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tangledinink · 1 year

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Chapter Twelve of I'm Sorry, Teenage Mutant What Now? is up!!! It's the moment you've all waited for-- the reveal. :000 They boys discover some things about themselves (things they once knew) and visit an unfamiliar place (a place that was once familiar.) Read it on ao3 or below the cut!

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The group’s shocked silence lasted for two, maybe three seconds before it quickly morphed into chaos.

“That’s him! That’s the goat!” Mikey shrieked, pointing wildly. “That’s the goat who has Dad!”

“Leo! Call 911!” Raph commanded. Leo scoffed loudly.

“No way! I wanna kick this guy’s ass. Make Donnie do it.”

“What?! No fair! I’ve called 911 the last six times! It’s someone else’s turn!”

“You have not! I called 911 last time!” April protested.

“That one doesn’t count!”

“Well someone’s gotta--”

“Enough!” Goatman snarled, absolutely bristling, waving his arm sharply. The air around them suddenly felt colder and stiller, and Leo shuddered, gritting his teeth as his posture stiffened. “I am not here to listen to your silly arguments. I am here to bring you home, so you can finally fulfill your purpose.”

Leo gave a short snort of laughter. “Hm, yeah, tempting, but our Daddy actually taught us not to go with creepy sheep strangers, even if they offer us free candy, soooo…”

“What?! Candy? No! I’m talking about your purpose! The reason you were created-- to eliminate the human threat! Come with me, and I can unlock your full potential!”

“How many divine purposes have we got again? ‘Cause I’m starting to lose track,” Mikey complained. Leo rolled his eyes.

“Eliminate the human threat? Yeah, uh, maybe you haven't been paying attention, but in case you haven’t noticed, we’re literally humans.”

The yokai paused for a moment. His face twisted, and he hunched his shoulders back before he gave a forced laugh. “Humans?” He echoed. “Humans?! Surely you aren’t fooled by those silly trinkets! You can’t possibly, actually believe…”

“Oh my god. This guy is, like, for real crazy,” April observed, raising her brows.

“No, you are fools!” He hissed in return. “Humans?! These ridiculous forms are completely fabricated! These are not your true selves! You are experiments! You are soldiers! You’re mutated turtles-- my greatest creations! The creations of Baron Draxum!”

“Baron Draxum? Okay, well, we’ll deal with him when he gets here… Oh… Oh-ho-ho wait! You’re doing that, like, sinister talking-about-yourself-in-third person thing, aren’t you! Oh my god, that’s rich!” Leo snorted.

“Hey! Only Raph can use the third-person!”

“I’m sorry, did he say turtles?” Mikey questioned.

“Oh my fucking god…” Leo laughed, clutching his stomach. “Turtles? I’m sorry, we’re mutant turtles?”

“This guy can’t be serious,” Raph muttered.

“Uh, yeah, I’m pretty sure we would have noticed by now if we were reptiles,” Donnie scoffed, one hand on his hip. “Let alone subjects of some kind of biochemical experiments. Which I am intimately familiar with, by the way. Do you have any idea how many community gardens I’ve been banned from?”

“This can’t…” The yokai shook his head, a hand on his brow. “How could you be tricked by such simple magic? I will show you if I have to.”

“Oh, I’d love to see that,” Donnie muttered.

“Come with me--”

“You are out of your damn mind if you think we’re goin’ anywhere with you!” Raph cut in.

“Maybe if you prove that turtle hypothesis thing you have going on, we can discuss it from there,” Donnie laughed, one brow quirked, sounding caught somewhere between exasperated and amused. Honestly, this whole thing was a little bit fucking hilarious. It was also fucking horrible and scary because their dad was missing and a magic criminal had them cornered in an alley, but like. Seriously. Mutant turtles? You can’t make this stuff up, dude.

Draxum sighed very deeply, scowling at their group.

“Very well,” he said, and he snapped his fingers.

Things became unfunny very, very quickly.

If the air had become cold earlier, now it became startlingly hot, just for a moment, the alley rising up at least five degrees, and Leo heard this choked, startled gasp that he immediately recognized as his twin brother. At the same time, a blinding, almost familiar flash of white light overtook the alley, and Leo hissed, flinching away.

When he looked back, he was horrified to find that where his brother had been standing just a moment ago there was instead some sort of green, scaled creature, their eyes slitted and their skin leathery and bumped, and he thought, what the hell happened to my brother? And after a moment of silence, all of them staring in dazed shock, the reptile flailed, floundered, held its own hands up to its face as if to examine them, and promptly began screaming.

And Leo recognized his own brother's screams, so instead he was thinking: what the hell happened to my brother?!

“What did you do?!” Leo shrieked. Behind him, Mikey screamed, too, and he could hear April spluttering out an impressive string of curse words. He just barely resisted the urge to race over to Donnie’s side, to check if he was okay, (he’s not okay, he knows he’s not okay,) to try to help him, to fix it, because he couldn’t just turn his back on the enemy in front of them-- couldn’t ignore the very obvious threat.

“I simply removed the cloaking enchantment as he requested,” Draxum responded calmly. He even looked amused, almost, the very corners of his lips turning up.

“You what!? What the hell are you-- fix it!!! Turn him back!!!” Leo demanded, his voice rising with the very edges of panic, his pulse climbing ever-steadily higher the longer he listened to his siblings scream.

The other sighed deeply, tilting their head to the side. “Do you still not understand? Fine, then. I’ll show you as well.”

Snap.

Leo wouldn’t describe the experience as painful, but it really wasn’t pleasant, either. He swore he could feel his skin being stripped away and reforming; it was like his skeleton itself was being rearranged, his entire body becoming fluid for just a split second before solidifying again in new places, new patterns, new spaces. An unfamiliar weight pulled at his shoulders, forcing his spine to bend, and his hands and feet fell in a way that now felt unnatural to him. His skin seemed to lay over his muscles differently now.

He was vaguely aware of Mikey screaming somewhere behind him a second time, echoing Donatello’s continued wails.

“Guys?” April bit out, her voice high and frightened.

What the hell happened to him?

“What-- what did you do?” Leo repeated himself, his eyes wide, straining, because his vision was ever-so-slightly different than it had been a few seconds ago and he didn’t know how to adjust. He swore to god he was frozen in place. He wasn’t sure when he had ended up on his knees, but he was shaking so hard, he supposed he wasn’t surprised.

What the fuck happened to his body?

“Now are you convinced?” The yokai pressed. “Now, we will be going to my lab whether you want to or not. We can either do this the easy way or the hard way. I would highly recommend the easy way,” he hummed, giving a sharp sweep of his arms. Wind tugged at his back and Leo had just barely the presence of mind to glance behind him, his eyes widening in horror to see this huge expanse of black opening up behind him.

Mikey-- (Mikey? They were small, they were wearing Mikey’s clothes, it must be Mikey--) yelped loudly, the inky cloud yanking him from his feet. April jumped, attempting to grab her baby brother, though she only succeeded in falling into him-- both of them swallowed up into the portal. Raph gave a strangled howl of protest, diving right after them, and Donnie was sucked up as well, disappearing from Leo’s sight. His heart thudded wildly in his ears. He could feel the magick yanking at him, trying to pull him in as well.

But Leo had always been the fastest.

Every shred of him was screaming to follow, to chase after his family, to go with his sister and brothers, but he tensed his muscles, his stance widening and holding firm as he set his sights back on the yokai towering before him. A tiny voice in his head whispered in his ears that following wouldn’t help--

No, he had to move forward. This guy was the one hurting them.

Get him.

Leo wasn’t sure if he had leapt forward or if he simply was there. Everything was moving too quickly for even him to follow, the blinding white of panic and rage eating hungrily at the edges of his vision, threatening to overtake him. Either way, he lunged, a cry of protective fury wringing itself from his chest.

"Stay away from my brothers," he snarled, his own throat staggering painfully with the force with which he screamed out his warning, his hands flying forward to grab the yokai by his throat, slamming into him at full speed. He felt the alien velvet fuzz of Draxum’s skin beneath the tear of his fingernails (claws) even as the pair of them were flung from their feet. Gravity was stolen from them both, the portal behind them reaching out to consume them.

Everything went black. For just a second, tumbling through nothingness, floating through the sizzling rush of magick itself, Leo couldn’t see anything. He couldn’t hear anything, all he could feel was the body of the yokai against him, struggling against his grip, attempting to throw him away.

And then this bright, searing lavender light came singing through the world. It didn’t reflect or bounce; nothing was lit up by it. Leo still could not see himself, could not even find the outline of his own hands or fingers. But this brilliant, complex pattern of the palest, gentlest pastel purple lit up bright before him, swirling and twisting in foreign shapes, and Leo just barely recognized that the ribbon of runes they formed echoed the shape of the yokai he had just grabbed.

The body he was clinging to went limp.

The next second, the wind was knocked out of him as they made impact with stone, light coming streaming back into his universe. Leo found himself landing in a heap in their new location, the portal disappearing behind them. Oddly, however, the crash landing didn’t hurt near as much as he would have expected it to.

“Leo!” He heard Raph cry. Leo groaned, still dazed, looking around blearily. Where the hell were they? He glanced over at the yokai who he had yanked through the portal with them, only to find them in an awkward slump just a few paces away, completely limp and seemingly unconscious.

“Are you okay? What happened?” Raph demanded, moving quickly to his side. Mikey was already all bundled up in his arms, shaking like a leaf and absolutely clinging to him for dear life like he was going to fall apart if he let go. And Leo couldn’t even blame him if he did. Mikey had always been the smallest of them, and Raph always the biggest, but Leo thought dimly that the size difference between them now was fucking bananas.

Jesus christ. Raph was fucking huge. And… spiky. Was he a goddamn dinosaur? What the fuck.

“I-- yeah-- I-- I think the goatman got knocked out--” He stammered, still reeling slightly, trying to collect himself, to gather himself, adrenaline still rushing through his veins like it was a racetrack.

Somewhere in the background, Donnie fucking screamed, and Leo immediately forgot about everything else, his head whipping around.

“Donnie!” He cried, on his feet in a second, rushing over to his brother’s side. He had no idea where they were, not having yet taken stock of the location. He was only dimly aware that they were someplace cold and dark, with stone and concrete above, below, and around them. Donnie had pressed himself up against one of the walls, his entire body rigid and his head bent forward, his arms fluttering wildly beside his head in such a way that Leo recognized he was fighting not to hit himself. Good job, Dee. The screaming continued, but every wail that wrenched its way out of Donnie’s mouth was short and grinding, repeating itself over and over like an alarm. It was fucking terrifying. Not for him, but for Donnie, because he could tell that they were completely, totally not in control. Just panicking.

“Hey. Hey, hey, it’s okay, I’m right here, Don. It’s alright. It’s okay, you’re safe, I’m right here, hermano,” he tried to soothe, forcing his voice down, calm, steady. He knew better than to touch Donnie, but he would reach over just long enough to tap a button on the side of his headphones that he knew would flip the device into white noise mode. Donnie jerked slightly in response, and the screaming stopped, at least, but he didn’t relax. His arms still fluttered and flapped anxiously, and he shifted just enough to begin rocking back and forth, clenching his jaw and grinding his teeth so hard that Leo was afraid he was going to hurt himself. His chest absolutely shook with the panicked, shuddering breaths he was taking, hyperventilating so hard that his entire body trembled in response.

“Come on, Donnie, it’s alright. It’s okay. We’re safe, Mikey and Raph and April are safe, we’re gonna be okay, but you’ve gotta breathe, dude. Can you try it with me? Like this? We’ve gotta calm down a little bit--” Leo pressed on because this was not his first rodeo. He wasn’t quite as adept at handling these things as their dad was, and at this point, Donnie was pretty good at avoiding meltdowns and panic attacks, armed with tools and tricks and years of therapy, but sometimes they were unavoidable and Leo had always known how to calm them down, always been able to step up and help, the same way Donnie could for him--

But Donnie wasn’t calming down. Donnie wouldn’t even look up at him. Rather, Donnie scrunched up harder, curled his lips, and fucking hissed at him.

And, okay, look, it wasn’t the first time Donnie had hissed at them. Donnie used to love to hiss at people when they were little kids, though nowadays he was more likely to express annoyance with declarations such as “groan” or “scoff” or “eye-roll.” But he didn’t hiss like this.

He sounded fucking feral. Even more than that, he sounded fucking terrified. He looked like a goddamn cornered animal, his eyes blown out and huge, the scaly skin that now made up his form stretched tight over shivering muscles and his lips drawn back over sharp, pointed teeth. And Leo looked down at his own clawed, three-fingered hand and came to a horrible realization.

He couldn’t help because Donnie couldn’t recognize him. They were panicking because they were in this crazy, fucked up body that wasn’t theirs, and Leo was in a fucked up body that wasn’t his, and looking at him was just a reminder of everything wrong. He was just scaring them more. His being here was just making things worse, and Leo’s throat tied itself in a knot, swelling up as the backs of his eyes pinched with the thought.

“April,” he called, his voice cracking slightly as he desperately turned to look for his sister. She wasn’t far off, watching from a short distance with obvious worry, and she blinked in surprise at the sound of her name.

“Help me.”

---

If Leo was being completely honest, he hadn’t even realized that Donnie wasn’t still nearby. The two of them typically stuck together like glue whenever they were at school. Leo would usually lead the way, and Donnie would trail after, with Leo doing most of the talking and socializing for both of them. And once Donnie got sick of whatever they were doing, he would simply drag Leo off to sit and read or work on some project or puzzle for a while, and Leo would oblige and keep him company. Donnie was always close by, and Leo wasn’t even aware that this wasn’t currently the case, too absorbed in his latest arts and crafts project, until he heard a telltale, high-pitched whine from across the room.

He was on his feet in seconds, abandoning the activity and his classmates to scuttle off in search of his twin brother. Luckily, he wasn’t too hard to find. Both because he was pretty loud, and also because their substitute teacher was crouched down next to him. She was nice enough, Leo thought, but not quite as cool as Miss Mitchelle was, and he wasn’t sure if Donnie liked her at all. It definitely didn’t seem like he liked her too much right now with how he was all balled up, and Leo wasted no time at all in planting himself physically between the two.

Donnie immediately gravitated towards his brother and Leo moved a bit closer in turn, giving Miss Substitute (he didn’t remember her name,) a very displeased look.

“He doesn’t like whatever you’re doing,” he declared firmly.

Miss Substitute’s expression twitched and faltered for a moment before it settled back into something patient and pleasant, though Leo still didn’t quite trust it. “Leo,” she said, “I was just trying to talk with your brother--”

“I can talk to him,” Leo assured immediately, not bothering to listen to the remainder of her sentence because he couldn’t imagine it would be all that important or interesting. He turned to face Donnie instead. “It’s okay. I can always understand him, ‘cause we have a secret twin language. We made it up. Only we can speak it,” he declared proudly, crouching down to lean in towards his brother, his arms wrapped around his knees.

Donnie was still whining a bit, curled up into a ball and shoved halfway inside of a cubby, his arms crossed protectively over his head as he rocked. And yeah, he was obviously upset, though Leo wasn’t completely sure why yet. As such, he got to work, conversing with his twin in the previously mentioned secret twin language.

… And.

Okay.

So.

They didn’t actually have a secret twin language.

But it was close enough! It wasn’t a language, per se, ‘cause it didn’t have words, just noises and chirps and trills and squeaks and babbles. But he still always got the gist of what Donnie was saying, and Donnie would get the gist of what he was saying, too, so it worked. Sooner or later, he could pretty much always get an understanding of what Donnie was meaning based on the inflection or tone of his noises, as well as calm the other down enough so that Leo could coax a couple of signs out of him, so Leo figured it was close enough to language.

Plus, the ‘language’ itself always seemed to kind of settle Donnie down when he was upset like this. Once Leo started humming and squeaking at him, Donnie gradually started to answer with his own chirps and clicks, and, little by little, Leo watched their twin’s body untense and unwind. Leo grinned, moving to sit properly by him, and Donnie moved closer, edging just a bit out of his hiding spot so he could shove himself up against Leo’s side instead, resting his head against his shoulder and settling in there, an indignant scowl still on his face.

Leo grinned, puffing out his chest a bit as he shot Miss Substitute a look. See? He told her so. He and Donnie always understood each other, no matter what, and he could always fix it when Donnie wasn’t feeling good! He was basically the best brother in the entire world. Confident that he understood the problem, he turned back to face Miss Substitute.

“He said you’re not doing the schedule right, and we’re supposed to do math right now,” he announced, crossing his arms over his chest. And he hadn’t even noticed, but Donnie was right, they did usually do math lessons during this part of the day-- not arts and crafts. “And also, he doesn’t like the paper fish we’re doing ‘cause the glue feels bad. So we gotta find something else to do,” he insisted. “‘Cause otherwise Donnie and I aren’t playing.”

Donnie nodded a tiny bit from behind him, and Leo beamed with pride. Understanding Donnie and calming him down wasn’t even that hard. He didn’t get why adults besides Dad had such a hard time with it sometimes. You really just had to listen to him.

---

It took a while for April to calm Donnie back down, (or at least get him as calm as they possibly could be in such circumstances,) but she managed after a bit, his panicked breaths eventually dying down into something a bit more even and steady. Thank god. Mikey thought dimly to himself that he had never seen Donnie freak out so bad, but... he supposed he couldn't really blame him.

He frowned a bit, looking down at his own, unfamiliar hands, and he curled up a bit more, his tail tucking in (oh my god, he had a tail,) as he clung to Raph's plastron (oh my god, Raph had a plastron.) And though it still held comfort, the fold of his biggest brother's arms, bundled up close and held there, this place that he had known his whole life... it suddenly felt foreign, too. Everything was hard and jagged and cold. And even worse-- it was unfamiliar.

He kept staring at his own hands because he couldn't stop himself, and it made his stomach wobble. He wondered bleakly what his own face looked like because he had no idea. He wouldn't even recognize himself in the mirror.

Now that Donnie had finally settled a bit, though he was still curled up and pressed just against April's side, just barely not touching but still squeezed up small against her, Leo finally got up to his feet-- only to immediately lose his balance, falling over onto his back with a loud clunk.

"Leo!" Raph's eyes widened, his muscles immediately bunching up, ready to jump up and go grab his brother. Mikey could tell that he was just barely resisting the urge to scoop up all three of them and bundle them up in his arms and just hang onto them for a while. He had been sitting here long enough for Mikey to notice how fast his heart was beating. Mikey’s was keeping pace. Leo kind of flailed for a second before he managed to redirect the momentum to roll over onto his side, getting himself back onto his hands and knees. A wry, strangled laugh forced its way out of him.

"Alright. Well. Pro tip: center of gravity is weird now," he remarked dryly, his voice strained. "But the good news is falling doesn't even hurt anymore! So that’s great!"

It didn't get a laugh out of anyone. After a moment of hesitation, Mikey slowly wriggled his way from Raph's grip, making his way over to Leo's side. He didn't dare try to walk after watching Leo's attempt, noting that it seemed to be more difficult now without the rush of adrenaline to aid them, so he instead stayed in a crouch, sort of half-hopping-half-crawling over. Raph followed shortly after in a similar manner.

"Can I see?" He questioned softly, and when Leo didn't deny him, he leaned over slightly, moving his hoodie (which was now a very awkward fit,) out of the way enough so that he could examine the edges of his brother's new shell.

(Oh my god. His brother's shell. What kind of a sentence was that? What kind of weird, fucked up make-believe world were they suddenly in? Leo was his brother. He didn't have a shell. He had cool brown skin. He had bouncy blonde curls that Mikey had helped him bleach and dye a red streak in. He had vitiligo 'stripes' over his eyes. He had a bad habit of cycling through boyfriends and insomnia and a shockingly large vocabulary... but he didn't have a shell. He didn't have scales or stripes or claws or a tail.)

