#but when Scrooge tries it for the first time he IMMEDIATELY ends up with his boss | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

rocknrollbabe14 · 5 months

Text

You Make Everyday Feel Like It's Christmas (Joe X Reader)

You Make Everyday Feel Like It’s Christmas

Summary: It’s your second Christmas with Joe. Christmas has a new meaning for you this year. But you’ve always loved this time of year. But this time, you want to bring a little holiday cheer to your fiancé. Joe doesn’t “hate” Christmas but he’s not quite feeling up to it this year. Can you manage to get him in the Christmas spirit? Or will he be a scrooge?

Prompts: Shopping, “I cannot believe you’re making me go shopping on Christmas Eve.”// “Don’t be a Scrooge.”// “I’m freezing, come warm me up.”// baking

Rating: 18+ (for the fact at the end, it alludes to premarital sex)

Also, special thanks to @josephs-quinns for making my header and making my visions come to life. Love you ❤️❤️❤️

You were never one to put off Christmas shopping. Matter of fact, you thought people were crazy for waiting until the very last day to finish their Christmas shopping. The thought alone made your stomach twist with anxiety, making it feel like it was bubbling up into your throat. How could people be so calm when they were working against the clock to make last minute Christmas magic happen? You had never understood it—until now.

“I can’t believe you’re making me go shopping on Christmas Eve.”, Joe groaned as he slid on his peacoat, fixing his scarf just perfect around his neckline.

The weather in London was absolutely frigid in comparison to what you were used to in the United States. Moving to London to be with your fiancé was something that you never imagined would be on your bingo card. But, here you were. You had been together for almost two years now and you knew that being engaged in under two years sounded a little bizarre, but Joe had claimed he knew from the beginning that you were the one for him.

You knew how it sounded. It sounded very cliché looking back, but you loved him and you were happy with him. This was only the second Christmas you both were spending with each other. Tomorrow’s plans were clear. You were spending half Christmas Day with his mom and his stepdad and the other with his dad and his stepmom. Joe never really had talked a lot about his parents divorce and how his childhood was.

Fortunately, you couldn’t relate. Your mom and dad had been happily married for thirty years. The plan was to fly in and see them the week after Christmas with Joe in tow. At first, you weren’t sure how your parents would take you moving to another country to be with your fiancé. However they both were supportive of your relationship.

They had always been supportive of you and your decisions throughout life, making comments that they had raised a smart daughter, you had your head on your shoulders, etc. All the ones most parents said about their responsible children. It made your feel good, made you feel like you had completed your due diligence of being their child.

You rolled your eyes playfully at Joe before laughing lightly. “Come on, babe. Don’t be a Scrooge.”

Joe sighed lightly. “I’m not being a Scrooge. Just wondering why we waited until the absolute last minute to buy my mum and dad’s presents along our mate’s.”, he tried to feign a fake smile and chuckle.

Something with his energy seemed off, but you couldn’t quite place your finger on it.

“They were your friends first. And you can’t show up to your parent’s houses empty handed.”

Joe held your peacoat, helping you slip into it. One thing about him was certain. He was a gentleman.

“It’s going to be so busy.”, he groaned lightly.

He wasn’t doing such a great job at hiding his disdain for the holiday activity you both were about to take part in.

“Why don’t we just try and make the best of it? You know I hate waiting until last minute to do anything especially Christmas shopping. My anxiety is through the roof.”, you admitted as he grabbed the door knob, opening the door to your all’s house that you shared.

Immediately, you both felt the nip of the winter wind causing you both to grimace. You pulled your peacoat tighter, beginning to button it quick and in a hurry. It was something you had learned to do in the past year of living here.

“I’m going to try.”, he looked at you. “I started the car so it’d be warm for us.”

“Thanks.”, you smiled softly as he let you out the door first, carefully locking it behind you both.

He rushed down the steps in order to make it to the car before you did. A smile came across your face as you remembered why. Him being the gentleman his parents had raised him to be, there was no way you were opening your own car door. He never gave the opportunity for that to happen and he wouldn’t either. It was something that was important to him, just one of the many he ways he showed you he cared.

You looked up at him, feeling the cold air nip at your nose. He finally gave you a soft smile as he opened the car door, making sure you got in safely, and closed the door once he mad sure your appendages had made it safely into the car. You watched him through the defrosted windshield coming over to the other side, wasting no time in getting before shutting the door. He rubbed his hands together easily, shivering lightly.

Joe wasn’t usually affected by the cold. He was used to it, being raised in London and all. Winters were harsher there. He had told you that before you moved to be with him. He was brutally honest about everything before allowing you to move to be with him. But you respected that.

“Cold?”, you asked lightly.

“I’m freezing.”, he admitted with a soft chuckle as he leaned over, giving you the perfect position to kiss him in. “Warm me up.”

He flashed his puppy dog brown eyes at you playfully, the ones he used when he was being a little cheeky. You’d never admit it with words, but he already knew that he could win you over with that look.

“When we get home.”, you smirked back at him before leaning down and giving him a kiss.

“Fine.”, he feigned being hurt.

You smirked over at him as you linked your phone to his car. One way or another, you were determined to get him in the Christmas spirit no matter what it took. Scrolling through your phone, you decided on a song finally to kick off the car ride. The beginning notes of “Like It’s Christmas” by the Jonas Brothers came on, causing you to begin giggling to yourself. Joe shot you a look immediately, a coy smirk working its way across his lips.

“Really?”, he asked through a small laugh.

“Come on, babe. It’s one of my favorites.”

“I’m aware, love. Just didn’t know we had to endure the boy bands along with the other chaos surrounding today.”

Your eyes panned down to your lap, trying to ignore the pang in your chest. He didn’t mean it like that, did he? Shaking your head lightly, you continued to try and convince yourself that he didn’t mean it like that. The happy, bright Christmas music continued to play in the background but now you weren’t really in the mood to sing now. Joe’s grip tightened on the steering wheel as you all continued to the mall. You were beginning to wonder if this was the best idea. But you were determined to put him in the Christmas spirit. That was your ultimate goal.

“I’m kidding.”, he choked out.

But you didn’t really feel like he was joking.

After a little convincing, he finally got you singing even if he wasn’t doing much of it himself.

As Joe searched for parking, you could begin to tell his patience was beginning to wear thin. He swore a little, a few obscenities coming out of his mouth at how crowded and congested it was. Once he noticed you had heard him or was watching him, he abruptly cut them short. He was trying his best for you whether you knew it or not. He was struggling to be in the spirit this year but how could he tell you? The answer was simple. He wouldn’t.

It had taken a week or two after Thanksgiving for him to finally get his ass in gear and help you put the tree up. He remembered you saying back home, you usually put the tree up after Thanksgiving. Like literally the night of or the next day. He could remember laughing, thinking you were a little obsessed with Christmas but he found it cute, if he was being honest. It’s part of what made you—well, you. He didn’t understand what was really going on with him this year.

But he didn’t have much time to think about that as he shifted the car, placing it in park and eyes panning over to you.

“Ready, love?”, he asked with a sigh.

“Yes.”

"Here goes nothing.”, he smirked easily.

Westfield was always busy. But it was especially busy at Christmas time. Today, was no exception. Maybe it was even worse. Joe was going to go with worse.

“So where are we going first?”, he asked, grabbing your hand lightly.

“Uh—what about we hit up Burberry? Weren’t you wanting to get your dad a new scarf?”

Joe shrugged. “I guess.”

“You guess?”, you repeated back. “Joe, I need you to help me here. You know your family and friends better than I know them. I get we’ve been together almost two years but you know more of what they like.”

“Sure, we can get dad a new Burberry scarf Sounds good, love.”

Entering the mall, Joe could feel his blood pressure rising. It was so crowded—especially to be Christmas Eve. Hadn’t people finished already? They should have, you all included. Joe began to tug at his scarf lightly, feeling as though it was choking him. He needed to breathe.

“Can you at least give me some input? Gifts are special. I love gift giving. It’s my love language.”

Joe also loved to give—taking his friends out to eat or cooking a meal, buying you things here and there just to show you he loved you and cared so you were confused as to why he was being indifferent now.

“I know, love.”

You sighed lightly as you felt like you had to practically drag him into Burberry. The employee greeted you both, asking if you were looking for anything specific. You explained you’d like to find a scarf for your future father in law. She led you to the patterned scarves, leaving you both to make the decision on which would fit Joe’s dad the best.

“What about this one?”, you turned back to show him the archived beige cashmere scarf.

“Yeah, looks good.”

Joe barely flicked his eyes up from his cell phone.

“Joe.”

Joe’s eyes pulled up from his cell phone once again.. “I said it looks good, love. I’m sure he’ll love it.”

You huffed lightly in frustration before closing your eyes and trying to remind yourself what today was about. Yes, Joe was being totally intolerable right now but you were still very much in the Christmas spirit and you were not about to let him ruin that for you. You would convert him before it was all said and done.

Picking up the scarf, your voice came out sharper than you had intended. “Okay, let’s checkout.”

What was so important on his phone that it couldn’t wait? This behavior was very unusual for him. He never let anything distract him around you—not his phone, not anything. He followed you to the counter, wasting no time in handing you his wallet to pay for everything. Sighing, you forked over his debit card and watched as the cashier swiped it and handed it back to you, allowing you to place it back in his wallet. She asked if this was a gift (it was a different associate than earlier) to which you answered yes.

Proceeding, she asked if you all wanted it gift wrapped. Once again, you found yourself being the only one to answer her question. It was as if she could sense some tension between you both.

“Finishing up last minute Christmas shopping?”, she tried to make casual conversation.

“Yeah, we’re usually never this late.”, you fake laughed.

She sensed it. “It happens to the best of us.”

“It does.”, you agreed, almost gritting your teeth and hoping Joe could hear the annoyance laced in your voice.

“Here you are. Have a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year. Thank you for shopping with us today.”

A fake smile spread across your lips. “Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year to you as well.”

Once again, Joe was not interacting with you, this only causing for your blood to boil further. However, he finally put his cell phone away for a few minutes. You were glad—because you were afraid you would have said something you may have regretted. You didn’t want to fight with him today. Sure, every couple has their disagreements but which ones argue near Christmas time? You didn’t want you all to be the one. After taking a small break to run to the restroom and talk some sense into yourself and attempt to give him the benefit of the doubt, you felt a little more positive.

“So what all do we need?”

“What do you mean, love?”

“What all are you planning on getting everyone? All we have so far is a Burberry sweater for your dad.”

“Uh, let’s see.”, Joe began. “I guess we can get Wes some top shelf booze.”

“Okay. That leaves Ollo and your mom.”

“I’m not sure what to get Ollo.”, Joe admitted.

“Doesn’t he like photography?”

Every answer that you were getting from Joe was like pulling teeth. It didn’t—and shouldn’t be this hard to pick up gifts for your loved ones. You spent a lot of time throughout the year thinking of the perfect gifts to give everyone in your life. You didn’t understand what was holding him up. Finally, you decided to help him.

“What about a new sleek leather camera bag?”

“Yeah, that’s good.”

Good. That was the best adjective he could come up with to describe what you considered to be a very thoughtful gift for his friend. The rest of the day felt almost like agony. You all had spent more time than you had intended at the mall, totaling five hours in what could have only taken a couple of hours. It was five-thirty, almost six. The mall was closing at six. Joe carried most of the bags. It seemed like it was totally against his will which only dampened your mood further.

You all had gotten Ollo his leather camera bag, Wes his top shelf booze, and his mom a Gucci scarf and gloves.

“Ready to go, love? They’re closing in thirty minutes. And I don’t know about you but I’m so ready to get out of here and head home.”

“Yeah.”, came your short response.

You were at the end of your fuse. Walking towards the exit, Joe attempted to grab your hand with his free one. Loosely, you allowed him to intertwine his with yours, hoping he would get the hint. But it didn’t seem that he had yet. The winter wind nipped at your nose as you all walked outside to the car. Joe let go of your hand to unlock the car door. And before he could even attempt to come to your side and open the door for you, you beat him to the punch.

Frustrated and hurt didn’t even begin to describe your emotions right now. Joe looked confused as you slammed the door shut lightly, grabbing your seatbelt and fastening it. You watched in the mirror as he shook it off and loaded all the bags inside the car before getting in himself and starting the car. Your phone automatically linked back up, Christmas songs beginning to play in a loop. You were no longer in the mood to be joyous and in the spirit.

“Love?”

“Hm?”

“Are you okay? You seem—off.”

Joe tried to start the conversation lightly, easing into it.

“I’m fine.”, you insisted, crossing your arms.

Your body language definitely indicated otherwise.

“What’s wrong?”

“Nothing.”, you snapped, almost instantly regretting it but it was enough for him to stop prodding.

The rest of the car ride home was in silence other than the radio playing upbeat Christmas songs. Ones you would usually sing along to, but not today. Not now. Ten minutes away from home, you cut the radio off and let the rest of the ride be in complete silence. Joe knew he had fucked up and in a big way. The sun had set by the time you all pulled into your driveway. The outside light illuminated the driveway as he placed the car in park, shutting it off.

You wasted no time in unbuckling and grabbing your fair share of presents to carry inside.

“Do you have the house keys?”, you asked dryly.

“Yeah, here.”, Joe handed them to you and he could have sworn you almost ripped them out of his hands.

He watched as you marched up to the door, unlocking it, and disappeared inside. It took him a few minutes to catch up, but when he entered the house he noticed you had set everything down on the couch and had disappeared into the bedroom. The door was closed. His brown eyes panned to the Christmas tree, the one you always plugged in as soon as you all arrived home from whatever errands you had to run. It sat in darkness. His heart sank knowing something was wrong with you.

He sat the armful of presents on the couch beside your pile before he hurriedly kicked his shoes off, racing to your all’s shared bedroom. He turned the doorknob but it didn’t open.

“Baby?”

No answer. You had never given him the silent treatment before. Sighing, he tried the door again but to no avail. It was obvious you didn’t want to be bothered. What had he done that was so wrong? He needed to figure it out and fast. Walking back over to the couch, he sat done on the section that was clear of the pile of presents. What could he do to fix whatever he had broken? The house was silent. The silence only feeding into his dilemma.

He didn’t have much time to wallow in his woes before his phone dinged. Wasting no time, he picked it up and looked at the name. Wes.

-Hey. What time are we doing dinner Tuesday?

Joe typed back quickly.

-We were thinking around six. Does that work?

A swoosh indicated his message had sent.

It was just a few seconds before his phone dinged again.

-Sounds good. Finish up your last minute Christmas shopping with Y/N?

He sighed before typing back.

-Yeah, we did. But I feel like she’s mad at me.

-How come?

Joe sighed, beginning to text with a recount of the day. He started from the very beginning and worked his way through your all’s entire day. Joe’s heart sank into his stomach, realizing where and how he had probably went wrong once he saw the entire day in a tangible, typed messaged. From the beginning, he hadn’t seemed very thrilled that you all were going last minute Christmas shopping. Then, he wasn’t exactly thrilled with your music choices.

-I know Christmas is usually hard for you and it’s not exactly your favorite. Especially since your parents divorced. But it sounds like she was really trying to include you and make you happy this Christmas. It’s your first as an engaged couple. She may feel like you could care less and she’s hurt by that.

-How do I fix it?

Joe felt stupid even sending that question to Wes. But he needed an idea where to start.

-Give in and get in the Christmas spirit.

Wesley made it sound so easy. But before Wesley could even respond, Joe had an idea brewing in his head. He had been really shitty in the fiancé department today, especially when you tried to include him in the sing-alongs in the car, picking out his friends and family’s Christmas presents (which you helped put a lot of thought in, proving you cared about them just as much as he did), and just making the best of the day together with someone you loved.

Rising from the couch, he went over and plugged the tree in. It instantly lit up the small corner of the living room, making it feel more cozy and comfy. He admired it for a moment, the glare of the lights on the tree reflecting on the various pictures of you both hanging on the wall. In all the pictures, you both looked so happy and in love. Step one was complete.

Joe’s phone dinged again, reminding him that he hadn’t viewed the message from Wes. But he didn’t think he needed to. He knew what he needed to do. Making his way into the kitchen, he flipped on the lights and pulled a few ingredients from the fridge before slipping your very merry apron on. You had a special one just for the holidays to make things a little more festive. He couldn’t help but chuckle under his breath. It made him smile. You did the cutest things.

His mom always made the best gingerbread cookies at Christmas time. And he was about to attempt to recreate that recipe. They probably wouldn’t be as good as hers, but it was worth a try, right? He had made them with her most of the time, especially when he was a little boy. It was time to keep the tradition alive. What else could be better to set the mood than putting on a little Christmas music?

He turned on the playlist you had made, specifically for the holidays. You had shared it with him on Spotify. The festive music began filling the house as he mixed the ingredients in a bowl, landing the flour everywhere but where it needed to go. The kitchen almost looked slightly hazy, causing him to laugh lightly. He had to admit this was kinda fun, making him feel a little warm and fuzzy inside. All he needed was you to make this feel complete.

Another idea popped into his brain, one he could maybe use to coerce you out of the bedroom. You loved hot chocolate. Swiss Miss was your favorite with the tiny little marshmallows but you always added some more to give it the perfect amount. Digging in the cabinets, he found a packet. He followed the instructions and heated up a cup of hot water before mixing the packet of hot chocolate mix into it. He managed to find your stash of mini marshmallows and poured a few into the cup, making it look like something out of Hallmark movie.

He had paused his baking because he needed you to help him finish them. It didn’t feel right to continue on without you. Grabbing your cup of hot chocolate, he closed his eyes and attempted to talk himself up before reaching the bedroom door. He knocked gently.

“Love. Can you open up?”

A few seconds went by and he wondered if you were going to let him in or continue to shut him out. His hope was fading, a sigh escaping him as he almost turned to go. But you opened the door, sniffling lightly.

“Joe?”

“Yes, love?”, he spun around carefully, keeping the hot chocolate from spilling.

“Did you make me—hot chocolate?”

“I did.”

“You added the marshmallows just like I like them.”

He laughed nervously. “Of course I did. I know how much you love them.”

You smiled lightly, your sniffles fading. He could tell you had been crying and that made him feel even worse. It was like a dagger through his heart. He hated seeing you sad and didn’t even want to think about you crying.

“Look, I’m sorry I’ve been a jerk today. I wasn’t the best fiancé. And for that, I’m sorry. Christmas has just always been a difficult time for me.”, he looked down nervously at his feet before looking back up at you.

Your face was sympathetic. “Joe.”

“And I realize you were just trying to make me feel better and include me in the holiday festivities. I’m very sorry I was such an ass today.”

“Joe.”

“I love you baby and I just—”

“Joe.”, you spoke louder, trying to gain his attention, finally succeeding even if you had to interrupt his sentence. “Are you making something gingerbread or are you burning one of my candles?”

“I’m attempting to bake using my mother’s recipe for gingerbread man cookies. It only seems fitting you help me—if you want to.”

“Of course, I do.”, you came closer and leaned in, placing a kiss on his cheek. “And can I have my hot chocolate before it becomes cold chocolate?”, you teased.

“Yeah.”, he laughed nervously before handing it to you, you following behind him.

You noticed he had plugged the tree up, giving light to the living room. It was one of your favorite things at Christmas time. Seeing the tree light up the room in almost complete darkness.

“You plugged the tree in?”, you asked, taking a sip of your hot chocolate.

It felt like a warm hug.

“I did.”, he smiled back at you, the sparkle finally in his brown eyes.

“And you’re playing my Christmas playlist.”

A smirk was creeping across your face.

“I am.”, he smiled back at you.

You couldn’t help but smile as you followed him into the kitchen, noticing all the ingredients and gingerbread cookie cutters on the counter hidden in a pile of flour. He was really trying and that meant more to you than anything.

“Christmas has just been hard for me since my parents divorced. I’m sorry—it’s not fair to you. I just remember the holidays being difficult because I had to split time between both sides of my family and between both parents. They love me and I’m thankful for that—I even feel selfish for feeling this way but it was hard when all my friends got to celebrate with their perfect families.”, Joe began rolling the dough out.

“I’m sorry that it’s been difficult for you, babe. But we have each other now. We’re family—we can start our own traditions. We can see your parents but maybe set some traditions up just for us?”

Joe looked over at you. “I’d love that.”

“Yeah? Me too.”

“Maybe soon we can make these with our kids.”

You giggled. “I’d love that. So much.”

You both leaned in and shared a soft, tender kiss. As you both pulled away to admire each other, your favorite modern Christmas song came on. The one from earlier, the Jonas Brother’s “Like It’s Christmas”. Joe couldn’t help but begin to smirk as you both pulled away.

The snow on the ground, love in the air

The sleigh bells are ringing

This is what it’s all about

The fire is warm, the angles are singing

Joe watched you intently, smiling from ear to ear as he watched you begin singing the lyrics. It was a matter before he joined in on the second part.

And I don’t want to miss a single thing

Don’t wanna put end to all this cheer

But as long as you’re with me, it’s always the time of the year

You both sang the chorus, looking deeply into each other’s eyes as you continued to work on cutting out gingerbread men.

You make every day feel like it’s Christmas

Never wanna stop

Feeling’ like the first thing on your wishlist

Right up at the top

I can’t deny what I’m feeling inside

Nothin’ fake about the way you bring me to life

You make every day feel like it’s Christmas

Ever day that I’m with you

“You do know the lyrics.”, you teased him, taking another sip of your hot chocolate while raising your eyebrows.

“Only because it’s true.”

“What’s true?”

“You make everyday feel like it’s Christmas. Like you’re the best present I’ve ever received and you make me the happiest man in the entire world and I can’t wait to marry you.”

“I love you.”, you sighed dreamily.

“I love you too.”

“Wanna start on that new tradition?”

“And what’s that?”, Joe teased.

“Well, if you’re serious about making these cookies with our own babies in a few years.”

“I’ll meet you in the bedroom.”

“By the way, the holiday apron—very sexy.”, you smirked, sitting your hot chocolate down.

#joseph quinn x reader #joseph x reader #joseph quinn #stranger things #established couple #eddie stranger things #Spotify #12 days of joemas

88 notes · View notes

herehavesomeheadcanons · 1 year

Text

On the fifth day of Christmas, my true love gave to me… Five Golden Bois! (Part 2!)

