the floor.

The sounds were close enough she could make out the words now. She knew she shouldn’t understand them. She was Jaguar. She was not a person, but she understood them anyway. It was a good thing, she reasoned. It meant that she obeyed even better.

“Hear that?” a voice laughed. “Our Jaguar is hungry.”

She growled low at that. It was good that her Master was pleased after just hearing her moving around.

“Come on, guys, I didn’t know that information was bad,” said an unfamiliar voice. It was shaky, scared. It was prey. “H-How did you even get a jaguar?”

“How about you take your guess since that’s what you seem to be good at. Guessing and telling us things as though it were fact.”

“Come on, Ashton, I swear I didn’t-”

There was a blow and the prey yelped in pain. It made Jaguar want to throw herself against her chains to try and get to the door. She was well trained, though. She wasn’t going to misbehave. Not when her Master was already on his way with food. She licked her tongue over her fangs, tail twitching as she waited.

The door opened and there was her Master. There was a guard behind him who dragged her prey in. She growled, prowling forward, watching the way the prey’s eyes started to bug out of his head in fear, but her Master clicked his tongue.

“Back, Jaguar.”

Jaguar, still growling low in her throat, did as she was told, her tail flicking back and forth behind her.

“That’s an actual jaguar,” the prey gasped as the guard hauled up the overturned chair- Master had given her permission to knock it around and play with it as she liked when they were gone- and forced the prey down on it, tying his hands to the chair.

“Not quite,” Master said, approaching Jaguar. He ran a hand over her head, rubbing her ear for a moment before he stepped back. “Did you know that many ancient vampires gain more powers as they age?”

“Y-yes….”

“Some of the really old ones can access animal forms,” Master said, grinning at the fear on the prey’s face.

“That’s a vampire!? You can’t be serious! I thought you hated them!”

“Oh, but she’s not a vampire anymore. She’s my Jaguar.”

Jaguar purred at that. She was his Jaguar. No matter the complex thoughts in her head, she could always be his big soft cat when he needed. Or she could be his weapon. Whatever he needed.

“Now, Nathan. How about you explain to me why you fed us that false information. I know for a fact you didn’t just make it up for some extra money. Who told you to tell us that?”

The prey struggled against his bindings. “No one told me! I overheard it from Yacy and his guys. I didn’t know it was false! Should I have done some extra research? Maybe, but how are you supposed to research a cult like that when the police have already licked up every scrap of information about them and hid it from the public? My police contact got busted last month, remember?”

“Mmhmm, I heard about that. Was it Muir?”

“Yeah,” the prey spat. “No one can keep a contact in the police for more than a few weeks anymore because of that goody two shoes.”

“Mm, we have been meaning to deal with him. It’s tricky when he’s so ingrained in the community, nevermind him being Hemijeoa. But tell me, Nathan, if that were true, then what is this?”

Jaguar saw him lift up a device. She still wasn't certain about what they were for, but she knew they somehow conveyed information. But she was just a jaguar, it wasn’t like she needed to know how to use one.

Whatever was conveyed, it made the prey go very pale and very still. Jaguar licked her lips, kneading her paws into the stone in excitement.

“That’s what I thought. Wanna tell me what actually happened?”

The prey swallowed hard, but he set his jaw and shook his head defiantly.

Master smiled, his eyes flickering to Jaguar. She sat ready at attention.

“Ocelome.”

She growled in response to her other name. He always mispronounced the words a little, but that was okay. The old words always soothed and excited something deep within her. Something that couldn’t really be remembered anymore. She just knew that she liked it, especially when the prey couldn’t understand it and it only made them more scared in return.

“Xopitzactli.”

The command was clear and familiar. She threw herself forward, the sound of the prey’s scream echoing off the stone walls as she dug her teeth and fangs deep into the flesh of his leg. She felt the bone snap, tasted the fresh blood that gushed out onto her tongue, and ripped away with a large chunk of flesh that she eagerly threw into the air and snatched up again, mostly to impress her Master and scare the prey, but also to release her excitement over the feed as she began chewing on her prize.

The prey was still screaming, thrashing and sobbing loudly as Master stepped forward, grabbing Prey by the hair to force him to look at him and keep him from toppling the chair over.

“Wanna tell me the truth now? I’m happy to let my Jaguar play with you for a while if not.”

The man sobbed for another long moment, shaking and babbling on until Master shook him by the hair.

“It was Cortez! Please, please! She blackmailed. Please, help me, please!”

“Cortez,” Master said, looking displeased. Jaguar hoped he wouldn’t take his anger out on her.

He sighed. “Should have known. The boss won’t be happy about it. Ah, well. Thanks for helping out.”

Master turned, along with the guard. Jaguar licked her lips, whiskers quivering with excitement as she waited for the signal.

“Wait! Aren’t you going to untie me?” the prey said with tears streaming down his face, shaking as his leg still bled on the floor, filling the room with the scent of his adrenaline and fear.

“I know Cortez is good at swaying people, but I can’t have people thinking they can get away with lying to me. Jaguar, have your fun with him.”

With that, Master and the guard left and the door clicked shut.

Jaguar leapt on the man, his screams echoing off of each wall as she scratched at him, the chair falling back.

The force of Jaguar and the prey falling shattered the chair and the prey managed to free himself from her, skittering across the room to the far corner, Jaguar right behind him. She imagined digging her teeth into his skull, her fang sinking in through his eye socket as the other crunched right through the bone. She would-

She slammed against the end of her chain before she could reach the man and she fell back, choking and coughing, scrambling to get back to her feet.

She was at the end of her line and he was in the corner. This had never happened to her before. There was so much blood smell, the prey was right there! She yowled, swiping at him, trying to reach him, but there was nothing she could do.

The prey babbled and cried in the corner, cowering and pushing himself further against the stone. Jaguar tried, unsuccessfully, for ages to try and reach him. Still, her exhaustion got to her eventually and she went back to where the chair was, flopping down to lick up the blood from the floor. This was all she was likely to get. Would Master be disappointed in her for failing to kill him? But she was only a jaguar. Only a cat. How was she supposed to know what to do now? How was she supposed to succeed here? She couldn’t undo the collar. She didn’t know how.

She resolved herself to bear whatever Master had in mind for her. She was only a cat. She couldn’t catch her prey when she was too stupid to undo her collar.

…………………………….

Ashton came back to the room of his pet. The vampire wasn’t very healthy looking. He ought to feed her more often. She was all ribs and eyes and teeth. He was annoyed by how patchy her fur was starting to become. Why did she have to be so high maintenance?

He opened the door to a surprising sight. His jaguar was laying in the middle of the room next to a broken chair. She looked up from where she was licking up blood, eyes big and sad and pleading, and he quickly realized why. Nathan was pressed into the corner, pale and shaking. Ashton was very aware that the corner was out of her reach with the collar.

“Jaguar. You haven’t killed him.”

The vampire lowered her head, ashamed.

Ashton sighed walking forward. He looked down at her and said, “What are we going to do with you? What good are you for if you can’t kill your prey when it’s all tied down.”

The vampire let out a whimper, laying her head against her paws.

Ashton laughed and kicked her in the ribs, taking a moment to savor the way she curled in on herself before walking over to the wall, reaching up, and undoing the clasp on the chain.

Jaguar looked up sharply when she heard the chain hit the floor.

“Go get him,” Ashton said with a grin. The grin remained as he watched his jaguar, his prize and pet, jump at Nathan. The grin only grew wider when Nathan’s screams were replaced by a satisfying crunch.

“Good girl,” he said quietly.

Part 3

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#whump #fleeting #vampire whumpee #female whumpee #pet whump #captivity whump #dehumanization #whumpee on whumpee violence #human whumpee #interrogation #torture #broken leg #minor character death #cannibalism #jaguar

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pocket-lad · 2 months

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CH 8- A (Not So) Promising Start

Adelaide was in Sarah’s hand. Sarah had grabbed her. She struggled against it on instinct (eight years of it was hard to suppress), uncomfortable in the dark, wet, muddy enclosure, but settled down when she heard Ian’s voice. They were going to get out of this. She just had to be patient, keep a low profile, and take deep breaths.

The men that just arrived had to be the other InGen team. There was nobody else on the island. At least as far as Adelaide knew. She didn’t think she’d be facing this many Humans, and she and Sarah seemed to agree that now wasn’t the time to introduce a tiny humanoid being into the already messy equation.

Sarah couldn’t find a good time to sneak Adelaide into a pocket with all these eyes trained on her, so she held Adelaide against her stomach. Ian looked at her, and Sarah nodded toward her occupied hand in response to his unspoken question. Adelaide was safe. Ian looked relieved. He had Kelly in his arms and Sarah and Adelaide close by. They survived.

Adelaide meanwhile felt stifled against Sarah’s stomach. Her body was coated head to toe in mud, and breathing was difficult. She felt Sarah stand up, and the Beans went on their way. All Adelaide could do was sit tight and try desperately not to think about Eddie’s last moments. It didn’t go so well.

She tried to keep her fidgeting to a minimum. Ian said it could tickle (which Adelaide took great offense to at the time), and she didn’t want to inadvertently reveal herself by causing Sarah to twitch.

Eventually they stopped moving and an accented voice started speaking. “Our communication equipment’s been destroyed. And if your radio and satellite phone were in those trailers, then we’re stuck here, ladies and gentlemen. And stuck together, thanks to you people.”

“Yeah, we came to watch,” Nick said offensively. “You came to strip mine the place. Back off.” The last bit seemed to be directed toward somebody else, but Adelaide had no way to tell.

“At least we came prepared,” Peter Ludlow, said. Great. Hammond's nephew was on the island.

“It’s a looter mentality,” Nick continued. “All you care about is what you can take. You have no right.”

“An extinct animal brought back to life has no rights. It exists because we made it. We patented it. We own it.”

Oh, that was it. Adelaide’s blood boiled. Typical Humans, deciding who did and did not have rights. These animals weren’t even genetically engineered! They had been living on the island for a while now and were likely offspring of those engineered animals. Ludlow would probably say she has no rights either just because he was big enough to do so.

Adelaide suddenly felt very cramped, her anger taking up most of the space in her small enclosure and leaving little room for her body. She shoved at Sarah’s hand, hoping to at least gain a little more breathing room. Or maybe stab Ludlow in the neck.

“Whatchu got there?” Yet another new voice, and not one that sounded friendly. Adelaide froze.

“Nothing,” Sarah said confidently. “I think I bruised my ribs.”

Adelaide admired Sarah’s lying capabilities, but she doubted it would do them any good. She felt the tension in the air and readied herself to attack, just in case.

Sarah’s hand was abruptly yanked away from her stomach and shaken around with sharp, jerky movements, threatening to make Adelaide throw up. She searched for a grip on anything that was available, which was, unfortunately, not much. She didn't have to worry about falling, though. Sarah's hand instinctively tightened to prevent this, squeezing Adelaide just a little too tightly. There was yelling coming from a bunch of different people, but Adelaide couldn’t differentiate any of the voices.

Sarah tried her best to wrestle her hand away, but she also didn’t want to hurt Adelaide or send her flying. In the end, Sarah’s hand was empty, numerous people stood on guard, and Adelaide was dangling from her shirt between the pinched fingers of Dieter Stark.

All of this was a blur for the borrower. She wouldn’t be able to gain her bearings until everyone stopped moving, but she made sure she had a grasp on the one thing that was important - her knife. When everything stilled, Adelaide found herself face to face with a new human. He sneered down his big nose at her.

Adelaide clenched her jaw. It was hard not to show fear when the only things keeping her from falling to the ground were the thumb and forefinger of an unknown, unpredictable, and unfriendly giant clasping the back of her T-shirt. The shirt dug into her neck and chest as she dangled there.

“What the hell am I supposed to be looking at?” the man smirked, and his hot, smelly breath engulfed Adelaide’s body. She coughed.

“Put her down. Now.” Ian’s voice was dangerously quiet. With how close the man held Adelaide, she couldn’t see anything past his face, but she desperately wanted to check out her surroundings.

“Or what?” the man said.

“Or I’ll claw your eyes out,” Adelaide threatened as she drew her knife from her belt.

“Ah, I’m really scared,” he laughed, pulling her away from his face and sending her spinning. She clutched onto her knife, afraid it would be thrown from her grip and lost to the mud below.

When she stopped spinning, Adelaide glanced around her. Ian, Nick, and Sarah stood defensively close, ready to make a move but afraid he’d drop her if they did. Four other men stared at her. She had to assume one was Ludlow and one was the accented guy who said they were stuck here. She didn’t know about the third or fourth.

Nick was the first one to try something. He stepped toward the man aggressively, but the man was quick. He pulled Adelaide up and away, far above his head. “Ah!” He held his hand up to Nick, indicating that if Nick didn’t back down, he’d let go.

Adelaide gasped. “Stop moving!” she shouted at her friends, annoyed. (Was ‘friends’ the right word? She wasn’t sure.) She knew they wanted to protect her, but they’d only make it worse by antagonizing him. Her shirt started to bunch around her shoulders. Not only was it embarrassing (both her shirt and the general situation), but it was cutting off circulation.

“Dieter,” the accented one said in a commanding voice. He wore a hat and was dressed in a way not dissimilar to Robert Muldoon. Like he was ready for a safari.

“What?” Deiter responded. He was clearly having fun riling everyone up.

“I’m not going to ask you twice,” Ian said. Adelaide tried to make eye contact with him to telepathically explain her plan, but he kept his eyes trained on the enemy.

Oh well. She’d do it on her own.

Adelaide slashed at Deiter’s finger with her knife. She couldn’t get a good angle to really dig in, but she was hoping it was enough to make him drop her so she could make an escape. She was also hoping somebody (preferably Ian) would think to catch her.

Deiter just winced and lifted Adelaide back up to his face, not to look at her, but to look at the wound she left behind. His blood dripped onto her head and down her face. She wiped at it with the back of her hand. Gross. His eyes flicked back to her and she forced herself to maintain eye contact if it was the last thing she did.

“Oh, you just got yourself-” he began.

“DEITER!” the accented man repeated, somehow even more forceful than the first time.

Dieter looked at the man, then back to Adelaide, then back to the man again. His thought process was completely opaque to everyone, especially Adelaide, but it became clear in the next few seconds.

“Whatever,” he complained as he carelessly tossed Adelaide upward. She spun rapidly in mid-air and scrambled for purchase on anything, but nothing was there. Her body reached its apex and began to fall, but Deiter caught her by the ankle between two pinched fingers.

The pain in her leg made Adelaide gasp. It felt like it had nearly been pulled out of its socket. And if he applied any more pressure, she was due for a sprained ankle at the very least. As it was now, it would definitely bruise.

This was nothing like when Ian dangled her by her legs that one time. She was still pissed at him for doing that, but it had only been for a second and, as always, he made sure not to pinch too hard. This guy didn’t seem to have a care in the world.

She squeezed her eyes shut as she swung back and forth, and even without sight, she could feel his presence directly in front of her face. And then he let go.

Holyshitholyshitholyshitholyshitholyshit, Adelaide thought as she hurtled toward the Earth. This was it. This was the end. The Beans weren’t fast enough.

At the last second, Adelaide landed in someone’s palm. Before she knew who it was but not taking any chances, she shot to her feet and held her knife out defensively.

It was Ian, breathing heavily. “Talk to me,” he said, trying to see if she was okay. He would have just asked if she was okay, but she would have said a simple ‘yes’, and that meant absolutely nothing.

“Let me at him,” Adelaide said darkly, ready for round two, but she was rubbing at her sore ankle.

Ian laughed, thankful that she was alright. He knew he was in for an earful later after everything he did and everything they went through, but he didn’t care. He cupped Adelaide to his chest in the approximation of a hug, despite her muffled protests.

“I’m serious!” Adelaide shoved against Ian’s chest as he pulled away. “I want a chunk of his skin.” She geared up to leap off his palm in the direction of Dieter, but Ian tilted his hand back toward his body to keep her from doing so.

“I know, I know. And I trust you’d get it, too. But generally people don’t take - don’t take chunks of other people’s…skin,” he said, trying to keep Adelaide in one place without wrapping his hand around her. “And it looks like Nick’s got you covered.”

Adelaide paused in her struggle against the ever-changing, ever-moving, steep incline of Ian’s hands. She looked out to see Nick picking a fight.

“You looking for a problem?” he yelled.

“I found you, didn’t I?” Dieter shot back.

Nick lost it and shoved Dieter, but didn’t stop there. He ran at the man, ready for a fight, but everyone else forced the two men apart, yelling at them to stop.

Adelaide winced, ever-impressed with the strength Human Beans possessed. It was like watching two mountains engage in a brawl, and it was very humbling.

“I know you,” the accented man with the hat said as he approached Nick. “You’re that ‘Earth first’ bastard.”

“What’s Earth First?” Ludlow asked.

“Professional saboteurs.”

“Environmentalists!” Nick corrected. He tried to lunge at the other group again, but two men held him back. How did Nick just keep getting cooler?

During the fray, Kelly silently walked up behind Ian. Adelaide felt a presence and turned around, nearly jumping out of her skin when she saw the girl.

“Are you okay?” Adelaide asked awkwardly, noting the blanket around her shoulders.

“Mhm,” Kelly nodded.

Adelaide waited for more but nothing came. “Good talk,” she muttered to herself as she turned forward.

“Knock it off!” Sarah yelled at everyone. “Listen to me. Moving the baby to our camp may have changed the adults’ perceived territory. We have to move. Now.”

Ludlow chimed in with some actually helpful information. “There’s a communication center here near the old operations building. Everything ran on geothermal power. It was never meant to need replenishing. If we can get there, we can send a radio call to the airlift. It’ll be a day’s walk, maybe more. But that’s not the problem.”

“What is? What is the problem?”

“Velociraptors.”

Adelaide froze, and she felt Ian do the same. The T-Rex was bad enough. Velociraptors were worse. There was no evading them.

“We could head back down to the lagoon,” Ian suggested.

“And sit out in the open, next to a heavily used water source and hope that your captain comes back? We head for the village,” the man with the hat said. “We might find shelter and we can call for help. Rex just fed, so he won’t stalk us for food.”

“Just fed? You mean Eddie? Show some respect. He saved our lives by giving his,” Ian said.

“Then his troubles are over. My point is predators don’t hunt when they’re not hungry.”

“No, only humans do,” Nick added.

“You’re breaking our heart,” the man said sarcastically.

“What is your problem?!” Adelaide blurted out. The reminder of Eddie’s gruesome death shot detailed memories straight back into her head and she actively had to force them out.

The man turned his attention to her and she suppressed a shiver. He walked closer but both Ian and Adelaide held their ground. When he stopped walking, Adelaide had to look way, way up at him from Ian’s cupped palm. She stood up.

“Ludlow, is this one of yours?” he called.

Peter Ludlow sauntered up shortly and Adelaide now found herself staring up at two giants. Even better. Between them and Ian, she started to feel claustrophobic.

Ludlow paused for a considerably long time, as if he had to think about it. “No, I can’t say it is,” he finally said.

“You don’t sound so sure about that,” Adelaide said.

“Quite sure, thank you,” he responded shortly.

“I have a name,” Adelaide said, glancing between them.

“Me too. Roland Tembo.”

“Adelaide,” Adelaide said hesitantly.

“Peter Ludl-”

“I know,” she interrupted, refusing to take her eyes off Roland.

Roland bent down to Adelaide’s level and Ian took a cautious step back. Roland’s eyes flickered briefly toward Ian’s but quickly returned to Adelaide’s. “I don’t have a problem, Miss Adelaide. Do you?”

It wasn’t exactly a threat, but Adelaide felt a menacing energy nonetheless. “Just your face,” she mumbled, realizing her mistake as soon as she said it. She really needed to stop antagonizing giants.

To Adelaide’s surprise, Roland just let out a good-natured laugh. “Right, then.” He shot to his feet, making Adelaide flinch and drawing the attention of everyone in the vicinity. “Saddle up! Let’s get this moveable feast underway.”

As everyone headed off in a direction, Ian just looked at Adelaide. “Why?” he asked.

“Cause,” she smirked, refusing to elaborate. He knew. He knew that Roland was a jerk and Dieter was a jerk and all of them were jerks and Adelaide didn’t like jerks.

“Did he do that?” Ian indicated Adelaide’s leg with a finger.

Adelaide glanced at her leg and the gash that was now covered in dried blood. She remembered the pencil that fell and took her out, but the pain was nearly gone now. It was replaced by new pain in her ankle from where Deiter’s fingers were, but that pain was also doable. As long as she could walk, she’d survive. She nudged Ian's finger to get it out of her space. “Oh, no. Something fell in the trailer, but I’m good now.”

Ian sighed. “You’re going to kill me one day. You know that?”

“Shoulder please?” She gave Ian her best smile, though she was sure she looked insane coated head to toe in dirt and blood.

And with that, everyone was off. Adelaide tried to keep her mind off of the dangers that passed and the dangers to come, but there was little else to think about, and she always found her mind wandering back to those awful thoughts. Not to mention, she kept herself alert to the people around her just in case. She could feel them staring.

Though the rain never really ceased, it did let up for a moment. Now, it was pouring harder than ever and everyone was soaked to the bone. Adelaide could hardly see, which is why, when Peter Ludlow suddenly appeared at their side, she shot to her feet in surprise.

Then, since everything was wet, she almost slipped off Ian’s shoulder. She couldn’t sit back down now though. No, she had to make that look intentional, so she held on as best she could.

Ian turned to Ludlow. “I didn’t wish you luck on your new venture. You’re off to a promising start.”

Adelaide unwillingly laughed.

Ludlow eyed them both. “My team is intact. I’m sorry for the loss of your man.” He didn’t sound very sorry to Adelaide.

“Do you even know his name?” she asked. She wasn’t sure what it was about this man, but he didn’t scare her in the slightest. He was all talk. No action. Ian could definitely take him in a fight if it came down to it, and she was even beginning to think she could too.

Ludlow looked at her, disgusted, as if she were some pest, as if he wasn’t sure why she was speaking to him. He ignored her. “It’s easy to criticize someone who generates an idea, assumes the risk.”

“His name was Eddie,” Adelaide pushed loudly. She wiped at her eyes, trying to clear the rainwater away in vain.

Ludlow paused as he was forced to acknowledge her. “Right,” he said. He studied her for a moment, his eyes gleaming, and then the moment passed. That was all Adelaide was going to get.

“Taking dinosaurs off this island is the worst idea in the long, sad, history of bad ideas. And we’ll be there when you learn that,” Ian said, and he walked a couple paces ahead, effectively ending the conversation. Thank God for long legs.

They hiked through the night and then some. Adelaide had always heard about how beautiful sunrises were, how the sky filled with brilliant pinks and oranges. She only ever saw them through a window, and back then her mind was focused on other things. Namely, borrowing.

Adelaide hardly recognized that the sun rose because there was no sign of color in the sky. It just transitioned from black to a light gray. She supposed that felt correct given their bleak circumstances. Still, a little color in the sky would have been much appreciated.

“Take a break! Five minutes!” Roland called out to the group. Everyone collapsed into a seated position, exhausted from walking hours on end. Adelaide felt Ian’s limp get worse as time went on, and she was glad he got to rest.

She, on the other hand, had the opposite problem. She needed to walk around and use her legs, shake out the stress.

Adelaide began her descent down Ian’s shirt, but paused when he spoke. “I’m gonna wash up. You wanna come?”

She wasn’t sure what exactly he meant by that, but she did feel completely disgusting. She thought the rain would wash away some of the grime, but now, instead of being just muddy and bloody, she was wet, muddy, and bloody. And the blood wasn’t even hers. Gross. “Yeah, sure,” she said.

Ian stood up. “Stay here,” he said to Kelly. “Sarah!”

Sarah looked up and Ian pointed to Kelly, indicating that he wanted her to watch her. Sarah nodded.

Adelaide’s arms trembled from holding herself up so long, so she let go of Ian’s shirt, assuming he would catch her. He did, obviously, but it caught him off guard and he scrambled to do so.

“Are you actively trying to give me a heart attack?” Ian asked.

“I’m trusting you,” Adelaide shrugged as she stared up at him.

Ian walked over to a small stream not too far away. At least, it was small to him. It was still within eyesight and earshot of the group, so they’d know when it was time to leave.

He set Adelaide on the ground next to the edge and knelt down next to her.

Adelaide stared at the stream. From up above, it looked so small, so doable. She’d walk in, wash off, walk out, and be done. Up close, it was massive. There was no gradual decline into the water. It was a straight dropoff into the murky depths, the current strong and the water so clouded that she couldn’t tell how deep it was. She couldn’t even be sure it was clean, but it had to be better than the five layers of grime her skin was currently coated in. If only she could swim.

Adelaide must have been standing there for a long time because Ian piped up again. “Della? Hello? Earth to Della?”

Adelaide whipped around to face Ian as if just now realizing he was there. She stammered, trying to figure out if she wanted to admit that she didn’t know how to swim. It was probably best to avoid the conversation altogether. Save them some time. Forget this ever happened.

“Actually, I’m good. I don’t want to,” Adelaide said quickly.

Ian furrowed his eyebrows and stared, trying to work her out. She shifted uncomfortably, and she was suddenly very aware she was on the ground. Like, the ground ground.

