#so i ran… but there were these two ladies walking at a snails pace down the stairs leading to the bus stop. ಠ‿ಠ | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

givemethatgold · 3 years

Text

Fix’er Upper Pt. 8

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

Series MASTERLIST

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

"I can manage-"

"But what about your-"

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

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

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

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

"Emmmm... hi."

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

You loved him.

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

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

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

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

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

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

This admission stopped you in your tracks.

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

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

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

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

"I trust you with everything."

PART NINE

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

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#Frankie Morales x you #Frankie Morales x F!Reader #Frankie Morales x Reader #Francisco Morales x you #Francisco Morales x F!Reader #Francisco Morales x reader #Frankie catfish morales x reader #frankie catfish morales x you #Francisco catfish morales x you #francisco catfish morales x reader #fix'er upper

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coffeecomicsgalore · 3 years

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The Love You Give

Hey @juliettelime. I’m your @mlsecretsanta!

Sorry it took so long! Enjoy both a fic and an art piece!

Happy Holidays!

Also on Ao3

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

“You’ll never catch me, Milady!” Chat Noir bellowed out as he raced along the rooftops. The husky chuckles echoed in the quiet arrondissement causing Ladybug’s heart to flutter with warmth in the otherwise wintry night air.

“Get back here you mangy cat!” Ladybug called out with a chuckle, his increased speed making the competitive side of her itching to win his abrupt game of cat and mouse (or bug in this case).

“Never!” He cried out once again as he laughed comically, finally whipping around the corner to throw her off course. Chat hid behind the tall chimney and poked his head around, keeping an eye on her plus the surprise at the end of this game.

“Come on Chat. The snow is starting to get worse!”

“Not a little bit of snow will stop me from winning this game!”

The sound of Ladybug’s rapier could be heard become increasingly closer, making it the perfect opportunity to run off to his final stop. Eyeing one of the most famous monuments in Paris, Chat raced across the small length of rooftops in front of him, finally extending his baton as he jumped off the last building. He extended it as far as he could, reaching one of the steel beams on the lowest platform of the Eiffel Tower. But before he could step onto the cold metal, a warm body collided with him, rolling the two in a pile of limbs onto the floor.

Panting and laughing, Ladybug rolled off her partner and sprawled against the floor. “I… win…” she cheered between heavy breaths, the puffs of air billowing from her mouth as she spoke. “I… told you… I’d win.”

Chat placed his hands on his chest, feeling the quick rise and fall of his chest as he leveled his breathing. “I… always knew… you would.”

Ladybug let out a small chuckle, closing her eyes as she controlled her breathing. The soft snowflakes helped cool off her flushed skin and she couldn’t help but relish that feeling.

Chat bit his lip and turned his face to his partner, smiling brightly as his eyes traced over her silhouette against the dark, night sky. Ladybug had grown so much over the years. They were now inching closer and closer to their twenties with a whole life ahead of them now that the danger of Hawkmoth and his akumas would never loom over them ever again.

It had been quite an adjustment for Adrien to deal with since the defeat of Hawkmoth just two years prior. The shock was overwhelming—to say the least—but he thanks the kwamis every day that he had Marinette by his side since the very beginning. Throwing in Sabine, Tom, Alya, Nino, Chloe, Luka, and Kagami, his found family had been one of the best things he ever received after losing everything that fateful day.

Which brought him to this day, this very moment that he wanted to make it all complete…

He straightened his head, closing his eyes to focus on the next task at hand. After a few heartbeats, he cleared his throat, opening his eyes and bringing himself to a stand.

“Milady,” Chat called to her, stretching out his hand as he bowed. “Care for one last stroll along this platform before we freeze in the cold?”

Ladybug opened her eyes and reached out to capture his waiting hand, smiling as he lifted her up until she stood in front of him. She tilted her head slightly to the left, pursing her lips with a playful smile as he kissed her knuckles.

“And what do I owe the honor of having a stroll with this handsome kitty?” She purred, melting as the love in his eyes warmed her spirit.

“Just thought we could enjoy the snowfall for a quiet moment as a reward for your win.”

“As long as we cuddle in front of our fireplace when we get home.”

“I say that’s a deal.”

Chat brought Ladybug’s hand to the crook of his elbow, allowing her the chance to place her head on his shoulder while simultaneously keeping herself warm.

Walking around the platform at a snail’s pace, he couldn’t help but feel the nerves building within him. He could fight hundreds of monsters without a single thought, but as soon as the reality of what was to come rolled through him, he couldn’t contain the fear that wanted to escape his heart.

He looked down and noticed Ladybug’s sweet smile, her fingertips running alongside his bicep in a calming gesture. She was staring out into the night sky, the snow-filled clouds covering the dark canvas, yet her calming demeanor helped calm his own nerves.

Chat Noir let out a sigh of relief when his eyes reached the special spot on the platform—a cozy and private corner hidden from prying eyes. There were dozens of gorgeous red and pink roses that surrounded the enclosed space, with a small array of tealights that had been lit and positioned to give it a warm glow. He was happy that the wind didn’t knock anything over after leaving it on its own an hour earlier, and he continued to hope that it would look like this until they left to go home.

He waited with bated breath for Ladybug to notice the setup. The two inched closer to the corner, yet Ladybug was still oblivious to what was in front of her. With the nerves building within him again, Chat cleared his throat, breaking her from her deep thoughts.

“Are you okay?” She turned to face him and questioned him worryingly, believing the cold had something to do with the tickle in his throat. “Do you want to go home?”

Chat let out a small chuckle as he turned his eyes towards her. “I’m fine. But it seems like there may be something going on in this corner.”

Ladybug broke away from his gaze, looking towards the setup that was clearly waiting for someone.

“We should go—Chat!”

Before she could walk away, Chat stepped towards the area leaving Ladybug frozen in her spot. He smirked as he stood in front of the flowers, pressing his claws fingertips to the perfect blooms.

“Chat! Get away from there. You shouldn’t be touching someone’s private venue. That’s rude!”

“Eh. It’s fine. No one is here right now. I can just look.” He said playfully, silently pleading that she would come over to berate him or try to haul him away.

She groaned, making her way towards Chat in order to talk some sense into him.

“Chat, come on. This isn’t funny.”

“Actually…” He began, finally turning towards her and clasping his palms around hers. Ladybug furrowed her brows as she watched him look down, letting out a calming breath. “I’ve been waiting for the first snowfall of the season to bring you here. Do you know why?”

“Our reveal?”

Chat nodded as he continued to look at their hands. He let his thumb rub against her knuckles, relishing in the consistent movement as he spoke.

“That was one of the worst days of my life. That was the day that my… father… finally confessed to me in hopes I would turn to his side...” He let out a small sigh, shaking his head as he finally looked into her eyes. “But that morning was one of the best moments of my life. You made loving you a thousand times better. But that’s always been you. You’ve always made everything so much better for me no matter how much it hurt you. Always. Ever since the beginning.”

Ladybug tilted her head as a small frown turned her lips.

“I know we started dating before the reveal happened. I know I fell in love with Ladybug first. I know I was too dense to realize my everyday Ladybug was actually the real Ladybug right in front of me. And I know that I don’t want to be that dense ever again.”

“Adrien—” Ladybug whispered, trying to stop him from falling down a rabbit hole. But the look in her eyes told her it wasn’t the time to speak.

“Marinette. I love you with all of my heart. You’ve blessed me with your love, your kindness, your playfulness, your creative nature, your fantastic puns. The flirty way you wink at me makes me melt inside. I fell in love with you twice because you are just so damn amazing!”

Tears were welling in his eyes, but he didn’t want to lose his momentum to wipe them away.

“My lady. I don’t want to spend a moment away from you. I know we live together and we spend an exuberant amount of time dancing along the Parisian night sky, but I would love to take the next adventure of our life together with you as my wife. Have the children we always hoped to have. To spend the rest of our days making each other laugh and smile. To wipe away the tears. To kiss away the fears. To love each other until death do us part.”

Chat unzipped the pocket of his suit, removing the small gold band with a pink, solitaire diamond and sliding it onto her gloved finger. “I love you so much. Please. Will you take me and love me forever?”

Silent, happy tears ran down her cheeks as the full extent of his words seeped into her mind. She took one moment and stared at the ring, then quickly wrapping her arms around his neck, capturing his lips with hers. The sweet kisses melded and kept them warm, no doubt the effects of the intense love they shared.

Ladybug finally pulled back to take a breath, pressing her forehead against his as she relished in his warmth. “Yes, kitty. I won’t only spend forever with you. I’ll spend all that plus a day.”

Adrien sat on the floor in their living room, sitting in his favorite spot in front of the fireplace. He sighed happily, taking the quiet moment to watch Tikki and Plagg chase each other in the cozy space. He looked over to the fire to make sure it was emitting enough warmth, wanting to make sure it would help keep Marinette toasty until they called it a night.

He felt bad for keeping Marinette out longer than intended—even though she promised it was fine—but it only made him feel worse when he noticed her shivering after they detransformed. He kissed her on the top of her head before shooing her off to the bathroom to take a warm bath, then set out her favorite clothes on their bed.

Deep within his thoughts, he finally noticed her arrival once she set down a plate of cheese and cookies for their kwamis, and Adrien couldn’t help but grin at her sincere smile.

“Thank you, minou,” Marinette said before leaning down and placing a chaste kiss on his lips.

“Anything for my fiancé.” Adrien waggled his brows causing Marinette to giggle in response.

Before she could straighten her back, Adrien captured her hands, lightly tugging her down and dropping her comfortably on his lap. Marinette tried to wiggle away, but Adrien wrapped his arms around her torso, nuzzling his nose into her hair.

“Mmm... you smell good.”

“You’re such a cat.”

“You love it. Just admit it.”

Marinette snuggled into him further, even as she wore her warmest gray sweater, a pair of thick black leggings, and her favorite fluffy white socks.

“Warm.” She finally stated after a few moments of cuddling with him. “I love that.”

“And I love you.” He smiled, placing one sweet kiss on her neck. “I promised you a snuggle session in front of the fire. I hope it’s warm enough.”

“With you, chaton, my heart and my soul will always be warm.”

“Always?”

“Forever.”

#ml secret santa #miraculous ladybug fanfiction #miraclous ladybug #miraculous ladybug art #my art #christmas fluff #Merry Christmas

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queenofmoons · 4 years

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I and Love and You

“—So tonight?” Flash’s voice drew Peter out of his thoughts. He was standing over Peter’s desk, phone unlocked and in hand. His copy of Slaughterhouse-5 was on Peter’s desk.

Peter jerked his attention up to him. “Sorry— tonight for what?”

“To work on this project.” Flash stabbed the book with his finger. “Were you even listening to me?”

“Uh. No, sorry.” Peter rubbed at his eyes. “I zoned out.”

“Great,” Flash said. “We have to work together and you can’t even pay attention to me for five minutes.”

“Sorry,” Peter said. “I had a late night last night. What were you asking me?”

“If you could come over tonight so we can knock this presentation out. For the third time.”

“I’d love to,” Peter said. “But I’m seeing a play tonight.”

Around him, people were starting to pack up for the day. People pulled up zippers and out of their seats. Peter tossed his pencil into his bag.

“A play?” Flash raised an eyebrow. Peter nodded.

“A friend of mine is in it,” he explained. “I’m going to support her. I’ll text you tomorrow about when we can meet up?”

“Yeah,” Flash said. “Sure, whatever. Enjoy the play. I’m sure you don’t see that many of them.”

Peter ignored the dig.

“I’ll talk to you later, Flash.” He threw his backpack over his shoulder just as the final bell rang. “We’ll get the project done— I promise.”

—

Peter was so close to the main entrance of the school when Harrington called his name. Five more steps, and he would have been done for the day. But—

“Peter!”

Peter turned on his heel. One hand wrapped tight around the strap of his backpack.

“Mr. Harrington!” He said, smiling, because he’s Peter Parker and he’s polite, even when he’s in a rush. “Hi!”

“Peter, can you come here for a second?”

Peter wanted to groan. He wanted to roll his eyes, and say no, because he has places to be and people to help, and flowers to buy.

He made his way, against the flow of traffic, over to Harrington.

“You have model UN experience, right?” Harrington asked. Peter eyed him warily.

“Some,” he said. Mostly from Freshman year, when he had spare time. He went to most of the meetings, but only ever attended a single conference downtown. “Why?”

“There’s a small conference tonight,” Harrington said, “In the auditorium. We’re short a person, I was wondering if you’d be able to fill in. You know how I appreciate your outlook.”

Peter made a face he learned from MJ.

“Sorry, Mr. Harrington.” He shook his head. “I’ve got plans.” He looked past Harrington. His face broke into a smirk. He pointed. “I think Flash is free tonight, though.”

When Harrington turned to address Flash, Peter snuck out of the building.

—

Dark clouds gathered over the city like a greyscale watercolor. Humidity hung in the air. It was going to rain soon.

Peter had four hours.

He did the usual rounds: helped old ladies cross the street, got leftovers from the butcher and fed them to stray dogs, stopped a mugging before it happened.

The sky got darker. The wind picked up.

He was on his way back to the apartment with plenty of time to shower and get changed when he heard the commotion. Yelling, and honking, and the sounds of car doors slamming. Below him, an intersection was overflowing: an agitated sea of yellow taxis and semi-trucks and Toyota Corollas. Hanging above them, swaying in the growing wind, was a blinking traffic light.

“Uh oh,” Peter said. Some people were stepping out of their cars.

He landed in the middle of traffic, hands up in a stop motion. “Hey everyone! Can we all just calm down and stay in our cars?”

There was no traffic guard in sight. Sure, Peter had passed driver’s ed, but knowing how intersections work and actively directing them were two entirely different tasks.

So he couldn’t direct traffic. That wasn’t his only option. He kept his arms out.

“Can you all just stay in your cars?” He repeated as New York (being New York) continued to erupt in yelling and door-slamming and honking. “This should only take a few minutes!”

And hopefully it would, because he needed to leave soon if he wanted to make it on time.

He pulled himself up to the traffic light.

It was bigger than Peter had expected. Its height spanned from Peter’s knees to the bottom of his chin. Up close, the blinking lights were like staring into a rave.

(Why had he expected traffic lights to be, at most, the size of his forearm? These things were massive.P

“Good thing I’m not moth man,” Peter laughed to himself. Then, “Karen— you have any idea how to fix one of these things?”

“Let me check,” she said. Carefully, Peter unscrewed the LED panels and swung them open until he was staring at the panel inside of the light. The opened panels jumped in the wind. Peter was face-to-face with flashing lights on a motherboard. He frowned.

“Karen?” He checked in.

“A few wires came loose,” she told him. “It must have been the wind.”

“Fantastic,” Peter said. “An easy fix. That’s what I have time for.”

It was not, of course, an easy fix.

The wind smashed the panels into his fingers multiple times. The beginnings of a rainstorm— drizzle and cold— cut to his bones. The water also went right to the circuit board. In the span of time it took to dry off the board before reattaching each wire, he could have finished three times.

Below him, traffic had only gotten angrier. Except, now, some of that anger was directed at him. People shouted for him to hurry up. Some accused him of messing up the light in the first place. Newcomers assumed he was the reason they were stopped at all.

What should have been a five minute fix took fifteen. It had only gotten darker out. The wind had only picked up. Peter was already mentally writing the script for Jameson’s next Spider-Man segment:

Spider-Man disrupts traffic by taking apart a traffic light! Clearly, he was trying to cause accidents. Why else would he have been messing with it so long?

When the traffic light jumped back to life, Peter’s sighed with relief. He replaced the panels. The light turned green. He pumped his fist.

Peter landed on a light post on the sidewalk. Below him, traffic had gone back to moving at a snail’s pace— an abundance of honking and yelling was replaced with the usual amount of honking and yelling.

If Peter hurried, he could still make it on time. He readied himself to jump back into the air.

“Wait! Spider-Man!” Peter turned. The owner of a flower stand was waving him over. He was covered in pollen, his white shirt speckled with a thick layer of neon green, with dark streaks where rain had displaced it.

Peter waved at him. “Hey— you need something?” He asked, leaping from the top of one light post to the one right beside the cart.

“You saved my son!” The man said. Up close, Peter could see there was pollen in his beard, too. “Last week— there was a fire in his apartment building on Laurel Street. You saved his life. I want to thank you.”

“It’s all in a day’s work,” Peter said modestly. “Is he doing alright now?”

The man nodded. “He’s working on getting a lease on a new apartment,” he said. Peter dropped down to the ground. “I want to—“

He held out his fist. There was money shoved in it. “It’s not much, but I want to repay you.”

“I appreciate it, but I don’t accept money,” Peter said.

“Please. Take it.” He held his hand out farther.

“Really, I can’t take that,” Peter said. He put his flat palm on his fist and guided it back to him. The owner of the flower stand looked between the money and Peter. He frowned, deep lines formed in his cheeks.

“There’s gotta be something I can do,” he said. “Please.”

Peter clicked his tongue. “Tell you what,” He said. “I need some flowers for tonight. I’ll take a bouquet and we can call it even.”

The man looked at the money again.

“If you still want to give me the money, donate it to F.E.A.S.T in my name, but I’m not going to take it.”

The man regarded him carefully, eyes searching the gossamer sheen of the mask. His face broke into a grin. “You got a deal!”

—

By the time Peter was done getting changed, the sky had opened. He ran three blocks with a muffin gripped in his mouth, flowers tucked under his arm, and his phone nearly falling out of the shallow pocket of his jacket.

When he burst through the lobby doors, the security guards looked at him, startled. His sneakers squeaked on the tile. Water dripped from his hair into his eyes. His shirt was only half buttoned, his sports coat was soaked. He shook the bouquet of flowers over a trashcan in a weak attempt to dry them off.

“Can I help you?” One of them asked. Peter offered a toothy smile.

“I’m, uh. I’m here for the play,” he said.

“Right down the hall.” The guard pointed him toward a large, metal double door.

When he opened it, it creaked long and low. The people seated near the entrance turned to look at him. Peter grimaced. He held a hand up. “Sorry,” he whispered.

The lights in the theater were off. The only light was the fancy kinds on the outside of the walkways that just barely illuminated row letters.

He was careful to walk on the carpet as he made his way over to his seat. Much to his own chagrin, getting seated meant climbing over the laps of people while whispering profuse apologies into the dark room.

“You’re late,” Tony hissed when Peter finally dropped into his seat. Peter pushed the flowers into Tony’s lap while he struggled to finish buttoning his shirt.

“I know. Traffic jam. Did I miss anything?”

“Just an announcement from the teacher. Donate to the drama department and all that.”

“And did you?” Peter raised an eyebrow.

“No, I’m a billionaire and I can’t spare a few dollars. Take the flowers back.”

Peter held them between his knees.

Someone tapped his shoulder. May was two seats down from Tony— sitting beside Pepper. She grinned at Peter and waved. “You made it!” She said just above a whisper.

“Barely,” he agreed. He asked Tony, “You have a program?”

Tony handed it over. Peter flipped through until he found what he was looking for.

Red Riding Hood…………. Morgan Stark

Peter’s face lit up. The overture started. He handed the program back to Tony.

—

“Daddy! Mommy! Did you see that?” Morgan sprinted down the hallway. Her red cape flapped behind her. Her hair had been curled into tight ringlets that bounced as she ran. Her cheeks were flushed. She leapt straight into Pepper and Tony’s arms. Her little arms snaked around their necks, pulling their heads together against her own.

“You did such a good job, kid!” Tony praised. “Who knew you could sing?”

“You’ve heard me practice,” Morgan said.

“This is the first time you’ve actually sounded good, though,” Tony teased. Morgan pulled a face at him.

“Don’t listen to him,” Pepper said. Gently, she cuffed the back of Tony’s head. “You were fantastic, sweetheart.”

“I want an encore performance,” May agreed. “Will you come to the apartment and do it again for me?”

“Of course!” Morgan said, as if May had asked the dumbest question she’d ever heard.

And then she noticed Peter.

“You made it!” She launched herself at him. Peter had to struggle to catch her with one arm. The other hand gripped the bouquet tight.

“Of course I did!” Peter said, indignant. “Do you think I was going to miss Morgan Stark’s debut performance?”

She’d already drawn her attention to the flowers in his hand. “Are those for me?” She asked, taking the bouquet from his hands..

“Morgan,” Pepper started to scold, but Peter put a hand up.

“They’re actually for daddy,” he said gravely. “He sat really still in the audience, so I thought I’d reward him with flowers.”

Morgan narrowed her eyes at him. Peter scowled back.

They both burst into fits of giggles.

“Peter, honey,” Pepper said. “We were going to get ice cream. Would you like to come?”

“That sounds great,” Peter said. “But I actually—“

Morgan tugged on his sleeve. The flowers looked huge in her little arms. She frowned up at him. “Please?” She begged. “I haven’t seen you in forever.”

“You saw me last weekend,” he pointed out.

“You left before cake,” she countered. That was true. He had left before cake. MJ had called him with information on Venom and he’d needed to leave.

Peter sighed. “Where are we getting ice cream?”

“We can give you a ride,” Tony said. “But you’re sitting in the backseat. You smell like wet dog.”

“I used your cologne,” Peter said without skipping a beat.

“Watch it,” Tony warned, “that costs more than I pay you in a year.”

“One of these days we’re going to have a chat about wealth distribution,” Peter promised him.

“Do you want me to take back that phone I bought you?’ Tony retorted.

“Boys,” May scolded. “I won’t buy you ice cream if you’re arguing.”

“Yes ma’am,” Tony said. Peter stuck his tongue out at him behind her back. Tony swung a loose fist at him. Peter ducked under it easily. Morgan cackled.

“Okay, that’s enough.” Pepper put an arm around Tony’s shoulder and guided him away. She looked back. “You’ll have to sit in the back with Morgan, Pete.”

Morgan’s face lit up.

“Ha!” Tony teased.

“You too,” Pepper said. “May’s sitting up front with me.”

“Ha,” May said to Tony. “I’m Pepper’s favorite.”

“Morgan, hold someone’s hand,” Pepper said as they stepped out of the school. It had stopped raining, and the air was musty. Rain on pavement. The slick tar of the parking lot glimmered under the streetlights.

Morgan grabbed Peter’s hand. She hopped off the curb into a puddle. It splashed up, onto her cloak, onto the bottoms of Peter’s dress pants.

Peter wanted to bottle up the laugh that escaped her lips: startled and pleased and lively. She stomped her foot again.

“Morgan, honey, don’t—“ May started, but Peter had already joined her, splashing water up at her. Morgan squealed.

“How old are you again?” Tony asked him, and before he even had a chance to notice the mischievous glint in Peter’s eyes, Peter had pulled him into the puddle, too. “Hey!”

When he looked up from his (name brand, probably) shoes, Morgan and Peter were grinning at him. Instead of scolding them, he just spat out, “brats,” and splashed them back.

“I’m leaving without you!” Pepper shook her keys. She didn’t look back, but she could hear them scrambling to get out of the puddle.

“Moooom, Tony started it!” Peter teased. He matched his step with her, shot her a puppy-dog look.

“I don’t care if you’re not my kid, Peter,” Pepper promised, “I’ll kick your ass.”

Peter laughed and pulled her into a sideways hug.

“Daddy, I want Peter to sit next to me,” Morgan said.

Tony shot him a look— fond and warm. “Wow,” he said, sarcastic. “I see how it is!”

Peter would have given anything to know what he was thinking. They loaded into the car.

My AO3

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itsjustmyfantasyroom · 4 years

Text

I can't believe it.

This is episode based, the Hank Abraham case- which i touched on as lightly as possible but its there, so there is fair warning.

Warnings: Usual Svu, SVU based & Hank Abraham case.

The air was thick with tension, no one was game to say anything at risk of adding more fuel to the fire or saying something wrong. Sonny, Amanda and you felt like you had done something wrong, when in reality you done your job and caught a bad man, you guys couldn't help who it was.

Rafael wasn't himself when he found out the news. You guys hadn't spent much time together since the case came in, he had been working late, you asleep when he got home and gone by the time you woke. He was getting pressure from the DA to sort this out and get it out of the way as quickly as possible. It had to come first till it was all over with.

Pippa Cox walked out of Liv's office after watching one of Hank’s interviews with Rafael and Ed Tucker, she looked into your eyes with such hate and hurt, and you looked down holding back tears with red cheeks. You guys had walked into her and Hanks apartment at two in the morning and turned her and her kid’s lives inside out. Of course she hated you for it. You got up from your desk and pretty much ran to the on call room and shut the door behind you letting the tears fall.

Amanda had seen the look you were given and how you reacted, you didn't know she had followed you.

The door opened and you were sitting on a bed. She walked over and sat next to you putting her arm around your shoulders.

"It's a tough one"

"You’re telling me, I just hate feeling like we done something wrong, you know"

"Yeah I know, but we didn't. We caught the bad guy"

"We tore his family apart"

"Yeah, but he was doing bad things, you wouldn't want to be married to someone like that would you?" You shook your head

----

Friday afternoon came at a snail’s pace. You had a few messages here and there from Rafael over the week, and one late night conversation, he felt like a stranger. He told you he didn't want you to feel that he was taking it out on you, but he has having trouble processing everything that was going on, which you could tell from his sad watery eyes during that conversation. So you left him to it and stayed out of the way.

Sonny had gone to court with Liv on Friday for the ruling, he wanted you to go too, but you wanted to stay back and finish off paper work and just go home. You finished early and signed out when Amanda did. You got a cab a block away from the apartment and picked up two bottles of wine then walked the rest of the way home.

You hadn't heard from Rafael so you decided to give it a couple of hours before you would order in. Sonny messaged you with outcome and you weren't sure how Rafael would be when he got home. You showered and washed you hair and put on some cotton shorts and a t-shirt and opened the wine.

You pretty much sculled down the first bottle. You were on your last glass from that bottle staring out the window when you heard the keys in the door. Rafael walked in like a zombie and went straight to the bathroom not even saying hello and you heard the shower running.

You stood at the island and opened the second bottle of wine and filled your glass up, picked up your phone and ordered his favourite Thai dish from a place down the street. You poured him a drink just how he liked it and sat it at the end of the island so he could see it when he walked out of the bathroom.

He came out in a pair of cotton track pants and a white t shirt, walked straight to the drink and drunk it in one go, he walked over to you, turned you to face him and wrapped his arms around your waist and hide his face in your neck.

"Just hold me, don't let me go ok" You nodded and kissed him on top of the head.

Not much was said for the rest of the night, dinner came and you ate in silence, Rafael having a couple more drinks after dinner. After you cleaned up and sat on the couch, Rafael joined you and laid his head on your lap and you ran your fingers threw his hair.

Next minute you heard him lightly snoring, you wiggled out from under him laying is head slowly down and covered him with a blanket and went to bed. You wanted nothing but to pull him to bed with you, but he was completely drained and slightly drunk, so best to just leave him there.

****

The light was streaming in from the window through your eyes lids, you slowly rolled onto your back and was surprised when you seen Rafael laying there looking up at the ceiling.

