#i'm sure there's more those are just the people I am most familiar with though I don't listen to mitski

[justagaycryptid]

Ngl I/Me/Myself is the absolute WORST song that could have gone viral for Will especially on tiktok of all places because it is an incredibly nuanced song and tiktok users are not particularly known for their understandings of nuance

#just thinking about this earlier #and really this goes for social media in general #but I'm pretty sure it blew up on tiktok #when will sang that he was afraid of his fans in um i mean its kind of a lot its just like yeah me too dude sorry about that one #ngl a lot of will wood fans are some of the absolute worst music fans I have ever seen #right up there with pre-hiatus fall out boy fans and mitski fans #i'm sure there's more those are just the people I am most familiar with though I don't listen to mitski #something something lets put the worst of will wood and mitski fans in a room together and see them fuckin kill each other or whatever #but damn will has some absolute shitty fans like I feel so bad for this man he literally cannot catch a break #like holy shit leave him alone! #hopefully he has a nice hiatus because god knows hes earned a break #and yeah this was a while ago but point still stands #and yeah most of his songs are pretty nuanced but this one is probably more of a sensitive and personal one #also it's so fucking weird how bad people want will to be queer #like I don't know if he is for sure I think I saw something about him being mspec but I don't know if its true #and even if it is it's really none of my buisness #and holy shit not every gnc person is trans #though I have seen him joke about this one so thankfully he doesn't seem too bothered by it anymore #that or he's got a good sense of humor about it #but holy shit it's really just one thing after another for him #will wood #shouting into the void

[absentlyabbie]

seriously, though. i work in higher education, and part of my job is students sending me transcripts. you'd think the ones who have the least idea how to actually do that would be the older ones, and while sure, they definitely struggle with it, i see it most with the younger students. the teens to early 20s crowd.

very, astonishingly often, they don't know how to work with .pdf documents. i get garbage phone screenshots, sometimes inserted into an excel or word file for who knows what reason, but most often it's just a raw .jpg or other image file.

they definitely either don't know how to use a scanner, don't have access to one, or don't even know where they might go for that (staples and other office supply stores sometimes still have these services, but public libraries always have your back, kids.) so when they have a paper transcript and need to send me a copy electronically, it's just terrible photos at bad angles full of thumbs and text-obscuring shadows.

mind bogglingly frequently, i get cell phone photos of computer screens. they don't know how to take a screenshot on a computer. they don't know the function of the Print Screen button on the keyboard. they don't know how to right click a web page, hit "print", and choose "save as PDF" to produce a full and unbroken capture of the entirety of a webpage.

sometimes they'll just copy the text of a transcript and paste it right into the message of an email. that's if they figure out the difference between the body text portion of the email and the subject line, because quite frankly they often don't.

these are people who in most cases have done at least some college work already, but they have absolutely no clue how to utilize the attachment function in an email, and for some reason they don't consider they could google very quickly for instructions or even videos.

i am not taking a shit on gen z/gen alpha here, i'm really not.

what i am is aghast that they've been so massively failed on so many levels. the education system assumed they were "native" to technology and needed to be taught nothing. their parents assumed the same, or assumed the schools would teach them, or don't know how themselves and are too intimidated to figure it out and teach their kids these skills at home.

they spend hours a day on instagram and tiktok and youtube and etc, so they surely know (this is ridiculous to assume!!!) how to draft a formal email and format the text and what part goes where and what all those damn little symbols means, right? SURELY they're already familiar with every file type under the sun and know how to make use of whatever's salient in a pinch, right???

THEY MUST CERTAINLY know, innately, as one knows how to inhale, how to type in business formatting and formal communication style, how to present themselves in a way that gets them taken seriously by formal institutions, how to appear and be competent in basic/standard digital skills. SURELY. Of course. RIGHT!!!!

it's MADDENING, it's insane, and it's frustrating from the receiving end, but even more frustrating knowing they're stumbling blind out there in the digital spaces of grown-up matters, being dismissed, being considered less intelligent, being talked down to, because every adult and system responsible for them just

ASSUMED they should "just know" or "just figure out" these important things no one ever bothered to teach them, or half the time even introduce the concepts of before asking them to do it, on the spot, with high educational or professional stakes.

kids shouldn't have to supplement their own education like this and get sneered and scoffed at if they don't.

[wp-blaze]

Chapter 1: The Gateway to Passive Income: Affiliate Marketing 101

Welcome to the exciting world of affiliate marketing, a realm where passive income meets limitless potential. If you’ve ever dreamt of making money online without the heavy lifting involved in product creation, this guide is your golden ticket. So, let’s dive into the why, what,…

[caapsiizzereads]

I got your heart skippin' when I'm gone

Jamie Tartt x f!reader

Words: 2,3k

Warnings: language, author’s first attempt at writing🥴

A/n: yes, the title is, indeed, a Taylor reference.

A glass of champagne in your hand, you are standing in the company of Frank, your boss, and a few other of your colleagues, chatting about how good of a job they did at setting up today’s event. A bunch of compliments are also directed at you and Frank for all of the work you’ve done leading up to this. You know you’re great at your job, but moments like this really make you feel fucking good about yourself. At 26, you can proudly say that you are the Assistant Creative Director for one of the biggest jewelry brands in England. And today your company is celebrating the launch of their latest collection that you’ve been working really hard on. The past couple of months have been terribly busy, Frank and you practically living at work and surviving purely on caffeine. But now it’s finally over, and you can just relax, look pretty (“absolutely stunning,” actually, to quote Frank), and sip champagne, while people are singing you well-deserved praises.

The company’s event team really knew what they were doing too. Natalie, your friend from PR, had been very pumped for the night, rambling about all the famous people coming. You briefly went through the guest list, of course, but, honestly, you were more excited about the open bar. But if one of those guests just so happened to be lovely enough, you wouldn't mind indulging in some of that either.

An hour into the party, you were done with all the formalities, and you could switch from your neat glass of champagne to a drink more worthy of a Saturday night. You’re standing by the bar, looking at your phone, when you hear a question, seemingly directed at you.

“Can I get you a drink?” Looking at you, there’s a guy, around your age, dyed blonde hair, pretty face, really nice bone structure. His face looks familiar, but you just can’t remember why.

You give him an amused smile, “You know that they are free, right?”

“And how am I supposed to be chivalrous in these conditions?” he says theatrically.

“If buying a girl a drink is your definition of chivalrous, maybe you shouldn’t even try,” you say, your voice full of sarcasm, but still a smile on your face.

He chuckles lightly and smiles at you, “I’m Jamie.” Really pretty smile too.

“Y/n,” as a force of habit you offer him your hand to shake. The gesture seems to surprise him a little bit, but he goes with it anyway, shaking your hand lightly.

The two of you settle next to each other by the bar with an easygoing chatter. You’ve been talking for about 10 minutes, when Jamie says that he’s a football player, and it finally clicks for you.

“Oh my God.” You tilt your head down and cover your eyes with your hand in embarrassment. “You’re Jamie Tartt. You were in our campaign a few months ago. Fuck, I’m so sorry. My memory, like, resets once the campaign is done and it’s not my problem anymore.”

Jamie smiles almost shyly at your realization. “No, no, it’s fine! I’m sure you go through a lot of those, can’t remember everyone.” He definitely remembered you, though. Not that he’s gonna tell you that. And a part of him is even kinda relieved that you didn’t because–

“On second thought, I do remember you. You were, like, 40 fucking minutes late.” Yeah, that. You didn’t speak to him directly that day, but the look on your face was the most passive-aggressive thing he’d ever seen. Honestly, could give Roy a run for his money. Except that your version also looked kinda hot. But he still would rather not be at the receiving end of that glare ever again.

“I’m sorry! I underestimated the traffic,” he says awkwardly. And to think that this has been going well…

You take a sip of your drink, giving him an unimpressed look.

“I’m not getting invited again, am I?”

“Well, you are on my naughty list, but I wouldn't write you off that fast. You attract a nice audience of sports fans and sportsmen fans.” Jamie can swear you have just checked him out. “And you have a nice neck, you know, makes the necklaces look good. But that’s just my professional opinion.”

You said it in the most nonchalant way, but you might have just become the first person to make Jamie Tartt flustered. He decides to push his luck some more.

“And your personal opinion?”

“That you were 40 fucking minutes late,” you deadpan.

No luck, then.

“So,” Jamie perks up again at your attempt to keep the conversation going, “did you have a match earlier today? Or is it tomorrow?”

“Yeah, it was today.”

“How was it?”

A smug smile appears on his face, “We won, 3-1.”

“Well,” you raise your glass, “cheers to that.”

Jamie clinks his glass to yours, “Cheers.” You both take a sip of your drinks.

“So you’re not into football then?” Jamie asks, once you put down your glasses.

“Nope,” with a dramatic ‘p’. “Don’t take it personally. I’m not really into any sports,” you say blithely.

The conversation keeps flowing easily between you two. 30 minutes later, you are pretty sure that you are taking this man home with you tonight. Jamie seems genuine, in a cute kind of way, (mostly unintentionally) funny, attractive, obviously, and there’s something about him that you just know that he would be such a good time. 40 minutes later, you even consider letting him stay for breakfast. 45 minutes later, however, you start feeling a slight headache, but fuck if you will let it ruin your night, so you decide to just ignore it and hope it will take a hint and go away.

No such luck. The universe must truly hate you, because about an hour and a half into your conversation with Jamie you feel like someone is kicking your skull from the inside. You’ve tried to ignore it to the best of your ability, but this party suddenly isn’t any fun anymore. Fuck. Your. Life. You are aware that Jamie is saying something, his voice being a steady background noise, but you don’t have a clue what he just said because all you can focus on is a throbbing pain in your head. That’s when you know that you should just give up and go home.

Jamie notices your attention slipping away and your smile faltering as he speaks. Then you look away for a moment before looking back at him with a smile, saying that it was nice talking to him and wishing him a good night. You get up from your seat and start walking away before he can even process what has just happened.

You’re putting on your coat when you see Jamie quickly walking up to you with a concerned expression on his face. “Did I say something wrong? I’m sorry, I didn’t mean–”

You don’t let him finish, “No, no, no! You’re good.” Jamie keeps looking at you with an obvious question on his face. “It’s just–,” you gesture at your head with a circling motion, “my head is fucking killing me. So I'm gonna go home, take some Ibuprofen and pray it goes away.”

Jamie’s face changes from concern to understanding. You think that this is it, so you turn to leave, but then he speaks up again. “I can give you a ride?” It was more of a question than a statement.

“No, it’s fine. Really. I’ll just get an uber.”

“It really is no problem. Come on,” he’s looking at you expectantly.

You think on it for a moment and give him an evaluating look. “I’m not inviting you in.”

“Oh. No! I didn’t mean it like that! I was really just–”

“Relax. I was just making sure you don’t have any false hopes.”

“Nope, no false hopes here.”

“Good,” you nod at him.

You walk to his car and Jamie opens the door for you. He sees you smiling at him approvingly.

“What?”

“See, now you’re being chivalrous,” you say playfully before getting in the car. Jamie closes the door after you and gives himself a moment to blush in privacy. After starting the car, he turns the volume on the radio all the way down and opens a window a little bit for you. You lean back in your seat and give him a small smile, “Thanks.”

Your talk on the way home consists mostly of you giving Jamie the directions and his attempts on small talk.

“Do you get them a lot?”

“No, not really. Only when it’s the least convenient apparently.”

“Maybe it’s because you–“

“If you’re about to say that it’s because I don't drink enough water, I'm jumping out of this car at full speed.”

Jamie’s mouth opens, closes, and opens again. “Actually, I was going to say…” he pauses again.

You raise your eyebrows at him, prompting him to go on.

“I was going to say… that it’s probably because of your hard work schedule, yeah. You know, having to deal with people being 40 minutes late and everything.” He throws a glance at you, checking if he’s managed to save the situation.

That makes you chuckle, despite the pain it causes. “You know what, I think you might be right.”

Soon, you’re parked by your building. “Thanks for the ride. It was really nice to meet you,” you say, before opening the car’s door.

“Yeah, you too,” he smiles at you.

Jamie spends another minute parked by your building. It’s only after you disappear from his view that he realizes that he hasn’t even gotten your number. He sighs and bumps his head against the steering wheel.

Meanwhile, you’re just glad to finally get your hands on some painkillers and flop on the couch, waiting for your head to stop throbbing. But an hour later, when you feel like a person again, your mind goes back to Jamie. You really liked him, huh. Hypothetically, you can look up the paperwork for the campaign he did, and his contact information should be there. Realistically, you should probably just let it go.

On Monday everything goes back to normal. After the workload that you had to deal with before the launch, the lack of a hundred points on your to-do list and constant burning deadlines almost feels like a vacation. And judging by the laid-back atmosphere at the office, you’re not the only one who feels this way.

You go out for lunch with Natalie, and after she’s done catching you up on all the fresh gossip, she can’t help but ask about your chat with Jamie Tartt. You tell her that’s exactly what it was, just a chat at the party.

She looks at you like she knows something you don’t. “That’s interesting. Because Keeley Jones, you know, from KBPR, called me earlier today to ask for your number.”

You give her a look that says “is this supposed to mean anything to me?”

Natalie dramatically rolls her eyes like it couldn’t be more obvious, “KBPR represents Jamie Tartt!”

Now it’s your turn to roll your eyes.

“Excuse me, have you seen yourself in that dress? I totally would ask for your number too.”

You smirk at her, “You have my number.”

“And now so does Keeley Jones. All I’m saying is, if you’re not interested, let him down easily. ‘Cause I'm totally planning on using him for more campaigns. Have you seen those hands?! They were meant to put rings on them. I’m sure he wouldn’t mind if you–”

You start cackling before she can even finish.

It’s just after 6pm and you’re getting in your car when your phone rings, you don’t recognize the number.

“Hello?”

“Hi! (Y/n) (Y/l/n)?”

“That’s me.”

“Hi! It’s Keeley Jones, from KBPR. Natalie gave me your number.”

“Right, she mentioned. How can I help you?”

“It’s more of a social call, actually. Jamie asked me to ask for your number. You know, Jamie Tartt, the footballer? He said you met at the brand party the other night.”

You smile to yourself, “Yeah, no, I remember him.”

“I was just gonna check if it’s okay with you?”

“Yeah, it’s fine. Thanks for asking me first, though.”

“Of course!”

Keeley then congratulates you on your launch, and you tell her that she should totally come to the next one.

Not even an hour later, another call, another unknown number.

“Yes?”

“Hi. It’s Jamie. Tartt. We met–”

“I know. Did you ask Keeley to ask Natalie for my number?” you ask teasingly.

“Maybe…? The alternative was to wait for you outside your building, but that would be creepy.”

“Yeah, better not do that.“

“Right. Uh, how’s your head?”

You chuckle at the question, “It’s fine.”

“Good, that’s good.”

“Mhm,” an amused smile is growing on your face.

“So… I was gonna ask, do you want to, I mean, if you’re not busy, maybe we could go out for dinner?” You can easily tell that he’s nervous, it’s quite cute actually.

“Alright,” the easiest yes you have ever said.

“Yeah?” Jamie wants to smack himself in the face for how hopeful that came out.

You chuckle again, “Yeah.”

“Cool. Uh, are you free tomorrow?”

“I can do tomorrow.”

“Fucking mint. I will pick you up? At seven?” You can hear the excitmenet in his voice.

“Okay.”

“Okay,” he grins.

“See you tomorrow then,” and if you’re smiling then there’s no witnesses and no one will prove anything.

“Yeah, see you,” and if he’s grinning like an idiot then it’s no one’s business.

“Oh, and Jamie?”

“Yeah?”

“Don’t be fucking late.”

#jamie tartt x reader #jamie tartt x you #jamie tartt imagine #ted lasso fic

[kkyaka]

Summary: Raising a kid is never easy, but confessing to his next door neighbor seems even harder

Pairing: Terushima Yuuji x black!fem!reader

Word Count: 31,222 (🧍🏽‍♀️)

Warnings: neighbor!au, single dad!terushima, a lot of fluffy moments, kind of a slow burn, mostly in terushima's POV, terushima is really whipped for you, terushima's friends are really annoying to him lol, oikawa makes an appearance, terushima gets a little jealous, angst sprinkled throughout but a lot towards the end, terushima and satomi's mother don't get along, terushima's a girl dad, smut: breeding kink, unprotected sex, creampie, multiple orgasms, fingering (f), brief handjob, terushima's a bit possessive, fluffy moments under the influence of alcohol (everyone is of age), kinda canon divergent, kinda not, I think I covered most of it lol

A/N: I AM IN LOVE WITH THIS FIC, I HAVE READ IT OVER AND OVER AGAIN. IM OBSSESSED. EVEN IF NO ONE LOVES, I DO AND THATS ALL THAT MATTERS. also this fic is so long and I am so sorry for that LMFAO 💀 but if you read all of it, I really appreciate it and love you. Also ik the end is kinda rushed, I'm so bad at closing out fics 😭😭😭

You always have those initial thoughts when you move into your first apartment. You’re finally on your own now, you don’t have to worry about anyone else, and you can sing as loud as you want and wear whatever you want. Something that most people forget about though is their neighbors. When you toured the place, your hallway was pretty quiet, so you went in with the expectation that you wouldn’t be disturbed by loud neighbors.

But you’re only a week into your new place and two seconds from filing a noise complaint against the neighbor to your right. You totally understand that babies aren’t going to stop crying on command, you’ve dealt with them before. But this baby in particular has been crying all week, and your room seems to be in the right place to hear them screaming throughout the night.

You’re about to move to the couch to sleep, looking at the clock to see that it’s two in the morning. You wouldn’t be worried about being up at two in the morning, but you’re trying to get your sleep schedule back on track since you start your new job next week. Right as you sit up, you notice that you don’t really hear the crying anymore.

You frown, now realizing how silent it is, but then you hear a knock at your door. That makes you uneasy, and you grab the baseball bat by your bed that your dad got for you, and you slowly tiptoe to the door. You carefully look through the peephole, and that’s when you notice that the crying is right in front of your door. You think the worse; that the person just left the baby on your doorstep, but as your eyes focus through the image in the peephole, you see a guy standing on the other side of the door with a baby in his hands.

You set the bat against the wall before you unlock and pull the door open, and those familiar cries are clear in your eyes. The blond man looks even more tired than you do, and you’re pretty sure that the bags under his eyes could hold something.

“I’m sorry to bother you so late,” he starts. “But I’ve tried everything, and she won’t stop crying.” You pity him a bit because you've been in the situation when babysitting in the past, and you step to the side to let him in. He walks into your apartment slowly, cooing at the baby to try to get her to stop crying. “I’m Terushima, by the way. Terushima Yuuji,” he groggily introduces, and you give him a soft introduction of your name before you ask to hold her.

“She won’t take a bottle?” you ask as you bounce her in your arms, and her cries settle just a bit. He shakes his head, setting the baby bag he had on his shoulder on your island. He pulls out one of the bottles, handing it to you.

You try to give it to her, but she refuses, so you don’t try to force it. You notice that she doesn’t have any tears running down her face, and her cries start to pick up volume. “What’s wrong, mama? Why’re you giving your daddy such a hard time, hm?” you whisper as you start to walk around your apartment, continuing to bounce her in your arms.

You rest your cheek against her head, and that’s when you feel how warm she is. “Has she always been this warm?” you ask, taking one of your hands and putting the back of it against her neck. “She’s burning up,” you say, feeling that her skin is sticky with sweat. You put your hand against her little feet, and they’re really warm too.

“I-I think so,” he murmurs, and you walk to your bathroom, grabbing a thermometer. You come back out, running it under some warm water from your sink. You get her arm out of the sleeve of her onesie before you put the thermometer under her armpit. You wait until it beeps, and your heart drops when you see the numbers.

“She’s got a fever, Terushima,” you tell him, and his tired eyes go as wide as they can.

“What?” he whispers.

“Do you have any medicine?” you ask, walking towards him, and he shakes his head.

“No, I don’t think so. I don’t know,” he sighs in frustration. “What do I do?”

“Okay, okay. Calm down,” you say. “My aunt’s a doctor, and she’s usually on call around this time. Lemme give her a call.” He’s on the brink of becoming frantic, but your words seem to calm him a little. You call your aunt, and since you don’t have any medicine, and there are no convenience stores open, she tells you just to bring her in.

You offer to drive since he’s definitely not in a good state to drive right now. He quickly grabs his car keys, and you drive over to where your aunt works. You have to wait for her when you get there since she’s currently working with a patient, so you sit down in the chairs, holding her in your arms while Terushima paces in front of you.

“Terushima, I promise she’s fine,” you tell him, but you don’t think he hears you. You stand up, softly putting a hand on his arm. He stops walking, turning to look at you, and you swear he’s going to cry. “You should sit.” You make it sound like an offer, but you guide him to sit down next to you. “Just breathe. She’ll be fine.” You rub over his back, and he puts his elbows on his knees, resting his hands on his face, and you see that his legs are bouncing.

He’s looking ahead, and you can’t imagine what he’s going through, but you try to be as supportive as you can. Your aunt comes out a few minutes later, and Terushima’s in his own world, so you grab his hand. He jumps when you do, and you pull him to his feet. You notice how tight his grip on your hand is, so you don’t let go. 

She brings you into a room, and you sit down on the hospital bed while he continues to stand, but his hand doesn’t leave yours. You explain to her what’s going on, and you hold her while she does a quick exam. “How old is she?” your aunt asks.

“She’ll be a year in a couple of months,” he answers softly, his gaze going from his daughter to the floor.

“And her name?”

“Satomi,” he answers quickly, and you smile softly when you look down at her. When you look at Terushima, he still looks anxious, so you get his attention by gently shaking his hand.

“Hey, it’s gonna be okay,” you tell him. “C’mere.” You pull him to sit next to you, and you rub over his back again, but when you stop, his hand is holding yours instantly.

“She just has a small fever. It’s nothing major,” your aunt tells you, and you can see Terushima relax a bit. She gives Satomi some medicine, which she fights just a little bit, but it’s not too long before her cries start to subside.

Your aunt hands Terushima the medicine since both of your hands are occupied. “You can give this to her twice a day, and she’ll start feeling better. If she doesn’t, bring her back in.” You nod, thanking your aunt. “Does she have a doctor?” she asks, and you look at Terushima, and it takes him a while to answer, but he eventually shakes his head.

“No. I, uh, I just got her. It’s a long story,” he says, and neither of you asks for an explanation. 

“I have a friend that has her own practice. I can give you her information,” she offers, but Terushima spaces out again, so you answer for him.

“That’ll be great, Auntie. Thank you.” She walks out of the room, and you try to follow, but he doesn’t move. You call his name softly, pulling gently on his arm, and he finally stands. Once you get everything checked out, she gives you the information for the pediatrician. You thank her again for seeing you on such short notice, and she gives you a hug before leaving.

Terushima’s quiet on the ride home, and so is Satomi, so you figure the medicine is starting to kick in. He’s had this look in his eyes since your aunt gave him the medicine, and he doesn’t let go of your hand when you try to go back to your apartment.

“Terushima.” You call his name, your voice firm, and he looks up at you. “Satomi is fine. This isn’t uncommon.”

“I just feel like I failed her,” he whispers, and you feel your heart crack. “I don’t know what the hell I’m doing, and I thought that I could be mature enough for this–”

“Yuuji.” You stop his rant by putting your hand on his shoulder. “No one is prepared for this. So, please don’t beat yourself up. There’s nothing wrong with asking for help.” It doesn’t really look like your words reached him, but he nods anyway. “I can stay and watch her while you sleep,” you say, and he quickly shakes his head.

“You’ve done enough already, I couldn’t ask you to do that.”

“You’re exhausted. I’ve stayed up later than this anyway, so I don’t mind.” He doesn’t put up much of a fight, and it looks like the fatigue starts to hit him. He unlocks his door, and both of you take your shoes off. You carefully take Satomi out of her car seat since she’s sleeping, and he stops you when you try to sit on the couch.

“Do you mind if you lay on the bed?” he asks. “Sorry. I just don’t wanna be in a different room than her.”

“Don’t apologize. That’s totally okay.” You follow him to his room, careful to avoid all of the baby toys that are on the floor, and his room looks even worse than the living room.

“Sorry for the mess,” he mumbles, and you stop him when he tries to clean up. You push him to the side of the bed that isn’t covered with baby stuff, and you clean off the other side. He’s nearly asleep when you finally get in, setting yourself up against the headboard. He lays on his side to keep his eye on her, and you rub your hand over his forehead.

“Go to sleep, Yuuji. We’ll be here when you wake up.” His eyes are already closing when you rub over his forehead, and when you try to pull your hand away, he softly grabs your wrist. You don’t need anything more from him to know what he wants, so you move your hand to his hair, running your fingers through it.

You listen to their breathing as you get comfortable, and you can’t help but laugh quietly as you look between them. So much for getting your sleep schedule back on track.

~

When Yuuji wakes up, he can tell that he’s alone. He blinks the sleep out of his eyes and sees that you or Satomi are not in bed with him, and his room looks spotless. He takes a deep breath in and something that smells really good fills his nose. He groans softly as he gets out of bed, walking out of his room as he opens his eyes. 

He walks into the living room slash dining room to see that it’s also spotless, and he spots you in the kitchen, and now he knows the source of the smell. He sees Satomi on a couple of blankets within your line of sight, and he clears his throat. You jump, turning around as you take the last pancake out of the pan.

“Morning!” you say softly. “I hope you don’t mind that I ran to my place really quick since you didn’t really have any food. With Satomi, of course.”

“Don’t worry about it. It smells amazing,” he says, walking over to pick up his daughter. “What time is it?”

“Three o’clock.”

He winces. “I was asleep for that long?” 

You laugh a bit as you hand him a plate. “Yeah, but you didn’t snore once. Satomi is one lucky girl,” you tease, and he can’t help but laugh. 

“Yeah, I’ve been told that it’s a plus.”

“Oh, it sure is. My dad snores so loud that I can hear it through the wall,” you groan, shaking your head at the thought. He sits down at the island, and you eat your pancakes while standing on the other side of him. Satomi is definitely feeling better, seeing that she reaches for Terushima’s fork every time he brings the fork to his mouth.

“I can’t thank you enough for all of this and this morning,” he says after he finishes eating. “I’m kinda embarrassed about how I acted.”

“That’s totally okay. You were tired. I’ve done plenty of things while I’m running on little sleep.” You offer him some more pancakes, and he easily accepts. You wash your plate before taking Satomi out of his arm so he can eat without his food being stolen from him. You grab one of her toys to keep her entertained, and you sit next to him.

“Also, you didn’t have to clean the place,” he adds, feeling his face warm in embarrassment. 

“Terushima, it’s okay. I just wanted to help you out.” You move the toy around, making noises, and it makes her giggle, yours following right after.

“You seem like a miracle worker with kids,” he says after he watches you for way too long, turning to his food so that you don’t see.

“Well, I was a babysitter in my neighborhood in high school and college. But I’ve always been told I have a way with kids,” you muse.

“Well, they are definitely not wrong.” He can’t help but watch you, and he feels like he has to apologize again. “I seriously owe you one.”

“I said don’t worry about it. Being a first-time parent isn’t easy, like I said, no one is ready for it,” you emphasize. “Next thing you know, you’ll have a hard time saying goodbye to her when you have a date.”

“Yeah,” he blurts out. “That won’t be happening any time soon.”

“Struck a nerve?” you ask, grimacing a bit, and he shakes his head as he stands, taking his plate and fork to the sink.

“Satomi’s mother and I fell off, and the next thing I know, she’s at my doorstep,” he says, gesturing towards her. “She never told me that she was pregnant, and then suddenly I’m being thrust into fatherhood.”

“You’re doing a really great job,” you say when he goes silent.

“I didn’t know my own daughter had a fever,” he laughs bitterly.

“You were tired, Yuuji. Cut yourself some slack,” you remind. “Being worried about her health tells me that you’re doing just fine. And you asked someone for help when you didn’t know what to do. That sounds pretty good to me.”

You grab the toy again, putting it on her body before pulling it away suddenly, gasping when you do before moving it back towards her again, and Satomi laughs loudly, which makes you laugh. The only thing Terushima can do is watch you, and things start playing in his head, but he quickly shakes them off.

“You have to let me pay you back,” he tries again.

“I already said that it was no big deal.”

“Let me buy you dinner,” he blurts, and he quickly realizes that it sounds like he’s asking you out on a date, and he feels himself blush, but you start talking before he can backtrack.

“Well, I never say no to food,” you respond, and it doesn’t sound like you thought he was asking you out, so he sighs internally.

“Wherever you want to eat tonight, it’s on me,” he says, and you pretend to think about it.

“Alright. That sounds good to me.”

Things have kind of fallen off since that day. With you starting work, you haven’t been able to spend as much time with him as usual. It seems like, after that day, he got himself together. Terushima hadn’t told anyone that he had a kid, not even his parents. Satomi’s mother left the adoption papers with her, and right before he knocked on your door he thought about signing them. But then you came to his rescue, and he felt much better about being able to do this.

Your reassurance helped him a ton, and he made some calls. He leaves the backstory a little bit blurry, not ready to go into the details yet, but his friends and family were more than supportive, and he couldn’t ask for more. Since he has a support system now, he didn’t really need to ask you for help unless it was an emergency.

He also knew that you were starting your new job, so he didn’t want to turn your life upside down even more than he already had. Although, he will admit that it bothered him that he wasn’t keeping in touch with you as much as he wanted to. That morning, you were the light in his swirling darkness, and for a while, he just called it that. He was in a vulnerable position, so of course, he would have some feelings for you.

But when he would strike up a quick conversation with you at the mailbox or while you were on your way to work, he would think about asking you to stay and talk with him just a little longer. You actually came by when he was celebrating Satomi’s first birthday, but you couldn’t stay long since you had to run back to work. The fact that you had run home just to show your face meant more to him than you could ever know.

He never really expected his life to fly by as fast as it did, and now his daughter is going on six years old. Staying in an apartment this long with a child probably didn’t look the best, but he was having trouble getting a job while trying to find a good schedule for someone to watch Satomi, and he definitely couldn’t afford a babysitter.

His friends and family weren’t always available, and the only time you could watch her was on the weekends, but that’s definitely not going to be enough money for him and Satomi to stay afloat. He has some money saved up, but that’s about to run dry, and he feels like he’s leeching off of his parents even though they swear it’s fine.

It’s not fine with him, but since Satomi has a schedule now, he might be able to make it work. She’s taken up dance, and she has practice for that twice a week. Once that’s set in stone, he decides to apply for some jobs, hoping that he can finally take a step in some direction. 

Satomi knows you, of course. You’ve been in her life since she’s been here, and he can’t help how his heart flutters every time she screams your name whenever she sees you. He hasn’t told you about everything because he doesn’t want you to step in and help like he knows you will. There’s still a part of his ego that’s bruised ever since he knocked on your door.

His job hunting isn’t going so great, but he tries not to let his frustration show in front of his daughter. Pursuing something in cosmetology was something he wanted to do once he got out of college, but a lot of things have put that on hold, and with no experience, it’s only making things harder. He sighs heavily as he sits on the couch, wondering what he’s going to do.

“What’s wrong, Daddy?” He quickly turns to his daughter, hosting her up into his lap.

“Nothing, sweetie. I’m just feeling a little tired,” he lies, and she frowns a bit.

“Did you not get enough sleep last night?” she asks, and he can’t help but laugh, shrugging.

“Maybe.” She gasps before she wiggles out of his hold, and she runs to her room. He follows her when she runs back, climbing back into his lap. 

“My class is selling cookies, and whoever sells the most gets a prize!” she tells him excitedly, handing him the multiple forms that she’s brought home.

“Really? What’s the prize?” he asks as he looks through them.

“There’s multiple, but one of them—there! I want this one!” she says, pointing to the prize when Terushima flips to it. He feels something form in his throat when it’s a dollhouse set that she’s been asking for, it’s been going on about a year now, but he hasn’t been able to make it work. “It’s got a whole bunch of stuff that comes with it too!”

She starts talking about it, but it all starts to blur together as he falls victim to his thoughts. “Daddy?” He blinks quickly, looking from the papers to her.

“Sorry, what were you saying?” He tries to listen to her as she repeats herself, and it doesn’t seem like she minds, but those ugly thoughts won’t leave his head.

~

You sigh as you get comfortable on the floor in front of your couch. You turn on a show that you’ve seen before, and you chuckle a bit when you set your coloring book on the coffee table. Your friends just don’t understand the peace it brings you. You’ve finished three so far, so this is a new one, and you’re ecstatic to start it.

You’re picking out your color scheme when you hear a knock at your door. You groan, letting your head fall to the side before you get up. When you open the door, you realize you have to look down, and your eyes meet a familiar five-year-old who’s missing one of her front teeth.

“Hi y/n!” she beams, holding the handle of a wagon in her hand. You look behind her to see she has boxes, but you can’t really see what they contain.

“Satomi? Does your dad know you’re here?” you ask, and the look that appears on her face is enough of an answer. “You know you can’t leave without telling your dad.”

“I know, I know, but I can trust you, right?” she asks, and you sigh as you crouch down.

“Of course, you can, Satomi, but you have to let your dad know where you’re going. He’d be worried sick if something happened to you,” you tell her, and she pouts a bit. “Just promise me that you won’t come over here without telling him first.”

You hold your pinkie up, and she smiles widely, bouncing on her toes as she hooks her pinkie around yours. “I promise!” 

“Good,” you laugh. “Now, what’s in the wagon?” you ask, and she steps to the side so you can see.

“My class is selling cookies, and whoever sells the most gets a dollhouse!” She all but shoves the paper in your face, and you have to push her hand back a bit to see it.

“That’s a pretty big dollhouse. How many pieces are in it?” you ask in a bit of disbelief.

“A bunch! There’s different clothes for the dolls, and there’s a bunch of, um…um…”

“Furniture?” you try, and she nods her head quickly.

“Yeah! That!” You laugh, and she puts the paper down. “Would you like to buy some?”

“Sure! How much is it gonna cost me?”

“Ten dollars.”

“For a box?!” you ask suddenly, and she nods happily. “They’re already setting you poor children up in a scam,” you whisper. “I’ll buy the whole cart.”

Her eyes widen, and she jumps into you, almost knocking you over as she hugs you. You can’t help but laugh, barely having a chance to hug her back before she’s pulling away.