Adelaide could physically feel the silence. It needed to be filled. “It looks dirty, so um, so I don’t want to. And it’ll take too long and we only have five minutes, and I don’t think you should leave Kelly alone with-”

“No offense, but that stream looks - looks a lot cleaner than, um, you.” Ian continued to stare. He knew that none of those reasons were legitimate.

Adelaide couldn’t take it any longer. Her eyes bored into the ground at her feet as she sheepishly admitted, “I can’t swim.”

#jurassic park #ian malcolm #g/t #giant/tiny #jurassic park g/t #gt #size difference

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the-firebird69 · 1 year

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Are empty plastic beer cans and bottles a redeemable but only at the shop where you bought the beer and we told them how it works they thought awesome they're always 5 cents each.

It's a huge idea he has and you take these empty beer cans at your party and you construct an enclosure it holds the empty beer cans and he suggests you rinse them out so you don't make your floor disgusting and you put something on the floor like a tarp and get the water out and you throw it into this then in your house or outdoors you have a big enough party we can do the most interesting things with the beer cans and he knows that people jump into them and they do all sorts of things and they wrestle inside and he imagine people doing it and having a contest so there's an indoor contest and an outdoor contest and we're going to start it now and you're going to be in commercials and it's safe to do we've tested it it's an adult playroom and we might put it at our entertainment center and said we should do that now and do the same thing they do with the balls and just clean the balls every night like we do we clean them ever so often actually and to prevent disease and they dry out in seconds and it's a machine and pump some back up and it's not big enough for a person and has a great and we're going to do this now because the chamber in the entertainment center will be like a fish tank we can see at the Boston aquarium and people come up to the window and it'll be in the corridor area like in the mall it's like a shopping mall on the inside and everyone can see you jumping into it and people go up to the wall and start saying stuff you can actually hear them but it's thick lexan so we're going to have fun with that and have sessions and then you close it down and you cleaned it out and people like watching that it goes like this title pool thing and then the thing starts feeling back up again after a while you have to replace the beer bottle cans but they're new and they're empty and you can't open them and tons of people see it we don't want to do this we don't want to do this so the entertainment center is they say we want to have distributors there and they're crying about it so our son feels bad and he says you can put them nearby we can make huge ones in the minutes and they are cheap and so we have new entertainment centers going in and they want to put distributors in and it said we can help build the stores but they'll be stores nearby anyways so looking where they need stores so we're going ahead and helping and doing that it's about time someone came along and did something this has been a nightmare and we have a whole bunch of whiskeys and stuff and you're making Southerners comfort which is one of the labor ones we have but I like Southern comfort and this is healthier one and tons of people will drink it in the south because it's what it used to be used to be healthier that's why they're drinking it. And it's true too they make it like crap now. So they're accepting that stuff too and they're selling it there's tons of people looking for this stuff. The Goonies are captured in the movie and he wants to take a picture this is going to lead into the movie almost immediately

For selling so much of this out west it's it's amazing it's going to catch on cuz everybody sees it all over the world and the girls have all sorts of distributors ready and they're starting to fill it up now all over the world everywhere they're going to be a huge hit giant numbers of trucks they're purchasing from all over the world every truck dealer they can find and they're putting the new fuses in it is a massive massive women's movement to get men beer LOL and that song is coming out now everybody can hear it sort of all of your queens or if they were on their thrones the kings and queens would win something like that and it's that artist with the white makeup on and we of course sell champagne and it's real cheap and it comes in a plastic bottle.

So he makes his image of his sneaking in with champagne bottles floating in and it pops up and just shoots him like at his leisure that didn't want to see that so something's going to happen though people find them.

Thor Freya

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literary-creature · 2 years

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Our Days in New York: Chapter 2

“This way, we'll make a stop to check on the graphorns.”

Wondering what a graphorn was, Tina followed Newt into the suitcase. Just as her first time in there, she wished she had another pair of eyes to take everything in. Educated to fear magical creatures, she found it equally strange and charming how the case could be such a welcoming place. She inhaled, letting her lungs fill with the fresh air. It smelled like summer.

Newt was carrying two buckets. They walked past Frank's empty enclosure, its golden sand glistening under the artificial sun, and then right into a wide plain territory.

Tina stopped in her tracks when she spotted two large creatures in the distance, followed by a smaller one. As they approached, she could see they were grayish purple, with a humped back and tentacles where their mouths should be. They didn't look as inoffensive as the niffler or Pickett.

Her heart nearly stopped as the giant beasts ran in Newt's direction at full speed. Her trembling hand went to her pocket again, prepared to interfere if it was necessary. But the man didn't seem worried in the least: When they were close enough, he took a few steps forward to meet them. He stroked one of the graphorn's head, and the enormous creature bowed meekly.

Tina watched the scene astonished. How did he come to befriend such a creature? The other two graphorns joined the first and reached for Newt with their tentacles in what she identified as an affectionate fashion. The smaller one was especially energetic; she supposed it was a baby.

“They are one of the last mating pairs in existence, I believe,” Newt said, looking back at her.

One of the animals noticed the witch, and emitted a nervous squeak, startling her.

“Ok, that's fine. She is a friend, alright?” Newt told the creature. Then to Tina “Graphorns can be aggressive. These two are used to me by now, but I usually don't have visitors.”

The baby stepped away from the group and made to approach Tina, who fought the impulse to retreat.

“You can pet the little one if you want, I think he'll let you. He let Jacob.” Newt's expression was saddened for a second; she noticed right away. “Just if you want.”

Tina didn’t want to pet a graphorn. The idea was scary. But she did want to cheer him up, to distract him from the loss of his friend. And considering he was allowing her to be there, the least she could do was participate.

“I suppose...I could try to do it,” she said slowly, taking a cautious step in the creature's direction. She extended her hand fearfully, only to take it away when the graphorn reaction was too brusque.

“Don't be afraid, he thinks you're playing,” Newt assured, watching her every movement. “He won't hurt you.”

“Ok.” Tina took a deep breath and reached for the creature again until she felt the slimy tentacles touching her hand. It tickled a bit, tearing a nervous chuckle from her. His head was soft, and he stayed still, enjoying the woman's caress. She felt a rush of pride at her success. Contented, she called for Newt “Does he have a name?”

“Ollie,” Newt answered as he threw big pieces of meat to the other graphorns. Tina could tell that he was keeping an eye on her and Ollie while he was at it. “He is just a few months old, born in the case. He was small for the species at birth, but he is growing up quite healthy.”

Tina looked at him in disbelief “This is small?”

“For a graphorn.”

They exchanged a smile, both much more comfortable than before. So Tina built up the courage to question him.

“If you don't mind me asking... Did you do this all by yourself? The suitcase?”

“Yes.” he left the first bucket aside and took the other, urged by the graphorns. “I lack the skill to make it perfect, but I improve it as much as I can.”

“Expansive spells are quite difficult to perform.” Tina observed, “Getting the space to imitate each creature's habitat can’t be easy. And I also noticed that the temperature changes from habitat to habitat. Do you adjust it for each creature?”

“As a matter of fact, I do,” he answered, surprised by her attention. “It took me some months to get it right, but I think I've got it now.”

“Then you're selling yourself short.” she decided. “I doubt many people could make something like this.”

“I know many who could do a much better job than me.” he stammered, modest, “They just wouldn't think of putting magical creatures in a suitcase. Imagination is my only strong suit.”

She smirked. “That I can believe.”

“I wanted someplace to carry the ones that had been injured or needed help. So I came up with this.”

“So... The British Ministry hired you to do research?” she was curious.

“The Ministry?” the idea seemed to amuse him. “No, certainly not. Why do you ask?”

“I thought you said you were researching magical beasts. And Madame Pickery mentioned something about your department, so I assumed...”

“No, the Ministry is not interested in magical creatures unless they cause trouble, or they are needed for war.” his tone revealed bitterness. “I did work at the Department for the Regulation and Control of Magical Creatures, though. House Elf Relocation, after I left Hogwarts.”

It was hard to think about the man in front of her working in a government building. It sounded like a bad idea. She settled for a prudent answer while Ollie played with her shirt cuffs. “You look like someone for a more… adventurous kind of job,”

“You're not wrong, it was the most tedious time of my life. I'm not one for desk jobs. But it was the best I could get after leaving…I mean, getting expelled from school.” he looked away.

“I see.” Tina wanted to ask more, but she knew it wouldn't be polite. And she could see that the topic made him uncomfortable. It was time to change the subject. “And what do you do now?”

“Well, after the war I got ascended to the Beast Division. I worked with dragons during the conflict, so I've gotten myself some sort of reputation with dangerous beasts,” he said without enthusiasm, as if the Ministry's approval was something to beware of. “A publishing house is interested in adding a compendium of magical creatures to their catalog, and the owner asked me if I was interested in writing it. That's what I'm doing at the moment.”

“You’re traveling to write that book.” she realized. “I’m sorry, I know you told me before but…”

“…you thought I was making it up to get rid of you?”

Tina blushed. “Something like that.”

“Yes, it seemed to me you didn’t believe a single word I was saying.” Newt came now to stand by her side, the bucket by his feet. Far from being offended, her reaction seemed to entertain him. “Not that I blame you. The part about the book was true, but I must confess I lied about having a wand permit.”

“Yes, I’m aware of that.”

“I should have said so, I’ve come to realize that you Americans love paperwork.” Even though he averted his eyes, she caught the cheeky smile on his face.

“I could dwell into some things I’ve noticed about Brits as well, Mr. Scamander.” She tried to sound indignant, but it wasn’t very convincing. Despite his awkward ways, she was starting to find him really nice. “I’ll arrange your wand permit tomorrow. It will look nice if MACUSA interrogates you.”

At some point during the conversation, she must have forgotten to pet Ollie, because he emitted a whine of protest. Trying to regain Tina’s attention, the creature pushed himself against her, almost sending her to the ground. She felt the tentacles licking her waist.

“Wait!” She laughed, trying to get away. “It tickles!”

Fortunately, Newt was fast to rescue her of Ollie’s affection. “That would be enough playing for today. What about some food now?”

He took a piece of meat out of the bucket and threw it far from them. The little graphorn ran after it.

“He doesn't measure his strength sometimes,” he justified, giving Tina an apologetic look. “This is all done. We can move on to the next one.”

Newt guided her as they retraced their steps to get to the erumpent's enclosure. He summoned a basin and a cloth from the shed as they walked past it. The erumpent made a strange noise when she saw them coming, as if protesting for the delay.

“You've met her already,” he murmured as an introduction. “I've fed her as soon as I came down, and I noticed she had a wound in one of her legs. Must have been during her escapade.”

“Would a healing spell work?”

“Yes, but it's always better to use something to soothe the pain first. That's what the murtlap essence is for.”

“That substance comes from that creature that bit Jacob?” she asked, observing the yellowish liquid full of curiosity. “How do you get it?”

“The murtlap has a growth upon its back, as you may have noticed. If the tentacles are correctly strained and pickled they give this solution. It's good to treat injuries.” He explained as he checked on the leg. The erumpent produced a painful sound. “She gets nervous when in pain. When I rescued her she had many wounds, I suspect she managed to escape from hunters.”

“I could apply the murtlap essence while you entertain her.” Tina offered. She was still wary of the beast, but she wanted to be useful. “Would that be of help?”

“Yes, that would be... If you don't mind.”

“I’ll do it.”

As Newt moved closer to the creature’s head, Tina went to kneel close enough to have a clear view of what she was doing. When her hand brushed the erumpent's leg, the creature emitted a loud cry of pain and tried to move. She took her hand away immediately and raized her eyes just in time to see how the tip of the horn brushed Newt's fringe, almost touching his forehead. She felt faint.

A strangled cry of alarm came out of her throat before she could refrain herself, scaring the creature, and earning a questioning look from Newt.

“Your head is too close to the horn.” She managed, voice shaking. “I don't know much about magical creatures, but I know the fluid in that horn is explosive. Erumpent horns are Class B tradable materials. What if she makes a sharp movement?”

Newt’s brow furrowed at the term “tradable material”, and Tina cursed herself. Why did she always have to say the wrong thing?

“The only way this horn could make something explode is if she attacks. Erumpents attack when they feel threatened. She knows I'm not gonna hurt her.” he said kindly but with enough firmness to leave no room for discussion. His momentary annoyance faded when he realized Tina was genuinely terrified.

“It's fine, I promise there’s no danger.” He reassured. “You can trust me.”

Tina met his eye for a moment, then nodded. She did trust him. Her trembling hand brought the damp cloth to the wound and started to work. The erumpent made some movements of discomfort, but the murtlap essence did her job in a matter of seconds, and soon the creature relaxed. Newt kept stroking her head and murmuring to her in a calming voice.

“You’re doing good, she’s feeling better.” He told Tina after some minutes. “Keep going, please.”

“Of course. I'm sorry I got so...” she tried to explain as she worked the injury with the most utmost care. “I had a... disagreeable experience once. The investigative team took down a smuggler. The man commercialized the explosive fluid and the horns in the black market. Here in America, these things are under much more control than in Europe and are very expensive. It's a business that could move millions of dragots.”

She kept her eyes on what she was doing, aware that Newt was listening to her every word.

“We got the man’s location; he had a hideout, someplace when he met with his customers. During the operation, one of my colleagues accidentally sent a jinx in a horn's direction.” Newt’s horrified gasp was audible. “The only reason it didn't kill him on the spot was that the horn wasn't that close, but he and the ones near him stayed in the hospital for weeks due to the burns. And we had to thank the place the guy used as a deposit was warded, otherwise, it would have blown the whole neighborhood. Most of the team got hurt because the explosion made the building collapse.”

“And what happened to you?”

“I was lucky. I was ordered to register the smuggler's office and search for evidence. The explosion happened far from where I was. A large piece of the ceiling fell on me, and I broke some bones. But compared to most of the team, I was fine.” She wrung out the cloth before continuing. “The important is we got him. The guy had kept a pretty zealous register of his sells; he got a list of his clients and of traders that provided him with other dangerous materials. There was enough evidence to arrest him and some others. It was one of my first missions, I had just been cleared for fieldwork. It was exciting.”

“You love your job.”

“I do,” she smiled sadly. “It's comforting to think that you can make the world a little better, that you can help people feel safe. Since what happened with Credence...It's been hard.”

“But after everything that happened with Grindelwald MACUSA will surely reconsider your demotion,” Newt ventured. “Right?”

“It's not that easy, I'm afraid. Breaking the National Statute of Secrecy is not taking lightly.”

“Even if it is for a good cause?” it was obvious he was holding his tongue to avoid criticizing MACUSA’s policies in front of her. But his tone gave him away.

“I know you think that some of our laws are ridiculous,” Tina sighed “And after all that happened I have to recognize that you may be right. But our history with the no-maj world is still too fresh for it to be otherwise.”

Tina took out her wand and gave a light tap to the now clean wound, watching as it started to close itself.

“I thought maybe if I could prove that I was good for something they will let me come back. That is also why... Well, I was so desperate to show them that I had arrested you,” she confessed, ashamed.

“It's fine. We've already settled that.” Newt reminded her.

“And I'm still sorry. But the worst part is that I got demoted for nothing because, in the end, I wasn’t of any help to Credence.”

“What happened was not your fault.”

She wasn’t so sure. “I have no idea what MACUSA might do now. Things won't look great for me after all of this. I'll be lucky if they don't kick me out of the Wand Permit Office as well.”

Newt frowned. “But they can't do that. You were involved in the capture of Grindelwald. If anything, they should promote you.”

“I hope you’re right.” The alternative was just too frightening to consider at the moment. “And I think this is ready. Bandages now?”

With a last flick of her wand, she got the bandage to cover the sensitive patch of skin.

“There you go,” she stood up, petting the creature’s side. “Is that good?”

“Perfect.” For a moment he looked as if he was going to say something else, but seemed to decide against it. “The mooncalves are next.”

Conjuring a new bucket, this one full of pellets, he gestured for her to follow. This time, they took a different path, moving deeper inside the case. It was far bigger than she had thought. She identified the occamy's nest to the left, but Newt kept walking, silent again.

He stopped in a habitat bathed in the moonlight. “Look, over there.”

Tina did as he said, and was rewarded with one of the strangest and most beautiful scenes she had ever come across: On top of a hill, there were three mooncalves. The creatures were still, their enormous eyes reflecting every star in the sky. One could almost believe they were staring at some unknown mystery, far more complex and distant than humans could ever grasp.

When they noted they were not alone, more mooncalves came out of nowhere and surrounded them both. Newt brought his hand inside the bucket and took out a handful of pellets, throwing them around. Tina laughed as the creatures bobbed adorably up and down to catch the food. She couldn’t take her eyes off them.

“Would you like to feed them?” Newt offered, taking in her enraptured expression. He was staring at her more intently than ever before. It was as if, at last, her reaction was measuring up to what he wished.

She nodded, excited. “I’d like that.”

A loud crashing noise coming from one of the nearby enclosures interrupted the quiet moment. Newt identified it in a matter of seconds. “That's the niffler again. I'll be back in a minute.”

Before she could answer, he passed her the bucket and disappeared into a different habitat. Left to her own devices, Tina distributed the pellets with care, trying to reach all of the hopeful faces. She felt strangely ecstatic: for the first time in months, she was at ease; she was having fun. Two days ago she wouldn't have imagined she would be feeding some beautiful wide-eyed creatures inside a suitcase. If only Queenie could see them!

“Queenie.”

The thought was enough to take her back to reality. “Queenie is alone upstairs. She wasn’t feeling well and I left her alone.”

How long has she been in the case?

“I found him. He was trying to steal the occamy eggshells again, the little bugger.” Newt reappeared, carrying the niffler in his arms. “You won’t believe it, but it's the fifth time this week.”

Tina gave him a forced smile, her previous cheerfulness forgotten. “The mooncalves are ready…I think I should be going now.”

His face fell. “Oh...of course. I'll accompany you back to the shed.”

The first portion of the walk was filled with an uncomfortable silence. Tina was torn between being concerned for Queenie, and worrying that her sudden change in mood had upset Newt. Why couldn’t she do something right for once? She should have explained why she wanted to leave, instead of being so impolite.

“Is there something wrong?” They had almost reached the shed, and the question was so abrupt that it took her a good few seconds to react. Newt was looking at her in earnest, making an effort to keep eye contact and find some answer in her features. His real question seemed to be “Did I do something wrong?”

“No, not at all,” she replied in a rush. “It's just that I left Queenie alone upstairs, and after what happened with Jacob... I should be keeping her company. I lost track of time.”

“Sorry I kept you so long.”

“Oh, don't be... I wish I could stay longer.” Tina said sincerely. “It's nice in here.”

Another idea came to her mind. “You didn't have breakfast. Sorry, I'm a terrible host. I'll go check on Queenie and prepare something to eat.”

“That's alright. You don't have to...” he stammered. “I should be on my way, I have to look for accommodation if MACUSA wants me to stay in town for a few more days.”

“Accommodation?”

“You could perhaps recommend someplace? If that's not...”

“But there's no need, you can stay here if you like.” she had always assumed he would stay. “Maybe I should have invited him earlier.”

“I wouldn't want to impose. I'm afraid I have caused you and your sister enough trouble already.”

“It's no trouble, you are more than welcome to stay. It's the least I can do after all that happened.”

She read the indecision in his face. He wasn’t sure he should accept.

“Please, stay at least until you know how long MACUSA will need you.” She insisted. “Queenie and I would love to have you.”

“Well... I suppose I could stay and sleep here in the case, so as not to be on much on the way. It would be safer if anyone here tries to escape. And I could keep the case in your living room.” He suggested, still insecure. “Would that be alright?”

“Yes, whatever you prefer.” Tina accepted immediately. “So, breakfast. I don't know what time is it."

“I should secure the niffler's burrow. I'll be upstairs in five minutes.”

Tina nodded and headed towards the stairs. Before climbing up, she turned around and called him again. “Oh, and Mr. Scamander?”

Newt looked at her.

“Thank you for showing me around. I liked it.”

A timid smile crept up his face. “You can call me Newt... If you want.” he must have believed he had overstepped, because he added, “I mean, after everything that happened the formality seems...”

“After a close to death experience, using first names wouldn't be out of place.” She agreed, much to the man’s relief. “But if I call you Newt you can call me Tina. Deal?”

“That's...Yes”

Tina smiled. “I'll see you upstairs when you're done, Newt.”

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

The first thing Tina noticed while stepping out of the case was the smell of pancakes. Queenie had the radio on, and she was moving around the small kitchen. She was wearing one of her new dresses, her hair, and make-up as flawless as any other day. As always, she detected Tina’s thoughts before seeing her.

“I thought we could do with a late breakfast. It's almost lunchtime, but for some reason, I felt like making pancakes.”

Despite the seemingly cheerful voice, Queenie's eyes were red and sore, revealing that she had been crying. That fact monopolized all of Tina's attention. It took some moments before her sister’s words dawned on her. “Lunchtime?”

“You got entertained.”

“I didn't realize I was there so long,” she admitted. “I shouldn't have left you all by yourself, I'm so sorry.”

“That's fine Teen. I needed some space.” Queenie put the pancakes on three plates. Tina noticed she wasn't using magic. “I took a nap, and I'm feeling better.”

“Are you sure?”

“Yes,” she said firmly. “What about you? You had a good time.”

“I did.” Tina put the kettle on, and busied herself with the cups, letting Queenie fish the information out of her mind.

“He doesn't resent me for what happened. He understands why I did it.”

“See? I told you.”

“He was so nice about it. More than I deserved.”

“You need to stop beating yourself up,” Queenie scolded her. “But you didn't spend all that time apologizing, did you?”

“He invited me in to show me the mooncalves,” Tina explained, delighted. “You should see them, they are beautiful Queenie! Newt even let me feed them.”

“So we are using first names now, huh?”

Tina's face turned red.”What about it?”

“Nothing, just saying. You've been using it in your head anyways.”

Tina decided to just ignore her sister's try to mock her, and kept talking. “I also played with a baby graphorn. And I touched the erumpent. And I think I had a conversation with a bowltruckle.” she tried to convey the amazing experience she had just gone through. It was impossible. “He told me lots of things about all the creatures. It's impressive how much he knows.”

“He talks, then?”

“He does. I asked some questions about magical beasts and he transformed.” A move of her wand sent the cups to the table. ”It's like he turns into a different person when he talks about his job.”

“Reminds me of someone.” Queenie sniggered. “It doesn't surprise me you get on. I think you two are very much alike.”

“I haven't looked at it that way. Maybe you're right.”

“By the way, I invited him to stay with us while he is in New York.” she wanted Queenie's approval.”Is that alright?”

“Of course it is Teenie! I quite like him.” She sent her a teasing smirk. “And I suspect I’m not the only one.”

Tina elbowed her and rushed to her seat at hearing the creak of the case latches.

Newt's curly mop of hair came into view. When he noticed both women watching him, he looked intimidated.

“There you are! Come sit down honey,” Queenie called sweetly. “You must be hungry.”

Newt stepped out of the case and approached them, head still down. “May I help you with something?”

“We won't make you work, you're our guest! Sit down, everything is ready.”

Newt took a sit in front of Tina, staring uncomfortably at her. She gave him a warm smile, trying her best to put him at ease.

“I forgot! You've got a letter Teen, it's got MACUSA's seal.”

Tina froze. She summoned the letter from the kitchen counter and opened it, bracing herself for the bad news. Her expression was indecipherable as she read. Once she was done, she addressed Newt.

“We are both expected early tomorrow.”

“The two of us?”

“They want to question us about the recent events. They know you’re here somehow.”

“It's gonna be fine, it’s just routine; nothing to worry about.” Interjected Queenie, eager to change the subject. She sat down and took her fork. “Now, Tina was telling me all about the mooncalves and their nocturnal dances, were you not Teenie?”

The question snapped Tina out of her gloomy state. “I was…but I'm sure Newt can explain it better to you.”

“That’d be swell!” The legilimens' eyes turned to the man, waiting for him to pick up the cue.

The magizoologist was once more startled by the women’s attention. His gaze went cautiously from Queenie to Tina, stopping at the last one in a silent cry for help. At Tina’s slight nod of encouragement, he shyly started talking.

Ok, this is very long. I'm not sorry, though.

Thank you for reading!

#fanfiction #Newtina fanfiction #Newtina #newtscamander #fantastic beasts and where to find them #fbawtft #fantasticbeasts #tina goldstein #queenie goldstein #jacob kowalski #Literarycreature #Our Days in New York

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alwaysachorusgirl · 3 years

Text

Adoption Day

Pairing: Frederick Chilton x Female Reader

Word Count: 2089

For: Covers the Animal Shelter square for @adarafaelbarba 's fall moodboard bingo

TW: very brief mention of past childhood abuse and animal abandonment, but other than that, it's mostly fluff

Dedication: This is for the world's best cat mom, @madamsnape921 ,because it's her birthday! Go send her some birthday love today!

