#perhaps i can still go to both. and maybe the show will cheer me up lol. bc i KNOW i will be bummed out after that | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

venturelovebot · 25 days

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A/N: AAAAAHHHH my wrists, fingers and elbows hurt but it's done. It took me literally all night to write this. If it doesn't show up in the tags, or if it horrifically flops, I do not care. I loved every moment I poured into writing this and I'll reread it until the end of time and YES I will write a sequel to it AND MORE because I love it that much. Just not right now because ouch. BTW this references what happens in "Plushie Problem" so if you're confused you should read that, too!

Premise: Anxious!GN!reader steps out of their comfort zone for the very first time in a long time. Of course, what could possibly go wrong? Featuring SunShrine and MekaMechanic cameos!

Warnings: Mentions of alcohol and assault (not SA). Otherwise it's safe to read!

You feel the dread building up in your stomach as sun began to set over the horizon– but you were ready. Living your life in fear turned out to be exceptionally boring, even if you weren't exactly the loneliest person on earth anymore. This would be your big first step into interacting with the rest of the world and obviously there would be some anxiety. However, no one does anxiety as well as you do. There is where the problem lies.

"Are you sure you want to do this?" You can hear the worry in Sloan's voice. Perhaps you've started rubbing off on them.

"I think so."

You step outside the bedroom and smile, but even that seemed to be out of fear.

"I'm proud of you for trying this. You look amazing, by the way." Their compliment turns your anxious smile into a cheerful grin.

You've never dressed up this much before. It almost reminded you of an early 2000's Hot Topic ad, and they were dressed no differently.

Your beloved wraps their arms around you and pulls you in for a tight, comforting hug. They nuzzle their face to yours and you begin to feel the lead in your stomach lighten to feathers.

"Don't forget your backpack." They hand you your heart shaped backpack adorned with bat wings.

You open the zipper and check for everything inside: fidget toys, tiny weighted [favorite animal] plushie, protective ear wear decorated with stickers, anxiety pills, phone, wallet. That was everything.

"Are you ready?"

You take a deep breath in and exhale to center yourself before the door opens.

"I'm ready."

The venue wasn't particularly crowded tonight and you were deeply thankful for that. Colorful flashing lights could be seen on both stories of the building with loud music playing from within. Then the anxiety hit you like a pound of bricks.

"We still have time to go home." Sloan offers, seeing apprehension beginning to form on your face.

"Maybe just twenty minutes... then we go home." You frown.

"Whatever you want to do, mi cielo."

You gaze down at the ground next and weigh both options in your mind. On one hand you could avoid anything unpleasant happening by just going home. On the other hand you'd miss you and your beloveds favorite band as the closing act. While arguing with yourself you can feel their arm wrap around your waist to help you feel safer.

Quite the conflict.

You swallow nervously and put on your hearing protection. "Okay."

The two of you approach the main entrance and your trembling continues. As soon as the door opens it feels like the music permeates you down to your very atoms. Never in your entire life had you heard anything so needlessly and obnoxiously loud. The ear protection helps slightly but you still couldn't hear yourself think. There's also no point in trying to talk as you wouldn't be heard anyway. Instead, you tug on Sloan's shirt and they turn towards you immediately. You point upwards towards the second floor and they nod.

The relief as soon as you stepped on the upper floor was immense. Whatever magic they used to make it monumentally quieter up here should be used considerably more in all public spaces. You feel confident enough to remove your hearing protection and place it around your neck for now.

"Do you mind if we stay up here?" You ask.

"Of course not. Wherever you feel safest!"

You're so thankful that they're understanding.

You both sit near the back of the venue on a row of interconnected seating where it was dimmer so the flashing lights didn't irritate your eyes.

"You're doing great so far!"

Sloan cups your face affectionately and you reach up to place your hand over theirs. The two of you watch everything going on from your safe little place in the corner– and the view was by no means bad, either. You could see the current band playing and the crowd of fans cheering their hearts out.

"Do you want anything to drink? I can get us something if you want." They offer.

"Maybe just a soda." You reply.

"Alright. You don't mind if I have a drink or two, do you?" They ask.

You shake your head. They pat your head and lean down to give you a kiss to your forehead before walking off. In the mean time you remove your backpack and hug it close to your chest in case you needed quick access. You watch as different people walk up and down the stairs, sit down, mingle and talk to each other and you can't help but wonder what it must be like to have a life without debilitating anxiety.

"Well then... didn't expect to see you here." A familiar voice sounds from behind you, and your anxiety spikes.

Once she steps out into view your nerves relax again.

"Illari? You're a fan of rock music? Also, you look gorgeous!" You smile as your friend comes to greet you.

"I guess we never really talked about music much. I didn't expect you to like it, either." Illari returns your warm smile, except when she does it, it feels like genuine sunshine. "You also look great!"

"Aww man, who invited this nerd?" You hear Sloan joke as they return with a beer and your favorite soda. They sit next to you with a grin on their face.

Illari takes a seat on the opposite side of you. "You're the one to talk."

She's not great at returning insults, but she tries her best.

The three of you exchange casual conversation for a little while as the first band concludes their performance and the next one begins setting up. For a while all is well, and your heart is at peace.

"So– you didn't tell either of us you liked rock music Illari!"

"I do! I promise. I'm also on a date–"

"A WHAT?!"

Illari giggles at Sloan's reaction. You have to admit you're also surprised.

"WITH WHO?!"

"Uh, with me?" A devious voice replies.

A beautiful girl approaches Illari and places a quick kiss to her lips.

"KIRIKO?! OH MY GOD!!!"

You've never met this girl before.

"We've been dating for a while. You just never noticed." Kiriko's eyes fall on to you. "Who's your date, then? I don't believe we've met."

Your hands grip your backpack even harder as the spotlight is metaphorically put on you.

"This is [Y/N]! I told you that I fixed their stuffie for them when all that... drama... happened."

"Oh! That's right. I'm really sorry that happened to you." Kiriko's face warms up after hearing your name. "I have a fox stuffie I made myself! I'd be happy to show you sometime!"

Illari stands up and Kiriko wraps her arm around her waist. "Well it was nice meeting you, [Y/N]! See you around sometime!"

You nod with a content look on your face. The pair wander back downstairs and disappear into the crowd. The music begins to play once again.

You turn towards your beloved and smile.

"I'm glad this is going better than expected." You admit, and the joy on Sloan's face is immense.

It was clear they loved seeing you enjoy yourself.

"And I'm glad you're having a good time, mi corazón."

The two of you enjoy your drinks in a comfortable silence before the song changes. A mosh pit almost immediately begins to form.

"OH! I gotta go join in–" They immediately stand up before the realization hits them. "Would you be fine if I went downstairs for a song or two? I promise I'll be back up here afterwards!" They grab your hands and beg.

You can feel your nerves activate at the thought of being left alone... but you didn't want to see your beloved disappointed.

"Okay. Just be careful!"

"I will be!" They head towards the stairs before turning back one last time. "I'll be back, I promise!"

Then you were truly alone. You clutch your backpack again before opening it for a fidget toy– a little button pressing mini game with cute sounds and visuals. It keeps your fingers and mind occupied for a small amount of time. More people continue to pass you by but you continue your game without looking up.

To your dismay, someone practically falls on to the couch next to you. The scent of alcohol assaults your senses and you attempt to ignore it.

Just mind your own business.

"Hey."

Oh no.

You look up from your fidget toy and your fidget toy session ends with a GAME OVER.

"Um, hi."

They're so drunk that they barely register your reply. You slide in the opposite direction of them when they're looking away from you. Your heart begins to pound and dread fills the entirety of your body. They turn back with a grin.

"You're pretty cute." Their words slur together.

"Oh! Uh, thanks." You fake a smile.

"How much?"

You thought you were hearing things, so you ask them to repeat the question.

"How. Much?" They hiccup.

"Oh! I'm sorry, I'm not who you're looking for–"

You start to get up before a hand grabs your hair. Pure, unadulterated terror fills your entire body and your nerves begin to sear in straight anxiety.

You knew it was a mistake to go out tonight. You knew it, and you went against your better judgement anyway.

"Hey! You didn't answer my question! How much? I can pay with whatever you want–"

"I'm sorry but I don't do that type of work!"

You wince and cry out in pain as they attempt to pull you back down.

"Hold on!"

Without any other choice you let out a scream to get other people's attention. All the heads on the second floor turn to see what's going on. Your hair is still being pulled on by a total stranger.

"Hey! Let them go, right now!" A tall, muscular girl shouts and makes her way over. A shorter, more petite girl follows behind.

"I'm recording right now! Let them go or we'll go to the police!" The shorter girl demands.

The drunk person finally lets go of your hair and you run as fast as you could with no direction in mind– but unknown to you, they begin to follow suit. A girl with spiky brown hair sticks her foot out and trips them after she lets you run past her.

You rush out the door and into the night with tears streaming down your face. You're heaving, screaming and running until you're lost and exhausted.

"What's going on over here?" Someone in the crowd of the second floor asks.

"Can someone call the police? This person just assaulted someone!" Brigitte asks.

Security immediately arrives to escort the drunk person out from the venue.

"I got the whole thing on video." Hana places her burning hot phone in her back pocket. "Apparently in 4K and 60 FPS. My phone is on fire..."

"What about that poor person who ran? Are they okay? Should we go and look for them?" Lena suggests.

All three girls stare into the darkness of the night.

"Oh! Look! They left their bag!" Hana notices, walking over to it. "There's also two drinks. They obviously came here with someone."

She unzips your bag and digs through your stuff as carefully as possible. "That's not good. Their phones in here, and their medicine."

"Medicine? Do you know what it's for?" Brigitte asks.

Hana shakes her head.

"Oh! Angela might know!"

Lena takes a picture of your medicine and sends it directly to Angela– lovingly assigned the nickname "Dr. Mercy" in her phone.

🧡 AF Traysi ⏱️: Angela it's an emergency!!! (10:09 PM)

🧡 AF Traysi ⏱️: (Uploaded a photo at 10:10 PM.)

🧡 AF Traysi ⏱️: what is this pill? please respond asap!!! :((( (10:10 PM)

💛 Dr. Mercy 😇🪽: Lena, what's going on? (10:16 PM)

💛 Dr. Mercy 😇🪽: I'm not well versed in medication but I've seen those given to patients before surgery. It's an anxiety pill. (10:17 PM)

💛 Dr. Mercy 😇🪽: What in the world is happening? (10:17 PM)

🧡 AF Traysi ⏱️: no time to explain Angela!!! I promise it wasn't me though!!! (10:18 PM)

Another message from Angela pops up but Lena puts her phone back in her pocket.

"Angela said it was for anxiety."

"Well, we can't just let them wander the streets alone without their personal possessions, especially their medication... we have to at least try to find them." Brigitte adds.

"How do we even start? They could be anywhere by now!" Hana frowns.

All three girls look at each other in anticipation.

"Group chat?" Brigitte suggests.

"Group chat." Hana and Lena reply at the same time.

✨🎶 LE SERAFFIM 4EVR 🪩✨

💖 AF BB 💪🏻: (Uploaded a photo at 10:20 PM.)

💝 AF Dazzle 💋: Alright lets see if this summons her (10:20 PM)

🦊 AF ✨✨: Huh??? That's [Y/N]s ID??? What's going on (10:21 PM)

🧡 AF Traysi ⏱️: Long story short we need to find this person before something else bad happens :( (10:21 PM)

👾: (Uploaded a photo at 10:23 PM.)

✨💜 JUNKRAT LE SSERAFIM STAN FOR LIFE 💜✨: huh (10:23 PM)

"SO, DO WE TELL THEM OR NOT?" Illari yells at the top of her lungs.

Kiriko and Illari glance at Sloan absolutely losing it in the mosh pit.

"WE HAVE TO! IT'S [Y/N]!" Kiriko replies at the same volume.

She turns and begins to brave the overly excited crowd. After what feels like hours of swimming upstream she reaches up and clasps Sloan on the shoulder. Instantly she feels their fist slam directly into her eye and she yells out in pain. Sloan turns around and gasps.

"OH MY GOD, KIRIKO, ARE YOU OKAY? I'M SO SORRY!"

Glowing blue petals float around her before she shakes her head to stabilize herself.

"THAT'S OKAY! MAGICAL FOX SPIRIT PROMOTES FAST HEALING!" She gets back to the important topic at hand. "LISTEN, [Y/N]–"

As soon as they hear your name they become dead serious. Unfortunately for Kiriko though, a massive wave of people separates the two of them and their conversation is cut short. She's forced back towards the entrance near Illari.

"WHAT DO WE DO NOW?" Illari asks.

"I HAVE AN IDEA BUT YOU'LL NEED TO TRUST ME!"

Before Illari can answer Kiriko begins a sequence of fast hand movements and more glowing blue petals begin to form inside the venue. People thought it was some sort of visual effect the band had planned on doing and grew wilder at the scene. A rush of wind courses inside the building as Kiriko's kitsune grants her the strength she needs to begin pushing people out the way, but is rightfully stopped by Illari before that happens.

"WE CAN'T JUST SHOVE PEOPLE, IT'LL START A MASSIVE FIGHT!" Illari pulls her back by her side.

"WHAT DO YOU SUGGEST, THEN?"

"LET ME SIT ON YOUR SHOULDERS!"

"THIS IS NO TIME FOR PIGGY BACK RIDES!"

"THAT'S NOT WHAT I MEANT!"

In the middle of the planning Sloan begins to fight their way out of the crowd to the best of their ability, but it feels nearly impossible to move forward when you're being pushed back by dozens of people.

That's when they feel it– the breeze... their eyes turn teal blue.

From the very back they can see Illari waving their arms frantically attempting to call them over.

They move through the crowd effortlessly.

Illari hops off Kiriko's shoulders once Sloan makes it safely to their position before the kitsune's rush wears off.

"WHAT'S GOING ON?" They ask.

"UPSTAIRS! NOW!" Illari replies.

The group of six huddle together in the back as the atmosphere around the venue slowly turns back to normal. Sloan goes through your backpack just to make sure everything is still safe inside. Thankfully, all is left mostly untouched aside from Hana's search from earlier.

"Sombra sent us this picture. We're pretty sure they're only a few blocks away, but we still have to hurry or else they'll be gone by the time we get there."

Brigitte hands their phone to Sloan.

"Oh God... I really shouldn't have left them on their own." Their tone is sullen and full of guilt, just like the look on their face.

"There's no time to blame yourself. We have to find [Y/N] before something else happens." Illari places a comforting hand on their shoulder.

They only nod.

"Okay. You, Kiriko and Sloan go one way. We'll go the other. The entire city is designed to lead back to the north. Don't ask me how I know that–" Brigitte starts to remember the struggle of trying to find this place, but there's no time for that. "If they are where we think they are then it should be easy to get to them from here. If not... then we'll plan something else when we get there. Let's just get going before we have to start planning again."

Nobody argues with that.

"So, let me get this straight... you went to a music show–" Sombra begins counting on her fingers "Got assaulted by some random drunk person, ran, forgot all your stuff and now you're trying to find your way back?"

You nod while attempting to wipe your eyes dry. All of your smeared, ruined makeup had been rubbed off by now. A loud crack of thunder sounds in the distance announcing rain was on its way.

"Hm. Not the trickiest situation I've ever heard of..." Sombra then scoffs. "Definitely one of the funniest, though."

You crouch to your knees and began sobbing uncontrollably once again. "I'm going to die out here!" You shout, feeling totally helpless like a lost child in a grocery store.

Sombra watches as you begin having a genuine mental breakdown– does she actually feel bad, for once in her adult life...? Perhaps a little.

She pulls up a screen out of thin air and watches as the group of six people frantically searches for– what she's assuming is– this person in front of her. She raises an eyebrow as one of the colored dots on her screen comes close to her location but turns around at the very last moment.

"Wow." She comments as if she's watching a game. "These guys are hopeless."

"You're going to kill me, aren't you?" You accuse the girl in front of you with a real, sincere despair.

Sombra chokes back a laugh.

"No, I'm no murderer. Not yet, anyway." Now, she laughs. "I wouldn't waste my first kill on you, though."

You can't tell rather to feel insulted or relieved... so you go with relieved. It's not enough to stop your full on meltdown, however.

"Now, let's see. Oooh!" Sombra watches once again as one the dots come closer, only to make the same mistake of getting turned around. "Oh. They must be throwing. There's no way!"

Your crying becomes more intense. She sighs, closes the screen and rolls her eyes before hacking a nearby vending machine for two sodas. She walks over and proceeds to offer you one.

"Here. Don't tell anybody I did this, okay?"

It's your favorite soda.

"H-huh?" You take the soda with gratitude. "How'd you know?"

"It's my favorite, too."

You open the bottle cap and drink all of the fizzy contents inside. It feels refreshing to your scratched up and tired throat.

"Now stop crying." Sombra pulls up her tracking screen again. "Or at least be quieter. I can't hear myself think."

Out of fear for your life you do as the lady tells you, but not even a minute later...

"Ah. Finally. My work here is done."

You glance up only to notice the lady who helped you has completely disappeared.

"[Y/N]?" You hear Illari's voice in the distance. "[Y/N]!"

You stand up to greet her, but she nearly knocks you down with a charging hug.

"[Y/N]!" Kiriko follows suit, using her kitsune rush to pick you up and swing you around.

You're overwhelmed by the amount of attention you receive.

"Oh, sorry... maybe I shouldn't have done that."

You smile despite the anxiety. "It's okay."

"Hey! Good looking out, Illari!" The muscular girl you don't recognize runs up to you next. The petite girl isn't far behind, just like you saw them last.

There's two blinding flashes of blue light as another short, petite girl appears out of thin air. You thought she looked familiar... but there's no time to rack your brain right now.

"Oh, good! We all made it!" The petite girl– the one behind the muscular girl– cheers. "Wait, where's Sloan?"

You can hear loud, sprinting footsteps approach in the distance before everyone nearly gets knocked out of the way. "[Y/N]!!!"

They nearly knock you to the ground just as Illari had, only this time it was several times more intense. You feel their arms wrap around you in the tightest hug they've ever given you. You embrace them with relief flooding your tired brain. They hold the back of your head and nuzzle into your face as if they haven't seen you in years.

"Oh my God, I'm so sorry," They start crying. "Mi vida, I'm so, so sorry..."

"It's okay. I'm okay." You reassure them.

Everyone is quiet as the reunion takes place and you feel all the trauma of tonight drain from your being as you're held by the person who loves and cherishes you the most. Neither one of you wanted to be the one who pulls away.

"Well not to be a downer but it's about to start raining!" Someone spoke. It was the petite girl who flashed into existence.

"And I think the last band just got done with their set. It's nearly midnight." Kiriko adds with sadness.

"Well... while we're here, why don't we give [Y/N] back their stuff?"

Sloan pulls away long enough to grab your backpack from the muscular girl. "Thanks again, Brigitte."

You place it on to your back and all feels right in the world once more.

"No problem!" The muscular girl responds. So... her name is Brigitte.

"Well, we might as well introduce ourselves! I'm Hana!" The petite girl behind Brigitte chimes in. "Like the number one gamer in South Korea type Hana!"

"I'm Lena!" The girl who blinked into existence speaks up next. "Like the, umm... Tracer type Lena!"

That name rings a bell.

"Overwatch?" You question.

"Well, yes, but it's our off day today!" Lena replies.

"Wow." Is all you can say.

You feel your invisible mask beginning to slip. You're not sure how much longer you can take being out here before another anxiety episode occurs.

"I don't want to be rude, it's really nice to meet all of you." You turn to your beloved. "But... can we go home?" You ask, tired and ready to collapse.

"I think that would be the best idea for all of us. Tonight has been more than eventful!" Lena suggests.

From the shadows, Sombra watches as the group disperses after exchanging goodbyes. As soon as she was alone she picks up the empty soda bottle you accidentally left behind and tosses it into the trash.

"Hmph."

"Going soft?"

She can hear a mocking male voice on the end of the coms.

"Not now, Mauga."

"Haha! Thought so."

She simply just sinks back into the darkness she came from without a word.

✨💜JUNKRAT LE SSERAFIM STAN FOR LIFE 💜✨: so is anybody going to tell me what happened or am i going to have to make up the story myself (12:45 AM)

🧡 AF Traysi ⏱️: In the morning (12:52 AM)

✨💜 JUNKRAT LE SSERAFIM STAN FOR LIFE 💜✨: but it's morning in australia (12:52 AM)

🧡 AF Traysi ⏱️: Goodnight junkrat (12:53 AM)

👾: (is typing...)

#weeeeeeeeeeeee!!!!!!! dropping it at midnight again!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!#overwatch #overwatch 2 #venture x reader #venture x you #overwatch fanfiction #overwatch x reader #overwatch x you #sloane cameron #sloan cameron #venture overwatch

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jaylienpotter · 9 months

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Part 3 of Let them be | 1.9K words

> Part 2 | Part 4 <

Let people want both

Remus, James and Peter were outside already, waiting for Sirius to join them to go to Hogsmead. Remus was getting impatient (it was getting close to that time of the month), it was unbelievable the amount of time someone could take to get ready. They always expected him to take longer, hence why not waiting at the dorm. But that day Padfoot was taking especially long.

Lupin's frown became something else entirely. Thin lips parted, brown eyes wide and cheeks most certainly darker than usual. Siri looked absolutely gorgeous, hot, perfect.

"Looking good Pads!" Prongs greeted the last marauder with his usual cheerful grin. But he didn't have the tall boy's slightest attention.

"You think?"

"Yeah! Girl day?" Sirius hummed affirmatively and got closer. Fuck did he she look even better.

"Where did you get the clothes?" The short blond boy was still getting used to the whole gender thing, but it had gotten better since the protest they did for Regulus.

"Well, Marlene gave me the skirt, said it's a tad too big on her. The top is mine but I cut it to be cropped. Not bad, I'd say. Definitely not the straightest but it's me after all. And I don't know, it gives it a grungy style. The fishnets are Mary's. I was expecting it to be uncomfortable but it's not, really. The accessories are all mine except for the bracelet, which is also Marlene's. The boots are mine, obviously. It would be fun to maybe get heels at one point but I don't think they exist in my size."

"You can always try spells. You look wicked, anyway!" Potter turned to Remus, who was very much panicking on the inside. "Y'alright, Moony?"

"Huh? Oh- yeah, yeah." Was that suspicious? He was quite collected in general but something about that man - or woman, person, didn't really matter - made him feral. He wanted Sirius to be his. He needed it. But he was far too awkward and shy to ever make a move. I mean, what if it ruined their friendship?

"Look!" Pads lifted her rectangle black sunglasses to show an amazing eye look (not that Remus knew much about makeup) that made her grey eyes pop. "I did it myself! Lily has been teaching me how to make different looks with makeup."

"You're on a first name basis, now? You're not stealing Evans from me, Pads, are you?" He squinted as if threatening, not that he would ever hurt his best friend.

"No, don't worry. I'm still very much into blokes."

"Good. Anyone you got your eyes on?"

"Maybe. Maybe not." Suddenly focused on the conversation, a million thoughts raced through Rem's head. Did Padfoot have a crush? Who could it be?

"Secretive. I'm onto you, Pads. And how about you Moony? We all know Pete is devoted to the Ravenclaw boy-"

"Merlin! I've told you already, Benjy and I are just friends."

"Sure." Round glasses turned to Moony, who, for once, was feeling somewhat brave.

"I guess you could say I fancy someone." He hoped to get a reaction from said person.

"Ooooo! Who is she?" This was his moment.

"Why are you assuming it's a girl?" There it was. Pads looked up, interest peaked. It could only be from curiosity, she always enjoyed some drama. Or maybe, hopefully, it could be deeper than that.

"Am I the only straight person here?"

"Well I'm not gay, because I don't fancy Benjy. I don't fancy anyone." Poor Pete. James wouldn't leave him alone about it, constantly teasing.

"Whatever you say, Wormy. Who's this person, Moony?"

"Ain't telling." He was feeling brave and maybe even impulsive. But not even the full moon made him an idiot.

"Aww, come on! Why don't you lot tell me anything?!"

"Perhaps because you're extremely obvious and embarrassing." He did have a point. Although that wasn't the reason in this case.

"Awn, do I embarrass you in front of eagle boy?"

"You're insufferable!" Potter chuckled, deciding it was enough teasing.

"Well, where we off to first? Zonko's?"

"We should go there last. We will need quite a lot of things, we're running out of stock for pranks."

"What would we do without you, Moony?" Get in a lot more detentions, that's for sure. "Three broomsticks?"

They all agreed and went to the pub, ordering butterbeer. After a while of talking about nothings, Peter got up.

"I have to go for a bit."

"Meeting a certain someone whose name starts with a B?"

"Sod off, Potter. I'll see you later." He was barely out the door when James got up too.

"Oh shit! I also need to go. I want to buy Lily some flowers. See if this time she'll accept going on a date. Sorry mates." He took some coins from his pockets (most of them galleons, rich prick) and messily left them on the table. "Uh this should cover some of the drinks. I'll meet you at Zonko's in like 30, yeah?"

"Just go, lover boy."

"Thank you, you're the best!" And then it was just them. It's not like they were never alone, but it was especially hard to focus when Sirius looked like a hot rockstar. No matter where Lupin looked, he could easily get flustered. Face? Amazing makeup that he wanted to kiss. Top? You could see her abs under the crop. Bottom? Obviously the mini skirt. There was no way out.

"You seem distracted."

"Hm? Do I?" Fuck.

"Yes. Is it because of the person you fancy?"

"Maybe." Absolutely.

"I didn't know you were bi." The lanky boy just shrugged, afraid to say something stupid. "Do I know him?"

"You know everyone."

"You know what I mean." Another non answer, a sip of the butterbeer that was near the end. "Do you know if he's gay? Or bi or whatever."

"He is."

"What does he look like?" They were getting into dangerous territory. There weren't many males at hogwarts with fucking grey eyes. Join the long black hair and it was a given.

"Why the interrogation? You also didn't give us much closure."

"Ask me things, then." He pondered. He desperately wanted to find out if Padfoot had any interest in the boy across from her.

"Do you fancy someone?"

"I do." Could be anyone.

"What's his house?"

"Gryffindor, of course. I have high standards, Moons." Siri was the only person that called him that. Got this man on his knees every time.

"I mean you dated a Ravenclaw."

"Shhhh we don't talk about him."

"Right." Brown eyebrows came together "Is it- is it James?" It made sense. They were always together, after all. And Potter was always complimenting his best mate.

"Prongs?! Fuck no! He's my brother. Why? You don't fancy him, do you…?"

"No, no!" Different Marauder.

"What's his house?"