“I’m definitely gonna win!” she shouts, and you have to remind her that she has to keep her voice down in the hallway. She lowers her voice, but her excitement doesn’t. You have her bring the wagon inside your apartment, and you grab your phone to text Terushima.

“What was your dad doing before he left?” you ask as you text him.

“He was in the shower,” she hums, not really paying attention as she sits on the floor where you were before she knocked. “Were you coloring?” she asks, and you set your phone down, sitting next to her.

“Yup. It’s my favorite thing to do when I have time off from work,” you tell her, and you have the other ones with you, so you show them to her, and she takes the colored images in with wide eyes. 

“Wow! They’re so pretty!” she gasps.

“Well, thank you. I try my best,” you say, and she stops flipping the pages, pointing at something on the back of one of the pages. 

“Did you draw this?” You look down, and you smile a little when you see what she’s pointing at.

“Yeah, I did,” you answer with a nod.

“You’re so good! Can you draw me something?”

“Sure, whaddya want?”

“A tiger!” You chuckle as you grab some colored pencils and get to drawing.

“A tiger, huh? That’s your favorite animal?” 

“Yeah! They’re so pretty, and they have stripes!” she highlights. “I love stripes.”

“I can tell!” you say back, noticing that her outfit is nothing but stripes, and she hovers over you while you draw which you don’t mind. The cookies are momentarily forgotten as you draw her a tiger, and she tells you a whole bunch of facts about them while you work. When you’re done, she looks at it like you’ve drawn the best thing in the world. “You like it?”

“It’s awesome! Can I keep it?”

“Of course, you can!” She takes the book, getting up to put it in the wagon, and she brings it over to you. 

“Are you really gonna buy all of them?”

“Yeah! My co-workers love these cookies, so they’ll be very much appreciated.” You help her count all of the boxes, and then you help her count up the money.

“Thank you so much, y/n!” she says, hugging you again.

“Of course! Anything for my favorite munchkin.” There’s a series of quick knocks on your door, and you instantly know who it is. “It’s open!” you yell, but Satomi is too busy to notice, and Terushima comes bursting in. “Did you get my text?” you ask, and he sighs heavily as nods.

“Daddy! y/n said she’d buy all of my cookies!” she tells him, and you don’t blame him for sighing in relief again before he responds.

“That’s great, sweetie. But what did Daddy tell you about leaving without telling him?”

“I know. I already promised her that I wouldn’t do it again,” she explains. “And I pinkie promised, so I definitely won’t break it!”

He laughs a little, pushing his hair back, and you notice that it’s still wet. “Thank you.”

“And look, she drew me a tiger too!” She opens the page and holds it up to him. He takes it, and his eyebrows raise when he looks at it.

“You drew this?”

“Yeah, I draw in my free time a lot, it’s nothing,” you dismiss, suddenly feeling nervous. 

“You’re amazing,” he comments, and you wave him off as you stand.

“I wouldn’t say that. But thank you.” He hands the book back to her, and she admires it again while you go get the money. You hand it to him, and he hesitates to take it.

“You really don’t have to buy all of them,” he says, and you push it into his hand.

“It’s all good. My co-workers eat them up. Literally,” you laugh. Thankfully, he takes the money without much of a fight, and he turns to his daughter.

“Alright, you little gremlin, you’ve bothered her enough. Let’s go,” he says lightly.

“But she said this was her day off!” she argues.

“That doesn’t mean she doesn’t want a break.”

“She’s fine, Terushima. I was just gonna sit and color for a while anyway. She’s not bothering me at all.” He doesn’t respond when you finish, and you give him a look.

“I hate to ask, but do you think you could watch her for a while? Something came up, and I don’t have anyone to watch her. That’s why I was in the shower.”

“Of course, I’d love to have her over.”

“I get to spend more time with you?!” she asks, and you nod your head eagerly.

“Sounds like it!”

“Can you draw me more tigers? Wait, I have to get my stuff!” She starts making her way toward the door, and Terushima rushes out after her, and you shake your head as you laugh. They come back after about ten minutes, Satomi now with a backpack on. She sits down at the coffee table, and you turn to Terushima.

“Is everything okay?” you ask quietly.

“Yeah. I just have to help my parents move some stuff, and Satomi won’t be much help,” he laughs, and you do the same as you agree. “Thank you again. Sorry to have you babysitting while you’re off.”

“It’s okay,” you press, putting your hand on his shoulders. “I love spending time with her, so it’s totally fine.” You turn your attention to Satomi when she calls your name, and you walk over and sit down next to her. Terushima catches himself looking at the two of you, and thankfully his daughter breaks him out of it.

“Bye, Daddy! See you later!” He laughs as he walks towards her, leaning down to plant a kiss on her forehead.

“I’ll be back, okay?” he says, rubbing over her head, but she’s already engrossed in the coloring books.

“Be safe, okay?” you tell him, and he’s overcome with a strong urge to kiss you too. 

“Right. Thanks again.” And he hightails it out of there before he does something stupid.

“So, Satomi’s been telling me something lately on our rides home.” 

“About what?” Terushima asks, and he’s not fully focused on the conversation because he’s focused on what he’s doing. 

He’s met Oikawa before through some friends of friends, and he really wants to start working soon, so he just decided to start doing hair in his own apartment. Right now, Satomi’s with her grandparents so he can put all of his focus into his work. 

Oikawa visits him frequently ever since he said he had an interest in it, and they’ve gotten pretty close, sometimes he even picks her up from school.

“About a certain someone named y/n?” he inquires, and Terushima’s movements falter a bit. “You wanna explain?”

“There’s nothing to explain,” he tries, but there’s no way Oikawa is just going to drop it.

“Really?” he hums. “Well, she seems to talk about her non-stop. She told me that she’s your neighbor.”

“Where are you going with this, Oikawa?” Terushima sighs.

“I’m just asking some innocent questions.”

“Well, your voice doesn’t sound like it.”

“I’m just saying with the way she talks about her, it seems like she’s a big part of her life,” he continues, and Terushima can’t deny that. You have just as enough presence in her life as his friends and family.

“Okay, and?”

“You’re really bad at diverting the conversation,” he laughs.

“You know I have scissors in my hand, right?” And Oikawa jumps away, leaning forward as he looks at him over his shoulder.

“You wouldn’t dare!” Terushima just glares at him, pulling him back against the seat before he continues what he was doing. “So, is she a potential love interest?” You’re something. Terushima just doesn’t know what. Or rather, he doesn’t want to try and sway things between the two of you. Your relationship is just fine where it is, but of course, there’s a part of him that wishes it was more. “I’ll take your silence as a yes.”

Oikawa glances over his shoulder just to be on the safe side, but he’s always been known to pry. It’s in his personality. “She helps out with Satomi sometimes, yeah.”

“That’s not what I asked.” There’s a knock on the door, and Terushima’s grateful because he’d rather be anywhere else than in this conversation. He sets his stuff down, wiping his hands before making his way to the door. A smile appears on his face the moment his eyes land on you when he opens the door.

“Sorry to bother you,” you start.

“It’s okay. What do you need?”

“Is that the infamous y/n?” You frown playfully at Terushima when you hear your name, and he sighs deeply as he closes his eyes. You peek over his shoulder, and the guy behind him waves at you. You scoff a little as you smile, waving back at him.

“Sorry, I didn’t know you were in the middle of something.”

“You’re fine. I was just–"

“It’s rude to not invite people in!” Oikawa yells, and Terushima groans before he steps back, turning to glare at his friend. He doesn’t have a choice now, and he lets you in, giving the man a look as he closes the door behind you. “Nice to meet you, I’m Oikawa.”

“Nice to meet you. I would introduce myself, but it sounds like you already know me,” you laugh, and Terushima grabs a chair for you, putting it perpendicular to Oikawa.

“I’ve heard a lot about you from Satomi,” he supplies.

“That makes sense. She could talk for hours,” you say. “I didn’t know you knew how to do hair, Yuuji.”

“Oh, well, I’m just starting out. I’m not that good yet,” he replies, his words coming out choppy.

“He’s just saying that. I’d trust him with my life. He’s the only one that can get my hair right,” Oikawa boasts, and Terushima kicks his chair just a bit. “He’s pretty mean to his regulars, though,” he throws in.

“Only the ones that annoy me,” he mutters under his breath. 

“So, what do you do if you don’t mind me asking?” Oikawa asks, turning back to you.

“Oh, it’s just a boring office job. My mom got it for me, but I don’t really like it,” you admit sheepishly. “I’d rather be doing something with kids to be honest.”

“Like what?”

“I don’t know, I never really figured it out. I kinda just gave up on it when I got to college. I guess I’m just waiting for something to stick out to me.” Terushima listens intently, realizing that he never really asked you any questions like that, and in his head, he kicks himself. “Wait, Oikawa? You wouldn’t happen to be the same Oikawa that plays for Argentina.”

“The one and only.”

“Wow, that’s so cool! How come you never told me you know professional volleyball players, Terushima?” you question and his answer is a bit delayed because of your reaction. Oikawa’s always been getting girls, and for a moment, he feels like he’s lost. “I watch it all the time.” 

“Do you play also?” 

“I did in high school and in college. I wish I could still play it now,” you reminisce.

“That’s funny because Terushima played as well. If I can recall, he was a pretty good ace.” Terushima would tell him to stop, but his pride’s been hit, so he doesn’t call him out on it.

“He’s exaggerating just a little bit.” He buds in anyway, but he doesn’t deny his words too much. 

“That’s so crazy! I would’ve never guessed. It sounds like he was better than me,” you say.

“You played the same position?” Oikawa asks, and you wave him off.

“Not really. I mean, I guess you could say that. I wasn’t that good,” you stutter. “We made it to like, the third round of nationals one year, though.”

“Well, it sounds like you’re better than you’re letting on,” he teases.

“Maybe,” you reply softly, diverting your gaze, and Terushima can’t help when jealousy courses through his veins. You and Oikawa talk for a while, but Terushima barely buds in. He’s in his head too much to really think about tuning into the conversation. He does pay attention when you say that you’re leaving.

“What did you need?” he asks when you stand.

“Oh, I was gonna ask about Satomi, but she’s not here, so I’ll just come back,” you explain, and for some reason, that makes his heart sink a little. “Oh! Before I go, do you think I can get your autograph?” you ask Oikawa, and Terushima’s heart falls. “I have a friend that is a huge fan.” He hates how easily that makes him feel better, and he gives you the autograph.

“If I can get your number,” Oikawa starts, and he jumps when Terushima closes the scissors loudly. “Then I can let you know when I’m in town, and all of us can go play sometime.”

“Cool, that sounds great!” you easily agree, and Terushima is staring daggers into his friend's head as he watches. “It was really nice to meet you. And I’ll see you later, Terushima.” You wave when you get to the door, and Oikawa waits until it closes to speak.

“I just wanna clarify that I was not making a move on her. And please tell me you didn’t cut off my hair,” he whines. “So, I guess, you really like her then.” Terushima doesn’t say a word, but his silence is more than enough of an answer.

“I’m done,” he eventually says, ignoring the question, and he rolls his eyes at how long Oikawa looks at his hair in the mirror. 

“You do great work as always,” he jests. 

“You don’t have to pay,” he tells him, and fuck, that whole interaction still has him in a mood.

“I’m going to because you’re really good at what you do, and you know what you’re doing,” he says. “I think you should stop being so scared, and go after what you want.” Terushima begrudgingly takes the money as he thinks about the double meaning of his friend’s words.

~

Terushima takes Oikawa’s advice, but not before threatening to cut all of his hair off in his sleep after he noticed his phone blowing up. He didn’t even have to look to know that Oikawa opened his big mouth, and he doesn’t even have time to look at it when Satomi gets back home.

He applied for a couple of jobs and he instantly closed his laptop and walked out of his room, but now he has that hanging over his head also. He hesitantly checks his laptop that night to find that one of them responded, but the job interview is right when Satomi gets out of school. He thinks about trying to find an alternate time, but he thinks about the dollhouse that she wants, so he confirms it.

He comes back home after dropping Satomi off at school, and he knocks on your door, hoping he didn’t catch you in the middle of getting ready for work. “Terushima? Is everything okay?”

“Yeah, um, I have a job interview right when I have to pick up Satomi–”

“Say no more! I gotcha covered. Congrats by the way,” you add, pushing him in the shoulder a bit, and that alone has made him feel so much better about the interview. 

“Thanks,” he whispers, rubbing the back of his neck. “You might have to watch her after too, I don’t know how long it’ll be.”

“That’s totally fine with me. Good luck! I know you’ll do great!” you praise, and he wonders why he was ever worried about it in the first place. “Where did you apply?”

“A hair salon down the street,” he answers, and you look more excited about it than him.

“I’m so excited for you! You have to tell me how it goes.”

“I definitely will.”

“Okay, I have to go, but I will be there to pick up Satomi, so you just focus on that interview.”

“Thank you,” he says, and you scoff a little.

“You don’t have to keep saying that. I’m always willing to help you out with her.”

“No, I mean–I was really nervous, so thank you for the encouragement.” 

“Hey,” you start, stepping closer to him and resting your hands in between his neck and shoulders. “You have nothing to be nervous about. You know what you’re doing, now you just gotta show them.” It feels like everything around him disappears as he takes in your words, and he can’t stop himself from pulling you into a hug.

He feels your arms wrap around him, and he sighs into your hair. It takes him too long to realize that he’s been holding you for too long and too tight. He pulls away, and he feels his face warm. “Sorry, I know you have to go.”

“It’s okay.” Your voice is softer this time. “I’m always here if you need a hug.”

~

You leave work early to pick up Satomi, and you notice that she’s not as perky as she usually is. She doesn’t tell you anything about what happened at school, and you notice that she’s walking kind of behind you. She wordlessly follows you into your apartment, and she drops her backpack by the door. You toy your shoes off, and when you look at her, there’s tears in her eyes.

“Oh, no, baby, what’s wrong?” you immediately ask. You pick her up in your arms, and she wraps her limbs around you. She mumbles something into your neck as you sway back and forth, but you can’t hear her. “What’d you say?”

“I didn’t win the dollhouse,” she whispers, and you feel your heart break.

“Oh, Satomi, I’m so sorry.” You rub her head, and she sniffles heavily. “It’s okay, baby. Let it out.” She cries a bit harder, and you feel so bad. You don’t know what to do other than to just hold her while she lets it out since you don’t know how long she’s been holding it in. Her arms tighten around you, and you close your eyes as you continue to rub her head, your hand moving to her back.

You move to sit down on the couch, grabbing a box of tissues before you sit. She moves so that her legs are over your lap, and she rests her head on your shoulder. She’s hiccuping, but she’s not crying anymore, and you hand her some tissue. She blows her nose after wiping the tears away, and she takes a deep breath. “I didn’t mean to cry.”

“Sweetie, it’s okay to cry. I know how much you wanted it.”

“I’ve been asking Daddy for it, but he never got it.” And you somehow put two and two together, figuring out why he was so nervous about the job. 

“Well, your Dad is trying really hard. I promise he’s not ignoring you,” you tell her, and you push her hair out of her face when you look down at her. “He’s working on it, I promise. Okay?” She nods slowly, sniffling again. “Did you get any of the other prizes?”

“I wasn’t gonna play with them, so I gave them to my friends.”

“That was really nice of you.” It looks like she might break again, so you hold her close, kissing the top of her head. She seems to calm down again because she goes quiet, and you notice that she’s playing with the string on your jacket. You sit there with her in silence, resting your cheek on her head.

You notice that her hand isn’t moving anymore, and you’re pretty sure she’s asleep. You’re at a crossroads because you don’t want Terushima to come in with good news and see Satomi like this. You know it’ll break his heart. You carefully get up, walking her to your room, and she barely stirs when you lay her in your bed.

You brush the hair out of her face again, wondering if there’s anything you could do to try and make her feel better. An idea comes to mind as walk back into the living room, but then you hear some familiar footsteps. You open the door before he can knock, and you put a finger to your lips. He frowns at you, but he walks in when you open the door wider. 

“How’d it go?” you whisper.

“I got it!” he cheers softly, matching your voice even though he doesn’t know why.

“Congratulations, Terushima. I knew you could do it.”

“What’s wrong? Where’s Satomi?” You hesitate to tell him, but you’re not sure if Satomi will tell him.

“She didn’t win the dollhouse. She started crying the moment she walked in the door. She’s sleeping now.” You put a hand over your mouth when you physically see the happiness fall out of his body. He goes silent, and you don’t know what to say, opting to rub over his arm.

“If I had gotten it sooner–”

“Hey, don’t start.” You guide him to look at you, keeping your hand on his face. “Do not blame yourself for this, Yuuji. You’re doing everything you can. She will not hate you for this.” You bring your other hand up to his face, and his head falls. “I know why you got the job, Yuuji, and I guarantee you that is enough.”

“She’s not happy,” he responds, lifting his head to look at you, and he looks absolutely crushed. You pull him into a hug, moving his head to your neck, and he wraps his arms around you. You rub over his back, and you don’t know if there’s anything you could say to make him feel better.

“You’re doing everything you can despite the walls you’re facing,” you whisper. “You’re already making her happy, Yuuji. You don’t need a toy to tell you that. She loves you all the same.” He lifts his head from your shoulder, and you put your hands on his face, wiping his tears. “Don’t cry on me. I can’t have my two favorite people crying today.”

He lets out a soft chuckle. “I’m one of your favorite people?” he asks, letting his hand rest on yours.

“Of course, you are.” 

Something shifts in his expression and his grip on your hand tightens. “y/n, I–”

“Daddy?” You both turn around, and you see Satomi rubbing her eyes as she walks into the room. She runs towards him, and he’s already on one knee, ready to hold her in his arms.

“I heard what happened. I’m so sorry,” he says, and she hugs him tight before pulling away.

“I love you, Daddy.”

“I love you, too, princess.”

“I’m sorry I made you feel like the dollhouse was all I cared about,” she says, and her words shock you both, and Terushima releases a shaky breath. 

“It’s okay, baby. I’m not mad. I just wanted to make you happy.” You slowly take a couple of steps back giving them some space, and you sneak into your room.

“You’re already making me happy. You let me wear stripes every day.” A laugh bubbles out of his chest. “And you read me stories every night. I don’t need the dollhouse. I have you.” She hugs him again, and he can’t stop himself from crying again. He looks up when you walk back in, and Satomi hasn’t noticed you yet.

You pull out something from behind your back, and he smiles when he sees what it is. “I think y/n has something to give you,” he says to her, and shake your head, wanting him to give it to her, but she’s already turning around to look at you.

You walk up to her, getting down on one knee also. You move your hands in front of you, and she gasps when she sees what it is. “I got you this a couple of days ago.” She takes the tiger puzzle in her hands, smiling widely. “I was thinking you could put it together with your Dad.”

“I wanna put it together with the both of you,” she tells you suddenly. “Can we do it now?” she asks, and you glance at Terushima, and you already know his answer.

“Of course, we can.” You clear your coffee table, and all of you sit down while she dumps out all of the pieces. You start helping her out, telling her to start with the corner pieces first, and Terushima doesn’t join in right away, he just sits back and watches. This image is something he’s been seeing in his dream a lot lately, but he knows that in those dreams, your relationship is different.

He hopes he gets the courage to say something to you, but for now, he grabs your hand to get your attention. “Thank you,” he whispers.

“Of course,” you whisper back, and you both help her put the puzzle together.

“So, you weren’t going to tell us that you live next door to a hot woman who looks after your kid?”

“Why are either of you here?” Terushima grits. 

It’s Terushima’s first week working at the salon, and it’s going great. The place is small, with only a few people working here, and he gets to make his own hours. Of course, the moment he breaks the news, his friends make find their way over here. 

“We’re here to know what kind of review we should leave.” Kazuma jokes and Terushima rolls his eyes.

“You both are wasting my time,” he says even though his former teammate is sitting in his chair. 

“But why did we have to hear about this from Oikawa of all people?” Takeharu asks.

“Because he doesn’t know how to keep his mouth shut, and he’s also stalking me. I never gave him my address, so he showed up unannounced,” he says. “I bet that was Kazuma’s doing,” he sighs, cutting his eyes towards the man who’s currently sitting in the other chair across from Takeharu.

“How do you even know him anyway?” Kazuma asks.

“You know how tight the volleyball community was. I met him through some friends.” 

“Okay, so spill. You still haven’t told us anything.”

“There’s obviously a reason for that,” he whispers. “There’s nothing to tell. She’s my neighbor.”

“According to Oikawa, you almost cut his hair off, so she’s definitely not just your neighbor,” Kazuma mocks. “You have a picture?”

Of course, he does. Whenever his appointments run over, you offer to pick up Satomi, and he’s always catching the two of you doing something when he walks into your apartment to come to get her. His phone is usually filled with pictures of just Satomi, but recently, that hasn’t been the case.

“If I show you, will you leave me alone?” he questions as he pulls out his phone. He already has one saved as his screensaver, and it’s the picture he took after you all finished the tiger puzzle.

“Oh, yeah. He’s definitely far gone,” Kazuma laughs. Terushima’s smile drops for a second, and he pulls up the picture he was looking at. Kazuma stands, walking over to him when he hands the phone to Takeharu. “Shit, dude,” he whistles. “And she’s single?”

Terushima turns on the hair dryer and blows it in his face. “Satomi seems to really like her,” Takeharu comments as he scrolls through some of the pictures before he hands him the phone back.

“She won’t stop talking about her,” Terushima laughs.

“So, let me get this straight,” Kazuma starts. “You’ve known her for like, five years. She’s been with Satomi since she was a baby, and she trusts her enough to go to her apartment without telling you,” he lists off. “And you still haven’t asked her out? Are you waiting for someone to swoop in and take her?”

He jumps back just in case Terushima is trigger-happy, and he relaxes when all he gets is a glare. “She has such a good relationship with Satomi, and I don’t wanna mess that up,” he admits.

“You don’t think she has feelings for you?” Takeharu asks.

“I don’t know,” he says slowly, but he thinks about what you said to him after you told him about Satomi not winning the dollhouse. You’re one of my favorite people.

“The look on your face is so gross.”

“I don’t think she’ll stop helping you with Satomi if you ask her out,” Takeharu offers.

“But then things will be awkward. I don’t know if I can handle it.”

“The awkwardness or her not returning your feelings?” Kazuma presses and Terushima sighs again.

“Has she even said anything to make you think she doesn’t feel the same way?” 

“No, but isn’t it wrong to assume that there might be something there?”

“If you would just ask her out, you wouldn’t have to assume,” the brunet deadpans. “Let us meet her. We’ll tell you if she has a thing for you.”

“Absolutely not,” Terushima states.

“Why not? We were your wingmen at one point, so I don’t see the problem.”

“There’s a lot wrong with letting that happen.” He finishes up Takeharu’s hair, and he takes the cape off of him. “Now, get out. I have a client coming in ten.”

“So rude,” Kazuma frowns. “I’m giving you one star.” Terushima all but chases him out of the salon.

~

Satomi told you about one of the dance recitals she was having, and she had to make sure you were going to be there. You knock on his door, and to your surprise, Satomi answers the door. “You know you’re not supposed to answer the door without asking who it is first,” you tell her, closing the door behind you.

“But I knew it was you!” she tells you. “I stood on the stool and looked through the peephole.” You scoff as you shake your head, and she runs towards Terushima’s room, knocking on the door quickly. “Daddy, hurry up! We’re gonna be late!”

He sighs as he pulls the door open, and you have a hard time taking your eyes off of him. You haven’t really seen in him anything other than shorts and a t-shirt most of the time, but he actually dressed up a bit. The slacks he’s wearing emphasize how big his thighs are, and your eyes trail up his torso, and you see that his shirt does the same thing his pants are doing.

You look at his face when he turns to you, and you look down at your outfit. “Should I change?” You’re wearing everyday clothes, and you did put a decent amount of thought into it, but if you need to wear something a little nicer, you can.

“No. You look great,” he compliments, stopping in front of you, and he doesn’t say anything after that, and for a while, it’s just the two of you looking at each other.

“Hurry, you guys!” Satomi yells, making the both of you jump, and Terushima makes sure he has everything while Satomi pulls you towards the door. You wait for him to lock the door, and she runs ahead of the both of you, but once she gets to the doors of the apartment building, she waits for you.

She grabs both you and Terushima's hands, and you all walk to Terushima’s car. You buckle her in before you get into the car, and she’s more than ready to get there. The car is mostly filled with her conversation along with some music playing lowly from the radio. She practically pulls the both of you to the building when you get there, and she has to have the both of you with her when she goes backstage. 

“Are you nervous?” Terushima asks, and she gives him a look.

“Of course, I’m not nervous, Daddy. I’ve been practicing for this!” He smiles at her, giving her a hug.

“I can’t wait to see you dance!” you tell her, and you crouch down.

“You have to make sure you get good seats,” she tells you matter-of-factly, and you laugh but nod your head intently.

“Yes, ma’am,” you say, saluting to her, and she gives you a hug as well. She hands Terushima her coat right as the dance teacher tells all the parents to exit backstage. You walk toward the row of chairs, and Terushima grabs your hand as he walks to a row towards the front. 

“Sorry,” he says. “Didn’t want you to get lost,” he lamely adds as he drops your hand, and he groans in his head.

“Well, thank you,” you laugh. The seats start to fill up, and Terushima feels like he should make conversation, but he doesn’t even know where to start. “How long has she been dancing?” Thankfully, you start talking to him first, and he’s relieved.

“She just started a few months ago. She’d do it all the time at home to the Disney movies she watched, and when I asked her if she wanted to do this, she said yes.”

“That’s so cute,” you coo, and he notices someone sitting next to him, but they bump into him, and he turns to see who it is, and his face drops when he sees his former teammates occupying the seats next to him.

“What the hell are you doing here?” he hisses.

“You really thought I was gonna miss my niece’s first recital? Who do you take me for?” Kazuma says dramatically. He leans forward, getting your attention, and if looks could kill, he would be instantly dead. “Hey, I’m Kazuma. This is Takeharu. We played volleyball with this guy in high school.”

“Nice to meet you,” you say warmly, shaking his hand. “I’m his neighbor. Nothing really spectacular about that,” you chuckle. 

“I’ve heard so much about you from Satomi,” he tells you and you nod as you laugh.

“That seems to be a common theme whenever I meet one of his friends.” The lights start to dim, signaling that the show is about to start, and everyone starts to go quiet while Terushima elbows his friend in the side.

When the curtains open, Satomi is front and center, and you can instantly tell that she’s looking for you guys. You wave your hand a bit, and when she sees you, her smile widens. There’s a few moments of silence, and then the music starts. You can’t keep the smile off your face as you watch her, seeing that she looks absolutely ecstatic to be up there.

You notice Terushima filming in your peripheral like most of the parents are, and you decide to do it as well since your aunt is always asking about her. He films the whole thing, and when it’s over, everyone is standing on their feet, clapping. You yell out Satomi’s name, and she waves wildly at you, and you wave back. When his Kazuma starts getting a little too loud, Terushima smacks him in the back.

When all of the kids start to find their parents, they leave, and Satomi runs right into her dad’s legs. “You did so great, princess!” he praises, and the look on her face is something you’ll never forget. He, of course, has to get pictures, and you all take some. Terushima hands you his phone to take a picture of them together, but as you hold the phone up, she stops you.

“I want you to be in it, too!” 

“Oh, okay,” you say suddenly, passing the phone to Kazuma before you stand on the other side of her. He’s only able to take about five good ones before her attention turns to you. 

“Did you see me dancing, y/n?!” she asks, and you pick her up.

“Yes, I did! You were amazing! I wish I could dance like you,” you tell her, and you laugh when she does. You start to walk towards the car, the men in tow and Kazuma clears his throat, but only Terushima hears it. He glares at his friend, who speaks up suddenly.

“We should eat out tonight! To celebrate Satomi’s first recital,” he offers, and with the way Satomi gasps, Terushima knows he won’t be able to say no.

“Yes! We have to show her the restaurant we always go to, Daddy!”

“That sounds like a great idea!” Takeharu buds in, and Terushima wonders if he really needs friends at all. You’re pretty sure all of her energy is due to the adrenaline that’s still running through her body, and the excitement of where you’re going next.

“You’re paying,” Terushima orders when he meets his friends in front of the restaurant, and you all walk in together with Satomi holding your hand.

There aren’t many people here, and you follow them in, but Satomi soon takes the lead, pulling you to a certain table. “We sit here every time we come here,” she tells you, and you move to sit down while Terushima sits on the other side of her.

Kazuma and Takeharu sit across from you, and Terushima tries to figure out what they’re up to. Satomi talks to them, catching them up on what’s been going on, and you can’t help but notice how much she mentions your name. Someone comes to take your orders, and she’s talking their ears off. 

Terushima taps you on the shoulder, and you turn your attention from Satomi to him. “You’re okay with this, right?” he asks cautiously.

“Yes, I am. I’ve never been here before, so I’m excited to try the food,” you answer, and he smiles at you. The waiter gives Satomi some paper, which she immediately pushes your way. You laugh, already knowing what she wants you to do. You busy yourself with her, talking to her while you draw, and Kazuma gives Terushima a look that has him kicking him under the table.

When Terushima looks back at you, you’re helping Satomi draw what you just drew, your hand over hers. She looks so focused, and he smiles at the image as you guide her through what you’re doing. She cheers when you finish even though it doesn’t look exactly like yours, but she’s happy regardless.

She starts talking to Terushima, and Kazuma takes the opportunity to talk to you. “So, are you seeing anyone right now?” he asks, and Terushima goes rigid for a split second.

“Oh, no. I’m not,” you laugh.

“Really? Well, I know–” Terushima all but celebrates when your food arrives, and Kazuma acts innocent when Terushima looks his way. As far as the dinner goes, neither of them seems to ask you any more forward questions, but Terushima keeps a close eye on the conversation regardless.

Satomi goes quiet after she eats, and you look down at her when she leans into you. “Looks like someone’s getting sleepy,” you comment, moving some of her hair back from her face.

“No, I’m not,” she slowly replies, but she snuggles into you further, and you smile as you wrap your arm around her. You all continue the conversation quietly, and when the bill comes, Terushima is the first to speak up.

“Kazuma offered to pay for all of us,” he says quickly.

“Really? Well, thanks,” you say, and Kazuma gives you a friendly smile while Takeharu laughs into his hand. Terushima carries Satomi when you guys get ready to leave, and you all stop by Terushima’s car. “It was nice meeting you guys, too,” you reply once the conversation starts to die down.

“Hopefully, we’ll see you again,” Takeharu says.

“If he gets his shit together,” Kazuma mutters, and Terushima is quick to shoo them off. He straps her into her car seat before he drives off.

“Thank you for coming,” he tells you on the way home. “She was really looking forward to it.”

“Of course. She looked like she was having a lot of fun. And the food was really good.” You both make small talk on the way home, and his arm rests on the console even though he wants to desperately reach over and grab your hand.

You offer to carry Satomi to his apartment, seeing that she’s still asleep when you get home. You lay her down in her bed, and neither of you wants to wake her to get her to change into her pajamas, so you just tuck her in. “Thanks for coming, y/n,” she whispers, and you kiss her forehead softly.

“No problem, Satomi.” She falls back asleep right after, and you both carefully step out of her room. Terushima pulls the door closed, and he follows you when you walk to the front door.

“I can walk you back,” he jokes, and you have to stifle your laughter.

“Thank you so much,” you jest, and you both make the short walk next door.

“Thank you again for coming,” he repeats.

“Thank you for letting me tag along,” you reply, and he has that one question on his tongue, but he can’t bring himself to ask you. “Goodnight, Yuuji.” You move in to hug him, and he gladly accepts it, holding you close.

“Goodnight,” he echoes, and he watches you walk into your apartment, the door closing softly when you disappear. The next opportunity he gets, he’ll take it. He tells himself that now, but doesn’t even know if future him will take the chance.

Terushima rolls over onto his back, looking at the ceiling. He’s lost count of how many times he’s done this. He doesn’t work tomorrow, so he’s not sweating the amount of sleep that he’s losing. It’s another night that he’s having trouble sleeping, and he has a pretty good idea of why that is. Satomi’s mother contacted him out of the blue, and he hasn’t responded. 

He doesn’t think he wants to. He doesn’t know what would happen if he tried to let her back in his life, and he figures it would be good for Satomi to meet her mother, but there’s something about that that he doesn’t like. He hasn’t told anyone about it mostly because he would like to just ignore it, but he knows he can’t do that.

He jumps a little when his door is softly pushed open, and he sits up to see Satomi walking into his room. “What’s wrong, princess?” he asks, pulling the blankets off of him and setting his feet on the floor. She stands in between his legs, and he pulls her hand away when she starts rubbing at her eyes too much.

“I don’t feel good,” she murmurs, and he presses the back of his hand against her forehead. She’s really warm, and he moves to her neck to see that she’s really warm there also. She climbs into his lap, and curls into him as much as she can. 

He took her to the doctor yesterday, so she must be feeling the after-effects of the shot she got. He lays back down, holding her in his arms. “Does anything hurt?” he asks her softly, and he can feel her nod. 

“My head,” she tells him, and when he tries to get up to get her some medicine, she doesn’t let him go. He sighs quietly, getting up with her in his arms before he walks to the bathroom. They both squint suddenly when he turns the light on, and as he’s getting the medicine, he thinks about the first time he met you.

He thinks about how he’s not even scared like he was back then. Although, he’s relieved that she can actually tell him when she’s not feeling good. She fights it a bit, but she eventually takes it, and he goes back into his room. “What’d you say?” he asks, hearing her mumble something when he sits back down on the bed.

“I want y/n,” she whines, and he sighs a bit, but he doesn’t lay back down.

“She’s sleeping right now, Satomi. You can see her tomorrow,” he tries, but that doesn’t make her happy at all. He can hear her start crying, and he feels his resolve breaking. He reaches for his phone anyway, pulling up your contact. “If she doesn’t answer, then you can see her tomorrow, okay?” he offers, and that seems to be enough because she nods.

The phone rings for a while, and he sort of hopes that you don’t answer because he would hate to wake you up so late. He feels so bad when you answer especially because you sound like you’ve been woken up.

“Terushima? Is Satomi okay?” you ask as soon as you pick up the phone, and the fact that you instantly asked about her makes his heart flip.

“Yeah, she’s just feeling a little under the weather because she got a shot yesterday,” he explains.

“Daddy, I wanna see her,” Satomi presses.

“Do you mind if we come over for a bit? She won’t stop asking about you. I’m sorry.”