Author's Note: Jumping back a little in the Cat Daddy Frederick timeline to cover Buttercup's adoption story. Per my previously established continuity, this would take place in January, right after New Year's, and prior to "Not According to Plan"

Tags: @itsjustmyfantasyroom @prurientpuddlejumper @thatesqcrush @welcometothemxdhouse @raulesparza4eva @teamsladsandgents @rosequcrtz

The winter wind howled outside the window and snow drifted across the windowpanes, but inside Frederick Chilton’s ornate home you were safe and warm. No, our home, I live here now, you thought to yourself. You were still getting used to thinking of it as your home, too. You were unpacking the last of the boxes from your recent move. A fire was roaring in the living room fireplace, giving the room a cozy, comforting glow. You inhaled the aroma of the hearty vegetable stew that was cooking in the crockpot in the kitchen, and your stomach growled. You were going to need to take a dinner break soon, and as if he was reading your mind, Frederick entered the room and came over to where you were placing your books on the expansive built-in shelves.

“How goes it with the books? Do you need more shelf space? I can always move somethings into my office if you need more.”

“Thank you, Frederick, but don’t worry; I think I have more than enough. I am, however, getting rather hungry. I think it’s time we ate dinner, don’t you?

“I couldn’t agree more, my love, shall I set the table?” he asked, taking your hand, and helping you to your feet.

“Thank you, Frederick, that would be lovely.”

*****************

“This stew is fantastic, my love! We’ll most certainly have to use this recipe again.”

When you didn’t respond right away, Frederick started to worry and reached for your hand. “Darling?”

“Oh! Sorry! I zoned out for a moment, must be more tired than I thought; Thank you, Frederick, I have a whole slew of crock pot recipes that are perfect for cold winter days.”

“Y/N, are you alright? Have I done something wrong? Is it the house? Is there something you’re not happy with?”

“What? Oh, Frederick, no!” You squeezed his reassuringly. “You haven’t done anything wrong, my love, and the house is perfectly fine. It’s just…” you paused, not sure how to broach your thoughts.

“What is it? Whatever you need, I’ll make sure you have it! Cost is no object!”

You took a breath and tried to collect your thoughts. You loved cats, but your previous apartment had not allowed pets. You had promised yourself that when you eventually moved you would be a cat mom again. It had been far too long. But it was something that you and Frederick hadn’t discussed yet, and you had no idea what his feelings were on the subject.

“What did you think about getting a cat?” You blurted out, bracing yourself for what you were sure was going to be an argument.

It was now Frederick’s turn to go silent, taken aback by your unexpected query. He mulled it over in his head before answering.

“Honestly, my love, I’ve never thought about it before. I never had a pet of any kind growing up. My parents did not allow animals in the house.”

“Oh, Frederick, I’m so sorry, I didn’t know.” In theory, you knew you probably should have guessed that. You knew that Frederick’s father had been a hard, cruel man, and had been abusive toward Frederick and his mother. Frederick’s mother had been so worn down by it that she eventually shutdown, mentally and emotionally, and neglected to protect her son when he needed it the most. Of course, they hadn’t allowed pets, they hadn’t even allowed their son to have a normal childhood, or an ounce of happiness.

“My darling, you have nothing to apologize for,” said Frederick, placing soft kisses on the back of your hand. “If it’s a cat you want, then a cat you shall have. I’ll do some research after we finish here. Cats need supplies, right? Food, litter, toys, those fancy cat trees, cute little sweaters?”

****************

After dinner you and Frederick sat side-by-side on the couch with your laptops, him researching what kind of supplies you going to need to buy, and you were looking at your local SPCA’s website.

“Good god, I had no idea how many different types of cat litter there were!”

“Oh, Frederick, if you think that’s bad, wait until you see how competitive the cat food market is. Hmm…that’s interesting…”

“What is it?” asked Frederick, looking over at your laptop.

“This listing here,” you said, pointing at a blank gray box. “There should be a picture here, like there is for the other listings, but it’s blank. It says it’s supposed to be a 2-month-old black female…. hang on; I have an idea.”

You grabbed your phone off the coffee table and scrolled through your contacts until you found the name you were looking for. You hit “Call” and waited.

“Hello?” A voice finally picked up on the other end.

“Joanne! Hi! It’s Y/N. How are you?”

“I’m great, how are you? It’s been ages since the last time we hung out.”

“I’m good, and you’re right; it has been too long. Is this a good time to talk?”

“Sure! What’s up?”

“Do you still work for the county SPCA?”

“Oh, you bet I do! Oh my god, are you finally in the market to adopt?”

“Yes, I am, and I have a question about one of the cat listings on the website. The one that’s missing a picture?”

“Yes, I just noticed that a few hours ago. Our website person put that up prematurely. The kitten was just spayed, and normally we wait until the animal has had adequate recovery time before we add them to the site, but accidents happen. Last I checked, the little one is recovering nicely and should be ready to interact a couple days. She’s the sweetest thing. Someone dumped her in a cardboard box at our front door. She had a leg injury, but that’s also healing up. She loves to play, loves to cuddle, and I’ll think she’ll thrive in a good home. Would you like to make an appointment to see her?”

“Yes, I would! What time slots do you have available?”

*******************

A few days later, you and Frederick walked arm in arm into the county SPCA. Frederick had rush-ordered all the supplies you thought you’d need and then some. You both excited and nervous. You’d already taken a huge step by moving in together, and now you were adopting a pet. You looked over at Frederick and noticed the uncertainty in his eyes. He also seemed leaning on his cane for support. He always seemed to do that when he was unsure about something. You gave his arm a gentle squeeze and kissed his cheek.

“It’s going to be okay, Frederick, you’re to be a wonderful cat dad. I believe in you.”

Frederick blushed and placed a soft kiss on your temple.

“Thank you, my love, I appreciate your faith in me, even though I’m still not sure what’s done to deserve it, or you.”

Before you could respond to that, Joanne came out her office and rushed toward you.

“Y/N! It’s so good to see you!”

“It’s good to see you, too, Joanne.” You enveloped her in a big hug and then motioned to Frederick. “Joanne, this is Dr. Frederick Chilton, my Frederick.”

Frederick gave you the most loving of looks, and nearly melted into a puddle at your feet at sound of you referring to him as “your Frederick.”

“Nice to meet you, Dr. Chilton,” said Joanne, extending her hand.

“And you,” he replied, shaking hands.

“Well, I suppose you want to meet the little one; right this way!”

You and Frederick followed Joanne to cat section of the shelter. You walked past several cats, each one trying to get your attention from their enclosures. If you had your way, you’d take them all home, but you didn’t think Frederick was quite ready for that yet; but maybe one day…

“Here she is, “announced Joanne, stopping in front of one of the enclosures. A tiny black, fluffy kitten was inside, and her eyes lit up when she saw you. She was immediately on her feet, and you noticed she still had a slight limp in her injured leg, but she was full of energy and mewing incessantly. Joanne opened the door and carefully lifted her out. You reached out to take her, but the impatient kitten leapt out of Joanne’s hands and into your waiting arms.

“Oh! Hello! Hi baby, hi sweetheart,” you cooed.

“Mew, mew, mew!”

You looked into her eyes, and it was love at first sight. You did your best to hold onto her, shifting and adjusting your arms to accommodate her constant movement and attempts to climb up your shoulder. You gave her a little scratch between her ears and kissed her head. She was perfect.

“Mew! Mew!”

“Yes, baby, it’s okay, I’ve got you, I’ve got you.”

Frederick stood there watching you with the kitten, completely dumbstruck. Just when he thought he couldn’t fall anymore in love with you, you had to go and surprise him. You were a natural cat mom, cradling the tiny ball of fluff and talking to her like she was a human. He saw the kitten rub her nose against your chin and looked like she was giving you kisses. He also saw the look of pure love and joy on your face, and he lived for that, wanted to see that every day. He didn’t know anything about raising a cat, but for you, he would try.

**************

Joanne led you to a visitor’s room so that you and Frederick could spend some quality time getting to know the kitten. Frederick removed his coat and offered to take the kitten so that you could take off yours. You demonstrated how to hold the kitten and then handed her to Frederick. He held her close to chest and sat down.

“Mew?” the kitten looked up at him, confused as to who this new person was.

“It’s alright, little one, I’ve got you,” he tried to reassure her. A lock of his normally perfectly quaffed hair suddenly flopped in his face, and the kitten’s eyes grew wide.

“Mew?” she raised a paw and tentatively batted at Frederick’s hair. “Mew…”

“Oh, that’s adorable,” you said, plopping down next to them on a bean bag chair. You saw the smile on his face and nudged him with your elbow. “See? She likes you. And I think she wants to play.” You looked around the room and saw the toy boxes, filled with various dog and cat toys, but then something else caught your eye. “Frederick?”

“Yes, my love?”

“Hand her back to me and take off your scarf, please.”

He did as he was told. You carefully placed the kitten on the carpet and proceeded to dangle the scarf in front if her. Her eyes went wide again, and then she crouched, wiggled her backside, and pounced. Her little paws batted at the scarf, then she would roll around kick at it with her hind legs.

“It certainly looks like she’s enjoying herself,” Frederick chuckled. “So, what are we going to call her?”

“I was thinking ‘Buttercup”,” you said matter-of-factly.

“I am not the least bit surprised,” he replied, immediately picking up on your reference. He looked at the kitten. “Well, what do you think about that little one?”

“Mew?”

“Your name,” you told her, “Buttercup, do you like it?”

“Mew, mew.” She forgot about the scarf and crawled into your lap, kneading you with her paws.

“I think she likes it.” You threw Frederick a smile.

“Yes, I quite think she does. I have an idea, how about a story? Would you like that Buttercup?”

“Mew.” She replied with a yawn,

“Darling, if you check your bag, I believe you’ll find a book there.”

You checked your purse, and sure enough, in the largest section was a children’s book, one that you instantly recognized from your own childhood.

“If You Give A Mouse A Cookie?”

“It came highly recommended by the lady at the bookstore.”

“It’s perfect, Frederick.” You handed him the book and leaned your head against his knee. As he began to read, Buttercup curled up in your lap and shut her eyes, she was soon fast asleep, purring away. When he finished reading, Frederick caressed your cheek with hand to get your attention.

“So, shall we go find Joanne and make it official?”

“Yes,” you replied, gazing down at Buttercup, “If we don’t take her home today, I think I’ll cry.”

“Then let’s go fill out the paperwork and bring her home.”

#frederick chilton x reader #frederick chilton x female reader #frederick chilton #cat daddy frederick #frederick chilton imagines #hannibal #hannibal fanfiction #adarafaelbarbaseptmeberbingo #my writing

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bittydragon · 3 years

Text

The Problems Arising (The Festival)

First - Previous - Next

Notes: :)

Warnings: Character Death

Tubbo had barely woken up when Schlatt’s voice rang out, announcing his entrance.

“Tubbo, my man! Today’s the day!” Tubbo sat up sleepily, blinking the sleep out of his eyes. Normally Schlatt would’ve let him sleep longer than this. He seemed very excited at the moment though.

Tubbo wracked his brain for what possibly could’ve been today that had got Schlatt so excited. The tired feeling almost completely disappeared when he remembered.

The festival was today!

Normally, Tubbo wouldn’t be this excited for an event like this, but Schlatt had told him that he could attend as long as he stayed hidden. Now, he would’ve stayed hidden regardless. He didn’t need anyone else knowing about him or borrowers, but he appreciated Schlatt’s concern.

The past couple weeks had been strange for Tubbo. Schlatt had started getting better, he wasn’t as violent and angry towards him. He even called him son at one point.

It made the borrower happy, knowing he’d officially gained Schlatt’s trust. The president still wasn’t a good person by any means- plus the man drank way too much to be healthy. But he trusted Tubbo, and that was progress.

Tubbo quickly made his way to his feet and stared up at Schlatt, who was looming over the enclosure with a big smile on his face. It was an unnerving sight for the borrower but he decided not to say anything, instead opting for smiling up at the president.

“It’s the big day, sir! Your festival! Is everything all set up and ready?” Schlatt continued to grin and lifted the top of the enclosure off. The man reached inside and grabbed Tubbo in a fist. The borrower resisted the urge to squirm in the grip as it was a bit too tight.

“Well of course it is! Everything is going perfectly as planned.” Tubbo only faked a grin up at Schlatt. He had to play nice with the man in order to be able to go to the festival.

If he was being honest, Tubbo was getting tired. Tired of everything happening and of Schlatt and Quackity. He didn’t really have to interact with the duck hybrid too much, but those moments were still tense. It was easier whenever Schlatt wasn’t around, but those moments were few and far between.

Tubbo hoped he would at least be able to see Tommy and Wilbur at the festival. He knew they were exiled and weren’t actually allowed in the country, but he also knew those two were the types to have something planned. Wilbur was bound to have a plan for something to happen at the festival, he had to.

That was the main reason Tubbo was excited to go, he would be able to see whatever chaos the brothers would cause. It made them rescuing him more difficult, but he didn’t mind. He was in good standings with Schlatt, so he was fine.

Tubbo was yanked out of his thoughts when he was roughly deposited into a stuffy pocket. The material was scratchy and uncomfortable, reminding him of the suit he was currently forced to wear. It wasn’t too difficult to identify this as being Schlatt’s pocket. So despite the discomfort, he was going to have to deal with it for the rest of the day.

He shifted around in the pocket in order to rest on his knees and tried to get a look at the world outside. A finger suddenly came in and pushed his head down, shoving him back into the stuffy pocket with a yelp.

“You may be allowed to come with me to the festival, but under no circumstances will you show yourself off to my citizens. Stay in the pocket.” Tubbo wanted to protest, what was the use of going with Schlatt if he couldn’t see anything? Instead, he held back his grumbles and settled down in the pocket as if it was a hammock.

“Yes sir.” Schlatt seemed satisfied with the answer as he responded with an affirmative huff.

All of a sudden, everything began to move. Tubbo just sat in the pocket as Schlatt made his way outside to join the festivities that had already begun.

“Schlatt!” Tubbo bit back a yelp as Schlatt was suddenly crushed in a hug from no one other than Quackity. That was one of the things Tubbo hated about the vice president, he knew nothing about personal space.

This time wasn’t any different as Quackity unknowingly pressed the borrower tightly against the president’s chest. He gasped for breath when Quackity finally pulled away and he felt the lurch of Schlatt being dragged towards everyone else at the festival.

His chest hurt from the pressure of the hug, but there was little he could do as he couldn’t leave the pocket he was in.

From Schlatt’s pocket, Tubbo could hear everyone else’s conversations around them. He heard Niki talking to Fundy about her new bread recipe and Bad yelling at Quackity for swearing. He also heard a new voice, a deep voice that was unfamiliar to the borrower.

Was it someone who was passing through the country when the festival had started? It must be, Tubbo would’ve recognized them if they were a citizen of Manberg.

The festival was boring for the borrower. Being trapped in a stuffy suit pocket made all the different activities and entertainment pointless as he couldn’t do or even see any of them. They were also around people almost the entire time so Tubbo couldn’t even risk a glance, not like he wanted to. He’d rather as few people know of his existence as possible.

A few hours after the festival had started, Schlatt and Quackity both stood on a podium. The duck hybrid tapped on the microphone and began his opening speech as Schlatt stood slightly behind him, watching over the president’s shoulder as if waiting for anything suspicious to occur.

Tubbo tuned out the speech and took this opportunity to finally take a peek out of the pocket. As carefully as he could, he poked his head out of the pocket and surveyed his surroundings.

The podium was very well built but Tubbo expected nothing less from Schlatt. He’d probably hired the best he could find to make sure everything looked perfect.

Whether Schlatt had paid the architect was a completely different story, but that didn’t matter to the borrower at the moment.

Suddenly, movement from the top of a building caught Tubbo’s eye. He looked up to try and figure out what was moving on the building, expecting to see a bird or maybe a stray mob.

What he didn’t expect to see was Wilbur and Tommy leaning over the edge of the building, watching intently as the speeches went on. Tubbo slapped a hand over his mouth to stop the excited gasp from leaving him.

They actually came! He’d hoped that they were here to try and do something to Schlatt. Maybe they would take a stand and try to start an uprising. They did have some allies in this crowd, after all, so they would have an actual chance.

What bothered Tubbo though was how worried his best friend looked. Tommy normally went into every situation with overconfidence that would always get him into near-death situations. But now, now he looked scared. The way he kept glancing between Wilbur and the podium gave the borrower a bad feeling.

And when he looked at Wilbur the bad feeling only worsened. Something about the way he stared at Schlatt with an unwavering gaze made an uneasy feeling grow within the borrower. It felt... unnatural, it felt wrong.

Wilbur and Tommy suddenly both ducked back out of sight as Quackity began introducing Schlatt to the microphone. Tubbo ducked back into the pocket, not exactly wanting to be seen now that Schlatt was in the center of attention.

“Look at our fine country! Our beautiful Manberg deserves to be celebrated like this, don’t you all think!” Some cheers rang out from the crowd, though Tubbo noticed how some of them definitely sounded forced. He didn’t blame them, their country was changed so much once Schlatt became president.

Tubbo felt bad for the citizens of what was once L’Manburg. They were all people of a proud country, a country that fought for their independence. Now they had to listen to the new president- the dictator who had completely taken over their country and changed it completely.

No one deserved it, especially the people who were targeted by Schlatt himself. Niki was one of the hardest hit. Her taxes were raised constantly, Tubbo wasn’t entirely sure how she kept up with them.

Not wanting to think about that sort of stuff right now, Tubbo zoned back into Schlatt’s speech.

“And now we only have one issue left at hand. It has come to my attention that there is a traitor in our midst.” Tubbo froze. He’d been so good at keeping everyone’s secrets. Was it Niki? Fundy? Who’d Schlatt find out about and how had he even found out about them?

“The saddest thing is that it was someone I hold close to me. I really did trust them, but they have been going behind my back for quite some time now. It saddens me, but we all know what happens to traitors.” Schlatt paused for a moment, staring out over the crowd of people.

“Nothing good.”

Tubbo was given no time to react as fingers reached into the pocket and harshly wrapped around him. He closed his eyes as he was yanked into the open, the sudden light change being too much for him right now.

The crowd began to murmur in shock at the sight of him. He could hear the shocked gasps and whispers as they all tried to figure out what he was and why he was so small.

“My fine friends, have you all ever heard of borrowers?”

Tubbo opened his eyes again and stared in horror at the massive crowd of people he was being shown off to. They all stared at him in varying degrees of shock. The only people whose expressions he couldn’t read were Dream’s and a piglin’s, whom the borrower hadn’t seen before today.

“This here is Tubbo.” Schlatt seemed to pay no mind to how shocked everyone was, instead opting to continue his speech as normal. “He’s been a close member of my cabinet and I truly did trust him. But it seems as if he has decided I haven’t treated him well enough. I gave him clothes, food, a place to sleep, and he repays me with betrayal.”

Tubbo began trying to squirm out of Schlatt’s grasp. This wasn’t good, this wasn’t good at all. On top of the fact that now an entire country knew about him and his species, Schlatt had somehow found out about his traitorous actions. And Tubbo knew exactly how Schlatt felt about traitors, the man wasn’t subtle about that piece of information.

“Technoblade. Could you come to the podium please?”

Tubbo stilled as he watched the piglin stranger freeze up in shock before awkwardly making his way up to the podium. So that was his name. For being such an intimidating-looking guy, with an intimidating-sounding name too, he seemed to be pretty awkward.

That didn’t make it any less nerve-wracking as the piglin stood next to Schlatt, easily towering over the borrower, he was huge. So when Schlatt suddenly dropped him into the hooved hands of the piglin, Tubbo would definitely admit he was beyond scared.

Tubbo yelped as Technoblade fumbled with the borrower before gently holding him in his hands. The piglin looked around confused before settling his gaze on Schlatt. The ram’s smile sent a shiver down both his and the piglin’s spines.

“Techno, I’d like you to take care of him for me. That shouldn’t be too hard for someone like you.” Tubbo paled. He shook a bit and whipped his gaze towards Technoblade. He knew exactly what Schlatt was implying.

“Take care of him? Like, keep him safe?” Tubbo stared up at the piglin, confused and a bit angry at him for misinterpreting the command. He must’ve been an idiot for not knowing what Schlatt meant.

Though he did notice how Technoblade kept glancing up to the top of the building where Wilbur and Tommy were as if asking a silent question.

Tubbo let his gaze linger up there as well, only to notice a terrified-looking Tommy, meanwhile, Wilbur nowhere to be seen. He didn’t blame Tommy though, he’s pretty sure if nobody stops this then the blond was about to watch his best friend die.

Schlatt just narrowed his eyes at Technoblade’s response. “Kill him Techno. I’m the president, the blood doesn’t go on my hands. That’s what you’re here for.”

The silence following that confirmation was deafening.

Not one person in the crowd dared to speak, everyone in too much shock at the events playing out before them to speak anyways. Even Tubbo stilled at the words and kept his horrified gaze on the piglin holding him.

He- he wouldn’t actually kill him… right?

The blank look Technoblade was giving him was nowhere near reassuring though. Tubbo’s eyes widened as fingers began wrapping around his body. By the time he attempted to squirm away, the grip had already become too tight.

“P-please! Please don’t do this! Please don’t!” Techno just stared down at him with the blank stare, though Tubbo could’ve sworn he saw a small look of remorse flicker in his eyes like a silent apology for what was about to happen.

He screamed as the pressure only continued to tighten around him and black dots filled his vision. Soon, his own screams cut out as the grip became too tight and he couldn’t breathe.

As Tubbo felt himself slowly fading away, he heard the familiar sound of an ender pearl shattering before someone rammed into Technoblade, forcing the piglin to let go of the borrower and drop him to the podium floor.

Tubbo closed his eyes, letting the darkness consume him. Faintly, he heard the angry voice of his best friend and something similar to fireworks going off around him, but he ignored it all in favor of falling asleep.

Neither Tommy nor Technoblade noticed how the small body vanished into thin air, only a small puff of smoke remaining.

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delimeful · 4 years

Text

not always what they seem (2)

warnings: inappropriate jokes, remus being remus, mild panic attack, fear, miscommunication

long overdue commission for @legendsgates! thank you for your patience and support 💚

Chapter 1

Janus watched the giant creatures around them devolve into more of that buzzing, clicking language as Remus waved his arm around enthusiastically in response to them.

“What are you-- Stop that,” the emo kid hissed, his whole body going tense, and Janus leaned back slightly just in time to avoid getting caught in the half-tackle that Remus was subjected to. “What if they just asked who wants to be first to be dissected, huh?”

“Oooh, kinky,” Remus cackled from where the kid had pinned his wrists to the floor. “Do you think they’ll probe me first?”

Janus rolled his eyes, and then stiffened as a shadow fell over them. “Kid—!”

He could see the moment the red alien’s hand made contact, the kid’s face immediately draining of all color as those strange talons wrapped around him and started to lift.

Almost instantly, Remus surged to his feet, grabbing the kid’s arm before he could be lifted out of range. The hold was so tight it almost looked painful, but the kid clung back desperately. He looked smaller than ever without the bulky hoodie around him, his frame barely concealed by a worn, slightly oversized band shirt.

Remus’s face twisted into a snarl. “Hey, hands to yourself, you shitty Mothra rip-off!”

Janus quickly rose to his feet as well, looking up past the kid’s terrified gaze to see the alien had paused, it’s strange antenna protrusions twitching. The facial features didn’t give him much to work with, so he attempted to see what the creature was seeing, contextless: the kid tackling Remus for big showy arm movements, Remus coming after him. Was it trying to seperate them like a pet owner with a pair of squabbling dogs?

He shifted forwards, setting a hand on Remus’ shoulder and expertly drawing all attention to himself. Remus glanced at him and then reluctantly cut off his litany of extremely descriptive curses, though his grip on the kid didn’t falter. Janus tilted his head back to carefully lock eyes with the alien.

“No. Stop,” he spoke with a stern emphasis. “Put him down.”

He reached up to grab the kid’s arm as well, tugging lightly, and then repeated himself slowly.

“Double D, buddy, I’d bet all three of my balls that they don’t understand English,” Remus said, “no matter how slow you say it.”

Janus didn’t break eye contact with the giant, moving to point at the kid and then the floor of their enclosure emphatically. “That doesn’t mean we can’t communicate with them.”

At the perfect moment to dramatically accentuate his point, the alien seemed to concede, lowering the kid down until his feet were touching the floor. The guy tore out of the oversized grip as soon as it loosened, nearly tumbling head over heels. Janus caught him by the arm, and Remus took the opportunity to jump forwards and click his teeth menacingly at the giant hand. The alien recoiled immediately, looking much like an elephant shying away from a mouse.

“I volunteer to get probed and this is how you fucks repay me? Just grabbing kids all willy-nilly? Have some respect!”

The kid muttered something, half-lost under his panicked breaths, and Remus turned to look at him. “What was that, short stack?”

“Virgil,” he repeated irritably. “It’s Virgil, not ‘kid’, definitely not ‘short stack’. I’m twenty years old, for fuck’s sake.”

Janus and Remus shared a glance over the newly-named Virgil’s head, and that was enough to set the man off into another fit of cackling laughter.

---

Roman watched, enthralled, as the little creature bedecked in green threw its head back and made a hair-raising clamor.

Intriguingly enough, the other two didn’t seem to react too strongly to such a loud outburst. The yellow one turned its face to the side as its tiny features pinched into an expression that Roman couldn’t quite decode, and the shaky purple one’s pale face seemed to shift color as it made an emphatic hand gesture of some sort. Patton would be taking plenty of notes later.