"Also Gryffindor. What does your crush look like?" It could go downhill from there very fast.

"Brown hair. Brown eyes." Matched… "Bad sense of style." Listen. Remus didn't have a bad sense of style. He just liked to be comfortable. Although he could be the one in the description since Black said he looked like a grandfather.

Before Rem could answer, probably ask something that was more specific, a crash and shouts were heard a few tables over.

"Let's go somewhere else?"

"Sounds good."

After paying, Moony awkwardly followed his crush to a secluded area in the street.

"How about you? What does your crush look like?"

"Dark hair…" Pads hummed, encouraging to continue. "Light eyes…" Bastard was smirking. Smirking at the pink cheeks across the scarred face.

"I see…" She got close. Very close. "You know, Lupin. I couldn't help but notice you get particularly shy whenever I'm wearing a skirt. Any reason?" He didn't say anything. I mean, what was he supposed to say? Sirius obviously knew the answer already. "I'd say you simply like short skirts but I don't see you staring at other girls like that." His cheeks matched the colour of their house and he could be playing quidditch with how fast his heart was beating. "What is it, Remy?"

"Siri…" His voice was pleading, his eyes were pleading, his heart was pleading, he was on his knees and she was well aware of that.

"No no." She took his chin and made him look into those grey eyes. "Say it."

"I…" Shit, he was nervous. "I… like you…"

"Was that so hard? If all I needed to do to get you to like me back was to wear a skirt, I would've protested a lot sooner."

"It's not since the skirt… It's been longer." The Black smirk. Annoying and hot. He just wanted to kiss it, aware the bold red lipstick would get smudged on both of them.

"Remus John Lupin, you fool." And just like that, their lips met. Pale arms around the taller one's neck. Moony put his arms around her and pulled her closer, feeling her bare skin and melting into the kiss.

Merlin knows how long the kissing lasted. Time didn't exist between those two. After what seemed like an eternity and yet not enough, they parted.

"You have some lipstick on you." She chuckled and cleaned some of it with her finger. "I'm making it worse…"

"That's okay. I'll wash my face."

"Woooooo!" Turning around, there was a short Filipino blondie cheering them, holding hands with her dark skinned girlfriend. "Fucking finally! You better tell me the details, Black!"

"Fine! Now sod off Mckinnon!" She laughed and pulled Dorcas, walking away. "Well…"

"I uh… I'll wash my face at the pub."

"I'll walk with you." The silence was a tad awkward. At least to Remus. His crush took his hand and broke the ice. "So, since when do you fancy me?"

"I'm not sure… A year, maybe? You?"

"Awww really? You should have come out sooner. I've liked you since fourth year. Never made a move because I thought you were straight. And even after the protest, I wasn't sure if you just found me attractive because I look like a girl."

"No, I like you when you're masculine too. The skirt just… I don't know, has a different effect. Wait here?"

"Is my lipstick smudged?"

"A bit."

"I'll go too." They went back to the pub they had left some minutes ago. Pads went to the girl's bathroom while Remus cleaned his face and grinned at the mirror in the men's. When they met again, the red lips were as lively as before. They stained Moony, the shape of a kiss on his left cheek. "Sorry. Had to."

It had been over 30 minutes since James left to fetch Lily a gift. So naturally, he and Pettigrew were already waiting at Zonko's.

"There they are! Where were you two- Is that lipstick?!" The werewolf blushed and looked down while his partner held up their hands grinning.

"We're dating!"

"What?! You were each other's crushes?!" Wormtail shook his head.

"You are so oblivious, Prongs."

"Wha- You knew?!"

"Everyone with eyes and some common sense knows those two have been pining over each other. Congrats on figuring it out, it was getting painful to watch."

"Wormtail!" Pads gasped dramatically, her hand over her chest. "How could you stay quiet?"

"Wasn't my place to say anything. And it was quite entertaining to watch how stupid you both were." Sirius seemed offended, but Remus couldn't help but find the whole situation hilarious.

#Another part of the lil series hehe #wolfstar #genderfluid sirius black #marauders #marauders era #the marauders #harry potter marauders #marauders fanfiction #marauders fandom #dead gay wizards #remus john lupin #remus lupin #remus x sirius #sirius black #james & peter & remus & sirius

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natelia-aldelliz · 1 year

Text

"Are you busy right now?"

Gaz lifts his head towards Soap, a curious look on his face. "Wow, that's the first time you actually ask me before kidnapping me, actually yes, I'm-"

"Perfect, come here I need your help."

Roach snorts as he watches Gaz's exasperated face as Soap grabs his arm and pulls him up, pushing him towards his room.

"Yeah, that was too good to be true, should've known," Gaz grumbles.

"No, no, no, you'll see, it's way more interesting that whatever you were doing, I swear!" Soap beams back at him, overflowing with energy. He's so excited that he slams his door closed behind Gaz, not noticing that Roach wasn't in yet.

Five years. He's been dead for five years but he still flinches when things rush his way, as if they were gonna hit him. "Rude," he complains as he walks through the door, shaking his head at Soap's apologetic look. He can't be mad at him though, not when he's behaving like an excited puppy.

"What the fuck happened-" Gaz gasps at the state of the room. There's tinkering material everywhere, hardware on all surfaces, and strange objects scattered around.

"Oh, I'm building my own ghost communication equipment, that's why I need you. You need to tell me if it works!"

"And you couldn't see if it works yourself?"

Roach actually laughs at that. Johnny hesitates, mouth gaping as he tries to find a reason.

"No, I get paranoid, I need a second opinion."

"Not bad, not bad," Roach grins.

"Ok," Soap continues, ignoring him. "Here's a spirit box I made, try it and tell me what you hear."

Gaz takes the offered radio and turns it around in his hands. "Shouldn't we be in a haunted house or something?"

Soap throws a look towards Roach. "Nah, i'm sure it's fine, try it."

"So you don't want to go to a haunted house?"

That could be really interesting, actually. Roach had always wanted to go ghost hunting, but he hadn't been able to convince Simon to come with him. He looks at Soap expectantly. It wouldn't be the same experience now that he's the ghost, but it's probably still gonna be interesting! Perhaps even more if he's the one being hunted.

"You really want to go to a haunted house that bad?" Soap asks.

"Yes," Gaz and Roach both answer at the same time.

Soap playfully rolls his eyes. "Ok, try the equipment first, to see if it works, and then we can look up some place to go if you really want."

They cheer, under Soap's amused eyes, then Gaz turns the radio on.

"Are there any spirits here?"

"Yup," Roach answers.

"Maybe try it with a little more enthusiasm," Soap says, looking at Roach.

"Oh, sorry," Gaz rolls his eyes. "Ooh~ spirits of the underworld, can one of you esteemed beings show their presence by speaking out~ how's that for enthusiasm?"

Roach snickers. "Yes, there is an esteemed being here indeed, and that is me, I'm here, hi."

Gaz jumps. "It said here!! It said! You're not pulling my leg, are you? You didn't record this shit, right??"

Soap and Roach gasp. It works! It has to, he said here and Gaz heard it!!

(spooky sad stuff under the cut)

Needless to say, they almost immediately head to the closest haunted place they can find on the internet. Roach is flabbergasted when Soap drags Simon and Price behind him, happily chattering away with Gaz. They don't exactly look thrilled to be here, but they're here! To be fair, he had only asked Simon in the past, he had never tried not giving him a choice.

It's funny in the beginning. The guide tells them the building's story, something about a criminal fire in the 1890's killing a man's whole family while he was away on business, then he came back and killed himself on the ruins, allegedly from guilt at having been responsible for the fire in some way, Roach didn't understand the reasoning, but okay.

Then the house's debris got covered up by the construction of another building, who had welcomed injured soldiers after WW1, many more people died here, stories about nurses and patients seeing figures in the corridors, children coughing, yadda yadda, very usual stuff.

The building is creepy, that's for sure, but there's no sign of any of the ghosts the guide had told them about. There is one soldier, who looks to be about 40, with his face disfigured, but he isn't active at all, barely follows them with his eyes, and doesn't say a single word. Doesn't even blink when the rest of the ghost hunting equipment beeps in his face. Probably got used to it, the poor man.

Roach is having a great time though. He makes everything go off at the most spooky times, says criptic shit in the spirit box. He's absolutely delighted when even Simon, stoic non believer Simon, starts hanging closer to Johnny, in what he knows is a silent request for touch. He says that to the only one that can actually hear him, and smiles at them when Johnny offers to hold Simon's hand.

It's all fun and games until they head to the basement, that the guide had said was the old house's foundations, and Johnny freezes up.

Roach is confused. There isn't anything here, no ghosts, no interactions, nothing.

"I… I don't feel good," Johnny says and Roach believes him, it's so obvious on his face that he's telling the truth.

"You're cold," Simon frowns, reaching his other hand to brush against Johnny's cheek.

Roach feels… weak. He feels tired. He hasn't had to sleep since his death, and it's like it's catching up to him. It feels draining. Something is wrong, but there's nothing around them still.

A child's voice rises from the radio in Gaz's hands. "I was like you," they whisper hauntingly.

"I don't know, man," Gaz says. "They said 'like' but for some reason I don't think I like that they like us."

"It's not what they said," Johnny whispers, still frozen in place, not even blinking, crushing Simon's fingers in his.

Price grabs his shoulder reassuringly, doing the same to Gaz with his other hand when he huddles closer. Roach tries to shake himself awake.

"Show yourself!" He tries to yell, commanding whatever ghost was playing with them to stop, but it only comes out as barely louder than a whisper. The only answer he gets is the sound of a child desperately coughing, flashes of heat, smells of burning flesh, smoke everywhere. He gasps, the flashes melting into his own memories, the gunshot, fire all around, Simon, Simon, Simon-

"I don't need you to talk, ghost," the child's voice is harder, dismissive, and the flashes suddenly stop. He falls back, panting, trying to catch his breath. "I just need your energy."

"Did they say Ghost?" Simon squeaks out.

"We need to leave," Johnny says urgently, pulling on Simon's hand.

"Don't leave," the child continues. "Talk with me. You need to know."

"Know what?" Price asks. Roach had almost forgotten the others didn't hear the entire conversation.

The child just ignores the question. "This is what happens when we die," they murmur. "This is what we become. But it's not the end."

A hand grabs Roach's arm and he jumps, his head swivelling wildly. It's the soldier from earlier. He looks panicked.

"You shouldn't be here," he says, arm extended far in front of him, apparently refusing to step off the stairs.

Roach sends a look towards Johnny. There are tears on his face and his whole body is shivering. Simon seems to be trying to get him to move back, but it seems like he's stuck in place.

"It's not the end?" Johnny whispers.

The child laughs. "It's not. We can't die, remember? But our body can disappear." The soldier drags Roach out of the basement, and he feels better as soon as he's on the first step of the staircase.

"Johnny!" He yells, trying to get his attention.

"There was nothing left after the fire," the child keeps going, their voice taking a melancholic tone. "I was so weak, but I could still see my siblings, roaming above the ruins. It was the only way to gain some strength back. They wouldn't have been happy anyway."

Roach thinks he's crying as well. He yells again, feeling absolutely useless as the only person who can hear him doesn't move.

"I can't move him!" Simon says, distressed. Price and Gaz immediately join him in trying to push Johnny back.

"But I don't need to feed on ghosts anymore," the child continues. "After all this time, someone like me comes here. I'm sorry. I hope you won't have to wait for so long. You end up losing yourself, little by little… Tell you what, if you don't fight me, I'll search for someone like us myself, to let you find a new body."

"Grab his legs," Price orders, pushing Johnny back into Gaz's arms. It looks hard, but they eventually get him off the ground and rush to the staircase.

"NO!" The child yells, all pressure suddenly dropping like a balloon popping once Johnny is out of the room.

Johnny gasps and seems to come back to life, thrashing in his friends' arms.

"Leave," the soldier says again, grabbing Roach's arm tighter for a second. "Never come back."

Roach quickly nods, tears incessantly falling from his eyes, unable to find his voice. The soldier pats his shoulder and slowly goes back up the stairs, heading back to his original spot. Johnny is sobbing in Simon's arms. They really need to get out of here.

The car ride back is silent. Johnny is lying down on the back seat, curled up, his head in Simon's lap.

"I don't want to become that," he whispers, tears catching on his lashes.

Roach, squeezed between the front seat and the back seat, in front of Johnny's face, shakes his head. He wants to say something, wants to tell him that he won't, but his voice hasn't returned. He tries BSL, not really knowing how much Johnny actually knows. It seems to be enough, because his exhausted eyes close and he seems to finally fall asleep.

Back on base, Simon carries him to bed and sits next to him for a few minutes. He looks shaken. He takes off his mask and beanie, that he uses instead of the balaclava when in civilian clothing, and rubs his hair, sighing. Roach wants to gather him in his arms and comfort him, kiss his hair, rub his shoulders. He also really really wants him to do that for him. He still feels small after that experience.

"I…" Simon says quietly, his voice breaking hesitatingly. "I don't know what to believe." He speaks quietly, apparently not wanting to wake Johnny up. Roach is confused - Simon had never been in the habit of talking to himself - but he just keeps listening. He's always liked to listen to Simon talk.

"This was too real. But if this was real…" His eyes are red. "Then what I saw was also real…" He sniffs, blinks out the tears building up, breaking Roach's heart. "So… Roach… Bug…" his voice breaks on his nickname and Roach starts crying. "If you're actually still here, I don't know what to do. I don't know, Bug. Can you, maybe, give me a sign? That you're here?"

Roach sobs. He loves him so much. He wants a hug. He wants to be held so badly. He folds in on himself in despair, trying to comfort himself, not noticing Johnny's open eyes.

"He loves you," Johnny murmurs, making Simon jump to wipe his tears before turning around to look at him. "He loves you so much. I wish he could tell you himself."

Simon sniffs, lays down beside Johnny and gathers him in his arms, practically squishing him against his chest. "Thank you," he whispers against his hair.

Johnny still looks really out of it, barely awake. His eyes rest on Roach's crying form and the ghost signs his own thanks. They really need to look into this. He can't let their Johnny become this terrible entity, feeding on other beings, waiting on another like them to take their body. He can't let him lose himself like that.

#cod mw2 #john soap mactavish #gary roach sanderson #kyle gaz garrick #simon ghost riley #captain john price #ghostsoaproach #soaproach #ghostroach #ghostsoap #soapghost #accidental necromancer soap and ghost roach au #things get scarier =)

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sadhours · 1 year

Text

Wicked Sensation

part seventeen // billy hargrove x f!reader

a/n: I’m going through a bit of family stuff but writing is my outlet so i don’t think it should be affected but to play it safe, this is going to be the hardest week of my life and I might get to requests slowly and post chapters slowly but maybe I’ll post more who knows. Anyways, thank you all so much for reading. I appreciate you all endlessly.

word count: 6k

warnings: 18+ minors dni, hey Eddie still exists!, Neil being Neil, pregnancy, smut, oral (m receiving), p in v

tag list: @blue-eyed-lion @bbyhargrove @sweet-villain @actuallyspencerreid @trapistani @sierrahhh @likeanimagepassingby2

Okay, so maybe it’s a bit ridiculous. The man has put a baby in you and is moving in to your parents house, you shouldn’t have to devise a plan to get him to propose to you. You never even pictured yourself in this role before but with all the pregnancy hormones and the devotion you feel towards Billy, the prospect of being his wife and the mother of his kids is insanely appealing. Perhaps this was all Mary’s fault. She’d put the idea in your head and now it was all you could think about.

That’s how you’re awake at the ass crack of dawn with her, making a lunch for Billy to take to his first day at your dads shop. You think that maybe if you start doing wife type things, Billy will realize how badly he wants to marry you.

“You wake up this early every morning?” you ask, rubbing the sleep from your eyes.

Mary smiles wide as she pours you a cup of coffee, “How do you think I get anything done?”

“There’s like more than 12 hours left of today, that seems like too much time,” you complain as you hear footsteps down the hall.

You turn to see a sleepy, messy haired Billy with an unlit cigarette perched between his lips already. That same familiar feeling warming your chest and making you swoon whenever you see him. He walks into the kitchen, pulling the cigarette from his mouth to lean down and peck your cheek.

“Morning,” he grumbles to Mary and reaches for the coffee pot.

“Oh, here!” you cheer, extending out the cup Mary had just poured for you.

Billy takes it, smiling at you, “Thanks, darlin. Care to join me?”

“You haven’t quit smoking?” Mary gives you a look of shock.

Shamefully, you shake your head. You were going to schedule an appointment today for the doctors and figured you’d ask him about your options for that. You’d been smoking since you were thirteen and weren’t sure if you could quit and Billy wasn’t going to anytime soon so you’d always have the temptation.

“They’re Lights,” Billy offers, “It’s something.”

Again, your heart swells. It’s a small thing but you love how he defends you at any opportunity. Mary gives you both a disappointed look as you follow Billy out to the backyard. He lights the cigarette and takes a long drag before handing it to you.

“We can share,” he says, “At least you’re cutting back.”

You nod and lean your shoulder into his, “Thank you. I feel like you’re the only person who gets me.”

He kisses your temple but doesn’t say anything. You’d like to think you’re the only person who gets him. Billy’s still not good at talking about his feelings. He shows you how he feels through touch, and maybe that’s enough. For now, at least. If you’re gonna start a family with him, you’d like that to change.

He takes another long drag from the cigarette and speaks up, “I’ve got to get my things today. If there is anything left. You willing to make that trip with me when I get back?”

You think that means he feels safe with you. With a soft smile, you tell him yes. You know you two have to tell Neil that you’re pregnant, or at least, you think you should. See, Billy hadn’t told you about his dad finding the Polaroids of you and you still thought that Neil liked you, so you think maybe he’ll be excited that you’re pregnant. Billy knows better and is dreading telling his dad. In fact, he doesn’t really want to tell him, doesn’t want Neil to be a grandfather at all. He knows Neil will try to control his kid since he can no longer control Billy.

“Are you excited to work for my dad?” you ask.

Billy nods, he genuinely is. He likes working on cars, figures it’ll pay enough for you guys to find an apartment in a few months. He is thinking about marriage, but he’s afraid of it. Having a child together isn’t enough to make sure either of you stay, he’s learned that. He’s also worried you might run off into another man’s arms at the first sign of trouble. It’s a fear he can’t shake.

“Yeah. You looking for jobs today?” he asks as he stumps the cigarette out in the ashtray.

Sighing, you shrug. You hadn’t planned for that but you know you should. Billy shouldn’t have to have all the financial responsibility but you had no idea what you would do. Working at your dads shop could easily turn into a career but you didn’t have that luxury. Your options were limited with only being able to work until the baby was born.

“I suppose I should,” you tell him as he stands and helps you up.

You pick up the phone and dial a number you’ve had memorized since grade school but you don’t remember the last time you called it.

“Hello?” Eddie’s voice rings through.

“Hi,” you say meekly.

Eddie scoffs, “You remembered I exist.”

You lay on your mattress, looking up at the ceiling as guilt drips into your system. Billy kept you so distracted from everyone and then when you were broken up shortly, Steve took up most your time. Eddie wasn’t supportive of you and Billy and selfishly, you decided Billy was most important. He still was, even more so now that you were carrying his child but you and Eddie had so much history that it would be cruel to never talk to him again.

“I’m sorry… I haven’t been fair to you,” you say softly.

“I expected you to call when I heard Billy dumped your ass but you never did,” Eddie replies, “Guess you couldn’t bear to hear an ‘I told you so’.”

“We got back together,” you mumble, “But I should’ve called. I don’t want to have to chose between the two of you.”

“Then don’t.”

“Eddie, you’re the one who made me feel like I had to in the first place,” you explain, “Billy has no issues with you.”

He’s silent and your skin crawls. You didn’t want to lose him but you understood if Eddie wanted nothing to do with you.

“I just don’t want to have to deal with it,” he says finally, “If you guys are constantly breaking up and getting back together, I’m never gonna come around to the idea of him.”

“I don’t see that happening,” you reveal, “He’s moving in and I’m pregnant, so…”

“You’re what?” Eddie’s voice sounds shocked.

“Yeah. I’m having Billy Hargrove’s baby.”

“Jesus Christ,” he exhaled, “I tell you what, I didn’t see that one happening.”

“Yeah, we didn’t either,” you chuckle.

“And he didn’t run away? He’s moving in with you? Are you guys engaged or something?”

“No! Well, not yet. I don’t know if he wants to get married,” you admit, shyly.

Eddie laughs, “He’s moving in with you and you guys are having a baby. Why the hell would he skip marrying you?”

“I don’t know. Marriage is like a big deal, a big commitment,” you say and Eddie’s laughing harder, you picture him doubling over from it.

“Why are you laughing?” you pout, feeling like you’re missing out on some joke.

Once his breathing calms down, he starts, “He’s all fine and dandy knocking you up and you’re scared he can’t commit.”

Eddie starts laughing again and you really don’t see why it’s hard to believe. You and Billy both know that kids and marriage don’t keep people together. Eddie should know that too, but here he is laughing hysterically.

“It’s not funny,” you whine and finally, he sighs.

“You’re right,” he deadpans, “it’s stupid. So I have Hellfire tonight but if you’re not busy later this week, we should hang out.”

“Can I bring Billy?” you ask, twirling the phone chord around your finger.

Another sigh and he says, “Yeah… guess I should get to know him if he’s gonna be the dad of my god child.”

You’re heart swells, but you deep down knew Eddie would forgive you. You guys were practically family.

Dale holds out the light blue uniform shirt to Billy, tells him they can get him an embroidered patch soon and Billy thanks him. Having a name on the shirt was a privilege at the shop in San Diego and Billy never earned it. At your dads shop, it was something everyone typically got from the first day. He wanted his employees to feel important, like they belonged on a team.

Billy pulls the shirt over his white tank top and starts buttoning it up, eyes scanning over your dads office. It’s in disarray. Tools, papers and empty paper coffee cups placed sporadically. On his desk, is a photo of you and your brother. Billy picks it up and looks closer. He suspects it’s from a past trip to Florida because your hair is shorter.

“You’ll have to come out with us from now on,” Dale says.

“What? Sorry,” he places the frame back on the desk.

“Florida. For Christmas, you’ll have to come with us,” your dad explains and Billy feels weird but not in a bad way. Christmas wasn’t ever a special holiday since his mom left. In fact, they didn’t really even celebrate it before his dad met Susan. The only thing he’d looked forward to was a card from his grandparents. However, you talked about Christmas excitedly, you’d told Billy it was your third favorite; after Halloween and Thanksgiving of course. It must be that it was fun in Florida, that holidays with your family weren’t as empty or angry as the ones Billy was used to.

“Yeah,” he says, smiling at the thought, “Wonder what the surfs like down there.”

Your dad laughs, “The waters a lot choppier than California but I imagine you’ll have fun.” He gestures to the door, “Let me give you a tour, real quick.”

Billy listens closely as your dad explains the routine of the shop and what Billy’s primary responsibilities will be before sending him in with Darla from accounting and Billy recognizes the name when your dad says it. He walks into the little office and is met with a member of his fan club, one of the housewives that would hang out around the pool.

“Billy!” she smiles wide, “What are you doing here?”

“Oh, hi,” he says as he walks up to her desk.

She keeps looking over Billy’s shoulder, causing him to turn and look.

“Oh, don’t worry,” she says, “We’re alone.”

He looks back at her with his brows furrowed. Alone? he thinks and his eyes dart down to the worn romance novel sitting on her desk. She stands and he shakes his head, “Oh, no.”

“No?” she looks disappointed.

Billy chuckles, “Dale just hired me, he sent me in here so I could fill out paperwork.”

Her disappointment evolves back into excitement, “You’re working here now?”

“Yep!” he chirps as he sits at the plastic chair across from her desk. “Saving for the baby and all.”

“Baby?” she asks and Billy revels in the defeated tone.

“Yeah, that’s why Dale’s giving me the job. His daughter and I are having a baby,” he puts his elbow on his knees and leans forward.

“Congratulations,” she says as she slams a clipboard on the desk. “Just fill this out quickly and I’ll have you in the books.”

“Awesome,” he grabs it, “Thanks.”

Billy takes the long way home, chain-smoking and listening to an entire cassette even though it’s typically a fifteen minute drive from the shop to home. He just needs to clear his head and his favorite way to do so is to take the road that stretches all around Hawkins and back. It’s mostly fields and farms, but it’ll take him right where he’s needs to go and he likes that it’s empty roads. He figures his alone time will be limited from here on out.

When he finally gets home, you’re voicing concerns. They’re in the form of questions, he knows you were worried but he can’t help but feel a bit suffocated. He knows these feelings are because of his looming fear of seeing his dad but he can’t help but lash out.

“I just took a drive,” he bites, “Can you chill out? It’s not even late.”

You stare back up at him, a little stunned but you press your palm on his chest and rub in circles, “I’m sorry.”

Billy doesn’t expect that reaction and his first response is to push you away, but that’s Neil getting in his head. He sighs and wraps his arms around you, pulling you to his chest and tucking his face into your neck.

“No, I’m sorry,” he mumbles into your hair, “Just not looking forward to going over there.”

Your hands circle around his waist and you squeeze him, “I’ll be with you. We’ll make it quick, just grab as much as we can and leave.”

He pulls back and hooks his finger under your chin, tilting your head back as he leans in to press his lips to yours. It’s chaste but lets you know he trusts you. And anytime his lips are on you, it heats up your thighs and leaves you a little breathless.

“Shall we get it over with then?” Billy grumbles though his tone suggests he really doesn’t want to.

You lace your fingers and pull him out the door. He allows you to lead him across the street and then the two of you just stand at the door. Billy feels as if he has to knock, like he hasn’t just spent a little less than a year living in this house. His knuckles tap against the wood as he prays Max answers the door. She doesn’t.

“It’s about damn time,” Neil spews as he stares at Billy, eyes dark. He eyes dart to you and then back to his son, “Needed your safety blanket, did ya?”

Your blood boils so you squeeze Billy’s hand tighter, “We’re just here to get some of his stuff.”

You figure you’ll do the talking, maybe make this a little easier. Neil opens the door wide, stepping back and you can see Susan peeking her head out of the kitchen. Billy tugs you inside, making a beeline for his bedroom door. Upon opening it, Billy sees that Neil has sold all his stuff and all that’s left is his stereo system and two packed boxes on the floor. His face heats up, he wants to scream at his dad but it’s a losing battle. He knows what Neil will say. He bought everything that was in there. Billy knows because the stereo is still there, it was the first thing Billy bought when he got his first ever paycheck.

He heaves a sigh and then looks over to you, “Can you manage the two boxes? It won’t hurt the… ya know.”