He looked anyway, running the tips of his fingers over the top of it, following the curve. He couldn't quite tell if he was feeling the texture of the shell, or just the texture of his own fingers, which were different than they had been; covered in scales, the skin thicker and rougher than it had been before. Bending his joints felt odd, and he couldn't help himself from doing it over and over, as if that might help him get used to it faster.

Every part of his brother’s shell was this cool, ocean blue, just edging on teal in some places, and Mikey thought to himself that, in the very least, it matched his life color perfectly.

He swallowed hard and resisted the tears that were building up in his eyes. He didn’t want to cry right now. He didn’t even know what he was crying about. Because he was scared? Because he was overwhelmed? He wasn’t very good at not crying, but he forced it down, his hands trembling a bit with the effort of it.

"Does it look the same as mine?" He heard himself asking, his eyes flickering over to meet Leo's (which were now not something he recognized, looking more animal than person, though they still retained the same, familiar almond shape. The color, however, he realized, was slightly different. Leo's eyes were brown. All of their eyes were brown, so dark that they were almost black, but now, instead, Leo's eyes were mismatched; one of them dark blue, like water in a cove, like the sea at night, and the other dark red, like ink with blood, like black cherries.)

"I dunno," Leo laughed, though his voice was still shaking. "I don't know what mine looks like."

"They're... kinda the same…" Raph observed from nearby, leaning over slightly to examine them both. His voice sounded kind of hollow, like he wasn’t really there. Sort of far-off. "I mean. The parts I can see. Mikey, yours is more... orangey. And bumpier," he said. "And yours is spotty. Leo's is kinda... stripey."

"Yours is huge," Leo observed with a chuckle, glancing over at their biggest brother, who was always the tallest and largest by a wide margin, but now absolutely dwarfed the rest of them. "And... spiky. You're all spiky. And… and fucking huge, dude. You look like you have fucking paws. And your mouth is all..." He laughed again, scrubbing anxiously at his face with his hands. "You look like a fucking snapping turtle."

Mikey paused a bit at that, glancing over at the other.

Donnie must have said or signed something that the rest of them didn’t catch, because April spoke up next, clearly addressing him. "Uhm, no, yours is... uh. It's kind of flat? And..." There was a pause. "Oh, oh my god, it's, like, squishy!" She squealed, everyone else in the room jumping in response, before she tamped down the noise, biting her lip and getting a handle on her reaction. "Sorry! Sorry, I just. I just wasn't expecting that texture, that's all! It doesn't... feel like what I thought a shell would feel like, I guess."

"Are we different kinds of... turtles?" Mikey questioned, tilting his head to the side. He wanted to laugh at himself when he said turtles. I mean, seriously, turtles? Of all the creatures in the world, turtles? Why were they turtles?

"I guess we must be," Leo sighed, resting his chin on his knee. "We obviously look different."

Mikey frowned, and he thought that his lips might be trembling if he had proper lips anymore, but he wasn't sure if he did or if they could tremble or what that would feel like if they did. Okay, fine. Now there were a few tears.

"Does that mean we're not brothers?"

A beat of silence followed.

"We're not," Donnie said, and quite frankly, Mikey was surprised to hear him speaking. Small miracles? Kinda…?

"Yeah, we are. Don't be crazy," Raph immediately refuted, his brows (er... brows? Place where brows once were?) furrowing together, and Mikey was desperately relieved to see that the space in between still wrinkled into a crease the same way they always did. "Of course we're brothers."

"Evidently, we're not even the same species," Donnie hissed out bitterly, drawing himself up even closer, even smaller, into a little ball. "It's literally impossible."

"Come on, Dee--"

"We're not even human!" Donnie snapped, hunching up his shoulders. "We're not even people!"

"Hey, look, come on you guys," April tried to soothe, holding up her hands as if to calm the group. "It doesn't matter if you're turtles! It doesn't matter to me. I love you guys no matter what--"

"Oh, wow, what a comfort!" Donnie scoffed, and April bristled.

"Okay, look, I am trying to be helpful! I know that this fucking sucks but you do not need to take out your nasty attitude on me!"

Leo suddenly laughed-- loudly, painfully-- tilting his head back and letting his shoulders slump so he could stare up at the ceiling. "Oh my god. Jesus christ. We're not people," he bit out in between his barely restrained hysterics, squeezing his eyes shut. "We're freaks, dude!"

"Leo, c'mon."

"We're not even people!!!" He repeated. "Fuck. We never even had a chance, and we didn't even know it!... Oh my god, we’re such morons!!! Hahaha-- welp! This is it! Pack it in, boys, it’s all over!"

"Leo, chill. What are you even talkin’ about?"

"Did you know I was gonna go on T?" He questioned, turning around sharply, suddenly, to face Raph. "Me and Dad were talking about it. For, like, a while now. And I was gonna start T, finally. Do you know how much I wanted to do that? Do you know how long I've been waiting to get to do that?"

Raph frowned. "Leo... This doesn't mean--"

"How the fuck is that going to work now!?" He interrupted. "How is anything gonna work now? We're fucking! REPTILES! Raph!!!"

"I KNOW THAT!" Now Raph was yelling, too, and Mikey flinched a bit, hiccuping softly as he drew himself down, retreating slightly, halfway into his shell (oh my god, he can do that now?) "You think you're the only one who was lookin' forward to stuff? I was--" He cut himself off, breathing in deep and then letting it out slow, his jaw tensed.

"Look. I know this... sucks. But it's not gonna help to just throw in the towel right now and mourn shit that we don't even know is gone yet, alright? We'll... figure it out," he said. "We don’t even know what’s goin’ on, so let’s just… let's just try to figure it out first. Okay?"

Leo frowned. He looked down and to the side, tightening his hands into fists, but he didn't have any rebuttal. After a moment, he took a deep breath, pulling himself up to his feet for a second time. He tottered for a moment, his arms windmilling until he found his balance and this time he stayed on his feet. He looked around the room for a moment before his eyes fell on the limp form of Baron Draxum, still crumpled in a heap some odd paces away.

"What do we do with that guy?"

All of their eyes snapped over, as though they had all just remembered that he was there in the first place.

"Did you knock him out, dude?!" Raph questioned, his eyes widening slightly.

"No! I mean. I don't think so. Not exactly," Leo said. "It's, like-- he grabbed me and some sort of mystic-magic-whatever thing happened. He lit up with a bunch of symbols and he just... went down. I dunno what happened."

"Well," Raph said, sighing deeply before he pulled himself to his feet as well, doing a similar rock and wobble to Leo before he figured out the new balance he had to strike, correcting his own footing. His long tail swung back and forth behind him, assumedly on instinct, to help. "We dunno how long he's gonna stay down, so we oughta find a way out of here and put some distance between us and him ASAP. We already know where Dad is, anyway."

"Maybe we can figure out where we are," Donnie mumbled bleakly, pulling himself to his feet as well. He seemed to struggle much less than his brothers did, and Mikey noted that his back rounded less than theirs. April got up as well, sticking close to his side, but perhaps hovering a bit less now.

Mikey watched as his family rose up, one by one, finding their feet again. And something in his chest unwound and loosened again. A breath he hadn't realized he had been holding came tumbling out of him.

He didn't know his own face anymore. And he didn't recognize his brothers when he looked at them.

But they were still them. Already, Mikey was completely sure of it. And the change, while still terrifying, felt just a tiny bit less devastating.

He hadn’t lost them yet.

Bracing himself for the coming challenge, he rose up to his feet as well. The unfamiliar weight on his back was more than he had expected and attempted to drag him down, and he stumbled slightly, nearly toppling over onto his back the same way Leo had the first time-- but Raph grabbed his wrist before he could, pulling him forward and correcting him, and Mikey was relieved to find his center of gravity once more. Usually, he would complain about his big brother stepping in, preferring to do things on his own rather than being 'babied' by his older family members, but...

Right now, it was actually okay.

"Okay. Let's do this."

(They took about three steps before Raph yelped and tripped over his own tail.)

---

Though they had tied up the so-called "Baron Draxum" with whatever rope and other scrap they could find in this place, (the longer they were here, the more Donnie began to suspect it was a lab of some kind,) none of them were very confident that it would be able to hold him for very long, if at all, and so they all got to work trying to figure out an exit. But to call this place 'maze-like' was a bit of an understatement.

"This is the worst landmark ever," April hissed in frustration as they turned a corner, only to once again be met with a hog-tied yokai, face-down on the concrete. "We keep going in circles!"

"Okay, look," Donnie sighed. "I know we don't want to linger here any more than we have to, but let's look around a bit and see if there's anything useful lying around to get us out of here. Clearly just walking out isn't getting us anywhere."

There was a chorus of grunts and mumbles of agreement from the rest of his family, and the group slowly fanned out, beginning their search. It was dark here, wherever they were. The ground beneath his feet was cold, with him and his brothers having already ditched and stowed their sneakers and boots after realizing how awkward and painful it was to walk in them with their new wide, two-toed feet.

The space was wide and almost circular, with various tunnels branching off at different levels, all leading away to who-knew-where. Several desks and tables were scattered about the space, each surface covered in everything from charts to pipettes to oddly-shaped jars filled with oddly-colored substances. Donnie just barely resisted the urge to sit down and start working, or to begin snatching and pocketing things as he found them. Instead, he took a liberal amount of photographs of everything they found on his phone.

His impulse control could only get him so far, however, and his eyes narrowed as they fell across a small, purpley-pink gem that lay on the desk, suspended within a small glass case. This certainly looked interesting... Geology wasn't really a passion of his, but something about this just seemed... intriguing. He couldn't quite place it...

Surely no one would miss this, right? It was small! It would be silly not to take it, quite frankly, and he slipped it into his pocket as quietly as he could when he was sure no one else was looking.

Now, if only he could find some blueprints of the tunnels... But that would be too easy, wouldn't it?

"So," Mikey said after a minute or so of them searching, and Donnie sighed internally. Of course, they couldn't expect him to stay quiet for that long. "If Raph is a snapping turtle, and me and Leo are turtle-turtles, then what kind of a turtle is Donnie?"

Donnie rolled his eyes, scowling. "Okay, well, first of all, do we really have to discuss this?" He hissed, immediately bristling. "I’d highly prefer we not address the proverbial elephant in the room, thank you! Second of all, 'turtle-turtle' is not a species."

"Yeah, but, like, we have turtle shells!" Mikey explained. "But April said yours is squishy. So what does that make you?"

Donnie sighed deeply. Talking about this made his skin itch.

"A softshell turtle, I suppose."

"A softshell?" Leo questioned, raising a brow. "That's a thing?"

"Yes."

"How do you know that off the top of your head?" Raph questioned.

"Some of us actually paid attention during biology classes," he responded dryly. And having a near-photographic memory did, admittedly, help as well…

"Whoa!" Mikey absolutely beamed. "That's so cool! Now we just gotta figure out what kind of turtles me and Leo are!"

"Well, I'd look it up if we had any service. And also if it was even close to being an appropriate time for us to waste our efforts on something like that," Donnie said with a roll of his eyes. He knew that Mikey was just distracting himself, finding a silver lining so he didn’t break down, but Donnie didn’t want to think about it, didn’t want to think about how much of their entire lives was completely fabricated, about how--

He snorted, suddenly doubling over with laughter.

"What?" April questioned, raising a brow.

"I just-- I just realized!" Donnie laughed. "Our... our moms must be turtles! Fucking turtles!"

There was a beat of silence as this sunk in before Raph gave a similar reaction. "Damn! I guess you're right, huh?"

"Do you have any idea how much time I wasted in therapy talking about this?" Donnie squeaked out through giggles. "I spent so much time with Mossy talking about our mom and how she didn't want us or whatever the fuck and about the stuff she did to Dad and how I couldn't remember her, and she-- she was never even real! None of that ever even happened! She was just a fucking turtle, wasn't she!? We don’t even have a real mom!"

"Whoa! Mind... blown. I didn't even think about that..." Mikey gaped, his eyes wide. "This whole time I just assumed that our mom was probably the hotel lady..."

"Yeah, me too," Leo agreed.

Donnie blinked.

"You what?"

"Well, you know, that woman that Dad was datin’ right before he disappeared," Raph said. "And she runs the Grand Nexus Hotel, right? All the articles I ever read always mentioned her."

Donnie's eyes twitched. "You thought she was our mother?" He questioned.

"Well, that's who Dad was datin’ last! And for a long time, too. It'd make sense, wouldn't it?" Raph defended.

"Yeah. You didn't think that?" Leo said.

"NO! Why would I think that?!" Donnie was laughing again.

Leo huffed in offense, crossing his arms over his chest. "I'm sorry, do you know something we don't?"

"Apparently!" Donnie exclaimed. "Guys, you've seen pictures of her, right?!"

"Well, yeah?" Mikey tilted his head to the side.

"She's pale as fuck!"

"So?"

"And our Dad is Japanese!"

"And? Donnie, what's your point?"

"We're black!"

"... Ooooohhhhh," all three of his brothers said, nearly in unison, after Donnie's argument finally sunk in.

"Oh my god," Donnie laughed, covering his face with his hands, scrubbing tears from his eyes. "You're all so fucking dumb..."

"I guess our mom would have had to be black. I mean. We got the Japanese half from Dad, but... I never really thought about where the other half came from..." Raph admitted, his mouth still slightly agape like he was still rolling the thought about in his head.

"Wait a minute," April said, her hands on her hips. "I mean, yeah, all that makes sense, but if you guys have secretly been turtles this whole time, then why are you black?"

"Dude, are all turtles black?" Mikey questioned, his eyes widening.

"I cannot discuss this any further. I'll get a migraine and furthermore cease to function, as I am, and I cannot stress this enough, just barely suppressing the gravity of this whole situation right now," Donnie sighed, gesturing to himself as he turned back to the desk in front of him. "Did anyone find anything yet?"

"Not yet," April sighed, shuffling through some papers. "What even is all this junk?"

"I'm not sure. Some sort of research, it seems like..." Donnie mused, sort of thumbing through a book as he spoke, reading key phrases and chunks of text as quickly as he could and making mental notes so he could refer back to it later. He was more than happy to have something else to focus on, though this would admittedly be a lot easier with human hands. "But I'm still not sure where--"

Shhhh shhhh.

Donnie paused mid-sentence, his brows furrowed. He hadn't noticed that sound before now. He tilted his head a bit to the side, turning in its direction, trying to zero in.

"... Donnie?"

"What's that noise?" He questioned aloud, though his voice was barely above a whisper.

Shhhh shhhhh.

He knew that noise. He recognized it. Where had he heard it before?

Shhhh shhhhh.

... Water, he realized with a start. The noise was running water. Of course. How had he never realized this before?...

That's what he was hearing. That's what he had heard.

"Dee? You good?"

"Guys," he said, turning just enough to glance over in their direction. His face suddenly felt like glass. It was odd. "I think... I think we're in the sewer," he said. "... And I think we've been here before...?"

Before anyone could say anything further, a new noise filled up the space.

Skrrrtttccchhhhh.

---

"What was that?!" Mikey shrieked, immediately leaping behind his biggest brother to hide. Leo and Donnie were instantly gravitating to each other as well, falling into stance on instinct as they stood back to back, each covering the other.

"It sounds like something scratching," April said thoughtfully, and true to her word, the same skritching noise clawed its way through the air a moment later, echoing slightly against the walls. "I think it's coming from over here!"

"April!" Raph hissed off a protest as she took off, heading in the direction of the sound. "We don't know what that is!"

"We will if we go look!" She chirped in reply. I mean, come on, what was the benefit of hiding over here instead of investigating? Weren't they curious either way? Besides, they were stuck here regardless-- maybe they'd find something helpful.

The noise continued as April searched, peering around corners and down tunnels, until, finally, she found her prize. Tucked inside one of the off-shoot tunnels, one of the many dead-ends that seemed to surround this space, was a proverbial treasure trove. A variety of odds and ends filled the space; various amulets and scrolls and chests and even weapons were leaned up against the wall or stacked up on the ground. In fact, a lot of weapons were in here. Was this some kind of a weird armory? Or a trophy room? What kind of sewer has a trophy room?

But most interestingly, she found the source of the noise. Inside a small, dimly lit orb, looking as though it were made of some sort of glass, or perhaps even light, was one of the oddest creatures April had ever seen, clawing sadly at the surface of its prison. It had ears like a chihuahua, pointed and too big for its head, with tufts of fur poofing out from inside, but huge eyes like some kind of a cat. Pointed tusks stuck from its mouth like a boar, but soft, downy yellow-and-blue fur covered its entire, squirrel-like body, complete with a fluffy, wriggly tail.

"AW, you guyyssss!" She called out. "Come look! It's cute!"

"April!" The guys were right behind her, with Raph leading the charge. "You can't just run off like-- jumpin' jack flash! What the heck is that thing?!"

"I dunno!" April said with a shrug, immediately making her way into the room, scooping up the orb so she could examine it, looking for a way to open it up. The little critter inside pattered about excitedly, its claws clicking against the smooth surface. "Help me figure out how to get him outta here."

"Are you sure about that?" Leo questioned. "No offense, but we have nooo idea what that thing is! Maybe it's, I dunno, locked up for a reason?"

"What? C'mon, guys, we've gotta help!" Mikey protested, turning on them with big, pleading eyes. Nice, April thought, with Mikey on her side she had basically already won. Suck it, middle children. "Plus, he was locked up by Draxum. So he can't be bad!"

"Yeah! Ever heard ‘the enemy of my enemy is my friend?’" April added in.

"I'm not convinced," Donnie said, crossing his arms over his chest. "I mean, has anyone else noticed that pretty much everything else in this room is a weapon of some kind? Isn't that maybe a bit telling?"

"Aw, come on, Dee. Look at this face!" April insisted, holding up the orb to the others. The creature, to their credit, played their part, pulling an absolutely pitiful face which Mikey immediately echoed, turning to his brothers with watery eyes.

Checkmate.

"Okay, okay, fine. Look, there's gotta be something in here that can help us bust him out..." Leo muttered, beginning to pick his way through the contents of the room with Raph, Donnie, and Mikey following suit shortly after.

"Here, what about these?" Leo said after a moment, turning to face them with a pair of twin katanas in hand. "Think I could slice that bad boy open with these guys?"

April scoffed, clutching the orb close to her chest. "Uhm, and this guy in half, maybe!" She protested. "Can we try something a little less deadly, please?"

"Aw, come on! These are cool," Leo protested, grinning as he twirled them in his hands with a metallic shwing.

"You just like them because you always win at any swordsmanship event at tournaments," Donnie remarked dryly, grabbing a long wooden staff to hold in his hands, testing the weight of it. "... That being said, should we maybe grab some of these just in case?"

"Whaddya mean?" Raph glanced over at the other.

"Well, we haven't even made it to the Hidden City yet, and we've already been attacked once," Donnie reasoned, placing a hand on his hip and frowning. "So it wouldn't exactly be a bad idea to have some weapons on hand in case of an emergency." He spun the bo staff in his hands appraisingly a few times. "I mean, obviously this is a bit underwhelming, but I'm sure I could make some improvements once we got back home..."

"Sounds like a good plan to me! Look at all the stuff they’ve got!” Mikey cheered, immediately diving in, beginning to sort through all the various options they had in the room. He chuckled darkly, swinging a pair of nun-chucks in his hands. “These’ll do…”

“Yo, guys!” Raph called, waving to get his brothers’ attention before pointing to the very far corner of the room. “If we’re gonna take stuff, why don’t we take the glowy ones?”

There was, in fact, a weapons rack filled with floating, vaguely glowing weapons, tucked away in the shadows, which only made the glow all that much more tempting. They were simply begging to be taken.

Mikey and Leo, almost in unison, gasped, their faces absolutely lighting up as they raced over to join Raph. “Ooh, dibs on the sword!” Leo cheered, immediately snatching up the odachi and repeatedly striking poses.