The motions, the expressions, they were all intentional and full of meaning, just like the pointing and sounds Yellow had made when Roman had tried to separate Purple from the group. He still didn��t quite grasp why the other specimens had responded so strongly; Purple had clearly been attacking, though thankfully no serious harm had occurred thanks to Roman swiftly jumping into action.

“This is incredible,” Logan murmured from beside him, and Roman couldn’t help but agree.

“There’s so much to analyze here,” he mumbled. “Any small animal would flee from a predator’s grasp, but they recognized that we’re sapient, and Yellow even approached instead to mediate!”

“Yellow?” Patton asked, a bit of teasing in his voice. “I thought your nicknames were always a bit wordier?”

“I can’t properly nickname someone unless I have their self-presentation and personality, Pat!” Roman defended. “It’s more of a… designation. After all, I can’t very well ask their names, can I?”

“I mean, we could certainly try!” Patton suggested with an optimistic lilt to his voice. “I’m not a linguist for nothing, y’know!”

“It might take some time to communicate intent, so I wouldn’t get your hopes up, Patton.” Logan’s ears flicked at the pleading look the Nihl sent him. “Still, I’ll admit there’s… no harm in a first attempt.”

Roman unsubtly chittered a laugh at his coworker’s expense, and Patton brightened immediately.

“Glad that you agree it’s… wordth a try!”

---

Janus was drawn away from the amusing argument going on between his fellow captives (the topic being how old one had to be to be an actual ‘for-realsies’ adult, federal law be damned) by two of the aliens simultaneously making odd, dragged out noises almost like stuttering groans.

“They sound like fucking zombies,” Virgil muttered from where he’d appeared at Janus’s shoulder. He’d snapped back to watching the three with blatant paranoia the moment they were loud enough to catch his notice.

The kid wasn’t subtle at all, but it wasn’t like he was wrong to be on guard. They were still abducted, regardless of how fantastical or impossible their captors seemed. Seeing how significant the size difference was, they’d have to work on escaping through… more cunning means.

Janus carefully held his position as the three giants crowded around the enclosure again, ignoring the way Virgil reached out to grip the back of his hoodie, either for comfort or in preparation to pull Janus from danger. This time, the three chattered amongst themselves for a long moment before going quiet and turning to the multiple-armed one.

Automatically, the humans mirrored the gesture, and the recipient of their attention met their gazes carefully one by one before placing a rigid, vertical hand under their chin and holding it there.

“Patton,” the alien said, slow and clear. It looked at them expectantly, and then repeated the phrase. “Patton.”

It was definitely some kind of word, that was clear enough. When not caught up in the rapid-fire chittering nature of the alien language, it was much easier to decipher.

“Patton?” Virgil muttered, and then squeaked when the alien stared at him with sudden intensity, hands flicking up and down erratically. Except for, Janus noted, the one still under its chin.

“Patton,” it said again, and then lowered the hand. Next to it, the insect-like one put a much bonier hand under its own angular chin.

“Roman,” it said, with a few subtle clicks that probably couldn’t be replicated by human mouths. Janus nodded, the pieces clicking into place. “Roman.”

Sure enough, next to make the hand gesture was the last alien, who introduced itself with a note of rippling bass overlapping with something like Logan. It was probably a bit mangled as he echoed it back, but different vocal chords made things difficult.

“You communing with them, Dee?” Remus asked from where he was crowding over his other shoulder. “That’s no sign language I’ve ever used. You speak alien and you’re not even going to share with the class?”

Janus elbowed him off, and then stepped forwards, and placed his own hand under his chin vertically, studying the ripple of reaction that got from the aliens.

“Dee,” he said, choosing to use his nickname as he had with the other humans.

The aliens immediately dissolved into excited chattering, which Janus patiently waited out. His fellow earthlings were similarly surprised.

“Wait, they’re doing introductions right now?” Virgil’s head whipped back and forth rapidly. Remus was gleefully attempting to mimic the weird, echoey quality of the voice of ‘Logan’ and getting concerningly close.

The one with all the arms-- Patton, it was Patton, he needed to remember if he wanted to make any progress at all here-- let out a string of syllables, slowed down but still nonsensical to them, and reached out.

Virgil jumped back and Remus started forwards, but Janus cut off all movement with a quickly snapped “Stop!”

Including the alien’s motion. He resisted the urge to smile at the success, instead looking up at Patton and tilting his head slightly. “What is it?”

Patton didn’t understand his words, but the questioning tone seemed to carry over, and after a beat, they moved their hand forward again just slightly before pausing, as though asking permission.

Janus weighed his options for a moment, before stepping forward. Virgil, who was still latched onto the back of him, came along with only a single sound of half-panicked protest. Patton correctly assumed that this was Janus giving his assent, and moved their hand closer, much slower this time.

With delicate, careful motions, they pushed Janus’s left hand out from under his chin, and then carefully curled a finger around his right arm, tugging that one up instead. Janus realized his mistake after a moment, and placed the right hand under his chin instead. Patton withdrew with a bright hum.

“What is happening,” Virgil hissed, and Janus glanced over his shoulder at him. The color had drained from his face, and his hand was white-knuckled where it was holding onto Janus’s borrowed outfit.

“I was mirroring their… introductory gesture, I suppose, and it seems that the meaning changes if I don’t use the correct hand. In this case, my right one,” he explained. “They’re going to want to know your name. Do you want me to assist?”

Before he could answer, Remus was bouncing forwards, placing a hand under his own chin to gain the aliens’ attention.

“Call me I-Am-A-Buttface,” he half-shouted, grinning wildly.

---

“Did… did anyone else catch that one’s name?”

Roman watched as ‘D’ reached over and tugged the other tiny alien back by the collar roughly before they could speak again, astonished by how the other only let out what might be a cackle at the rough handling.

Not more astonished than he’d been by the alien catching on so quickly, though. Logan had been rendered completely speechless for a record amount of time, and Patton was still happily waving his hands back and forth at the success.

D visibly let out a long breath, and turned back to them, placing the correct hand under their chin this time. “D,” they repeated, and then switched things up.

They pulled the rambunctious one closer and placed their hand under that one’s chin, too. “Remus.”

“Are they-- introducing the other one as well?” Roman asked, and none of them could answer. ‘Remus’ didn’t seem to object, though they continued to speak in that rounded language. “That’s certainly a bit... unorthodox.”

D looked over at the only unnamed alien, the angry one that was standing at D’s shoulder, and after a moment, they jerked their head strangely. D seemed to understand, and held a hand palm-up in that one’s direction.

The unnamed alien put their hand in the proper introductory position, and had a few false starts before finally getting their name out. “Virgil.”

“Virgil,” Patton echoed excitedly. “That’s Virgil! Virgil, D, and Remus!”

“Stars above,” Logan said faintly, “they really are just people but smaller.”

Roman couldn’t help but agree with the astounded sentiment. It hadn’t really sunk in before, but knowing the personal names of individual members of the unfamiliar species… “This could have been a disaster. Why were they labeled as primitive? Did the recorders even actually observe the planet they’re from? This seems a little hard to miss!”

“Easy, Roman,” Patton reached over to run a couple of gentle hands over his agitated wings. “You’re scaring the little guys.”

Sure enough, when he looked over, he could see all three of the tiny aliens were staring at him. He clicked an apology, and then echoed it in Common. “My apologies, small friends.”

“I agree with you, though… We can’t treat them as anything less, not like the tests would have us do. I’m not sure what our next step should be,” Patton admitted, and they turned as one to look at Logan. The Glanrim had a recognizably enthusiastic glint to his eyes.

“We’ll have to present our case to the Council. If we want them to believe us, we’ll need sufficient evidence that our specimens are sentient, sapient, and deserving of the standard rights,” he told them, tail swishing. “Our next step is to obtain that proof, through whatever means we can.”

Roman and Patton shared a glance before nodding in agreement. They turned towards the aliens with determination, and then stopped completely short.

“We’re… going to have to find some method of communicating our intentions,” Logan said, tapping his fingers on his shoulder in thought. “I believe the lack of such communication is what caused Virgil to behave so timidly in the first place.”

“Yeah, just reaching in and grabbing them probably isn’t a good idea,” Roman admitted. “What’s the plan, then?”

“Well, this can be a test in itself. Assuming that they can discuss amongst themselves what tests each of us did on the first run-through…”

---

Janus stared blankly at the three hands that had been set down along the floor of their enclosure, palms-up, each corresponding to one of the aliens. He turned to look at Virgil and Remus, just to ascertain that he was seeing the same thing they were.

Remus tilted his head to a painful-looking angle, and then nodded to himself. “It’s just like those choose-your-own-adventure books, except with huge aliens that we don’t know the intentions of! Fun!”

“Oh, so they’re insane? They’re out of their skulls?” Virgil asked, his voice upping an octave in disbelief. “They really think we’re going to just literally put our lives in their hands, after they abducted and tormented us?”

“That’s exactly what we’re going to have to do,” Janus muttered, and held his hands up when Virgil turned to him with a glare. “Just listen for a moment. What are they doing right now?”

“Trying to trick us,” Virgil shot back immediately.

“Getting handsy!” Remus offered.

Janus pinched the bridge of his nose. “No and definitely no. They’re offering us a choice,” he clarified, “because we’ve done something to shift their opinions of us.”

“Some choice,” Virgil muttered. Janus pointed at him, making him jerk back slightly.

“Exactly. What do you think they’re going to do if we refuse to engage with them at all?”

“... Grab us anyways?”

Janus nodded, casting another look over at the waiting aliens. “If that happens, we’ve relinquished any and all control over the situation, no matter how small. Instead, we need to take advantage of this while we can. We’ll be putting our lives in their hands regardless, so it’s best to act strategically here.”

“Well, I know what I want.” Remus sidled a step away from them and towards the aliens. “Dibs on the hot one.”

“The what one?” Virgil gaped, and Remus ignored him in favor of getting a running start and then throwing himself directly onto Logan’s hand. Unsurprisingly, Logan seemed unsure how to react to a human sprawling over him like Rose from Titanic. Janus was too professional to slap a hand onto his forehead, but the urge was there. He grabbed Virgil’s shoulder when the kid started towards them.

“Forget it. He’s made his choice, and he doesn’t seem like the type to be swayed by common sense,” Janus said, rolling eyes and choosing very emphatically to not question his fellow human’s apparent qualifiers for someone being considered ‘hot’. “You need to make a decision of your own.”

Virgil shook him off, running his hands through his hair in frustration. “This is crazy. All of it. Forever. You know that, right?”

“I’m aware,” Janus replied, voice dry. Virgil shot him another look, and then seemed to actually consider the options, though grumpily. With his shoulders still up around his ears, he looked vaguely like a very angry turtle. Janus kept this observation to himself.

“Remus called the one with all the arms-- uh, Patton? He called them boring and said all they did was talk at him,” he finally offered, glancing over at the alien.

Janus nodded, keeping his own feelings on the matter off his face. “You want that one, then?”

“What?” Virgil looked at him, confused. “No, I mean you should go with them. You’ll probably have an easier time figuring out what they want from Patton.”

Janus paused, thrown off. “Hold on, that-- that leaves you with Roman. I… don’t think you’ll have the best time, considering.”

“And you will?” Virgil took Janus’s silence as the admittance it was, and nodded to himself. “I can do it. I’m tougher than you think. And anyways, if I let you go with him, he’d probably try to swipe my hoodie. Not happening.”

Janus huffed with exasperation, and Virgil gave him the closest expression he’d gotten to a smile yet before shoving his shoulder slightly and stomping up to Roman’s hand. The alien looked just as unhappy as Virgil about the decision.

---

“Well, that was an… interesting selection process,” Logan said, lifting up his hand slightly and finding that Remus seemed content to be toted around.

It was more than he could say about his own matchup. “Yeah, that’s one way of putting it,” he grumbled as ‘Virgil’ continued to stand there, tiny arms bundled around themself, tiny eyes staring up at Roman aggressively.

The little creature didn’t seem intent on even touching Roman, let alone actually being picked up and taken anywhere. Roman looked over to where D was seating themself on the edge of Patton’s hand like a king upon their throne, and then back to Virgil, who didn’t move.

Maybe they expected Roman to do all the heavy lifting? He carefully lifted his hand, curling it around Virgil’s tiny frame, and received a vicious hiss for his efforts. He recoiled, antennae flattening. He hadn’t even known these creatures could hiss!

“You alright, kiddo?” Patton appeared next to him, one hand hovering as a safety net for D. Roman pasted on a smile immediately.

“Of course! Just working out methods of transport with… Virgil. They seem a bit less charismatic than D when it comes to conveying intent, unfortunately.” The tiny creature continued to stare at him, gaze only dipping away to meet D’s briefly.

Patton studied Virgil for a moment, gaze moving between their hunched form and Roman’s fidgeting hands. “They might be a little touch shy. The transport containers are still usable, if you need them!”

“Ah, that’s right! Patton, you’re a genius.” Roman exchanged good luck hums with the Nihl and waited until he departed to grab the transport container and present it to Virgil. “Is this what you want to use, you picky creature?”

As though to spite him, Virgil’s skin shifted to a paler shade, and they went so far as to step back slightly. Roman allowed himself a few frustrated clickswears, and then stopped as he noticed the creature stumble slightly.

“Virgil…?” he attempted the alien’s name, but there was no response beyond their rapid air intake increasing. They didn’t look so good.

Feeling oddly off-balance, he quickly stowed the transport container away, and kept his hands out of sight to give the poor guy some more space. “Easy, easy. Please for the love of all that is good, don’t die of shock on me.”

Virgil didn’t seem to improve at first, but after a moment, they started muttering to themself, and slowly but surely, began to return to baseline. Roman felt as though years had been taken off his lifespan.

“Alright, if you feel so strongly about it, there’s no reason I can’t improvise and simply work from here,” he rambled, moving a seat and a tray of tools to the side of the wide-low enclosure. “Logan wasn’t kidding when he called you easily startled, was he?”

Virgil eyed the tray with wide eyes, and when Roman picked up the thermometer, they skittered back out of easy reach, arms lifted in what must have been a defensive gesture. Like a frightened Arkbit, but less fluffy, and Roman had to actually try to coax them over rather than just holding them still for the process.

“It’s just a thermometer! It won’t prick you or anything, on my honor,” Roman swore, and when that didn’t do the trick, he used the device on himself instead. “See, I just place it against my skin for a few moments, and… there! A perfectly healthy me!”

He extended the sensor end of the thermometer in Virgil’s direction, but didn’t advance. “C’mon, just give it a shot. We’re going to need your baseline in case you get sick, and it’ll make it easier to get the others’ temps if you can tell them I’m not going to electrocute them or anything.”

Virgil dithered for a long moment, but Roman’s patience was rewarded when the alien finally stalked closer and smacked his hand against the sensor like a challenge. Luckily, it was precise enough to work accurately even with such a small specimen, and soon enough Roman has a temperature.

“Huh… you’re warmer than me and Patton, that’s for sure,” Roman mumbled. “Logan probably already has all sorts of classification theories about you guys, but I think it’s at least safe to say you’re mammalian.”

Virgil tilted their head slightly at him, and Roman shook his head. “We’ll have more to talk about once we actually manage to make a breakthrough on language. For now,” he held up a small scale, normally used for weighing precise chemical measurements, “back to the boring stuff!”

The tiny alien made a strange drawn out noise, and placed their hands over their face, but they didn’t get all tense and breathy again, and that was progress in Roman’s book.

So long as they kept making progress, things would probably turn out okay.

#sanders sides #space au #g/t #ts virgil #ts logan #ts janus #ts roman #ts patton #ts remus #writing #my writing #alien au #nawts #not always what they seem #commissioned works #giant/tiny

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lost-in-labradorite-halls · 3 years

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Moving Day

Some pet whump concepts I wanted to explore. CW: Pet Whump, sick, enclosure, slavery, creepy whumper, comfort from a whumper, dehumanization Vard was taken to his new home. Or at least that was what his master said before shoving him into a small enclosure. Every now and then his master’s hand would through an opening to stroke his black and brown hair. Vard could barely keep calm. The enclosure, or crate forced him into a kneeling, balled up position. It was nearly identical to the box he had arrived in. He was so cramped that he could barely breathe. And it was hot in the crate. The only cool air he felt was when his master’s hand pressed in. Vard lost track of how long he was in there. But there was movement. His master and his servants had him placed into a vehicle. Vard hated the vehicles, every movement had him desperately shutting his eyes. However it did little to stop the nausea that flooded him with every bump or turn. He just wanted out. He would do whatever his master pleased. “Just let me out”. He would beg. He didn’t mean to. He knew better than to complain. But it was hard to after a rough turn had him gagging up bile into his small crate. Then being trapped with the mess and the smell. His master had decided to not let him eat before travelling, in hopes that it would reduce the likeliness of sick. “Oh my poor dear,” his master said as Vard shivered uncontrollably. But his master was kind as he opened more of the crate to brush over him a towel, to clean up the mess, at least of what his master could reach. His master settled his hand into Vard’s hair. “I’m sorry, my dear,” Master said. “I just couldn’t find your harness before the trip. I could have let you out and sit with me, I just didn’t want to risk you getting hurt. Vard whimpered, but leaned into his hand. Such a gentle touch of comfort. At some point Vard fell asleep to his master’s gentle snores. Something about that sound had always been relaxing to him and Vard managed to sleep. He had no idea how long he slept for before his crate was being jostled around again. There was a small slot on the side that opened to a grate that let him breathe in fresh air. He smelled grass and opened his eyes. Beyond his crate was a yard, with a bright sun. “Master?” Vard ventured with his voice. He couldn’t quite see what was happening, but the grunts of servants moving more large boxes seemed to be going on behind him. “I am not far, little one,” his Master called back, allowing Vard to stay in his cramped position, allowing him a moment to breathe in cool fresh grass. His master did not leave him there long. The bright sun was quick to make the crate unbearably hot. But by then his Master had Vard moved into a building. Vard could barely see through the little opening. He gritted his teeth as he was moved down steps into a cooler area, a basement. Stairs could be scary. Finally he came to a stop in a second unfinished basement area. And he was left there. At least he wasn't in the vehicle, at least he wasn’t in the hot sun. BUt he was thirsty, tired and hungry and he was desperate to relieve himself. More time passed before his master returned to him. And finally, finally he was let out of the crate. Master held him as he shoved himself onto his Master’s lap. He shivered slightly in the chilled basement and cold tiled floor. “Welcome to your new home,” his master told him. Vard looked up at his master, who smiled gently. Vard didn’t know what that could mean. He had liked his old home well enough. Where his master and his brothers had lived. And the other pets there. Already he missed Nel, his big sister and Wayne. Wayne was like a father to Vard. It was hard leaving them. Vard remembered being put into his crate, his master said, “Say goodbye.” And Nel looked back at Vard. Vard’s finger’s tearing at a small opening, trying to reach her. “Goodbye,” Nel said, watching sadly as Vard and his crate were taken away. But Vard’s master had been very busy for a very long time. Often Vard had to say with Master’s brothers and they were good Sirs, but Vard had missed Master the most. “Alright my dear, let's have a quick look around.” His master stood up, forcing Vard to do the same. On wobbly feet his master showed him the bathroom, shower and sink. As well as a small food cabinet, where his allotted protein bars were. He was also given a cup and permission to drink as much water from the sink as he wished. Master gave Vard a kiss on the top of his head before leaving. Locking the door behind him as he went. Vard padded barefooted on the cold tile to look at allotted protein bars. He counted only six. This was different. At Master’s brother’s house he was allowed to access as much food as he wished and if he was hungry he could always ask and one of the brothers would give him any food, night or day. This was six protein bars for the whole day. Vard closed the cabinet and decided not to have anything yet. The basement was small and fairly cramped, but he was pleased to find several areas connected behind cabinets. They were meant for storage, but were large enough for him to fit through. He crammed himself inside of them, it felt like a safe secret place to hide, at least, until his master came back.

#whump #pet whump #whump ideas #original characters #Vard

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theoriginalladya · 3 years

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Destiny’s Fate (update)(main story)

Destiny’s Fate is the main story in my ShepShep world. John and Jane Shepard have known one another since they were fifteen years old. Through thick and thin they’ve been friend, lover, and spouse to one another. Destiny has a grand plan for them.

Until Jane dies over Alchera and John finally finds a way to live again. When they meet up again on Horizon, both their worlds are shattered. Harsh words and bitterness ensue, as does a divorce, leaving them on a different sort of battlefield. A personal one.

But Destiny’s grand plan cannot be changed, and as the promised Reaper attack gets underway, they are brought together once more to face the greatest threat all civilization in the galaxy has ever known. Can they set aside their differences enough to partner up and defeat the common enemy? Or will their own personal battles defeat them in the process?

Summary: Once united in all things, Destiny has guided John and Jane Shepard to separate, divergent paths; however, both know the future holds a far greater threat than the rest of the galaxy is willing to acknowledge. Can they join together one last time to complete the mission they started together, or will Fate deal them a final losing hand …

Tags: marriage, divorce, strained relationships, angst, pregnancy (past), loss of pregnancy (past), emotional hurt/comfort, death, descrption of battle, biotics, injury

Chapter: Blinded by the Light

Word Count: approximately 2400

Excerpt:

Little has changed on Tuchanka since her visit the year before, Jane thinks as she scrambles across the battlefield, ducking for shelter behind a pile of large debris to avoid a grenade. It’s just as arid, devoid of most forms of life outside of krogan, thresher maws, and varren as it ever was. The one big thing she notices, however, is that the krogan apparently built things to last years before and despite their nuclear war, because the old planetary defense cannon is still functional. It caught the interest of Cerberus – because, of course, it did – and is the reason she and her team are here now. For reasons unknown, the old cannon is of interest to them.

Enter Admiral Hackett. “Shepard, we have a mission for you…”

The grenade explodes, tossing bits of dirt and debris all over her area. Once the worst is past, Jane cautiously peeks over the top edge of her cover to make a quick assessment of the battlefield. “James?”

“On your left, Lola!” the lieutenant calls back across comms.

Pulling out one of her own grenades, Jane pulls the pin and hefts it in her hand. “Left side enclosure – think you can toss a grenade that far?” She launches hers as she finishes speaking.

A second goes sailing after as James calls back, “Consider it done!”

They land within a second or so of each other, exploding close enough to the target to take down two Cerberus engineers and their turrets, as well as stun one of the more heavily armored troops protecting them.

“Commander, up in the window!” Kaidan shouts.

Jane narrows her gaze about twenty meters above her previous target. Lifting her weapon, she uses the scope to count heads as they move in and out of the line of fire.

“I got this one!” James calls out. Another of his grenades launches even before his voice fades, exploding seconds later. The screams of Cerberus personnel caught in the blast are a fitting end.

Movement to Jane’s right has her spinning around…and lowering her weapon with a huff of frustration. “EDI,” she breathes, heart racing just a little too fast. “Next time, warn me you’re incoming, ‘k?”

“Of course, commander.”