"Morning Rafi, are you ok?" You lent over and kissed him on the cheek. He didn't answer straight away. He was frowning and his jaw was clenched.

"I can't believe it you know-why he would risk everything over doing something like that. He had everything. An amazing job, a wife, two healthy happy children and he did that knowing if he was caught what would happen" he shook his head.

"No one will ever be able to answer that Rafi, not even him. He was fighting demons no one knew about and they won. I feel sorry for Pippa. Being married to him for so long and having his children, for him to be doing that behind her back. But I can't help but think it was our fault."

He turned his head and looked at you, you looked down

"Why would you think that?"

"Well if we had left when Liv told us too, he wouldn't have got caught and their lives would have gone on like they always had. All week Sonny, Amanda and I have been blaming ourselves. But we were just doing our job. But we tore his family apart-and I couldn't help but think you were mad, at us, at me starting this shit storm"

He rolled over and faced you, wrapping an arm around your waist.

"Look at me Hermosa" you didn't "Hermosa" you huffed and looked up to meet his gaze.

"I don't want you to ever think that ever again. He would have got caught. You done your job, and a good job at that. I'm sorry for the distances, I just couldn't get it to sink in. It triggered so much for me and I didn't know how to process it. Not that my father did anything like that, but he had an amazing wife and me, and it still wasn't enough, his actions caused him to lose us. I don't understand why what they have isn't enough."

"It’s life Rafi, some people it’s just their makeup, how they are made, they don't care if they lose what they have, no matter how good it is. If we weren't in the job we're in, none of this would matter as much as it does, it would just be another story on the news. But we see it first hand, we have a different point of view than most people. I just hope-never mind"

"No say it"

"I just hope I'll always be enough for you Rafi" his whole face softened and he lent down and kissed you lightly on the lips.

"Hermosa, you always have been and always will be enough, I love you."

****

"Tio Raf, you promised so long ago" Zara pouted over the video call.

"I know mi Amor, but Tia and I have been really busy with work"

"Sweetie, as soon as Aunty Liv and Tio Raf's boss give us some time off we will be out to see you"

"I can call Aunty Liv and talk to her" you, Rafael and Nick started laughing

"It's ok sweetie thank you, but I can handle her"

****

"Ladies and Gentleman this is your caption speaking, we have arrived at LAX airport, local time 7 am, enjoy your stay in Los Angeles California"

The sun was shining down and you could smell the salt in the air, you hadn't been this relaxed in a very long time. You and Rafael were standing on Santa Monica pier waiting for Nick and Zara to come.

You both finally got some time off and worked with Nick on a week he had Zara over summer break. You guys all decided to keep it as a surprise for her. Although Rafael would have preferred a beach somewhere, you both naked most of the time, he was looking forward to some time away and some time with Zara. Nick only had a 1 bedroom apartment, so you guys were staying in a hotel. Rafael preferred it that way anyway, because he knew at the end of the day he could get you alone.

"You excited Hermosa?" Rafael was leaning on the rail looking very handsome in jeans and a casual button down, your arms wrapped around his middle and your chin on his shoulder

"Very much so. You?" He nodded and kissed you on the cheek.

"Hey Sweetie, I have a surprise for you"

"What is it Daddy?" Zara looked up at Nick

"Have a look around first to see if you notice anything"

Nick had sent you a message saying they were walking towards the pier, so you both started to make your way toward the entrance. You could see Zara scanning the crowd, and then her eyes met yours and she smiled and screamed.

"TIA" she ran towards you and knelt down a bit so you could pick her up as she got to you. Zara wrapped her arms around your neck and you picked her up.

"Hey my sweetie, surprise. I've missed you so much"

"Tia you made it. I've missed you"

You gave her a kiss in the cheek and placed her back on the ground when she wrapped her arms around your waist.

"Hey mi Amor"

"TIO RAF"

She pulled away from you and jumped on to Rafael, him picking her up. That finally gave you a chance to say hello to Nick. You wrapped your arms around his neck and his around your middle, he lifted you slightly off the ground.

"I've missed you so much Y/N"

"Me too Nick"

He put you down and pulled away, kissing you on top of your head resting his arm around your shoulders.

The week had been amazing, you guys had done so much with Nick and Zara. Zara was going back to Maria that night, and it was your last day tomorrow, you guys had a midnight flight. Nick was going to take you both out for dinner and then drive you to the airport.

"So the last case was a tough one hey" Nick took a sip of his beer.

"You could say that" Rafael frown "You’re lucky you missed out on all the fun" he rolled his eyes.

"It was horrible" you took a sip of your wine "that's really the first time I questioned myself at my job"

"Why would you do that?" Nick grabbed your arm and gave it a light squeeze "Your amazing at what you do, you couldn't help who it was. I was shocked when you told me"

"Anyway let's talk about something else, you look happy Nick, and so does Zara" you smiled at him.

"She is, I’ am. I' am missing a couple of things, well people, but it was worth the move for the most part, especially when the people I miss most come to visit"

"You don't miss me Amaro" Rafael smirked at him

"Well no, but you guys are a package deal" Nick winked at you.

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ayma-nidiot · 3 years

Text

“Don’t Speak Their Names” - Shrimpshipping fic Chapter 29

This chapter can be found here on AO3.

Author’s Note: This chapter will have implied Prideshipping, as will a small number of subsequent chapters. I will put warnings for when that happens.

Also suicide TW.

Chapter 29 - Peacemaker

~29 November 2005~

“Ugh, Doc, can I leave yet?” Rex whined after Dr. Balls had just finished a checkup at the off-campus hospital. “I feel like I’ve spent most of my college life in the hospital. I’ve already been here long enough when I had morning sickness. I wanna go have fun like every other freshman.”

“Unfortunately, that’s what happens when you’re about to have a child, young man,” Ptera spoke sternly. “You’re about to become a mom, and you need to act like it. You need to be a good role model for your daughter, and that includes not treating college like it’s a place just to go party.”

“Nag, nag. I got all my homework and projects done, didn’t I? I even got an A on one of my tests for biology class. I’ve never done that before! And while I’m hospital-bound too! Aren’t you proud of me, Mom?”

Ptera ruffled her son’s hair. “Well, I suppose I can’t expect you to turn into mom of the year overnight. But work on it, okay?”

Dr. Balls spoke up, “As your doctor, I won’t try to parent you. But I will say that you are good to go after today.”

“What, really?” Rex would have jumped out of bed if Ptera didn’t hold him down in it.

“Yes, but do not push yourself too hard - mentally or physically. Even though you’ve only got four weeks left in your pregnancy, it’s in your baby’s best interest to avoid going into labour early. And you need to tell me if anything - and I mean literally anything - goes awry. Is that clear?”

“Crystal, Doc. If he forgets, you can be sure that I’ll remember.”

“Much faith in me, Mom. Much faith.”

“Papa! Papa!” Amber could be heard shouting all the way from the first floor, along with the stomps of dozens of soldiers.

“Hey!” Dr. Balls shouted down the hallway. “No running in the hospital! I don’t care who you are!”

“I’m so sorry, Doc.” Amber bowed before talking to her mother. “Papa, I’ve just-”

“Not another word, young lady!” Ptera got up, noticing before anyone else just how wounded Amber was. “Look at your arm! And… Is that a broken arrow sticking out of your butt?”

“Amber, please…”

Amber wouldn’t let Dr. Balls or her grandmother sway her. “After almost a month, we finally cornered two of the Earthbound Gods, Wiraqocha Rasca and Ccarayhua! But… But… Hah…”

“DOWN.” Ptera demanded as Amber reluctantly knelt while Dr. Balls tended to her arrow wound. “Now, then, you were saying?”

“Ngh…!” Even though she had a high pain tolerance, Amber nearly cried when she felt alcohol enter her wounds. “They found out what my intentions were before I even revealed myself. There were too many strong monsters... As a result, I’ve already lost some of my men. I intend to go back to the hideout I’ve found once I’ve gathered the rest of the army.”

“I feel like I’ve heard that second funky name somewhere…” Rex looked to the ceiling before deciding that, indeed, he hadn’t actually heard the name. “Eh. Must be my imagination.”

Just then, the building shook so hard, small pieces of rubble rolled into Rex’s room. “Don’t tell me that that’s your imagination too?” Amber yelled as she half-shifted, even before Dr. Balls finished treating her. “Tch! Looks like those Earthbound Gods found us. ”

“I’m still concerned, but I’m confident that you’ll heal quickly.” Dr. Balls opened a safe in his office, which held his Gravity Axe - Grarl. “Know that I am on your side.”

“All this time, I had no idea… Er, I mean, thanks for the help.”

“I… I can fight too!” Rex stumbled on his way out of bed. “Whoa!”

“Get back in there, you.” Ptera growled.

“That’s right,” Dr. Balls added. “I said you’re good to go starting tomorrow. You shouldn’t be fighting when you’re this close to your due date. Besides, you’re not an especially strong monster; what do you honestly think you could accomplish out there?”

“How dare you?! I’ve still got my Duel Disk and my duelin’ dinos - Urk!” Though he was in far less pain than he was a month ago, Rex was still extremely fatigued and suffered swelling in his feet.

“I think I can make far better use of that Duel Disk than you can,” Ptera declared as she put Rex’s Duel Disk on. “Now, Amber, lead the way.”

“Hmph. Buttmunches, one and all,” Rex grumbled as his family left the campus hospital without him.

Are you really going to let them take all the glory while you sit here like a log? spoke a voice in Rex’s head.

Rex threw the covers over his head, fidgeting and grumbling, hoping the hallucination would go away. He swore to himself that he would tell Dr. Balls about it when he got back from the battle, however long that would take. “Well, why don’t you try caring around a 6-pound sack of rice for eight months, then getting beat to a pulp while you’re at it? ...Wait, who the hell are you, anyway? Another hallucination?”

Please, listen… I am not a hallucination. Rex Leonidas Raptor, hear my plea. You must get out there and talk to Earthbound God Ccarayhua. She doesn’t really want to fight.

“Apparently, you weren’t listening to the part that I said I was eight months pregnant! And you really have no idea who you’re talking to, so let me remind you. I am a ‘shoot first, ask questions later’ kind of guy - a.k.a. I do not ‘talk’ my way out of my problems.”

But your boyfriend, Weevil, is coming, spoke another voice.

Rex froze at the mention of Weevil’s name, and dug himself even further into the bedsheets. “I… I know I’ll have to face him eventually, but… I can’t do it - physically or emotionally. And even if I don’t fight him, someone might kill him before my eyes…” Rex hugged the sheets around him more tightly. “I don’t want to go through that again.”

Just trust us, spoke a third voice. We will protect you.

“...” After a long contemplation, Rex gave in, slowly lowering his feet onto the floor and using the wall as a crutch on his way out. His unborn child squirmed, not allowing him to walk any faster than a snail’s pace. “Okay, but I’ll never forgive you if something happens to either me or my baby!”

While Rex trudged towards the hospital exit, Dr. Balls and his ‘gang’ ran down the long main corridor. “I’ve only read about the eight Earthbound Gods,” he remarked. “I thought they were just a legend. If they’re real and as powerful as I think they are… We’ve got quite a battle on our hands.”

“Yes, but thankfully, we have to deal with only two of them for now,” Amber answered.

“You’ve got quite a battle on your hands, hmm?” spoke a voice, whose source had already summoned his monsters. “Why don’t we help you with that a little bit?”

“Joey! Everyone!” Looking past her family and the Club members, Amber saw her mother’s Red-Eyes Black Dragon defeating some of the lesser enemies already. “...You better not let anything happen to Papa’s Red-Eyes, you hear?”

“I wouldn’t dream of it!” Joey stood back-to-back with Mai as the latter had three of her Harpie Ladies in front of her.

“These guys…” Mai used her Harpie Lady Phoenix Formation spell; even then, the onslaugh of the enemies seemed endless. “Is it just me, or are they even tougher than last time?”

“So you’re admitting your own weakness?” Joey chuckled.

“Speak for yourself!” Mai scoffed as Joey’s Iron Knight Gearfried fell.

“Okay, okay… Say, Mai. I know I’ve been chicken about it, but…”

“Less talk and more fighting, Joey!” Mai barely dodged out of the way so she could summon her Harpie’s Pet Dragon too, while Joey summoned Gilford the Lightning and Jinzo.

“Joey…” Amber could still fight well enough, even though she stopped to talk to Joey. “Don’t tell me you still haven’t told her in the past month!”

“Told me what? N-Never mind, it can- Ouch!” While running, Mai tripped on a rock, and her three Harpie Ladies perished trying to protect her.

“Mai!” His monsters were already fending off some strong monsters, and Joey had no room left on his Duel Disk to summon more. So without thinking, he jumped in front of Mai to shield her from a direct Cyber Dragon attack. “Aaaaah!”

“Joey…” Mai still remained unwounded, but Joey suffered abrasions all over his body. While she spoke to Joey, Téa’s and Tristan’s monsters protected them. “You idiot… You could have used your monsters like every other damned duelist on this battlefield!”

“I know what I said about Red-Eyes, but I wouldn’t have minded if you used it to protect Mai.”

“I guess… If I’m gonna die anyway, then… This is as good of a time as any to say it… Mai…” Joey laced his bloody finger’s with Mai’s. “Mai… I love you more than anything else in the world. I… Urk! I just wish I… had told you during the Orichalcos mess. Maybe… Maybe then you wouldn’t have…”

“Joey, shut up!” Mai shut Joey up with a kiss. “You’re gonna make it… I love you too much to let you die here!”

“Aww, how cute!” Seymour, as Wiraqocha Rasca, hovered over the new couple. “Too bad your relationship isn’t going anywhere, because I’m going to kill you here!”

“I’ll let you have that honour, Seymour,” Dip spoke as she continued to attack her enemies in lizard form. “I’ll make sure these weaklings don’t stop you.”

“Joey! Argh, let go of me, you fucktard!” Amber had broken free of the Guarddragon Justicia that held her down, but was too far away from Joey to save him now.

Yet there was someone who could - a dragon clad in pure white armour and light. “Shining Neutron Blast!”

“Huh. I’ve never heard of that attack name before.” Before Dip could study this new enemy closer, she could hear a baritone voice singing. “Ugh… That song… What’s this, my strength is… fading? Dammit, I can’t hold onto my lizard form!”

“Now… Where have I heard that song before?” Joey lifted his head up to see a young man with cinnamon-coloured skin and spiky brown hair.

“Aww, that’s kind of mean,” the young man whined as he used healing magic on Joey. “After all the battles you fought with Father and Papa, you don’t remember them?”

“Come to think of it, there’s only one person I’ve ever known that’s used Blue-Eyes Shining Dragon…” Joey still felt tired, but could stand on his feet again. “It’s…”

“Big Bro!” Mokuba hugged Kaiba from behind, recognizing his brother’s dragon form easily.

“Mokuba, now’s not the time! Save the pleasantries for later!” Kaiba jumped out of the way with Mokuba on his back.

“Hah!” Now that Atem had stopped singing, Seymour could transform back into his condor form. “I really wanted to hear your beautiful song some more! Too bad!”

“I’m more than just a song, you fiend.” Using his DiaDhank, Atem summoned Dark Magician and Dark Magician Girl.

“The dragon… Could he be-”

Before Amber could say another word, Phuckdis and William had just come onto the scene with the rest of the army. “Sorry we’re late, Amber!”

“About time!” Amber backflipped in the air to avoid an attack from Dip. “Help me take down this overgrown lizard, will ya?”

“‘Overgrown lizard…’ Ah!” Upon seeing his sister again, Phuckdis froze in place. “Dip… Is that you?”

“Well, so nice of you to visit after, what? Sixteen fucking years?” Dip set her sights on her brothers. “Why don’t you finish what you started back then?”

“Sister…” William couldn’t move either. “I don’t want to fight you.”

“Oh, that’s rich!” Dip’s attacks got more intense. “You disown me, and then now you say you don’t want to fight? You cowards!”

“William, we need to fight her.” Phuckdis began to fight back, albeit reluctantly. “She’s an Earthbound God.”

“Yes, those were almost the exact same words you used! So come at me with your bullets, Borreload Savage Dragon, and run your dear sister through!”

“W-Wait!”

“Huh?” Ptera turned around to see a half-shifted Rex hobbling out of the hospital. “Rex! Get the hell back in your room!”

“Oh my fucking gods, Rex, you’re insane! Ggh!” Dr. Balls swung around with his axe, striking the enemy that lunged towards Rex. “Are you trying to give birth in the middle of a battlefield?”

“Mom… Dr. Balls… Please…” Rex tried his best to hide the deep pain he was in. “And you too, Phuckdis. Dip doesn’t want to fight either of you; she’s just very hurt by what you guys did to her.”

“And what the hell would you know, rabbit?” Dip turned her attention to Rex now. “You have no idea what I’ve been through, what being estranged by your ‘family’ feels like!”

“I may not understand you, but I know what it’s like to have your family abandon you… and to reconnect with them after so long. If I can do it, so can you.”

“Rex…” Spinos looked at his son in sorrow for a brief spell before summoning Jurrac Tyrannus and Jurrac Velphito just in time.

“Dip, you told me yourself when I was your prisoner. Don’t you remember? And… And how I told you about what Weeves and I have been through?”

“Ggh…” Dip could feel the darkness in her heart leaving her.

“Stop poisoning her mind, you weak cur!” Seymour readied a beam to fire at Rex.

“It isn’t too late. Just like Weeves did once, you can change your destiny. Join us!”

“Like hell she will! Take this you-” Seymour couldn’t say another word as Dip impaled him with a lizard claw. “Ccarayhua! What are you doing?”

“...” Dip said nothing as she withdrew her claw and reverted forms.

“Damn you, you… traitor… Argh…”

When all the enemies had been defeated, Rex slowly walked up to Dip, but didn’t touch her. “I knew you would come around and help us!”

“Who’d have thunk that the tyrannical, arrogant Rex Raptor would be a peacemaker?” Joey chuckled.

“Sh-Shut up!” Rex blushed. “I’ll have you know that I didn’t do it because I wanted to! A nagging voice in my head told me to.”

“It… It did?” Amber sounded curious.

Joey interrupted whatever she was going to say next. “If this ‘nagging voice’ told you to jump off a bridge, would you?”

“It’s not uncommon to experience hallucinations in a pregnancy, but if it becomes frequent… We’re going to need to have a private talk about that later.”

“I’ll take you up on your offer, Doc!” Rex gave Dr. Balls a thumbs up.

“Um…” Dip felt awkward being in the literal middle of this conversation.

Joey turned to their new ally. “Hey, aren’t you technically one of the bad guys? Why should we trust you?”

“ This is why.” Dip lifted up her shirt to reveal several deep scars on her abdomen. “After my brothers disowned me, I was so ashamed of my powers that I tried to kill myself… It turns out that we Earthbound Gods are not capable of doing that. However, the incident left my reproductive system so badly damaged… Now, I’m infertile.”

“So you can’t have kids with Daddy.” Amber still wasn’t wholly convinced. “And you think that’s a good enough reason?”

“If it pleases you, Lady Amber, you can kill me as soon as you suspect me. You’re welcome, by the way, for killing an Earthbound God for you.”

“I…” Amber had to admit that killing Seymour was a good enough reason in and of itself. “Okay, we accept you. But you better not chicken out when it’s time to kill the other Gods.”

“L-Like, right now?” Joey shook his finger at the changing sky above them. “Where have I seen that spider symbol before?”

“It’s the Mark of Uru…” Amber’s eyes opened wide. “Daddy is coming!”

“Weevil…” Rex trembled in place, hugging his baby bump. “I’m not ready to face him yet!”

“Don’t worry, you don’t have to be.” So Dip said, but after trying to transform, she found she had no will to do so. “Dammit! Why can’t I…?”

Dr. Balls couldn’t hold onto his animal form either. “Such is the price we strong shifters have to pay… There’s nothing more we can do here, Dip. Let’s go to my office, before Weevil arrives! Hurry!”

“I’m not scared of that bug boy!” Joey got up, with only Red-Eyes Black Dragon to defend him. “Bring it!”

“Hahaha! Gladly!” Weevil came to the battlefield alone, but with all the confidence in the world.

“And what makes you think you can take on half of an army by yourself?” Joey smirked.

“Because unlike your idiotic friends, I know better than to fully shift unless the situation demands of it.” Weevil’s arms and legs glowed bright red as he spared Kaiba a passing glance.

“You… little…” As strong as Kaiba was, he couldn’t even half-shift.

“Ah, yes, I remember you…” Weevil cackled upon seeing Kaiba. “You’re the reason why my father pushed me so hard… I would have been spared so much pain and suffering if it weren’t for you!”

“Do you honestly expect me to care about your pain and suffering?” Kaiba scoffed.

“I’ll happily make you care!” Weevil shot a quick ball of spider webs at Kaiba from which he couldn’t escape.

“I’m… I’m not afraid!” Despite what Joey said, after seeing Kaiba fall so easily to Weevil, he wasn’t fully confident in his own ability. “Get ‘im, Red-Eyes!”

Weevil easily pushed Joey’s monster - and Joey himself - out of the way. “So, that’s the best you could bring? Hah!”

“W-Weeves…” Rex fell to his knees as he and Weevil stared each other down.

“So that just leaves me and you, huh?” Weevil could hear Atem trying to sing from behind him, and shot him down before he could get another note in. “You should have brought less pathetic friends, Rex. They all thought I was the same pathetic ‘bug boy’ from before, and now they’re all paying the price!”

“I… I don’t think you’re pathetic.” Rex panted as he spoke, feeling more Braxton Hicks contractions. “You’re strong; you always have been. Everything bad that happened to you is just bad luck.”

“So you acknowledge it. But flattery isn’t going to get you anything, except a few more quick seconds of life.” Weevil pointed his right arms at Rex. “I would give you the chance to fight me now, but I already know you can’t. Gods, how boring.”

“Daddy! Stop!” Amber’s wings were so sore from her struggle against Guarddragon Justicia that she couldn’t fly another inch forward.

“Amber, you foolish girl. You should have killed me when you had the chance! Maybe then you wouldn’t have to see your dear mother die right before your eyes!” Weevil turned back to Rex. “I think I’ve kept you waiting long enough. Prepare to die!”

Right as Weevil raised his arm, however, a voice bellowed across the battlefield. “You will not touch him!”

“Now, where have I heard that voice before?” Joey wondered out loud.

“Joseph, it has been a while. It looks like you’re having trouble; do you need some help? Why don’t I… spruce up your Red-Eyes a bit?”

“How do you know my name, and what are you talking… about… Huh?” Joey noticed the Red-Eyes Black Dragon changing forms.

“H-Hey!” Weevil finally showed a sign of weakness. “Get out of here, if you know what’s good for you!”

“Hmm?” Rex smiled at Weevil slyly. “Where has all your confidence from before gone, hotshot?”

“Grr!” Weevil turned back to Rex, readying an attack at him. “If it’s confidence you want, it’s confidence you’ll get! Hyaaaah!”

Just then, Joey stepped in, blocking Weevil’s attack with his newly forged sword. “Not if I can help it. Leave my friend alone!”

“Ha… ha… Your friend?”

“And mine, too! Dark Magician Girl the Dragon Knight, charge!” Atem ordered.

“Aaaaaargh!” This attack slashed Weevil across the legs. “You motherfucking pharaoh! I’ll not let you defeat me again! ”

“You wanna bet on that?” Kaiba smirked with Doom Virus Dragon behind him. “Even if Atem can’t defeat you, I’ll gladly do the honours.”

“You…” Weevil lunged forward, but stumbled. “You’ll pay for-”

“Uru, that’s enough!” Anita suddenly arrived in hummingbird form. “Retreat - Watda’s orders.”

“But… But I can still-”

“I will do no such thing! We leave now!” Anita picked Weevil up with her wing.

“Dammit! Give him… back…” Amber shot several arrows at Anita that missed.

“Never mind them for now, Lady Amber…” Phuckdis looked upon the three people who had saved them. “Who are these people?”

“Is… Is that you, rich boy?” Joey could hardly recognize his former rival, who had aged 20 years since he saw him last, and now wore ancient Egyptian garb.

“Big Brooooo!” Mokuba jumped in the air as he hugged his older brother. “How have you and Atem been?”

“Atem is here too?” Joey looked to the pharaoh, who had hardly aged a day. “Yo.”

“‘Yo’ yourself!” Atem gave his best friend a high five.

“I… didn’t know that Aiko’s other child was still alive.” Spinos exchanged a few words with his elder nephew, and told Kaiba about his surviving family members.

“Then who’s the boy?” Joey gestured his head towards the young man that had arrived with Kaiba and Atem.

“Darned please to meet y’all! I’m Heka Kaiba, the son of Atem and Seto Kaiba!” Heka had a much more relaxed demeanour than either of his parents.

“Come to think of it… You’re a shifter too, aren’t you, Kaiba? So does that mean…”

“That’s right, Rex. I was the one who gave birth to him - after letting Atem top me once. I’ve also got three other kids back at home.”

“Brah, I know all about that.” Rex patted his older cousin’s shoulder.

“You’re… You’re Heka?” Amber hesitated to show herself before the Egyptian crown prince. “Do you remember me?”

Heka stopped socializing with the others when Amber approached him, and reached out a hand to her. “How could I forget that beautiful face of yours? Would you… let me touch it again?”

“Heka!” Amber brought Heka’s hand to her face. “Yes! Yes, of course! Oh, my love, you’re alive! I’ve missed this warm hand so much…”

“What?” Rex blinked as he watched Amber get comfortable with this guy he just met. “What’s going on?”

“How ever did you survive?” Amber ignored her mother.

“I’m not gonna bore you with the details. Let’s just say if it wasn’t for daddy dear protecting you and whisking me away to safety at the last second, we’d both be dead.”

“Maybe my future is bright after all…” Amber cried tears of joy that Heka wiped away.

“Oh, stop thinking about the future and focus on the present.” As Heka kissed Amber, he noticed the look of pain on her face. “Babe? Is everything okay?”

“I.. uh… might have gotten hurt in that last battle. Specifically on my butt.”

“Then how about I use some ancient Egyptian magic and help you feel better?” Heka showed no shame in lightly squeezing Amber’s butt before massaging it.

“Okay, that’s it, buster!” Rex huffed as he tried to break Heka and Amber apart. “Just who do you think you are, fondling my daughter that way?”

“Papa, you don’t have to worry about anything. Remember when I mentioned my boyfriend a few times before? This is him. He’s also a really good singer.” Amber twirled a lock of Heka’s hair. “By the way, love, you’ve got to perform a solo for everyone sometime. I’ve missed your gorgeous voice.”

“I take it you’re Amber’s mom in the present day?” Heka struck a pose. “Well, how do you do? What Amber didn’t tell you is that while I’m not a shifter, I’m one hell of a magic user. Your buddy Joey would probably be dead if it wasn’t for me. Haha!”

“Haha…” Joey answered with a half-hearted chuckle. “The pharaoh’s son is… one interesting fella, ain’t he? I bet he drives Atem and Kaiba up the wall.”

“Word. He’s nothing like my other self.”