You huff a bit, and it sounds like you’re sitting up. “That’s okay. The door will be unlocked.” 

“Thanks,” he says before hanging up the phone, and he stands, sliding on some shoes. He carries Satomi over to your apartment, and when he opens the door, you’re standing on the other side. She immediately reaches for you, and you step forward to take her in your arms. 

“Aww, you poor baby,” you whisper, kissing her forehead as you rub over her back. 

“I’m really sorry to wake you,” Terushima says, and you wave him off.

“It’s okay,” you say with a yawn. You look at him, frowning a bit before you put your hand on his face. “Have you been to sleep tonight?” 

“No,” he admits with a shake of his head. “I’ve been having trouble sleeping lately,” he tells you.

“I got some melatonin if you want,” you offer, but he shakes his head, putting his hand on yours when he feels like you might pull it away.

“I’ll be fine. Thank you though.”

“y/n, can you sing me something?” Satomi asks, and you turn your attention to her, and your hand falls from his face, and Terushima never thought that he would be jealous of his daughter.

“Of course, whaddya wanna hear?”

“Anything.” You feel her forehead as you start singing a Disney song, and you walk into the bathroom. You grab a washcloth, turn on the water, and get it wet. You ring out the excess water before walking out of the bathroom, and you press the cold washcloth to her head as you keep singing. 

Terushima blinks sleepily as he listens to you sing, and suddenly he’s not worried about anything anymore. You glance at him, grabbing his hand a split second later, and he easily follows you to your room. Satomi’s asleep by the time you sit on your bed, and you make yourself comfortable against the headboard.

Terushima just stands next to your bed, but you’re still holding his hand. “We weren’t gonna stay long,” he tries, but you pull him towards your bed anyway.

“I promise you, I will be fine. My boss is really chill anyway.” He crawls into bed, sitting next to you in the same position, his shoulder bumping against yours, but as soon as he settles down, he can feel sleep catching up to him. 

He tries to stay awake, but it’s no use, and when he feels you gently guide his head to your shoulder, he doesn’t fight it. As he starts to fall asleep, he wonders why he ever wanted to leave in the first place. He’s not very comfortable in this position, so he shifts until he is. 

“Goodnight, Yuuji,” you whisper, and he hears you, but all he can manage is a soft hum. He totally blames it on the fact that he’s so close to going to sleep, but he snuggles into you, and he’s pretty sure he can feel you laugh.

When you wake up, you notice that you feel very hot, but you can’t move away from it. You open your eyes, remembering how you got into the position you’re in now. Your phone rings suddenly, and you try your hardest not to wake either of them when you reach for it. Both of them stir just a bit before they settle down, and you take a deep breath.

You see that your mom is calling, and you already know what she’s calling for, so you answer, turning down the volume just a bit. “Happy Birthday!” It’s from multiple voices, and you can’t help but laugh a little bit. 

“Thanks, you guys. But do you really have to call so early in the morning?” you question, and you can hear your mom scoff.

“You’re supposed to be up anyway, aren’t you?”

“I called out today, so no, I wouldn’t be up.”

“We sent you a gift, and it should arrive today,” you hear your dad say in the background.

“I’ll look out for it, thanks.”

“Well, I hope your day goes really well,” your mom tells you, and you look down at the two sleeping faces on you.

“Yeah, it’ll be great.”

~

Terushima wonders why you didn’t tell him about your birthday. He heard your phone ring while he was pretending to be asleep, and he couldn’t find the right time to say something. He heard the phone call with your parents, and his heart dropped when he heard them tell you happy birthday on the phone.

He doesn’t even know where to start with getting you a present. He’d ask his friends for help since he doesn’t really know that much about you, but they’d just tell him that it’s his fault for that since he hasn’t asked you out yet. He’s totally aware of that, but he’s just got a lot going on, okay? And yeah, maybe he’s still scared that you won’t return his feelings if he asks, but who wouldnt be in this situation?

He stops by the store on his way home from picking up Satomi from school, and he’s been racking his brain all day, but he still doesn’t know what to get you. He doesn’t want to get you just anything. You’ve helped him out in so many ways more times than he can count, so he wants your gift to be special. 

“What are we doing here, Daddy?” Satomi asks while he walks through the aisles, hoping he sees something that’ll catch his eye.

“Today is y/n’s birthday, so I wanted to get her something,” he tells her, and she gasps loudly.

“It’s her birthday?! I wanna get something for her, too!”

“What do you wanna get her?” he asks, feeling the frustration rise when he can’t find anything.

“Some pants with stripes!” she says. “She said she loves stripes like I do, and that she needed some more pants for work.” He’s not sure if they’ll be able to find that, but they walk over there anyway. He lets her do most of the looking while he continues to think, and he looks at her when she finds what she’s looking for. “These! She’ll love them!”

He’s looking at what she’s found, and he’s not too sure about them, but there’s no way he can tell her that. He tells himself in the back of his head to keep the receipt so you can take them back, but then he realizes that he doesn’t even know your size. He picks her up, and she looks through the hangers before she finds the right ones.

“Are you sure that’s the right size?” he asks, and she nods quickly.

“Yes! She let me dress up in her clothes, and she told me!” Terushima takes her word for it, even though he’s not sure how trustworthy it can be. “And we should get her oatmeal cookies! She said those were her favorite!” 

And how does she know more about you than he does? They’ll have to make them themselves since they don’t have any without the raisins, so he grabs a couple of the bags that have the batter already in them. He’s about to give up, his head metaphorically in his hands until he passes by the art section.

He backtracks, walking through it, and hoping he can find something as this might be his last chance. He stops when he finds a set of colored pencils that he’s pretty sure you’ll love. He takes one look at the price though, and he feels like he might have a heart attack. He looks up the brand, seeing how well the reviews are, and he thinks about your reaction when he gives them to you, and that ultimately seals the deal.

He picks them up without a second thought, and he grabs some tissue paper and bags for your presents to go in. “Can we get her a balloon?!” Satomi gasps, and he thinks it might be overkill, but he lets her grab one anyway. His heart nearly falls again when he hears the final total of his purchases, but he pushes it aside.

Satomi holds onto the balloon like her life depends on it, and she’s talking about giving you your present the entire ride home. He reminds her to keep her voice down in the hallway just in case her voice carries, and he lets her wrap the presents while he starts on the cookies. When she’s done with that, Satomi helps him stir the batter, and makes sure she stands back when he puts them in the oven.

She’s talking nonstop while they wait for the cookies to bake, and Terushima admits to himself that he’s excited too. She makes you a card while they wait, and he totally forgot about one while he was in the store, so he makes one with her also.

He checks the cookies to make sure they’re baked through, and he places them in a baking dish that he’s never used. Satomi uses one of her ribbons that she wears to tie it around it, and they collect all of their things and make the short walk to your door.

Satomi knocks, and it’s not long until you’re answering the door. “What are you guys doing here?” you ask in surprise, a happy birthday headband adorning your head.

“Happy birthday!!!” Satomi shouts, running to your legs to give you a hug. You let them in, and that’s when Terushima realizes that you’re not alone. 

“Wow, you guys didn’t have to do this,” you say before you introduce them to your friends. Some of them you’ve known since high school while others are work friends. 

“We made you oatmeal cookies!” Satomi says, her little arms shaking as she hands you the pan. “And we got you a balloon!” She hands that to you next, and Terushima could see the look on your face for the rest of his life.

“Oh, my God! This is so sweet! I was wondering why I was smelling something good,” you say, setting the pan down on the counter before you tie the balloon to the chair you were sitting at. 

“Here, I got you a present!” Satomi says, handing you a bag, and you sit down to open it. There are different reactions when you pull the pants out of the bag, and you gasp as you let them fall down so you can see them fully.

“Oh, my God. These are amazing.” Your reaction surprises Terushima, and you quickly get up. “I’m gonna go try them on.” You run to your room, closing the door behind you, and Terushima notices that all of your friends are looking at him.

“I’m Satomi!” she introduces, going up to each one of them and shaking their hands. 

“We’ve heard so much about you,” one of your friends says. “She has a picture of your recital framed on her desk,” she tells her, and that gets her talking even more. Terushima feels his heart warm at what your friend said, and he’s never felt more for you than at this moment.

You walk out, doing a dramatic spin as you show off the pants. The pattern is absolutely ridiculous, but you pull it off so well. “You make those pants work so well,” your co-worker says.

“I know, right?” Terushima is silent as he looks at you. The pants flare out at the bottom, but they hug the rest of your body, and he can’t say anything. “I love them, Satomi. I’m gonna wear these forever.” You pick her up, giving her a hug.

“I got them for you so you can wear them to work!”

“Well, I’m definitely going to do just that,” you tell her as everyone laughs. 

“Daddy got you a present, too!” she says, and you sit down with her in your chair as he hands it to you. You quickly pull the wrapping paper out of the bag, and your movements slow when you pull the present out of the bag.

“Oh, wow,” one of your friends says, and Terushima hates how his breathing stops for a bit.

“Yuuji, are you serious?” you ask, turning to him. “How did you know I’ve always wanted these?” You look over them, and your mouth is still open in disbelief. You let Satomi down before you get up, giving him a hug. He’s quick to wrap his arms around you, and it’s too short for his liking. “Thank you so much. I love them,” you tell him when you pull away, and you look back at them again, but he doesn’t take his eyes off of you.

“Of course. You do so much for Satomi, so I wanted to show you how much I appreciate it.”

You smile doesn’t waver, and you hug him again. “Oh, my God, I can’t wait to try them!” you beam. “You guys should stay. We have cake!”

“I love cake!” Satomi shouts, and you pick her up again while you pull up a chair for Terushima. You cut Satomi a small piece, and she doesn’t really care for the icing, so you scrap it off. Terushima doesn’t mind that at all because that means she won’t have as much sugar, so there are no complaints from him. 

He makes conversation with your friends, but his eyes always drift back to you. He’s never seen you laugh so hard, and he could hear it for the rest of his life. Satomi starts to settle down as soon as the party starts to settle, and he helps with the cleanup. 

“You know, I was wondering why she hadn’t mentioned a guy in a while,” Terushima hears, and he looks to see one of your friends that he was talking to earlier standing next to him. “But she showed me the recital pictures, and it fell into place.

He doesn’t really know how to respond, and he looks at you again, seeing you holding a sleepy Satomi as you talk with your friend. “So, what are you waiting on?” she asks, and he looks at her again.

“What do you mean?” he questions even though he has a pretty good idea about what she means.

“If you’re worried about asking her out because she doesn’t feel the same way, then I’m gonna tell you right now that you shouldn’t be.” Hearing that makes him so relieved she doesn’t even know it. “Sure, she talks about Satomi most of the time, but I can hear how her voice changes when she talks about you without even looking at her. So, don’t be scared, okay?”

He gives her a small smile, nodding his head. “Alright.”

“So, I better hear her telling me about a date soon. The look in your eyes is very obvious by the way, but she’s always been really dense,” she sighs, and Terushima feels his face grow warm as he laughs.

“Are you embarrassing me over here?” you ask her quietly when you walk over since Satomi is on her way to sleep.

“I’m helping you out,” she says with a roll of her eyes.

“With what?” you question with a frown, and she gives Terushima a look.

“As I said,” she comments, and Terushima laughs again. “Happy Birthday,” she tells you, giving you a side hug. Your brows are furrowed as you watch her walk away before you turn to Terushima.

“Thank you both for coming. I loved my gifts,” you tell him. 

“We both made you cards,” Satomi whispers, and you go over to your island and pick them up. “Read mine first,” she says, and you chuckle as you open hers. Your smile starts to fade as you read it, and Terushima frowns when you sniffle. 

“Thank you, Satomi. I love it.” She hugs you when you hug her, and he notices that you’re crying.

“Are you okay?” he asks, and you nod quickly, wiping your face.

“Yeah, I’m fine. This was the best birthday ever.”

“I’m glad,” he says warmly. You hand him her card while you read his, and he never got a chance to read hers before he came over here because he was so focused on what he wanted to say in his.

Happy Birthday, y/n! Thank you for always drawing me tigers! I hang them up on the wall in my room! Thank you for always watching me and for buying all of my cookies! I know I don’t have a mommy, but you feel like mine! I love you so much!

Terushima reads the second to last sentence over and over again, and those words echo in his head. He looks up at you at the same time you do, and you hold his card up. “This was really sweet,” you tell him. “Thank you, Yuuji.” You step closer to him, kissing him on the cheek, and he feels a spark fly all over his body.

“You’re welcome.”

Terushima coincidentally booked himself full on the day that Satomi was out of school, so you offer to take her to work with you when he tells you. You reassure him that it’s totally fine, and that your co-workers bring their kids to work all the time. Satomi is more than ecstatic when she finds out, and she has everything packed the night before.

She’s even already up when Terushima walks into her room to wake her. He drops her off at your place when he’s sure that she has everything, and he thanks you again before he leaves. You strap her car seat into your seat when you’re ready to head to work, and you don’t listen to the radio on the way to work like you usually do since you have Satomi.

She holds your hand as she walks with you to your building, and when she sees some of your co-workers that she met at your party, she instantly runs over to them to give them a hug. “You have your own office?” she asks when you open the door.

“Yeah, I do,” you chuckle as you set her bag on one of the chairs you have. She spends about the next hour asking you questions about what you do, and you answer every last one of them. She occupies herself with the stuff she brought, and you’re lowkey grateful for the distraction because you actually have work that you need to do today.

You start writing on the whiteboard in your office, and suddenly her coloring is forgotten. “Can I draw on it, too?” she asks, and you draw a square in the corner of it to give her some boundaries before you let her have at it. That seems to occupy her for even longer especially since she can erase everything and start over again.

When lunchtime rolls around, you brought your own lunch because you didn’t feel like going out today, and you make sure to pack extra for her as well. After lunch, you decide to give her a tour of the building you work in since you can see her starting to get antsy from not moving enough. She meets your boss, who absolutely loves her, which you’re not surprised about since she has a daughter her age. 

That seems to settle her down because she sits in your lap without moving too much, and Terushima calls you. “I just wanted to make sure she wasn’t causing you too much trouble.”

“She’s totally fine. We just took a tour around the building,” you tell him.

“I got to draw on her whiteboard!” she says into the phone, and you can hear his laugh come through.

“That sounds like fun, princess.”

“Can I get one, too?” she asks, and you both laugh at her question.

“We’ll see.” He tells you both that he has to get back to work, and you both tell him goodbye before you hang up the phone. She starts to get a little tired after that, and you can tell because she starts to curl into you.

You wrap your arms around her as you finish up your work for the day, and you check in with your co-workers before you head out. She sleeps on the way home, and you carry her to your apartment. You change out of your clothes after you put her down in your bed, and you think about what you might want for dinner as you turn on the TV.

Satomi comes out of your room about an hour later, sitting next to you on the couch, and you change the channel to something she wants to watch. While she’s entertained with that, you hear your phone ringing in your room, so you check to make sure she’s alright before you get up an answer it.

“Hey, Yuuji. It’s everything okay?” you say as soon as you pick up.

“I’m running a bit late, and we just had a couple of walk-ins come in. You might have to watch her for a couple more hours,” he tells you.

“That’s okay! Don’t rush. We’ll be waiting for you,” you say.

“Thank you so much. I gotta go, but I’ll be back as soon as I can.”

“It’s no problem. I’ll see you when you get home.” You hang up the phone, taking it with you as you walk out of your room. “Your dad’s running a little behind at work,” you tell her when you walk in. “You hungry yet?”

“Do you have chicken nuggets?” she asks instead of giving you an answer, and she follows you when you walk to the fridge. You open the freezer, and she gasps when you pull out a big bag.

“Dinosaur chicken nuggets.” She jumps happily while you set some out on a pan for the both of you. You get her some fruit that you have, and she sits at the dining table you have, her feet swinging as she eats. You give them time to cool after you pull them out of the oven, and you get her some juice while you wait. 

“Someone has a birthday coming up,” you start as she finishes eating her nuggets.

“I do!” she cheers loudly, pointing to herself. “I’m gonna be six years old!”

“Wow! You’re getting so big!” you say with just as much enthusiasm. “What do you want for your birthday this year?”

“A tiger!”

“That might be kinda hard to do,” you chuckle.

“It doesn’t have to be real. I just want one to have on my bed,” she offers and you nod.

“I think that can be arranged,” you tell her, and you laugh when she does. 

“There’s something else that I want,” she adds, and you raise your eyebrows in curiosity. 

“Oh? What’s that?” She gets out of her chair, and you pick her up, plopping her in your lap. 

“Can I tell you a secret?” she whispers, and you lower your voice as you nod.

“Of course, you can. I won’t tell a soul.”

You lean down so that she can whisper in your ear. “I think my Daddy really likes you.” You can’t help but laugh as you pull away.

“Really? What makes you say that?” you question.

“Because he smiles whenever he’s on the phone with you. And he talks about you all the time!” You can’t help it when your face heats up, and you try to focus on the conversation instead of how warm you’re getting.

“What does that have to do with what else you want for your birthday?”

“I want my Daddy to be happy.” You frown a little at her words.

“But he is happy, Satomi. You make him happy every day,” you say, smiling when you boop her softly on the nose and she giggles.

“Yeah, but I’m not always around. Someone has to make him happy while I’m at school and at dance practice.”

“Well, that makes sense,” you point out.

“So, if you’re here while I’m not, then he’ll always be happy!” she puts together.

“You’re a very thoughtful person, Satomi,” you say earnestly. “I’ll do my best to make your Dad happy while you’re gone.”

“Thank you.” You laugh again, and you start to tickle her softly, and her giggles fill your apartment. 

You migrate back to the couch, and you can feel the day starting to catch up to you. It’s starting to get pretty late, and you check your phone to see that Terushima texted you to say that he’s almost done. You send him a thumbs up, and you go to tell Satomi, but you see that she’s sound asleep. 

You adjust her in your arms, and your blinking starts to get heavy. You let your head fall back onto the back of the couch, and it’s not long until you’re asleep like Satomi. You don’t know how long you’ve slept, but you wake up when you hear knocking at your door. You stand carefully, making sure not to wake her up, and you open the door.

“Sorry, I dozed off,” you tell him as soon as you open it.

“That’s okay. I’m sorry I finished so late,” he says, and you wave him off.

“Terushima, it’s alright. She already ate, so she’ll probably be asleep through the night.” He tries to take her from you, but you both frown when he can’t get her off of you. “Satomi, sweetie, your dad’s here to get you.

“I want you to tuck me in,” she murmurs, and he sighs heavily. He grabs her stuff before walking to his door. You walk to her room, waking her up for just a little bit so that you can change her into her pajamas, and then you’re putting her into bed. “Goodnight, Mommy.”

You rub over her forehead, smiling softly. “Goodnight, Satomi.”

~

Terushima looks over the room, making sure everything is just where it needs to be. He looks over everything, checking off things in his head as he surveys the room. He sighs when he thinks he has everything, and then he wonders where you are.

“Yuuji!” you call, and he walks down the hall to the room where you’re peeking your head out. “I need some help. You mind zipping me up?” He walks into the room, and he wants to laugh at the image in front of him, but there’s no way he can.

You’re wearing a bodysuit that covers your whole body, one of your hands holding the back together, and he runs his eyes up and down your body countlessly. You turn around, but his eyes trail down again, and he swallows heavily. He takes a step forward, and he’s not really thinking about his actions because his hands have a mind of their own.

They start at your hips before they ghost a trail up your body, and it takes him too long to realize what he’s doing. He clears his throat, grabbing the zipper at the bottom. He places his other hand on your hip as he slowly starts to zip the suit up. You move your hair to the side once he starts to get closer to the top, and he lets his hands linger on you just a little bit longer.

You sigh heavily when he finishes, throwing your hair back as you turn around. “Thank you so much,” you breathe. “This thing is tighter than I thought it would be,” you laugh, but Terushima’s brain is taking a while to catch up. “Do you think Satomi will like it?”

“She’ll love it,” he answers absentmindedly, and his phone pings with a text, which thankfully, breaks him out of it. “She’s walking up now,” he says when he reads the text, and you push him out of the door so that he can greet her. The door opens, and Satomi frowns when she sees her dad standing in the middle of the room.

“Why’s it so dark?” she asks, and Takeharu turns the lights on. She gasps as she takes in the room, which is decorated with a jungle theme and tigers everywhere.

“Happy birthday, princess!” Terushima yells, holding his arms out. She spins around in a slow circle as she takes it all in. “You like it?”

“I love it! Thank you, Daddy!” She runs to give him a hug, and soon after the reveal, her friends and their parents start piling in. He puts a crown on her head as she sits at the table, and chatter fills the room. “Where’s y/n?” she asks, looking around, and you jump up behind her.

“Surprise!” She gasps, taking in the tiger bodysuit you’re wearing, ears adorning your head as well. 

“You look awesome!” she says, giving you a tight hug.

“Happy birthday, Satomi,” you say warmly. 

“Did you paint your face yourself?” she asks, poking at the whiskers on your cheeks, and you nod fervently.

“Yes, I did. You want your face painted?” You already know the answer, and you bring her over to a table so you can paint her face. You constantly have to hold her so that she’ll stay still, but when you’re done, she smiles widely in the mirror.

“I look like a real tiger!” she comments as you put tiger ears on her head.

“Yeah, you do!” You suddenly have a line of children behind her, and you spend the next fifteen minutes painting a nose and whiskers on their faces.

Terushima’s standing off to the side, glad that Satomi looks absolutely overjoyed, and his friends walk over to stand next to him. “A bodysuit, huh?” Kazuma says first. “Was that your decision?”

“Of course, not,” he retorts quickly. “She thought Satomi would like it.”

“Well, she’s definitely not the only one who does,” Takeharu adds, and Terushima knows that better than anyone, balling his fists every time one of the dads stares at you for just a little too long as you walk around.

You finished painting, and the kids are back to eating at the table, but Satomi is talking to you the whole time. Your attention is soon diverted from her when one of the dads starts talking to you, and Terushima knows his track record from some of the other mothers.

The moment he takes a step forward, Kazuma grabs his arm. “Easy, tiger. You don’t wanna make a scene at your daughter’s party.”

Thankfully, the conversation doesn’t last long, and you’re walking over to him, standing on the other side of him. “This thing is a lot hotter than it looks,” you breathe as you fan yourself, but it’s loud enough that only Terushima picks it up, but that sentence alone starts to do things to him. “I’m glad I’m not wearing anything underneath,” you comment more to yourself, noting how your bra and underwear stick to you uncomfortably. Terushima hears it, and he starts to feel warm all over before he tries to think about anything but him getting a chance to take it off of you. 

“Thank you so much for the help,” he tries, diverting the conversation.

“Of course! I’m glad she’s so happy,” you say, looking toward her. Takeharu offered to have the party at his house since there were going to be a lot of people coming, and after Terushima shared the idea with you, you helped him set everything up while Takeharu and Kazuma kept Satomi entertained until the party.

“Yeah, me too.” Satomi’s happily talking with her friends as they finish eating, and he feels a breath of relief run through him. He jumps when he feels a hand on his back.

“Relax, Yuuji. You did really good,” you tell him, and he smiles at you. “So, have some fun today, okay?” Satomi runs up to you, and you bend down to her level, turning to her immediately.

“Is there cake?”

“Of course, there’s cake!” you reply, and you have her go sit down before you and Terushima go to get the cake. He makes sure to block anyone’s view of you as you walk, and he can’t help but slide his hand on your waist as he does so.

You have her close her eyes while you put the “six” candle on it, and you light it. “It’s a tiger!” she screams when you tell her to open her eyes.

Everyone sings happy birthday, and she leans forward in her seat so she can blow out the candle. She’s very insistent that no one cut the cake, which is what both of you expected, so you bring out a bigger one to give to all of the kids. Satomi’s the only one who eats her tiger cake, and Terushima tells her to slow down when he notices that she’s eating too fast.

You know she’s just excited about the presents, so you all migrate to the other side of the room where the presents are. Terushima films while she opens her presents, leaving the big ones for last. The presents she opens first came from some of the parents, and she’s just as happy when she reveals each one. 

You have her open yours after she finishes with those, and she laughs loudly when she sees what it’s inside. “It’s a big tiger!” she yells, hugging the stuffed animal to her body. She gives you a hug with the tiger still in her arms. “Thank you!”

“Of course!”

She runs back over to open the last one, and she looks at the sticker on the wrapping paper. “This one’s from you, Daddy?” He nods, not wanting to say another word, and you help her open it. “It’s the dollhouse I wanted!!” she shouts at the top of her lungs, and you think she might explode when she sees all the extra stuff that Terushima bought her. He took up the extra work just to get it for her, and he thinks it was so worth it as he watches her.

She runs over to him, nearly taking him down, and he crouches down so she can hug him. “Thank you so much, Daddy. I love you.”

“I love you, too, Satomi. You’re welcome.” He kisses her on the forehead, and she runs back over, looking at everything that he got, and the tiger you got her doesn’t leave her arm. 

The party stays in full swing after she opens them for about an hour or so, and the kids are starting to get tired, so everyone starts to make their way out, giving Satomi a final happy birthday before they leave. You stay to help clean up, and you groan once you finish, wiping over your forehead.

“God, I cannot wait to get out of this thing,” you groan. 

“Are you gonna need help with the zipper again?” Terushima can’t help but ask, and you nod with a tired look on your face.

“Yeah, definitely.” He checks on Satomi before you leave, seeing that she’s asleep on the couch with the tiger in her arms, and he shoves Kazuma when he catches him laughing as he follows you down the hallway.

You move your hair to the side, and Terushima can’t help thinking about how warm you feel as he pulls the zipper down. Once it’s all the way down, you sigh loudly, quickly pulling your arms out of it and pulling it down so that it’s at your waist.

“Thank you so much. I feel so much better.” You turn around, slumping a little as the cool air hits your skin, and Terushima really wishes he could look away from you. You take the hair tie off your wrist and put your hair up to get it off your neck, and you sigh in relief again. “I’m glad Satomi liked it, but I don’t know if I could do this again,” you laugh, and Terushima looks into your eyes just in time.

“That’s okay. I don’t know how I’m gonna top this party,” he says.

“I’m pretty sure she’ll have a new obsession next year anyway,” you dismiss, and he steps closer to you.

“Thank you for helping set all this up.”

“Well, you did most of the work,” you say, wiping your face. “You made her really happy today, Yuuji. You’re the best dad in the world in my book.” He laughs when you do, and even with the paint still on your face, he desperately wants to kiss you. 

“I couldn’t have done it without you,” he says after he’s silent for a bit.

“How so?” you question as you frown.

“Because you were always there encouraging me when I felt like I wasn’t doing the best,” he admits, and you let your head fall to the side as you rest your hands on his neck.

“Yuuji, you are always doing your best. You’re not going to be perfect a hundred percent of the time, but when you try, that’s more than enough.”

“See, that’s what I’m talking about,” he chuckles.

“Well, you definitely don’t give yourself enough credit when you should. You do everything you can to make Satomi happy, and that’s what matters.” Fuck, he’s about two seconds from pulling you into him and planting his lips on yours, and right now, there’s nothing about to stop him. But you let your hands fall, and you turn away from him to grab your clothes. “Now, I need to get out of this before I burn up.”

“Of course. I’ll be out here,” he says, and he hates how he feels like he missed his chance. He walks towards the door, and when he turns to close it, you’ve already shoved it to your ankles. He falters when he sees you bent at the waist, and he quickly swings to door closed, but it’s too late, the image is already burned into his brain.

He clears his throat as he pinches himself as a punishment for regretting not looking any longer, and he takes a deep breath before he walks down the hallway. “That took longer than it should have.” Terushima jumps at the sound of Kazuma’s voice, and he nearly throws him out of the door.

“Go home,” he orders, pushing him forward, and the guy laughs as he walks to the front door. “Thanks for offering up your house, Takeharu. I hope we didn’t do too much damage.”

“Don’t worry about it. It was worth seeing the biggest smile on my niece’s face.” Terushima smiles before he turns his attention to his daughter, and he sighs in relief when he’s able to pull the tiger from her arms without her waking up.

You come into the room with no paint on your face and the bodysuit in your hand as he picks her up. You grab the tiger as you say goodbye to Takeharu, and you all make your way to Terushima’s car. The dollhouse is already packed up in the trunk, and he straps her into her car seat. 

You both yawn at the same time when he pulls into the parking lot of your apartment, and you both laugh. He decides to tackle the dollhouse when he’s not tired, and you walk into his apartment to put her to bed. You set the tiger next to her, and you smile at how peaceful she looks. 

You yawn again as he walks you to your door, and you turn to him before you open it. “Goodnight, Yuuji,” you say softly.

“Goodnight.” You’re about to turn around, and he stops you, carefully pulling the tiger ears from your hair. 

“Oh, I totally forgot. I definitely would’ve fallen asleep with them off,” you laugh tiredly. Instead of kissing you like he wants to, he pulls you into a hug, and you don’t seem to mind how long he does.

“Thank you,” he repeats.

“Any time, Yuuji.”

I want to see her.

Terushima doesn’t know how long he stares at the text, but he can’t bring himself to reply. The amount and range of emotions he feels makes him feel so overwhelmed, he throws his phone to the side. The texts have been getting more frequent despite his responses being pretty dry. He knows that he shouldn’t keep Satomi away from her mother, but after all this time, why now?

She never once made any effort to contact him, and he’s had to raise her without her. He has half a mind to tell her to just leave him alone, but there’s no way he can actually say it. He sighs again, letting his head fall into his hands. He wants to ask somebody about it, but he’s being stubborn and he’s trying to push the problem away until it disappears. But that’s easier said than done. Way easier.

“Daddy?” He quickly lifts his head up, looking over his shoulder to see Satomi walking towards him.

“What’s up, sweetie?” he asks, putting on a smile that he hopes she can’t see through.

“Can I go over to y/n’s?”

“What for?”

“I wanna ask her something,” she says, and she doesn’t give him an explanation, turning her attention to a string on his shirt. “It won’t take long, I promise.” 

He laughs softly, but he stands up anyway. “Alright. Let’s go see if she’s busy.”

“Wait! I wanna go by myself,” she says suddenly, stopping him from walking.

“Why?” She doesn’t answer, looking down at the floor, and he lowers himself to her level. “What’s wrong, Satomi?”

“Nothing! I promise. I just wanna talk to her.” He knows that he won’t get much out of her, and when she knows he won’t ask any more questions, she runs to the door. He’s quick to follow after her, and he stands in front of his door in the hallway, watching her knock on your door.

Satomi bounces on her toes as she waits, and her face lights up when you open the door. “Satomi? Does your dad know you’re here?” you ask as soon as you see, and he chuckles as she points to her left.

“Yeah! He’s right there!” You step out, looking in the direction she’s pointing, and you laugh when your eyes meet his. You wave at him, and he barely gets a chance to return it because Satomi pulls you into your apartment. He smiles as he watches, but the moment your door closes, the smile falls.

“So, what brings you over here?” you ask her after she pulls you to sit on the couch.

“I wanna talk about something, but every time I bring it up, it makes Daddy sad,” she tells you, and you frown as you rub your hand over her head.

“What’s wrong, Satomi?”

“Daddy’s been sad lately, but every time I come in the room, he smiles like there’s nothing wrong.” After hearing that, you can’t say that you’re not concerned. 

“What were you trying to tell your dad?”

“I wanted to ask you if you would come to school with me next week.”

“What for?”

“We’re having a bunch of activities going on, and some of the stuff I’ve never been able to before, so I wanted to ask if you could come.”

“Of course, I can, Satomi. I would love to come,” you tell her softly, and she smiles a little at your answer but it doesn’t last long. 

“I just don’t know why Daddy isn’t happy about it.”

“I don’t think he’s upset about you asking me. He might have something else going on,” you try, and she picks at her pants.

“When I ask him if you can be my mommy, he never gives me an answer.” You sigh as you listen to her talk, and you have a feeling that Satomi’s mother might be playing a part in why he’s acting the way he is. You’re not going to ask about it, obviously, but you hate that you can’t give her a straightforward answer. “But you would like to be my mommy, right?”

You think about what to say before you answer her honestly. “I would love that, Satomi, but I don’t know how your dad feels,” you huff, and she’s quick to sit herself up on her knees.

“But my Daddy really likes you! He’d be okay with it!” You can’t help but laugh, and she keeps going. “I know he likes you. He even says your name while he’s in the shower.”

You choke suddenly, feeling your face go hot at her words. You try to cover it up with a laugh, and you can see that she’s confused at your reaction, so try to gloss over it and continue the conversation. “I think your dad is just dealing with a lot of things right now. I can try and ask him about it if you want me to.”

“I don’t mean to make him more upset,” she whispers, and you’re quick to reassure her.

“No, no, sweetie. I can tell you right now that it’s not your fault. You’re not making him any more upset, I promise. Okay?” She nods, giving you a hug. “Did you wanna talk to me about anything else?”

She shakes her head, but she doesn’t pull away from you. “Thanks, y/n.”

“Of course, Satomi. I’ll always be here if you need to talk, okay?” She nods, and after a while, she’s ready to go back next door, so you walk over there with her. The door’s unlocked, so you both walk in, and Terushima’s sitting on the couch. 

“y/n wants to talk to you about something!” Satomi announces the moment she steps inside and before either of you can respond, she’s running to her room. You close the door behind you as you step further inside the apartment, and both of you laugh as he stands and walks toward you.

“I told her I’d go to school with her next week if that’s okay with you,” you tell him, and you notice that he doesn’t look as happy as he usually does, and now you understand what Satomi was talking about.

“Yeah. I know she’s excited about it. She’s happy that she can bring someone this year.” His smile doesn’t even last his entire sentence, and you grab his hands.

“Yuuji, you don’t have to tell me what’s going on, but Satomi notices. I don’t wanna tell you this, but she’s worried about you.” He sighs, letting his head fall forward for a second before he looks back at you.

“I know. I’m just kinda stuck right now,” is all he tells you, and you lace your fingers with his.

“That’s okay, but don’t be afraid to reach out and ask somebody. It’s not good for you to keep it in.” You let go of one of his hands to rub at the lines between his eyebrows. “You’re too young to get wrinkles.” He smiles when you laugh, and he pulls you into a hug.

“Thank you,” he whispers into your hair, but he doesn’t let you go, and you wrap your arms around his neck. 