Pushing to her feet, Jane gestures for the AI to follow after her. “Let’s get up there, see what you can make of it.”...

~~~

Read on AO3 // Read from Beginning // Read Destiny’s Fate:Downtime // Read Series

Thank you all for reading and your comments! Feel free to drop an ask if you have questions about ShepShep or just want to talk about them! :)

#Destiny's Fate #ladya writes #ShepShep #Jane Shepard #Kaidan Alenko #James Vega #EDI #Steve Cortez #mass effect fanfiction #Tuchanka #N7 Cannons mission #chapter update

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venusandromedadjarin · 3 years

Text

Message from a Droid

Ch. 13, A Glint of Beskar

18+ smut, angsty/rough sex, TW: character death, 1.9k words

The next day, as the stars streak through hyperspace outside and the child sits in your lap, cooing as he tugs at your hair, an erratic beeping fills the cockpit. Mando quickly climbs the ladder, coming into the small space and sitting down to your left. He signals for you to be quiet, slightly startled by the sudden com message. You do your best to quiet the baby as a hologram of a droid pops up, and you have a sinking feeling as you realize whose droid it is.

“Mandalorian, Kuiil programmed my unit to send you a message when he died. Upon receiving this hologram, return to Arvala-7. He has left further instructions at his residence.” The message cuts out with a bit of static, and you hear Mando’s sharp intake of breath. His shoulders stiffen, but he remains still in the pilot’s seat. The child struggles against your arms, trying to move towards his father, but you hold him against your chest as you watch Mando. He punches in the coordinates, his movements increasingly jerky. It’s a startling view since you’re used to his movements being smooth and calculated. You begin to reach towards him, but he pushes your hand aside as soon as the Crest is locked in and heading towards Kuiil’s farm.

Downstairs, you hear a loud bang once Mando reaches the hull and the child jumps in your arms, his wide eyes staring up at you. You silently shake your head at him, cradling him against you as his dad continues to make noise below.

Eventually, the child starts to fall asleep, and your mind wanders about the tiny family unit that this has become: Is it too soon to feel that way? A part of you says that it isn’t, but you feel anxious about the thought. A tiny gasp brings you back to the present, and you make your way down to the hull, the kid passed out in your grasp. He coos softly when you lay him in his small cot before entering the bedroom.

“Mando?” It’s pitch black, and you stumble towards the bed, latching the door behind you. You can tell by his breathing that he’s awake, but he doesn’t answer you as you strip off your pants and clamber under the covers. “Hey,” your voice is quiet as you reach out to find his face.

He leans into your touch, the dampness on his cheeks startling you, “He should have come with me when I asked.”

You blanch, taken aback by the emotion in his voice. “What are you talking about?”

“I could have protected him,” he pulls you onto his chest, one of his hands cupping your head to the pulse point in his neck.

“Cyare,” you whisper, “we don’t even know what happened. This isn’t something you could have prevented.” He stiffens beneath you, the circles he was drawing on your neck with his thumb stilling.

“You don’t know that.”

The bluntness shouldn’t surprise you, but you flinch a little at his voice, remaining quiet as you continue to cup his cheek. It had been months since you heard that tone, the softness he usually speaks to you with is missing. It makes you ache, makes you wish you could reach into his soul and pull out the hurt he is obviously feeling. But you can’t.

Instead, you kiss his pulse point softly, feeling its pace increase under your lips. It wasn’t your intention, but you feel his cock harden against your thigh, so you lightly suck at his neck, leaving little marks. His breathing hitches, and you begin to slide down his body, kissing his collar bones, his chest and his stomach. He stops you, his strong hands gripping your biceps, before you get to his waist, “No.” You immediately stop, blushing in the darkness at the idea that you misunderstood his wants. But before you can fully become embarrassed, he gently moves you off of him, tearing your shirt off, before laying over your back as you lay on your stomach. He kisses his way down your spine, the shivers increasing as he moves lower. He bites at the curve of your ass before kneeling between your knees and roughly pulling your hips up, your panties being slid down your legs by his large hands. Your back is painfully arched so that your ass and pussy are on full display from behind, your breasts and shoulders pleasantly pushed into the bed, the sheets creating friction on your nipples, making them hard.

You cry out as his large hand connects with your ass, hard enough to leave a mark, and you bite down on your lip before whimpering. His hands fully leave you, the seconds ticking by before his tongue dips into your pussy from behind. The moan that rips from your throat normally would make you red-faced, but he sinks two fingers into you before you can think anymore about it.

You’re already so wet for him that its obscene sounding. He finger fucks you for minutes, never stopping the quick pace or removing his mouth from you, either licking your folds or biting at your hips and ass. You’re on the verge of coming, grasping at the sheets and doing your best to moan into the pillow, careful not to wake the baby, when he stops all together. You groan, pushing your hips back at him, begging for more.

You cry out once more as he slams into you, the searing pleasure of his cock being sheathed inside you pushes you over the edge and into a blazing orgasm. You feel his arm wrap around you, his palm resting at the palm of your throat, as he pulls you up into his chest, slamming into you. The sounds you both make as you clench around him are vulgar, and you can tell he won’t last much longer. The hand on your throat tightens as his fingers find your clit, another orgasm riding on the tails of the first. He doesn’t stop, keeping up the pace on your clit and your pussy, his cock finding the exact spot you need as you yell out for him to continue, your vision wavering, “Mesh’la, say you’re mine.” His voice is hard to focus on, your body trembling, “Say it.”

“I-I’m yo-yours,” you cry out at the gruffness of his command, finally reaching your climax as you feel his hips stutter against you before he comes. You collapse together, breathing heavy.

As you sink into sleep, you hear him whisper against your shoulder, “Mesh’la, you are my moon. I belong to you.”

When the Crest lands near Kuiil’s moisture farm, the child is visibly upset by the emotions he can feel rolling off of you and Mando. Since last night, Mando hasn’t spoken to you but you caught him watching you as you moved slowly around the ship this morning and as you fed the child. You noticed the heavy breath he took as he watched you grimace when you slowly sat down in the copilot’s chair, holding the kid in your lap during the landing.

Now, standing at the top of the ramp, the child’s big eyes glance between you and his dad, who takes off towards the enclosure first and opens the gate. You watch as he shoos the Blurgs away, the roughness of his voice making your heart sink.

You’ve always known that he is a harsh man, a person shaped by his job and his past, though you don’t know exactly what that is yet. But seeing it firsthand, especially without him beating up a bounty, shocks you. The only time he’s ever been like this is around people who try to hurt you, and at most he’ll be short with other people. But it’s just you and the kid, so this scares you, making you flinch away from the man you’ve grown to love over the past few months. The little hand grabbing at your hair pulls you out of your thoughts, and you look down at him, trying to catch your breath. This is Mando, he’s just hurt, he’s still the same man he’s always been, you remind yourself.

As he continues to get the Blurgs to disperse, you make your way into Kuiil’s house, the droid greeting you at the door. “Where is the Mandalorian?” It’s animatronic voice makes you shiver, but you point behind you to where he stands and the droid leaves you. The house is quiet, too quiet, and it finally hits you that Kuiil is gone. You wonder where he’s buried, or what the droid did with him, and set the child down on a couch, his wide eyes never leaving your face as you walk around the hut searching for anything that could be a clue as to what happened. You find a very old picture, worn from the sun and sand, of Kuiil and a woman. They’re both smiling and he has his arms around her. You don’t even realize you’re crying until the kid is tugging at your pants, whining up at you. Scooping him up, you sink into the chair he had been in and let the tears flow freely. He nuzzles against your chest, doing his best to comfort you with his tiny body and tiny hands.

A small creaking noise makes you eventually look up to find Mando looking at you, and you realize the kid is asleep, the tears on your cheeks mostly dry. You don’t know how long you’d been sitting there, but he comes over to you and kneels between your legs, his large, gloved hand resting on your thigh. He caresses your face before speaking in a low voice, “Kuiil left messages for me with the droid. He’s uploading it to the crest and then we can leave if you want to.”

“D-did he say how…”

Mando sighs, letting the helmet fall to his chest but never taking his hand from your cheek, “Stormtroopers came looking for him. For the kid.” You both look at the little green body curled against your chest, and he sighs in his sleep, his ears twitching. “We can’t stay here.”

“We can’t just leave it. We can’t leave him.”

He shakes his head, “The droid buried him, I was going to ask if you want to go out there… with me. Please.” The raw emotion in his voice makes your breath catch, realizing he is asking you to support him. To protect him from this hurt. “We can come back to take care of the farm sometimes. We can visit him… Right?”

You start crying again, pulling the large man toward you, wanting with your whole soul to make the hurt stop for him. “Yes. Yes of course,” you whisper against the Beskar, and you feel his body shake a little before he pulls out of your embrace and drags you to your feet, making sure not to jostle the baby. “Wait,” you grab the picture again before following him out into the hot suns. He notices it and takes it from you, staring at it for a moment before sighing and taking your hand again.

Outside, the droid waits near the Crest and then leads you to the grave, Kuiil’s helmet laying at the head of it. The three of you stand in silence before the baby stirs in your arms, and you put him down. He waddles over to the mound of dirt, laying his large head and tiny body down against it, his eyes closing as he cuddles the grave. You look at Mando, but you can’t tell what he’s thinking under the helmet as he watches the suns start sinking.

#din djarin reader insert #reader x din Djarin #the mandolorian x reader #the mandalorian fanfiction #the mandolarian

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imthecaretaker · 3 years

Text

My contribution to MerMay!

Just a one-shot featuring my giant orca mermaid, Charlie! Injured somehow, she is a guest at a rehabilitation center while she’s on the mend. She loves company, especially children!

Charlie lay back against the wall of the healing tank, her arms resting on the deck as she lounged, enjoying the warm sun. Cracking an eye open, she raised her tailfin out of the water and regarded it for a few moments. The bandages were fresh, replaced only about an hour ago, and due to be checked and changed at the end of the day.

Setting her tail back in the water, she noticed how big she was compared to the tank. The end of her tail reached nearly to the middle of the concrete enclosure.

Charlie sighed and closed her eye again. She remembered bringing up the size of the tank when she'd been brought here. "It's not nearly big enough," she'd complained to the head doctor, Doctor Rey Spencer.

"Charlie," Rey had laughed, "it's not supposed to be super huge right now. It's a healing tank, for you to rest and recuperate. When you're well on the road to recovery, we'll move you to a bigger tank. But for now, you just need to wait, work on healing, and trust us."

That was nearly a month ago. Since then, her injuries had been healing nicely, or so everyone said. She hoped she was due to be moved soon, as she had recently started getting a little restless. But, she thought, this tank has its perks.

"Oh, Charlie!" came Rey's sing-song voice.

"Miss Charlie!" called a chorus of several smaller excited voices.

The giant mermaid's eyes shot open and she gasped excitedly. "Calves! Hi!" She broke out in a big smile as she rolled over and leaned down to see the group of children running toward her, Doctor Rey in tow. As each child reached her, Charlie gently patted their head, counting them and making them giggle. "Five, six, seven- oh? Seems there's a new calf in the group today." She smiled and lowered herself as close to eye-level as she could. "Hello, young one," Charlie greeted softly. "My name is Charlie. What's yours?"

The new child, a cute little seven-year-old with dark skin and twin pigtails, shyly looked up at Charlie. "I'm Keisha," she said, just loud enough for Charlie to hear.

"It's nice to meet you, Keisha," Charlie softly replied. "Is it okay if I pat your head and count you in the group? You can say no if it's not okay."

A few moments passed before Keisha slowly nodded. "It's okay, Miss Charlie."

"Thank you, Miss Keisha. Here comes my finger," the giant mermaid said as her index finger slowly came closer. It touched her hair with the gentleness of her mother laying a hand atop her head before retreating. "Good job, Miss Keisha. You're very brave," Charlie smiled warmly.

Keisha smiled back. "Thank you," she replied.

"Miss Charlie! Miss Charlie!" one of the children called, pushing a bit to be noticed.

"Yes, Mister Mathias?"

"Look, I lost a tooth yesterday!" Opening his mouth wide, Mathias pointed to the gap where one of his canine teeth had been.

Charlie gave a soft gasp of concern. "Oh Mathias, you need to be careful with your teeth," she warned. "Did you lose it in a fight?"

Mathias laughed. "No, Miss Charlie! It's just a baby tooth!"

"... Huh?" Charlie turned to Doctor Rey, who was trying to keep from laughing.

"Human children aren't like orca calves, Charlie," Rey explained. "They have another set of teeth that will grow in as they get older. The teeth they have now will be gone and replaced, perfectly natural." Rey smirked up at the giant. "But your concern is touching."

Charlie playfully stuck her tongue out at the scientist, who returned the gesture, along with crossed eyes. The children giggled as the pair continued to make faces, trying to top each other.

Finally, Charlie huffed, "You know, Doctor Rey? Someone needs to be a good example for these calves and it will be me." Turning her attention to the kids, she asked, "Who wants to go for a ride?" Smiling at the ecstatic cheers, she slowly rolled over on to her back and got as close to the deck as she could. With careful movements (and a bit of assistance from Doctor Rey), the eight children were soon happily situated on Charlie's belly, cheering and chattering as the giant orca mermaid lazily swam slow circles around the edge of the tank.

After the fourth loop, Rey flagged the giant down and gingerly hopped aboard. She smiled as she addressed everyone. "Now feels like a good time to tell you all the news, so here goes- Miss Charlie will be leaving-"

The kids all "aww'ed" sadly, missing Rey's smirk.

"-leaving this tank tomorrow, and going to the big recuperating tank next door!" She finished excitedly, pointing.

Charlie gasped and her eyes widened. "Really?" She asked hopefully. The recuperating tank was huge, the size of a small bay. She could actually move around and limber up a bit.

"Really," came Rey's reply.

"Yay, Miss Charlie!" the kids cheered.

"Yay, me!" Without thinking, Charlie raised her tailfin and slapped it against the water excitedly, as well as wiggling her pectoral fins, causing her body to shake. She quickly stopped, though, when the kids and scientist nearly lost their footing. "Oops," she blushed sheepishly. "I'd better let you calves off. You're not prepared to swim today."

~~~~~~~~~~~~

Dutch, the janitor, did his final rounds as he locked up the building. The children had left, and the daytime staff were doing likewise. "G'night, Miss Charlie," he said in his raspy rough voice.

"Good night Dutch. Say hello to your mate and calf for me," she responded politely.

A nod and "I'll do it," and Dutch was gone. Charlie sighed and leaned against the deck once again. She smiled as she closed her eyes. The visit from her seven- eight- calves was a nice little pick-me-up, as well as the news about tomorrow's move.

The recuperating tank, the giant mermaid thought. Nearly the open ocean. As she thought about going back to sea, a tear slowly formed and dripped on to her chest. She'd miss her calves, she knew. It would break her heart to say goodbye. But, beneath the sadness was a glimmer of confidence and hope. They'll all be useful, valued members of their respective pods, she thought with a small smile. With that comforting thought, she drifted off to peaceful sleep.

#mermay #g/t writing #oc: charlie #orca mermaid

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bakugou-jpg · 4 years

Text

Cherry wine || Single dad!Tsukishima

Hello, hello ! I here by present you with chapter 1 of cherry wine. I apologize for the last bit since it was a bit rushed but i do hope you will all enjoy it anyways. Also! Thank you so much for all the kind words and support you guys have given we really appreciate it :)

Masterlist

-Chapter 1-

________________________________________

"..Wake up bud, there's cereal waiting for you on the counter."

The covers moved, a small groan coming from underneath them. A tuft of dirty, messy, blonde hair peeked through the top together with the nose of what seemed to be a stuffed meerkat. "Noo.." A voice grumbled, barely hearable due to the covers almost deafening the sounds coming from underneath.

It didn't take long before the curtains were shoved aside, the blinding sunlight shooting through and immediatly taking grasp of whatever it could find. Which also seemed to be the face of the 7 year old boy hiding from his father underneath the covers.

"Dad! Its too bright, i'm going blind!" The boy whined while pushing his stuffed animal into his face. He nuzzled his face into its fur and sighed, enjoying his last few seconds of comfort in bed. Monday mornings were the worst, a morning where his father wouldn't have any mercy with waking him up. Even if that meant tossing him over his shoulder or for his wiggly fingers to find their way onto his side while that very annoying smirk was present on his face.

Tsukishima stretched, letting his eyes get used to the morning sunlight before dragging his long legs to the small turtle enclosure that was placed on top of a drawer. He flicked on the light and immediately checked if the turtle, who went by the name of Mika, was still alive and good. Once he was greeted by the grumpy eyes of the drowsy turtle he reached for the small box of crickets and took out the last two, tossing them into the enclosure after having opened the top and closing it again afterwards.

He crossed his arms and looked at the hidden boy with a raised brow. "Kaoru Tsukishima. Your cereal will get soggy and i'm not making you a new bowl. So get out of bed or else i'll help you." He said, walking towards the bed and kneeling down, tugging at the sheets.

An mischief giggle errupted from under the blankets and a head poked out of the sheets. A pair of golden brown eyes peeked up at him and Tsukishima certainly didn't miss the big grin on the boy's face.

Kaoru was almost a carbon copy of his dad. He had his dad's dirty blonde hair, golden-brown eyes and his dad's interest in dinosaurs. It brought some sense of pride to Tsukishima, knowing that he did that. That a kid so smart, imaginative and nice was his son.

Had you told Tsukishima, 10 years ago when he was 16, that he'd father a boy at the last year of his college and take responsibility for him by raising him on his own. How he'd provide and do anything he did for his son and that every decision he made was for his son? He would've called you crazy, saying how he wouldn't be stupid enough to make the decision of doing such things without the right protection.

It was something that was true, Tsukishima had been dumb enough to not use the right precautions that one night. He was too busy thinking with his dick instead of his brain, too busy with his own desires instead of thinking of the consequences.

Though Tsukishima wasn't religious in any way or shape, he was god forever thankful that he wasn't a responsible person that one night.

"..I'm not leaving my bed" The boy said while giggling like crazy, knowing exactly what the outcomes could be. He had one of his arms tightly wrapped around his stuffed meerkat and pulled the blankets up, trying to hide his smile but Tsukishima's didn't miss how his eyes crinkled and how his eyes held nothing but joy.

The tall man dipped down, throwing Kaoru's sheets off the bed revealing the boy and grabbed his ankles. He stood up, taking a few steps back and dangled the boy upside down by his legs. Kaoru burst out in a fit of giggles, his arm dragging over the floor and his shirt slipping down his chest down to his head. His dad moved his legs on his shoulders, Kaoru now up side down dangling on his back as he took him down the hall, to the kitchen.

Tsukishima slowly lowered Kaoru, making sure he wouldn't just harshly fall onto the ground and hurt himself. The boy put his hands on the ground and his legs slipped down his father's back, landing on his fours. He jumped up, immediately letting his eyes scan the kitchen counter before grabbing his bowl of cereal. "Thanks"

Whilst climbing onto the stool next to the kitchen island, Tsukishima quickly put down a spoon before disappearing somewhere into bathroom only to return with a small pile of fresh clothes. He walked back into Kaoru's room and put the pile of clothes on top of his bed, making his bed before doing so.

"Eat up, brush your teeth and get dressed. After school we're gonna buy some more food for Mika, no buts. Now hurry up we're gonna be late"

Kaoru groaned and shoved a spoon full of colored dinosaur shaped cereal into his mouth. "Mnnyeah wyeah" The boy said with his mouth full, some droplets of milk going down his chin and onto his pyjamas.

Quickly finishing his breakfast, Kaoru hopped off of the stool and ran to his room. He quickly got rid of his pyjamas, leaving the discarded clothes somewhere on the ground for Tsukishima to once again clean it after him, and pulled his sweater over his head. The raccoon print on the front was a bit damaged after having been in the washing machine several times, but Kaoru loved it very much regardless of it.

Tsukishima was in the bathroom, splashing his face with water rubbing a towel rather harshly over it. He put his toothbrush back into the cup placed next to the mirror and spat out the remaining bits of toothpaste that was in his mouth.

There was a soft tug at his sleeve, the 7 year old boy signaling towards the cup that held the toothbrushes and Tsukishima handed him his dark blue toothbrush. "..thanks" Kaoru mumbled while putting a little dot of toothbrush on it before climbing onto the

Tsukishima left the bathroom and went to the hallway, sliding his feet into his shoes when he felt his phone buzz.

Turning off his phone again, Tsukishima could hear quick footsteps coming his way. He kneeled down, loosening Kaoru's shoes for him since Kaoru always managed to take the longest time getting them on.

"Kuroo's waiting for me, u can tie your shoes in the car just be careful u don't trip" He said while grabbing Kaoru's bag, checking to see if he put his lunch in.

Kaoru shoved his feet into his shoes and looked at Tsukishima with pleading eyes. "Can you carry me to the car~? Pretty pleaseee?" His son begged while looking at him with his hands folded. Kaoru was forcing puppy eyes,

A look most parents would think was adorable..

Tsukishima tilted his head and looked down at Kaoru, his eyes scanning over the body from the 7 year old. "Kaoru, can you do this?". He moved his foot up and down, kicking his leg in and out before looking back at Kaoru again who was looking at him with a confused look in his eyes.

Kaoru nodded and got up. He started copying Tsukishima's movement, moving his foot up and down, kicking his legs in and out and even wiggling around with it a little. "Yeah, of course.." The boy muttered, his eyes looking back up at Tsukishima.

..but Tsukishima absolutely hated it when Kaoru tried to bribe him with just a single look.

"Well then your legs work perfectly fine now get your butt to the car or else i'll leave you home alone and you can walk yourself to school." Tsukishima said with a smirk, looking down at his son with a devilish glint in his eyes. He unlocked the door and waited for Kaoru to catch up, who was currently groaning and rolling his eyes at his dad.

"Daaad!" Kaoru whined, leaning into his father while holding onto his arm while he locked the door again. He pressed his face into his arm and started making inaudible noises into his sleeve.

Tsukishima was still smirking, loving nothing more but to tease his son and get on his nerves sometimes. He reached into the pocket of his coat and grabbed his car keys, pushing a button so that the car would unlock. "Kaoruuu" He said in a similar high pitched whiney tone, something which made Kaoru puff his cheeks, only getting more and more annoyed by his father's behavior.

The two of them got into the car, Tsukishima making sure Kaoru was buckled up correctly, and they left their apartment complex on their way to school.

It wasn't too far away, a ten minute ride tops. The ride to school was always quiet, except for the music Tsukishima put on softly playing in the background. Kaoru wasn't exactly a morning person, though already having finished his morning routine the boy was still sleepy and when Tsukishima would look at him through the rear view mirror, he'd almost every time catch his son dozing off.

With the familiar building in sight, handsful of children screaming and running around. Parents kissing their kids goodbye, dropping them off and immediately leaving and of course the gossip moms who's husbands already left for work and were currently either talking about other children or the way other parents raise their children. Tsukishima knew they talked about him often, after all he wasn't very involved with the other parents there just with his son. He also knows he'd get judged for the fact he'd raise Kaoru without a 'mother figure' in his life was something he apparently 'needed'.

Tsukishima couldn't give the slightest fuck about what those women thought about them, but he had to admit that sometimes he wanted nothing more than to shove his foot up-

"Thanks for the ride, say hello to Kuroo for me!"

Kaoru unbuckled himself and leaned towards the front of the car, giving his dad half a hug due the fact that hugging like that didn't go as smooth, and Tsukishima ruffled his hair in response. "Hurry up, bud, you're gonna be late" His father said, looking at all the kids who hurried inside of the building.

The boy gasped and quickly grabbed his bag from the seat next to him. He threw the door open, it almost bouncing back shut from the force, and quickly jumped out of the car.

Tsukishima furrowed his brows and glared at Kaoru. "Oi, Kaoru careful with the-"

Without sparing a second of his attention to his dad, Kaoru swung around and threw the car door shut with big force. It was as if the boy tried to blast the car to the other side of the road just with his hand. They sound of the door colliding with the car made Tsukishima's ears buzz and he groaned.

"-door, Kaoru Tsukishima are you deaf?"

Kaoru had already ran inside of the building, not sparing a second glance back at his dad as he greeted his friends with a big smile.

Tsukishima groaned and rolled his eyes, starting his car again before taking off. "Little asshole" he muttered under his breath, turning his car around to go towards his work but not before making a stop along the way first.

The ride there didn't take long, after all Kuroo also didn't live too far away from the school Kaoru went to. In a way, it annoyed Tsukishima. After all Kuroo was a pain in his ass that he couldn't get rid off, yet it was better than having to drive for over half an hour just pick him up.

With the leaves twirling in the wind, around his car which slightly blinded his sight for a second, Tsukishima slowly stopped his car and looked up at the two story house whos curtains were all closed instead of 1 room which was probably Kuroo's.

After college, Kuroo had moved in with Kenma. Tsukishima didn't exactly really know Kenma, the two of them barely having anything in common except for the fact they both used to play volleybal and were associated with Kuroo. All he knew from Kuroo was that Kenma now was quite a famous twitch streamer and his working hours were ungodly which was most definitely why all the curtains were still closed except for Kuroo's room.

Right before Tsukishima could reach for his phone on his deskboard, the front door flew open and the raven haired man who's hair always looked messy walked out of the door with a smirk. He waved at Tsukishima, who only rolled his eyes at him and started his car again, and quickly locked his door before walking towards the car parked in front of his house.

"Took you long enough-"

"U wanna take public transport next time? Cause i'd be more than glad to go straight to work and let you ride the metro every morning if its a bother for you." Tsukishima said while turning his head towards Kuroo as he entered the car. There a digustingly sweet smile on his face, his eyes squinted and his voice was laced with a thick layer of sarcastic politeness. He slowly opened his eyes again and send a death glare Kuroo's way.

"In fact you could take the metro right no-"

"Okay, i get it! Geez, Mr dinosaur, chill your ass down. Who got on your nerve this morning?" Kuroo exclaimed while clicking his seatbelt shut. He shoved his brown leather bag, that over the years got quite some damage here and there, down in front of his legs and spread his legs his folded hands resting on his lap.

The car drove away from its previous parked spot and slowly sped up. The blonde male behind it gripped the wheel a little tighter and squinted his eyes as the rays of the sun started irritating them. "Think that's a question you already know the answer of" He answered, moving down the sun visor from the car.

Kuroo scoffed and shook his head. He rested his elbow against the door and supported his head with his hand. His hazel colored orbs scanned over the area, his eye falling onto two kids holding hands while walking to school.

"When's ya' next match? Cool if we hop on by?"

Sendai frogs.

Sendai frogs was a volleybal team, one Tsukishima had joined a few years ago. At first volleybal to him wasn't something he did for 'fun'. He never understood why his teammates got so overly excited about scoring just a single point or how they'd cry because they lost. If you told 16 year old him he'd be joining a somewhat 'proffesional' volleybal team for fun, he'd laugh at you and call you names.

Yet a lot had changed since then. He now enjoyed it more than anything else, feeling an extreme wave of pride wash over him everytime he'd block a good ball or score a point. The wave of pride became almost some sort of tsunami everytime he'd look at the bleacher's and see Kaoru wearing a kids-sized version of his shirt with green and yellow stripes painted on his cheeks while cheering him on.

Tsukishima tapped his fingers on the steering wheel and sighed. "Do whatever you want. Just google the next few matches it should be on there somewhere." He spoke, slowly halting the car when the light turned red.

