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#he can talk both himself and his fam out of situations and I wish we saw it even more because it’s amazing to witness
turtleblogatlast · 22 days
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Small but significant character moments that I actually really adore are from both the times we see the boys as tots. There is a reoccurrence that happens in both of them that I find so incredibly interesting.
For the turtle tot short, Splinter leaves the boys with weapons. In the short, Raph is the one who suggests they do “what Lou Jitsu would do” and Leo is the one who takes point when Splinter comes back to reprimand them. Leo, in taking point, is the one to defend them and get Splinter off their tails.
And then, in the flashback regarding the Kuroi Yōroi helmet, Raph is the one who grabs and throws “Skully” as a way to replace their missing ball which breaks it into pieces, but Leo is the one who speaks for the group and rushes into action to fix the teapot.
I love this for multiple reasons, but the biggest are how it shows that Raph has always been inclined toward the bold and fun and making the plans to include his brothers in what he loves and believes they’d love, whereas Leo has always been inclined to be the “Face” of the group and shoulder the attention even if it’s potentially negative all while coming up with on the spot attempts to fix the situation.
#rottmnt#rise of the teenage mutant ninja turtles#rottmnt raph#rottmnt leo#rise Raph#rise leo#I really do love this bit of character writing a ton#again it’s so small but like this is consistent!#little Raph just wanted to have fun with his bros 😭#Leo immediately coming in with the save both times (and more - remember Bug Busters?)#I really love too how none of them pointed fingers like#it was Understood that Leo would speak for them#listen there’s a reason Leo is the Face Man and it’s NOT just because he’s got a pretty face#he can talk both himself and his fam out of situations and I wish we saw it even more because it’s amazing to witness#circling back to Raph his bold nature is something I ADORE about him but I don’t see it brought up a lot which makes me so sad#like this boy is a RAPHAEL he is bold!!#and it’s cute too how the other bros immediately go along with it too#imo the Raph in these tot flashback is the same Raph that glues them all together as a bonding exercise#side note but damn…Leo saves them from punishment in the tot short and immediately gets jumped 😔#but yeah man I think a Lot about the little dynamics between the bros and how those dynamics could have first came into being#Leo being the face of the team and having been it since childhood-#-makes all the moments of immediately choosing to sacrifice himself when HE royally messes up all the more notable#if it’s one bro or the whole group individually he’s more chill about it but often still lets himself be the talker to get them out of it#he will do his damndest to get his brothers and himself out of trouble but once they’re in it he’s in the front with a smile#his own safety be damned#Raph is actually the same in that respect - he’ll jump into danger fists first but all bets are off when a brother is in danger#and like how Leo’s been the face - as the eldest Raph has been the de facto leader of sorts#he’s the one who is shown to make up their games! and I think that’s very cute#anyway their clashing in the movie is so interesting for a lot of reasons but one of them is that it shows how-#-even a longstanding dynamic like Raph and Leo’s that’s WORKED for so long is still susceptible to flaws…and to time
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actualbird · 11 months
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idk if this is a controversial opinion but with all the au talk of a happier luke/luke without suffering, it's fun to think about but it feels like it undermines what the message from the benji card was trying to tell us? like my wish for luke is that whether he ends up with rosa or not... he'll be fine regardless (even if it takes him longer to realize or with the help of other people). it kinda feels like a "we have to save him" narrative in which the only happy ending for luke is that if he gets together with rosa (or in another case, if he never got sick in/got into nsb the first place? though not saying that non nsb luke wouldn't come with other sets of problems idk eeeee) i just want the little baby boy to be ok no matter the situation :(
hi anon!!! idt it's a controversial opinion and i agree with you!! tho i also dont think it's like....particularly mutually exclusive, if that makes sense?
i adore u bringing up SSR Dream of Benji because 1) man i love that card story and 2) i can super see where your coming from clearly when u bring up that card. the card where luke himself wonders so hard if only he made different choices, he wouldnt be "locked" into the the "destiny" of pain and suffering, the card where mc implores him to not focus so much on what-ifs and accept that there is always the hope and possibility for joy and love even in a life that will have pain. in terms of parallels, it's clear to see. when making aus, are we doing the same thing luke did in that card?
ehhhh not rlly? i think it depends? UHAJVFASLFHAV. like, forgive me for im about to get meta and whatnot but i think whats key here is intent and purpose. luke did all his wondering about happier/better what-ifs due to a mix of resignation to his fate and also self-loathing. it's why i used the word "locked" awhile ago; he thought his fate was inevitable due to his choices and that better things were futile. whereas, in exploring AUs it's less of like—and here is my belated note that ofc i can only speak for myself cuz im not a mind reader or anything kjHVKJSDF—it's less of being convinced of the futility of what timeline!luke we're seeing but more just a want to Explore. i love AUs and will always support its intent of exploration outside of the realm of canon, it's a place of curiosity and possibilities! and maybe the reason it's coming out a bunch now is simply cuz main story stuff has been quite emotionally jarring ajfvaJHLV I CANNOT FAULT ANYONE FOR WANTING FLUFF IN THESE TIMES YKNOW. I WANT THE FLUFF TOO.....I HUNGER FOR IT!!!
[EDIT: i realize a simpler way to word everything above is "miles morales voice: I CAN DO BOTH!!!!!!" yknow. we can love AUs and love canon!]
but overall i do very much agree with your sentiment; i also want for luke to get better, i want him to eventually live a happy life no matter what timeline hes in. in my mind's eye, his recovery is possible in All universes. it's just harder in some and easier in others. in timelines where he acquires his condition, i dont think the lynchpin-catalyst for him bettering himself is necessarily in a romantic relationship with mc, but in the general concept of just like.......connecting and allowing himself to be emotionally vulnerable and honest with another human being, creating a support system with the people around him, letting himself be okay with needing help. im a big believer in platonic love and found fam so even in an timeline where nobody in the nxx team starts dating each other, so long as luke can make that choice to let people in, i think he'll get better. not perfect, not magically cured, and definitely not easily, but still better.
at the end of the day i actually dont see luke's most damning cause of suffering to be his condition (because as we can see from his personal story route, he can deffo find joy even with it). rather, it's his outlook on himself and letting himself be open with others. it just so happens that due to the romance genre of tot, that his outlook changes due to romantic love.
sorry to be a pretentious dweeb and bring up song lyrics jhvKJHVJSHDFVS BUT THERES JUST THIS SONG IVE BEEN OBSESSED WITH LATELY THAT CAME INTO MY MIND WHEN ANSWERING THIS, Complicated Creation by Cloud Cult
I called up the moon for a little consultation Yes, you know that I'm a happy man But something in me is burning I gotta push it, push it out, push it, push it out So much frustration The moon called me back And said "I'll give you some advice [...] If you rid of all your baggage you will likely float away But you can't know beauty if you don't know pain Gotta feel it, feel it all, feel it, feel it all There's your medication
i bring these up cuz at the crux of it.....to me, luke's entire narrative and character (regardless of timeline and AU) is hinged on the central conflict of "am i doomed to pain? how can i be happy if there is so much suffering?" and really the answer is "pain, one way or another, is Going to happen. and so will joy. but to get there, you have to open yourself up to both, you have to work through both, you have to let both in. no running away, no giving up"
i think luke will be okay
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ramzawrites · 3 years
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Hey, so I'm having a really rough time rn (dealing with bs from my friend group, we have to take my really old dog to the vet today bc we found blood in her pee and we're scared that she won't make it this time, I'm struggling with my mental health, I'm just kinda goin thru it rn ig) so I would love a comfort fic with the sbi maybe with the reader as their sibling where the reader is the one that always comforts the fam, but hides their emotions until (1/2, very sorry about splitting it)
(2/2) something happens that makes the reader have a full on breakdown? I'll leave the rest to you, it can be a good or bad ending, headcanons or one shots, anything. You can ignore this request if you want/if it makes you uncomfortable. Please don't feel pressured/guilt tripped to write anything from this, your mental health comes first and I'm sure you're already really busy. Reminder to eat something today if you haven't yet and get a drink of water <3
We are family - Reader and SBI!Brothers
GN
Pairings: none
Characters included: Wilbur, Technoblade, Tommy, (mentioned) Niki, (mentioned) Schlatt
Warnings: n/a
Series: a request <3
Summary: Y/N came back from an errand and surprises their brothers with their weird behavior. Trying to put on their usual smile, trying to hide away their real emotions but their brothers know them better than they inititally suspected. They could immediately tell that something must have happened.
Words count: 2060
Authors Note: I’m so sorry this took so long! I hope you and your dog are doing better! 💙 I wish I could give you more than words of encouragement and that I managed to get faster to this request, I apologize Please make sure to take care of yourself, alright? Take time for yourself to deal with the stress and anxiety! Make sure to stay hydrated and remember to eat! Even if it’s just something small!
Once again I apologize for the long wait, I felt really bad already and then I kinda put it off because I felt bad.
adhd hit hard again and haven’t checked for typos yet, but will get on it as soon as I can o7
On another note if you want to read another comfort fic; I have a small series called “A Painful Reminder” which is more angsty but the 2nd part is more about the comfort, if that is something for you 
Living in the SMP was chaotic, turbulent and at times downright painful.
Most people tended to gravitate to one cause or other people to deal with this. Holding on to something so they don’t get pulled under. Get buried beneath the chaos and the violence.
So having people like Y/N around was like a godsend. They were one of the few people that seemed to be able to withstand the constant waves of misfortune and stand strong. Be the rock to hold onto when everything got too overwhelming.
Wilbur, Technoblade and Tommy loved their sibling for it.
After Wilbur and Tommy got exiled with Y/N out of L’Manberg, they were there and cheered both of their siblings up. Immediately making plans on how to set up a safe home and collecting ideas on how to get back. They were the one who managed to get a message out to Technoblade and asked him to visit them. Maybe help them.
Wilbur often jokingly said that Y/N was the glue that held the family together, to which they would always reply with the warmest of smiles “I’m glad.”
And what he said was true. Whenever the family fell on hard times and they began to drift apart it was Y/N who pulled all of them back. Pulling them back to reality and giving solutions for their problems if needed.
Sitting down with Wilbur when things got to much. Listening to his thoughts and worries, letting his emotion run freely without judgement. While they looked worried for him, their comforting smile never faltered. Offering him solutions to problems if he wanted it, otherwise they gave him the chance to just air his own thoughts out. To be angry with him. Sad with him.
Working with Tommy on his own projects. Listening to his ideas and giving him a different perspective that could improve some things but also respecting it when Tommy wanted to do this his way. And while he liked to brag and pretend that some things didn’t hit him that hard, they were still patiently listening to him as he spoke about his own pain in a more roundabout way. Telling him that he was not alone and making him feel heard.
Talking to Technoblade whenever the voices got too loud or out of hand again. He would just walk over to them and nudge them away, asking them to talk about something, no matter what. He just needed to hear their voice and be able to concentrate on it. Tune out the garbled voices in his head with a familiar sound that calmed him down no matter what. Leaning against them, slowly falling asleep as Y/N told all about how they were happily working on their own farm and what shenanigans they got up to.
Y/N really was like the warm sun on a cold day. Warming them up and protecting them.
Yes, Y/N was strong. So strong that even Technoblade considered them stronger than him. Maybe not physically but mentally and emotionally.
A clanging of metal rung through the cave. Techno was training with Wilbur while Tommy was just watching. Cheering on Techno.
It wasn’t an unusual situation and something Y/N expected to see as they made their way down the staircase. Wilbur in full iron armor and weapon while Techno just fought back with his own iron sword.
“Hey, Y/N! Welcome back!” Wilbur breathed out. Sweat running down the side of his face as he stopped attacking his brother.
The three men looked happily over to their sibling who slowly walked towards them but soon their expressions fell. Something was off about Y/N and it confused the three.
Their smile was as always plastered on their face but it looked strained. Their eyes wide open, trying to look sincere and loving but the glassy look of them gave off a different picture.
“Y/N? You okay?” Tommy asked as he stood up from the ground. Taking a step closer to them which made them in return stop in their tracks.
Y/N was hugging themself, shakily opening up their mouth to answer but nothing came out. It was then when Techno got very aware of how they were shaking in general.
This all seemed so wrong. This shouldn’t be possible. It just didn’t seem to register fully inside their minds.
Wilbur made sure to get rid off his sword and armor as fast as he could, walking over to his sibling, trying to get a better look at them but they just avoided his gaze.
Staring at the ground, slowly shaking their head “It’s- It’s fine. I’m fine.”
“You aren’t. You really aren’t. What happened? Did they find you?” Techno asked, his voice full with worry. A bit of anger hidden as well.
Y/N had their own little farm in order to support Pogtopia. The potatoes from Techno were great but variety is important after all. Though they also had an abundance of wheat they usually tried to smuggle into Manberg for Niki. Trying to help her out as much as possible with her taxes and work.
This time Y/N nodded “They did… It’s fine though. I’m fine. I’m not hurt. It’s all good.”
Wilbur’s frown deepened “Usually when people have to be so adamant about being okay something isn’t alright.”
Tommy nodded, supporting his statement only to whisper to himself “Adamant? What does-“
But Wilbur continued “We are your family, talk to us.”
Y/N licked their chapped lips “I’m-“
The tears finally escaped their eyes and begun streaming down their face. Sobbing they fell down on the ground. Wilbur immediately followed suit, laying his arm around them and pulling them against his chest. His hand flew up to their head and begun going through their hair, trying to calm them down. Humming a soft tune from their childhood.
It was the first time in their lives they saw Y/N break down like that and it was quite frankly shocking.
Unsure what to do with himself Tommy squatted down “Um, uh, what- what happened?”
Techno was still gripping the iron sword in his hand. Pacing up and down. Manberg found them? What the hell did they do to make Y/N break down like that? His own sibling! Whatever it was he would make sure to pay it back a thousand times over.
“Tommy can you grab them some water?” Wilbur laid his chin on top of Y/N’s head, rubbing circles now on their back.
He didn’t even hesitate, jumping up to run towards one of the chests with food items that Y/N had always ready for them. Grabbing a water bottle and running back over. Happy that he could do something else besides staring.
Tommy then pushed the bottle towards Y/N who gratefully took it, putting some space between them and Wilbur as they drank some of the cold liquid which helped them to calm down.
“You ready to tell us what happened?” Techno stopped pacing around. His gaze purely trained on his crying sibling. Anger still rising in him just like the voices.
Screaming things like “Technosib! How dare they hurt them! Protect them! I love Y/N so much! Why would anyone hurt Y/N! They always help us! Let’s help them for a change! Technosib! Let’s go out and fight them! Yeah! Blood for the Blood God and Y/N!”
Y/N’s voice was still wavering and a bit scratchy from their sobbing as they begun speaking “Hey, hey! Techno don’t concentrate on the voices. Listen to me. It’s all good.”
This somehow made Techno angry. He threw the sword away and finally knelt down next to them as well so his face was on the same eye level as theirs “Stop. Please. Stop thinking about us for one second. Stop trying to not make us uncomfortable or worried! Tell us what happened! Please.”
He was basically begging at the last part. All his worry packed into it.
“Yeah, honestly you trying to make sure everything is okay for us makes us even more worried.” It surprised the others a bit that this came from Tommy but he was correct.
Tears fell down their face again “I- I was just delivering more wheat to Niki and someone must have followed me. They followed me back to my farm and- and- they burned my fields down. There were explosions. I- it was just my farm. I did not harm. Just, why does it always have to end like this. Why do all the good things always end like this. Why can’t this place let something be. There is always something.”
The farm was so important to Y/N. It was their little project they put so much sweat, love and work into. It was their home away from home. A place to retreat and enjoy some peace. This obviously was devastating. It was their one thing they had for themself. The one thing that wasn’t there for anyone else but them.
It was also clear that this seemed to be the straw that broke the camel’s back and it broke the three a bit that they only now seemed to notice this. That it took that long and their whole farm being destroyed for the realize this was heartbreaking.
“Who?” Techno urged but Y/N shook their head.
“I don’t know. Everything went so fast and I tried to save as much as I could but- but it’s all gone. It’s all gone.” Their voice jumped up an octave at the end, burying their face against Wilbur’s shoulder again. Silently sobbing.
It should have been impossible but Wilbur’s frown deepened and his expression turned more grim “Don’t worry. We will get back at them. We will get our revenge. They will see firsthand what they did to you, I promise.”
Shocked Y/N looked up, their red and puffy eyes wide open “Wil, that’s not what I- no revenge. There is already too much misery going around I just want this to stop. I just want all of us being able to live in peace.”
Wilbur should have known that Y/N was too good natured for that but he couldn’t help himself. He was just so angry. Angry at Schlatt and Manberg. That they went for him was one thing but to go out of their way to treat Y/N like this? Let’s just say he put it on the list in bold letters with reasonings on why he will get back at the Manberg faction.
“Listen Y/N.” Techno begun, his voice now calm again “Stop it. Just for once think about yourself. Stop thinking about others for once. You are also worthy of the same care you give us. Let us at least help rebuild your farm. You always help us with our projects, let us help you with yours.”
Tommy seemed to lit up at that “That sounds like a good idea! We could build towers around your new farm and make sure no one gets in! We could put down traps and all!”
He really wasn’t sure how to react but that was at least something he could do for them. As the past General’s right hand man, this should be something he can do. If he couldn’t protect his sibling how could he ever hope to get L’Manberg back.
Wilbur seemed to think about it for a bit but agreed “Yeah, how does that sound?” Though the dark glint in his eyes stayed. The cogs in head still running off with his own thoughts.
“You guys would? Since when can you guys build?” a dry laugh escaped them but it was a laugh nonetheless.
Both Tommy and Wilbur looked almost appalled at that claim while Techno just shrugged and nodded. Just looking around Pogtopia was more functioning than good looking after all. Y/N tried to pretty it up a bit but usually something always happened around here.
“Also Y/N, please talk to us more. Don’t bottle everything up. Please. We worry a lot about you and we love you. You always do so much for us, let us do the same.” Wilbur pushed Y/N a bit off of him and looked them deep into their eyes, hoping that this would really hammer in that this was a genuine plea.
As a respone Y/N wiped the tears off their face “I understand. I’ll try to remember that.”
“Don’t try just do it.”
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watchmegetobsessed · 3 years
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Locked up Christmas - Harry Styles
❄️ FANFICmas 2020 ❄️
Read more about FANFICmas here!
happy holidays everyone!! this is the first one of my two christmas fics, the second one coming tomorrow, giving you well enough content to keep you busy when you’re not stuffing your belly or enjoying your time with the fam haha. let me know what you think!
word count: 5k
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Fishing your keys out of your purse you curse a little as your eyes fall on the big double doors. This is not how you planned to spend your Christmas evening, but you are desperate to earn that promotion in January so now you have to make sacrifices, such as leaving your family home, come into the office and smooth out some things your boss emailed you about a few hours prior.
“Who the fuck is working on Christmas?” you mumble to yourself as you try to find the right keys on the chain. The woman is completely nuts, you’re not even sure how she was able to score a husband because the woman lives in the office.
“Think about the money, Y/N,” you tell yourself. It just gonna be a solid two hours in here, you’ll be out of the building by nine and make it back home to watch Home Alone with your nieces. They begged you to stay and your heart was breaking when you had to leave instead of playing board games with them, so now you are desperate to get it done as fast as possible.
Unlocking the double doors you walk through every damn morning, you walk inside and lock them back up behind you, not wanting any creeps to scare the shit out of you, entering the building while you are in here.
You are so busy cursing your boss out that you almost don’t even notice the lights on upstairs in one of the offices, but when you do, you stop in your track, knowing well whose office it is. Taking a few steps closer you see the tall guy walking around, searching through his shelves with his hands on his hips.
Harry Styles has been working two offices down from yours this past year and you’ve had the fattest crush on the dude ever since he smiled at you on his first day, introducing himself. From his magical green eyes, through his several tattoos he tries to hide under his shirts, to his luscious curls, the guy is a walking, talking perfectness, making you turn into a stuttering teenage girl every time he even looks in your way, let alone when he comes up to you to talk about anything.
Standing in the open area of the cubbies, you debate whether you should say hi or go straight to your office, and though your nerves would appreciate the second option, you know it would be rude to just ignore his presence when it is literally just the two of you. So shoving your keys into your bag you head towards his open door, hoping you won’t make a fool out of yourself.
Just as you are approaching the entrance of his office, his eyes fall on you and you can’t just not notice how adorable he looks as he raises his eyebrows at your arrival.
“Y/N? What are you doing here on Christmas?” he questions, a stack of paper in his hands as he stares at you, a slight smile playing on his pink lips you’ve daydreamed about way too many times at work. You notice how he is wearing a simple white t-shirt, a brown, knitted cardigan and jeans, something you have never seen him in, he is always wearing stylish suits and crispy looking shirts, making sure his appearance is spotless. But you kind of digging this loose, casual version of him.
“I could ask you the same,” you chuckle tilting your head to the side. “I uhh—Samantha emailed me about one of my cases, so I have a few things to go over.”
“But couldn’t it wait?”
“I’m really hoping to get the promotion in January, so it couldn’t.” Harry nods in understanding as he glances down at the papers in his hands. “What about you?”
“Oh, I came in this afternoon, but I kind of got stuck, so now I think I’ll just finish it anyway.”
“You’ve been here all afternoon? Didn’t you want to spend the day with your family?”
“Well, my family lives in the UK. My mum got a cruise from her boyfriend so she is on the Caribbean sea right now and my sister is working through the holidays as well, so we agreed to have Christmas a little later this year.”
“Oh, I see,” you softly say, feeling a little bad for the guy to be stuck here at Christmas even though you know he is gonna see his family, just a little later. “Alright. I’ll just—I’ll be in my office then,” you mumble motioning down the hallway and he nods with a soft smile.
“Sure, sure!”
You jump right into work, eager to finish as soon as possible, and for your biggest surprise, you find yourself breezing through the case faster than you expected. Maybe it’s the emptiness of the whole building, the complete silence or just the will to leave finally, but you manage to finish everything before half past eight, putting you half an hour earlier than you expected to be done. You quickly pack everything up and shut your computer down before grabbing your coat and bag to head out. Just as you step out of your office, Harry emerges from his, wearing his black coat and a backpack hanging from his shoulder. Your eyes meet and he chuckles softly, waiting for you to catch up with him so you can head down together.