“Billy, I’m like maybe a few weeks along, it’s a little tadpole in there,” you say and then your eyes widen, realizing that you’ve just admitted you were pregnant.

You turn around to see Neil standing in the doorway, looking dumbfounded.

“Fuck,” Billy curses, bringing his hand to rub his brow.

“What was that?” Neil asks, stepping into the room.

Billy heaves a sigh and turns to his dad, “Nothing.”

“Nothing?” he scoffs, “Sounded to me like your little girlfriend just said she’s pregnant.”

“Pregnant?” Susan’s voice rings through the hall and she hurries to stand in the doorway.

Billy doesn’t say anything, he just starts stacking the speakers onto the cassette deck.

“You really fucked up,” Neil laughs sinisterly, the sound startling you and causing bile to rise up your throat. You swallow it down and go to grab the boxes but Neil stops you, “I’ll get the boxes. You shouldn’t be doing any heavy lifting.”

“No, it’s fine,” you try but he’s already picking them up with ease and heading for the door.

“Shit,” Billy says, grabbing the stereo and following after his dad.

You eye Susan curiously before walking out behind your boyfriend. Neil’s already at your doorstep when you get outside and Billy’s quickly shuffling across the street after him.

“Dad,” he calls out.

Neil bangs on the door and your dad opens it. Your hearts in your chest as you run after them. You have no idea what Neil’s plan is but you’re scared he’s gonna deck your dad right in the face.

“Neil,” your dad says, opening the door wider to let him in. You and Billy right behind him.

“Go ahead and just set those down anywhere,” Mary says to him, perched over the kitchen counter.

You shut the door behind you, letting out the breath you hadn’t realized you’d been holding.

“Dad,” Billy pleads again, but nothing follows. He doesn’t know what he’s asking Neil not to do.

“So my sons knocked your daughter up, has he?” Neil says after dropping the boxes on the floor.

This is all your fault. The guilt rises in your throat and threatens to pour out, you reach to Billy for comfort once he’s set the stereo down.

“It would appear so,” your dad says, leaning against the kitchen table as he looks to Neil casually.

“And you didn’t kill him?” Neil responds, crossing his arms.

Your dad shrugs, “I like the kid.”

Neil chuckles, but it doesn’t sound happy, like he can’t fathom anyone liking his son. He shakes his head, seems defeated and you and Billy both admire your dad.

“Is that all, then?” your dad asks, crossing his arms.

“Well what’s the plan then? When are you getting married?” Neil asks, turning to his son now.

Billy clears his throat and you notice he starts tapping his foot, “I don’t know.”

“You don’t know?” Neil scoffs, “Well, boy, you better figure it out. You don’t want to marry her? You should’ve thought that before you did something so damn irresponsible.”

The words sting your chest and your dad moves in front of Billy, physically shielding him from Neil.

“Thanks for stopping by,” your dad says, “We’ll make sure to let you know the plan.”

Billy’s shocked when his dad retreats, through all the years of abuse, he’s never seen his dad give up on a fight. He takes a deep breath when the door slams. Most of all, though, he’s embarrassed. Without a word, he picks the stereo up and lugs it into your room.

“Thank you, dad…” you hug your father, unable to truly express your gratitude.

“Let Billy know that I didn’t only do that for you, I did it for him,” your dad says, a solemn smile on his face.

You nod, squeezing him once more before trailing to your room to see Billy still holding the stereo. He has no idea where to put it, you have too much stuff. You put your hand on his shoulder, “I’ll give mine to my brother. Yours is better anyways.”

Billy heaves a sigh, remaining silent as he watches you unplug your stereo and gather the speakers. You leave to put it in your brothers room, saying a quiet hello to him when he peers up at you from his book.

“Aw, really?” he sets the book down and sits up.

You place it on his dresser, “Yeah, Billy’s is better than this one.”

“Thanks, sis,” he says, springing up from his bed, “I don’t have any cassettes.”

“I’ll give you some,” you offer, placing your hands on your hips as you look at him.

“Was that his dad?” he asks, biting his nail.

You slap his hand from his mouth, not wanting him to form the habit, “Yeah.”

“Are you really having a baby?” he asks, a tilt of his head.

You nod, giggling as you ruffle up his hair, “Yeah, you’re gonna be an uncle.”

He grins up at you, “I hope it’s a boy.”

“Billy does too,” you reply, “I hope it’s a girl.”

“Typical,” your brother says, poking at the buttons on the stereo set.

You roll your eyes and head back to your room, noticing Billy’s set up the stereo but he’s no longer in the room. You peer curiously out the door to see him walking up to you with the boxes in his hands. He sets them on the floor and sits in front of them, opening the first up to inspect what Neil wanted him to keep. To his surprise, it’s all the things he's kept of his mothers. His heart aches, wanting so desperately to tell her she’s going to be a grandmother, wanting to tell her everything that’s happened since she left.

“He didn’t throw any of it away,” Billy mumbles in disbelief.

“Is it your moms stuff?” you ask, as you sit beside him.

He hands you a photo, it’s of an infant Billy being held by a beautiful blonde lady. You’d never seen any photos of Billy as a baby.

“Huh,” you say, “So our kids gonna be this cute.”

Billy shoves you playfully, “With any luck, it’ll only have my genes.”

You giggle, happy when this side of Billy makes a resurgence. “I’m hoping and praying.”

He hands you another photo, one of when he’s roughly a year old and he’s standing in front of his mom while holding onto her hands. He’s learning how to walk. You scan over it, smiling back at his mom. “She’s so pretty,” you muse, “You look like her.”

You swear he blushes, “Yeah, she was beautiful.”

He continues pulling the items out, showing you every photo and explaining every random item. Billy visibly relaxes, an easy smile plastered on his face and he’s never looked prettier. You kiss his face, starting at his jaw and all the way up to his hairline.

“Oh! Wait!” You spring up and barrel out of the room, only to return with an empty photo album. You sit back down and hand it to him, “Here, you can put them in here.”

He takes it gratefully and gradually, the two of you fill the photo album. Billy then moves onto the second box. It’s his jewelry and a few clothing items but at the bottom of it, his dirty magazines sit. Billy laughs, pulling them out.

“Why the hell didn’t he just throw these away?”

“Who is he to become between a man and his porn collection?” you tease, pulling the first Penthouse magazine from him.

You start flipping through it, seeing in your peripheral that Billy’s watching you with an amused expression. After flipping a page, Polaroids fall into your lap. You drop the magazine and gather up the photos, blushing when you see they’re of you and Billy. Some raunchier than others.

“You kept these?” you ask, softly.

“How do you think I got through those weeks without ya?” he nudges your shoulder.

You look at him, mouth agape. You’re extremely flattered at the thought of Billy pleasuring himself to photos of you. Granted, half of these, his dick is inside of you but still.

“You jacked off to these?” you ask, lowering your voice.

“Oh, yeah,” he says, grabbing them from your hand and shuffling through them. “This one’s my favorite,” he hands you a Polaroid, it’s one of the day at the lake.

You’re embarrassed as you look down at your body, riding Billy on a towel with your swimsuit top not covering your breasts but pulled to the sides. Then you tilt your head, looking at where your bodies meet and you can see just the tiniest inch of his cock. It is a hot photo and you remember how turned on you got when Billy reached for the camera.

Suddenly, you feel his lips on your neck and then his tongue, wet and hot against your sensitive flesh. You moan softly at the feeling, tilting your head even more to give him access while you continue to look at the photo. He reaches into your pants, cupping you over your underwear and your breath hitches in your throat. He gently moves his fingers, teasing the wetness out of you. The photo flutters out of your grip.

“You like it, too,” he notes, feeling you soak through the thin cotton.

“Uh huh,” you moan, awkwardly spreading your thighs and feeling as the magazines and photos fall from your lap onto the floor.

His hand rises a bit, just to snake into your underwear and his fingertips drag up through folds and stop at your clit. He sucks on your neck, rubbing languid circles against your sensitive bud. You lean back, hands pressing on the floor behind you to keep you upright. Billy’s fingers feel like magic, always do. You ache for him, want to feel him all over. You get frustrated sometimes, wanting him closer even if he’s as close as he can physically be.

“Billy,” you whimper, your arms shaking as you try to hold yourself up but when he slides two fingers inside you, you collapse onto your back and kick your feet out to spread your legs further.

He chuckles, leaning down to kiss your lips softly. He pulls away too quickly, so you cling onto his shirt and pull him back down, feeling his smile into the kiss. You lick against his teeth, still pulling at his shirt. He gives you what you want, licking into your mouth and curling his fingers inside you. Your back arches off the ground, moaning into his mouth. He groans back, his fingers faltering when you reach over to feel his cock straining against his jeans. You’re eager, unbuttoning his jeans and trying to claw them down, but with the way he’s positioned you can’t. He lifts his bum up and helps shove them to his thighs with his free hand. Your fingers wrap around his cock as soon as it’s free, stroking him quickly. He laughs against your mouth.

“Slow down,” he mumbles and you lick his teeth again, groaning in protest but you still listen.

You can hear his breathing and the slick sound of his fingers pumping in and out of your soaking pussy. You swipe your thumb against his tip, feeling his precum bubbling out and you spread it around which earns you a guttural groan from the blonde. You lift your other hand and push him back, leaning yourself over to take him in your mouth. You have to taste. Swirling your tongue around his pulsing head, your hand strokes whatever’s not in your mouth. Billy leans his head back, biting his lip to stifle his moans. If only he’d turned on the stereo when he plugged it in.

Billy’s pulling his hand away only to snake both of them into your hair, propping himself on his knees and pushing you further down on his cock. You’d be pissed about the loss but his pursuit of his own pleasure turns you on more. You position yourself better in front of him, grabbing onto his thighs while you breath through your nose as you take him into your mouth as deep as you can. You bob your head, by the aid of Billy’s grip on your hair as he guides you up and down. You look up to see his eyes meeting yours, mouth slightly agape and his eyes glassy. You can’t help but gag as he reaches the back of your throat and he moans, voice hoarse and just a tad whiny. It makes you squirm, feeling slick dripping down your thighs.

“Fuck,” he whines, as you pull off him with a loud pop, drool stringing between your lips and the head of his cock.

You stick your tongue out, eyes wide up at him and he wraps his fingers around his cock as he slaps it against your tongue. Your lips tug up before you wrap them around his head again, sucking hard and then pulling off again. Billy’s pushing you down into your back, then. He rips your leggings and panties off before following suit with your top and bra. As he’s lining himself up with your center, you start unbuttoning his work shirt and pushing it off his shoulders, the sleeves catching at his elbows. He gets the hint, smiling when he pulls it off and then grabs the hem of his tank top, bringing it over his head and tossing it aside. He presses his palm against your chest, easing you back down. He grabs his dick again and presses his tip through your folds, shaking it against your clit. You gasp, hands squeezing your own breasts.

“Give it to me, Billy,” you beg, “please.”

He smirks and then plunges his cock into you. It stings slightly as he bottoms out, his hand coming up to dig his fingers into your thigh. Your eyes flutter shut and he brings his other hand to grab your jaw.

“Look at me,” he orders and you obey, eyelids flying open to see his gorgeous, flushed face looking back at you.

Billy shoves his fingers in your mouth and you suck on them lazily, moaning around them as he rocks his hips against you. He pumps in and out of you, deep and slow as his thumb digs into your cheek. It’s crazy, with his fingers shoved in your mouth and his cock balls deep in you, all you can think is how fucking much you love him. How you can’t live without him. How you never want to go a day without this.

“Closer,” you mouth around his fingers.

He pulls them out and looks down at you curiously, slowing his thrusts.

“Closer, want you closer,” you plead.

Billy smiles, leaning down and wrapping his arms around you before pulling you up, holding you against his chest. Your arms circle his neck, holding him close while he moves his hips quicker again. You moan softly against his ear, clinging onto him for dear life. His arms tighten around you and you’re thankful for all the working out he does. He’s able to press against your g-spot with every thrust as this angle and you’re quickly coming undone around him. In attempt to help, you writhe against him. His labored breathing followed by small, high pitched moans in your ear pushes you along. You scratch at his upper back, letting him know you’re close and he starts pounding up into you harder. It snaps, the build up of your orgasm falling over the edge and you shake against him, biting his shoulder to quiet the cry you let out.

Billy’s leaning down, resting you on your back and relentlessly thrusting into you. You scratch all the way down his back, overwhelmed with pleasure as you ride out your climax. He freezes, eyes squeezing shut and gritting his teeth as he releases inside of you. You hold onto his face, wrapping your legs around his waist and grinding your hips up against him. He whimpers, hands grabbing onto your hips to pin you down. He collapses his weight on top of you and it’s the most comfortable feeling in the world. You squeeze him in your arms and pepper his neck with kisses.

He finally lifts himself up to his elbows and gazes down at you, curls sticking to his face with sweat. He looks ethereal, always does but more so now than ever.

“I love you,” he whispers, caressing your face.

“I love you, Billy.”

Three months of saving and he’s about to burn through it in an instant. Billy peers down at the ring, reading the engraving and second guessing himself. Not about proposing, but about the words he’s chosen.

Forever, Snoopy.

He knows you’ll get it but it feels cheesy and he’s a bit uncomfortable with that side of him showing. He knows he shouldn’t feel embarrassed around you. Besides, girls like that kind of mushy, romantic stuff. Billy has a hard time with being perceived as anything other than tough and cool so he tells himself you’ll think the ring is cool and that it was very cool of him to reference how you met and totally not tacky and cheesy.

It burns a hole in his pocket as he walks into the restaurant, seeing you sitting there with your dad, brother and Mary and wonders if proposing in such a public setting is a bad idea. Oh, God, what if you say no?

He feels his lunch threaten to make a reappearance and he redirects his path to the bathroom. He locks the door behind him and looks at himself in the mirror. He wore his best shirt, the maroon one and he’s only buttoned the last two buttons. He shimmies out of his leather jacket, suddenly feeling too hot. He rests it on the counter and then turns the cold water on. He splashes it on his face and then takes a deep breath. Why would you say no? There’s no possible timeline in which you say no to marrying him.

Hell, he’d asked your dad this morning and if he doubted your acceptance he would’ve said something like ‘Sure, Billy, spend all of the tiny bit you’ve saved to move out of my house to get rejected by my daughter’ instead of “Yes, of course you have my blessing.”

Billy takes a deep breath and exits the bathroom, only to turn around and retrieve his jacket. Nerves be damned, he was gonna marry you. He arrives to the table and you stand to greet him, his eyes darting to the tiny baby bump more obvious than it’s ever been in the tight dress you’re wearing. He kisses you, hand pressing to your hip as he does so.

“Hi, baby,” you say to him with those dreamy eyes.

“Hi,” he coos back, his nerves subsiding the second your eyes meet. He forgets why he was nervous in the first place. “Sorry, I'm late,” he apologizes to you and then your family, as he sits down.

Your dad gives him a knowing smile and it makes Billy even more nervous. He’s in his own head during the whole dinner, missing questions directed at him. You reach over and squeeze his bicep, asking if he’s alright and Billy just nods.

Then he tells himself he’s got nothing to worry about and maybe right now isn’t the right time to propose. He ignores your dads pointed looks and when you excuse yourself to restroom Billy announces to the table, “I am going to propose just not here.”

“You nervous?” Dale chuckles, sipping his wine.

Billy blushes, “I just… I don’t know, feel like we should be alone.”

Mary reaches in her bag and pulls out the Polaroid camera, “Then you have to take the photo.”

“I can’t do both at the same time,” Billy explains, a little exasperated.

Mary grins, “Why don’t you do it when she gets back? As she walks up, get down on one knee.”

Billy’s eyes widen, thinking about what a spectacle that would be, “God, no. I want to do it when we’re alone.”

“It’s their story, Mary,” your dad says, “Let them write it.”

“Fine,” she grumbles and reaches for her wine.

“I’ll ask for you if you’re scared,” your brother offers Billy earnestly.

Billy pats his back, “Thanks, kid but I’ve got to do this myself.”

You return to the table and raise an eyebrow as they all turn to Billy expectantly, “What’s going on?”

“Nothing!” Billy smiles too wide at you.

And he doesn’t ask, he thinks about it when you’re cuddling before bed that night but he can’t bring himself to do it. He presses kisses against the back of your neck

“You know I love you, right?” he mumbles, almost too quiet for you to hear.

You lean your head back, awkwardly angling your lips to his. He squeezes your waist and kisses back deeply.

“I love you, too Billy. Why are you acting weird?” you turn around to look into his eyes.

“I’m not acting weird,” he argues, but his cheeks feel hot.

“Are you trying to ask for a blow job?” you tease, pushing his hair back.

“I mean…” he laughs, “If you’re offering, I’ll accept.”

“Go to bed,” you giggle and tuck your head in his shoulder.

He’ll ask in the morning, he decides.

#billy hargrove x female reader #billy hargrove x y/n #billy hargrove fic #billy hargrove fanfiction #billy hargrove x you #billy hargrove angst #billy Hargrove smut #billy hargrove x f!reader

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phantomphangphucker · 25 days

Text

Phic Phight - Death’s Brought Me Company

@Mimca @thesilentbard @carelisswriting @kinglazrus

There are times Vlad is truly baffled at how irresponsible, foolish, reckless, inane, stupid, dangerous, dense, careless, thoughtless, witless, idiotic, and hazardous, Maddie and Jack could be. They were his friends, yes, but they were a menace to everyone around them and he is not impressed with their son becoming their lastest ‘screw up’.

Vlad hums as he sorts through a few papers, there wasn’t too much approvals he needed to go over and sign but it was still work all the same. It would take him a few hours at least, rather than the seven plus hours poor people had to work but well that’s the perks of wealth no matter how questionably immorally acquired. That questionable morality was why he didn’t bring up his business around those friends of his, they didn’t exactly approve of how Vlad got himself to where he is today. He finds it to be rather hypocritical considering those two worked in an area that was highly morally questionable as well, and he highly doubts they’ve achieved everything they have though one hundred percent legal means as well. Alas, he had little interest in arguing such things with them, both could be rather dense after all.

He’s making good time on this application for zoning investigation and work arounds, which was starting to look like he’d definitely have to deal with it personally and with a little intimidation perhaps. Then his phone goes off, he’s tempted to let it simply go to voicemail, no one was truly entitled to his time or immediate attention after all. Then the caller id tells him it’s them, it’s Jack and Maddie, and any ideas of giving the caller(s) the cold shoulder goes out the window. They’d caught up with him four days ago? He’d given them his condolences for their portal, while also adding in some maybe snide remarks about how ‘at least there was no tragic accidents this time’. Secretly, he wanted that to be a success, in part because he knew they’d just keep trying and he’d rather them succeed before hurting themselves. The other part was simply that he can then show them his portal in proper, since they didn’t want seeing his to influence their own work; establish something themselves without others input was something he could respect. But without them being able to sense and feel the flow of ectoplasm even he’s not sure how they’ll manage it. The fact that they’re calling again so soon means either it has indeed worked and they had only needed to fiddle with it a bit more, or someone’s been hurt. All he can do is hope it’s the former, as he picks up the phone, “Maddie? Jack?”.

It’s Maddie’s voice he hears, hearing her voice before Jack’s excited greetings was never a good thing. The last time that happened Jack had gotten himself hospitalised from a head on collision with a semi truck. The time before that, Jack had somehow gotten the house teleported into the mirror dimension, which Vlad hadn’t even known existed. Her voice is worried, “Vlad, I think we messed up”.

Oh no. Vlad sighs, folding up the paperwork that won’t be looked at again today, and puts a few of his fingers to his forehead as he replies, “what happened? Are you two okay?”.

“We’re… fine-”.

“And! Our portals working!”. Ah there’s Jack, there’s excitement in his voice but it’s… far too subdued for the man. Very far too subdued. Something’s gone wrong.

Did a ghost come through their portal? A dangerous one perhaps? Or is the Infinite Realm side location an unpleasant one? Is the portal unstable? There’s lots of possibilities.

“Jack dear, let me explain”.

“Right, sorry Mads. Hey Vlad!”.

Vlad rolls his eyes a little fondly, also slight annoyed of course, Jack could be too eager and exuberant, “yes hello, Jack. Now do explain, Madeline”.

“Maddie”, she clears her throat, “after the portal didn’t work we decided to go for a walk, to try and think in the fresh air and cheer up”.

Perfectly reasonable and expected so far.

“We even formulated a new shaft design we were going to try and work in, but when we got back Jazz… screamed-”.

Jack butts in again, “it was awful and I never want to hear that from my precious princess ever again”; Vlad can hear the man physically shudder. Yes, he supposes hear one’s child scream is never good or pleasant.

“Agreed, Jack. But-”, she sighs, “-it was from the lab, Vlad, so we ran down, worried of course-”. It sounds like she’s bitting her nails, something she only did when very worried. “-the last time anyone screamed in a lab was you and that was terrifying”.

Vlad grumbling, “oh I’m well aware”, shaking his head, “is young Jasmine alright?”.

“Yes, yes, thankfully. But… Danny’s not”. Well butter biscuits, Vlad gets up immediately to go grab his coat as she continues, “apparently Danny saw how upset we were and thought he’d try to fix the portal for us-”.

Vlad pauses with one arm through his jacket sleeve, he almost squawks but he absolutely does not squawk, “what”; he knows a bit of his ghostly power leaked into his voice and that made his response less pleasant on the ears, but he hardly cares. “How did he even get down there”.

She doesn’t chastise him for using his more ghostly voice over phone, meaning she might be concerned enough to have not even noticed, “we… might have forgot to lock the lab when we left-”.

Jack butting in yet again, “but the kids have been drilled on safety! He really should have known not too!”.

Vlad growls low, “they’re children, Jack”, pulling his jacket on fully and taking a breath, “children are not known for abiding by rules and are well known to have invincibility complexes”. Daniel was a stellar and unfortunate example of that. That boy had tried to eat a pie that was actively on fire before, and don’t get him started on the child trying to ‘bake himself’ or the blackbird pie incident.

Maddie swallows, “I know we weren’t as careful as we should have been, Vlad. Danny… wandered inside the portal to see if he could fix it and it turned out we… forgot to unplug it as well and… forgot there was an on switch inside that needed to be turned on”.

Vlad knows well his eyes flash red, “excuse me, would you care to repeat that”, that was practically a threat and he knew it. How could they be so! So! So stupid! So utterly and completely and unbelievably moronic! “You left it plugged in, forgot an on switch INSIDE THE MACHINE, failed to lock the Cracker Jack door, and left a dangerous highly volatile machine in working condition alone while your children were home. Are you two actively TRYING to hospitalise people?!”. It takes some effort to not simply crush his phone, “college I can understand, we were all too excitable, but now? Absolutely not”, growling again, “now. What is Daniel’s condition”. That’s a demand not a question.

He can hear the wince in her voice, good, and her tones shaky, for a change he’s hoping that’s from fear of him. “He’s… he’s out of the hospital now, Vlad. He’s-”.

What. “You mean to tell me he was in hospital and you didn’t call me immediately. Madeline, what the butter biscuits is wrong with you two!”. This was completely unacceptable. He paces in a circle, he wanted her to just hang up already so he can head over there personally and shoot something just to get across how unbelievably pissed and unimpressed he is. As it is he’s seriously debating throwing one of his crystal whiskey glasses at a wall.

“I, we knew you’d be mad and, Vlad, it’s not the same. There’s no ecto-acne, his hair’s the same. The doctor even said he was having a perfectly normal reaction to high voltage electrocution. His vitals weren’t even wonky!”.

Jack blurting out, “we were confused! Relieved but confused!”.

Vlad pauses, stilling, “he… doesn’t have ecto-acne? None of my symptoms?”. That… then perhaps the boy would be fine? Wouldn’t be changed by them?

Maddie clearly bites her lip, “no and I thought that, maybe, if you were around, with your ecto-field, that might change things. I thought it was a risk and I knew you’d come immediately if we called”.

Vlad pinches the bridge of his nose and sighs aggressively. He supposes they very well could have a point there. As there would be no way to safely confirm if Vlad being near would have some effect on someone else who got caught in a portal. It would genuinely be a risk. Even if she had explained that worry to him he knows he would have gone anyway, he wouldn’t have been able to take her at her word. He still can’t, won’t. “I want you to send me his medical records, immediately. I’ll read them on my way”.

“I’d chastise you about distracted flying but, I understand. We’ve poured over them already and they really are normal. But, he’s- something’s not right even if he keeps saying he’s fine”.

Vlad glares at a wall, it melts slightly, “butter biscuits”, at least his tablet pings an email, him transforming as he opens it, it’s the medical files. Him nodding to himself, at least they had the files on standby already, “got them. I’ll be there shortly. However, do know that I am not impressed”, and he hangs up without giving them the chance to say goodbyes or see you soons.

Him flying out a window and flipping through his tablet, the files are… somehow perfectly normal and Vlad is a little baffled. His own records showed himself as having a disturbingly low heart rate and blood pressure, an extreme feverish body temp, and far too few breaths per minute. Daniel’s was: eighty two bpm, one-twenty over eighty mmHg, ninety-seven point nine Fahrenheit, and a respiratory rate of eleven. His respiratory was on the lower end but it wasn’t actively concerning, Vlad himself often averaged only four.

Normal was good. But Madeline said she still felt something wasn’t right, perhaps she was simply paranoid or perhaps the electrocution had simply raised Daniel’s vitals for a period of time. Vlad shaking his head, the fact that the boy had been inside of the portal and electrocuted instead of simply blasted in the face by pure ecto-energy was horrific; but perhaps such an unfortunate experience would prevent him from becoming something no longer truly human. Vlad did consider himself better for how he is now, but that didn’t make the process of become content with it a pleasant one, it also didn’t make being a halfa a good thing as it arguably was not. It was a rather lonely existence, which Vlad would rather not see changed in this particular instance. It could one day get him experimented on by his own government, and under that same government he did not truly have rights. He had nothing he could compare himself to, for curiosities sake or for the sake of his well being. There was also the simple fact that having powers resulted in his view of the world and other people being undeniably altered. The mental changes and instincts were an entirely separate issue, one he’s embraced, but that applies to him and perhaps not to a young teenage boy.

He now rather wished it had been Maddie or Jack that had gotten caught in their own creation, rather than a child.

Either way, he’s here now. Floating invisibly above the FentonWorks building and feeling the desire to blast that sign of theirs out of frustration and annoyance. One would think after what happened with him they’d be even slightly more careful, but apparently not. He lands with a scowl, phasing through the front door and, at the sight that only Maddie and Jack appearing to be around, transforms back into his human form and drops his invisibility; both of them jerk a little and he glares instead of half heartedly apologising or mocking them. “Where is he”. It’s not a question and they know it. Vlad can smell that the boy’s not here, and he’s none too pleased about that.