Kuroo grabbed his phone out of the pocket of his coat, silently mumbling about how Tsukishima could show some more appreciation, and started typing away. His eyes slightly squinted as he let them run over the screen, trying to read the little letters at the bottom of the page.

Once the traffic light turned green again, the car took off and rode through a pile of dead leaves that laid on the pavement making them all shoot up into the air before they gently and gracefully whirled back onto the ground.

The ride there wasn't exactly long nor short. Both Tsukishima and Kuroo were blessed with the fact they were able to find a place to live in the same town as where their jobs were located. It was only about 15/20 minutes by car and about 30/35 minutes with public transport.

Sendai city museum.

It wasn't the biggest museum in japan, that was for sure, but it had one thing that interested Tsukishima a lot when he started looking around for an internship in his last year.

A fossil department. One with the most magnificent dinosaurs, his favorites and the fossils themselves were of great quality. Though, back then, Kaoru was only about 1/2 years old Tsukishima never forgot the way his big golden brown eyes would stare up at the mammoth that was 100 times his size back then. How he'd coo while making grabby hands towards the triceratops while trying to wiggle out of his father's safe embrace.

It was one of the first times Tsukishima took Kaoru somewhere, only being about 19/20 years old back then and still being kind of new to all of the changes Kaoru was going through. It was weird realizing the tiny baby he held in his hands before was becoming a human being with actual personality.

Probably one of his proudest memories, knowing his son might love dinosaurs as he did.

After he graduated it didn't take long before his old internship had offered him a job for he had worked really hard back at Sendai city museum as an intern and they wanted him really badly. An opportunity that opened many doors for him, for about 7 years later he was now head of the fossil department after working hard to achieve his goals.

It didn't take long before Tsukishima had learned about the fact that 2 years before he joined, a certain 'friend' of his got himself enrolled into the science department as a researcher.

So that is exactly how Tsukishima found himself dropping Kuroo off at the museum every morning for the last 6 years.

Closing the door behind him with a soft bang, he reached into his pocket and pressed the lock button on his carkeys. With the signal of the lights flashing for a moment and the familiar beep echoeing in his ears, the two men took it as their sign to walk towards the entrance of the museum.

The raven haired bedhead stuffed his hands into the pocket of his coats and stretched his shoulders, his eyes glancing at Tsukishima from the corner of his eye. "You've got that big opening on Friday, right?" He questioned, stopping in front of the automatic doors while waiting for them to open so they could enter and be welcomed by the warmth inside.

Once the doors slid aside, the two men made their way inside and Kuroo already started unbuttoning his coat. "..Nakamura mentioned something about it so i was just wondering. Heard it was a pretty big deal."

Tsukishima hummed and sighed, removing his hands from his jacket to take his glasses off his face now that the change of temperature was starting to make them get fogged up.

"Just a 'grand opening' for a new fossil i've been trying to get my hands on for some months now. Recently discovered somewhere in the US, you know why i left for two weeks? But yes, that is friday."

His eyes were slightly squinted, not wanting to run into anything or look over an object. His eyesight was quite poor so in many ways had he been glad to hear that so far, knock on wood, Kaoru hadn't inherited that gene.

Kuroo hummed, pursing his lips slightly while greeting the older woman who was sitting behind the welcoming desk. He started unwrapping his scarf from his neck and folded it, slowly coming to a stop once the two men had reached the spot where they parted ways.

"What time?"

Tsukishima sighed and pushed his glasses further up his nose for they started slipping off. He shrugged and turned around, his back turned towards Kuroo as he made his way towards his office. "Eight and i'm not picking your sorry ass up" He said, bag swung over his shoulder.

His footsteps echoed through the hallway, his eyes set on the large entrance at the end of the hall that read 'Jurrasic' in somewhat elegant yet adventurous way to catch the attention of both eldery but also of kids. He could hear Kuroo saying something, but for his own headache he decided not to pay attention to it as he entered the fossil display area.

With a triceratops on his right, his eyes settled upon the fossil on the other side of the room. A stegosaurus. Though, it by far wasn't Tsukishima's favorite dinosaur, it was his first ever project. To add to that, the fossil was on great shape too. It's back plater being in perfect condition, something which isn't very common with a stegosaurus fossil for the fact that it's back platers are so thin and fragile.

Even though it had been 6 years since it got here, Tsukishima always took a moment right before going into his office to admire it. Of course, he was very proud of all of the fossils and projects he did over the course of the last 7 years, but that stegosaurus being his first big fossil project brought a lot of pride with it.

In the middle of the hall was a big red curtain, circled around the fossil hidden behind it that reached all the way to the top of the high ceiling. So far, Tsukishima's tallest fossil. Surely, not the one with the best quality, but it was a new dinosaur and a tall one at that and that by itself had been enough to draw a lot of attention of the public.

"Ah, Tsukishima! Good to see you"

Tsukishima's eyebrows slightly rose as his eyes locked with the ones of his boss who was currently standing in the middle of his office.

It was strange, for Tsukishima barely saw his boss during his usual work day. There were many weeks where'd it go by without even seeing the man. After all the museum was quite big and his boss worked in an office on the third floor while Tsukishima worked on the first.

Perhaps, there was something urgent? After all, why else would he be waiting for him in his office? Only then did he notice the new desk lined up in front of his own, two cardboard boxes filled with computer material inside of it. Since he was the only person working in this specific office that would mean-

His boss clapped his hands together and smiled warmly. "There'll be a new person joining you today. Hope its not a problem she'll be in your office, i was hoping you'd be able to take her underneath your wing? She's still quite new to the job and worked at a museum in Miyagi before here before she moved." He started explaining, his hazel eyes settled upon Tsukishima's form as he moved to place his bag next to his desk. The man took one of his hands out of the pocket of his blazer and held it out towards the door, nodding towards the same direction.

In the 7 years Tsukishima worked at the museum, he had been completely alone in an office for 5 of them. The first two, he was under the wing of his mentor. An older man, around his 60s, who taught him all the ropes of this job. He was very kind and wise, Tsukishima admired him and was very grateful for all the knowledge he received from him. He retired two years later, leaving Tsukishima alone in the office they used to share. Surely, some people came and went, but around the time of last year Tsukishima became the head of the department after having put up 7 years of absolute great work and got his own office. Besides, there weren't many people working on this department for some reason.

"Oh! Sorry!"

In the door opening, Tsukishima was met my a pair of legs holding onto a cardboard box with a big pile of organisers balancing on top of it. He could see the slightest glimpse of (H/c) coloured hair sticking out of the top. A few papers fell down one of the high storage cabinets, probably because the woman had bumped into it with her sight being blocked.

Tsukishima watched as the pile of documents and organisers started tilting and quickly took a step forward, straightening them before taking them from her. He took a step back and looked down at the woman now standing in front of him.

She opened her mouth, about to thank him, but once she looked at his chest her eyes widened surprised by the fact Tsukishima was so extremely tall being 1,95 meter tall and all. Her eyes traveled up his body, stopping once they locked with his eyes.

"..thank you. Sorry i thought that if i piled it up it would be a bit faster instead of having to walk up and down to the entrance." The woman said with a small chuckle following afterwards.

He could notice she was a bit nervous, hiding it with a smile and some sort of awkward humor. There was just the slightest hint on pink dusting her cheeks. Not because of the fact he made her flustered, but because of the fact she suddenly felt like a very tiny mouse compared to the tall man of a giraffe looking down at her.

The man turned around and placed the pile on top of her desk, the woman following shortly afterwards and placing the box next to it before clenching and unclenching her hands to relief the cramps.

"I'm (Y/n) (L/n), thank you for having me here and nice to meet you" She said while holding out her hand. Tsukishima looked down at her hand for a moment before taking it, squeezing it as he shook her hand.

"Kei Tsukishima. Glad to have you here."

(Y/n) smiled at him and held his gaze for a moment, peering into his eyes for a moment before quickly removing her hand from his grip and look away not being able to hold eye contact before feeling intimidated.

Once again, their boss clapped his hands. The man walked towards the two of them, softly slapping a hand onto their shoulders and squeezing it. It was quite the friendly gesture, something he did often and Tsukishima had gotten used to it over time but he could see how (Y/n) slightly flinced at the sudden action.

The older man laughed warmly and sighed rather loudly. "Well then, now that's settled, Tsukishima why don't you show her around a bit yes? Just take today to show her around the hall, teach her all the basics and get to know each other a bit yeah?" He said, removing his hands from their shoulders only to rub them together as if wanting to rub off the germs.

Without even having waited for a response, the man walked towards the exit and closed the door behind them leaving the two new colleagues alone together in an empty room.

There was an awkward silence. From (Y/n)'s side it was not knowing what to say, not knowing what Tsukishima liked talking about or what type of humour or interests he had. Of course, talking about their job seemed like the most logic thing to do since they both liked it but maybe it was a bit too predictable and boring to begin with. All the thoughts and panic ran through her head, yet Tsukishima just didn't seem to notice the fact there was an awkward silence and didn't feel the need to fill up that silence.

He looked at the boxes, peering into them to look at all the cables and gadgets. "Do you need help, setting that up?"

The woman's head snapped to her right, snapping out of her thoughts and followed Tsukishima's eyes. She peered into the box and started rubbing the back of her neck, a crooked smile appearing on her face. "Oh, uhh. If you'd like to, i mean i'm pretty bad with setting up electronics. My..old roommate always did that for me." She said with a chuckle. She started unpacking the boxes, placing all of the equipments on the desk. Tsukishima followed after her, organizing all the cables.

"I'm not the best at setting stuff up either, but i can try to help." The blonde said while lifting the monitor out of the box and placing it down. He adjusted it slightly, making sure it was straight and not tilted all the way to the sides. "..Is this spot good?"

(Y/n) hummed and nodded as her hand unconciously fiddled with the side of her blazer, rolling a button between her fingers. Maybe she should of have figured out how to do this at home first, asking a friend or one of her parents to help her. That would've made a better impression then she currently was making, standing next to Tsukishima while watching him with big eyes while handing him all the things he asked for. Like a kid holding a flashlight for their dad.

With his back on the ground, Tsukishima started connecting some of the loose cables with a zip tie to make sure the bottom of her desk wouldn't be a tangled mess. His eyes were slightly squinted and his bottom lip was trapped between his teeth, something he often did while doing something physically he had to concentrate on such as putting together Ikea furniture.

His mother had commented on how Kaoru started doing it, saying how she'd always notice how he'd try and copy a lot of things Tsukishima did when Kaoru was a toddler and how he'd really focus on everything his father did. That phase was over, sadly because Kaoru's grandma was delighted with looking at the scene that Tsukishima himself never noticed, but it seemed that Kaoru had taken over the same expression whenever he coloured or build something with legos.

Tsukishima plugged the powerboard into the outlet and flicked on the power button. A sigh left his nose and he pushed himself up, clumsily shuffling out from underneath the desk. The space was tiny, way too tiny for Tsukishima's long body and that surely was confirmed when he bumped his head against the top of the wooden desk.

(Y/n) kneeled down, looking at Tsukishima with a worried expression. "Are you okay?" She asked after hearing the knock and seeing him rub the back of his head.

The man hummed and nodded his head, quickly getting up and plucking a little dust bunny off of his sleeve before throwing it into the trash. Tsukishima turned towards the computer and once he saw that all the lights that were supposed to be on were on he turned towards the woman standing behind him. "That should do it for now. I'll send you some codes via mail soon so that you can get access to Bicrosoft for stuff like word and excel."

He took the last empty cardboard box and folded it together, making sure not to rip it for Tsukishima wasn't sure if she wanted to keep them for something else. "I'll show you around after you're done setting everything down, after that you need to fill in some things to get your own ID card. To prove you work here. " He said while showing her the ID card that hung on his neck, secured with a dark blue neckstrap.

There was his picture on it, one taken in his usual work attire, in front of a white screen. The picture was already a bit old, it being from 3 years ago already, and was supposed to get replaced soon but so far neither Tsukishima or his boss really bothered about it. Next to his picture there was his full name, birthdate, profession/the department he worked at and his employee code.

The woman leaned a bit closer and examined the card, humming to herself before backing up again. Her eyes scanned over her desk that was now filled with a completely set up computer and a small smile made its way onto her face.

(Y/n) looked at Tsukishima and bowed her head slightly. "Thank you for setting it up. I think i'd still be here next Thursday if i had to it myself, i'd never be able to figure out which cord would go where." She said, once again with forced awkward humor and a smile. These jokes, trying to act 'relaxed' and 'fun' really weren't paying off at all. If it wasn't the awkward smile on Tsukishima's face it would be the fact that she didn't even find them funny herself.

With a second of silence gone by, the two of them started doing their own thing. As (Y/n) unpacked her stuff, placing down a plant and filling her drawers with paper and pens, Tsukishima was busy on his computer to try and already get the form for her ID ready.

The upcoming hour had been spend mostly in silence.

Once again, it was some sort of not noticing the awkwardness hanging in the air type of situation coming from Tsukishima. After all, he was just doing his thing and concentrated on the words he read on the screen and the things he typed. The man didn't notice how she bit her lip and fiddled with her blazer. He didn't even notice when she was done and stood there awkwardly, not knowing what to do or say.

First days at work were always rather awkward, right? She'd be fine eventually..right?

Like his boss had already informed him, today wasn't exactly very productive.

Tsukishima spent all his time helping her, mostly with getting programs installed and telling her about how certain processes of things went. Like the process of getting a new fossil in, something the museum was currently in the middle of doing.

Though it had already been a few hours since the two of them met, they still hadn't really talked. Well, they had, but only work related things. There was no small talk or getting to know each other a bit better, something that Tsukishima later on realized he might should. After all, she was under his wing now and she had to feel comfortable.

God how he was bad at that.

"Why did you pick this over the museum in Miyagi?"

The two of them were currently standing in front of a pachycephalosaurus, als referred to 'Egg head' by Kaoru. They were in the middle of the tour, Tsukishima showing her around a bit and telling her about the history of where the fossils were from and how they got them.

The question seemed to have taken (Y/n) off guard for a moment, the eyes that once admired the fossil now slightly widening before snapping towards Tsukishima. He could see how she licked her lips, softly tugging her bottom lip before they tugged into a smile.

She chuckled and looked and moved her hands around, signalling at all the fossils around them. "I think this is enough of an answer, don't you think? I wanted to move somewhere else, so once i found the job application i knew i couldn't let this opportunity slip through my fingers."

Tsukishima slowly nodded his head. He looked around the hall, his eyes scanning over the variety of fossils, plastic dinosaurs and pictures. It was set up in a way so both children and adults could enjoy it, the choice of fake plants and placements of the dinos together making it look like as if you were walking around amongst them. It wasn't too over the top, after all people who wanted to admire the fossils also still had to enjoy walking around here without thinking it was too childish.

He inhaled deeply and looked back down at the woman standing in front of him, his golden brown eyes locking with her (e/c) ones. "I chose it for the same reason. Walking around here made me realize that something like this was really somewhere i could see myself walking around even when i'm old.."

There was a moment of silence before Tsukishima sighed and shrugged his shoulders.

"..what made my decision final though, was the paycheck" He followed, not even meaning for it to sound like a joke and also not realizing it until he heard a laugh escape the woman's throat. For the first time that day, it being a genuine one.

A small half sidded grin made its way onto Tsukishima's face and he adverted his eyes to the red curtains that were currently hiding the new fossil from the public eye.

"I mean, that paycheck really did look good" (Y/n) said, an actual more relaxed smile present on her face. Though, it wasn't the funniest thing in the world, she felt more at ease. After all this was the first time today the two of them had an actual fun interaction.

She looked at Tsukishima for a moment and noticed how his eyes were looking at the other side of the room. Following his gaze, she now too noticed the curtains and barricaded area. When coming in today, she hadn't been very focused on the fossils around her since she had her attention on not dropping the boxes in her hand.

Tilting her head and squinting her eyes,the woman turned her body towards the new discovery. "What's behind that?" She asked him, adeberting his eyes back to him.

"A brachiosaurus. Discovered in the US, process took a few months but he's finally here." Tsukishima said while stuffing his hands into the pockets of his jacket. He hummed for a second before turning towards (Y/n). "The big reveal is gonna be Friday evening at 8. You should come, it'll be a good experience for you to see how these things go."

(Y/n)'s eyes widened and a small smile made its way onto her face. She switched her gaze between the currently hidden by the curtains brachiosaurus and Tsukishima. "Really? That would be wonderful, i'd be honored!" She exclaimed, her hands folding together. There was a spark in her eye, one of excitement. After all, its not every day you get to experience such a thing in your first week of working at a new place. "Could i see it now?"

The man opened his mouth to answer but quickly closed it again. A small smirk made its way onto his face and he tilted his head slightly. "I think it would be more interesting to wait until Friday, that way it will be a reveal for you too."

(Y/n)'s had raised her eyebrows at him and slightly squinted her eyes. "You-..I..That's a wonderful idea, Tsukishima! There's nothing i love more than a good surprise.." She exclaimed, a tone in her voice Tsukishima couldn't quite place but the twitch in her eyebrow said enough.

Softly snickering at her reaction, soft enough for her not to hear, the two of them completed their tour. Though they still didn't talk a lot apart from work related things, (Y/n) had now started asking him a bit more questions. About when he became interested in dinosaurs, where he went to college etc. Still, in a way, related to work yet subtly going off course to more personal stuff.

"Is this your son?"

Tsukishima looked up from the map he was holding in his hands and saw (Y/n) examining a framed picture he had on his desk. The only picture there, really. He looked back down at the map and nodded. "Yes, Kaoru." He said while signing his name at the bottom of the paper.

(Y/n) put the picture down on his desk and smiled. "He looks a lot like you. How old is he?"

"He just turned 7."

Her eyes slightly squinted and she pulled up her eyebrow, her head tilted as she looked at Tsukishima with a questioning look. "You're 26 right?"

Silence.

Great, not only are the judgemental karens at Kaoru's school there but he now apparently also has one at work. Not that he minded, he couldn't give less of a shit about it but it was annoying as hell.

Tsukishima sighed annoyed and closed the map with a loud bang. He turned around and shoved it into the office storage closet. "Yes i am 26 years old and yes i was 19 when Kaoru was born, no i do not regret it." He said, a very annoyed tone lacing his words.

Once again, there was a silence.

"I think its wonderful that you're a dad, my apologies if you thought i meant it in a judgemental way. Just curious, but i'll stop the questions if you feel uncomfortable-"

"Oh, no its okay. I'm used to people..Doesn't matter, my apologies" Tsukishima said, face palming internally. In this moment, there was nothing more he wanted to do than punch himself in the gut what a great way of responding to a new colleague who's just curious about his life.

(Y/n) only chuckled and shook her head. "Its okay, don't worry about it." She said, grabbing her coat from her desk chair one they put together that morning with a bit of a struggle. Their shift had already ended, after all they didn't have anything to do today except for introductions to each other and everything new to her.

The already slowly setting sun creeped its way through the blinds, landing on top of their desks and warming up Tsukishima's coat that was currently on top of his own. Tsukishima quickly closed them, closing everything up so they could leave, and he took his coat and bag from his desk. "If you close up, always make sure to close the blinds. Though it currently isn't the biggest problem, in the summer the sun shines onto the computer and can get them overheated and its not the nicest thing in the world" He said, turning off the light of the office as the two of them left the room.

"Noted. Once again, thank you very much for showing me around today and helping me with everything. I'm also very grateful for the fact i'm able to work under your wing." She said while slipping her arms through the sleeves of her coat. Her fingers made quick work of the buttons and belt and she quickly swung her bag over her shoulder afterwards.

Tsukishima shook his head and wrapped his scarf around his neck. "No need. I'd like to see what you've got up your sleeve" He said, the two of them exiting the fossil area only to end up in the big reception hall where right next to the front desk a raven haired man was talking to the old receptionist with grin.

It only took a few seconds until Kuroo had spotted them, quickly wishing the receptionist goodbye and jogged towards them. His eye fell onto the woman next to Tsukishima and his eyes immediately lit up. "Ah, Tsukishima, who might this be? Nice to meet you, i'm Kuroo i work as a researcher here." He said while holding out his hand, something (Y/n) gladly took with a smile.

"I'm (Y/n), nice to meet you too. I work with Tsukishima." She said, shaking his hand before retreating it back into her pocket. Right before she was about to say something else, her eyes fell onto the clock on the wall and immediately widened.

She quickly bowed her head before sprinting off. "I'm terribly sorry, i'm gonna miss my train! I'll see you tomorrow, goodbye!" She yelled, her bag swinging left and right next to her money as her coat swayed behind her. Within seconds, she was out of sight.

Kuroo grinned and nudged Tsukishima with his elbow, something which made the man wanna roll his eyes all the way back already knowing what was about to come. "She looks like a nice person and likes dinosa-"

Tsukishima's lips pulled into a sugary sweet smile and he closed his eyes. "Oh? You heard her didn't you, the train's leaving soon i'd hurry if i were yo-"

"Geez, geez, mr dinosaur! You really can't take a joke, huh?" Kuroo said, rolling his eyes and scoffing afterwards. He shook his head as the two of them left the building and sighed. "You know, you'd never actually leave me here, you're too nice for that" Kuroo said with a grin, waiting at the passenger's seat door as Tsukishima got into his car.

The blonde raised a brow and looked at Kuroo through the window, closing his door behind him while starting his car. The ravenette pulled at the doorhandle several times with no success and his eyes widened as Tsukishima drove the car out of the parking spot, without Kuroo in it.

"O-oi! Tsukishima i was kidding, please let me in man!"

__________________________________________________

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dreamyjoons · 4 years

Text

Rattled - jjk - I

⥋ Living outside of Paradise had few perks. The desert was harsh, the sun harsher, and the animals deadly. But out stumbles a man. Secretive, beautiful and chased by his demons, he brings to the surface a past you thought you’d long since buried. But you can only hide for so long.

Genre/warnings: wild west au! Jungkook x reader, single parent!Y/N. for this chapter, no warning. Some shooting and spooked animals.

The rest of the upcoming parts will contain smut, angst, character death and some violence. Be aware before moving forward, this will be 18+.

Words: 3.3k

A/N: so i’m late again hahah. Here’s the start for my milestone celebration. And because of how long this was getting, I’ve decided to split it up into a few parts! If this is something you don’t want to see, please enjoy one of my other fics 🥰😉 i have some more one-shots planned! Thank ya’ll for sticking around. I hope this is worth the wait. ♥️ more to follow soon!

The screech of the crows always managed to echo across the stretching desert.

It always makes the cattle restless. They jostled uneasily in their field, mooing loudly. They were particularly riled all afternoon.

"Something's got them awfully restless today, Ma."

You look back to your son who perched awkwardly on his horse, scanning the moving mass of bodies as if he could spot trouble. He already looks so much like his father, almost to his full height, dark hair pulled into a messy ponytail and crevice in his cheek as he chews it anxiously. You could feel a smile prick at your lips.

"Just keep an eye out, Eli." You sigh, tugging your wide-brimmed hat lower on your head as your horse whickers quietly below you.

But nothing out of the ordinary stirred. And you didn't want you both to be out in the sun for too much longer.

The heat was blistering. And though you both lived in the middle of the desert, today was turning out to be something all in its own league. The sun beats down hard, and judging by how high it was in the sky, you were about to reach the hottest point of the day.

You ruffled your riding skirts to get some kind of cooling to your body, but all it did was manage to jostle your creaky old pistol almost out of the holder on your hip. You gave up, simply letting yourself swelter.

"Come on, let's head back." You shout, gently tugging the reins to one side and clicking your tongue at your horse.

You turned, moving your way slowly through the cattle on the outskirts of the main herd. Once you had broken free from the group and with a quick glance over your shoulder to see if your son was close by before breaking into a gallop.

You both fly across the field, Eli whooping loudly as he tries to overtake you. Letting your laugh loose into the wind, you hunker down against your horse as if you were getting the edge you needed to win.

But softly you reared the horse back just a little to slow you down. Within seconds your son was flying past you, letting out a holler into the air as he gets closer to the edge of the enclosure. Once he's near the fence he turns back to you and grins, enthusiastically stroking the horse and gushing praise at the animal.

You slow your pace as you reach him, pretending to not see him as you come to a halt and get off the horse. You walk both of you forward and open the gate, bringing the horse through and waiting for Eli to come through too.

"Come on Ma, you gotta admit that I won that time."

"Hm, what? Did you hear something Pickle?" You ask the horse, a smirk plain of your face.

"Wow Ma, you're a sore loser." He laughs, brushing flyaway strands of hair from his face as he trots ahead of you. He shifts back awkwardly to look at you, and once he sees you smirking he giggles.

With the gate firmly shut behind you, you mount your horse again and lead the way back to your home. Eli excitedly jabbers on, telling you about the constellations he'd seen the night before and the size of the hawk that he'd seen that morning. Though there was little life for a boy out in the desert, he seemed to be perfectly content. He found something new to learn every day. Just like his father.

"... And I’m pretty sure it was playing with a rattlesnake but dropped it. So it might still be lurking." He warned, his bright eyes meeting yours. You nod at him, heart squeezing in your chest as you lead you both to the horse paddock.

For one last time you slip off the horse, waiting for your son to enter before shutting the gate behind you. You begin unsaddling the horse, placing the items on the rickety fence.