“Hmph. I suppose I’ll tolerate your relationship with Amber for now. But make her cry, and I’ll make you regret it.”

“Daaaw, you’re a protective mother already.” Tricera smiled.

Kaiba didn’t like his son’s odd behaviour. “Heka, that’s quite enough. You need to act more like a prince and not make a fool of your father.”

“Yeah, yeah. Whatever you say, Papa.”

“Pharaoh…” Amber couldn’t look Atem in the eye. “I… Well… Thanks. Even though Daddy has caused you so much trouble, you’ve saved our lives today. And you, Kaiba. I wish you had come sooner, but it’s better late than never.”

“What do you mean?”

Phuckdis stepped forward. “In our future, we have a legend of a sacred creature known as the God-Shattering Star. He is said to be the only one capable of defeating the Crimson Devil, the strongest of the Earthbound Gods. Unfortunately, he never came… until now. Kaiba, we believe that you’re the one who will save us all.”

“That’s what I thought too.” Amber broke her hug with Heka. “And you summoned the three legendary dragons with you, dragons that are said to forge master weapons.”

“Timaeus…” Atem smiled at his old friend. “It’s been so long.”

“That explains the Red-Eyes Black Dragon Sword…” Rex could only take a quick glance at Joey’s sword before turning away, the flashbacks of their Orichalcos duel coming back to him.

“I… uh… don’t feel like I really did anything, but okay.”

“Don’t be so modest, God-Shattering Star.” Phuckdis knelt in front of Kaiba. “You are worth all the praise in the world.”

Amber knelt too. “You’re the only one who can save Daddy. Please… Please, help us.”

“Gee, I didn’t know my role as queen of Egypt required me to help people from the future. Just how many worlds do I need to save?” Kaiba facepalmed. “Fine, I’ll do it. But this will be the last time that I do something nice for you dweebs.”

“That’s what you said last time you tried to save the world, rich boy.”

“Oh, put a sock in it, Wheeler.”

“Our circle of friends is finally back together again…” Téa pulled Yugi, Joey, Tristan, Atem, and Kaiba in for a group hug. “If we’ve saved the world twice, we can definitely do it thrice.”

“Sigh…” Rex sat down on the concrete as he waited for Dr. Balls’ nurses to get a stretcher for him. “I just wish it could wait until after finals.”

#yugioh #ygo #shrimpshipping #fanfiction #mpreg

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jaspers-levis · 4 years

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The New Boy

Happy Pride month! I completely forgot to post this back when I finished, but better late than never, right? Please be kind in regards to my portrayal of the trans experience. I identify as my birth gender, so it was a different experience for me to write as a trans boy. I hope that I got somewhat close to what that experience may be!

Also, no matter who you are, you are deserving of love, respect, safety and happiness. This blog, although twilight themed, is always a safe space. If any of you need someone to talk to, my inbox is always open. Just because I may not know the full experience of what you are going through does not mean I cannot sympathize and offer comfort. We are all human beings on this planet together <3

Reader request by @eatmoarveggies

A new trans boy joins Forks High

“Can’t believe mom’s stupid job landed us in this stupid tiny town,” you muttered to yourself at the stoplight (the only one) on Main Street. Rain lashed at your windshield in an unrelenting stream, perfectly reflecting your mood. Not two weeks ago you’d been laughing it up at a cafe table in the sun on the California coast with your friends, planning a weekend getaway trip the last weekend before school started. Now you were driving as slowly as a snail through the pools of water covering the roadway in your crappy silver toyota, for once glad your mom hadn’t let you get a convertible.

You glanced at the clock, realizing that if you continued at this pace you would be pushing the bell when you arrived at school for your first day, and inched the gas pedal down a notch. Stupid dumb rain. Sighing, you finally made the turn into the Fork’s High school parking lot and pulled into one of the last spots available. You reluctantly shut off the engine and checked your backpack for your school welcome packet. Unfortunately they’d written your birth name on each form, rather than the name you’d chosen for yourself two years ago when you realized you were a boy. Even after all this time, the deliberate refusal to call you by your correct name still rankled.

Annoyed, you ripped your school map out of the packet and slammed the folder shut before hopping out of your car and dashing for the main building. The offensive welcome packet served as a good shield against the downpour and you managed to get to the office with your carefully styled hair still in place. “Hi there, honey,” a generically pretty middle-aged receptionist greeted you. “How can I help you?”

“I’m supposed to register for classes? I’m Y/N, from California,” you told her, setting your stuff down on the counter.

“Hmm…” she clicked industriously at her computer for a few moments. “I’m sorry hon, I recognize the last name but not the first.”

Sighing internally you muttered that it might be under your birth name, not your actual name and she instantly brightened. “Oh! Of course, here we are. Such an interesting name for a young girl. Is it a nickname?”

“No, I actually identify as a male,” you stiffened, resigned to an entire day of misgendering if the rest of the staff and students here at Forks High were as thick as this lady. “Thank you for your help.” You grabbed your schedule out of her hands and made a beeline for the door before she could say anything that was clearly already on the tip of her tongue.

On your way out, you opened the door right into a slim, dark haired girl who immediately dropped all her books and tripped over her own untied shoelace on her way to pick them up. “I’m so sorry!” you apologized, kneeling to help gather her books.

“Hey don’t worry about it!” she said cheerfully with a wry smile, shoving up the sleeves of her plaid shirt. “My mom always says I’m a walking disaster. Edward, my boyfriend, says if there is even the slightest change in elevation I’d fall.”

“I had a friend like that back home,” you return her good natured smile and help her stand. “My name’s Y/N.”

“Cool, I’m Bella,” she shook your hand, not missing a beat. She did eye you curiously but didn’t say another word on it, besides wishing you luck on her way to her first class. Hm. Maybe Forks wouldn’t be as bad as you’d thought…

And you were deeply wrong. Every single teacher called you by your birth name and when you corrected them whispers circulated amongst the class for the better part of the period. At least one person made a pointed remark about your physical appearance within hearing range each class, and one girl openly asked you what you had “down there” in between classes. Things only got worse when you asked if there was a private changing room you could use before gym. The instructor laughed before realizing you were serious and begrudgingly offered you a cluttered storage room next to his office. “I don’t like offering special treatment,” he groused as he unlocked the door. “Don’t mess anything up in here.”

You sighed and changed quickly, emerging to find a group of teenage boys, seniors and juniors mostly, waiting for you. Gritting your teeth at the sharp jump in your pulse, you tried to push through them. One of them caught you and shoved you, hard. “So what are you, really?” their leader asked, scowling. “You can’t seriously be calling yourself a boy, you look like a fucking girl. Or are you one of those gays too?”

“That’s none of your business,” you mutter, trying to get past them again. This time you were thrust against the wall so hard your head knocked against the cinderblocks painfully.

“Like hell it isn’t!” the leader growled in your face, pinning you against the wall. “You just want to get in the boy’s locker room for a sneak peek, is that it? We’ll give you a sneak peek right here!”

You spat in his face in retaliation and he threw you to the floor in anger, where the rest of the boys surrounded you in an instant, ready to beat the shit out of you. Curling into a ball, you sent up a prayer to whatever god was listening that it would be over soon.

After a moment, you uncurled yourself when not a single kick landed. You looked up to see the largest senior boy you’d ever seen standing before you looking scarier than hell as he stood off against your tormentors. A statuesque blonde girl stood next to him, shaking with fury and shooting daggers at the boys. “Don’t ever fucking come near him again,” she spat, taking a step forward.

“What are you gonna do?” the leader sneered, crossing his arms.

“You don’t even want to know, bro,” the enormous boy said, laying a restraining hand on the girl. “Get the fuck out of here before she loses her temper.”

The boys turned and ran at the look on the girl’s face.

“Hey man, you okay?” the large boy turned and reached out a hand to help you up. His skin was shockingly cold for such a large dude… “My name’s Emmett, and this is Rosalie. We heard the commotion and came to see what was going on.”

“I’m Y/N,” you stammer as Rosalie turns her fearsome gaze at you.

“If those boys, or anyone else even so much as LOOK at you funny, you come find me or one of our family. We’ll take care of it,” she said fiercely, her golden eyes frighteningly intense.

Emmet gave Rose a look and sighed. “Y/N… you’re new, right? You met our brother’s girlfriend Bella earlier this morning. Nice to meet you!”

“Nice to meet you too…” you said haltingly, uncertain.

“Ignore Rose; she won’t bite...well, you at least,” Emmett joked, patting you on the shoulder and leading the two of you back to the gymnasium. “But seriously, if anyone is nasty to you again, we’ll help you out. No one should be treated like that!”

“Why are you helping me?” you asked, apprehensive of these beautiful strangers and their generous offer of aid.

“Those guys are all assholes,” Rosalie growled, sending a terrifying glare in their direction across the gym floor that sent them scattering like cockroaches under a light. “I hate them.”

“Well, that, and we don’t like bullies,” Emmett shrugged. “What you have in your pants, who you are or what you look like are your business, not anyone else’s. Who the fuck cares anyways?”

“Way too many people at this school,” you mutter as the gym teacher approached, explaining the activity for the class. You didn’t get a chance to talk more with Rosalie and Emmett during class, but afterwards they invited you to sit at lunch with you and their family. Maybe things really wouldn’t be that bad if you had a couple of supportive friends like the Cullens...

#twilight fan fiction #twilight fanfiction #twilight #Bella Twilight #Emmett McCarty #Emmett Cullen #rosalie lillian hale #rosalie hale

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rosemaidenvixen · 4 years

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Both Sides of the Sky

I. An Inauspicious Introduction

AN: Just so no one’s blind sighted, Strickler is a villain in this story and he will not be getting any amount of redemption whatsoever. That might be a dealbreaker for some people so I want to make it clear from the get go that Strickler is not a good guy in this AU.

Ao3

Claire tugged at the ribbons of her bonnet and tried not to look as grouchy as she felt.

She, her parents, Lawrence and Lenora were waiting by the beginning of the path running by the river that ran past town. At any moment Lord Walter Strickler was supposed to arrive with his son, James Strickler, so that Claire and James could accompany each other on a supervised stroll so that sparks would inevitably fly between them and in a few short months she could be introduced as Lady Strickler.

Claire tamped down the urge to fling her bonnet in the river.

She didn’t want to be here. She did not want to be here.

Part and parcel of being the heir of her parents’ estate was getting married and producing more heirs. Claire knew that, she’d known that for a long time. But no one was giving her space to breathe. To figure out what she wanted the rest of her life to be like. If she wanted to spend it with anyone at all; much less some boy she’d never met. The formal announcement of her inheritance, meeting with a potential suitor, this was all happening so fast Claire’s head was spinning.

Anytime she stepped back and thought about all the responsibilities and duties that would be heaped upon her it felt like choking on sand.

The sound of a carriage approaching pulled Claire from her thoughts. As the carriage came to a stop two figures stepped out and made their way towards them.

“Oh, good,” her father was visibly relieved “I was starting to think that they wouldn’t come,”

“How fortunate,” Claire grumbled.

There were several more snide remarks she had in mind, but one stern look from her mother and she knew any further sauciness wouldn’t be tolerated.

Claire recognized Lord Strickler striding briskly towards them, having met him before at one of Karl Ulh’s parties. The dark haired boy beside him was unfamiliar, but he couldn’t be anyone other than Strickler’s son. After greeting both of her parents, the tall, grey haired lord tipped his hat in Claire’s direction “The young Miss Nuñez, a pleasure to make your acquaintance,”

She pasted on her most appropriate smile “The pleasure is all mine,”

Her parents had been absolutely over the moon to have their daughter courted by an actual aristocrat, but up close Lord Strickler didn’t appear too terribly different from various gentry and landowners Claire had met, albeit in much finer clothes.

Strickler placed his hand on the shoulder of the boy beside him “Please allow me to introduce my son, James,”

James smiled in Claire’s direction “A pleasure to make your acquaintance Miss Nuñez,”

Knowing what was expected and keenly aware of both her parents and Lord Strickler’s eyes on them, Claire extended her hand and allowed James to kiss it “Likewise,”

While James had her hand Claire was able to get a better look at him. Skinny, black hair and blue eyes, dressed just as richly as Strickler. But whereas Strickler seemed right at home standing by the side of the forest dressed to the nines, something about the way James held himself seemed stiff, artificial even.

Dance of courtesy completed, James released her hand. Claire let it fall back to her side, resisting the urge to wipe it on her skirt.

“We will stay here and discuss business,” Javier smiled down at them “Why don’t you two get started on your walk,”

Claire’s gaze flicked from the adults back towards James. He had moved toward the start of the path, forearm held out expectantly.

Best to get this over with, the sooner Claire started the sooner she could be done.

Willing herself not to grimace, Claire laid her hand across his arm and they started down the worn dirt path. Lenora and Lawrence, their chaperones, followed at a distance where they could assure that nothing indecent happened between Claire and James, but far enough away that the two could speak without being overheard, provided they didn’t start shouting.

They trudged along in complete quiet, Claire gazed past the river and through the trees that stretched off into the distance, eyes unfocused, as they wound their way down the path at a snail’s pace.

“Lovely weather we’re having,”

It took Claire a little while to realize that James expected a reply “Yes, it is a lovely day,”

Silence stretched out between the two of them.

“Have you…have you been to the seaside?”

“Yes, last summer, it was quite a pleasant trip,”

The conversation fell flat yet again, from the corner of her eye Claire could see James working his mouth, no doubt struggling to come up with another utterly unimaginative question to ask her.

Claire rolled her eyes, confident that James wouldn’t notice. The rigid way he held himself, his horribly bland attempts at conversation, did this boy have any personality of his own or had Strickler dressed up a wooden plank in fine clothes and started introducing it as his son?

Still, she had to admit James was far more pleasant company than Seamus, who’s only redeeming quality had been that he was far less of a pompous, self satisfied oaf than his father.

But that didn’t mean Claire enjoyed being forced to spend time with him.

“Are there any instruments you enjoy playing?” James’s voice disrupted her musings.

Claire decided to glean whatever enjoyment she could from this forced outing “Actually yes, I have a harp made from human bones, whenever I play it flocks of ravens come down from the sky and peck anyone nearby to death,”

James jerked his head towards her, stunned into silence, his expression so horrified and utterly flabbergasted that she nearly laughed.

After a few seconds James looked away, seemingly giving up on his attempts to make conversation. He kept his eyes focused on the trees around them and away from Claire as they worked their way back to the carriages in silence.

Once their parents were in sight Claire detached herself from James and moved away from him as briskly as she could. Not even waiting for Lenora and Lawrence to catch up. Ophelia was upon her immediately “How was your walk?”

How was James was what she meant.

“The walk was…decent”

Javier came to stand at his wife’s side, briefly meeting her eyes before he speaking up in a gentle, cautious tone “How would you feel about doing this again next week?”

Claire took a deep breath, they had promised her that she just had to go on one walk with James and if she didn’t want to see him anymore they would be done, but it wouldn’t be the first time her parents promised her something while secretly hoping to never follow through “I would prefer not to,”

Twin looks of concern flashed on both their faces. Her mother frowned “Did James do anything to…upset you?”

Claire twisted the fabric of her skirt in her hands “He didn’t upset me, but he didn’t do anything to impress me either,”

A shadow of disappointment fell across Ophelia’s face “Oh…well then, that’s that,” she glanced towards the other side of the clearing where the two aristocrats were standing “If that’s the case we’ll let Lord Strickler know,”

Of all the responses Claire had been expecting this had not been one of them “Really?

Javier smiled and placed a hand on her shoulder “Of course, we’re not going to make you court a boy you don’t like. Now why don’t you go wait by the carriage while we tell them,”

Claire beamed at her parents “Thank you,”

And with that, they headed off in opposite directions, her parents towards Strickler and James and Claire toward the carriages. When she got there she saw that the drivers had dismounted and were standing a ways further up the road, exchanging idle gossip no doubt. Seeing no better options available, Claire planted herself on an errant boulder to wait for her parents.

Her outing was over and done, she never had to entertain James’s company ever again, now Claire just wanted to put this whole morning behind her as fast as she could.

She sat on the boulder twiddling her thumbs for what felt like ages, but realistically could have only be five or ten minutes.

At long last she heard footsteps approach. Claire prepared to rise and then paused. Rapid, unfamiliar footsteps that were most certainly not her parents. Impulsively, Claire ducked underneath her parent’s carriage, cringing as stones and gravel dug into her palms, and held her breath, hoping whoever it was hadn’t seen her yet.

Two sets of shoes came into her view, a smaller pair following a larger pair. As they reached the opposite carriage, the larger pair abruptly turned and faced the smaller. A frosty voice broke through the air “I can’t express how thoroughly disappointed I am in you,”

Claire had to stifle a gasp, she knew that voice, it was Lord Strickler. That meant the person he was talking to must be–

“Apparently you were so uncharming the young Miss Nuñez couldn’t wait to get away from you,” his voice was as cold and hard as steel, even Claire found herself flinching a little.

Taut silence filled the air.

“Have you nothing to say for yourself?”

When James spoke up his voice was so soft that even from less than three feet away Claire almost couldn’t hear him. Almost.

“I’m sorry…”

Claire winced, however he’d acted on their walk, there was absolutely nothing artificial about the meekness in James’s tone.

They fell quiet after that, the only sounds the two of them stepping into the carriage and the driver mounting up and getting ready to depart.

Just when Claire thought they would leave without saying another word, Strickler spoke up again “Despite your…lackluster performance, I’ve managed to convince Master and Mistress Nuñez to allow you one more outing with their daughter in a week’s time,” even without seeing him, Claire could practically hear the stern look on Strickler’s face “The fact that we even have a second chance at all is a blessing. Do. Not. Fail me.”

“I won’t,” James murmured “I’ll do better next time, I promise,”

“I should hope so, I don’t want to be having this conversation again,”

After that any further words were lost in the whinnies of the horses and the creaking of the wheels as they pulled away. Leaving Claire to creep out from her hiding spot. Looking down the road she caught a glimpse of the back of Lord Strickler’s carriage just before it rounded the bend and vanished from sight.

As she watched the carriage disappear into the distance, a hot flush of shame burned across her skin. In her indignation about being forced on this outing with James, it had never even crossed Claire’s mind that she wasn’t the only unwilling participant.

Looking back she was ashamed at herself for missing it. James’s apparent lack of personality wasn’t some character flaw, it was part of the mask he forced himself to wear when doing things he clearly had no interest in just to satisfy his father.

She should know, Claire had a mask just like that.

Her stomach churned with guilt. In hindsight, James’s stilted attempts at conversation earlier had been awkward for sure. Which made much more sense considering James probably had no more desire to be there than she did. But it would have been far less awkward if she had done something to help him break the ice.

She recalled the snippy remark she’d given when James asked her if she played. Claire did play, a regular harp, not one made from bones. She was no master at it, but Enrique already loved the lullabies she played for him.

Claire stifled a groan into her hands. A perfectly good conversation, right there, and she’d wasted it on a cruel comment.

Now James’s father was angry with him, all because she had acted like a brat.

The handle of the carriage door dug into her shoulder blades as Claire slumped against it. Lord Strickler had said that he had convinced her parents to have Claire and James go on another walk in a week’s time, and knowing her parents that was probably true. The idea of courting or marriage still made her stomach turn, but she didn’t want to cause James any more problems than she already had.

As a member of the gentry and sole heir of Arcadia abbey and the surrounding estates Claire had much weighing on her shoulders; duties, responsibilities, her parent’s very high expectations. As the sole son of an aging lord James was probably one of the few people who understood exactly what that was like.

Just one more walk by the river, it wasn’t as though she was being sized for a wedding dress. Claire could make nice with James for one morning, if only to ensure his father wouldn’t be angry with him again. Eventually Claire could find some way to break things off without casting any of the blame on James. Easy and simple.

She heard her parents approach with Lenora and Lawrence following shortly behind, and walked around to the other side of the carriage to greet them.

One outing. One pleasant walk with a boy her age. Just to keep their parents happy, that was all.

Claire could do it.

A fresh wave of guilt washed over her was she recalled the resigned misery in James’s voice when he was being scolded by his father.

Claire wasn’t the only one with overbearing parents to please. And if singing James’s praises after their next walk kept him from his father’s ire she would do it.

#tales of arcadia #trollhunters #claire nuñez #jim lake jr #jlaire #both sides of the sky #fanfic #rmvwrites

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petri808 · 5 years

Text

A Second Chance Meeting

For the lovely winner of the raffle @cstormsinukagblog found a cute prompt to use too, hope you like it :)

Prompt [173] You’re a valet driver parking a car. Inside you find a crumpled note with your own address on it. What do you do?

The restaurant was slow, but nothing surprising for a Tuesday. Many of the customers this evening has been business types there for casual dinner meetings, or cocktails before heading home. In other words, the usual traffic. For Inuyasha, as the Valet manager, these were the times he could catch up on other things, tidy up his workspace, or do paperwork. But one of his valet drivers hadn’t been feeling well and since it was slow, he’d sent the man home. Now he needed to pick up the slack and that meant catching cars on the drive. Inuyasha didn’t mind. One of the advantages of working a job like this one, was getting to drive lots of different types of cars.

After returning from parking one car, another of his employees was just finishing up tagging a set and getting ready to move a car from the drive. “I got this,” Inuyasha takes the keys, “keep watching the drive.”

“Sure, thing boss,” the man smirks, “oh and by the way, the chick driving it, veryeasy on the eyes.”

“Oi, mind the rules Miroku, any more complaints from the ladies and I won’t be able to save your job.”

“I know, I know, I’ll behave I promise.”

“Keh,” as if he believed the lecher. One day that man needed to find and settle on one woman instead of trying to bed half the town. “Be right back.” Miroku gives him a two-finger salute and walks back to the valet station. Inuyasha rolls his eyes, then slides into the driver seat.

Wait, something was amiss here. The scent of the car’s owner seemed familiar, even rousing, like a pheromone to stir the senses. And, if his nose was serving him correctly, there was a trace scent of him in this car! But Inuyasha couldn’t remember ever being in this car before.

After parking the vehicle, he rifles through any items he can find. A big no, no, but he needed to figure out what the deal was. The woman kept the car fairly neat and tidy. Kagome Higurashi, according to the vehicle registration in the glove box. ‘Kagome,’ he rolls that name over and over in his head. It was one of those moments when you know you knew something but just couldn’t break through the blockage in your mind, tip of the tongue so to speak. “Ugh!” Inuyasha runs his hand between the passenger seat and middle console where his fingers brush against a piece of paper. He pulls out the slightly crumpled note.

Inuyasha Taisho. It was his handwriting, albeit messier than usual. Along with his phone number and address. What was a note with his information doing on a piece of paper in a random woman’s car?!

He shoves the paper in his pocket and rushes back to the valet station where he sees Miroku, standing and waiting for the next customer. Inuyasha grabs the man with both hands, a sense of desperation dripping in his tone. “Describe her for me! The woman, what’d she look like?!”

A wide eyed Miroku, blinks, shocked by his boss’ reaction. “Um, little taller than 5 foot, long wavy jet-black hair, blue eyes.”

“That’s it?!”

“S-She has nice perky breasts?” The frightened man shrugs and immediately shrinks when Inuyasha’s eyebrows furrow. “I-I don’t know what else to tell you! You know I mainly look at stuff like that!”

“Ugh!” Inuyasha lets the man go in a huff, muttering under his breath about a pervert. “I think I know her somehow, or she knows me,” he runs a hand down his face, “I don’t know, but I found a piece of paper in her car with my info on it.”

“Whoa are you holding out on me? Wait,” Miroku pauses, scratching his chin. “About a month ago, you mentioned going out to a bar, but couldn’t remember how you got home. Could this Kagome chick have something to do with that?”

That’s right! Inuyasha recalls. It was the anniversary of his mother’s passing and he preferred to drink enough to just pass out for the night instead of going home to a lonely apartment. The bartender knew his routine and would hail a taxi for him at closing but that night, he had met someone. Fuck! It was all too hazy for him to make out any real details and right now it was pissing him off. All he knew was if her scent could affect him sober, could you imagine if he was drunk?

It couldn’t have ended badly if he’d wound up getting a ride back home from the woman. He shakes his head knowing that even when drunk he didn’t turn into a lush. Now he wondered if he’d started talking about his mother or some other sappy topic. Could she have given him a ride cause she just felt bad for him? He groans, ‘Please don’t let it be that!’

The longest two hours of Inuyasha’s life passes by like a snail trying to cross a football field. He paced. He whipped through customers, always making sure to be available in case Kagome came out of the restaurant. Miroku found it amusing to watch his boss, never seeing this side of Inuyasha before. The poor hanyo was like a lost puppy, head whipping towards the entrance every time he heard the door open, only to be disappointed, and ears curled back in dejection when it wasn’t her.

Till it happened. The moment the doors opened, and her scent came wafting out ahead like a calling card, Inuyasha pounced. He rushes up to Kagome, startling the poor woman at first and inciting a staring contest. Her widened eyes pause, processing the male.

All the thoughts and words he’d planned and practiced die on his tongue. He couldn’t say anything, just stare. Miroku had been right, Kagome was very easy on the eyes, and yet wrong, because to him she was fucking gorgeous! Her dark blue eyes were like staring at the ocean. Long wavy black hair cascades down her back, lightly shifting with the breeze. She was trim and fit, a beautiful body…. Ugh he loved her curves!

Seconds go by. This strange man…. Handsome. Her heart quickens as his golden honey hues hold her hostage. She knew him somehow. Kagome tilts her head slightly finally recognizing him, “Inu-yasha?” Her hands fly up to his face, cradling it, “It is you! Of course, how could I forget those ears! I hoped you were okay after I dropped you off, you didn’t text me like you said you would.”

That breaks his daze. “Wait, text you? Why didn’t you just call me? You had my phone number.”

Confused, her expression changes. “No, I didn’t, that’s why I put my info in your phone, so when you called, it would save on my phone.”

He blinks. “I, when,” pulling his phone out of his back pocket and scrolling through his contacts. There she was under ‘H’. “How did you?”

She chuckles, “you gave me your phone to do it because you were too drunk to. I guess I should have realized you might forget. But when did you give me your info?”

He pulls the piece of paper out his pocket. “I found it next to the passenger seat when I parked your car.” Showing it to her. “Maybe I wrote it and dropped it, but I don’t remember.”

“Here,” Kagome sticks out her hand, “give me your phone.” After Inuyasha hands it to her, she calls herself. “There we go, now I have it saved too.” She smiles and chuckles, “we should hang out again, when you’re sober.” Shouldering her purse and checking her watch, “Guess I should be going now, I’m glad I ran into you Inuyasha.”

The light blush on her cheeks didn’t go unnoticed by either of the men. Miroku, who’d stood by quietly, gently nudges his boss in the back, whispering to make a move. Inuyasha elbows the man to back off, but steps closer to Kagome of his own volition. “I’d like that,” he stammers, “how about this Saturday, I’ve got the night off.”

“That works for me.” Inuyasha opens the car door for her, and she slides into the seat. “Good night Inuyasha. Call me later okay?”