Kenji Miyazawa

💛🐄In the morning, you meet up at the office for a party with the Armed Detective Agency! It's a blast for the both of you! Watching Kunikida yell at Dazai for trying to hang himself with the garland is quite the show.

💛🐄Kenji did his best with your gift. He really did. He probably had to get some help from another member of the ADA. You better hope it was Atsushi and not Dazai! Dazai is known for his love of prank gifts.

💛🐄Oh he is so happy to receive a gift from you. It genuinely doesn't matter what you get him, he will enjoy it. A little hint: he especially loves stuffed animals!

💛🐄Kenji adores Christmas, and loves learning the big city traditions with you!

Finnian

💛💐On Christmas morning, Finni and the other servants are, of course, up with the sun preparing breakfast, cleaning, etc. Once Ciel is ready, then it's time for presents! Finni isn't the brightest bulb in the box, but he tries his best to get you something nice (Sebastian probably helped him out)!

💛💐Finni is ecstatic to receive a gift from you! He loves presents! He's very careful when opening it, he doesn't want to accidentally break whatever's inside!

💛💐Holidays with the Phantomhive crew are always chaotic, even with Sebastian trying desperately to keep everything as calm as possible. It's a fun time for both you and Finni!

Alphonse Elric

💛🐱On Christmas morning, Al is willing to do whatever. If you want to sleep in, he's game. If you want to sprint out of bed at light speed and open your presents, he's ok with that too!

💛🐱Al gets you a few very well thought-out gifts. He knows what you like, and he probably worked his ass off to get it!

💛🐱He's very happy you got him something, and he's even happier if you got him something cat-related! If you get him an actual cat for Christmas, he'll probably cry from happiness!

💛🐱Al loves everything to do with Christmas, and having you around just makes everything better!

Denki Kaminari

⚡👍In the morning, Denki is sprinting down the dorm hallways with Mina and Sero, yelling for everyone to get up because it's Christmas! That is, until Bakugo literally blows his door off and almost murders them on the spot.

⚡👍He's not the richest, nor does he have the best taste, but he tries his best to get you something you'll like! He might have gotten a bit of help from Mina or Momo. Just a bit.

⚡👍Denki is perfectly thrilled to receive a gift from you. If it's a new hat for his collection, even better! He will wear it immediately!

⚡👍What better way to spend the 2-week Christmas break than cuddling on the couch with someone you love? Nothing, according to Denki!

Naruto Uzumaki

💛🍜In the morning, he's the first one up (obviously). He's shaking you awake with a look that wouldn't be out of place on an excited puppy! After a quick instant ramen breakfast, it's time for presents!

💛🍜Naruto looks beyond pleased with himself as you open your gift. He tried his best to get you something you would enjoy! Isn't he the greatest boyfriend/husband ever?

💛🍜He is beyond thrilled to receive a gift from you! He never really got a lot of gifts growing up. You know, with him not having parents and all. The only one who really gave him gifts at Christmas time was the Ichiraku ramen guy, who gave him huge discounts around the holidays!

💛🍜Having you around has turned Naruto from beginning-of-the-movie Scrooge to end-of-the-movie Scrooge. You've really shown him the spirit of Christmas!

#sc's twelve days of christmas event #christmas event #bsd kenji miyazawa x reader #bsd x reader #bungo stray dogs x reader #black butler x reader #black butler finny x reader #fma x reader #fmab x reader #alphonse elric x reader #mha x reader #bnha x reader #mha denki x reader #denki kaminari x reader #naruto x reader #naruto uzumaki #naruto uzumaki x reader

57 notes · View notes

i-legit-dont-know-what-im-doing · 10 months

Text

How Friendship Hates Magic would go in my “HDLW grow up with their Duck Cousins counterparts” AU (It is recommended that you read What Ever Happened to Della Duck (link to post), The Golden Spear (link to post), and Nothing Can Stop Della Duck (link to post) first for the Webby introductions because she is in this one):

The episode starts with Dewey taking Webby to the library • When discussing their lives the Shadow Wars (Part 1, Part 2) were brought up and Dewey told her about Lena and how she had become a shadow and he showed her the books he had gotten to research ways to bring her back • Webby asked if she could help him and he immediately agreed because he rarely gets to spend time with kids his age

Neither of them notices that Dewey’s shadow seems to have glowing eyes on occasion

Lena follows them around, boredly narrating Dewey’s routine although clearly bothered by the fact that Webby’s there now • She makes several vague threats of what will happen if Webby is lying about who she is and where she’s been and tries to hurt Dewey since they were practically like brother and sister before she got banished to the shadow realm, but of course neither of the younger ducks can hear her • Important Note: Lena and Dewey are 1000000% platonic in this, they see each other more as siblings. Any jealousy Lena shows towards Webby and Violet in this is purely because she doesn’t want them taking her place as Dewey’s best friend. He was her first friend and the first person to show her that how Magica treated her was wrong so she’s a bit possessive. Same reason for why she’s possessive of Webby in the show (although I know some people view them as romantic which is why I’m making it clear that here she and Dewey are platonic)

They go to ask for the book, finding Quackfaster working there, and Lena attempts to convince herself Dewey that she’ll be fine in the shadow realm

Quackfaster says they can’t have the book since someone else has already checked it out and points them to a purple hummingbird sitting at a nearby desk

Webby, without hesitation, goes to try and introduce herself only to be stopped by the girl putting up her hand, finishing her page, and finally putting the book down to see what Webby wants

She points out that the book is written in Ancient Syriac and might be a little advanced

To which the girl responds with “So am I,” in perfect Ancient Syriac

Dewey gasps and runs over and, in Ancient Syriac says, “You speak Ancient Syriac? Me, too! Along with Conversational Akkadian.” • Scrooge and Beakley had several old language books laying around and Dewey was barely allowed out of the manor for the first ten years of his life so he had a lot of time to pick up the languages • Although, his speech is slightly less coherent that Webby’s is in the show

The girl confirms she knows it and pulls out some old Norse and Dewey responds in kind

Webby jumps in with, “I know some Moon Landrian!” and gets some confused looks before the other girl just nods, and stands to introduce herself to Dewey and Webby • I don’t know if the Moon Landers have a language in the show or what it’s called so I’ve decided they do and it’s Moon Landrian

Violet instantly recognizes Dewey as Turbo Dewford Duck of McDuck Manor, trusted companion in many of Scrooge McDuck’s adventures and his great nephew to boot

Dewey instantly confirms and asks if she’s a fan before remembering Webby and introducing her as, “Webbigail Vanderquack of McDuck Manor, trusted companion of his mother Della Duck while on the moon.

”Webby tacks on “Granddaughter of the Housekeeper.” at the end

Lena is immediately suspicious and wants to just grab the book and go, and is only made more suspicious when Violet starts asking about Dewey’s experiences with the supernatural

Lena is especially not happy when they end up planning a sleepover

Beakley is glad for a quiet night in with her tea when Webby and Dewey come bouncing into the dining room to tell her all about their sleepover

She’s happy that Dewey is getting back onto the friendship horse and that both of them are making more friends outside of each other

She’s especially impressed given how Dewey’s previous sleepovers have ended in magic fights

Dewey start to get nervous and Lena hopes that he’ll reconsider and cancel the sleepover with Violet, but Webby says that those sound awesome but she’s sure it will totally be fine this time and they’ll just make sure it’s a completely normal sleepover

She then immediately asks what a normal sleepover entails leading to Dewey panicking and deciding that they need to hide anything mystical, cursed, or adventurous

Beakley assures them that they should just be themselves, and Dewey says that unlike her they need friends • This leads to the Beakley and Launchpad subplot that I’m not going to cover since it’s essentially the same and also it’s been half an hour since I started and I’m barely five minutes into the episode

Webby and Dewey finished hiding anything strange in Dewey’s room in the attic when they hear the doorbell and rush to get it before Ducksworth because, Ghost Butler

They invite Violet in and Webby is very interested in the pie (she grew up on black licorice gum), Lena however thinks Violet is up to something

When they get to Dewey’s, very empty, room Violet tells them about Tulpas • “Manifestations of powerful emotions–hatred, jealousy, greed. They live in a dark realm adjacent to our reality.”

She explains that it’s the best explanation she has for what happened during the Shadow War

Dewey quickly interrupts and suggests they play Baggle

Violet points out that she’s here to review the book and Webby points out that they have plenty of time for books and they should play a game or do icebreakers since it’s a sleepover

Violet agrees and instantly asks what they know about Magica DeSpell and the Shadow War

Lena takes Violet asking about Magica as proof she can’t be trusted, but Dewey suggests makeovers to change the subject

Violet points out his weird behavior when it comes to the supernatural and Dewey grabs both of their hands and says that they have sparkles which gets Webby excited enough to help pull Violet along with them for the makeovers

When they leave Lena finds Magica’s amulet in Violets bag and runs to warn Dewey

She finds the three of them doing special effects makeup • Violet and Webby have their Rakshasa and beaten up looks from the show, Dewey has a sort of zombie thing going on (I honestly don’t know so if anyone else has any ideas for his look let me know)

Violet says she thinks her fangs are off-kilter and Dewey says it’s because he has a crooked fang from a poker brawl and he has proof before realizing he said to much

Violet asks where and Webby panics and says “definitely not in the attic” • Unfortunately Lena starts to wonder if Webby meant to say that and is actually working with Violet because why would she share her secrets

Violet runs off towards the attic and Dewey and Webby follow with Lena protesting that it’s a trap

Webby asks if Violet is weirded out by all the magical stuff but Violet says it’s fascinating and that she thinks there’s an ectoplasmic aura coming from Dewey’s friendship bracelet

Lena sees Violet touching it and runs over to try and push her hand away but of course she just falls right through them

Dewey quickly assures her that it’s nothing and takes the bracelet off and hides it in his pocket

Violet, Webby, and Dewey decide to play Rune-Baggle and Lena decides to try to use the runes to communicate with Dewey

After Violet repeats an incantation causing the runes to glow Lena attempts to hit them across the room and is shocked to find that it works

Dewey suggests it was nothing but the runes start to move as Lena arranges them

Violet tries to read the runes but Dewey isn’t as quick to jump to that, only moving to translate when Webby asks him about certain parts

Lena is very frustrated and starts thinking that Violet and Webby are either intentionally trying to distract Dewey from the obvious “Don’t Trust Her” message or they’re just giants nerds

Violet has the three of them kneel and hold hands which only makes Lena more upset

However Lena is quickly distracted by spirits beginning to form

She grabs a sheet and tries to use that to communicate but they can’t hear her and assume that she’s an evil spirit summoned by them

Violet tries to attack but is thrown off and into her bag, knocking the amulet free while Lena tries to get Dewey to see what's happening

Violet shoots magic at Lena and reveals her for just long enough for her to call out Dewey’s name

He sees Violet with the amulet and tackles her to demand to know where she got it

Violet explains how she found it during the Shadow War and how it sparked an interest in the supernatural

She’s asks if they’ve ever felt sheltered when there was something just out of reach and Dewey and Webby each think back to their lonely childhoods spent listening to the stories of the incredible feats that their guardians did before they were born

Lena isn’t happy that Dewey is buying Violet’s spiel but Dewey just tells her not to mess with the amulet since he’s already lost one friend to the Shadow Realm

Webby puts a hand on his shoulder in an effort to comfort and Lena puts one on the hand holding the amulet

Violet suggests that they might be able to bring Lena back using Magica’s amulet

Dewey and Webby agree to try it after a quick shared glance

The trio set up candles for the ritual and sit in the middle of them holding hands with the amulet between them

Lena tries to tell Dewey that Violet’s using him, and she should know, but the amulet starts to levitate and flies into her chest as more spirits form and take the shape of Magica, taunting her

The spirits surround the trio and Lena panics and grabs their joined hands in an attempt to warn Dewey that it’s a trap

The three are pulled into the Shadow Realm and Dewey tackles Lena into a hug when he sees her

Unfortunately Violet and Webby have to break up the reunion on account of all the Tulpas in the form of Magica drawing nearer

Dewey pulls away to try to introduce Lena to the other two but Lena interrupts and accuses them both of being spies and thieves and trying to replace her while the Tulpas surround them

Lena tells Violet and Webby to get away from Dewey only for the Tulpas to take Lena’s form and drag Dewey away from them

Lena, Violet, and Webby run after them and Lena blames Violet, saying that if she hadn’t meddled with magic Dewey would still be safe

Violet points out that the Tulpas are manifestations of great desire to which Lena says it’s Violet’s desire for magical power

Violet shoots back that it could be Lena’s desire not to be forgotten by Dewey and that the Tulpas took Lena’s form

A Tulpa attacks them and Violet says that they’re manifestations of Lena’s jealousy and want to keep Dewey with her

Lena admits that might be the case but tries to keep arguing only for Webby to interject with the fact that even if they have nothing in common they do all care about Dewey, just as he calls for help

Lena and Violet call a truce to chase after him with Webby

The Tulpas try to take him out the door and Violets says that if he leaves the manor they might never get him back

Lena says not on her watch and grabs Violet and Webby’s hands

She begins an incantation: “With the hands of my friend’s friends, We bring bitter jealousy to its ends.”

The amulet seems to glow in Lena’s chest and Violet and Webby join in and the three walk towards Dewey and the Tulpas as the Shadow Realm seems to fade into the normal world behind them

Dewey’s bracelet starts to glow in his pocket and causes the Shadow Realm to dissipate behind him as well

As the realm fades away it starts to take Lena with it

Dewey starts to tear up and Lena grabs his hand

He reaches out to Violet and Webby and the four join hands and are surrounded by a blue glow as the bracelet rises from Dewey’s pocket and circles them, creating blue smoke clouds

When the smoke dissipates Lena is standing there, back in her normal form and Dewey pulls them all into a group hug

The four return to their sleepover as Lena explains where she’s been

Dewey says that he’s got his old best friend and his new best friends, Webby says they’ve got pie • The poor girl grew up on black licorice gum she deserves to get excited over pie. And yes, I know I’m the reason she grew up on it, shut up.

I spent nearly two hours on this Jesus Christ. So, the first post I ever made for this AU was made August 1st, 2020, so nearly three years ago. And the post I made for how The House of the Lucky Gander went (link to post) was made August 12th, 2020, so also nearly three years ago and I’ve left them on a cliffhanger for that whole time, but now I only have to get through What Ever Happened to Donald Duck before I can finally do [REDACTED] and I am very excited for both of those things so I am going to try to get there before August 12th this year so you all can finally learn what happened to Louie and Gladstone. I’d also like to do Doomsday Vault sometime since that episode would be extremely different since I left Della on the moon. I am genuinely sorry that it’s taken this long to get here, but as I’ve stated in a previous post the “how __________ would go in my HDLW grow up with their Duck Cousins counterparts AU would go” post take insanely long and a lot of energy because I watch the whole episode and pause for bullet points so that I don’t miss anything. Also, if you are someone who sent me an ask god knows how long ago, I’ve seen it, I know it’s there, I just didn’t have the energy to answer it when I got it and by the time that I did have the energy I had forgotten about them. Hopefully I’ll be able to go through and answer as many asks as I can. And if anyone wants to send me one now, feel free to but it might take me some time to get to it depending on the question.

Important Links/Info For AU

13 notes · View notes

scottpetersen · 1 year

Text

Compare/Contrast of Bradford Buzzard and Black Heron And Doctor Drakken and Shego

Ok. Here I’ll be doing a compare/contrast between Bradford Buzzard and Black Heron and Doctor Drakken and Shego. It occurred to me that those 2 duos have quite a bit in common but are also a bit different. Also, Spoiler Alert for the DuckTales (2017) TV series and the Kim Possible TV series. With that out of the way, let’s dive right in.

Both duos have a member who is constantly annoyed with how over-the-top the other member is. In the case of Bradford and Black Heron, there was Bradford who was annoyed with how over-the-top Black Heron was as shown in the episode ‘The First Adventure!’ where Bradford got frustrated with Black Heron’s showboating since he believed it would cost them the Papyrus Of Binding. And in the case of Doctor Drakken and Shego, there was Shego who was annoyed with how over-the-top Drakken was as shown in the episode ‘Crush’ where Shego tried to stop Drakken from telling Kim Possible his plan and also said to him that: “Yeah. All I know is every time you stop to blab about your big plan, she wins.” The difference between Bradford and Shego here, though, is how exactly they tried to put up with it. As shown in the episode ‘Double-O-Duck In You Only Crash Twice!’, Bradford gave Black Heron a stern lecture about the mess he had to clean up after her and how they needed to be smarter in order to beat Scrooge McDuck. And as shown in the episode ‘Go Team Go’, Shego was being sassy with Drakken by focusing on her magazine while he was explaining one of his evil schemes. So, Bradford was being stern with Black Heron whereas Shego was being sassy with Doctor Drakken. Another similarity between Bradford and Shego is that they both once part of a heroic group. As also shown in the episode ‘The First Adventure!’, Bradford was once part of a heroic organization called SHUSH. And as shown in the episode ‘Go Team Go’, Shego was once part of a superhero team called Team Go. The difference between Bradford and Shego here, though, is why they left those heroic groups in the first place. As also shown in the episode ‘The First Adventure!’, Bradford left SHUSH because he believed that they wouldn’t do what it takes to bring about order. And as also shown in the episode ‘Go Team Go’, Shego left Team Go because she wanted to be evil. So, Bradford wanted to bring about order whereas Shego wanted to bring about evil. Also, since I was on the topic of how over-the-top Black Heron and Doctor Drakken were earlier…

Both duos have a member who is pretty over-the-top when it comes to being supervillains. As shown in the episode ‘The First Adventure!’, Black Heron mentioned she tried to carve her face into Mt. Neverrest saying that it would have been an improvement and she let out an evil laugh immediately thereafter. And as shown in the episode ‘Rappin’ Drakken’, Doctor Drakken dressed up as a rapper and sang a rap song to try to sell his mind controlling shampoo. The difference between Black Heron and Doctor Drakken here, though, is whether or not they can be cold and ruthless despite their over-the-top attitudes. As shown in the episode ‘The Last Adventure Part 2: The Lost Library Of Isabella Finch!’, when June (who was actually Webby in disguise unbeknownst to Black Heron) called Webby her sister, Black Heron replied with, “You have no sister, dear. You are my experiment.” And as shown in the episode ‘Car Trouble’, Drakken found himself dancing a little with Doctor Freeman even though Drakken was there to kidnap him. So, Black Heron is cold and ruthless despite her over-the-top attitude whereas Doctor Drakken admittedly isn’t.

Both duos had disagreements based on how good one member of their duo was at being supervillains. As shown in the episode ‘The Last Adventure Part 3: Tale’s End…’, Black Heron said to Bradford that she knew she’d make a villain of him much to Bradford’s annoyance. And as shown in the episode ‘Car Trouble’, Shego taunted Drakken for not being able to handle Doctor Freeman’s kitchen machine AI’s. The difference between them there, though, is how their disagreements center around them being good supervillains. As shown in the episode ‘The First Adventure!’, when Black Heron gleefully said that they’re supervillains, Bradford replied with, “No! We are not!” And as also shown in the episode ‘Car Trouble’, after she shut off Doctor Freeman’s kitchen machine AI’s that were overwhelming Drakken, Shego said to Drakken, “Y’know, for someone who’s supposedly a mad genius, I’m not seeing much of the ‘genius’.” So, Bradford’s and Black Heron’s disagreement centers around whether Bradford is a supervillain whereas Drakken’s and Shego’s disagreement centers around Drakken’s competence when it comes to being a supervillain. Another similarity between them there is that both duos’ disagreements eventually came to a head. As shown in the episode ‘The Last Adventure Part 3: Tale’s End…’, Bradford betrayed Black Heron and sent her plummeting to her death. And as shown in the episode ‘Bad Boy’, Shego ditched Drakken in favor of the then-turned-evil Ron Stoppable before going back to Drakken’s side. The difference between them here, though, is how Black Heron and Drakken respectively reacted to their partners’ betrayals. As also shown in the episode ‘The Last Adventure Part 3: Tale’s End…’, as she was plummeting to her death, Black Heron smiled at Bradford and said to him, “Oh, Bradford. How villainous.” And as also shown in the episode ‘Bad Boy’, Drakken was mad at Shego for ditching him. So, Black Heron was delighted with Bradford’s betrayal since it showed how villainous he is whereas Doctor Drakken was mad at Shego for her betrayal since she ditched him for another villain.

In the case of both duos, Bradford and Drakken respectively finally made Black Heron and Shego respectively proud of them. As shown in the episode ‘The Last Adventure Part 3: Tale’s End…’ and as I pointed out in my previous point, Black Heron proudly said to Bradford, “I knew I’d make a villain of you.” And as shown in the episode ‘Graduation Part 2’, Shego supported Drakken during his reward ceremony. The difference between them here, though, is how exactly things went down between after that. As also shown in the episode ‘The Last Adventure Part 3: Tale’s End…’ and as I also pointed out in my previous point, Bradford sent Black Heron plummeting to her death and just as she was about to meet her demise, Black Heron smiled at Bradford and said to him, “Oh, Bradford. How villainous.” And as shown in the episode ‘Graduation Part 2’, a flower wrapped around Drakken and Shego as they smiled at each other thus implying they were in love with each other. So, things took a darker and more twisted turn in Bradford’s and Black Heron’s case whereas things took a lighter and happier turn in Drakken’s and Shego’s case.

Well, that’s all for this post.

See you all next time.

#disney #ducktales #ducktales (2017)#bradford buzzard #black heron #kim possible #doctor drakken #shego #spoilers

13 notes · View notes

jedi-lothwolf · 6 months

Text

Winter Whumperland Day 5: Ebenezer Scrooge (Time Loop)

Fandom: Star Wars The Bad Batch

Warnings: Multiple character deaths as well as suicide.

Summary: After being killed by the empire, Tech finds himself stuck in a time loop.

It had been six months after the end of the war. Tech had been with his family when the empire came to Ord Mantell.

Sitting at Cid's bar, clone troopers in gray and white armor entered. Then Crosshair had. His armor was no longer its familiar red and black.

Wrecker was the one to go down first. He pulled his gun, ready to shoot. Then he was gone. Omega leaned in closer to Tech who grabbed her unconsciously.

Echo was next. Then Hunter. Everything happened too fast. Before Tech could react he was on the floor, trying to protect Omega. Then she was gone. He had been shot in the side.