Once you and Eli had unburdened the horses, you walked to the bag you had left earlier that sat near the gate, producing two less-than shiny apples. You throw one to Eli before gently holding the other out on the palm of your hand.

Pickle skips forward and whinnies excitedly before taking the apple from your hand. you laugh and rub the big boy along his nose before stepping back. You move towards the gate and wait for Eli, watching his wide-eyed delight as he talks to his horse. The big horse playfully nudges your son, nuzzling him until the apple is presented to her.

"One day that horse is gonna bite you if you keep teasing her." You frown, hand placed on your hip.

"Nah, Maple would never. She loved Daddy too much and I look just like him. and she always gets the apple, she knows that." Your son walks back to your side, slinging an arm around your shoulders.

"You gotta stop growing. I can’t see the top of your head any more." you smile, hugging your son close to you as you slip out of the paddock gate.

"No way, I'm gonna keep growing. Soon I'll be fifteen and taller than all the men in Paradise." He grins, nothing bringing him greater pleasure than towering over anyone he meets.

"That you will, that you will." You smile, turning your head and staring bitterly in the direction of the nearby town.

You release each other as you both grab the saddles and bridles off of the fence, walking them back to the small barn that sits beside your small home. Once stored away, you both walk back to the small that you call home, sat in the middle of dusty nowhere.

Eli jogs ahead of you, rushing inside to sniff at the pot that sat bubbling over the fire. He spins back at you, grin plastered on his face.

"Can we eat now?"

"Go wash up. And properly, don't just splash some water on your face. You got dust behind your ears." You straight face, ignoring the groans he makes as he plods off.

You busy about the kitchen, unhitching the gun belt from your waist and placing it on the side before using some bits of burlap and lifting the scalding pot off the stove. You plant it on the scorch-marked area on the table, pushing away the memories that burn to the surface when you look at it.

Once it's sat steadily on the table, you turn away, bustling to grab bowls and spoons for you and Eli.

You'd have to make a run into town soon and get some more supplies. The thought made you groan. You tried to avoid Paradise and it’s twisted dwellers as much as you could, but it couldn’t be helped.

There was only so long Eli would enjoy three-bean stew. The horses need oats, you need more oil for the lamps and food for the month. And finally, finally, you could sell off some of the cattle. Half at least, you were hoping.

You hear a faint shuffling behind you, and absently think that it was too quick a wash for Eli to have cleaned behind his ears too.

"I'm not above inspecting you, young man." you warn, shuffling the bowls in your hands as you reach for spoons.

A low hiss rises from behind you, and you feel your blood run cold.

"Ma!" Eli shouts, and you slowly turn to see your son petrified in the doorway. With the minutest of movements, you turn to see a rattlesnake coiled behind you, its tail shaking erratically as it beadily watches you.

"Don't come any closer." You order to your boy, voice dangerously low.

Eli steps forwards regardless, and you realise too late that he has your pistol in his hands.

"No-!" You yelp, but he fires off the shot.

It hits nowhere near the snake, instead hitting the floor between you and the serpent before ricocheting off and splintering through the wall beside you.

Luckily it startles the snake enough for it to lose it's focus on you. You seize the moment and drop the bowls, the shattering splintering loudly in the air.

You dart towards Eli and rip the gun from his hands. You spin the barrel, cock the gun and take aim. You exhale before you line up the shot, pulling the trigger within a second. It lands just millimetres from the snake, startling it enough to get it to race away, out through the open door and out into the desert.

You race to the door, making sure the serpent steers clear of your animals as it speeds away. You follow the trail of dust it shakes loose, the adrenaline in your blood fading with the reptile.

Once it's gone you spin back to Eli, dropping the pistol on the table and racing round to him. You take his face in your hands, your middle fingers sit behind his ear, letting your thumb and forefinger rest on his face.

"You okay?" You ask, and he nods in your hands, eyes startled wide.

"Are you?" He asks, voice cracking.

"I'm okay, it didn't bite me." You assure him, pulling him into a hug. He squeezes you back tightly, his breathing staggered. You pull back and take his head in your hands again, giving him a small smile.

"I'm still here, E. I'm not going anywhere." You tell him, planting a soft kiss to his forehead.

Once he nods you finally release him, letting your fingers slide from his face. Absently you look down and see dust on your fingers that had been sat behind his ears.

"What did I say about washing properly?" You ask, holding your hands up at him.

"I... sensed danger and had to act?" he laughs awkwardly, slowly stepping backwards.

"Oh no, mister!" You shout, darting at him, chasing him through your small house to where the washbasin sat. "Now we both have to wash up!"

----

"Okay, put both hands on the pistol, but keep your finger off the trigger for now."

Eli follows your instructions closely, raising the pistol high, tongue poking slightly out of the side of his mouth as he focuses. You bite your lip as you watch him, determined to not laugh and distract him.

"Okay, now," you gesture to the three fist-size logs of wood that sit against the barn, "when you're ready, exhale, and fire once you've fully let it out. Ready?"

"Ready." He murmurs, dark brow furrowed as he locks his eyes on the first log down the small barrel.

"Fire away-"

You'd barely finished when he fires the first shot. It misses the wood on the left-hand side spectacularly, going through the side of the barn two feet higher than he needed. He clenches his jaw, making a dimple hollow out in his cheek before he moves onto the next one and firing.

You never see where the bullet lands, but something tells you that it's rocketing its way across the desert somewhere far beyond the barn. He sidesteps, taking in another deep breath and blowing it out slowly. You know how he's feeling, how frustrating it is to continually miss - but the urge to laugh was strong. Too strong.

Finally, he aims at the last one on the right and pulls the trigger - only for the bullet to graze the first stump he fired at, four feet to the left. You were marvelled at how spectacularly he missed them. It seemed an accomplishment in itself.

He looks at you with a scowl on his face, before letting out a grizzly moan and slumping. The gun hangs by his side and you repress your laughter even harder, stepping forward to take the weapon from his hands.

"I suck at this."

"No, you don't-"

"I do! You can do it! You could've bullseye'd that snake earlier if you wanted to! I can't even hit the barn if I tried."

"It took me years of practise when you were growing up. You just need a little tuning up."

"I bet dad was a good shot too." He mumbles, letting his head hang.

"E... your daddy was awful." you sigh, putting a gentle hand on his shoulder.

"Really?!" His head bolts up, eyes wide as he stares at you.

"Oh yeah. He couldn't hit a wall if it was sitting right in front of him."

"And neither can I!" he chirps, gesturing to the woodshed beside you. All you can do is laugh. It's light, pushing away the sad cloud that threatened to hover over you. Eli had that effect on you every day.

The sky was taking on an orange tint as the evening starts to fade. It was still impossibly warm, the heat clinging to your skin despite how low the sun was dropping.

But there was something wrong. It was loud. Louder than normal.

You instinctively cast your eyes to the cattle fields, only to see a cloud of dust shrouding the area. They were all pressed against the fences, thrashing wildly and bellowing into the evening air. Something was definitely wrong.

“Eli, get in the house and lock it. If I’m not back in twenty minutes, ride to town and get the sheriff-“ your voice is low and you push him towards the house. Once he was over the threshold you grab your rifle, hitch your skirt higher and back race out past him. He was frightened, you could see it in his wide eyes, and the way he frowned.

“But Ma-“

“Now!”

You watch as he reluctantly disappears behind the door, and as soon as you hear the lock slide you bolt towards the cattle field. Something ticks in your gut, an unease that made your teeth grate.

There was no way you’d be able to get through the gate with the cattle pushed up against it. Your run harder, feet slapping or the hard ground as you find a free section of fence. You throw the rifle over before you vault it, scrambling to pick it up and running to the front of the herd.

It was impossibly loud, almost too loud for you to think. But they were scrambling away from something, and with a steadying breath to stifle the fear that rises in you, you move towards it. You raise the clunky rifle as you creep forward. You hoped you’d never have to fire it.

But then, through the sounds of trampling and the braying of the cattle you hear a groan.

Your breath catches in your throat as you lower the weapon. You feel your jaw slacken, but you move quicker towards the noise. As the cattle skitter out of the way, you see it-

Not it, a man. He’s slumped on his hands and knees, filthy and sweaty. It was as if all the energy had drained from him. He was labouring his breath, the bone weariness evident on him. It hung off him like his clothes.

“Who the hell are you?”

At your angry words, he slowly pushes off his hands, swaying as he tries to steady himself on his knees. You lower the gun by your side - he didn’t look like he would be going anywhere fast, and you can draw faster than he can get to you. But still you were uneasy, worry tingling at your edges, fraying your thoughts.

“I…” he croaks. His voice is so dry you can barely hear him.

His dark head of hair was full of dust, messy and clumped together like he’d not bathed in weeks. His white shirt had long since lost its gleam, a reddish brown smothering it. His trousers were tattered, ripped and pulled, barely holding together. A handkerchief was tied around his neck, probably used as a makeshift face covering. You realise that must mean he’d been walking across the plains - but no one makes it alive with no water or horse.

“What are you doing in my field?”

“Ma’am… water?” He croaks, lifting his head to look at you.

“Not until you answer one of my questions.”

He squints up at you with dark eyes, the faintest smile dancing across his face. You could barely make him out though, his face hidden under the dust. He winces, tongue darting out to try and wet his chapped ashy lips. It was completely distracting, and you found yourself lowering your guard…

“Answer me!” You shout, snapping out of it. He sighs but makes no move to explain himself.

“Well then, I guess we’ll see what the Sheriff has to say-“

“Wait! Please… no.” He rushes before a cough rattles his body. He must have been so severely hydrated, you were surprised he still had the strength to stay upright.

Something felt wrong. Like an icy trickle of your past eeking its way down your spine. It was enough to send your heart thumping against your ribcage, your palms sweating.

“Then how did you get here? Are you alone?” Your voice creeps higher and cracks.

“... alone.”

You let out a breath, but the tension in your stomach still knots.

“Ma?”

You spin, the wind kicked out of your lungs as you see Eli standing there, shock on his face. He looks between you and the man on the floor, his eyes blowing wide.

“Eli! What the hell are you doing?!”

“I thought you might’ve needed help-“

“What if it’s not safe?” You shout, your blood thrashing in your veins.

“Then you need help.” His voice is quiet and your heart breaks, but you try to keep calm, especially in front of the stranger. You take a breath. Then another.

“Get back in the house.”

“He needs help.” Eli mutters, and you clench your teeth.

“No, he needs to be off our property and away from you and me. He’s not our problem.”

“Ma, I know you’re not that cruel.”

“I can go… just… water…” the man croaks.

“Stay out of it!” You yelp, barely looking back at him over your shoulder. He shifts slightly, the tiredness pulling his eyes shut. A flicker of guilt passes through you, but you stamp it down. You had you and Eli to look out for.

Before the stranger can reply, Eli breezes past you. He crouches down next to the man, and carefully slides his arm over his shoulders. To your horror, you watch as Eli pulls them both to their feet. The man looks much bigger once he’s propped up by your son. Wider in stature with big filthy hands that grip Eli’s shirt for support as they slowly stagger towards the house, they were almost the same. And that worried you.

“Eli!”

“He’ll get trampled if he stays out here, Ma. It’s the right thing to do.” He walks towards the gate, the cattle scurrying from their path. He was just like his father, in nearly every way. It was like an axe through your chest. But that’s what softens you. An effect both of them had on you.

They’re awkward, Eli’s tall frame bundling the man forward. You bite your lip, and with the gun propped and ready at your side, you slip under the man’s other arm and ease the burden on your son.

“So what’s your name, stranger?” Eli asks gently, the physical strain barely hidden from his voice. There was no answer.

“Hey!” You ask, nudging the man in the side for a response.

He gasps at the pressure before he slumps heavily against you. You cry out as the dense man drops against you, his head knocking into yours. You shift him back towards Eli, only to realise he had passed out. You had to get him back, get him cleaned up and on his way before any trouble comes. At least if he’s clean you could make out his features properly.

“Brilliant.” You grumble, shifting the rifle awkwardly to get a better grip. “Just what we needed.”

#btswriterscollective #btsbookclub #jungkook x reader #jungkook x you #bts reader insert #bts x you #bts x reader #jungkook fanfic #bts series #my writing

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ghostiewriter · 4 years

Text

prologue | tale of a slightly unstable teen hero

Summary: JJ’s life is thrown upside down after a school trip. Now he just decide what to do about his newly found powers and discover just how much his life has changed.

Warnings: contains strong language, a teeny sliver of sexual references, just the three boys being dumbasses? a small smidge of angst (it barely counts) and some fighting, kinda amateur but he’ll learn eventually

Word Count: 8.2K (I’m so sorry)

A/N: ahhh so here’s the prologue! Hope you guys enjoy, it’s a bit of a mess and it wasn’t meant to be this long but oh well! This is just to kinda set up the world, I promise the chapters won’t be this messy! There will be way more Kiara in the next chapter as well, don’t worry! Like I said, this is just a filler chapter! Also this is unedited and I am kinda unwell so lets hope this makes sense :) feel free to leave any feedback!!

masterlist // taglist // ao3

JJ prided himself in always loving an adventure. A random trip at 3am when one of his buds felt down? Hell yeah! An exploration through the streets of New York when he decided to ditch his Spanish final? Let’s go, dude! A spontaneous road trip with his boys during summer? JJ was down! But this? This just felt like some sick joke.

Admittedly, JJ wasn’t listening in class when the trip was announced. And as Pope liked to remind him every couple of minutes, this whole situation could have been avoided if he had listened in class. But can you blame the guy? A whole day off school to visit some big corporation uptown where he was getting a free lunch—JJ would be stupid to reject that. Yet, JJ should’ve known there would’ve been some catch, some flaw in this trip. And that flaw was that he had to spend the day walking around Cameron Industries, the biggest nerd fest on the East coast.

JJ was bored out of his mind.

Pope was ecstatic beyond belief.

John B was ready to punch JJ in the face if opened his mouth to complain one more time.

“Why call it a trip when all we do is listen to these dudes in lab coats droning on about some weird gene thing? Like c’mon! A trip is meant for relaxing. Where the fuck am I gonna relax around here, huh? The fucking gift shop—“

“Shut up,” John B hissed at the blonde, smacking JJ’s arm for good measure, to which the blond dramatically whined at. “Just please…shut up. You’ve got one more hour until lunch, alright? Don’t ruin this for him.”

JJ huffed as he glanced over at Pope, who was eagerly questioning every scientist they came across. As much as it pained him to agree with John B, he did have a point. There weren’t enough fingers in the world to count the amount of times JJ had dragged Pope into some anxiety-provoking, impulsive situation. The least he could do is suck it up a little and mope silently as they walk through countless fancy labs that probably each cost more than his apartment complex altogether.

“I don’t know why you’re acting so chuff,” JJ huffed, his fingers twisting the rings that adorned his hands—a force of habit when he was uncomfortable and bored. “You usually back me up on this kinda stuff—“ But JJ didn’t need to finish his question. Oh no, because the answer was right there.

JJ smirked as he turned to John B, one eyebrow raised in question. However, his friend seemed much more content staring at Sarah Cameron from where she stood near the front of the group, smiling towards the tour guide like they were close friends. Which they probably were considering they were standing in the building her father owned.

Ward Cameron. Renowned scientist, billionaire and founder of Cameron Industries. A true inspiration. What started as a hopeless experiment in his high school chemistry lab ended up forging Ward Cameron’s path to success in the biggest multibillion-dollar multinational corporation that held the future for chemical engineering. JJ just thought he was some lucky rich kid that had daddy’s money to support his dream.

And it was for that reason that JJ rolled his eyes, nudging his friend out of his daze. “You do know you don’t stand a chance, right?” JJ commented.

Harsh but true. JJ and the rest of the kids that attended this trip went to Midtown High School. True to its name, it was smack bang in the middle of two very different livelihoods. Uptown Queens: home to the kids who live of old money, designer clothes and trust funds. And Downtown Queens: home to working-middle class who would spend the rest of their lives making a sliver of the uptown folks’ wages.

Take a wild guess which area JJ is from.

However, some old dude in the 60s decided to try and bridge the gap between the classes and thus, the school was born. All it did was let each know how much they resented the other. Yet, John B had fallen into the alluded mind-set of that old geezer and set his eyes on Sarah Cameron, the most uptown chick you’ll get. And of course, JJ was there to remind him of that very fact and push him off that imaginary bridge. It was a fool’s hope to combine the uptown and downtown folk; it was a fool’s hope to try and make them get along. It won’t happen now nor ever.

John B flipped him off. JJ only grinned in response.

Nonetheless, that ended up being the most exciting part of the hour. JJ shuffled along at the back of the group, his eyes constantly wandering around the labs. Did he have any clue what any of it was? Hell no, but he was naturally curious and couldn’t help his hands from wandering. Sue him, he was a teenage boy with ADHD and a knack for getting into trouble—he was bound to do something stupid.

His interest in science perked up a bit when he noticed a small enclosure of what looked like completely normal spiders, yet as their tour guide spoke, they were anything but normal.

“Our team have been working on taking the genetic code of three separate species of arachnids and combining them to form a super-spider. One which can survive and reproduce and live as any other would. It is the first step in the future of genetic engineering and modification. With this technology, we could find cures to diseases that were deemed impossible to cure. We could form a stronger, better human race—“

“Isn’t that unethical?” A voice interrupted. Everyone’s head snapped towards the curly-haired girl that stood by Sarah Cameron’s side. JJ knew very little about her—considering this was honestly the first time he had seen her—and he wasn’t complaining…nor was he actually listening to what she was saying. “I mean, won’t this just introduce a future of designer babies and a superiority of the genetically modified over the natural?”

“I understand your concerns,” The tour guide—a young redhead who honestly didn’t look a day over twenty-two but then again, JJ guessed everyone around here was some sort of genius. “But I can assure you there are a number of protocols behind this research that would prevent such a thing from happening.”

“Can you really stop the rich from getting what they want?” Ironic considering she was a rich, uptown chick.

An awkward silence washed over the group before the teacher quickly cleared their throat and directed the tour guide to continue.

JJ—being the foolishly bored teenager he was—made his way over to the unknown girl, standing next to her as they looked at the spiders in the enclosure.

“Poor things.” She sighed sadly. JJ only raised an eyebrow but didn’t question it.

“You know,” He began, his voice smooth and suave—the usual JJ charm he used on girls. “I totally agree with you on all those…ethic…things…” He trailed off, risking a glance towards the girl who only narrowed her eyes at him.

“Really?” She questioned, nodding her head for him to continue.

“Yeah, I mean, save the animals, am I right?” He grinned, nervously scratching the nape of his neck. The girl seemed unamused.

“Uh huh, sure thing, buddy.” She stated before turning to catch up with the group. But JJ’s voice stopped her once again.

“How about I take you out some time? And then you can tell me all about all this ethic stuff.” He proposed, his usual charming smirk on his lips. He was a lady’s man, he knew he was gorgeous and JJ would be a fool if he didn’t use it to his advantage. One small date to charm her before JJ wiggled his way into her bed, then boom—they never have to speak to each other again. Plus, this girl may be one of Sarah Cameron’s wee minions, but JJ didn’t let class get in the way of his ‘love’ life. He just resents the lot of those uptown kids in every other aspect of his life. No harm in fraternizing with the enemy, right? What other people didn’t know wouldn’t hurt them. It’s just a little bit of fun.

“Do you even know my name?” She asked him, her arms crossed over her chest. It took a lot of self-control for JJ not to follow the movement. He cleared his throat, leaning one hand against the enclosure.

“Uh…Samantha?”

“Nice try, asshole.” And with that, she turned around to join the group.

JJ stood there, a little dumbfounded by the encounter. He was taken aback not only by the fact she had just rejected him, but with the sass in which she did so. He would be lying if he didn’t say it was a little hot, but he expected it. Uptown kids always thought there were better, superior to the downtown kids.

But JJ didn’t wallow in his rejection for long when he felt a sharp, stinging pain on his hand. He glanced down, seeing a spider on the back of his hand and his instant reaction was to shake it off. “Little shit!” He hissed, looking down at the small bite mark on his skin.

“Hey, dude, you comin’?” He heard John B call out. He glanced around, unable to spot the spider. He shrugged, JJ has had worse than a small spider bite. He’ll survive.

“Yeah, I’m starving, let’s go!”

Little did JJ know that was his last day as a normal, hyperactive teen.

**********

“I’m telling you something is fucking wrong with me!”

Both boys looked at their blond friend with sceptic looks. It was Saturday morning and far too early to deal with JJ nonsense. Especially when they could barely understand what he was going on about. It was around 6am when John B and Pope received a very distressed call from JJ. Neither one was very sure for what reason, all they heard was ‘freaky’ and ‘fuck’ multiple times during the call. But he sounded like he was really going through something so they eventually went over—arriving at JJ’s place at 7:30am. JJ was too on edge to even try and call them out on it.

“Dude, breathe,” Pope muttered, watching JJ run holes in his carpet from how much he was pacing. “Calm down a little—“

“I can’t calm down, Pope!” JJ snapped, looking at his friends who seemed far too calm. “Like I don’t know if I am freaked out or pumped but just—“ He paused, seeing the look of confusion on his friends’ faces. He huffed and pulled his shirt off, looking at them expectedly. They didn’t react.

“JJ, did you really call us down here on SATURDAY MORNING because you have another birthmark that looks like George Clooney because I will literally murder you—“

“No, no!” JJ hissed before pointing down to his abs, and then his arms. Then he began flexing, yet he was met with blank expressions again.

“Dude, as much as I love staring at your abs, what the fuck are we meant to be looking at?” Pope asked, his eyebrows furrowed in confusion.

“They are different!”

“They are?”

“They are!”

“Uh…how?”

JJ scoffed, as if it were obvious. “They are more defined!”

“…more defined?”

“Clearly!”

John B let out an unattractive snort, pushing his hair back as he leaned back against the wall, all his worry for his friend now gone. He was honestly concerned it was something important. “What’s next? Is your hair too perfect, J? Need a bag to cover how gorgeous you are?” Pope snickered along with him.

“I mean, I am having a good hair day…” JJ trailed off before shaking his head and turning to the two of them again. “But that isn’t all, okay? It gets freakier!”

Both boys looked at JJ with amusement from their spots on his bed.

JJ rolled his eyes before he stretched his hand out, his palm facing the ceiling with his two middle fingers pressed into his palm. Not even seconds later, a THWAP echoed through the now-silent bedroom.

Both teenagers looked down at the string of substance that just existed their friend’s wrist, completely shell-shocked. It was John B who spoke first, looking away from the white substance on JJ’s bed.

“Is that like…the same as…did you just—“ John B points down to his groin area, only for JJ to grimace.

“Dude, no! EW! I didn’t just jizz from my wrist!”

“It looks like you just did.”

Pope quickly kneeled down next to the bed, hesitantly reaching to touch the stuff, ignoring John B’s comments on how disgusting it was. “It feels like…silk,” He murmured in confusion before pulling his hand away, noticing how it stuck to his skin. “And it’s sticky.”

John B gagged in the back, but JJ ignored him. “It’s like glue, a really strong glue! And then after like twenty minutes, it disappears!” He told Pope as he reached for the scissors to help his sticky situation.

“How did you do that though?” Pope’s mind was reeling with the possibilities, the science behind the completely inhumane thing JJ had just done and he had witnessed with his very own eyes.

“I don’t fucking know!”

“Does it have anything to do with that weird-ass bump on your hand?” John B perked up, nodding towards JJ. All three boys’ gazes shifted to his left hand, where in fact there was a small red bump, no bigger than a grape at most.

“Nah, dude, that’s just from the spider bite yesterday.” JJ answered with a shrug. Pope chocked on the air, looking at JJ like he had three heads.

“I—you mean the fucking GENETICALLY MODIFIED SPIDERS FROM THE LAB?!” JJ winced, trying to shush Pope but there was no avail, this boy was going off on a rant. “Are you stupid? Why didn’t you tell anyone yesterday? JJ, those could’ve been poisonous or had long term effects or—“

“Made you some weird mutant with cool powers.” John B added. He quickly shut up when he received the ‘look’ from Pope.

“We have to tell someone at Cameron Industries.” Pope concluded. JJ was quick to pipe up, taking a few steps away from Pope on instinct.

“What, no way! They are gonna stick me under some fancy microscope or inject me with needles full of…stuff! I’m not going back into that geek galore!” JJ stated. Pope looked like he was ready to open his mouth, and start spouting out arguments as to why JJ should head over to the professional scientists over his weird, overnight mutation. But it was actually John B who came to a more mutual conclusion.

“Or we just do our own tests,” John B shrugged, both boys turning to look at him with fairly discombobulated expressions. “C’mon, Pope is basically a scientist and he is smart enough to figure out whatever the hell is going on with you!”

“I don’t have half the equipment they would have—“ Pope tried to argue.

“Look, we aren’t going to find out anything through a microscope. The best way is just go out there and test what he can do. How hard can it be?” John B grinned.

Pope wanted to argue that it was very hard. Though he had read countless papers on the genetically modified spiders, even he didn’t know enough to do a full conclusive examination on JJ and his new state. He didn’t have half the things he needed, but when he looked over at JJ and saw a much more relaxed—and hopeful—expression on his face from when he had suggested returning to the lab, Pope sighed and shook his head a little.