“Of course, Yuuji.” You don’t question how long he’s holding you, and you guess he’s been needing his for a while. “She also said that she wants me to be her mom,” you chuckle, and he hums at your words, holding you a little tighter. He doesn’t respond to you, and you move one of your hands to run through his hair. “You okay?” you whisper when he doesn’t let you go, and he’s been quiet for a while.

“Yeah, I am now.” He smiles when he feels you laugh, and he pulls away when he feels your head move, but he keeps his arms around you. “I don’t know how you do it, but you always manage to make me feel better.”

“But I didn’t even do anything,” you muse, and he kisses your forehead before putting his against yours.

“You don’t have to.” He takes a deep breath out through his nose, and he feels his whole body relax. He doesn’t want to let you go, and he knows that he has to face reality, but now, he feels like he can.

“I’m always here if you need anything,” you whisper, and you always are, he hasn’t doubted that for a second.

~

I’ll think about it.

That’s all he can really manage, but he doesn’t want to give her the impression that he’s going to let her waltz right back into his life after all this time. He told his friends about her contacting him, and their reactions were just like he expected. Kazuma was a lot more passionate than he thought when he was telling him to just block her.

He doesn’t really have any bad feelings toward her with regard to their relationship. People fall out all of the time, it happens. But that doesn’t mean that he was okay with her just leaving his kid on his doorstep without a word. In the back of his mind, he admits that he’s scared thinking about potentially seeing her after these few years.

He’s just uncertain about what this would mean for Satomi, and there are a lot of people who are afraid of the unknown. He pushes all of that to the side though when he hears Satomi talking loudly in the living room. He can hear your voice as well, and he must’ve been so into his thoughts that he didn’t hear your knock.

He shoves his phone in his pocket with that one conversation specifically muted, and he walks out of his room to an image that he sees all the time, but he still feels his heart flutter when he sees it. You’re holding Satomi in your arms as you talk to her, and he lets his feet guide him toward you.

Satomi’s excitement is practically radiating off of her as he drives to the school. He barely gets a chance to talk to you because as soon as he gets her out of the car, she’s pulling you towards the building. Recently, Satomi’s been adamant about skipping school whenever this day rolls around. He knows why this day always had her down, but he didn’t think there was anything he could say to make her feel better. He always offered to go and spend the day with her, but it wasn’t enough.

She pulls you into her classroom, and she has you sit at a table with three other girls. “These are my friends!” she tells you, and they all give you a shy wave before Satomi leans toward your ear. “They don’t have a mommy either,” she whispers to you, and you feel your heart sink. 

“Can you draw any animal?” one of her friends ask you.

“I can. What do you want me to draw?” you respond instantly. 

“A panda,” she says softly, and all of her friends crowd around you as you start drawing while the rest of them ask you to draw them something as well.

Every year they have a day where the kids can bring their parents, and there’s a bunch of activities they can do. It falls between Mother's and Father’s Day, so some of the games that are played usually involve either both or one parent. Satomi hasn’t been in the past two years, and it always hurts Terushima in a way that he’s never hurt before, but now, he’s seen her happier today than she’s ever been on this day in the past.

He knows that he’s been kicked to the curb today, and he can’t help but laugh about it, so he just focuses on helping out where he’s needed whether that’s for the activities or the games. He’ll catch you being pulled around by Satomi, and he notices that her friends are with you as well. They all stay glued to your side as they walk you around to do all of the different things, and as you migrate outside, your hands are full of all of the things they made.

Satomi grabs the things out of your hand and runs them over to Terushima. “Daddy, you have to hold this so y/n can race with me!” He barely has time to catch it all before she runs away. You have to do a three-leg race first, and Terushima finds somewhere to stand so he can watch. 

He knows you’ll probably kill him later, but he can’t help but pull his phone out. The race starts, and it takes a while for the two of you to get going, but you start pulling ahead soon after. You have to slow your steps so that Satomi can keep up, but your leg that’s with hers is almost in perfect sync. You both finish first, and Satomi almost falls from how hard she’s celebrating.

Terushima looks down at his phone, looking at the video again, and there’s no way he’s going to be able to lose his smile. He looks back up after a while when he hears cheering again, and he frowns for a moment when he sees you racing again. One of Satomi’s friends is with you this time, and Satomi’s at the finish line cheering you on.

You’re actually really good at the race, winning twice in a row. You’re not celebrating as much when you win, and Terushima’s eyebrows raise when Satomi pulls you to the starting line again. Another one of her friends is racing with you, and Satomi and her friend race to the end to cheer you both on again.

You have to do the race again, and you just barely make it. Satomi and her friends are cheering loudly following you while you find the closest seat. You nearly collapse, and you barely get a chance to catch your breath before Satomi pulls you to your feet. Terushima follows, almost losing you in the crowd, and he sees that she’s pulled you to a potato sack race. 

He doesn’t get there in time to save you, and he feels so bad for laughing, but by the time you cross the finish line, you look two steps away from falling out. You ditch the sack, finding a blanket to lie on. Satomi and her friends’ attention is quickly diverted by something else to do, and Terushima walks over to you.

“You were amazing,” he laughs, and you groan as you place her hand on your chest, your breathing still heavy.

“I cannot feel my legs,” you rasp. “Oh, my God. I’ve never done that much cardio in my life.” He sits down next to you, and you open your eyes when you feel something cold touch your hand. You gasp, taking the water bottle from him. You only get through about half before you have to take a break. “My legs are shaking,” you groan. “Holy crap.”

Satomi and her friends run back over to you, but they don’t seem to notice how out of breath you are. “They’re doing face painting! You have to come!” She grabs your hand, but this time, she can’t get you to move.

“Satomi give her a chance to catch her breath,” Terushima tries. “You guys wore her out.”

“But she was amazing! She won all of them!” one of her friends says, and you lay back down on the blanket.

“Thank you. I tried,” you breathe. “Give me five minutes.” That seems to tide them over, but you realize that you probably should’ve told them more time because you know Satomi will take it literally. 

You hold out your hand, and Terushima carefully pulls you up. You take another swig of water, a deep breath following after. “I think it’s your turn,” you jests, and he shrugs as he shakes his head.

“I tried to give you a break, but Satomi has officially kicked me to the curb.”

“Lucky me,” you laugh, wiping the sweat from your forehead. “I didn’t know I was gonna have to do four races. I would’ve mentally prepared myself.”

Satomi comes back over when your five minutes are up just like you knew she would. Terushima helps you up, and you shakily walk over to where the face painting booth is. They insists that you paint on their faces, so you pull up a chair and paint what they want. 

A kid notices the face paint on Satomi’s face, and they run over to you asking if you can paint as well. Their mom apologizes for the sudden ask, but you don’t mind at all. You paint what they want, and they thank you loudly before running off. Before you know it, you have a line of kids in front of you, and it definitely doesn’t help when you catch Satomi boasting about your skills.

You lose track of how many kids come through, but by the time you’re done, your hand is starting to cramp. Terushima manages to pull you away in an attempt to save you after he diverts Satomi’s attention again. 

“I’m sorry. You definitely signed up for more than you thought,” Terushima says when you find a park table to sit at.

“Don’t worry about it. I’m having fun. The running was a bit much, but this is way better than being stuck at work.” You sigh a little when you notice that Satomi and her friends manage to find you, and you’re relieved when they ask Terushima to play with them this time. “My hero,” you muse, and he laughs before being pulled away by his daughter.

You smile as you watch them disappear into the crowd, and you turn when you hear a voice next to you. “I’m Satomi’s teacher,” she introduces herself, and you shake her hand. “Do you mind if I sit?”

“No, of course. Go ahead.”

“y/n, right?” she asks and you nod.

“I’m guessing you heard about me from Satomi?” you surmise, and the both of you laugh as she nods her head.

“She won’t stop talking about you, but I see why now. You’re amazing with children. I don’t think I’ve ever seen her friends smile so wide.”

“She told me about their situation when I first met them, and they never left my side after we did the crafts.”

“Have you ever considered working with kids before?”

“In college, yes. I actually majored in education, but I wasn’t sure if I would be cut out for it.”

“Well, if you ask me, you are more than qualified for it.” You don’t respond, giving her a small smile. “We actually have a teacher that’s leaving at the end of the year. She teaches the same grade I do.”

“Are you asking me what I think you’re asking me?”

“Here’s my number,” she says, handing you a card. “You don’t have to make your decision now, of course. But I think you would be amazing at it.” You look down at the card, feeling a wave of emotions running through you. “It was nice to meet you.”

“Yeah, same,” you whisper, and she gives you a friendly smile before she gets up. You pick at the corner of the card as you chew on your lip. Who knew you would have something like this come up all of a sudden? 

“Hey, you okay?” You jump at Terushima’s voice, looking up as you cover the card with your hand.

“Yeah, I was just talking to Satomi’s teacher,” you smile, and you quickly try to change to subject. “Where are the girls?”

“Oh, they’ll be here in a second,” he says, and he steps to the side when they come running up to you.

“Happy Mother’s Day, y/n!” Satomi yells, and they all hand you pink and red pieces of paper. You sort them and you realize that they’re in the shape of hearts. Their names are on all of them, and each of them has something written on the back. You read through all of them, and you bite your lip to try and keep your tears at bay.

“You guys didn’t have to do this,” you tell them, and you’re really fighting the tears when they all hug you. “I’m gonna put these on my wall, they’re so beautiful.” As your hand runs over them, in the back of your mind, the conversation with Satomi’s teacher runs through your head.

You all go get food as the day starts to unwind, and you all eat at the table together. While the girls are talking, Terushima nudges you softly with his shoulder. “What’s up? You keep spacing out.”

“You noticed?” you chuckle. You don’t bother to hide it from him, and you pull out the card. “Satomi’s teacher told me that they’re going to have an open position at the end of the school year.”

“Are you gonna take it?” he asks honestly, and you look up at him.

“I dunno,” you admit. “I guess I’m just still trying to process the fact that I’m getting an opportunity.” 

“Then you should take it,” he tells you softly. “I don’t think there’d be anyone better for it than you.” You look at him softly, and he grabs your hand, lacing his fingers with yours. “And Satomi would be thrilled to see you more,” he adds, and that makes you laugh. “But seriously, you shouldn’t be afraid to take a chance at it. It’s clear you know what you’re doing. So, now you just gotta show them.”

You laugh again when you notice that you said those words to him once. “Thank you, Yuuji,” you whisper, squeezing his hand.

“You’re welcome,” he whispers back, kissing your forehead before he wraps his arm around you. 

You and Terushima help with the cleanup after you finish eating, and he holds your hand while you both walk to the car, Satomi way ahead of you. “Excuse me, are you Satomi’s mother?” You stop suddenly when a man walks up to you, and since you’re so off guard, you just let words flow out of your mouth.

“Oh, I–yes.”

“I’m Aneko and Emiko’s father. I just wanted to thank you.” You frown at his words, turning to fully face him. “They’re friends of Satomi’s, and they told me all the things you did for them today. I–” He stops himself, taking a deep breath before he continues. “I couldn’t make it today because of work, and they lost their mother a year ago. I’ve never seen them so happy.” 

The tears make it to your waterline when you see his, and you pull him into a hug. “Thank you so much,” he whispers, and you rub your hands over his back.

“Of course. I’m so glad they were able to have fun.” He gives your hands a squeeze when he pulls away, and he gives you both a quiet goodbye before he heads to his car. Terushima wipes the tears from your face when they finally fall, and he keeps his arm around you as you walk to the car.

Satomi is asleep before he barely makes it away from the school, and he holds your hand on the console as you look out the window. He doesn’t try to press you when you’re quiet on the ride home and when you walk to your apartment. You help him tuck Satomi in, and she gives you a tired hug before you lay her down. 

“Thank you for coming.”

“Of course, Satomi. Did you have fun?” You smile when she gives you a sleepy nod. “I’m glad,” you say, rubbing over her head. You lean forward to kiss her forehead, and she quickly leans up to do the same. “Goodnight, Satomi.”

“Night.” Terushima gives her a kiss on the forehead too, and he walks you to your door after walking out of Satomi’s room.

“I don’t know how I can thank you for today,” he says once you stop at your door.

“Maybe with a hot bath,” you joke. “My legs are gonna be feeling it tomorrow.” You both laugh softly in the quiet hallway. “I’m just glad I got to see Satomi happy.”

“I’d say she was even happier than her birthday party,” he responds.

“Then I’d say I did pretty well today,” you chuckle. “The soreness is definitely worth it.” He pulls you into a hug, and he memorizes the feeling of you in his arms. When you pull away, his face is right in front of yours, and he lets his hand rest on your neck.

“Don’t be afraid of the offer,” he whispers, rubbing his thumb over your cheek. You nod, and he kisses your forehead, letting his lips linger on your skin just a little longer.

“Thanks, Yuuji.”

“How did we get here?” Terushima whispers to you as you both look at your friends sitting and talking in front of you.

“I have no idea,” you whisper back.

You and your friend were out when you ran into Kazuma. You all struck up a conversation, but while you weren’t paying attention they must’ve had a conversation on their own because you find yourself on a Friday night with your friends and Terushima’s friends in his apartment. Satomi wanted to spend the weekend with her grandparents, and Kazuma jumped at the opportunity to help his friend out.

You’ve obviously played a couple of drinking games, but you notice that you and Yuuji are a little bit drunker than everyone else in the room. “Okay, I think we have to up our game,” your friend whispers to Kazuma. “They’ll never get together if we don’t do something.”

“You’re telling me,” Kazuma groans, rolling his eyes at how long it’s taken for Terushima to even think about asking you out. The friend that Kazuma met while you were out was the same friend that talked with Terushima at your birthday party. She mentioned him when you introduce Kazuma, and that’s how the plan was formed.

“Okay, so let’s play Never Have I Ever,” your friend offers to the crowd, and you and Terushima are both a bit suspicious when everyone easily agrees.

“And why would we do that?” you ask, squinting your eyes at your friend.

“Why not?” she shrugs before she pulls out some shot glasses. You don’t disagree, but you make sure to keep an eye on her. 

The questions start out pretty generic, but you and Yuuji start to find that the questions are oddly specific to the two of you. You really start to feel the alcohol after about the fourth shot, and you’ve always been a bit of a lightweight. Your friend knows that, and oh what a coincidence, so is Terushima. 

“Okay, these questions are ridiculous,” you say, but you fall back into Terushima’s side, and he easily throws an arm around you.

“Yeah,” he lamely adds. “We’ve been the only ones to drink in a row. I haven’t seen you drink in a while,” he accuses, pointing a finger at Kazuma. “What are you up to?”

“Okay, how about this?” Kazuma starts, completely ignoring his friend’s question. “Never have I ever had a job.”

Terushima rolls his eyes, but everyone drinks anyway, and you know that your words are going to start slurring a bit. They ask a few more questions just to make sure their plan will work, and they know they’ve done it when you and Terushima start talking amongst yourselves.

They both know your mannerisms, and you’re practically on top of one another. “Let’s change the game,” your friend offers, but she doesn’t say it loud enough, and if you do hear her, neither of you is paying attention. “We’re playing seven minutes in heaven!” She raises her voice just a little, but when you guys finally catch on, she’s quick to continue talking. “Nose goes!”

Everyone almost in unison puts their finger on their nose, and you and Terushima are the only ones who haven’t. They’re quick to push you into Terushima’s room despite your protests, and the door closes behind you. “The timer starts now!” you hear Takeharu yell, and Terushima tries to open the door, but it’s no use.

He groans, sitting on his bed. “They definitely did this on purpose,” he says, and you walk over to him.

“They definitely did.” Your words are slow, and neither of you has been this drunk since college. You try to sit next to him, but your balance is off, so he grabs your hand to stop you from falling. “Thank you,” you say with a giggle. “I’m probably gonna fall if I move anymore.”

“That’s okay,” he laughs.

“But I wanna sit down,” you whine, and he grabs your hips, pulling you towards him. It takes you too long for his liking to understand what he’s doing, but when his hand drifts to your leg, your brain finally catches up. You straddle his lap, your legs on the bed, and he keeps his hands on your hips.

“Is this okay?” he whispers, and you nod as fast as you can as your hands slide over his shoulders. You lean into him, inches from his face, and you both laugh as you stare at each other. “I haven’t been this drunk in a long time.”

“Me neither. I hope I don’t wake up with a hangover,” you complain, and he fully wraps his arms around you. “Do you think this was their plan?” you ask quietly.

“What? Getting us drunk and locking us in a room together? Oh, definitely.” You laugh, leaning more of your weight forward, and he falls backward. 

“Sorry,” you giggle, letting your forehead rests on his, and he copies it, letting his hands run up and down your back.

“It’s okay. I’m more comfortable this way anyway.” Your hands run through his hair, and even though neither of you is saying anything, you’re looking at each other. It’s like you’re in your own world.

“You’re so pretty,” he mumbles, and he smiles when you do, your head momentarily falling from his before you put it back where it was before.

“Really?”

He nods slowly. “Yeah. I’ve thought that since I first met you.”

“Well, I think you’re pretty cute,” you respond, bumping your nose against his.

“There’s so much I wanna say to you but definitely not while I’m drunk.” 

“That’s fair,” you laugh. You move your head away to yawn, but you're quick to rest it on his again, and both of you feel sparks run through your body when your lips brush yours. “I think I’m gonna fall asleep.”

“Me too,” he whispers, and you shift so that you can rest your face on his neck. His hands don’t stop rubbing over your back, and your eyes start to feel heavy. “Goodnight, baby.”

“Goodnight, Teru.”

“They’re so hopeless,” your friend groans as she peeks her head into the room. “They’re sleeping.”

“Are you serious?” Takeharu says, and Kazuma sighs with a shake of his head.

“What else can we do?” Kazuma asks. “I’m just gonna drink out of annoyance.”

~

You wake up first, and the first thing your brain tells you is that you have to pee. You carefully but swiftly peel Terushima’s arms from you before you make a beeline for the bathroom. You sigh in relief as you pee, and when you walk out after washing your hands, you see your friends sleeping in the living room. You laugh as you wobble a bit, and you’re definitely still drunk.

Terushima comes out of his room right as you walk into the living room, following the same path as you while he tries to keep his balance. You stretch, waiting for him to come out of the bathroom, and you turn when you hear the door open. “Do you have an extra toothbrush?” you ask because you don’t want to deal with fumbling with your keys.

He nods, letting you in the bathroom, and he finds one under the sink. He hands it to you, putting some toothpaste on it before he does the same to his. You both laugh softly to yourself as you brush your teeth, both of you having a hand on the counter to steady yourself.

“I’m definitely still a little drunk,” you tell him after you brush your teeth, and he sighs as he nods.

“So, am I.” You walk back out, following him to the kitchen and he grabs you some water. You lean back against the island, and he stands in front of you, nearly as close to you as he was last night. “What do you want to eat?”

“I don’t care. Whatever you have,” you answer, sitting your cup on the counter next to you. 

“Are you using your second bedroom?” he asks, setting his cup on the counter behind him. 

“I’m using it as an office, kinda. It’s mostly storage, though. Why do you ask?”

“Because Satomi wants to have a sleepover with her friends, but there’s not a lot of room in her room.”

“That’s so cute. Yeah, you can use mine. You’ll just have to help me clean it out.” He steps closer to you, resting his hands on your hips.

“It’s okay if it’s too much of a hassle, I can find–”

“Yuuji,” you start, resting your hands on his face. “I just told you it was okay.”

“I just feel like you do so much, and I don’t know how I’m ever going to repay you fully.”

“Well, I do love food,” you tease, and he smiles when you laugh.

“You want me to buy you food?” he asks as he thinks of his first interaction with you, and maybe it’s still the alcohol running through his veins, but he steps even closer to you. “How about I make it a date? Is that okay?” He leans towards you, and he stares at your lips as he waits for your answer.

“Yeah, that’s more than okay.” He smiles when you nod, and he’s thought about kissing you for so long that there’s nothing going to stop him now. You don’t pull away when he finally meets your lips, and he sighs heavily, wondering why he deprived himself for so long.

Your arms wrap around his neck as you kiss him back, and his hands move to your neck as he deepens the kiss. When you both pull away, your heavy breathing is barely audible over his heart pounding. “Wow,” he mumbles, and you giggle softly.

“You usually save that for end the of the date,” you jest, and he rubs his thumb over your lip, his eyes only focusing on that.

“Is it okay that I did it before? Sorry, I just couldn’t wait any longer,” he says, and he barely waits for you to nod before he goes back in. You follow him when he leans forward, and he grabs your hips to help you sit on the counter. He doesn’t break the kiss, and your back arches when you feel the coldness of the counter against it. You moan when he slides his tongue in your mouth, and he doesn’t think there’s going to be anything that can stop him from taking you right here.

“It worked!” You both jump when you hear a voice, quickly remembering that you’re definitely not alone. Terushima pulls away, looking up to see your friend slowly getting off the floor, your head turns to look up as well.

“It only took him five years,” Takeharu says before he puts his head back down. “And I might need a trashcan.” Everyone splits as last night’s events start to catch up to them. Terushima feels his face flame as you look back at him and both of you laugh. 

“Looks like we’re gonna be taking care of people,” you note, lifting yourself up, but he’s still in your space. He puts his hands back on your waist, and he thought he would be satisfied after kissing you, but the urge now is only fueled. He kisses you again in lieu of answering, and he can hear Kazuma groan, but he doesn’t give a shit.

“Okay, enough with the PDA, I’m already sick,” Kazuma groans before his head falls into the trashcan.

~

Kazuma is more than willing to watch Satomi the next weekend, and Terushima spends the whole week a nervous wreck. He’s been out of the game for so long, and he doesn’t even remember the last time he went on a date. The day comes, and Kazuma swings by to pick her up. She’s ecstatic about it, of course, and while she’s getting ready, Kazume notices how his friend is pacing.

“Please don’t tell me you’re stressing about this,” he says, and Terushima wipes his hands on his shorts, his hands sweating just thinking about it.

“Do you remember the last time I’ve been on a date?”

“Dude, the only thing you need is for the other person to like you back, and she does. Stop worrying so much. You’ve been around her for this long, so you have nothing to be scared of. You’ve done worse around her anyway, and it hasn’t scared her off, so I’d say you’re good.”

Terushima quickly glares at his friend’s back-handed encouragement, but he does have a point. He takes a deep breath to try and calm himself before he changes the subject. “And why were you so eager to watch Satomi this weekend?”

“Because I’m trying to get a date myself,” he admits easily.

“Are you really using my daughter to pick up women?”

“You did it,” he counters quickly. “But I’ll actually do something about it rather than wait five years.” Terushima rolls his eyes, and Satomi comes out of her room with just her backpack. Terushima laughs to himself before he goes into her room to pack her some clothes, and she gives him a hug before bouncing towards the door. “Don’t stress, have fun. And don’t have another kid,” Kazuma tells him before he can say anything back, and he quickly closes the door. Some friends he has.

Terushima has spent the last couple of hours figuring out what to wear, and he internally admits how stupid this all is. You’ve seen him in worse, but he wants to make a good impression. You were kinda vague about the details, and he wishes you weren’t so he could have some guidance. He jumps when he hears a knock at the door, and he mildly panics. He just throws on the first outfit he tried on, and he races to the door.

He opens it, and the moment his eyes land on you, he wondered why he was ever stressed in the first place. “Hi! Sorry, I’m a little early, but I already ordered the food.”

“No, that’s okay,” he says, letting you in, and he can’t take his eyes off of you. The dress you’re wearing seems to hug your body tighter than the bodysuit you wore for Satomi’s party, and he almost wants to say it’s too short. 

He takes a deep breath as he closes the door, rubbing his hands on his pants again. He sits down next to you on the couch, and he feels warmth spreading through his body when his knee brushes your leg. He’s glad that you don’t seem as nervous as him, and the small talk you make gives him time to calm his racing heart. Although, that’s kind of difficult when it races at the mere sight of you. 

“You’re paying for the food, remember?” you tease when there’s a knock at the door, and he can’t help but laugh as he goes to answer the door. You offer to drink something non-alcoholic as he sets out the food, and he doesn’t think about opposing, as he’s still recovering from last weekend.

As you eat, he asks you all the questions he’s been dying to ask you. You already know so much about him, so he doesn’t mind that you’re doing most of the talking. He mentally kicks himself when he thinks about why he waited so long to do this, but he’s just glad that he’s finally doing this with you now. 

He’s all in your space when you finish eating, but it doesn’t look like you mind. He rests his arm on the couch as you talk, and you laugh softly as you finish your sentence. “Sorry, I’ve been talking your ear off,” you say as you fold your legs. You both decided just to sit at the coffee table to eat, and he shakes his head.

“Don’t worry about it. I love hearing you talk.” You rest your arm on the couch as well, letting your head fall into your palm. He can’t help but lean in, and he kisses you softly. “I really like this dress,” he mumbles, his fingers playing with the hem of it.

“Thank you. I save it for special occasions,” you joke, and he smiles before kissing you again. He cups your face with his hand as he kisses you with a bit more zeal, and his fingers sneak under the fabric as he starts to lean forward. You start to fall backward and to keep his lips on yours, he quickly moves with you until your back hits the floor. 

He rests his weight on his knees as your legs spread to give him room, and he feels the dress inch higher up your thigh when you do. He laces his fingers with yours, moving his hands so that they rest above your head as he deepens the kiss. He can feel himself starting to go crazy as he kisses down your neck, and the moan that comes from you vibrates against his lips.

He lets your hands go in favor of rubbing them over your legs as he continues to kiss your neck, and he breathes deeply as he smells how good you smell. Your hands pull at the top of his shirt, and he has a quick moment of insecurity runs through him, but he pushes past it, lifting off of you for only a second to shed his shirt. He slows his movements as he tries to gauge your reaction, and you’re chest rises and falls quickly before your hands reach out to rub over his body.

He hasn’t been able to work out like he wants, but by the look on your face, he doesn’t think you mind. Your hands rise up his skin as you lift yourself up, and he stays silent as he watches you, breathing in and out through his mouth quietly. He shudders when you kiss over his chest, and he’s practically frozen in place as he looks down at you. “I didn’t think you could get any hotter,” you mumble against his skin, and he can’t help when his face starts to turn a little pink.

“You think I’m hot?” he asks pathetically, having a hard time figuring out what to say, and you smile as you continue to kiss down his stomach, which caves a little as you do so.

“You’re a dad, of course, I do.” You smile when he snorts, moving onto your knees as you hook your fingers in his belt loops.

“That’s all I’ve got going for me?” he muses, and you wrap your arms around his neck.

“Of course not,” you answer, kissing him on his nose. “You’re really sweet,” you start, kissing his cheek. “You’re really thoughtful,” you continue, kissing his other cheek. “And you’re really great kisser.” You plant your lips on his, and he rests his hands on your hips.

“I guess that’s pretty good,” he breathes, his face feeling like it’s been set on fire, and you can’t but giggle at his reaction. He doesn’t stop you when you start to unbutton his pants, pulling the zipper down so frustratingly slow. He frowns a bit when you stop, resting your hands on his shoulders to help you stand. His eyes follow your hands as they run over your curves, and he holds his breath when your hands grip the hem of your dress.

You pull the fabric over up your body and over your head, and he swallows heavily as you stand in front of him in nothing but your underwear. His mind goes blank as he looks over you, and he tries to reach for you, but you just move out of his reach. He can’t help but follow you, and he frowns again when you move back. He has to get to his feet to reach you, but the moment he moves forward, you move back. 

He catches on pretty quickly, and he ends up chasing you to his room. You laugh loudly when he catches you right as you get to his bed, wrapping his arms around you. “Gotcha,” he whispers in your ear before his hands start to wander. Your laugh dies in your throat when he squeezes your tits softly. Your nipples are in between his fingers, and you moan softly when he applies the slightest pressure to them.

His dick is digging into your ass as he pulls you into him, and your body goes warm all over. His lips find your neck again as his hands run down your body, and he sticks his hands under the thin sides of your panties, squeezing at your thighs before they quickly move to your ass, repeating the same motion. “Fuck, I’ve thought about this for so long.”

“And what are you gonna do about it?” you whisper back, turning to look at him over your shoulder. He doesn’t respond, moving one of his hands into your underwear, and you jump when he runs his fingers through your folds. He moans at how wet you are, but he keeps his eyes on you so that he can watch your reactions.

He’s thought about doing this with you for so long, and there’s still some part of him that can’t believe he’s doing this. He rubs over your clit, and your nails dig into his wrist, your hips moving as a silent plea for more. He bites his lip as you rub against his hard-on, and he doesn’t think he’s ever been this hard before. He doesn’t know if he’s feeling light-headed from watching you, desire, or the blood rushing from his brain.

“Yuuji,” you moan, a hint of desperation in it, and he almost doesn’t let you go when you start to move away from him. You shed the last of your clothing before you climb onto the bed, rolling over onto your back, holding yourself up with your elbows. 

He can’t even think to speak as he looks over you fully naked, and this is better than any wet dream he’s ever had. He wants to taste you first more than anything, and you follow him when he moves onto the bed. He doesn’t bother kissing over your body again, deciding to plant himself right in between your legs, his face merely inches from your sex.

You rest your legs over his shoulders, and he gladly accepts the warmth, licking his lips as his hands rub over your thighs. Once he gets a taste of you, he doesn’t stop. You’re pretty sure his moans are louder than yours as he eats you like it’s his last day on Earth. He pushes one of your legs out of his way as he licks at your clit, and he uses his other hand to slide his finger inside of you. 

He rubs over your walls, making you even wetter so he can slide in another. He continues to suck at your clit while he curls his fingers, pressing on that sensitive spot of your walls that has you arching your back off the bed. He follows you when you move as you feel your orgasm approach, working a third finger into you. “Fuck, Yuuji,” you moan, digging your fingers into his hair, and he moans loudly when you pull at it. 

You start to move too much as you feel your pleasure mounting, but stays with you, his head moving wherever you go, never letting you escape the toe-curling ecstasy. He nearly cums himself when you cum all over his face, and he gets every drop he can. His mouth doesn’t leave you, and you try to inch away from him weakly, but it’s no use.

“Y-Yuuji!” you whine, pushing at his head, and he finally takes his mouth off of you, but his eyes don’t leave your soaked core. He slides his fingers out, sliding them into his mouth instantly to taste you as much as he can. Your heavy breathing is the loudest thing in the room, and before he can try and let his mouth touch you again, you make a feeble attempt at pulling him up to you. He easily goes, sliding his tongue into your mouth to let you taste yourself as he gets rid of the last of his clothes.

You both moan when he pushes his weight onto you, and he ruts his hips against you frantically. He hasn’t gotten stimulation that feels so good in who knows how long, and he’s practically drooling into your mouth as he feels like he might go insane. He groans softly when you reach down to touch him, and it takes everything in him to not cum right then and there. You stroke him quickly, using your cum to make it easier, and his eyes slip closed against his will.

“S-Shit, baby, y-you gotta…fuck–stop,” he whines. “You’re g-gonna waste it,” he rushes out as he feels the pleasure rising up his spine. He’s quick to push your hand away, feeling dizzy as he lines himself up. You rub at your clit as he pushes himself in, and he doesn’t know if he’ll make it all the way before he busts, his head falling on yours as he feels you pulse around him.

He pushes the rest of the way in, nearly slamming his hips into yours, and you cry out loudly, a broken moan leaving your lips as your body gets used to the intrusion. He doesn’t wait much longer to start moving, and he groans, feeling like his heart is beating too fast. “Oh, God,” he moans, and you wrap your legs around him, your ankles digging into his back.

“Cum in me, Yuuji. I want it,” you whimper, and that’s what does him in. A deep shudder runs through his body as he cums, his dick twitching as he empties inside of you. He’s definitely seeing starts as he comes down, and he surprises you when he pulls out, quickly flipping you over.

He gets you on your knees, his eyes zeroing in on his cum sliding out of you, and he pushes it back in with his fingers. The image alone is enough to get him going again, and he lets a glob of spit fall onto your pussy just to make it even messier. He slides back in again, digging his fingers into your hips. His hips slamming against your ass mingle with the sounds of your moans, and he leans forward so his chest is flush against your back. 

He hooks his chin over your shoulder as he rams into you, putting his hands on top of yours and weaving his fingers with yours. “Fuck, your pussy’s so good,” he slurs. “Wanna put a baby in you.” You suck him back in every time he leaves, and he can’t get his mouth shut. “I’m gonna make you a mommy again, baby–fu-uck.” You can only express your agreement with your own sounds, but he doesn’t think he’d be able to understand you anyway. 

“P-Please, please, please,” he begs. “Lemme put a baby in you,” he moans, and he only fucks you harder when he feels you clench around him at his words. “I’ll make you feel so good,” he adds despite the fact that he’s already, very much, doing that.

“Want it so bad, Yuuji,” you eventually respond. “Make me a mommy.”

“Fuck, fuck. I’m gonna give it to you, you’re gonna make such a pretty momma,” he babbles. “Gonna look so pretty carrying my kids around. You’re gonna be so round and full of me,” he grunts. “Everyone’s gonna know you’re mine.” His thoughts come out against his will, but he doesn’t care. He’s so lost in the pleasure, his eyes rolling as he feels that knot building up in his stomach again.

“I’m ready, Yuuji. S-Show them who I belong t-to,” you moan, and he bites down on your shoulder as he kisses your cervix, making sure you’re taking all of him with every thrust.

“You’re mine,” he repeats again. “Gonna fill you up so good.” He moans weakly in your ear, but it only heightens how good you’re feeling, pushing back to meet his hips.

“This pussy’s a-all yours. Fill me up, baby. Wanna have your babies.” His mouth falls open, but nothing comes out as his orgasm hits him, and his eyes roll deep into his head as he shoots into you. He fucks his cum into you as you cum right behind him, your walls clamping down on him so hard, he can barely move back out. 

He fucks you through your orgasm, his hips stuttering to a stop. His chest is heaving as he starts to relax, feeling fatigue catching up to him. He doesn’t pull out of you, turning his head when you do to kiss you, his tongue moving into your mouth the moment he does. His heart feels like it might pound right out of his ribcage, pulling away to roll the both of you over.

You whine softly as he presses into your cervix at the impact of hitting the bed, and he rubs over your body as he kisses you soundly. Your bodies are covered in sweat, his chest peeling away from your back briefly before he moves back into you.

“Holy shit,” he breathes, making the both of you laugh. He doesn’t know what came over him, and he blames the heat coming from his face on the amazing orgasm he just had.

“That was amazing,” you whisper as you shiver slightly, goosebumps rising over your skin as your body starts to cool down. He manages to pull the blanket over both of you, and he snuggles into your neck, pressing soft kisses to your skin.