“Hot soup! Check me out!” Mikey snatched up a bright orange kusari-fundo, absolutely beaming ear-to-ear. Raph was nearly drooling as he laid his claim on a pair of tonfas, beaming as he gave a few experimental swings.

“They’re perfect! No one’ll mess with us now!”

“What about you, Donnie?” April questioned, tilting her head back to glance at the remaining brother. “Don’t you want a glowy weapon?”

“And add yet another unknown, uncontrolled variable to our current situation? I’m good,” Donnie scoffed, rolling his eyes. “I’ve trained with a regular, wooden bo staff. I’ll fight with a wooden bo staff, thank you very much. You all have fun with your likely-radioactive weaponry,” he said, waving them off.

“Here, April, I got something for you, too,” Mikey chirped excitedly, scampering over to present his find to her. “Ta-da!!! Baseball bat!”

It wasn’t a baseball bat-- it was a club. But close enough! April gasped in delight. “It’s perfect!” She enthused, immediately snatching it up, rolling it around in her hands and tapping it against the side of her shoe a few times. Ooh, and the weight was perfect, too. “And I think it can help us get little guy out of this ball thingie, too! Leo, come hold it still for me!”

"Aw man, why do I gotta hold it?" Leo muttered in complaint but did as he was told regardless, kneeling down to hold the orb steady, taking care in the placement of his hands to minimize the chances of broken fingers.

"Alright," April said, backing up a bit, her tongue sticking out from between her lips with focus. "This won't hurt a bit..."

She swung the club back, taking care to temper her strength, and brought it down on the little ball prison with a satisfying crunch.

"Did it work?" Mikey gasped, his eyes wide as he leaned over. The orb was not shattered nor laying in pieces; but the side of it had caved in considerably, a spiderweb of cracks blossoming from it, and a second later, it simply dissolved as if it had never been there in the first place. The creature that had previously been trapped inside cracked one eye open, having squeezed itself into the very back of its cage, flinching at the oncoming impact, gave an absolute trill of excitement, darting about in celebration.

"There we go!" April said, grinning wide, her hands planted on her hips. "See, told ya I'd get you outta there! That's better, right?"

The little yellow beast threw itself into her lap, wriggling with joy and nuzzling at her with an enthusiastic wag of its tail. "Okay, okay! You're welcome!" April laughed, giggling as she allowed the creature to clamber about in her arms, allowing it time to bounce about before it finally began to settle again.

"Any chance you know how to get out of here, little guy?"

---

Raph looked up from his phone and his tea at the sound of mail plopping down on the table, glancing over to examine the letters his father had just tossed over in his direction.

"For you," Dad remarked, sorting through the remaining mail from the day.

"For me?" Raph echoed, his brows rising up. "Who the heck is sending me mail?" Curiosity took hold immediately, and he abandoned the wrestling video he had been watching previously in favor of tearing open the letters on the table.

He was surprised to find college brochures inside. His father, however, did not seem all that surprised at all, even adding a couple more to the pile.

"It seems you are in high demand," Dad teased, smiling the tiniest bit. "I have received a few emails as well from recruiters recently."

Raph paused for a moment, rolling this idea about in his brain, trying to figure out what it meant and what it tasted like before he forced a small laugh, rubbing the back of his neck nervously.

"Guess they haven't seen my grades yet," he joked weakly. Dad hummed softly, pulling up a chair so he could sit down next to his eldest son.

"Nonsense," he scoffed. "Your grades are fine, Raphael. You've simply tricked yourself into thinking they're not by comparing yourself to others," he added, giving the other a knowing look. "And besides that, this is hardly the only thing that matters. I have told you many times that grades aren't everything. My grades in high school were terrible!" He remarked with a laugh. "And your career in sports is very impressive."

"I guess," Raph said, wrinkling his nose up a bit as he leaned over the table. Easy for him to say. He had a hard time wrapping his head around the idea of colleges being interested in him when his three younger brothers were right here in the same damn house! Had they really meant to send these to Hamato Raphael?

Dad's hand moved to rub little circles into his back, and he nudged his son's teacup a bit. Raph agreeably took a sip, allowing the warm liquid to trickle down through his chest.

"I know you have not always enjoyed schoolwork, Raphael," Dad finally spoke again. "But you are not stupid. You may very well have the most common sense of any of my children!" He chuckled. "And you have many talents besides that. You are a remarkable athlete, and I know I do not have to drag you over to the trophy wall to prove this to you, but I will if I have to. You are only sixteen and you are already the captain of multiple sports teams... not just anyone could handle that! It is difficult to lead a team. But you have always handled this with grace. And teaching children! That is a talent in and of itself. That is no easy task. Trust me, I know," he said, smiling slightly. "But you are doing so well with your new job. And I am very proud of you."

Raphael glanced over at his father, for just a moment, hesitating like he wanted to say something, but then biting it back.

"You don't have to go to college if you don't want to," Dad added. "If you decide that is not the path for you, that is fine. I won't be upset or disappointed. I did not go to college, either! But I would hate for you to not even consider it just because you don't think you're good enough for it," he pressed. "I know you've always said you intend to pursue a career in sports of some kind, but this is very much an avenue to achieve that if you'd like. Many professional athletes get their start through college sports, you know. And I can already name half a dozen universities off the top of my head who would be thrilled to have you on their team in a couple of years!"

He sighed softly.

"But you do not have to decide right now, my son. There is still plenty of time for you to consider all of your options."

Raph glanced over at his father, shifting a bit in his seat, before looking to the side.

"Uh. I dunno, Pops. I mean. I'm not good at tests and all that junk. I mean. College football could be good 'n all, but, uh..."

He hesitated a second, sort of scratching the side of his jaw, hesitating a bit. "I dunno. Maybe I could... I mean. We could look at it, at least. I was kind of wonderin’ about, uh. I dunno… Just, lately, I was thinkin' about... studyin' early childhood education, maybe?..."

[ next ]

#sorrywhatnowau #sorrywhatnowau fic #rottmnt #rottmnt fanfic #rise of the tmnt #rise of the teenage mutant ninja turtles #rottmnt au #rottmnt human au #tmnt

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normal-internet-user · 1 year

Note

Hii, I loved the toddler sibling headcanons! 😚🌸

I laughed a lot with it so I think I got another sibling time idea

Let's say that the toddler sibling grow up and is already 18 and the boys found out they have a partner (boyfriend/girlfriend)

I wanna see some jealous overprotective big brothers Headcanons 😂

OH. MY. GOD. YES!

BAYVERSE BOYS MEETING THEIR SIBLINGS S/O

Holy shit, it was bad enough for them to realize you were no longer the poptart eating toddler they found in that alley,

They literally freak out when you spill that you have an S/O.

You had sat them down on the couch and were like, "Ok, heres the deal."

Proceeded to tell them you're seeing someone.

Donnie did a spit take,

Mikey just kinda looked at you blankly, before freaking out.

Raph literally stood up, already muttering about how he was "gonna kill 'em."

Leo was all like ,

Raph insisted they meet them,

But you had to explain to him, (like 8 fucking times), that it was not far enough into the relationship for that.

From the moment you told them you were seeing someone,

They are always following you to make sure you're safe.

You're going on a date?

Leo will be supervising from the shadows.

Hanging out with friends, and you're S/O will be there?

Guess what,

So's Raph.

Donnie literally runs a backround check on your S/O and their entire family tree.

He probably know more about their grandma than they do.

Will he tell you that?

Probably not.

Now as for how your S/O meets the big brothers you talk oh so fondly of?

It was not supposed to happen, and it was totally Mikey's fault.

You were on a date whwre the two of you were just kinda hangin out on the roof of their apartment complex,

Ya know chit chatting and all that,

When this loud ass metalic bang! sounds from behing you.

You shoved your S/O down and as fast as Splinter had taught you whipped out a ninja star,

Then proceeded to almost decapitate your brother.

You were not happy.

"Goddammit Mikey. What are you doing?"

"Uhhh-"

"And I know the rest of you are there too you bunch of nosy nellies."

"Thanks Mikey-"

"Yeah come on man-"

"Geez Mikey-"

You proceeded to chew them out for the next two hours for following you without your knowledge, invading your privacy etc. etc.

While your S/O is just kinda standing there like, "Uhm, wtf?"

After you were done scolding them, You formally introduced them to your S/O.

Mikey was actually kinda chill about it,

Leo gave them the strict no funny buisness talk,

Raph gave them the classic big bro glare,

And Donnie just shook their hand like they were buisness partners or somthing.

You were kinda unsettled by how well your S/O was taking the situation.

After your bro's leave, you instantly begin to apologize, and your S/O is all like, "No, it's fine, really! I think it's cool your entire family is ninjas!"

You just mumble, "Wait till you meet my dad." and you and your S/O continue your date.

With you sending a text to your brotyers the let them know you know they're still there and to go the fuck home.

Lol.

.........................................

This was fun to write, lol, over protective big bros are great.

#tmnt #tmnt x reader #x reader #donnie x reader #leonardo x reader #raphael x reader #leonardo x reader tmnt #platonic x reader #bayverse leo #tmnt bayverse #teenage mutant ninja turtles bayverse #tmnt x reader platonic #sibling reader #platoniv #teen reader #normie writes

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burrowbaddie · 1 year

Text

Ghosted

Joe Burrow x Female Reader

Series Summary: You, one of the top actresses in the world find yourself falling for the unbelievably attractive quarterback, Joe Burrow. But as Joe falls faster he finds that everything isn’t so golden about the world’s golden girl.

Acts: 2/?

Status: Ongoing

Warnings: female!reader, smut swearing, oral (m&f receiving), vaginal fingering, unprotected sex, taking plan b, mentions of toxic past relationship, age gap between ex and reader.

Act 2 Summary: Joe gets ghosted but that doesn’t stop him from falling effortlessly in love with you. But he learns loving you comes with flaws. WC: 6.1k

Series Masterlist

"You what, bro?" Ja'Marr asks.

"I told her I loved her," Joe replies, shutting his locker. Ja'Marr grabs his shoulders and shakes him.

"You have only been dating for nine months. What goes on in that brain of yours? Let the women say those words first. I taught you better than this." Ja'Marr shakes his head, causing Joe to laugh at the younger boy's words. It's been three weeks since Joe dropped the L bomb on you and three weeks since he last spoke to you.

"Should I call her?" Joe asks, looking through his phone. You haven't returned his texts or his calls.

"She ghosted you. Your girlfriend ghosted you. I need you to get a grip and move on." Ja'Marr grabs Joe's shoulders and forces him to sit on the bench.

"Don't listen to a word he says. Doesn't he have like three baby mamas?" Sam chimes in, making Joe laugh. Ja'Marr flips him off and walks away. Sam sits and holds out his hand, asking for Joe's phone. Joe hands it over and lets him scroll through the messages. He makes a face and shakes his head.

"She definitely ghosted you. Maybe she's just busy. She is one of the top actresses out right now." Sam hands the phone back. They didn't help Joe at all.

"He said what?" Eliza, your best friend, shouts, jumping up from the bed. You turn around and nod your head.

"He said he loves me. I panicked and didn't reply. I've been ignoring him since that day."

"Girl, that was three fucking weeks ago! What is wrong with you?"

"I can't say those words to him. I didn't even think things would get this deep. I thought we were having a good time together. Oh God, he's calling me!" You toss your phone on the bed and start pacing. Your best friend grabs your phone and forces it into your hands after answering it.

"Hey-Hi," You answer, glaring at her.

"Oh, hi. I didn't think you would pick up. How are you?" Joe nervously fidgets with his seatbelt.

"Busy. I'm sorry. I picked up a new role, so I got invested. I'm sorry." You apologize.

"I understand. Umm, I'll be in LA for some work. I was wondering if I could come to see you."

Eliza nods her head, telling you to say yes. You frown and shake your head.

"Yes. Sure. That would be great. Text me the info. I have to go." You hang up and throw your phone.

"See, was that so hard? The guy seems to really like you. Give him a chance. He's hot. You've said the sex is fantastic, and he's the hottest thing right now. America is obsessed with him. This is a win. See where it goes." She tells you. You start playing with your fingers and catch yourself before you can get carried away. Joe arrives Thursday night, and you guys stay in for dinner and a movie.

"I can't believe you've never seen Titanic. It's my favorite movie like ever." You're about to sit in the movie chair, but Joe pulls you onto his lap.

"A movie about a real historical tragedy is your favorite?" Joe questions you. YOu bury your face in his neck.

"When you put it like that, it sounds terrible. But Leo and Kate are all-time greats. Their chemistry was beautiful. You'll see." You climb off his lap and sit in your chair as the movie starts. Joe barely watches the film. His eyes continue to drift to you. At one point, you start crying, and he leans over to wipe your tears.

"The way he loved her. Urgh, my heart is so full."

"So you are a fictional romantic?" Joe asks. You pause the movie and turn to him.

"What do you mean?" You ask, feeling a little on edge.

"I mean, I confessed to you, and you panicked and ignored me for three weeks. But things in movies and shows have you smiling and crying."

You open your mouth to speak but don't know how to answer.

"I like what we have going on, but love isn't something I'm looking for. If you want to continue this relationship, I want to keep things the same." You stand up, taking the empty popcorn bowl to refill it, but Joe lightly grabs your wrist and stands up.

"Why does love scare you?"

"It doesn't! I have the right to be happy with my situation, and I don't think love has anything to do with that."

Joe cups your face and reads your expression. His thumb grazes your bottom lip.

"Do I make you happy?"

You nod your head, getting lost in his puppy blue eyes.

"Do I make you feel good?" Joe asks, bending down so that your lips touch. You nod again and lean forward to kiss Joe, but he pulls away with a chuckle.

"Don't tease me," You pout, pushing his chest and storming away. Joe takes a deep breath. Joe could tell a lot about you from your eyes. You were going to run every time love was the subject. Maybe you had a bad relationship, but since you've been famous, you never had a relationship. Or perhaps it wasn't public knowledge. Joe follows you upstairs into the kitchen, where you are pouring a glass of wine. He lifts you and sets you on the counter.

"So, who was this guy?"

"What guy?" You ask, sipping your wine. Joe stands between your legs.

"The guy who made you afraid of love." He replies, rubbing your thighs. You chuckle and put your glass down.

"I don't want to have this talk. I want my wonderful, strong, and very attractive boyfriend to take me upstairs and fuck me into the mattress. Is that so hard to do?" You throw back the rest of your wine. Joe scoops you up and takes you to the bedroom, where he, in fact, fucks you into the mattress.

"Feels good." You cry, riding him, letting your hands squeeze his as you feel the rush of another orgasm flood over you. You buckle over when Joe suddenly grabs your hands, thrusting into you faster.

"I'm going to always make you feel good, baby." He whispers. Your mouth falls open, feeling Joe pound away at your poor overstimulated cunt. Joe quickly pulls out and flips you over. He pumps his cock a few times and cums all over your stomach. You reach up for him, and he complies, bending down to kiss you. Joe carries you again toward the shower this time. After changing the sheets, you guys lay in bed watching movies. Joe stares at your body through the sheet as he massages your feet. You turn around, smiling.

"Should I put clothes on?" You ask, noticing the print under the white sheet. Joe shakes his head, his face becoming noticeably red. He slides his hands up your calves as you turn back to the TV. Joe slyly slides the sheet off of your body. He repositions himself so that he is hovering over your butt. You squeal when he takes a bite.

"Joseph!" You giggle, turning over on your back. Joe kisses up your body to your lips.

"Keep your clothes off." He whispers. You nod your head as he works his way back down. When he gets to his treasure, he places your legs on his shoulders. The moment is interrupted by your best friend barging into the room. Joe grabs a pillow to cover himself.

"Omg! I am so sorry!" Eliza covers her eyes.

"E, what the fuck?" You shout, getting on your knees.

"Sorry! But tonight you were supposed to go to Zendaya's birthday party. We're already late!" Eliza yells, backing out of the room.

"Fuck. Sorry, Give me an hour." You yell, scrambling to get out of bed.

"Umm." Joe sits on the bed awkwardly.

"Oh, right. Do you want to come? We can't go together, but if you come with E, I think it should be good."

"It's alright. I'll stay here and watch something."

"Are you sure?"

"No worries, go have fun."

You return to the bed to kiss him and hurry to your closet. Joe makes himself comfortable, but after two hours, he becomes bored and decides to explore your home. He starts in the living room, where you have photos of your three brothers and father. After you and he first hooked up, he might have done a small (deep) dive on you. It did help that his sister-in-law is such a big fan; all he had to do was listen to her rant. Even his cousins adored you, so getting his family to tell him all about you was easy. Unknown to him, you did your own research on him. Joe had spent some time watching your interviews. He loved how much you adored your family. He could see the genuine happiness they brought you every time you spoke about them. Joe hopes to be introduced to them one day. He put the photo down and made his way to your piano room. You started playing piano when you were seven and haven't stopped since. Joe liked that you had such a special talent. On top of being a phenomenal actress, you had an incredible ear for music. He could listen to you play and sing for hours. It's insane to him how you didn't get into the music business first.

"Hello?" Joe picks up a phone call from you.

"Hey. Missing you. Can you tell I'm a little drunk?"

"Yeah, baby. Are you coming home?"

"What do I get if I come home?" You slur into the phone. Joe leans against the wall smiling to himself.

"Come....find out." He says, emphasizing come. You giggle into the phone and tell him you are on the way home. And when you get home, Joe takes over your body for the rest of the night. In the morning, you feel like a brand-new person. You stand by the stove, humming and dancing as the bacon cooks. Joe sits on the counter, watching you.

"You are so beautiful. Do you know that?" Joe asks. You stop and roll your eyes.

"I'm in nothing but a t-shirt freshly fucked. My hair is all over the place. I look a mess." You complain.

"I think you look the most beautiful right now. Mostly because I helped you get to this state." Joe grins. You slap his knee and turn back to the stove.

"I have to fly back home today after this interview but don't ghost me again." Joe hops down. You nod your head, flipping the bacon. Joe wraps his arms around you, kissing the top of your head.

"Baby, I'm serious. I care about you." He says, turning you around. You look at him and give him a reassuring grin. But Joe can see it in your eyes; you are again in flight or fight mode. Joe links your fingers with his and kisses each one.

"I care about you too. I won't ghost you. I'm enjoying my time with you and where this is going."

"Good. Does it make you uncomfortable when I tell you I love you?" He asks you. You let go of his hand and turn toward the stove.

"I'm not uncomfortable. I'm afraid."

"Of what?"

"Losing myself...again." You whisper the last part. Joe doesn't say anything, but his heart breaks for you.

"I won't let you lose anything."

"You can't promise that. When people fall in love, one person always falls deeper." You shake the feeling creeping up in your gut and start cooking again. Joe leaves you to your thoughts and packs his bag. Breakfast was a little more awkward than you wanted it t be; you tried to make small talk, but you could tell something was bothering Joe.

"If you want to end things, it's okay." You push your eggs around, and Joe puts his fork down.

"I don't. Let's talk again. I have to go now, but I'll call you. Come visit me when you can." He stands up and walks over to kiss you. Then a week goes by with no word from Joe, so you hope on the first flight to Ohio to surprise your boyfriend for a home game.

"You did amazing!" You squeal as he scoops you up.

"How long have you been waiting for me? If I had known you were coming, I would have hurried up. I still need to shower." Joe states fixing the towel around his waist. You lick your lips and pull your shirt over your head.

"I can help you with that." You say, unbuttoning your jeans. The smirk on Joe's face doesn't leave as he watches you tip-toe toward the shower. He stands by, watching you turn the shower on. The warm water hits your body, and you hold your hand for him to join you. Joe drops his towel, following you into the shower. He is very surprised at your spontaneous public session but doesn't complain one bit. How can he when he's losing himself while giving you the deepest strokes? Joe holds you against the shower wall tiles as you dig your nails into his shoulders.