“Finished everything?” he asks, shoving his hands into his pockets.
“Yeah, it wasn’t as bad as I thought. How about you?”
“I think I’m like two weeks ahead now, but at least I’ll have a breather after the holidays.” He politely lets you ahead as you step out of the office area, into the stairwell, the two of you walking down the stairs shoulder by shoulder. “Heading back to the family?”
“Yeah, promised my nieces to watch Home Alone with them.”
“Classic.”
“Uhuh, very fascinated when you’ve seen it a thousand times, but it’s their first time,” you chuckle shaking your head.
“I feel like everyone is complaining about seeing it so many times, but deep down, we all know we’ll keep watching it till the end of times,” Harry smirks and you nod in agreement.
You step to the exit and push your keys into the lock, trying to turn it, but it doesn’t want to move, just stays stuck in it. Wiggling it a little you start to feel nervous, thinking how Harry will see you as a complete idiot who can’t even open a damn door, but no matter what you try, the key stays stuck.
“I uhh—It’s not opening?” you anxiously say, glancing over at Harry. Furrowing his eyebrows he asks if he could try, so you step aside and let him make an attempt to unlock the door.
However, the key stubbornly stays the same, as if it was cemented into the lock. His grip tightens around the metal, his other hand holding onto the handle of the door, shaking it in hopes it’ll magically open up, but that’s not the case at all.
And then you hear the snap. Your eyes widen when you see that the top part of the key stays on the chain and Harry holds it up just as shocked as you are, the other part still in the lock, broken and totally ruined.
“Please say we didn’t just lock ourselves in and broke the key into the lock on Christmas,” you mumble, shutting your eyes, hoping that when you open them it’ll all just go away and Harry will be holding the door open for you. But then your eyelids flutter open and your gaze is met with Harry’s anxious eyes.
“I uhh—I wish I could say that we didn’t, but we did.”
Letting your head fall back for a moment you take a deep breath, contemplating what you did that made the universe turn against you, but you don’t remember killing babies to earn this, so you are left with your boiling rage.
After a moment of mess you realize it’s time to pull your shit together and figure out the fastest possible to get out of this building as fast as possible.
“Alright, we-we need to call someone,” you breathe out, pulling your phone out of your pocket, trying to figure out who you should be calling in this very specific situation.
“Should we call Samantha?” Harry asks, still holding your keys in his hands.
“It’s not that we need another key, she wouldn’t be able to get us out. We need a professional, right?”
“Yeah, good idea.” Harry is quick to pull his phone out as well, opening up Google to find a locksmith that could free the two of you.
A few minutes later the both of you are frantically calling numbers of businesses you found online, but most doesn’t even answer and though you know it’s reasonable, since it’s Christmas, but you’re mad that with each passing moment the feeling that you’ll be stuck in here all night grows. The two of you are pacing around in the hall as all calls go to voicemail or just simply stay ignored, making you desperate.
When you are about to give up to find just one locksmith in the area who could help you out, the ringing finally stops and a voice answers your call. The old man doesn’t seem delighted to be disturbed at such time, but as you describe the situation on your hand, he quickly realizes his help is much needed.
“Now, Miss, I have some bad news,” he tells you and you feel your stomach drop to the floor.
“And what would that be?”
“The soonest I can get there is around midnight. I’m out of town, but I could leave right now.”
Closing your eyes you inhale sharply. It’s not that bad, you tell yourself. At least he can come, that’s all that matters.
“Alright. It’s fine, we really need you, Sir. And again, I’m really sorry to bother you on Christmas.”
“I’ll pack up and leave now. Will contact you when I’m there,” the man tells you before you hang up and meet Harry’s anticipating eyes.
“He is coming, but he’ll get here around midnight,” you tell him and he immediately checks the time on his phone.
“So… we are stuck here for three more hours?” You nod, pressing your lips together. “Alright,” he sighs, hands on his hips. “Could be worse, right?”
“Yeah, definitely,” you nod, trying your best to see the best side of the situation. You might be missing Christmas with your family, but you are stuck with your work crush for three entire hours, so yes, it definitely could be worse.
Harry runs a hand through his hair, nodding to himself as if he is acknowledging the situation, and the turning to you, he smiles softly.
“There are some leftovers from the Christmas party on Wednesday. You hungry?”
Soon enough the two of you are seated in the kitchen, roaming through everything Harry found in the fridges, from saggy fries to fried chickens and veggies, you are sure you won’t starve to death until the locksmith arrives to rescue you.
At first, you both are just eating in silence, kind of still processing that this is how you have to spend the evening. Harry reaches over to get some more peas onto his plate and his cardigan rides up on his arm, your eyes falling to the several tattoos and before you could stop yourself, you speak up.
“How many tattoos do you have?”
His eyes flicker to you, then follow your gaze on his arm and he smiles softly. You can feel the heat crawling up your neck for a moment, his smile is so enchanting. He has to know the effect he has on females for sure.
“A lot. Don’t even remember the exact number if I’m being honest.”
“Really? Can I ask where else you have? I mean other than your arm.”
“Well, I have the most on this arm, then just one on the other. Some on my chest, my upper stomach, above my hips and a couple on my feet and leg,” he explains and your eyebrows raise at the amount. You figured he had quite a few, but it really sounds like a lot. You push down the urge to ask if you could see them, though your imagination is soaring right now, thinking about all the different inks splattered across his body.
“All planned or were some impulsive?”
“Most of them were random,” he chuckles shaking his head. “Do you have any?”
“I do,” you shyly smile, glancing down at the plate. “I have… well, I have one, but it consists of three parts.”
“Oh!” he breathes out and waits for you to elaborate.
“I have the sun, the moon and a few little stars on my back along my spine. It’s not big either, so you won in the tattoo game,” you chuckle.
“But I’m sure yours is way more sophisticated and planned out.”
“That I’m sure of,” you nod laughing and he joins you. “Would have never though you have so many under your suits,” you admit and his eyes jump up to you, a playful smirk tugging on his lips.
“Well, I didn’t think you had any under your pretty dresses, if I’m being honest.”
Now you are sure you are blushing hard, something in the way he said it making your hormones act up in a blink of an eye. Has he been thinking about what’s under your dress or did he just phrase it weirdly?
“What else is there you think is unlike me?” you find yourself asking and though Harry seems slightly surprised by the question, he leans back in his chair, looking at your intently, as if he is trying to read you like a book.
“I think that… the way you dress at work is far away from your real style,” he states, eyes glaring down at your current outfit that doesn’t give a lot away about your style. You were already in your pj’s when you decided to come into the office, so you just threw on a black t-shirt and a pair of boyfriend jeans. You can’t hide the smile that curls up your lips at his statement. “Am I right?”
“I guess you are.”
“So what are you like when you are not wearing your colorful blazers?”
You choose not to comment on how he noticed that you have a collection of blazers in basically all existing colors, so you always have something to put on with your dresses and pencil skirts at work.
“What do you think my style is like?” you challenge him tilting your head to the side. Pursing his lips he takes a few moments to think over his answer.
“I think it’s a lot of vintage jeans and shirts, oversized jumpers, tiny hoop earrings… maybe some turtlenecks, but the funky types, nothing serious. You seem like the type of person who likes to be cozy but also fashionable.”
“That was very specific,” you chuckle softly, but you are also impressed by how spot on his description was.
“Was I right?”
“Yeah,” you nod. “But add some loose maxi dresses. I love them too, especially with sneakers.”
“Fits the picture perfectly,” he smirks as you both continue your feast.
You have never been alone with Harry for this long and you feel like you cracked the code to stop feeling nervous around him. Yes, you are still quite anxious about doing or saying something stupid, but the more you talk, the easier you find it to be around him. He is great company, an amazing listener and an even better story teller. Once you start sharing tales about your childhood and teenage years, Harry opens up about what it was like growing up back in the UK and he tells you all about the little pranks he and his mates did through high school.
“You had such a baby face!” you beam when he shows you a picture of himself when he was just fifteen. He is definitely recognizable, but he was lacking that hint of manliness back then, a rounder face and smoother lines made him appear very youthful, while now he is definitely a charming, mature man.
“I know, worked hard to lose that,” he chuckles leaning onto his arms on the table. “Alright, now you have to show me one too,” he says locking his phone once you give it back to him. Chuckling you unlock your own phone, looking for a photo you could show him, though you don’t have many to choose from.
“This one was taken on my sixteenth birthday,” you comment sliding the phone over to him, a picture of you shown on the screen from your birthday where you are sitting on the couch, hugging the puppy your parents surprised you with as a gift. Back then you had longer hair and a bare face, free of any makeup since you didn’t start wearing any until you were eighteen. You had a few pimples and spots on your forehead, but overall it’s not a disastrous photo.
Harry takes his time examining the photo and you see his smile grow wider with each passing moment.
“What?” you question him.
“Nothing, it’s just that… If we knew each other back then I just know I would have crushed on you hard.”
Your lips part at his blunt answer, you were definitely not expecting him to say that and it’s making you feel some kind of way for sure.
The two of you pack up everything left from the food, cleaning up after yourselves and as Harry washes the plates you two used, you check the time, seeing that it’s only quarter to eleven, leaving plenty of time still until the locksmith arrives.
“It’s so damn quiet in here, I’m not used to hear… nothing,” you tell him as you follow him out of the kitchen. Harry turns to you with a sly smirk.
“Wanna have a private party? I know for a fact Jim has a Bluetooth speaker somewhere in his office.”
“I’m absolutely in,” you grin as the two of you head towards the corner office.
Harry was right, the Bluetooth speaker sits lonely on Jim’s desk and you don’t hesitate to borrow it for your entertainment in this absurd situation. He connects his phone and sets it down on a random desk outside where the cubbies are.
“Alright, what’s your song request?” he asks opening up Spotify.
“Guess what kind of music I listen to,” you challenge him arching an eyebrow and as his eyes meet yours, he smirks back confidently before he turns his attention back at the phone in his hand. You watch him scroll for a while before his finger stops on a song and after a moment of hesitation he taps on it at last.
“Don’t come at me if you don’t like it,” he warns as the song starts playing through the speaker and you immediately recognize it. I Feel It Coming by The Weeknd and Daft Punk flows through the empty office area and you can’t push down the smile that tugs on your lips. “Did I do good? You like it?” he asks with bright eyes.
“You did. I do like The Weeknd and it’s a fun song,” you nod and Harry throws a fist into the air in victory.
“Yes! Alright, you guess next,” he tells you handing you the phone and you need a moment to think about what he might like. A specific song pops into your mind and though you know you’re taking a risk with choosing it, but something is telling you he is the kind of guy who appreciates this kind of music. You patiently wait for your song to end before starting the one you chose for him.
You intently watch his reaction as Juice by Lizzo starts playing through the speaker and the moment you see the corners of his mouth curl up, you know you guessed right.
“It’s one of my guilty pleasures,” he admits, his head immediately bopping to the rhythm.
“No need to call it guilty pleasure. It’s a great song,” you tell him handing back his phone and with each passing moment his body gets into the rhythm more and more until he is full on dancing.
You let out a laugh, watching him sway and move around, enjoying the song and you can’t stop yourself from joining him. Jumping around, the two of you make the whole place your dance floor, moving around between the desks and cubbies, letting loose as the song fills the whole place.
“It ain’t my fault!” you hear Harry sing from across the room and you can’t hold back your laugh. Seeing how funny you find it, he makes his way towards you, swirling and moving his hops around. He is not a bad dancer, in fact, he is perfectly on beat with his movements, but he is definitely not a professional, though you find it quite adorable, while the way he doesn’t care to dance carefree is making him incredibly hot.
He dances around you, relentlessly singing the lyrics that he seems to know by heart. It’s quite the sight to see him like this, so unlike but still… very much like him. This version is even more attractive and you wish you could see him like this more often.
One song follows the other and the two of you absolutely let loose, putting on the show of your life, forgetting about everything else, it’s just the music, Harry and you. He shows you his favorite songs and you do the same, feeling a special connection through the process, because in a way, he is baring his true self to you through the music that’s closest to his heart and you are happy to be the person to see him like this.
“What’s a song that turns you into a rockstar?” Harry asks, panting a little from all the dancing you two have been doing in the past hour. You stop in motion thinking about what he just asked.
“A rockstar?”
“Yeah, you know, one that makes you sing and dance and perform like you are in the middle of your sold-out show at Wembley.”
You love his specific descriptions of feelings. Smiling to yourself you don’t have to think long about what song it is for you. After searching it you add to the queue and put the phone down to the nearest desk as you turn to Harry.
The starting beats of Plastic Hearts by Miley Cyrus start playing and you immediately feel the adrenaline rushing through your veins. You’re ready to completely change right in front of his eyes. Grabbing a chair you push him down to sit as you walk away from him, snatching an abandoned bottle of water from one of the desks, using it as your microphone before starting your performance. Hooking a finger into the elastic in your hair you pull it out and let your hair fall to your shoulders as you start singing along the song, sending him a seductive look over your shoulder.
“Hello, the sunny place for shady people, a crowded room where nobody goes…”
You know every line by heart and the fact that you’ve been listening to it on repeat the past few weeks just helps your case. You are able to put on quite the show for Harry.
Dancing around the desks, even hopping on one and lying down as you sing into your pretend microphone, you truly make yourself believe there are thousands of people watching your performance.
“I’ve been California dreaming, plastic hearts are bleeding!” you shout the chorus, completely letting loose, dancing towards Harry who is watching you in awe, lips parted, eyes bright as they follow your every move. “Keep me up all night! Keep me up all night!”
Right in front of Harry, you drop to your knees, whipping your head around, your hair flying with it before you straighten up and look straight into his eyes. Hunger fills his eyes, raw passion and you see how his knuckles are turning white as he is gripping the sides of the chair he is sitting in. You can’t push down the satisfied smirk that tugs on your lips.
He stays put as you live out your wildest rockstar dreams, turning the whole office into your stage. With a heaving chest and heavy pants, the song ends and nothing follows. Turning to face Harry you see that he turned the music off so no other song started after your performance. Now he is standing, eyes burning down on you and the tension is thicker than ever.
It’s about to happen, you feel it. He wants you just as much as you want him. Is he gonna act up about it? Will he finally break what’s been building up between the two of you?
All your questions get answered as soon as you see him leap towards you, your body starts moving at the same time and just when you are about to meet in the middle in the hottest kiss you’ve ever gotten, you jump back hearing your phone’s ringtone on a desk near you.
“Fucking—“ you hear him mumble under his breath as you rush over, seeing that the locksmith is calling.
“Hi!” you pant into the phone and immediately realize how ambiguous you must have sounded.
“Miss? I think I’m here. Can you come to the door in question?” you hear the man.
“Yeah! We’ll be down in a sec! It’s the front door.”
Ending the call you turn to see Harry standing behind you, his green eyes burning a hole into your head and you can tell he shares the same thoughts as you and though you’d love nothing more than to continue what was about to start, but you can’t make the locksmith wait.
“Come on, we are getting rescued,” you chuckle grabbing your stuff and Harry follows you downstairs.
The old man is standing with a bag of tools at the entrance, he sends you a small smile when he notices you.
“This one right here?” he asks through the glass and you nod. Harry stands beside you as the two of you watch him get down to work. Though the tension is still there, you can feel it radiating from the both of you, you still manage to hold yourself back.
It doesn’t take long for the man to get rid of the ruined lock and the door finally opens up, letting you and Harry out of your prison. He quickly fixes up a new one and gives you the keys. You already know Samantha won’t be happy about having to copy a new set of keys for everyone, but there was not much you could do.
You obviously pay a fortune for the guy for everything he did tonight, he surely was a hero. It’s way past midnight by the time you say goodbye to the man and watch him drive away, leaving you and Harry standing in the parking lot.
The sexual aspect of the tension between the two of you has definitely fallen back, but something is still there and you really don’t want to ignore what was about to happen before the locksmith called. Luckily, it seems like Harry thinks the exact same thing.
He runs two fingers over his lips, clearly trying to come up with something to say, and then he finally speaks up.
“Listen, about what happened in there—“
“Want to come over to mine?” you blurt out before you could stop yourself, clearly surprising him. Then you feel a wave of awkwardness about how blunt that was, so the urge to fix it a little takes over. “I-I mean you could come over to my place for the night if you want, and since you-you don’t have family here now, you could just come to my family tomorrow for lunch, it’s always so much fun, we play board games and stuff. B-But I get it if you don’t want to.”
Harry smiles widely at you, finding your word vomiting quite amusing and cute if he is being honest.
“You sure I wouldn’t disturb if I joined for lunch?”
“Of course not,” you smile warmly. You already know your nieces would be all over Harry if he came, wouldn’t even let him alone for a second for sure.
“Then… I would love to go. And… to your place as well,” he adds, a soft blush appearing on his cheeks.
“Okay, then follow me?” you chuckle nodding towards your and his car parking near to the other.
“Yeah,” he nods, smiling wide as you both head to your own cars. You have to bite into your bottom lip to stop the excited squeal when you unlock the doors. Right as you are about to open up the door on the driver’s side, someone grips your wrist and turns you back around. You gasp a little, but immediately melt into Harry’s arms when his lips press to yours, holding you tight in his embrace.
His lips taste like French salad dressing and mint after the feast you had earlier and the gum he chewed on afterwards. They fit so perfectly with yours, moving in sync as you let your hands wander over his upper arms and broad shoulders until they come to a halt at the base of his neck. He is such an amazing kisser and you just know that whatever happens between you and him after this, you’ll surely have a hard time looking at him at work and not think about how he tastes on your lips.
When he pulls away, he pecks your lips one more time before his arms fall from around you.
“Sorry,” he smiles nervously, even though he has no reason to be. “I just… had to do it before we leave.”
“Glad you did,” you smirk and kiss his soft lips one last time before sending him away to his own car. He shoots you one last charming smile before you both get into your cars and head straight to your place.
Thank you for reading, let me know what you thought about it! 
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princessphilly · 3 years
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Word Count: 5118
CW: angst, smut but not super filthy smut (medium filth?), bad language
Dress and shoes that Nina wore in this chapter
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Only three more chapters and an epilogue left
Nina fidgeted as dug into her pocketbook for her keys to her parents’ house. It was time for Sunday dinner, the one meal a week that she wasn’t responsible for cooking and therefore, Nina never missed it. Cooking was not her forte and Nina had no problems with that. However, this Sunday dinner, she needed to talk to her family about their lives changing.
The smell of roast chicken filled the house and Nina took a deep sniff as she opened and closed the door. Aryanna and Dad were watching the late game aka hate-watching the Ravens vs Saints. The Steelers were playing on Monday night this week. 
“Heey sweettart,” Vernon said, getting up to give his oldest daughter a hug. 
Nina hugged her father back, holding him close for a second. “Hi Dad.”
“Oh no!”
Nina ended the hug, turning with her father towards the tv. Lamar Jackson had just run for a 20-yard touchdown. They all groaned; the Steelers needed the Ravens to lose as both teams were running neck to neck for the AFC North crown. As Nina got absorbed into the game, the situation with Sidney was still in the back of her mind. 
Nina had talked to her mom earlier in the day, explaining everything to her mother, well everything but the sex. Tracey had listened with an open ear before telling her daughter not to make a decision over her potential happiness just because of how it could affect her family. Tracey had reminded Nina that Jason, while he was at UNC now, had been a 5-star tight end prospect and they dealt with the media when it was time for him to sign with a college. 
After talking to her mom, Nina had taken a nap before coming to sunday dinner. As she watched the game, waiting to eat, Nina hoped for courage. However, she kept it to herself when it was time to eat, instead listening to Aryanna talk about school, her dad talk about his new position at work which meant that he wasn’t going to be going out on the road as much anymore. Nina shared some stories about her clients while Tracey talked about the switch to travel nursing over working in the hospital. But when it was over, Nina gulped and summoned her courage.
“So, I got news,” Nina started once dinner was over and dessert was served. She looked down at her glass of water. Before she could continue, Aryanna piped up. “Let me guess, you’re breaking up with Sidney Crosby because you’re a punk.”
“Aryanna!” 
Nina glared at her little sister while Tracey reprimanded, “That was rude, little girl.”
“Sorry,” Aryanna muttered.
“Anyway, before I was rudely interrupted,” Nina said, “I have news. After thinking about it, talking to Sidney, and going over the pros and cons, I’ve decided to give him another chance.”
Tracey smiled as Aryanna shouted yes. Vernon looked at his daughter and carefully said, “Are you ready for it?”
Nina grimaced. “As ready as I can possibly. Are y’all?”
“We only want you to be happy, sweetie,” Tracey consoled. “Plus, I saw those pics of you two. He’s smitten.”
Nina groaned while Aryanna laughed. Vernon added, “We were already planning to move soon anyway. We’ve been looking at homes in South HIlls and we just closed on a house in Mt. Lebanon.”
“Oh wow. When was I going to find out,” Nina said with a smirk. She knew her parents had been thinking of moving for a while but the market had been super hot for a long time. Before she had moved into her current apartment, Nina had heard of the different arguments her parents had about moving to different areas. But before they could find somewhere, someone else would snap it up.
Tracey grinned. “We weren’t going to say anything until we closed because of how long it took to find somewhere. It’s taken almost two years and we even saved enough to offer forty percent as a down payment. It’s a fixer-upper though but it has a bigger backyard for my garden and the schools are better.”
“What are you going to do with this house,” Nina asked before taking a bite of her sweet potato pie. Fuck, she wished she could bake and cook just so she could make herself sweet potato pie all of the time. 
Vernon replied, “Probably sell. There are people looking to buy even though this area isn’t that great. ”
“I guess it’s settled. This is exciting though.”
Tracey snickered before looking at her husband. “I hope you are still excited when we need you to help pack, Ni-ni.”
Nina looked to her right before taking out her phone and sending a quick message. Free monday? 12pm?
She received a quick response. Yup, just tell me where to meet
Vernon casually commented, “I’m also looking at it this way; this is a practice for when Jason is in the NFL and becomes famous.”
“Good point,” Tracey said. “I can start practicing telling people no even more now.”
Nina laughed. “Looks like I have nothing to worry about then.”
The conversation switched to the Steelers game tomorrow night as they finished dessert.