Jack rubs his neck, “school”. While Maddie winces. Vlad glaring a little more, “he just got of the hospital for at the very least being electrocuted and you sent him to school”.

Maddie standing up from her chair, hands up pacifyingly, “he wanted to, Vlad”, dropping her hands, “even Jazz tried to get him to stay home but he got mad at her for being overbearing and still left”.

Jack frowning, “he’s been making almost every excuse he can to not be here, kinda part of our worry you know?”, and laughs in that awkward way that Vlad knows means he’s upset and possibly even scared.

Vlad rubs his temples and walks in further, “I suppose that’s acceptable then, but what teen actually wants to go to school?”.

“Jazz thinks he’s traumatised and doesn’t want to be around the portal”, Maddie frowns, “which is understandable”.

Vlad scowling, “yes, yes it is”.

Jack tilting his head in confusion, “but he’s still cleaning the lab, like he’s supposed to so I don’t think Jazz’s theory makes sense”.

Vlad blinks at the man, he can’t be serious. “You’re telling me, you have Daniel who was just in a portal accident cleaning your lab? Surrounded by ectoplasm samples and mess. Jack, I am genuinely debating trying to beat you up”. The man looks apologetic rather than frightened, which is a fair bit grating. Giving Maddie a hard look, “how can you justify him being around that if you were worried about him being around me”.

“We don’t really know how different your ecto-field is, Vlad. And you give off a ton more than any samples we have. For all any of us know there could be some form of halfa gene or energy in yours”.

Alright, Vlad can admit that could very well be the case. Sighing, “fine. I still don’t approve”, moving into the kitchen/dinning room fully, “now what about him seems wrong? I know him being avoidant, of you two or the lab or merely the portal would not be enough to set off alarm bells”. After all, such behaviour would be perfectly normal and human.

Maddie frowns and grabs a sample vial out of the fridge, “we found blood and ectoplasm in the bathroom this morning, and remembering what… happened with you and your wings, well”, she hands it over to him and he gets her concern immediately, it looks like one of his own samples. “It’s not separating out like human blood and ghost ectoplasm normally does. Normally does, with any sample that isn’t from you or someone severely contaminated long term”.

Vlad nods at the sample, this was near as good as proof to him. He winces a bit internally though, feeling a bit of a pang of sympathy for the boy. The wings ‘coming out’ as it were, was incredibly unpleasant. He’s glad Jack and Maddie had been there for that, to ‘help’ even if it was mostly them getting things straightened out and cleaning him up when he was frankly too exhausted to do it himself. However this meant they weren’t there for their son, which would be the more important one to be there for. Rolling his right shoulder a bit, “I’m assuming there’s more, because yes, him just being contaminated is a viable option”.

Jack nods, “he keeps dropping things and acts very freaked out after”. Maddie nodding at her husband then looking back to Vlad, “I’m fairly certain I saw his cereal spoon go through his fingers rather than just dropping it. And he has that unnerving aura around him that you do, I might be desensitised to it but that doesn’t mean I don’t still feel it sometimes”, and she laughs playfully a little.

Vlad glaring, flashing his eyes at her, “I’m not in the mood, Madeline”; making her wince. Vlad pinching the bridge of his nose yet again, eyes squeezing shut, “alright, so it would seem that Daniel is mostly likely a halfa now, correct?”. Dropping his hand and eyeing them as they both nod, “yet he did not have ecto-acne or abnormal vitals?”. More nodding, “and he’s being avoidant of a house full of ghost hunting gear as well as the two ghost hunters who reside in it?”.

Maddie smacks herself in the face immediately, Jack thumping his head down on the table. Maddie groaning, “why did we not clue in to that? Ugh. He’s afraid we’re going to hurt him or hunt him”. Jack snapping his head up, “we would never!”.

Vlad gives them a bit of a pitying look, eyeing Jack specifically, “you two found out the same time I did about my altered state of being, there was never a chance for me to have those kinds of worries”, scoffing, “not that I would have. But Daniel is a child. His brain isn’t even fully developed, it’s a wonder he didn’t run away on you. Of course he’s afraid of ghost hunters if he’s a ghost himself”. They both wince at least.

And the then house phone goes off, Maddie picking it up immediately, “hello?”.

Vlad tilts his head, his ghostly hearing making it easy to listen in. “Hey Mrs. Fenton. Was wondering if Danny could spend the night? We got a big project and apparently the dummy forgot to actually do his part”. That reeks of a lie, it’s not a bad one though, he’ll give what sounds like a teen girl that much; it was most likely that Samantha girl.

Maddie eyes the vial now sitting on the table, hopefully she’s thinking what he is, Daniel’s friends knew and were trying to help him, most likely with the fresh wings. Vlad would gamble a concerning amount of money on the belief that Daniel most certainly did not actually go to school and neither did his friends. Maddie shakes her head to herself, “I would really rather he come home, I’m sure any school work he needs to do is important but I’d like him home”.

Vlad rolls his eyes, the woman was going to make the boy a bundle of nerves, so he walks over and phases the phone out of her grip, making her jump. She glares at him and puts her hands on her hips, “what do you think you’re doing?”. Vlad simply smirks, said smirk likely airing on the ‘villainous’ side, before giving his attention to the phone, “tell young Daniel that his godfather would like to see him and that said grandfather is not unfamiliar with certain portal-related accidents, as it were”. Maddie looks worried. Him moving the phone away from his ear and covering the mic, “relax, dear Maddie. Being blunt with the boy is far better than making him scared to come home”.

The, “what are you talking about?!?”, that comes through the phone making all three of them wince from the static and warble. Maddie paling a little and leaning against the counter, after all, that kind of vocal effect was explicitly ghostly and one she’s heard from Vlad quite literally today multiple times. It was more solid proof. A different male voice, that isn’t spectrally infused, pipes up in the background, “dude, your voice?”.

Hmmm, yes his friends did indeed know. Vlad smirking a little again, “Daniel, tell that friend of yours not to worry about your voice, it’s perfectly normal when emotional”.

“Um. Uh. Okay?”. Oh the boy sounds so unsure and freaked out, Vlad almost wants to mock him a little. It sounds like he’s turned his head away from the phone, “um, so apparently what just happened is normal? And my uncle god father guy might be, you know, kinda like me or something? And I should probably actually go home”.

Then the girls voice again, “if your parents shoot you, I’m stabbing them and burying their bodies in my garden”.

The other male sounds like he’s frowning, “do you want us to go with? You know, moral support?”.

It would seem Daniel had good friends. A blessing indeed. Hopefully they were less reckless and idiotic than Vlad’s own friends, regardless of how fond of them he was. However, Vlad has no interest in explaining himself to three teenagers, Daniel needed the information the other two could hear it from him, “I’d much rather not have this conversation with three hormonal teenagers”.

Daniel is clearly still talking to his friends, “okay so that’s a no, Tuck. Apparently we’re too hormonal”.

“More like homicidal, I do have boots with knives inside them”.

“I’m not wearing your shoes, Sam”.

“You don’t need to wear them! Throw them!”.

“Your shoes weigh, like, twenty goddamn pounds?”.

The boy butts into the argument, “I’m not sure that matters anymore, man. You accidentally lifted up my dad’s car”.

“Shut up, Tuck. Ugh”. Daniel’s attention does seem to return to the phone at that, “am I in trouble?”.

Vlad rolls his eyes, “hardly. The only ones in trouble are two reckless scientists who let this happen for a second time”; he throws another glare at the two who smartly wince and glance away.

Daniel almost excited whispers, “oh my god my parents are in trouble, that’s kinda awesome”; his friends laugh in the background.

“Well if you find that amusing, come home and mock them”.

Daniel sighs, “okay fine”.

Vlad nodding to himself, “good. Now for the love of all the Gouda in the world, do not try to bind or strap down your, let’s say, feathered friends, you’ll just damage them and bent feathers are hardly becoming of a man or boy”. Vlad took expert care of his wings and he wasn’t about to tolerate Daniel not doing the same, or everything forbid misshaping them.

This time Daniel actually squeaks, “okay”, then hangs up.

Vlad feels quite content with himself actually. Looking to Maddie and Jack, who still look rather awkward, “he’s coming. Now hopefully I don’t need to tell you two to avoid staring or trying to take samples from him”, he doesn’t like that they appear slightly confused, “Daniel isn’t me, I was and am an adult and an ecto-ologist myself, he is neither”.

Maddie sighs and nods to herself, “right right, he needs us a parents only and the last thing we’d want to do is make him feel like an experiment”.

Vlad nodding strongly right back, “indeed”.

Jack smacking his fist into his hand and springing up, “oh! We should change so we’re not in the, you know, ghost hunter stuff!”. Vlad chuckling a little, “that’s not a bad idea”, which makes the man run off upstairs. Maddie shaking her head fondly and moving to follow after him; Vlad watching her go.

They were fools but they cared, it was only too bad their foolishness had to bring harm unto others so often. Yes Daniel’s own actions had been foolish, much like Vlad’s had been, but that boy was a child and that made a world of difference. A child should have the expectation that something that could alter their very being and species wouldn’t be left unattended and plugged in inside an unlocked room. Daniel was well within reason to believe that the worst that could happen was a slight burn or small shock, a cut perhaps. Not death, by half or full.

Daniel arrives before his parents actually finish changing, getting in and out of biohazard suits wasn’t exactly easy, even for Vlad since he couldn’t phase through the material. Arguably this was for the best, Vlad was watching the door, leaning back against the kitchen entryway wall, as Daniel sticks his head in cautiously. Daniel spotting him, stares, looking confused, so Vlad gestures at his eyes and flashes them their ghostly red. Daniel jumps a little before relaxing and moving inside fully, he’s… holding a blanket around his shoulders even if it’s not doing much to hide that there’s something large underneath. Vlad definitely wants to mock him, very badly in fact, drawling a very sarcastic, “impeccable fashion choices, Daniel. I applaud you”.

Daniel scowls at him, “what else am I supposed to do, you jerk”, there’s a bit of humour in his eyes so Vlad counts that as a win. Daniel glancing around as the door shuts and he shuffles inside more, “where are, mom and dad?”.

“Upstairs at the moment”, Vlad eyes the ground around the boy, no shadow. Daniel is absolutely a halfa, even with wings he could still technically be merely extremely contaminated, but without a shadow there’s no way he’s fully human. Light simply passed through their kind in the same way it did with ghosts and there was nothing that could be done about that. Which yes, was part of why Vlad preferred to avoid needless public appearances.

Daniel nods, eyeing Vlad, “so, where’s yours? Or were you just yanking my chain?”.

Vlad rolls his eyes at that, pushing himself off the wall and letting his wings unfurl out through the holes he had in the backs off all his clothes these days, crimson red feathers lining the inside and his white ones covering the outside. Stretching one out to flick Daniel in the forehead with the primary feathers. Daniel stares wide-eyed, “how did you do that? How do you hide them?! I have so many questions”.

Vlad chuckles, his blatant curiosity, with no hints of horror or distrubia was a genuinely welcome reaction. It reminded him of Jack, except without getting his very fresh at the time feathers grabbed and prodded. Folding his wings up against his back again, though leaving them out instead of reabsorbing them, “I imagine so”, walking over towards Daniel and grabbing the blanket he’s still using as a cover and pulling it up some, ignoring Daniel’s clear embarrassment. “We’re malleable things, absorbing them inside ourselves is a simple though uncomfortable task”. The constant full sensation in his torso and the aches from wings that wanted to be stretched out could be incredibly annoying and cumbersome. Humming, “yours are much too fresh though, you need to heal first. I can say the colour seems to suit you well though”. The red inner feathers of his own used to confuse him, until he grew up and stablised into his more vampiric appearance anyways. Daniel’s were white and seemed to shimmer or sparkle like fresh snow, which went well with his pale skin; they even felt cold like snow, was his core an ice type perhaps? The black tipping on all the feathers, as well as his lesser coverts and alula feathers being black was a decent accent and went well with his dark hair. If Vlad had to guess, Daniel’s tertial feathers are black as well.

Daniel blinks, apparently a little baffled by how calm Vlad was being, “yours… go with your eyes?”

Alright yes, Vlad laughs at that, “they suit me more than you can tell, boy”.

Daniel snorts at that and rolls his eyes, “whatever, old man”, though his fidgeting fingers give away his nerves.

“Alright! Is he here yet!”, Jack pops down the stairs in his stupid ghost themed overalls, how did that man not understand that those things did not flatter him at all? Jack brightening up at seeing his son, and basically bounding down the stairs. Daniel pulling the wing out of Vlad’s grasp and hiding it under the blanket again, “oh! Um, hi? Dad?”, cringing dramatically, “what are you wearing?!”. See even Daniel understands it’s unbecoming.

Vlad has no desire to play a game of ‘beat around the bush’ so he nods to Jack, and Maddie as she comes down as well, “he doesn’t have a shadow, meaning that yes, he’s a halfa as well”.

“I- wait what?”, Daniel looks down, “what do you mean in don’t have a shadow?”, does a little circle spin ‘thing’ while staring at the ground and blinking, “holy shit I don’t have a shadow”.

“Language, my boy”. Had he seriously not noticed? Well Vlad knows which parent he got that lack of attention to detail from, as endearing as that particular flaw could be it wasn’t a good one.

Maddie gives Vlad a bit of a pinched smile before making a point to hold Jack back from crowding the boy, her walking up and ruffling Daniel’s hair, Daniel eyeing the bare hand cautiously. “To be fair, sweety, we didn’t notice either”.

Perhaps he got it from both of them. How unfortunate. Vlad shakes his head, stepping back a little to let the mother look over her son and the father hover close enough by that it doesn’t quite qualify as crowding. Vlad huffing, “considering you didn’t notice an entire misplaced on switch I’m not sure why I’m surprised”.

Both parents wince but Daniel blinks at him a bit owlishly, it absolutely does not come off as human, “wait, how do you know that?”.

Jack rubbing his neck and getting his son’s attention, “well, we inspected the portal after your, uh, accident. We wanted to know how it happened, since we thought it was completely nonfunctional”.

“Right. Your ground breaking life’s work. Got it”. Even Vlad cringes from that response, it was explicitly bitter.

Jack holds up his hands, looking awkward as he should for that comment. “No not just how you got it to work. More like how it worked at all, every other time we’ve failed it had to be completely reworked so it should have been fine not being unplugged… or locked… which yeah was really stupid of us. Heh”, and rubs his neck.

Vlad sighs, touching a few fingers to his forehead, “what your buffoon of a father is trying to say is that he wanted to know how you were even able to get hurt”, then glaring at Jack, “I am still fully tempted to smack both of you over the head, know that”.

Daniel actually looks amused and pleased at that; progress. And stares a little surprised when Jack smacks Vlad on the back a couple of times, paying no mind to the wings. Muttering to himself, “Huh, I guess they are okay”. Meanwhile Vlad’s simply trying to stop himself from getting knocked over.

Maddie nodding and startling the boy a little, “we’ve had twenty years to get used to him and all the changes that happened, you’re fine and we definitely are not going to shoot you or anything of that sort”. Jack nodding and grinning in agreement readily.

Vlad inspects his nails a little, “I’d be quite annoyed if that wasn’t the case”, waving at Jack dismissively while speaking to Daniel again, “your father was more explicitly responsible for my little accident”, huffing, “though I’ll admit sticking my face directly in front of a potentially viable proto portal was indeed foolish”.

“I mean, at least you didn’t try to put it around your neck to wear it like a collar”.

Vlad blinks at the boy, a bit affronted, “that would be utterly imbecilic rather than just foolish”.

Maddie blinks before putting a hand over her face again, “right, yeah”, looking at Vlad, “we caught him doing that with another proto portal model, that’s why we stopped making them”.

Vlad smacks Daniel over the back of the head immediately, “you are a danger to yourself and a complete moron. Child or no”.

Daniel squawks, “ow! Hey!”, and covers his head with his hands, “it was funny!”; this all resulting in him dropping the blanket, which thumps to the ground quietly considering how much it doing so revealed. Daniel blinking owlishly again and eyeing his folks as they get their first proper glimpse of the wings.

Vlad humming to himself while the boy has an internal crisis or two, “hmmm, I was right, your tertials are indeed black”.

“My, what?”.

Vlad unfolds a wing some and gesture at the fluffier feathers that stayed close to his side and back, “the inner most feathers, the only ones that actually stay ‘fluffy’”, gesturing at Daniel’s fuzzy fluffy feathers, “you have feather down right now, that’ll go away with age”. Vlad only had to put up with that for around two years if he remembers right, Daniel’s would likely stick around for at least four; that thought making him snicker at the boy, “give it a few years, at least four, I’d say”. Daniel pouts at him.

Jack beams, “meaning more time for cute baby ghost pictures!”; that Daniel absolutely fully groans at, burying his face in his hands. “We only have five of Vlad”.

Vlad scowling, “and here I thought I burned all of those”.

“Aren’t you glad you didn’t now?!”, Jack’s grin is almost mean which is strange to see on the jubilant man, “now Danny-boy can see them!”. At least that makes Daniel laugh into his hand.

Vlad rolls his eyes, though he supposes the bonding would be worth the embarrassment. As well as reassuring to the boy that he’s normal, for their species anyways. Though… Daniel still has his wings as scrunched up and as pressed into himself as possible, he wasn’t relaxing them at all. Sighing at the boy, “the more difficult you make healing the longer it’ll take to be able to hide them”.

“Huh?”.

Vlad ignores him, as well as his parents looks of concern, and moves around Daniel to physically grab the wings and force them open and away from his back a bit. Daniel yelping and attempting to jerk out of Vlad’s grasp, “hey!”.

Vlad just glares at the very sloppy stitch work and bandaging attached with, of all things, scotch tap. This would scar horrifically if not corrected immediately, “by Gouda, who did this? This is going to heal horribly even without you trying to scrunch your wings up out of existence. Kitchen table, now, we’re fixing this”. Vlad doesn’t care that the boy is clearly embarrassed when Jack and Maddie tilt their heads over or physically move to get a look and cringe themselves.

At least Daniel does move into the kitchen, not moving his wings at all from the position Vlad effectively moved them into, good, smart boy. Daniel grumbling, “Sam did and I think she did a great job”.

“A great job for a teenager not for a doctor. Any doctor who did this would lose their license on the spot or I’d sue them into bankruptcy”.

Jack brings over their medi kit, the one they’d use on him on the rare occasion it was needed. Vlad liked to pride himself on rarely getting injured even when dealing with ghosts. Of course one can’t employ ghosts without out first proving why they’re the employer and not the employee. Skulker in particular took a while to beat down into submission. Maddie getting out what’s needed from the kit while Daniel sits down on one of the stools, “um, why is the thread in there glowing?”.

Maddie’s response is automatic and she doesn’t take her eyes off of her task, “it’s phase proof, so you won’t accidentally phase it out of your skin”.

“Oh okay, yeah that makes sense I guess”.

Vlad rolls his eyes, “I would hope so. Now hold still and don’t fold your wings in”. It was fairly clear Daniel was more comfortable with him touching his wings, likely because Vlad had his own pair, so Vlad maneuvers the wings around for Maddie as she does her work. Vlad, figuring he might as well use this time to explain and to distract the boy from the pain of this, hums, “Jack and Maddie said you’ve been clumsy, dropping things, so I take it your having issues with the powers?”. Vlad had had some control issues in the beginning, but not much. In fact, Vlad didn’t get his powers for quite a while after his accident and they came one by one and very painfully. They always stung and felt foreign the first few times, it seemed like Daniel might not be having such issues.

Daniel flushing, “oh um, yeah? It’s just comes so easily, naturally or whatever, that it kinda just keeps happening?”.

Vlad quirking a single well manicured eyebrow, “and it doesn’t hurt? At all?”.

Daniel turns his head to give Vlad a confused look, “no? Should it?”.

Jack looks relieved and gets Daniel’s attention, responding before Vlad can, “oh yeah, it was pretty bad every time a new one cropped up. Sure it was cool too! But the pain and it making his ecto-acne flair up really made it kinda suck. I totally freaked out the first time”.

Maddie nodding as she threads some more of the ecto-line, “to be fair, your best friend falling through his bed, and all his medications and monitors, while screaming would be very scary to anyone”.

Vlad huffing, “I will not admit to being terrified at the time”, was saying that basically admitting to it? Absolutely not and no one can convince him otherwise.

Daniel huffing, “then I’m not admitting to being scared either, jerk”, shaking his head gently, hopefully with the purpose of not disturbing Maddie or causing himself more pain. How well he could hide pain was a little concerning. “Should I be worried I’m not getting pain from it and stuff? And each time you got a new one?”, Daniel quirks an eyebrow, “you didn’t just get everything all at once? Ecto-acne?”.

“That level of pain would have likely knocked me unconscious for multiple days, so no. I got my powers slowly over multiple years, which were spent hospitalised”. Humming and tapping his chin, he wonders why they’re different like this? He’s clearly a halfa and not a full ghost, otherwise he wouldn’t look human at all and he wouldn’t still have a human scent; yes it was tinted with ectoplasm but it was still human. Could it be because his own accident was with a proto portal and not a genuine one? Or did the size and power output matter? Perhaps how much of the body was engulfed at once? Since it sounded like Daniel’s entire body was blasted all at once, while only his face was affected. Perhaps that was why Daniel didn’t get ecto-acne?

Jack scratches his head, “I don’t think? you need to worry? There really isn’t an ‘normal’ way this works since Vlad’s the only halfa we all know of. And your, uh accidents, were pretty different”.

Daniel quirks an eyebrow at Jack then turns the look on Vlad, clearly wanting an explanation. Vlad shrugging like talking about it didn’t really bother him, “I got blasted in the face, and only the face, by a proto portal that quite possibly had contaminated ectoplasm in it. Where as it sounds like you got blasted head to toe by a genuine fully functional portal, that would definitely have been using pure ectoplasm otherwise it wouldn’t be working”, frowning, “I also did not get electrocuted, so it is not as if you got out of this pain free”.

Daniel winces, “yeah that wasn’t fun”. Maddie and Jack also wincing, it looks like Maddie’s got the first wing back tear stitched up properly now.

Jack rubbing his neck and eyeing his son, “we are really sorry that happened though”.

Daniel shrugs, making Vlad smack him over the head again, Daniel grumbling and rubbing the back of his head, “ow. And it’s fine, dad. I shouldn’t have been messing with stuff”.

Vlad scoffs, “it shouldn’t have been accessible for you to mess with in the first place”. Making both parents look thoroughly chastised, good.

Daniel glares at Vlad, “I would have picked the lock anyways”.

Maddie glares at his back for that, “since when did you pick up lock picking, mister”.

“Uh, Tuck has a bad habit of locking himself out of his house? Sam thinks it’s too funny to help and he can’t pick a lock to save his life?”.

Vlad grins meanly, “what a budding little criminal you are”.

“Hey!”.

Vlad studiously ignores the glares Maddie and Jack throw him, clearly trying to discourage Vlad from being a more illegal bad influence on their kid. Vlad putting a proud hand to his chest, “perhaps you shall follow in my footsteps and start robbing banks”.

Maddie’s scowl can be heard in her voice, “Vlad”. Jack pouts at him, “you know we would have paid your hospital bills”.

“I have no interest in being indebted to others because of money, such things are beneath me”.

Daniel gives him an affronted look, pity, “I am not robbing banks, what the hell uncle?!? Why would you use powers for that?!? I’d use them to, like, рⷬrͬoͦᴛⷮeͤcͨᴛⷮ people or something first”.

Vlad blinks at the inhuman ghostly subvocal to that, which he’s sure Jack and Maddie didn’t pick up on. They didn’t pick up on it when he himself did it, over that pesky little possession obsession. Perhaps Daniel’s own obsession was protection based… Vlad may have to cautious of that, as he could see himself bothering a protective obsession. Beyond Jack’s and Maddie’s well being, he hardly cares if his endeavours harm others. He’s not going to comment on his suspicions though, it was rude to out another ghosts, or halfas, obsession like that and opened yourself up for attack. Jack grins, “that’s my boy!”. Making Vlad roll his eyes at the large man.

Daniel flushes though and Vlad can pick up on the slightly concerned off put look on his face, the boy likely noticed something was off with his comment. That there was a strong pushy undercurrent of pure want in there and likely in his chest as well; even if he’s positive Daniel’s core hasn’t developed enough for him to genuinely feel it yet. Daniel clearing his throat, “so um, our accidents were really different then”.

Vlad smirks at the boy, who glares back, before nodding his head, “indeed. And I suspect my ecto-acne played a large role in my being in pain and perhaps also why I took years for my powers to develop”.

Jack nods, tapping his chin, “I really wish we knew exactly why that ecto-acne happened”. Vlad nodding readily, it was something they would probably never figure out. (He would later find out, due to his ecto-acne returning and Daniel trying to help him, that it was because of pop in the filtrator. He was incredibly infuriated by that, and Jack apologising profusely didn’t little to temper his anger).

Vlad eyeing Daniel, Maddie seemed almost done with the other wing back tear, “now, care to enlighten me on your abilities? It would be best to confirm if they’re the same as mine”. At the boy eyeing him cautiously Vlad rolls his eyes with a huff, “invisibility, intangibility, gravity nullification or floating in layman’s terms, enhanced senses, increased physical ability and durability, duplication, ecto-blasts, ecto-shields, transformation, overshadowing, healing factor, teleportation, body modification or contortion, mild electrokenisis, pyrokenisis, power augmentation, ecto-twister, and a resistance to anti-ghost tech”. He studiously ignores the proud smile on Maddie’s and Jack’s faces, they always got oddly proud over how powerful he was. Yes he himself took great pride in that, being able to best relatively any ghost he came across, but as full humans they should find that unsettling and perhaps it wounded his pride a little that they did not.

Daniel blinks in that owlish way again, Vlad’s going to have to talk to him about breaking that forming habit, then whistles, “well damn, uncle. That’s nothing to piss at”.

All three adults look at him disgusted. Vlad scowling deeply, “I would rather no one ever piss on me, Daniel. That is disgusting”. Right, he always forgets that Daniel has a rather peculiar and annoying sense of humour.

Maddie shaking her head while doing up the last stitch and standing up, stretching a little and handing her tools off to Jack to clean up, “alright, you’ll be good once I get you bandaged”.

Daniel looks over his shoulder and wing a little awkwardly, “uh, thank you? Thanks, mom”, and forces a smile at her.