“I promise. Good night Kagome.”

With the taillights safely leaving their view, Miroku saddles closer again to his boss. “Good night Kagome,”the man teases by ending with kissing sounds. He laughs, “I don’t think I’ve ever seen you be so nice.”

“Oh, shut up Miroku!” Inuyasha storms away to his office with a big grin still plastered on his face. Pulling her profile back up on his phone, he looks at it, almost to make sure it really just happened. Suddenly, he hears a notification ping and switches to the messages.

Just got home. Gn again Inu, see you Saturday ;)

Inuyasha’s heart jumps into his throat as his trembling fingers work the keypad.

I look forward to it! Gn Kagome.

He exhales and closes his eyes for a breather. The next three days better pass by quickly!

#inukag #inuyasha #Kagome higurashi #inukag fan fic #raffle winner #inuyasha x kagome #inukag fan fiction #winner: cstormsinukagblog #au story

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nothing-but-kpop-dreams · 5 years

Text

Just "Friends" (5.5/?)

A/n: sooooo sorry this literally took forever. My job is hoenstly so crazy and i either dont have time to write or i am too tired.

All Parts

“Three! Two! One!”

The freezing rain was quick to snap you back into reality. The thin soles of your shoes barely had enough traction to keep you on your feet as you ran down the crowded and slippery walkways.

For a dude that you never saw walk faster than a snail's pace, Yoongi was actually a fast runner. You were barely able to keep up with him. It could have been that he was secretly fit or the fact that the rain felt like bullets of ice shooting down on you but the two were back in that dirty alleyway he found you crying at in what felt like ten seconds.

He was quick to usher you past the garbage bins you once hid behind all those weeks ago and pushed open the back entrance of his apartment building.

“We made it!” he huffed, trying to catch his breath from the burst of activity.

You looked up at him. His blue locks were plastered to his forehead and his shirt was completely soaked. His shirt stuck to his body like plastic wrap and the bottoms of his pant legs were a darker shade of blue compared to his thighs.

You on the other hand were only standing in soaked sneakers while the neckline of you shirt was the only other thing to get the most damage. Yoongi’s coat protected you from most of the water and you felt a bit bad that you had it on the whole time.

“Here you should take your coat back now.” you said, so that he'd at least have something to keep him warm.

He took the coat from you but didn't put it on. “It's alright I’m gonna change out of these clothes right now. Might as well lend you another sweater too.”

“Nah, its ok.”

“I said I'm lending you a new sweater.” he “insisted” kindly as he grabbed your hand again and began to lead you to his apartment.

Second floor, the second door on the left and you were in his humble abode.

“Okay, warning, I wasn't expecting this to happen so sorry that my place is kind of a mess.” He said a bit late considering you were already standing in the middle of his apartment.

You took a look around. It was a decent sized place, probably a bit bigger than your apartment, definitely cleaner. If he thought this was bad, he must consider your place a landfill by comparison. “No worries, it's cool, but where's holly though?” You asked excitedly.

“Oooh, he isn't here today. My brother took him for a few days”

“Aw, then what's the point of being here?” you whined

“To finish our date with some good ole fast food... or would you rather be out in the rain? Cuz i can very easily kick you out!” He said with a grin.

“I mean if those are my own options, imma get an uber!” You said jokingly.

“Like I'd let you get in some stranger's car.” he smiled more sincerely, very much noticing your cheeks turn a deep shade of pink. “Wait here and decide what you want us to order while I get changed. There's a few take out menus by the fridge if you want to look at those!” His voice trailed off as he went down his hall and into one of the bedrooms.

Very timidly did you make your way to his kitchen and took a "quick" look around for the menus he was talking about. It could have been possible you snooped through the cabinets and drawers, but it was just a thorough look at the place that's all.

The menus sat there by the fridge just as he said. There wasn't too much to choose from

“Burgers, sushi, pizza- oh that doesn't sound too bad right now, ohhh mexican food!” you were getting hungrier and hungrier as you looked through the pictures of the different foods.

“Boo!” A shout suddenly came from behind you and you felt a pair of hands grab your shoulders!

You let out a shriek. With eyes closed shut you spun around wildly throwing fists at your opponent.

“Chill!” You could hear yoongi laugh. His hands grabbed your fists to stop you from trying to hit him. “It's just me!”

He had a cute laugh, but right now wasn't the time you were going to let him get away with it. “Oh just you? All the more reason to do this!” you hissed, ripping one hand away and smacked him on the shoulder.

Yoongi only laughed some more. "I had to do it. It's pay back for scaring me at the park.” he justified.

“Ugh, fine. We're even.” You grumbled, taking notice of his new "outfit". Yoongi was sporting a faded orange t shirt that made his towel dried blue hair pop even more, paired with some black skinny jeans.

"And here! This is for you, you scaredy cat." He chuckled, pulling off the black sweater hanging from his shoulder and holding it out for you to slide on.

You rolled your eyes at him but complied.

The black sweater was huge. It was like he draped you with a blanket. It was thick and soft and all around perfect.

"Thank you." You smiled like a spoiled brat.

You looked up at him to find him with the same look he had during the whole movie.

His eyes were locked on you, but his face was a deep shade of pink. He was frozen in a stance where he was leaning in closyoongiyou, but not close enough to break your bubble of personal space. Yet again it was like he was holding himself back from making a move.

You yourself felt your face getting hot. You wondered if he was finally going to make a move or not.

After what felt like full on minutes of him just staring, he still did nothing.

Maybe it was your turn to try and get the ball rolling.

Without much thought, you reached out your sweater paws and grabbed his hands, moving him closer to you.

Your touch seemed to startle him, as if you disrupted his train of thought. You couldn't help but crack a smile when his eyes looked back at you with subtle look of shock.

You probably caught him off guard. Up until now he had been the one to make all the advances. He was the one to text first, hold your hand first, and was always the one to ask to hang out.

It's not that you ever turned him down in any way, but you also never put yourself out there with him. Why? You weren't completely sure. It could be that part of you still saw him as your nothing-but-pure-evil high school bully or that you were traumatized by any type of possible rejection after your drama with taehyung. Regardless, it wasn't really fair to him to not reciprocate anything.

"So yoongi, I've been meaning to tell you something." You started.

"Hm?" Was all he was able to get out, suddenly so nervous around you.

"Shockingly enough… I don't hate spending time with you." you confessed.

Yoongi couldn't help but let out a chuckle. "I told you I wasn't that bad." He mumbled shyly.

Silence fell between you two again. Neither one of you knew what to say next.

"... I-um... y/n?"

"Yeah?"

"I've been meaning to ask you something... I'm sure it's pretty obvious at this point, but I like spending time with you an-"

"Ay yo! Yoongi!" A voice came from the now open front door.

The two of you looked over at the front entrance and honestly, you weren't too surprised to see who it was. Even with his back towards you due to peeling off his soaked coat, he looked like he hadn't changed a bit since high school.

"Dude, you need to answer your fucking phone!" His voice filled the empty silence of the apartment. "Namjoon and I were creating such fire, all we needed was-" his blood ran cold when he turned around and saw you standing with Yoongi in kitchenette. "Oh! A girl!"

Jung hoseok, aka Hobi, aka Yoongi's partner in crime all through high school, stood in awe at the sight of you. Hoseok and Yoongi were always together back in the day. Most of the school was convinced Hoseok flunked a grade too just to be in class with Yoongi. And even years after graduation, it seems like they are still inseparable.

"What were you saying Hoseok?" Yoongi's voice was a full out groan now.

You on the other hand were a but too shookth to even wave him and just stood there like a statue. You weren't trying to be rude, but you weren't exactly friendly with Hoseok in high school, you know, cuz him being Yoongi's hype man in his bullying raids and all (of course now trying to accept the fact he was trying to be more of a wing man back then).

Upon landing his eyes on you, hoseok plastered on a smile and made his way over to you guys. "Oh it's nothing, but who's your lady friend here?" He asked walking up next to the both of you.

By this point you and Yoongi had let go of each others hand, so shy about being put on the spot.

"Hi, I'm hoseok by the way." He said bringing an arm out to shake your hand and not even letting Yoongi answer the question.

"I know." You said smiled awkwardly. " I still remember you from high school."

Now it was Hoseok's turn to freeze. "High school? We went to high school together?" He was suddenly looking at you more intensely, doing his best to try and remember you.

Suga let out a frustrated sigh. "Do you really not remem-"

"Shhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!" Hoseok's finger stopped Yoongi's lips from moving, all while having his eyes locked on you.

Immediately Yoongi slapped his hand away

"Oh my gosh" Hoseok whispered. "It's you! Cindy, right? Cindy from algebra 2?!"

Hoseok literally didn't even let you answer his question, he just attacked you with a hug. "Oh damn it's great to see you! It's been so long! how've you been?" He screamed joyously.

"She not Cindy you idiot!" Yoongi said pulling Hoseok off you. "It's y/n. She was a grade below us remember? Fuck, we all ended up graduating together stupid!"

"Whoops sorry! You and the girl I was thinking about look alot alike!" Hoseok laughed.

*You and Cindy, in fact, did not look alike*

"So we graduated together, huh? What's your last name???"

"You gotta be fucking kidding me!" yoongi grumbled. "Hoseok, this is the same y/n i liked back in high school." He spoke in a growl, so frustrated and a bit embarrassed over Hoseok's horrible memory.

Hoseok's eyes opened wide. "Oh…. Oooh!" He froze for a second "Oh you're that y/n." He said under his breath. Again, he stuck his hand out for a handshake. "Well hello again!" He said back in his original tone. "It's great to see you after all these years. You haven't changed a bit!" His tone, although, polite expressed a hint of what you felt could either be nervousness or embarrassment. "Um by the way… why are you here?"

"Hoseok!" Yoongi snapped.

"What?" The questioned innocently. "Last I remember, she hated us."

"I used to." You butted in. "...But now I don't." Without even thinking about it. your eyes trailed over to Yoongi and you couldn't hold back the little smile that formed on your face.

Hoseok very much so noticed the look you gave Yoongi. "So uh- so uh-" he was just waving his hands weirdly between the two of you "so uh what's going on over here then? Hm? Whats- whats a- going on between the two of you?" He asked, his eyebrows jumping mischievously.

"We're on a date." You said blankly.

Remembering how over the top Hoseok was back then (and seeing how he is now) you didn't want to add any fuel to his over dramatic fire by beating around the bush.

Immediately, his smile widened. His smile was so big you could see all his teeth. The boy was practically an attack on titan titan with the face he made.

"Say it ain't sooooooo!!!!" He screeched at Yoongi.

"It is! So now can you let us order some damn food?" A red face yoongi growled.

"Oh food! What we orderin'?"

"No, no,no. Just y/n and i. You want food, then you go out and get some." Yoongi ordered, grabbing Hoseok by the shoulders and attempting to guide him out the kitchenette.

"But it's still raining!" Hoseok whined.

"So?"

"C'mon! Hey y/n don't you wanna catch up with me over some… pizza? How about mexican food?" Hoseok pleaded as he held onto the counter, now from the other side of the breakfast bar. "I'll chip in this time!" He proposed, just as Yoongi tried to get the front door open with one arm while the other was gripping onto the back of hoseok's shirt.

"Nope!" With one swift yank, Yoongi put Hoseok out in the hall and he shut the door in his face.

Yoongi kept himself at the front door for a moment, putting all his weight in case Hoseok tried to come back in. Meanwhile, you were having a laugh attack at the sight of two men in their twenties acting like actual children.

"C'mon man! Let me in! Hoseok shouted through the door."

"No, I won't let you mess up this date!" Yoongi shouted back "And shut up the neighbors will get mad.

"Fine! … but can i at least get my jacket? It's still raining."

Very strategically, Yoongi grab hoseok's coat without allowing the front door to completely open.

"Bye y/n!" Hoseok shouted "niceseeingyou!youandyoongidonthavetoomu-"

Yoongi yet again cut hoseok's attempt to embarrass him off by shoving the wet coat in his face and slamming the door shut.

You continued to laugh on your own seeing a defeated yoongi place his head on the front door. It was very easy to tell that his best friends had a tendency to do something like this alot.

You both knew any chances of yoongi being cool after this were out the window.

"So…" he sighed, still hiding his probably blushing face from you. "did you figure out what you wanted to eat?"

-Admin Boat

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gingerstorm101 · 4 years

Text

Power Out

He groans loudly, his head falls to the window soon followed by his fist. “Stop! I beg of you! Just stop!”

Ziva can hear the man complaining from her desk as she finishes her work on the latest case they closed. They were thankfully able to finish the case just in time for Friday night to start. But the weather outside was quickly worsening, and as much as she agrees with her partner, her complaints were silent.

She glances up at the man for a brief second before she hits print on her report. All she has to do is hand it in.

“Are you almost ready, Tony?” She asks, pulling out a folder to put it in.

“Hm?” He turns to her. “Oh yes, I just have no idea how we’re getting home, the snow trucks haven’t gone out yet.” She hums her response to him, tapping her papers together.

“Thanks again for driving me home.” She says; her eyes soften as they land on him. “You do not have to do it.”

Tony moves around to sit on the edge of her desk, looking up at her. “I could not let my friend walk home in this weather. Besides, I had carpooled with you this morning, and you brought me coffee. I believe that warrants as good reason to drive you home.” He wiggles his eyebrows at her. “Maybe I’ll get a coffee out of it.”

She chuckles at him, leaning in close. “Maybe if you’re good.” Squeezing past him, she leaves to hand in her report. When she returns, Tony has his jacket on and his bag over his shoulder, her items were in her hand. In union, they walk to the elevator.

***

Ziva keeps herself from tapping her foot as Tony does a snail’s speed down the street to her apartment. After an hour they were finally the ten minutes away from Navy Yard, and neither Tony nor Ziva could be more relieved to see the building. Finally they could get out and stretch.

Ziva doesn’t ask out loud if he would like to come in for coffee, she didn’t have to; he parks the car and follows her up the stairs. She opens the door in a swift movement, a wave of heat greeting her as the two of them stepped in from out of the frigid weather.

“Ah,” Tony sighs. “At least the power didn’t go out.”

“Don’t jinx it, Tony.”

Tony gives a short laugh as the two of them shrug off their jackets and toe off their shoes. He hangs up his jacket before reaching around to grab hers from her hands and adds it to beside his. She wants to comment on it, but she decides to leave it alone as she watches him move before her. Instead, she turns her back on him and walks to the kitchen.

After making a pot of coffee, no doubt most of it going to waste by the end of the night as it was already 8:00pm that night, but she never knew, she might pick up one of her newest books and spend half the night reading it. She might need it then. Stirring the two cups and licking the teaspoon, she takes them to her partner who was sitting on the couch with his feet propped up on the table.

She places the cups beside him; she steps over his legs and sinks into the couch beside him. When he throws his arm over the back of the couch, she leans into him and pulls her feet up under her. “What does the weather network say?” She mumbles, resting her head on his shoulder.

“Snow, snow, and more snow.” He drops his hand down to rest on her hip. “It’s not going to stop all night and chances of more snow tomorrow.”

She sighs. “Hopefully by the time you get home, the snow has at least slowed down a bit. Or the traffic is gone.” He nods his agreement, then takes a sip of his coffee. “Do you want dinner?”

“I would love dinner, but I don’t dare to order out, the less I get a bite out of my pizza or half eaten fries.” She grimaced at the thought of sending a delivery boy out in this weather.

“I think I have a lasagna in my freezer from when I made a couple batches last month.” She thinks out loud. Her response is the growl from Tony’s stomach.

Ziva takes a few moments to listen to the lady on the TV to explain that they were going to be getting another three feet of snow over the next few hours. Part of her thought of sending her partner home right then and there, but she knew that he would end up going to bed hungry instead of eating. Knowing that the last thing in his fridge was a bottle of wine and his cupboards only held stale cereal.

She wasn’t going to let him go home hungry. “Keep me updated on the weather as I go start dinner.”

“Do you need any help, Zi-vah?” He asks, his eyes following her, a small smile adorns his lips.

She looks down at him from her vantage point. “No, no, it’s just turning on the oven and setting a timer. No need for the two of us in the kitchen.” He doesn’t say anything as she walks away, and she could feel the burning of his gaze on her body.

As she moves around the kitchen, Tony hollers updates from the living room. The main road has been completely backed up, and people who have been avoiding it have backed up nearby streets. The power in the south side of the city had been cut out from the wind cutting power lines, over by where McGee lives. Along with warning that the temperature was going to be dropping quickly over the next few hours and will continue throughout the night. Plus the comments from Tony on the howling of the wind from outside the patio door.

In the ten minutes it took to preheat the oven, more than half of the incoming traffic from the freeways has been brought to less than 5mph, if at all.

From her spot against the dining room table, Ziva says. “I don’t think you’re going home tonight.” He sighs and agrees with her. “Unless you want to be out in that weather for the next three hours.” The glare he sends to her was enough to make her laugh. With the timer set, she walks over to the couch and snuggles into his chest again.

“This is getting too depressing to watch.” He murmurs, handing the woman her coffee, knowing that she was going to ask for it soon. She nods against him, cradling her cup.

“I know, but we must know what’s going on.”

By the time the meal was cooked, another foot of snow fell to the ground. Ziva had opened the door to look outside to see that Tony’s car was almost completely snowed in and she could no longer see the footprints they had left when they arrived. The wind had picked up its pace, and they could barely hear the TV over the howling.

But they were inside and away from the cold and snow. And better yet, they were not alone.

Placing the empty coffee cups on the counter, Tony pulls the plates down from the cupboard. The way the two move around the kitchen, warms Ziva’s heart. They were partners, but they fit so well together. They moved together. Thought together. Maybe they’ve worked so long together that they knew exactly what each other was thinking. When he had his back to her, pulling out their dinner from the oven, she smiles at him, a full out smile that she couldn’t keep to herself.

Yes, at least they weren’t alone.

But the moment the second slice was out of the tray, the room goes dark and the living room goes silent. She curses under her breath in Hebrew, and Tony in English, somehow managing to say the same thing.

They look at each other, barely making out the other’s outline in the room. She pulls out her cell, using the flashlight to look around the room. Together they walk to the patio door to notice, barely visible between the heavy flakes of snow, all the lights in the apartments across the street were dark and there was no light coming from the street lamps.

The power was out.

She sighs, raising her phone again to scan the room with her light. “Let us at least eat dinner before it gets cold.” He doesn’t say anything as they take their meals to the table, using the phone face-down as light as they eat.

It didn’t take long for them to start to feel the apartment to go cold, and Ziva could feel a chill run up her back.

“Are you okay?” Tony asks, resting his hand on her arm.

She nods, but figures he can barely see her. “I am fine, Tony. I will be better when the power turns back on.” He agrees with her, and goes back to eating.

Ziva doesn’t know what to do without the light from her lamp, the lack of brightness from any kind of candles, and no TV to watch, what were she and Tony going to do? They sit on the couch, but honestly, she was pretty much just sitting on Tony with how little amount of room there was between the two of them. With every shiver that ran up her arms and back, she scoots another inch closer to him. The warmth lulling her to sleep.

Whispering, Tony breathes to her. “Maybe you should go to bed.” Yes, she’d be more comfortable in her bed, but her bed is cold, her room is cold, everywhere would be cold, and he’d offer to sleep on the couch like always.

But instead, she mutters. “No, cold.” And snuggles into his side to emphasize her point.

“You can’t sleep out here with me, neither one of us would get a good night’s sleep.”

What she wants is for him to be her personal heater in her bed, but that whole ‘Rule #12’ thing still hung over their heads. But they won’t be having sex. They’d just be sleeping together. As friends. Nothing else. “I will go to bed if you come with me.” She declares, raising her head to stare him straight in the eye.

He’s caught off guard, stuttering. “Wai- wha- Ziva!” And then he lowers his voice, thinking someone, namely Gibbs, could hear him. “I’m not going to sleep with you.”

“I do not mean it like that Tony.” She says, pointing her finger into his chest. “You will complain about your back hurting if you sleep on my couch, and I will be freezing in my bed with the temperature dropping like this. What is that phrase you say about sharing a sleeping bag?” She asks. “It is only for one night, and it does not have to involve sex.” They were just friends, she reminds herself. Just friends sharing a bed together. Again. “We have done it before.”

She could see him thinking it over, weighing the pros and cons in his head. It was a full minute before he looks at her again to give her his answer. “Fine, but I don’t want to hear any complaining.” She smirks devilishly at him, bops him on the nose, and then gets up, pulling him with her.

The trek to the bedroom seems longer than it ever has been before. Tony has never slept in her bed, every time they have ever slept together, they had always seemed to be at a hotel. So when Tony steps up beside her bed and pulls back the covers, her heart starts to race and she feels her face start to flush. She would have been even more embarrassed if he could see her.

“Ziva.”

“Hm?”

“They tell us that to keep each other warm, we have to be naked.” Ziva gulps. She forgot about that part. “But seeing as neither one of us is wet, we can probably strip down to our underwear.”

“Yes, we do not have to be completely naked.” She turns her back to him, no matter how pointless it is, and takes off her jeans and blouse. She tries to peak over her shoulder at Tony, but she can’t see a thing, she can barely see outside the window, all she can hear is the howling of the wind and the shuffling of fabric. In just her bra and underwear, she turns around. “Are you ready?”

A ‘yes’ came from the darkness on the other side of the bed. Together they climb under the covers, not touching, not daring to get closer. “We need to be closer if this is going to work.” He says. Ziva eyes him and scoots closer, and he turns on his side, pulling her back to flush against his chest. A shiver runs up her spin at the contact, but she is comfortably warm. Even warmer than she was when they were on the couch. “Are you good?”

“Yes.” She whispers, resting her head on his arm. He wraps his arm around her stomach and intertwines their legs together as if they’ve done this a thousand times. “Good night Tony.” Her voice barely audible over the wind outside.

“Good night Ziva.” He whispers back, resting his chin on the top of her head.

***

When Ziva woke up the next morning, she was extremely warm and someone was pretty much laying on top of her. But she doesn’t seem to mind at all. The soft snoring she recognizes as Tony’s almost instantly. The arm she was laying on was stretched out in front of her with her hand wrapped around his fingers, and his other hand was placed over her stomach, holding her where she slept.

Unable to see out the window from her position, and certainly unable to reach for her phone, Ziva closes her eyes and falls back to sleep. Cause hey, it was Saturday, and they were snowed in.

#that show i shall not name #tiva #tiva fanfiction #my writing

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afarcryfromfine-blog · 4 years

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Chapter Three: “Are you my Mom-Friend?”

Word Count:1,492

Warnings:

In the end, I couldn't just call him. I felt too odd. I sat there staring at the computer screen just willing myself to tap that stupid pad. I decided that I'd go to my cell phone company tomorrow and add on international texting. I'd find some way to afford it.

I'd managed to do a repeat of the night before. But this time I had a hangover on top of it all. Staring at the computer made me depressed last night. I wanted so badly to see him and be in Korea again. But we were an ocean apart. It would have been too hard to hear his voice or see his face, knowing he was so far. I'd had a full bottle of wine to myself. I sat there in my PJs, flipping through old photos of him and I together; my laptop open to the side just waiting for me to hit the green button. It shouldn't be this hard. At least what I had told myself over and over again. I totally missed my study group because I'd gotten so lost in loose photos of my Korea memories. I'm sure I'd regret that come midterms. So now here I am. Standing in line in a not so grand part of town at Sprint. I wore flip-flops with long loose-fitting jogging pants and an oversized hoodie. My purse was strung over my shoulder and across my chest. My hair was in an impressive mound on top of my head with strands sticking out everywhere. Kind of mimicking a sea urchin in the water. But they look cool, me- not so much. The line seemed to be going slower than a snail's pace. I was becoming impatient. Something that, granted- was a pretty common occurrence. But between a screaming child that was demanding she wanted to leave, to the woman in front of me who I swear to you, took a bath in perfume- my hangover- well, wanted to hang me. My head was throbbing from the noise, the lights, and the walking perfume bottle. I nearly ran over a child when I heard a sales representative to my left say he could help someone. Get the fuck out of my way, was my only thought. I had been here for forty-five minutes. I needed to get moving. Slamming into the counter a little more aggressively than planned because someone's loose minion was in my way and I nearly busted the kid in the face with my knee. Not on purpose, I assure you. So it was more of a landed trip, than slamming into the counter. He gave me a weak smile. "What can I do for you today, Miss?" I smiled as best as I could, "I need to add international texting and calling to my line, please." He nodded and gathered information, confirming my name, address and account PIN number. It only took about 15 minutes for everything to be 100% set up and verified. I learned that I'd be paying about $20.00 more a month for this, which shocked me. I would have thought It'd have been at least $50.00. Not that I'm complaining. As I turned to leave, the child that'd I'd nearly bashed in the face- his mother was glaring at me. I ignored her. Not my fault you have a child who wants to run around and get into shit. Or the fact you don't care to actually watch him. Now, I realize these things make me sound like an awful human being, and I assure you I love children; and can't wait to have my own. But all in due time. Finally, I made it onto the crowded sidewalk and headed back to my apartment. I opened my contacts and tapped the number that'd been testing my sanity.

To: +82-555-0011-1234 I'd like to offer $5.00 ransom for the green sock, you're holding captive.

Send. If he didn't get that- I was going to have to smack him next time I saw him. After hitting send I realized that it was 4 am by him right now. Whoops. But knowing him, he's snoring with no fucks to be given, drool dripping down one cheek and his hair in a worse state than mine could ever be in. As I droned mindlessly back to my apartment- my phone vibrated.

From: +82-555-0011-1234 And if I refuse...?

I laughed and stopped in my tracks to reply. Yes, don't judge me. I can't text and walk, I'm not quite that magical. Yet. I quickly tapped back-

To: +82-555-0011-1234 You Feind!

I resumed walking hearing people grumble, I assume because I'd come to a complete stop in the middle of the sidewalk. Sorry man, would you rather I walk into you with your fancy business suit and make you spill your coffee because I was trying to multitask, where I can not? Wait..

To: +82-555-0011-1234 Excuse me- What exactly are you doing awake...?