**
Honestly, Sidney was a bit surprised to get a message from Nina so quickly. He had fully expected her to wait until Wednesday and he had been preparing himself for the worst possible outcome. As a competitor, prepping for each game meant learning his opponents’ strengths and weaknesses. Nina wasn’t his opponent but Sidney was now very aware of the power she had over him with just one look, let alone her touch or words. 
Nina had asked to meet somewhere that wasn’t at their homes. Sidney suggested lunch but after looking at his schedule, he asked if Nina could maybe meet him at the Pens offices and then get lunch after. Fidgeting in the smaller conference room, Sidney began to worry that Nina wouldn’t show up when the clock showed that it was already five minutes past the time they agreed to. But then, Nina wasn’t the most on time person either so Sidney rationalized to himself, he should worry if it was fifteen minutes passed and she still wasn’t here. 
Then outside the door, Sidney saw Nina talking with Evelyn, one of their PR mavens. They were having an animated discussion and Sidney smiled softly. Nina opened the door and grinned at him. “Hi Sid, sorry for being late.”
Evelyn waved at Sidney and he waved back. After Nina walked in, Evelyn peeped in and said, “I was just catching up with Nina since it’s been a while since she’s been here.”
Sidney nodded as Nina replied, “thank you so much for the advice, Evelyn, I will definitely use it!”
Evelyn waved goodbye before closing the door firmly. Nina chose a chair directly across from Sidney and sat down. There was a brief pause before Nina giggled. “Oh my God, you looked like you were about to die before I showed up.”
“Well, I had to remind myself that you’d show up but part of me still was worried because of everything in our last conversations,” Sidney replied. 
The aura in the room turned serious as Nina bit her lip and folded her hands together. “Yeah, those conversations,” Nina started. “I like you a lot, Sidney Crosby, but… I hate this circus that surrounds you. I know that it’s something you can’t control but I hate it. But I realized, especially after talking to my mom, there’s nothing I can do about it now. My life’s forever changed.”
Sidney cleared his throat but Nina stopped him. “Let me finish, Sid because I can already tell you’re ready to make promises you can’t keep. So let me save both of us the headache.”
Sitting back, Sidney leaned in his chair. “What are your plans, pretty girl?”
“You have to get over being super private and claim me publicly. You want me to be yours, Mr. Crosby? Then you have to let the world know we are together. No are they or aren’t they bullshit.”
Nina glared at Sidney when she was done. Sidney flushed; part of him hated the idea of letting the world know more than they really needed to know about his personal life. At the same time, he already knew he was going to do whatever Nina asked him to, in his own way. “You know I don’t use social media,” Sidney began before trailing off. Then he smirked. 
Nina casually said, “you’ll find a way.”
“I already figured it out,” Sidney drawled. “What else do you want, pretty girl?”
“No more surprise meet ups with people from the team, let me know ahead of time. Just like I’ll let you know ahead of time whenever I decide you should meet my fam.”
Sidney actually blushed while Nina arched an eyebrow. “I know I’m amazing but that was a bit uncomfortable when I think back. At least you didn’t abandon me to talk to your teammates and let me fend for myself.”
“I’m sorry, Nina,” Sidney apologized. He felt really bad now: he had been so excited that he really didn’t think about how Nina would have felt. Nina shrugged; it wasn’t that bad to be honest because Sidney stayed at her side, introduced her to everyone, and made sure she was included. But that didn’t mean she wanted him to continue doing that. 
Nina smiled at Sidney and asked, “what do you think, Sid?”
Sidney scratched his jaw as he thought of his reply. It was relatively simple but it would also be life-changing for him. He finally said, “Yes, it all sounds good. But I have one thing?”
“What’s that?”
Sidney smirked as he looked Nina up and down. Nina rolled her eyes as she smiled. She could guess where his mind was, right in the gutter. But Sidney surprised her when he said, “Then let me spoil you.  I have no problem claiming you publicly, but I want you to let me treat you like I’ve been wanting to treat you.”
Nina gave Sidney a bashful smile before looking to the side. “I’ll never say no to purses and shoes but I don’t want you to buy out the store-“
“I already know that, sweetheart,” Sidney firmly said, “but let me treat you like you deserve.”
“Okay, okay,” Nina conceded.
Sidney pushed his chair back, making space. Then he patted his lap. “Come ‘ere.”
Nina got out of her chair and sat on Sidney’s lap. “You know where we are,” she hissed even though she had obeyed him. 
Wrapping an arm around her waist, Sidney smiled. Smelling her coconut-vanilla scent, he realized how much he had missed her. “I know, I’m not going to do anything inappropriate, pretty girl. Just missed having you close to me.”
Sidney kissed the back of Nina’s neck, causing her to shiver. “Watch the postgame of our next game, Nina. Now, what do you want for lunch?”
“Um, honestly, I want Chipotle. I have to get back to work in about an hour so nothing fancy,” Nina replied. 
Turning so that she was facing Sidney, she placed her index finger over his lips when he opened his mouth. “I forgot to add this earlier but I’m also going to say this now. I’m not quitting my job anytime soon. I’m going to finish my Ph.D. and if I decide to stop working, it’s because I plan to teach full-time. So, if you expect I’ll be waiting at home and living for you, now you know that’s not going to happen,” Nina stated. 
Sidney opened his mouth to reply but the door opened. “Hey, I’ve been looking for you, Sidney!”
Nina squeaked in surprise and Sidney sighed. It was Brian Burke and Sidney was sure that it was probably something important but this wasn’t quite the moment where he wanted to see him. 
Brian smiled. “It looks like you two have made up.”
Nina weakly waved. At first, she was going to move off of Sidney’s lap but his hand around her waist made that impossible. “I’d introduce myself but I figure I interrupted,” Brian continued. 
“It’s okay, I was on my way to get lunch,” Nina replied. 
Sidney added, “With me.”
“Don’t forget, you said you wanted to help with more planning for our pride game this season,” Brian reminded Sidney.
“Ohh, the pride game! You’re getting more involved in it? That’s awesome,” Nina exclaimed. 
Sidney blushed as he smiled under Nina’s praise. 
“Would you be interested in being involved, Nina,” Brian asked.
Nina paused for a second, her eyes wide. “Um, sure.”
“I can get your contact information from Sidney,” Brian asked.
Nina nodded as Sidney rubbed his hand up and down her back. Sidney said, “I’ll let you know,” as Brian closed the door. 
Placing a hand over her face, Nina sighed. “Wow.”
“It’s fine. Look, your first volunteer project,” Sidney kidded. 
“I need to eat.”
**
The game against the Isles had gone well. Sidney had tallied two assists and a goal in a 4-2 win after having a four game slump. Normally post-game interviews were a necessary evil but he was a bit nervous this time. Not because he knew they were going to ask about getting out of his slump, but because of what he was going to say. 
The first couple of questions were easy softballs. Then Sidney was hit with the question that opened the door. 
“Sidney, great breaking your slump. There were rumors that your personal life was affecting your game on the ice. What do you think about that?”
Sidney looked at the reporters, all ready for him to give a cliche. Instead, Sidney admitted the truth. “My personal life was affecting my game on the ice. But we’ve fixed our issues and I’m glad.”
There was a pause, as if the reporters didn’t know where to start. Sidney looked at one of the PR interns to the side. The intern gave him a slight smile and a quick thumbs up. Sidney decided to continue, “We prefer to keep our relationship private for now but she means a lot to me and is very important to my life. I will not be answering any more questions about my relationship at this moment.”
Luckily, the rest of the questions were about hockey but Sidney knew that his statement was going to be a big part of what everyone was going to talk about. Once back in the locker room, Geno gave Sidney a big grin. Tanger said, “You did it?”
“Yeah but I’m serious, I’m not going to answer a bunch of questions about my personal life,” Sidney replied. “Now though, every time we struggle, the dumbasses will start talking about it.”
Tanger grimaced as Geno said, “Fuck them.”
Guentzy laughed as he stated, “I agree with Geno. Fuck them.”
Sidney laughed as he pulled his shirt off before pulling off his pads. Sitting in his crocs, hockey pants and pads, Sidney pulled out his phone. There was just one message from the only person who’s opinion mattered to him, wow😍 .
Sidney replied back, made it official for u but in the way u wanted 😁😏
😘🥰 part of me can’t believe it but i’m happy u listened to me, was Nina’s reply. 
Sidney texted, only 4 u, before finishing getting undressed so he could take a shower.
**
To be totally honest, Nina thought her life would have exploded the minute that Sidney admitted that he was seeing someone in the post-game conference after the Isles game. It wouldn’t take much to put 2 and 2 together, especially when she went out with Sidney and the Malkins to a popular Shadyside restaurant the day after. But things were relatively calmer. 
There were still the nasty looks from other people, especially women when Nina was out by herself, running her everyday errands. But there were also people who seemed to defer to her and it felt so fucking weird. Like, if she wanted to, Nina felt like people were ready to let her do whatever she wanted because she was now Sidney Crosby’s girlfriend. 
Nina bit her lip as she waited in line to pay for her groceries. Then someone bumped into her and it was Ron. “Hey Nina, long time no see.”
“Hi Ron,” Nina replied with a strained smile. 
“Not everyday one sees their ex. Look at you, shopping like the rest of us. Your man ain’t ordering groceries for you.”
Nina resisted the urge to roll her eyes. She could feel the eyes of other people at Weis and she knew there were people looking for something to gossip about. Nina definitely didn’t want to give Ron the satisfaction of a reaction. She merely replied, “I have my own life I have to take care of on my own.”
“Oh wow, because I remember the way you two were looking at each other that time we went out on a date. Makes me think you were cheating on me with him,” Ron goaded. 
Nina gave him a blank look. “We were long over, for almost three years, before I went out with Sidney. But you had two other women when we were a couple,” Nina stated with a shrug. “Anyway, it’s my turn to check out. Bye.”
Nina tuned Ron out as she checked out. The cashier commented, “That guy seems like a dick.”
“You live and you learn,” Nina replied with a smile as she paid, unaware that someone had uploaded video of that encounter to the internet.
**
Sidney gulped down his protein shake, home after practice. The season was starting well but he felt like the team could be better. Sidney wanted another cup, one more cup and he felt like this was the year. Then his phone buzzed and he saw it was his mom.
“Hi Mom,” Sidney said, sitting on his sofa. He had some time before he needed to get ready for tonight and it was always good to talk to his mother.
Trina chirped, “Hi Sidney, how are you?”
“I’m doing good, short practice today before our game against New Jersey tomorrow,” Sidney idly replied as he turned his tv on. Flipping through Netflix, he chose an episode of How I Met Your Mother. 
He could hear his mother’s smile through the phone when she teased, “Your father told me you told the press that you are seeing someone last week. Is it that girl you kept talking about over the years?”
Sidney giggle-honked before admitting, “Yes, it is. I’m finally dating Nina.”
“Are you sure it’s a good idea? This is something totally different for you,” Trina asked, concerned. Her son had a relationship with Kathy but this situation with this new girl was something totally different. Part of her was worried that since Sidney had wanted this girl for so long, that he was diving into this without really thinking about it.
Sidney replied, “You sound like Nina.”
“Hmm, I do?”
“Yep, Mom, you did,” Sidney said, “Nina wasn’t sure if it was a good idea for a long time but I managed to convince her it was.”
Trina was still feeling skeptical. From what she knew, this girl was from the area, a fan of the team, a different race, and had worked for the team for a period of time. It was possible she could be playing the long game. “Is she there with you now?”
Knowing her son, Trina was convinced that Nina was already living with her son. Her son, when he decided he wanted something, went all out to get it. She was surprised when Sidney said, “No, she’s at work, then she has class.”
“Class,” Trina asked, her tone perking up. This sounded interesting. 
Sidney informed his mother, “Nina decided to get a PhD in rehabilitation science this year. She works as a physical therapist.”
“That sounds interesting, isn’t that how you met her,” Trina idly said. The door opened and Troy stepped in. Trina put her finger to her mouth to shush her husband. 
Sidney scratched his head, wondering where his mother was going with these questions. “Yes. Nina works somewhere else totally different now. But she’s looking into becoming a professor after guest lecturing at, I think, Pitt.”
Trina raised her eyebrows. That was interesting information. Switching the conversation to more mundane subjects, Trina filed that information in the back of her head. It sounded like this Nina was a bit more well-rounded than she thought. 
Sidney sighed when he hung up on his mother. That conversation felt like one thing but he could sense there was another undercurrent. Then he received a picture message from Nina and his mind went straight to the gutter. Sidney sighed; it was going to be a long night.
**
“You look very nice.”
Nina smiled as she replied, “Thank you,” to the guest. 
It was kind of last minute, this dinner that Nina found herself invited to. It was thrown by Nathalie and most of the top brass of the Penguins were here as well as Sidney, the Letangs, and the Malkins. Because Sidney had gone public with their relationship, Nina had found herself suddenly invited. Luckily for her, Nina already had an appropriate cocktail dress for the occasion. 
Her dress was black with an asymmetrical one shoulder with a bow but it came to just above knee level. Nina’s heels were gold, an impulse purchase several months ago that she was happy to have. The outfit was classy, understated, and definitely Penguins colors. 
Sidney seemed to like it as well from the way his arm stayed possessively around Nina’s waist whenever possible. At least it wasn’t a public event; the possessiveness would have looked bad. But because it was informal and in a private room at PPG arena, Sidney was able to get away with it. 
The length was a blessing and a curse. A blessing that it meant that Sidney couldn’t try to do any funny business during dinner but a curse in that the more he touched her, the more Nina wanted him. By the end of the night, it was obvious that Sidney was getting close to losing his cool and Nina was loving it. 
As soon as they got into the car at the end of the night, Sidney pounced. His lips touched hers, demanding and devouring as he kissed her. Then abruptly, Sidney let go. “You'd been torturing me all night in that little black dress. So sexy, the way it showed off my pretty girl’s body.”
Sidney already knew that Nina was perfect in every way anyway. However, as soon as he saw her step in with that black dress and gold heels, it took every ounce of media training and self-control for Sidney not to strip it off of her and fuck her right there. Right now, he was glad that he hired a car after this event. 
Sidney didn’t even do anything in the car other than keep his hand on Nina’s thigh. The difference was that he told Nina every filthy thing he planned to do to her once he got her home. Nina wiggled on the seat, her legs shifting as Sidney whispered what he planned to do to her. It was insane, what he could do to her with his words. 
Nina had expected Sidney to push her against the wall when they got back to his place but instead, he just guided Nina to the kitchen before taking out two glasses. Picking out a wine, Sidney poured two glasses. 
“I’ve missed you in my bed but I’m patient,” Sidney stated, his hands palming Nina’s ass before giving both cheeks a smack. Then Sidney picked up the glasses of wine and passed one to Nina.
Nina smirked. “I’m not,” she said as she took a sip. 
“Can’t be patient for me, pretty girl?”
Nina shrugged as she took another sip. Then she delicately licked a drop that was on her lower lip, causing Sidney to visibly grunt and shudder. “Maybe,” Nina finally replied. 
“Good.”
Sidney sat down in a chair and patted his lap. Nina sat on his lap, the hem of her dress riding up. “Did you have a good time?”
“I actually did for something that was pretty last minute. Don’t ask me if I remember everyone’s name yet.”
“That’s okay,” Sidney reassured Nina. “No one expects you to remember everyone, yet.”
Nina snorted before taking another sip of her wine. Idly, Sidney added, “Fuck, I love this dress.”
“Maybe if you move your hands higher underneath it, you’ll get a surprise,” Nina taunted. Licking her lips, she winked.
Unable to resist a challenge, Sidney moved his hand higher and higher. Then he whistled when he realized Nina’s surprise. “You went commando all night and didn’t tell me?”
“I’m lucky this dress was lined so well that no one could tell,” Nina admitted. “But it was worth it.”
“How,” Sidney asked as his hand touched Nina’s pussy. She was already wet.
Nina smirked. “Because I knew if you found out tonight, the look on your face would have been priceless.”
Sidney ignored that statement as he stroked Nina’s core with his fingers. Rolling her clit with his fingers, Sidney hissed at the idea that Nina was here, with him tonight. His pretty girl, perfect in his lap. "I love how wet you get for me, pretty girl."
"Only for you, daddy," Nina moaned as she clutched his shoulders. Sidney growled at her words, her pussy clenching harder on his fingers. 
Suddenly, Sidney picked Nina up and placed her on the table. Nina smiled as she hiked up her dress and spread her legs. Sidney licked his lips. “We’re gonna see how many times you cum for me tonight, pretty girl.”
“Fuck, I can’t wait,” Nina moaned as his mouth met her core.
**
Sidney woke, at first disoriented because someone else was in his bed and curled up on top of him. Then he realized it was Nina and he relaxed. Her head was on top of his chest, one arm on him as she slept on her side. Carefully extracting himself, Sidney went to the bathroom. After relieving himself, he watched Nina continue to sleep, now curled into herself. Sidney took a quick picture, it was so cute. However, after taking the picture, he checked his messages. “Fuck, fuck, fuck,” he chanted.
Nina opened her eyes slowly, her body deliciously sore after last night. Stretching out her arms, she sleepily asked, “What’s wrong, Sid?”
“Seems like someone has something against you, pretty girl,” Sidney said, suppressing his fury. 
Nina’s eyes snapped open, sleep now forgotten. Sitting up, she queried, “What happened?”
“There's a video of you with some guy at a market.”
Grimacing, Nina sighed. “I ran into Ron while getting groceries. He was being a jagoff asshole.”
“You don’t look bad at all, PR thinks you handled it perfectly.”
Nina got off the bed and walked over to Sidney. Wrapping her arms around him, she pleaded, “Fuck him and fuck whoever took video.”
Snuggling into Sidney’s chest, Nina nipped one of his nipples. “Plot your revenge later, Sid. It’s eight am and I know you have a maintenance day today. Come back to bed.”
“‘Come back to bed?’ You know this is my bed,” Sidney joked. His anger was going away each second that Nina was pressed against him, her lips giving him little kisses and bites on his upper body. 
Nina looked up at Sidney, giving him soulful eyes. “Please, daddy?”
Trailing her hands around his neck, Nina murmured, “I’ve been so good. Please?”
“Fuck, how can I say no,” Sidney groaned as Nina giggled. Picking her up, he tossed her on the bed. 
Scooting back, Nina spread her legs as Sidney settled in the middle of them. “I love the way you fuck me, Sidney.”
Sidney smirked, his brown eyes smoldering as he crouched over Nina. “Oh do you?”
“Yes, I do,” Nina hummed, her fingers tugging on his chain. “You should do it again.”
Sidney settled between Nina’s thighs, pulling her legs around his waist. His lips lowered to hers in a gentle kiss. Slow and drugging, enough to make both of them red hot for each other, full of promise. Pulling away, Sidney nipped Nina’s lower lip. Nina sucked her lip into her mouth, her brown eyes meeting Sidney’s. Cupping Nina’s chin, Sidney reminded her, “How do you ask, pretty girl?”
“Please fuck me, daddy,” Nina asked, her body arching towards his. “Make me yours.”
“Good girl.”
**
Nina tried hard not to feel self-conscious as she made her way to the ice-level with Aryanna, Catherine and her children, and Anna with Nikita. It had been a week since that awful article with video from her interaction with Ron. It had been set up to make Nina look like a gold digging whore and it hurt to have guys, guys she had only gone out with once or twice, say things that made her seem horrible. Nina hadn’t admitted that part to Sid when he was in a fury about it. Lauren had reminded Nina that men tend to be assholes about women that they couldn’t have and that Nina was way beyond their level even before her current relationship. 
Even though Nina had distracted Sidney that morning, by the afternoon, that article was off the internet. A radio host had mentioned it and then within an hour, issued an apology for talking about it. However, it was forgotten pretty quickly as more people cared about the Steelers potentially staying undefeated with a game coming up against the Browns.
Nina smiled as they reached the ice. The team was doing warm-ups and Sidney was in the midst of his pregame rituals. She actually had more enjoyment from watching Aryanna react to watching the guys on the ice. Tanev gave the glass near them an ice shower while Geno and Kris had greeted Nina and Aryanna while saying hi to their families. Then, very unexpectedly, Sidney broke one of his traditions and came over. Giving the glass a small shower, Sidney waved at Aryanna before smirking at Nina. Nina smirked back before giving Sid a little wave. 
As people took pictures of Sid waving to her, Nina smiled. She could live with this, maybe. ‘No, that was a lie’, Nina thought as they made their way to the family box. She was going to have to live with this now, it was too far gone to go back. And she didn’t want to.
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sapphire-knight · 3 years
Text
Welcome to a new episode of Sapphire Rambles, today's topic being:
Just as c!Tommy is a simbol of Care, c!Fundy is a simbol of Love.
Let me explain.
(There are going to be 3 principal points to this rant, and each of them is gonna end with a Tl;dr in purple, so it's easier to follow)
If you're a regular in the Fundy tag (or in the Ranboo tag since this argument gets often brought up in relation to C!Ranboo), you might have already seen some rants talking about how C!Fundy is an incredibly loving person, willing to chase after the people he care about if he sees the tiniest hint that mending their relationship is possible, even if they hurted him in the past.
Yeah you are going to see the same argument again here in the first part, but I promise this gets interesting
This became more clear after the Break, when he decided to try and mend his relationship with Philza and Ranboo even if they weren't at all on good terms at the moment, but he thought it was worth it so he tried and will keep on trying anyways, but we have examples of Fundy's really loving and forgiving nature back to the Revolutionary era
Everyone knows about Eret's betrayal I'm sure, but one thing people seem to skim over is how it effected Fundy, because there's the really high possibility that he was the one who was hurted the most by it.
For everyone who has some spotty memory (me too sometimes fam), Eret was the closest person to Fundy at the time, the two being really close friends, so the betrayal must have had a terrible effect on his emotional health, but you know how it went?
It went that Fundy was the first person to reach out to Eret and start to forgive his actions. Fundy always valued his friendships above the side he was in. So even tho he was a L'manburg abitant, he still thought of Eret as a dear friend to him and did his best to not make them feel alone or isolated
There are really few examples of people Fundy actually has an issue with, but even here Hate is a strong and mostly wrong word to apply, for example:
- Wilbur: as we are shown in the interactions with Ghostbur, Fundy didn't hate Wilbut for how he neglected and patronized him, it made him upset (as we saw when Ghostbur called him "his little champion" and he ran away) but he never hated Wilbur for that. The only thing he didn't forgive him was deciding to die, leaving him. And his issue with Ghostbur is not aknowledging or taking responsability. But he doesn't hate Ghostbur, he can talk to him in a civil manner even if the Ghost pretty much upsets him. And about Wilbur? Fundy loved Wilbur, the thing that hurted him was he taking the decision to definitivly leave him.