Tech looked up at

But when he opened his eyes it was morning again. He listened to the sound of Wrecker laughing and Echo telling him "don't do that! Hunter and Tech are still asleep."

That wasn't possible. They had just died didn't they? Was it all just a twisted nightmare.

What Tech knew for sure was that he needed to get up. It had all felt so real. But that was impossible. Or at least that's what Tech thought.

As the family went though their day, the clone slowly got more and more nervous. He wasn't able to shake the feeling of the nightmare. No matter what he did, even when the day seemed to be over, Tech couldn't calm down.

That was until it happened again. The clone reacted differently this time. As soon as the door opened and he heard the footsteps, he told them they needed to go. They needed to leave.

But it was too late. This time Tech had grabbed Omega sooner. He tried to get her behind the bar. As Wrecker was killed, Tech pushed Omega behind him. If anything he wouldn't let her die.

Hunter tried to move to Echo's side. He ordered Tech to take Omega and get her out of the bar.

"I'm trying" Tech shot back.

Echo shot a few of the troopers down before he was killed. As his body fell, Hunter instinctively tried to catch him. He didn't even know why he tried to. He knew he was gone.

For a moment time seemed too slow for them. Hunter sat on the ground, stunned. Then they shot him.

Tech had gotten Omega out the back door. He looked down at his comm to see what time it was. It seemed so insignificant, yet like something he should do. 2100 hours.

As the two turned the corner, Crosshair was waiting for them. Tech grabbed Omega and tried to get her out of the line of fire. Once more his efforts were in vain.

She hadn't been killed immediately. This time, Tech couldn't do anything but watch as she died. He held herz trying to figure out what to do. Crosshair had paused his attack, realizing the girl was still alive.

What was maybe thirty seconds felt like hours. Tech has never been good with the dieing. But he held her. He looked at Crosshair when she had stopped breathing and went to stand. A bullet met his skull.

Then he woke up. He didn't understand what was happening or why it was happening to him. Wrecker was laughing again.

"Don't do that! Hunter and Tech are still asleep." He heard Echo say.

It was morning again.

Tech remembered the time that the attack happened. Unnerved, he went to find Omega. When he found her he just pulled her into a hug. He only held her for a moment but she was still confused.

"Are you feeling okay Tech?" Echo asked.

"Yes" Tech answered quickly. He then walked back to his bed. What did he do about this? The day seemed to be repeated. Every time he died, the day started over. He walked back to the others.

"How about we, go somewhere" Tech proposed.

"And where should we go Tech?" Hunter asked.

"Somewhere."

"Are you sure you're okay? You're acting kinda funny?" Wrecker stood to walk over to him.

"Yes I am."

"We could explore more of Ord Mantell?" Omega said excitedly.

"No!" Tech said loudly. "How about the, near by moon?"

The others looked at each other. "how about we do that tomorrow?" Echo said.

"No. We should go now."

"How about we go see if Cid needs something?" Hunter suggested.

"Fine" Tech answered. Then the group left the Marauder. Cid told them to run a few on world errands for her and despite Tech's protests, they did.

2100 hours came around quickly. For an hour before that, Tech has been trying to get them to leave the bar. But Wrecker was having fun talking to someone, Echo and Hunter were throwing darts, and Omega had been talking to Cid until a few minutes ago.

When Tech hears the footsteps, he pulled his gun, ready. As soon as he could confirm it was the empire, he started shooting. It helped this time.

They got to Cids office before they started to die. Tech couldn't remember what happened when he woke up.

"Don't do that! Hunter and Tech are still asleep." Echo sounded annoyed as he tried to get Wrecker to stop whatever he had been doing.

Over and over Tech tried to stop them from dying. Over and over he failed them. It felt like fighting a fire with matches. As he grew tired he tried to find different ways to deal with the attacks. He tried almost every angle he could to get them off Ord Mantell. No matter what they seemed to stay.

It had been so long. Why had he been chosen for this? What even could cause such a time loop and why were they so important? It had to be something like the will of the force but why were they the ones to live?

"Don't do that! Hunter and Tech are still asleep."

Tech didn't get up this time. He had tried and tried and tried. After a few hours of trying to come up with a plan, he walked out to the others. He tried to get them to listen to him. He tried to get them off world. But they were still at the damn bar by 2100 hours.

Before the others knew it, they were going out the back door. The fight was taken to the streets. One by one, they fell. First Wrecker, then Echo, then Hunter, then Omega. It was just him and Crosshair.

Diving behind some building Tech, with shacking hands pulled his gun to his head. Every memory of every attempt flooded his head. Before Crosshair got the chance to take him out once more, he shot.

He woke up on the Marauder as he knew he would. He fell asleep for a while.

Hours after he was supposed to wake up, he walked to the cockpit. He made sure everyone was in the ship before simply taking off. He didn't care when they asked where he was taking them.

When Cid commed the group to warn them to not go back to Ord Mantell, the batch asked Tech how he had known and asked why he didn't just tell them. Tech shook. Even though he wanted to explain, it all sounded too crazy.

Instead he walked back to his bed and laid down. He tossed his gun to the other side of the room, trying to find the strength to not circum to the memories of something that no longer existed.

The batch watched him carefully for a while. Slowly Tech tried to recover. He felt like he had.

Now he was hanging off of a rail car. As he realized what he had to do, Tech thought of the cruel irony of the situation. He had saved them so many times by dying. It was time to do it again.

But something told him he wouldn't be waking up again. This was it. Tech had saved them all so many times just to die one final time.

As he shot the only part of the car that held the other on to the rail, he sighed. Maybe he would just get to rest this time.

2 notes · View notes

ninja-librarian · 1 year

Note

I don't know if this will be revealed, but how did Boyd and Louie decide to adopt Sylvie? How did Sylvie decide to choose them as her dads?

First, I want to emphasize how much Louie and Sylvie hated each other when they first went on this adventure that ended with Sylvie's adoption. Louie was mad at Sylvie for conning him when they first met, and he lashed out at her, and she lashed right back. All Sylvie knew about Louie when she first met him was that he was the great-nephew of the richest duck in the world and heir to his company, so she just assumed it was all nepotism at its finest and Louie was born with a silver spoon in his mouth, making a lot of judgements about him as a person, basically.

Once they're on the adventure, Louie gets more frustrated when Sylvie easily bonded immediately with Boyd, because... he's Boyd, he's got that way with people. Sylvie tries to hate Boyd on principle, because he's yet another adult and he's married to Louie, but finds that she can't, not when he's so genuinely nice to her and caring. Plus, he trusts her and encourages others--namely, Louie--to trust her. Sylvie tries to still keep some distance, because she's never had an adult in her life stay for very long and she's not going to get disappointed and have her heart broken again.

Sylvie and Louie each separately said something to Boyd along the lines of "I don't know how you can stand him/her." and Boyd's response is basically "He/She reminds me a lot of you." Which they both initially take offense at. Boyd tells Sylvie that there's a deeper level to Louie than she can see, and tells Louie that there must be some reason why Sylvie steals and cons--and that he thinks Louie knows deep down what that might be.

While they're on this adventure and camping out, Louie finds Sylvie is still awake near the campfire and goes to join her. He tells her about how, when he was a little kid, he didn't know that his great-uncle was Scrooge McDuck. The only family he ever had was his brothers and Uncle Donald. He tells Sylvie about growing up financially insecure, with Donald unable to hold down a job for very long and money being tight with three kids and one income when Donald did have steady employment; Donald outright owning the houseboat was the only way they kept a roof over their heads the entire time the boys were growing up. Louie saw how hard and honestly Donald worked and realized that it never amounted to anything, not when it often led to Donald being disrespected by bosses and customers, or fired over just about anything, even if something wasn't entirely Donald's fault. He figured out pretty quickly that the difference was power, and figured out that the way to get power was to have money. Working hard and honestly for it didn't seem to work for his uncle, so why should Louie bother doing the same when he could get money by being dishonest and lazy? It wasn't until he was in his teens that he realized this and could articulate how he felt and unbury some of those feelings of powerlessness as a kid, and ended up going to therapy.

Louie fully admits to Sylvie that he's done things that, looking back, he wasn't proud of, but he's glad that he was able to move past that point in his life and grow. And he apologizes to her, because he should have recognized those feelings of powerlessness and trying to change her situation in Sylvie. Sylvie is taken aback by the apology, having never had an adult apologize to her before, and though Louie gives her an opening to talk about her situation, she lies and tells him that she has a family, they're just really poor. Louie tells her that, when they get back, he'll do what he can to help her, and, knowing she'd get caught in the lie, tells him that she doesn't want his help and that she's not some charity case before storming away and going back to her sleeping bag.

Adventure continues, and Sylvie inadvertently shows off her Sharpie skills, which Louie takes note of, and when there's a big battle, Louie and Sylvie end up working together to create a plan after Louie tells her that she is sharper than the sharpies and that he knows she can figure this out, and that he's right there to help her see the angles she can't. Sylvie takes comfort in this and together they work out a plan, and save the day.

After that, things are infinitely better between Louie and Sylvie; Louie, who had been a big ball of stress for days, feels relaxed around her, and he offers Sylvie an internship of sorts upon returning to Duckburg--so long as her parents are fine with it. At which point Sylvie knows that her lie is going to get found out so she deflects and says "Thanks, but no thanks". But Sylvie feels very comfortable around Boyd and Louie, and wishes it could last forever, but doesn't tell either of them that.

When they get back to Duckburg, Sylvie tries to sneak away during the reunions. What she didn't know was that Boyd had been in contact with Daisy, asking her to find Sylvie's parents to let them know that she was safe. What Daisy found instead was Sylvie's social worker, who was not happy with Sylvie's disappearing act. Louie and Boyd see that Sylvie's being yelled at by an angry woman and rush over to defend her, and the truth comes out: Sylvie has no family, she's been in foster care pretty much her entire life, and is a repeat runaway and thief. Louie, who had told Sylvie before that she was nothing but trouble only to have her say "Yeah, I've heard that before", realizes why she's heard that before... Sylvie was told that this was the last straw, she's going to get shipped away to a boarding school for troubled kids. Sylvie says that the adventure was worth it, and thanks Louie and Boyd for taking a chance on her.

Boyd and Louie are absolutely gutted over Sylvie's situation, have some debate over whether or not they could possibly adopt her or if they should, then their parents and Drake gives them some advice and they make the decision: they can't live without Sylvie any longer, and they're going to bring her home.

Sylvie didn't know she wanted Boyd and Louie to be her dads until the moment they came for her, saying they wanted to adopt her. She who was nothing but trouble, who needed to be taught how to properly get into and out of trouble, was wanted and loved as a daughter. It was not something she'd let herself dream of having, but when the offer came, she knew it was right and said "Yes, I want to be your daughter."

And that's how the Duck-Gearloose family came to be.

#The Many Adventures of Duckburg's Heroes!

12 notes · View notes

antiquarianandunusual · 1 year

Text

When Worlds Collide (A DuckTales 2017/Darkwing Duck/DuckTales 1987 Fic) Chapter 4: A Little Help From Their Friends

Previous Chapter

First Chapter

Also Available to Read on AO3!

Scrooge McDuck intimidated Drake far more than he cared to admit.

He wished he could pinpoint exactly why the infamous adventure capitalist sent him reeling back to his days of cowering before even the nicest directors, of wild-eyed "Yes, ma'ams" and "No, sirs" even as casting agents ripped on his best auditions apart because the only thing that mattered was that people liked him. Maybe it was because McDuck was the authority figure to end all authority figures; if you were going to get on the bad side of any public figure, you certainly didn't want it to be him. Or maybe it was because Scrooge could read a person for filth, regardless of false bravado and fancy costumes, which was all the more terrifying when you were about to present yourself to him as a real person- without the flimsy shield of a crimefighting identity. It could even have just been that Launchpad considered him family. Launchpad's family, blood-related or not, not liking Drake was a terrifying prospect. Even dropping Gosalyn off at the manor to hang out with Scrooge's lot left his heart pounding.

Going through the infinite possibilities in his head as the four of them passed McDuck Industries employees on the stairs of the money bin didn't make him feel much better. He had already been gripped by anxiety's grubby claws since the night before, driven mainly by its adrenaline since he certainly hadn't slept for more than one or two twenty-minute bouts. Not for a lack of trying, of course; he made it to bed, at least, but the excitement of the evening combined with the paranoia of the intruders-turned-guests in his secret hideout rendered him helpless to nauseating tossing and turning. He hadn't felt this overwhelmed this quickly since, well, the exact event that got them here.

Sensing this, Launchpad placed a firm hand on his back and ushered him- along with the other Drake and Launchpad- through one of the many front doors. "Fenton said Mr. McD wants to meet us in Gyro's lab."

"I can't believe Mr. McDuck actually shelled out the money for Gyro to have a proper lab," Launchpad Two remarked with a snicker. He glanced around the cavernous room with wonder-filled eyes, occasionally peeking down at his Darkwing to gauge how he was feeling. The seemingly unsuspecting suburban father wore a scowl and had his arms tightly crossed, but this didn't dampen his sidekick's spirits. "The Scrooge back home would never. Says it's because Gyro's freelance."

"'Freelance'?"

"Yeah. He doesn't officially work for Mr. McDuck- he's just a repeat customer. It was the same way for me until I closed up shop."

"Oh."

"Something wrong?"

Drake glanced sideways at Launchpad and could immediately tell something was wrong. Although he didn't mean to, he wore his emotions on his sleeve, even more so when he tried to pretend that he didn't. It was clear he hadn't meant to sound so disappointed, yet the sudden stiffness in his movements betrayed his nervous energy as he stumbled to perform damage control. "Oh, uh... I just didn't realize you didn't work for him, anymore."

Launchpad Two shrugged. "It was time for something different, I guess. Why, do you still work for Mr. McD?"

Drake watched as Launchpad once again fumbled for an answer. As time wore on, he'd witnessed the truth become more and more complicated; it began as Launchpad trying to balance both, but he soon realized the plan was doomed from the start. As energetic as the pilot was, the occasional power nap between worldwide adventures with the McDucks, busting criminals with Darkwing Duck, and driving to and from Duckburg and St. Canard and wherever else his endeavors dragged him was not enough to keep him functional. He had tried to incorporate his strained sleep schedule into his late-night-early-morning drives, an idea Drake had been quick to veto.

Nowadays, with McDuck's niece back and fully reassimilated into the family, the calls to action from Scrooge were becoming rarer and rarer, which Drake knew hurt Launchpad as much as he tried to hide it. It wasn't that they didn't want him around; the family was more than happy to see him on the odd occasion when they needed him to cover for Della, but their ragtag team had reached a point where they had more people than they knew what to do with. As such, Launchpad's time was spent more in St. Canard than back home. His house sat empty as Darkwing Tower became more like a home than ever, and his mechanical pet projects went neglected as he switched his focus to improving the Ratcatcher and drafting blueprints (doodling pictures of) a Darkwing-themed jet exclusive to the movie that had only ever been seen in leaked production photos (pictures Drake had taken on his phone without Boorswan's knowledge).

Drake had even caught him a few times scouring the Internet for real estate agents, absently writing out two-week notices that would eventually find their way to the trash, skimming articles about coping with living away from family. It was clear that a part of him wanted to take the plunge, but he was trying to keep those feelings on the down-low. For as close as the two of them had gotten, this remained the one thing Launchpad actively avoided discussing.

So, Drake stayed unsurprised when Launchpad pressed the call button on the elevator and nonchalantly settled on a falsely cheerful, "Oh, yeah! They're my family. I don't think I could ever quit."

Launchpad Two refocused his gaze to try to meet his counterpart's slightly dodgy eyes. He shrugged playfully. "Wasn't an easy choice. I'd been flying Mr. McDuck all over the world for just over fifteen years when I figured it was time to pack up and," he slammed his chest with his fist with a good-humored chuckle, "be my own man. Spent a year or so fixing up abandoned planes before this guy crash-landed in my hangar!" Swiftly, he reached over and caught his Drake in a sideways embrace. For a moment, said Drake grumbled in discontent but softened soon thereafter. His frustration returned when Launchpad Two suddenly backed away and stepped into the newly arrived elevator, leaving him with little time to rebalance himself. "Anyhow, I dunno how you do it."

"Yeah. Me, neither."

And so, the rest of them clambered into the elevator and as the doors quietly slid shut, fell into another uncomfortable silence.

_______________________________________________________

The budding evening was delightfully gloomy on the doorstep of Macawber Manor, a ring of bleak, gray storm clouds hovering ominously overhead over the tattered roof. Bolts of lightning rippled fiercely across the ever-darkening sky as thunder announced its arrival with a mighty roar and heavy sheets of freezing rain came crashing down, the sound of the drops hitting the sidewalk echoing across the yard. As the storm raged, the foundation of the house creaked and moaned as if to threaten to topple over at any moment. The shutters- locks having long since rusted over- opened and closed, slamming and banging in a haunting cacophony.

Morgana leaned on the sill of one of the higher windows and let the wind whip through her hair. While such an intense storm would send anyone else battening down the hatches, she found it simply electrifying; the musty scent of the rain hanging in the air was as rejuvenating as a calm sea was to others, and the noisy structure of the house brought back to her father's decrepit castle more than twittering songbirds ever would. The rest of the city enjoyed an evening that was their own idea of perfect, while she got one that was hers. It was just one of the many perks of having supernatural abilities- at least, when they worked when they were supposed to.

She observed the occasional passerby on the sidewalk below; Morgana was less protective of her manor now that Macawber Industries had disbanded (not that she had to worry much about Normal intruders, anyway), but it was old habit to make who was coming and going her business. She also may have had a meager hope that Darkwing would stop by before he and Launchpad went on patrol. That Reginald Bushroot had him so caught up combatting a recent and particularly nasty crime spree that she hadn't seen or spoken to him in days. She was beginning to worry that she wouldn't hear from him again.

There was a spark of hope when she recognized one of the dots on the sidewalk, Darkwing's daughter storming up the gate and visibly arguing with someone alongside her. She gestured wildly and although Morgana couldn't make out every word, Gosalyn's voice was loud enough to be identifiable over the thundering rain.

Before the duo could step into the stormy yard, Morgana dispelled the clouds with a wave of her hand, the steely grays of the manor giving way to soft blues. "Gosalyn!" Gosalyn stopped mid-sentence, looked up, and waved to Morgana, who reciprocated. "Hang on, I'll be down in a moment!"

Anyone else would have found themselves utterly lost in the winding, intersecting staircases and stretched hallways lined with towering windows despite being on interior walls. The manor and its sole occupant (on the lease, at least; creepy crawlies never made good homeowners) were connected in ways a mortal would never understand, not even one as unique as her beloved Darkwing. In a literal blink of an eye, there she was in the doorway, waving for her visitors to approach.

Honker had met Morgana on the odd occasion but still hesitated. Gosalyn, however, considered her a third parent, and the coolest of the trio to boot. Don't be mistaken, she loved her dad and Launchpad dearly, but her interest in the macabre was something they would never really understand; Morgana, however, literally lived the kind of life she had only seen in the movies. So Gosalyn, long since desensitized to Morgana's personal horror show, hesitated not a second to leave the timid Muddlefoot in the dust in favor of her honorary, if unconventional, mother figure.

The towering Morgana knelt down to Gosalyn's level and opened her mouth to speak before her hand was suddenly taken and yanked back towards the door. "Gosalyn, wh-"

"Wait until we're inside!" Gosalyn chastised. "You never know who's listening!" She continued to tug on Morgana's arm, although it did little to move the perplexed sorceress from where she stood.

Finally, Honker gathered the courage to approach from behind; he very lightly pulled on her other sleeve before recoiling the second her attention turned to him. "Ms. Macawber? I-It's an emergency," was all he managed to squeak out before Gosalyn took the lead once more.

"'Emergency's' an understatement! Come on, Morgana, we need your help!"

"Alright, alright!" Morgana turned, ushered Honker ahead of her, and herded the two of them into the manor, closing and locking the door behind them. Gosalyn clambered up onto the couch and stood on the cushions, much like her father would have had he been there; it seemed to be an inherent Mallard instinct, to find the highest vantage point in a room to make yourself seem as tall as possible. "Now, can someone please tell me what's going on?"

"Dad and Launchpad are missing!"

Morgana reeled back. "I- What?!"

"They never came home from patrol last night." Sighing, Gosalyn wrung her hands, her gusto quickly giving way to an almost uncharacteristic trepidation. She spoke quickly as per usual, but it was fueled by anxiety rather than her typical excitable confidence. "They come home late all the time, but at least Dad calls to tell me what they're doing. They've got to have gotten themselves into some real trouble this time."

Morgana would have been lying if she said she was anything more than just mildly alarmed. When she and Darkwing first made their relationship official, of course she worried about him and his penchant for hurling himself into peril, but she had long learned how not to agonize so much over his safety. After all, his catchphrase was quite literally "Let's get dangerous", so she knew she would quite literally never stop worrying about him if she began fretting each time he might have been in danger. Regardless, she chose to humor what little concern presented itself.

"Gosalyn, slow down," she gently chided. "Start from the beginning."

_______________________________________________________

There was a collective gasp of awe when the elevator opened to reveal the laboratory in all its glory. It was only then that Drake realized that as much as he had heard of the company's inner workings, he had never actually seen most of it. He had long ago accepted his outsider status when it came to anything McDuck Enterprises-related; the closest he had gotten of his own effort was backstage at McDuck's movie studio, which said little due to just how small Scrooge's role actually was for the production process right until the end. Even so, he'd be lying if he said he didn't get some semblance of satisfaction from getting premium access to one of the most delicate facets of Duckburg's greatest scheme- and at Scrooge's invitation, no less.

Beaming with pride, Launchpad blurted, "Pretty cool, right?"

"You're telling me!" Launchpad Two shouldered his way to the front of the group. "This is way different than Gyro's shack back home!"

"'Shack'...?" a familiar, incredulous voice echoed, all subtlety being flung out the window as it bounded off the cavernous walls. Gyro was on the next floor up, at the apex of a large structure with several doors on it, leading to seemingly nowhere. Fenton sat at a nearby workspace and thumbed through printouts and blueprints; a compact wall of monitors next to him flooded his face with green and black light. The ladder never seemed to get a proper night's sleep on a good day, yet he looked particularly miserable as he ruffled his free hand through his hair and muttered unintelligibly to himself.