"Fuck Joey right there." You cry out.

"Yeah, I know." Joe chuckles against your throat, leaving open-mouth kisses on your neck.

"Can I cum inside you?" Joe whispers. You nod your head, too fucked out to realize what he's asking at first. When your orgasm hits, you go limp in his arms.

"Yeah. Cum inside me." You mumble. This cause Joe to rapidly snap his hips, moaning your name and complimenting you on how good you feel. You can't help but let it all go to your head as he cums inside you for the first time. You spend five more mins making out and then finally get dressed.

"Oh yeah, your parents want to meet at their house. I was sent in here to tell you that. I'll meet you over there." You kiss him goodbye and leave. Joe quickly dresses but finds his athletic trainer there stunned.

"No fucking way. You are hooking up with-"

Joe covers his mouth before he can say your name.

"I need you to keep this quiet."

"Why? You are banging the hottest chick in the game right now. She is everywhere."

"I know, but please."

"Fine, but you owe me, Joe." He says, leaving. Joe prays that he doesn't open his mouth. Ever since you ghost him, he feels he needs to walk on eggshells to keep you from running. There had to be some reason you wanted things to be kept quiet. Joe arrives at his parent's house and finds you in the back, where everyone is around the bonfire. You stand up to give him your seat so you can sit on his lap.

"Your mom was getting worried about you." You whisper into his ear.

"Sorry, my girlfriend held me up." He answers back. You cuddle up to him, listening to his parents tell you stories of when Joe was younger. The night ends with you and Joe back in bed.

"I have to go to Italy for the next few weeks for some shoots."

"Is that why you came to see me?" Joe asks, sitting up. You stare up at the ceiling.

"I didn't want you to think I was ghosting you again." You lean on your elbow, turning to the side to give him your full attention.

"Can I ask you something?" Joe is ready to dive deeper into that head of yours.

"Go ahead."

"Why don't you want to go public about us? I'm sure there will be speculation when you've been to two games already and photos of you around my family."

"Which is why I've attended other sports games. I went to the Rams games a few times."

"But why? Why keep us a secret?" Joe asks, rubbing your hand. You slip your hand away and get up from the bed to grab your clothes.

"I should take a plan B." You say, going through your purse. Joe lays back down and stares at the ceiling. It seems he takes one step forward with you and two steps back.

"Can we talk without getting mad or changing the subject?" This time, Joe gets up and follows you to the bathroom.

"Joe, I can't give you the answers you're looking for. There are reasons I do what I do. I can't love you right now."

"What do you mean right now? Then when? Do you think I will wait around for you to love me?" Joe's voice comes out louder than he expected it. Both of you are shocked. You squeeze your palms so tight that your nails dig into your flesh. Joe looks down at your closed fists and tries to reach out, but you flinch away.

"Hey. Baby, I'm sorry. I didn't mean to raise my voice." Joe's voice is softer. Joe reads over your body language and takes a step back.

"I need to go. I have to catch a flight to Italy. I'll call you." You stand there waiting for him to leave the bathroom. Joe takes the hint and leaves you to get dressed. He sits on the bed panicking, but you come out of the bathroom in a different mood.

"I'll call you when I land, okay? If you have some time, you should come to visit me." You kiss his cheek and grab your phone. Joe doesn't walk you out because he's never been more confused in his life—the dry texting between you two last weeks. During Joe's bye week, he uses this time to fly out and see you. Eliza plans everything so when you return to your hotel from a long day of shooting; you find your boyfriend with roses. A feeling of guilt rises in your chest, and you drop your bag running over to him. Joe pulls you into his arms.

"I'm sorry for being difficult. I want things with us to work. If you give me some time, I think things with us could work out."

"Of course. That's what being in a relationship is about. We will work on things together."

"Thank you for coming to see me. It's been such a crazy schedule. I'm so tired. You don't have a game?"

"On bye week, so no game this week. I decided to come here, spend some days together, and fly back. So, are you going to show me a good time?" He asks. You nod your head eagerly. You show Joe the set and your trailer, telling him all about the movie's plot. Joe even gets to watch you in action.

"Who's your favorite actor?" Eliza asks while you guys have dinner at a local restaurant.

"Of all time or currently?"

"Currently, well, besides your girlfriend." Eliza gives you an elbow. You sip your wine and lay your head on your boyfriend's shoulder.

"My favorite actor right now is Jackson Taylor. I think he's amazing. I mean, I've probably watched every movie he's ever done. He's a good guy too. He has so many charity organizations too. I hope to collab with him one day. And he's from Ohio, so can't go wrong there." Joe laughs. Eliza looks at you, and your eyes are staring at the table.

"Nice." You comment, excusing yourself to use the restroom. Eliza watches you walk away and turns her focus to Joe.

"How much do you love her?" She asks, ready to give him the best friend shakedown.

"I'm in love with her completely. But I can sense she's not ready for that step. I want to take things as slow as she needs." Joe takes his card out to pay the bill.

"Be careful with her. She's fragile. But I think she's coming around these days. I haven't seen her so happy like this in a while." Eliza's comments stick with Joe all week. He knows there's more to the story, but he decided to take his time and let you tell him when you're ready. When you get back to the States, you go visit Joe. It's Christmas time, and you decide to spend the holidays with him. One year ago, you met at your cousin's wedding, and here you are, all lovey-dovey.

"Fuck, baby." Joe moans moving your hips as you ride him on the couch. Joe bites your shoulder, bouncing you up and down on his cock, sending waves of pleasure through your body.

"Don't stop." You cry, feeling yourself reach another orgasm. Joe flips you onto your back, pushing your legs to your chest.

"One more baby. Give me one more." Joe coaches another orgasm out of you as he fills you simultaneously. He grunts, and his hips stutter. Joe throws his head back and runs his fingers throw his sweaty hair. You lay there trying to catch your breath. Joe pulls out of you and reaches down to scoop you up for a quick shower. He kisses your back in the shower and tells you how much he loves you. Once both of you are fully dressed, you guys finish decorating your Christmas tree. Yeah, you both got carried away and decided to have sex in the middle of decorating.

"I did date someone before you." You place a snowflake on the tree and turn to Joe.

"Yeah?"

"I started dating him when I was 18. He was 30."

"What the fuck?"

"Umm yeah. It was hard for me to move on from him. The reason I can't go public is that he-I signed an NDA. And if our relationship ended, I couldn't date someone else for five years."

"What piece of shit did that to you?"

You shake your head.

"It doesn't matter. Joe, I'm happy with you. I want a future with you, so if you can just be patient with me, I can work this out."

"5 years...How long has it been?"

"3." You stop decorating to face Joe. He places his snowflake down and opens his arms.

"What he's doing can't be legal. There has to be some loop and-"

"No one knows besides Eliza. I was stupid and young, and new to Hollywood. I shouldn't have signed anything, but I thought he was my forever." You bury your face in Joe's chest as he rubs your back. Joe doesn't pressure you into telling him more about your ex; instead, he makes you his mother's famous hot cocoa, and you watch the polar express on the couch. Having Joe in your life gave you back the normalcy you craved. He was fun, caring, and loving. Joe always made sure you were comfortable and able to be yourself. In his eyes, you weren't a star; you were his world. Spending the holidays with Joe and his family left you feeling renewed. Joe has been asking to meet your family, but you're too afraid to take that step. What if things don't work out? What if Joe hates your family dynamic? What if Joe leaves you? What if-

"What are you thinking about?" Joe groans, kissing your forehead. You've been taking space in his home for the last few weeks. You didn't realize Joe was awake for the last 5 mins.

"Nothing. I have to fly home today. It's my dad's birthday." You close your eyes as Joe pulls you closer to his chest.

"Yeah?"

You loved waking up to Joe's deep morning voice. He always called you first thing in the morning when you were away from him.

"Would you like to meet him?"

"Are you sure?" He asks cautiously. You only nod your head. With Joe's season-ending because of the loss to KC, you thought that this was the right move. Joe will have a lot of downtime, so it's better to get the meeting over with. And with that, you find yourself making room for Joe in your own home. He arrives today, and you've already psyched yourself into him meeting your family. Everything needs to be perfect. But, of course, nothing goes your way. You get called into a last min appearance at some day party. Joe tells you it's okay, and he will find his way to the house. But Joe gets invited by Ja'Marr, who was there, so it works out for you. The place is packed with celebrities; you laugh and greet some friends and make sure to mingle with everyone because once you find Joe, you plan to stick by him for the rest of the party. That is, until you spot him. Ja'Marr is the first to see you and waves you over. You smile, walking over and hug him, Joe, and the man they're talking to.

"I can't believe we are talking to the legend himself, Jackson Taylor," Ja'Marr says excitedly. Joe agrees with the comment.

"Don't brag on me too much. I don't think I'm a legend yet." Jackson replies with a big grin.

"You are! Don't humble yourself. You are up there with Leo, DeNiro! You are!" Ja'Marr can't contain the excitement and asks you to get a photo of all three of them. You take his phone and snap a few pictures.

"How do you guys know her?" Jackson asks, placing his hand on the small of your back. Joe doesn't miss the way you stiffen.

"Who doesn't know her? She is also an amazing actress. She is on the cover of every magazine, and she's da-"

"My brothers are huge Bengals fans, so I took them to a few games." You interrupt Ja'Marr and take Jackson's hand off your back. Jackson takes this opportunity to hold your hand.

"You guys should do another movie together," Ja'Marr adds.

"What do you think, sunshine?" Jackson asks, kissing your hand. You nervously laugh and slide your hand out of his.

"That would be awesome. I need to find Eliza."

"Actually, you guys don't mind if I steal her away, right?" Jackson asks. Ja'Marr shakes his head, and Joe doesn't respond. Jackson takes your hand and pulls you away from the crowd. You snatch your hand out and walk in the opposite direction. Jackson follows you, calling your name. You bump into Joe and stumble back. He catches you and gives you a concerned look.

"I-"

"Joe Burrow. Look at us two Ohio boys. I wanted to talk to you about joining one of my charity events. Let's chat." Jackson steps in. Joe looks down at you, and you give him a weak smile.

"I'll leave you guys to it." You walk away to find Eliza and leave the party. But Eliza is currently chatting up some guy. You don't want to block, so you find a seat and stay there. Joe finds you sitting alone and takes a seat next to you.

"It was that piece of shit, wasn't it?" He asks you, eyes trained on Jackson, who is talking someone else up. You don't take your eyes off Eliza in the opposite direction. Joe shoots up, and you grab his hand.

"I'm ready to go home." You say with pleading eyes. Joe takes a deep breath, and you leave together. At home, Joe doesn't mention Jackson, but you know in the back of his mind he's dying to talk about it.

"How did you know it was him?" You ask, taking a seat next to him.

"When he touched you, you stiffened. Every time he spoke and we laughed at one of his stupid jokes, your face held a look of terror." Joe rubs your hand. Little things like that could bring you back to the surface, so you appreciate every small gesture from Joe.

"Oh. I thought I got better at faking it. But seeing you laugh with him, I feared he would take you away from me." Your voice is sad again, and Joe stands up and squats before you, cupping your cheeks.

"No one on this Earth can take me away from you."

"Joe, you don't know what kind of power he holds. He can have me blacklisted at the snap of his fingers. I don't know what I would do if he ruined your career too." You take Joe's hands off your face and stand up. Joe follows you to the kitchen.

"What are you saying?"

"We should break up. It's for the best that way; nothing can happen. I'm not breaking the contract and-"

"He can't hold that contract over you. You're a person, not an object. You can date whoever you want to date. Fuck that guy."

"Joe, please, you don't understand how this works. I won't go to jail, sure, but I will have my career ruined. I've worked so hard to get where I am. I can't let him take that away from me. My father gave up everything just to get me into auditions and school. I can't throw it all away. My career is too important!" You didn't realize you were yelling until the silence filled the space between you and Joe.

"I know you're scared, but he no longer controls you. Think about the people that would be behind you if you spoke up. Think about the women you will help keep him away from. Most importantly, think about how free you will feel after it all comes out. You deserve to be happy....to be loved."

You shake your head and step away from Joe.

"I'm sorry." You walk away, leaving Joe standing there, trying to find a way to fix this. But he is clueless for the first time when it comes to you. Joe finds you in the bedroom texting. You tell him it's over and that he should go home. There is nothing Joe can do but give space.

"She broke up with you? Out of nowhere?" Ja'Marr laughs, throwing his head back. Joe shakes his head and stares at his phone. His lock screen is a photo of you sleeping on his arm. He unlocks his phone to look at his home screen, which is another photo of you smiling down at him. It seems like an innocent photo, but you're in Joe's jersey riding him in that photo. Joe locks his phone and groans. He tried texting you, but you blocked him.

"Can't believe you messed that up. But since we both are single, we got invited to a party. There are bound to be bitches all over." Ja'Marr pulls Joe off the couch.

"I'm good. I'm going to stay here."

"Stay here and be sad? What kind of a best friend would I be if I let you do that? We are in LA; there are too many women for you to sulk about one, even if she is the hottest. Besides, I need a DD unless you want me to drink and drive!" Ja'Marr forces Joe to get dressed and come along to the party. Joe talks to a few people and mingles.

"Joey B! Am I allowed to call you that?" Jackson smiles, making his way over. Joe instantly stands up straight and glares at the older man.

"Joe is fine." He replies, correcting him. Jackson raises his eyebrow and nods.

"Thanks for coming to my party. I like to host these little events to have fun. You don't need to be football Joe; just be yourself." Jackson taps Joe on his shoulders with both hands. Joe removes his hand and tries to walk away.

"Is everything okay between us? Earlier, you were my biggest fan, and now I'm sensing animosity." Jackson crosses his arms over his chest. Joe wants to tell him to go fuck himself, but he has to protect you. This isn't protecting you.

"Everything is good. I'm tired, and Ja'Marr dragged me to this party. It's an honor to be here." Joe replies with a smile. It made him sick to his stomach to be conversing with him.

"Been there. So many of my friends dragged me out to parties; you get used to it, trust me." Jackson offers Joe a drink, but he declines. Joe continues to engage in unwanted conversations with Jackson, and when your name is mentioned, Joe mentally calms himself down.

"You guys seemed a little close at the party earlier."

"Not really," Joe mumbles, looking for Ja'Marr through the crowd.

"Seemed like it, but that one is quite the girl." Jackson smiles and laughs to himself.

"And what's that supposed to mean?" Joe turns toward Jackson, facing him. Jackson is a few inches short than towering Joe. His aura is intimidating, but Jackson laughs it off.

"You know these young stars that get around. I wouldn't get mixed up with that one. There are rumors, and I'm guessing you would like to keep the title as America's All-American good boy." Jackson's smile isn't inviting or nice. Jackson is threatening Joe. Joe stares into his green eyes, not backing down.

"I think I can handle myself."

"Relax. It was a joke. You're a good kid. Enjoy the party. I'll have my people contact your people." Jackson bumps Joe's shoulder as he walks away. Fuck. He knows. Joe knows he knows. There is no way he doesn't know. Joe had one opportunity to protect you, and he blew it. He let his stupid anger get the best of him. Joe grabs Ja'Marr, and they leave the party. The next morning, Joe is one of the celebrities on the gossip blog.

Jackson, Ja'Marr, and Joe photographed at party together.

Joe stares at the photo of him all smiles with the man who ruined his relationship without even trying. He throws his phone and screams. You haven't unblocked him, and you probably saw the headline. He picks up his phone, logs into IG to find your page, and realizes he's blocked there too. Joe does the most desperate thing he has ever done and emails you.

"Why is Joe emailing you?" Eliza laughs, checking your email. You have your makeup artist stop so you can read the email.

"Can you block it? Thank you." You tell her, handing the Ipad back. Eliza takes a deep breath and blocks Joe's email. The door opens, and Jackson walks in. You sit up straight as the room clears. Eliza stands in front of you protectively.

"What are you doing here?"

"I'm the executive producer of the show. I think I'm allowed to be on set." Jackson laughs. You stare at him through the mirror.

"What? Your name was not on the project at all. I wouldn't have let her book if-"

"Money talks. I'd like to talk to her privately."

"Go fuck yourself. Stay away-"

"It's okay." Your voice is meek. Eliza looks at you, and you give her a nod. She leaves the room. Jackson stands behind you, touching your hair.

"Do you know why you got this role?" He asks. You don't look at him; only focus on your hands. Jackson softly grabs your face and turns it towards him.

"I'm a good actress." You whisper. Jackson laughs a loud belly laugh. He wipes his fake tears.

"Sweetheart, you're not good at all. I told the director to hire you. I think this is a better way to keep an eye on you. I met your little boyfriend."

"I don't have a boyfriend. You made sure of that." You spit, snatching your face out of his hand. Jackson lifts your hand to kiss it.

"I care about you. If you get caught up with relationships, it will only mess up your career. This is how I look out for you. I'm always going to love you. I'm always going to care about you. Stay away from him."

"I don't know who you're talking about. I'm not-"

"Joe Burrow."

You don't move at the name, and Jackson smiles.

"Maybe you are a good actress. I'll see you out there, sunshine." He kisses your cheek and finally leaves. You let out a breath you didn't know you were holding. You quickly put out hand sanitizer on your hand, trying to rub off his touch.

Joe flies back home to Cincinnati, heartbroken and confused. His brother opens the door, shocked to see his younger brother looking heartbroken.

"Is Janet here? I need to ask her something."

"What's up?" Janet appears almost out of nowhere.

"I need help with a contract. You're a lawyer, so I figured it makes sense." Joe says, walking into the living room.

"Your contract? What's going on?" Dan walks over, joining the conversation.

Joe takes a seat. If he's going to protect you, he needs to know everything on the contract. He doubts you will let him see it, but maybe Eliza would help in that area. Joe was going to do everything in his power to help you, even if that meant you couldn't be with him in the end.

A/N: Here is the Actress AU! I hope you guys like it. It will be different from Second String but still good! Let me know what you guys think! If it sucks, umm don't tell me! JK. I hope you guys are ready for the rollercoaster of fame and fortune! Joe is definitely all simp in this fic. He loves loves loves him some you! I will post a tg list soon so check the mater list for it!

#joe burrow x you #joe burrow fan fic #joe burrow fic #joe burrow x reader #joe burrow x y/n #joe burrow smut #joe burrow #joe burrow imagine #joey b #joe burrow x oc #joe burrow fluff #FAIY #val writes

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j-nope-not-today · 5 months

Note

Can You Do A Vampire Leo x F!Reader But In Bayverse And With Prompts And Do A Lemon For It Too

89. Mating season 142. “Bite me.” 123. “Don’t hold back.” 58. Turtle bedroom 5. “MINE.” and Turning into a vampire

Let me help

Tmnt Leonardo x reader

A/n: Thanks a lot for requesting! Sorry I took so long to get done, but please enjoy! I hope you like it :)

Not for minors though so minors steer clear >:)

The dojo was hot. The sweat gathered at my brow. My breathing heavy. I had insisted leo teach me some moves. All in an attempt to catch his attention. Why? Because Leo had been ignoring me for days. I couldn't place why. I had tried to ask, but my every attempt was thwarted and now here we stood. Labored breathing and intense eye contact.

What did he do next? Nothing. He turned and walked off after he taught me some moves. Not a word exchanged the whole session.

"Leo! Wait up!" I speed walk behind him, reaching out. Catching his arm.

"What?" Leo growled, spinning in place, facing me.

God was he tall..so very tall. I gulp.

"Oh..well..uhm.."

"Spit it out." I huff at his words. His harsh tone.

"What the hell is the problem huh? What did I do? Your never like this.."

"Well maybe you don't know me then." He snarked.