“Yeah, it was,” he hums, feeling like the happiest man in the world. “I think I love you,” he mumbles, and it slips out before he can stop himself, and he suddenly feels his world stop. His heart does something weird as he waits for your reaction, and he almost doesn’t look at you when you slightly turn your head to look at him.

“Yeah?” you smile. “You think you love me?” you tease, and he smiles as he pushes away the negative thoughts. “Well, when you know that you love me?”

“I know I love you. I have for a while,” he admits quickly. “From day one, I knew you were the one for me.”

“Day one, huh? When you walked over to my apartment at three in the morning?” you question, and he doesn’t hesitate to nod.

“Getting Satomi all of a sudden, I wasn’t in a good place, but you helped me turn everything around. I wouldn’t be here if it wasn’t for you.”

“That’s a pretty big honor,” you laugh, but your face softens, and you lift your hand to rest on his cheek. “Thank you for letting me be a part of you and Satomi’s life,” you say softly.

“You don’t think this is too fast?” he asks, and you huff a little.

“My friend told me that we’ve been pining over each other for years. According to her, it’s like, three years too late.” He chuckles a bit, thinking that his friends would say the exact same thing. “I think I love you, too,” you whisper.

“And when will you know?” he counters playfully, and you turn your head to yawn, curling back into him.

“Mm, I’ll get back to you in the morning,” you joke softly, and his heart feels so happy that he doesn’t even try to press you about it, feeling tired himself. His eyelids start to feel heavy, and he tightens his arm around you.

“Goodnight, baby,” he whispers into your hair. “I love you.”

You rest your hand on his, your breathing starting to even, and he thinks you’ve fallen asleep until he hears you speak. “I love you, too, Yuuji.”

Terushima helps you clear out your second room, which takes a lot longer than he would like since Satomi keeps asking about everything you own in the room. She’s more than excited to have the sleepover, and that’s the only thing she talks about until her friends arrive. 

You let them in, and the girls start talking amongst themselves, and they’re so engrossed in their conversation that they barely notice their parents walking out the door. You’re about to go finish setting up the room when Aneko stops you. 

“I made these for you,” she says quietly, holding up some paper flowers, and your heart swells as you take them. “Thank you for being with me at school,” she adds, and you crouch down to give her a hug.

“Of course, Aneko. These are beautiful, I love them.” She gives you a small smile before she goes back over to her friends. Yuuji helps you with the finishing touches, and you call all of them so that they can see it. Their eyes widen as they take in the changes you made, and they look around the room as they walk in. 

You’ve hung thin curtains from the ceiling, decorating them with fairy lights that you never got around to hanging up in your room. It’s draped over their sleeping bags which you’ve already set up, and Terushima moved her dollhouse into the room for them to play with. Satomi gives you a hug before running over to her sleeping bag, and you also decided to add some pillows in there as well.

“This is awesome!” You notice that her friends aren’t as loud as her, but they’re excited about it nonetheless, agreeing with her quietly. You and Terushima try to make a quiet exit, but Satomi stops you right as you take a step back, asking if you would color with them.

You can’t refuse, and Terushima huffs just a little bit. You had bought some coloring books for her since she’s been staying at your place when Terushima’s at work most of the time, so you give them one before you take one of your own. 

They sit around you, and you don’t know how long it’s been until you realize that Terushima’s not in here with you. You tell them that you’ll be back, getting up to go find him. He’s not in the living room when you walk out, so you try your room, and you see him sitting against the headboard, scrolling through his phone.

“What’re you doing?” you ask, crawling into bed on the other side. “Are you pouting?” You’re smiling at him, but he doesn’t respond, locking his phone before turning to you.

“I thought I would be able to spend time with you,” he says, and you can’t help but laugh, sitting next to him, and he wraps an arm around you.

“Are you seriously jealous because I’m with them and not with you?”

“I’m the one dating you, and Satomi’s spent more time with you than I have,” he responds, annoyed, and if his arm wasn’t wrapped around you, you’re sure that he’d be crossing his arms right now.

“Well, we have some time before Satomi comes to get me,” you offer, and he just pulls you into him, wrapping his other arm around you.

“I’m not gonna let you go,” he mumbles, and you huff, shaking your head. The angle you’re resting at becomes too much of a strain on your back, so you lay down, Terushima doing the same thing. “I’m gonna fight for you.”

“I’d love to see that,” you laugh, rubbing your hands through his hair. “Oh, I forgot to put Aneko’s flowers in a vase.” You go to move, but he stops you, and his grip is so tight that you can barely move.

“No. You’re not going anywhere,” he says, shifting so that he’s fully on top of you. You laugh, and the comment that’s on your tongue is cut off when his lips meet yours. His kisses stay soft, and he rolls over onto his side, keeping his hand on your waist to guide you to do the same. 

You’re interrupted soon after by a knock on the door, and Terushima groans loudly. “Are you guys awake?” You can recognize that it’s Satomi’s voice, and you smile at Yuuji’s reaction.

“We’re sleeping! Go away!” he responds.

“But you just said something!” Satomi counters quickly, and he groans again, putting his face in your neck, and you laugh before telling her she can come in. You roll over and sit up, but Terushima stays in the same position, his arm resting over your legs.

“What’s up?” you ask, and Terushima looks up at her over you.

“You said you would come back.”

“Why can’t I spend time with her?” Yuuji questions with a pout on his face. “You spend more time with her than I do.”

“No, I don’t,” she giggles. “You see her all the time.”

“So, do you! You’re supposed to be having a sleepover with your friends!”

“But, we were having fun,” she tries, and you start to move, but he tries to stop you.

“Yuuji, I’ll be back. I promise,” you say, and the pout on his face deepens as you slide out of the bed. Satomi runs off, and you lean down to kiss him. Even though he’s not happy, there’s no way he would ignore you, so he plants his lips on yours, and then the pout immediately returns. You shake your head as you laugh before you walk into the girls’ room. 

Turns out, you don’t really have to stay long because you can tell the girls are getting tired. Satomi tries to put on a face, but you know that she’s just as tired. You slowly start to get them into their sleeping bags, and they all lay down, but you notice that Miwa is still sitting up.

“You okay?” you ask softly, and she nods, her fingers curled around her blanket softly.

“Can you read to me?” she asks quietly.

“Of course, I can.” She smiles softly before reaching over into her bag and pulling out the book she wants you to read. You sit next to her, getting comfortable before you start reading. You keep your voice soft, looking up and every now and then to see her blinking getting slower.

One by one, the girls start to fall asleep, and you read a little longer just in case. When you’re sure they’re fully asleep, you carefully close the book, setting it down, and you quietly make your way out of the room. You close the door softly behind you before you walk back to your room, and part of you expected Terushima to be asleep, but as you get closer to the door, you hear his voice.

By the time you walk in, he’s hanging up his phone. He’s sitting on the other side of the bed, so his back is to you, and he sighs heavily before tossing his phone onto the nightstand. He jumps a bit when he turns around, his eyes landing on you, and you close the door, turning off the lights. He’s silent as you get into the bed, and you can tell something’s wrong, but you don’t try to pry it out of him.

“Is everything okay?” you ask quietly, and he gets under the blanket. You roll over onto your side, and he does the same thing, wrapping his arm around your waist tighter than you expect.

“Satomi’s mother keeps contacting me,” he says softly before sighing again. You stay silent, not really sure how to feel. “I don’t know what to do. What should I do?” he asks, letting his face rest in your neck.

“I don’t know if it’s my place to say anything, Yuuji. But just know that I’ll be here for you,” you answer, moving your hand so that it’s resting on his head. 

“Thank you,” he whispers, his arm tightening around you just a little bit more. 

He’s at such a loss, and he feels like the right thing would be for Satomi to meet her mother, but he doesn’t want to make her upset. He doesn’t know how she’ll react, and he hasn’t even begun to tell Satomi who she really is. He hasn’t found the right time, but then you came into the picture, and there was a part of him that felt like he was never going to have that conversation with her.

It takes him a long time to go to sleep, but even when he finally does, his dreams just make him face reality all over again.

~

After the conversation with Satomi’s mother, Terushima’s been in a slump. His mind’s been running, and he knows that he’s worrying you and Satomi, but he doesn’t know what to do. He can’t remember the last time he’s felt so helpless. It’s been a week since then, and it just looks like she’s getting more and more eager to meet her. There’s a strong part of him that just wants to get it over with.

He’s thinking that he’d rather be spending time with you, and right as he decides he’ll just go over your place, there’s a knock on the door. He frowns, wondering who it could be, but he walks over to it, hoping that it’s you. 

His hopes are horribly diminished when he sees who’s on the other side of the door. “You’ve been ignoring me for too long, Terushima.”

He’s frozen on the spot. There’s nothing in his head to tell him to move or say anything. He was nowhere near ready for this, and now he’s going to have to face it head-on. “What are you doing here?” he finally manages, but he doesn’t let her in.

“I want to see my daughter.”

“Why? It’s not like you wanted her in the first place,” he says quickly, but he immediately regrets it, the words leaving a sour taste in his mouth.

“Terushima, please.” He’s trying to prepare himself for this, but to his dismay, Satomi walks into the living room.

“Daddy? Who’s at the door?” He can’t look at her, and he watches her mother’s reaction. He moves when she walks in, but he’s quick to stand behind Satomi as if he’s trying to guard her.

“Oh, my God. You’re so big,” she says, and Satomi has a questioning look on her face as she backs into Terushima. He chews on his lip before he brings himself to speak again.

“Satomi,” he starts, having a hard time saying the words. “This is your mom.” She’s smiling at her, but for a couple of seconds that seem to last forever, Satomi doesn’t say anything. 

“I’ve been wanting to see you for so long.” She tries to reach for her, but she moves out of her reach and she laughs. “Come on, Satomi. I’m your mother.”

“No, you’re not! y/n is my mommy, I don’t know who you are!” Before Terushima can move, she’s running out of the apartment, and he watches her disappear, but he’s not worried about where she’s going. Terushima feels his heart breaking at Satomi’s reaction, but he can only blame himself.

“Who’s y/n?” she questions, but he doesn’t answer. “So, you’ve already gone and replaced me?”

“Don’t give me that bullshit! There was nothing to replace because you weren’t here!” he yells, feeling nothing but anger rising in his veins. “This is your fault! You could’ve easily been in her life, but you left me in the fucking dust!”

“I was scared, Terushima!”

“You don’t think I was too?! You left a fucking baby on my doorstep with a fucking note! I was scared out of my fucking mind, and where were you in all of this?! I had to take care of her on my fucking own!” Everything he’s ever been thinking comes out, and he doesn’t know if there’s any way to stop it. The fact that she’s looking at him like the bad guy doesn’t help his emotions either.

“I thought you would leave me if I told you,” she tries, and he can’t help but scoff.

“Why would I do that?! When have I ever made you feel that way?! I’m not a fucking asshole!” He knows he should lower his voice since his front door is wide open, but he takes a couple of seconds to take a deep breath. “Where have you been all this time, huh?”

“I just needed some time,” she responds hesitantly, and he scoffs bitterly, shaking his head. “I just wanted to find myself–”

“No, you wanted to live your life without a kid! Don’t lie to me! You wanted to have the time of your life while I’ve been here picking up your fucking slack!” he yells, and she has the audacity to look ashamed. “Why did you come back here?”

“I wanted to see her,” she tries. “I told you that.”

“Is that all? You sure there isn’t another reason?” Now, he knows why they always had falling outs, and why he always took her back every time. Whenever things were going good, she would leave out of the blue, saying she needed space. It always left him confused and gutted, it would take him so long to get over it, and when he thought he would be at his lowest, she’d come back out of nowhere. 

He doesn’t know how he never put it together after so long, and he wishes that he would’ve listen to Kazuma a long time ago. “You can try and build a relationship with Satomi, but you can’t blame her for how she’s responded.”

“You could’ve told her about me,” she replies. “You didn’t have to leave me out.”

“Don’t do this. Don’t shift the blame to me because you feel like shit since I’m doing just fine without you,” he counters quickly. “I told her that you weren’t coming back, and at the time, I thought it was the truth. I didn’t wanna keep bringing it up because seeing the look on her face broke me more than you could ever know.” 

He can feel himself tearing up just thinking about it. She dropped the subject a couple of years ago especially when she started to see you more, but he’ll never get over the dejected look on her face. “You only have yourself to blame for all of this.”

The yelling seems to have died down, but Satomi hasn’t let go of you since she ran over here. You tried to ask her what she’s was doing at your door, but she ran into your legs as soon as you opened it. You could barely pry her off of you, and when you finally did, you were met with her teary face. You picked her up immediately, holding her in your arms as you sit on the couch.

“There’s a lady saying that she’s my mommy,” she whispers, and it all falls into place. You try to choose your next words carefully, sighing heavily as you think.

“I’m pretty sure she is, Satomi.”

“No, she’s not. You’re my mommy,” she argues, and you hate how this situation has turned out, and considering her reaction, you’re pretty sure she came to Terushima’s door unexpectedly. 

“Well, technically, she is. You grew inside of her,” you try, and she sniffles heavily, wiping her face before she looks at you. “I kinda just stepped into the picture to help your dad.”

“I wish you were my real mom,” she says, and you feel your shoulders fall just a bit.

“But, Satomi, if I were, you wouldn’t be here. You’d be a completely different person that probably wouldn’t even like tigers.” You try to joke with her, but it seems to fall flat, although, it seems like she’s calmed down for now. “I know that this is really upsetting, but it’s the truth.”

“Does that mean she and Daddy will get back together?”

“I don’t think so. Just because they’re your parents doesn’t mean that they have to be together,” you answer, but of course, there’s a part of you that doesn’t have a confident answer. You try not to think about it too much, focusing as hard as you can on making Satomi feel better.

“I’m sorry I ran over here.”

“Satomi, you don’t have to apologize for that. Your dad probably knows that you’re over here anyway.” You brush her hair back, kissing her on the forehead softly. “You know I’ll always be here for you.”

“I love you,” she whispers as she gives you a hug.

“I love you, too, Satomi.” You both sit in silence, and you decide to get her to watch something on your tablet in your second room, giving her headphones just in case they start yelling again. You sit next to her, your phone in your hand as you wait for something from Terushima. 

“You know this won’t work,” Terushima sighs. “You don’t care about her at all, you’re just trying to get to me. And I will not let you treat my daughter that way,” he declares. “If that’s all you came for, then you can leave. If you want to see Satomi, I’ll arrange it.”

“Don’t bother,” she spits, and Terushima tries to keep himself calm at her reaction. 

“Get out.” He wants to add that he doesn’t want her to contact him again, but there’s still a voice in his head telling him that he can’t keep Satomi from her mother. “I never said anything bad about you because I didn’t want to ruin her image of you.” Although, he’s pretty sure that you’ve changed that, but there’s isn’t a bone in his body that’s upset about that. “But, just know that this outcome could’ve been changed.” He really hopes it hits home as he reminds her again, and she doesn’t leave with another word, a scoff leaving her lips before she walks out of the door. He doesn’t jump when the door slams, but his ears ring with finality. 

That could’ve gone so many ways, but he feels like a weight has been lifted off of his shoulders, and he sighs as he runs his hand through his hair. He checks his phone when it dings, seeing a text from you, but he’s not ready to talk to you yet. He asks if you can watch Satomi for a bit while he gets himself together, and he sits on the couch as he texts his friends.

Some time has passed, and he feels like he’s in a good place to go over to yours, hoping that the speech he has won’t fail him. He knocks on the door before he opens it, and you’re sitting on the couch, watching TV. You stand as he closes the door, pointing over your shoulder as you walk toward him.

“Satomi’s watching a show with headphones on,” you tell him, and he pulls you into a hug that takes you by surprise.

“I love you,” he whispers, and he tries not to hold onto you so tight to the point that that he might hurt you, but he can’t help it. His head has been spinning for so long, and hugging you makes it stop in an instant. He’s not too shaken up about the conversation with Satomi’s mother, knowing in the back of his head that it wasn’t going to work out anyway.

“I love you, too, Yuuji,” you reply. “Is everything okay?”

“She probably won’t be back. Our relationship was doomed from the start.” He doesn’t add many details, and he doesn’t feel like he needs to, but if you ask, he’ll tell you. “Thank you for being here all this time, I don’t know what I would’ve done without you.” He pulls away to kiss you softly, and for the first time in a long time, he feels like he’s floating, like his body is running over with happiness.

“It was no problem,” you respond softly. “I love you and Satomi both so much. Thank you for letting me be with you and her.” He feels like he has to kiss you again, and there’s so much he wants to talk with you about, but he knows it’s not the time for it right now. But he’ll tell you eventually.

How he wants to really be a family with you, how he wants to spend the rest of his life with you, and how he wants to make you happy for the rest of your life. He’s been thinking about it for a while now, and when the time is right, he’ll tell you. He doesn’t hate Satomi’s mother. He can’t. She gave him one of the best things of his life, but he can’t hate her for causing him to cross paths with you.

From day one, he knew you were the one for him, and you constantly fueled that voice in his head. He couldn’t ask for a better outcome when his life was suddenly turned upside down, and now, he knows that he’ll be able to live this life with you until the end.

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[jeons-catalyst]

And for the hangout part, maybe you are not wrong. I don’t think at that time jikook hung out alot because Jimin was busy as hell and wasn’t hanging out with anyone

thank you for acknowledging it. I don't understand why your anons got triggered if it's the truth. There was for sure a period of time jikook did not hang out during ch2, and I remember so many people were worried during that time. Let's not pretend that didn't happen.

You can never debunk jikook by using facts.

I can 100% bring you receipts, links, timestamps, direct quotes, or whatever you want lol. Just let me know that you'll for sure respond to me because I don't want to waste my time and you just ignore my ask. Also, if there's something off limits you don't want me to bring up, I'm more than happy to exclude it

“ thank you for acknowledging it. I don't understand why your anons got triggered if it's the truth. There was for sure a period of time jikook did not hang out during ch2, and I remember so many people were worried during that time. Let's not pretend that didn't happen. “

Oh don’t misunderstand anon. I didn’t acknowledge anything. Unless you are not familiar with how life works, people don’t only see each other when they go to premieres or musicals or snowboarding. Outside of “hanging out” in public, people still spend time with each other in the privacy of their homes. How many times did we see Jikook “hang out” in 2021? Not many at all but does that translate to them not seeing or spending time with each other? Absolutely not because while they didn’t “hang out” in public alot we came to find out that while they were in LA, those two basically did almost everything together including spending most of their only downtime (nights) together. So when i say Jikook probably didn’t hang out alot at some point in chapter two, i mean that they didn’t get to go out and do fun activities like we saw taekook do but that doesn’t mean they didn’t get to spend time together. Know the difference. When life gets busy and two people’s schedules no longer align, they don’t have a chance to do things with each other that they did when their schedules aligned perfectly. Taekook could hang out with each other as much as they did because their schedules aligned. It’s not like they were going out of their way to spend time with each other even when it wasn’t possible because if that was the case, then why didn’t Tae make the time to go see Jk on his birthday in chapter two? Why was Jk all alone on white day in chapter two even though Tae was in korea? Why did Tae only find out about Jk’s shaved head via a facetime call? Immediately taekook too got busy with their stuff, all the frequent public outings that we saw came to an abrupt end. Why do you think this happened anon?

There are hangouts that happen because people do everything in their power to be together while there are hangouts that happen out of convinience. If i am free and not doing anything and my friend isn’t doing much as well, then why wouldn’t we hang out when we have the time to? Besides, people choose to spend time together in very different ways and before you bring me the links, quotes and all the proof you want to bring to debunk Jikook, don’t forget to also bring me the link where Suga asked Jimin what he does when he isn’t working and Jimin said he likes to stay home, lay on the couch and watch youtube. So seeing as this is how Jimin liked to spend his off time instead of going out to hang out, how then can you prove that jikook didn’t spend time together just sitting home on the couch watching movies and eating chicken? It’s not like they haven’t mentioned doing stuff like that before is it? We saw Jk comfortably ask Jimin to come over for chicken and beer which suggests that, they do that alot. We saw Jimin call Jungkook and ask him what kind of chicken he should order, again suggesting that they probably do that alot and we all heard Jk telling Jimin he was going to pack things to shower at his place. Do you say all these things so casually to someone if these are not things y’all are used to doing? Plus finding out that for years, Jikook have been in the habit of eating together alone, having late night drinks alone, spending most of their downtime at nights alone, watching movies and shows together, there is a pattern here which gives us a very good idea of how Jimin and jungkook like to spend time together when they are not “hanging out” publicly.

I would very much like to see you links and quotes , timestamps and all which explicitly show jikook stating that they didn’t hang out or didn’t see eo. Don’t come with your misinterpretations or perceptions of their words like you did with yoonkook’s suchwita talk about the travel show. I’m waiting.

#jimin #jungkook #jikook #my asks #jikook blog

[superkooku]

Dionysus' iceberg

This post is what remains of an initially very long rant idea. That means there will probably be a part 2 😏.

Here's the reason for my title :

In theory, you can stop there since my meme pretty much summarizes my complaints. But since I like ranting, I'll continue 😈

The tip of the iceberg

When you think "Dionysus", which words come in mind first ?

Probably "wine", "party", "alcohol" "fun god".

These words are what most people remember about Dionysus. And yes, I'm not going to deny, they fit.

Unfortunately, my problem comes with the fact that 9.5 times out of 10, Dionysus' personality will exclusively revolve around these aspects.

Since the issue is about modern adaptations and perceptions, I'll use a modern term.

I'm sure most of you are familiar with flanderization, right ? If not, the link to TV Tropes' article on the subject is available.

Many adaptations fell into that trap for, I think, every single Olympian.

Hades, god of the dead, lord of the Underworld = Satan, evil death god, darkness and sorrow

Aphrodite, goddess of love and beauty = Superficial bimbo who only cares about her pretty face

Zeus, king of the gods, lord of the sky and thunder = 100% pure God OR more recently : evil king god who constantly abuses women.

The gods are stripped of their complexity to fit simpler and more "digestible" characterizations. It doesn't help that the cultural context surrounding them is also taken away...

But this is about grape boi, right? Well, Dionysus is no exception to that rule. In fact, he might be one of the worst cases.

So far, he was never really portrayed in an "insulting" light, like Apollo in Lore Olympus or Hades in the Percy Jackson movie. Fortunately.

But, from all the popular adaptations I've seen, none of them manage to portray Dionysus ! None ! Does that make them automatically bad ? No, of course. It's just something I noticed.

God of war ? Doesn't appear, only mentioned

Disney ? Don't even try 🤣. Just a drunk goofball. Yes, that includes the fantasia segment and Hercules.

Lore Olympus? Well, he's a baby for 99.99999% of the time, so it doesn't count. But he's still a quiet little Gucci bag for Persephone.

Hades I ? Just a nice guy. But hey ! He can give us useful boons ! And I like his sass.

Maybe he'll do more in Hades II. They're usually more accurate than most, right ? Though that's not a very high bar. And they know about Zagreus ! Surely that's a good sign, right ?

Nevermind...

Here's what all these adaptations tell us :

Dionysus is the god of wine, feasts and parties

He's an Olympian

He likes to get drunk and party 🥳

And that's it.

Again, I'm not blaming anyone, but if the myths stopped with those three points, wouldn't everyone wonder why he's even an Olympian ? I sure did when I was a kid.

We have the god of thunder, the goddess of wisdom and war strategy, god of music/arts/medicine/100 other things, the god of the oceans ! Many cool gods !

And some drunk dude. He's not given any particular power, except the power to stay super passive no matter the stakes ! If the story revolves about epic godly fights (which is often the case), he's absolutely useless.

Heck, Hades II even actively depicts him as a pacifist who can't handle war. While he's not physically a weakling, he sure psychologically is.

Why is this a problem ?

I am not going to beat around the bush: this gives us a very incomplete and incorrect perception of the god.

Even the things that aren't forgotten about him (like his link to wine) aren't explored.

The thing with Hades II (that's the last time I'll mention it) is that it tries to deepen the flanderized version of Dionysus. He's not stupid, but afraid. He drinks to forget his issues.

While this characterization can be very interesting taken separately, we must remember that this isn't an OC, but an interpretation of a cultural figure.

It must be accurate ! While I can accept some liberties, I think that those should mostly be an extension of the original material, not a total deviation.

Dionysus isn't a scared little boi or a stupid drunkard you can manipulate. In fact, that's quite the opposite. And he's not afraid to get his hands dirty.

(even if the "dirt" in question is the blood of his enemies).

Under the surface

Though it's rather "stuff you can find on Wikipedia". Or by reading the myths.

More about it in part 2 of the rant...

It'll be about theater, madness, travels, link between mortality and immortality and... pirates turning into dolphins.

The actual interesting stuff about Dionysus.

I'm not sure about Blood of Zeus and Percy Jackson.

If anyone can explain what exactly he does in one of these series (or both), it'd be nice. My post would be more complete.

Though because of the general perception of Dionysus, my point still stands. None of the things I'll mention in part 2 play a role.

#justice for dionysus #if anything i said is wrong please fact-check me #fellow dionysus enjoyers or fans of the adaptations i mentioned #if you disagree. it's completely fine 😉. just my opinion #Dionysus #dionysos #greek mythology #greek myth discussion #rant #not a reblog

[wp-blaze]

CUT

The Australian slasher from 2000 that die-hard genre fans will remember had Kylie Minogue in the Drew Barrymore role…. Much like Halloween before it, the success of SCREAM in 1996 caused a mini Slasher boom, not quite on the scale of the John Carpenter classic, but did cause a wave of imitations, all wanting a […]

[elspethdekarios]

Last Light: Gale x Tav

NSFW!!! 🔞

This fic takes place directly after the crew return to Last Light after defeating Ketheric. It's half emotional and sweet, half smut. Yeah, I know it's unrealistic to think that anyone has enough energy to bang after the Moonrise fight, pls suspend your disbelief lol

I hope you enjoy, I put a lot of time into this and I'm quite proud of it 🥹💜

Before you read, you should know a small bit of background info:

My tav, Elspeth, has a ring she's worn for decades that was given to her by her family's housekeeper, Tessie, who thinks of Elspeth as her own. She's always felt more loved by Tessie than she has her own family. The ring is special to her, and it broke shortly into their journey.

------

A crack ran along the surface of the Selunite dome protecting the Last Light Inn, spreading in fractals like the roots of a tree. Slowly, the dome dissipated, following the motions of Isobel’s raised hands. It was still dark outside, but a different darkness–the inky depths of a night sky instead of a green necrotic glow. The air in my lungs felt cleaner, lighter. All around the inn, tieflings and Flaming Fists and Harpers rejoiced with excited squeals, hugging their still-standing loved ones and marveling at the miracle we were witnessing. A hundred years this blight cursed the land–and suddenly, it was gone. 

“I won’t fully believe it until the day breaks,” Jaheira said from Isobel’s side. “But I will celebrate all the same.”

I sat on the ground nearby, propped up against a trunk of supplies. My limbs ached, my armor was bloodied, my spirit renewed and spent at the same time. I peeled off my gloves to stretch my fingers, the night air cool and soothing on my sticky skin.

“Alright, soldier?” Karlach’s familiar heat told me she was nearby before she spoke. And the smell of beer. She handed me a mug, frosty and overflowing with foam at the top, and clinked her beer against mine. “We fucking did it! You did it!”

“Yeah, we did,” I said as I gulped down the cold beer. It was the most refreshing drink I’d ever had in my life–and beer was never my beverage of choice. “Though I’m not sure how much of me is left.”

“You lose a limb or something?” she asked. I shook my head. “Didn’t think so. You’ll be good as new after some rest.”

I let my head fall back against the trunk behind me. Just keeping my neck upright was exhausting. We watched the celebration unfolding around us–the residents of Last Light draining the kegs, passing around fresh bread rolls and what fruit we had left. Dammon had even left his forge to join in, laughing in conversation with some of the others. Karlach kept looking in his direction, just briefly, before she would conspicuously look up at the sky or crane her head to the opposite side.

“You like him, don’t you?” I asked.

“What? Who?”

“Dammon.” I nudged her shoulder with mine.

“I don’t–” Karlach protested, but paused when she turned her head towards me and sighed. “Yeah. Yeah I do.”

“Go talk to him!”

“I don’t want to leave you alone, El.”

“I’m not alone. Look at all these people,” I gestured around us. “Besides, I’m about to go and find Gale. Not sure what he’s up to, now that I think about it….”

After we finished our beers and Karlach strode across the lawn to join Dammon, I headed inside. The bar was lively, a Fist and a tiefling pouring drinks for anyone who wanted one, but not quite as crowded as outside. I supposed everyone wanted to see the sky without the shadow curse as much as possible. Among the few patrons was Gale, leaning on his elbows against the bar as he waited for a drink. Two drinks, actually.

“Are those both for you?” I teased as I slid into the space next to him. He was impeccably clean, clothes and all. He had either taken a bath already or used some spell of his devising. I felt even filthier in comparison. 

“That, I am still deciding.” He kissed my forehead and handed me one of the goblets. “You were magnificent.”

“As were you.”

“We make a good team, then.”

“Are you… feeling okay? About your decision, I mean.”

“I will be,” he said. “I’m glad we’re still alive, of course. I’d choose you a thousand times over. I’m upset with myself for being so… willing to destroy myself and the people around me. But–” he took a gulp from his cup. “Tonight is for celebration. I can work through my emotions tomorrow.”

I placed my hand over his with a sad smile. I was trying my hardest to stay upright, my eyelids were beginning to fall involuntarily, my head threatening to do the same.

“Do you want me to run you a hot bath? Might be a good time for one, with everyone still celebrating.”

“That would be lovely,” I said. “But only if you can help me get up the stairs and take this bloody armor off.”

“Deal,” he smiled, offering me his arm.

In our group’s shared bedroom, Gale helped take off my armor, piece by piece, and added them to a pile of washing to be done. First the pauldrons, then the chest plate, and so on until I was only in my underclothes.

“I’ll go start the water,” he said as he walked to the washroom, turning to face me again at the door frame. “Do we have any fresh towels in here?”

“I have some on my bed. I’ll get them.”

I had placed a stack of folded towels on my bed days ago–my bed that I hadn’t been sleeping in. I’d been sleeping in Gale’s. The towels were untouched, still neatly folded where I left them. Only now, a small golden pouch sat atop them, tied with a green ribbon that also held a small scroll. I unrolled the parchment, the smallest hint of magic in my fingertips as I did, and read:

“My dearest Elspeth,

Words alone can never express how much you mean to me. Actions, perhaps, may let me get closer to the heart of it. I know not where our journey will take us. I feel it may be blasphemous to think about the future, but sometimes those fantasies are the very anchor to which I hoist my soul. When sleep is futile or all hope seems lost, I think of you. I imagine holding your hand as I show you around Waterdeep, showing you my favorite spots and learning which places will become yours. I see you curled up in front of the fire in the library, an open book discarded next to you as you sleep without a care in the world. I see a life with you–a normal life. I want that more than anything in the world.

Despite my waxing poetic about our future, this gift is simply that–a gift. I love you.

Yours always,

Gale”

Inside the pouch was Tessie’s ring. The crack had been soldered together with silver, leaving a subtle seam in its place, remnants of the molten metal’s shape before it dried. I looked up through the tears welling in my eyes to see Gale leaning against the door frame, scratching his beard and averting his eyes to the ground.

“I hope it’s okay,” he said. “I didn’t mean to overstep any boundaries, and I know there are flaws, but Dammon and I–”

I bolted over to him, interrupting his rambling by pulling him into a deep kiss. I could feel the tension in his body melt away as he rested his hands on my waist. The steam from the bath enveloped us in a cloud of fresh rose and mint–where did he even get this soap?

“It’s perfect.” I embraced him, resting my head on his chest as he squeezed me back. “Thank you.”

“I’m so glad you approve,” he said. “I was worried I went too far, altering something so sentimental to you.”

“This means so much to me, Gale. You mean so much to me.” His eyes found my own,

glassy and emotional, juxtaposed against his upturned lips. “Thank you for choosing me. For staying here with me. I… don’t know if I could go on without you. The possibility of our future is the glue that keeps me together. I know it’s hard to talk about, considering everything, but Gale–I’m yours. I want to be yours forever. I want to wake up next to you every day without the lingering thought that it could be our last. To love you with my whole body and soul and declare it to the entire world.” I caressed his face, looking deep into his eyes. “You are so precious to me.”

My voice broke on the last sentence and teardrops stained the blue fabric of his shirt. He kissed me again and pulled me close.

“Sometimes I wonder if this is all a dream,” he murmured, forehead pressed to mine, pushing a section of loose hair behind my ear. “I don’t know how else I could have managed to get you to love me.”

“It’s not a dream,” I whispered into another kiss, a gentle one, lips light as air. “I love you. All you ever have to do is exist, and I’ll love you.”

He ran his hands down my shoulders, my arms, and back up again. I took his top lip between mine, my tongue gently moving into his mouth. He caressed the thin strap of my bra with the back of his fingers and gently pulled it down my shoulder, smirking.

“I have to get cleaned up first,” I whispered into his mouth. 

“I can be patient.”

Once I was sunk to my neck in the hot water, Gale excused himself from the room.

“Relax, my love,” he said. “I’ll be back in just a few moments.”

The weight of my body dissipated as the heat worked its way into my sore muscles and aching bones. The fresh, soapy aroma, the steam, the twinkling lights Gale conjured across the ceiling of the dim, candlelit room–it felt like a luxury spa rather than a washroom in a nearly abandoned inn. Alone with my thoughts, images of the illithid colony flooded my mind’s eye. I kept remembering the tendons holding the place together, the bugbear dismembering bodies, the abject image of Ketheric Thorm himself…. I plunged my head under the water, which felt almost scalding hot on my face, and tried to clear the thoughts from my mind, but it wasn’t working. Nothing was working. I tried to cast a spell to calm my emotions, but my magic was spent. 

Gale returned moments later with two large cups of ice cold water and a knowing smile on his face.

“I think we’ve both had enough alcohol for the night,” he said, sitting down on the floor beside the tub. “We’re already in for a rough morning after such a fight, and nursing a hangover won’t make it any easier.”

After gulping down the water, I began to wash. Gale insisted on washing my hair, his strong hands massaging circles into my scalp. It was enough to put me straight to sleep. Once my hair was rinsed and my body thoroughly cleaned of grime, Gale wrapped my shoulders in a towel as I stepped out of the tub.