Instinctively, Drake tensed and fixed his already decent posture. He was grateful for the distance because he was sure his expression was one of a deer caught in the headlights of a monstrous semi-truck as soon as he laid eyes on the third member of the group.

Scrooge was the living embodiment of "small but mighty". He was almost puny next to a lanky fellow like Gyro and especially the towering Launchpad, but he carried himself with such power that you'd think he'd had it all his life. No wonder no one believed the stories about him being a poor lad in Glasgow; for all his temper and penchant for raising his voice when things go the slightest bit wrong, he still managed to carry himself with such foreboding grace that he must have been hatched with it. But this man had seen more than Drake could ever have dreamt to begin to imagine, and that was much of what was terrifying.

Drake snuck a quick glance over at his companions. His Launchpad was already halfway up the stairs; although Scrooge would never admit it, they had long passed the need for formalities. Launchpad Two, however, seemed to hesitate. He knew his place, but there was still a twinkle in his eyes that advertised just how thrilled he was to be present. As such, he strode forward shortly behind. The other Drake, however, miraculously also looked completely petrified. The look on his face wasn't nearly as readable as everyone else's and was more akin to a lifelong house cat seeing another member of its own kind through the window for the first time. His eyes were wild with unabashed terror, his neck was craned with wild curiosity, and the rest of his body was rigid with a need to defend his territory.

"What are you looking at me for?!" Scrooge snapped back, swinging his arms out defensively and dragging Drake back down to reality. "I fought tooth and nail to get you the funding you needed, you-"

"Mr. McD!"

Launchpad stumbled to the head of the stairs. Scrooge didn't thaw out entirely, but there was suddenly a dent in his ornery armor that stopped him from going for Gyro. "There you are, lad! And... lad." He shifted to where he could see around Launchpad, meeting eyes with Launchpad Two, who nervously twirled his scarf around his index finger. The elder approached and tipped his top hat nonchalantly but not without an exasperated sigh. "You must be one of the interdimensional travelers I've heard so much about."

Launchpad Two straightened himself up and snickered sheepishly.

Craning his neck further, Scrooge raised a brow. He pointed his cane at Drake, whose breath caught. "Drake Mallard, is it not?"

Drake didn't think before spitting out, "You remember me?"

Scrooge remained businesslike, lowering his head to peer at Drake over his spectacles. "I don't often forget the people that save my tail feathers. But I haven't the foggiest who this is," he amended as he switched his steely gaze to the next duck.

The other Drake was still staring with his beak just slightly agape, and his eyes expressed poorly masked jealousy; this state, he had to quickly snap himself out of once he was properly addressed. "Also Drake Mallard," he squeaked.

"Yes, yes, that's nice," Gyro interrupted. "Definitely not like the universe is at stake or anything. Take your time."

"Dr. Gearloose-!"

"No, lad, he's right. Come now, you four, no time for pleasantries!"

As the Drakes speed-walked to catch up to the rest of the group, Fenton did his best to fix the mess of papers and signaled for everyone to huddle around. He reached over for a set of blueprints that were still rolled up and unfurled it on top of all but a few sheets of data, which he was careful to place in a way that didn't cover anything else important. The blueprints were labeled "REALITY ALTERING MECHANISM" and sure enough, a chill traveled down Drake's spine; the machine that was sketched out in front of him would haunt his nightmares for years to come.

"This," Fenton began, "is the Ramrod." He pointed at an image of the Solego Circuit, which was isolated at the bottom of the page. "And this is what powered it. It's a circuit that, when used right, can open doorways to alternate dimensions like yours. Unfortunately, like we talked about last night, it can have catastrophic effects if used too much. That's why we can't in good conscience use it to get you home." He pulled the other papers back over. The one he picked out of the pile had times marked off on the same two October days. "It's a very basic version of the data, but this is a spreadsheet of all the times the Ramrod was used in a 24-hour period. If it had been used even once more, well..."

"We wouldn't be here talking about it right now," morbidly interjected Gyro.

"Right. We're worried that the fabric of reality still won't be able to handle a portal that's been intentionally opened, even now."

Drake Two huffed. "All I'm hearing are more problems. Aren't we here for solutions?"

"I'm getting to that, it just... needs some context."

"Hm."

"Anyway, I stayed up all night trying to figure out why and how exactly that gateway brought you here completely safely. I mean, surely there would have been some negative effects we would have noticed, both as a result of that portal and from everything that happened before."

"Meaning?" Launchpad Two urged.

"We, uh... We think the doorway came from your universe. Not ours."

A beat.

Drake blinked. "What?"

With a grimace, Fenton turned to him. "It's not impossible. Just like there are multiple versions of you, there could have been multiple versions of Solego and multiple versions of the circuit. There's no telling."

"But you said last night it was a direct result of the Ramrod."

"That was what we originally thought, but nothing adds up with that theory. It doesn't explain why the trip was so clean or-or why we haven't seen any problems before now."

"You don't even think it could be someone from F.O.W.L.?"

Fenton shook his head. "Gandra says Heron and Bradford were the only ones with access to the schematics, and they're both... accounted for."

"Wait, wait, wait!" came Drake Two's voice once again. "Let's not discount this F.O.W.L. theory so quickly. If anyone from our universe who's got it out for me knows about this circuit thingy, it's F.O.W.L. High Command."

"Which doesn't exactly help you," pointed out Gyro, "because you have no way of verifying or fixing it."

The firm tap of a cane on the table jolted everyone's attention to Scrooge. "Our first point of focus should be getting these two home. Then we can worry about whatever F.O.W.L. or whoever else might be planning. Fenton, what have you got?"

"Well, right now, Mr. McDuck? It's, uh... nothing."

A raised brow was the response. It was more exasperated than meanspirited, but it still left Fenton sinking in his seat.

"We're working as hard and as fast as we can to find a solution. We've decided not to completely rule out using the Ramrod plans, but we're considering it the nuclear option. Otherwise, we still need more time."

Scrooge sighed. He massaged his temple with his free hand and was visibly stressed, yet still handled it better than they had any right to expect. Even so, everyone listened with bated breath as he spoke. "Then for now, they're our guests. You two," he directed at Gyro and Fenton, "get home and get some rest. Starting first thing tomorrow, this Ramrod business is our top priority. Launchpad and Mallard, the two of you can go back to your work in St. Canard, but if you see anything suspicious at all, you're to report first and foremost to Gyro. As for the rest of ye..." He sighed again. "I'd like to extend an invitation for you to- temporarily- stay in one of my manor's guest rooms until we have this situation all figured out."

"That's... strangely kind of you, Mr. McDuck," mumbled Gyro, almost bitterly.

"Don't be mistaken, lad, it's out of necessity. If we end up running on borrowed time, I want these two close by so we can act fast. Plus, it's cheaper than shelling out the money for a hotel."

"Don't you own a chain of-"

Drake Two waved his hand dismissively. "No, no, let the man speak."

"Launchpad, I trust you'll get them there safely?"

"Of course, Mr. McD!"

"Then best be getting to it." Scrooge tipped his hat to the other Drake and Launchpad. "Just tell the housekeeper Scrooge McDuck sent you, eh?"

_______________________________________________________

By the time Morgana had gotten the kids calmed down enough to think semi-rationally, the moon was high in the sky. They were now gathered around the coffee table with a map of the city splayed out, the paper only slightly singed from an unfortunate first try at the summoning spell. Seemingly unsuspecting locations around St. Canard were marked with sharp red Xs; the Mallard and Macawber households were circled and labeled "HOME BASE".

Gosalyn pointed at the different markers as she spoke. "So, we've got Megavolt's lighthouse, Bushroot's greenhouse, the warehouse district, the entire St. Canard sewer system... Oh, man, this is hopeless." She pushed the map across the table towards Morgana and buried her face in her hands.

"Let's not give up so quickly!" Morgana picked the marker up herself and circled two of the locations- Bushroot and Megavolt's hideouts. "What if we explore the places we know for certain first and then move on to where we're less sure about?"

"Um... Pardon me, Ms. Macawber, but we have to be more strategic than that. If one of them finds out we're looking for Darkwing Duck-"

"All chaos breaks loose!" lamented Gosalyn. "If one of them's got Dad, they could take him somewhere else, and even if they don't, without him here to guard the city, they're gonna do whatever they wanna do. We'd be lucky if there was even a St. Canard left for him to come back to."

There was a long beat of silence as Honker and Gosalyn sat in quiet misery, and Morgana eyed the map in deep thought. Admittedly, as the anxiety of the situation had settled in, the pressure of fully embracing the role of the hero was beginning to loom over her. It was late and had fast approached a day since anyone had heard from her closest companions, rendering her wondering if they had finally gotten too dangerous. She wondered if she was even sure if they were even close to being on the right path to finding them; Darkwing had so many enemies with so many valid reasons to get rid of him that the Fearsome Four were small fish in a massive pond of bloodthirsty criminals.

At least they were a start. That was better than nothing.

What was even more assuring was that this team in particular didn't have much interest in anyone but her beloved. Sure, she had history with them, but she also had the upper hand at being a former rival of Darkwing's- and a formidable one at that. The vestiges of a plan were slowly beginning to form. But first and foremost- keeping Gosalyn and Honker safe; it's exactly what Drake Mallard would do.

"Alright," Morgana finally said. "I've got an idea."

"Really?" Gosalyn chirped, finally perking up just slightly. "What?"

"I'm going to go to their lairs undercover as a villain-turned hero-turned back to villain. That way, I can gather whatever intel they might have without raising suspicion. Or as little suspicion as I can manage."

"And what about us?" Gosalyn's excitement was starting to return.

"You two are going back to the Muddlefoots' for the night."

"What?!"

"It's exactly what your father would do if he were here. He'd never forgive me if I let anything happen to you two. Besides, it won't be convincing if I show up with two of Darkwing Duck's sidekicks with me."

"We can be your backup instead! We stay outside until you say the word and then BAM! There we are, by your side to fight some real bad guys!" Gosalyn rose to her feet again on the couch and swung at the air triumphantly.

"Absolutely not," Morgana countered. It came out more forceful than she had intended, and Gosalyn visibly wilted. Feeling guilty but ever insistent, she stooped just slightly to meet her level. "Let me do this on my own- just for tonight- and I'll find a way for you to help tomorrow if he's still gone. Alright?"

Silence. Gosalyn refused to meet her eyes.

"Gosalyn."

She sighed. "I guess."

"Thank you. You may not like it, but your father at least will be thrilled to know you're safe."

"Yeah, yeah."

With a lopsided smile, a flourish, and a blinding flash of light, Morgana worked her literal magic and was once again alone in the room.

Now uncharacteristically uncertain in the typically peaceful quiet of the manor, she took a moment to put on a brave face before taking another deep breath and raising her arms over her head, leaving the house empty- and officially setting her mission in motion.

#fanfiction #fan works #when worlds collide #darkwing duck #ducktales #ducktales 2017 #ducktales 1987 #drake mallard #launchpad mcquack #scrooge mcduck #morgana macawber #gosalyn mallard #gosalyn waddlemeyer #honker muddlefoot #gyro gearloose #fenton crackshell cabrera #fenton crackshell-cabrera

4 notes · View notes

duckapus · 2 years

Text

-Della and Donald have never called Scrooge Dad, but they’re well aware that at a certain point Uncle started meaning pretty much the same thing.

-Huey and Louie’s first words were both Dada(Dewey’s was technically something incomprehensible that vaguely sounded like “pancake,” but his second word was dada). Donald did his best to make sure they understood he was their uncle and not their father, since he didn’t want to replace Della, but they still called him Dad occasionally over the years.

-It actually got more frequent after Della came back, since she made it clear that she was happy he stepped up and became the parent the boys needed, and told him in no uncertain terms that he didn’t have to stop them from saying it if he didn’t want to.

-It took all of three months for Lena to start calling Ty and Indy her dads, though she still uses their names if she’s referring to one of them specifically for the sake of convenience.

-Boyd calls the Drakes Mother and Father since he loves them even after no longer being programmed to feel that way, and uses Dr. Gearloose and Dr. Dad interchangeably for Gyro almost immediately after Tokyolk.

-The first time Gosalyn calls Drake dad is about a year after they first met, though she’d been thinking it for a few months by that point. She ends up saying it by accident and it freaks her out because it feels like she’s replacing her grandpa, but Dewey helps her process it by talking about his own concerns about replacing Donald with Della after she first came back and he clicked so well with her, and how Mrs. Beakley had explained to him that love isn’t a finite resource and just because you find more people to give it to doesn’t mean you suddenly have less to give to the people you already loved.

-She usually just uses Launchpad’s name, but after she’s comfortable calling Drake dad she occasionally drops in a “Launchdad” or “Launchpop” or something along those lines, and his face lights up every time.

-Whether Webby calls Scrooge, Donald and Della “Dad/Mom” or “Uncle/Aunt” changes on a whim, though a majority of the time Scrooge gets the former and the twins get the latter. Mrs. Beakley is still Granny, always.

-May first called Donald dad when he got eaten by a sea monster and she flew into her very first Duck Rage to save him, but it takes quite a while afterwards for her to say it casually, and not for lack of trying on her part. Something about her FOWL-related trauma (specifically watched-Herron-die-related trauma) formed a mental block that got her tongue-tied whenever she tried to call Donald and Daisy her parents, no matter how much she saw them that way. Time, therapy, and crazy adventures eventually loosened her tongue, and there was much rejoicing that day.

-June was honestly ready to call them mom and dad week one, but decided to wait, both due to May’s issues and because she was worried that she was moving on too fast.

295 notes · View notes

stargaze-sunflower · 3 years

Note

Lena and Louie hanging out. They hive me a lot of haos sibilings vibes

“Okay, hear me out,” Louie said, leaning forward from where he was sitting crossed legged on a rock, looking up at Lena with mischievous eyes. “For no particular reason – just, you know, theoretically – would you be able to like, summon gold? With your magic.”

Lena let out a laugh that was more just a huff of air, turning to give him a deadpan look, pointedly gesturing behind her.

“We’re kinda supposed to be on lookout duty here, Green,” Lena said dryly, staring down at her best friend’s brother, who was making no actual effort to cover up that he didn’t want to be there. “But theoretically, no. I can’t.”

She turned back to look down at the sprawling field of waist-high grass that was spread out below where they stood, on a cliff overlooking the valley where the rest of the McDuck clan was currently getting into who knew what kinds of trouble. The others had gone into a cave opposite where Lena and Louie were standing about an hour ago, and Louie had long since given up keeping watch in favor of sitting and asking the occasional odd question. He couldn’t quite hide his anxiety about the well-being of his family, no matter much he pretended to be perfectly relaxed.

“Have you ever tried?” Louie asked, letting his chin fall into his hand as he lazily swept his eyes across the field below.

“I’ve had a lot going on in my life, and making gold out of thin air was never on my list of priorities,” Lena said, finally giving in to exhaustion and boredom as she sat on the ground, her back against a tree. “And I don’t need to try it to know it’s impossible. You can’t make something from nothing.”

“But you can make nothing from something?”

“I dunno,” Lena said, shrugging. “I think that’s just called ‘destroying things’.”

Louie just hummed in response to that, and they fell back into a temporary silence as they looked out at the landscape. The only reason they even needed a look out on this adventure was because there were rumors of a large group of bandits in the area, and Scrooge hadn’t wanted to get stuck in the caves with them. Once it became clear that someone would have to stay behind to keep an eye on things, Louie had immediately volunteered, and somehow Lena had ended up there as well.

Sighing, she turned away from the field and rested her head on her knees, rolling her eyes when Louie raised an eyebrow.

“Even I get tired of staring at nothing after a while,” Lena explained flatly.

“Especially since you can’t make something out of it,” Louie said, something teasing in his voice, and Lena cracked a smile.

“It’s your turn to be lookout anyway,” she said. “I’m on break.”

Louie snorted, glancing down at the valley before looking back at her with a mischievous grin. “I don’t listen to people who can’t make it rain gold from the sky.”

“Gold is heavy, y’know. You’d probably end up with a concussion.”

“And it would be worth it.”

Lena laughed.

“Have you actually had a concussion before?” she asked, partially curious and partially looking for a distraction from being bored out of her mind.

“More times than I’m comfortable with, honestly,” Louie said, huffing in irritation. “To be clear, I’d rather the number was zero, but that’s impossible with this family.”

“Yeah, I can’t say I’m surprised,” Lena said, hoping that she’d never have the misfortune of getting hit in the head that hard. “Your family combined has got to have had enough concussions to scare a doctor into retiring.”

“Dewey’s definitely winning,” Louie said offhandedly, obviously exasperated and concerned. “He’s proud of it, too.”

“The fact that any of you are still alive is a miracle.”

“We’re McDucks.” Louie shrugged, not quite able to hide the furrow between his brow or the tired anxiety in his eyes. “We make our living on miracles, no matter what Uncle Scrooge says about hard work.”

Lena didn’t really know what to say to that, so she just gave a comforting sort of smile and said, “I guess you really don’t listen to anyone who can’t make it rain gold.”

“Uncle Scrooge comes the closest, but he refuses to do it,” Louie said, the heaviness gone from his voice as if it had never been there. Lena knew a thing or two about dwelling on things that wouldn’t change, and figured that Louie had learned the same things that she had. Both of them were well-versed in pushing away their feelings, it seemed. Both of them practiced at making nothing out of something.

“Well, if I ever figure out how to do it,” Lena said, letting her voice get a bit softer, “you’ll be the first to know.”

Louie rolled his eyes, but he was smiling. “I’ll hold you to that.”

“I’m sure you will.”

They sat in silence for a few more minutes, staring out at the field below and sighing every now and then as they debated at what point they should start a search and rescue operation.

Eventually, they saw the distant figures of their family making their way out of the cave, waving at them excitedly. The issue was that the bandits had decided to make an appearance shortly after, riding in on horses and quickly surrounding the recently returned adventurers. Atop the cliff, Louie sighed, and Lena was inclined to agree.

“They really have the worst timing,” Louie said. “What are we supposed to do?”

Before either of them could come with a plan of action, Louie’s phone pinged in his pocket, and he took it out to look at it, raising an eyebrow immediately after.

“What is it?” Lena asked, torn between watching Louie and watching the chaos beneath them.

“Dewey texted me,” Louie said, a mixture of fondness and exhaustion tangling into his voice. “He wants us to cause a distraction.”

“What? Why?”

“Only he knows, I guess.”

“Okay, well, what are we supposed to do? Yell?”

“Dewey can yell louder than both of us combined. I don’t know how much that would help.”

“True enough.”

They looked around the surrounding area for a moment, casting about for anything that they could use. Louie was the one who saw it.

“Hey, Lena?” Louie asked, and Lena hummed in response, glancing over at him. “You see that cliff over there?”

She followed his line of sight until she saw it, and her brow furrowed in slight confusion. “Yeah?”

Louie turned back to her with a slow smile growing on his face. She narrowed her eyes.

“It seems pretty unstable to me,” he said, and Lena’s eyes widened.

“You’re kidding,” she said.

“Nope.”

“You’re out of your mind.”

“Probably.”

“…Let’s do it.”

Louie grinned.

The resulting landslide was as much of a distraction as it was destruction, and Dewey made sure to tell them exactly how cool he thought it had been, even as he was in bed recovering from his latest concussion.

#louie duck #lena sabrewing #lena de spell #ducktales #star snippets #THIS TOOK ME SO LONG TO FIND THE MOTIVATION TO DO HELP ASKJDASJ #this counts as lena and louie hanging out right? asdjksaj #tbh i just wanted to write them causing some sort of destruction #so here it is #i think they'd have a cool dynamic but i dunno if i did it justice asjkda #anyway enjoy and thanks for the prompt!!#i've picked two more to do and then i'll be done with these :]

63 notes · View notes

kaderp · 3 years

Text

ALRIGHT FUCKERS THIS IS GONNA BE A HELLA LONG MEGAPOST AS I WAS GIVEN THE OK

BASICALLY this is gonna be a collection of bullshit me and @blackfliesinbluesugar have come up with and drawn

It starts with Goldie still living in Ireland at 17-19 and Scrooge from ages 18-20 staying in Scotland. And long story short they're dumbasses as teens. Cliche forbidden romance type stuff. Goldie's dad has shot people in the foot for trying to mess around with Goldie or just even talk to her for too long. So the only logical explanation they have is make Scrooge hide in the barn when he visits.

Basically Scrooge chills in the barn for a while cause Goldie's the only one that ever really goes in there because she's in charge of all the chores there. Which is where the context of this post is from

After the first time they fooled around Goldie was like 'oh crap what if I got pregnant D:' and told her mom she's going through a phase of flowey/big dresses when in reality she's trying to hide a potential baby bump. Now her mom doesn't care because she's too caught up in the fact that Goldie is finally 'acting like a lady.'

So eventually because they never put together that 'hey, if we keeping doing this we're gonna end up with a baby', Goldie does end up pregnant. And because her dad is a dick and a 'I catch you with my daughter then you die' type of shotgun dad, Goldie is freaking tf out.

About a month after she finds out she's pregnant, the O'Gilt's (well mostly just Goldie and her mom lol) get invited to a fancy dinner and Scrooge is really wanting to see Goldie again. So what better way to see her than to travel to Ireland, steal a uniform, and sneak into said dinner party as a busboy. Problem is he can't risk Goldie's dad seeing him again so he tries to slick back his whiskers

But while Scrooge is running around, he eventually spots Goldie across the room. Now he's never seen her in anything fancy, usually just the flannel and green work skirt. And he just about dies 😭

By now she has a bit of a baby bump she's had to hide so she normally goes for high waisted dresses that immediately flow out.

Anyways, as Scrooge is putting on the uniform he realizes he has absolutely no idea how to actually be a busboy. He doesn't know the first thing about dining and stuff so he's just like AAAAAAA

As they both see each other, Scrooge gives a dorky grin and Goldie smiles before realizing he snuck in. Right when Scrooge goes to see her he gets dumped with a bunch of dishes he has to set. Goldie sees him struggling to figure out how to set a table and he just gives her a nervous grin while she's like 'oh you beautiful dumbass -_-'

She's turning red cause she's trying so hard not to burst out in laughter as Scrooge slips and a bunch of silverware falls on him

He's getting yelled at by the director but he's just giving Goldie a goofy grin from across the room.