I stare at Leo long and hard before I come to the realization of what the issue was. Sort of like a heat is how Donnie described it. Two things made it very clear. Leo's behavior and the very prominent boner he had. I bite my lip to stop from laughing. My eyes trail back up to Leo's and I sigh.

"Alright...maybe your right. Maybe your wrong, but what I do know is I can help. So let me help."

"I'm sorry-what?" Leo looked very shocked.

"Let..me..help." I sounded it out slowly.

Leo sighed deeply and nodded slowly. I smiled in victory and dragged Leo to his room. It wasn't a secret I had always liked him. So this was a win for me. Though I didn't know how Leo felt. Though by the way he carefully guided me to lay on his bed and his now nervous demeanor I picked up on the fact he very well might be harboring the same feelings I do.

"So..do I just-or-uh" I laugh quietly at his stuttering

"Leo..are you a virgin?" He avoided my eyes and nodded and I sit up.

"Do you want this?" Another nod.

"Leo?"

"..yes..yes to both." He mumbled.

"You don't have to be shy..we can go your pace.."

"Okay.." I smile and have Leo sit on his bed. Now I was the nervous one.

"Kissing first..okay?" Leo nodded at my words and I set my hands on his face. Gently pushing mine against his. His lips were soft..gentle like a summer's breeze. It felt right. Leo pushed his lips harder against mine. He was frenzied, rushed as if I would run away.

I place a hand on his cheek and pull back, mumbling

"Take your time.." Leo simply nodded and leaned forward again. I kiss him softly again. Gently. We find a pattern. A perfect middle.

Before I knew it I was on my back and Leo was above me.

"I'm new at this..but I want to try something.."

"Okay." I smile. Reassuring him enough for Leo to continue. He leans down and his lips connect with my neck. Sucking softly. I feel his tongue soothe over my skin. Before he pulls back with a pop.

"Could..you maybe bite me?" I stare wide eyed at Leo and nod at his request. Leaning up I bite his neck. Delighting in the whimper that leaves his lips. So decadent was he.

"Leo" I breathe out. I was soaked. All of this pent up sexual tension mixed with the anticipation and the fact he kept grinding against my thigh was really getting to me.

I pull Leo into a fierce kiss and I start tugging off my shirt. Throwing it aside. Leo instantly got the hint and aided me in discarding my clothes. I helped him with his until we were both in the same state of nudity. My eyes widened at the size of him. Huge. What other word could be used.

I wasted no time in pushed Leo back onto the bed so that I could straddle him. Leo's hands found my hips and he started to push and pull me. Rocking me on his lap. Rubbing his cock between my folds. All whilst mumbling

"Ugnhh..so wet.."

I placed my hands onto his chest and maneuvered so that I could feel the tip of his cock prodding at my entrance. I slowly pushed against him until Leo got the hint and began pushing into me. Slowly. The stretch burned, but it was good so good. I felt so full. Full of him.

I let out a shaky breath. Moan maybe? I was so lost. Leo gripped my hips tight and I felt him pull out and he sunk right back in. I gasped. The top half of me folding to lay onto Leo. My eyes closed and I moaned. It was all I could do. I had this plan that I would be in control, but no...no Leo had other plans.

He just kept rocking me back and forth. Pushing in and out. The sounds of slapping skin and squelched was heard throughout the small space of his room. Until the grand finale. My orgasm shook me. My eyes rolling back into my head. Leo's whimpers filled my ears.

Next thing I was aware of was laying on my back as Leo gently wiped a cloth over my thighs.

"Huh?" Leo glances up at me.

"I think you passed out. It's okay..go to sleep. I'll help you." I nod slowly and close my eyes. Opening my mouth to speak. Leo cut me off.

"Don't worry..you'll get a chance to redeem yourself." I smiled. At least next time I'd get to be the boss.

#teenage mutant ninja turtles x reader #tmnt 2014 #tmnt bayverse #tmnt imagine #tmnt x reader #tmnt leonardo

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baby-yongbok · 6 months

Text

Poetry

Chapter Six - Mr.H

Hyunjin x Fem!Reader

Genre: Fluff with a swirl of angst

Summary: The night that you see Hyunjin again after your date is full of surprises. You can keep your cool but can he?

Word Count: 5,407

A/N: Things are happening, ya'll. I'm so excited to be back in Fan Fiction land <3 + If you haven't already, I highly recommend reading the previous parts before this one so that you get the ✨full experience✨. See you next Thursday at 6 💕

Part Five

✧Poetry Series Masterlist✧

✧Main Masterlist✧

There wasn’t a moment of silence after Hyunjin left, you spent the entirety of your breakfast answering questions while giving Changbin and Serena as many details as you could before you had to leave for work. You will admit that you appreciate how involved your friends are, especially Changbin. You were almost afraid that he was going to go full big brother mode and quiz Hyunjin the moment that he met him but he actually kept his cool, let’s see how it goes next time.

Speaking of next time, you haven’t seen Hyunjin since your date. The two of you have been texting nonstop and you even spoke on the phone two days ago but neither of you have brought up a plan to meet. He canceled your meetup this week because he had to help his roommate Felix with something upstate. You weren’t mad about it though, you took the free time as an opportunity to look into a new hobby.

You have a bit of a tradition that you started during your second year of university, every autumn you look into building a new skill or taking up a new hobby. You weren’t sure what to get into this year until you saw a flier on your way to work yesterday. Apparently your local community center has a photography club that meets on Fridays where you’re taught everything that you need to know by a professional. There’s no way that you could turn a blind eye to such a wonderful free opportunity. So here you are, walking through the large glass doors and into the quiet lobby. Your brand new Canon camera is placed safely in its case hanging from your shoulder and your tote bag is hanging from the other. You looked up at the digital board by the reception desk to look for the room number for your class. Once you found it you made your way down the hall, humming a smooth tune to try and calm your nerves. You were more than excited but you were almost positive that the club would be filled with experienced photographers looking for community and you are far from experienced.

The door to the room is already open when you reach the room and there are a few people in there talking amongst themselves and fiddling with their cameras. You enter quietly, not wanting to draw too much attention to yourself but that fails once you get half way into the room. The group swiftly looks up at you, each one of them studying your frame with furrowed brows and that’s when you notice the elephant in the room… they’re all teenagers.

“Hi, you must be new.” One of the girls breaks the silence. “I’m Mia.”

“Hi, I’m Y/n. Nice to meet you.” You move to sit by the window, right in the middle of the row. You never liked being too far from the instructor but you also hate being in the front.

“I’m James and this is Olivia, she’s a bit shy.” One of the boys sitting against the wall introduces himself and the girl sitting on his lap. Olivia offers a timid wave before looking back down at her camera. You smile, waving back at her.

“Leo, stop being rude. Say hi to the new girl.” Mia pushes the boy sitting in front of her and he curses at her quietly before turning to you and waving passive aggressively. You wave back silently as you try to hold back a chuckle.

“Leo is an asshole, don’t mind him.” Mia explains before glancing down at her phone.

“Two minutes until Mr.H gets here.” James nods his head, only half paying attention as he looks past Mia and over to you, clearly itching to ask you a question.

“Am I crazy or are you the oldest one here?”

“Oh my god, what the hell, James.” Mia’s exasperated voice echoes through the room followed by Oliva’s laugh.

“It’s an observation, fucking shoot me.” You chuckle a bit, nodding your head.

“You’re not crazy, I’m probably about seven years older than you guys.”

“Oh you’re about the same age as Mr.H” You pinch your brows together softly, you didn’t expect the teacher to be around your age. “Maybe we can hook you two up, he desperately needs a girlfriend.”

“What are you going on about, James?” You shift your attention towards the person speaking, that voice sounds so familiar and you realize why as soon as your eyes land on his figure coming through the door. Hyunjin is the teacher?

“I’m just trying to get you a girlfriend, Mr.H” You watch as Hyunjin walks over to the desk at the front of the classroom, he hasn’t looked up from the packet in his hands since he came through the door. You take a moment to admire him, he doesn’t look as dressed up as he usually does, he looks relaxed and cozy. You could get used to this look.

“Why don’t you worry about perfecting your depth of field instead. You’re not here to get me a girlfriend.” Hyunjin smiles to himself as he leans against the desk, still focused on the paper in front of him. The others in the room immediately start laughing and making fun of James.

“That’s what you get.” Mia laughs as she moves from sitting on top of the desk.

“Whatever, Y/n is way too pretty for you anyway.” You cover your mouth as you try to stifle a laugh. Hyunjin immediately looks up at the sound of your name, his brows furrowed in confusion.

“Excuse me?” Hyunjin asks before turning his head in your direction. He freezes for a second, his eyes glossing over your frame slowly to make sure that it’s really you.

“Oh um you must be new.” He stands, pushing a hand into the pocket of his worn denim jeans and making his way over to you.

“Yeah I am.” You grin, playing along with him. Once he reaches you he offers you his hand and you immediately take it into your own.

“I’m the photography instructor for this program, you can call me Hyunjin.” He smirks down at you and you nod your head.

“I’m Y/n.” He gives your hand a light squeeze before dropping it.

“It’s a pleasure to have you in our club.” He winks at you before turning on his heels and stalking back over to his desk.

“Why can she call you Hyunjin but we can’t?” Mia whines, earning a dramatic eye roll from Hyunjin.

“Because I’m eight years older than you.” You chuckle lightly and Hyunjin smiles at the sound.

“How do you know that she’s your age?” James argues and Hyunjin shrugs.

“Are you guys here to question me or to actually learn something?” The group of teens sigh as Hyunjin starts looking through his bag. “I made a project sheet for today but I suppose I can save that for next week now that we have a new member. Let’s focus on questions and practice for today.”

He pulls a thick folder out of his bag and places it on the desk right next to his massive Sony DSLR camera. You feel a bit intimidated by this side of Hyunjin, he seems to be very in his element here. Maybe he’s been doing this for a while.

“Can we do an object project?” Olivia asks in a soft voice, catching Hyunjin’s attention.

“I like that idea, what do you guys want to shoot today?” You can’t help but stare as Hyunjin talks to the kids, he seems to have a pretty solid relationship with them. You stare down at his Versace bracelet on your wrist as you listen to him talk to the kids.

“Alright so that’s what it’ll be, four photo’s of your favorite place to be in this community center. It can be a place that you have a positive memory of or just a place where you feel the most comfortable. Today's object is a clock, if you don’t have a clock in the shot then it doesn’t count. Get creative, there are no limits. I want two black and white photos and two sepia.” The kids all stand from their seats, pulling their camera straps around their necks and talking about where to go.

“Be back here in forty-five minutes. I will set a timer, please don’t make me come find you.” The group mumbles a half hearted ‘okay’ before turning their attention back to their previous conversation. You take this time to unpack your own camera, turning it on and flipping through the settings. You made sure to watch a couple of videos before coming here but everything that you learned went right out the window once you saw Hyunjin.

“I’ll be right with you, Y/n.” Hyunjin smiles over at you before turning his attention towards Leo. He’s been so quiet that you forgot that he was there. Hyunjin kneels in front of the boy's desk, leaning into his space a bit before whispering. You decided to look away to give them some privacy. Maybe you can manage to google some quick photography tips before he turns his attention to you.

You start looking up photography quick guides on your phone as you wait for him. You get so engulfed in the article that you’re reading that you don’t even notice Hyunjin making his way over to you until he’s sitting at the desk in front of yours. You jump a bit, locking your phone quickly.

“Well this is a pleasant surprise.” He smiles as he leans back against the wall behind him. “You missed me so much that you tracked me down?”

You chuckle, a light blush creeping up your neck. You look over towards where the kids were earlier and notice that they’re all gone. You must’ve been so distracted by your research that you didn’t hear them leave.

“What if I did?” You tease and now it was his turn to blush. “I didn’t know that you’re into photography.”

“Surprise.” You roll your eyes at him and he smiles towards you. “I may be a little into it. I’ve been doing it for about five years, nothing too major.”

“Clearly it is pretty major if you’re certified to teach people.”

“Are you impressed by that? Because if you are then I’ll agree.” You scoff, pushing his arm playfully.

“No comment.”

“That means that you are impressed.”

“Are you going to flirt with me or are you going to teach me how to work this thing?” You ask, holding your camera up in front of you while smiling towards Hyunjin. He surrenders, shaking his head and taking your camera from you.

“You’re right.” He turns your camera on, studying the settings and adjusting things the way that he sees fit. You can’t help but blush a bit as his fingers press the buttons. His gaze turned from playful to focused and serious as soon as you placed the device in his hands. The way that he operates the camera is actually pretty attractive.

Your eyes widen a bit as you realize the nature of your thoughts. This is not the time to think about all of the things that you find attractive about your boyfriend,wait, he’s not your boyfriend. Not really, not officially, he hasn’t even asked you out for a second date yet.

“Alright, so, this camera is actually pretty simple. I’ve adjusted some settings, I’ll show you what they all do and we can get you started on practicing the rule of thirds, sound good?” Hyunjins voice pulls you out of your thoughts and you sit up straighter in your seat. You clear your throat and look up at him as he watches you, his eyes wandering over the exposed skin of your neck for a second before looking up at you.

“Sounds good, Mr.H.”

“How’s this one?” You ask while looking down at your camera screen to study the photo you just took. Hyunjin steps closer to you from behind, looking over your shoulder to get a look at the photo too.

“Perfect, I think that you should be fine without the grid now. Maybe practice eyeing it yourself throughout the week and I can check it for you when we meet next Friday.” You chuckle, turning your head to face Hyunjin and he furrows his brows in confusion. “What?”

“Couldn’t you just check it when I see you next Thursday?” He grins at you, shaking his head and tonguing his cheek.

“Nope, I’m gonna treat you just like everyone else in the club.” You narrow your eyes at him, glancing down at the tiny space between the two of you.

“Like you are right now?” Hyunjin looks down at his hand on the small of your back and pulls his lips into a thin line.

“You’re right, Y/n this is highly unprofessional. I really need you to keep your hands to yourself.” Hyunjins eyes morph into cresents as you push him away from you, scoffing playfully.

“I hate you.” You make your way back over to your desk and Hyunjin walks over to his at the front of the room.

“Are you sure about that?” He pulls himself up onto the desk, sitting and leaning back on his palms. A deep blush runs over your cheeks as he stares over at you with an equanimous smirk adorning his lips. You look down, avoiding his piercing eye contact and now it was his turn to chuckle. “The kids should be back in a second.”

Just as he looks down at his phone the timer that he set earlier goes off. You look over at the door expecting to see them walk through but no one is there. Hyunjin closes his eyes, tilting his head back towards the ceiling and humming softly. Your eyes pinch together in confusion, is he not going to go get them?

“Are you sure they’re coming back?” Hyunjin hums in response, a small smile pulling at his lips before he starts counting.

“5, 4, 3, 2” He points towards the open door and you can hear the loud pitter patter of the group racing down the hallway. “They’re always two minutes late.”

“We’re here!” Olivia makes it into the room first, panting as she makes her way over to her seat. The rest of the group follows behind her, trying to catch their breath as they sit.

“Once you all remember how to breathe we’ll get started.” Hyunjin teases, lifting his head to look at the group. You can’t help but smile, something about seeing him interact with them makes you feel warm. He's a natural leader, in the way that he carries himself, the way he talks to them. He radiates a sense of comfort and confidence in this space and it’s almost rewarding to see.

“Can I go first?” Mia asks as she stares down at her camera.

“Nope.” Hyunjin quips quickly.

“Why not.” She whines and Hyunjin offers an exaggerated sigh in response. “I want to get it over with, Mr.H”

“And that’s why you’ll be going last.” Mia groans, putting her head down on the desk and stomping her feet. Hyunjin immediately imitates her, kicking his feet against his desk and whining. The rest of the group laughs, you even hear a faint chuckle coming from Mia.

“Always remember that I'm ten times more dramatic than you.” Hyunjin teases before sitting up completely. “Alright, let’s do this. Show me what you got James.”

“I think that Olivia wants to go before me.” James sinks down into his seat as he tries to dodge a hit from the girl behind him.

“You threw your own girlfriend under the bus? That’s cold.”

You’d be lying if you said that you weren’t impressed. Each of the kids in this club are amazing at photography, if you saw any of the pictures that they took online you’d think that a twenty year professional was responsible for the art. You’re equally impressed by Hyunjin’s teaching skills, he answered all of their questions flawlessly and made sure that you were still engaged even though you didn’t participate in the activity.

Once class ended Hyunjin texted you offering to walk you home, of course you said yes, you actually did miss him so you couldn’t pass up this opportunity. Your house was only four blocks from the community center but it seemed a lot longer since the city blocks are massive. Usually this would bother you, you’d put some music on and try your best to get the walk over with but you found yourself settling into a comfortable stroll with Hyunjin. You weren’t in a rush to get anywhere, you were grounded, living in the moment.

“How did you start teaching photography?” You asked as the two of you waited to cross the street.

“My mentor set it up for me, he thought that it would be a good way to redirect my emotions.” He chuckles softly, taking a step forward to guide you across the street. “I told you that I was a bad kid but I didn’t really stop getting into trouble until I turned twenty. I met my mentor's son, Chan, a couple of weeks after my birthday when I was taking pictures of Felix for his portfolio. His dad is a photographer and he took interest in me almost instantly, he taught me some stuff and basically became a father to me. He started the club on my birthday last year when he retired from the community center.”

“So you replaced him?” You look over at Hyunjin who seems to be deep in thought.

“Something like that, I’m one of the youth counselors but he was in charge of it all. People treat me like I’m in charge for some reason. It’s probably because I’m so smart and handsome.” He sighs dramatically, pushing his hands into his pockets and shaking his head. “It just isn’t fair, it’s so hard being me.”

“Oh yeah, it’s super hard being a model for luxury brands.” You laugh, rolling your eyes at him and bumping him with your shoulder. “I would hate being a role model for the youth.”

“Hey, this is hard work.” He defends as the two of you stop at the next corner. “But, on a serious note, I do enjoy working with them. I teach two more classes throughout the week and it’s probably what saved my life. Now, I get to help save theirs. Every kid that I teach has gotten into some kind of trouble. I like offering them a space to be themselves and learn something new, I like creating the space that I wish that I had when I was their age.”

You stare over at the crossing light as Hyunjin opens up a bit. It’s so hard for you to imagine the sweet, soft guy standing next to you as an angry teenager fighting everything that looked in his direction. You can’t help but to feel proud of him, he seemed to have really turned himself around for the better. It takes a lot of discipline to correct bad habits.

You keep your eyes trained on the light in front of you, waiting for it to change. Just as it turns green you reach your hand over towards Hyunjins, interlocking your fingers and offering a reassuring squeeze. He keeps his gaze forward as you two cross the street silently but the smile on his face and the blush on his cheeks speak a thousand words. He squeezes your hand back, running his thumb along the back of your hand as you reach the next block. He doesn’t need you to say anything back, your actions speak louder than any sentence you could possibly speak.

“On a different note…” He looks over at you with a grin. “What did you tell your friends about me?”

“I am not answering that.” You start to pull away from him but he pulls you into his side, letting go of your hand and putting his arm around your shoulder.

“Let me guess, you told them that I’m the best kisser in the entire world and that I’m so amazing and funny and that you can’t get enough of me.” A goofy smile adorns his lips and you sigh, covering your face to hide your blush. “Aw, she’s shy.”

Before you can protest, your phone starts ringing in your bag and you take this opportunity to escape Hyunjins teasing. Thank god for Changbin.

“Hey, what’s up.” You laugh a bit as Hyunjin presses you into his side more.

“Hey, are you with someone?” You can hear the smile in Changbin’s voice.

“Yup, coming home now.”

“Ah, good, could you do me a favor? I forgot to grab popcorn on the way home. Serena is coming over to watch a movie and that’s the only thing that I don’t have.” You nod, looking up the block and spotting a store on the corner.