Yes, I double texted, sue me. I have no fear! The rest of my walk home my phone remained quiet. Maybe he'd woke up to use the bathroom or something and fell back asleep...? I rummaged through my purse coming near the steps. "Common, where are my keys-!" I was grumbling to myself so dead set on finding them, I hadn't noticed someone coming out of the main door. I slammed into them. "Ah-! I'm so sorry!" I looked up, "Oh. Just you." I said monotone. The person just glared back, "Excuse me, Bitch?" they snapped back. Silence passed between us, and we both started laughing. "Girl, you look like shit, what the Hell happened to you...?" she said eyeing my homeless style. "Ohh, you know. Boys, lack of sleep, working overtime." I nodded it off like it was so simple. But she knew. "Honey, at least take a shower!" she said pinching her nose and waving her hand in front of her face. "You smell like you had sex in a bottle of perfume." I busted up laughing, "So sweaty and 100 gallons of old lady musk?" I questioned, she nodded, fanning still. "Stop that!" I laughed, "Some old lady at Sprint bathed in the shit- I didn't think I smelled like it though." I said smelling my hoodie. Mistake. "Good Jesus, Maybe that's why people were grumbling as they passed me," I said feeling my eyes water, and nose hairs curl. In case you're lost- this is a normal conversation between my best friend and I. Harley. She's a Phycology Major at the same college as me, and also my study buddy. Ohhh... "Ahh, sorry about missing the study group last night. I found myself trapped at the bottom of a wine bottle, buried in old memories." She only looked at me, studying me. "That explains the bags..." she said pointing at her own under eye. "I look pretty rough, don't I?" I said pitifully. She only nodded, with a look of 'get yourself together'. We mother each other constantly. I think that the only reason we're actually able to survive college life. We are each other's, mothers. "Did you lose your keys again..?" she asked, seeing I was elbow deep in my purse, still not grabbing hold of my Anime themed lanyard. "Potentially..." I mused quizzically. That earned a laugh. "I've got your spare, hang on." she opened her purse and dug into her wallet, yanking out a dingy silver key. "Ahh, you blessed angel," I said opening my arms for a hug; to which she abruptly stopped me. "Shower, then we can hug." I chuckled and nodded. "Fair enough." Finally, in my apartment, I realized how absolutely messy it was. Company always makes you aware of these things. Now I get why my mom always rushed around after learning we'd be having guests. Completely get it now. Sorry, Mom. "Jesus Christ Katrina!" she scolded as she passed the threshold. "Yes mother, I'll clean today." I waved her off. "No ma'am, now. This place looks like a landfill, and smells like one too!" she said squishing up her face in disgust. I whined but understood. "You get the living-bedroom and I've got the kitchen. And do I even want to look at your bathroom...?" she said looking slightly queasy. "Shockingly, I'll have you know- it's rather clean," I said happy with myself. "Because you haven't showered in a month I bet!" she basically screamed. I gave her my best-offended face, "Two weeks and one day I'll have you know," I looked away, "thank you very much." Not helping my case. "Kat, why didn't you just move into the dorms like everyone else, you pay the same here as you would there," she questioned me as she picked up empty Ramen cups and threw them in the garbage. "We've been over this," I warned, she only shook her head and urged me to actually clean. To which I obviously protested. But she won.

#CHapter three #monsta x #i want more #afarcryfromfine #lee joohoen #monsta x jooheon #jooheoney #jooheon x reader #monsta x fanfiction

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fullmetaldevil-blog · 5 years

Text

A Devil Can Be Cupid Too

Valentines rolled around and both Henry and Tom are trying to figure out what to do for their wives after the events of the studio. Two little demons decide to help their respective dads out.

This one actually have drawings mixed in so I hope you all enjoy.

On with the show~

Tom paced to and fro around the house, worry written all over the man's face, he had the look of contemplating his entire life's decisions in a single moment. He paused his wearing a groove in the floor to glance up at the calendar then resumed his pacing at a faster rate. The calendar served as a grim reminder that it was Valentine's day, a day for couples to show one another how much they love each other. Tom never really gave the holiday much thought since he felt that love is something you show someone year round, which he always did little things to show Allison how much he cared for her. Despite them having been married for so long, it was that being trapped in the studio for 30 years. That meant 30 years without being able to show someone how much you love someone without fear for your life.

It would be the first Valentines spent together after the studio and Tom wanted to make it special, but being out of touch with the new trends he had no clue where to start. He thought he could get some ideas from his coworkers at his construction job but all he heard were over priced lavish gifts and dinners, things he never really did even before he was trapped at the studio. He needed to do at least something, but what?

Tom thoughts were ground to a halt when he heard the door bell ring. He opened up the door and was greeted by Benny and the care giver at the nearby nursing home Janice.

"Morning Mr. Conner" The woman smiled at him. " I brought him home, safe and sound."

Benny beamed up at Tom holding a few bags and a wore backpack on his back. "Morning Tom!" The toon happily chirped.

Tom smiled at Janice "Thanks for bringing him home safely." He waved for Benny to come inside, which the toon happily ran inside. Tom chuckled and turned to face Janice.

"You're welcome, he's always welcome at the home. The ladies had themselves a grand old time with one of their grands" Janice hugged the man briefly before she spun on her heel and strode down the walkway to the street heading home.

Tom waved good-bye before closing the door to look down the hallway where Benny had run off to, the toon already heading to his room to put his things away. He nearly forgot that Benny was spending the weekend at the elderly home with the Grandmas, the only reminder that he was gone was the unusual quiet in the house hold. Something that Tom admittedly didn't like, he had grown fond of the bustling noises of the toon. The man chuckled to himself and strode down the hall to check up on Benny and to see how his weekend had gone with the ladies.

He came to the doorway to see Benny pulling out small rolls of fabric and placing them in his storage dresser along with wire and threads. Tom chuckled 'judging from the look of things it looked like the ladies had him helping them with their craft projects' he thought to himself as he observed Benny unpacking. Tom gently rapped his knuckles on the doorway letting the devildoll know he was there.

"Hi Tom." Benny turned his head to look up at him, flashing his trademark grin.

"How'd your weekend go?" Tom slowly walked into the room and sat down on the chair at Benny's desk facing him.

"Well it started out kinda scary." Benny fiddled with the contents of his bag not looking Tom in the eye, concern all over his face.

This got Tom's attention and he raised a brow. "Scary how?" He leaned down to be near eye level with the toon.

"Well the first night when I was sleeping in the living room I was woken by some strange noises coming from the backyard. I got up to check it out, and there were two strange adults climbing the wall into the area by the pool. They were wearing black and were prowling around the yard." Benny looked up at Tom "Then they moved out of the pool area to the side of the house and they looked like they were trying to open up Grandma Louise's window. I didn't know who they were so I..." He looked back down and wrung his gloved hands nervously.

Tom held a gentle tone and rest a hand on Benny's shoulder. "What did you do?"

"I was scared so I kinda went rag-doll form and used my threads to ensnare them and hung them upside down. I made sure they couldn't escape and went to go wake Janice up, but I accidentally scared her doing so. I guess she never saw my other form, but I told her about the two people I caught and she called the police. They came a short time after she called and then they took them away."

Tom grinned ear to ear "You did good considering the situation." He patted Benny between the horns getting a small purr.

"Even if Janice told me play with the two people first before the cops showed up? She told me to pretend to eat one with my second mouth and they screamed a lot. The guy I had screamed really high pitched and for a second I thought I was holding a woman, but then his eyes rolled back and he passed out. The other guy soiled himself then passed out." Benny rocked on his heel looking nervous.

Tom went wide eyed at Benny's story and mumbled to himself. "For how sweet Janice is, she has a sadistic streak a mile long". He ruffled his fingers through Benny's horns getting a pleased purr from the devildoll. "Well despite all that happened, did you have fun?"

"Yep!" Benny piped up all grins "The Grandma's taught me how to make blooming silk flowers." Benny reached into his bag, and pulled out a single white silk rose bud. He reached towards the stem of the flower and pulled on a string, Tom watched as the flower went from a little bud to a fully bloomed rose in a few seconds.

"Oh wow!" Tom held out his hand so he could see the rose and Benny happily handed it over. Tom carefully examined the rose in his hand, turning it over very carefully. "How do you close it?"

Benny took the rose from Tom "Like this" he pushed up on a small stick in the base the the rose folded back up into a bud.

Tom watched with awe and admiration, Benny had a real talent for making little crafts. Then again he was a living doll, he knows how to repair himself if he gets damaged, and if he didn't know how to make small crafts it would be a shock. Tom's eyes soon lit up in realization. "Hey Benny you know how to make the roses right?" Benny nodded and tilted his head wondering where Tom was going with his question. "See there is a holiday called Valentines day and that's today, and I was wondering if you could show me how to make some roses. If that's ok with you."

Benny was overjoyed at the thought of the two of them doing something together. "Certainly!" Benny paused in his excitement and frowned. "But I don't have anymore material to make the roses."

A grin swept across Tom's face "No worries. We'll go out, just you and I, to get the materials needed." Toms answer was immediate as Benny happily clung to the mans pant leg making happy squeaky toy noises. "First get dressed so we can go."

"Yay!" Benny hopped off the mans leg and darted to his walk in closet to rummage around for a coat and hat. While Benny was busy in his closet Tom carefully examined the rose to get an idea as to where he should go to get the material. "I'm ready!" Benny's voice broke Tom out of his investigation.

"All right, lets go”. Tom gestured towards his leg.

Benny clung happily to Tom's leg making the mechanic laugh. The toon was always clinging to Allison and it took a lot of talking and persuading to get Benny to go with the man alone. Tom couldn't lie that Benny gave him the cold shoulder at the start of living together hurt, but now their relationship was repaired. The toon was now over zealous when it came to doing things with Tom, and he couldn't be happier. He had a small friend and son that liked to work with his hands as much as he did.

Tom walked to his room with the plushdemon koala on his leg and grabbed his coat and car keys. Once he got out to his car he helped Benny in and made sure he was buckled up before getting in himself and started the car. Benny eagerly chatted the entire trip about how to make the silk flowers, he only stopped talking to watch Tom shout at a vehicle that cut him off then crawled at a snails pace. Tom did his best to curb is swearing since Benny had a nasty habit of repeating anything foul he said to Allison later. He was tired of his wallet constantly being emptied into the swear jar she implemented.

Tom pulled into the parking lot for the town center right next to the art store. The lot was pretty full and had many lovers and potential suitors scrambling to get last minute displays of affection for their significant others. He thought he spotted a familiar SUV but shrugged it off and helped Benny out of the car.

Benny's eyes were lit with excitement at all the art supplies and fabric. Tom chuckled at the eagerness of the plushdevil, but made sure Benny didn't stray from him. Tom grabbed a basket and held Benny's hand and they slowly went up and down the isles. Benny would gently tug at Tom's hand leading the mechanic around the store and grab and occasional item and explain what it was for. With all the necessary items gathered Benny asked if he could look at a different section for 'little bonus touches'.

Benny stepped off to look at the embroidery beads for a moment when something the same size as him tackled him. Benny squeaked in surprise but soon pushed back against his assailant. "Bendy, you jerk! Where'd you come from?!"

Tom turned to see Bendy whom he was not expecting to be there at all, had tackle hugged Benny whom was spooked at the encounter. The ink demon laughed as his plushdemon counterpart pushed him off and socked him on the shoulder pouting.

"Bendy?! There you are!"

Bendy flinched at hearing the clearly winded voice. Tom turned to see the voice belonged to a worn out Henry just barely catching up to his energetic demon, the animator also sporting a basket full of art materials.

"Hey didn't think to see you here." Tom called out to the animator who got Bendy by the scruff of his sweater and held him there.

"Hi Thomas, and Bendy what did I tell you about running off?" Henry looked down at his toon companion whom was now looking remorseful in his creators grasp.

"Sorry Henry, but when I saw Benny I had t' say Hi" the toon mumbled out while he wrung his gloved hands.

Henry sighed and knelt down to look at Bendy eye to eye. "Look I'm not mad, but I was worried. This is a big store and you're pretty small, I don't want to lose you. You could have easily told me Benny and Tom were here, and I would have happily helped you look for them together. So next time you have to tell me. Ok?"

Benny nodded "ok"

Henry smiled before ruffling his fingers between Bendy's horn and stood back up "Hey Tom, what brings you here?" The older animator turned to face his old friend.

"Came to get some materials to make some flowers for Valentines. It's been awhile so trying to get back to the swing of things." Tom scratched the back of his head in embarrassment "and yourself?"

Henry chuckled "Same as you, except Bendy and I were gonna draw something together for Linda. We ran out of ink so we needed to stock up."

Tom snorted at Henry's story "Henry how do you run out of ink when you have Bendy? The toon is a walking inkwell and doesn't seem to ever run out."

Henry laughed "True, but I don't want to treat Bendy like an art supply for his ink when I can simply go to a store and get some. Besides I'm getting colored ink, not just black."

Both men laughed and started sharing Valentine ideas while two little demons were having conversations of their own.

"So you're tellin' me you an' Tom are gonna make some flowers for Valentines?" Bendy tilted his head at Benny's explanation. "An' they can open up?"

"Yep! Tom said he wanted to make some, but he doesn't know how, so he asked me if I could show him." Benny beamed at the thought. "What are you and Henry doing?"

Bendy flashed Benny his classic grin "We are gonna draw somethin' together for Linda. Then she and Henry are gonna have dinner and a movie together".

Benny tilted his head "Wait, you're not gonna be there? It's just gonna be Henry and Linda?"

Bendy stopped his smiling when the realization dawned on him. Valentines is for couples and both he and Benny would be left out of the activities. "Well... Valentine's is for couples and you and I have no one." Bendy's voice trailed as he pondered what to do.

"Well you are the dancing demon, so why don't you have them dance with you or something so you're not left out." Benny offered.

Bendy snapped his fingers "That's it! While they are having dinner I can dance around them showering them with paper hearts! I'll help Henry show Linda how much he loves her, if he has hearts around him I'm sure it'll work, after all it worked in the cartoon shorts." His grin returned brighter then ever with a hint of mischief mixed in.

"Yeah and you can be dressed like that guy" Benny pointed at a drawing of cupid.

Bendy looked up at the cherub with the hearts and then back at Benny "what are you gonna do then?" This caught Benny by surprise and he tilted his head from side to side trying to think of what he can do. Bendy's voice brought him out of his thoughts "what's in your hammerspace? Maybe something in there can help."

"Well I have a sewing kit, some fabric, cotton, a violin and a banjo, but that's about it." Benny looked back at his counterpart.

Bendy's eyes lit with excitement "you can sing right?" Earning a nod from Benny. "Then serenade them while Tom is trying to give the roses to Allison, after all wouldn't that be why he's asking you how to make them?"

Realization dawned on Benny. Tom wanted to give Allison a gift of affection in the form of flowers that they will make together. So what better way to help them then by setting 'the mood' as he saw on T.V. Both demons giggled at the ideas and ran up to their respective dads.

"Tom can I go with Bendy for a minute? We would like to get a few things."

"Henry can I go with Benny for a bit? We're gonna go grab some stuff."

Both Tom and Henry looked at each other in confusion before they both agreed, but under the condition that Benny and Bendy stick together. Both demon's eagerly agreed and took off leaving the confused men behind whom resumed chatting.

Bendy and Benny eagerly ran to isle after isle to look at fabric and paper, each snickering about what they were gonna do. Some of the other patrons of the store moved away from the mischievous demons concerned about the constant chuckling escaping from the pair. With their respective objects of interest Benny and Bendy ran to the register to purchase their items. They were both thankful of their pocket money earnings from their respective families and made their purchases. Benny ducked out of sight and hid his purchase inside his hammerspace while Bendy hid his under his sweater. Both returned to their fathers each wearing a large grin as they greeted the chatting men.

"Got every thing?" Henry broke away from his conversation with Tom to look at Bendy who beamed up at the man.

"Yeup!"

"And you?" Tom looked at Benny who was also grinning up at him.

"Yep!"

"Well I guess we got to get going." Henry scratched the back of his head as he looked at Tom. "We'll catch up later."

"Yeah right behind ya. I think we got all that we needed." Tom held his hand out which was met with Henry's as the two gave a brief parting hug before turning their separate ways.

"Let me know how it goes!" Benny shouted down the hall at Bendy as he was being lead out the store.

"I will!" Bendy spun around shouting in turn.

Tom lifted a brow at the exchange between the two devils. He knew full well that if Benny and Bendy were doing something together the outcome can't be good. "Alright Benny, what was that about?" The man lifting a brow at the toon now holding onto his hand.

"Nothing". The little devildoll wore a huge grin nearly splitting his face.

Tom's brow lifted even higher, but decided to let it go. As long as he wasn't on the receiving end of the two demon's game then he was fine with that. He took Benny's grabbing his hand as a sign that they were done with the store and had gotten all that they needed. He went to the register and paid for their things then headed to the car to return home. Benny all the while hummed to himself with his head bouncing to the beat in his mind.

The duo returned to the house to find Allison had returned home before them and asked where they went. Tom told her that he and Benny went to the park which got a look of confusion from the devildoll, but was waved behind the panicking mechanic so Allison wouldn't catch on to Benny's confusion and ruin Tom's lie. Tom hastily scooped Benny up and set him in his room while he retreated to his room to make a phone call. Allison was about to enter Benny's room to talk to him when the phone ringing caught her attention. To Allison's surprise it was the care giver Janice asking her if she could help out at the home since the grandma's have been busy and wanted company. Allison happily agreed, but told her that the ladies would have to wait a minute so she could feed her family first before leaving.

Allison retreated to the bedroom to find Tom relaxing on the bed and was involved with a book. She told him about the request for assistance at the home and that she would go after she made lunch for them, but Tom encouraged her to go anyways telling her that he can handle feeding himself and Benny and that she needed to focus on the 'energetic old ladies'.

Allison grabbed a coat and kissed Tom good bye before she stopped at the living room where Benny had relocated, telling the toon where she was going. Benny happily wished her luck and to tell the ladies 'hi' for him and Allison strode out the door and down the street. Upon hearing the door close, Tom sprang from his bed and ran down the hall to the front door past Benny and peered from behind a curtain to make absolutely sure Allison was gone.

"Good, the coast is clear" Tom grinned as he released the curtain and turned to see Benny standing behind him confused.

"What do you mean the coast is clear?" He tilted his head.

"Oh I called Janice and begged her if she could have Allison come over to help her out for awhile, so you and I can make the roses." Tom gave Benny a mischievous grin.

Benny's eyes lit in realization, Bendy hit the nail on the head about Tom trying to give Allison a gift for Valentine's day. As a little devil, it was his job to make sure things go right. Benny puffed out his chest a little in pride before going to his room to grab all the necessary materials. He will make sure Tom's plan succeeded.

Benny returned to the living room with two bags in hand "Tom" catching the mans attention "ready?" He held up the bags for Tom to see. His answer was a nod and Tom lifted him up to head to the kitchen, setting him down at the table while Tom sat next to him.

Benny pulled out the thin fabric and wire explaining what needed to be done, all the while Tom listened intently. Every cut, fold and stitch Benny did Tom was right behind him, although a bit awkward since Tom had never really sewn before. The man would occasionally stumble over the delicate craft for which Benny gladly stopped what he was doing to help him. The two happily chatted while they worked and after an 3 hours of cutting, sewing and threading each individual held up a silk rose to the light admiring their work.

Benny chose a soft blue that faded to a much darker blue. Tom told him it wasn't a real color for roses, but the toon didn't care. It was a color scheme he wanted regardless if it were real or not, it reminded him of the late evening sky just as the the first few stars would appear. Tom chose a pink that faded to a lush red. He wanted something that looked like a warm afternoon in comparison Benny's cool evening colors. His rose was a bit awkward in small spots where he made a mistake or pulled on fabric too hard, but Benny was right there to help repair the mistake. Both man and toon looked at each other, both wearing a grin that matched the other.

----- At Henry's house-----

Henry and Bendy both sat at the table gingerly working on the shared drawing between the two of them. The picture was drawn like a portrait with Henry, Linda and Bendy all together in a field of Linda's favorite flower; Lavender. Henry had done the sketch and was coloring Bendy and the field, while Bendy worked on coloring in Henry, Linda and the sunset. More ways then one Henry was thankful Bendy had the ability to manipulate ink and the two were surrounded by droplets of colored ink floating in the air, each would occasionally dip their pen or brush into the floating orbs. For every stroke of the pen done by Henry, Bendy was right behind him. The toon's drawing skills nearly on par with Henry's which to the former animator made it all the better, he now had an inseparable friend, family member and fellow artist.

Henry knew how much he loved and appreciated his wife, especially after what was supposed to be a short trip to the studio. When he came home with a exhausted and injured Bendy in his arms and explained what happened he feared Linda would run from Bendy, but she had the opposite reaction. Wary at first, but she cared for the toon whole heartedly and stayed by his side to help him recover. She spent many sleepless nights in the toon's room caring for his injuries or calming him down after a nightmare.

Bendy never forgot Linda's kindness and treatment of his injuries. He was convinced that no one cared for him, even his creator. He was shocked that Henry loved him despite his actions at the studio, and more so that Henry's wife Linda loved him as well. He never expected to be brought home with his creator and to be shown such love and care. He begged Henry asking him if he could help him with his drawing. He wanted to help give Linda something nice too as a way of showing how much he appreciated her care.

After spending a good chunk of the day drawing Henry held up the finished picture for both he and Bendy to see. Both grinned at each other, their work here was done.

------ Later That Evening At The Connor's-----

Allison came home to find the house was dark and no sign of her husband or Benny, despite Tom's car parked in the front. She was about to call out in the house when she spied a single red cord that led further into the home. She carefully picked up the cord like thread realizing it was one of Benny's ink threads he creates when he is defending himself, but she questioned why was it red? Benny's threads were always black as the night and he rarely used them outside the studio.

"Tom!? Benny!?" Allison listened intently, but, no answer. Her heart raced at the lack of noise and with thread in hand she traced it carefully following it's trail. She could only hope that something hadn't gone terribly wrong in her absence.

Allison followed the thread as it wound throughout the house being joined by several more which confused her since they were now sporting shades of pink and the occasional white. She could only take it as a sign she was at least getting closer to Benny, and hopefully her husband. The multicolored threads lead out the patio door where there appeared to be a light coming from the side of the house. Allison rounded the corner and was stunned by the sight before her.

Threads were everywhere making a strange red, white and pink cocoon like structure with silk flowers tied in as decoration. In the middle of the threaded structure sat a table with dinner and Tom who was fidgeting in his seat. As soon as he saw Allison he immediately got up from his seat.

"Happy Valentine's day honey." Tom nervously grinned at Allison.

Allison had to stifle a laugh at Tom. He was so out of his element since elaborate wasn't his middle name and was more used to practical displays of affection. She couldn't help but smile at him. Tom was trying to make the holiday special, but Benny playing music on his violin was by no sense of the word helping him. The toon completely oblivious to his dads discomfort, but Allison had to give Benny credit. He was trying to help.

Tom led Allison to the prepared dinner and she was pleasantly surprised by the salmon steaks served with a side of steamed vegetables accompanied by a small glass of wine.

"The dinner looks lovely. Thank you." Allison leaned into Tom before he pulled out her chair for her to take a seat.

They enjoyed dinner while Benny played one soft tune to the next and when Benny spied Tom reaching for the present he started singing "That's Amore" by Dean Martin and switched to his banjo. Tom fumbled the present when he tried to set it on the table turning to face his little 'song bird' with a scowl who didn't even seem to notice what was going on and kept singing.

Well this was the straw that broke the camels back. Allison laughed whole heartedly at the scene before her. Tom was completely red faced from a mix of frustration and embarrassment while glaring at Benny who was happily swaying and singing the amusing love song. Her laughter broke Tom out of glaring at his little helper and he turned to face her completely shocked by the turn of events.

"Thank you. This has been the best Valentine's in a long time." Allison leaned over and kissed Tom stunning the man. When she broke the kiss she picked up the present and opened it to reveal the two budded roses. Her eyes were wide in awe and she carefully lifted roses out to examine them.

Benny had finished his song putting his banjo away and walked up to her. "Pull on the string" he pointed at the base if the rose.

Allison turned the rose in her hand to look at where he was pointing and saw the small cords hanging out of the roses. She held the rose stems firmly in one hand and gently pulled on the cords opening the roses from a bud to a full bloom. Each rose had tiny embroidery beads laced on the petals that sparkled like stars. Allison was absolutely shocked at the simple beauty of them and she reached out gently grabbing Tom and Benny pulling both into a hug. "I love them. Thank you so much"

Tom returned the hug resting his head atop hers. Both felt something wrap around them both and they looked up to see Benny in his rag-doll form purring while he laid his head between theirs. The couple chuckled and each if them rest a cheek against Benny's hugging the toon in turn.

Tom had to admit while this wasn't exactly his plan for the holiday, everything worked out in the end and he couldn't be happier.

------ Later That Evening-------

Allison heard the phone ringing and answered it, she chuckled at the caller and clapped her hand over the mouth piece. "Tom, phone for you!"

Tom grumbled, but got up from the couch gently scooting a sleeping Benny off him and retreated to the kitchen to answer the phone. "Hello?"

"Hey, its Henry" The animators voice sounded tired.

Tom leaned against the wall "Hey you alright? You sound tired."

He heard a small chuckle and a sigh "Tired is one word, exasperated is another."

"That good huh?" Tom chuckled. He had a feeling he was gonna be in for a good one. He leaned himself against the wall to get comfortable.

"Well here is what happened" Henry's voice trailed off as he began his story.

--- Earlier In The Evening At Henry's House---

Henry had just finished setting up the table with the steaks he grilled earlier and he had yet to see any sign of Bendy. Linda sat in the living room reading while Henry manned the kitchen to give her a break from cooking for which she told him he didn't have to, but he insisted. He wanted it to be a special day for her and he was no stranger to the kitchen. He finished setting up and wandered to the living room to let her know dinner was ready when Bendy finally came out if his room bearing the present Henry had him hang onto.

Bendy watched Henry and got a small nod from his creator and walked up to Linda holding out the flat box. "Happy Valentine's day Linda."

The older brunette woman smiled at Bendy with warm green eyes. "Thank you Bendy." she reached out and took the present from the happy toon who rocked on his heel while he watched her look at the tag reading 'To Linda, from Henry and Bendy'. "Henry and I did it together." the toon beamed up at her.

Henry walked over to her side to better watch her reaction to the gift and was by no sense of the word disappointed. Linda's eyes lit up in joy at the beautiful ink painting before her. The vibrant purples and oranges of the sunset filled the page and what really drew a smile from her was the image if all three of them sitting as a family amongst the flowers. It was a simple drawing but it radiated with warmth and care that went into creating it.

Linda reach up and kissed Henry and then pulled Bendy in for a hug. "Thank you boys." She couldn't have been happier, a home made gift is the best kind of gift. It shows the dedication and appreciation the person has within a home made gift. At that moment it showed how much Henry and Bendy both loved her. It was better then anything that could ever be bought with money.

"C'mon dinners ready." Henry gestured towards the kitchen. Linda gladly took his hand after setting the painting down and followed her husband into the kitchen. Both sat down and were enjoying the peaceful dinner, that is until Bendy came in.

The little ink demon set several bottles of colored ink all around the room while the couple continued chatting away. Henry watched Bendy out of the corner of his eye wondering what the devil was up to. "Hey bud, what are you up to?" Henry's curiosity getting the better of him.

"Oh just this." Bendy turned and flashed a cheeky grin. The demon threw his arms up into the air and ink floated out of the bottles. Bendy turned on the faucet and had the ink bubbles disappear into the water only to float back out far bigger and resembled large glass beads. He made the ink bubbles divide and collide as they floated around, some even passed under the the kitchen light occasionally changing the color of the room. It was a beautiful spectacle of color making both Henry and Linda lean back in their chairs in awe.