- Technoblade: even before Doomsday, the correct word of Fundy's feelings towards Techno has never been Hate, but Fear. A lot of people seemed to miss this point about the Butcher Army as a whole, but they weren't move by hate, even if they tried to make it look like they were. They were terrified. On their way to Techno's house, it was more clear than ever that they were TERRIBLY afraid of Techno. The Butcher army was never a movement of hate, but a bad reaction to a traumatic event that scarred them with fear. Also, after the Break? Fundy understands why Techno wanted L'manburg gone, so he doesn't hate him for that.
- Jschlatt: if you followed Fundy's pov, it won't be a surprise me saying that Fundy doesn't hate Jschlatt, but it may be news to other people, since one of the last interaction between the two was... anything but positive. I still shiver at the caravan scene. But even after all he's done, Fundy can't bring himself to completly hate Jschlatt, even if he did a lot of horrible things and was a horrible person, he still doesn't hate him. Fundy took with him Jschlatt's sword, keeping it as a relic and a memory of the man.
There is no one in the server, probably not even Dream Himself, that Fundy full-on hates. No matter how much they hurted him and everyone else, he just. Doesn't hate them. He's able to see the humanity in everyone, even if he wishes he could just hate people that wronged him. He was always forgiving and loving, these two aspects of him becoming even more prominent after his Break.
Tl;dr: Fundy is a character incredibly full of love and almost always willing to forgive and mend relationships with people he cares about at the moment he sees the possibility.
Now that I got the part most talked about out of the way, I'm taking the second tangent. Let's talk about Self-love.
It's not news the fact that there are really few characters, if not actually none of them, who love themselves. Might it be for trauma or for guilt, none of the characters actually love themself and act out of self-love.
Sometimes there are characters that act for themselves, but that is different from acting out of self-love.
Acting for themselves means doing something to achieve an objective that you want, for example: Eret's betrayal.
Eret betrayed L'Manburg becayse he was promised the role of King of the SMP by Dream, she acted out of her wish for power and control. That's an example of acting for yourself.
Acting out of self-love means doing something with the only cardinal reason being that it's good for you, taking care of yourself doing something that makes you feel better and healthier. That is acting out of self-love.
And, if you look at the server, you can easily see that no one has ever done that, expect for one single time.
The closest wrong thing you might be thinking off right now is when Tommy escaped from exile, but that was not an act driven by self-love. Sure, Tommy saved himself and went towards a healthier mindset, but what drove him towards that direction was not a desire to be better and good for himself, but rage towards Dream and a desire to be back to his family and friends.
You know what the only act that could possibly be out os self-love is?
Fundy going away for a years and a half, taking a break from everyone
Think about it for a second. Why did he do that? Let's start putting away the wrong possibilities:
- Doing it for someone: Fundy at the moment was heavily spiraling towards paranoia, wanting to be a villain to make everyone hate him. If that was his mindset at the time, why would he even want to get a break for anyone?
- Having a second cause: what second cause could there be for a choice like getting away from an unhealthy situation to heal? The only second reason a choice like this could have is healing to help someone else heal when you're feeling better, but refer to the last point
- ... that's virtually it
The only reason that could have caused Fundy to decide to take a break from the whole situation because it was unhealthy and heal was because he wanted to heal. For himself. He genuinly wanted himself to feel better for the only reason being, simply, feeling better.
Fundy is the only character for now to have ever taken an important choice for making himself feel better and letting himself heal.
Tl;dr: Fundy taking the year and a half break was the only decision on the entire SMP taken only out of self-love and genuine desire to feel better for the sole reason of feeling better.
Fundy is a representation of love, in any shape or form. He is unapologetically full of love and care, both for himself and for the people around him.
Anyway, the third part is a theory, if younwill kindly follow me:
The above analysis is the exact reason why the Egg causes Fundy an extreme repulsion.
Since both Fundy and Tubbo said that the Egg seems connected to Dreamons, I'm going to roll with that idea in mind.
As we all know, one of the only known weaknesses of a Dreamon is Love and this Dreamon seems to be acting and controlling people out of wishes and desires.
Fundy should be a perfect candidate for the Egg to manipulate, isn't he? One of Fundy's most known characteristic is his research for love, affection and appreciation from people, and we know the egg has no problem using love to manipulate someone, because he is manipulating Bbh using his (platonic?) love for Skeppy against him.
So why the egg would cause a repulsing reaction to Fundy?
Tommy seems immune because he doesn't wish for anything right now, he has everything that he wants
Tubbo also has a repulsive reaction, but is not a hateful reaction but one driven by fear and sadness, the Egg purposefully trying to scare him away, probably to make him unable to fight against him
But why Fundy's reaction would be full-on hate?
I think the egg was trying to do with Fundy the same thing he's doing with Tubbo, scaring him so badly to drive them to the point where they cannot fight back out of complete fear, but it's not working.
It's not working because the Egg fears Fundy, fears how full of pure, unfiltered and unapologetic love his heart is, fears how he's the living representation of the fact that love, of any kind, is the strongest emotion out there. Fundy already was able to defeat a Dreamon because of his own love, and now that he's more emotionally stable and has decided to follow his heart more, mending relationship with people he loves even if they hurt him?
Fundy is an incredibly dangerous threat to the Egg.
So fear is not enough to keep the fox away, he cannot let him anywhere near his plans.
He fears that if he tried the fear treatment on Fundy, Fundy would be able to break out of the web of terror as soon as someone he loved was caught in the crossfire
So he tried pushing him away in a different way, using hate instead of fear, because since Fundy is such a love-driven person all around, the best way to keep him away is to use hate, just like Tubbo is often driven by hope and optimism, so the best way to keep him far fron where he could be a danger is to use sadness and fear.
Tl;dr: The Egg is making Fundy hate him because that's the only emotion that could actually keep Fundy away from him, because he, being a Dreamon, fears how full of love Fundy is.
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mxvladdy · 3 years
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wait holy shit youre taking requests???? okay first of all, im in love with your writing skills especially those true forms they are *chefs kiss* magnifique. second, may i request for an angst but fluff ending prompt for barbatos/simeon/solomon (im an absolute simp for them) about MC having a really bad asthma attack and coupled with anxiety attack? (totally not me lmao) please and thank you! sorry for being too specific!
A/N: Oshbagosh! I hope you are good fam! You have excellent taste in simpin ngl Barbatos came out of left field for me, though I am weak for a quick wit and sharp tongue lol. And thank you for liking my works! Sorry, this took so long;.;
I hope my research was good and accurate! 
Barbatos
Does not know what is going on at first. Were you having an allergic reaction to something you ate? Had you gotten into some Devildom spices he hadn’t secured well enough?
Panics internally. He is very ready to spend the exurbanite amount of energy it would take to turn back the clocks before you started wheezing. 
Externally he keeps a level head, glad his gloves hide how sweaty his palms are. He remembers then your human medical file. 
He tends to you quickly grabbing your medication and carrying you away from whatever triggered this attack. 
“Do you need a doctor?” Barbatos asks for the umpteenth time. He runs a gloved hand up and down your back. You shake your head weakly coughing to try and dislodge some phlegm now breakdown in your throat. You take a shaky breath feeling your airways loosen, the fresh air that fills your lungs taste so sweet. 
“I’ll be ok Barb.” You wheeze taking another deep inhale from your inhaler. “Stop hovering and sit please, you are starting to stress me out more.” The demon makes a weird tutting noise in distress but comes to sit next to you. You lean back with a groan. The garden wall was rough on your back but you didn’t care at the moment. It had been so long since you had a flare-up you had almost forgotten what it felt like. You shift over slightly seeking out the heat of your companion's body. Exhausted you flop over to rest your head on his shoulder.
“Here let me.” He pulls out his ornate handkerchief and starts whipping at your nose and eyes. “What triggered this love? Have I missed someplace in my cleaning?” He knew he didn’t, never in all his years had he ever missed a spot. He would retire in shame if he did, but he felt like he had to fill the silence. If you were talking that meant you were alright. Right? He curses at himself. He thought he knew more about humans than this, yet you somehow threw curveball after curveball at him. He needs you to be safe and happy yet he choked on something like this? Perhaps he would suffer more of Solomon’s companionship to pick his brain on human ailments. As long as he could dodge eating any of his cooks.   
You fidget as he cleans your face and fusses over you, but you let him. This was for his benefit more than yours. “No, I think it's pollen. Your plants are not something I’m used to yet, and with the wind, it just hit harder.” He grunts, not pleased with your answer. He could do anything about the plants, and things out of his control were few and far between. You catch the inner argument he was having with his many selves and scoff. “Barb-” You take the cloth from him and tuck it in your pocket. “You and all your selves absolutely cannot control my illness, and that's ok.” He doesn’t look convinced, no doubt looking for a loophole in the webs he weaves. 
“Given the time I-” He stops at your withering look. “I don’t like not being in control.” Your look softens. 
“Who does?” You clear your throat finally feeling a bit more like yourself. Well, at least the garden wasn’t spinning anymore. “There. I think I can manage. Can you help me to the nurses' office? I should get a check-up since it’s been a while since I’ve had an attack. Then I think I’m going to call it a day.” 
Barbatos nods helping you to your shaky feet. His hands locked around your arm like he was afraid you would crumble again. You give him a reassuring look and lean into his weight. You didn’t need it, but it was a nice feeling, being looked after. Besides, it was so rare to get his sole attention. “I’ll inform the young master  that we will be taking the rest of the day off.” 
“We?” 
“Of course.”  He says resolutely. “Unless you wish for me to leave?” He barely contains his smile when he feels your hands squeeze tighter around his bicep. 
“As long as I’m not impeding.” Your words are half-hearted at best. You don’t give a damn if it throws off some super-secret agenda, you were happy to have more time with him. He calmed your nerves. 
Simeon
He hadn’t meant to trigger an attack. The weather outside was simply lovely.  It was dry and warm with a breeze that made grass dance in a mesmerizing way. The track around one of the Devildom’s many bodies of crystalline water was beautiful at this time of the day. He had to share his enthusiasm.
He just wanted to go for a walk with you. He had so much to talk about with you that he forgot how long his legs are compared to yours. He was so excited he didn’t realize how fast his gait is and how much you were struggling to keep up with him. He didn’t realize your troubles until he felt a sweaty palm on his wrist. 
Openingly gets panicked but knows about human medicine and where you store your inhaler. 
Simeon breathes deeply through his nose and out his mouth. One deep inhale and one long exhale- focus just focus. His chest clenches in alarm at your shallow pants, his eyesight narrowing down to pinpricks. Blessedly he keeps a steady hand.
“Slowly now my dear.” He shakes your inhaler before bringing it to your lips. His strong fingers massaging your jaw to loosen it. Squeezing your cheeks he slips the apparatus past your teeth noticing how glassy your eyes were becoming. “Inhale.” He orders thanking his father you understand him enough to comply.  He watches you like a hawk till he hears your heartbeat steady. Once he is sure he could look away he calls Lucifer. He doesn’t remember what he said, but he knew it was a panic-fueled rush.
“Simeon,” He looks up from his phone. “I’m ok…” You wheeze blinking up into the afternoon moons. Simeon shushes you running his warm hands over your cheeks. They were ice-cold despite the heat. He warms his palms with magic watching the fog clear from your gaze. “Thanks.” 
“You shouldn’t thank me.” He pulls away, shaking his head. “This is my fault. I apologize, my dove.” You chuckle breathlessly becoming aware of your surroundings. Last thing you remember was walking up the shoreline. Now the hardwood of the bench pokes at your back. Had you collapsed here? Or did Simeon carry you over? “I should have been more aware of the situation.” He pulls at his hair in frustration. His lower lip turns red as he worries it with his teeth.
You swat his hand away from his hair wincing in sympathy when a few chunks of hair that follow. Linking his dexterous fingers with your clammy ones, you trace the lines in his palm with your thumb. You try to breathe in time with the steady rise and fall of his chest letting your meds take full effect. Your breathing was better, but you still had spots in your vision. “It’s not your fault really. I should have told you when I started feeling bad.” 
“I should have noticed. How can I protect you if I can’t even realize your limitations?” He bemoans. You exhale a jerky laugh. Your lungs throbbing with the sharp movement. It ached for sure, but not enough that you couldn’t get up. Ignoring his protests you get off the bench and pull him up with you.  
“None of that!” You wag a finger in his face. I’m allowed to panic, not you. You try to make light of the situation but your finger trembles in his face.  “You did exactly what you should have so don’t doubt yourself. Sides’-” You clasp yours. hands together playing with your thumbs. “I got horribly distracted too, and pushed myself.” 
“By what?” 
“You.” Your cheeks heat in embarrassment. “ You were so excited to have the day with me I didn’t want to ruin the mood.”
Simeon blinks. “You-didn’t want to ruin the mood by telling me you were having an asthma attack?” You shrug, a childish smile crossing your face. Unbelievable. Simeon swears under his breath. “I-I am at a loss for words.” He places both his hands on your shoulders squeezing them. “I will find them later and then we'll talk about your amazing lack of self-preservation, but for now, Lucifer is waiting for us at the nurses' office.” Not giving you time to argue he scoops you up, arm holding you under your knees and securely around your shoulders.  Once he knew you were safe, he would make sure to have an eye on you at all times.
Solomon
The dusty old library located in the catacombs of the school was a dead giveaway to be trouble for your lungs. You both knew that. He warns you, the moment you feel ill they are leaving, no questions, no arguments. Very much the calmest of the three. He is human...mostly… so he knows the signs and can catch it much faster than the others. 
Still worried about you though. You aren’t a mage,  just his regular old human. 
When he gets nervous he makes jokes. Not appropriate given the circumstances but they just come out. So while he is dragging you from the school he is making the obligatory joke about him taking your breath away.
He will have whatever medications or potions he can think of at the ready for you to use if you need them. Won’t baby you or hover, you’ve lived with this for long he doesn’t want to insult you in any way. But he will keep close and have his ringer on loud in case you need him.
But now he wants you to rest and recover. He’ll keep you company though.
You gaze sleepily out of the bedroom window propped up on an exorbitant amount of puffs and pillows. You breathe out with caution, testing to see if you were still having any lingering effects from being down in the catacombs. It wasn’t anything too serious this time, thankfully. The moment you started clearing your throat and breathing just a little too hard to be considered normal, Soloman had grabbed both your bags and dragged you from the moldy and dusty space. You were a little put out at how quickly your asthma had acted up. You had just found the book you were looking for too. 
“If you keep squirming out of your blankets I’ll seal you in there with magic.” Your captor friend appears, pulling aside the drapes around his bed to sit next to you. He flashes you a cocky grin placing a tray on his bedside table. Solomon scans your face looking for any inkling of pain that might linger. “Is something wrong?”
“I’m hot.” You lie. In truth, the many blankets he wrapped you in felt marvelous, but you were being cantankerous. You wanted to get up and go back to work. The mage raises a pale brow, not believing a word of it.
“Of course you are, my little scholar.” He tucks you in again a little tighter then props your cocooned feet on his legs. “How are you really?” 
You shrug. Compared to other attacks you’ve had this one was thankfully mild.  Most likely because he had whisked you out the winding maze-like library faster than you thought possible. The jitters from the panic attack that followed took more out of you. Luckily for you, Solomon handled that easily too. “You know I want to go back.” You had your hands on the book you wanted when you started feeling a little breathless.  You wanted to believe it was out of excitement for the tomes. But the back of that section of the library was damp, cool, and dark. The perfect trifecta for your lungs to riot. 
Solomon nodded unfazed. “Yes, I’ve come to realize that whenever danger is present you seem to gravitate towards it.” He smiles fondly at your pout. Your thirst for knowledge was almost as insatiable as his, and both of you seemed to have a knack for attracting danger. He watches you fidget in your confines for a little bit more before sighing. “Alright-alright, I get the drift hold still.”  Leaning over you he loosens the covers around your arms to give you a little bit of freedom. As soon as you were free you pinch his nose hard in retaliation. “Oi!”  He laughs pulling back to rub at his nose. “Such violence! And here I came bearing gifts!” 
“That’s for insulting me!” You huff settling back down. “I hope it’s food, I’m starving.” You eye him expectantly. 
“Feed you? After that assault? My, you are brazing.” He picks up the tray he brought despite himself. The school cafe was serving your favorites today. Placing it on your lap he brushes his lips across your cheek. “Plus, I made tea.” You hum in excitement, eyes lighting up with glee. While he couldn’t cook worth a damn (you chalk it up to him irretrievably destroying his sense of taste and smell tolling over potions for years). He did have amazing luck with blending tea leaves and spices. A skill he severely took for granted. 
You pick up the tea and breath deeply only to have a coughing fit. His warm broad hands are there in an instant pushing you back into the pillows. “Sorry-sorry. Still a bit tender.” You smile through watery eyes. “It smells great!” 
“Does it? What do you smell? I admit, I just picked out things that looked pretty together.” He flushes pink rubbing at the back of his neck. 
You take the cup again and sniff. It had a hint of springtime in it, warm and sharp. Something earthy mixed with fire. You take a sip. “Hmm, spicy. Is that licorice?” Solomon nods. 
“It is indeed, I read that licorice and black pepper can help with asthma symptoms and circulation. I figured it could wash the  taste of your meds away.” He jokes watching you eat and take small sips of the steaming brew. He smiles to himself, glad you could get so comfortable in his room. Perhaps once you were dozing he could slip back into the library and conveniently “borrow” the book you had to leave earlier.
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goldenboywrites · 3 years
Text
in my mind, you're mine forever
“Ollie?” Oliver Davenport looked up mid pancake flip and met the adoring gaze of Theodore Maddox-Wicker. He leaned across the counter after Theo hopped up onto a stool and ruffled the kid’s bedhead even more. “Good morning. Did dad already leave?”
“Good morning, birthday boy.” He flipped the pancake again before deeming it worthy enough for the boy sitting across from him. “Yes, he left early for work but he wanted me to tell you that his first present to you was not waking you up before he left and that he will be home early to celebrate with all of us.” Oliver spooned cut-up strawberries onto the plate then poured a healthy amount (which Apollo could scold him for if he were present) of syrup on the pancakes before passing the plate off to Theo. “Your uncle Cass will be by later and your aunt Artemis…” 
Theo forked a strawberry, his carefree smile turning into a frown. One that pained Oliver’s heart to see. “But I won’t see my dad.” 
He wasn’t talking about Apollo. 
“No,” Oliver said carefully, turning off the stove and placing the last pancake on a plate for himself. “Probably not tonight but you’ll see him this weekend. And I heard a rumor that he may be taking you to Australia for a few days as an extra special surprise but don’t tell him I told you.” The former Gryffindor grabbed a fork and cut through the side of the pancake. Theo’s frown only deepened and Oliver inhaled slowly before continuing. “I know it’s not what you want but both of your dads are doing their best. Remember that, kiddo.” 
Theo made a noncommittal noise and ate some of his pancakes. Oliver knew him well enough to see the gears turning in that brain of his. “Do you think my dad will come home soon?”
He nearly choked on the piece of pancake in his mouth. Immediately Oliver grabbed a glass of orange juice and washed it down. He glanced at Apollo and Isaac’s son, the most wonderful kid he had the pleasure of knowing. There was nothing Oliver wouldn’t do for Theodore Maddox-Wicker. He would move mountains, slay dragons, give him a kidney. This was the kid that he and Cassio both loved as if he were their own. Guilty, his gaze quickly shifted down to his own plate. He didn’t have the courage to tell Theo that he didn’t know. 
“I wish they would just talk like they used to,” Theodore said as he pushed his plate away, more than half of it was uneaten and Oliver knew he should be the adult in the situation and make sure the boy ate a good breakfast but he couldn’t bring himself to do it. Not when it was the first birthday Theo would have to celebrate twice because his dads weren’t together. “I know they still love each other.” 
Oliver sighed, pushing his own plate aside and resting his arms flat on the counter. He bent his back,  groaning lightly at the light crack of his spine. Fuck, he was getting old. They all were. “I think they’ll always love each other, kid. And if it’s meant to be then they’ll find a way back to each other. All we can do is give them time.” 
“Time makes things worse. Space makes things worse.” Theo argued, his mouth forming a pout. 
Not always. Sometimes staying together when things aren’t working does more damage. Is what Oliver wanted to say but he had to remind himself who he was talking to. A child whose entire world was upside down and changing. He didn’t want to crush the innocent hope he still had. “Alright, you’ve got me there.” Oliver threw his hands up in mock defeat. 
“So you’ll help me then?”
Oliver Davenport’s face paled and his brow furrowed into a line of confusion. “Help you?” He questioned.
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“Parent trap them, duh.” Theo reached his hand out expectedly and gave Oliver an impatient look. “Phone, please.” 
“I don’t understand that reference,” Oliver admitted but still took his phone out of his pocket and handed it off to Theo despite the uneasiness he felt in the pit of his stomach. “Please tell me you just want to play candy crush…” 
“I’m going to get them to talk or remember how much they love each other and our fam-” Theo explained at the same time that Oliver warned, “Theo…” 
“Please, uncle Ollie?” Oh no, his heart clenched in his chest and he tried to look away before but no, Theo that look on his face. His big, brown puppy dog eyes staring up at him as if he put the stars in the sky. “Please help me. I can’t do it without you…” 
Oliver sighed. Then he sighed again. After that, he crossed his arms over his chest and light stomped his foot out. It wasn’t fair. The love he held for this kid wasn’t fair. Cassio was going to murder him for getting involved. “As your father’s best friend,”
“I thought uncle Cass was dad’s best frien-” 
“Uncle Cass and I are a packaged deal so if he’s your father’s best friend then that makes me his best friend too. Also, I saved his life one time and uncle Cass hasn’t,” Oliver paused, shaking his head. “Never mind, anyways. As your dad’s best friend I say heck yes, let’s do it. But I also feel like I need to also say that as the only mature, responsible adult, and your unofficial guardian when your dads are working, that I do not approve of meddling in other adults private affairs.”