“I’ll grab it for you, I’m walking up to a store now.”

“You’re a lifesaver. I’ll see you soon. Oh, and tell Hyunjin that I said hi.” He sings the last part of his sentence before you say bye and hang up. He’s definitely going to question you as soon as you walk through the door.

“Everything alright?”

“Yup, I just need to go into this store.” You lock your phone and slip it back into your bag as you walk up to the store. “And Changbin says hi.”

There’s a group of guys outside of the store but you don’t pay them any mind, Hyunjin follows you closely as you pull away from him to enter the store, you’ve been to this shop a million times so you know where everything is. You make a beeline to the popcorn and make your way over to the counter. The cashier smiles at you as you approach, making small talk as he checks you out. Once you’re done you turn to Hyunjin who’s waiting for you at the door but his demeanor seems to have changed. His arms are crossed over his chest and he has a mean look on his face. You smile over at him as you start to leave the store but he doesn’t smile back, that’s odd. He opens the door for you and you take the lead exiting first and tucking the popcorn into your tote bag.

“Excuse me, you’re looking really good tonight.” One of the guys standing outside of the store steps over to you and you flash him a small smile.

“Thanks.” You start to walk away but he speaks up again, stepping a bit closer to you.

“Can I have your number? I could take you out.” You shake your head, replying with a firm ‘No’ before starting to walk away again. Hyunjin places his hand on the small of your back, guiding you away from the group.

“Come on, don’t be like that.”

“She said no.” Hyunjin speaks up, his voice is loud and flat. You’ve never heard him use this tone before. It’s almost scary. The two of you start walking away again, Hyunjin makes sure to keep you in front of him as the two of you make your way towards the corner.

“I wasn’t fucking talking to you.” The guy follows the two of you. Picking up the pace as the two of you get further from him. “Come on, let me take you out sometime.”

“Keep walking.” Hyunjin whispers to you, pushing you forward a bit. He stops in the middle of the sidewalk, turning to face the guy following you. You can’t help but to look back as you walk away slowly, you can’t just leave him there by himself. Neither of you know what that guy is capable of.

“Do we have a problem?”

~ Hyunjin’s POV ~

I’m using every ounce of my self control to keep my temper in check right now. If this guy decided to mess with me while I was alone that would be a different story but he’s messing with someone that I care about and I don’t like that. This has always been a trigger for me, Felix always says that I get scary when I get mad protecting someone else. I really don’t want that to happen right now, I don’t want her to see that side of me but this guy is making it very hard to hold back.

“How about you mind your business.” He yells in my face, his breath reeks heavy of alcohol, that’s not even fair. If I hit him he’s going to be knocked out almost instantly, drunk people can never take a hit.

“She is my business.” I cross my arms over my chest and clench my jaw. I have to remember that she’s here. I have to keep my cool. “She said no, leave her alone.”

“Ah, I see, she’s yours. Is that it? That’s your bitch?” I bite my bottom lip between my teeth as his last question rings through my ears. Don’t react, not while she’s here. “She likes pretty boys, huh?”

I look back at Y/n, she’s stopped at the corner watching me. I take a deep breath and uncross my arms, turning back around to the idiot in front of me.

“Leave her alone, alright?” I turn to walk away, trying my best to distance myself from him.

“Is this your boyfriend?” He yells over at Y/n but that’s not the only thing that makes me snap. He touched me, he pushed my shoulder as I was turning away and I felt my blood boil instantly. I don’t even remember what I did, my body went into autopilot. I can hear Y/n’s heavy footsteps as I stand over the disoriented stranger. My hand in a fist at my side, I’m shaking, why am I shaking? I haven’t felt this mad in years, I haven’t hit somebody in years, this isn’t how that was supposed to happen. I was supposed to keep my cool, why did he have to fuck it up? The more that reality sinks in, the more angry I get.

“What did I just fucking tell you?” I don’t raise my voice, I never raise my voice, there’s no need to. I bend down, making sure to keep eye contact with him as I grab his shirt, and pull him towards me. “Leave her alone.”

I can hear myself, I can hear the hiss in my tone. I can feel the anger getting to my head, I can feel myself losing to it. That’s my problem, I don’t know when to stop, once I get started it’s hell getting out of it.

“You should’ve listened.” I don’t want to hit him again but I feel like I need to, I need to get this feeling to go away and the only way that I know how is to keep going.

“I’m sorry, man.” He pleads, I knew that he wouldn’t be able to take the hit but that just makes it easier for me. I push him back onto the sidewalk, letting go of his shirt and raise my fist almost by instinct. Before I can lower it I feel a hand wrap around my wrist, I stop for just a second as I remember who this is about. Y/n is with me, she saw everything.

“Hyunjin, get up.” Her voice is firm but somehow soft, I wish that I could just listen to her. I want to listen to her, maybe I can?

Despite my desire to stop, I don't move. My brain and my body are doing two different things and for a moment I feel guilty. This is going to be how it ends isn’t it? She’s going to think that I’m a horrible person, she’s going to hate me for putting her through this. My jaw clenches at the thought of losing her, glancing back down at the man in front of me I feel anger climbing up my spine again. Why couldn’t he just walk away?

“I told him to leave you alone.” I meant for my words to come out softer than they did but I can still hear the hiss in my voice, it’s muffled by the sound of my heart beating in my ears but I can hear it. She steps in between us, trying her best to pull me back, her grip tight and her voice stern.

“Hyunjin, please get up.” In all of the years that I got into fights there has never been a person who could calm me down. I don’t know why it’s different with her, I don’t know why but I don't resist. I allow her to lower my fist, I allow her to stand between us and guide me to my feet.

“Hey, look at me.” I listen, taking a deep breath and turning my attention towards her. I expected her to look angry, I expected her to have tears in her eyes or maybe even look scared. My mom would always be angry, Felix would always look scared but she looks calm. How could she look at me like that after this? I don’t deserve that.

“Good, you’re fine. Everything is fine, come on.” Her hands run over my forearms, as she tries her best to ground me and by some miracle it’s working.

She takes both of my hands and starts to lead me away from him, I keep my eyes on her as we walk over to the corner. I try my best to calm myself down, taking deep breaths through my nose and going through every grounding exercise that I was ever taught. For some reason those techniques aren’t what help me the most, it’s the look in her eyes that's calming me down. It’s the relaxed tone of her voice and the way that she’s guiding me. No one’s ever done this before. I can feel the anger in my body being replaced, it’s that feeling of electricity. That feeling that I only get when I’m with her.

I’m not sure how long we’ve been walking but when I finally come out of my thoughts and look back I don’t see the guy anymore. In fact, I’m pretty sure that we passed her block. We come up on a busier street, nothing too serious just a couple of people going about their night. She guides me over to a bench at the bus stop and we both sit in silence. I close my eyes, running my hands through my hair and sighing heavily.

“Let me see your hand.” Her tone is sweet like she isn’t about to check me for bruises. She reaches for my hand, running her thumb across the back of it and I hiss in pain. That’s definitely going to be a different color tomorrow. “You’re gonna need to ice that.”

“I know the drill.” I reply in a flat whisper. “I’m sorry.”

“He deserved it.” I shake my head, turning to look at her and this time I really looked at her. I let her see the worry in my gaze, I let her see the fear that has bloomed in my stomach.

“I’m not sorry for hitting him. I’m sorry that I almost didn’t stop, I didn’t want to stop and if you weren’t there I wouldn’t have. I would have done everything that I could to make sure that he ended up in the hospital.” I allow my gaze to drift down to my hands and it’s only then that I realize that I’m shaking. I’m still shaking, it must be the fear, not the anger.

“But you didn’t.” Her hand rests over my trembling one, petting my skin softly with the pads of her fingers. I let out a shaky exhale at the feeling of her skin against mine. “I told you that I’d be there to calm you down. I told you that it would be alright if I saw you like that and I meant it.”

“You don’t hate me?” My words leave my mouth in a whisper as I bite my bottom lip. Reluctantly, I look up at her, her expression is still so soft and calm.

“Not one bit.”

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wrongcaitlyn · 8 days

Note

Do you have any headcanons for the canon pjoverse???

oh my GOD DO I?? I HAVE SO MANY it's hard to even keep track of them all bc tbh i forget which ones are canon or not canon

in general i've put a *lot* of my hc's into my fics, specifically my because i'm a mirrorball series which is basically my version of will's backstory (even though a large amount of it was disproved by tsats... i'm just ignoring that bc it's already engrained in my head even though i did enjoy tsats)

i also think i share quite a few of the popular hc's of the fandom, just because i'm actually pretty new to it (read the pjo series in like september of 2022 i think? and then hoo and toa immediately after) and i consume fandom content to an unhealthy extent

HOWEVER here are some things i feel very strongly about

will is a swiftie. i think this is canon bc rick mentioned it during the tsats book tour i think?? or maybe cotg?? not sure but i DO think he said it at some point

and also his favorite album is fearless like he's that album's number one stan im sorry there's no other answer

nico can cook like rlly well

LEO NICO AND WILL FRIENDSHIP i know that leo lives at the waystation now. but. BUT. i'd like to think that he'd visit chb every once in a while and they'd be pretty good friends

adding on to that, aroace leo. caleo what? nope. leo is aroace and he was in denial and i actually wrote a whole fic about it because i just feel very VERY strongly about this

i just love the idea that even before toa, apollo was more present in his kids' lives than other gods. like, showing up in dreams and stuff. even if it came from a different purpose, like wanting to show off his poetry or music or whatever, he wasn't completely absent from their lives

i very much like the idea of will and nico sort of stepping up to be the "leaders"-ish of chb once percabeth leave for new rome. i mean, will already sort of is one with him being the head medic and also having seniority over a lot of the campers, and nico being a child of the big three like percy

percabeth returning to chb to create a sort of new rome type place for older demigods to live!! so they do not feel like they're going to die young immediately when arriving!!! bc they are children!! and deserve to live long lives!!!

i have a *lot* of thoughts about will and his trauma, but one of the main things i believe about him is that his fatal flaw is putting others before him and overworking himself. i think that being pushed into the head medic position from such a young age sort of emphasized this, though i also think (from my ideas of his childhood) that he was kind of always taught to put other people and other jobs at a higher priority than himself

nico dies first. i know i was just talking about them living long lives and i think that ends up being true, but also nico is a demigod child of hades and i think around his 30s would already be way longer than anyone would expect. anyway, i think that he dies first, simply because i cannot put that boy through any more, and i know i could say the same thing about will after having lost so much as well, but i think that the idea of nico being right at the entrance of the underworld by the river styx to welcome will once he dies (bc nico's the ghost king/prince of the underworld and isn't confined to elysium) is a very comforting thought

those are the main things i can think of right now just off the top of my head, but if there's any specific parts of canonverse that you'd like my thoughts about, feel free to ask! this didn't really cover a lot of like the general pjo/hoo timeline and it was mainly solangelo centric but likeee these are just things i thought of first! thank u for the ask!!

#wrongcaitlyn #pjo #will solace #nico di angelo #solangelo

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lavenderr-starrs · 10 months

Text

God I love Solomon Muto so freaking much man, the ideas this event is giving me in Duel Links, of just, him going through gate to gate wanting to see all these Wonderful and unique cards and how he’s interacting with the DM gang treating them ALL as if they were his grandkids not just Yugi. They even call him grandpa which is something I just love about it in the show, because he’s not just yugis grandpa he’s a grandpa to ALL DUELISTS, Haha!

Makes me wonder over him interacting with other characters from other series because he’s just in AWE over all these cards and new summoning method, and being SUCH a grandpa for some of these kids.

Especially my fav little fucked up ones!!

He goes to learn Synchro summoning and meets Yusei and team 5ds, and them just going “Whoa! 😯 It’s the King of games Grandfather!!” , I wanna see him be all sweet with akiza, my girl needs it, and with how kind and wise he is? Girl probably gonna hold back a few tears Haha!! How he encouraged Tea/Anzu and Jou to follow their dreams in the event, is encouraging her to follow hers as well with that warm grandfather charm and support!!

Akiza: 🥹🥹🥹

Would absolutely ADORE Leo and Luna, Leo wants to show off SO badly and wants to be the one to teach him synchro summoning and Solomon is just giggling and smiling warmly at the boys antics!

Oh yeah he’s telling them embarrassing stories about Yugi, maybe pull up baby pictures, he seems like he would—

He meets Yuma and astral and Astral just adores card game grandpa, I’m just imagining him huddled up close to Solomon as he talks about old duel monster strats and old stories of his younger days and Yuma just wants to get outta there but he can’t cause Astral for some reason is so invested!!

Yuma shows off his Xyz summoning and is happily jumping all over the places by all of Solomon’s “Oohs” and “Ahhs” and his compliments to Yuma and his Dueling skills, oh wait nope, here comes bronk here to tease Yuma to Duel Grandpa about the 50 times Yuma lost to him.

But duel grandpa just gives his little hearty chuckle and gives his grandpa wisdom about how Yuma not staying down after every loss after loss just proves how strong of duelist he is or smth.

Yuma: 🥹🥹🥹

Haha! Or just him meeting shark, with him getting all grouchy and being, well, shark, tries to shoo Solomon away but he tries to get him to duel him after he learns how to Xyz summon, grandpa— as old and frail as he’s played off to be—is challenging shark, heck maybe even teasingly calling him chicken (or guppy, HA!!’) and sharks not having it, what? Kite got to throw hands with middle schoolers! So he’s allowed to throw hands with the elderly!

Whether he wins or loses Shark eventually comes to respect the old man! (Also Rio WILL be gossiping with Solomon and she WILL talk shit about shark to the Dueling grandpa)

I feel like if he met Cathy he’d be confused but supportive, “Well whatever makes you happy! Hoho! Children should be able to have fun in their own way!” Or smth like that. It needs to be said he is giving ALL of Yuma and friends old games he’d sell in his shop and shows them all how to play it ASTRAL INCLUDED ☝️ and it’s a fun little bonding time for the kiddos! They taught him Xyz Summoning he teaches them the joy of classic games!

He learns about pendulum summoning and action duels and wants to jump in on an action duel immediately!! But unfortunately Dueling grandpa isn’t a PARKOUR dueling grandpa 😔 He got them old bone hips…

But he still wishes to watch them!! Absolutely adores them!!

He meets Yuya and is just in AWE over the fact he invented pendulum summoning and just adores how upbeat and sweet the kid is!

Sylvio is just absorbing every compliments and praise from him! He wants him to watch every action duel, turbo duel, tag duel, or WHATEVER duel he performs, he wants all of his compliments and praise!!!(Listen man, old people have got to be putting SOMETHING in their compliments!! I get all giddy when someone’s grandparent compliments me bro, best feeling ever, I held the door open for this lovely grandmother this one time and she goes “Oh thank you sweetie such a lovely and kind girl you are!” I F*CKING ASCENDED MAN 😭)

Sora is indifferent to Solomon, unless he’s got that good old people candy, or just has any kind of candy in his game shop gives him +100 of his respect, especially if Solomon gives it to him for free ✊ free candy is ALWAYS sweeter.

The Vrains casts, OOOOH, my fav little fucked up bbys oh how I adore thee (and thine angsts)

Someone save the grandpa the modern meta and link summoning are gonna give him a heart attack bigger then the one Seto gave him oh god!!—

Watches one of blue angels shows and is buying merchandise and just gushing over her dueling skills and her monsters, would probably show Tea/Anzu too he definitely wants to ask Blue Angel if she’d want to sponsor his game shop XDD

He finds out about the Avatar function and IMMEDIATELY makes an Avatar of his younger days, buuuut it takes him a few hours (and yugis help) to figure out how HAHA!!

If he encounters playmaker he is so CONFUSED over Ai at first, but instantly adores him and joins him on his jokes and gags, treats Ai respectfully and as a person too.

Ai would call him Grandpap’s or some funny lil nickname for Mr. Muto, Adores how Solomon will take his side! And he’ll just go “Yeah you heard him! Respect your elders!” HAHA, he’s just behind Solomon’s shoulder with the SMUGEST face his little creature face can pull.

I’m imagining if He witnesses one of Playmaker and Ais classic banters I could see him going “Now, Now son, that’s no way to talk to your partner!”

“Huh?- i- uh-“

“YEAH PLAYMAKER, That’s no way to talk to your partner >:3” <- I can HEAR the smug tone in this LMAO

Soulburner is very respectful to Solomon, and Solomon will talk about his grandson and his friends to him telling him how he reminds him of some of yugis friends. I could definitely see Soulburner respectfully try to help him learn how to ride a duel board, Sol tech has got to have made easy beginner areas for speed dueling. right?

Tell him about the lost incident and he is going on an adoption speedrun 💕

No joke, I want to witness Solomon Muto VERBALLY BERATE Dr. Kogami’s bitch ass 💕💗😘 He is kicking his ass in the after life (JUMP HIS ASS GRANDPA GET HIS SHOES ☝️🗣️🗣️🗣️)

Speaking of which, I want him to give Ryoken a FULL ASS GRANDPARENT LECTURE. Ryoken is reluctantly forced to be lectured and have this impromptu therapy session with someone’s grandparent and it’s working, because it’s Solomon Muto people where did you think Yugi got his kindness and wisdom from? He finna shape this boy with kindness the same way Yugi shaped Yami/Atem with kindness! 😤

And once again he still wants to learn about all these new cards and what not and im just adoring the fact that if he ever were to meet spectre and learn about his Sunavalons and if spectre were to bring up his mother tree and his attachment to his Cards/Momster (hehe get it-)

Solomon would not judge, he’d completely understand, he would talk to spectre about his Blue eyes card how much it meant to him, (and of course about the heart of the cards! )He knows his connection and attachment to his beloved blue eyes card isn’t the same as his attachment to his sunavalon tree’s but he understands where spectre is coming from and how he feels and he also shares that same feeling he’d felt when his sunavalon tree would be destroyed just like how when Seto ripped up his bwd.

Spectre:🥹🥹🥹

HAHA, had to lol-

Anyways that’s just my little word ramble and thoughts~ does it make sense? No. Does it have proper grammar? No. Did I just wanna ramble about a grandpa in a card game Whos literally just an old guy princess peach? Yes. I like Solomon Muto 👍 HAHA, anyway back to murdering people with trickstars to duel the grandpa teehee~ 💕

#yugioh #solomon muto #yugioh duel links #duel links #yugioh duel monsters #yugioh dm #yugioh 5ds #yugioh zexal #yugioh arc v #yugioh arcv #yugioh vrains #long post

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ryanthel0ser · 11 months

Text

Leo repairs Donbot

I wanted to post a snippet of what I've been working on for the AU, so take this short scene between Leo and Donbot not too long after they initially get to this dimension :]

Masterpost that has links to other stuff from this AU

“Hey Don, have you noticed the giant dent in your…I guess shell yet?”

“What?” he reached back and grazed his hand over the almost comedic sized indent on his back. “Oh, well that explains a few things,” some of his systems had been acting up, and part of his motor function had started to jitter since he had gotten there but it hadn’t occurred to him that he had sustained damage. No nervous system meant he couldn’t really feel anything on him, much less pain, so anything he did sustain he only knew cause Raph told him or he got a warning from his system. Unless it was bugged…again.

“Here.” Leo patted the floor next to him, “your turn for a tune up.”

Don rolled his eyes (no one could see that though) and sat down with his back turned to Leo who had grabbed a toolkit that Don had stolen from the tech store while they were recovering, just in case. He lifted the plates on his back and heard an ooh boy under Leo’s breath.

“You need any help back there?”

“No, I got it, it’s just gonna take me a while. Donnie taught me some stuff, but I wasn’t anywhere near his speed. We’ll probably be here for a couple hours.”

“Well, my calendar’s been cleared for the foreseeable future. Go to town.”