Henry's admiration didn't last long until he heard "In the Mood" by Glenn Miller being played on the record player and Bendy came back to the table now sporting paper angel wings, a pink tutu and was holding a gaudy pink basket full of small objects. His heart dropped in realization at what the demon was about to do.

Bendy tap danced to the beat of the song all around Henry showering him with paper hearts. Henry buried his red face in his hands to feebly hide his embarrassment. He wished to be a million miles away and not having one of the most embarrassing moments of his life unfold in front of him and not have anyway to stop it. The minute Bendy had appeared in the get-up he knew what was going to happen. It was one thing in a cartoon that he was animating to please someone else with the funny gesture, not when he himself was the recipient of the gag.

Linda covered her mouth to stifle laughing at the misfortunes of her husband. Bendy truly thought he was helping with his usual cartoon antics. While in a cartoon such shenanigans work, but this was the real world and such behavior only resulted in embarrassment. She decided to relieve her husband of his little tap dancing cupid.

Bendy tapped danced close enough for Linda to gently grab his arm pulling him out of his dance and to her. "Bendy, do you want to join us for dinner? It's not fair if we eat without you."

"Yay!" The demon cheered at being allowed to join in.

Linda grabbed him a chair setting it between her and Henry's seat while she went to make him a plate. Bendy eagerly ditched the basket, wings and tutu sitting at the table flashing Henry a huge grin.

Henry slowly removed his hand from his face eyeing his toon. "You little devil" he ruffled his fingers through Bendy's horns getting a chuckle from the demon. He couldn't be mad at Bendy, it was his nature that he created, it was like dealing with a far younger mischievous version of himself and he couldn't fault Bendy for it. If anything he found the true nature of the demon very endearing if not embarrassing at times.

Linda came back with a plate for Bendy and the three had a lively dinner with Bendy happily explaining his adventures with Henry to Linda. After dinner they enjoyed a movie on the couch for which Bendy fell asleep half way through. The little demon was tuckered out from the days events. Henry took that opportunity to slide Bendy onto Linda's lap while he slipped into the kitchen.

Henry picked up the phone and called Tom, wondering if the mechanic had a similar day to himself. He suspected that Benny had something to do with egging Bendy on since getting both demons together yielded very amusing results. At the moment Henry was hoping he wasn't the only one subjected to toon antics and silently hoped that he had another whom shared his misery. After all misery loves company.

------ At The Connor's------

Tom listened to Henry's story and nearly choked when he laughed, he then told Henry what happened to himself and both men were wheezing at the others misfortunes. Both Benny and Bendy conspired together on what the holiday meant and both were horribly skew yet at the same time on the mark. It was their own unique way of interpreting what the holiday meant and they went above and beyond the call of duty by using their abilities to help.

Each man leaned over at their respective homes to look at their sleeping demons and chuckled at how much they hindered and helped make their Valentine's day something to remember.

#batim stitched au #valentines short #henry stein #linda stein #thomas connor #allison connor #bendy the dancing demon #benny the stitched demon #bendy the demon #bendy the devil #bendy the dancing devil #benny the stitch demon #benny the stitch devil #benny the stitched devil

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bbbb-barnes · 6 years

Text

DANCE WITH THE DEVIL - A Mobster!Bucky Barnes X Reader.

Summary: You move away from your small town and start a life in NYC leaving a behind a childhood of drugs, guns and abuse, when your mother is struggling you go back home to help, only to realise the gang that your father was involved in has become ruthless, people know your name and know who you are. A handsome and dangerous man from your families rival gang catches your eye and you can't stay away.

Hi!! I have finals so I thought WHY NOT START A BUCKY FIC. As always please leave feedback and come chat to me!! I always like to start my fics with a bitta back story so no Bucky in this BUT a lotta Steve, this is gunna be a dark fic, might not seem it now but oh BOY it's gunna get dark.

WARNINGS - MENTIONS OF DRUGS, DEATH, SWEARING AND DOMESTIC ABUSE in this chapter and throughout!!

Please let me know what u think!!

Moving out of town was always your plan, from when you were 8 years old and you took a trip to New York with your family, you were enthralled with the big city life, you still remember how the city filled you with a strange sense of nostalgia even though you had never been there before, like it was always meant to be. Moving back to town was never your plan. You had studied hard and got a place at NYU school of law and after 3 crazy years filled with drunken nights with your friends, all-nighters in the library and a shit tonne of coffee and ramen you had graduated with an under grad degree and decided to stay on and complete a post grad whilst trying to score an internship to get your career moving, it was a hustle but you wouldn’t change it for the world. In New York you felt like you could do anything and become anybody, anything was a possibility and you felt as if you could accomplish it all. It was a strange feeling, but you felt connected to the city and you felt like you belonged. You had been born and raised in a town in between Chicago and Indiana. Fountain Park in Jasper county was a predominantly Italian-American populated area. It encapsulated everything an Italian American town ever would, all your aunts knew each other, there were only two high schools, if you walked down the street you would most likely see a kid you went to middle school with, people knew everybody’s business, oh and It housed two local mobster gangs with a fierce rivalry. The Commandos and The Moretti’s. They began the rivalry over the local oil business years ago, or that was the front anyway, you were aware of the drug deals that went down and the cocaine ring that both gangs claimed not to run, there was constant battles over property and territories. But the lack of police intervention subsequently led the gangs to become their own law enforcement for the town, so the people of Fountain Park picked a side essentially, and the gangs in which they picked and showed loyalty to would protect them, albeit not in the most diplomatic way, which only fuelled the rivalry. The whole thing made you laugh, it was truly pathetic, and you planned to stay as far away as possible from these ‘gangs’. You knew your Uncle Jack was part of The Moretti’s and you had been made aware of your father’s involvement when he had died 2 years previous. People spoke about how suspicious his death was and it really worsened things for the rivalry as there was foul play suspected. You didn’t care much, you had thought the world of your father until you were 9 years old and witnessed him beat the living shit out of your own mother, it wasn’t the last time you saw it either, it was only as you got older when you realised drugs had a big part to play in his behaviour, not that it was any justification. You had ached for his approval even after what you had seen, he was your father and he was important, you wanted him to be proud of you for some sick reason. Then when you were 17 and all dressed up for your junior prom he decided to pull out his gun and point it at your forehead in front of the whole family that's when you realised you had enough, you begged your mom to leave him, you know now that he would have killed her if she did. You dropped his name and took your mother’s maiden name Romano. Hearing he had died was incredibly bitter sweet, he was still your dad and he was dead, but it was completely overpowered by the fact your mom was now free from him. Mom was a Fountain Park native with Italian parents, even though her parents were Italian she was born in America and only visited Italy once.

That’s what brought you home, your Nonna was incredibly ill and your mother was struggling to care for her and working to keep herself afloat. Your mother was a proud woman and if you hadn’t had a phone call from your aunt telling you things were bad, you would have never known. You had taken some time off College, which they had surprisingly allowed given you were in-between diplomas and a high achieving student and your roommate Wanda had found somebody to rent your room for a few months, so things managed to fall into place nicely.

“Ladies and Gentlemen, welcome to Indianapolis International Airport, the local time is currently 11:35am, for your comfort and safety please leave your seatbelt fastened and allow the aircraft to come to a full and complete stop before collecting your belongings and vacating the aircraft, Delta thanks you for your cooperation and we wish you a wonderful stay in Indiana” The chirpy and polished voice of the pretty air hostess snaps you out of your thought process, you gave your muscles a well needed stretch, thankful to almost be free of the stuffy and confined air of the plane. You joined the scuffle of people who were currently grabbing luggage eager to leave. You threw your bag over your shoulder and shuffled out at a snail’s pace, as the line had finally made its way to the front of the plane you thanked the air hostesses and stepped out into the late morning sun, taking a breath of fresh air your mood instantly lifting as you bounced down the stairs and over the asphalt, taking in every drop of sunshine.

If you were in a good mood, passport control and baggage reclaim really took a shit on that. The long lines in the warm and packed airport was enough to make any sane person snap, you were surrounded by people sighing and muttering at the long wait times, you decided to occupy yourself on your phone to pass the time. You sent a message to some old friends telling them you were back in town and you wanted to reconnect. As much as you loved New York, it would be nice to take things easy for a couple of weeks.

After finally getting your passport checked and proving you weren’t a terrorist you were graciously allowed into the state by an overweight and stony-faced officer. Next challenge was baggage reclaim, you were glad you had always taken your mothers advice of making your suitcase noticeable as you spotted the bright yellow case almost instantly and rushed over to wrestle it off. However, the weight of the luggage, your tired body and the speed of the carousel made your first attempt unsuccessful, why in fresh hell did it go around so fast? You were suitably irritated at this point.

“Motherfucker” you muttered and pushed the sleeves of your thin sweatshirt up, psyching yourself up for round two. You saw your case come around again and rolled your shoulders in preparation, however before you could even attempt to grab it a large, blonde man who seemingly came out of nowhere lifted your bag off the carousel as if it were light as a feather, your eyebrows shot up in confusion and you started to panic slightly as he started walking away with it, his broad back quickly disappearing into the crowd, this is the last thing you needed today.

“Hey! excuse me” you yelled in a pathetic attempt to get his attention, you started to jog towards him, weaving through various people who shot you scowls as you pushed passed, your panic was turning to frustration.

“Excuse ME” you yelled even louder, seemingly catching the attention of everybody else but the mystery bag thief, you ran a little faster to catch up, why in the world was this man walking so fast, with a final push you reached him and grabbed his arm in an attempt to stop him but also steady yourself from the sudden exercise. He whipped around in an instant, looking ready to attack almost, when he saw you his face relaxed, this is not the reaction you wanted.

“Excuse me asshole, but you just stole my suitcase” you huffed, trying your hardest to look intimidating, but this guy was huge, and was he smiling at you after stealing your luggage? What the fuck, you deepened your scowl. He started laughing at you, you jaw went a little slack at this guy’s blatant disregard to the fact he had just stolen from you and was now laughing about it.

“I’m not sure why this is fucking fu...” you started, your voice an octave higher than before as you seriously resisted the urge to stomp your foot like a child, before you could continue he rudely interrupted you.

“Y/N its me, Steve” It was the first time you heard him talk, it was deep but soft at the same time it was oddly comforting and filled with humour as he smirked down at you, you pulled your eyebrows together in confusion. If you knew this man you would have remembered he was seriously handsome.

“Steve Rodgers” He prompted, his head cocked to the side, the faint trace of humour still apparent in his voice. You did a comical double take at his reminder, no way was this jacked guy Steve Rodgers, skinny and sickly Steve Rodgers, your next-door neighbour and a good friend to you through those tough high school years, he taught you how to play poker and you used to give him your CD’s in return (after you had finished listening of course) you were the reason he had such a soft spot for NSYNC. The two of you used to sit on the grass in his backyard when your dad was beating your mom and he would distract you by talking you step by step through the rules of baseball and giving you an extensive run down of his favourite players, it used to work and was the reason you became a baseball fan. You were clearly in a state of shock as he playfully shook your shoulders with a chuckle. You looked up and studied his face and you saw it, the same light blue eyes, the same nose that was slightly crooked from when he broke it falling out of a tree, the same very faint dusting of freckles dancing across the bridge of his nose.

“Steven, when the hell did you get so jacked?” you managed to choke out taking a step back to take him in, he barked out a loud laugh startling a few children nearby in the process.

“Oh, stop it you” He joked, pretending to be shy which made you chuckle in response, you were still wildly confused but if your childhood had taught you anything it was that Steve Rodgers never steered you far wrong. He threw a heavy arm around your shoulders and guided you to the parking lot.

“I am your personal taxi service, Miss New York big shot” he joked as he pulled your suitcase behind him effortlessly, you were slightly dazed, but you had assumed your mother asked him to collect you and presumably told him about the bright yellow suitcase too (although the luggage tag with your name on could have done that too)

“I need you to tell me everything” He continued babbling as he led you to a sleek, shiny black BMW with blacked out windows, he retracted his arm from your shoulder to fish his keys from his jeans pocket. You took a moment to appreciate the car.

“This is yours?” you sounded doubtful as you raised your eyebrows at the expensive looking car, last you heard Steve wanted to be an artist, you weren’t sure how fruitful that career was, but you assumed not this much. He unlocked the car and gestured for you to get in with a small smile.

“You’re not the only successful one from around here y’know” he joked, his voice coming from behind you as he placed your suitcase in the trunk, you climbed in the front seat and fidgeted around, taking in the leather interior. He slid in the driver’s seat and started the car, zooming out of the parking lot with his eyes focused ahead of him.

“So, you’re a famous artist now or something?” you matched the joking tone, but you were very curious, his family didn’t have a lot of money. You noted his expression darken for a slight moment as he chewed his lip, considering his answer.

“I’m not Fountain Park’s answer for Picasso if that’s what you mean” his dark expression had disappeared and his light, joking manner was back, you opened your mouth to ask another question, but he quickly cut you off.

“Hey, before you interrogate me anymore can I ask about New York please, big shot?” He gave you a quick pleading glance and a toothy smile, you obliged and started to talk about your life in another state, but you weren’t going to let this drop and you were sure he knew that too.

You humoured him and spoke animatedly about college and your friends and he listened intently, smiling as he watched you talk so passionately.

“You’d love New York Steve, you really would” you mused, you had relaxed into the seat now and watched his side profile as he reacted to your words, you could always imagine Steve loving New York.

“I really think I would, couldn’t get on board with the Mets or Yankees though” he made a face and you laughed, it was nice to see he was still passionate about his baseball.

“Hey, we should make the trip to see a Cubs game while I’m back” You suggested excitedly, his face darkened slightly again, and you saw as he clenched his jaw for a millisecond, but you caught it. He plastered on a fake smile.

“That would be fun Y/N” he agreed, but you knew it was fake so you decided to push.

“Well, you’re like the biggest Cubs fan I know, you must know when the next game is?” you continued as you pulled out your phone, his knuckles whitened as he gripped the steering wheel a little tighter.

“Oh God, Y/N I haven’t been to a Baseball game in years I couldn’t tell you” He chuckled but he was lying, you could tell as the laughter didn’t quite meet his eyes, you scowled slightly and typed furiously on your phone for a few seconds.

“Hey, would you look at that, there’s a game next weekend” your voice was sugary sweet and full of fake excitement, he sighed slightly as he rolled his neck.

“Y/N, I can’t next weekend” he answered weakly, you both knew it was a lie and it seemed he had stopped trying to hide it, you crossed your arms over your chest and huffed.

“Are you going to tell me what’s actually going on?” you snapped slightly, and he sighed, he used his free hand to massage his temple, he took a few moments before answering.

“There’s a lot going on that you won’t understand, I don’t want to put you in harm’s way so that’s why I say this but we can’t be seen together, Y/N” His voice was stern but his tone was slightly sympathetic, his words didn’t clear anything up for you however, just confused you further.

“What on earth are you talking about?” you questioned, narrowing your eyes at the tense man, who didn’t take his eyes off the road, with both hands now back on the wheel, his face was disturbingly stoic.

“Y/N, I’m part of The Commando’s” his voice was steady and quiet, he didn’t look at you for a reaction, keeping his eyes fixed on the long highway in front of him, you processed his words and flopped back against the leather seats.

“Is that it Steve? Don’t you think you’re being a bit melodramatic” you breathed out a laugh as relief washed over you, he was just part of that silly gang, besides your fathers were in opposing ‘gangs’ and you two were friends growing up, so why would it be different now. This time he did take his eyes off the road to look at you, his eyes were wide, and his nostrils flared.

“Y/N you haven’t been here you don’t know what its like” He snipped, rolling his shoulders as he tapped his fingers on the steering wheel.

“It’s just a silly gang Steve” you mumbled pulling your phone out to occupy yourself for the rest of the journey home.

“It isn’t a silly gang, Y/N. People are being killed, there’s millions of dollars at risk, there’s an influx of arms and drugs making its way around the town, it’s bad Y/N. I’m not sure if you remember but your family were no, they are Moretti’s. We’re seen together and that means serious harm for the both of us” He snapped suddenly, his raised voice made you jump and you considered the fact he might be right.

“What, so you deal drugs now?” you asked in disbelief, the blacked-out BMW making more sense now, he was tensed up.

“There’s certain parts of The Commando’s I don’t agree with but they protect me, protect my family from being shot in the street by your god damn uncle Jack” he was speeding down the highway at this point and you briefly realised you must have been going above 100MPH, his voice was hostile and you felt hurt he decided to blame you for the actions of your family.

“I have nothing to do with that gang or my uncle and if I remember rightly didn’t one of you kill my father” you accused coolly, it was a weak accusation and you both knew it because in all honesty if you met the man that killed him you’d probably shake his hand.

“I know, Y/N I’m sorry it’s just that Jack, he’s running The Moretti’s and its ruthless out there, he’ll stop at nothing to take us down and everything is fair game which is why I want you to stay away from me, if they find out we’re friends I don’t want to begin to imagine what they’ll do.” His voice had softened slightly as he shot you a sad smile.

“My uncle wouldn’t hurt me” you protested weakly, although you didn’t know at this point, and judging by the look on Steve’s face he didn’t either.

“I didn’t mean just your Uncle Jack; all the Commando’s know who you’re related to” he spoke his words very carefully however they still made you panic as you realised the seriousness of this situation.

“Are they going to hurt me?” you chewed down on your lip as you tried to scoff at the question, making it seem like you were unbothered by it but you both knew that wasn’t the case.

“If you don’t provoke anybody then they’ll leave you alone…I’ll look after you as much as I can Y/N. I won’t let The Commando’s hurt you” Steve didn’t know if he could follow through with that promise, but he intended to try his hardest to keep it. You relaxed slightly, Steve made you feel safe and you believed him.

You looked out the window to process the information that had been given to you, you still had so many questions, but you didn’t think you even wanted to know the answer to them. You felt saudade as you drove past all the familiar landmarks of your childhood, in this context nothing had changed, but you had a feeling everything was different now.

Steve pulled to a stop outside your house, it was a large house in a nice neighbourhood, you realised now how your dad got the money for it, luckily the mortgage was paid off before he died because he didn’t leave your mom a penny when he croaked. Steve turned the engine off and you sat in silence for a few seconds.

“My mom isn’t in danger, is she?” your quiet voice broke the silence of the car, Steve squinted at your house, the afternoon sun high in the sky.

“No, I’m not going to say every member of The Commando’s is her biggest fan but they realise what she went through with your dad, they keep their distance” he confirmed and you let out a breath, you could take care of yourself but you didn’t want any gangs giving your mother abuse because of things your asshole father did. Steve looked a little an edge and you realised that he had a target on his back just being here with you.

“Thanks for the ride Steve, I guess ill see you around?” you questioned but you didn’t know what your situation would be after this, it made you feel a pang of sadness. He looked over his shoulder quickly before embracing you in a brief hug, he slipped a piece of paper into your hands.

“Try and stay out of trouble Y/N” he joked with you but you knew there was a hint of seriousness in his words, he mimicked your sad smile as you clambered out of the car and pulled your suitcase from his trunk, you slammed it shut and caught his blue eyes in the rear-view mirror for the last time before he pulled away and sped down the street.

You unravelled the note he had shoved into your hands, on it was a number scrawled in messy writing, emergencies only the wording read, you put it safely in your pocket.

You turned to face your house, so much had happened here it had shaped you into the person you are so why did you want to turn around and run as far away as possible. You resisted the urge and pulled yourself and your suitcase to the oak front door taking a deep breath before entering, the reality of the situation setting in.

Stay out of trouble, how hard could that be?

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magicalsalamander · 6 years

Text

The Rabbit on the Moon Part 3

Pairing: Jungkook x Reader

Warning: mature; depictions of abuse, Illegal activity, drinking, non-consensual groping with instant karma, fighting.

Words: 9.8K

Summary: The moon was your sun. You’ve grown up working under the moonlight as long as you could remember. You served a man, who controlled the monsters that roamed the city at day and night, or rather the devil himself. When the others around you slowly start disappearing, you start wondering if it’ll soon be your turn. A hand reaches out to you, the hand of a gentle rabbit disguised as a wolf, offering a way out.

Will you be able to escape the clutches of the devil in time?

A/N: I apologize for the grammatical errors! There are quite a few easter eggs in this chapter, a treat for those who read the other series! Let me know if you catch them!

I (M). II. III. IV. V. IV (M/Final) | Masterlist

The room fell silent. The lights return, centering to a spotlight on stage. A tall, lanky man stood at the center of the stage silhouetted by the harsh light. He brought the mike up shouting, “Ladies and Gentlemen, Welcome to Weaver’s Nest.” A light applause followed, and he shushed the audience by bringing a finger to his lips. He circled around the stage, “we have a variety backstage tonight, tigers, lions and for you kinky bastards, kitten’s.” A laughter rung throughout the area, exciting the host.

Yates pulled me tighter into his embrace, sliding his hands up and down my sides affectionately. I felt his hot breath on the nape of my neck. It sent an involuntary shiver down my spine causing him to chuckle. He became more daring by traveling his thick palms up my front but trailed down again before they touch the swells of my breast. His thick tongue licked up the side of my neck and mouthed small kisses along the skin. I reached over once more and gripped onto anything that’ll give me enough distance. I held onto Mr. Shin’s crossed leg, squeezing his thigh enough to leave nail marks.

Without causing a scene, he shifted his eyes over to the rendezvous. He noticed the wild hands and could even hear the disgusting sounds coming from Yate’s grimy lips. The small trail of saliva, like a snail’s slime trail, glistened thickly from the spotlight. I let go when Yates shifted me on his lap, so I sat directly on his lumpy crotch. He lowly grinded against my ass, trying to fill every curve with himself. My face scrunched in disgust from his small chub. I attempted to lean away, but his grip on my hips was strong.

Jungkook bounced his leg and fiddled his thumb over his watch; time was going too slow. Once the auctioneer finished his intro speech, a cage emerged from the depths of the stage. The metal device raised, clanking with every turn of the rusty mechanism, and exposed the anxious panther to the arena. The panther was thin, but evidence of his once muscular stature was obvious. The hybrid crouched, stalking the host. The host mirrored by rounding about the cage, taunting the beast. The host spun to the audience, “ladies and gentlemen, I present to you the shadow of the jungle, the Panther!” The host started the auction at a low price of $350,000. Gentlemen raised their paddles and the auctioneer called out prices; slowly the bid rose. “Do I hear, $500,00? Going once, going twice…,” he searched the audience waiting for the bets to rise, but no offers were made.

Yates grumbled in my ear, cursing under his breath, the pacing was too slow for him, so he moved me out of his lap and stood up. He turned towards the audience, “that’s how you’re setting the tone for the night ladies and gentlemen? I think this show should start off with a bang! A real wow factor, who will be the brave hero and take the glory!” He waved around a glass of champagne cheering the sky awaiting a fool to spend their money. A paddle towards the back of the room raised and called out, “$800,000!” Yates swung his arm, spilling half the contents in his cup, “that’s the spirit!” He sat back down and pulled me into his lap whispered, “sucker”.

I couldn’t help it, I couldn’t take my eyes off the panther. The distress in his eyes wasn’t different from mine. I started to lose confidence, will Jungkook chicken out and not save us? Was there really help on the way? Was this a set up?

I was taken out of my thoughts when wandering hands became more daring. His fingers traced the jewels on my stomach. He nudged at my ear with his nose, “Kitty, can you be a good girl for me?” His breath smelled heavily of alcohol and cigarettes that it was almost inhuman. I remained unresponsive, so he took my breast in both hands groping tightly. I whimpered loudly enough for the others at the table to turn, but Yates was unashamed and bravado about his action. I lowered my head, blocking my face from onlookers, this was too much. Yates released his grip when a final price was called, “sold! At 1.2 million dollars!” Yates cheered loudly and turned to Jungkook patting him on the back, “told you a million would be a piece of cake.” Jungkook smiled at Yates, who laughed like a child at a candy store, then turned to the helpless cat in the bastard’s lap. The moment I locked eyes with Mr. Shin I knew the sternness in his eyes meant more than words could ever express. Maybe it was an animal thing? Something you could feel in the air? I knew whatever it was, he was going to protect us…me.

The lights went out a second time; the tides were going to change.

The lights took longer than anticipated to come back on. The audience in the dark began to murmur. The hair on my arms rose in goosebumps. Yate called out towards the direction of the stage, “what’s the hold up?” When the lights switched back on, guards were being held in a chokehold. S.W.A.T surrounded the edges of the arena with their guns up ready at will. In the center of the arena Captain Im held the auctioneer in a chokehold. The Rottweiler kept a stoic face as he released the unconscious auctioneer, who dropped to the floor with a thud, stared straight at Yates. The Rottweiler cooed, “times up, Yates.”

Under his breath Yates muttered out, “shit.” He tossed me off his lap, unceremoniously tossed me to the floor, running away towards an escape. In a split-second reaction, I grabbed the edge of his pant leg and dragged along with him for a step before I tripped Master. Chaos ensued, masked figures ran, and guards raced towards officers. Master kicked me in the jaw and out of reflex I released with a yelping in pain. One of Mr. Shin’s associate rounded the table and helped me up. I thanked him before he left to join the rumble. Jungkook stood with his hands in his pocket and walked towards the man clawing away at the floor. He walked calmly taking a hand out of his pocket and pulled the wig off exposing his long ears. He dropped the wig and slammed his foot dead center on Yates. The rotund man grunted mumbling out, “you fucker! You set me up this whole time! Fuck you, Shin!” Jeon laughed, “sorry Yates, but not--,” Jungkook dipped when a Doberman swung at him.

Jungkook lifted same foot off Yates’s back and swung his leg round housing the guard. Yates took advantage of the distraction, taking the moment to escape. I stood off the side as I watched two Doberman’s trying to join into the fight between Jungkook and the guard. I looked around at nearby table and yanked the table cloth towards me. I pulled the iron pan, holding a lit candle, towards me dismounting the candle. I blew out the candle and following the momentum of my turn, I splashed the hot wax over the approaching guards. They howled out in pain and while they were inebriated I smashed them across the face with the pan. By the time I turned around to Jungkook, he was racing after Yates. He called back to me, “Kitty, get to safety! I’ll come for you soon!”

I looked around the room and found his associates with their wigs off, fighting against the guards. They were canines after all. The Rottweiler, at the epicenter of the riot, was deep in battle. I was off no use here, I needed to get out of the arena. Luna, Luna, Luna. I zig zagged through the tables, making way back towards the employee’s staff door. I hopped over disgruntled guards, zipping past airborne punches and ran to press up against the metal door. I stumbled into a silent, empty hallway. In the distance I could hear the shouting voices of the kitchen staff. I gathered the ends of my pleated robe into my arms and ran down the bleak hall. The fluorescent lights flashed in blimps above me. I could feel my heartbeat thrumming in my ears, pounding with each step forward. I almost skid into the wall as I turned towards the stairs. I leapt two steps at a time into the kitchen. The kitchen staff was stealing whatever they could from the Kitchen, making their way out of the estate. I made it past the thieves and ran towards the first-floor hallways.