But Theo wasn’t listening. He was punching in number’s on Oliver’s phone and then lifting it up to his ear. Oliver heard it ring and then the muffled voice of Isaac on the other line. Theo whimpered at sound of his dad’s voice and huffed out, “Hi dad,” trying (and succeeding) in making himself sound as sad and pathetic as possible. He was good. He was real good. And Oliver was scared about what he had just agreed to do. 
===============
“This better be an emergency. I’m trying to leave the office on time,” Apollo muttered into the phone as he tucked it between his ear and his shoulder. “Please tell me you were able to pick up the cake.” He shuffled through a thick stack of papers, notes from his three current court cases. The work never seemed to end these days. 
“Hi, sister. How are you? Are you well? Are you enjoying the nice weather we’re having?” She said in a mocking tone. “It’s amazing to me that you have so many clients when you clearly don’t know how to properly answer the phone.” Sometimes, most of the times, Apollo wished he was an only child. Having a twin sister who constantly called you out on your own bullshit was exhausting.
“My clients don’t pay me to be polite on the phone,” He reminded her with a sigh. “They pay me to win their cases.”
She scoffed and he imagined rolled her eyes at the same time. “Ah yes, my brother. The shark of the wizarding world. Anyways, I was checking in to make sure you didn’t need me to pick up anything else but since you’re in wonderful mood, I’m not sure I want to do you any favors.”
He was trying. Really he was, despite what everyone around him thought. Despite what Isaac believed about him these days. He was trying to be a better person and a better father. He was trying to control his anger, still trying to work through the hardships he had faced in his life. There were still quite a few things that haunted Apollo even though he had tried to put his past behind him. A lot of it was bubbling back up to the surface now that Isaac had left him. 
“Hello?” Artemis sang into the phone. Apollo shook his head and refocused. 
“Just get to the house. Oliver is there with Theo. Cass is picking up dinner and I will be home in half an hour.” Apollo stopped suddenly, his phone nearly slipping from his ear as he felt the wards around his building shift in a sickeningly familiar way. He gritted his teeth and then, in an attempt to calm himself, took a sharp breath. “Just keep an eye on Theo, okay? He’s really struggling with everything that’s going on and I want him to feel special on his birthday. I know he’s disappointed that-” He couldn’t say his name. He wouldn’t. The door to his office opened and Apollo glanced up to see a trio of men standing in his door. “Artemis,” He hissed, not breaking eye contact with the man in the middle. 
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“Yeah, Apollo. I know. We’re all make sure he has good time tonight and you will too, right? You’ll be home on time? Promise me you won’t let him down today…” 
The men walked to the bar cart on the right side of Apollo’s office. They helped themselves to glasses of scotch. With his free hand, Apollo rubbed at his forehead. “I uh,” Sometimes the weight on his shoulders felt so heavy he was scared he would crumble under the pressure. “Something has come up. I’ll get there as soon as I can.” 
“Apol-” He hung up on her.
“This better be good,” Apollo said through gritted teeth as each of the men took a seat in front of him. “I have somewhere important to be.” 
The man seated in the center, tapped his fingers against the glass and raised a brow at him. “Do you now? Something more important that this meeting, you say? Do we need to remind you that you are indebted to us for life? Must we remind you that you are here in this fancy office because we put you here? You would be rotting in Azkaban with Beery if it weren’t for us. So how about we start this meeting over again. This time with manners.” 
Apollo gritted his teeth so hard, his hands shook and he laced his fingers together so they wouldn’t see. An empty glass on the bar cart behind him shattered. Yet he didn’t pay it any attention. Instead he leaned back in his chair and forced a tight grin to show. “What can I do for you gentlemen?”
Maybe one day he would free from the things that held him prisoner.
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magnetothehedgehog · 3 years
Text
Dimension’s Ridge Announcement!
Hi everyone, With all the rise in Sonic media and the great releases coming up, such as The New sonic game in 2022,the sonic movie 2, sonic prime, and literally anything Idw has been releasing including their new side series “Imposter syndrome”, I am challenged to up my game and release information on my long running project in the works. Especially Since sonic prime and Idw is literally gonna blow out all the spoilers before I do if I don't start releasing stuff first. Since its been happening constantly, I gotta be a step ahead.
So, without further ado, I introduce you to the World of Dimension's Ridge.
Dimensions Ridge is My personal Alternate Universe that seeks to combine all aspects of sonic media. In fact, its super similar to the upcoming Sonic prime, archie and Idw Comics in this regard, with it possibly being a bit more ambitious, or at least equally as ambitious as Idw.
The Series will follow a number of favorite canon and non canon characters alike, but will also their universal counterparts and alternate universe selves.
The Main overarching plot line is that a Existence level Threat is putting everything in jepoardy. This Creature Known as an Existence Eater spreads its influence to a planet by releasing its minions into it, then after enough time, it comes to absorb the planet, thus erasing it from existence entirely, as if it had never been there in the first place. This has been happening for quite a while, until a few people caught onto it. They began leaving messages and warnings to others in a attempt to save them.
Being an existence level threat, this will take the combined effort of every Version of Sonic,Tails,Sally, Eggman and everyone else if they want anything to be left in the multi-verse. This Story is about how they all come together to do just that.
However that is the main plot. The story follows many minor or sub plotlines and stories that all connect and weave into this ultimate narrative. For Stories featuring Sonic and friends, Stories start off in the classic area and work their way into the modern area as the characters develop and mature, so we get to see and live their journey alongside them. For older characters and parents, I wanted them to have a  more staple involvement in the series, even if only at the beginning. Their Adventures as the World slowly slips into chaos can be read in War on Mobius.
While there are Prequels to the beginning of the story, such as the “Rift War.”, the main storylines that kicks off all the other starts is one of my current productions “War on Mobius.”This follows the economical and political collapse following the Recent End of The Rift War and begins the Egg Empire's rise to Power.I would like to mention that The Egg Empire Now consists of the collective versions of Eggman all working together as a family. Egg Fam for short. But we have Great additions such as boom eggman, Ova Eggman, Aosth Eggman, Satam Eggman, Russian Eggman,Eggette, and a few custom additions such as Omelette and Scramble.
Things That happen in War on Mobius will be seen effecting or influencing the states of things in my Classic Era Story “Classic adventures.” and others ones such as “The Freedom Fighters.”
Alongside canon appearances of less known or scrapped characters and designs, such as Tiara and Honey the Cat, Readers can expect appearances of my own characters, both as counterparts to main characters, and also as people who drive the story forward and show interesting and dynamic opinions of their changing world. A few Such ones would be “Tribal Ties” Focusing on the Tribes of Echidnas, Bayblonians and Pangolins Tribes, all of which play a part not only in Mobius history, but also will play a vital part in its future.
After Classic adventures, comes one of my long running claims to fame and a personal favorite of mine from my early script writing days. Zone Runners. This takes place after the Events of Classic adventures and as the world has been influenced by the political unrest in War on Mobius. It follows the Group of People on the East Side of the World as they try to fight back against the Egg Empire, Newly risen Oscillators Group, and The Very lack of Sonic and Freedom Fighter there. This series will also begin unraveling some of the mysteries behind the existence eater and the ultimate narrative. Originally this concept came from the Fleetway comics, and ever since I've been completely inspired to incorporate this into my own series. If anyone was ever on Sonic Amino, they might have seen me post things related to it back in the day.
I also wish to be a more character focused series as a whole, one who focuses on the people collectively as opposed to just Sonic himself. I want it to as if each character us actually a main character and can save the day, and that the day is only won because everyone has done their part, whether powerful or powerless.
To that End, I have many characters stories intertwine, or lead to one another. Some characters will have branching off stories, while others will be closely intertwined, and always interact with each other, regardless of who the story is currently focusing on.
A few I'd like to notable mention is, Shadow's Ark, Silvers Sanctuary, and Heir of Sol. Focusing on the characters Shadow, Silver, And Blaze Respectively.
While I have a lot of other Titles for the stories respectively, I'd just to touch on a few more before I close.
Worlds collide finally answers the question in sonic media about two planets and the dimensional connundrum of sonic rush and sonic 06. While also bringing together multiple characters who were on their own paths, for the collected purpose of setting up how everyone will be needed much later.
Dimension Forces is, a reimagined Version of Sonic Forces, including a whole new team of villains to take on the heroes from our prior stories. I call them: Forever Force. The Main Three Hitters Being the Villains Infinite, Eternity, And Enigma. In this Story we'll get to see Whispers team in action, and also get to see new stories involving Gadget and His Brother Widget, and a host of other rising heroes soldiers and returning cast members.
I also had this Idea that the wisps were able to use their abilities on their own, except in smaller weaker versions then when they had a mobians help.Thus you could call in drill air strikes and other things to help you in battle, and the flew alongside you rather than in containers. I had these idea way long ago, but what do you know Idw beat me to the punch again in rise of the wisps. However I would just like to say before they do it too, that I had the idea of the wisps combining their powers, as if anyone played Sonic simulator, you would know you can actually combine wisp powers. If its the same type, its twice as strong with a bonus effect. If its different, you can combine the strengths of two different powers. Think how eggman used cube with laser in the boss nega wisp armor.
Speaking of Sonic Simulator! Thats another Story I have plans for. Following alongside the events of Sonic colors, Sonic simulator follows the group of hedgehogs abducted from Mobius and sent to eggman's interstellar amusement park as part of an organic experiment to take out sonic. Suggested by The Leader of the Oscillators, These hedgehogs will now have to work together to prove their worth to Eggman and as worthy adversaries of Sonic! But what of their past memories? What will happen if they remember? And if they do, can they escape? Find out! Also its follow up story leads to sonic lost world.
I'd also like to talk about the Idw Verse Mini series I have been working on! Getting Art from the Talented CatRage and getting to voice my Ideas to My Friends as well as My sister, I present my own Miniseries! Mimic's misadventures!
This story takes place between  the events of Idw's Bad guys, and follows mimic's operations and struggles as he tries to complete his missions, and deal with people of similar caliber to himself. Will this mercenary manipulate his way easily out of another situation? Or has the Octopus finally met the one group who will send him back to the ocean? Find out!
Currently, this miniseries has 5 canon issues and one undecided.
1.Ghost Of The North.
2.Into the Spiders Nest
3.Hunt is on
4.Jaws of a Predator
5.Belly of the Beast
undecided: 6.Seaside Escapade.
Currently I am writing the script for Part 1 of Ghost of the North and hope to finish up the Audio drama reading for it soon.
So this is all the stuff I've had in production for the past few years! Along with my co writer Pinky heart.
Please, Please! Reblog or retweet this. It would mean the world to me. Also please! Ask as many questions as you'd like. I'll answer as many as I can, and would love to hear everyone's thoughts and opinions, as well as questions and inquires involving the series.
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bakuwhoabro · 3 years
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cold like ice, warm like fire. > inatodo
2,429 words
"Now as you know, you are here to get your provisional licenses, but we know you guys are just kids and you need a break every now and then. So we are allowing you to roam free at the location we're headed to." Gang Orca explained loudly as everyone loaded onto the bus. 
Todoroki, as well as Bakugou,  climbed into the usual monotone bus, both curious to where they would be going today. 
"Where do you think they are taking us, Fellas?" Camie, a student from Shiketsu High School, flung her arm the multi-colored haired male's right shoulder. Todoroki glanced at the girl, unfazed by her friendliness. They both had been taking these classes alongside each other and she was more than happy to make new friends. She also seemed to have some sort of crush on him as well. While she was a beautiful girl, he didn't have the same feelings. She was a good friend though. He did mention this to her after many attempts for his number, which she understood. "We can still be great friends!", she had grinned and said. 
"I don't know. They always surprise us." Todoroki replied honestly. 
"Hm, I hope it's a spa! But that's just wishful thinking, fam." The girl laughed before removing her arm as she moved a few seats over to sit beside her friend, Inasa Yoarashi, another student from Shiketsu. Todoroki wasn't sure how he felt about Inasa. He was definitely nice and friendly, much like Camie. He and Todoroki didn't get along at first, them both failing the Provisional License Exam because of it. But now that they had more time to talk and hang out, they seem to be good friends. 
"Todoroki! Over here!" The taller male waved excitedly. Todoroki looked to Bakugou, who had his earphones in and was ignoring everyone. Bakugou seemed fine to be left on his own. He nodded and waited for the bus to stop momentarily before moving down about 5 seats. 
"Hello." 
"Good Morning! How'd you sleep?" Inasa asked immediately, like always. He always seemed concerned if Todoroki was sleeping and eating okay. Which confused him, but it wasn't doing him any harm to answer. 
"I slept fine. Though Sero, a fellow classmate who dorms next to me, was playing music pretty late. He has an interesting music taste." 
"Ah, yeah. I understand how that feels. My older brother likes to play loud music at night. I usually just wear earplugs. And if it's really loud, I'll just play my own music and wear headphones." 
"Hm." 
"So uh," Inasa cleared his throat, glancing to Camie who was typing on her phone, then back to Todoroki. "Well, I was thinking maybe we could hang out today at wherever they are taking us. Ya' know, we do the classes together and stuff but we've never really hung out, as uh friends." 
Todoroki thought over his offer. He was right, they had never hung out outside of the classes. They did live a good distance away from each other. And only saw each other a few times a week. Camie had given his number to Inasa, which was interesting. Inasa could have just asked him. Camie claimed he was too afraid to ask. People did tend to be intimidated by him at first. So they did text from to time. 
"Sure, why not." He replied, which made Inasa smile widely. 
"Awesome! This is going to be so fun!" Todoroki looked to the hand that had been placed on his left shoulder, an eyebrow raised. It took a second for Inasa to realize. And as he did, he quickly removed his hand. 
"I'm s-sorry! Please forgive me, I should have asked if that was okay!" 
Todoroki furrowed his brows slightly, why was he so distraught? It was just his shoulder. It's not like Inasa held his hand or anything. Not that Todoroki had imagined that ever happening. 
"It's fine. I just wasn't expecting it is all." 
"Whew! Okay. I'll keep my hands to myself." Inasa even went as far as to clamp his hands together on his lap, like it was a struggle for him. Which confused Todoroki even more. That was a common emotion that he felt around Inasa. He wasn't sure if it was a good or bad thing. 
"Alright. We've arrived. Be sure to be on your behavior. And maybe we'll consider doing this again. Walk off the bus in an orderly fashion." Gang Orca instructed. They did as instructed, walking off the bus slowly. Todoroki looked around the area once his feet hit the ground. He noticed a building in front of them, Masutafu Area Ice Rink. They took them to an ice skating rink.
"The fuck is this? Ice Skating?" Bakugou looked up to the building, clearly unsure of the whole situation. Todoroki wondered how Bakugou would be on the ice. Maybe he could take a picture to show Kirishima and the other students. 
"It seems to be so." Was all he said before the Shiketsu students walked off the bus.
'Whoa! Ice Skating, cool!" Inasa gasped once he noticed the words on the building.
"Hm, I've never been. I've always wanted to go. This is lit." Camie started to walk towards the building, leading the way for the Shiketsu and U.A students. 
Once inside, the teachers got everyone accounted for and told them to get their skates. Bakugou stalked behind him, Inasa and Camie. He seemed very wary of the rink beside them. Oh, this would be fun. Finally, something Bakugou wasn't great at. 
"What size are you, Todoroki?" 
Todoroki coughed, apparently choking on air. "Uh, size?" 
"For the skates?" Inasa seemed confused. Oh right, the skates. 
"Size 7." Todoroki watched as Inasa informed the person manning the skates. And he took the pair Inasa was handing to him with a quiet 'Thank you'. He walked over to the benches and sat to slip on the skates. What was up with him? He suddenly felt nervous to hang out with Inasa today. There was no way he could bail, and he didn't want too. He just felt, off suddenly. This feeling wasn't new though. It came randomly, like when Inasa came to close or said something questionable. He would be fine. Plus, he loved Ice Skating. He'd make makeshift ice rinks at his home on the small pond the owned. He skated with his siblings, and even his father recently. 
"Are you ready? I'm super excited. I think I've been skating once, like when I was young. So this will be really fun! How about you, Todoroki?" Inasa walked up beside him, extra tall due to the skates. 
"I skate at home, I use my quirk to make mini ice rinks from time to time. So I guess I would say I'm somewhat experienced." He explained while wobbling to his feet. He saw out of the corner of his eye that Inasa moved to help him, but drew his hands back with a pinched expression. It looked like he was silently scolding himself. 
"Let's go." Todoroki nodded towards the half door that led to the ice. He could feel the ghost of a smile appear on his face, he wondered if Inasa noticed. 
He stepped onto the ice, doing a little spin gracefully. Yeah, he definitely missed this. To his right was Bakugou, who looked like a baby deer learning to walk. He was gripping onto the wall like if he let go he would die. Camie was doing figure eights basically around the blond male. That angered him, but Camie just laughed and went to grab his arm. She seemed to be helping him. Todoroki placed his phone back into his pocket, he'd keep that picture for later. Possible blackmail. Who knows? 
"Whoa! That's slippery! More than I thought." Inasa had one foot placed on the ice, left hand holding onto the wall, right hovering in the air in front of him. Todoroki watched as he slowly moved his other foot to the ice as well as his right hand to the wall. He seemed new to the ice, which was to be expected if he only skated once in his life. 
"Do you need help?" He asked, skating over to him with ease. Inasa seemed amazed with how smoothly he was moving, which he said aloud. 
"Ah, it's nothing. I've just been skating for years. But, I could teach you. If you like." 
"Really? I'd love that! I want to skate as good as you! Teach me your ways!" Inasa grinned but it wavered when Todoroki grabbed his left hand. "W-wait? You're going to hold my hand?" 
"I mean, I don't have too. But it could help you balance." Todoroki replied, unaware of the flustered mess beside him. Inasa looked at his hand, then the ice, then at him, then back at his hand. He seemed to be working something out in his head. 
"Okay. That's fine." He said as he breathed out. Todoroki nodded and grabbed his hand. 
"Alright, now. Just move like you are walking to start out. And when you feel comfortable you can start to slide your feet." He moved beside Inasa slowly, still pretty close to the wall. He didn't mind though. He let Inasa take his time. And soon enough, they started to move a little faster. 
"See, you're getting it." Todoroki smiled. Inasa laughed as he moved across the ice with slight ease. 
"You're a good teacher! This is so fun! Thank you, Shoto." Inasa halted his movements abruptly, causing himself to slip. And his grip on Todoroki's hand tightened, proceeding to take him down with him. Todoroki yelped as he landed onto the cold ice, his left hand landing on Inasa's chest. He felt his heart racing. Was he okay?
"Are you hurt?" Todoroki questioned, sitting up and rubbing his head. 
"Oh god, this is a nightmare." He heard Inasa whisper. He just breathed a laugh. 
"It's just a fall, Inasa. It happens all the time." 
"No no, not just the fall. I called you...Shoto." Inasa had his arm thrown over his face, which unknown to Todoroki, was covering a blush. 
Oh, he had done that. For some reason, it went right over his head at the time. But now he felt his face warm, a huge contrast to the freezing ground beneath him. Not many people called him by his first name. And he...didn't mind that Inasa addressed him like that. 
So he just stood up and held out his hand, nudging the male slightly with his foot. "You know what, I prefer you call me Shoto from now own." 
Inasa looked up to him, a now noticeable red hue danced on his cheeks. It suited him, he thought. Todoroki ignored the fuzzy feeling in his stomach as that thought came and passed. It didn't mean anything. Probably. Inasa took his hand gratefully and found his footing. 
"Now I think your pick caught the ice, explaining the fall. Be careful not to move your foot down like that. You'll trip." He even moved his foot in the motion that showed Inasa how not to position his foot. He didn't want Inasa to hurt himself. 
"Yeah, the pick! Okay! I won't do that again. Could you show me how to stop correctly?" 
He obliged and showed him the right way to stop, and Inasa copied. He was a fast learner. And for the rest of the time they had left, they did laps around the rink. It even got to the point where Inasa didn't need help. But for some reason, his hand never left Todoroki's. And he didn't mind at all. 
But their fun came to an end as Gang Orca called for them rather loudly. They all got off the ice, Bakugou even going as far as to flip off the ice. He didn't get it as quickly as Inasa did. Camie seemed to be a natural. She was doing many tricks that took some people months to learn.
Skates were returned and legs were starting to ache from the workout. They all fumbled onto the bus and laid out on the seats. This time Todoroki sat beside Inasa, who was chatting about some app on his phone. 
"See here? You tap the bowls to feed the cats. And you collect them in a way. It's called 'Neko Atsume'. Since you said you liked cats, I found some cat-related games you might like." Inasa held his phone in between them. Todoroki reached out to tap the phone screen, 'feeding' the cats. He felt himself smile. He knew he would spend countless hours on this game. 
"There you go! You're great at his game." Inasa grinned up at him. Todoroki returned it, Inasa was 100% right. He loved cats. 
As they neared U.A, Inasa sat up a little straighter. "Uh! Shoto? Could we maybe do this again, outside of classes? Let's say this weekend?" 
Todoroki eyed the boy. He was asking him to hang out this weekend. That same red hue was prominent on his cheeks. Todoroki was now more confident in his thoughts. He found Inasa's red cheeks adorable, almost as adorable as cats. He wasn't sure what that meant. But he was willing to find out. 
"Sure. I'll text you later and we can figure out the details." He nodded, his bag now on his back and he was leaving the bus. 
"Cool! Awesome! I'll see you this weekend!" He smiled widely. 
"It's a date." Todoroki winked before exiting the bus. His heart raced as he watched the bus start to drive away. He could hear the shocked exclamations from Inasa to Camie from an open window.
"He said it was a date! Holy--!" Just a taste of what was to come for Camie. Camie squealed and congratulated him. That's how the rest of their week would go. 
"You have a date? Since when did people find you attractive?" Bakugou snickered. Todoroki just rolled his eyes and shoved his shoulder. 
"I would keep quiet if I were you. I have pictures of you from today." He grinned when he heard Bakugou start to sputter. 
"You wouldn't dare Half and Half!" He called after Todoroki as he walked into the dorm building. Little did Bakugou know that Todoroki 'accidentally' sent the picture to the class group chat.
As he drifted to sleep that night, his mind lingered on Inasa. He fell asleep, heart warm. He had a date. A date with Inasa of all people. But he couldn't be happier.