She ruffles his hair with a genuine soft smile, “of course, Danny. You’re more than welcome to come to us if you ever get hurt, we can teach Sam and Tuck too if you’re more comfortable with that”. Jack holding up a finger, “and them knowing would probably be a good idea anyway. Never know when you’re going to get hurt!”.

Vlad sighing and massaging his temples, “yes of course, especially since as soon as the ghosts find out there’s another halfa, they’ll want to test your metal”.

Daniel blinks, “what?”, while Maddie sorts out which bandaging she wants to use.

“Fight you, Daniel. It’s part of how ghosts socialise and establish their standing compared to each other. Ghosts are very much rule of the strong”, looking to Jack, “you two have been sticking to teaching him combat, right”. Jack nodding readily, so Vlad nods back, “good”, looking back to Daniel, “now stop dodging the powers question. Your parents aren’t freaked out by mine, they won’t be freaked out by yours”.

Jack giving his son a thumbs up, “dont worry, Danny-boy. And ghosts vary a lot and you’re young and new, so if you’ve got less than Vladdie that’s likely super normal”. Vlad nods like that’s obvious, because it was.

Daniel flushes, “uh, well I don’t think I can do all that? But I think I’m, uh, stronger than I was a few days ago”.

Vlad nodding, “you were freshly formed, as it were, a few days ago. I doubt every single ability you’ll have would have developed immediately or within a few days”.

Daniel chuckles awkwardly and rubs his neck, Maddie tapping in his back to remind him not to move too much, making Daniel look even more awkward, “yeah I guess that makes sense”, tilting his head, “um, so far then, I don’t have anything you don’t I think? Invisibility, intangibility, the gravity thing, the heightened physical ability which I’m guessing is strength and speed and stuff, probably the healing factor, body morphing, I don’t think the voice echo thing counts as a power-”.

Vlad snorts, “it does not, good for intimidation though”.

Daniel makes a face at him but continues, “-my senses are better, and transformation”.

All three adults blink, surprised. Vlad titling his head, “you can transform already? Into your more ghostly appearance?”.

Daniel’s, “yes?”, is very awkward and mousy.

Jack beams and jumps, it’s rather embarrassing and childish. “Awesome! I bet you look awesome and very spooky!”, laughing, “it took ol’ Vladdie, like, six years to do that! And! He usually couldn’t hold it for very long!”.

Vlad grumbles, not pouts, grumbles at the man, “I was still healing and it’s an entirely deferent state of being, of course I had issues, Jack”. Jack just grins and laughs a little more.

Daniel tilts his head but chuckles at Vlad, “I think it’s easy, I mean sure I detransform, I guess, accidentally. And it’s kinda weird getting it to work, but when I really remember the how I can do it”.

Maddie nods, giving the bandaging a pat down before staring up, “alright, your good”, moving her head to be more in Danny’s line of sight, “you feel like showing us? Your other form?”, then looking at Vlad with a quirked eyebrow, “I’m sure your uncle Vlad wouldn’t object to showing you his?”.

Vlad waves her off, “oh but of course, you know how much I love to show off”.

Daniel looks at him blatantly curious, though clearly also nervous.

So Vlad steps back a bit and does a little bit of a dramatic bow while letting his transformation rings travel over his body. A little curious about Daniel’s muttered, “why are his black?”. Regardless, Vlad straightens up in his ghostly form, making a point to keep his feet planted in the ground.

Daniel stares a little, tilting his head at an angle that’s a little past humanly possible, “wow you look way different”, then snickering, “very vampire, nice horn hair”.

Vlad is well aware he is being mocked. Today he’ll tolerate such insult, since he’s effectively explaining for the first time being a halfa to another halfa who is also a child, his godson at that. “Yes yes, laugh it up”.

“Did you always look this different?”.

“Yes and no, I bulked up a lot and my hair changed. The fangs, ear points, and claws are all adult ghost traits as well”.

Jack grinning at Daniel, “meaning you shouldn’t have them now but will one day”, and only grins more at his son’s groan.

Vlad nodding, crossing his arms, “and if you get into fights, you’ll likely bulk up at least in ghost form. Now, you wondered at my rings being black, are yours not?”.

Daniel shrinks down a little, “I, um. No?”. And glances around, all three adults giving him encouraging gestures. Daniel flushing a little and clearing his throat, nodding a little. Vlad has a genuinely hard time not mocking the boy when he mutters a very quiet, “I’m going ghost”, before the white -different indeed- rings appear. Perhaps a… catchphrase helped the boy focus on the change? Regardless all three eye the more ghostly version of Daniel as the rings finish their job. Vlad’s almost miffed at how the transformation did seem easy for him, but oh well.

Daniel’s ghost form has a black hazmat suit with white gloves and white boots, his hair’s also a very shocking white. Vlad’s a little surprised his green eyes still have black pupils and white sclera, perhaps that would change as he grew into adulthood? Some ghosts did have black pupils and white sclera though, so it may very well just be the way his eyes are naturally. Daniel… looks incredibly similar to his human half, far more than Vlad ever did. Perhaps it was due to how quickly his ghost form formed? “Well you certainly don’t look all that different”. Daniel just shrugs awkwardly and jumps a little, remaining floating in the air after, at Maddie ruffling his hair; Daniel's hair waved around almost flame-like at the action.

Jack grins at Daniel, “I say it suits you! You have a pretty strong glow too!”.

Vlad leaning over some to hold his own arm up near Daniel’s having to phase through some of the boys left wing, Daniel’s glow is actually brighter than his own, if only by a hair. If Daniel was equal to him in experience and skill then Vlad’s not certain he could actually win. That was slightly concerning, on a ghostly level, no strong ghost liked the potential of a stronger one. But it was also quite thrilling, this boy could perhaps challenge him and could be something special if trained well; that prospect was incredibly enticing actually. Very thrilling indeed. “A strong glow is good, no godson of mine should be weak”.

Daniel blinking and looking at his arm, “so my… glow means I’m strong?”.

All three adults nod, Vlad standing back up right and crossing his arms again, “a stronger glow means you’re shedding off a high output of ecto-energy, it means you’ve got a high amount of natural ecto-energy. That your body self produces and filters a larger amount of ecto-energy”, humming, “though it may very well be that all halfas are powerful by our nature, as it is we don’t have to expend our energy to merely exist; however it does use up energy to remain in our ghost form”.

Daniel nods, soaking up the information, oh having an apprentice was going to be delightful. “Yeah I’ve notice I get tired after a while”, tilting his head a little at Vlad, “and so we, I, am a halfa?”, and looks to his parents for confirmation as well.

All three nodding readily, Jack beaming, “half a ghost, half a human; that’s what all the ghosts went with! Even if most of ‘em would lie just to amuse themselves”.

Vlad shrugs, “many ghosts are alright enough, particularly the useful ones”.

Daniel frowning, “yeah I don’t think I’m going to be ‘using ghosts’”. Vlad scoffing and waving the boy off, far too moral, this one.

Maddie smiles, pleased, “well you will likely get into fights, Vlad’s made it clear that’s unavoidable, so I fully expect you to take target practice and your martial arts a little more seriously”.

Vlad gesturing with a hand, “and ghost power training, of course. A well aimed ecto-blast will get you much further than a thrown punch”.

“And if I can’t do that?”.

“I’ll be baffled if you can’t, but everything has a work around if you look for it”, grinning all fang, “hold up a hand and imagine that tingling vibration throughout your entire body flow into the air above your palm, condensing into a tight pulsating sphere”.

Daniel blinks but stares at his hand, furrowing his brows in concentration, he jumps a little as a green ecto-blast forms above his palm. Him startling himself, of course, results in him losing focus and sending the blast into the ceiling. Him laughing awkwardly, “oops?”.

Jack smacks him on the back, making the boys wings twitch, “no worries, Danno! You should have seen the amount of things Vladdie set on fire!”. Daniel chuckles, loosening up a little, until Jack grabs his wing to inspect them anyways, “now let’s have a look at these! Since you’re all patched up now!”, and basically pulls the floating Daniel off his stool.

The boy giving both Vlad and Maddie slightly pleading looks, Vlad shakes his head while Maddie gives him a soft smile, “just let your dad get it out of his system”. Daniel groans but does let Jack effectively manhandle him, spinning him in the air and stretching out his wings to inspect them better. Eventually Daniel stuck holding onto the table when Jack decides to see just how long Daniel’s wing span was. They were needlessly long wings, frankly. His humerus bone was practically the length of half of Vlad’s wing. Incredibly showy, like a peacock. He’ll have to see if that’s just for show, or if the boy can put genuine speed and power behind them.

Maddie crossing her arms at her husband, “Jack, dear, that’s enough, you’re going to give him a strain at this point”. Daniel grumbling a, “thanks mom”, when Jack sheepishly lets go of the poor boys wings.

“Sorry ‘bout that, Danny-boy!”.

Daniel glances around awkwardly, “it’s, uh, okay, dad”, rubbing his neck, “it’s better than you being scared of me or trying to hunt me or something”.

Jack’s, “we’d never!”, is thankfully immediate. As it should be. Daniel was his own son after all. Vlad would be quite displeased if he found out they were hunting him in any capacity.

Vlad blinking before smirking, turning his head towards the kitchen entry way, based on sound and scent those friends of Daniel’s have shown up, ears pressed up to the door perhaps. Vlad chuckles meanly, “you two can come in, instead of trying to spy. Your friend is perfectly fine”.

Daniel jerking in the air before zipping over to the door as if it was mere second nature to him already. Vlad is absolutely a bit jealous, not that he would admit to such feelings. Jack elbowing him, “he’s got the hang of this a lot faster than you”. Vlad snarls at the man, it’s a ‘playful’ threat and Jack absolutely knows that.

Meanwhile the door opens, a pale goth and dark-skinned geek poking their heads in; the goth’s scowling and the geek’s nervous. Them both rearing their heads back a little at Daniel’s face being practically right in front of their own, “hey! It’s okay, they’re cool, my uncle’s stupidly vampire themed though”.

Vlad sighs, pinching the bridge of his nose, “it’s stylish, boy. And I will not be explaining myself to your friends as well”, waving dismissively at the boy, “feel free to burden yourself with that explanation instead”. Regardless the two teens stare at Vlad, wide-eyed.

“So Danny’s not going to get shot, caged, or strapped down?”

“Danny-man, you’re either extremely lucky or stupidly unlucky, take your pick”.

At least the boy had good friends, ones that were seemingly serious about fighting his parents should they harm him. Good. They made for acceptable playmates.

Daniel blurting out, “did you guys notice I don’t have a freaking shadow anymore?”.

Both the teens snapping their heads down and blinking. Tucker shaking his head, “huh. You’d think that would be more noticeable”.

Vlad transforms himself back human as he walks over, eyeing the two teens and drawling, “you'd be surprised how much most people fail to notice”.

Sam snorts at him, “oh you’re the weird uncle, that explains so much”, pointing at Daniel, “doesn’t it, you weirdo”. Daniel simply pouts fondly at her.

Vlad quirking an eyebrow, “the ‘weird uncle’?”.

Daniel eyes him, still floating in the air, “you say some really strange stuff, okay? Like, you swear using food. That’s weird”.

“Far better than using foul language”.

“Gonna disagree on that one”; Daniel transforming back human and landing on the ground almost gracefully. Vlad sighing when the teen realises he’s sans a shirt, covering up with his wings before running up stairs for a likely baggy tank top. Daniel’s friends actively laughing at him before running into the house fully and chasing the boy up the stairs shouting about getting more ‘blackmail’ photos.

Vlad shaking his head before turning to Jack and Maddie who were watching the teens fondly, “I’m assuming you’re going to be doing quite a bit of sewing to make his clothing wearable for at least the time being”.

Maddie nodding at him, “there’s no way he’ll let me cut up his nasa varsity jacket but otherwise, of course”, frowning a little, “so you think he’ll be okay?”.

Vlad looking back up the stairs, “he seems accepting of it, shifting into comfort easily. With support there would be no reason for him not to be mentally well. Physically? I’d say he’s better off than I was, and his ecto-energy feels stable for a child ghost”. Maddie sighs in happy relief and Jack beams, giving him a thumbs up. Vlad still frowns at them, “you two got lucky with him, do not repeat this”.

Maddie’s, “we won’t”, is at least very firm. Jack nodding right after, looking up the stairs himself, “I can’t believe he’s not upset with us”.

Vlad shakes his head, “he blames himself for it entirely, regardless of that being incorrect. Which would be concerning, if I wasn’t fairly certain that he’s okay with this change. Confused, unsure, and nervous, perhaps. But not upset, angry, or sad”.

Maddie sighing again, “good. That’s good. And I agree, he seems more worried about our reaction than about being the way he is now. Being a halfa”, smiling a little, “though I’m sure he’ll ask a lot of questions”.

Jack nodding strongly, and crossing his arms, “as any curious teen should”.

Daniel’s head pops back out of his bedroom, “Vlad! Can we survive in the void of space?!”.

Vlad absolutely knows that tone meant the boy was going to do something impressively stupid. Flying to space most likely. “Yes. But you’re too new, if you lose your ghost form in space and that high up you’ll be in trouble”. The teen pouts at him, “boo. You suck”, and ducks back into his room.

At least it looked like he found a shirt he could get on.

Vlad giving Maddie and Jack pitying looks, “he’s quite the handful”.

Maddie putting a hand over her face and laughing a little. Jack chuckling loudly, “V-man! You were here when Danny attempted to eat a blob ghost!”.

“I unfortunately remember that and do not understand how that didn’t kill him”.

“Neither do we!”.

Maddie shaking her head and eyeing Vlad, “will you be staying a while?”.

Vlad inclines his head, “oh but of course, Maddie dear”, grinning, “I have a young halfa godson to apprentice after all”.

Jack laughs rather awkwardly, not unlike his son, “just don’t forget he’s our son! Don’t do too much of the parenting for us!”.

Vlad smirking, “I make no promises”; Jack, the utter fool, thinks Vlad’s joking. Vlad is not joking. If he can make an heir out of the boy then all the better, Jack and Maddie were hardly truly good parents even if Vlad himself highly doubts he’d be any better. However, Vlad was a halfa, and so was Daniel. Even if Jack and Maddie were truly great parents they wouldn’t be able to fulfil all his needs or fully relate to him. Vlad can and will.

Maddie sighing, picking up better that Vlad’s intentions weren’t exactly pure. “Please don’t. I know he’s a halfa, like you, but try not to get dangerously possessive of him?”.

He scoffs, moving to head upstairs, sending away his wings to make the stairs and hallway easier to navigate, “oh it’s much too late for that, I’m afraid”.

At least they follow him up, smart. Pointless, but smart. Besides, he doesn’t truly believe he can actually get Daniel as exclusively his or under his thumb in any sense. That boy was too moral and headstrong… and chaotic. Vlad opening the boys door to him standing ‘threateningly’ over his friends, wielding fist fulls of feathers like bombs; his friends already have a noteable amount of black and white feathers on them. Vlad sighing, “Daniel, why are you ripping out your feathers?”; Jack is wheeze laughing and Maddie looks like she thinks she’s won.

Daniel blinks, looking at Vlad but otherwise not moving, fist fulls of feather still held up in the air, “I claim comedic effect?”.

Tucker smirks, spitting out a feather, “he’s trying to suffocate us”.

Samantha’s smirk is far more mean, “i threaded some beads into his feathers earlier, he only just noticed. I am very smug”.

Daniel throws his feathers at her without hesitation. Vlad puts a hand to his face and sighs heavily, this boy was a menace in all the wrong ways and his half death was only going to encourage him.

Then Tucker looks to Vlad, “oh, I hacked your company by the way, just in case you abduct Danny or something”. Then going back to smacking Daniel and his wings, while the boy basically assaults both of his friends with the feathered things. Samantha also taking the time to look at Vlad, pointing aggressively at him, “and I have enough money to have you fully killed by somebody who has nothing”. Daniel smacking her harder with a shouted, “murder is bad!”.

Daniel’s friends were not going to help reel the boy in at all. As much as Vlad loves not being alone any more and the prospect of teaching another halfa, he’s a little concerned over what’s been given to him.

Maddie scowling, putting her hands on her hips, “Danny! You’re going to rip the stitching!”. While Jack cheers this mess on, “you go! Danno!”.

Hmmm, yes Vlad’s plate is going to be very full and he’s gotten himself involved in quite the half dead mess.

End.

Prompts: After the accident, the Fentons can't help but notice something wrong with Danny. And since Danny also has that terrible symptom of "being a teenager", he refuses to tell them anything. So they are reaching out to the only person who could possibly help: an old friend in Wisconsin. After the accident, Danny no longer has a shadow, and he isn't the first person to notice its absence. Ghosts have wings. Humans don't.Unfortunately for Danny, his body did not get the memo. In another universe, Maddie and Jack did visit Vlad in the hospital, and stayed in contact. What happens when Danny has his accident twenty years later?

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angelosearch · 3 months

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I wanted to share something my therapist and I discussed today that perhaps will be helpful for others.

So I have been having a great time lately, sinking deep into fandom, writing, and creating art. It's been invigorating. I am so inspired and I feel as though I have found my people.

But I told my therapist that I had a lingering sense of guilt about it. Does socializing on Tumblr make me a shut-in? Does having a lot of internet friends make me chronically online? Is it a bad thing that I look forward to spending weekends writing and painting and listening to music instead of going out with friends or traveling?

She asked me: Why would it be bad? Who told you that?

"Dateline, probably," I said. "Chris Hansen."

Truthfully, I did an independent study of technology and rhetoric in college and I know, from a psychological perspective, there are some things a digital relationship just can't do for your brain. So Sherry Turkle is probably the other answer.

But what is community? How does it form?

Communities typically form around a common geographic location, goal, or interest. Your neighborhood is your community. If you like soccer, maybe your community is your sports team and those who cheer for it. If you want to celebrate a certain deity, your community may be the people you do that with. These forms of community normally have clear physical meeting locations.

"But your main interests are consuming and creating media," my therapist said. She's not wrong. "Where can you go for that community?"

In the physical world, there is no space or infastructure to support communities around all interests. There are video game clubs, sure. There are meetup groups for certain shows. But these communities are often small, transient, gatekept, inaccessible, or in far-flung parts of the country. I am sure all communities have those issues in some respect, but really - where can you physically and consistently meet up with people interested in a variety of media for free in a physical space?

Libraries? Maybe?

The internet is the space for my main interest. This is where I can go to be myself and be excited and know that I will be celebrated for it by people who feel the same. We are a community of people who love FFVIII or writing or media of all types. There shouldn't be shame in that because it is a goddamn miracle that this space exists and I can share it with people of all ages all around the world.

So, Chris Hansen, Sherry Turkle, and everyone who snickers at my internet usage: yeah, maybe there are some things I can't do/have online. But there are some things I can't have offline either!

I am not chronically online. I am enthusiastically online. I love this little corner of the internet and it's okay if it sometimes feels better than doing stuff "irl." I can enjoy being here and not feel guilty and still go afk and "touch grass" or whatever. Both can be true.

#mainly writing this to pound it into my own head because I can feel guilty about anything at anytime #it's my superpower #personal essay #journaling #kinda vent #therapy recap #personal #therapy

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the-s1lly-corner · 4 months

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I don't know if anyone has asked for this yet, but can we have a Nutcracker (preferably male) reader and/or ballerina (Preferably female) reader being besties and just doing little performances for everyone in the circus. This can either be romantic or platonic Reader(s) x TADC, I don't mind! Go crazy with it! Go wild! I love to read ur headcanons and stuff so much man/pos

Gangle, Kinger, Jax, Caine x reader who hosts shows!

two things! i couldnt decide on the gender of the reader so you can read it as both or either </3 other thing, i still dont take reqs for the entire cast (nothing against you this is a blog wide rule/character limit) so i went ahead and ran the request through a wheel to randomly select characters with that said, i hope you enjoy!

CAINE:

i think, given that hes the circus ringmaster of the circus as well as generally being in control of things thanks to his status of an ai, he tends to host your shows... might even make the other circus members watch. whether you want to read this as platonic or romantic, he just does it because he wants to support you and allow your talent to be seen...! though he might get rather.... loud about it. ive said it so many times but im ready to say it again, he would be your number one fan and hes going to be very clear about it. probably throws roses to the stage for you when youre done with your performance... cheers and claps the loudest... hell, if youre comfortable with it, he might just wear a shirt with your name and face on it..! truly your number 1 fan

JAX:

i think if this is platonic, depending on how close you guys are he might try to disrupt the show by being a jackass. generally being annoying and trying to get a reaction out of you... though i dont think he would do this if you guys are actually. close or good friends and/or dating... now practice? thats something else... definitely a case of him being able to see that you enjoy what you do and you have passion and dedicate himself so he might just try to contain himself and his need to be an asshole and cause havoc.. i think if asked what he thought he would seem a little neutral about it, hes not going to praise you excessively or be mean.. jax doesnt seem like the type to gush over someone or something no matter how much he liked it.. best youd get out of him is a "good job,".. definitely one that hinges off of how close you guys are and how much respect and boundaries are set up between you two

KINGER:

i think he might be a toned down caine, looks like he would give you a rose after your performance.. though if youre not a flower person i think he would swap the rose out for something else. while caine might be barely containing his excitement throughout your performance, kinger is much more likely to be able to sit still and quiet... although still very much consumed by you, perhaps even sitting on the edge of his seat in an attempt to get a better look at you. i think he would notice a lot of smaller details and stuff you put in your shows, such as costumes or decoration, too... maybe its self projection, but i think he bounces between being clueless to having a really really keen eye when it comes to things... also the fact i love the hc of "clueless/chaotic/commonly zoned out character noticing something vital or making a smart point for a moment before reverting back to status quo" is one of my favorite tropes.... loves watching you practice

GANGLE:

i think she might actually help you with costumes and stage decorations! sure her thing is mostly art and you might have to recruit the help of ragatha for some things but i think gangle would be more than willing to help you out... plus it gives her something to do, and it means spending time with you! and thats always nice! very receptive to the stuff you have to say but i think she might try to offer some alternatives to make things visually look more appealing... as for actual performances i think she would love them! she strikes me as a theatre kid, and your sort of thing is adjacent i think... might gush to you about the show and how you did, though its often that she might trail off and become sheepish if she feels she was getting too into her ramble.. generally very sweet, though, but due to her shyness shes not going to do more than the rest of the crowd (throwing flowers, clapping louder than everyone else, ect ect ect)

#tadc x reader #the amazing digital circus x reader #digital circus x reader #caine x reader #caine x you #jax x reader #jax x you #kinger x reader #kinger x you #gangle x reader #gangle x you

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84reedsy · 2 months

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The Mentorship, Part 10

The Mentorship

Characters: Curt Hennig/FemOC , Scott Hall/FemOC

Part 10 of ? (Parts not chapters, parts length varies)

Word Count: 4069

Part 1 Part 2 Part 3 Part 4 Part 5 Part 6 Part 7 Part8 Part 9

Warnings/Considerations: Smut, Age Gap, Power Dynamics, Dirty Talk, swearing

There were a number of questions vollied at them when they showed up at the arena. Kevin grilled Scott, and if Brinkley wasn't mistaken, seemed like he had been up with worry all night. He glared at Brinkley from afar multiple times. She took the hint to avoid him. She still wasn't happy with what he'd pulled, but she was much less upset than before.

She had to assume that Scott had fucked a lot of the frustration right out of her.

She wondered if Kevin could perhaps sniff out what was going on or what had happened last night. Maybe he felt as if she was moving in on Scott and he didn't want to share his best friend.

“BRINK,” Curt snapped his fingers in her face.

She jolted and pulled herself out of her own thoughts.

“What??” She responded, irritated at being interrupted.

“Get your ass moving, we're up next,” he motioned for her to move quicker, “get out of la-la-land,” he snapped at her with his hand towel.

“Geez, alright alright!” She snipped, rubbing the stinging flesh on her thigh before she went back to lacing up her boots. She was relieved when Page agreed to let her interfere more physically. It was only a house show, but it was still important to her.

Page was still the face, but Brinkley heard more cheers than normal as she and Curt entered. They still had plenty of opposing fans to ridicule down the walkway.

“You're about to turn,” Curt said into her ear while they walked to the ring, “I can tell,”

Brinkley wasn't sure what to think. She'd always been the villain, it had been an escape for the idyllic, sheltered existence she'd left behind her. She hadn't expected this response.

“But I don't wanna,” she pouted, playing into her whiny role. Curt cupped her face as they stood by the ring apron.

“You'll be alright, baby girl, just let me handle it,” he assured her with a wink.

She didn't know if his response was kayfabe or real. She'd have to find out after the match. For now she was focused on having to sell a Diamond Cutter finishing move.

She interfered and because of that was “accidentally” given the move. As she lay on the mat, she heard the crowd murmur and then boo Page. Curt suplexed him for the win.

He checked on her to make sure she was really alright, then pulled her out of the ring. She pretended to come-to enough to walk with his assistance.

“You're welcome,” Page said, coming in from the ring.

“For what?” She asked, “I'm the one that made you look good,” she stuck her tongue out playfully.

“I'm the one that put you over,” he looked at her and Curt knowingly.

“But I -” she started, but was shut down by Curt.

“We are going to have to workshop her character,” Curt said, knowing Page was involved with Creative, “She needs to start working matches during house shows.”

Brinkley didn't argue with others around. She knew how disrespectful it would come across to second-guess Curt in front of everyone. She knew things had to be done a certain way. That was a ‘day one’ thing Curt had taught her.

She waited until they were in the car before she spoke up.

“But am I really ready to be a face?” She questioned, definitely not confident in the idea yet.

“I think it's a good time for you to try,” he said with all the confidence.

“Scott,” she whined, hoping he'd side with her.

“Hey, I'm for it,” he looked back at her somewhat apologetic, “Me and Kev are gonna bring you in with us. I can't complain.”

“What?!” She looked between them both several times, “when was this discussed?”

“Doll, your first day here,” Scott said, remembering back to her shy introduction, “I called dibs on you,”

Brinkley wanted to be upset, but thinking about Scott wanting to have her from day one gave her a smug satisfaction.

“Are you staying with Kev tonight?” She asked, ignoring the awkward feeling of Curt hearing everything.

“Probably…” Scott said, feeling a heavy disappointment.

“Jesus, for fuck's sake,” Curt rolled his eyes, “I'll go to the bar and you two have the room for a few hours. Just don't break any of the furniture.” He warned.

Scott looked back at her with a wicked smirk.

“No promises. Right, Brink?”

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Curt sat at a table, empty whiskey glasses in front of him. He was relieved that Brinkley was interested in Scott. However, she’d become such a part of his everyday, that he wondered what separation would look like. He couldn’t stop thinking about what may be going on in the hotel room he was paying for.