Her parents: remember to be calm and not make a scene no matter wh-

Goldie watching Scrooge trip on the tablecloth: BWAHAHA

But as the dinner progresses, Goldie remembers Scrooge doesn't even know she's pregnant. So she keeps trying to tell him but they both constantly get pulled away to do other things.

Towards the end of dinner Scrooge gets a free moment and realizes then that 'holy shit I actually like really love her!' So he darts to wherever she is and is struggling to get it out cause he doesn't know how much time he has left. He eventually spits it out and tells Goldie he loves her and is immediately called away. Scrooge takes her hands and quickly kisses her cheek before running to wherever the director is calling him from.

Goldie is shocked and stays still for a moment but by the time the shock wears off she realizes Scrooge is already long gone and they don't see each other again. And now Goldie's like 'crap crap crap, he said he loves me and I didn't even tell him I'm pregnant.'

They aren't able to communicate for a while cause Goldie's so focused on trying to keep her family pleased while still hiding her baby bump, and Scrooge keeps getting sidetracked and forgetting to write. (You can't tell me that isn't something he'd do because he kept getting distracted in the life and times when coming back home). He has her address, and he has started a letter, and even his family knows about her. 3ish months pass of no communications until one night Goldie starts contractions.

She darts to the barn after the first contraction and realizes she has to do this alone. A letter takes a day to get to Scrooge and going to Scotland herself would take closer to 7 hours. At that point it would be safer to not move.

It's like 3am by the time she lays and the egg ends up being pretty small. The entire time Goldie was just getting sicker and sicker. She ends up too weak to even hide the egg and has a high fever. She seriously thinks she's not gonna make it for the first night she can barely stay conscious.

The next morning she has just enough strength to lazily hide the egg in the hay and sluggishly make her way back to the main house. Her parents are already up and she explains she started feeling iffy while doing chores and collapses.

Because her parents aren't completely heartless and she still is their daughter, her parents' main focus shifts to trying to nurse her back to health. They assume she fell with a bad flu and don't know she had spent all night laying an egg.

During this time she writes to Scrooge telling him to get over here asap, it's an emergency.

Goldie's parents take over her chores in the barn and the moment they said that Goldie went into panic mode again. During a lunch break she climbs through her window and runs to the barn to hide the egg better. She does, and she successfully makes it back to her room but collapses again and sleeps until the next day.

Scrooge arrives 3 days after she lays and now she's really panicking. She's still weak and sick, and her parents are coming closer and closer to finding the egg. Scrooge when he sees her is genuinely freaking out. Not only for the future and that he now has an egg, but because Goldie did it by herself in a dirty barn. She's still a little loopy even though it's been a few days and Scrooge just feels heart broken that he wasn't there to help. He starts going on a tangent about how she could have died but Goldie just kisses him to get him to stop blabbering.

Scrooge helps her clean up a bit cause even with her parents looking after her, she's still a mess. But as he's washing her and the egg up, they hear fighting from the main house. Her parents realized she wasn't in her bed. She starts crying and tells Scrooge he needs to run home asap because if her dad finds out he'll most definitely kill him and/or the baby.

(This was the first doodle for the au before deciding on an exact age/place/look so don't mind the sloppiness)

Scrooge escapes right as her dad comes in. She pulls the excuse of she thought she felt well enough to do chores.

Scrooge rn is running like a madman back to Scotland. He went from chilling with his family to being a father who's child needs to be kept secret within a day.

By the time Scrooge gets back home it's the middle of the night and is ngl feeling pretty overwhelmed. He tells Downy that he messed up and she's just like ??? So Scrooge holds up the egg and Downy just purses her lips like 'ah'

The next morning Scrooge explains to his family what happened and doesn't leave out any detail. Fergus and Downy obviously have mixed feelings. Scrooge is barely 19 yet he already has a kid??? But in the end they realize they can't change what's happened and focus on helping Scrooge protect this child.

Once the baby hatched, all mixed feelings from Downy erased and she just went into 'this is my grandbaby and no one will touch her' mood.

Scrooge and Goldie kept in contact from the moment Goldie gave away the egg. Because of the little incident of Goldie 'trying to do chores while sick,' she was put under close monitoring for the next few months and couldn't visit each other. After constant writing back and forth, they find a date to meet up half way between Scotland and Ireland so Goldie can meet her baby. They try to decide on baby names through the letter but they can't agree on anything. Goldie finds out that Scrooge moved out of his small Glasgow home and into McDuck Castle. He gives her the new location on the map as well.

The first time Scrooge tries to sneak out with the baby Fergus is just standing right outside with his brow arched and Scrooge starts freaking out.

Before Scrooge can apologize for trying to sneak out, Fergus just asks if Scrooge would like him to go with.

Scrooge is a little shocked but can't talk with the frog in his throat and just nods. Along the way Scrooge explains how he and Goldie have been trying to find the right time to sneak out for weeks because it was so hard for Goldie to get free time. She was sent to go across country to get supplies and uses that opportunity to go meet up with Scrooge and the baby again.

Fergus just nods and continues.

When they do see Goldie, she almost breaks down at the sight that the baby survived and is being raised in a good house hold and can't stop holding her. The baby is about 3 months old by now. They finally agreed on a name and she ended up being named Maryanne. (Yes Jelly and I chose that because it means Star of the Sea)

She has to give the baby back to Scrooge cause stupid teenage and still getting over pregnancy hormones are getting the better of her and she starts full on sobbing as she sits on the ground. Scrooge freezes cause he's like aaaaaa what do I dooooo while still holding the baby.

But Fergus crouches down to her and asks if she wants a hug. All Goldie can say is 'uh huh' and he just wraps himself around her. She hugs back and Fergus rocks back and forth until Goldie's calmed down.

'I'm sorry I pulled your son into the mess. I-I was just so scared that my papa w-would kill one of us that I didn't know what else to do.'

Fergus pulls her away so he can actually look at her. And part of him feels that tinge of fear and sadness that the two teens had experienced. He grabs onto her shoulders which causes Goldie to look up at him.

'While I dinnae agree what you two did was right. Ah'm proud of you. Because what you did, finding the will to give up a child for their own safety, took a lotta strength there, lass.' And before she can react, Fergus pulls her in again and let's it sink in.

Scrooge is still holding the baby but now he's sitting down and bouncing the cooing baby on his knee while watching the scene unfold.

Over the course of the next few months, Goldie visits as much as possible and she grows closer to the family and Scrooge every time. On the times she can't visit, Fergus accompanies Scrooge in order to protect them from Goldie's dad. She's had a few close calls with her dad, but nothing too serious

After those events, Goldie practically moves in with the McDucks and they work on raising Maryanne. However like in the Rosa series, they're still experiencing tax trouble and Scrooge says he's gonna have to go to South Africa. The baby is about 2 by now and Scrooge is almost 21, while Goldie is about 19 and a half.

(This next section was an accident but basically it started as jotting down ideas but turned into a fic after I said it would take 20 seconds to write but turned into 2 hours fjdbfndn)

Scrooge is torn between whether or not to go until Goldie says she'll go with him. And because she's stubborn, no one objects. So the three travel across the world together. Maryanne practically grows up on the sea and all of those adventures where Goldie is present in the DT17 Rewriting History book happen.

On adventures they trade off tying the baby to their backs until she's old enough to not need to anymore. Although for the more dangerous ones, one of them stays behind.

But because they weren't married and had a kid in their teens, they were generally looked down upon. It got to the point where they just started saying they were married in order to avoid conflict with others. And after a while they actually forgot they weren't in fact married

'Huh, I forgot we're not actually married.' 'WAIT WE'RE NOT???'

'We're married' 'Oh ok, can i see your marriage records?' '... oh right'

But some old lady or old guy either way starts criticizing Goldie for being a young mother and they just deck the shit outta them and run. Or Goldie fighting someone with baby tied to her back.

Maryanne grows up to be an ocean cartographer and leads sailing expeditions and that's all we have for her. Also she has super blue eyes lol

That's basically almost all of the things we have for this au lol

#ducktales #ducktales 2017 #disney #duck tales #don rosa #scrooge mcduck #goldie o'gilt #au #glittering goldie #scroldie #teen scroldie au #long post #really long post #megapost

51 notes · View notes

houseof-harry · 3 years

Text

Christmas Miracle | G.D.

A/N - anddddddd I’m back! Idk why, but I thought it was necessary for us to have a cheesy ass, Hallmark ass one shot that is filled with all the fluff and cuteness. So I hope everyone has a wonderful holiday moment and you enjoy the disgusting fluff I’m offering up

Word Count - 7.4k

Summary - Christmas in New York can be seen in one of two ways. It’s the most magical time of the year, snow falling, lights glimmering, joy rampant in the air. Or, the influx of tourists and people trying to sell you things ruins the entire month of December. Y/n tends to lean towards the latter. That is, until she get’s her Christmas miracle.

***

Your friends were lucky you loved them.

When they had first brought up the idea of you showing them around New York City during one of the most popular times of the year for tourism, you shut them down immediately. The holidays were difficult enough without leading around a group of lost puppies who would be acting like they had never seen Christmas lights before.

But they were convincing people, and were quick to offer you the many ways in which they could brighten your few weeks at home and possibly even change your view of the last few weeks of the year.

So, as you balanced finals and all of your other responsibilities as the semester came to an end, you and your friends planned out a trip through NYC that could honestly make a pretty decent Hallmark movie. They even convinced you to spend New Years in Time Square, despite your continued protest. You never saw the appeal of being packed into small gated areas for hours with a bunch of strangers to watch a ball drop, but they claimed that it was necessary to get the full experience. You also bargained that you would get to pick where spring break was if you went through with all of their plans.

You never liked feeling like Scrooge, but the holidays never brought positive memories back for you. Everything felt somewhat fraudulent to you. Fake smiles, meaningless gifts, ignoring the happenings of the rest of the year to act as though family was more important than anything, everyone suddenly devout Christians. You were a big advocate of always being true to who you are, and how you feel, year round. Not just when it is socially expected to do so in some performative, public way that puts up the facade that your life couldn’t be better.

You hoped your friends were right, that they could change the way you felt about the holidays. That maybe it would somehow feel more genuine with them.

So far, they've had some almost successful attempts. You indulged in gingerbread cookies, wore your fluffy winter jacket as you walked around with them to shop for your secret santa. You could even feel a bit of excitement as you picked out the perfect gift for Gia. She’d always say how much she loved leather watches, that she hoped to be able to afford one after graduation to wear to her first job. The smooth brown band you picked out earlier in Saks sat safely in your bag as you led everyone to one of the main attractions of their visit.

Soon enough, the massive, lit up tree came into view.

“Welcome to Rockefeller Center,” you announce as you turn to face everyone, hands held out as you watch them marvel at the scene in front of them, a scene they’ve only seen through screens.

“Wow,” Colin mutters under his breath. You swear you can see the lights from behind you twinkling in their eyes, and you can understand better why they wanted to come on this trip. Maybe you had become a bit numb to the Christmas happenings of the city after so many years of being around it. The obvious wonder on everyone’s faces made you wish you could see the tree for the first time all over again.

You turn to walk forward, afraid of bumping into the swarms of people that stand between you and the tree. As you do so, you feel Gia’s arm wrap around your shoulder to fall in step next to you.

“I knew we’d be able to get a smile on your face,” she teases as her free hand comes to your face to squeeze your cheeks.

You chuckle, wrapping your arm around her waist to keep her close as you squeeze your way through the crowd to get closer to the tree. “Just because I hate the holidays, doesn’t mean I don’t like seeing you guys happy. Even if it’s for a stupid tree.”

“It’s not stupid and you know it.”

You let out a dramatic sigh, your rebuttal interrupted when you hear a squeal from behind you.

“We need a family picture in front of it!”

You turn around at Jo’s request to see her already getting her camera out from under her jacket.

“Here, I’ll take some,” you offer, holding your hand out.

“But then you won’t be in it,” she pouts.

“I have so many pictures of myself in front of this tree, I don’t need any more.”

She huffs, but knows you’re too stubborn to change your mind. She turns back to your group, who now stand in front of you, positioning everyone next to each other.

You bring the camera up to your face, making sure to get everyone in the frame, along with the tree. You start taking pictures of your friends, and you can’t stop the smile that spread across your face as you watch them genuinely enjoy the moment.

“I can take pictures of all of you if you want,” a gruff voice comes from your left, and your attention goes from the camera to the person standing close to you now.

Your eyes have to drag up from the man’s chest, him having a significant height advantage over you. He has a five o’clock shadow that covers his chin, a sharp jawline underneath. His smile shows off his white teeth, that same smile causing the corners of his eyes to wrinkle. Those same warm eyes are looking at you still, waiting for a response.

“Uh, I don’t-”

“Yes!” Jo responds for you, swinging her hand at the two of you standing there.

He holds his hands out, and you carefully place the expensive camera in his hands.

“Don’t drop it.”

He nods at your command as he inspects the buttons.

“Or steal it.”

This breaks his attention from the camera, his smile spreading wider as he chuckles. “I won’t.”

You let out a huff as you nod once, crossing your arms and turning to walk to your friends. You go to the end of the line, tucking yourself under Colin’s arm.

“Don’t drool all over me.”

You scoff, looking up at him. “What?”

“You’ve got heart eyes for our photographer, I’m surprised you couldn’t feel your jaw dragging on the floor as you came over here.”

“Shut up,” you mumble, hitting his chest as he laughs at you.

“Stop talking and smile!” Jo chastises, and you listen in the hopes of Colin dropping it.

You look back at the man who has the camera, and feel your cheeks blush as you make eye contact with him. You opt to look at the camera instead, trying to forget the fact that his eyes were undeniably on you.

He snaps a bunch of pictures of you guys, and as the mom friends Jo even made you do what she deems a “silly” one.

Once Jo is satisfied, she runs up to him, grabbing the camera with a quick and uninterested ‘thanks’ as she immediately starts scrolling through the pictures. Everyone gathers around, laughing and pointing at each other on the tiny screen.

“Thank you,” you say, standing next to him as you watch your friends leaning over Jo’s shoulder.

“No problem,” he smiles, also watching your group. “I hope they’re good enough for a Christmas card.”

You laugh, probably too loudly for how lame of a comment it was, but he seems to appreciate it.

You shake your head. “Knowing Jo, I’ll have an entire book of pictures by the end of this that she’ll insist I keep on my coffee table the rest of my life.”

He chuckles, his hands sliding into the pockets of his jacket. He’s got a beanie covering his ears, and you can’t help but notice he looks better in it than you ever could.

“It’s nice having friends that feel like family. I’m glad you get to have them around for the holidays.”

It’s weird how that comment seems to sit with you. He knows nothing about you, but he’s right. How he knew you needed to hear that, you don’t know.

“Yeah,” you nod, biting your lip as you take in a breath through your nose to ground yourself. “Thanks again, uh…”

“Grayson.” One of his hands leaves his pockets, hanging in the air between the two of you. You take it, letting his fingers fold around your own hand. His skin is warm against yours, a nice change to the cool winds that have been gusting around you the entire day.

He raises his brow at you, and for a second you don’t know what he wants. He keeps your hand engulfed in his, and it hits you that he’s waiting to hear your name.

“Y/N.”

“Y/N,” he says, almost testing it out as he lets your hand drop. “I like that.”

You giggle, your cheeks blushing as you realize the involuntary reactions he’s pulling from you. You’re not a giggler.

“Yo Gray!” Another deep voice comes from over your shoulder, and you turn to see someone who could be a clone of the man standing in front of you. “We gotta go.”

You’re not sure if you make up the sigh you think you hear come from his lips, hoping he was disappointed he had to leave, too.

“I hope you like the pictures.”

And as suddenly as he had appeared next to you, you were watching him jog over back to his own group of people as they disappeared behind the crowd.

“Don’t worry,” Colin’s grip was on your shoulder again as he stepped next to you. “Love is in the air this Christmas season. If it’s not him, it’s someone.”

“I’m Jewish.”

“And Christmas is barely about being Christian anymore. Everyone gets some Christmas joy.”

“Yeah, whatever,” you shake your head, leaning into him a bit. You appreciated his positivity, despite your pessimism. If Christmas miracles were real, your life would have played out very differently.

***

Cold.

That was all you could feel, think, see.

After your adventure at the tree, you planned to go ice skating. You had to, according to Jo. It would be a waste to be there and not go.

When you tried to get out of it, claiming to want to keep Kam company seeing as he had an ankle injury and couldn’t skate, everyone including Kam called you on your shit and made you get out on the ice.

Which you were pretty sure they were regretting now.

You’d never been confident on the ice, only skating a few times in your life. You couldn’t leave the edge, holding onto the side for dear life as you moved slowly around the rink. Your friends took shifts staying with you the rest skating at a more reasonable pace as they continued to lap you.

That is, until Colin and Gia start arguing about who’s better and decide to race, Jo trailing behind them to make sure they don’t knock any children down.

Despite your tight grip on the wall, without the help of your friends your balance fails you and before you knew what was happening, your feet were flailing beneath you. You’re surprised the ice didn’t crack as you fell, your body colliding with the cold, hard ice as your hand trailed down the wall.

You laid there a moment, partially in shame but mainly from the exhaustion of trying to keep yourself upright. You only open your eyes when you hear a chuckle from above you. When you do open them, however, you’re met with an unexpected sight.

“You alright?”

That same charming smile was looking down at you, Grayson’s hand held out in front of him in an offer to help you up.

You scramble to sit up, taking his hand, the other going to the ice as you start to slowly stand up. What you don’t expect is the amount of force he would use to help you, feeling the tug on your arm as he quickly gets you back to your feet.

It’s so quick that you can’t seem to get your footing, your skates scrambling on the slick ice again. Before you can take another tumble, though, his hand is leaving yours as you feel his grip on your waist. He manages to steady you, your palms resting on his chest to do your best to stay still for a moment. Your breathing is a bit jagged as you try to collect your thoughts, your brain jumbled from the events of the past minute, the close proximity to Grayson not helping.

“Uh.” Your mind is racing a mile a minute in order to catch up to where you were right now. Still against Grayson’s body, his face close to yours with a concerned look. His eyes seem to be tracking your own expressions as he tries to figure out if you’re hurt. “Yeah, think I’m good.”

You lean back against the wall, and he takes it as a sign to let go of you. Despite your multiple layers that separated your skin from his hands, you somehow feel a bit colder without him touching you.

“Bit of a hard fall there.”

“Yeah,” you chuckle, nodding your head as you flush, realizing he saw the whole thing happen. “I’m not the best skater.”

“Interested in a lesson?” He holds his hand out to you.

You raise your brow, not moving from the safety of the wall. “You want to teach me?”

“Yeah, Y/N.”

You’re not sure why hearing your name from his mouth unprompted affected you so much, but you felt almost as if you were in a trance. It was like you couldn’t control yourself anymore, your hand falling easily into his.

“Why?”

For the first time since you met him, Grayson seemed to be a bit flustered. “I, uh, think it’s important everyone knows how to skate. It’s definitely a life skill,” he justifies, nodding and pursing his lips. “Plus, I used to play hockey. So I know what I’m doing.”

“I’m not looking to learn how to body someone on ice.”

His laughter is loud as he leans forward a bit, his body closer to yours once again. His grip on your hand tightens, and it’s suddenly hard to believe you’ve gone your whole life without hearing him laugh. You can’t help your own laughter that falls from your lips in response to him, your eyes unable to leave his face.

“I’m just gonna teach you how to not fall,” he reassures through his smile. “I’ve seen people get seriously hurt falling.”

The reminder of possible injuries not only makes you aware of the dull ache you were feeling from your most recent fall, but also of the fact you were far away from the door of the rink.

Grayson notices the change in your attitude, his smile quickly fading. “Or I can just help you off the ice.”

His voice brings you back to reality as you take in a breath and look up at him. Despite the fear bubbling inside of you, the tendinitis in your joints screaming for you to stop, you can’t help but think about what Colin said before. Maybe this was your Christmas miracle.

“No, you’re right. It’s totally a life skill.”

The corners of his mouth turn up as nods before situating himself sideways next to you. “Alright, first things first you gotta remember to bend your knees.”

You uneasily push your body off the wall, your hand still gripping it. “Actually, first things first I have to turn the right direction.”

He chuckles and nods, standing there expectantly. You realize he’s waiting for you to do it yourself.

“I don’t know how.”

“Oh.” He switches his hands so you’re holding one farther from you. His now free arm reaches around your waist. “Can I?”

You nod, and you feel his firm grip on you once again. As soon as he starts to maneuver you, you squeal, tightening your hand on his as your other flies from the wall to cover his grip on your jacket.

“Sorry,” you mumble. “I’m not usually such a little bitch.”

He laughs, and that’s when you realize how close you are again. You can feel his warm breath on the side of your face, and you can’t bring yourself to look at him in fear of totally freezing from making eye contact. You can’t remember the last time someone made you feel so nervous yet so comfortable at the same time.

“You’re not a little bitch, you’re just getting used to the ice. You’ll be lapping me in no time.”

It’s your turn to laugh as you shake your head. “Thanks for the vote of confidence, but I’m pretty sure my only goal should be to not eat shit.”

“We got this, then.”

Surprisingly enough, you guys managed to stay standing the whole time. After your first lap around, and partially to your disappointment, you were able to skate without his arm around you, the only support you needed coming from holding his hand and the occasional grip of the wall. The only time you came close to falling was when he taught you how to pick up speed, but even then you managed to stay on your feet.

What caught you most off guard, however, was how easily being around him was. Somehow it felt like you had known each other for years, your comfort level increasing every minute you spent together. You were able to laugh together, never a dull or quiet moment as he continued to guide you around the rink. You lost track of where your friends even were, nevermind how the lights around the rink were seemingly getting brighter as the sun went down.

“So who was that guy from before that looked like you?”

“My twin brother Ethan.”

At this point you two were skating at a normal speed, staying close to the wall for your sanity, but the only support you needed was him holding your hand.

“You guys are close?”

“Oh my god,” he laughs, shaking his head. You look over at him, smiling as you watch him try and put into words what he wants to explain. “Probably too close. We do everything together.”

“That’s gotta be nice, though.”

“It is. It’s good to always have someone like that,” he agrees. “Do you have any siblings?”

You nod, looking forward again. “Yeah, two brothers.”

“So you already know how to body people, it was just the on ice part you struggled with.”

You laugh. “Exactly, you just caught me in my moment of weakness.”