“I have another surprise for you,” he said, kissing the pointed tip of my ear.

“Another? Gale, you spoil me,” I teased him and wrung my wet hair into the towel. He only held up a dangling keyring and grinned.

“I asked Jaheira for the private bedroom downstairs. It’s ours for the night.”

“You really know how to smooth talk your way into anything, don’t you?”

“She can hardly say no,” he said. “We just saved this place and killed her sworn enemy.”

I moved to pull on my nightclothes, but Gale stopped me with a gentle hand on my wrist. “No need to get dressed when I’ll just be taking everything off of you.”

I could feel the heat rising in my cheeks, and he could see it, judging by the devilish grin that crossed his face.

“And how exactly am I supposed to get downstairs?”

One invisibility spell and a couple of arcane locks later, Gale and I were lying naked on top of the surprisingly soft duvet in the bedroom downstairs. A very faint steam rose from my skin in the cool air as I propped myself up on my elbows like a sphynx, hovering over Gale’s devoted, sleepy face as I played with his hair.

“You went through all this trouble just to fall asleep on me?” I teased as I watched his eyelids flutter shut.

“Your fingers running through my hair may as well be an enchanted lullaby,” he said before forcing his eyes back open. “In truth, I’m exhausted.”

“I know you are, love. So am I. We can just lie here if you want.”

With a hand on the back of my head, he pulled me close for a kiss.

“I want to make love to you,” he whispered against my lips. “I want to show you that when I chose you, I meant it.”

A burst of energy ran through me with his words. I swung a leg over his body, straddling his hips as I knit my hands deep into his hair and pressed kisses into his neck. The musk of his skin was intoxicating, a warm, clean sweetness with a hint of something spicy underneath that was impossible to resist. I ran my tongue over the indented scar that trailed up his neck, sucking soft love marks down to his collarbone, savoring the salt of his skin. 

He sighed with pleasure and trailed his hands down my body, gentle and deliberate–my skin an ancient carving, his fingertips an artist’s charcoal capturing its relief. I lowered my hips to match his, guiding him to me, movement taking over my body as I pressed myself into him, sliding his length through me again and again. His low moans grew guttural. He was perfect–he was everything. Exhausted as we were, I wanted nothing more than to take fully of him until the first hint of morning light.

“You’re so beautiful,” he breathed into my ear, pushing my damp hair over my shoulder for full access to my neck. I felt his lips start kissing beneath my jaw and move down my tattoo–over the rose, the leaves that climbed towards the center of my neck, and down to the thorny vines reaching towards my collarbone. He took his time, lingering on the dip of the bone to my chest before his hands on my waist pulled me up so that my breasts fell directly over his face. His hands–gods, his hands–were squeezing gently, fingers caressing over the peaks before doing the same with his tongue. 

Gale’s breaths became quicker and he moaned into my skin as I pleasured myself with him, grinding my clit over the ridges of his cock, slick now with my desire. I was lost in him. My face was buried in his neck, my hips becoming the only alert part of my body. All the thoughts and worries in my head had given way to the carnal need I had for him, the ache I felt deep in my core as I looked upon his face. His neck was arched over the pillow, pushing his chin towards the ceiling as exhales and low moans escaped from his lips, the apex of his throat pulsing with each sound. The orb glowed a bright violet from the center of his chest and up his neck. A faint light even could even be seen beneath the skin of his face where the orb’s tendrils reached towards his eye. 

Gods, I loved this man. The curve of his lips when he smiled, the stray hairs that fell in front of his face no matter how many times he pushed them back, the freckle on his temple–I was certain there had never been a more exquisite man to walk the face of Toril. 

As if he could feel me staring, he opened his eyes and began to sit up, holding my waist as he moved me into his lap.

“Are you enjoying yourself, my love?” he asked with a smile, and I nodded as I fervently kissed every inch of his face. “Let me take over, dearest. It was my idea, after all.”

“You said you were tired,” I said between kisses. 

“Mm… not anymore” he mumbled while my lips trailed over his. “Turn around.”

I did as he said. Still upright on my knees, eager hands found my waist as Gale pressed our bodies together and kissed the back of my neck and shoulders, his warm breath sending chills down my spine. One of his hands grabbed my breast while the other dropped between my legs. He ran a feather-light finger through the center, barely parting me. My body twitched in anticipation of his touch, but he only repeated the motion, softly chuckling into my shoulder.

“Gale,” I begged. “Please.”

I expected him to continue teasing me until I was pleading, but, to my surprise, he parted me with two fingers, swirling slow circles around my clit. My hips jerked of their own accord against his movements, and I could feel the climax growing inside me, threatening to come to the surface. I placed my hand on top of his, pulling it away.

“Not ready yet,” was all I managed to say, language suddenly nonexistent in my brain. 

“Okay, love.” Gale ran both hands down my sides and over my thighs, slowly and deliberately, until I was begging for him again. 

He slipped a hand between my legs from behind and pumped his long fingers into me. The breath hitched in my throat as I cried out, his fingers moving in and out at a sensual pace, eager but reveling in the moment. There was no way I could stay upright, so I lowered onto my elbows, positioning myself for him, watching him as best I could from over my shoulder as he continued.

“My beautiful girl,” he said with awe as he took in the sight of me spread fully before him. He removed his fingers from me, glistening wet, and sucked them into his mouth, humming in ecstasy, eyes rolled back like he was savoring a luxury meal. “How did I get so lucky?”

Rhetorical question or not, I had no time to answer before he pulled my hips closer to him and sank himself into me slowly. We moaned simultaneously, his cock pushing deeper until I had taken all of him. His first thrusts were tender, each of us relishing in every ridge, every sensation of each others’ bodies. An involuntary groan escaped my mouth each time he plunged into me, and I was thanking the gods that people were still celebrating outside the inn.

As much as I was enjoying the pure bliss of his unhurried pace, my body was begging for him to take me, all of me, with wild abandon. I found his rhythm, my hips bouncing along with his thrusting until he was slamming into me, my cries feral, his panting loud between moans. Gale pressed me into the mattress with a strong, loving hand on my back before taking full control and pounding into me, all caution gone, carnal desire overtaking him. I could feel sweat beginning to dampen his skin as he panted, huffing with exertion, grunting and moaning and losing himself in the moment. After several minutes of vigorous pounding, his pace began to slow, and he sank back to his knees. I rolled over to face him.

“Sorry,” he chuckled, catching his breath, orb pulsing with the beat of his heart. “I got carried away.”

“Never apologize.” I crawled towards him, gently pushing him onto his back. “I’m yours,” I whispered in his ear. “You can have me however you’d like.” 

“Is that so?” he grinned and I nodded, dropping a kiss to his lips. “Then come here.”

His hands pressed into my thighs as he pulled me to kneel over his face, his tongue lapping and flicking as I held onto the headboard and tried to muffle the whimpering cries escaping my lips. My hips bucked beneath me, grinding against his face, dizzy with ecstasy and anticipation.

“Can’t… Gale… going to–”

The tight pressure in my core sprung loose. I cried out, gods only know how loud, as Gale held my thighs in place and drank from me deeply as I came. His own low moans vibrated against my already-spasming flesh, tongue still lapping against me as the wave of bliss began to subside and my limbs became impossibly heavy. Hypersensitivity made me squirm and whimper.

“Gale!” I pleaded between sharp gasps and yelps. He finally let go of my legs, a desperate desire on his glistening face when he emerged.

In one swift movement he had me on my back with a leg over his shoulder. I caught only a glimpse of his sculpted cock, stiff and flushed, before he thrust inside of me. His eyes roamed over my body, but settled on the dripping valley between my legs where he watched as he fucked me, biting his lip in concentration. 

I caressed his face, and he kissed the inside of my palm before melting into me with all his weight as he took everything he needed from me. Sweat coated his back where my legs wrapped around his hips. I held him close to me, his jagged breathing loud in my ears and hot on my neck. Wild thrusts took over his body until he unraveled, panting and gasping and crying out until he was spent. He collapsed on top of me and I hugged him close, his chest heaving against mine as we caught our breath.

“I love you,” I whispered, kissing his temple. “Thank you for choosing to stay. For choosing me.” 

Gale let out a long sigh before rolling onto the bed beside me and lacing his fingers through mine. “I love you, El. Although the word ‘love’ doesn’t feel like enough when it comes to my feelings for you,” he said, kissing my hand. “Unfortunately, my brain and body are currently too far gone to find a suitable alternative.”

I laughed and snuggled into his side. I felt safe. Secure. I knew Gale felt the same. We had no need to hide any parts of ourselves, no matter how flawed. We held each other as sleep closed in, our souls as bare as our bodies.

#my writing #gale fic #bg3 fic #gale x oc #gale x tav #bg3 fanfiction #gale of waterdeep #gale fanfic #elspeth #galspeth #gale

[piscespetals]

summary: in which sevika comforts you after having a nightmare

content: fluff, arcane au, soft!sevika

You can't see.

The sound of your own gasping breath causes a nauseating sensation to settle within you. Everything around you is stark black, with no sign of anything familiar to pull you back to reality.

"It's okay," Her voice just barely keeps the dam from breaking. "It's okay now. I'm here."

Another sobs rips through you.

"I know," Her coaxing is tender. "It's okay. I promise." And even though she hadn't just relived your dream, you believe her. You know that she knows. She gets it. She gets you. Somehow, without you having to explain anything, she remains right here; understanding exactly what you need. "You're safe now."

Light illuminates the room suddenly. Despite the gentle click of her bedside lamp, the change is still jarring. Your eyes begin to burn as they struggle to adjust to your restored vision.

She stares back at you with piercing grey pools of care.

In that moment, the world rights itself again.

She doesn't say anything more. Your breathing calms to a steady pace, hair rising at the base of your neck as you realize that this is all you had needed. You can't help but marvel at how easy this is. How easy she makes it. All of those months of crying yourself awake, struggling through nightmares and flashbacks, only to realize that the simple gaze of someone you care for has washed it all away.

"I'm right here." She reminds you. And then you're pressed against the side of her, your head buried in her neck as her left arm circles around your waist. Naturally, you allow your legs to rest over hers. The cool surface of her headboard against your back is the only thing that keeps you from fully melting into her embrace.

Your hands grip onto her arm, the same arm wrapped around you, and you can't help but give her a light squeeze. It's an unspoken thank you. A gesture that you know she understands. She always understands.

Beads of sweat drip down the sides of your face and onto her shoulder. You don't bother to wipe them away.  And you don't think she necessarily cares.

Once you finally muster up enough courage to speak, you mumble, "It was a bad dream."

Her hold around you tightens. "Do you want to talk about it?"

You pause to ponder on her offer. Then you snort out a weird combination of a chuckle and sigh. "Not tonight. But I am more concerned that it's," You glance at the digital clock on her nightstand. "2 am in the morning and you somehow aren't tired of me."

"Why would I be?"

You lift your head, a wave of disbelief washing over you. "I've managed to disturb your sleep at 2am in the morning, Sev. Who wouldn't be even slightly annoyed by that?"

Even though you're grateful to be in this predicament, you hadn't necessarily thought you would ever get to this point with Sevika. Your friend group often teased her about being emotionally constipated. When you first met her, a month had passed before she even initiated a conversation. She wasn't the most outgoing. And she wasn't usually the type to hold people during strange hours of the night and listen to them complain about their issues.

But here she is. Holding you—asking you to complain. You struggle to fully understand why.

"The time of night is the least of my concerns right now." Sevika replies, pulling you out of your reverie. You're close enough for her breath to tickle your lips. Her pupils are dilated, gaze flickering to a space between your eyebrows. Then they trickle down to the slope of your nose before she peers at your lips. "Are you sure you don't need to talk about anything?"

You swallow thickly, reveling in the feeling of her skin against yours. Her hand slides to the base of your neck, fingers rubbing into the back of your scalp; holding you there. Tethering you to her.

A lump lodges itself in your throat. The sweetness of it all becomes painfully overwhelming. You aren't used to her being like this. And you definitely hadn't expected it. Every passing day that the two of you grow closer, the more that Sevika surprises you. The layers that come with her are multifaceted and sometimes entirely the opposite of what you initially thought.

Like now.

You blink slowly. "Why does it matter so much to you?"

A lapse of silence follows. Her eyebrows raise, head tilting in slight annoyance. You can already tell that she thinks your question is ridiculous. "You know why."

You suddenly feel naked despite being fully clothed.

Her gaze is unwavering, dark full lips parted and absolutely stunning. Your heart hammers in your ribcage. You're almost convinced it'll leap out of your chest as her words echo through your ears: You know why.

There's something between the both of you that's been boiling for a while now. You've been aware of it. It doesn't take rocket science for you to realize that friendships don't usually consist of shared kisses and slow morning rises with countless cuddles and breakfast food. At least, that's not how it's been for you with your past friendships.

But despite the line that's obviously been crossed, the both of you have yet to define exactly what you mean to each other.

It's something that you haven't been willing to say—for the fear of being rejected. For the fear of scaring Sevika away (it's taken a long time for her to become completely comfortable with you), and also for the fear of things changing.

You don't like change.

Not when everything is already perfect as it is.

But the signs are starting to become increasingly harder to ignore when she says things like 'You know why.'

"Did I scare you off..." She asks, grip tightening around your scalp in an attempt to regain your attention. It's a habit of hers you've grown to love. Your body grows rigid, a powerful magnetic force hitting you right in the gut. Within seconds, she loosens her grip, scratching gently into your scalp, completely oblivious to the sparks that she's triggered.

"No," You reply, mind fuzzy. "The opposite, really."

Her expression remains placid, as usual. But there's a tender shift in her eyes. It's subtle but it's there.

She tugs you closer to her and that's when you realize that you're in an awkward position of halfway sitting in her lap. You find yourself shifting your weight, trying to get comfortable despite the crick in your lower back.

"Here," She mumbles, pulling you towards her more. You allow her to guide you before repositioning yourself. You face her as you sit in her lap fully, legs straddling her. Both of her arms take this moment as an opportunity to wrap around your hips. Your heartbeat jumps up to your throat.

These feelings, these thoughts, are something that you don't ever think you'll get used to. Your mind can't help but focus on her half-lidded sleepy eyes, and how perfect they are when gazing at you in this way. She's wearing a tank top, which displays her broad shoulders and bulging bicep muscles.

And her hands....

God. Those hands.

She squeezes your hips and you bite your tongue to keep from reacting too strongly.

"Where do you keep going?" She inquires, searching your face with mild concern. She taps gently on one of your temples. "You don't always have to think so hard, you know."

Your throat is dry.

Like, desert dry.

You try to swallow but you can't.

Because she's so fucking handsome and caring in this moment.

You swallow thickly, an undeniable hunger rumbling through you. Out of complete desire, you reach up, fingertips brushing against the warmth of her brown skin.

You nod. "I know."

Then you bring your other hand up to cup her right cheek, caressing her for a few gentle moments, before traveling down to her neck. Your fingers graze against a few of her scars, rubbing gently into the skin, testing out the waters; hoping that this sort of intimacy is okay. She sighs at the feeling. Her eyes soften.

"You were screaming," She continues. "And no matter how hard I was trying to wake you, you wouldn't budge. I was worried."

Your eyes widen, realization settling within you from her admission.

She's still worried.

The kind of worry that she's never shown towards you before.

The kind of deep-seeded worry that people only have for those they really care about.

"I'm okay." You reassure her. Your hands shake as you squeeze her shoulders. "It was just a dream. Nothing worth mentioning for the time being, but I'm okay." Your chest hurts. Your throat hurts...your eyes. All of it. Feelings crash into one another, creating an impactful explosion within your heart. "You're here with me. So I'm more than okay."

Her eyes resemble something raw—almost close to...

"Okay." Her expression becomes heady. She allows her gaze to focus on your lips, incredibly transparent in her wanting—not holding back in the slightest with her intentions.

You analyze her in return, both confused and curious by her behavior. She lingers for so long, close enough for you to taste her breath, yet so far away. Your heart jumps into your throat as she peers back with an indescribable glint.

You feel a strong surge overtake you with a stuttering breath before you're leaning forward.

Lips and breath draw together, forming into the shape of one, and shooting a trail of shivers straight down your spine. Your mind buzzes, her affection unraveling you; breaking you. She's all soft skin and devastating fervor, with sounds of stars exploding between you two. The feeling of her holding you with immense regard—and the sensation of her chest pressing against yours, hands chaining you to her lap, digging into the flesh of your thighs with a delicious strength—has you falling apart pathetically.

You can certainly determine that there's been poems written about Sevika. The push-and-pull feeling of such perfection like her, with all of her charm and strength, is the sort of beauty that not every human is lucky enough to come across.

She bites and sucks and licks and it's otherworldly. Kisses melt into one another as a rhythm of panting and gasping materializes. She pulls away, lips planting into warm patterns against your neck. Your head tilts, need washing through every inch of your body.

Your grip on her shoulders tighten almost dangerously—to pull her close? Or steady yourself?—You can't be sure anymore. But she doesn't seem to mind, moaning into your mouth at the action.

Sevika is the first one that breaks away, lips puffy and pulled into a gorgeous grin.

Your lungs nearly collapse at the sight. This kind of smile that she wears is rare, laugh lines prevalent around her mouth with her gapped teeth on full display.

"As long as you continue to do that," You utter, still struggling to catch your breath.  "I'm pretty sure I'll always be okay." Then you shake your head, attempting to center yourself from the high.

She chuckles knowingly, smile widening so much that her face almost breaks. "I'll make sure to hold you to that."

#lesbian #arcane au #fanfic #sevika x you #sevika #sevika x reader #sevika x y/n #fluff #arcane netflix #au #au writing #soft!sevika #piscespetals writing

[olderthannetfic]

Long post coming in which I look at the alleged examples of racism the EndOTWRacism campaign cites.

I'm sympathetic to EndOTWRacism, I really am, and I think some of the things they're asking for are broadly reasonable (diversity consultant, more admin tools --though not in the time frame being asked for).

But reading through their examples of supposedly "obviously" racist works is...something.

They love to cite that transformers fic about George Floyd, but that fic had zero hits when it was found and was posted anonymously. I understand it's offensive, but frankly, there is nothing in that summary that suggests the author was being deliberately offensive, and because it's gone now, we cannot see the fic to decide for ourselves. Stitch calls the author a "known racist troll" but offers no source for this beyond a link to a completely innocuous unrelated fic.

Stitch also cites one instance of readers finding a racist fic, leaving critical comments on that fic, and then being assailed with racial slurs by the author as evidence of harassment. That's... a nonsense accusation. If you go into a space you know will upset you, post things that will upset others, and then get upset by how those others respond, you are not being harassed. I don't know what you expected to happen. You are overall correct in what you are saying, but arguing with people in the comments of a fic is not activism.

Stitch also references a Holocaust a/b/o fic and Dr. Pande's response. I don't know how you read what Pande said and come out thinking they were the good guy here. Pande was absolutely harassing that author. They posted repeated comments on that fic after they were deleted, after the author explained their reasoning. Pande didn't like this reasoning and so continued to comment. Also, the author did not want to get Pande fired. That's just a lie. The screenshot to the tweet accusing the author of this makes it extremely clear the author did not want to get Pande fired.

Stitch cites one incident without actually citing it in which someone was told by AO3 not to harass an allegedly racist author. Source needed, but based on the other examples they cite I can make an educated guess here.

Perhaps most telling of these examples is the one in which someone impersonates Stitch in the comments of a fic. Other users proceed to criticize fake Stitch. Despite no mention of race in their responses, Stitch accuses the responders of being racist. This example makes it very clear that Stitch views anyone who disagrees with them about fanfiction to be racist, regardless of whether race is brought up or not. The only way to examine race in fandom without being racist is by agreeing with Stitch.

The hockey fic example offers no evidence that things happened as stated. No screenshots, no links. If other people cannot verify what you claim, you should not be citing it in your campaign.

It is very hard to take this campaign seriously when Stitch, who I was only vaguely familiar with before this, is the primary source. They repeatedly misrepresent situations in order to fit their narrative of victimhood, lie outright when the source is right fucking there, and seek out harmful content then get upset when they are harmed.

The campaign also appears to be using Stitch's questionable methods outright. See how they discuss AO3's admittedly sloppy June 2020 post about addressing racism. This campaign argues that AO3 has not implemented any of the promised features except for blocking, which is an absurd argument if you actually read the post from AO3. Of the six stated changes, two have been implemented (comment controls and blocking), two are too nebulous to say whether they've been done (reassessing warnings and reviewing ToS), one I'm not sure about (has collection searching improved?), and one (improving admin tools) is an actionable thing that has apparently not been implemented.

Maybe they did review their ToS and archive warnings and just came to the conclusion that they were fine as they are. I have no idea, and apparently neither does this campaign.

Anyway. I find this all frustrating. There are real issues to address here, somewhere, but this campaign buries them beneath layers of bullshit. Reading through their Call to Action and FAQ multiple times feels like reading any other bullshit fandom call-out post. They cite misrepresented or non-existent sources, outright lie, and frame those they disagree with in the worst light they can.

I implore anyone reading this to examine the campaign's posts and look closely at their sources. Decide for yourself what is going on here, don't just take the campaign's word for it.

--

[imongkoneho2]

Hi!! after reading your recent fic, I gotta request too! Can you also do a Earth 42 miles but with a bad boy x good girl trope? I am a sucker for that! Thanks in advance! >////<

Earth 42 Miles Morales X Reader !!

Bad boy x Good girl trope -

[Y/N] is a smart student, never failing to achieve straight A's. She's a cheerful girl, her smile never leaves her face, luring people with her calm aura. She's President of her class, voted by her classmates lovingly.

She's probably the most happiest girl alive despite the city they live in. Gangsters, robbers and kidnappers, villains and all, making the police's job harder than it already was.

She entered the class, as she heard students chattering amongst themselves, even if there's a teacher infront of them. The woman looked at the student, relief evident on her face.

"Sweetie, [Y/N] you're finally here. Could I quickly talk to you about something before we start?" "Sure, Miss Calleros!" She smiled sweetly in response. "Theres a new student, he's your seatmate."

The girl glanced at the new student, he was sat next to the window, looking out with narrowed eyes. She looked back at her teacher. "If I may ask, It's the middle of the school year, don't you think he joined too late..?" "He..he got expelled from his previous school dear, he's a delinquent you see.." "ah..."

She nodded at the explanation, as she glanced back at the student. "After school, I just want you to show him his locker, and give him his schedule." Miss Calleros smiled as she gave her the papers, she took them with a smile.

After that, she smacked the black board causing her classmates to quiet down. The teacher gave her a thankful look, as she sat on her chair.

-- [Y/N]'s POV --

After class, I got up, beginning to place my things on my backpack. "Hey cutie!" A familiar voice said, I glanced to my right. "Hey, Mei Mei." I greeted her. Mei Mei was my best friend, since childhood. She always had those big round, red glasses.

"How are you not scared? You sat next to the Miles Morales!" She exclaimed dramatically. Carrying my bag and raising an eyebrow up, I asked "Who?" "Miles Morales! The new student? He's a delinquent?"

I rolled my eyes and bumped my hips onto her as she staggered slightly away. The girl with glasses giggled catching up to me. "I'm serious though, I heard in his previous school - he was in a gang. He beats up people for fun, has a gun too.. I'm surprised he didn't hurt you..!!" We made our way in the school hall.

"Please, he won't hurt me. I'm too cute." I say jokingly as Mei Mei looked at me, her eyes narrowed. "Sure." She giggled poking my cheeks.

The day passed by quickly, and before I knew it, school had ended. Now, for my president duties! My eyes glanced around the halls, walking around the whole school, searching the face for this 'Mr. Bad boy.'

Then, my eyes spotted him. Exiting the bathroom, his hands rubbing together as he maybe put on hand sanitizer. Not bad for a bad guy. Hygienic.

I then catched up behind him, "Hello! Excuse me!" I called, catching up to the tall boy. "You're Miles Morales, right?" "Yeah." He said simply, his gaze piercing onto mine. An awkward silence passed by, keeping my eyes on his, his gaze gradually became more threatening. Now I know why people are scared of him.

"I like your accent." I said without thinking, "What?" He raised an eyebrow, My mouth closed in response. "Nothing! I'm [Y/N] and I'm the class president, here's your schedule.." I handed him the schedule with a sweet smile, though I can't manage to look him the eyes - since somehow, it's hard to. So looking him at his torso is the best way to avoid eye contact.

"Your locker number is 42, next to the science class! We're locker neighbours!!" A giggle escaped my mouth, immediately closing it in embarrassment. What was that giggle. My eyes creeped up to him, he had no emotion, he just looked at me.

He nodded and walked away. I breathed a sigh of relief, stomping childishly. "That's so embarrassing!! I'm gonna jump of a building - Locker neighbours!? What am I a child!?"

-----

Being Miles Morales' seatmate wasn't that bad. He's oddly quiet for a delinquent. He's smart too. My mind went to that one time last week - when we were paired up for a presentation. We exchanged numbers, and almost immediately - he sent the whole research and the script.

-- Miles Morales POV --

"Can you make it pink please ^⁠▽⁠^?" I laughed under my breath in amusement. What was her name again? [Y/N]? I searched her name on Instagram. Her face popped up, as I clicked it. My eyes flickered, scrolling through her pictures.

Most of her pictures were her studying, in the library, with friends, her with cats and random cute things she saw. I closed my phone, my uncle entering the room. "What's with that look, man?" "What look?" "And here I thought you won't catch feelings for anyone with that heart of yours." He laughed and exited.

------

[Y/N] shivered in the dark, as she walked in the street. City lights and dim street lamps were the only thing keeping the girl company. She sighed, walking faster, in hopes of getting to her apartment quickly, plastic bag on her hand. She passed by two guys, about her age - smoking.

One of them stopped her in her tracks by stepping infront of her, a smug look in his faced. "Hey sweetcheeks, whatchu doing so late?" She gave a small awkward smile and turned around, only to be blocked by his friend.

"Leaving so soon?" "Have fun with us." "No thank you, I need to go home..." She said meekly, as the two creeps laughed. Another gripped her wrist, she yelped in response. "That was an order, sweetheart." A harsh tug made her look around for help.

"Yo' move." A familiar voice said, as they all turned to look at it. It was Miles Morales, his eyebrows knit together, meeting her eyes. "Miles! Help-" "ah, this your boyfriend or something?" "Looks like a delinquent wanna be."

[Y/N] shot pleading eyes to her delinquent seatmate, as he stared back in return. He sighed. "I said move. People are trying to pass, bro." "Who you trying to 'bro', Man?" The two creeps approached him.

With a blink of an eye, the two were laying on the ground, one with a bruised eye who was also passed out and one with a busted lip. "Whatever! She looks like a whore anyways!" The guy cowered and ran away, leaving his friend.

Miles crouched down to the passed out guy, his hands roaming on his pockets and pulled out a pack of cigarettes and a lighter. Placing one on his lip, he ignited the lighter and lit up the tip of the cigarette.

"Thank you..." She said, trying to catch her breath, hand on her heart as she almost died. Miles grunted, blowing smoke and glanced at her. "Whatcu' even doing here?" "Was just trying to buy some meds for my cat. He's sick. I'm going back to my apartment now though.." she gripped the plastic bag, she was holding onto for dear life earlier.

"You're crazy for walking in the middle of the night." He continued walking forward. "Yeah...can you uhm, walk me to my apartment?" [Y/N] shyly asked. His eyes flickered to her.

"Why?" "'Cause...you saved me, so maybe you can keep doing that until I reach my apartment! I'll pay you back if you do, and also for saving me!" "You ain't need to pay me back." He said, quickening his pace.

The girl quickly ran up to him, trying to match his pace. "..Is that a yes..?" "Yeah, whatever." They walked in silence, somehow, this time it was calming and comfortable.

"Uhm- so...if you don't mind me asking..are the rumours really true..? the one where they say you're a delinquent, who's in a gang, who beats people up for fun..?" She shivered again in the cold, feeling a little brave to ask questions.

"The delinquent part is true. But Ion' go with gangs and beating people up for fun. I'm not that ridiculous 'Ma." He said, blowing the smoke from his cigarette. She nodded and smiled. "Well, you're not that bad for a delinquent." "Yeah?" "Yeah."

She stopped as Miles also halted, looking at her. She faced the building next to him. "This is me...thank you, again." "Don't go outside in middle of the night, next time. Don't wanna save your ass again."

----

Hope this was goodd, I also absolutely love this trope!! I'm taking more requests!! Any characters will be finee!!

#across the spiderverse #into the spider verse #miles x reader #earth 42 miles morales x reader #miles morales #spiderman #earth 42 miles morales x you #earth 42 miles fluff #earth 42 miles x you #miles molares

[dragonflydestiny]

Letter from your Soulmate 🌻

My second pick a card. This pick a card is going to be about letter from your soulmate. What would they write to you?. Would their letter respond to yours? (you can reread 'your letter to your soulmate' in my first pick a card I post earlier). Let’s find out. Pick from 1-4. Thank you.

P.S. This is a very long pick a card for me and I put in a lot of work so I would be very grateful if you could tip me, only if you have the means to. It would encourages me to do more. Thank you so much.

Disclaimer: This is meant as entertainment only. Takes only what resonate.

My Master Lists

💌

💌 Letter 1 🦋

The Lovers, The Chariot, Father of Swords in reverse and 4 of Pentacles (back of the deck).

To (Your name),

I knew from the moment we first met, I felt a sense of familiarity. Your presence alone brings me a feeling of nostalgia. When our eyes meet, I feel like I am existing in the present, the past and the future all at once. It is very strange, and for a brief second it feels like time didn't exist. At that moment, I’m sure was confused. Hesitantly, I introduce myself to you, half expecting you to somehow recognise me and say that we've met before. I'm sure we did, this meeting doesn't seem like it's our first. Would you believe me if I say that there are histories and memories of us buried deep inside waiting for us to uncover it again?. It wasn't love at first sight with you, but more like remembering I have loved you all along. All these time I was waiting for you to show up, a piece of my puzzle I was missing and when you did, I felt so relieved. Yes, I thought to myself, I know it's you, it is going to be you. My soul recognises yours because it is the same stars that we were born. Even though It took us so long to meet, I know I would've been much more happier if we've met earlier.

Before you, I used to dream about having someone by my side, someone I can experience both the joy and pain of life together. And we would travel to every corner of this world but I guess I was naive. My biggest and most painful lessons came from those desires. Through the union with my past person, I had dealt with such malice and hostility. Loving another person became a game, it became dangerous for me. I learned it the hard way of how not to love someone. I'm not proud of what I did and what I had to do to get out of my previous relationship. But that story had long ended. I didn't know it myself but I was searching for you. I was searching for you in everyone that I'd dated/met. But with my past person/people we couldn't see eye to eye. We lacked communication and eventually drifted apart. At those points, I start to wonder if that is it in life, was that my peak of happiness. And sometimes, I'm not going to lie, I did believed that was it. Nothing else can make me happier, until now.

Finally, now I can see the sliver lining. I used to resent my past choices and always play the blame game, if only I'd know that those same choices I made would lead me here to you. I would've been more than willing. I would've been able to make peace with it sooner. Like I said before, if we'd met sooner, I would've be a very very happy man/woman. But I know life doesn't work like that. Seeing you makes me want to try again, to give this 'love' thing another chance. To practice lessons that I learned. I still have a lot to learn but it is very hard for me to hold back from pursuing you. Just know this, when we first met, I wanted to go after you right away but half of me know that I am not ready. I still need to learn to be patient and less impulsive. I need to learn to see situations from different perspective and to control my emotions. I tend to let emotions blind me from seeing things clearly. I can't go to you yet if I don't learn these things. So please wait for me, know that I will find my way back into your arms again.

The torments and pains I will have to face, I will face them with courage and determination just to be with you again. And when I am lost, I will find myself again with your love. Although I don't remember our love, I have never forget it "cause I loved you than and I love you still". I can't wait to remember how to love each other again together in this life. I already know though, that I am right behind you in all that you do, I pray for you to be safe and taken care of when I can't be there with you. When your heart breaks know that mine break too. I promise that it will be easier once both of us let go of things that are too heavy to carry. Gently, I will go with the flow, like a river then eventually meeting the vast ocean, where it is wide and free. And what it is that you have to say I will listen to you, my heart will be open and ready then. Ready to listen to you and only you.

With love,

(Their name)

Channeled song from them to you: Woodlock - I Loved You Then (And I Love You Still) "And I'm right behind you in all that you do. And I spoke with God. He’ll Take care of you. Find me. Stone on a hill. Cause I loved you then. And I love you still."

💌

💌 Letter 2 🌷

6 of Swords, 9 of Cups in reverse, Son of Wands and 6 of Pentacles (back of the deck).

Dear You,

Life was hectic lately but thankfully it is getting calmer. I can finally see the rainbow after the storm. Now I want to take a little get away trip for the weekend to celebrate the end of this tough cycle. It was difficult because of the work that I do and unfortunately there were misunderstandings as well. So much was going on, I was up the wall and didn't have much time to write to you before. Even though, it is settle now, I am still not satisfy with where I am at. Between you and I, I want to confess that I am unfulfilled, with my life, with my job and with what I do. I would never say this out loud or to anybody about how unhappy I am with my life. There is so much conflicting energy around, both on the outside and within me. I tried so hard with my work, my business, working slowly towards my wish but I don't see much progress. So now I am frustrated. I wonder if you can understand what I am going through or at the very least sympathise with this frustration too.

Thankfully, slowly it is getting better but it took a lot out of me and now I am burnt out. I need to rejuvenate or else I won't have time or energy to meet you. I need to rest to revitalise and go on a vacation to somewhere nice and relaxing. I do wish you could come with me. After the rest, I will come back stronger than ever. There's this new project that I want to start. Even though I have to wait to be replenish first, I am just so excited to get it started and I want to tell you all about it. But sometimes, I can get ahead of myself and tend to focus a little too much on the future such as what I have to do next. It's hard for me to focus on my rest when all I want to do is jump start on my next project/adventure right away. Do you have something you are passionate about as well?. Don't you get these impulses too?