He didn’t know what irritated him more, the fact that he was thinking about that, or Kevin’s indirect line of questioning. He seemed to fare similarly when his right-hand person was M.I.A.

“So, what you’re saying is we’re going to end up with her, but you are still gonna be her trainer?” Kevin asked, pondering the idea. At this point, he was a significant voice on the creative team. If he was on board, it wouldn’t likely be necessary to convince anyone else.

“Yeah, pretty much, she might need to transition to another trainer at some point like we all did, but probably not just yet. Kowalski did a good job with Chyna, but she’d have to take some time off,” Curt mused aloud.

“Then she’d be off TV again for a while. If she’s getting momentum, can’t do that,” Kevin took a swig looking back at the door as if expecting Scott to come waltzing through at any moment, “Maybe I’ll train her,”

Curt laughed.

“Pretty sure you’re just wanting an excuse to throw her around,” though he was amused by the suggestion, he absolutely did not think Kevin and Brinkley could coexist in that way.

“You’re right, I don’t need her brand of headache anyway,” He shrugged off his own suggestion, “Scott could,”

Curt had honestly considered it before. He separated their positions - Curt had trained her first and the physical affection came later. Scott’s interaction with her started that way. He didn’t think there was much of a chance of Scott successfully training her at anything except being his fuck buddy. He did feel a surge of aggression when he wondered if she would call Scott ‘daddy’.

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Brinkley tried to act completely collected as Curt readied and left for the bar. As soon as the door closed, she scrambled off the bed and to the bathroom, dolling herself up just a little. She dug through her bag, frustrated at the lack of sexy, showy options. She didn’t want to lug around an entire wardrobe, but she would need to figure out something better than this, especially if she wanted to make an impression.

A set of quick raps on the door made her forget that problem. She opened it and Scott stood on the other side of it, his arm leaning on the doorway.

“Evening,” His slight smile and downward gaze gave away his intentions immediately. She felt stupid for giggling, but the noise rose out of her unintentionally.

“How nice of you to drop by,” She stepped aside, inviting him in, “Can I get you anything,” She sarcastically offered in her best hostess impression.

“Yeah, your pussy full of my tongue,” He shut the door behind him and quickly yanked his shirt off. He knew they’d have a few hours, but he intended to fill them as much as would her.

Brinkley liked his direct method. It left no guessing about what he wanted. She felt small and helpless as he stalked towards her and she liked it. She backed up until the back of her knees hit the bed, letting gravity sit her on the edge of it. Before she could scoot back any farther, he grabbed ahold of one of her ankles and yanked on the legs of her pants, slipping them from her easily. She bit her lip as he still approached her, crawling across the bed now.

When her back hit the headboard, he closed in on her. His fingers gripped around the lacy hem of her panties and yanked them down, effectively ripping the side seam out. She gasped, the proof of his brute strength made her sex throb.

Her knees were closed, but his hand slid between them, allowing him to crawl between her slowly opening legs. She had a small twinge of uncertainty at someone new in such an intimate space, but the moment his tongue darted across her sensitive clit, her eyes fluttered closed and she forgot any inhibition that previously existed.

Scott hummed against the sweet taste of her juices that painted his tongue as he licked a trail up and down her slit. He moved slowly, savoring her and listening to the sounds it elicited from her. He wanted her to enjoy this; he wanted her craving him. He wanted her to be desperate for more.

Brinkley could barely handle leaving her eyes open to see Scott’s head slowly bobbing between her thighs. She could feel his rough stubble against her pussy lips and it felt even better than she’d imagined. As his tongue slowly circled her clit, she felt the tingles building, rolling her hips ever so slightly. His tongue slipped down though, teasing the edge of her aching entrance, building a different kind of tingle. She felt herself drawing close again only for him to switch his focus.

Scott laughed to himself as she squirmed more and more underneath him. She was fun to tease. She didn’t seem to know he was doing so on purpose yet, making her longing whimpers like music to his ears. He suckled her clit now, letting two fingers slip into her needy cunt. She nearly melted into the mattress as he massaged her g-spot and wiggled his tongue across her pulsing clit.

“Scott, god pleeeease,” She looked down at him, her thighs quivering, her body flushed with want.

“Please what?” He looked up at her with a dark stare, his lips damp from her juices, his fingers working deeper inside of her. His feral look nearly made her cum, her sex clenching around his fingers.

“Please let me cum,” She pleaded, enjoying the idea that he was in control of her. He seemed to appreciate her approach.

“Please let you cum, what,” He slowed his fingers, not letting her move quickly against them.

Brinkley was stuck in his gaze, her eyes searching his. She had an idea of what he wanted her to say. After all he had been witness to her calling Curt that very thing. But for some reason, she was unsure.

Scott could see the uncertainty on her face immediately and silently cursed himself for trying to work that wordplay in so early. He assumed that it took a while for Curt and her to develop that level. He began to retract, but she spoke first.

“Please let me cum, sir,” She bit her lip and looked at him as innocently as she could.

Scott took the consolation without hesitation. He pumped his fingers quicker, slipping a third in. He pressed the muscled flat of his tongue against her nub and rubbed it roughly in time with his fingers, feeling and tasting her orgasm as she pressed herself more firmly against his face.

Brinkley’s breath stalled as her voice caught in her throat. Her head thunked against the headboard as the pressure in her sex released a burning crescendo of pleasure. She gasped for breath between the quaking tremors, feeling lightheaded by the force of her orgasm.

“Gonna have to call housekeeping for some new sheets,” His gruff voice spoke gently, still letting his fingers stroke her shuddering insides softly.

Brinkley looked down to see a damp spot soaking the blanket below her and her cheeks burned with embarrassment.

“That’s so hot, baby girl,” He crooned, as if knowing she was unsure, “Never done that before?”

She shook her head, feeling better with Scott’s praise.

“Maybe we’ll make this Curt’s bed,” She joked, her voice still trembling a little.

“Naughty girl, I like the way you think,” Scott lifted himself up, kissing her panting mouth, letting her taste her own juices from his lips and tongue.He remembered her fervent reaction with anything on her neck and let his lips slide there next. She did not disappoint him, arching up against him as he bit and pulled the skin lightly, “Let’s see how wet you can really get it,”

Scott plunged his fingers back in as he resisted really biting her and leaving tell tale marks that would likely draw a lot of attention. She inhaled sharply, not ready for the onslaught of his controlled but fierce ministrations. She felt tingling in her core again as she clamped down on his fingers, crying out wordlessly as she came again.

He slid his soaked fingers from her assaulted cunt and spread the wetness up and down her slit. He looked up at her as he did, that same intense stare making her feel like she was about to be the victim of a very brutal assault.

“Good girl,” He praised and she was sure those words alone might have soaked the bed more. She saw him fumbling with that belt again. She wondered why he even bothered putting it on. His dick was big enough to hold his pants up anyway. Her eyes fluttered closed as he leaned down and pulled the tip of her nipple with his teeth, letting it pop back just before she would have asked him to stop. The prickling pain morphed quickly into a smoldering pleasure. He did it again, letting go just as she whimpered, working the hardening bud into an aching peak.

“If I ever hurt you…tell me,” He kissed the valley between her breasts as he made his way to the other, “I only want you to feel good with me,” His rasp inflamed and chilled her at the same time. She couldn’t help but shiver, arching again as he drew the other nipple between his teeth.

“I will,” She nearly hissed just as he let go again. He leered at her with an expectant look as he paused, “I mean….yes, sir,” She said with a sheepish grin.

“That’s better,” His tongue bathed the tip of her tit now, a welcome softness to his earlier enjoyable torture, “Don’t let it happen again,” He growled as he nipped again.

She could hear the belt loose now, hanging from his jeans as his zipper descended. She felt a rush of excitement as he rolled to his back and kicked his jeans to the floor. There was more light now, and more opportunity to really take in the sight of him. To her she couldn’t imagine more of an ideal specimen of masculinity.

She didn't realize she licked her lips as her eyes took in the entirety of him. She crawled over to him, kissing his shoulder down to his chest, nipping at his nipple in a similar, teasing fashion. She smirked as he hissed in return, but still watched her, one hand toying with his hardening member.

She took her time kissing down his torso, her tongue savoring the taste of his skin. She bit his hipbone lightly before she made a trail to his swelling shaft.

“Look how hard you make me,” he built her up more, “so damn hard, baby,”

He held his cock for her, letting her tease the pulsing tip with her lips. He bucked up his hips as soon as she took the tiniest bit of him in, filling her mouth quickly. She took the hint, letting her lips slide farther down on each pass. His cock stretched her lips and made taking him deeper challenging. But she was always up for a challenge.

She used his groans and praises to mark her actions, repeating what garnered the most of both. She looked up at him as she did so, hoping she was sucking his cock well, but also looking good while doing it.

“Jesus, you look so hot with my dick in your pretty mouth,” he grumbled, his teeth on edge. His hand slid over the top of her head and encouraged her to move faster and slip him deeper. She resisted choking when his glans would probe her throat, gasping for breath when he pulled his cock from her mouth and slapped it against her lips.

“I need that fucking pussy now,” he demanded, his words cracking an invisible whip, “on your knees, girl,”

Brinkley felt her subservient obedience kick in like a natural response as she turned on all fours.

“Yes, sir,”

She watched him over her shoulder, biting her lip as he knelt behind her. She heard him fumbling with something, hearing a paper-like tearing sound.

“Need to be more careful than last time,” he slipped the condom over himself, running his hands over the curve of her taut ass appreciatively, “gonna be hard enough not to just fuck you all the time,” he laid a sharp smack on one cheek. She jumped and whimpered but waited for another.

Scott admired the temporary outline of his handprint, evening up on the other cheek. He ran his tip through her slit and pressed against her entrance. Though she was as wet as could be, he still struggled against the tightening confines of her sex.

He had to wonder if Curt hadn't really fucked her very much. She was shaking as he sank in, her face falling to the bed, keeping her perky ass perched in the air.

He let her acclimate as he sheathed himself fully into her. He ran a hand slowly up her back and back down, calming her reserve. He didn't shame her, that was far too harsh.

He grabbed her hips as he started to move in her, slowly at first but with ever-increasing force.

She yelped into the bed each time he bottomed out, feeling a new pleasure center being struck. She had to keep herself from trying to crawl away. She felt as if she was seeing stars every time he thrusted in her. She felt lightheaded as he smacked her ass again.

“Baby, you have no idea how good this looks,” Scott said, almost horsley, as he looked at her pussy, swallowing his cock with each thrust, “taking it like my good girl,” he felt her spasm around his member and grinned.

Brinkley rolled her eyes back as she came again, shockwaves emanating from her core outward. She had the blanket balled up in her fists, breathing through clenched teeth. She gasped when she felt his hand sliding along her scalp and grabbed her hair, pulling her head back.

She felt immobilized by his control, absorbing every intense thrust whether she could handle them or not. She barely managed to open her eyes, met with a mirror reflection across the room of herself with Scott behind her, a pleasured, determined look on his face.

She felt odd watching herself being fucked, but had to admit, she looked good being fucked by Scott. Especially the way he was manhandling her.

“You gonna swallow my cum, baby girl?” He asked with a deep gruffness.

Her response paused, another thing she'd never done, but curiosity flooded her as much as her desire to give him what he wanted. She tried to nod, but was still held captive by his hand on her hair.

“Yes. Yes, sir,” she managed as he thrusted in her quickly.

“Get over here,” he growled, regretfully pulling out of her and ripping off the condom. He stood at the side of the bed as she turned around quickly, still dizzied by the ferocity of his prowess. She lay on her stomach, looking up at him with her mouth open as he quickly stroked his cock.

“Tongue out,” he demanded, holding himself directly over her waiting mouth. As she slipped it out, he felt his balls tighten and his cum shot from the tip, his seed collecting on her tongue and lips.

She sucked his spunk down, swallowing it just in time to receive another generous spurt. She couldn't quite place the taste of it, but didn't let it linger too long before swallowing.

Scott watched with smug gratification at how eagerly she lapped up his cum. And the way she looked at him the entire time he found incredibly hot. He let her suck the last drops from the tip, shuddering as he became hypersensitive to every touch.

She let his cock fall from her mouth and pulled herself up to her knees.

“Was it good?” She asked with a modest concern.

“Are you fucking serious?” Scott stood directly in front of her, out of breath, his forehead dotted with sweat, his body flushed from his sexual exertion, “Look at me, I'm a damn mess,” he let out a raspy laugh, “Good doesn't begin to describe it,”

She looked proud, but insecure that she even had to ask.

“Sorry …I just…I'd never done it that way,” her cheeks burned as she sat back against her heels.

“Don't ever apologize,” his hand caught her chin from looking down, “not when you're that stellar of a fuck,”

She wasn't sure how to take the compliment, but had to grin at his earnest expression.

“Well…” she reached out to him, her hand slowly massaging his balls, “it is still pretty early….”

“Fucking christ, girl,” he groaned, but did not pull away.

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

Curt stumbled into the dark room half expecting to still see Scott here defiling Brinkley, but the room was quiet and still. He felt relieved, kicking his shoes off to the side.

“Brinkley?” He called out in the dark with no answer. He could see her in bed, snuggled under the covers asleep. She was alone, not that he’d expected Scott to stay the entire night. Part of him hoped she’d still be awake, wanting to tell him about everything she’d done that night and the selfish part of him had hoped she’d share that she was still somewhat unfulfilled and needed him to finish the job.

Clearly that wasn’t the case.

He sighed, but stripped down to his underwear and flopped into bed.

“What the fuck??” He exclaimed as a cold dampness lay under him. Turning on the light and lifting up the blanket, he could see the wet spot spread to the sheets, “Are you fucking kidding me…” It was obvious to him that she indeed had a pleasurable evening. He turned the light back off and he slipped into Brinkley’s bed instead. He had to appreciate the rib, but he couldn’t help but be a little ticked off at the same time. But she was the one that now had to share her bed; the more he thought about it, he’d hoped she’d share a little more.

She moaned and turned over toward him as he laid down. It was easy to see that she was naked as he’d climbed in, with his buzz, he could definitely use some female company. He slid closer to her, pulling his cock out at the same time.

He took her hand and placed it on his shaft, rousing her a little.

“Scott?” She mumbled, struggling to open her eyes, “Oh, Curt…what are you doing?” Still lethargic from sleep, she struggled to come to.

“Daddy needs some help,” He moved her hand up and down his shaft, “If you think you can handle it.”

“I don’t know, Daddy, I’m…I’m kinda sore,” she whined a little in her sleepy voice, “Or I would,” She woke a little more now, moving her hand on her own, “And tired…can we wait until tomorrow? Unless this is all you want…”

Curt felt foolish and irritated, but couldn’t very well blame her for being honest.

“Of course we can,” He sighed, but hummed when she didn’t pull her hand back right away. Even if he didn’t cum, her touch felt nice.

“Thank you, Daddy,” She mewled, snuggling up against his chest. She’d wished Scott could stay so she could sleep against him. It was such a nice way to wake up. But Curt was also an incredibly nice body to curl up against.

#wrestling fan fic #wrestling fic #wrestling fanfiction #curt hennig #wcw #wwe #wrestling #fanfiction #pro wrestling #1999 #Scott hall #kevin nash #The Mentorship #wrestling smut #cameos by a lot of wrestlers

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stabbyfoxandrew · 1 month

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mafia au please!

tsc has broken me and i need your beautiful kevjean to cheer me up

WIP Wednesday (4/17) | Mafia Front Restaurant AU (Part 136)

The smell of pancakes cooking is simultaneously mouth-watering and… trauma-inducing. The first time Kevin had ever had them was in Palmetto, the morning he’d dragged himself onto the Foxes’ team bus. Despite Abby’s doctoring, his left hand was totally unusable and his right didn’t fare much better with a fork. But being the kindest nurse he’d ever met, Abby had noticed him struggling and cut his pancakes into bite-sized pieces for him and drizzled them with enough syrup to make his eyes bulge.

He’d slowly eaten them as his father started talking criminal charges against Riko. The very idea of challenging him made Kevin’s stomach roil and it was then and there he broke. He told Wymack the horrible truth about the Moriyamas and swore him to secrecy. That, of course, didn’t last long once a certain goalie stuck his nose into Kevin’s mess of a life.

Andrew had come to Abby’s house the next day and demanded an explanation. For some reason, Kevin couldn’t not tell him. Despite holding all those secrets for a lifetime, he let them flow as soon as Andrew rounded on him. He’s still not sure why. Perhaps it was his desperate need to be understood. Or it could’ve been fear. But he told Andrew the bulk of his life story then and there, omitting a couple details. Namely a pair of backliners with sharp tongues and pretty eyes.

Speaking of that, Jean is watching his skillet like a hawk. What he’s expecting to happen, Kevin isn’t sure. Apparently it does though, because Jean moves in with a spatula to flip a pancake over. It’s less than graceful, but Kevin is impressed regardless. He gives a little round of applause, which startles Jean.

He rolls his eyes playfully at the attention and does a little bow while he’s at it. As he turns back around, Kevin steps off the stool to watch Jean pour more batter. There’s another plate he wasn’t aware of and it’s got what must’ve been a test pancake on it. It’s smaller than the ones Jean’s been stacking and burnt to a crisp on the top side. How ridiculous that a burned pancake could be so endearing.

“Can I have that one?”

Jean turns his head and grimaces. “If you want it. I was going to throw it outside, at those birds that show up sometimes. I told you about them before. One of them snatched a cigarette out of my hand a couple of months ago."

"And you want to give them food?"

"I said, 'at them' not for them," Jean clarifies. "But I suppose, even if I hit one with it they'd eat it."

“If you feed them they’ll stay.” Kevin says, making Jean’s mouth quirk.

“Like Neil?”

“You can stop making the stray cat jokes, he’s not in here. And we both know how we feel about him.” Kevin says, plucking the pancake off the plate and pulling part of it off to stick it in his mouth. Oh, it’s… definitely charred. And a bit bitter.

“I told you it wouldn’t be good.” Jean says, glancing over at him. He notably and predictably doesn’t reply to Kevin’s comment about Neil. Or maybe that is an answer to the Neil thing.

“Mm,” Kevin hums thoughtfully. He knows it would be.

#teehee here lovely. have Kevin waxing poetic about Jean's ability to burn a goddamn pancake :)) and thinking about neil too :)) and andrew:)#aftg #kevjean #Mafia Restaurant AU #WIP Wednesday #🕊️#answered #anon

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genshingorlsrevengeance · 10 months

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(FE: Engage) Alear / Crossover Emblem Rings

Honestly, I couldn't really think of anything unique for a reverse situation, so instead, I raise you Alear meeting even more crossovers, cause apparently I can never escape my insatiable hunger for mixing games/show together.

Hope you enjoy, @unknownsymbol367!

Awakening:

(Vander) "Hm. I have never heard of this Emblem, but perhaps we should go ahead with the incantation?"

Alear nodded.

(Alear) "May all your blessings find their way their way to us, Emblem of the Witch!"

From the ring burst forward a giant being of steel, alongside a small red haired girl. She began to panic as her arms flailed in a pattern.

(Suletta) "I-IT CAN FLY! IT CAN DANCE! AERIAL!"

She froze in a pose with arms outstretched, clearly panting and showing signs that she was about to fall over. Which was impressive, given she was just a manifestation and not a physical being.

(Alear) "..."

(Vander) "..."

(Suletta) "..."

Alear and Vander stared at the girl silently, not entirely sure what to make of the situation.

(Alear) "...M-My name is Alear, and this is Vander. We require your help miss...Aerial?"

(Suletta) "U-U-Um...! Aerial is my sister. M-M-My name is S-Suletta!"

(Vander) "Are you alright? You seem to be sweating a concerning amount."

Alear rose her eyebrow in confusion, silently whispering to the side.

(Alear) "...Marth, are you able to sweat?"

(Marth) "No, we're not...Just a moment."

Marth floated over to Suletta, which she recoiled at the sight of him suddenly materializing in front of them. However, the steel giant known as "Aerial" seemed to have its eyes glow in response.

(Marth) "I am Emblem Marth, we are on a mission to defeat the Fell Dragon. May we count on both of you?"

Suletta looked incredibly nervous before looking at Aerial, whose eyes flashed again. Though no one heard any noise come from the being, Suletta suddenly had a determined expression.

(Suletta) "Right, if I run, I gain one. Move forward, and gain two!"

(Alear) "Hah, I think I quite like that saying. We're lucky to have you!"

===

Supports:

===

Alear

(Suletta) "I heard your mother was a wonderful person. I-I'm really sorry to hear what happened..."

(Alear) "Thank you, Suletta. I'm glad you still have your mother, and your sister to support you."

...

(Alear) "Suletta, I swear I'm hearing someone else talk to me whenever it's just us..."

(Suletta) "Hm? Oh, that's just Aerial saying hello! She's louder on some days more than others."

===

Clanne

(Suletta) "W-wow! You're so young! Reminds me of Chuchu..."

(Clanne) "From what I've heard of your friend, I don't want to make her angry...!"

...

(Clanne) "You say you pilot Aerial? That must take an incredible strain on your body."

(Suletta) "I've never really noticed a physical strain on myself with Aerial before. I-Is that normal? T-There's nothing wrong with me r-right?!"

===

Chloé

(Chloé) "You always seem so cheerful when having lunch with us, Suletta. I only wish we could let you have some of the local cuisine as well!"

(Suletta) "T-Thank you for the offer miss Chloé, b-but I must decline! Grilled rat seems..." shudders

===

Rosado

(Rosado) "Aerial looks absolutely adorable! But, I think she could use a few more ribbons on her. What do you say, Suletta?"

(Suletta) "Adorable? I don't think I've heard anyone call her that. Maybe we can spruce the cockpit up? I'm afraid the ribbons might get burnt up by the beams or the thrusters..."

===

Lucina

(Lucina) "Hah, looking at you talk to Aerial reminds me of my own family."

(Suletta) "Do you think my mom can meet yours? I'm sure she'd love to meet them!"

===

Victory Quotes:

"It can fly, it can dance! Aerial!"

"Move forward, gain two!"

"The only result is the truth!"

Awakening:

Alear, Marth and Vander looked at the ring with growing concern. What kind of ring to help defeat the Fell Dragon would be called the "Emblem of Calamity"? And the incantation didn't help put aside fears either.

Alear sighed before he nodded. It's better they have it than the enemy.

(Alear) "Devour our foes, Emblem of Calamity!"

A long black haired woman emerged from the ring, clothes and cape visibly torn as she stoically turned towards the group.

(Velvet) "...Who are you supposed to be?"

(Alear) "My name is Alear. We're on a mission to defeat the Fell Dragon, thus we have summoned you."

(Velvet) "You know my title and you still chose to summon me? You're clearly desperate."

(Vander) "You will not address the Divine One that way!"

Velvet's eyes glanced over to Vander, visibly getting more annoyed.

(Velvet) "If you want my help, then suck it up. Or should I eat you too?"

(Marth) "We can all be friends, Miss Velvet."

(Velvet) "I'm not here to make friends. I just want one person in my world dead...Alear, right? What is your plan for the world once this Fell Dragon is gone?"

(Alear) "To work towards a brighter future?"

(Velvet) "Not dictated by reason?"

(Alear) "Dictated by...? N-No. Peace."

(Velvet) "...I suppose that'll do for now. Let's get moving."

(Alear) "Thank you, Velvet."

===

Supports:

===

Alear

(Alear) "You put up such a harsh exterior, but you're quite kind! I've seen how you speak with Jean and Clan-"

(Velvet) "Tch, I have no idea what you're talking about. Spread any rumours like that, and I won't hesitate to eat you."

...

(Velvet) "I appreciate that you clean your own room despite having servants. Not a half bad job of keeping it tidy, either."

(Alear) "It just never felt right to me, letting someone else do all the work...Y-You're glaring at my bed pretty badly there. Is something wrong?"

(Velvet) "Who ironed your bed? It's covered in wrinkles! You need to properly-..."

(Alear) "Hah, Velvet, it's all right!...V-Velvet? Wow, she's still going on about the proper technique..."

...

Jean

(Jean) "ACK! H-Hi, Velvet...D-Did I do something wrong? You're staring at me."

(Velvet) "...Nothing. Sorry."

===

Alcryst

(Velvet) "I'm only gonna say this once. Knock it off with that self deprecating crap and you mean the world to your brother."

(Alcryst) "H-Huh? But-"

(Velvet) "Shut up and let me finish. In a war like this, you don't know what will happen. So cherish the time you have with him, and remember he'd never forgive himself if you get yourself killed."

(Alcryst) "...R-Right." ...Why did she look so sad saying that?

===

Louis

(Velvet) "...Watch where your eyes wander, Louis, or else I'll gouge them out."

(Louis) "Oh, apologies if I have offended you, Velvet! I was merely observing the way you speak to others."

(Velvet) "Tch, even Phi has more tact than you..."

===

Kagetsu

(Kagetsu) "Ah, thank you for the sparring, Velvet! It was quite the thrill to finally fight you!"

(Velvet) "Hmph. You remind me of someone back home..."

===

Goldmary

(Goldmary) "Have you no shame, Velvet? I must acquire you a new set of clothes this instant! With my taste, you'll be wowing men in no ti-"

(Velvet) "Touch my clothes, and I'll eat you."

===

Bunet

(Bunet) "Why, your recipe has come out spectactularly! How did you acquire such skills?!"

(Velvet) "Heh, I learned from my sister, who learned it from my mother. All of our cooking is passed down. Too bad I can't cook it myself...Not that I could taste it anyway."

===

Victory Quotes:

"No mercy!"

"Show's over."

"Is that all? That was barely a fight."

Awakening:

Alear felt a burning rage from within the ring just holding it. Whoever was inside would make a strong ally indeed.

(Alear) "Receive us, O Emblem of the Dragon!"

A man in a gray suit slowly rose from the ring, turning and cracking his knuckles.

(Kiryu) "My name is Kiryu Kazuma."

(Alear) "Kiryu, it's nice to meet you. I'm Alear, we need your help in defeating the Fell Dragon."

Kiryu nodded and stepped forward.

(Kiryu) "There's room for only one dragon in this world."

Alear awkwardly coughed as Vander and Marth smiled. Straightforward, but he was at least easy to work with.

Supports:

===

Alear

(Alear) "Your fighting style is incredible, Kiryu! Do you think you can teach me some of your moves?"

(Kiryu) "I'm no teacher. And your fighting isn't something to sell short either."

...

(Kiryu) "So, you're a real dragon?"

(Alear) "That I am...Well, rather I'm told that. The Divine Dragon, specifically but honestly? I don't feel that different."