“Oh, so you would have bodied me otherwise?”

You look back over at him, letting your gaze go up and down his body as if you’re sizing him up. “Totally.”

Before he can respond, your body is being jerked as you feel Gia’s arm fall over your shoulder. You grip Grayson’s hand hard to stay standing.

“As much as I hate to be the party pooper, I’ve gotta steal you away. Jo’s freaking about us being late for the dinner res.”

Both Grayson and Gia stop skating, but you move forward with the momentum you had built up. Stopping hadn’t been a part of the day's lesson.

You fall backwards between the grip they both had on you. You’re not even sure what your hands start reaching for as you flail around, expecting the cold of the ice under your body just like before.

Instead, you feel two strong arms under you. When you open your eyes, Grayson’s face is so close to yours you’re sure you would see any imperfections if he had them. His eyebrows are high on his forehead as he searches your face just like last time, looking for a status update.

“Oh my god, I’m totally ruining the Christmas miracle right now, aren’t I?”

Grayson does what he can to keep a straight face due to the concern he still had for you, but he can’t stop the snort that comes from him as you groan and cover your face in embarrassment from Gia’s comment.

“Giovannina, I swear on my life, I will literally-”

“I’m sorry!” Grayson stands you back up making sure you’re steady on your feet before letting go of you. “Jo’s got her murder eyes, you know the ones, and she’s been looking forward to this restaurant all week and we waited as long as possibly because-” she looks at Grayson. “You seem fabulous, truly. So cute. But,” she looks back at you, puppy dog eyes fully activated. “You know how Jo gets.”

You let out a sigh, nodding your head. “I do.”

She sheepishly holds her hands out for you, and you bregudgely take them, making sure you exaggerate your frustrations. It’s not Gia’s fault, or even Jo’s that your time with Grayson had to get cut short, but that doesn’t mean you won’t throw a fit about it.

“Thank you for finally teaching her how to skate. She’s a woman of many talents, but being on ice is not one of them,” Gia chuckles, her smile genuine but your annoyance only building. Gia’s intentions are always pure, but god damn she was a bad wingman.

Fortunately, Grayson smiles in agreement as he looks at you. “It was a rough beginning, but I think you’ve got potential.” He nudges your shoulder with his lightheartedly, but you tense in fear of falling over.

“Sure, lots of potential,” you mumble, letting Gia slowly start to pull you to the exit.

“Hey, is there any way I could-”

“Y/N!”

You all turn to see Jo standing in front of Colin and Kam, and you’re pretty sure you can also see the vein popping out of the side of her neck in distress as she tries to rush you along. You make a mental note to figure out who has her for secret santa to tell them to get her a voucher to a spa.

You turn back to look at Grayson, both of you standing there somewhat speechless, not sure what to say and not wanting to speak over the other.

“Thanks for looking out for her again!” Gia interrupts, tugging you along and forcing you to turn back around.

You let her pull you along in silence, disappointment quickly settling in the pit of your stomach.

This wasn’t you. You were very intentional with who you let in your life, and even more intentional with who you liked. You were notoriously single, always prioritizing everything and everyone before putting yourself in a position to get hurt. You let rationality rule, emotions only ever proving to cause pain and heartbreak.

So why the fuck were you so caught up in Grayson?

***

You did your best to not think about him, the illusive man you met one day two weeks ago. You had so much to distract yourself with, too. Between the Christmas celebration you guys did, the other activities Jo had planned around the city, and just spending time with people you loved, you should have been able to forget Grayson in a day, go back to how life was before he offered to take pictures for you.

Even Jo picked up on how you were off. You were going through with every stupid craft or activity she made you do, without a complaint. She knew something was up.

Which is why she conceded on one of her biggest wishes, one she knew you were not looking forward to.

“So I found us a house party for New Years.”

You look up from your phone at her declaration, brows furrowed. “What?”

“Instead of going out on the street for New Years, we’ll go to a party in one of the apartments nearby.” She’s got everyone's attention now, Kam pausing the show on the TV to listen. “We’ll still be able to see the ball drop, but we’ll be inside.”

“How’d you find a party? Those apartments are mad nice, only rich people live in them.”

“You know how my sister’s out in LA trying to be a model?”

You nod.

“Well, it’s kind of working. She’s gotten herself a group of influencer friends, successful ones. They’re here for New Year’s, so she got us on the list.”

“Holy shit,” Gia mutters.

“Is Madison Beer gonna be there?” Kam asks.

You laugh, shaking your head. “Dude, even if she is, there’s no way she’d fuck you.”

Kam scoffs, flipping you off. “Don’t be an ass just because your Christmas miracle was a fail. Some of us don’t hate the world.”

“There’s no such thing as Christmas miracles, Kam. Plus, it’s past Christmas.”

“Alright, alright,” Colin interrupts, holding his hands up between the two of you. “First off,” he points at you. “Christmas miracles are definitely real, you’re just a Grinch. And,” he turns to point at Kam. “Madison Beer is way out of your fucking league.”

“Ha!”

“However,” Colin cuts you off. “If she did fuck you, I would classify that as a Christmas miracle because it is still holiday time and therefore the rules of Christmas miracles still apply.”

You throw your hands up in confusion, but Jo beats you to it. “What are the rules of Christmas Miracles?”

“Oh jesus,” you mumble under your breath as Colin sits up straighter and clears his throat.

“The rules are as follows,” he holds up a finger. “If you can find a shitty, holiday themed movie on the Hallmark channel, it’s Christmas-time and therefore a Christmas miracle can happen. They usually run through New Years, so you both-” he points at you and Kam, “have the opportunity for your Christmas miracles.”

“I cannot believe-”

“Second,” he interrupts you, holding up a second finger. “Christmas miracles come to people who deserve them.”

“Oh, so that’s why Y/n’s didn’t work out?” Kam murmurs, and you flip him off.

“Kam, your already low odds of fucking Madison Beer are dwindling by the second.”

“Fine,” he holds his hands up in defeat. “Keep going.”

“Y/n is totally deserving of a Christmas miracle,” Gia defends you. “She puts so much time into making sure we’re happy. Just because she doesn’t like Christmas, doesn’t mean she’s not deserving.”

“Exactly G,” Colin nods in approval, before putting up a third finger. “And lastly, you have to believe you deserve the Christmas miracle.” It feels like he’s staring into your soul when he says that one.

You all sit there in silence, individually deciding how much you want to believe what Colin is saying.

Of course it sounds like a load of horse shit. But, it didn’t feel like horseshit when you were with Grayson.

“Whatever,” you declare, standing up. “I need more.” You swirl your now empty mug, walking over to the hot chocolate and peppermint vodka on the counter.

“A little joy never hurt anyone, Y/n,” Kam comments, holding his empty mug out to you as you walk by. You take it from him, putting them down on the counter once you reach it.

“You’d be surprised.”

***

You’re not sure how Gia convinced you that a skimpy outfit was the perfect idea to wear for New Years, yet here you were, shivering to the bone as you walked down the street.

You don’t even like wearing heels most of the time, out of fear of falling down. Gia claims you look confident when you wear them, which you reveal to her is fake. That’s always been your motto: ‘fake it ‘till you make it.’ That didn’t seem to sway her, though, so the stilettos that now dug into your pinky toes were what you committed to for the entirety of the evening.

Colin’s arm around your shoulder wasn’t helping to warm you any, your faux fur coat letting the cool breeze still brush against your skin. Your small black tank top tucked into your matching black jeans were not made to be worn in the 20 degree weather. You kept your body close to him, your arm wrapped around his waist with your free hand in Gia’s.

“We’re gonna have the best night!”

You smile at Gia’s excitement, her eyes seeming to sparkle with the lights that line the street. Other groups of partiers and New Year’s Eve celebrators make it hard to hear her over their loud screaming and excitement, and you can’t help but let that energy invigorate you a bit. You guys were getting closer to the end of your break, reality would be setting in soon, and you’d be buckling down with school again. You wanted to enjoy the time you had left with your friends.

“I’m so excited to see who’s there,” Kam agrees.

“You can’t be weird about it, though,” Jo warns. “My sister said we have to act like we’re supposed to be there. This is a private thing, they want to have a normal New Year’s Eve.”

“I promise I’ll be my normal self,” Kam holds his hands up in defense, a smirk on his lips.

“Yeah, that’s what I’m worried about,” she mumbles, causing Kam to give her a light shove as you continue to make your way down the street.

When you finally reach the entrance of the building Jo’s sister told you to come to, you’re all speechless. You could see the lobby of the building through the glass doors, and it was fancier than any hotel you’d ever stayed in before.

Jo makes the move first, opening the door and walking in. Kam grabs it from her, holding it for the rest of you as you file in behind her, like a group of ducklings following their mom blindly across the pond.

She speaks with the woman at the front desk, who points you to the hallways where you assume the elevators are. None of you speak as she walks you over and presses the button.

When an elevator finally arrives, there’s an attendant waiting for you inside. You’d had the opportunity to indulge in many extravagant things in life, and have taken those opportunities, but this was a whole other level of fancy.

Jo has a similar conversation with the attendant that she did with the woman at the front desk. He does something on his Ipad before smiling at you all and pressing a button that prompts the doors to close.

“Holy. Fuck,” Colin whispers in your ear, and all you can do is look at him with wide eyes and an open mouth.

When the doors open in front of you, the silence from the ride up in the elevator is immediately permeated by the bustle of the party in front of you.

“Have a good time!” The attendant says as you all slowly step across the gap in the floor and into one of the nicest apartments you think you had ever seen in your life.

There’s a few dozen people working their way around the room, no more than 50. You can appreciate the smaller crowd, knowing that being on the street would have been significantly more uncomfortable with the amount of people who gather there every year.

“Jojo!” Katherine’s high pitched voice breaks through the music as you see Jo’s bubbly sister make her way over to you guys.

“Hey Kath,” she murmurs, already being suffocated in a hug.

Katherine pulls away, keeping her hands on Jo’s shoulder in order to keep her close. “How are you? Haven’t seen you in forever!”

“I know,” Jo grimaces. “That’s what happens when you move across the country and rarely call anyone.”

Katherine almost misses a beat, but instead turns to the rest of you.

“It’s so of nice you guys could come! I can’t imagine what it would have been like...out there,” she trails off, looking towards the large windows that overlook Times Square.

Jo mutters ‘“authentic” under her breath as Gia cries out “cold!”

“Exactly!” Katherine turns back to you guys. “I knew I always liked you, Gigi.”

“It’s Gia.”

“Whatevs, Jojo. Go in and get cozy! And don’t embarrass me, please.” It’s scary the smile Katherine has on her face as she disappears back into the crowd. It would look genuine to the naked eye, but she almost looked dead inside when you took a closer look. But, in the wise words of Katherine herself, ‘whatevs.’

“I see the bar,” Colin nods his chin in the opposite direction that Katherine went, and you’re grateful you won’t have to see her so soon again.

“Please,” is all Jo squeaks out before making a beeline for the counter where the bartender stood.

You chuckle, following closely behind.

“The usual?”

You shake your head, stepping up next to Jo to order your own drink instead. “A moscow mule, please.”

You can feel all eyes on you, curiosity peaking at your change of heart. You never strayed from your normal order.

“What?” You ask defensibly, as you turn around to confront their questioning looks.

“Going rogue?” Kam asks.

“Trying out the holiday joy you suggested, Kam. Any objections?”

“Nope.” He pops the ‘p,’ his smile widening as he realizes you’re letting your walls down for once.

That doesn’t last long after your drink is in your hand, however.

There’s Grayson. Your Christmas miracle. Sitting on the couch, a girl in his lap and a smile on his face. He looks good in a turtleneck, you note, but that doesn’t stop the queasiness settling in your stomach. You knew Christmas miracles were horseshit, but this just felt like a cruel trick.

“What’s with the frown?” Kam asks, standing next to you as everyone else situates themselves with a drink.

“Don’t look right now, but behind you is my supposed Christmas miracle with a girl in his lap.”

Kam whips his head around, scanning the room.

“Dude are you kidding? I said don’t turn,” you grip his arm, forcing him to turn back, but not before he’s spotted the cozy couple. The look of pity on his face unsettles you.

“I’m sorry.”

You shake your head, taking a sip from your drink. “Don’t be, I knew him for an hour. I will, however, be calling Colin on his shit later.”

“What shit?” Colin asks, coming to stand next to you.

“Your Christmas miracle bullshit.”

A laugh bubbles up from his chest as he quirks a brow. “Oh really?” “Yeah, Grayson’s over there with a girl-”

“Damn, for how quickly obsessed you became with the kid, you really are forgetful.”

You give Colin a question look, waiting for him to continue.

“He has an identical twin. Your Christmas miracle is standing against the staircase. He’s been looking at you since we got to the bar.”

Your turn your head and sure enough, your eyes are locked with Grayson’s. He’s just as captivating as last time, his warm smile on his face once he realizes he’s been spotting. Unlike last time, however, instead of shying away from the eye contact, you can’t seem to stop looking.

“Remember, you have to believe you deserve the Christmas miracle,” Colin whispers in your ear before giving you a not so gentle shove in Grayson’s direction.

“You’re lucky I’m not a violent person,” you say over your shoulder, before making your way over to him. You can feel the excitement tingling in your fingertips that grip your drink as you do your best to be polite to the people you bump into on your way.

Once you’re close enough, Grayson pushes himself off the banister, creating a space for you to stand between the wooden sticks and his large body.

“Fancy seeing you here.”

His voice is deeper than you remember, more delicious if possible. It feels familiar hearing him speak, a comfort you didn’t know you had been missing.

“You’re supposed to say that when you expect to see someone, not when you’re actually surprised.”

He lets out a low laugh, nodding in defeat. “Okay, true. It’s a good surprise, though - at least for me.” He seems a bit less smooth than last time, too. You can feel the nerves coming off him, his confidence lower. You wonder if it’s got to do with the environment you’re in.

You smile up at him, licking your lips in order to drag out the unknown a bit longer. You can’t give it all up right away.

“Yeah,” you finally agree. “A real good surprise.”

“Good.”

“Although, you know I gotta ask it.”

His smile falters as he raises his brow. “I think I gotta ask the same thing.”

“You first,” you nod your chin at him, crossing your arms.

“Ethan and I are a friend of a friend to one of the host’s friends. We’re normally not in Jersey for New Year’s, so when they found out we’d be celebrating alone in our mom’s house, we got an invite.”

“A Jersey kid?” You feign disgust, making him laugh as he leans his arm over your head. He smells good, his scent overriding your thoughts for a moment.

“Is that a bad thing?”

You shrug. “Usually. I guess I’ll overlook it, though.”

“Don’t knock it ‘till you try it,” he answers cockily.

You giggle, shaking your head at the cheesy comment. “Are you offering me somewhat of a free trial?”

“More like endless coupons with no expiration date.”

This makes you fully laugh, him chuckling with you as you feel your cheeks heat up at the implication of his words.

“You barely know me,” you counter, still unable to look away from his eyes. “What makes you so sure about offering such a good deal to me?”

He shrugs. “Call it a gut feeling.”

You feel your own stomach go crazy at that, the confirmation that he was feeling what you were only heightening how his warmth seemed to radiate off him, everything Grayson flooding your senses.

“Your turn.”

“Hm?” You hum, bringing your drink to your lips.

“What’s gotten you into Madison Beer’s apartment?”

You choke on the liquid you intended on swallowing, coughing to clear your throat. His brows furrow as he brings his hand from above you to your back, rubbing it.

“Oh my god - sorry - I just,” you take in a big breath before standing up straight again, more confident in your lungs. “This is Madison Beer’s apartment?”

“Yeah,” he chuckles, looking around the room. “You didn’t know?”

You shake your head. “Jo’s sister -”

“Murder eyes Jo?”

“Exactly. She’s been out in LA modeling. When she heard we were gonna be in New York for New Year’s she got us in. This -” you gesture to the room, noticing the more familiar faces you’re seeing now that you’re paying attention. “Totally not my normal scene.”

“So you’re giving everything new a shot right before the year ends?”

“Mhm,” you bring your gaze back to him. “In case I want to take it back and act like it never happened.”

He laughs, licking over his teeth. “Sounds like a solid plan.”

***

It was stupid how well you got along. You didn’t even see any of your other friends the entire night, Grayson keeping you tucked in the corner. You hoped Kam had somehow ran into Madison at some point, but you weren’t inclined enough to leave Grayson to help him with it.

It felt like you guys were somehow meant to be there that night together. Maybe Colin was onto something, maybe this was your (belated) Christmas miracle.

“It was total fate, I’m telling you. The odds we were able to get Mando on our team in the first place, nevermind him being one of the most important people in our lives now.” Grayson shakes his head as he recalls the memories, a reminiscent smile on his face. “You believe in all that, right?”

“What?” You hum, admiring his positivity. Every story, every glimpse into his life he’s given you throughout the night, has all ended in a positive twist. He managed to see the bright side of every situation, despite the horrible shit that’s been thrown his way.

“Fate.”

You sit up a bit straighter, your elbows leaving where they rested on your thighs. Your knee was touching his, your proximity close on the couch due to the amount of people who were sitting there with you. You felt like you were in a bit of a bubble, though. Despite the loud chatter from all around you, the only thing you could pay attention to was Grayson.

“I’m not gonna lie to you,” you set your cup down before leaning back against the cushion. His arm that was resting on the top of that cushion drops, landing on your shoulder casually, but you can feel the warmth it immediately brings. “I never really did. I’ve always been the pessimist of the bunch. However,” your eyes find Colin, who’s sat to Grayson’s back. He gives you a wide smile and two thumbs up. You can’t help the smile that makes its way onto your own face as you look back at Grayson. “I’ve recently become a bit of a believer. Why?”

He shrugs. “I mean, what are the odds we not only had the same skate time at one of the most popular skating rinks in the world, but we also then end up at the same New Year’s Eve party?”

You huff, starting to think. “Well, statistically speaking -”

“No,” he laughs, nudging your leg with his own. “Fate isn’t about statistics, or probability. There’s nothing explainable about it.”

“My friend Colin is calling it a Christmas miracle,” you admit.

“So that’s what your friend meant when she interrupted us on the ice?”

“Oh god,” you groan, covering your face in the same manner as last time, shaking your head. “Don’t remind me.”

“Hey,” he chuckles, grabbing one of your wrists to expose your face to him again. “Don’t worry about it, it was funny.”

“It shouldn’t have been funny, though,” you whine, a pout forming on your lips.

He cocks his head to the side, a smirk settling on his face. “What should it have been?”

Before you can respond, the countdown from 60 begins, and suddenly everyone is standing and chanting around you, buzzing to start the new year.

58, 57, 56, 55

Grayson stands, holding a hand out for you to take. You place your hand in his, standing right next to him, there being little room for you two between the couch and the coffee table causing your chests to be pressed against one another. You look up at him, the same warm eyes he’s had for you meeting your gaze again.

“Romantic.”

“Huh?” He leans closer to you, his ear so close to your mouth that you were tempted to nip his earlobe.

“It should have been romantic.”

24, 23, 22, 21

He lifts his head so he can look at you again, close enough for his nose to brush against yours. One of his hands reaches around you, finding a resting spot on your lower back. His other hand comes to your cheek, his thumb rubbing the skin there. You grip his sweater at his sides, keeping him close to you.

“Ten, nine, eight,” Grayson starts counting down with the rest of the party, and you follow suit.

As everyone screams around you, celebrating the new year, you feel Grayson’s lips on yours. It feels like a movie, like the world is celebrating how amazing you guys feel right now as you finally physically connect with the person it feels like you were always meant to be with.

His lips are warm and smooth against yours, his every intention clear as he kisses you with a passion you’ve never experienced before. Your every nerve is on fire, your heart in flames as you keep yourself grounded by the grip you have on him.

He only pulls away as you feel champagne fall on the both of you, the confetti that was launched now sticking to you from the liquid. You can’t help the laugh that comes out of you at the craziness of it all, the fact that you just kissed the man in front of you, the man still in your grip, the man who still had his hands on you hard to comprehend.

Colin was right. Christmas miracles were most certainly real, and you deserved this one.

Grayson smirks down at you, leaning down to peck your lips once more before speaking. “Romantic enough for you?”

#Grayson dolan #Grayson dolan imagine #Grayson dolan fanfic #Grayson dolan fanfiction #Grayson dolan concept #Grayson dolan blurb #Grayson dolan smut #Grayson dolan writing #dolan twins #dolan twins imagine #dolan twins fanfic #dolan twins fanfiction #dolan twins concept #dolan twins blurb #dolan twins smut

193 notes · View notes

7spaceace7 · 3 years

Text

Ego Holiday Headcanons

Haven’t decided if I’ll make more after this, but here’s some festive headcanons for the Septic boys! (tagging as Yuletube for my submission for the past two missed days, hope that’s alright!)

Henrik Von Schneeplestein

-The host of the Septic Ego Holiday Celebration (est. 2017)

-STRESSED

-If he wasn’t stressed enough by being a doctor (and parent lmao), HE IS NOW

-Getting all the egos together for the holidays and making sure they DON’T kill each other?? Someone give this man an award

-Everyone keeping their limbs would be his only Christmas wish

-He does not get said Christmas wish (see: Robbie)

-Switches up his black coffee for coffee with peppermint creamer

-Chase eventually hooks him on peppermint tea instead, he knows the Doc needs sleep

-Can be found humming along to the Dance of the Sugarplum Fairy as he cooks holiday dinner

-Definitely has a “kiss the cook” apron

-Chase crossed out the “the” on it with “zhe” in sharpie

-Day 5, Schneep still hasn’t noticed

-Loves it, but still wears his doctor coat on top of it

-Gets very cold easily, so the fire is always burning

-Has a nutcracker collection

-It’s getting out of hand

Chase Brody

-Holidays are,,, hard for him

-Still sends his kids cards and presents, never actually knowing if they get them or not

-They do, I promise

-Wasn’t originally keen on celebrating with everyone, he has a tendency to self-isolate

-But once he gets there, he’s glad he did

-IMMEDIATELY tackled in a hug from Jackie

-”YOU’RE HERE!! Couldn’t start without you, dude!”