As Leo worked, he’d ask about different parts to make sure he wasn’t screwing up the wiring job, Don’s antennae twitching with each adjustment, and Don couldn’t help but let his thoughts drift towards the strangeness of it all. Never in a million years did he ever think Leo would be the one fixing his tech, correction: any of his brothers fixing his tech. None of them had shown any interest in his tech outside of using it and even with just him and Raph he’d done his own repairs. He probably could have done this one on his own too but knew Leo would insist so he didn’t bother resisting.

God Leo, it’d felt like centuries since he’d last seen his Leo, much less properly thought about him. The whole apocalypse thing plus being put into a robot body hadn’t really given Don the time to think about his brother…not that he really wanted to. It was gaping sore still, but if he just didn’t acknowledge it then it would go away on its own, right? Eventually…someday…hopefully. Things weren’t exactly peachy keen between him and Leo when he…nope. Nope, nope, not today. It was an accident, he couldn’t have done anything about it, logically it’s not his fault. It’s whoever set off the bomb’s fault. That’s it. Nothing else.

“tss”

Don turned back to see Leo flinch away, reaching for his arm before seeing Don had turned and putting his good hand down.

“Leo?”

“It’s nothing, just pinched my finger, come on I just started reconnecting some wires back.”

“Leo. You’re using the metal arm.” They both knew he wasn’t stupid, much less blind. He shifted around to face Leo who had turned his face away, but Don could see he was clenching his jaw. He also noticed the discoloration around Leo’s shoulder where the robotic arm started, just barely visible under the blue scarf around his neck.

“Where’s the release.”

“Don I’m fine-”

“Not what I asked.”

Leo glared before sighing, “on the underside, close to my armpit there’s a small button on the port that’ll release a lever. Flick that and it loosens so it can be slid out.”

Just as Leo said, Don pressed the button and flicked the lever, hearing a click followed by a hiss. As he gently slid the arm out, he saw the swollen, dark green skin around where the port was.

“Leo, when was the last time you took this off?! An arm this size should only be on for maybe a couple days at most.”

“…two weeks”

“TWO WEEKS?! LEO”

“I know! But we were busy with the resistance, a lot of forces had been lost and there was no time to just take it off and sit. The Kraang were closing in and I had to be on guard, they could’ve attacked at any moment…and they did.”

“But why didn’t you take it off when you woke up, we’ve been here for a while now.”

“…” Don took in Leo’s furrowed brow and set jaw as a sign this wasn’t something he should pry about for now.

“Alright, fine. Just know you’re lucky I grabbed extra supplies on my initial run.”

“But what about your dent?”

Don put his back plates down, “it’s fine, I can fix it later. Not my first time repairing myself in a reflection.” Leo chuffed and Donnie got up to grab the medical supplies. He turned back to see Leo had already begun working on the infection.

“Hey where’d you get those,” Don gestured to the tweezers and gauze Leo had suddenly acquired.

“Medi bag,” he gestured to the pouch on his side, “all good medics have one.”

“Oh, so what I’m hearing is you’re a hypocrite.” If Don could, he’d be grinning ear to ear. Doesn’t matter which Leo it is, it’ll always be fun to jab at them.

“Ha ha, very funny, I can almost hear the smirk.” Don sat down next to Leo’s infected shoulder and put the gauze up to the port, gently pushing out the dark yellow gunk in it, breaking up the chunks he felt before easing them out. Thank god he couldn’t feel it when it leaked on his hand, although seeing it wasn’t much better.

“So, am I gonna have to raid the clinic again?”

“No, this is just surface level. The arm irritates the area, but Donnie made sure that the port itself was ‘perfect’,” he did a “chef’s kiss” gesture as he said it. Other him must’ve had some flair for the dramatic, but he couldn’t blame the guy, the amount of skill put into Leo’s port alone showed off an immense knowledge of engineering. Don would be dramatic too if he had this level of skill.

“I’m guessing the arm itself wasn’t his decision then.” Leo’s brow furrowed more as he seemed sink into himself a bit. Shouldn’t have said that idiot.

“No, it wasn’t.”

“…it’s his tech though, his style is hard not to see.”

“Yeah, Donnie was big on the branding,” Leo chuckled a bit, “made sure EVERYTHING had the genius tech logo on it, down to the plumbing.”

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dilucsflame33 · 1 year

Note

Can You Do A Vampire Donnie x F!Reader But In Bayverse And With Prompts And Can You Do A Lemon/Smut For It Too

58. Turtle bedroom 132. “Argue all you want, we both know you belong to me.” 74. “Just relax.” 5. “MINE.” 96. Making out 151. “Do you know how a turtle takes his mate?” 89. Mating season 142. “Bite me.” 123. “Don’t hold back.” 79. “Lay back and let me take care of you.” also with 32. “Do you trust me?” and Turning into a vampire

Blood Moon Odyssey 🔥

Hello, @ashleighclark98 ^^ Thank you so much for being my first ask, and you are the first who have ordered from my "TMNT Trick or Kink: Bloody Mary"! I hope this is to your liking. ;)

I end up changing the sentence on 132, so I hope it's okay! ^^

🔞 Warning 🔞 NFSW 18+ Only

Blood, mating/breeding, hair pulling, and feral Donnie.

Running was all Donnie could do; jumping from building to building as he continuously ran for his life. It was the first Lunar eclipse of the year, which happens three times a year. But why was this one non-stop? And why does it look a deeper shade of red? It was supposed to last only for an hour and twenty-five minutes on the dot!

Donnie was on patrol like usual. Leo separated them so they could have more eyes in the area. Three days ago, people went missing anonymously. All that was left was witnesses heard screams in abandoned alleyways and seen blood red eyes staring at them. Fangs glisten under the blood moon. Soon after, that person took the victims away.

Chief Vincent asked the guys if they could help with the case and they agreed.

But Donnie thought it was some man dressed up as some vampire to scare the witnesses away.

Donnie was dead wrong for once.

He was standing on top of an abandoned building, a place where there's hardly any activity. The purple turtle found it strange when a "vampire" goes to places that have less of a food source, until he went deep into his thoughts.

"We are close to the outskirts of New York, no human activity. If I was a vampire, what would I do?" Donnie said aloud, mostly to himself. But he didn't expect someone to answer back.

"Looks like you have found my nest, young one." A deep, guttural voice spoke into his ear and the nerd screeched. Donnie quickly stood a few feet from him, with staff in hand, ready to take on the master mind. "In all my years, I have never encountered such a creature. What's your name?"

"Like I will tell you." Donnie says as he goes into his battle stance. "And how did you get here so fast?"

The man chuckled, his blonde hair blew in the wind. And that's when Donnie saw them, the fangs. "I think you already knew how I got here, but that's not important now is it?"

Donnie stared him down, hazel eyes burned with determination as his heart slowly picked up its pace. The man in front of him smirked as he crossed his arms, almost aristocratic. "The name is William. Even if you look through the files at NYPD, you won't be able to find my identity. Sadly, the case will come to a close.

"You know," William continued. "You have a beautiful woman by your side, Donatello. It breaks my heart knowing she will never know your true feelings."

Donnie went pale and his heart rate went up tenfold. How does he know about Y/N? He just met the guy and William knew about the woman who has been haunting his mind and dreams.

William suddenly chuckled deeply, almost sinister as he went into a full blown laughter. "Oh, how I love the look on your face. The fear behind your eyes." Then, his red eyes gleamed. "You will be a perfect fit for my army."

Army?!

Oh, heck no!

Splinter taught him to never run from a fight but with actual humans and mutants, not immortal vampires! So Donnie ran and the last thing he heard was terrifying laughter that pierced his soul as it would soon haunt his dreams.

Donnie jumped once more as he hid behind a dark wall, breathing erratically as he tried catching his breath. He's been running for God knows how long. Like it's a never ending chase. Wherever he lands, William was there. Donnie doesn't know if he was playing mind tricks on him. If William can read his mind, what else could he do?

Donnie pressed the walkie-talkie on his shoulder. "Leo? Are you there?"

"Donnie? What's going on?" Leo's voice was heard through the speaker as the leader heard his brother's erratic breathing. Something was wrong.

"I-I found the guy, Leo! William was his name. You positioned me on top of his nest and now he wants to recruit me in his undead army!" Donnie's voice screeched once more as he suddenly felt tears coming to his eyes. He hates crying, but his fear was taking control over him. He needs to keep it together. He has unfinished business. "Leo, I'm scared. He knows about Y/N and I haven't mentioned anything about her. Please, brother, I need you."

"Okay, Don, just hang in there. We're on our way!" Leo's voice turned more serious as he heard Donnie say 'brother'. He only says it when he's absolutely terrified.

"Yeah, he'll get a rude awakenin' when he messes with us." Raph's voice transferred to the speaker. Donnie pressed the button on the walkie-talkie to answer.

"I would love to see you try, Raphael."

Donnie spun around and there was William. The turtle didn't have enough time to react as the vampire came in front of him and sank his teeth into his neck.

Donnie's screams uttered through the speaker as William makes sure his brothers can hear what he's doing to their brother.

With enough strength he had left, Donnie pushed William away and he felt suddenly hot. His neck was burning and he clutched at his neck to try to stop the blood from flowing.

Donnie could hear his brothers screaming for him but his vision was suddenly blurry as his eyes rolled to the back of his head, soon collapsing on the concrete floor.

William chuckled as he saw Donatello's unconscious state. "Enjoy your new life, Donatello. Let your emotions run wild."

Thirty minutes had passed and Y/N was running to the sewers. Leo called her, saying Donnie was attacked and needed some medical assistance. He needs to get back out there to find a guy named "William" that hurt his brother in the first place.

"Hang on, Leo. I'm on my way!" Y/N said through the phone as she picked up her pace.

When she entered the lair, the turtles were a nervous wreck. Mikey was on the floor, staring at the lab/Donnie's bedroom. Raph was pacing back and forth, angry that he wasn't there to protect his brother. Leo was nowhere to be found, probably in the lab where Donnie was located.

Y/N headed towards the lab and opened the doors. The sight she saw broke her heart. Splinter and Leo sat in chairs as they kept an eye on Donnie. The purple clad turtle was on a lab table, eyes closed, and completely pale as the woman noticed bandages on his neck.

Leo looked up and sighed in relief. "Thank goodness. Donnie lost a lot of blood and we don't know how to do a transfer.

"Leave that to me." Y/N said as she went to wash her hands in the sink and soon put on some medical gloves. "Good thing I have a degree in nursing. Otherwise, we're all screwed."

"Thank you, Y/N. I am thankful to have you here." Splinter says as he watches the young woman get to work. Y/N walked towards Donnie and she slowly removed the bandage, wincing as she looked at the damage.

"Whoever this 'William' was, he knew what he was doing. He got the Carotid artery. It's the main artery that transfers blood to the brain. If punctured, you need to add pressure immediately. Otherwise, the patient will pass out due to lack of blood in the brain."

"We found him before we called you, so he's passed out for at least thirty minutes." Leo explained as Y/N looked through the cabinets.

"Okay, yeah. He needs blood quickly. That wound is deep, even as a mutant it will take its toll. Knowing Donnie, he probably hasn't eaten or drunk any water. So his sugar has dropped and his blood is too thick. Before you give blood, you need to eat at least thirty minutes or more and drink plenty of water. If not, then you will pass out. Iron is the key, plenty of protein."

Even though Leo and Splinter had no idea what she said, all they heard was protein. "So he needs blood that has protein?"

"Yes. The protein can either be from meat or from protein bars." Y/N set up an IV to keep Donnie's body hydrated. "If any of you have a good protein diet and drink plenty of water, that will be great."

Leo sighed. "Guess I'm up-"

"Let me do it." Raph came in as he heard the conversation. "I have a good diet. May not look like it but looks can be deceiving."

Y/N looked towards Raph. "You do realize how much blood you're gonna give, right? Just calculating the time it happened and when I got here, plus his height and weight, he needed at least two human bags of blood or more. You won't be able to go with Leo or Mikey out there if you do this."

Raph clenched his fist. "I'll do whatever it takes to save my brother. I couldn't save him then, but I can now. Give me something for adrenaline. Hook me up." He huffed.

"Yes, sir." Y/N winced but got to work once again and grabbed the supplies she needed. Sometimes she has to remember she's working on mutants and not actual humans.

Hopefully Raphael will be okay.

"Leo, grab your brother a jug of water and some protein bars. He needs them."

"On it." Leo quickly ran out of the lab and started to retrieve the items the woman requested. Usually it was Leo taking charge but if it's anything medical, he's done for. He doesn't mind letting someone take the reins just this once.

He just hopes that Donnie will be okay.

After hooking Donnie up to an IV and starting a blood transfusion, everything was now a waiting game. After Raph gave blood he felt fine, then soon joined Leo and Mikey to find the guy who hurt Donnie. Much to Y/N's request, she prefers Raph to stay but the hothead was too stubborn to listen.

Hopefully things will turn out alright in the end.

An hour has passed and - out of the corner of her eye - Donnie's hand started to twitch. She looked up as soon his eyes slowly opened. He groaned as he clutched his head. "Where am I?"

"You're in the lab, sweetie." The woman replied as she checked his vitals. "You've lost a lot of blood, Donnie. Did you drink water? Eat anything?"

Donnie winced, knowing that he would get the lecture of his life. "N-No."

Y/N hummed, not too pleased with the answer. "Considering you're the medic of the team, you would have thought that you know how to take care of yourself."

Donnie went to speak but he clutched at his throat, a burning sensation that soon turned painful as he started coughing.

Y/N grabbed a bottle of water that was on the counter. "Lay back and let me take care of you." But Donnie wouldn't take it. Instead, he grabbed her wrist and pulled her towards him. Her gasp echoed in the lab as her body laid on top of his. "Donnie?"

"Just relax," Donnie whispered in her ear, his breath sent shivers down her spine. "Do you trust me?"

Y/N's heart picked up pace. They both shared some playful gestures and flirting, but he would never pull something like this. Yet Donnie would never hurt her; always gentle and kind. His hazel eyes are the reason she kept going.

"Yes." She whispered as they stared at each other and soon Donnie kissed her passionately. His kiss sent chills as he completely devoured her lips, almost animalistic. He separated from the kiss and he trailed his lips to her neck. Her legs trembled as he took a whiff of her scent.

"Do you know how a turtle takes his mate?" Donnie smirked as he looked into her eyes. They are no longer hazel, but blood red. Y/N quickly got off his lap and had her back against the wall. "What's wrong, little one?"

"Your eyes," she paused. "They're not hazel." Y/N says as Donnie's eyes widen. He quickly got off the lab table and looked into the mirror; just like she said, his eyes are no longer hazel. Donnie took off the bandage and the wound was completely gone.

Completely healed.

"Y/N, you need to run. If you stay here any longer, I will do something that both of us will regret." Donnie says as he clutches at his head. It's like his head was being split open. "I can feel my animal instincts trying to take control. You need to leave. If not, then I will end up biting you. Or worse."

Y/N watched Donnie as he tried to take control of his body, but she knew that won't last forever. She has gotten this far with him and she's not leaving, even if he does things to her body. She wants him just as much.

"Bite me." Donnie looked at her with horror. "I have gotten this far, Donnie. I'm not leaving, even if you push me away. You like me, don't you?"

With the way Donnie bit his lip and averted his eyes, away from her, she knew her assumptions were right. "Then I have nothing to fear. Do whatever you may. We'll get through this together."

The purple clad turtle's heart melted. She's staying, even if he warned her. He just fell for her even more at this moment.

"But I do want you to catch me." Y/N smirked as Donnie shook his head, chuckling as he did so. The woman knew she wouldn't last long with the chase but the thrill and adrenaline that goes with it. . .

It's so exhilarating.

"You think you can run away from me?" Donnie's voice went down an octave and Y/N felt her core clench with anticipation. "Go on, let's see how long you can last."

Donnie lunged for her but she dodged him as she quickly bolted from the lab and headed towards the tunnels. Her heavy breathing and the sound of her shoes hitting the concrete floor was the only sound that echoed throughout the darkened walls. With every step she takes, it's like she could see his shadow following her. His red eyes trailed in any direction she went.

Y/N was scared but also excited.

"Run all you want," Donnie's voice echoed through the tunnels. "We both know you belong to me."

Y/N bit her lip with anticipation. Donnie has an advantage in this game. Not only could he smell her, but also could hear her heartbeat. He will find her in minutes. If not, then in seconds.

Y/N found a crack in the wall that was big enough for her squeeze through. Before she could, a hand grasped her shoulders and she let out a scream but silenced when Donnie's lips were placed upon hers.

Her arms were around his neck as she clutched to him, letting the man above her take control. Oh, how he has her legs trembling.

He pulled away from her then, but chuckled when the woman tried to pull him back in for more passionate kisses. "My bedroom. Now."

That was the only order she got before he hoisted her over his shoulder and took her back towards the lair. It's almost like he teleported. One minute she was in the tunnels and now she was on his bed; her clothes were ripped to shreds as his lips attacked her neck, moans of pleasure filled his room.

"Don't hold back, Donatello!"

The said turtle growled as he flipped the woman on her stomach, then hoisted her up. Butt in the air as her face buried in his sheets. Completely naked and ready for him to take what's his. He quickly took off his shoes and pants, the turtle now naked. Y/N heard his clothes being discarded. Oh, how the woman beneath him wished she could see him in all of his glory.

"Mine!" He growled once again as he pulled her hair back. Her whimper was the only thing he heard before he plunged inside of her, her wails echoing within his room as he showed no mercy.

Skin collided with skin as their moans and groans of pleasure drove them both to the oasis of ecstasy. The noises coming from the woman would make anyone blush. If the others showed up, they wouldn't probably be worried. All Y/N and Donnie want was to stay in the warmth of each other and this bed together.

Donnie leaned down and licked her shoulder. "Tell me who you belong to." It was a command, and it was so hard to form sentences when his cock was literally hitting every single spot within her insides.

"Y-You!" Was all she could muster before she felt fangs pierced into her skin. Her screams erupted from her throat as she came hard, squeezing his cock with it.

Donnie hugged her waist as he came deep within her womb, making sure all of his essence stayed inside of her as he drank from her neck. After their climax was done he pulled away from her, licking her neck clean as he watched it sealed off.

Donnie looked down at the woman below him as he came to, realizing what he had done. "Y-Y/N? A-Are you-?" Before he could finish, he was flipped over onto the bed with a screech and his eyes went wide when he saw his beloved's orbs. No longer the beautiful color he onced knew but now a deep shade of red. "Y-Y-Y/N?"

Y/N chuckled devilishly, her tongue slowly running across her lips. "We're not done, Donnie baby. You started this and I'm gonna finish it myself." With that, she slammed herself onto his cock as his screams of pleasure erupted from within him.

It's going to be a long night.

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soft--dragon · 1 year

Text

Some Things Never Change

SPOILERS FOR THE ROTTMNT MOVIE!!!

Leo and Casey are such a good duo, I love them ^^

ALL PLATONIC, PLEASE AND THANK YOU

Word Count: 1,642

Warnings: None

This is a SFW tickle fic, if you don’t like that then don’t read :)

After spending years in a Krang infested apocalypse, Casey was having to adjust to living a much calmer life. The turtles were more than happy to let him stay with them, but April suggested it may be better for Casey to stay with her and her mother. It would at least give him some time to rehabilitate into normal society and April could teach him about the present timeline.

Though hesitant, Casey ended up taking up the teenage girl’s offer, and to his surprise, he quite enjoyed the surface world. Sure, sometimes it could be loud, chaotic and overwhelming, but once Donnie made him some noise cancelling headphones as a “Welcome-To-Your-New-Future” present, he quite enjoyed exploring the surface in the comfort of music. All background noise was filtered out, and he was free to roam the hectic streets of New York city, anxieties settled.