“Just so you both know, I am going to say, ‘I told you so’ when this goes downhill.”

**********

That is how JJ, Pope and John B found themselves standing on the roof of JJ’s apartment complex, the busy streets of New York oblivious to the scientific discovery that is happening above them. JJ couldn’t tear his eyes off the skyline, finding something about it much more relaxing that the potential of just what his new body could do. He was scared—no, scratch that—he was nervous, anxious if you will. JJ couldn’t lie that a part of him was excited. It felt surreal, like something out of one of those comics he used to nick from the uptown kids. Then again, JJ wasn’t very fond of the idea of being some new scientific discovery. It made him feel like he would end up like one of those poor frogs they had to dissect in biology—poor fuckers.

“Okay, so the spiders were made from three separate species to optimize their physical properties—being able to adapt to new environments, heightened senses to avoid predators, enhanced strength and speed, stronger material to create webs for larger prey—all that jazz. No research has been done on the psychological properties though.” Pope rambled, his hands moving wildly whilst both boys stared at him with clueless expressions.

“Which means?”

“JJ could have some really cool powers but could also be going totally insane,” Pope said with a sheepish shrug. “Like I’m talking full Tasmanian devil mode here—“

“Very reassuring, dude.” JJ stated bluntly. He took it all back, he wasn’t excited. He was terrified now. He glanced down at the small bite on his hand, which was slowly deflating as time passed. JJ wasn’t sure if he was relieved or worried that the second the bite disappeared, it could mean something really bad—like him turning into some massive humanoid arachnid that attacks the city. He shivered at the thought. “Right, let’s just get on with this.”

John B clapped a hand on his back, a small smile on his lips. “You’ll be fine, dude, alright? You’re in good hands.” He tried to reassure JJ. And JJ knew that everything Pope was saying was just to help him understand what was going on too, but he couldn’t help but think there was a small part of Pope that enjoyed using JJ as a lab rat. He was a scientist, could you really blame him?

“Yeah, I know.” He said with a curt nod.

“Let’s try the web again, see how far you can shoot it.” Pope piped up, moving to stand on the other side of JJ. “The average spider can shoot a web to about four feet, but these spiders have the DNA of the Darwin Bark Spiders which can shoot webs up to eighty-two feet. I’m gonna go out on a limb and say you could reach the same, maybe more.” He then gestured for JJ to try it out, pointing towards the building opposite then, which was only around eight feet away, at most.

JJ took a deep breath before extending his hand out, the THWAP sounding clear despite the ongoing traffic down below. Yet, the web barely shot out a couple of inches before landing on the edge of the roof with a disappointing splat.

“Well then…” John B trailed off, all three boys staring at the failed web shot.

“You clearly weren’t trying, just concentrate!” Pope said with a clap of his hands. He only received a blank stare from JJ.

“I was trying, dumbass! It’s harder than it looks. It…feels weird, man. Like a sneeze…from my wrist!” He huffed, but Pope only nudged his shoulder to try again.

JJ sighed and turned to face the opposite building again. He raised his arm, his eyebrows furrowed in concentration as he tried to imagine the web shooting out and reaching the opposing roof. He tried to imagine more web fluid being shot out his wrist, he tried to imagine like he actually knew what he was doing. Not even a second later, the THWAP sound was heard and suddenly there was a white rope of silk extending from JJ’s hand onto the next roof over.

“Holy shit!”

JJ grabbed the web, giving the web a light tug. He was expecting for the web to break, for his hand to be covered in web fluid. But instead the web remained, strong and sturdy as though it was bolted onto the roof.

“This is crazy, dude.”

He snapped his hand back, watching the web breakaway from his palm and flop, hanging from the brick wall like a pathetic piece of string. “That was cool as fuck,” He murmured as he glanced down at his wrists in shock. He gently ran his thumb over his wrist, a delightful shiver running down his back. It caused him to smile a little, thinking about just how far he could shoot these webs.

“Dude, you could swing around like Tarzan now.” John B snickered. JJ gave him a deadpan look but he couldn’t help himself from glancing down at his wrists again.

“You think?”

“Only one way to find out.” John B grinned.

Pope’s eyes widened slightly as he quickly began to shake his head. “You don’t know if the web is strong enough to hold his weight, he could hurt himself or—“

“You calling me fat?” JJ gasped with a pout, a hand placed over his heart. “You offend me, Pope. Thought you were better than this.”

“If calling you fat will stop you from swinging off a building like an idiot then yes, I am calling you fat.” He hissed.

JJ grinned, his eyes quickly searching around before he noticed a large satellite pole sticking out from one of the nearby buildings. It was a bit further away, but JJ let the pride of his last success get to his head. “I can do it, bud, don’t worry about it.”

“That’s my boy!”

“Don’t encourage him!”

“He can do it!”

“How the fuck do you know that!?”

“Sixth sense, my dude.”

JJ blocked out the bickering, taking a couple of steps back from the edge of the roof. A running start never hurt anyone, right? He rolled his shoulders, stretching his neck from left to right. Never once did he let his gaze shift away from the satellite pole. He crouched down a little, already feeling the adrenaline build up in him. “Diver down, boys.” He grinned before he began sprinting to the edge of the building. As he reached the edge, he pushed himself off and extended his arm out, imagining the web wrapping around the pole and seconds later it did. He held the web tightly in his grip as he felt himself swinging towards the building. Whoops and cheers could be heard, though JJ wasn’t sure if they were coming from him or the boys back on the roof.

“JJ, THE WALL! LOOK OUT!”

But JJ was a little too pumped up to even comprehend what Pope was screaming until he noticed the brick wall getting closer. ‘Shit, shit, shit.’ The words echoed in his head and he tried to think of a way to slow himself down. But it was useless as he found himself colliding with the wall, his eyes clenched shut on impact.

“Oh, fuck.” He groaned, his limbs sprawled out like a starfish. A part of him thought he was dead, that maybe he hit the wall way too hard, he had a lot of momentum after all. But the muffled screams coming from his friends was enough to tell him that he was very much alive. “I’m alive!” He yelled out, slowly beginning to blink his eyes open, finding himself face to face with a brick wall. “What the…” He trailed off when he glanced at his hands, finding them attached to the brick wall.

His heart was pounding when he looked down, seeing that he was attached to the wall, very far up from the ground, with nothing suspending him. His mind was reeling, almost as though he was waiting for himself to fall and his body to meet the ground. But it never happened.

“You’re like an actual fucking spider, dude!” He heard John B yell, as though he was right beside him, which caused him to wince a little. He glanced over his shoulder, seeing them still very far away on that roof.

JJ shook his head and glanced up, seeing the edge of the roof a couple of feet from where he was stuck on the wall. He took a deep breath before slowly removing one hand, and when he was sure he wasn’t going to fall, he moved it up higher. Slowly, JJ found himself scaling the side of the building, his heart beating wildly even as he pulled himself over the edge, both feet finding the solid ground of the roof. He turned back to look at his friends, both of whom looked shocked beyond belief.

“What the hell…” He could hear Pope whisper, which only caused JJ’s eyebrows to furrow in confusion.

“This is a lot more complicated than I thought.” He muttered to himself, only now realising that the bite mark on his hand was long gone.

**********

JJ winced a little as he heard the bell ring, indicating the end of this period and the start of lunch—his favourite subject. Yet, JJ wasn’t exactly jumping out of his seat as usual. It was now Monday and everyone was back at school. JJ, Pope and John B had spent the better use of the whole weekend to run around, using JJ like some lab rat and seeing just what he could and couldn’t do. And JJ was fucking exhausted. The amount of times he had face-planted into a wall was beyond funny and he had learnt the hard way that the more on edge he was, the more sensitive he was…well, to everything. The sound of the chairs screeching against the floor made him cringe, the bright LED lights made him want to cry and the feeling of his sweater against his skin was scratchy and uncomfortable. JJ sure as hell wasn’t hyped for his newly found powers if this is what the rest of his life is going to be like.

The blond sighed to himself as he shoved his stuff into his backpack, swinging it over his shoulder and heading towards the cafeteria once he left the class. He kept his head down, finding the small shuffles of his vans against the floor were helping him from cussing out every single student that bumped into him, making him honestly want to scream and stay six feet away from everyone. He tried to reassure himself that he was half way through the day, that he only had a couple of hours left and then he could preferably go hide in a hole somewhere for the rest of his life. Okay, that is a little dramatic but a dark hole sounded great to JJ right now.

But here’s the thing, JJ is a Maybank. He has the good ol’ Maybank luck, which means even when he feels shit, the universe is out to make his life worse. And the universe sent that in the form of Rafe Cameron and his loyal little minions, Topper Thornton and Kelce Smith. Midtown High’s own version of the Plastics, some may say.

By some, I mean JJ. But hey, don’t judge. He was forced into watch Mean Girls by one of his flings awhile back and he won’t lie, the movie slaps. But that is besides the point.

“Oi, Maybank!”

JJ inwardly groaned at the sound of Rafe’s voice. He would much rather hear nails on a chalkboard than whatever Rafe had to say. JJ wouldn’t consider them bullies, they were simply the top tier of the uptown kids who had some sort of superiority complex. And JJ had no issue on challenging them, it was far too easy to wind up a bunch of rich kids who weren’t used to being called out on their bullshit. And it just stuck. They would say something stupid to try and provoke him, and most of the time JJ’s words were enough for them to leave him alone. He had the satisfaction of punching Rafe in the face a few times, but usually Pope and John B were quick to hold him back. After all, it would backfire on JJ if he got into trouble with an uptown kid.

“What do you want?” JJ huffed out, glancing up at the trio. The sight of the three of them almost brought a smile to his lips. Uptown kids and their need to follow trends, they wore the same outfit in different variations and it honestly made JJ want to laugh. The classic preppy look with their pastel sweaters and tennis shoes, it made JJ want to gag. But he contained his vomit as Rafe spoke up.

“Aw, c’mon, Maybank. That all you got today? A bit pathetic.” Rafe snickered, the other two laughing along with their leader. JJ rolled his eyes. The funniest thing about them was their outfits.

“As much as I’d love to talk to you little pastel powerpuff girls, I have much better things to do in my life,” JJ said with a sarcastic smile on his lips as he side-stepped the trio, attempting to make his way past them. He really didn’t have the patience to deal with them today. He had happily planned to steal food from Pope and take a nap for the hour. But the second he felt Rafe’s hand on his shoulder, he knew that wasn’t going to be happening.

“Watch your mouth, Maybank.” Rafe spat, his hand tightening on JJ’s shoulder. The act made him want to cringe away and rip off his skin. The feeling of his hand on his shoulder, his thumb brushing that little bit of skin near the neckline of his sweater, it made JJ want to gag. It felt horrible. He wanted that feeling gone.

“Piss off, Cameron.” He scoffed, harshly jerking his shoulder so Rafe’s hand would lose its grip but it only tightened. In an act of desperation, JJ did the only thing that seemed reasonable. He shoved Rafe away. Now normally, it would be enough to have Rafe stumble a few steps so JJ can make a quick exit. But JJ just so happened to have forgotten that this wasn’t like every other normal time. He wasn’t normal anymore. So, his shove was much more than a wee push, it was more like completely winding Rafe. JJ couldn’t help but cringe when he heard the sound of Rafe’s body colliding with the lockers before he slumped to the ground, a dent now evident in the lockers from the collision. Topper and Kelce looked at JJ with mixed looks of confusion and fear before rushing to their friend’s aid.

“Oh my god, Rafe!”

JJ’s head snapped to the end of the hallway where he could see Sarah Cameron, but she wasn’t alone. Beside her was the curly haired girl from the trip. His eyes widened a little when his gaze met hers, but he was only met with a glare from the mysterious beauty.

“What’s your problem?” She hissed at JJ as the two girls got closer, now seeing the full effect of what JJ had done. JJ gulped a little, his fingers tapping the side of his legs as he tried to think this through. What could he say, ‘oh sorry, kinda lost control of my new powers, I’ll be a little more careful next time’. Yeah, that wasn’t going to work.

“He started it!” JJ blurted out, only to mentally smack himself at how childish he sounded. “I barely touched him, he was being dramatic!” He added but the looks of uncertainty didn’t reassure him that they bought it. He was in the lion’s den here, a downtown kid surrounded by the privileged. He was never going to win. So, he did the only sane thing any downtown kid would do. He got out of there as quick as he could.

“He could be concussed!” Sarah Cameron spoke up for the first time, a frown on her face as she met JJ’s gaze. He could almost feel the judgement oozing from her.

“Maybe he will finally have some brain cells knocked into him!” And with that, JJ ran out of that hallway and didn’t stop running until he was far away from the school.

**********

“I’m sorry what?”

Following the fiasco on Monday, JJ’s week hadn’t been much better. Most of it was spent avoiding the uptown crew whilst simultaneously keeping a low profile, which is very hard for someone like JJ. He was used to being the class clown, milking any attention he got. Now he felt like he was under house arrest or something, trapped to keep to himself and work out what the hell was happening to him. But true to their commitment of being his best friends, John B and Pope were right there beside him. It had been a long and stressful week but they made it through. It was a little exhausting on them but they had each other to lean on. JJ was just glad he wasn’t alone.

But now, sat in Pope’s bedroom on the Saturday night, looking between the two boys with a very concerned look, JJ wasn’t sure his weekend was going to be any more relaxing. He knew the three of them combined weren’t the best combinations. They probably shared a brain cell between them and even then, it mostly resided with Pope and his weird, random facts. They had come up with some really strange, out-there ideas before—like the time they tried to give John B a perm with household products or when they convinced themselves they could do a road trip in John B’s crappy van. But this was the icing on the cake. This was enough for JJ to confirm that his friends had completely lost their mind.

“Think about it!” John B continued, practically rolling on the balls of his feet in excitement. JJ raised an eyebrow but didn’t interrupt him. To be honest, JJ wasn’t even sure where to start with how bad of an idea this was. “You have these super cool powers that are totally useless to everyday life, so why not put them to use? You could be like—the next Batman or something!”

“Batman was a rich dude who made gadgets. He doesn’t even have any powers. How the hell would I be like Batman?”

“Okay, bad example,” Pope piped up. “But just think about it. You could make a difference, be a hero!”

“A really badass superhero!” John B added.

JJ looked at them with a frown on his face. This now just seemed like a deranged joke. He was waiting for them to laugh, to say it was just a silly joke and move on with their usual weekend plans. But they didn’t. They continued.

“I mean, we could be a team! The three of us! You’ll go out and do all the crime fighting, Pope can make crazy gadgets and do all the…tech stuff and I can be your guy in the chair, you know?”

“My guy in the chair?”

“Yeah, you know, the guy in the headset…surrounded by screens…telling you where to go when you need extra help and stuff.”

“What?”

“Like Pope would set it up, but I would be the mastermind behind it! Like you’re stuck in a building and can’t find a way out, I would help you find a route. Your guy in the chair!”

JJ only shook his head, pressing his fingers to his temples to try and not completely lose his temper.

“And like every superhero ever, you’ll need a suit. So, I went looking through some stuff and I found my mum’s sewing machine,” Pope fumbled around in his pocket before he pulled out a small bunch of red fabric. He threw it to JJ, which he easily caught. JJ then realised it was like a ski mask, with two small holes for his eyes. “It’s not much but we can work on it, keep your identity secret and everything.”

“Oh, and you’ll need a badass name! I was thinking like Night Monkey, or—“

“—Spiderling!” Pope interrupted with a grin, clearly proud of it. But JJ had enough.

“Can the both of you just shut up!” He snapped, both boys instantly quieting down, looking at JJ with concerned looks. “Okay, are you out of your mind? Me? A superhero? Hate to fucking break it to you but I am not the superhero type guy, alright? I’m not your friendly neighbourhood nice guy helping old ladies cross the street or getting cats out of the tree! I could give zero fucks about the law cause all its there for is rich idiots to manipulate and use to ruin lives of people like us!” JJ cried out to them, letting go of any hope he had on trying to keep his cool.

“People like us don’t become heroes, alright? We are usually the ones that get locked up. And knowing my luck, I will be thrown straight into some loony house, in a straitjacket because of these powers! You guys have to be absolute fools if you think any of this would work.” JJ huffed as he stood up, shoving the mask into his pocket before making his way to the door. “I don’t care about other people, alright? I care about you guys, my mum and most importantly, myself. Why the hell should I risk my life for a world that won’t appreciate it anyways.” Both boys stood there stunned, looking at JJ with wide eyes and parted lips.

“JJ—“

“No, okay? Superheroes are meant for comic books and movies, not real life, alright? Grow up.” And with that, JJ slammed the door as he left the apartment.

JJ scoffed, muttering to himself as he walked through the dark streets of New York, deciding to take the longer route back home. He needed the time to clear his head, grasp his thoughts. He didn’t know what the boys were thinking, he was definitely not fit to be a hero. Were they out of their minds? Give a guy some abnormal powers and suddenly he should be putting on a cape and preaching morals. That wasn’t JJ, that would never be JJ. He was selfish, arrogant at times and beyond prideful. But he was aware. He knew what he was and he knew he didn’t have what it took to be a hero. Pope and John B needed to stop being ignorant and see that.

He rolled his eyes at the thought and continued his way back to his building complex, hands shoved in his pockets with his right-hand clenching around the fabric of the mask. Small puffs escaped his lips as JJ started regretting taking the long way home. It was October and winter was promising to come early, JJ could tell that much by the stinging cold against his cheeks. The cold was just the cherry on top of his bitter mood.

Yet, as JJ continued to make his way home, he could hear the sound of people talking, causing a frown to form on his face. JJ had walked this way many times, especially during the night, and the chance of passing someone down these streets were fairly rare. Maybe the odd one here or there, but a group of people? Definitely not common.

At first, he ignored it. He had gotten used to the heightened senses over the week, being able to hear things from a distance even when he didn’t try. For all he knew, he could be hearing the muttering of some people a few blocks over. So, he ignored it and carried on walking. But then it started getting louder and clearer. JJ felt his whole body go on alert, the hair on his arm standing up, like his body knew something was off. He could feel it in his gut, a horrible realisation that this wasn’t going to be his usual walk home.

It wasn’t until when JJ turned the corner that he realised just what he had walked into. There stood around five men, all wearing masks that covered the lower half of their faces. They were dressed in all black, probably to draw less attention to themselves, but JJ could see the glint of guns in the light of the lampposts shining down on the street. They stood outside a building, three of them seeming to try and block the view of the other two. It was then when JJ’s brain actually caught up with what he was seeing and realised what the building was. A bank. These guys were trying to rob a bank.

Well shit.

The way JJ saw it, he had two options here. He could turn around, pretend he didn’t see anything and let them get on with what they were doing. Chances were they would either get caught by the police or he would see that the bank had been successfully robbed tomorrow morning on the news. Or JJ could do something about it. He quickly grabbed his phone from his pocket, only to see that it was dead. Of course, it was the good ol’ Maybank luck. He shoved it back into his pocket and looked towards the five men.

Then an idea popped into his head. A stupid, insane idea that was nothing short of self-deprecating and downright dumb. It was short of one of the worst ideas he had ever had. JJ had done a lot of weird stuff in his life but this definitely tops it all. And the worst part was that he was going through with it, because as much as he hated it, it was his only choice right now.

“I’m gonna regret this.” JJ huffed to himself as he snatched the mask out of his pocket and pulled it down over his face, adjusting it so he could see through the small holes Pope had made. He let out a breath, shaking his shoulders a little as he tried to pump himself up, get his adrenaline going.

“You got this, it’s not like they have guns or anything,” JJ muttered to himself as he placed his hands on the wall of the building across from the bank, the one he was currently hiding around so the bank robbers wouldn’t see him, before he began to scale the building. I mean, who would expect the enemy coming from above, right?

He stopped around half way up the building, thanks to the heightened senses he was able to still see the criminals clearly. He watched them closely, seeing only the three men that were on lookout where the one with guns. “Oh, let’s hope this works.” He whispered to himself before extending his arm out.

“What the fuck!” One of them called out as his gun was snatched from his hands in the blink of an eye, his two friends following a similar reaction. JJ wasn’t even thinking about where he was throwing the guns, just as long as they were nowhere near these dudes when he confronted them.

He watched them freak out, yelling at each other as they looked around for the culprit to their missing guns. He heard the half-ass threats they used and tried not to snort before he shot a web to one of the lampposts nearby and swung down, landing gracefully at the top of the lamppost.

“Guys, I hate to break it to you but someone lied, bank doesn’t open until tomorrow morning.” JJ called out to them, giving a small shrug. All five heads snapped up to look at him, and the glares he was receiving was enough to tell him that these guys weren’t big jokesters.

“Piss off, kid, this is none of your business.” One of them replied in a blunt, scruffy voice. It honestly made JJ cringe a little.

“You see,” JJ sighed. “I’ve made it my business so…” He trailed off before snapping his wrist, a web shooting out to stick to the head of the closest criminal and with a firm tug, his head hit the pole before he slumped to the ground.

One of the men growled at JJ, clearly not happy about some weird kid interrupting their wee heist. “You had your warning, kid. Come down and play with the adults.” He taunted before JJ noticed the glimmer of something in the light. A knife. Of-fucking-course the gun wasn’t the only weapon they had on them.

“That’s a bit unfair, isn’t it?” He commented, shooting a web to wrap around the criminal’s wrist, prepared to pull it out of his grasp, only for the robber to tug the web instead, sending JJ flying off the lamppost and falling on his ass to the ground. “Fuck!” He hissed as he quickly jumped to his feet.

“Life is unfair,” The criminal muttered before reaching to punch JJ but he easily dodged it. The speed and agility with which he moved with clearly distracting the criminal long enough for JJ to kick him hard enough that sent him stumbling back into the wall. JJ barely had time to process it before he snapped his hand to the left, stopping a fist that was inches away from his face.

“Nice try, asshole.” He huffed before twisting the criminal’s arm before sending a swift punch to his jaw. There was a satisfying pop sound that told JJ he would be preoccupied for at least a couple of minutes.

He then noticed two of the criminals trying to corner him, and he couldn’t help but smirk a little under the mask at just how cliché it seemed. In seconds, JJ has webs shooting out each wrist, attaching to the chests of each men, before yanking the two towards each other. Groans echoed through the empty street as both men collided with each other.

JJ’s head snapped to the side when he heard an angry battle call as he saw the man with the now dislocated jaw running towards him. JJ crouched down a little before he began running towards the criminal, his arms hooking around his knees. He kept running forwards until JJ felt glass smash around him and the two of them fell through. He quickly got up, wincing at the window he had just broken before turning to the criminal and giving him a good smack in the face—he definitely wasn’t holding back with his strength on that one.

JJ began to work fast, not knowing how long each of the criminals would stay dazed and unconscious for. In no time, he had them piled together, a healthy amount of web fluid keeping them tied together. They wouldn’t be going anywhere—at least for twenty minutes. But it was just JJ’s luck that he didn’t have to worry about that time limit because not even seconds after he finished, he heard the sirens and saw the blue lights flashing down the streets.

Police cars began to surround the bank, creating a semi-circle to prevent any possible escape. Officers began to exit their vehicles, guns set and loaded and now aimed towards JJ. “This is NYPD, keep your hands where we can see them!” One officer called out.

“Shit,” JJ muttered to himself as he raised his hands in the air, watching as officers slowly approached the crime scene.

He watched as a look of confusion washed over their faces as they took in the scene: the smashed window, the five tied up men, the weird silky rope that was binding them together and of course, JJ in his crappy mask.

He watched as they evaluated the situation. Watched as they tried to piece it all together before one officer—the badge telling JJ her name was Captain Peterkin—stopped in front of JJ with raised eyebrows. “Did you do this?”

“Sure did, ma’am.”

“Why?” Another officer perked up, JJ could see his badge said Officer Shoupe.

“They were robbing a bank, what did you want me to do? Sit around making daisy chains until you showed up?” JJ immediately defended, glaring as best as he could with the mask on his face.

Peterkin smiled a little before she cleared her throat, JJ’s attention shifting to her. “Then I guess we owe you a great deal of thanks for your work.”

“All in a day’s work, can I leave now? I’m sure the security cameras will give you all the answers you need.” JJ stated as he already began to take a few steps away from the crime scene, walking backwards.

“Can we at least know your name?” Peterkin asked.

JJ looked down at his wrists before he snapped them up, watching as the web attached to nearby building. He looked at Peterkin and couldn’t help grin under his mask as he answered her question before tugging on the web and swinging away into the night.

“Call me Spider-Man.”

Taglist: @alphinias @popcornhook @loveyatopluto @teamnick @peanutbelley @iccyyyybitch @jiara-maybank @donkey-is-my-spirit-animal @carissarose16 @unspokenfaith @largedenominationsplease @jiaaras @homebody-nobody @smileymikey @hvitstark @shaymq7 @hmspogue @falseungodlyhours @aarchiess @rcsales @raeoffuckingsunshine @jjskiaras @parker-holland-osterfield @thesadprose

#jiara #outer banks #obx #jj maybank #kiara carrera #jj maybank x kiara carrera #outer banks fanfiction #jiara fanfiction #obx fic #my fic #spiderman au #marvel #tale of a slightly unstable teen hero

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