-Everyone else smiles and gives the appropriate hug

-(Anti does not, but no eye roll this time at least)

-Absolutely loves warm apple cider and has a good recipe to make his own

-Favorite Christmas movie is Elf, no I do not take criticism

-Has a soft spot for Mickey’s Once Upon A Christmas though because of his kids

-Holiday puns, you CANNOT get this man to shut up with the puns

- “Where’s Anti?” “Up to SNOW good! There’s SNOW way we can REIN him in now!”

-Once it snows, this boy is sledding down every hill in SIGHT

-Teaches Robbie how to catch snowflakes on his tongue

-Marvin makes him a “World’s Best Dad” sweater

-He totally cries and does not take it off the rest of the season

Jackieboy Man

-Christmas is his favorite holiday

-Good luck getting him to sit still around this time

-Has super strength, so he doesn’t quite have the same “don’t do that, you’ll hurt yourself” factor that everyone else does??

-Nearly giving Henrik a heart attack everytime he moves, but make it Festive™

-”Guys it’s snowing!!” “JACKIE GET ZHE FAHK OFF ZHE RAILING”

-Slides down the stairs anyway

-Marvin made him a whole ass “ugly supersuit” instead of just a sweater

-It is a w f u l, but on purpose

-Ofc Jackie adores the shit out of it

-Loves snowball fights!

-Always gets targeted by Anti tho

-Eventually it turns into a snowball war

-Pulls Chase over to tag team him, then discovers Marvin has an alliance with Anti

-They will be here a while

-Time to break out the reindeer-themed boxers

-They go along perfectly with his red and blue sweater-suit

-Eventually able to settle down when it gets dark out, bonus points if there’s hot chocolate involved (courtesy of JJ)

-Don’t forget the marshmallows

-Wants to help everybody out with their plans, always does his best

-Even if his best includes falling off a roof

Marvin the Magnificent

-Made everyone sweaters, even Anti

-Spent too much time on the design parts to make em perfect, so he had to rush getting them all sewn

-Uses his magic to sew like three at once

-December 1st, 12:00am is when the Christmas music starts

-Mariah Carey impressions that slowly get higher as the month goes on

-Performs a “Let It Go” rendition that could rival Idina’s during christmas karaoke night

-Switches his regular mask for his holiday one with snowflakes instead of card suits on it

-The decorating master, with JJ as his apprentice

-Favorite part is designing for the lights outside

-Learned a spell to make it look like it’s snowing inside

-Forgot to learn the spell to make it stop snowing inside

-Ended up just sticking with those paper snowflakes dangling on the ceiling

-Asks Jackie for help with the lights on the roof, not because he can’t easily do it himself, he just knows that Jackie likes to help and this is the one thing he knows he can’t break

-Did not expect Jackie to break himself by falling off the roof instead

-Ends up finishing the lights with his magic anyway (after he untangles his boyfriend from the lights, that is)

-Can and will destroy Jackie during snowball fights just because he can

Jameson Jackson

-THIS BOY oh this boy

-Brings out the classic holiday music and sets it up on the gramophone

-LOVES making up dances to the music

-May be a classic boy, but his guilty pleasure is Michael Buble

-(Robbie calls him bubbles whenever he comes on)

-Goes ALL OUT with the holiday baking

-Cookies of all kinds, homemade gingerbread for the houses, so many pies, even learns how to bake his own bread

-Everyone agrees that his pumpkin bread is the best

-Anti especially loves the cherry pie for “aesthetic purposes”

-Has a whole “Twas the Night Before Christmas” puppet show routine

-His job is making the decorations while Marvin sets them all up, it’s a great dynamic

-Definitely makes those traditional popcorn garlands for the tree

-for some reason puts an orange in his stocking?? The others are confused, but he’s so excited so they just let him do his thing

-Now everyone has oranges in their stockings

-They still don’t know what it means

Antisepticeye

-Die Hard is a Christmas movie, dammit!

- “Grinch Bitch” is what his sweater from Marvin says

-Secretly likes it, but fuck off

-Wears it to sleep every night in Winter

-You know that thing where cats get under Christmas trees and swat at the ornaments? Yeah that’s him

-Loves the white elephant gift game

-Ends up getting a present and it’s a turtle

-His name is knives

-KING OF SNOWBALL FIGHTS

-Fills his snowballs with fake blood so they explode on people

- (at least we hope its fake)

-If it doesn’t snow enough, he is the bitch who throws water balloons instead

-Henrik still has work leading up to Christmas, so Anti listens to him rant when he gets home

-Christmas patients are fuckin crazy and he loves it

-One time fell asleep and woke up with a red nose and antlers

-Chase was never safe after that

-Kept the antlers though, they jingle

-Saved them all from Chase’s puns that day

- “Where’s Anti?” *distant, staticky jingling* “Ah there he is”

Robbie the Zombie

-LIGHTS...pretty lights…

-He loves the lights, and will try to eat them if you’re not careful

-Says they’re static candy

-Doesn’t get cold because he can’t feel it, so he often wanders around in the snow

-One time he came home without his left foot and Schneep nearly had a heart attack

-Turns out it froze in the snow and snapped off his leg

-The Great Foot Search Party of 2020

-Please don’t forget to bundle this boy up before going out

-Anti has knitted him a hat and scarf for just this reason

-Henrik was the Proudest Dad that day

-Totally gets to put the star on the Christmas tree every year

-Marvin levitates him high enough

-Favorite holiday movie is The Polar Express

-One time JJ came out with his signature hot cocoa during the movie scene and Robbie was THRILLED

-Talking almost knocked him over thrilled

-Tries to sing along to holiday music, the lyrics don’t work out much

-Really good at keeping a beat though

-Marvin made him a sweater with bells on it

-Adores the bells, flaps the too long sleeves to make them jingle

Shawn Flynn

-Likes Christmas, but like lowkey

-He’s a toymaker!!! He makes adorable toys for all the egos as their presents from him!!

-Didn’t really have a family to go back to in his days at Joey Drew Studios, so he was used to spending Christmas alone, usually working

-NOT ANYMORE!

-Now he has Too Much Family (but in the good way)

-Absolutely gets nicknamed Scrooge at first, probably because he really likes A Christmas Carol and he’s a grump

-Often can be found being pulled off to dance by the gramophone with JJ

-He’s got two left feet, but JJ doesn’t really care

-If anyone still believes in Santa, even just a little bit, it’s because of him

-Has a giant red sack that he fills up with toys he’s made and/or the ones no one could sell back at the studios and donates them to orphanages

-Usually sticks to his old timey clothes, but when he does wear modern Christmas attire like the sweaters, he has,,,no idea how to match things

-It’s ‘cause he’s red/green colorblind

-once asked why Marvin had “yellow” hair

-JJ makes sure that his decorations have lots of blues so it’s not so much strain on his eyes

#yuletube2020 #yuletube #jse egos #henrik von schneeplestein #chase brody #marvin the magnificent #jackieboy man #shawn flynn #jameson jackson #antisepticeye #my writing #prompt list #Headcanons

236 notes · View notes

adamarinayu · 3 years

Text

Since I can’t draw right now (it’s like 1 AM) I decided I’d just write things down about Domestic DUno AU (I still don’t have a proper name for it!!) so here we go~

Info below the cut to spare the mobile users my ramblings~~

BACKSTORY STUFF

-Donald first became PK as a teenager (14 or 15), pulling petty pranks and avenging perceived wrongdoings. He ended up accidentally becoming a hero after stopping a thief and unknowingly saving a young girl’s life, and he realized he could direct his temper, anger and frustration not at making other people miserable, but at protecting others. Gyro, who went to school with Donald (Donald and Della attended a private school that would accommodate their adventure schedule; Gyro, being the absolute genius he is, attended on a scholarship) was there and ended up helping, being the one to inadvertently provide PK with the weapon he fended off the criminals with. PK talked to Gyro and the two became partners in crime-fighting that way.

-After deciding to become a hero, it was small-town villains mostly that he dealt with. Thieves, and the like. He didn’t start fighting mutants and those kinds of things until he was 17 or so, and the Evronians didn’t show up until he was 18. This is when Scrooge gave him a summer job at his newly acquired tower, figuring since Donald didn’t want to go with him and Della on a three-month adventure (as Donald was needed in Duckburg, he couldn’t be gone for three months!!) then he may as well work and earn a little money. As Duckworth was still alive, Duckworth was in charge of the manor, so Donald didn’t need to worry about upkeeping the mansion.

-Donald met Uno after a failed attempt to fight the Evronians, and they partnered up, with Uno providing Donald with otherworldly advanced tech that Gyro... would probably understand if given the time and chance (come on, he built a time machine out of a bathtub, he could totally understand future tech). After the first battle with the Evronians that Donald eventually wins, he realized that the game had just just 10x more dangerous. Between working on his doctorate and interning for Scrooge’s science department (something the scientists working for Scrooge were salty about), Gyro didn’t have much time to work on new and improved inventions for PK so when Uno contacted Gyro about him stepping down from helping PK, Gyro agreed, acknowledging that the mysterious Uno Ducklair would probably be a better benefactor for the hero. He didn’t know PK’s identity, though, so he didn’t take the memory erasing candy. Instead he focused on his work.

-Years passed this way, with Donald and Uno working together. Of course Donald had his other adventures, such as with Jose and Panchito and Mickey and all them lovely folks, but Uno was his closest confidante and biggest supporter. He was the one he vented his frustrations with Della and Scrooge to, and the one to give him advice on how to deal with it and talk to them about it all.

-At some point during this time, Gladstone finds out Donald is PK. Of course it happens in the typical Lucky way- him finding out saved Donald’s life. Gladstone is shaken up by the knowledge that his cousin/brother is in danger every day and has almost died multiple times. Gladstone becomes a sort of third member of the whole Crime Fighting thing, yep, you heard it right, Cloverleaf is real here. He figures if he’s out in the field with Donald, then Donald will never die because of Gladstone’s supernaturally good luck. Uno, while frustrated with Gladstone’s unpredictable and illogical luck, accepts this. Donald is less keen because he doesn’t want Gladstone in danger’s path but when the gander makes up his mind it’s made up, yo.

-PK and Cloverleaf (CL from here on out) and Uno work together for 3 years before the Spear of Selene incident, where Donald is suddenly left with three eggs. Donald’s priorities now shifted, he quits being a hero and buys the houseboat so he can raise the triplets without Scrooge’s influence. Gladstone does what he can to help while trying to continue to protect Duckburg, and while watching CL on the news Donald has the sudden realization that Duckburg still needs him- new parent or not. So he (metaphorically!!) throws the eggs into their pram, rushes to Ducklair Tower, begs Lyla to watch the eggs for him and rushes off to CL’s aid.

-After the danger is over, Donald collects the eggs, thanks Lyla for her help, then meets up with CL and Uno on the 151st floor where they have a serious conversation. Donald acknowledges that Duckburg still needs PK, but Della’s children also need him. The three eventually come to the conclusion that the kids would be raised by PK and Uno there in the Tower, where they would be safe- and they would be trained so they’re ready for anything thrown at them. (Gladstone is actually the one who is like “nah cuz you be their dad I’m not cut out for that, I’ll be the cool uncle, I don’t wanna live in the tower! No offense Uno” so it isn’t like Donald just decided to leave him out of the parenting)

-The eggs hatch and Donald names them sensible (AKA not Della’s list) names (and pronounces Llewellyn correctly dammit) and Donald and Uno have a time learning hands-on how to be parents. (“I’ve read twenty different parenting guides in the last five seconds and they’re all saying different things, Donald, WHAT DO WE DO-”) The whole “raising kids together” thing brings them even closer than before and forces them to have a chat about their feelings, too.

-When the triplets are small and starting to run around, Uno baby proofs everything. He has a hard time keeping them from escaping their playpen (which is essentially a huge room with an amazing view of the city, he doesn’t know why they’re so intent on escaping). Then eventually the inevitable happens- both Don and Glad end up stuck on the other side of the world for nearly a whole month, and Uno realizes taking care of three toddlers is much easier when you have a body. So while they’re gone, he balances his time between advising them on their mission, taking care of the triplets and building an android body that can handle an AI as advanced as him (throw out that “an AI who is only good could never make a full person” shit cuz Uno can be petty as hell, he’s a whole ass person even without Due yo). By the time Don and Glad get back he’s testing his prototype. Donald is thrilled, of course- his boyfriend has a body now!

-The triplets gain a sister! Everett brings a child to them one day, a little Coronan girl who was for reasons I haven’t decided yet cast out of her family and Everett, with his weird Enlightened Powers shit, went and found her and brought her back to the people he knew would take care of her well (considering his own past failures...). And so the triplets have a little sister who is an alien! Yee! Yes it’s Asveya (Ve). She came to them when she was ~2 and the triplets were 3 or 4, and as she didn’t have a name Donald named her after a friend he met as a child, when he regularly adventured with Scrooge and Della, and whom he ended up meeting again as a young adult.

-Uno perfects the body over time as he learns more things about being a person (he very purposefully leaves out pain receptors, though he includes the best parts of being a physical person ofc- he wants his cake and he wants to eat it too!). Everett decides now that Uno has a body, it was time to introduce him as his son officially and hand the business over to him (stating that it’ll be good for the kids if at least one of their parents had a proper job and income, since savings don’t last forever), and as the kids get older Donald begins training them so they’ll be able to take care of/protect themselves if need be. Uno creates a training field/obstacle course that is fun and age-appropriate, and by the time they’re ten they’re like little superheroes in training. They can give Webby a run for her money. Ve is less interested in being like PK and more interested in being like Uno- AKA the techie behind the gadgets.

-The triplets are already playing with some rudimentary pieces of tech Ve made, playing like they’re superheroes (or villains, gotta have someone to fight!). Uno finds out when he reviews the Tower footage and immediately confiscates anything that can be dangerous, but lets them keep the more innocent stuff.

MODERN DAY STUFF (AKA the time the show takes place)

-As the kids got older Donald and Uno allowed them more freedom, even letting them go out on their own (with the promise of being back before dark, not telling anyone what their parents did for a living, they all stuck together and they didn’t speak to strangers beyond what was necessary). When the triplets were 10 and Ve was 8 or 9, Uno learned that a powerful artifact (not the gem) was in Atlantis and that if a villain got their hands on it, it would be... very bad. So Donald decides it’s time to put on his metaphorical adventure shoes again and go get it. By this time Gladstone got trapped in the casino (Uno has been looking for him, after not hearing from him for over a week) and Uno had a Big Business thing to attend, real important too, so they talk about getting a babysitter for the weekend they’ll be gone. The kids manage to convince them they don’t need one, as they’ll be safe in the 151st floor (“We’ll be safer there than anywhere else, right, Uncle Uno?”). Donald tried to call Lyla but she was unfortunately in the field, so he agreed to let them stay home on their own until Uno got back (Uno did the math and figured he could stay for a few hours to just make a good faith appearance, talk business with some stooges and then come home the same day).

-Of course, the kids get caught. Uno had already left out for his business thing at like 5 AM, and Donald was about to head out to Atlantis in one of the Duckmobiles. He happened to check on a whim the back of the mobile, where he found his surprised ducklings staring wide-eyed up at him. He knew then that he needed to cash in on a favour- he called Beakley and then drove the protesting children to the mansion. (“Come on, Unca’ Donald!” “It’s a mansion! We wanna go to the lost city, too!” “Come on, we’ve been doing real good in training!” “Please, dad? We promise we’ll listen!”) The excitement over meeting THE Scrooge McDuck is overshadowed by the disappointment that they can’t go on this mission.

-Besides, who cares about a mansion and a rich adventuring duck when your parents and uncle are not only rich adventurers, but they’re also superheroes???

-Donald gives them a forehead kiss goodbye and heads off, and Scrooge has Beakley put the kids in that old room. “It’ll only be a few hours” they said. “Until Uno gets back.” Unfortunately, Uno calls Louie and tells the duckling there’s been a problem and he won’t be back until later- Donald already informed him of the changed arrangements and he’s already contacted Beakley.

-The kids decide to escape the old room, putting their hero training into action, but are ultimately swept up into Webby’s trap. Webby is super excited to meet them when she realizes who they are (though she has no idea who Ve is), and she cuts them down from the net without them having to escape themselves. The kids know they’re not supposed to let anyone know about the “hero family” thing so try to act like normal kids, though it becomes apparent Webby doesn’t know how to be a normal kid either.

-Through shenanigans, the children inspire Scrooge to adventure again, and Dewey lets slip about lost cities and Scrooge has a moment of realization. Thus, he drags the kids to Atlantis with him. While there, the kids each get a chance to show off their moves (which they’re SUPPOSED TO HIDE but you know, when arrows are flying at you ain’t got no time to hide). Donald is pissed when he notices them in Atlantis, and Uno is pissed when he calls Donald and learns the kids are in Atlantis, right where they are NOT supposed to be.

-Things pretty much follow the episode, though with the triplets able to hold their own and Donald gunning for a completely different artifact. When they escape and get back to the surface with their respective artifacts, they’re met by a livid android who absolutely chews Scrooge out for dragging four ten year olds and an eight year old to a dangerous place like that.

-Donald decides that it might be okay for the kids to visit with Scrooge sometimes, to get a little real-world experience, and at precisely that moment something crashes into the 151st floor of Ducklair Tower. Uno is absolutely furious (“MY TOWER???”) cuz that’s gonna take a bit to fix- at the very least it’ll appear to take a while- and when the kids question “what now?” Scrooge offers up some rooms in the mansion. The kids are excited cuz they’ll get to live with Webby and explore a new place. Donald and Uno say “just until the tower is fixed” (Gladstone had Donald’s boat at the time he went missing so Donald doesn’t have it) which is good enough for the kids.

-Scrooge being sus of Uno for like a whole arc cuz he’d never heard of Uno Ducklair before recently and also his nephew?? got married???

-Gladstone finally gets a message out to Don and Uno for help, and they go immediately- but not before Scrooge makes it a family adventure. Scrooge is disparaging of Gladstone, but Donald is just worried about his cousin. They manage to save Gladstone without pseudo-sacrificing anyone. Scrooge gets a little sus when they get back to Duckburg, and days later the missing Cloverleaf has shown up again.

-HDLV ended up spilling the truth to Webby as she got closer with them, but they swore her to secrecy. Of course Beakley found out because Webby is a terrible liar.

**So basically Donald + Uno parents, a kid that calls them her dads, good Uncle Gladstone, Brotherly Gladstone + Donald, Competent Cloverleaf, PK + Cloverleaf teamup, little-hero triplets. Gyro will end up teaming up with Gizmoduck when Fenton takes up heroing, too, just like Launchpad teams up with DW (DW’s story for this AU will be different, also, just a heads up) and basically all their combined kids become a badass team of children (Huey, Dewey, Louie, Webby, Ve, Boyd, Gos, and of course Lena and Violet join in later...) Gyro teams up with Gizmoduck because every hero needs a tech guy (even heroes who are also scientists....) and he’s not only very capable, he’s worked with a hero before so he knows the ins and outs :D

However it is now 2 AM and I need to sleep so I’m gonna end my musings here but I am thinking of them so much right now I’m

#Domestic DUno AU #I still need a proper title for it #DT17 AU #PK AU #DUno #I miiiight add some Drakepad and Fenro.......#I'm a sucker for hero/sidekick pairings #Also featuring science family!#I like Gandra I really do but the hero/sidekick mannn #I mean Fenton had two hands so maybe.................

107 notes · View notes

thegirlonpeetamellark · 3 years

Text

Christmas Break - Part 1

Surprise!! After a looong time away Court returns to Everlark fic world with a little holiday treat for everyone - enjoy! :)

Hi everyone. So 2020 has sucked. For me, the beginning of quarantine was actually a bit of a gift. Being home gave me the gift of time, something I haven’t had much of as my daughters (who were very little when I started writing in this fandom) have gotten older. While I never stopped writing, it was a struggle to find long enough chunks of time to get into a flow. I started writing again with earnest. Not all of it was my fanfiction; some of it was my original work. El keeps me posted on the humbling and kind asks she gets about my writing. I felt bad that despite my increased writing, I still wasn’t ready to update any WIPs. But I did remember a story I had started for the final holiday PiP that I was never able to get past the first page (due to lack of time that year) and to my surprise, it started flowing. I had every intention of finishing it and having El post it as a gift to this fandom. But once my school went “back” in October and hybrid learning started, that was it. My time was gone. And further, my family experienced the very sudden and non-Covid-related death of my aunt. So while I have nearly half of this story written, it’s not done. But it will be, very soon, since it is a one-shot. As with all my stories, it took on a life of its own and it needs more love. So what I have for the readers who have loyally followed me is the first part, the part that involves Christmas. It’s my hope to have a second part posted in a week or two, so that by the time that part posts, a final part is nearly done.

Thank you for your asks and your patience, and thank you to El, one of my favorite people in this world and the best thing my time in this fandom has given me. Thank you for your encouragement. Our friendship means the world to me.

Here’s to a better 2021. Love to you all. Court

Christmas Break

Fuck, not again, Peeta grouses as the opening notes of that insidious Mariah Carey song pipe through the loudspeaker. That’s the third time in the last two hours. He’s all for holiday spirit, but if he never hears this fucking song again it will be too soon.

Leaning his forehead against the cold pane of glass, he peers out of the fourth-story window into the darkened sky. When he had arrived at work a few hours ago, the snow had just been starting to fall; a slow, lazy tumble of flakes. Now it’s coming down in a tumultuous swirl. It figures Panem would finally see a white Christmas his first Christmas Eve on rotation in the emergency room. No doubt the weather is partially to blame for the crush of bodies crowding the waiting room tonight.

Peeta walks away from the window and opens the cabinet where he stashes his Clif bars. The economy-sized box looks suspiciously closer to empty than it did the other day. He’s heard complaints from other doctors and nurses that snacks are pilfered on a regular basis and was warned to label his own boxes. But he had forgone the warnings. If someone needed an energy bar badly enough to steal one, what was the $20 he had spent on them at Costco. He snags one and unwraps it.

He’s just raised it to his mouth when his Apple watch pings and his silenced cell phone pulses insistently against his thigh. Heaving a loud sigh, he sets down the energy bar and withdraws the phone from his pocket.

“Mom, you’ve got exactly 60 seconds,” he grits out. He doesn’t even need to look at the screen to confirm it’s her. She’s called twice already tonight, calls he’s ignored with good reason, but somehow his mother thinks a phone call from her trumps any actual emergencies her doctor son could be dealing with. Which, tonight, have been nonstop since his shift began at six.