All in all, I work hard and I always want to play fair to others. I would tell myself to be kind and treat others how you want to be treated. But unfortunately, some people just want to screw you over. There were times where my kindness were being taken advantage of and it did led me to my downfall. I used to give too much but it only left me with nothing and for that I learned to hate unfairness and unfair people. I still resent those people who took from me and left me out in the cold. I will be hesitant to give because of my past and I hope you can be fair to me and understand my hesitancy. I also want you to know that it was hard work and it still is hard work for me to learn to be kind to myself. It was because I was being unfair to myself first that allowed others to do the same to me. For the longest time I ignored my own heart and in turn, I was the cruelest person to myself. But I thought I was being selfless, ultimately those 'selfless' acts I wrongly perceived only led me to resentment and bitterness towards others especially when they don't give back to me what I have given them. And when my cup was empty, my demands from other was out of hurt and desperation. It was not an easy realisation coming to term with the fact that I was mostly responsible for my own misery.

It was a hard lesson but I learned it now. To get away from the turmoil, I stopped ignoring my heart and I strongly urge you to do the same. Choose and act with love, follow your truest desires because I believe it would eventually lead you to me. Please believe that your purest desire will never lead you astray, it will forever guide you. I believe that to be true for me and in turn, I believe in myself. I will also believe in you too. When I look at you, I can see how brave and strong you are especially when you go after those desires. I truly believe you can achieve anything. You want to reach for the heights so don't be afraid to fall. I know you can see my wings and I fly high in the sky but "little birdie, you are also a bird in my eyes, when will you realise that you can fly too?”. So let's fly and conquer the world together and when your wings are tired, I will carry you. Just like you, before I was a flightless bird, scared to fly and scared of the heights but when I learned that my wings wasn't broken, only disregarded, I began to daydream of all the wonderful things I deserve. Things of divine essence, I began to daydream about you, "to dream of you even when I am wide awake". To be curious about you and see with my own eyes how will you spread your wings and start your flight because I want to be by your side. And this letter to you will be proof of my daydream come true.

So see you in a while my little bird.

(Their Name)

Channeled song about them: Iron & Wine - Flightless Bird, American Mouth "Have I found you? Flightless bird, brown hair bleeding Or lost you?"

💌

💌 Letter 3 🪲

2 of Pentacles in reverse, 5 The Hierophant in reverse, 2 of Swords in reverse and 10 The Wheel of Fortune in reverse (back of the deck).

Dear (your name),

It’s truly harder now for me to believe in true love. There were chains of events that led to my pessimism. Changes that weren’t pleasant. I understand that two people can love each other but eventually, they will change and become a completely different individuals. So what then, would that two specific people love each other’s new selves still?. Do you think they will still love each other?. Because I don’t think so. They might’ve loved that person for the person they used to be but that doesn’t mean they would love their new selves as well. Because of these facts, I am scare of change, people changing, it can break a relationship, taking away people you used to care for most. They can change into a completely new person and you wouldn’t recognise them anymore. So you are forced to mourn the death of that person’s old identity and be forever parted. As you can tell, I have a negative connotation with change, it is one of my deep rooted fear. However, deep down I know that change is very necessary. But this fear is still lingering and deep within me, subconsciously affecting how I view my life and my relationships. So, If I change, would you still love me the same?. Or would you resent me instead?.

Nonetheless, I do find the growth rate of a person fascinating, whether it’d be spiritual growth or emotional growth. But I have to admit that it also scares me. Subconsciously, it terrifies me. To think that one day people whom I loved and know most will turn into strangers and become unrecognisable. So I am scare to go deeper and to open my heart. I am afraid that I would be left behind if I am the only person in my relationship to open up. I would become oblivious to the mask my partner can wear. I don’t want to be oblivious to the fact that truly, I didn’t know the person I was with at all. They never show me who they truly are but is only pretending to be somebody they’re not. It is very hard to come to term with this fear especially when it comes to choosing a life partner. So if I open my heart to you, would you let me in and crack my guarded heart open?. Would I be able to be vulnerable with you?. Teach me to show you “the stranger” in me, even if I resist. Do you have a part of yourself hidden away as well?. Would you let me see too?.I want to be brave together and get rid of this blockage we both have. Blockages of our secrets and truths that we didn’t want to face. We hide part of ourselves because we are insecure, we don’t want to be judge because of how we look or how we live our lives. I didn’t want to be judge, only accepted. So I pretended to be someone I’m not just to fit in and over time I, too, became a stranger to myself. I regretted a lot of my past decisions because it was chosen through falsehood. Failed relationships were also a result of that as well. Ironically, I became the manifestation of my deepest fear. It is funny how the universe works. But not anymore, because with you I don’t have to pretend to be someone I’m not. When I get to know you, you accept me as I am and you make me value my true self. You don’t judge me and you let me live my life. The least I can do is to give you the same respect.

So, no more falsehood, no more illusions. I start to become greedy with life again. I decided to disregard my miserable destiny and doom mindset I had curated for myself. I want to face the truth and become my authentic self even if people do judge. I want to stop waiting for the wheel to turn, I want to gather all my courage and turn the wheel myself and become the master of my own fate and the captain of my own soul. You can do it too. The universe had been silent with me for far too long, I asked for guidance, for a message and I received none. I asked them to show me who I am and what my life purpose is, there was no answer. I felt lost and I became passive, just letting life dragged me along. I can no longer sit back and waste away my time anymore. Let’s take control of our lives together, you and I, realise that because we are more than capable of forging our own path and choosing our own directions. We are both so worthy. We are worthy of love and success, worthy to receive love, to give love and becoming successful. I don’t want to be indecisive anymore. I used to believe that my opinions didn’t matter, no one cared. I was also scared of the consequences it would cause. Because decisions can be life altering, it could change the course of my life path, for better or worse. I was scared of that risk so I shifted the accountability and the responsibility to the divine and by doing that, I also shifted my own powers. And my life became really really dissatisfying. I don't want to do that anymore, I want to break the cycle, I want to be empower. Now I learned to respect myself and my decisions. I will respect your decisions too, without judgement. Whatever you will choose, whatever it is regarding, know that I will support you no matter what. You are so worthy of everything, loveable things I want and will give to you and I'm sorry if you and the people around you couldn't give that love to you before. Yours and mine’s journey are mirrored and all those past "could've beens" and missed opportunities taught us enough pain to not let it pass by again. Still, I am so proud of both of us for everything we have to go through.

All the promises I made, in this and last lives, will be kept. The promise that we will protect each other, that we will be safe in each other's arms. No wrong or harm of me turning into a stranger to you and stop loving you. When I know you, I can never stop loving you. If you or me become strangers to each other, I'm certain that I will fall in love with you again and again and again. Because our bond is spiritual, it goes beyond this life time. A stranger we will never be because you are a part of me, a piece of my soul. We will live this life together like we did the last. Although I know this to be true, I am sometime skeptical. I will ask for proof that magic is real, that you are real. But we both know that we have to believe in magic to see it. And I will, I will believe and trust in this connection. I will try my hardest to have faith and believe that it is meant to be. And when we face difficulties, I will make my choices with love. I will make decisions with your heart in mind because "my heart is so full of you I can hardly call it my own". And when the time comes for me to be with you, I would know that my internal fire was guiding me all along just like I had asked. It will be proof that magic is real because my choices eventually lead me here, back to you where I have always belong. Won’t be long until we meet again.

From your biggest supporter,

(Name)

Sorry no channeled song for this pile.

💌

💌 Letter 4 🌹

Sorry I forgot to write down your tarot cards 😥

Dear my love,

Lately, I’m suffering a lot, especially mentally. Things are not doing so well. My dreams turn into nightmares and now all I see are dark visions. I don’t think my future look very bright. Am I destined to fail?. All these fears creeping in every night and they are eating me alive. I feel like everything is against me, all my friends turn into enemies. Slowly, they’re waiting for my downfall. When will these sufferings and struggles end ?. But little by little, through these sufferings, I get a spark of clarity. Especially when my demons come into light and manifested in people around me. I can see how demanding, power hungry and greedy they can be. People around me mirror back what I don’t want to become. When I interact with them, I realised that I am stronger than I thought. If I can deal with these malicious beings, I can deal with anything. I can face hard challenges. With will and determination, I can get through a lot of obstacles. Overthinking and worrying wouldn’t do me any favours. I can learn through these hardships, learn to become more resilient. And every time I have to face those negative thoughts again, I will fight against them. I hope you’d do the same and remember this my love, “the clouds in your confusion comes from your own mind and thus, it can only be taken away by your own mind”. And when you are aware of this, clarity will come. With clear visions, you can learn to ”bend the world to your will”.

Unfortunately, for me, my cycle of self-destruction haven’t end. It is still lace and exacerbate by my environment. When I asked for help and support, it was only met with betrayal and abandonment. All my life, I was left alone. People had abandoned me and now I nearly abandoned myself as well. All these doubts and fears run too deep, they were instilled in me since childhood. People around me have hurt me and now the pain has become unbearable. I couldn’t take the pain and the anxiety anymore. I decided it was best for me to leave and go my own way. I distanced myself from everyone around me. If you are curious about my past, forgive me if I am reluctant to share, it is still hard for me to revisit them. But more importantly, I want to tell you that I have started to work on myself. Controlling those fear-based thoughts. I sit with those thoughts and instead of being consume by them, I entertain them. I try to find and see different perspective to these worries. I ask questions to find the root, to find objectivity because most of these fears are so subjective and self-induced. And someday, I hope, my mind would become my greatest asset instead of my biggest enemy. Slowly, I will learn to do exactly that. I will work through the self-sabotaging thoughts, slowly changing my narrative. To really believe that things are not against me but they are actually working in my favour. And positive mindset will help me build harmonious relationships, with myself, my friends and most importantly, with you.

I want to work on myself because I want to show up as my best for you. I want to be there for myself and stop this cycle of self-abandonment. I want to be brave, strong and confident. To know that one day, I can show up for you and help you fight against those negative forces too. I want to be there for you wholeheartedly. To tell you that you are always supported, by your spirit guides, by the universe and by me. You are never alone. I want to tell you that I am proud of you for fighting with your demons and thank you for when you would help me fight mine too. You have never abandon me and I will never leave you. All the hardships I will fight through it with you. And every time you smile, it only gives me more reasons to fight.

I want to transcend and face whatever life throws at me just to see the light ignited in your eyes again. My dark visions turn bright when now I see that you are a part of my future. You have lend me the stars in your eyes so I can walk through these dark roads, you are so kind. I have never felt a love so powerful. All those pains I’ve been through, when I saw you, I feel like I’ve finally awaken. At last, you brought me light and shifted my world. My world is new and the whole sky light up. You are my light, my sunshine. Through your light, your presence, your being, it is warm and bright. “Everything looks different now that I see you”.

You brought me true love and true happiness. Your name replaced the word “love” in my vocabulary. I can say that I learned so much from you, I learned what true love and true compassion is, it is surely the definition of you.

Your true love,

(Name)

Channeled song from them to you: Found by Zach Webb “I, I found life When I found You”, “All the times that I cried, I know. You were there. Holding me tight”

💌

Thank you so much for stopping by, please do not hesitate to comment and leave a tip if you want. Any constructive criticism is also appreciated. See you on the next pick a card, you can leave any topic suggestions.

Kind regards,

- Dragonflydestiny 🪲

#pick a card #letter from your soulmate #tarot #tarot reading #tarot messages #channeled message #message #love reading #divination #letters #soulmate reading #soulmate #love #spirituality

[stargazing-dreamer-girl]

After the show

Pairing: alive!Reggie Peters x reader

WC: 3.2k

Summary: After being away for a few months you were finally back in Los Angeles, just in time to watch your best friend Julie perform with her band. The first time you got to see them live and get to meet them, including the cute bass player.

A/N: Here's something new which probably nobody still counted on getting from me hahah but writing has always helped me cope with some stuff and even though I hadn't pictured myself returning to this, here I am, dealing with life problems by escaping into fanfictions. So, I hope you guys still read it and like it!!

It had been a while since you saw Julie last. You had lived with your dad last semester while your mom had to go abroad for work. That left you at the other side of the country, a six-hour flight away from your best friend and your normal life.

Of course, staying at your dad's wasn't the worst. You got along great. One of the only plus sides of that move was that you could spend more time together, but you also had to get used to a new place and new people. And you missed your friends dearly. Daily Facetime calls to Julie and Flynn kept you going, but those declined in frequency as well. Everybody got busy, so these past few weeks it had been, at most, one call a week. With your upcoming move back home to California, Julie's successful debut with her band and Flynn managing them, there hadn't been a lot of time. Until now.

You were finally back in California, basking in the Los Angeles sun. The hot sand beneath your feet warmed your soul. A content smile graced your face while you were waiting for Julie and Flynn to join you. This felt like home. Definitely.

Your serene moment got interrupted as someone practically fell into you, making you tumble forward a few steps. You were able to keep standing with arms still wrapped around you. With them came a squeak and the call of your name before the figure, which turned out to be Julie, came around to your front. As soon as you saw that familiar face you pulled her into your arms again. Yep, home. "Oh my God, I missed you so much!", you said, squeezing her once more.

"Same! I can't believe you're back! Finally!" The two of you let go of each other and settled onto the sand. "Tell me everything!"

"Well, you already know basically everything," you laughed. "I mean, the last time we talked wasn't even 24 hours ago."

"I know!" Julie took ahold of your shoulders and shook you. "Way too long! I need a play-by-play of your flight."

"Uhm ok, so, when I got to the airport..." And so you told Julie everything that happened at the airport, on your flight, at the reunion with your mom, the ride home, just everything up until the point where she had joined you at the beach. "When is Flynn coming by the way? Shouldn't she be here already?" You looked around hoping to catch a glimpse of the girl amidst the other beach-goers.

"Oh yes, I forgot to say! She actually had to hang back for a bit. She was able to get us a gig tonight, totally last minute, so she had to organize some stuff, but you'll see her later when you come to the show."

"Oh, so I'm invited, huh?" You bumped her shoulder.

"Of course, you are! We made sure to have you put on the guestlist. Then you can also meet the rest of the band! They're so excited to meet you. I mean, Flynn and I always talk about you, so they're always on us about when they actually get to meet you." She laughed at the dorkiness of her friends.

She could still picture the first time you were brought up in conversation in front of them. Flynn had been late to watching the practice and when she finally did come in, she looked a little distraught. Julie had asked her what was wrong, but didn't expect that the reason for her distress was actually your distress. You had just broken up with your partner who was not ready to commit to long-distance, even just for a while, so you had called your friends in tears. The boys had immediately told Julie and Flynn to not worry about practice and call you back and be there for you. Since then, you had been topic of conversation a few times.

"Actually," she continued, "Reggie could not shut up about you being at the show today since we found out it's happening, so you can't disappoint my bassist by not showing up." Julie wiggled her eyebrows at you. That's what you get for one time mentioning that you thought the dark-haired bassist was cute and asking about him. You had kept up with Julie's band, watched all their music videos and the private photos and videos that Julie had sent you.

You felt a warmth spread over your neck and cheeks, slighty embarassed by the teasing. "Oh please, Julie, shut up." You chuckled and looked out at the waves crashing onto the beach. "Of course, I'll be there. I'm super excited to meet the band, too. And to see you perform live!" Looking back at her, you saw the spark in her eyes that had been lost for so long after her mother's death, but there it was, portraying her excitement for making and sharing her music.

The moment got interrupted by an alarm sound coming out of Julie's pocket. "Oh ok, that's me. I actually have to run now," she said while standing up and silencing her phone. "I need to prepare for the show, but I'll text you all the details and will see you there tonight! Ok, bye, love you!" She shouted over her shoulder while already walking away in a hurry. You laughed to yourself at her behavior. It hadn't changed in all this time. You stayed at the beach for a few more minutes, before deciding to go home and get ready yourself.

You looked in awe at the line in front of the club the band was playing at tonight. So many people were here to see your friend perform. It was crazy. And you actually got to walk past all these people to tell the bouncer your name and be let in before all of them. The whole experience was so surreal, but it was everything you had ever hoped for your friend. Inside was already pretty packed as well but Flynn had texted you where to find her, so you made your way through the crowd to the roped-off area at the side which was slightly elevated. You once again gave your name to the woman standing there. She scanned her clipboard before she moved aside to let you in.

You spotted Flynn pretty easily in her eye-catching outfit. She was sitting in the far corner, closest to the stage, typing away on her phone. You walked up to her and tapped her on the shoulder. "Hey there, stranger!"

She turned around quickly. Her eyes widened when she saw you standing there before she jumped out of her seat with a wide smile on her face. "You're here!" She pulled you into a hug. "It's so good to see you! Wait, let me look at you!" You were pushed an arms-length away, so that she could check you out from head to toe. "And you look amazing! Perfect! Show-stopping!"

"Well, I hope not. I did come here to watch the show after all." You took the seat next to Flynn's, catching up with her until the lights dimmed and the show started. You and Flynn immediately got up from your seats as the stage lights came on and illuminated your friend and the rest of the band. Julie's gaze quickly flickered up to where you and Flynn were standing before she started playing the first notes of the song. Actual tears sprung to your eyes as you watched your friend live her dream. You were so proud of her.

You watched her interact with the other band members while performing. They all seemed to have so much fun on stage and you could clearly see their passion for music shining through. More than once did your eyes glance over to the bassist. You had to admit that Reggie looked even better in person than on the screen. He had to know what he was doing when he put on that leather jacket for the performance. Damn.

When the show ended, you actually felt out of breath from all the dancing and jumping and singing along you did with Flynn. The whole concert was so much fun and you could not get rid of the smile on your lips. "So, I am in charge of getting you to Julie's for the after-show party," Flynn turned to you and explained.

"Wait, there's an actual after show party at Julie's? And her dad's fine with it?"

"Yeah, it's just a few people and as long as we clean up and don't make too much noise, he's chill. So, you coming?" Flynn held out a hand for you to take and then skillfully maneuvered you through the crowd. The ride to Julie's turned out to be Flynn's mom who greeted you with a hug. You three chatted for the whole ride, mainly about your last semester and the show, before she dropped you off at Julie's. Before driving off she reminded Flynn to be respectful and considerate of the people living in the house to which Flynn rolled her eyes, but promised to be on her best behavior.

After her mom was gone, she turned to you. "Ok, come on, we need to get some snacks and drinks out before the others arrive." She led you to the garage, which you hadn't entered in what felt like years, and pulled the doors wide open. The lights turned on and as you looked around you realized that not much had changed, except for some trinkets being strewn about here and there. You quickly helped Flynn get some drinks out of the mini fridge and onto the table as well as some snacks when the first few people already started arriving. You easily recognized Nick, one of the first to enter the garage. He hadn't changed much from when you last saw him, still had the same Golden Retriever look to him. Carrie was also easy to spot. She spotted the two of you instantly and came over to greet you. From your calls with Julie and Flynn you were already aware that the feud had ended and there was some kind of friendship blossoming now.

"Hi, girls!" She greeted both of you with a hug before she turned to you. "It's nice to see you! How long have you been back?"

"Oh, just today actually. Been quite a busy day." You made some more small talk with her while other guests arrived and Flynn went off to greet them. It wasn't long until the conersations stopped to greet the arriving band with a round of hollers and applause. The guitarist, Luke, you knew, basked in the applause, entering the garage with raised arms and a grin, ready to high-five his friends that were waiting for him. Julie, Reggie and Alex followed. They had the same grin on their faces, the performance high, but passed up on the high-fives.

Carrie excused herself, but you didn't stay standing alone for long as Julie spotted you and pulled Alex and Reggie over to you. "Guys, I want you to meet someone," she exclaimed and proudly introduced you.

Aley was the first to speak up. He had a nice smile on his face. "Hi! It's really nice to meet you! I'm Alex. Julie has told us so much about you, it's like meeting a legend." Julie hit him in the arm for that comment. "Hey! What? It's true! You're always talking about her like she's a celebrity or some kind of myth. No wonder Reggie-" He got cut off by another hit in the arm, this time from the bassist. "Alright, fine, I'll stop stalking! Anyway, nice to meet you. I'm gonna go over there to my boyfriend." He turned and walked right into the arms of a long-haired guy on the other side of the garage who had been engaged in a conversation with Luke.

You turned back to the other two still standing with you, holding back a laugh. Your gaze fell onto the one who had yet to introduce himself. His eyes were still trained on Alex' back, but as he turned towards you, he realized that your focus was already on him and his cheeks turned red. It only took him a moment to regain his cool though. "I'm Reggie. Nice to meet you!" His eyes trailed your body once over. He shot you a smile. "I can't believe you're even prettier in real life than in the pictures." That earned him another smack against the arm from Julie. He yelped. "Hey! That's not how you treat your bassist!"

"Whatever, go get Luke, I want to introduce him, too!" Rubbing his arm he left, pouting, to get the guitarist. As soon as Reggie said a few words to him, he came jumping right over and put his arms around Julie's shoulder, placing a kiss on her cheek. She chuckled a little at the display of affection. "Luke, I wanna introduce you to-"

He cut her off, saying your name himself. "You talk so much about her. How could I not know?!" He smiled brightly and pulled you into a hug. "Great to finally meet you! How did you like the show?"

"Ah, it was amazing! You all looked so great out there! I had so much fun and everything sounded great! You even played my favorite song," you admitted.

"Oh, and which one is that?" You told him your favorite song, him nodding along to your answer. "Yeah, great taste you got there!" He looked around the room as a group of guys called his name. "Alright, I gotta go entertain for a bit, but we'll definitely catch up soon!" He promised with a wink and another kiss to Julie's cheek.

"Is he always like that?" You asked her.

"Most of the time." She nodded before breaking out into a laugh which you joined.

At some later point in the evening you found yourself on the couch with a drink in your hand. Reggie let himself fall into the seat next to you. "Hi there!" You smiled at him.

"Hi!" The small smile he gave you made him look even cuter. "Sitting here all by yourself?"

"Well, I was just waiting for you to come keep me company."

"Oh." That took him by suprise. "Here I am!"

You tilted your head to the side a bit, taking him in some more. He was still wearing the leather jacket you liked so much during the show with a simple white shirt below it and a pair of jeans. "I really liked to watch you play. I wanted to tell you that before, but you left so quickly."

"Ah, thank you! Yeah." He rubbed his neck as his cheeks turned pink. "Sorry that I left so quickly. I actually did want to talk to you some more! Julie told us you were coming to watch us play, so I- we put some extra effort into making this show amazing!"

"You certainly did! How long have you been playing bass for?"

"So long I can barely remember. I learned the guitar first though," he admitted.

"So you play the guitar as well, wow! I've never had any musical ability. Julie's mom tried to teach me to play the piano a long time ago, but it was completely hopeless." You chuckled at the memory. It was right in this room so many years ago.

"Maybe the piano just wasn't the right instrument for you? I can teach you some guitar if you want. Or bass, if you prefer."

"Alright, I'll hold you to it, but really don't get your hopes up. It might end in an absolute disaster," you joked. "Let me actually give you my number, so we can set a date."

"Oh yeah, totally!" He pulled out his phone and opened it to a new contact. You put your number in and called yourself right after saving it.

"Now I have your number as well." You smiled at him before saving the number into your phone as 'that cute bassist'. You hoped he had seen the name but when you looked back at him his eyes were trained on your face.

An hour moved by as you kept sitting on that couch, talking and laughing with Reggie. Luke, Alex and Julie had each come over for a few minutes but left fairly quickly to give the two of you some space.

"Hey, do you want to get some fresh air? It's getting a bit stuffy in here," you suggested to which Reggie agreed. The doors had been closed by now to keep the noise from reaching the neighbors, so that you hadn't noticed it'd gotten a bit chilly. Before you could say or do anything Reggie already took off his jacket and laid it over your shoulders. You pulled it on tighter as you took a seat on the stairs, the smell of the leather enveloping you. It smelled good, you imagined Reggie to smell distinctly of the jacket as well.

"Can I ask you a question?" He asked warily.

"Of course." You assured him, placing a hand on his thigh.

His eyes fell from your face to your hand. "Are you flirting with me? Like, are you actually hitting on me?" His hopeful eyes found yours again as your smile turned wider.

"Yes, Reggie, I have been all evening."

"Oh, ok, good, so I didn't misinterpret anything." He laughed a little and placed his hand over yours that was still lying on his thigh. "You see, I think you're really pretty. I've thought that since Julie and Flynn showed us pictures of you for the first time. And now I know, you're really funny, too, and I'm just totally blown away by you, so I was wondering if you wanted to go out with me?"

"I would like that a lot, yes. You lnow, I've had this little crush on you for a while now that Julie and Flynn have been making fun of me for. There's something about you that really draws me in." You bit your lip, taking Reggie's attention from your eyes to your lips.

"So, uhm, can I kiss you right now?" He asked.

Your lips spread into a wider smile as you shuffled closer to him on the stairs. "Yes, Reggie, I'd love that." There wasn't much of a gap between your faces anymore now, but he took his sweet time letting you feel his breath on your lips before finally connecting them. His lips moved softly against yours. He squeezed your hand on his thigh and brought the other one up to cradle your face.

You pulled back a little to catch your breath. When there was a crash from inside the garage your gaze quickly flicked to the door to check if anyone was coming out. When nobody did, you turned back to Reggie. "Do you wanna go back inside or keep doing this?" You asked him, hoping for the latter.

"I think, I'd rather stay out here a bit longer." He smiled before catching your lips in another kiss under the starlit sky.

#reggie peters #reggie peters x reader #reggie peters x you #julie and the phantoms #jatp #reggie peters one shot #reggie peters imagine #x reader #x you #oneshot #one shot #imagine #imagines #fanfiction #julie and the phantoms imagine #jatp x reader #julie and the phantoms x reader #requested #requested by anon

[possumcollege]

Apologies to my comics friends here but this is ridiculous:

Just the photo for folks who like to ZOOM!

I've been handling guns since I was 6yrs old. These are OBVIOUSLY not real pistols. You can tell by the screw holes in the frames, the mold/assembly lines, the undersized magwells, and the VERY clear airsoft magazines. It's a specific mix of contemporary guns too, including at least 7 H&K USPS, which cost about $1,200 each, assorted Glocks, "tactical" 1911s, and genetic S&W/ Beretta autos. They're some of the most common airsoft guns. The guns that aren't obvious plastic reproductions show no wear, and "custom" features that you wouldn't see on say, smuggled military weapons being carried around by local militia in a region that is absolutely littered with cheaper older Soviet hardware. Even looted American weapons would more likely include a bunch of very beat up Beretta M9s.

Plus a random Winchester 92? Is John Wayne's ghost backing HAMAS?

This is my favorite part though:

THAT appears to be a PILE of Knights Armament PDWs and only KAC PDWs. That gun is an "experimental" rifle w/ a $3k price tag. It chambers a proprietary 6x35mm round or 300 Blackout. Not standard ammo for any major military on Earth, making it a terrible choice for guerilla fighters. 500rds of 300blk will cost you as much as a basic S&W M&P (a civilian M4 clone) in .556 if you can find it in the US. The KAC PDW is also a popular airsoft rifle since it's rare, expensive, and dripping with tacticool features. There are almost certainly more airsoft versions than real ones in the world, but I can't say for sure because I can't find a number produced online.

There are NO AKs, M4s, M16s, FN FALs- guns that might conceivably be available in numbers for insurgent militia in the region. It's not uncommon to see fighters in the Middle East still fielding WW2-era weapons, but the only other long gun I can even try to ID on that table is essentially a cowboy gun! 🤠

A refugee camp had a baker's dozen of these though. 👇

A niche gun, so unused in any real number that the sum total of its service history on Wikipedia (gun guys religiously, lovingly maintain gun Wikis) is this:

There are at least 13 of them in this picture, so either that's nigh $40k sharing a table with rusted hunting guns and toys or ALSO TOYS!

(I still prefer LEGO)

10 minutes of searching on my phone was enough to prove this shit isn't real. And I am very very sleepy today. Writing this post took longer than tracking down that rifle by its features. I know this might not be as obvious to people who haven't handled real guns but for anyone remotely familiar with them, this looks like a joke.

This makes American cops posing around a ziploc bag of weed look good by comparison. That weed might be real.

This is extremely lazy misinformation work. It's a pathetically low effort ruse from an army that could easily have just planted real weapons. The only reason someone would post this for the world to see and claim it's real is if they're very, very stupid, think we are, or are well beyond trying because they know they hold a position of such untouchable privilege that they're cool doing the bare minimum of covering their asses. Like the cops!

All of those options make me real sad. So I'm going to just post this and never check on the comments.

#fact checking #Free Palestine #Ceasefire Now #guns #hoax

[jpitha]

Between the Black and Gray 19

First / Previous / Next

After lunch, a few crew members came up to Fen and invited her down to the shooting range.

"What do you say, Ms. Whitehorse?" One of them, a youngish man with dark hair and a close cropped beard asked shyly.

Fen smiled. "Fen is fine. Sure, let me go fetch my rifle and I'll go to the range." She turned. "Kel, would you like to come too?"

Kel held both of her hands out in surrender. "No thanks Fen! I just barely passed my shooting test, I'll stick to plants for now. You go have fun."

Fen went to her temporary quarters and grabbed her rifle and met the crew at the range a few minutes later. Dreams was large enough that it had quite a few amenities and a large rifle range was among them. It was in the bottom rear of the ship, next to the hold, and when Fen showed up, everyone was getting issued their ammunition. Fen took her spot in line and when she stepped up the armorer asked what she needed.

"I need rounds for a Mk47 main battle rifle." Fen hefted her weapon up to the counter so that the armorer could see it. Her rifle was given to her by Gord, and printed to her specifications. It was sky blue, with a dark blue K'laxi pattern along the stock running up the barrel and looked out of place among the sea of coal black rifles. The armorer blinked and stared.

"A Mk47? Why are you shooting that antique? That hasn't been standard issue for centuries! I don't even know if I have rounds that big, I have to go back to the magazine and look."

Fen crossed her arms. "The Mk47 is a classic. It has the stopping power necessary to take on any biological opponent, will stop all consumer and many military grade walking frames, is easy to clean and parts can be printed anywhere with nearly any resolution printer available."

The armorer shrugged. "Fine, fine. You clearly know your stuff. Let me go look in the back." While the armorer disappeared, Fen talked with the others. Gev had invited her, he worked in the main battery and gushed about how she took down Ellen.

"I can't say she was everyone's favorite, but I didn't expect anyone to just snap and slam her head like that! I can't believe you got in so fast."

Fen's face hardened. "She was flinging slurs at me. I'm proud of who I am."

Gev nodded quickly "I get it, I get it. I was born on Parvati and even though I grew up in Regantown on Venus people still think of me as just a colonist. I never dislocated a shoulder though."

"If Gev liked normal food like us, we'd probably make fun of him less!" One of the crew with them said. The others laughed.

Gev winced. "They don't like Parvatian food. They said it's too 'ethnic.' As if having a spice other than cilantro and salt is ethnic!"

Fen smiled tightly. She had a hunch that Gev was downplaying how much of a hard time they gave him.

The armorer returned and practically threw three magazines onto the counter. "Here. Any more and I'll have to run the printers. You're lucky that we even had those. Regs state we need to have some rounds of just about every size."

Fen thanked the armorer, scooped up the magazines and joined Gev and his friends. They were chatting and each taking turns running a timed event. In thirty seconds, targets would appear all over the range, and the person with the most accurate strikes got the most points. Fen had done this drill with Gord quite a bit when she was learning, so she was broadly familiar with it. She checked over the ammunition the armorer gave her, and got a magazine ready.

When it was her turn, she stepped up to the counter, loaded and cocked her rifle, and lifted it up to her shoulder. "Ready."

There was a tone, and the first target appeared. Fen slowed her breathing, sighting, squeezing and felt the pressure on her shoulder from her gun. Almost as soon as her finger brushed the trigger, her peripheral vision was already looking for the next target. The Mk47 was a much larger and louder rifle than what Gev and his friends fired. The noise of hers was deafening in the range, and everyone stopped shooting to watch.

The world shrank for Fen. It became her, the rifle, the target and the next target. Over and over, one after another until another tone sounded the end of the drill.

Blinking, Fen ejected the empty magazine, and set the rifle down. She rolled her shoulders back, putting her hands on the back of her hips. "I need to get down here more, that felt rusty." She turned to see everyone staring at her. "What? Was it that bad?"

Gev silently pointed to the scoreboard near the front of the range. Her name was at the top, with the highest score, and three little stars next to the number.

"What are the stars?"

"One star means the high score for the month. Two stars means the high score since deployment. Three stars is the highest score recorded."

Fen looked at the scoreboard. She had beaten the next score under hers by over one hundred points. She nodded once. "Looks to me like you're all slacking." She smiled and slotted another magazine. "Reset the drill, I bet I can do better."

Fen spent the rest of the time at the range giving out impromptu lessons in shooting. Everyone was so sloppy. She wondered if it was something to do with Imperial training or the fact that it was just her and Gord for so long she had extra experience. After about an hour, everyone's scores were improving but they were clearly getting tired. "Well, I'm out of ammunition now, and if I ask the armorer for more I think she's going to throw them at me. Let's stop for today."

Fen and the others stepped away from the firing line and cleaned and oiled their rifles. The others checked them back in with the armorer and Fen slung hers to her back. As they were getting ready to leave, Captain Cooper walked in. Everyone froze and immediately saluted.

She smiled broadly. "At ease, I'm here to congratulate our guest. Overall high score? Very impressive. I had no idea you were such a shooter!"

Fen tried to demure. "Thank you Captain, it's just practice."

Captain Cooper shook her head. "Nonsense. Practice is but one aspect. You have to have skill, experience and training to get that good. You must have been training for a long time."

"For a few years yes, but it was more that I spent nearly every down moment on my previous ship at the range. There wasn't much else to do aboard ship, so I just practiced."

Captain Cooper turned to the crew. "See what a human can do with practice and motivation? She's beaten the all time score onboard on her first attempt! I want to see those scores improving. I'm going to allow her score to stand even though she's not crew to show you what humans are capable of." She turned back to Fen. "Walk with me, Ms. Whitehorse."

They walked down the hall, Captain Cooper's polished boots clicking on the decks. As they walked everyone gave them a wide berth. "Ms. Whitehorse, you are quite a specimen." Fen glanced at the Captain. She was at least one head taller than Fen, and her uniform was tailored to within an inch of it's life. There were no folds or creases out of place anywhere. She had a leather shoulder holster with a well oiled pistol under her left arm. Her short hair was impeccable and she wore her hat at a rakish angle. Her grin was predatory.

"Yes, Captain?" Fen wasn't sure what she meant, but had a hunch it wasn't anything good.