I called out to Luna, hoping for a response amongst the sea of scattering individuals. I opened rooms calling into each, but there wasn’t an answer. I shoved on and felt my throat tightening with each unsuccessful door. I began pushing past sweaty individuals, where could she have gone? I heard an officer in the lobby call out, “all hybrids, please move to the courtyard!” No, not yet, I had to find Luna. I changed my direction and ran towards the stairs taking the right side up. I stopped on the landing momentarily looking up to the obnoxious portrait of a man whom I once called Master. My heels were becoming painful and slowing me down, so I ripped them off gripping the throat of each shoe. With all the force I could conjure up, I lunged the shoe directly at the painting, grunting with the toss. The second shoe landed in an eye, I shouted at the painting, “take that!” I picked up my robe again and continued up the stairs. I ran down the hall looking left and right, “Luna! Please, baby, come out! Where are you Luna? Luna!”

The hallway seemed to twist bringing me further into the vortex. As I approached the end of the hall I heard rustling, it was faint, but I heard it. I slowed listening in closer twisting and turning my ears to accommodate for the sound. I came closer to a storage closet and outstretched my hand holding onto the knob of the handle and depressed. A small, frightened kitten looked up at me through long coats crying out, “Mama!” I drop to my knees bringing the scrambling kitten into my embrace rocking her back and forth, “we’re going to be okay. We’re going to be okay. We’re going to be okay.”

I lost track of time, I held Luna in my arms until men in Kevlar vest approached us. “Miss, Miss?” I turned towards the voices and recognized the figures, “Miss, I’m officer Wang and this is Officer Bhuwakul. We’re here to take you to safety.” I pulled away from Luna wrapping her hand in mine lifting her up. They offered us a smile, “you’ve done well.” We followed them out of the house blinded by the flashing blue and red lights. Officers of different kinds surround vehicles apprehending different creatures that disguised themselves as humans. Two busses sat just beyond the cars, Officer Wang and Bhuwakul escorted us towards the bus. I looked towards one of the vans catching a glimpse of Mr. Shin shoving Yates into the back and slamming the door shut. Shin looked like he went for a light jog compared to the wreck that Yates was. Mistress was fighting in the holds of different officers, “I’m innocent! Let go of me you filthy mongrels! Yates, explain to them!” No one, much less Yates, bothered to give her an answer or sympathy, and just shoved her into one of the many filled police vehicles. Jungkook dusted his hands off smoothing his ears down. He turned to me, smiling for a moment, before the Rottweiler called him,” Cottontail!”

We walked towards an officer standing outside the bus doors. We waited in line watching as he took down information and gave out a temporary ID code. I pushed the kitten forward and allowed her to board first. After they took the little information I could offer, I turned to the two escorts, “thank you, truly, thank you.” I offered a smile and the tails of the officers wagged excitedly. “No problem, Miss,” maintaining professionalism they saluted trying to be serious, but their tails were a huge contrast from how serious they attempted to be. For the first time in a long time, I laughed, genuinely laughed. I boarded the bus finding my seat next to the smiling kitten. Her white ears were twitching, and I couldn’t help but mimic the slight twinge of excitement. I didn’t know what was going to happen next, but Luna wasn’t in danger anymore, and that’s all that mattered.

Last night we were taken to a hospital, before being transported to the station. Even though it took hours, all of us had a routine medical exam. The doctors were accommodating and patient with us, putting up with the hisses and thumping. With as much resources they could offer us, they handed out mismatched scrubs to wear instead of our “uniforms”. I discarded the robe and leotard as soon as I received something more appropriate to wear. As soon as I slipped on the pair of pants and shirt, I felt safe. We spent the night in a large room where some slept on beds while others slept on futons. They had nowhere else to put us for the night. If freedom awaits, one more night sleeping on the floor was nothing.

The following morning all of us were loaded back on the bus and taken to the police station. In a single file line, we shuffled towards a waiting room attached to the offices of all the unit operations. They took a hybrid, one at a time, to have an officer help dictate their future. Luna rested her head on my shoulder sleeping softly with light rises and falls to her chest. I pulled her closer when real criminals walk by in cuffs glaring at us. I stroked the back of my knuckles against her cheek to evoke a rumbling purr from her throat. She will always be precious, my little moon.

An officer walked towards the rows flipping through papers on his clipboard, “89? Is 89 here?” I raised my hand letting him know I’m here. I shook Luna slightly waking her, “it’s my turn I’ll be right back.” Her eyes opened wide, dilating to a full black, and lunged at my arm, “no! Don’t leave me!” I looked back to the officer, who’s taped his pen against the clipboard, impatiently checking his watch. “I’ll only be gone for a few seconds…,” I pleaded to her, but she wasn’t having it. In full tantrum, she played dirty by giving me those eyes weren’t possible to say no to. I caved in taking her hand in mine muttering, “the things I do for you Luna.” I walked towards the officer with my tail between my leg, “can she come along with me?” He looked back to the crowded station and sighed, “ma’am, unless she’s related, I can’t allow that.” Her grip on my hand tightened and a loud whine left her. She stomped her feet causing the officers eyebrows to scrunch in irritation, “what’s her number?” She answered for me, “88.” He bite his lip contemplating and weighing the pros and cons. I could feel the hesitation, so I pulled the sympathy card on him, “she’s my baby, please, just let her be with me.” His attitude takes a 180 and changes fast, “oh, oh, o—okay. Why didn’t you say so earlier? Go over to officer Jeon, the third desk in in the hybrid unit.”

I bowed politely to the officer in respect and lead Luna’s towards the hybrid department. The overhanging sign read out “Hybrid Unit,” so we followed to the third desk in. A man was crouched down rummaging through bottom cabinets, “excuse me…officer Jeon?” The clumsy man banged his head on an open drawer, “ouch, God, why do I keep hitting that?” He scooted and righted himself in his flimsy chair. It took a second, even blinking a few times, before I recognized him. It was Mr. Shin…. but this man wasn’t Mr. Shin? I looked him over, up and down, but I’m sure this was or should be Officer Shin. The buck stood up looming over us, but this time around with no façade introduced himself, “hello, let me introduce myself properly, I’m officer Jeon Jungkook, not Mr. Shin. It’s nice to meet you both.” I couldn’t stop staring at him. The rex rabbit’s ears stood at attention matching his brown hair. His sharp jawline was prickled by a five o’clock shadow. I couldn’t place my eyes on a single spot jumping from his doe brown eyes, buck front teeth, and scar on his cheek. It should’ve been obvious that was an alias. I offered him a smile nudging Luna to do the same babbling out, “yes, yes, it’s nice to meet you, officer Jeon.” He pointed his hand towards nearby chairs offering us both a seat, “Jungkook, Jungkook will do just fine. This must be…your daughter, right?”

I turned to Luna, who’s eyes could barely stay open, then back to officer Jeon, “No, but I take care of her as if she was. She’s my little moon…my Luna.” A smiled erupted across him, showing off his teeth to me. To him the resemblance was uncanny between the both of you, it was more shocking to hear there wasn’t a relation. He spoke lowly to me, “I’m sorry I didn’t find you immediately afterwards. I had some legalities to take care of. I want to thank you for helping.” I held up my hands and shook them in defiance, “no, no, no, I did nothing. Thank you for saving everyone.”

The love in the beautiful cat eyes was infectious. Jungkook wanted to embrace her and promise her the world. She was the sweetest and had the most courage he’s seen in any being, man or animal. Her selflessness was aweing. Despite her knowing the cold from being cradled by the devil, she still shined brighter than the sun. She was a angel walking on Earth. With adoration in his eyes, he stated proudly, “it’s my job to protect you. Don’t thank me.”

He shook the mouse of his computer waking it, “alright, let’s get this figured out.” Jungkook opened a registration form on his desktop and tabbed to the first line. One of his ears flopped carelessly, while the other stood at attention. His head swayed to a tune he hummed as he typed in generic biographic info. Officer Kim walked by with a steaming cup of joe in his hands, “morning guys…and misses.” I turned to the lab and caught myself staring a bit too long. Seeing them with their features still took me by surprise. The lab noticed and cheekily winked towards me. I looked away with a sunburnt type of blush covering my cheeks. Jungkook takes a sip of his coffee, amused at her expression, and cheers it towards his partner, “morning Yugyeom.” Jungkook sat his coffee down and while studying the screen asked, “name?” His humming stopped when there wasn’t a response. He glanced over to the blank cat as she stopped stroking her Kitten. I answered earnestly in a low tone, “I don’t have one.” To clear his tightening throat, he sipped his coffee again. Without provoking insult, he raised his eyebrows over the brim of his cup, “no name? Nothing you went by?” I shook my head slowly, “they called the cats kitty and the rabbits bunny; it was straightforward.” Anger boiled thickly within him, like molasses, rumbling along with an inner growl. He rested an elbow on the desk, running his hand through his hair to calm himself. He stuck his tongue against his inner cheek, “they didn’t give you names.” He enunciated each word pointedly. It wasn’t a question, but a statement. Yates. When he gets the chance to interrogate him, he’s going to make sure the surveillance cameras are conveniently off. Depriving someone so basic and toying with their dignity... the vile creature dares to breathe!

I shied away sensing the change in his diction. I didn’t want to be punished for not having a name. Luna whined slightly, curling towards me when I stopped petting her. Jungkook lowered his hand and softened his eyes, going back to an affable buck, “no. No, I’m not upset with you. I’m sorry. I—I just,” he couldn’t finish his statement without wanting to growl out an angry grunt. Settling his expression, he sat back biting his lip in thought. A name?

A light bulb went off in his head showing in his eyes; he turned back to his computer, typing fast. He pressed enter and sat back, he puckered his lips in disapproval and then randomized once more. He still wasn’t satisfied with the result, it didn’t suit her, so he pressed once more. This time his expression didn’t seem to strongly disagree. He twisted the edges of his desktop towards the both of you and waiting eagerly. “I used a random name generator to pick a name for you. Do you like this one?” I read the screen testing the name out in my mind different ways, “Y/N Y/L/N. Y/N Y/L/N. Y/N Y/L/N.” I had to jumble it on my tongue out loud. The more I said it, the more I liked it. A name! My very own name! A name! I nodded my head like a bobble toy, “yes, yes, I like it very, very, very much!” A short, breathy laugh left him, and for the first time you heard, “It’s nice to meet you Ms. Y/L/N.” I cheekily smiled, “Y/N would be just fine.”

It sent tingles down my spine hearing my name, my name, spoken by someone else. Luna tested it on her lips, twitching her ears at each syllable, “that’s the one Mama!” Jeon couldn’t help smiling along with this little family, unconditional love radiated between them. It was something he’s always looked for. He blinked away the giggly image in front of him and turned back to the form. He asked how old you were and other biographic information he couldn’t guess. Once he reached the end of the form, he scooted back to the filing cabinet and fished out two sets of thick documents. He placed the documents face downwards, “Y/N, regardless of what you choose you will be given an identification card along with a social security. I want you to really think over the options I’m about to give to you.”

I nodded waiting for him to continue. “You have two choices you can take from here. The first option is being assigned a shelter and awaiting adoption to another home to live out the rest of your life under a new owner.” I looked at him expectantly, letting the first option go in and out my ears, waiting for my next option. “The second option is applying for D.A.H.; D.A.H. is deferred action for hybrids. It’s a policy set up by the government to give hybrids, conditionally, a way of living life without ownership.” I lit up, that’s what I wanted! He continued placing a hand over the documents,” but there’s a catch, under D.A.H. you have to pursue education and receive a high school equivalent diploma at minimum. From there you can pursue higher education or obtain a job. It’s to provide evidence to the government that you are self-sustainable. The policy will give you a residency card and the ability to live without ownership after maintaining proficiency under the program for a few years.”

This! This was what I’ve always been looking for! I could provide a home, a way of life and stability for Luna. I couldn’t contain my happiness, “yes! Yes! This is exactly what I want!” Jungkook smiled at her enthusiasm, and slid a packet towards Y/N, but retracted suddenly. In warning, “the filing process takes about two weeks and then you will be given government housing until you find a job. In the meantime, you will be asked to stay at a shelter until you have been formally admitted into the program.” There it was…that made me hesitate for a second. I would have to live in a shelter…again. However, my first concern was, “Luna, can she apply to this program as well?” Jungkook nodded, “yes, she can. However, how old are you sweetie?” He turned to Luna who stared at the ceiling in wonder, so Y/N answered for her, “thirteen.” He filtered through the files to reassure himself, “she is still young enough to take a placement test and be admitted into regular public education. Same to earlier, she will have to keep her promise to work and better herself to maintain a residency card.”

I looked towards Luna making sure she was following along, but her eyes bolted left and right fast searching for answers. I simplified it for her, “Luna, if you sign up you can go to school. Do you want to go to school and live with me?” Her eyes lit up like stars against the night sky, and her white ears twitched excitedly, “really officer Jeon! I can go to school!” He laughed at her innocence, “yes, Luna, you can go to school.” I elaborated, “like I said, it will take a few weeks to file the paperwork, but when that’s done you can go to school, okay?” She nodded turning towards officer Jeon with the same smile. He pushed the packets towards us, “sign here…here…,” flipping the pages twice, “here…here… and done.” He picked up the documents, “all that’s left is sorting you out to a shelter for the mean time.” He scrolled through the list of shelters in the local area. He scrunched up his face thumping his one leg against the floor, “my friend runs a shelter, but there’s only one opening left. Would either of you like to go there?”

Luna stood in fright, “no, no, I can’t be without Mama. I don’t want to be alone.” Jungkook stood along with her, calming her down urging her to sit. “Okay, we’ll find a better spot.” He kept scrolling looking for a shelter that had enough openings, but the only one available was a city away. “I found one that has openings for two more.” Before selecting admit, he opened a registration form for Luna. He followed the same questions with her, “I want the last name as Mama!” Jeon turned to her with a cheeky smile, “good choice, kiddo.” He turned to me wiggling his brows as if her choice wasn’t obvious enough. He submitted the applications, transferring the information to the shelter and D.A.H. program. “I will need to mail these in physically, but the basics should be covered. The shelter will let you know when all processing has been complete. In a few weeks’ time you will be transferred to housing and start on your way to freedom Y/N.” I shifted in my seat with excitement, “thank you for all you’ve done.”

He wrote down on two sticky notes the same shelter ID number, then stood up straightening his clothing out. He shook both our hands, “the pleasure was all mine Luna…and Y/N.” He held my hand longer releasing and gliding our fingers against eachother. He pointed towards another officer, “follow Officer Wang and give him that number. He will know where to take you. Goodbye and good luck.” The golden retriever who was already waving in our direction. I didn’t want to leave so soon, but I responded none the less, “goodbye, Jungkook.” I swished my tail in happiness.

He watched as Y/N walked away with a pep in her step and Luna jumped for joy; finally something kids her age should be doing. He couldn’t help it as his smile reached his ears. His cottontail waged along with Y/N’s white, long tail. Officer Kim left his desk and came over to Jeon’s desk, sitting on the edge playing with paper weights. “God, will you stop with the googly eyes? I feel like I always catch you staring at women.” Jungkook scoffed at the lab, “I just care about my victims.” Yugyeom rolled his eyes, “sure, sure, just like that time you kissed that lawyer, right?” Jungkook sputtered out his spit, “that was conditional! Besides, she’s a close friend and it meant nothing. Mostly importantly, I can’t come in between that thing she’s got going on with Taehyung.” Yugyeom was taken aback, “there’s something go on between them?” Jungkook shrugs, “not explicitly, but it’s hard to ignore the way Taehyung looks at her and he asks every opportunity he gets what we talk about.”

Humming in though Yugyeom changed the subject, pointing to the now empty waiting room, ”what shelter they get?” Jungkook looked towards his best friend, “Riverwood County Shelter.” Officer Kim almost dropped the weight, “recent reports came out from there with abuse claims. They’re still under investigation, but with the way--.” Yugyeom couldn’t finish his statement, Jungkook was already rounding the corner. He ran, pumping his thick thighs as fast as he could, channeling his agility to reach Y/N as fast as possible. By the time he made it outside the buses were already out of the parking lot. He runs his hands in his hair in frustration. He didn’t have any jurisdiction once she was gone. He would have to keep tabs on them until they get sectioned into housing. As he watched nothing he asked himself over and over again how he could have not known. He can’t let them go through that again, never again.

We boarded a small bus with a few other familiar faces. The journey was about an hour and forty-five minutes from the station. The area slowly turned from cityscape to a forest, then a suburban town. It had a true quaint, home town feel. The bus stopped in front of a white building somewhere in the center of the town. The seven of us evacuated being welcomed by a few staff members. They went through roll call calling and accounting for us. The disinterest in their tone was alarming, but I passed it off as exhaustion.

We followed them through the entrance into a hallway, they then further divided the males and females. The males were taken to a different ward on the opposite side. We, the four of us, followed a staff member into a large room with rows of bunkbeds along the walls. They asked us to pick our own beds that weren’t already taken. As a typical teenager Luna chose a top bunk. I preferred to be on the bottom anyways, I needed to be grounded. This place reminded me too much of our last home. Luna was too young to remember that place, but I will never forget.

The staff member called us to stand at attention near the edge of our beds. “Ladies, you’ll find your pant and shirt set folded at the end of your bed. I will come around giving each of you a bracelet. If you’re a D.A.H. applicant, make sure you get the blue bracelet.” She stopped at each hybrid typing information on a tablet and printed to a sticker instantly. She pulled out a tamper resistant snap ID band and stuck the ID sticker onto the band. We were officially branded and tagged like cattle. The staff member was smart enough to locked it around the non-dominant hand. We were the only ones to have blue bands in our group. This was going to be a long two weeks.

The first week at the shelter wasn’t easy. I was often confused and mistook the shelter staff like I was living at the estate. The female staff was cattier than the cat hybrids themselves. Whenever I noticed a staff member harassing a hybrid, I stepped in mediating the situation. I would pull the hybrid away from the situation as calmly as possible. They often looked at me with a glare, but they didn’t know the taste of leather. I would often find myself watching from the two-way window in the interior hallway, peering into the “play room” at the hybrids to be adopted. I watched the children and adults congregate in the same room and observe as spectators would come by picking from the crop. In my short time here, I found out there was more green and only few blue bracelet holders. This made me stand by and watch the others. I would wonder, would that be a better option? Should I have chosen that life for myself and Luna again? Would I be happier? Somedays a few would leave, other days no one left. Luna came up behind me, squeezing me in a back hug, “Mama, what are you doing?” I looked at her and cupped her face rotating my thumb on the apples of her cheek, “nothing, my love. Let’s go back to our room, okay?” The innocent light within her never dimmed, even if the ones around her grew darker.

That night I couldn’t sleep, in fact I couldn’t sleep well ever since we’ve arrived. I tossed and turned in my bunk. Out of frustration I got up, sitting in my narrow bed. Everyone else was asleep, so I tipped toed towards the door and cracked it open. I needed a distraction. We weren’t allowed up to wander at night, so I stayed within the shadows. I listened and watched the hallway; stilling all my movements except to twist and turn my ears to listen for life. I closed the door further when I heard footsteps nearing. I left a sliver open and leaned my ear against the door eavesdropping into the soft murmur of the voices. “When is the order due?” A male voice asked, causing the other half of the pair to pause. “Soon, by tomorrow morning the latest. We won’t have enough hybrids to adopt out to the customer, so I’m thinking we can change some of the blues to green. It’s just a few hybrids, no one cares about them.” They laughed nudging the other, “you’re right; file it tonight then.”

I slumped to the floor as they rounded the corner. It was happening again. My eyes narrowed, ears flattened, and my tail curled around my waist. But not again, not this time, not ever. I rotated the bracelet around to the snaps and pulled and pulled making my wrist blister red until the plastic snapped. I tossed it under someone’s bed and jogged softly towards Luna. I climbed the short ladder and shook her awake whispering harshly, “wake up, Luna, wake up.” I couldn’t take everyone with me, so I had to get away and find help. She blinked lazily towards me, “Mama? What’s wrong?” I shushed her and climbed down. Over the banister I tossed her slip-on canvas shoes, and slipping mine on as quietly as possible, “put these on.” She put them on obediently, but still waited for me to answer her, “Mama, what’s going on?” I shushed her again and helped her climb down the ladder reducing sound as much as possible. I looked her in the eyes, “we have to leave, now.” Her eyes widened, “what’s wrong?” I shook my head, “later, just follow me.” I could tell she had a million questions, but there wasn’t time for that. We had to get out of here, and fast. The night staff were few compared to the regular day staff, so this was our only chance.

I pulled her behind me, tightening my sweaty hand in hers creeping towards the door again. During my time here, I’ve learned the hallways and the spaces of frequency; old habits die hard. I waited again for a second passing of the night watch. Once they rounded the corner and the steps were far enough, we crept into the hallway sticking to the wall. We edged closer to the main lobby, hiding in dark shadows of allowing staff to pass. Receptionist sat at the front desk, one of them was already asleep and the other had her face buried in a novel munching on treats. I was banking on their indifference to the world around them. The front door was right here!

I turned to Luna holding my finger up to my lip and pointed towards the door. She nodded and wrapped her tail around her waist tightly like mine. We crouched, creeping, step by step along the curve of the front desk. The front door was less than ten steps away, but it felt like a million miles away. I peeked over the edge of the desk making sure the two were still fully distracted and crouched again when the coast was clear.

With a silent deep breath, I held onto that and crept forward, fast and calculated towards freedom. I pushed the door open letting Luna go through first and looked back to make sure we still were in the clear. I crab walked out the door through the small crack out into the cold of the night. I allowed the door to close holding it carefully with two hands, but it wasn’t silent. It dinged close. My heart dropped, so I abandoned stealth and grabbed Luna’s hand and ran into the night. I caught a brief glimpse of the receptionist dropping her book in shock pointing towards us, “Stop right there!”

It wasn’t long before I heard the barking of hounds following us and sirens. We had to get away, we’re not livestock! We ran through the empty streets passing by neon illuminated store front signs. The small, suburban downtown ended after a few blocks, falling into a residential area. I pulled Luna with me towards a home, jumping over the fence into someone’s back yard. I figured it would be harder to chase if they had to go through obstacles. We hoped over a few more fences, trailing through different yards, and ended up on another side street. There was a dense tree line just beyond the homes, so I yelled to Luna, “Luna, keep running baby. Don’t slow down okay!” In pants she mumbled out a sound similar to yes and kept towards the forest.

We kept moving forward driven by the sounds of the dogs. Our feet tripped and slipped every now then, but our momentum and will was stronger. My heart was beating so fast, all sounds just blended and rang into a high pitch white noise. To our side we could see the flickering of flashlights in the distance, so I clenched my teeth harder and thrusted with all my might. We ran and ran until we passed a patch of mud. I stopped Luna asking her to follow my lead. I ripped her badge with my trembling hands. Our thin, canvas scrubs carried our scents, if we leave them here we can gain an advantage. When we were fully stripped, I buried the contents under some tree foliage. The air was crisp against our nude bodies, but it would help mislead the hounds. I picked up mud and began rubbing it all over her then myself haphazardly. This wouldn’t help for long, but it was something. Luna’s scent was dulled to my sensitive nose. I grabbed her hand again and began running again. My thighs screamed in protest, but this was something that quickly became secondary. The further into the forest the frantic sounds became nothing more than a distant echo. We slowed when the sounds were silent and the only thing we could hear, and smell was ourselves. I searched around our standing for something to act like a shelter. In search I noticed a rock configurated that had a small cave. I lead her into the cavern after checking for any dangers and held Luna close to me. We were both panting and trembling. I cupped over our mouths attempting to silence our breathes. I pet her head in comfort. My muscles ached from overuse and lungs felt like they were on fire. I waited and waited for hours for the hounds and pound officers, but none came by.

I slumped to the floor carrying Luna with me. She was already fast asleep on my chest, so I shifted carefully. I found sleep difficult, waking up at every small sound. When day broke, I watched for a while, until the sun was in the sky. We eased out of the cave inspecting our surroundings. Luna finally ask me through a groggy voice, “why are we running Mama?” Without looking back, “they wanted to sell us again.” She remains silent but caught up to me sliding her hand in mine. She whispered, “I love you, Mama.” I smiled choking back the knot in my throat, “forever and always.”

We walked for miles and through the trees we noticed a cabin. Behind the cabin clothes hung on a clothes line fresh laundry filling the area with fresh aromas. We hid behind trees watching for any sign of life in the windows. When I noticed no movement I commanded, “stay here. I’ll get us some clothes.” She whined but let go of my hand to cling to the oak tree. I stepped towards the house watching carefully, stayed light on my toes. The dried mud on my skin made my moves rigid, but gave me some camouflage.

I crept through a dead garden and came up to the drying laundry. I unhooked a damp, long shirt, I was able to smell the male owner still on it and looked for anything else to fit. I heard the backdoor creak open and an older woman stepped out. She dropped her basket and uttered, ”oh! Oh my, hello.” I stepped back hissing at her clutching the once clean shirt to my dirty body. In a calm, collected voice, “I mean no harm, dear. I want to help you. Don’t run, please.” I didn’t trust her and just kept creeping backwards stepping over dead vegetation. She began, “I—I once had a daughter named Aure. She was like you, a shifter…but she’s been gone for a while. I can’t sit back and do nothing about it again. My husband is gone. Let me help you.” I paused, mulling over her words. She had someone like us. Maybe, we could trust her. I relaxed a bit straightening up from my hunched position. I looked towards Luna and the older woman clues in, “oh, you have a friend?” I didn’t respond, but she nods anyways, “they’re more than welcome to come as well.”

Luna emerged from behind the tree coming to cling to me. I turned to the old woman,” can we please get some clothing and we’ll be on our way?” She scrunches her brows, “that’s nonsense. You must wash up first, then I will give you something to wear.” I hesitated, but Luna was trembling violently from the cold. I couldn’t let her get sick. I complied then, “okay, thank you.” She led us into the empty house directing us towards the bathroom. I’ve never smelled this heavenly combination of cinnamon and vanilla before, somehow, it felt like home; even if I never knew what that was like, I just knew. “Let me take that shirt from you dear, I will put fresh clothing outside the door for you both. Aure left some clothing here, I’m sure you’ll fit her stuff, so collect it when you’re done.” I nodded to her waiting for the moment of change in her, but it never came. I offered another thank you and slipped into the bathroom. I even locked the door to ease my conscious.

We showered together ensuring that every last bit of mud went down the drain, and as promised fresh clothes was outside the door. We walked into the living room where the older woman was knitting happily. We stood a bit away, and I told her, “thank you, we’ll be going now.” She tsked to herself stopping her fast pace technique, “eat before you leave. I’m not letting you go knowing I didn’t feed you.” Luna’s and my stomach growled giving away our stance on leaving easily. She laughed and pointed with a knitting needle, “I prepared some sandwiches, please feel free to eat them they’re on the table.”