“Please tell me you ate something,” she begins.

“I was just about to, when you called,” he replies. “I’ve only got a couple of minutes. It’s been utter chaos for the last four hours.”

“We missed you at dinner. I can’t remember the last Christmas Eve when I didn’t have all three of my boys together.” Peeta closes his eyes. All these years my mother has been gushing about having a doctor in the family, and yet she never stopped to consider the ramifications of actually having a doctor in the family, he thinks. Particularly its impact on holiday gatherings. She obviously hadn’t learned anything from this past Thanksgiving, as now, just a month later, she’s already dumping a fresh guilt trip on him for missing another family dinner.

She continues, “And Jackson and Maxwell were just devastated when they heard you weren’t coming, until I assured them they’d see you tomorrow. We will see you tomorrow, yes?”

Peeta suppresses another exasperated sigh and breaks off a chunk of the Clif bar. “Yes, Mom, I’ll be there.” And though it’s childish, he crams the bar into his mouth and mumbles around it, “I wouldn’t miss it for anything.” His chewing masks the sarcasm that weighs down the words.

“Excellent. We need an updated family portrait before Everly and Rye have to leave for her parents’ house.” Placated, his mother moves to ends the call, but not before getting in a less-than-subtle comment about how much she adores his brother Rye’s fiancée and how happy she is Rye is settling down.

Staring at the disconnected call flashing on the screen, Peeta tries not to let the remark get to him. Mostly because he knows it’s a lie. His mother has complained more than once about Everly and how she’s not good enough for Rye. Peeta knows the dig was directed at him. He hasn’t truly had a serious girlfriend since junior year of college; just a few casual relationships that barely qualified as relationships. He doesn’t know how his mother expects him to meet someone with the hours he keeps. And his father, for as close as they are, never seems willing to jump to Peeta’s defense.

Taking a deep breath to let his irritation suffuse, he jams his phone back in his pocket and scarfs down the rest of his pathetic dinner. All three bites of it. Then he uses the restroom, dutifully washes his hand, and stalks out of the staff lounge, his short break over.

As he strides up the corridor, he hears loud shouting coming from the ER waiting room.

“…should be asleep in her bed, waiting for Santa Claus to come, but instead, we’re still here waiting for someone to take a look at her arm! It’s been over two hours! Don’t you people have any compassion? Or is Ebenezer Freaking Scrooge running this place tonight?”

Curious, Peeta veers towards the reception desk, where his eyes land on the ranting woman. She’s young, probably no older than her mid-twenties, and in spite of the fact that her dark hair is spilling out of a messy braid and she’s not wearing any makeup, Peeta is immediately struck by her beauty. The rosy flush to her cheeks from her tirade actually makes her even prettier. She’s cradling a toddler and protectively shielding the little girl’s right arm. The toddler’s blonde head rests on her mother’s shoulder, her thumb wedged into her tiny pink mouth. Her left arm clutches a stuffed orange cat. She looks tired. Actually, both mother and daughter do.

“Miss, I understand your frustration, I really do,” the receptionist says calmly, her eyes cutting to Peeta as he stops by her side. He reads the name on the file on top of the stack, the next patient scheduled to be seen: MCMURPHY, JOSEPH. Clearly not the little girl in front of him.

“I don’t think you do!” the young mother cries, her eyes flashing steel. “She’s three, she’s in pain, and she’s scared. And what’s more, I’ve seen at least five people go ahead of us who came in after us!”

“That’s not how the emergency room works, miss,” the receptionist replies. She drums her fingertips on the desk, offering the young mother a tight smile.

“It’s Christmas Eve,” the young mother adds, an edge of desperation creeping into her tone. Discreetly, Peeta moves around the receptionist’s chair, scanning the desktop until he spies the stack of files for the patients awaiting admission. While the receptionist continues to give the young mother the run-around, he thumbs through the stack, searching. His eyes land on what he’s looking for: a date of birth. His lips tip up. Bingo. This has to be it: HAWTHORNE, IVY ANN.

At the exact second his hand snatches Ivy’s file from the pile and slips the other one in amongst the stack, the young mother’s eyes lock on his. Her gaze narrows. He can see the exhaustion all over her beautiful face. Her full lips twitch, her countenance suspicious as they stare at one another.

“Ivy Hawthorne?” Peeta taps the file he had extricated. An immediate flicker of relief lights the young mother’s mercury eyes, and that lush mouth breaks into a grateful, relieved smile. The receptionist’s neck snaps up. “I’ve got this,” he adds, his tone leaving no room for her to argue with him. It’s not protocol for Peeta to take a patient directly, but it’s also not blatantly against the rules. Sure, it might mean a little more work for him, but if it means he can get this little girl home sooner on Christmas Eve, it’s worth it.

He smiles at the little girl. “Ivy, I’m Doctor Mellark. I’m going to help make you feel better, okay?” She nods once but doesn’t lift her head from her mother’s shoulder. Peeta’s arm sweeps to the side, ushering the young mother and Ivy past the desk. He scans the hallway and spies a partially drawn curtain halfway up the corridor. He leads them to the available partition and close the curtain behind them. As he turns to face them, he nearly slams into the woman. She hasn’t moved, and her luminous grey eyes fasten to his. She looks as if she’s going to say something, but several seconds pass and she’s still quiet, still watching him. The silence starts to become uncomfortable. Peeta clears his throat.

“If you’d have a seat, please, Mrs. Hawthorne. You can hold her while I get some more information from you.”

The young woman’s lips part slightly, again appearing as if she wants to say something, but instead she shuffles forward and Peeta waits while she settles on the edge of the hospital bed, gingerly adjusting Ivy so she’s sitting sideways across her mother’s lap.

Peeta sinks down onto the stool and scoots towards the edge of the bed. This close he has a much better look at Ivy’s mother. She really is a beautiful young woman, and given how adorable Ivy is Peeta assumes her husband is probably also very attractive. He feels a twinge of jealousy. Lucky bastard. Pretty wife, cute kid…probably has a nice little house and a golden retriever too. Living the dream. His dream, if he allows himself to admit it to anyone but his mother. If he was being perfectly honest, he had always envisioned himself married by now.

“How old are you, Ivy?” he ask, even though he knows from her chart and her mother’s declaration that she’s three years old. She hesitates, and still clutching the stuffed cat, manages to display three fingers. Peeta smiles at her again.

“I have a nephew who is the exact same age as you are. He told me just last week that he’s a big boy now. Are you a big girl, Ivy?” He keeps his tone gentle, hoping it will put her at ease with him. She nods, her big blue eyes lightening imperceptibly. “I thought so. Can you be a big girl and tell me what happened to your arm?”

Her mother answers automatically, “She fell. I was only gone—” Peeta holds up his palm. He has the triage nurse’s initial assessment, so he knows Ivy’s arm is likely broken. What he doesn’t know is how the arm got broken. And those details he needs to try to get from Ivy herself. Kids her age always tell the truth when it comes to how they were injured, and unfortunately it’s part of Peeta’s job to make sure there isn’t a more sinister reason she’s in the E.R. tonight, no matter how sweet and innocent her mother appears. He’s already had a few encounters with suspected child abuse, though his gut tells him that isn’t the case with Ivy Hawthorne.

“Please. I would like Ivy to tell me how it happened.”

Something dangerous flints in Ivy’s mother’s now stormy grey eyes.

“She. Fell.” The words are curt, enunciated coolly, but her voice is soft and Peeta can tell she’s keeping her temper in check for the benefit of her daughter. Eyes still pinned to his, she inhales deeply. A second later, her shoulders relax. “Go ahead and tell the nice doctor how you hurt your arm,” she whispers, stroking Ivy’s curls.

“I was trying to see Santa,” Ivy replies, her tongue tripping in a lisp on the “S’s.”

“What do you mean by that?” he prompts her.

Ivy scrunches up her button nose. “I was trying to see up the chimney. ‘Cause the chimney at Aunt Katniss’s house is so skinny and Santa Claus is real fat and I don’t know how he’s gonna fit down it to bring me my presents!” Her blue eyes brim with tears and her lower lip starts to tremble. Peeta reaches over and pats her knee.

“I wouldn’t worry about that, sweetheart. Santa Claus is magic. He’ll get you your presents, no matter what the chimney looks like.” He exchanges a look with her mother.

“It was all my fault,” she says quietly. “I went in the kitchen, to get the cookies and milk—”

“And the carrots! For Rudolph and the other reindeer!” Ivy chimes in, her eyes shiny wet.

“I never should have left her alone, not even for a second. This is my fault. It’s my fault. She wouldn’t have slipped and fallen off the hearth if I had been watching her.” Guilt chokes her words, and it sounds as if she’s close to tears.

“Accidents happen, Mrs. Hawthorne,” Peeta says empathetically, “that’s why there are emergency rooms.” She presses her lips together, her brows knitting.

“It’s Everdeen,” she says quietly. Peeta drops his eyes to Ivy’s chart, and furrows his brows, his gaze wandering to the young woman’s left hand. No ring. A brief thrill curls through him at the thought that she’s single. Asshole, he immediately chides himself. So not what you should be thinking about right now. He scans the chart more carefully and shakes his head.

“I’m sorry,” he begins, “but this lists Primrose Hawthorne as the mother, under the Parent/Guardian information, and a Rory Hawthorne as the father. I just assumed—”

She cuts him off. “Primrose Hawthorne was her mother. But I’m not Primrose Hawthorne. I’m Katniss. Katniss Everdeen. I’m her aunt. I should be listed as her primary emergency contact.” She swallows and squeezes her eyes shut briefly. When she opens them, they plead with his. Peeta glances down at Ivy, and then raises his eyes to Katniss again. The guilt that was clouding those silver irises a moment ago has dissipated, replaced with anguish. He doesn’t know what the full story is here, but he didn’t miss Katniss’s usage of the past tense in referring to Ivy’s mother. So he honors her silent appeal not to ask questions.

“Okay, Ivy, you fell, and you landed on your arm? I bet that hurt,” Peeta says to the little girl, but his gaze stays fastens on Katniss. She gives him the faintest smile and mouths, “Thank you.”

~*~*~*~

An hour later, the orthopedist informs Peeta that Ivy Hawthorne is ready for his approval to be discharged. Not wanting to keep her and her aunt waiting any later than necessary, he sets down the X-ray he had been studying, and heads back to where Ivy is.

Standing outside the curtain, he hears quiet singing. He draws back the curtain and sees Katniss seated on the bed, with Ivy nestled in her lap. A bright pink cast safely cocoons the girl’s arm. Her blonde head rests on Katniss’s shoulder. Her eyes are closed, and her little body rises and falls with the deep breathing of sleep.

Katniss continues to sing, unaware of Peeta’s presence. He doesn’t recognize the tune she’s singing. It’s not a Christmas carol, at least not one he’s ever heard before, but he continues to listen, captivated by her voice. It’s soft and decidedly feminine, but there’s raspy undercurrent to it that gives him chills. It’s like the first sip of a rich, smoky bourbon.

Gingerly, he tiptoes towards the bed and stands before her for several more minutes, until Katniss finally lifts her eyes. She immediately stops singing. Peeta smiles and nods towards Ivy.

“Someone is worn out,” he whispers. Katniss’s lips twitch into a chagrinned smile.

“I’m sure the second we get home she’ll be wide awake and it’ll take forever to get her into bed. She was already amped up about Santa Claus before this.” She tips her head and gestures with her chin towards Ivy’s arm.

“Warm milk. With a little bit of cinnamon,” he suggests.

“Really?” Her eyes round. “Cinnamon? That really works?” Disbelief clouds her words. He shrugs sheepishly.

“I have no idea. No kids. And I’ve never had much trouble sleeping. I’m usually asleep the minute my head hits the pillow. But I’ve heard from a friend with a toddler that it does the trick.” He waits for her to say something—anything—in response, but she doesn’t. Her gaze is back on the sleeping toddler in her arms.

Watching her stare tenderly at her niece causes something unexpected to claw at Peeta’s chest and he’s overwhelmed by a fierce compulsion to want to keep her here, to get to know more about her. It’s been a long time since he felt this kind of instant attraction to a woman. Why couldn’t he have met her under different circumstances?

“Are we all done, doctor?”

Peeta startles from his thoughts and offers Katniss an apologetic smile.

“Yes, sorry. You are good to go as soon as you sign here—” He holds the clipboard at an angle, to allow her to sign without having to disturb Ivy, “and here.” He flips the sheet back to the second page and she scrawls her name across the line there, too. Normally a nurse would go over discharge papers and protocol with patients, but Peeta had taken it upon himself to grab Ivy’s. He needed to spend every possible minute in Katniss’s presence.

Once the release forms are complete, he review the plan for Ivy’s follow-up care, including how to manage any pain she has and when she’ll need to return to have the cast removed. Katniss listens attentively.

When he’s finished, she stands up slowly, her movements tentative so as not to jostle Ivy. A sigh parts the little girl’s lips and she stirs, but she remains asleep. God, she’s cute, Peeta thinks.

“Thank you, Dr. Mellark,” Katniss says softly. “For everything. I know what you did…” She falters. “I mean, I know we, ah, weren’t next, and ah…” Peeta waves a hand dismissively, sensing her discomfort with his hijacking of the queued patients.

“It was my pleasure,” he replies. “Little girls should be home on Christmas Eve. Waiting for Santa.” He echoes Katniss’s earlier words. “I hope he’s good to her.”

He doesn’t miss the forlorn expression that flits across Katniss’s face as she glances down at her sleeping niece.

“He can’t bring her what she wants most, but he’ll try,” she murmurs and moves towards the open curtain. Just before she steps out into the hall, she pauses and turns to face Peeta.

“Merry Christmas,” she adds.

“Merry Christmas,” he concurs. With a faint smile, she steps around the curtain. It rustles in her wake and resettles. Peeta exhales and slumps against the wall, regret washing through him, followed by a stronger wave of sadness at seeing Katniss go. If it hadn’t been for Ivy, he might have concocted some kind of delay to keep Katniss here longer, found some excuse to pry more information out of her. Like if she’s single. A surge of adrenaline spikes in his blood. He can’t let her go this easily.

He bolts out into the corridor, scanning the bustling hallway for any sign of Katniss and Ivy, but they’ve vanished. Disappointed, his shoulders slump as he trudges towards the nurses’ station to hand off Ivy’s file.

It’s probably best, a nagging little voice inside him taunts, and he reluctantly concedes that it probably is. As much as he’d love to finally shut his mother up and find a woman that he’d want to spend more than a night with, it’s not fair to subject one to the kind of schedule he has to keep. New doctors are low-man-on-the-totem-pole. He’s had mostly graveyard shifts and he’s often on call. It’s his dream to have a pediatric practice, but he’s well aware that he’ll have to toil for a couple of years to get on track to make that dream a reality.

A few minutes later, en route to his next examination, Peeta spies Johanna, one of the triage nurses, coming out of the room Ivy had occupied. His eyes immediately narrow when his gaze lands on her left arm.

“Was that in there?�� He motions towards the vacated room and then nods towards the stuffed cat Johanna has wedged under her armpit.

“What, the cat? Yeah. It must have fallen under the bed. I’ll take it to the station, in case someone comes back to claim it.”

Ivy’s cherubic little face flashes in Peeta’s mind. He remember how fiercely she had been clutching that cat, and how she had reluctantly agreed to put it down when it had been time for Delly, another one of the triage nurses, to take her for X-rays.

Peeta’s pulse quickens and he immediately thrusts his hand towards Johanna. “I’ll take it,” he says impulsively. She wrinkles her nose and cocks her head, her hazel eyes intensely scrutinizing him. Though they have a casual friendship, Johanna is far too insightful for her own good. Peeta doesn’t really need her questioning his motives for taking possession of the toy.

“The little girl it belongs to goes to preschool with Max. I’ll make sure he takes it to her after the holiday break.” Fuck, that lie flew off his tongue so easily he almost believes it himself. Johanna shrugs and tosses Peeta the cat.

“Suit yourself. One less thing to overflow the Lost and Found.” She strides past him and disappears into Triage 6. He stares down at the stuffed animal. His heart skips another beat and a slow smile tugs at his mouth.

~*~*~*~

Stifling another yawn, Peeta squints at the numbers above the garage. He’s definitely in the right place. He kills the engine and sits for a moment, glancing at the clock on the navigation system. It’s quarter after nine. Early, but not obscenely so. When his shift had ended at six am, he had driven home and fought the urge to crawl into bed; instead, he grabbed a quick shower and freshened up. True, part of him hadn’t wanted to see Katniss Everdeen again looking like the bedraggled, exhausted mess he was at the end of a rotation, and also true, he was going to have to clean up before he’s due at his parents’ house at one. But he also knew he couldn’t really have shown up at Katniss’s house at the crack of dawn on Christmas morning, even if he suspects Ivy likely had her up by then. He recalls, with a wistful smile, that Christmas morning was the one morning he and his brothers were always awake before his father. It was only a question of which Mellark brother was going to be the first to rouse the others. Him being the youngest, it was usually him, he admits with a wider grin.

He quietly exits his car, careful not to slam the door, and gingerly steps across the icy driveway. He pauses at the un-shoveled front walk, where a pristine blanket of snow blocks his path. “Shit,” he whispers, gritting his teeth as he takes the first step. His foot plunges into the deep drift, up to nearly his calf. He braces himself and takes a huge step, hoping to eat up the distance in a few long strides. Fortunately, it’s not a long front walk. He reaches the also un-shoveled front steps and carefully ascends them. He contemplates ringing the doorbell, but instead raps his knuckles against the door. His breath pipes out in white plumes and he rubs his palms together for warmth as he waits.

No one comes to the door, at least not immediately. Peeta lifts his fist again, but just before his knuckles can connect with the wood again, the front door opens a crack and he’s suddenly looking at Katniss. Those silver eyes round almost comically as recognition lights them.

“D-Doctor Mellark? Wh-what are you….”

“Hi. Merry Christmas,” he begins. “I thought Ivy would be missing this.” He smiles and holds up the stuffed cat.

Katniss stares at him, her lips parting faintly, and shock and confusion war on her pretty face. But then her grey eyes darken with what Peeta can only describe as restrained fury.

She opens the door fully and glares at him.

“You had Ivy’s cat?” she accuses.

“Uh…yeah…” he stammers, his own confusion welling. Why is she so angry? “My nephew…he has a bear. Otis. Can’t sleep without that thing. I thought if Ivy is anything like Max…well, she’d be missing this.” He holds the cat out to Katniss. She snatches it so violently that she stumbles backwards. Peeta is equally jarred, but his jolt is from the very brief brush of Katniss’s fingers against his when she had grabbed the toy.

But Katniss gives him no time to revel in the feeling.

“So this is why no one at the hospital had a goddamned clue what I was talking about when I called there looking for this cat an hour ago!” she spits.

Shit, Peeta thinks, an uneasy feeling clawing its way into his gut.

“Why the fuck—” He can’t help but notice her slight hesitation before she lobs the obscenity at him. “—would you take my niece’s cat? Is this something normal people do?” She’s shivering visibly as she rants, a clear consequence of stepping onto her front porch wearing nothing but green plaid pajama pants and a threadbare black Henley shirt.

“I….I…” He shakes his head. He’s not even sure how to defend his actions. He can’t very well tell her his ulterior motives in bringing the stuffed cat back to her niece. Not now. He definitely fucked this up.

“I was just trying to be nice. That I’d save you a trip on Christmas morning,” he finishes lamely.

Katniss’s nostrils flare and her jaw flexes. “Christmas morning,” she mutters, just barely audible over the clattering of her teeth. “Did it occur to you, Dr. Mellark, that I might be looking for Ivy’s cat and I might call the hospital looking for this cat?” She shakes the toy in his face. “And did it occur to you that, in spite of all the toys she had just opened, Ivy might be bawling and throwing a fit because Buttercup was missing?”

Buttercup, he has to assume, is the stuffed cat.

She pauses, as if waiting for him to defend himself, but all he can do is swallow against the lump crowding his throat.

So she continues, “They made me think I was crazy—but not until after they left me on hold for 20 minutes while I tried to calm a wailing toddler. And then they said there was no toy matching this description in the Lost and Found. And that’s because you had it!” Her eyes are a maelstrom now, but he notices that an edge of frustration has crept into her furious tone.

“And now Ivy doesn’t have it. So thank you. Thank you very much, Dr. Mellark. Merry Christmas.” And before Peeta can release the breath he’s been holding during her outburst and plead his case, she whirls around, her disheveled braid lancing through the air like a whip, and slams the door behind her. Stunned, Peeta can only stare at the wreath on the door as he processes what just happened.

What. The. Fuck.

Heart pounding, gut churning, Peeta retreats to his car. He takes a few minutes to absorb the shock of his encounter with Katniss, his mind reeling through the accusations she made. He never would have expected her to react like this. So much for any shot with Katniss Everdeen.

He finally gathers his composure and navigates out of her complex. As he drives, his mind continues replaying Katniss’s words over and over, and he finds one thing nags at him.

And now Ivy doesn’t have it.

Those words don’t make much sense to him. He just gave the stuffed animal back to Katniss. She can give it back to Ivy. She’ll have it now. In her wrath, Katniss just wasn’t being rational, he decides.

But her words continue to haunt him off and on for the rest of the day. Along with persistent images of Katniss that further torment him. She is never far from his conscious thoughts. As he sits down next to the fireplace in his parents’ house with a tumbler of scotch to exchange gifts with his brothers and his nephews, he finds himself wondering who Katniss is celebrating with. Ivy, obviously. But does she have other family?

By the time the Mellarks all settle around the table for dinner, he’s conjured up the notion that Katniss may not be married, but she surely has a devoted boyfriend who is showering her with gifts at this very moment. Her mood is infinitely better than what Peeta witnessed earlier. She’s probably dressed nice for him, and he’s sitting around her dining room table with Katniss and Ivy, like a makeshift family.

His mother’s irritation is palpable when she has to command his attention twice to try and draw him into the discussion centered on Rye’s upcoming wedding. Peeta murmurs the apology he knows she expects and feigns his dutiful brotherly interest for Rye’s benefit the remainder of the meal. But a dull ache has taken up residence in the center of his chest and he realizes just how badly he wants what his brothers have.

He just won’t be having it with Katniss Everdeen.

#everlark #the hunger games #everlark fanfiction #court81981

178 notes · View notes