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zet-sway · 3 years
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@the-wip-project day 35:
I don't know what today's question is but I gotta write a wall of text about what happened last night because holy shit
I was on the verge of falling asleep and, like I usually do, I decided to hunt for some spicy fanfics to read on my phone. I found one.
All my posts are long but this one is real fucking long. CW for touching on dub-con and injury mentioned in the type of context it probably shouldn't be.
It's time for me to admit that not only am I a oneshot writer, I'm also a oneshot reader. I am drawn to short fanfics. If I click on a chaptered fic, it's (usually) because it's rated E for smut and I'll go in with every intention of skimming it for the spicy bits. I'm not proud of this. I've avoided saying this for years because I don't want to disappoint people who work hard on their very long and well thought out chaptered stories. I have a short attention span, and I know what I want.
But anyway, last night I clicked on a fic with 5 chapters and some amount of words, around 30k? Long, by my standards, but I was tired and I just wanted something to read while I dozed off.
This particular fic hooked me in, though. I still skimmed it, but the writing was so unique in a way that made me writhe with writer's envy and admiration. Whoever wrote this had their own language - nothing borrowed - their own vision.
I guess I should tell the good people who read my posts (ya'll, seriously, thank you) that the fic in topic is called Fault Lines by Recidiva on AO3. I would link to it but uhhhh I may be using my work PC for "extracurricular purposes" right this moment ^^; so maybe when I get home I'll remember to add it.
I skimmed it - like I said above - for the spicy parts. It generally follows the plot of Bioware's canon. Thane begins as possessive and manipulative, likely uncomfortably close to dub-con for a lot of people. He kisses her and knows full well that his kiss will make her willing but intoxicated, and how he will use that to fulfil himself. But as the story progresses, he falls in love. Their relationship is what I'll call "edgy." Both of them are renegades. There's a scene where they get down in the shuttle after a fight and they're both still injured and it borders on downright unrealistic but fuck it, it's fanfic and I bought it. However their relationship develops a certain heart-wrenching tenderness. She asks him what Siha means over and over again, and eventually tells him she thinks "bitch" when he says it. But in that moment they have a playful banter, he knows full well she's probably already looked it up on the extranet, and they fall into bed together. The smut is mind-boggling.
By the time it gets to Shepard's arrest, he's taken up a place on Earth and visits her, breaks into her house arrest. There's a scene where they see each other for the first time in a while, she tells him how much she's missed his mouth and how it's not right how bad she wants him, and wants him bad enough to smother him with affection. She says something to the effect of "if you're looking to die, I'd volunteer to be the cause," implying that her lust is powerful enough to endanger his life. And it was at this moment I realized I fucked up.
It's established that I live in my own headcanon and I'm not burdened with considering the end of Thane's life as part of my fics. And the suspension of disbelief was such that I forgot he doesn't make it. So at this moment in the fic, chapter 4 out of 5, I realized "Oh shit this isn't going to have a happy ending." I skipped to the end right away, I wanted to confirm my fears.
In their final exchange, she asks him to lie to her - something that's repeated in other chapters of the story. I forget what he says, I was reading desperately, but he asks her in return to tell him something true. She kisses him and tells him she loves him, and he breathes his last breath with the lingering tingle of their kiss to carry him to the other side.
I was so entrenched in the depth of their relationship up to that point. The level of fathomless love the author conveyed, unlike anything I've ever managed to write before, but more realistic to my own understanding of love as I've experienced it. Not because they're renegades, but just the selflessness with which they feel, communicate, banter, and make love.
When I read that last paragraph, something inside me broke. That sounds dramatic but that's honestly how I would describe it. It felt like waking up from a night terror, when you bolt up in bed from a dream so bad you immediately get up even if it's 4am because nothing feels real and you're so terrified you have to get up and do something - literally anything to take your mind off it, to ease you back into reality. I put my phone down and stared into the darkness of my bedroom and told myself "it's just a fanfic, no need to get upset." And then I started to cry and I didn't stop for 30 minutes.
My husband was downstairs watching Bohemian Rhapsody and I went down there and wrapped myself around him so tight and cried. Bless this man, from the bottom of my heart - bless him - for his unfathomable kindness. I felt like a fucking fool because I was crying over fanfiction but he paused his movie and just listened while I tried to articulate how it wasn't exactly about the character death, or the characters at all, it was just the writing and how it wormed into my brain so convincingly. I felt the loss like it was my own loss. I am terrified of losing my husband. So many feelings coalesced and I realized one day I may be in that situation, kissing the man I love goodbye for the last time, never to hold him again. I'm at work right now and I'm tearing up because it's so hard.
I tip my hat to the author, but I genuinely wished I hadn't read that fanfic. And isn't it kind of funny after that grandstand I took yesterday about not wanting to write the pain of loss and grief, that I ended up reading it instead and probably fucking myself up just as badly, if not worse, than if I had tried to write it myself?
It gets worse, too. Because it got me thinking about my own writing, and how I could never hope to achieve what that author did. So I sat there crying out my painfeelings while simultaneously feeling like a shit writer and like nothing I put out matters. I got up from the couch, sat down at my PC and picked up where I left off in the Omega DLC in ME3 because video games are great for taking the mind off things. It didn't exactly help with the intensity I'd hoped for, but I managed to fall asleep, by 3am.
Fast forward to this morning. I dragged my sorry ass out of bed 4 hours later and drove to work. By some fucking miracle, no one is here right now except our field director. And I'm stewing in how this one fic really fucked me up bad, reconsidering everything. I feel like I've been put in my place.
So what changed?
Yesterday I posted about how I'm struggling to write a plotline. I know what happens, but I'm not interested in the little bits that tie it together. I want to write the romance. I think there's a way to write the plot and the romance at the same time, but it's damn hard.
I started doing this because I wanted to grow my skills as a writer, and I knew it might be more than I could chew. I'm at that moment now where I'm about ready to give up.
Even if I felt like a shit writer last night (and still kinda do this morning), I know that the stuff I've put out has value. We can't all write these epically tragic smut-romance-renegades-to-lovers tales, we'd all be sad all the damn time. There's a time and a place and - I would argue - even a need for lighterhearted fic out there. There are really no rules. I'm confident in what I know how to do.
But the plot. Fuck it, man. I think maybe I'm trying too hard to be something I'm not. I'm trying really hard to write like other people. I may have mentioned before that I saw a post about how many artists spend their time pining for the skills of others, thinking "wow, when I can draw like that, I'll have made it as an artist." That same post cautioned against this, basically saying you already have your own unique style, it's just harder to see through the lens of your own eyeballs. It's fine to challenge yourself but try to acknowledge what you do that sets you apart already. I feel like I have that something - maybe not to the extent that I wish, but I have something.
So what's the point of the plot? Why do I need to tell my readers how I cured Keprals? I'm asking myself important questions here. I like to think I've come up with ideas that no one else has, but as I said above, I don't read a lot of chaptered fics. I very well may have come to the same ideas as other writers and I'm not even aware of it. I don't know if my ideas are unique but I still arrived at them all by myself.
The challenge here - the thing I'm struggling so much with - is how to put them together with the same elegance of my fellow writers. I'm looking at you, shrios fam (yeah I'm calling you that, yall know who you are). I know I can write words, but it's like I have a bunch of pieces from completely different jigsaw puzzles and I'm struggling to make a new picture out of them. I struggle with the transitions between them.
The point here is I have to find my own way. And I have to stop taking myself so seriously. In fact this level of "seriousness" is one of the things that got me into so much angst over World of Warcraft over the last two years. At least I know how to recognize it.
I have to find my own way. I have my own things that are worth sharing. The author I read last night had a language all their own, and I have a language all my own too. Their wordplay was actually more choppy than I would ever write. I've talked before about how I'm scared of starting too many sentences with pronouns, how I maybe write too many run-on sentences, whatever. This author did that with reckless abandon. It worked for them. So if they can make that shit work, I can make my own shit work.
I have to find my own way.
My most current WIP is Thane and Shepard's first time. I've been working on it pretty nonchalantly because I hadn't intended to publish it until I built up to it. It takes place further into my timeline, and it would probably ruin the point of a slow burn if I put it out there now. There are some really memorably moments in this WIP, and there are other moments that need to be smoothed over as well. I never knew what I'd really imagined for their first time but I think I've mostly developed something that's unique in its own right, and I think will be fun for people to read.
I'm just so fucking torn over what to do with it. I feel guilty for working on it. I should be writing "other shit" leading up to it but I don't fucking want to. I actually wrote probably 2-3k words this weekend, which is a pretty staggering amount by my standards. Some of it was for this smutty WIP and some was for something I just threw together, Thane observing Shepard on Horizon and the emotional toll it takes on her. He's seeing her humanity. I don't know if it's worth it to continue but I wrote a lot of it and the words are more precise than usual for a draft, I don't know. I have so much fucking insecurity. Fuck dude. I want to write this longfic, but I don't want to write it. I want to skim to the spicy bits like I always do.
I am wracked with insecurity, of my own making. I know what I can do but I feel compelled to see this idea through. Somehow I have to find my own way.
TLDR I feel like if I don't publish something soon I'm going to burst and I don't even know what the fuck to work on first and fjslfjsojoiejrj
I would be really down for, like, a bunch of hugs and a bowl of ice cream shared over memes and fanservice.
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toosicktoocare · 4 years
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prompt:  If you want, a whump fic idea for Dick where he gets drugged and hallucinates the fam being hurt or attacked?
This is highkey dark, so I’ll trigger warning here for hallucinations of violence, breaking and entering, Joker being his TYPICAL asshole self...
Dick’s standing just outside the manor. He can’t remember how he got there. He can’t actually remember anything. All he knows is there’s a lingering, tight prick of pain on his neck, a small, circular bump that’s hot against his palm as he rubs insistently at it.
He stumbles forward, his legs wobbly, uncoordinated, and he glances down with a loose frown, his torn, frayed suit bottoms swimming in and out of focus. He pats a bare knee, bringing his hand up to find thick, red blood coloring his pale palm. He hums, briefly trying to supply missing pieces in his mind, but he quickly finds that thinking makes his already pounding head want to split into two.
Absently wiping his hand along his side, which weirdly hurts, an inside kind of hurt that confuses him even more, he cranes his neck back up toward the manor, body tensing to alert as a familiar tuft of overly-processed green hair slinks in through the front door.
He makes to rush forward, but he falls instead, dropping hard to his hands and knees. Glancing back, he frowns when he spots dense, dark mud gluing his feet to the ground, mud that he’s sure wasn’t there moments before.
“Shit,” he hisses, twisting around until he’s clawing through the mud that seems to produce faster and thicker the harder he digs. The mud is tight and sharp at his feet, each drag of his hand bringing forth bouts of pain, but he presses forward until a sharp, familiar scream echoes from the manor.
His entire body falls rigid, and he can’t whip around fast enough. His eyes are trembling as he scans for the source, stopping at a window peering through the study. Joker’s got Damian’s arm twisted tightly behind his back, and Damian’s trying to strategically struggle against the grip, but then Dick hears a loud snap, louder than the air that puffs fast from his lungs, and Damian’s dropped to the floor.
“No,” Dick mutters clawing at the ground before him to drag his cement feet forward. He pauses when he hears a window shatter, and he whips his gaze to the sound, finding Tim unconscious and hanging over the edge of the broken window on the second floor, blood dripping like rain drops down to a pool of red at the ground below.
“Tim,” Dick gasps out, panic an iron weight against his lungs. “No, Tim!” He desperately digs his fingers into the mud below him, teeth clenched tightly. He has to...
“Watch and learn, sweet, little Bird!”
Dick’s blood runs cold, his breath squeezed from his lungs at the chilling, teasing voice that carries across the wind. He pushes himself up, head tipping toward the roof to see Bruce dangling over the edge by a tight, pale hand around his neck. Bruce is struggling, both hands wrapped desperately around Joker’s wrist, but Joker appears impossibly unfazed, and he’s laughing.
“Take notes. This is what it looks like to kill.”
Joker lets go, and Bruce’s limp body starts falling, slowly. Everything around him is suddenly too slow, and Dick reaches forward, wishing he could move, wishing...
“Bruce!”
***
Bruce jerks awake with a sharp gasp, and the almost immediate sounds of hard, frantic footsteps growing louder and closer tells him something is terribly wrong. He’s swinging his legs over the bed when Alfred throws the door open, eyes wild and worried. “Master Bruce, it’s-”
“Dick!” Tim shouts from downstairs, clashing with the loudly strangled “Richard!” from Damain.
Bruce doesn’t wait for an explanation, he follows Alfred out of the room, moving along a suffocating push of adrenaline until he’s stumbling to a stop out of the front door, his jaw going slack and his mind going frigteningly white hot.
Dick’s on the ground, brusied and bloody, and he’s moving his hands over Damian and Tim as if his life depends on it. He can hear the tremble in his voice, the repeated insistence that the Joker was just here, and that he watched him attack everyone, that he threw Bruce off the roof.
“Fear toxin.”
Bruce jumps slightly, whipping to see Alfred at his side, a syringe clasped tightly in his hand. “We’ll have to run blood work, but this antidote should take the edge off. May I?”
Nodding, Bruce finally wills his legs to move, stepping down the front steps with heavy footfalls, Alfred right at his side. He drops to a crouch in front of Dick, reaching forward but afraid his touch won’t bring comfort to Dick’s lost mind.
“B-Bruce? I saw him! You... He... He choked you. Bruce, he’s here.”
“He’s not, chum,” Bruce tries, his heart physically chipping at the loudly evident break in Dick’s voice. “It’s fear toxin. You were hallucinating.”
“No,” Dick growls, reaching forward, supporting himself with one hand wrapped tightly around Bruce’s arm. “He was here. He was... wait.” He whips unsteady eyes around, throat bobbing, entire body shaking. “Where’s Jason?”
“Richard, he’s at his apartment,” Damian tries softly. “Todd doesn’t usually stay here.”
“No... No, no, no! He has Jason! He has Jason again, and we can’t- Bruce! We can’t... Not again!”
“Call Jason,” Bruce growls to Tim, not bothering to hide the fear laced in his tone. “Get him here, now.” He can hear Tim fumbling with his phone, and then Tim’s speaking, voice shaking, small.
“J-Jay? Can you come over here? It’s Dick.”
“Jason!” Dick screams, and Bruce has to wrap both arms around Dick to keep him grounded.
“Stop, B! We have to- Jason!”
“Alfred,” Bruce growls, and Alfred bends down and jabs a syringe into Dick’s neck, pushing down hard until Dick’s frantic shaking and struggling begins to slow.
“Easy, Dick,” Bruce mutters into Dick’s sweat-soaked hair, his arms softening around Dick’s slumping frame. “We’re all here, and you are going to be just fine. I promise.”
Dick hums into his chest, and then his body all but melts against Bruce, his eyes fluttering closed and his breathing evening to slow, steady rises and falls.
“Let’s get him inside.” Bruce stands, lifting Dick with a desperate ease despite Dick’s broad, tall frame. “Alfred, prep medical for bloodwork, and call Leslie. I want a full assessment.”
“Right away, sir.”
Alfred starts off first, and Bruce keeps a slow pace to match with Tim and Damian, the two eerily quiet at either side of him.
“He’ll be fine.” Bruce isn’t sure who he’s really reassuring here, two rattled sons or his own, rapid heart. “He won’t want to see you both so somber when he wakes.”
“Bruce...” Tim starts, worrying his hands. “What do we... I mean... We should do something, right? We have to do something.”
“I agree with Drake, father. We need to track Richard’s movements over the last few hours, pinpoint his coordinates and investigate each location he’s stopped at for more than a minute.”
If Bruce weren’t seconds away from isolating himself to work through a full blown break down, he’d be impressed at Damian’s immediate willingness to agree with Tim; however, the situation at hand is very much real.
“There will be time for that, I promise. Right now our entire focus needs to be on Dick because coming out of fear toxin is-”
“-the equivalent of climbing your way out of a grave after dying,” Jason mutters as he slows his run down to a quick walk up the driveway, bike keys tightly gripped in his hand. “Heavy and confusing, but what would I know?”
Bruce can immediately tell that Jason’s attempting to deflect from his rattled fear, but he can still hear it loud and clear in Jason’s tone, a slight, frayed edge to his voice, one that’s typically reserved for his siblings.
“What happened? Jason questions, ignoring the pained, tired glare from Bruce as he falls into step beside Tim. “Who’s ass are we kicking?”
“No one’s tonight,” Bruce mutters, stepping ahead into the manor but staying close enough to hear his other, three sons.
“Christ, Jay, it was scary.”
Tim’s voice, Bruce notes, finally a little less shaky and more alert.
“We woke up to hear Richard screaming father’s name, and we found him outside. He was.... He thought the Joker broke in and attacked us.”
Damian’s voice, Bruce thinks, is still trembling far too much for his liking, but it’s the single, cracking word that follows that brings his heart to an agreement with his waning adrenaline.
“Fuck.”
***
“He would be the one to hallucinate bad things happening to his family. He’s such a softy.”
“Jason.”
“Grayson isn’t heartless like you, Todd.”
“Oh, there’s a heart in there, Demon Brat. I just willingly choose to perceive it as nothing but a lumpy organ that keeps me alive.”
“That’s the most absurd thing I think I’ve ever heard from your mouth, Todd.”
“Damn, I must be off my game if that’s all it takes to rattle that tiny brain of yours.”
“Will you two shut the hell up? You’re going to wake him.”
It takes Dick a worryingly long moment to gather that he’s the “him” in question, and that he’s awake. Sort of. His mind is wrapping around the present, but it’s a long process that’s slowed down by fuzzy roadblocks, unhinged snapshots of memories that aren’t quite forming fully.
“Wha..?” He croaks out, eyes flying open at the shouts that follow.
“Dick!”
“Richard!”
“Easy, idiots! You’ll overwhelm him.”
Dick’s eyes dart around each face, drinking in each sight. He’s not sure why, but he’s desperately relieved to see his family. His eyes linger on Bruce’s face, a need he doesn’t fight, but then panic hits, and he whips his entire head until he finds Jason, alive, not... captured? He thinks; he’s not sure.
“Fear toxin,” Jason supplies quietly, knowing that look all too well. “You saw the Joker.”
Dick’s immediate response is to bark out question after question, his memories flooding through is mind like murky, cold water, but Bruce rakes steady fingers through his hair, easing some of the panic pressing against his ribs.
“There’ll be time to talk, son. But right now, you need rest. You’re concussed, you have three broken ribs, various lacerations, and your ankles and feet are scraped up pretty badly.”
“I...”
“We’re all fine, Dick,” Jason presses firmly, catching Dick’s clouded eyes.
“And we will still be fine when you wake again.” Damian takes a seat on the edge of Dick’s bed, mindful of the tubes and wires. He places a single, steady hand to Dick’s covered arm, a wordless reassurance that Dick clings to.
“You’ll all still be here?” Dick rasps, throat a dry burn from disuse. He’s bone tired, exhaustion tugging at him from all angles, tethering him to another bout of dreamless sleep.
Tim steps closer just as Dick begins to fade, his arm brushing against Jason’s, and he brings a voice to what’s colored in everyone’s eyes, what’s reflected in the strong, protective postures surrounding Dick’s bed.
“We aren’t going anywhere, Dick.”
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izzyfandoms · 4 years
Text
Buy One, Get Six Free
(Thomas and Remy have been together for a while now, and it’s going well, but there’s one problem. Remy doesn’t know that Thomas has sides. 
What happens when Thomas finally tells him the truth? How will Remy react? And will Remy love the sides as much as they love him?)
SHIPS: Sleepmas, Losleep, Sleepality, Rosleep, Sleepxiety, Sleepceit, Dukesleep
WARNINGS: Sympathetic Deceit, Sympathetic Remus, Remus says some mildly sexual/gory things but nothing actually happens
TAGLIST: @quillfics42 @ajdraws0430 @phantomofthesanderssides @creativity-killed-thekitten @phlying-squirrel @sly-is-my-name-loving-is-my-game @because-were-fam-ily @imtryingthisout @a-creepycookie @emo-disaster @littlestr @spooky-scary-virgil @fuyel @mimsidoodles @soupgromlin
Masterpost
Thomas bit his lip, pacing back and forth across the living room floor and wringing his hands. He routinely checked the clock, watching the seconds tick by, getting closer and closer to 2pm. His stomach filled with dread as the sides all watched him walk, a strange mixture of excitement, neutrality, and downright terror.
“Okay… but, like, what if he freaks out?” Virgil spoke up suddenly. “This is a bad idea, one of the worst ideas we’ve ever had. Why are we doing this? We’re just gonna ruin everything. He’s gonna think we’re super weird and dump Thomas immediately, and then we’ll be alone forever.”
Thomas made a pained sound, as did Roman, and Logan sighed.
“Virgil, we don’t know that,” He said calmly. “And, based on prior behaviour, I doubt Remy will react like that. It is more likely that he’ll be confused than anything else. Besides, communication is a necessity in any long-term relationship, it would be unhealthy to keep this from him for much longer.”
Patton nodded eagerly. “Yeah, and Remy loves Thomas, he’s not gonna leave him just ‘cos of this!”
Virgil didn’t look convinced, but he didn’t say anything else, silently chewing his thumb as he sat at the foot of the stairs.
“Do you think he’ll wanna fuck us, too?” Remus grinned, practically bouncing up and down on the spot, and Roman gasped beside him, kicking his brother in the shin.
“Don’t be crude, oh, evil twin of mine, we should focus on the romance!” Roman said. “And, besides, you’re the ugly one, anyway.”
Before this could escalate into a full-on brawl – which it likely would have, given how most arguments with the twins turned out – Deceit intervened, two extra arms appearing at his waist, stretching out and pushing the brothers apart. Fortunately, Thomas was too busy stressing out to notice, or he might have actually thrown up.
All of a sudden, they heard a knock at the door – three raps, and then the doorbell rang.
It was Remy.
Logan straightened up, adjusting his tie. “We’re sticking to the plan,” He said, leaving no room for disagreement. “We’ll all sink out, and then, when Thomas cues us, I will appear, and we will explain the situation to Remy. If he is agreeable, Patton can appear, too, and possibly Roman. We do not want to overwhelm him.”