(Kiryu) "I see..." (How did I even get to this point in my life...?)

===

Etie

(Etie) "WOAH! Your muscles are so dang ripped! You gotta tell me your workout regime!"

(Kiryu) "I've never had a woman ask me that before...Well, I suppose it wouldn't hurt, considering our circumstances..."

===

Alfred

(Kiryu) "Why do you keep staring at my arms?"

(Alfred) "Huh? Oh! S-Sorry, your biceps are massive! Can I feel them?"

(Kiryu) "That certainly explains Etie..."

===

Jade

(Jade) "Kiryu, may I trouble you for your experiences in the...How do you say, yah-koo-zuh?"

(Kiryu) "There's nothing funny about the life we lead. It only leads to misery, so I'm afraid I can't help you with your ideas."

===

Anna

(Anna) "You just throw your money out to distract people?! Talk about a waste!"

(Kiryu) "Aren't you a little young to be worrying about that kind of thing?"

===

Pandreo

(Pandreo) "Holy smokes, Kiryu! You got a KILLER singing voice!"

(Kiryu) "Heh, I've been told I have a passion for karaoke. I doubt anyone understood what I was saying, but I'm glad you enjoyed it."

===

Byleth

(Byleth) "People keep telling me I have a hard to read face."

(Kiryu) "Hm, I do as well. I'm not exactly sure how to change that..."

===

Victory Quotes:

"Want to die? THEN STEP UP!"

"That's rad."

"Kakatte koi!"

Awakening:

(Alear) "Accept our mission, Emblem of the Soldier!"

Electricity shot out of the ring, as a man slowly stood up from all fours, bandana flowing in the wind.

(Snake) "This is Snake. Kept you waiting, huh?"

(Alear) "I'm Alear. We need your help in defeating the Fell Dragon."

(Snake) "Any backup?"

(Alear) "Plenty. You have me, and the rest of the army at your side!"

Snake looked to Alear, Marth, and Vander.

(Snake) "An army, huh? Not used to fighting in a unit this big. But, sounds fine to me. What's my first mission, Colonel?"

Supports:

===

Alear

(Alear) "If I may ask, why exactly do you call me Colonel?"

(Snake) "Feels more comfortable than me calling someone "Divine One" all the time. Besides, you don't like that title much either, right?"

(Alear) "Hah, fair point."

...

(Alear) "You want me to do what in that box?"

(Snake) "Sit inside it and hide. It works a lot better than you think it does."

===

Framme

(Snake) "You know, you remind me a lot of a girl I know named Sunny. She's just as positive as you."

(Framme) "I'll take that as a compliment, mister Snake!"

Lapis

(Snake) "You make your own gear on the field? Impressive."

(Lapis) "Oh, I doubt it's as impressive as anything you'd make, Snake. Mine are just little knick knacks and things to make life a little more convenient."

Yunaka

(Yunaka) "Wow, you're a lot deadlier than you look."

(Snake) "Could say the same to you, Yunaka. You're smart to hide that fact...Even if it is a little obvious."

Zelkov

(Zelkov) "Snake, you are quite the enigma of a man."

(Snake) "Can't say I have a straightforward past. I can probably guess the same for you." ...Why is he speaking like that?

Fogado

(Fogado) "So, you say you don't believe in the supernatural when you see monsters rising up and us using magic?"

(Snake) "In my world, I don't. Here, I can understand the magic at least, so that means I can fight it."

===

Victory Quotes:

"This is Snake, I'm done here."

"Mission accomplished."

"Showtime!"

#fire emblem engage headcanons #fire emblem engage imagines #crossover #alear fire emblem #suletta mercury #velvet crowe #kiryu kazuma #solid snake #fire emblem crossover #crack headcanons

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twoidiotwriters1 · 15 days

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The Curse of Oenone (Leo Valdez xFem!Oc)

A/N: They deserve a bit of silly goofy -Danny Words: 2,021 Series' Masterlist Previous Chapter // Next Chapter Listen to: 'Past Lives' -by Børns

XLIX: No Thoughts Just Concerns

"We have two weeks," Ara whispers anxiously. "How are we supposed to—"

Leo hushes her quickly. "Your brother is coming."

"Oh, cool, exactly what I needed, more people telling me I'm over my head," Ara grumbles as she glares at the couple.

"Be cool, they went through hell for us," he reminds her.

Ara stands there scowling at Percy. "Stop looking at me like I'm mom," he complains. "I won't scold you for hiding food under the pillow."

Annabeth points at the Archimedes sphere. "That looks great, Leo. How does it work?" She's trying to send a message: These two need a moment.

"Found it before we went to get you, check it out!" The boy guides her away and glances at Ara pleadingly, he looks more concerned about her than for her, like she would stab her brother unprovoked.

She can hear Piper and Hazel sword fighting, and Jason chuckling while he listens to something Frank's telling him. The girl keeps her eyes on the starboard, feeling somehow alienated. She's not sharing the fate of any of these kids, Leo is tied to her by a curse, and once this quest is over, she doesn't know what that'll mean to their relationship.

"Can I tell you a secret?" Percy stands next to her, staring in the same direction she's looking.

Ara smiles a little. "You know I love gossip."

Percy chuckles and then sighs. "I've been having nightmares... about drowning. Even before I went to Tartarus."

The girl looks back at him and fixes her posture. "Oh."

He makes a face. "My current theory is that I've felt pretty uh... not very good at what I do."

Ara frowns. "That's crazy."

"Is it? Couldn't get us out of the Aquarium, and after that I got my ass kicked by a sea monster, and after that, I almost drowned in a cave..."

"Those traps were made to catch you."

"Yeah?" He asks quietly. "Or maybe I was never that good to begin with."

"That's insane," Ara raises a brow. "Percy, you're the greatest hero of our time."

"Nah, Birdy, that's you," his face shows a tentative smile.

"I'm only great because you guys made me great," she squeezes her shoulder. "Without my mentors, there would be no daughter of Olympus."

"That doesn't make me feel better," he admits awkwardly. "You grew up thinking it was okay to risk your life—once you realized you wouldn't get those chances naturally, you..."

"My fatal flaw is ambition, if you hadn't helped me find a way to channel that need, who knows? I would've joined Luke, probably," she pats his back. "Cheer up, Nemo. This was the best possible outcome."

"I'm not sure..."

"Don't even," she says firmly. "Please."

Percy looks at her dejectedly. "You look tired. Go to bed."

Ara laughs. "You just need to feel like you have some control over me, right?"

Percy pulls her close in a loose chokehold. "I'm your brother and I love you, accept my advice!"

Ara smacks his arm and coughs. "Fine, fine! I'm leaving!"

"Hey!" Leo shows up, sneaking between the siblings and pulling Ara to safety. "No tough love!"

"She's alright!" Percy laughs, raising his hands in surrender. "Birdy's just whiny."

"Exactly, don't get her going!" Leo jokes, hugging her head against his shoulder.

"Hey!" Ara complains.

The boy clicks his tongue, patting her hair. "S'alright, doll, let's hug it out..."

"Hey!" She insists grumpily. "I'm not whiny!"

"I thought her voice would change after the growth spurt, but it's still pretty annoying," Percy comments playfully.

"Knock it off!" Ara pushes Leo away and both boys laugh. "I don't like this! Stop it."

"You want them to stop being friends?" Annabeth approaches with a grin.

"Sorry, sunshine, no can do," Leo says gleefully. "Your family loves me."

"Perhaps mom would like to trade you for him," Percy continues.

"I think Paul would love that—"

"No, he wouldn't!" Ara pouts. "Dad loves me!"

Ara's pitiful doe-eyes make the boys cave. Percy tries to comfort Ara but Leo moves faster, his arms wrap around her, and he kisses all over her face. Percy's expression is hilarious as it happens, Ara has allowed other boys to fuss and pamper her throughout the years, but usually, he's the one she chooses. Now Leo has taken his place.

Annabeth holds his hand. "You okay?"

Both teens watch Ara blush while Leo showers her with attention. It's hard to see her as the same kid that would cry during quests, now she looks like a real leader, strong and scary. To Percy, having to come to terms with the fact that she no longer needs nor wants his aid is like a punch in the gut, he enjoyed being an older brother, how is he supposed to act around her now?

"Leo's her soulmate, I didn't know those were real," something weird churns in his stomach, like fear, but sadder.

Annabeth smiles. "Ara's a matchmaker, that should interest you more."

Percy frowns. "I thought they were a myth—Cabin Ten's boogeyman for when they were teased a little too much."

"She says our lights are the same color."

Percy's face flushes. "Does that mean we..."

Annabeth kisses his cheek. "You didn't answer my question, Seaweed brain."

He chuckles and shrugs. "I'm alive. That's what matters."

"I'd like a proper answer, please," Annabeth presses.

"Look at those two," Percy responds, unable to do it himself. "I couldn't wait to see her in love so I could tease her... but I don't think I like it," he rubs the back of his neck. "It's weird. I'm happy for her but I guess I thought..."

"That it would take years for this to happen," Annabeth nods. "You weren't there to make sure Leo was good for her before he could date her."

"My mom loves him," Percy replies, and Annabeth has to suppress her laughter when he says it like it's such a terrible thing. "And it makes sense. A Cabin Nine boy with a sense of humor and so affectionate it's kind of cringe? Aphrodite knew what she was doing."

"Was that her dream boy?" Annabeth asks with amusement.

"I don't know, I'm just saying it suits her," Percy insists. "I'm glad she's with someone so unapologetically head over heels for her... But what they mean to each other..."

"It's a complicated situation," Annabeth admits. "He's cursed, and Ara's the cause. Leo has a plan, and our General is against it, that is the real crossroad."

"I don't want her to go back to how she was when Mike died," Percy says worryingly. "That whole thing about Paris and Helen... I don't know what to tell her."

Ara and Leo return and the girl seems in a better mood. "I'll go to bed only if you convince Leo to do the same."

Annabeth shrugs. "We all need sleep—and Festus can keep an eye on us now, right? No need to have someone on night watch."

Leo scratches the back of his head. "Well, no, but I wanted to check the state of the ship since I've got time—"

"We just came back from a big mission," Ara holds his hand with both of hers and pleads. "Let's go have dinner, then I'll give you thirty minutes to come and check Festus's noggin!"

"Why thirty minutes?" Percy asks.

"It's how long it takes me to get ready for bed," she replies casually.

Percy frowns. "Wait, is Leo sleeping with—"

"Let's all have dinner!" Annabeth pulls Percy away. "We'll call the others, you two go ahead!"

The seven and Ara are having dinner together, all of them wondering out loud what Nico, Reyna, and Hedge may be facing on their own.

"At least they're moving out of the ancient lands, not further in," Frank sighs.

"Yes, but Nico isn't strong enough to move as fast as they need to," Ara points out.

"Well, they have Coach with them, right?" Piper replies sarcastically. "He can keep Nico and Reyna in one piece no problem, as you two were so keen to point out."

Frank and Ara share a guilty look. Leo makes a noise and points at them with his fork. "What's that about? What are you two hiding?"

"Do you think it's okay if we...?" Frank leaves his question open and Ara shrugs.

"Mellie's pregnant."

"What!"

"When did that—"

"Who's Mellie?" Percy frowns.

Ara grins. "Hedge got a girlfriend last December. We thought they were casual but I think they're married now? I'm not sure, that guy is a mystery."

"Dang!" Leo smirks. "Hedge wasted no time..."

"No wonder he'd been looking so stressed lately," Jason grimaces. "Good move from you two, sending him home. He should be with his family."

"Yeah, let's hope he gets to camp safely."

"Birdy, let's keep that kind of thoughts for your inner voice, alright?" Percy scowls. "You sound like Nico..."

"He's a good kid," Jason quickly defends him. "Maybe just a bit pessimistic."

Leo snorts. "That guy opens his mouth and all that comes out are death omens."

"He's the reason we got out alive of the House of Hades," Jason points out gravely.

"What's up with you and Nico?" Piper questions. "One day you're telling us we can't trust him and the next you're Nico's fan club—"

"WOW—"

"I just—"

"Don't ever call me Nico's fan club!" Ara exclaims.

"That's more like it," Percy smirks, eating a mouthful of fries. "But seriously," he swallows and clears his throat. "What's happening?"

"People grow up and realize there are more important things in life than holding grudges," Ara shrugs.

"Yeah, and Eros poked each of you in the butt with his fancy arrows, made you hold hands, and list five things you love about each other," Leo taunts them.

"You shouldn't make fun of Eros, dude, he's the reason Ara's dating you," Piper teases him.

"I pulled Ara because I'm awesome, it wasn't Eros."

"No, it does feel like Eros was bored and realized he had the opportunity to do the funniest thing," Frank adds with a grin.

"You're going to come at me with that, Zhang?" Leo demands with annoyance. "After I saved you from spontaneous combustion? You wanna go there?"

"I wanna," Jason offers bemusedly.

"Petition denied," Leo retorts. "Next!"

"Hey, you're the one who made fun of me for not insulting Nico and he's not here to defend himself! I have the right to tease you!"

"You don't have what it takes, Grace, let it go."

"I think I do," he responds calmly.

"I so wanna use charmspeak and make this worse," Piper nibbles on a strawberry, watching the exchange with bright eyes.

"Piper, control your white boy, don't encourage him!" Leo says.

"Ara, you gonna do something about your chihuahua?" Jason asks back.

"Chihuahua?" Leo squeaks. "Is it because I'm Mexican? WOW, Jason, your Roman racism is showing."

"What? No!" Jason blushes and everyone else starts laughing. "That's not what I meant and you know it!"

"I really thought you weren't like all the other Americans out there," Leo turns to Percy. "You're my last hope, Nemo."

"You're not allowed to call me that," Percy says, still grinning.

"Got it, little mermaid."

"Knock it off, Leobard," Ara chortles. "Jason's being a good friend to Nico and that's not easy, I would know. You should too, you guys were getting along when he started training you!"

"Oh, I understand how hard it is. I don't understand why Jason wants to be friends with him, though," Leo says sarcastically but truly curious. "He's nothing short of hostile towards all of you, except Hazel. And maybe Ara, when he's well-fed."

"Maybe I got tired of having a short and scrawny best friend and I'm trying to change it to a tall and fit one," Jason taunts him.

Leo raises his eyebrows in surprise. His face denotes something more dangerous than hurt or anger, Leo looks at Jason like he's just handed him the best fidget toy on the market.

"Alright," the boy speaks with a shit-eating grin. "Yeah, that's probably good for you, Jace. Giants don't have it easy, huh? Sucks to be you."

Jason hesitates, sensing danger. "I mean..."

"No, no, I get it," Leo stops him from talking, lifting one hand to silence him. "Life is tough for the big guys, I would hate to be you—I get to sleep and don't feel the need to lock my door at all! Good night, y'all!"

He pulls Ara out of her seat and the Mess Hall. The girl waves happily before leaving with him, and Percy tenses as if wanting to follow, but Annabeth keeps him in place and whispers something in his ear. He mutters a reply with a grumpy expression.

Jason turns to Piper and Frank. "Should I lock my door tonight?"

Next Chapter –>

Taglist.

@siriuslysirius1107 @ask-giggles1303 @asnyox-the-hoarder @im-planning-something-look @bandshirts-andbooks @coolninjapaper @thewaterlily @whenisthefall @1randomcomic @you-bloody-shank @sunflowergraves @owlalex44 @taylordaughter @typicalsolangelolover @writingmia @espressopatronum454 @slytherinnqueen @orbitingpolaris @obxstiles @ellipsisspelled @thepixiechicksh @ebony-reine-vibes

#twoidiots writing #pjo fanfic #leo valdez fanfic #doo #leo valdez x oc #heroes of olympus #percy jackson and the olympians

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theresthesnitch · 1 year

Text

What we do to get by, Part 12

Read the rest here.

***

"Sirius. Sirius, where are you? Come on, mate. Padfoot!"

Sirius reached blindly on his side table for the little compact mirror. He held it up toward his face without opening his eyes. "What the fuck, Prongs?"

"Sorry, did I wake you?"

Sirius cast a tempus charm and opened his eyes just wide enough to check it. "It's fucking five am, of course you woke me up."

"Well, I wouldn't have had to wake you up if someone had bothered to update me on what happened last night." James took a spoonful of yogurt and licked the spoon clean. "Plus, you're normally much more cheerful in the morning. What happened? Late night? Someone extra in your bed? Do I need to wish Remus good morning too?"

"Not bloody likely that, is it?" James was quiet, and Sirius sighed. "No, nothing happened. I had a shit shift, so we didn't really talk."

James hummed. "Lily said Colin was back. Are you okay?"

Sirius sat with the question, let it wash over him. “I’ll be okay if we can figure out how to help him.”

James nodded, not pressing further. "So what happened with Remus?"

"Nothing. I basically blew it off, but I asked him to stay. He said he would if I promised to tell him if he was too much."

James snorted. "Like that would ever happen." Sirius grunted in agreement. "You know you have to talk to him, Padfoot."

"Are you sure? Can't I just go about pretending like nothing is wrong?"

"If you want him to think you hate him and leave, sure." James gave him a look, and Sirius groaned. "You know I'm right. He's already on edge, and you avoiding the situation isn't going to make it better."

Sirius turned his head into the pillow and screamed. "Damn you, James Potter. When did you get so emotionally intelligent?"

"I didn't get Lily to marry me by accident." James pointed his spoon at Sirius. "Tell you what. Talk to him this morning. And I'll come over at like 11 and make lunch for both of you."

"Yeah, alright." Sirius ran a hand over his face. "But not right now. There's no way he is awake, and I'm going back to sleep."

"Alright. Go get your beauty sleep." James gave him a look of mocking sympathy. "You look like you need it."

"Fuck you, Prongs. Go fix your hair."

"Good night, beautiful."

"That's more like it."

***

Sirius walked quietly out into the kitchen, finding Remus sitting at the table with a steaming teapot and a pile of toast. Neat pots of spreads sat with little knives next to it. Remus sat in one chair, a full cup of tea between his hands and an empty one sitting across the table.

He looked up when Sirius walked in, uncertainty still clouding his eyes. Sirius quietly cursed himself for not dealing with this better the night before. "Morning, Moony."

Remus tucked hair behind his ear. "Morning. I made tea, a-and toast. Lily showed me how, and I remember you used to eat tea and toast for breakfast most mornings. So I thought, maybe, um…" His voice trailed off and he looked away.

"Thanks. That was really nice of you." Sirius sat down and poured himself a cup of tea. It was a little over-steeped, but Sirius added a bit of extra sugar and barely noticed. "Have you been up long?"

Remus shook his head. "I was just getting up, and I heard you. Thought I'd just make extra."

Sirius grabbed a slice of toast. It was a little under-toasted–probably an overcorrection from last time. "This is really great."

Remus shrugged. "It's alright. The tea is a little off, I think, and–"

"No, Remus, I mean it. It's great." Sirius took a bite of toast. "Thank you."

Remus looked away. "You're welcome."

Silence stretched between them, laying heavy across them with the weight of the conversation they hadn’t had yet. If Sirius was a lesser man, he would have avoided this conversation all together. Perhaps a few years ago, he would have anyway, but this was Remus, and Sirius owed him a conversation.

“So. About what happened the other day.” When Sirius spoke, Remus’s eyes shot to him. Briefly, Sirius could see a whirlwind of emotions there, churning together. Sirius proceeded carefully. “We should probably talk about it.”

Remus looked down at the table again, bringing one arm across his chest while the other toyed with his cup. Sirius was struck by how small he looked, not just in physical stance, but in the space he allowed himself to take up. Remus had made himself small, or perhaps the circumstances that led him here had forced him to be small, and it broke Sirius’s heart to see it. “Yeah, alright.”

“Fuck, this is hard.” He hadn’t really meant to say it, but it was the only thought in his head.

Remus flinched. “Sorry.”

Sirius grimaced, not meaning to put that on Remus. “That’s definitely not your fault. I’m the one here making everything uncomfortable. If I’d just kept my mouth shut–”

“No.” It was the most forceful thing that Sirius had heard Remus say in days, years maybe, and he made eye contact when he said it. “No, I’m glad you did, even if it wasn’t, um, the best of circumstances. I’m glad to know that someone loved me once.”

Sirius caught the way Remus made that statement past tense–Sirius loved him–and wondered if he should correct it or if that would be worse. “Well, then for that, I can be glad I said it.”

“You regret it, then?” Remus was looking away again, one long finger running around the edge of the nearly empty cup of tea. Sirius could feel the delicate way he approached it, like the answer might make him shatter. Sirius was certain that Remus’s reaction would break him.

Sirius considered the answer for a moment, trying to sort through the feelings that still bubbled tumultuously inside of him. “I don’t regret loving you.” Saying those words felt like something was being pulled out of him, drained from him. He was exposed, but perhaps it was necessary to show Remus the way he burned for him.

“But you regret shagging me.” Blunt, to the point.

“Yes and no.” Sirius laid a hand on the table, fingers tapping an anxious rhythm. “I have wondered for a long time what being with you would be like, so in a way, I don’t think I could ever regret spending the night with you.”

Remus began chewing on his thumbnail. “But?”

Sirius sighed. “But I do regret the circumstances. I wish you had been as invested in it as I was, instead of–” Sirius dropped his head.

“Instead of an arrangement.” Remus picked up his tea and sipped, the silence stretching out behind his words.

“Yeah. I wish it hadn’t been an arrangement. I wish you had just wanted me, too.”

He’d hoped Remus would argue with him then, would tell him that he’d wanted Sirius too, even if he had offered himself as payment. Remus stayed quiet, chewing on that damned thumbnail, and Sirius’s heart fell when he said nothing.

“Well, okay.” Sirius took another drink of his tea, trying to steel his nerves for the next part. “I hope you can forgive me for it.”

Remus looked at him again, eyebrows furrowed. “Forgive you?”

“For letting you stay here without telling you I had feelings for you.” Sirius spun his teacup on the table. “I know that was inappropriate, but I promise that I never–”

“Sirius, stop.” Remus was chewing on his lip when Sirius looked up. “It’s fine. I don’t care about that.”

“Oh.” I don’t care about that. Sirius tried not to read too much into that. “Well, okay. I hope you’ll stay, then. I promise I won’t make it uncomfortable or anything. I won’t try to make a move on you or anything.”

“You won’t?”

Sirius looked away. He was trying to read too much into that tone of voice. There wasn’t hope in it. It didn’t mean anything. Probably. “I won’t. I don’t want you to think you have to do anything you don’t want to do. It’s fine.”

“Oh.” Remus looked away, then cleared his throat. “Okay. I, um, thanks.”

Sirius took a deep breath. “I want you to know that I am still your friend no matter what. You’re welcome to stay here, even if you don’t have feelings for me now.”

Remus chewed his lip, then the words slipped out like “What if I never feel the same?”

What if I never feel the same?

Each word hit him like a shot, breaking down every last hope he had left. He took a deep breath, and he could feel the jagged edges inside of him where his heart had been ripped out forcefully by the words. “That’s fine, too. I’ll get over you eventually.” He knew it was a lie, even as he said it.

“It’s not you, Sirius.” Remus’s words cut him again, as though a fucking platitude could make it better. “It’s me. I just… I don’t know if I can love anyone the way you love me. I’m not sure that anything exists inside of me that can love anymore. I’m more monster than man, and I don’t know that there’s anything left in me that can be loved–”

“Remus stop.” The words were ripped out of Sirius, and he couldn’t have stopped them if he wanted to. “I asked you not to put yourself down to me. I–” He pressed his eyes closed, willing back the emotions he refused to let pour out of him. “I really don’t want to have to tell you all the wonderful things about you while you’re telling me you’ll never love me.”

“That’s not what I meant, Sirius.”

“I know.” Sirius took a deep breath. “But it feels like it.”

“I’m sorry.”

The silence that filled the room behind his words was choking, stealing all of the oxygen away and leaving Sirius wondering if his lungs even still worked. He pushed his chair back. “James is going to be here by 11. I think I’m going to go take a shower.”

“Alright.” Remus’s voice was small, but it hit Sirius’s back like a stone. He was about to walk through the door when Remus spoke again. “Sirius?” Sirius paused, but didn’t turn. “I think that if I could love anyone, it would be you. If my life had been different, I think I would have loved you.”

Blacks don’t cry, but in the shower, Sirius can pretend it’s just water on his face.

***

James arrived early, bless him. Sirius was still in the bathroom, toweling off when there was a knock at the door. “Padfoot? Can I come in?”

Sirius’s heart calmed when he heard his voice. “Come in.”

Sirius wrapped the towel around his waist and began fixing his hair in the mirror, James walked in and looked at him expectantly over his shoulder in the mirror. “Well? Did you talk to him?”

Sirius didn’t meet his eyes. “I did.”

James just looked at him for a moment, and that was enough. They were best friends, practically brothers, and James could tell without needing to ask. “That bad?”

“It’s fine, Prongs.” A lie; Sirius could tell that James wasn’t fooled. “I told him that I loved him, and he told me that he couldn’t love me. It’s fine. Anything we might have had ended when I ruined his life, and I just have to accept that. Consequences of my actions, and all that.”

“Padfoot.” The word was soaked with pain, and just hearing that in James’s voice nearly made Sirius tear up again. “I’m sorry.”

Sirius shrugged. “Me too, I guess.”

“What do we do now?” James crossed his arms and leaned against the wall by the door. “Do we have a plan?”

Sirius cast the last charm over his hair and turned to face James. “We go out there and make sure that beautiful boy has something to eat today, and we make him feel welcome so he doesn’t leave again. I will work on pretending that I don’t love him and that I don’t notice him or how very much I want to kiss him. Eventually, maybe, we figure out how to be Marauders again, and that will be enough.”

“Will it?”

Sirius shrugged. “It has to be. That's all I have left.”

***

James went to the kitchen first, leaving Sirius to get dressed, and by the time Sirius got in there, he was loudly and excitedly making lunch. James filled the room with so much energy that Sirius almost didn’t notice the pain lingering at the edges of the room, the leftover bits from his and Remus’s earlier conversation. James cooked, and they ate, and they cleaned, and by the time Sirius had to leave for work, James had Remus settled onto the couch and they were working on spells that Remus had never had a chance to learn with so much laughter between them that Sirius wondered how they could be learning anything.

It was exactly what they needed.

Sirius carried the warmth that James brought into the apartment with him to St. Mungos, and all the way to Colin’s room again. It had been about twenty four hours since Sirius had signed off of his shift and left Colin in his room. They’d started him on a round of potions and spells that would be replenished every four hours in the desperate hope to stop and reverse the advancement of the curse. If it didn’t work, Sirius wasn’t sure what they’d try next.