We meandered over and sniffing the sandwiches for anything strange, but when there was nothing alarming. Both of us chow down like vacuum cleaners. The four sandwiches turned into nothing , not even crumbs. The older woman shuffled into the dining area, “I like it when a woman can eat.” She sits next to us and Luna thanked the woman for her kindness personally, twitching her ears and purring lightly. I bowed politely to her, “thank you so much.” She waves her hand to us,” if you thank me one more time honey, you’re going to run out of thanks to give. Now tell me, where are you both heading?” I sit and think about it, “I don’t know exactly… I know we want to go to the police station in the city? We need to talk to an officer there, he can help us.” She nodded in thought, carefully listening to each word, “my husband is out on a fishing trip with friends, I can give you a ride to the city. It’s not that far.” My eyes bulged, “oh, no, that would be too much.” She scowls, “no, I insist, give this old woman a reason to have an adventure, dear.” Luna smiled and laughed, the older woman laughed along with her pinching Luna’s cheeks. Luna asked, “ma’am, what is your name?” The older woman wrinkles deepened and her smile lines extended softly, “call me Nana.”

It isn’t long before Nana has us in the cabin of the pickup truck. Luna sat in the middle chatting away with Nana as we drove to the city. Once Luna fell asleep on my shoulder, the she spoke candidly, “she must be special to you?” With a hum I cooed, “yes, she’s my daughter.” The older woman hummed back in approval, “children are a blessing…you don’t have to answer, but why were you out there?” I remained silent watching the tree pass by rapidly and stared at the random shapes of the clouds in the dark sky. As I watched the world flash by, “I was owned by the devil for years and I was rescued. The shelter we were at temporarily…they wanted to sell us off again.” Again, the older woman hummed in though mumbling off, “I hope Aure found somewhere were she belongs.” I didn’t know who Aure may be, but I sympathize, if I lost Luna it would be the end of me.

The rest of the ride was quiet except for the dull voice of the radio announcer. The tree line slowly turned into cityscape. The buildings we passed by a week ago all become familiar again. The older woman drove until she reached the parking lot of the downtown station. She parked in pick up/drop off section. I woke Luna, “love, we’re here, wake up.” The small Kitten stirred awake mumbling and wiped drool off her chin. I turned to our host, who had adoration in her eyes, “thank you for everything. I don’t know how I’ll be every able to repay you.” Not changing her expression, “you don’t ever have to. Live well and that’ll be enough for me.” Luna hugged her, “thank you Nana.” I opened the rusted door allowing us both to hit concrete. We watched until she rounded the corner and bracing ourselves for the worst walked towards the entrance of the station. I clenched Luna’s hand tightly in mine. I wasn’t sure if it was for her, or myself. I knew one thing and one things only: we needed to find officer Jeon.

We walked up the steep steps melting into the bustle of the station after reading a directory. We rounded a corner, flowing into a hallway that opened up to the busy office. In each department police men and women were chanting back and forth, and of course the burnt-out officers slept at their desk. I read the overhanging signs as we walked past the others. I smelled them before we read the familiar words: Hybrid Unit. I led Luna towards the desk, where hybrids were hard at work at their desk. Officer Wang looks up first from his computer and did a double take when he saw us both, “Kitties? What are you doing here?” His call interrupted everyone watching as pairs of eyes fell on the both of you in succession. My eyes land on the handsome buck.

I wanted to stay strong, but I couldn’t do it anymore. I started crying letting the tears blur my vision, finally letting it all go. All officers approach, but one particular bunny shoved his way through and engulfed me in a tight hug. I sobbed into the chest of the bunny and his hand eased up and down my back to comfort. His warmth reminded me of how I felt at NaNa’s home. He looked over to Luna, “are you okay kiddo?” She nodded tearing up herself hiccupping slightly. He looked over to the team, “guys, can you take care of her for a bit?” Officer Wang and Kim went into action and escorted her towards their desk. He keeps soothing me whispering soft coos of safety and it’s all going to be okay. When my sobs died down, he asked in a rush, “Y/N, what’s wrong? Why are you here? Why are you not at the shelter?”

I pulled away from the bunny with my ears flat, I couldn’t speak yet. I stared straight ahead and noticed his shirt was stained with my tears. “I’m sorry about your shirt, I didn’t—I didn’t mean—,” I rambled on not quite aware of the question he asked. He shakes my shoulders a bit, “Y/N, it’s fine, but why, why are you here?” I look up at him with rosy cheeks and dark circles, “they, they wanted to sell us too. They said that they didn’t have enough, so we were going too.” I begin sobbing halfway through the confession. Jungkook brought me into his embrace again, tighter than before. His ears dropped against this head. He knew he should’ve pursued it further, he should’ve never let any of you leave. He hugged you tighter yet, “I’m sorry Y/N. I really am, I’m so, so sorry.”

He lets you cry it out until you don’t have any tears left and are just dry heaving. He didn’t think he’d ever see the sun dim, but today there were clouds and rain. He sat you in front of his desk asking you to wait a second. He reports to his Captain, letting him know they can’t wait on those claims anymore. Captain Im nods along then comes over to you, he crouched down to my level and sweetly spoke, “I’m very sorry that happened to you Ms. Y/L/N. I promise that our team will do everything in our power to prevent anything like that from happening again. For tonight, we will direct you and Luna to another shelter.” My eyes widen looking towards Jungkook, who placed a hand on my shoulder reassuringly, “don’t worry Y/N. This time it’ll be different.”

I stand up knocking the chair over with a crack in my voice, “how will it be different? I don’t think the next time it’ll be different. Those people are all the same!” Jungkook tried to reason with me, but I didn’t want reason, I wanted justice. His foot thumped lightly and grinded his teeth. The last thing he wanted was for you to feel unsafe. His bunny ears loose some of their spunk, “Y/N, this is a promise. My friend, he can take you in! Remember, I tried sending you there last time? He’s a hybrid himself. He owns a shelter.” The Rottweiler raised his brows at Cotton tail’s bold claim but shrugged letting him dig his own grave.

I relaxed a bit, a hybrid and a shelter owner? The Rottweiler stood up patting my shoulder, “not all humans are terrible and not all beings are either. We promise Ms. Y/L/N, we will take care of you.” I’m left with Jungkook, who was still grinding his teeth. In embarrassment I lowered my head, “I’m sorry for my behavior.” I curled my tail around me, making myself smaller any way possible. His teeth stopped chattering and he approached me with a raised hand and out of instinct I winced. He pet my head gently raking his hands against my scalp, an unexpected long purr escaped my throat. I choked back in embarrassment, but he laughed letting go, “Y/N, please, I will protect you.”

I wanted him to keep petting me. I stared at his hand waiting for more, but it never came as he rounded his desk. I whined softly, and his ears twitched at the sound, “are you hurt Y/N?” I snap out of my want for affection, blushing violently, and shook my head in a no. Jungkook stared a moment too long, he wanted to pet her longer. To feel her snow-white ears between his fingers and teach you that there is more to life. They looked so soft, like clouds. He looked at the clock, “I’ll give my friend a call and get you a place to stay there. For the meanwhile, stay in the station. Would you like to sleep in a cell? It’ll give you and Luna some privacy.” My eyes water slightly again, I didn’t want to stay in a cell again, “can we please just stay in the waiting room? I don’t want to sleep in a cell anymore.” That broke his heart. Jungkook looked away from you for a moment, re-centering himself. He may be a strong, tough person, but this was chipping away at him. It felt like everything he was doing for you was wrong. He nodded towards you and glimpsed towards a giggling Luna with a smile, “yes, you can. I’ll check up on you frequently. We’ll go in the morning.” He stood with you holding out his pinky. I tilted my head in confusion examining his hand, “is something wrong with your hand officer Jeon?” He was a bit taken a back then laughed, “hold out your hand too, just like mine.” I complied even though his request was odd. He laced his pinky with mine locking the hold, “this is a pinky promise. This is something you can’t ever break, no matter what. This is my promise to you Y/N. I will protect you.” I smiled and tightened my pinky in his, “it’s a promise Jungkook.”

I let Luna play with the officers until she got bored. I leaned up against a wall closing my eyes trying to find some peace. Officer Kim and came over with Luna fiddling with some paper origami. I sat up straight, blinking away the tiredness and outstretched my arms to receive the happy-go-lucky kitten. She fell into place, “Mama, look I made a flower, do you like it?” I hummed and groggily replied, “you really made that all on your own?” She shook her head, “no, officer Tuan showed me how. He has a lot around his desk.” I pet her head and turned towards the officers, “thank you for watching her.” Officer Kim’s tail was wagging, “no problem, I like having her around, please come by more often.” I laughed ruffling her hair, she has them wrapped around her finger. Officer Jeon spoke up, “Y/N, we will be out for a bit. When I come back, l’ll take you to your new temporary home.” I nodded genuinely wishing, “be safe.” Jungkook’s ears came to life saluting Y/N as they walked away. Kim pulled Jungkook under his arm locking him in place giving him a well-deserved knucklehead sandwich. I could hear echoes of laughter chiming. It brought me comfort knowing that they guard the city.

I woke up in an awkward position crinkled into a make shift pretzel with Luna using my lap as a pillow. I opened my eyes as a casually dressed officer Jeon approached us. “Morning sleepy heads. Here, eat this before we leave.” I mumbled back something similar to a greeting and took the breakfast sandwiches from him. I wake Luna handing her a sandwich. Jungkook watched you with a onset grin on his face as you waited for Luna to eat first before you did. After a good bite I asked him, “did you eat?” He stopped mid gulp of his coffee, not expecting that question. “Oh, I’m fine I already ate,“ in fact he ate two for himself. I eyed him skeptically but ate continuously, not completely willing to let go of my meal. He almost choked again at Y/N’s cute side eye. This cat would be the death of him.

Once everyone was ready to go, the brigade waved you all off asking you to visit them, especially Luna. Jungkook let me ride next to him in the passenger seat. I looked around taking in the millions of gadgets like a child in a candy shop. He drove off complete amused. It took twenty minutes to reach the shelter because of traffic. This time around it looked like a home rather than an industrial building repurposed. Everything about the place felt inviting. Jungkook parked allowing us to follow him to the entrance. The estate was large with four floors and a yard. Jungkook neared the receptionist introducing himself and asking for a man named “Jin.” The woman directed you all out to the backyard. Jungkook waved his hand signaling us to follow him. His tail was swishing back in forth through a cut in his skinny jeans.

The sun was blinding as I walked hand in hand with Luna out the back doors. They weren’t metal, but a friendly, white door, the type you see in homes. Jungkook turned back to me smiling, “he should be just around here.” I followed behind the buck, stepping with caution, Luna always slightly behind my back. I walked off the cement trailing through lush, green grass towards a jungle gym. Children screamed about in delight swinging, climbing, sliding all around in happiness. Even when one of them tripped they still carried a wide grin on their face helping the fallen one up. The buck suddenly picked up speed towards one of the adults, lighting up, “Jin! Jin!” The tall, broad shouldered man turned around exposing his round, brown ears in the typical brown bear fashion. Two sugar gliders hung off his arms giggling as they roamed around him, climbing him like a tree. He tried to calm them, but they kept whizzing around him like cars on a racetrack. Despite the chaos, he seemed to be used to their antics. Jungkook got closer to the bear, “hyung, I brought your newest guest.” Jin turned to us, the apprehension in my eyes sticking out like a sore thumb, smiling beautifully. “Hello, welcome home.”

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therake-1996-blog · 6 years

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Revelation Ch. 12

Chapter 12- Cherries

“Mommy! Can I go cherry picking with Dui?”

“Sure, dove. Just make sure you stay with him the whole time.”

“I know that, mommy, jeez.”

Two and a half years have passed since I gave birth to the second best thing that ever happened to me. Aveline has grown to be the size of either a small four-year-old or a large three-year-old, and is extremely gorgeous. Every day she looks more and more like her father. Since she is very small, she is quite fast and agile—it isn’t hard for her to keep up with me when I take her hunting, even though I don’t run at full speed. Zyglavis goes with us most of the time as well, though he goes off on his own in fear of catching her scent. He’s still semi-new, so he doesn’t want to take any chances.

Aveline also likes to scare the bejeesus out of us by climbing the tallest trees—coast redwood, mountain ash, coast Douglas-fir…basically whatever tree she can get her hands on—and scaling cliffs when we take her to the Olympic Peninsula or the Outer Hebrides. She would cliff dive if we let her.

Since she is so agile, she can jump twice the height that a normal vampire can—up to a thousand feet in the air. I can only make it a little over half that height, and Zyglavis can make it to around eight hundred feet. He very much dislikes how much of a daredevil our little girl is, but she knows she’s pretty well indestructible, so she takes the biggest of risks.

I was also correct about her ability—Aveline can see the true nature of anyone and everyone. She can see through the thickest façade; her eyes see right through everyone. The moment she smiles at someone, Zyglavis and I know we can trust that person…well, except when it comes to Leon for Zyglavis.

I watch her skip alongside Dui as they walk toward the cherry orchards the Heavens hosts, her tiny left hand in his and her right hand gripping onto a brown woven basket, swinging it back and forth.

Every day, everyone who knows her falls deeper and deeper under her charm. The other day, I walked in on her hosting a tea party with real Oolong tea and fancy looking mini cakes with Krioff and Tauxolouve. She had Krioff in a sparkly purple tutu and matching crown, and Lou had a pink feathered scarf around his neck with glittery lipstick on.

When he saw me, Krioff blushed and slunk down into his chair, trying to hide his face with his teacup. Lou, however, continued on like I wasn’t even there, drinking his tea with his pinkie raised.

“This tea is quite delicious, Lady Aveline!” He had said with a British accent. “Where did you procure it?”

“Only from the most expensive tea store in London, Sir Lou!” Aveline replied in the same accent.

“Most excellent!”

I had to leave the room so I could laugh. As touching as it was, it was also quite hilarious.

As much as I love these peaceful times, there’s always one thought that nags at the back of my mind.

Diefropos.

Zyglavis says that he’s in hiding down on Earth, and that he hasn’t been using his powers, otherwise they’d have been able to track him by now, but that’s not good enough for me. Every time we go down to Earth to hunt, every time I have Aveline by myself without him, I worry. What would happen if Diefropos got near her? What if he tried to attack her? Curse her?

Of course, I would never let that happen, but would I be forgiven if I killed a god, even if he was corrupt?

I know Zyglavis and the others are still trying to look for him, but it’s hard since he’s in hiding. And he could stay in hiding for literally thousands of years.

The coward.

Another thought pulls my attention when I let it as well; my creator. I know he’s still alive. I know he’s still out there. Sometimes when we’re on Earth, it’s like I can feel his presence. It was fine when it was just me, but now I have a family, a child, to take into consideration. I never want Zyglavis or Aveline within one hundred miles of that…that monster. I know Zyglavis would love to get his hands on the man that made my life hell for two hundred years, but like I or the king would let that happen. Besides that, Z has been around since before the beginning of recorded time. He’s too strong for Zyglavis to take, too fast. Not even I can comprehend how truly timeless that man is.

As I walk down the hall to Zyglavis’ office, I think back on the day that I was brought to the Heavens, and then I realize—that was actually the first time I ever saw him. Yes, I had been running from Z, and then…

…

It was humid and hot. Being crowded only made things worse. I was hurrying down the narrowed, busy streets of a bazar in India. There were so many interesting things for sale, people yelling and laughing, even a snake charmer, but I didn’t have time for that. I could feel him. Like he was slithering up right behind me. Like he was going to grab me at any moment, regardless of all the innocent humans around.

I pulled my burka tighter around my head, trying to conceal my face. Conceal everything but my eyes. Good thing I didn’t sweat.

I could feel the goosebumps raising against my skin, the venom swirling just underneath my dermis. My breathing came in harder and faster. It took all I had not to break out into a dead run in that busy street. I knew he was right there, right behind me. Probably smiling with those cold, dead eyes, his grey lips turned up in that awful smirk, that black, raven black hair loose and down his back, not caring if he looked out of place.

Why…? Why did he hate me so? Why didn’t he just let me die if he hated me? Was I a sport? A catch and release game? I heard someone yell out, and then, that deep voice respond in their native tongue. Shivers ran down my spine. No…No!

I was scared. So scared. Get away.

Get away, get away, get away, get away…

I sped up my walk, my eye going to the rainforest off in the distance. I needed to get out of this bazar and into the forest. Everything felt hazy, like I was moving at a snail’s pace when I was truly very well jogging through the crowded, narrow street. People bumped into me, yelling at me, but I couldn’t hear them. The mouth of the little town was so near, yet so far. So very, very far.

My foot hit the lush mossy ground, and I was off like a bullet.

I could feel him behind me. The only way I could describe his presence was like a shadow—slithering, silent, but always there, those ghostly hands trying to grab me and subdue me. And he could feel my fear, hear my breathing. He was probably smiling that sick, twisted smile, happy that I was afraid of him.

Such a fun game for him.

He liked to chase me for a little while, like a cat with a mouse, give me time to get distance, and then he’d come up fast. Back off, come up fast, back off, come up fast.

The foliage whacked at my burka and tore it from my head, ripping at my clothes and making holes in them, but I barely registered the sensations. My pumping legs ripped a long seam up the front of my long dress, and I made an effort to kick off my shoes.

And then I could feel him gaining. Venom swirled in my mouth, my lips twitching in anticipation, getting ready to bite.

I was grabbed, but the hands weren’t cold. I let out a wild snarl, and suddenly, there was a blinding, white light.

I was dropped onto a hard floor, all the wind being knocked out of me. Hissing like a feral cat, I whirled onto my feet in a defensive crouch, expecting to see Z standing in front of me, but instead I saw a man sitting idly on a throne, his wavy blond hair falling to his waist and a small smirk on his face. On either side of him where the men I would know to be Leon, Karno, Huedhaut, and Scorpio. The rest of the gods hadn’t joined yet. Confusion entered my mind.

My eyes darted around the room, looking for a threat, looking for Z, but I couldn’t find any.

“Thank you, Zyglavis.” The man on the throne said.

“Your majesty.”

I jumped, hissing at the voice right beside me. When I looked, I saw a young man who looked to be in his early twenties. He was adjusting his meticulously buttoned jacket, and he gave me a side-long glance, his eyes narrowed. His eyes were an iridescent grey. Such long eyelashes, too.

“Eden Ava James, daughter of William and Evelyn James. You are…or, were, eighteen years old when you became what you are. Your true age is two-hundred-twenty-eight. You have no coven and live on the run from your creator, whom you fear. Is this true?”

I just glared at the man on the throne. How could he have known this? I lifted my chin and took in his scent. It was…strange, to say the least. Cotton, lavender, orange-peel, lemon grass, normal scents, but then I could smell more sinister undertones. Blood, coldness, and darkness. He was otherworldly. He scared me.

“Answer him.” The man beside me commanded in a deep voice. I growled at him.

“It is true,” The other man said for me, a smile perking at his pale pink lips. “Welcome, Eden James. To the world of the gods.”

…

I stop outside Zyglavis’ office door, my hand resting on the golden handle.

Who would’ve thought that Zyglavis, the god who pulled me from my creator, one of the five who was present when I was locked away, would’ve become my mate? Who would’ve thought he would have fathered my child? I smile to myself.

I wonder how much of this the king knew.

“Eden? Are you coming in or not?” Zyglavis’ voice comes from the other side of the door, and I chuckle.

“I’m coming in.”

…

A couple hours later, while we’re all convened in the parlor, Aveline returns with Dui, smiling ear to ear and carrying a basket overflowing with bright red cherries.

“Look, mommy! Dui helped me pick allll these cherries!”

“Wow, dove,” I say with my eyebrows raised. “You did a good job!”

“Look!” She tugs on Zyglavis’ jacket, and he smiles down at her.

“Amazing. Did you let him hold you or did you climb the trees yourself?”

Aveline rolls her eyes.

“I climbed the trees, daddy. Come on, I’m big.”

Zyglavis closes his eyes and takes a breath, lifting a hand to pinch the bridge of his nose. While I pat his leg, Aveline walks over to Leon and presents him with the cherries.

“Look, Leo! I picked the best cherries! Let’s eat them!”

“Sure, Avey.” Leon says with a smile.

Beaming, Aveline sets the basket down and turns back to Zyglavis and I.

“Mommy, daddy, cherries?”

“Not for me.” Zyglavis says as he pulls himself to his feet and walks over to one of the tables to look over papers.

“Just a couple for me, my love.” I say with a smile. Aveline smiles, and takes her time, carefully picking out three plump, scarlet red cherries and carrying them over to me. “Thank you, sweetheart.” I say as I kiss her forehead. She giggles.

“You’re welcome, mommy!”

She skips back over to Leon and climbs onto the couch next to him, leaning down to pluck up one of the many fruits in front of them.

The room is quiet for a few minutes as everyone goes about their own business, Dui, Ichthys, and Teo talking amongst themselves, Karno reading a book, Zyglavis and Scorpio going over paperwork, and Leon and Aveline eating their cherries, until they start playing.

Giggling, Aveline throws a cherry stem at Leon, who gives her a look.

“Knock it off, kid,” He says as he swallows his bite.

“Mm…no.”

“Then—Ha!” Leon grabs the small cherry Aveline had in her hand right from her, and she lets out a cry. Zyglavis’ jaw clenches.

“Gimme!” Aveline says, reaching out a hand. Leon snatches the cherry away with a playful grin.

“You didn’t say ‘please’,” He says, opening his mouth and acting like he’s going to eat her cherry.

“No! Don’t! Please give me the cherry?”

“Hm,” He smiles at her, then holds it in front of her mouth. “Fine, then. Here. Say ‘ah’.”

“Ah!” Aveline opens her mouth, and Leon pops the cherry inside. Then, with a mischievous grin, she chomps down on the fruit, squirting red juice on Leon’s cheek.

“Ah! Ew! Come on, Avey, that wasn’t nice!”

“Maybe you shouldn’t withhold food from me then,” She says as she chews.

“Don’t talk with your mouth full.” Leon chastises as he wipes at his face.

As I roll my eyes, Zyglavis slams his hands down on the table.

“Alright, that is enough!”

Everyone, including me, jumps at the harsh, booming sound as he shoves away from the table, his eyes narrowed and locked on Leon.

“Whoa, whoa, what’s up, Zig?” Scorpio asks, his expression confused.

“Get away from my daughter. Right now.” He growls at Leon, who just stares at him.

“Daddy?” Aveline whispers.

“Honey come here.”

Responding to me, Aveline climbs down from the couch and hurries over to me, jumping into my arms.

“What’s your problem?” Leon asks, his voice low. “We were playing. I know you’re uptight, but come on.” A snarl rips out from Zyglavis’ bared teeth.

“Zyglavis!” I call. “Calm down, they weren’t doing anything wrong! Aveline is two, for crying out loud!”

“That’s my point! He was being way too mature for her!”

“What? Have you lost your mind?” Leon pulls himself to his feet and goes around the coffee table, coming to stand in front of Zyglavis, who crouches, baring his fangs. “Eden is right. Aveline is a toddler. Nothing like that crossed my mind. You’re the one making things out to be what they’re not. I was playing with her, nothing more.”

“If you want to play with her, play dolls, lion.”

“Mommy…why is daddy so mad?”

“Shh, sweetheart,” I cradle Aveline closer to me, trying to keep her from seeing her father and Leon fighting.

“I do play dolls with her, you anal retentive kitchen scale,” Leon bites out. “I play with her all the time. What makes this different than that?”

“She is two!” Zyglavis’ yelling voice echoes off the tall walls. Aveline flinches. “There are some things you do not do with two-year-olds!”

“Oh, you mean I can’t feed her?”

Zyglavis shrieks a snarl at him.

“I am her father. I don’t know who you think you are, but she’s mine!”

“I understand that, but she’s just as much mine, too.”

I inhale sharply. That…was definitely the wrong thing to say.

Zyglavis finally gets physical, his fist snapping out and nailing Leon across the face, sending him back; he goes flipping over the couch, sending it careening backward, along with innocent Teorus, who sprawls onto the floor. Dui jumps in to help him to his feet, and they scurry to the sidelines.

“Zyglavis, stop!” I gasp as I jump to my feet.

“Daddy, no!” Aveline chimes in. He either can’t hear us in his rage, or he ignores us.

Leon pulls himself to his feet and backs away as Zyglavis charges him, leaving no room for escape. This mirrors the situation two years ago when I was pregnant, but this time, it’s worse.

“I don’t know what is going on in your head, you rabid lion, but you’re gonna stay away from her.”

“Zyglavis!” I cry.

Leon slowly shakes his head from side to side.

“I can’t.”

Zyglavis’ face screws up in rage, and his left fist flies out faster than anyone but Aveline and I can see, burying into Leon’s abdomen and sending him rocketing several feet back. He slams into a wall, buckling it and falling through it.

“No!” Aveline cries. I force her head down to my shoulder.

“Zyglavis, stop!” Karno yells.

“Don’t touch him!” I gasp.

However, it’s too late.

Karno claps a hand on Zyglavis’ shoulder, a deadly mistake. He lets out a frightening sound like a swarm of angry bees and grabs his hand, swinging him around and grabbing his jacket. I watch in horror as Karno’s body goes flying through the air and crashes into a stone pillar, snapping it in half; the room shudders. Unlike Leon, who didn’t make a sound, Karno lets out a cry as certain bones in his body snap, his body hitting the ground hard and rolling a few times.

“Karno!” Huedhaut and Teorus, followed by Ichthys, run over to Karno, who just lays in a heap. Leon scrambles over to him as well.

“Karno, are you alright?” He cries, pushing Teorus aside so he can get closer.

“Ugh…ow. Owwww…”

He holds his chest with one arm, his other trying to prop himself up, but he falls back down.

All of this seems to snap Zyglavis out of his fury.

“Karno…” He breathes. “Karno I’m…I’m so sorry.”

“Here.” Ichthys says. He places his hands on Karno’s ribcage, and a soft blue light slowly begins emanating from them.

“Ouch! Are healing powers supposed to hurt?” He whines.

“Sorry. You’ll feel better soon.”

I listen as Karno’s ribs snap back into place, and he winces, then a look of relief crosses his features.

“Ah. That’s better. Thank you, Ichthys.”

Leon slowly pulls himself to his feet, turning to look at Zyglavis.

“Look,” He says, lifting a hand. “You know me. You may not like me, but you know me. I would never purposely hurt anyone…especially her. I love her, Zyglavis, just like you do. All I want is help keep her safe and happy. Is that so bad? You’re a good father, Zyglavis, but try to trust other people more.” Zyglavis listens silently, his jaw clenched tight and his hands balled into fists. Aveline peeks out from under my hair, and locks eyes with Leon. “And trust Aveline’s judgement, too. Remember her gift. Remember she’s special. And remember this…Aveline is the center of my universe. She’s my reason. Always.”

Zyglavis stares at Leon for a long while before he closes his eyes and takes a deep breath, exhaling slowly.

“Are they going to fight anymore, mommy?” Aveline whispers.

I slowly shake my head.

“I don’t think so, my love.”

And I believe it this time, too. As much as Zyglavis dislikes Leon, he knows. He was just being stubborn. There is nothing he can do. Aveline chose Leon.

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