"Despite your... upbringing and your... own choices, you are a beacon of humanity in this galaxy. You are a skilled fighter, a shooting phenom, you're a polyglot, and an able teacher. Fenchurch Whitehorse, you are what we strive for in the Empire. You're able to go through the galaxy and show those... other sapients what humanity is all about." The captain stopped in front of a large widow and looked out. In the distance was the brownish blue orb of K'lax. "Do you know the motto of the Human Empire? Superiores sumus quia debemus 'We are better, because we have to'." She looked away from the window and continued to walk. "Fenchurch. Fen. You represent the ideals that we strive for. You are superior because you are human. You have taken the skills and abilities given to you by your birth and turned them - despite growing up among the-" her voice darkens "-Gren, despite being raised K'laxi you are human."

Uh, thank you Captain, but I'm just me." Fen's mind was reeling. What was going on?

"That's exactly right Fen. You are you. You are human. You are superior. The others out there? The Innari, the Sefigans, the Gren, the Xenni, and yes, even our old friends the K'laxi, they don't understand what it means to be human. What it means to be better."

Fen didn't say anything. What could she say? As they were walking, Fen noticed an outline in the hall. There was no door handle, and no touchpad, but there was a small stenciled sign in Gord's old language. Gord tried to teach her some, but it made no sense. She was able to read a little bit but only after she translated it to Colonic in her head. She hadn't realized Dreams was that old. In a very small font, worn with time and age it said

AI Core

An AI? Here? Fen didn't know much about the Empire but she knew they didn't like AIs. What was an AI Core room doing here, even looking as old and abandoned as it was. She was snapped back to reality by Captain Cooper stopping. "Fen, I am pleased you joined us. I think you have been a... breath of fresh atmosphere for the crew. Please consider signing on with the Imperial Navy. I have some pull back on Venus, I come from a... prominent family. I could get you fast tracked to officer. In a few years you'd probably have your own command. I'd hate to see you... waste your best years out there."

Every nerve in Fen's body told her to just nod along, but not to agree to anything. The last thing she wanted to do was join the Empire, especially after a speech like that. Fen wondered if it was supposed to sound complimentary. "Thank you for saying so Captain. I'm glad I could help out. I'll think on what you said."

She smiled broadly and lightly brushed her shoulder. "You do that, Fen. There are more benefits to the Empire than you know." She bent her head lower to be in line with Fen's. "When it's just the two of us, you can call me Crystal." She purred.

#humans are deathworlders #humans are space orcs #sci fi writing #humans are space oddities #humans and aliens #jpitha #writing #humans and ai #humans are space capybaras #humans are space australians #Between the black and gray

[ladymelisande]

Wait.

I just realised that the way that Ten treated Martha was pretty much exactly the same way Eight acted with Charley Pollard after he screamed his feelings at her in Scherzo and I don't know how to live with this information.

For people in the tag that don't know, Charlotte/Charley Pollard was the Eighth Doctor's first companion in Big Finish and officially the first human companion that had distintic romantic arc with the Doctor. Russel T. Davies said to her actress that Rose wouldn't have existed if Charley hadn't set the mark. In one hand, I don't think Charley and Rose are similar except for superficial stuff (both blond and nineteen when they start travelling with the Doctor) mainly because I think the former was a way better written character. Charley was more of a proto-Clara in terms of storyline (already dead companion) and sort of like Martha when it came to her dynamic with the Doctor.

But I'm not getting to the point, okay, what I am trying to say is that Ten totally had feelings for Martha and he was pissed about it because he acted with Charley the same way, even after loudly telling her he loved her. It's partly because after the episode when that happened the writers that weren't Robert Shearman chickened out about the romance, but sadly it also set a precedent about how the Doctor would act later in those situations.

Like with Martha, the Doctor acted flirty but pretended he was totally not into her.

Like with Martha, the Doctor acted as if Charley's feelings were the crux problem in their dynamic and that she just needed to stop them... But it was kind of worse because he said asif he didn't tell her he loved her and even admitted it to himself (Scherzo: “Of course, I loved you! I killed myself for you, didn't I? Of course, I loved you! Of course... I love you.” “I love Charley. I am not sure of what that means, I don't know if it is weakness or strength or insanity, but I love her.”)

Like with Martha, it was Charley who eventually decided to leave him (though she regretted it but it was too late and they got separated so Eight had the impression she left him because amnesia stuff).

Like with Martha, the Doctor wanted to keep their dynamic as just travelling companions despite the obvious changes on it. He wanted to keep Charley close but he didn't want to admit there was something more... Sound familiar to the man that admitted that he “made it complicated”?

I don't know if it was intentional on RTD's part, it probably wasn't because his comment to India Fisher seemed to imply he thought Rose was the Charley-inspired character. Except that just showed that he only saw the superficial side of Charley and Eight's relationship because Charley wasn't hailed as some true love of Eight, nor she was compared or used to bring down other companions (indeed the companion after her was strictly platonic, a lot like Donna). Charley and Eight's relationship was very complicated in the same way Ten and Martha was. It wasn't just the girl being in love with the Doctor and the Doctor not being interested. It was the Doctor very much loving that girl back and being extremely cross about it. And all of that is quite reflected in the way that Ten acted with Martha. The flirting, the looks, the way that despite saying he wasn't interested he was literally unable of letting her go.

What I'm trying to say is, Martha's love wasn't unrequited or at least not as RTD wanted it to look because he had his head too far up his first companion's arse. At the end of the day, the relationship reflected in the same way than one of the most complex relationships the Doctor had with another companion.

It was requited and Ten was cross about it.

#tenmartha #tenth doctor #martha jones #eight x charley #eighth doctor #charley pollard #doctor who #not me not talking about DW in two years but coming back with a Tenmartha manifesto of all things lol

[kittymaine]

Five Idiots Look For a Cave - Chapter One

Summary: Laios and his sister Falin are hired to guard a wagon of provisions as it travels from the city of Neverwinter to the small frontier settlement of Phandalin. It seems like a dead easy job, but it quickly becomes more complicated when their employer is kidnapped by goblins, sending them on a wild goose chase across the most dangerous parts of the Sword Coast in search of him with a ragtag group of unlikely allies.

Or, I make the dunmeshi guys play through the Lost Mines of Phandelver, because why not.

A/N: This is such a weird project to tag and explain, but I'm going to try.

For those familiar with Delicious In Dungeon, but not Dungeons & Dragons: The Lost Mines of Phandelver is the scenario/campaign that's provided in the starter set that you can buy for Dungeons & Dragons. I've run this campaign a bunch of times during my years playing Dungeons & Dragons and I thought the characters of dunmeshi were just begging to be dropped into a D&D game. So, that's what I did. The plot of this story is the campaign, Lost Mines of Phandelver, and whenever the characters need to do something, I roll dice to see whether they can do it or not. Combat, investigation, everything. I am literally playing this game by myself and then converting it into a fic.

For those familiar with Dungeons & Dragons, but not Delicious In Dungeon: Delicious In Dungeon is an anime set in a fantasy world where dungeon diving is a well-known career choice. The setting and characters are such a good match to Dungeons & Dragons that I had to change very little to get the characters to fit into a Forgotten Realms setting.

All that to say, the story should be digestible by anyone, even if you're not familiar with both fandoms.

Also, just a warning that I don't really have an in depth plan for this story, so I'm going to add tags and relationships as I go. I really like Chilchuck/Laios and Falin/Marcille, so those are the two pairings most likely to be added, but no promises either way. I'll make sure to warn if I add anything at the beginning of each chapter.

Laios Touden and his sister Falin stood by while the wagon they had been paid to accompany was loaded up with supplies. Young men barely more than boys hauled barrels and burlap sacks of provisions up into the old warped bed of the wagon, more passing up shovels, pickaxes and crowbars. Laios counted about twelve sacks of flour, seven casks of salted pork, two kegs of strong ale, five lanterns, and a small barrel of oil.

It was early, just an hour before dawn, but the south gate out of the city of Neverwinter was already starting to bustle with traffic. Mostly it was wagons not unlike their own, though filled with produce and other products from the farms circling the city that served to feed the swollen populace within the city walls. From farther north the smell of baking bread and roasting meat signaled the beginning of breakfast for the many people packed in close behind thick the stone walls.

Laios was ready to leave the city. He had grown up in the far north, surrounded by rolling fields, freezing cold fjords, and winter lashed forests. He had lived in a lot of places since he had left his home, but cities were never his favorite. There were too many people, too close, all smelling and talking and leaving their things everywhere. He was looking forward to being outside the city walls for a while, but they had to wait until the wagon was full before they could leave.

“Toudens!” a boisterous voice called from the main thoroughfare.

Falin, standing beside him and watching the loading of the wagon with more interest than Laios, smiled and raised her hand at the call. Slower, Laios raised his hand as well, to wave to their most recent employer.

A dwarf with rust colored red hair and beard sitting atop a pretty dapple gray pony split from the little stream of people leaving the city through the south gate and came toward Laios and the steadily filling wagon. Following behind him was an older human man wearing chain mail and riding on a three quarter sized bay mare with another small dwarf with a thick black beard witting sideways on the horse’s haunches behind him.

“Mr. Rockseeker,” Laios greeted him as he pulled his horse up close. He didn’t step down to talk to Laios, but he didn’t begrudge him. Laios wondered how the dwarf had managed to get onto the horse in the first place.

“Please, call me Gundren,” Mr. Rockseeker said with a twinkling smile. His nose and cheeks were ruddy red above his red beard. “Mr. Rockseeker was my father.”

Laios stared at Gundren blankly until he heard Falin snort out a laugh and he realized that the nonsensical statement was a joke. He quickly barked a laugh out that felt false even to his ears. But, if Gundren noticed, it didn’t show on his face that Laios could tell.

“It looks like everyone is here, so I hope you don’t mind if I introduce you to my nephew-” Gundren started to say before being interrupted by Falin.

“Oh, actually! We’re still waiting for a friend of mine who offered to come along,” she explained with a pleasant smile.

Gundren’s face did something too complicated for Laios to follow. “A friend?” he asked uncertainly.

“Who’s everyone?” Laios asked, wondering if Gundren had meant him and Falin. He thought you usually would say ‘both’ instead of ‘everyone’ if you were just addressing two people, though he was no stranger to being wrong when it came to things like that.

“He means me,” a surly voice from near Laios’ hip grumbled, making him jump about a foot in the air and turn around.

Laios hadn’t heard anyone approach, but a halfling man with short brown hair peppered with a few fine gray hairs and big ears was standing right beside him, his arms folded in front of his chest. He had a soft looking green muffler looped around his neck and worn leather armor over a plain white shirt and dark pants. And, he apparently noticed Laios staring, as he threw a nasty look up at Laios after a few second of him looking a little too intently.

He was usually pretty bad at interpreting people’s expressions, but it was hard to misunderstand that kind of look.

Laios tuned back into Falin and Gundren’s conversation just in time to see them get interrupted by Marcille stumbling up to them, panting and bracing her hands on her knees to catch her breath. Her long blonde hair was braided in a complicated style that left half of it piled on top of her head, and half it hanging long down her back and she was wearing a pretty blue dress that looked warm but a little impractical for hard travel. As well as her spell book and quarterstaff of course.

“I’m so sorry I’m late!” she gasped. “I told the innkeeper to wake me up, but she never came! I ran the whole” she paused to take another gasping breath, “way here!”

“I won’t be able to pay another person,” Grundren said to Laios, turning his back on the two women.

“Falin and I will split our pay with her. She’s a good friend of ours. She’s trustworthy,” Laios explained, he hoped sufficiently, for Gundren.

Gundren’s eyebrows did some wiggling, shadowing his small dark eyes for a moment, but then he sighed and his shoulders slumped, and the warm smile and the twinkling eyes were back as if they had never left.

“Well, that’s alright then. Anyway, I wanted to introduce you all to my nephew, Senshi,” he said, turning to gesture to the two men behind him. The human man had helped the dwarf off the tall horse and he was walking up to the small group. “He’ll be accompanying the rest of you on the wagon to Phandalin.”

A chorus of hellos in various levels of enthusiasm came from the small group gathered by the side of the wagon. Senshi looked a lot like Gundren, if the coloring was a lot darker and his face a lot less expressive. Senshi had a long thick wavy beard that matched his thick wavy hair and a slightly receding hairline. His eyebrows were thick and his eyes were small, dark and keen. It was hard to read Senshi’s expression. Laios suspected that was probably true even for people who weren’t him.

“With that, I’ll have to bid farewell,” Gundren said with a little half bow from the top of his pony. “I look forward to meeting with the rest of you in Phandalin.”

“We won’t be traveling together?” the halfling man spoke up. He looked uncertainly at Laios and the others, before turning a frustrated expression up at Gundren.

“It’s faster to travel by horse than by wagon and I have some business to finish up in Phandalin before you all get there. But, you all won’t be far behind me,” Gundren said, already turning his pony around. The human man was mounting his mare, as well, turning her nose toward the south gate. “Take good care of those supplies!” he called over his shoulder as he rejoined the press of people heading toward the walls of the city.

The five left behind awkwardly glanced around at each other. Laios, Falin and Marcille stood together, looking down at the two smaller men who would apparently be their traveling companions for the next two or three days.

While they had been talking, the last of the supplies had been loaded into the wagon and the men who had been doing the loading had left. There was nothing to keep them there but uncertainty about their new companions.

Finally, the halfling man broke the silence with a derisive sniff. “I’ll drive the wagon,” he said. “The rest of you can ride in the back until we get out of the crowd.”

With that, he stepped away from the others and jumped a little to reach the bench at the front of the wagon and confidently took the reins. He looked over his shoulder impatiently and the others took the hint.

“Uh, right. Thanks!” Laios said, probably way too late by the way that the halfling man sucked his teeth at Laios, but Falin always said better late than never.

His chain mail clinking, Laios climbed up into the wagon behind Marcille and Falin, who had already claimed the most comfortable spots on top of the flour sacks. He reached back behind him to help pull the dwarf man, Senshi, up into the wagon as well and got a friendly nod in thanks. Together, he and the other man had to make do trying to find a comfortable spot between the tools and barrels.

Once everyone had stopped shifting, the halfling man flicked the reins and the old horses hitched to the wagon started off, pulling the rattling wooden wheels across cobblestones out of Neverwinter and south along the well maintained High Road toward their destination.

---

They made camp the first night in a little windswept area off the left side of the road alongside a number of other travelers. Their campfires flickered orange in the moonlight, lighting up the worn cobblestones of the road even if it was too dark for anyone to keep moving. The air was brisk since the shoreline was close, close enough that you could hear the soft crashing of waves on the beach in the small silences between the campsites.

“I’m surprised they only gave us five ration packs each,” Marcille said into the silence as they all sat around the fire munching away at the hard bread, dried meat and sharp cheese that had been wrapped up in wax paper for them by the same store that had loaded the wagon up for Gundren.

“It shouldn’t take us more than two days to get to Phandalin,” Chilchuck answered her from around a mouthful of bread. Chilchuck Tims was the halfling man. After half a day of traveling by wagon, Laios had finally worked up the courage to ask and was pleasantly surprised when he answered.

“Still, tis foolish to not prepare for a longer trip. Who knows what trouble we may meet on the road,” the dwarf, Senshi, said as he looked down and rubbed the dried meat between his thick blunt fingers. Laios wondered if he was trying to soften it with his hands first. He wondered if it worked.

“Senshi is right,” Laios said after a second. “If it does end up taking us longer than two days to reach Phandalin, we’ll be in a real bind.”

“We’re not going to die if we have to go a day or two without food,” Chilchuck responded, but he looked a little unhappy at the thought.

Laios shared a look with Falin at that. He supposed that was true, but he had gone without eating before on expeditions that went wrong and it wasn’t something he wanted to repeat if he could help it.

“What made you take this job, Chilchuck?” Marcille asked after an awkward moment of silence. “You seemed surprised to see other people.”

Chilchuck frowned back at her. “What made you take this job?” he asked back.

Undeterred, Marcille answered, “Well, I didn’t really take it so much as I agreed to tag along.” Turning to Falin, she asked, “What made you guys take it?”

“Laios saw the job posting at the guild,” Falin explained as she broke off a piece of her cheese and offered it to Marcille who hummed happily as she popped it in her mouth. “He’s my brother and I often accompany him on jobs that take him out of the city.”

“Yep,” Laios added, thinking back. “Falin has saved my life more times than I could count. But, this job sounded easy and straight forward. ‘10 gold to escort provisions to Phandalin with option to make more. For reliable persons only.’ “ Laios recited from memory. “Seemed just like the thing for me and Falin.”

“Ye belong to an adventurer’s guild, then?” Senshi asked Laios with a raised eyebrow.

Laios wrinkled his nose as he realized that, even if it was true, saying he was part of the adventurer’s guild was probably a little misleading.

“I only just joined a month ago. I’m still pretty green. Easy jobs like this are the only ones I’m qualified for,” Laios said hesitantly.

“But, Laios is really amazing in a fight! That’s how he got into the guild, by proving himself in a tournament. He’ll climb the ranks in no time!” Falin added with an enthusiastic grin thrown in Laios’ direction. Even if the praise made him more self-conscious, it warmed something in his heart to have her support and encouragement.

“Thanks,” he mumbled, scratching at the back of his neck.

“And, you’re just tagging along?” Chilchuck asked Marcille, doubt thick in his tone.

“Uh, well,” Marcille fumbled, seeming a little taken off guard by the question.

“Marcille is a friend of mine from temple,” Falin jumped in to say. “She just moved to Neverwinter and we’ve been showing her around. We didn’t want to leave her alone in the city for however long the job took, so we invited her along.”

Marcille and Falin shared a speaking look, something that Laios could recognize from the outside but not totally understand. Sometimes it seemed like they could have whole conversations with just their faces, in a few brief seconds snatched between words. It seemed an impossible kind of skill, one that he envied and was a little mystified by.

“That’s right,” Marcille agreed, her nose and ears a shade pinker than they had been a moment ago. “But, you still haven’t answered my question. I understand why Mr. Rockseeker wanted someone like Laios to guard his provisions on the road to Phandalin, but I’m not really sure how you fit into this.” She gave Chilchuck a piercing look, one he returned with an unhappy twist of his lips.

But, after only a moment, he sighed and sagged back against the fallen log he had sat himself against.

“Me and Gundren go way back. We used to go dungeon diving together back when I was younger. He was always decent to me. All he told me was that he had some kind of crazy opportunity opening up in Phandalin that I would want to get in on and to meet him there by the gates. He didn’t mention I’d be riding in a wagon with a bunch of strangers while he went on ahead,” Chilchuck finished with a dirty look aimed at the dirt by his foot. Laios didn’t have to be good at understanding people to understand that Chilchuck probably wished he could aim that look at Gundren instead.

“Oh, that’s awful,” Marcille sighed.

“Aye, I’m sorry to hear that. My uncle isn’t always the most considerate. Especially when he’s on a job,” Senshi added with a sorrowful nod of his head.

Chilchuck waved his hand, as if he could swat the condolences offered to him out of the air. “Whatever,” he said. “What’s done is done. I owe you all an apology, anyway. I didn’t mean to take my bad mood out on all of you.”

“Well, it’s a bit understandable,” Falin offered with a smile.

“Yeah, we didn’t take it personally,” Laios said with a shrug. He had assumed that the behavior he’d seen so far had been Chilchuck’s normal personality. It was sort of nice to hear that it wasn’t.

“Gundren is your uncle, huh?” Laios asked, changing the focus to Senshi. “Is there anything you can tell us about him? I only got to speak to him a little bit before taking this job.”

“Aye, he is my uncle, though our family is large and he is one of five uncles of mine,” Senshi explained. “There’s not much I can tell you about him, unfortunately. He and two of my uncles do much treasure hunting in the mountains about Neverwinter. I suspect that’s how you came into contact with him?” Senshi asked Chilchuck.

“Yep,” Chilchuck said. “I’m a locksmith by trade, but I have a reputation for being skilled at disarming dwarvish traps. He hired me way back when I was just starting out and is half the reason I have that reputation.”

“Do you have an interest in treasure hunting, Senshi?” Falin asked curiously.

Senshi stared into their crackling fire, his usually expressionless face becoming sorrowful. “Nay, not I. Not anymore.”

Laios looked around at the others, hoping someone more skilled at talking would interrupt the sad lonesome silence that had descended over Senshi. Unfortunately, it looked like everyone else was casting around to each other for the same thing.

Luckily, it was Senshi himself who broke the long silence. “I suspect my uncle thinks me a bit of a layabout. I don’t do any of the traditional dwarven pursuits. Mining, blacksmithing, gold prospecting. I’m sure whatever job he wants me to help with it will be something like that.”

“And, what is it that you like to do, Senshi?” Falin asked gently.

Senshi looked up for the first time since he had started talking.

“Cooking,” he said decisively. “I love to cook.”

Falin clapped her hands in joy. “Oh that’s wonderful!” she exclaimed.

“What do you like to cook most?” Marcille asked.

“Do you have a specialty?” Chilchuck asked with interest.

Laios smiled as the conversation lightened and turned lively as everyone talked and shared about food, their favorite foods, their family recipes, regional specialties they knew of.

It seemed like the ice had been broken and even if they weren’t friends they were well on their way to getting there.

---

The next morning they got an early start, eating their third ration for breakfast quickly before cleaning up the last embers of their campfire and packing up so they could get back on the road. They were not on the high road for long before they turned left onto a small dirt track with a simple sign marking it as the Triboar Trail.

It’s this road that they would take for the rest of the day and hopefully reach the small settlement town of Phandalin before nightfall.

Laios didn’t know much about the town of Phandalin. From what little he heard from other people in the guild, it was a tiny town just on the edge of the wilderness that was built on the remnants of another older settlement. It sat on the edge of the foothills of the Sword Mountains and was mostly populated by miners and the people who ran businesses that served them.

This part was the part of the journey that he had been hired for. The Triboar Trail was really that, just a worn down dirt trail leading off into untamed and largely uninhabited woods and meadows. All manner of creatures, bandits and beasts populated those lands and would have likely loved to get their hands on a wagon full of supplies like what they had.

A shiver of anticipation ran down Laios’ back as he imagined the types of monsters known to haunt the woods around them. There were stirges, of course, terrible little mosquito like creatures about the length of your arm that attacked suddenly and would try to drain their victims of blood. Ghouls could come out at night, ethereal specters of long dead travelers looking for warm bodies to possess. Ogres preferred the foothills, but they could wander close enough that running into one traveling afield for hunting wouldn’t be out of the question. Then there were goblins, orcs, owlbears! The list just went on.

Laios couldn’t suppress a whine of excitement at the thought. The sound, as quiet as it was, was still noticed by the halfling sitting beside him on the bench at the front of the wagon. Chilchuck jumped a little at the sound and gave Laios an uncertain look.

“Oh, uh,” Laios fumbled, trying to think of an explanation that didn’t include explaining that he was just excited to finally be entering monster country. “Just had a tickle in my throat,” he landed on lamely.

Chilchuck gave him a suspicious squint, but turned back to examining the road in front of them.

They continued on like that throughout the morning. Marcille and Falin occasionally walked beside the horses, the two old things walking slow enough that the women had no issues keeping up with them at a brisk walk. Senshi said his legs were too short to keep up and instead enjoyed relaxing on the flour sacks and making small talk.

It turned out that Senshi had traveled all over the world cooking and learning new cooking techniques. Marcille, the most well traveled of all of them, was especially impressed with him and got him to talking about all the far flung places he had visited.

Unfortunately for Laios, not a single monster accosted them that whole morning, even though both he and Chilchuck in front of the wagon were trying to keep a weather eye out for any movement in the brush on the sides of the road.

That is, until they reached a road block just before noon.

Just as they turned a bend in the road, they came upon a distressing sight. Two horses lying dead on their sides in the center of the road, numerous arrows pointing up out of their sides.

Chilchuck pulled the wagon to a stop as soon as they saw them and everyone stopped and stared.

“Those are Gundren and Sildar’s horses,” Senshi said slowly, looking at the two dead horses from between Chilchuck and Laios.

“Sildar?” Laios asked.

“The human man that was with Gundren yesterday morning. His bodyguard,” Senshi explained.

“I don’t like this. This feels like a set up,” Chilchuck whispered, furrowing his brow and barely raising his voice enough to be heard by the two men sitting right beside him.

“Even if we don’t trust it, we won’t be able to get the wagon past unless we move the horses,” Laios said with a thoughtful frown.

“Maybe you could use your magic to move them?” Falin asked Marcille.

Marcille fidgeted with her cape, tugging on the silky red ribbon at the front. “I couldn’t use mage hand to move them, they’re too heavy. I can only manage ten pounds at most.”

Laios sighed and jumped down from the wagon. “I’ll go investigate and try to move them. You guys take cover and let me know if you see anything, okay?”

Everyone nodded except Senshi who climbed down from the wagon, as well. “I’ll help ye,” he said gruffly. “Moving the horses will go faster if we work together.”

Chilchuck jumped back into the wagon and took cover behind a barrel, drawing his shortbow and knocking an arrow, his keen brown eyes scanning the thick foliage on either side of the road. Marcille also drew close the wagon, crouching down by a wheel and clenching her staff in both hands and looking a little seasick. Falin, however, stepped out front holding her mace menacingly in front of her, the sharp metal edges at the top glinting dangerously in the dappled light through the trees.

Laios tried to approach the horses cautiously, but his armor clicked and rang out as he walked. Senshi was quieter, but much slower. As they approached the horses, Laios agreed that they were the same ones he had seen Gundren and the human man riding yesterday morning. Even the tack on the horses was the same. Examining the blanket and saddle, Laios also noticed that the saddlebags of both horses were open, the insides looking dark and empty.

“I’ll take one set of legs, you take the other,” Senshi said, approaching the back legs of the pony.

“Wait, Senshi. Does it look like their saddlebags have been looted?” Laios asked, pointing at the bag he was looking at on the bay mare.

Senshi barely had time to make an inquisitive hum before the sound of a twig snapping behind him sent him and Laios turning just in time to see a small green creature sneaking through the underbrush with a small rudimentary bow drawn on them.

“LAIOS, LOOK OUT!” Falin shouted, pointing her mace at the goblin who had just startled them both.

Before either of them could react, an arrow was fired at them from the opposite side of the road, arching straight at Laios’ back. A flash of incredible burning pain lanced through his back, the pain so incredible that his vision fuzzed and blurred for a moment. He put his hand to his shoulder and felt hot blood against his fingertips, the soft wood of a small arrow sticking out of his back.

Beside him, Laios heard Senshi grunt and turned his head to see his new friend pierced through with an arrow, as well. Senshi was reaching out to touch a small arrow fletched in black feathers that was protruding from his upper arm, dribbling bright red blood.

“Laios!” Falin shouted again, her voice cracking on his name in a way that made his already racing heart stutter in his chest. Then, Falin quickly shouted a word that made Laios ears ring, her hand tracing a strange pattern in the air, before a flame-like radiance shot down from the sky at the goblin they had first seen.

Just as the light flickered in the air, Falin’s magic building above the goblin, the creature dodged to the side, missing the blast of sacred energy by a hair’s breadth.

The little green man growled, his voice high and stringent, making him sound like a saw working through a green piece of wood. Popping up from his rolling jump, he ran at Laios, a short chipped scimitar appearing in his long fingered hand.

Laios watched the blade come at him as if in slow motion, the goblin’s mouth fixed in a vicious snarl, his thin dark hair flying out behind his bulbous head. At the last second he leaned back out of the way of the strike and drew his own sword, his hand sure on the grip through hours and hours of training.

Behind the first goblin, yet another one appeared, this one also wielding a rusty damaged scimitar. It dodged around Laios, who was still engaged with the first goblin he had seen, and went straight for Senshi. Senshi, who had just yanked the arrow from his arm, threw up a hand desperately to protect himself from the attack, but still suffered a grievous wound across his arm that sprayed blood across the dirt road.

With a grunt, Senshi raised his greataxe high above his head. The goblin, still grinning in glee at landing a hit on the dwarf, didn’t see the axe coming until it cleaved his skull cleanly in half.

“Great job, Senshi,” Laios gasped, raising his own greatsword up at an angle to swipe at the goblin he was facing off with.

His own sword, heavier, longer and carefully maintained, carved through the small body and brittle bones of his attacker like a hot knife through butter. The goblin collapsed in a bloody heap with barely a whimper.

“Shit, shit, shit!” Laios could faintly hear Chilchuck saying from over by the wagon.

An arrow flew from the wagon where Chilchuck was hiding, fired into the bushes where the first two arrows had been shot from.

Laios barely had a moment to process that Chilchuck had joined the fight before another arrow flew, this one decidedly not from Chilchuck, and struck him right in the neck. Laios hit the ground in a spray of dirt, blood welling from his neck. In a matter of seconds his body began to feel cold, his eyesight blurry, his heart sluggish in his chest. He could hear people calling his name, but it all sounded far away.

Time became smeary around Laios. He could hear people shouting, see movement in what little he could still see, but the sound of his own struggling heartbeat took up most of his awareness. He could feel the blood pump out of his own body with each squeeze of his heart, smell the salty copper of his own life spilling out onto the uncaring forest floor.

Then, familiar hands are yanking the arrows out of his body. He could feel the flesh tear and give away under the new violence, but no pain came. He felt cold, so cold. Those same hands pressed tight against his back and a rush of warmth and pain pulsed through him, like unseen hands were yanking his flesh back in place, knitting the holes closed with fury, his body put back together none too gently, but put back together none the less.

Laios gasped as he opened his eyes and they focused on the scene around him. Falin was kneeling over him, her hands still stained with his blood, two bloody arrows discarded on the ground nearby. Senshi was laying on his back beside him in the blood soaked dirt, an arrow sticking out of his chest.

Struggling, still feeling dizzy from blood loss, Laios climbed back to his feet, picking his greatsword up off the ground.

“Thanks,” he whispered to Falin as he stood up between her and the two goblins still hiding in the brush.

“I’m just glad you’re okay,” she said around teary eyes.

“You’ve got to get them out of cover!” Chilchuck shouted as he shot another arrow into the underbrush that the arrows were coming from, though from the sound he didn’t hit anything.

Another arrow flew out of the bushes, this time aimed right at Falin, but pinged the chain mail under her robe and fell uselessly to the ground by her feet.

“Ouch,” she grumbled, rubbing the spot on her chest.

“Did that thing just hit you in the boob?!” Marcille shrieked from near the wagon.

“Uh?” Falin responded uncertainly.

Marcille shouted something in a language that Laios didn’t understand and gestured with her staff. Three darts of light flew from her staff to the bushes, igniting them with pale blue light followed by a sound of agony and a wet thump as something hits the ground. Shortly after, the sound of fast footsteps receding into the woods could be heard.

“Whoa,” Laios said, his eyes huge as he turned back to look at a still panting Marcille, her staff still held out in front of her.

“Did the last one just run away?” Falin asked faintly.

“Forget that! Heal Senshi!” Chilchuck shouted, already crawling over the seat of the wagon and hurrying over to where Senshi was still laid out on his back.

“Oh! Right, of course!” Falin exclaimed, falling back to her knees and pulling the most recent arrow from where it had buried itself in Senshi’s chest. Falin spoke some strange words and traced a symbol on Senshi’s skin. A faint warm yellow glow emanated from her hands where she pressed them to Senshi’s torso and the wounds steadily closed, the blood marching backward back into his body as the puncture wounds pulled back together.

Senshi grunted, his unfocused eyes finally seeming to see them, tracking Falin and Laios and Chilchuck as he ran up to meet them, Marcille trailing behind.

“Did we find victory?” Senshi asked with a harsh groan as he pushed himself to sit up, Laios’ hand on his shoulder to steady him.

“We’re alive and they’re mostly not, but I don’t know if you’d call that victory,” Chilchuck said wryly.

“That was terrifying,” Marcille gasped with a hand to her chest. “Is this really what you two do for a living?” Marcille asked with a concerned look at Falin who only shrugged.

“Usually with less dying, but yeah mostly,” Laios said with a shrug of his own.

“Oh, my god,” Marcille breathed. “OH MY GOD!” she shouted after a second.

“Shush! Not so loud!” Chilchuck hissed at her. “Just because these goblins are dead doesn’t mean there’s not more hiding in the woods. We need to get out of here before the one that got away comes back with his friends.”

“But,” Laios said, sheathing his sword and turning to look at the dead horses still blocking the road. “If Gundren was caught in the same ambush we just were, then the goblins could be holding him hostage. We need to help him, right?” he asked, turning to the others.

“I agree. If Gundren is in trouble, we must help him,” Senshi said with a firm nod.

“I don’t think so!” Marcille exclaimed. “You two almost died and that was only four goblins! Now you want to stomp into their lair and what? Demand to speak to a manager? I don’t think that’s going to go over very well!”

“But, Marcille. The magic you just used was amazing! With you and Falin helping us, we’ll be able to save Gundren. I’m sure of it,” Laios said with a determined nod.

“Well… About that,” Falin said awkwardly. “That last healing spell kind of wiped me out. If someone gets hurt again, I won’t be able to heal them.”

“… Oh,” said Laios, caught flat footed by that thought.

“Yeah, ‘oh’,” Chilchuck sighed. “And, I’m too old to go charging into danger unprepared. The two of you aren’t all the way up to snuff either. Why don’t we take this wagon the rest of the way to Phandalin and then come back to investigate? At least that way our two mages will be at full power and you two will be back to full health.”

Laios looked down at the ground, at the two goblins crumbled and bleeding into the dirt, at the two horses still on their sides in the middle of the road. At the blood still crusted into his sword’s blade and his chain mail, still matted into Senshi’s beard and on Falin’s hands and knees.

“Okay,” he said finally. “You’re right. Let’s to Phandalin and come back tomorrow.”

There were mumbles of agreement as Chilchuck, Marcille and Falin went back to the wagon and Laios and Senshi turned back to their original goal of dragging the horses off the road.

“Do you truly think the goblins took my uncle?” Senshi asked as they stood up from pulling the second horse off the road.

“I do,” Laios said. “Horses have a lot more value to goblins than humans or dwarves do. They use them as pack animals and sometimes eat them. If the goblins shot your uncle’s horse, then they wanted him in particular. And, if they wanted him for some reason, then there’s a good chance he’s still alive wherever they’re hiding him.”

Senshi gave Laios a long calculating look before nodding slowly. “Thank you, Laios,” he said gruffly, before turning and walking back to the wagon.

Laios scratched his head for a moment, not sure what he did to deserve thanks. Whatever the reason, at least Senshi seemed reassured.

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