Though, as nice as it was to not be fighting every two seconds for his life, Casey still felt the need to train and remain strong in case of any future attacks. Sure the Krang leader was gone, but who knows how long it would be before he found a way back from the prison dimension? Uncle Draxum was working out a way to destroy the key permanently, but until then, there was still a threat of battle.

So, instead of signing up for a gym membership with money he simply did not have currently - his luck of finding a job was about as good as April’s ability to hold one - he used the training room the turtles had set up in the abandoned subway. The gear there was durable, and no one would give him an odd look for swinging a hockey stick at a punching dummy and doing martial arts moves that were way too brutal to simply disarm a person.

Hey, it was either do or die in the future, and Casey would prefer living thank you very much.

Casey breathed out as he finished the attack, brushing loose strands out of his eyes with the rest pulled back in a man bun for training. (April had been incredibly excited to teach him different ways of styling his ebony hair now that he had time to wash and condition it.) While preparing for another series of movements, Casey suddenly yelped when something ghosted over the back of his neck. He whipped around, a hand clapping over his neck protectively. Leo stood mere feet from him, looking far too pleased with himself.

Casey made a garbled noise at the sight of his friend, exclaiming in alarm. “Leo? What the- how long have you been standing there?”

Leo flexed an eye ridge up with a smug grin, pleased he’d gone unnoticed by the teenager. “Long enough to know you could probably take Raph down if you wanted to. You gotta teach me those moves, Jones, I didn’t know you could fight like that.”

Now over the initial surprise of Leo’s appearance, Casey gave a small laugh, rubbing the back of his neck sheepishly. “I learnt them from you actually, in the future that is.”

God, you could hear Leo’s ego getting bigger.

“I taught you?!” The blue coded turtle’s eyes widened and an excited grin hiked up his lips. “Oh, my future self was so badass! And talk about an ironic turn of events eh? The teacher taught the student only for the student to become the teacher to the teacher.”

Casey blinked owlishly, an exasperated yet amused look taking over his face. “I’ve spent too much time around you, I understood all of that.”

Leo barked a laugh, crossing his arms smugly. “You idolised me in the future, Case, only fair you know my unique way of speaking.”

“Yeah, ‘unique’ is certainly a word for it,” Casey mumbled, turning back to the punching dummy he had been mercilessly beating up.

Leo gasped in a faux offence, pointing an accusatory finger at the teenage boy. “Are you making fun of me?”

“What? No, whatever would make you think that?”

Leo rolled his eyes at the blatantly obvious sarcasm. “Careful Casey, your Donatello is showing.”

“Better Donatello than Leonardo.”

“Hey! I’m way cooler than my twin, I'll have you know. Don’t play favourites… unless it’s me.”

Casey snorted. While he was much more used to an older, serious Leonardo, he couldn’t deny this version of his sensei was able to match his energy and riff off of him easily. It was refreshing, being able to joke around with the blue turtle without the fear of being heard by the enemy. Though the freedom to mess around did make him distracted an awful lot more.

Casey rolled his shoulders out, preparing to attack the dummy again. “Was there a reason you actually came in here? Or did you just want to mess with me?”

“Well, messing with you is pretty fun, so if you’re offering to be my cure for boredom, I’ll gladly take it.”

Once more, there was a soft sensation skittering over the back of Casey’s neck, causing his shoulders to leap up to his ears and his palm clamped back over the area.

He gave Leo a sharp side eye. “Oi! Quit that.”

“Why? Are you ticklish?”

The sudden comment made the hairs on the back of Casey’s neck rise, swinging around to fully face Leo who was grinning knowingly. Oh. Suddenly this wasn’t a safe space anymore.

“What? N-No, I’m not.” Yup, way to go Jones, that was real convincing.

“Aw, you sure?” Leo was moving forwards, hands outstretched and wiggling his fingers tauntingly. The warm flush in Casey’s face was building quickly from the playful action.

“Sensei- Leo-” Training forgotten, Casey stumbled backwards, his own hands raising in defence towards the blue masked turtle.

“Oh ho ho, lookie here, someone is going red.”

“St-Stay away!”

“What happened to ‘I’m not ticklish’, huh?”

“I’m not!”

“Then you won’t mind if I test that claim?”

Casey was running before the sentence was finished. Clumsily, he sprinted past Leo and through the hallway into the abandoned subway, tripping over himself despite his usual agility. The butterflies in his stomach were making his limbs feel weak, though his chest was warm and bubbly.

“Leheheo!” He gasped, giggles spilling into his plea without him realising. “Goho ahahway!”

He was running for a few more seconds before realising there were no footsteps behind him. Skidding to a stop, Casey looked back and to his surprise, Leo was nowhere in sight. Casey wasn’t sure why he felt disappointed.

He spun in a slow circle, eyes on the roof of the subway station for any sign of a blue bandana. There was none in sight. Casey’s shoulders slumped slightly, his mirthful eyes being replaced for something sombre. It made sense he supposed, Leo was just messing around and teasing him, though he thought the teenager might follow through. Whenever Leonardo threatened to tickle him, he chased him around the base and hid until Casey thought he was safe, only to be tackled to the ground and wrecked by the older turtle when he least expected it.

…Hang on.

He used to hide until Casey stopped running-

“SURPRISE JONES!”

Arms suddenly encircled around his waist and brought him to the ground with a scream, his fight or flight nature going ballistic for a moment before he caught sight of the green arms holding him. His head swung back to see Leo grinning widely at him, back pinned to the turtle’s plastron. Leo barked a laugh, squeezing the boy to him for a moment before letting off the pressure.

“I’m shocked Case, honestly thought you would’ve seen that coming.”

Casey spluttered, hands coming up to grip Leo’s arms and staring at him in bewilderment. “I-I didn’t think- I thought you wouldn’t-”

“What? You really think I’d threaten to tickle ya and not follow through? Damn, my future self has really let me down then.”

Casey didn’t get the chance to reply before fingers were worming into his hoodie, targeting the softness of his sides that were wildly ticklish. He yelped loudly and immediately slumped into the teenager’s grasp, gripping onto Leo’s arms as he kicked out frantically. “LEHEHEheheheo!” He shrieked.

“Oh wow! Someone is very sensitive indeed!” Leo snickered, “I don’t think I’ve ever heard you laugh this hard.”

Casey wriggled in Leo’s lap, trying desperately to squirm out of his arms but Leo simply scooped him back up and slipped a hand down to scratch around his stomach. “Uh uh uh, you can’t be this ticklish and expect me to just let you go Casey, that’s not how this works.”

“Leheheo dohohohon’t!” squealed Casey, his boots scuffling into the ground in an attempt to sit up.

Leo snickered. “Oi, whatcha doin’? Trying to dig a hole over there? You’ve already dug one by letting the information slip that you’re ticklish, Jones.”

The mention of the dreaded 'T' word only caused Casey’s ears to burn brighter, the red flush on his face contrasting his dark hair brightly. “Stohohop teheheasing!”

Leo raised an eyeridge in a playfully taunting fashion. “Stop teasing? I’m just making conversation, Casey, why are you laughing so hard?”

“Yohohou knohohow whihihiy!”

“I’m afraid I don’t. You see, you claimed you weren’t ticklish and yet you’re laughing so hard over me wiggling my fingers? So if you’re not ticklish, then what on earth is happening here?”

Casey smacked his arm out of flustered annoyance, giggling borderline hysterically. “Ahahalright! Alright! I’m tihihicklish Leheheo! Ihihi lihihihied!”

Leo gave a very overdramatic, shakespeare-would-be-proud, exaggerated gasp and stared at his student in mock horror. “You lied to me? How dare you Casey Jones Junior! Your punishment shall be severe!”

Leo’s fingers were then clawing at Casey’s ribs, and the turtle swore that both the surface world and the Hidden City heard the scream the teenager let out.

#my fanfic #fanfic #rottmnt #tmnt tickle #lee!casey #ler!leonardo

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twoidiotwriters1 · 8 months

Text

Daughter of Olympus (Leo Valdez xFem!Oc)

A/N: Adult life is like, really great beautiful and fun, I'm having a blast -Danny Words: 2,262 Series' Masterlist Previous Chapter / Next Chapter Listen to: 'Will I Find My Home' -by Juniper Vale

VI. Mom Gives Her Silliest Battles to Her Most Tragic Clowns

Boreas is like a scary Santa with purple wings. He likes her and Piper because they're aphrodites and can talk French with no problems.

Ara wants to like him, but he's got orders to kill them, so he's not such a fun guy. All this talk about gods wanting to exterminate half-bloods is old news, but then the god changes when he sees Jason's tattoo, and he becomes his Roman version.

"My dear," Boreas says happily, "there is no reason for me to kill you. If Hera's plan fails, which I think it will, you will tear each other apart. Aeolus will never have to worry about demigods again."

"I don't suppose you could explain?" Jason asks.

"Oh, perish the thought! It is not for me to interfere in Hera's plan. No wonder she took your memory. You know, I have a reputation as a helpful wind god. Unlike my brethren, I've been known to fall in love with mortals. Why, my sons Zethes and Calais started as demigods—"

"Which explains why they are idiots."

"Stop it! Just because you were born a full goddess—"

"Both of you, freeze. Now, as I was saying, I have a good reputation, but it is rare that Boreas plays an important role in the affairs of gods. I sit here in my palace, at the edge of civilization, and so rarely have amusements. Why, even that fool Notus, the South Wind, gets spring break in Cancún. What do I get? A winter festival with naked Québécois rolling around in the snow!"

"I like the winter festival," Zethes mumbles.

"My point is that I now have a chance to be the center. Oh, yes, I will let you go on this quest. You will find your storm spirits in the windy city, of course. Chicago—"

"Father!" Khione cries, but the god is unbothered by her.

"If you can capture the winds, you may be able to gain safe entrance to the court of Aeolus. If by some miracle you succeed, be sure to tell him you captured the winds on my orders."

"Okay, sure," Jason shrugs. "So Chicago is where we'll find this lady who's controlling the winds? She's the one who's trapped Hera?"

"Ah... Those are two different questions, son of Jupiter."

Ara notices he's using Roman names now. Chiron said Jason doesn't belong in her camp. A scary thought comes to her as she glances down at his tattoo: there are more like him.

Lily's got a fascination with the Underworld, her grandmother taught her to respect the dead and the deity that looks after them. I met Hades last summer, and she got really talkative after she found out, showed me some collectible cards, and we play with them when none of us is training.

Lily's quiet, but only because she's got this accent that slips out when she gets excited about things. I said some of the swear words she uses and Silena told me that's Italian. My friend also has dark hair and is a bit too grumpy, which explains why most campers think she's a daughter of Hades.

Lily's sneaky, that's true, but so are the Stolls. I've been to the Underworld, and she doesn't feel like it."If she were," Travis says, "someone would've sent something to get rid of her."

"That's true," I sigh. "Lily hasn't shown any death-related powers either. I mean, she's crazy good at stabbing but she also likes archery!"

"She's a little scary," Travis admits, the lock he's been trying to open snaps and he closes it, handing it to me.

"Not that scary," Connor replies. I didn't know he was listening. "You shouldn't scare Ara, she's gonna think it's no good to be nice."

I frown, nothing would ever stop me from talking to a lonely person.

"Now go, demigods," Boreas finishes, "before I change my mind. Zethes, escort them out safely."

Ara's mind swirls in overwhelming thoughts as they leave. Romans and Greeks have disliked each other for ages, no wonder Chiron doesn't want Jason around! And to top it all, Boreas also said Hedge is still alive, but he wouldn't tell them where he is.

As they fly away in Festus, Piper speaks French under her breath. "If you knew the truth about me, you wouldn't think I was so amazing."

"What?" Ara looks at her. Piper locks eyes with the girl and remembers she speaks French too. She blushes, turning her gaze away.

Ara frowns, these three are more frustrating than Percy and Lily...

Percy thinks Lily might be a Big Three kid. I disagree and he doesn't take me seriously.

"I knew who you were right away," I remind him.

"This is different, Ara."

"She doesn't feel like that place!"

"She doesn't feel that way to you," my friend corrects me. "Didn't you see her fight that Ares kid?"

"She's enthusiastic about training..."

"She broke a guy's leg!"

"Oh fine, she's a little violent," I roll my eyes. "But saying that she's a daughter of... you know, that's insulting for the both of them."

"She'll get claimed and you'll know I'm right—cause she's no Apollo." Percy walks past me.

"Was it easy for you when you started working in the forges?" Leo asks quietly since Piper and Jason are napping.

"Not at all," Ara smiles, looking down at her squeaky-clean palms. "I almost lost a few fingers, and my arms were covered in bandaids most of the time... but it felt like I was on the right path."

Leo glances at her with his brows furrowed in amusement. "You were getting injured all the time and you still liked it?"

"You know what I mean!" Ara pokes his back. "Don't you love it when your hands are all tired and dirty but it's because you created something amazing?"

The boy looks down at Festus and pats his head affectionately. "Right... I get it."

"So to answer your question, it wasn't easy—but I was learning, and I was able to see my progress more clearly than with other stuff. I fell in love with it."

"Didn't believe it at first, but you've got skill, Ara," Beckendorf nods in approval. "And you, Tyson, you like it here?"

"I like how this bends," he replies, folding a huge chunk of metal.

"Silena's happy to hear you're getting better," the boy continues.

I stare at my dirty nails and the callouses on my palms. I thought I'd be disgusted by them, part of me wants to be nice and prim, but at the same time, I feel like a grown-up getting things done. "It feels nice," I open my teddy bag and pull out boxes of apple juice.

"You'll learn to love it," Beckendorf takes one of the juices. "Or you might discover you're good at it, but it's not your favorite thing. That'd be okay too."

I get a sudden urge to cry. How cruel would it be if I had found something, but it didn't make me happy? "No. I'll make it work. I've made up my mind."

He pats my shoulder, leaving a stain on my shirt that I have a hard time ignoring.

Ara wakes up abruptly, she would've slept through the night if Festus hadn't decided to practice his free-falling. It's really lucky Jason can fly, otherwise, they would've all plummeted to their deaths.

It's a pity she can't say the same about Festus, who crashed down in a cloud of thick, dark smoke. Leo cries out as it happens and her own stomach twists with anxiety. Ara must've fainted, cause the next thing she remembers is hearing Piper's screams.

Lily got claimed the other night, and she's not happy about it, I don't know why. Annabeth is the only person that she talks to in her cabin. She's uncomfortable with the idea of not having her sister around, so she's upset when she guesses what we're about to do.

"Percy wanted that quest, so you'll sneak out, won't you?"

"I never said that."

Not to Lily, at least.

"I know Annabeth will go with you, I wish I could go..."

"We'll be back before you know it."

"You're going to the sea of monsters," she scoffs. "It'll be lucky if you don't die on day one."

"Thank you. Make sure to offer some good food to Hades so he keeps me nice and cozy," I joke.

Piper whimpers on the catwalk. Leo, Jason, and Ara find her there, ankle broken. "You okay?" Leo sees her foot and winces. "Oh no, you're not."

"Thanks for the reassurance," the girl breathes heavily.

"You'll be fine," Jason tries to calm her. "Leo, you got any first aid supplies?"

"Yeah—yeah, sure..." He pulls out gauze and duck tape from his seemingly empty belt and Ara grabs the items without asking.

"Stay still, Piper..."

"How did you—" The girl hisses when Ara sits her up. "How did pull that stuff from an empty belt?"

"Magic. Haven't figured it out completely, but I can summon just about any regular tool out of the pockets, plus some other helpful stuff—Breath mint?"

Jason seizes the metal box impatiently. "That's great, Leo. Now, can you fix her foot?"

"I'm a mechanic, man. Maybe if she was a car..."

"I can." The lessons come back to Ara's mind as clear as Michael's voice. "I can't heal you entirely, though..."

"Wait, what was that godly healing stuff they fed you at camp," Leo asks. "Rambo food?"

"Ambrosia, dummy," Piper huffs. "There should be some in my bag, if it's not crushed."

"That should help," Ara gestures at Jason to get it.

He seizes a Ziploc bag full of ambrosia and gives a piece to Piper while Ara works on her ankle. The girl's hands are quick, she's singing something Will and Mike taught her to speed up the process, and her heart breaks even more. Ara's avoided her memories like the plague, but they keep coming back when she least expects them.

Once she's done, she sinks to her knees in front of Piper, tears falling down her face, and she dries them hastily along with the sweat on her forehead. Jason, Piper, and Leo are staring.

"What?"

"Nothing," Jason shrugs. "It's normal to cry when you heal someone... Right?"

Ara groans. "I've had a rough couple of..." Days? Months? Years?"I'm worn out."

"Well, I think you were awesome," Leo says. "You've got a nice voice."

"It's useful," she examines Piper. "Feeling better?"

The girl nods. "How did you learn this stuff?"

Ara spots a logo on the wall: a single red eye looks back at her and it gives her a bad feeling, but she can't tell why. It reminds her of Tyson, she would give anything to have him here, a Cyclops is always a great help.

"Lots of practice," she shrugs. "The gods took away all the traces of hard work on my body when I got my wish granted, so you can't tell..."

"You're so cool," Piper looks pale, but at least she's smiling.

Ara grins a little in return, cleaning her hands on her dirty jeans. "That's... Just doing my job."

She almost says "That's what friends do", but she doesn't want more friends, it would be like trying to fill the holes in her life and that's not right. It's better to keep her distance.

A loud explosion comes from C.C.'s office and a bunch of men run out of the place.

"Ah," I tense. "Gotta go."

I yell out Percy and Annabeth's names and they yell mine in return, Annabeth finds me and drags me out of the island. We climb into Queen Anne's revenge and I cling onto a barrel when Percy propels us out. After the worst passes, he looks over his shoulder and notices my clean clothes and brushed hair.

"You were enjoying yourself—It's the first time you've looked like an Aphrodite!"

He didn't mean to be rude, but for some reason, the realization that maybe no boy had ever perceived me as beautiful struck a nerve that had been dormant for eleven years. "Shut up."

Annabeth got dizzy and had to go lie down. My mom was born in the sea, so I handle this well. Besides, I'm a Cancer, so water is my happy place. I think about our quest, Annabeth told me Percy got turned into a guinea pig before we escaped Circe's island.

"Can I touch you?"

Percy looks at me like I've gone crazy. "Whatcha say?"

"Can I use my empath touch on you?" I clarify. "Or you can tell me how you're feeling?"

He sighs and stares ahead. "Don't know how I'm feeling..."

"Hmm..." I grab his hand. "Oh."

"What?"

I pout. "I miss him too."

"Yeah, he was..." Percy gulps, he knows who I'm talking about.

"Your little brother," I look at him, waiting to see his reaction.

He nods briefly, blinking a lot. "He was."

"Was it weird? Having a Cyclops as a brother?"

"Was it weird when you suddenly had like ten new siblings?"

"That's not a real family," I reply.

"What?" He exclaims. "What do you mean?"

I let go of his hand. "My siblings have families outside camp, I just have a bunch of roommates," I try not to think about it, this is a delicate subject and I find it difficult to approach.

"Well," Percy says after a short pause. "Sometimes friends are better than siblings. Look at us!"

I frown. "Dude, we look miserable."

"We're fine," he retorts, but that doesn't help me. His shoulders fall, and his voice softens. "Alright, let's play pretend. You like playing pretend, right? From now on we're siblings."

I snort. "That's not how it works."

"What, you don't want to adopt me? That stings, Ara."

"Stop it."

"You'd rather be Annabeth's sister like Lily? I get it, boys suck. I'll throw myself off the ship—"

"Stop!" I laugh, clutching the back of his shirt as he leans forward.

"C'mon then!" He smirks. "I'll try my best to make you hate me like a real brother."

I laugh and hug him. "Fine. Can't wait to regret it."

Next Chapter ->

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