The doorbell rang again, and Thomas rushed over to the door. He looked back at his sides, watching them all sink out – some wishing him good luck, but most just disappearing without a word – before opening it, and coming face-to-face with his boyfriend.
“’Sup, babe,” Remy greeted, before his brow pinched together, and he tilted his head. “You look stressed. You good?”
“Yup!” Thomas answered, his voice just a little too high, and not convincing either of them.
Remy nodded slowly. “Uh huh… sure. You wanna talk about it?”
“Later.”
His boyfriend didn’t look like he believed that, either, despite it being the honest truth, but he didn’t press, instead lifting the two to-go cups in his hands.
“I brought coffee.”
Thomas smiled genuinely as Remy handed him the cup, taking a large sip with a content sigh, and stepping to the side so his boyfriend could enter the apartment. There were a few moments of silence, and that was when Thomas noticed that Remy was staring at him.
“What?”
Remy let out an exaggerated gasp. “Wow, I’m out here looking like a snack and you’re just not going to kiss me? Rude.”
Thomas couldn’t help but laugh, leaning down and pecking his (short) boyfriend on the lips. When he pulled back, Remy gave him one of those soft smiles that made his heart do cartwheels in his chest (and maybe Patton was doing cartwheels in the mindscape, too, there was really no way to tell).
Remy took Thomas’s hand, tracing random shapes across his palm with his finger.  
“So,” He began. “Are you gonna tell me what’s up, or am I gonna have to guess?”
Thomas tried not to panic and freeze at the question, he really did, but Remy noticed anyway, looking back up at him with concern.
“I need to tell you something,” Thomas admitted. “It’s nothing bad, it’s just… there’s something about me that you need to know, and you’re probably gonna want to sit down for this.”
He led Remy over to the couch, and they both sat down.
“I, uh…” Thomas trailed off. He sighed; this was going to be hard to explain. “Just- um…”  
He waved his hand, deciding to just rip off the band-aid, without any preamble, and Logan rose up in his usual spot. Remy jolted so hard he almost fell off the sofa, and Thomas only just managed to catch his sunglasses in time, as they’d slipped right off his face. He tried to hand them back, but Remy wasn’t paying attention to him, instead, he was staring at Logan, wide-eyed and perplexed.
After a moment or two, Remy began to look back and forth between Thomas and Logan, as if comparing them, and they waited patiently for him to finish.
“Okay, uh…” Remy said, running his fingers through his hair, messing it up even further. “What?”
Thomas wanted to fix it for him, to pull him close and reassure him that he wasn’t insane, but he was worried that Remy wouldn’t react well, so he resorted to just staring at him instead.
“I am Logan, it is nice to finally meet you,” Logan introduced himself, stepping forward and holding out his hand for Remy to shake.
Remy did so almost immediately, wanting to check if Logan was really there, and looking rather startled when he realised that he was, in fact, real. His hand was soft, just like Thomas’s, though a little bit cooler, and Remy’s touch lingered as he found himself wanting to just keep holding that hand and never let go (like he often felt with Thomas).
Logan’s face had turned pink by the time that Remy pulled away, and he cleared his throat in an attempt to regain his composure.
“I am one of Thomas’s sides, the physical representation of his logical thinking and knowledge.”
Remy nodded along as if he understood. “Uh huh, okay… what does that mean?”
“I’ve found that comparing our situation to that of Riley’s in the movie ‘Inside Out’ is the easiest way to explain it to others,” Logan explained. “Just, instead of emotions, we represent more complex concepts such as Logic, Morality and Creativity.”
“Is that why you made me watch Inside Out with you last week?” Remy glanced at Thomas, and his boyfriend gave him a slightly sheepish smile and a nod.
“You’re taking this remarkably well,” Thomas commented.
Remy shrugged. “This isn’t the craziest shit I’ve ever seen.”
“It isn’t?”
“I’ll tell you ‘bout it later, babe,” Remy said, patting Thomas’s arm. “So, how many sides are there?”
Logan took a step closer. “Right now, there are six of u-”
Before he could finish that sentence, both Patton and Roman popped up in their usual spots, making Remy jump, though he didn’t look nearly as startled as he had when Logan had first appeared. They both looked ecstatic, and, frankly, lovestruck.
“Hi, I’m Patton!”  
Patton looked like he wanted to hug Remy – and he did, desperately – but he didn’t want to overwhelm him, so he stayed by the curtains. Roman, apparently, had no such qualms, rushing forward and taking Remy’s hands in his own. This was the first time he was seeing Remy with his own two eyes (not just through Thomas’s), and he was too gay to think straight.
“Oh, my stars, you’re gorgeous!” Roman breathed, and, before he could stop himself, he continued with: “I’m in love with you.”
For a moment, Remy looked surprised, and then his expression melted into the soft smile that he usually reserved just for Thomas. In any other situation, Remy looking at someone else like that would have made Thomas feel jealous, but Roman wasn’t really ‘someone else’, was he? He was a part of Thomas, and if Remy could love Thomas as a whole, which he did, very much, he could love all his different parts, too.
Things were going to be okay.
***
“I do not have any feelings or emotions; I am only in a relationship with you because Thomas is. It just makes logical sense,” Logan said matter-of-factly, adjusting his glasses.
“Sure,” Remy said. “Does that mean you want me to get out of your lap?”
Logan instantly tightened his grip around Remy’s waist, pulling him closer. “Of course not.”
Remy smirked, tilting his head up to look at him. “Aww, does that mean you love me?”
“I do not feel love.”
Remy pouted, and, even though Logan knew it was fake, he still immediately had the urge to take it back, so the smile that he adored would return.
“Okay, fine, I love you,” He admitted.
One of Remy’s hands reached up to carefully cradle Logan’s face, the other resting in the centre of his chest, over his tie – ready to, at any moment, use it to pull Logan closer and capture his lips in a kiss, as he often did.
“I love you, too,” Remy smiled. “My shooting star.”
Logan’s cheeks reddened at the nickname – just like he knew they would – and Remy’s smile widened.
“You’re adorable,” He said.
“Falsehood.”  
“You are,” Remy insisted, sitting up straighter so they were almost nose-to-nose, bumping Logan’s glasses. “You.” Kiss. “Are.” Kiss. “Adorable.”
He then kissed him again, this one lingering longer, before Remy finally pulled back. Logan couldn’t help but chase his lips, and Remy smirked again, making Logan blush just a little bit more.
“See,” Remy tucked a stray strand of hair behind Logan’s ear. “Adorable.”  
***
“Ooh! Ooh! Ooh! Now try this one,” Patton beamed, holding out another cookie just in front of Remy’s lips.
Remy opened his mouth obediently, taking a bite and chewing it slowly.  
He and Patton had spent the last few hours baking a variety of sweet treats in Thomas’s kitchen. If you asked Patton, he would say that it was a team effort. If you asked Remy, however, he would say that Patton had done most of the work, as Remy had no idea how to bake. He wasn’t complaining, though, not in the slightest, especially not when Patton came up behind him, covering Remy’s hands with his own to guide him.
Remy swallowed. “It’s good,” He said. “Sweet.” And then he grinned. “Though not as sweet as you, sugar.”
Patton giggled, delighted.
“Not too sweet?” He asked.
“Never.”
Patton laughed again, poking Remy’s nose. “I was talking about the cookie, silly!”
“Oh, yeah, they’re good, too.”
“Do you think Thomas will like them?” Patton asked.
Remy tilted his head, his sunglasses slipping down his nose – revealing his distractingly gorgeous baby blue eyes – as he gave Patton an amused look. His hair flopped to one side, and Patton reached out to fix it.  
“I’m pretty sure you know him better than I do, hon.”
“That’s true,” Patton said, before popping the rest of the cookie into his mouth. He chewed slowly, before smiling again. “I think Thomas will like them.”
***
Thomas flung the front door open, smiling when Remy stepped inside, immediately taking Thomas’s hand, squeezing it, and planting a kiss on his boyfriend’s cheek.
“Morning, babe,” He greeted.
“Hey,” Thomas said. “I’ve gotta get back to work now – Logan and Roman are helping me with a new video idea – but Virgil’s out, so you can hang out with him, for now.”
Remy grinned, taking off his sunglasses and placing them on top of his head, knowing full well that Virgil was weak for his eyes, and intending on taking full advantage of that fact. To be fair, all of them loved Remy’s eyes, and, upon seeing them, Thomas couldn’t help but lean down and kiss him properly.
When they pulled apart, Remy stepped around him, into the apartment, strolling over to the couch, where Virgil lay, scrolling through his phone. It didn’t really make sense that Virgil had a phone, but nothing about the sides ever really made sense, so Remy chose not to question it, instead flopping into Virgil’s lap without warning, grinning when the anxious side instinctively sat up, wrapping his arms around him.
“Mornin’, handsome.”
Remy’s smile widened as Virgil’s face turned pink. He remained flustered for another moment or two, before he calmed himself down and rolled his eyes.
“Not a very accurate compliment, babe.”
Remy shushed him, covering Virgil’s mouth with his finger. “Nope, nuh-uh – you can’t insult my boyfriend like that. I won’t allow it.”
Virgil snorted, taking Remy’s hand away from his face and intertwining their fingers.  
“Are you just here to keep me distracted so I don’t keep bothering Thomas about the new video idea?” He asked dryly.
“I’m here because I wanna snuggle with my very gorgeous boyfriend,” Remy corrected, leaning forward and pressing a kiss to the tip of Virgil’s nose. “And also make out with him. Any distraction from bugging Thomas is just a bonus.”
Virgil rolled his eyes again. “You’ve got seven boyfriends, why choose to sit on my lap?”
“Technically, I only have one boyfriend.”
“Wow, big word. Logan would be so proud of you.”
Remy poked Virgil’s shoulder. “Don’t be rude. And I’m sitting in your lap because I love you and I want to, plus you’re, like, super warm.”
“We’re all warm.” There was a beat. “I love you, too.”
Remy grinned again. “Great. Wanna make out?”
***
Remy absent-mindedly scrolled through his phone. Thomas was upstairs, looking for something, and would likely remain there for another few minutes, at least, so his boyfriend was just looking for a way to pass the time.  
Then, suddenly, he heard the familiar whooshing sound that meant a side had just risen up. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw light blue, and a bespectacled man standing by the curtains. Remy snorted quietly.
“You know that doesn’t work on me, darlin’.”
Deceit pouted – a very Patton-like expression, most likely deliberate – and then crossed his arms in a manner that was decidedly not Patton, which would have given him away, if Remy hadn’t already seen through his disguise.
“What did I do wrong this time?”
Remy looked up from his phone, giving Deceit a once-over. He then shrugged. “I dunno. You’re just… different, I guess.”
Deceit sighed, running his fingers through his hair, and, in the blink of an eye, he was back to his normal snake-like self, his hat in his hand. He placed it on his head, but, before he could say anything else, Remy had jumped off the couch, reaching up on his tiptoes and plucking the hat back off his head with a grin. He only just managed to run his fingers through Deceit’s hair, which made the lying side smile, as, even though he was the shortest side, Remy was still much shorter than him, which was, honestly, adorable.  
“You’re cuter without the hat,” Remy teased, placing it on his own head. “It looks better on me.”
And how was Deceit supposed to not kiss him when he looked like that? Wearing Deceit’s hat and grinning up at him in that way reserved just for them.
He didn’t get the chance to, though, as Remy kissed him first, standing up on his tiptoes and wrapping his arms around Deceit’s neck. Remy tugged him as close as possible, humming quietly against Deceit’s lips.
***
The moment Remy stepped into the apartment, he was swept off his feet, scooped up into Roman’s arms, and twirled around – once, twice, thrice. Remy’s sunglasses almost fell to the ground, but he caught them just in time, tucking them onto his t-shirt collar.
“How are you, on this fine morning, my radiant Sleeping Beauty?”
Remy sighed, wrapping one arm around Roman’s neck, the other hand clutching his half-empty coffee cup.  
“Ugh, the barista at Starbucks was, like, so rude to me, this morning,” He complained, pouting slightly, but relaxing. “She just kept glaring at me.”
Roman clicked his tongue, but he couldn’t help but grin.  
“Would you like me to fight her for you, my love?” He offered.
Remy snorted. “I’m pretty sure the cops would get called if you showed up at Starbucks with your sword, Prince Charming. Thomas would end up behind bars, and then who would take me into their arms and kiss me every day?”
“That’s the real tragedy,” Roman said, leaning closer to kiss Remy.
“Get a room!” Virgil shouted from the couch.
“You’re just jealous that Remy loves me more,” Roman joked.
Remy stretched his legs, reclining in Roman’s arms. He grinned. “Now, now, boys… there’s enough of me to go around. Besides, I don’t pick favourites.” He paused for a moment. “And, if I had to, I’d pick Thomas.”
Roman stuck his tongue out at Virgil, who rolled his eyes.
“Come on,” Remy smiled at Virgil over Roman’s shoulder. “Aren’t you gonna come give me a kiss, too, gorgeous?”
***
If he had been with anybody else, Remy would have scowled at the loss of his sunglasses. But he was with Remus, and he was used to this, so instead he just smiled, tilting his head up to meet his boyfriend’s eyes.
Remus dropped the sunglasses on the couch beside them, grabbing Remy’s face – a little roughly, but not hard enough to hurt.
“I want to steal your eyes.”
This probably would’ve alarmed Remy, but he was used to this kind of language from Remus, so instead he just laughed quietly, poking Remus’s shoulder.
“I think I’d rather you didn’t, pumpkin,” Remy said. “I kinda need them. How else am I supposed to admire your gorgeous face?”
Remus nodded, humming. “Good point.”  
He ran one finger down the side of Remy’s face, the other hand holding his face in place as he stared into Remy’s eyes. Perhaps this should’ve been uncomfortable, but how could Remy feel anything but comfort when he was curled up in Remus’s lap, half under a blanket, with some horror movie that neither of them were paying attention to playing in the background.
“I’m gonna copy them,” Remus decided finally.
“Copy them?”
Remus nodded eagerly, his thumb resting just below Remy’s left eye. “Uh huh! I’m gonna make copies of your eyes that I can keep with me even when you’re not around.” Suddenly, he gasped, and then grinned. “I wonder what they’ll taste like.”
Remy wrinkled his nose. “Gross.”
Remus took that as a compliment, as Remy knew he would.  
“Thanks!” He exclaimed, one hand moving to squeeze Remy’s waist, before pulling him into a predictably messy kiss.
***
Remy hadn’t meant to stop in the middle of the hallway, but he was distracted very easily, and, after pausing mid-step to read a text, he ended up standing there for almost five minutes. He didn’t look up when he heard footsteps behind him, and when he felt a hand on the small of his back, he knew exactly who it was.
“Hey, babe,” Remy greeted, his eyes remaining on his phone screen. “Just one sec, I’m arguing with my mom.”
“How can you always tell when it’s me?” Thomas asked.  
Remy shrugged, finishing his text, before stuffing his phone back into his pocket. He then turned and wrapped his arms around Thomas’s neck.
“I dunno,” He said. “It’s just… obvious.”
“What, have you got like a… sixth sense for it, or something?” Thomas joked.
Remy laughed. “Nah, I’m just perceptive like that.”
He then kissed Thomas, quick and soft, before pulling back slightly. There was a beat, and then Thomas grinned, a glint that screamed either Remus or Roman – there wasn’t time for Remy to decipher it – in his eyes. Before Remy could question it, Thomas dipped him with a laugh that was absolutely Remy’s favourite sound.  
He kissed him again and again and again and then once more on his neck to make him laugh.
“Did Roman tell you to do that?” Remy asked, his sunglasses slipping to reveal eyes that were so bright and happy that Thomas’s heart felt just a little too big for his ribcage.
“I can decide to do things on my own, you know,” Thomas teased.
Remy raised an eyebrow.
“Okay, fine,” Thomas admitted. “But Roman wasn’t actually the only one telling me to do that.”
“I’m sure.”
A moment passed, and then Thomas’s smile softened. “I love you so much, we all do.”
“I know,” Remy said, one hand moving up to cradle Thomas’s face. “I love you, too.”
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winryofresembool · 3 years
Text
Things We Lost in the Fire, ch 28
aka Caleo uni au
Fic summary: Calypso starts studying at a new university, but to her annoyance her new flatmate is a loud mouthed mechanic who also likes to sneak his dog in whenever. But as she learns to know him better, she realizes they might have more in common than what she first thought. Eventually, even the darkest secrets come out…
Chapter summary: At Waystation, pt 1/?
A/N: Alright, an update and this time /almost/ on time! So, here's the thing: we are starting the so called 'Waystation arc', which will be many, many chapters because I have way too many ideas despite the fact that Leo and Cal won't even be there that long. So, please bear with me, I know this chapter is kind of a fillery one but I can't really skip the introductions 😅 More interesting stuff will definitely happen soon enough!
I hope that you guys enjoy (seriously it really always warms my heart to see your wonderful comments ♥) and maybe leave some nice words if you feel like it!!
Words: 2700+
Genre: romance & hurt/comfort
Warnings: none
previous chapter / AO3
...
”So, here we are…” Leo told Calypso when he stopped his car, the faithful Argo II, in the yard of Waystation. Both of their exams were finished and Calypso had taken a few days off work so she could join Leo at his family home for the holidays. “What do you think?” he asked, possibly a bit nervous about his flatmate’s opinion. Calypso could understand that; she knew that it was a very important place to him.
She took in her surroundings: a big, old house where the family lived and several other buildings such as a garage and a shelter for the animals next to it. Even though she and Leo were still in the car, she could already hear the sharp barking of Festus the German shepherd somewhere further in the yard. The place wasn’t all that showy especially compared to what she had seen in her childhood, but there were a lot of mysterious corners and fascinating looking objects around that screamed to be observed more closely. Unlike the place where she had been living several years of her life, to her this place… seemed home-y.
“It… looks cozy,” she finally answered Leo's question when she realized he kept looking at her expectantly. “I think I can see why you like it here.”
“Yeah!” Leo seemed happy to hear Calypso liked it. “I like to call it a well organized chaos - just the way it should be in Leo’s world. But c’mon, my fam must be waiting already.”
“Let’s go, then.”
Leo barely had time to open the door of the car and stand up when Festus ran and jumped at him, trying to drown him in wet dog kisses.
“Woah, buddy! I’m glad to see you too!” Leo exclaimed and attempted to pet him even though it was hard because Festus was all over the place. “It’s my holiday break so I’ll be here with you for a long while! Isn’t that great?”
Festus gave him a small bark and wagged his tail even faster as a response. Calypso followed the exchange between the boy and his dog with amusement.
“Not sure if I should be jealous of your… you call it bromance, right?” she teased, while smiling widely. Already she had noticed that Leo seemed more relaxed in this place, and for some reason that made her feel warm and fuzzy even though she tried to battle such feelings.
“Aww, why would you be jealous? I have space in my heart for both of you,” he winked and Calypso had to look away so that he wouldn’t see her blush - again.
“No reason,” she mumbled and got out of the car as well, causing Festus to leave Leo alone and come to greet her instead. “Hi, you!” she managed to say while getting showered with love by the dog. “I guess this means you still remember me!”
“Of course he does,” Leo grinned at her. “I think you made quite an impression on him earlier. Hey, boy!” he whistled at the dog who returned to him. “I’m still your number one man, right?”
“Now who’s jealous?” Calypso chuckled at him. “He was just getting started with me.”
“That’s what you think,” Leo claimed. He had already taken his luggage from the car and now he was waiting for Calypso to do the same so he could lock the doors. She just stuck her tongue out at him instead of replying to his comment.
“Wait, are you planning to move here?” He asked with amusement when Calypso dragged her suitcase out of the car. Even though she would be staying at Waystation for less than a week, she had taken quite a lot of things with her just to be sure she wasn’t missing anything. “Not that I have anything against you living with my family… It’s just that that…” he pointed at the suitcase, “… looks a bit excessive considering we’re not staying that long and we can just drive or even walk back to our flat any time we want to if we need something.”
“You can never be too well prepared in situations like this!” Calypso stated, pulling her suitcase behind her while Festus followed her happily.
“Okay, okay,” Leo put his hand up in defeat and started following Calypso towards the house. “I believe you.”
“Calie, Calie!” a young brown haired girl exclaimed happily when the flatmates made it inside the house. “You came!”
“Hi, Georgina!” Calypso greeted the girl. “I did promise you, and both you and I know that promises should be kept, right?” Even at the risk of the trip being very awkward because of everything that was currently going on between her and Leo, she wasn’t planning to disappoint this little girl. She knew too well how that felt.
“Right!” Georgina agreed with her. “So, how has my brother been lately? Super annoying, as usual?”
Calypso was unsure what she should answer to that question, especially since Leo was listening right next to her. “Umm… he hasn’t been that bad, in my opinion… Sure, he has his annoying moments but I think the exams have kept him so busy that he has mostly been behaving himself.” She smiled at the girl, one part of her hoping Leo knew better than to take her too seriously. But then again, they had been bickering since day one, and apparently, he still liked her.
“Yeah, and Calypso has been somewhat behaving herself too, thanks for asking,” Leo intervened, looking slightly annoyed. “Well, what about you, sis? Did you pass all your tests?”
“I did but the math one was super difficult! Maybe you can help me with it when the school starts again?” Georgina gave Leo the kind of puppy eyes that would have been hard to resist for anyone. And sure enough, Leo’s frown melted quickly when she kept looking at him pleadingly.
“Of course I can help! That’s what I’m here for, right?” he answered without hesitation. Then he frowned again. “But where are our mothers? I thought they’d catch us like hawks the moment we arrived.”
“They’re probably busy making a big dinner,” Georgina noted. “I don’t think they’ve talked about anything else except you two the whole day…”
“Really?” Leo asked. “That’s… weird? I do visit here often enough…”
“Yeah, but how often do you visit with a girl?” Georgina pointed out sneakily. The girl was really observant for her age, Calypso thought. She and Leo exchanged quick looks before Leo answered.
“Listen, Georgie. Cal and I are friends. And flatmates obviously. But we are not dating, I hope you know that,” he said firmly, even though Calypso could sense that he wished he could have told her something else.
“Then how come she’s spending the holidays with us? Doesn’t she have her own family to spend it with?”