Sirius hopped up onto the end of Colin’s bed, legs swinging as he pulled a jelly bean out of the Bertie Bott’s box he bought in the gift shop downstairs. “Did you know that hippogriffs can be kept as pets in London?”

“No way.” Colin pulled a bean out of the box as Sirius offered it to him. “There’s no way that muggles wouldn’t see it.”

“You can.” Sirius popped his jelly bean in his mouth and made a face. “Ugh, grass flavored.” He shook the box and looked in again. “If you have a hippogriff as a pet in London, you have to cast daily disillusionment charms over them.”

Colin ate his bean, then smiled. “Caramel. Sounds like a lot of work for a pet.”

“Hm, too true.” Sirius ate another bean, which he pushed around his mouth. “I think this one is olive oil.”

Colin turned his head and pursed his lips in a smile. “That sounds odd.”

“You know, it’s a bit of an uncomfortable flavor.” He swallowed. “My Uncle Cygnus kept two hippogriffs in front of his house. He was usually good about disillusioning them, but about four times a year, the Ministry would have to come out and memory charm his neighbors when he let the charms fade. Of course, that wasn’t an accident. He just thought he shouldn’t have to charm them. ‘I own beautiful beasts, why should I hide them?’”

“I’m surprised the Ministry didn’t fine him for that.” Colin grabbed another bean, popping it in his mouth. He grimaced. “Sort of rubbery, but with a weird aftertaste. I think it’s a shoe insole.”

“They did, actually. He just didn’t care.” Sirius spit the next one back into his hand. “Okay, that one is moldy bread. They say every flavor, but they really should exclude some of them.”

Colin laughed as he ate one more bean. “I think I got the better selection this time. I think this one is roast beef.”

Sirius narrowed his eyes at him. “You’re cheating somehow.”

“I swear I’m not. You’re just bad at picking.”

Sirius couldn’t help but smile back at him. “Alright, let me check out your curse.”

Colin pulled off his shirt and laid back onto the bed. “So tell me about your house guest. Did he kiss you goodbye this morning?”

Sirius gave him an indulgent smirk as he traced the curse tendrils across his chest. “I think you have the wrong idea about my friend, who is just staying with me.”

Colin gave him a look like he didn’t believe him. “You’re the one who implied that I was too young to hear about him. Sounds like k-i-s-s-i-n-g to me.”

Sirius snorted, not bothering to correct the kid that kissing was not the thing he wouldn’t talk about. “Well, I hate to ruin your fun, but he’s just my friend, and he’s made it very clear he doesn’t want anything more.”

Colin made a weird face, which made Sirius laugh. “That’s bollocks.”

“You’re telling me, mate.” Sirius cast a spell over Colin, checking his vitals. “Like I said, nothing interesting here.”

“You need a better housemate.” Colin raised his eyebrows. “I hear the new mediwizard on level 3 is hot.”

“Are you talking about Benji?” Colin nodded, and Sirius shook his head. “Nah, not my type. He’s a bit too, um–”

“Soft?” Colin nodded, eyeing Sirius like he had him all figured out. “You do look like you need someone a little more rough and rugged.”

He wasn’t wrong, but did the kid have to be so damn perceptive? “Alright, who made you a mind healer? How about we get back to you instead of me, eh? Your mum is going to want an update when she gets back.”

“You’re just saying that because I’m right.” Colin smirked as he laid back and let Sirius examine him.

Sirius didn’t respond as he began running his fingers over the curse mark. It hadn’t spread any, which was a good sign, but it also hadn’t reduced in size since yesterday. It was warm to the touch, and it felt raised slightly off his skin. "How does it feel?"

Colin shrugged. "About like normal. Sort of charged, like energy in my chest, but not anymore than normal."

Sirius pulled his hands back. "Alright, normal isn't terrible."

"It's not good, though, is it?"

Sirius turned to see Sylvie standing behind him. He gave her a smile. "It could be better, but normal at least tells us that we know what we're working with. We just have to figure out what else to do to make it better."

"Do you have a plan for something else, then?"

"Sirius always has a plan, mum!" Colin smiled brightly at him. "He's got a plan for everything."

"You got it, buddy." Sirius walked toward the door, pausing by Sylvie. "I'm going to confer with my team, but I'll be back with something else." She nodded sadly, and he knew that she was losing hope. He needed to find something to offer her.

***

Sirius spent the rest of the afternoon bouncing between patients and the medical library, trying to see if there was some book, some spell, some potion they hadn't considered yet. It was six hours into his shift, while reading a book in Latin that he could only understand because the Ancient and Most Noble House of Black thought all of its children needed to understand the dead language, when he came across a plant he only barely remembered being mentioned in Herbology. For the first time in hours, he felt some tingling of hope as he read over the section on yellow dock. The herb was commonly used for blood purifying, but the text in front of him suggested that it had once been used in potions to “reduce the sharp sting of the worst curses.”

It was a stretch. It probably didn’t mean what Sirius wanted it to mean. It probably wouldn’t work.

It was worth a try.

***

Sirius got home later than he expected, feeling content and sticky–the way spending a few hours brewing a potion always made him feel. Like he’d accomplished something. He exhaled as he stepped into the flat, instantly recognizing that Remus was there, and in spite of everything, feeling like everything was alright.

Maybe it wasn’t. In fact, if he thought too hard on it, things were definitely not alright, definitely not with Remus anyway. He actively chose not to think about it, and rode the high of his potion and the immediate positive improvement in Colin’s stats.

“Remus?” Sirius looked around the flat, not taking his shoes and jacket off. “Are you here?”

Remus walked around the corner from the kitchen, eyebrows pinched in concern. “Everything alright?”

“Everything’s great, actually.” Sirius was bouncing on the balls of his feet, too much energy to just sit. “Let’s go out for tea.”

Remus raised an eyebrow. “You want to go out?”

“Yeah. There’s a pub down the road that does a fantastic fish and chips.” Sirius inclined his head toward the door. “Come with me.”

His face hardened. “I don’t– I can’t afford it, Sirius.”

Sirius licked his lips. “Let me pay.”

Remus sighed. “Sirius, no–”

“No, listen to me.” Sirius took a deep breath, and waited for Remus to turn his attention back to him. “I know you don’t want to, but I just had a really good shift, and I want to celebrate. I would really like to celebrate at a pub with my friend, Remus. Please come with me?”

Remus’s lips twisted into an almost smile, trying to hold it back. “You’re really not playing fair, there.”

“I will get on my knees and beg if that’s what it takes.” Sirius heard what he said after the words have already left his lips and it’s too late.

Remus’s face flushed, and Sirius tried to ignore it. “Well, no need for that. I’ll go with you, but let’s not make it a regular thing.”

#what we do to get by #wolfstar #what if the prank ended differently?#remus lupin #sirius black #snitchwrites

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fairyfandommother · 2 years

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‘Young Royals’ Season 2: An unhelpful guide to the first look at the upcoming season.

Image 1: Crown Prince Wilhelm at home, eating with his parents: Her Majesty, Queen Kristina of Sweden and The Prince Consort, Ludvig

It’s so sad that there are only placements for the three of them. It’s like even Erik’s ghost is gone now. Also very telling how Kristina and Ludvig are all smiles and Wilhelm looks rather uninterested and resigned. This is probably going to be the start of the season before Wille goes off to Hillerska for the new semester. A goodbye dinner even, given the fanfare (correct me if I’m wrong but the ‘family dinner’ we saw in Season 1 looked a lot less formal).

Image 2: Crown Prince Wilhelm shares a glance with his ex-lover, Simon Eriksson (guys they never even explicitly said they were together so they weren’t even boyfriends idt 😭)

This is their official return to Hillerska, I think. The students (maybe it’s the choir) are all lined up for a welcome ritual for the Crown Prince’s arrival. Simon is gonna try his best to avoid this boy. I just know it. And Wilhelm is gonna be devastated. He’s probably gonna be like “Simon” all happy and breathless and he’s gonna be met with a “Your Highness”. WRING ME AND HANG ME OUT TO DRY I’M GOING INSANE

Image 3: Crown Prince Wilhelm frowning in focus (is that Henry right there?? I spy a redhead) while August, The Asshole of Arnås smiles in the blurred foreground.

This image does not sit right with me. What the fuck are you smiling about you weasel? I can’t believe Lisa casted Malte as this dickhead because his cute baby face is working so hard to curb my enthusiasm at the prospect of him getting beat up. It’s also quite strange that he seems to be the only one smiling in this frame?? Like literally everybody else is just… not paying attention or mad as fuck.

Fuck you, August.

Images 4 and 5: (ltr) Madison McCoy, Felice Ehrenchrona, Sara Eriksson, Stella, and Frederika. Sara Eriksson and August, The Asshole of Arnas.

First of all, Nikita with her natural hair!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Let’s go!!!!! Represent for the curly girls!!! This is such a huge deal for me as a black female fan of the show and I’m sure for Felice as a character. It represents her breaking out of that mold her mother put her in before to conform to conventional beauty standards. Love that she’s embracing her hair. Anywho… I put these images in a cluster because to me it seems like it happens either in the same scene or set around the same time (given Sara’s wardrobe). It’s probably the same first day as they’re all still in uniform. I doubt Felice would take very kindly to Sara and August conversing given what she knows but she also doesn’t know that Sara knows, Sara and August, The Asshole, don’t know that Felice knows. So, I’m thinking Sara and August are speaking away from the group (perhaps after they’ve left or walked off). August, The Asshole, looks teed off so I’m assuming this is a confrontation of sorts where he accuses Sara of spilling the beans to Wille and she has to convince him that she didn’t. Wouldn’t it be just great if Felice saw this little exchange and confronted Sara about it and Sara confesses what happened to Felice?? Wouldn’t y’al just love to see Sara face some consequences?? 🤭

Fuck both Sara and August tbh

Image 6: Felice Ehrencrona and Crown Prince Wilhelm share a quiet moment.

Wille looks so sad. Simon probably rejected him (as he should, let’s get one thing straight 😭), and Felice being the Best Friend Ever is rightfully trying to cheer Wille up. Wille had to make a lot of hard decisions last season, and those decisions hurt a lot of people, himself included. I hate what he did but it’s a messy situation all around and there’s really not much anyone can do about it. I believe in Wilmon Supremacy. Also, can I say that I love their friendship? I’m so happy that Felice, The Popular Rich Girl, is just.. so nice?? All hail.

Images 7 and 8: Simon Eriksson with best friends Ayub and Rosh + Crown Prince Wilhelm pining after Simon Eriksson in a classroom full of people.

I have TWO (2) theories about this set of photos. Given Simon’s wardrobe, I think it’s safe to say these scenes are probably close together (Omar was right, what is this kid wearing lmaooo). This is obviously during the week back (or even further in the semester) since the kids are back to regular clothing. My theories are more so with the order of these scenes.

Theory 1: Rosh and Ayub talk to Simon prior to the classroom scene where he tells them he’s gonna ignore Wille and they either stick by his decision or try to dig deeper into why he’s making said decision before he actually goes and ignores Wille in class ORRRRRRR

Theory 2: Simon ignores Wille in class and then tells Rosh and Ayub about it and they talk. I’m more inclined to believe this one because it makes more sense for him to meet up with his friends after school than it does for him to meet them before (assuming this is all the same day since he’s wearing the same clothes).

Let me also just take a moment to comment on Wilhelm’s very in-your-face staring here… like… he’s so obvious about it? And like, good for him?? Everyone else seems to be looking down at their books so maybe it’s a read aloud or a follow along but Wille’s not even trying to look like he’s paying attention. Also, how much do you wanna bet he kicked someone out of their seat to be able to sit with Simon? How many eyebrows do you think that raised? You go, Wille. Fight for your man.

Image 9: Crown Prince Wilhelm and Simon Eriksson, with their team, during rowing team training (?)

Looooot of assumptions here but they’re all in uniform and we know they’re on the team so let’s assume this is canon.

There’s so much going on here. Simon is like… all up in Wille’s space. One hand around his waist (check the mirror) and another on his side. Obviously this is a team building exercise and it could mean absolutely nothing but the significance of Simon being the one to have direct physical contact with Wille is pretty telling iykwim. This picture also seems kind of strange to me as I don’t think it belongs to the rest of the cluster which I’m guessing is the first, or even second, episode of the new season. This picture is singular in arrangement. There’s no partner. I’m guessing it happens a little later on (3 or 4 maybe) and after Wilmon have had some sort of development. A talk maybe? Cleared the air at least. Established some necessary boundaries.

Also notice who is very strategically missing from this shot? The captain of the team. I hope he got expelled. 🫶🏽🫦

Anyways, this makes zero sense but it’s just the initial vibe that I’m getting from this set of photos. I’M SO EXCITED FOR WHAT’S TO COME!! Also, @ that one Netflix France employee that leaked the season was coming out in November, I hope you don’t get fired 😭😭

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kingedmundsroyalmurder · 1 year

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Here is ~2500 words of Petit-Gervais and the Conventionist’s shepherd boy fic. There may be more at some point, if I ever write it, but my current writing pace suggests that it’ll be a while, if it happens at all. So I thought I’d share this chunk, for posterity and because I quite like it.

@pilferingapples

~*~

The week after the prime part of Petit-Gervais' fortune had been stolen from him, a storm raged through the area. Petit-Gervais had lingered, ashamed to go home without his money and hoping against hope that the gendarmes would bring in the villain who had robbed him. But as the days went by this seemed less and less likely, and Petit-Gervais had resolved to be on his way the very day the tempest hit.

The rain quickly tore through the shelter he had built, and he wasted only a few moments staring mournfully at the wreckage before setting off to find something sturdier. There was a town nearby; perhaps someone would take pity on him and let him inside. Perhaps they would even have food to share! The thought bolstered his step and made him nearly cheerful as the marmot on his back screamed into the wind.

Unlike in Paris, the rain in this country fell hard but not long. By the time Petit-Gervais finally stumbled across a dwelling-place, the worst had passed and only a drizzle remained. Petit-Gervais and his marmot were soaked to the bone.

He nearly tripped over the hut before he noticed it. It was a rude structure, built into a hillside and hidden from view by a strategic thicket. Petit-Gervais wouldn't have found it at all save for the slight break in the vegetation that signaled a path branching off of the main road.

"Maybe a hermit," he said aloud in his own language. The marmot chittered unhappily on his back and Petit-Gervais laughed. "There's only one way to find out," he declared, and took the path.

It was not a hermit who answered Petit-Gervais' knock but a boy, no older than Petit-Gervais, with a mop of sandy hair falling into his eyes. His face, furrowed with wariness, cleared into honest surprise when he saw Petit-Gervais. "What were you doing out in the storm?" he asked, in French. He had an accent Petit-Gervais had never heard before.

"Trying to find shelter from it," Petit-Gervais said. "I'm Petit-Gervais. Can I come inside and dry off? I can make her dance for you." He half turned, showing off the marmot.

The boy considered this request, then nodded and stepped aside to let Petit-Gervais inside. "Welcome to my home," he said. "I'm called Jean-la-Liberté." This last pronouncement held a note of challenge.

Petit-Gervais burst out laughing. "What are you, a Revolutionist?"

"Yes." Jean-la-Liberty spoke stiffly, coldly even. He'd drawn himself up to his full height, barely taller than Petit-Gervais. "Is that a problem?"

Petit-Gervais shrugged. "It's all politics," he said. "King, no King, it doesn't affect me."

"Under the Republic we were free." His voice was still stiff. "Good men spilled blood to deliver us from tyranny."

"And I was robbed last week," Petit-Gervais countered, the insult to both pride and livelihood still fresh enough to sting. "Would the Republic have stopped that?"

Jean-la-Liberté hesitated. "All men were held to the same laws," he said finally. "A rich man who robbed you would be punished just as harshly as a poor one."

"Well this one wasn't rich," Petit-Gervais said. "So I guess it doesn't matter. Can I still come in?"

Jean-la-Liberté hesitated a moment longer, muttered something to himself that Petit-Gervais didn't catch, and nodded.

"Thank you," Petit-Gervais said.

It took a moment or two for his eyes to adjust to the gloom inside. When they did, Petit-Gervais saw a rough-hewn table, with crumbs liberally scattered across its surface, and two chairs. A bed sat in one corner, with a sort of chair on wheels next to it and a straw pallet on the floor at its feet. The other side of the room held a crude kitchen, more than Petit-Gervais and his comrades had had in Paris but less than what he remembered his mother having at home. Apart from a half loaf of bread sitting out, it didn't seem to have been used in a while.

"Are you on your own here?" Petit-Gervais asked, taking it all in.

Jean-la-Liberté nodded. "My teacher passed into the care of the Supreme Being two years ago."

"And you've been here ever since? Alone?" Petit-Gervais couldn't hide his horror at this prospect. All his life he had been in company, first among his family and then, in Paris, among his fellow migrants. Even the trip home had been mostly spent with others, fellow workers going home or rival urchins to be merrily insulted. To be alone seemed to him a fate almost worse than death. At least in Heaven you had company.

"I have the sheep." Jean-la-Liberté sounded defensive again, and this time Petit-Gervais' heart filled with pity. No wonder he was so prickly, with only sheep for company.

"Well I'm glad I came by then," Petit-Gervais said. He moved towards the hearth, where a smoldering fire gave off more heat than light. He swung the marmot cage off his back and set it down in front of the hearth, then held out his own frozen hands towards the warmth.

Jean-la-Liberté hadn't answered, and when Petit-Gervais glanced over he found the other boy looking at him with an odd expression. "What?" he asked.

"No one's been glad to come here in a long time," Jean-la-Liberté said finally.

Petit-Gervais shrugged philosophically. "There's a first time for everything," he said, and, for the first time, Jean-la-Liberté smiled.

They stayed silent for a time, Petit-Gervais drying off and Jean-la-Liberté watching him, until Petit-Gervais' stomach loudly reminded him of the other thing he'd been hoping to find that evening.

Jean-la-Liberty jumped. "I'm sorry!" he said. "I've been a bad host. Are you hungry?"

"Always," Petit-Gervais said cheerfully.

Jean-la-Liberté moved to the kitchen corner and took out half a loaf of bread and a piece of cheese. These he put on the table, then went back for a jug of something and two cups to complete the meal. He paused, as thought realizing something, and looked over at the marmot. "Does it..." he began.

"She eats what I do," Petit-Gervais assured him. Jean-la-Liberté relaxed.

"Will you join me for a meal?" he asked. Petit-Gervais, now warmly damp rather than soaked and frozen, did not need to be asked twice.

"Where are you traveling from?" Jean-la-Liberté asked as they sat. He tore off a piece of bread for himself and passed Petit-Gervais the loaf. It was several days old, by the feel of it, but nowhere near the hardest loaf Petit-Gervais had ever eaten. He took a piece for himself and passed part of it down to the marmot, who grabbed for it eagerly.

"Paris," Petit-Gervais said. He peered into the jug, found it to be filled with wine, and poured himself a generous serving. Through a mouthful of bread he added, "Do you want to hear about it?"

Jean-la-Liberté did, and so Petit-Gervais launched into stories, telling Jean-la-Liberté about living in the city, about the adventures he'd had and the fights he'd been in and, laughing at his own stupidity, about the bumbling mistakes he'd made when arriving as an ignorant four-year-old fresh from the mountains. Jean-la-Liberté was an avid listener. He asked questions at all the right times and was suitably impressed by Petit-Gervais' worldliness. He himself had never gone farther than his summer pastures, and his sheep were far less interesting companions than Petit-Gervais' fellows. After they'd finished eating, Petit-Gervais pulled out his hurdy-gurdy and the marmot, rejuvenated by warmth and food, danced willingly to its melody. Jean-la-Liberté laughed with delight at the spectacle. Eventually the last light of the fire sputtered out, and the two boys retired, pressed together to conserve warmth on Jean-la-Liberté's pallet, Petit-Gervais' ragged blanket added to the top for extra insulation.

Petit-Gervais woke late the next morning. The winter sun had already been up for an hour, melting the night's frost coat. His head ached from the undiluted wine and his throat felt scratchy from sleep, but he rose anyway. Jean-la-Liberté was nowhere to be seen, and so Petit-Gervais busied himself with redoing his pack, pausing often to wipe his nose with the back of his hand.

Jean-la-Liberté came back inside just as Petit-Gervais was finishing his packing. "You're awake!" he said. Then, seeing the packed bag, "You're leaving already?"

"Won't get anywhere if I don't," Petit-Gervais said.

"There's another storm brewing," Jean-la-Liberté said, frowning. "You'll be far from anywhere when it hits."

"Not much that can be done about that," Petit-Gervais pointed out.

"You could stay here until it passes," Jean-la-Liberté suggested. "The house is sturdy enough to keep out the weather."

It was a tempting offer. Still. "There's likely another storm tomorrow too. I can't stay here forever."

Jean-la-Liberté shook his head confidently. "It won't rain tomorrow."

"How do you know that?"

"The sheep."

Petit-Gervais considered this. He wasn't so far removed from his roots that he disbelieved in animals' ability to divine the weather, nor so used to life on the road to turn down a roof when one was offered. "All right," he said. "I'll stay."

They spent the day idly. Jean-la-Liberté, who had already been to see his sheep, fiddled with a half finished wood carving, while Petit-Gervais, less hungry than usual, tried to teach his marmot new tricks with some of his uneaten bread. As Jean-la-Liberté had predicted, thunder started booming in early afternoon, and soon enough they heard the sound of another downpour.

"Does it always do this?" Petit-Gervais asked as the rain pounded down like pelting stones.

"Often enough," Jean-la-Liberté said. "Why, how does it rain in your country?"

Petit-Gervais started to answer, then stopped, struck. "You know," he said, "I don't remember." Then, because this seemed unsatisfactory, he added, "In Paris it stays grey and raining for days. It turns the soot to mud."

Jean-la-Liberté made a face. "That sounds unpleasant."

Petit-Gervais shrugged. "You get used to it."

They lapsed into silence, Jean-la-Liberté going back to his carving and Petit-Gervais staring at the fire. He hadn't thought much about what it would be like to go home. He'd known he would, of course, if his work didn't kill him or cripple him first, but it had always been an abstract thought. Home was a legend kept alive by boys who hadn't seen their villages since they were five or six, or by men who'd left for Paris at that same age and never gone back. Petit-Gervais carried the name of his village in his mind like a talisman, but it wasn't much more than a name. If he concentrated, he could recall his mother's face; he'd lost her voice long ago.

At last, Jean-la-Liberté broke the silence. "If I wasn't a shepherd, I'd go to Paris." From his tone, Petit-Gervais wasn't the only one whose thoughts had turned maudlin.

"What does being a shepherd have to do with it?" Petit-Gervais asked. "Surely there are others who could take your sheep."

"I have no other trade," Jean-la-Liberté said. "I can't very well herd a flock down the boulevards."

"There's plenty who'd pay to see that," Petit-Gervais said, grinning as he pictured it. Jean-la-Liberté didn't smile, and Petit-Gervais sobered. "You could learn a trade. You're too old for the chimneys, but you could apprentice to someone." He nodded at the piece of wood in Jean-la-Liberté's hands. "Carpenters take on boys your age."

Jean-la-Liberté snorted. "This? It's taken a year just to get this far. My teacher tried, but I have no talent for artisanry."

"Then what can you do?"

"I can mind sheep. I can read and write French. I can make cheese." He sounded disgusted with what, to Petit-Gervais, sounded like a perfectly reasonable skillset. Jean-la-Liberté grimaced when he said as much. "No one needs extra shepherds," he said. "Why would they take a foreigner when they have plenty of their own to mind their flocks?"

"Why leave here if you don't have to? You have a home, a livelihood, I'm sure you'll be able to find a wife without too much trouble when you want one. Are you restless?"

Jean-la-Liberté snorted. "I couldn't find a wife here," he said.

"Are all the girls around here really that ugly?"

"It's not that." Jean-la-Liberté sighed. "I suppose you might as well know. My teacher was a member of the Convention."

He spoke the word as though it ought to be self-explanatory, but Petit-Gervais only frowned. "Of... shepherds?"

Jean-la-Liberté stared at him. "This isn't a joking matter," he said, tone somewhere between severe and hurt.

"I'm not, but I also don't know what you're talking about. What Convention?"

"The Revolution? The Assembly of Citizens?"

Petit-Gervais shook his head.

Jean-la-Liberté seemed stunned. "But... you were in Paris!" he said.

"I told you, politics don't make any difference to me," Petit-Gervais said. He was beginning to regret pursuing this line of conversation.

"In 1789, as reckoned by the old calendar, the people rose up against tyranny," Jean-la-Liberté said. He sounded as though he were reciting a lesson learned by heart.

"I know that," Petit-Gervais said, although he wouldn't have been able to name the year, in any calendar. Jean-la-Liberté ignored him.

"Having freed themselves, the people formed their own government, headed by a Convention of elected citizens, who..."

"They killed the King!" Petit-Gervais interrupted, having finally figured out where this was going. "Your teacher was a King killer!"

"He wasn't!" Jean-la-Liberté snapped, his voice slipping back into its normal cadence. "Anyway, the King was plotting to overthrow the Republic!" He scowled. "I shouldn't have told you. You're no better than anyone else."

"Why did you tell me then?" Petit-Gervais demanded. His headache had intensified throughout the day rather than fading, and he had no patience to spare for Jean-la-Liberté's defensive streak. "How did you think I was going to react? And what does this have to do with not getting married?"

"Because everyone here also knows," Jean-la-Liberté said. "And they don't want anything to do with me."

This brought Petit-Gervais up short. "Oh."

"You understand now?" Jean-la-Liberté asked. He reminded Petit-Gervais of a threatened street cat, fur all puffed up to disguise how skinny it really was.

"I understand," he said. "But why do you expect anywhere else to be different? Will you change your name? It does give you away, you know."

"Of course I won't! But I thought maybe Paris remembered better. The peasants here don't know anything. Even the Bishop, the one everyone loves, he never came here until my teacher was dying, and all he did was insult us."

This, to Petit-Gervais, seemed about right for a Bishop, but that didn't feel like the right thing to say. He stayed silent.

"I thought Paris would be different. But you've just come from there, and you're just like the peasants."

"I am a peasant," Petit-Gervais said, mildly affronted. Then, because he was starting to like Jean-la-Liberté despite his prickliness -- and because Jean-la-Liberté was letting him stay in his home -- he added, "Although I'm not upset that he was a King killer. I was just surprised."

Jean-la-Liberté laughed a little. "He voted no," he said. "But thank you." They lapsed back into silence. When conversation started up again, it was about the weather.

#this fcking book though #achievement unlocked: completed piece of fiction #it's not a complete fic #but that's the tag #petit gervais

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