It was an innocent question, as Georgina had no idea about Calypso’s home circumstances, but it had still hit a bit too close to home to Calypso and Leo knew that. That’s why he rushed to answer for her: “Hey, now, miss Nosy! Cal has her own reasons why she prefers spending the holidays with us, and she doesn’t have to explain them all to you. The main thing is that she’s here and I hope you won’t bother her by asking more of your annoying questions.”
“Now you’re just being rude,” Georgina grimaced at him. “But fiiine, I won’t ask more questions. I’ll go tell moms that you guys arrived.”
“Go do that,” Leo sighed, and rolled his eyes when she was already out of sight. “Sorry ‘bout that,” he told Calypso as he showed her where she could put her outerwear. “For the first 15 years of my life I didn’t have a sibling and somehow I thought it would be great to have one… She /is/ pretty great most of the time but no one told me beforehand that sometimes siblings can be quite nuisances too.”
Calypso’s face fell a bit as she thought about her own sister and how much she sometimes wished she could see her again. Luckily Leo seemed to realize pretty fast that he had said something wrong.
“Oh, shit, I’m sorry! I didn’t remember… I mean, I know I’m lucky to have a sister like her, I just… Um, I’m just gonna shut up now.”
“Don’t worry about it,” Calypso tried to calm him down. “It’s an easy mistake to make. I haven’t talked about her a lot to you…”
“As someone who has also lost a family member, I understand why you don't wanna do that, Sunshine. But hey,” he stepped closer to her, sticking his index finger close enough to her chin that she had to lift it, but not close enough that it would have touched her. “You’re visiting casa de Valdez & co and we have a rule here that we should put the nasty stuff behind us, at least during the visit.”
“You mean like, ‘Hakuna matata’?” Calypso asked, having heard the story of Leo loving Lion King as a child. As their eyes met, she could feel the butterflies flying in her stomach again.
“Yep, now you’re speaking my language, babe.”
“Babe?” Calypso raised her eyebrow but was interrupted before she could say more because Leo’s adoptive mothers finally entered the room. Calypso had already met Jo earlier, but Emmie hadn’t been with her and Georgina that time. She had a long, grey braid, and something about her posture told her that the woman had done a lot of sports back in the day. She was wearing an apron over her work clothes and she was smiling at her in a friendly manner when their eyes met.
Jo greeted Calypso first.
“Hello, it’s nice to see you again.” Then she pointed at the woman next to her. “This is my wife, Emmie. You haven’t met her yet, right?"
“Correct.”
“Well, hello dear,” Emmie spoke, shaking Calypso’s hand. “You must be the Calypso I keep hearing so much about. I’m not sure which of these kids has been more excited about your visit; Georgina has been asking Leo every time he visits when he’ll bring you with her. I guess that day is finally here!”
“Oh, that’s sweet,” Calypso mumbled, a bit overwhelmed by the excitement with which Leo’s Waystation family welcomed her. The more she heard, the more it felt like they really thought that Leo was bringing home someone who was /not/ just a flatmate. Despite that, she knew these people were just trying to be polite, so she couldn’t get angry at them. Especially since in different circumstances they may not have been wrong. “Thank you for having me. I’ve been looking forward to seeing this place! And of course I haven’t forgotten that I promised to teach Georgina some baking so I had to come.”
“I hope it’s not too much trouble,” Emmie said, a lot like Jo during the visit to Leo and Calypso’s flat. “Leo has of course told us that you’re a rather busy person these days so we wish you get some resting time too.”
“No, it’s not a problem at all,” Calypso shook her head, smiling at Georgina who was looking at her expectantly. “I like having something to do with my hands; I’m not used to just sitting around.”
“That’s great,” Emmie said approvingly. “I don’t think you will have a boring moment in this household. Now, let us show you to our guest room upstairs and then we can all go dine together.”
“Sounds good,” Calypso agreed and started following the women further into the house.
After setting her things into a guest room with a big bed, an old mahogany desk, some flowers by the window and a fascinating looking bookshelf, Calypso was led into the dining room where the dinner was waiting.
“Smells so good,” she told the others before she knew what kind of meal Leo’s mothers had prepared. “Reminds me of something I’ve tasted at home…”
“A little bird told us that you like Greek food,” Emmie said mysteriously.
When Leo had told his mothers Calypso and he would be visiting Waystation, they had asked him what kind of food she liked. Calypso had once mentioned that she missed eating some of the traditional Greek foods she had gotten as a child, so that’s what Leo had suggested. The women of Waystation had ended up making moussaka and along with it (much to Leo’s dismay) some salad with lots of olives in it.
“You didn’t...!” Calypso exclaimed when she saw what was inside the frying pan, clapping her hands together. “I loved it when mum made this when I was a kid! I probably last ate it when I was 10…” Something warm rose to her chest when it sunk into her that someone had seen that much effort to make her feel welcomed. “Thank you so much.”
“You’re very welcome, dear,” Jo said. “We know you’re a very important person to Leo – even though he may be a bit bad at expressing his real thoughts sometimes – so we wanted to make sure that you know that you’re always welcome to visit us.”
“I’m sure I would have been convinced about that even with less effort,” Calypso reassured Leo’s mothers, pretending to ignore the hidden meaning behind the older woman’s words. “But I appreciate it a lot.”
“Guys, I don’t know about you but I’m starving, so can we please skip the pleasantries and just start eating?” Leo asked impatiently, drumming a glass on the dining table with a spoon.
“Some things never change,” Georgina joined the conversation, elbowing her adoptive brother. “Leo’s always so impatient when it comes to food.”
“But Leonidas,” Calypso started when she took a closer look at the salad that was being served, giving him a lopsided grin. Clearly Georgina’s mischievousness was already getting to her. “Are you really that excited about olives? The last time I checked, you weren’t particularly enthusiastic about them.”
Leo seemed a bit less excited about the food when he realized that she was right, but before he had time to comment, Emmie spoke first.
“What? You made Leo eat olives? That’s a story I’d like to hear,” she urged Calypso, and the latter mentioned did not have to be convinced twice to tell the story.
“Alright. One Saturday evening we decided to cook some Greek and Mexican style food just for fun. I of course had some olives in the salad I made and asked Leo to taste it, but he didn’t like it so somehow we ended up making a deal that if I eat one of his chilis, he eats his olives.”
“Yep, and you lost,” Leo pointed out immediately.
“I’ve said this before and I will say it again that it was an unfair bet! Those chilis were /hot/. Olives can actually be consumed without burning your mouth.” Calypso retorted.
“Wait, are you talking about the chilis that Leo has gotten from here?” Emmie asked. “Ouch, Leo, those things really are spicy. I am on Calypso’s side here; it /was/ an unfair bet.”
“Not you too!” Leo protested, crossing his arms. “Nothing happened; she only ate a little and I gave her some bread and milk afterwards. And eventually we both laughed at the whole thing.”
“Wow, brother, that was almost gentlemanly of you,” Georgina stated, clearly proud of the fancy word she had just used. “Calie, he would probably have just let me suffer if I had eaten that chili pepper.”
“Yep, because you’re just a little twerpette,” Leo replied while ruffling Georgina’s hair affectionately.
“Ahem,” Jo finally interrupted the banter. “I love hearing these stories but we don’t want Calypso’s welcome dinner to get cold, do we? So let’s dig in.”
The others didn’t have to be told twice. As everyone was eating the moussaka (Calypso noticed Leo had even taken an olive on his plate to show the others he could) and chatting about various things, Calypso really did start feeling welcomed and she even caught herself thinking that Jo was probably right; she wouldn’t be having a boring moment here.
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cartoonsliveon · 4 years
Text
Captured
Ever since I saw the Impossi-bin episode, and how Donald was written as a “suspected traitor” on the white board, I couldn’t help but think about if F.O.W.L. ever captured any of the Duck fam. And if he captured Donald and Della, how that might just go... *shrugs*
“Ahhh! Della- Ow!!!”
“Hold still,” She snapped, grumbling softly under her breath, “You big baby.”
There was no real heat behind Donald’s glare as he watched his twin sister, only exhaustion... and a little bit of fear. Della continued to tie her scarf tightly around his arm, watching as the light blue fabric already began to darken.
“There,” Her hands hovered in the air awkwardly, she wasn’t sure what to do with them. Let them dangle at her sides or fold them in her lap? She isn’t entirely sure anymore. Donald isn’t looking at her anymore, finding the floor and his feet so much more interesting. The tips of her fingers are tinged red from his blood, and even though this isn’t the first time she’s had to patch her brother up, the sight of it makes her incredibly uneasy. A ball of anxiety makes its presence known to her again. 
And Della hates it. Because how in the world did they end up in this situation anyways? It’s a rhetorical question of course, she remembers the adventure clearly. The Stone of What Was, so tiny and unassuming. Louie and Dewey had looked down upon it, so entirely unimpressed with the simplicity of it. Uncle Scrooge tucking it into a satchel, which swayed with his hips and bounced with each jump. The chaos that surrounded the adventure and grew once they reached it. Della’s heart hammers as she reflects. F.O.W.L., in almost full force. The fighting, the lasers, Donald throwing himself at the giant rooster with the metal beak with so much force and rage.
Somewhere in the fighting, the cave’s structure began to deteriorate. Somewhere in it all, Donald and Della had gotten separated from Scrooge and the kids in the midst of keeping their family safe. And instead of finding Scrooge, and the kids, and returning home, they were here. In a cell.
“I wouldn’t do that if I were you.”
“What?” She looks up to see her brother giving her a very pointed, knowing look.
“You’re about to punch the wall. I wouldn’t do that if I were you.”
“No I wasn’t.”
“Yes you were,” Donald rolled his eyes, “You had that angry look on your face. The one you always make before you’re about to explode.”
“I did not.”
“Did too.”
“Did not.”
“Did-”
“Bickering like children, are we?”
If looks could kill, Bradford would have been nothing but ash and maybe a few smoking tail feathers. He met their gaze though, as if their combined anger was not a force to be feared or reckoned with. It was as though he were meeting the angry, unforgiving looks of two children than two adults. He can’t help but give them more than a brief once over though, because he’d seen these two grow up after all. Once upon a time, they’d been children just like the triplets and Webby. Up to nothing but trouble and mischief. He eyes the scarf wrapped around Donald’s arm, the bruises darkening along Della’s beak. The disarrayed feathers. 
“You aren’t going to get away with this, Scrooge is going to come for us,” Della demands, crossing her arms over her chest.
“You really believe that?”
It’s such a risky, wildcard thing to say. Bradford knows Donald and Della well. Not as well as Scrooge, but well enough to know that this could strike a chord with them, if done right. To his great surprise, not that he dares show it of course, identical looks of confusion spread across their faces. He sees Donald tense and shoot a side eye look at Della. 
Neither of them interrupt or argue, they’re surprisingly silent. He pushes on before the moment is lost.
“You vanished for ten years. You were on the Moon for ten years. The easiest place to look. The closest thing you could have crashed onto. He gave up on you when searches became a financial loss.”
“That’s a lie and you know it. You forced Uncle Scrooge to-”
“And he listened to me,” Bradford snapped back, “If he cared about you and truly, truly believed you were still out there, he wouldn’t have listened to me. If he loved you, he wouldn’t have let anything or anyone stop him.”
His gaze immediately turned to Donald, “No one even knew you were missing. Your month long cruise, spent as a prisoner on the Moon and then trapped on an island. You come back and he gives you nothing but grief and insults. No one even had the decency to try and tell you your sister was back the minute she showed up at the door. If Scrooge cared about you, he would have thought about you and your feelings. He would consider your input. Value your opinions.”
“You don’t know what you’re talking about.”
“Don’t I?” Bradford asks, “Did you know your brother raised the boys for ten years bouncing from job to job, sacrificing everything so they could have food on the table and clothes on their backs?  Would feel love and protected? He sheltered them. If Scrooge cared about either of you, wouldn’t he have done everything he could to make sure Donald had help? Support?”
“Or what about the way he manipulates you, Della, into doing what he wants without you realizing it? Instigating your competitiveness as siblings? ‘Isn’t there another strong duck you know who’s never lost a fight?’ ‘You mean Donald?’, he played you.”
Donald’s hands folded tightly into two shaking fists, the duck struggling to maintain eye contact with Bradford. Della felt nothing but cold fury start to fill her. She never doubted Uncle Scrooge, not his ability to constantly undermine and defeat his foes, not in his ability to think his way out of situations, not in his strength, and most definitely his love for them. But even now, even though she knows that their uncle loves them, she can’t help but feel something in her twist and squirm at Bradford’s words (possibly that very doubt she has never felt before? She refuses to give it a label). 
But she knows Donald doesn’t think the same way she does. His relationship with Scrooge has never been.... as smooth as hers. It’s full of bumps, pot holes, and steep turns. She doesn’t doubt Scrooge’s love for them. Donald doesn’t always feel that same confidence, not about himself. She stares at Bradford, wishing that there wasn’t a plexiglass wall between them. If Bradford is making this.... feeling.... bubble up in her, she can only imagine how much of a struggle it is for Donald to not let his insecurities get the better of him. To remain as impassive as possible. And for that she wants to strangle this good for nothing buzzard. 
Especially when she sees the way Bradford stares at Donald now. Not the two of them. Not at just her. But Donald.
“If he doesn’t wipe that smug look off your ugly beak,” Della growls, “I will. Uncle Scrooge loves us. He’s coming for us.”
“Is this really the way you want it all to end? Blindly following a man who has caused you so much grief?” Bradford tsks, ignoring Della.
“What do you want from us Bradford,” Donald’s voice is a heavy sigh, tired and resigned. He uncurls one fist, mainly to grab Della’s wrist. She doesn’t realize, until he strokes his thumb over her knuckles how tightly her own fists are clenched, “Why are you even here?”
“I want the same thing that you want,” Donald doesn’t like how that sounds at all. He doubts the buzzard truly wants what they do, “For all this chaos and madness to end. Your uncle is meddling with things he shouldn’t, and everyone else has to pay the consequences. He has to be stopped. Duckburg has dealt with enough chaos and madness. The world has dealt with enough. Hasn’t it been enough already? Haven’t you both suffered enough?”
Both twins give a snort as they chuckle, both of them raising identical eyebrows as they stare at Bradford. It makes a chill crawl up his spine. The way they do that, being able to act simultaneously in the littlest ways. So different and yet so identical. So similar. It’s chilling to anyone who isn’t used to it. Who doesn’t see it every day like Scrooge and his family. 
“If you honestly think that we’re just going to betray our family like that-” Donald can’t help but shake his head slightly at the idea as Della continues for him, “Then you’re dumber than Glomgold. And that’s saying something!”
“Nothing you say is going to change anything,” Della continued, “so you and your stupid lackeys can shove it up your-”
“Not even for the kids?”
Bradford couldn’t help but smirk a little wider when he saw Donald and Della stare at him in silence. The fear shining in their eyes. Perhaps he should have mentioned the children sooner. Perhaps he should have just led with that. But what fun would that have been? What sort of villain would he be if he didn’t make them squirm a little bit and drag up things neither of them wished to dwell on.
“They’re all so young,” Bradford shook his head, “Is this what you want for them? For them to run straight into danger and pay for Scrooge’s mistakes? Haven’t they already suffered enough?”
“Nothing bad has to happen to them,” Bradford reminded, “They don’t have to get hurt. They can grow up, safe, and normal. That was what you wanted, right Donald? For them to be safe? That’s why you cut all connection from Scrooge in the first place. I can make sure they don’t get caught in the crossfire. I can make sure none of my operatives harm a single feather on their head.”
“You’re bluffing,” Della snapped, “You-you’re lying!”
“What would I possibly gain from lying to the two of you?”
Neither Donald or Della had a response to that. And Donald hated it. He hated not having anything to say. He desperately wanted to fly into an angry rage and curse Bradford out in front of him. But he was filled with fear and this little voice, the same voice that told him to take the triplets and leave Scrooge ten years ago, fretting over the kids. What if Scrooge didn’t come for them? What if he did and wandered into the obvious trap waiting for him? What if the kids...?
“I’ll give you both some time to think about everything,” Bradford folded his hands behind his back, “I’m going to test that little theory of yours. If you’re so sure Scrooge will come, let’s see if he’ll be willing to make a trade.”
Bradford expected the two ducks to argue. To say that Scrooge wouldn’t give F.O.W.L. the Stone of What Was. That he’ll see through the trap. But they didn’t. Instead, Donald and Della turned to look at each other. And Bradford watched as they stared at one another, a silent conversation being communicated by the more subtle facial expressions. He turned, leaving them in silence until the door shut behind him.
Donald and Della stared at one another, simultaneously sighing as they let the situation fully seep in and try to mentally prepare themselves for the burden it is about to drop on them.
“Ah phooey,” They mutter together.
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morkofday · 3 years
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Huo Dao Fu
Because I am kinda obsessed with him
ooohhh i was so excited when i saw this ask!! i’ve always wanted to think about huo daofu some more bc we see so little of him and he’s just so cool. so i don’t blame you for your obsession haha. i wish you get something out of my ramblings!
(placing under a cut so that everyone doesn’t have to be subjected to huo daofu’s very scrutinizing stare. also, spoiler alert for sand sea ig?)
How I feel about this character
Damn this is difficult. I still remember when I got introduced to Huo Daofu in Reboot and was absolutely livid with him. How he refused to help Pangzi and was just frying some damn dumplings like?? Sir??? There is a dying man at the back of that van, please do something??? But at the same time, I was just about to burst with all of the questions I suddenly had because I didn’t know who he was or who he was to Wu Xie and why he would be Wu Xie’s last resort at the doors of death but. He was so cool? And I instantly wanted to know everything about him imagine my disappointment when I learned so little at the end).
So, after my initial shock had faded, I ended up liking him. He is possibly the coolest character in the whole of DMBJ. I would kill for him, though I think he would kill me instead for that if I ever dared. He’s just so capable. I love how unaffected by everything he is while still caring about others a lot. He’s one of those “Mention an emotion to me and I will run away screaming” -type of people. I adore that. Though I am also very curious about how he ended up being like this.
And then we get to Sand Sea where I was so happy to see him again? Even more so because that version of him was somehow so different! He was being so powerful. I could feel him oozing some kind of commanding aura while still standing by that Chen guy. I knew he was in charge. Everyone else knew he was in charge too. He knew he was going to abandon that man’s ass as soon as possible. 
And then I hated him for Yang Hao because. Yeah well. I guess Yang Hao made his own (bad) choices there but that is not a way to treat anyone in that type of situation. But then there was also the glimpse of care Huo Daofu showed to Yang Hao and? Yeah. he is so complicated. I want to pry him apart. I want to make him spill his every secret so that I can inspect him properly. I want to see more of him because he is just so full of mysteries and I adore him as a very unwillingly willing part of this team. He is doing amazing (especially with the outfits!)
All the people I ship romantically with this character
I don’t know if it can be called shipping but I really do believe that he and Wu Xie were a thing at some point. Maybe sometime a lot before the events of Sand Sea. Maybe they dated for a couple of months and everything about it was very bad and toxic. Maybe they still cared for each other with all the heart they had left at that point. I don’t think they ever loved each other or actually acted like a proper couple with all of which Huo Daofu would call “lovey-dovey bullshit” but I think they got attached. There was some type of security found in the other’s presence maybe. Something good but twisted in colliding like that, in all the bad ways. I don’t know, I just really like the thought. And somehow all their bickering in Reboot and the way Wu Xie says, “There was something between us” (partly because I was not aware of Sand Sea) made me just instantly go, “Ah, so they’re exes.” Also, they make way too many eyes at each other? I have no idea what that is about if not this?? Damn.
My non-romantic OTP for this character
Hmm. Huo Daofu doesn’t really create that many specific bonds but I do adore him as the member of our Desperado Fam in Reboot. He comes to care for those people and they come to care for him. Especially him with Bai Haotian stands out for me because that feels like something that could really bloom. Huo Daofu might appear cold and emotionless but I think no one can stay like that in front of Bai Haotian’s brightness. I also feel like those two could collide mentally? In a way that like, they would really be on the same wavelength with each other? They are both very intelligent and part of some type of organization (army and Warehouse 11, both in the past now I suppose) that has used them and they have run from in a sense? To have this new life? I don’t know. But I feel like they would understand each other.
Then there are Huo Daofu with Yang Hao and Xiuxiu. I talked about him and Xiuxiu in my post for her so you can check that out if you want (here’s a link). I like the thought of them and explained them more there so I’m not wasting more space on that. And I really want to talk about his fragile and very bad, very good relationship with Yang Hao! Because yes, they are absolutely horrible in Sand Sea. I didn’t want that for Yang Hao and I was crying so much as all of that was happening but I do like the thought of them together. They are somehow very similar? Both outsiders and not as confident as they appear to be. Both in some way abandoned by the world. Both ready to do anything to survive. I think Huo Daofu manages to get under Yang Hao’s skin so well because he sees something familiar in this young boy (and absolutely despises it). Their relationship is very complicated and absolutely toxic, but they intrigued me so badly. I wanted to see more of them. I wanted to see them developing together and finding the dynamic that works for both! Because there is that one brief moment in Gutongjing where they are running away from that horrible place where all the Jiumen Association people want to go where Huo Daofu shows concern. He protects Yang Hao. He seems to take him as his responsibility and considers his safety. And that spark was somehow everything I needed to fall in love with their dynamic.
My unpopular opinion about this character
I gotta once again say that I don’t really know about any opinions regarding DMBJ in general, less so about Huo Daofu. I guess he could be someone that people don’t like but I also know that over here, everybody adores him or is at least fascinated by him. So, feel free to ask me anything if you have any thoughts yourself! I am open to any discussion regarding him ^^
One thing I wish would happen / had happened with this character in canon
Many things because we see so little of him? I wish we got to see stuff about his army surgeon days. I wish we got to see stuff about him with the Huo family perhaps? I wish we saw something about his childhood or his teenage years. In Reboot, I wish he was even more present because now he just walks in and out every time they need someone with medical skills. And I know that he wouldn’t be there for anything else than his vow as a doctor because he tries his best to keep himself unattached but! I wanted more of him. It would be so interesting to see him with even more different characters. I keep thinking about how he would be with Liu Sang or Xiaoge or Hei Xiazi. I want to understand him more. I want more of him bickering with people and being his bitchy self because I love that for him.
thanks a lot for your ask! i really wish this gave you something bc huo daofu is someone i have problems wrapping my head around. he’s amazing still and i loved talking about him! have a wonderful day ^^
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