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ladylynse · 3 years

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Chapter 6 [FFN | AO3] of Forewarning

All Dipper knew was that there was something buried in some special thermos behind the shack; all Danny knew was that he had no idea how he'd gotten here.

Based off this artwork by @hashtag-art. Happy birthday, @bibliophilea!

(beginning | previous)

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Once safely back at the Mystery Shack, Wendy turned off the golf cart and grabbed her supplies from the rack in the back. It had been a bumpy ride, but she’d only needed to sacrifice one bag of marshmallows to the forest. That wasn’t bad, considering how many creatures she was fairly sure lived there.

And, fine, maybe it made her a little paranoid to think that some of the bumps she’d hit had been deliberate, a growth of tree roots just so or deep holes suspiciously covered with leaf litter, but it wasn’t like she voiced her thoughts to anyone else.

Besides, whatever lived in the forest seemed happy with the occasional sacrifice of candy. At the very least, she’d never been stopped by something yet, and she took a lot of shortcuts through here by herself. That wasn’t exactly recommended, even for those who knew the territory well. When her family went out for apocalypse training, they were supposed to pair off. They didn’t always, but they did more often than not.

It’s easier to survive if there’s someone you trust around to watch your back, but you have to know how to fight if there isn’t.

Whatever had stopped by the Mystery Shack wasn’t bringing the apocalypse with it—she was pretty sure about that—but she didn’t want this to turn into that. Taking the twins to see the haunted grocery store? Sure. She still hadn’t been sure they’d actually see ghosts despite the stories—no one had been until it had happened—but that was different. That was contained. That was very much not in the Mystery Shack. Where the kids slept. With only the oblivious skeptic Stan around to fight the things that went bump in the night.

Now, if those things were corporeal, she wouldn’t be concerned. The man knew how to punch, and he’d punch before asking questions. But whatever had turned up this time clearly had the option to not be corporeal. Like a ghost.

She remembered the footprints appearing in the scattered baking soda a split second before the boy who’d visited earlier appeared. The same boy who had flashed a careless grin and flipped through postcards and keychains and magnets in the gift shop before taking a tour with Mabel.

Whatever he was, he wasn’t a ghost, but he was entirely too much like a ghost for comfort.

There was no sign of Stan yet—not a surprise; she hadn’t heard his car—but chances were good he wasn’t far behind her.

She saw Soos walking in from the lane and raised her hand in a wave. He spotted her and held a finger to his lips before pointing, and something cold and heavy settled in her gut as she spotted three figures by the woodshed: Mabel, Dipper, and the not-a-ghost boy who’d called himself Danny.

She cursed under her breath as she hurried to meet Soos. “That’s him,” she hissed. “We need to get him away from the twins.”

“Did you find anything in town that we can use?”

“I bought a couple more boxes of salt.” Silver was expensive—too expensive for her, anyway—and she wasn’t exactly guaranteed to find holy water even if she tried breaking into a church, mostly because she didn’t know where she’d look for it. She could’ve bought a cast iron frying pan, but she might as well grab one from the kitchen. The ideas of what they might be able to do had quickly fallen apart when she’d realized what was actually feasible. “It’s better than nothing.”

“What about garlic?”

“For a ghost?”

“You said he wasn’t a ghost.”

“Close enough to a ghost. And, anyway, there should be some in the kitchen. We can always chop up a couple of cloves and see if it does anything.” If it didn’t, and they didn’t waste it, they could always throw it into hamburger meat or make garlic bread. “How long has he been here? The kid?”

“Just a couple of minutes,” Soos allowed, “but this isn’t the first time the kids have met him.”

Wendy closed her eyes. “I know, I just…. I’d hoped they wouldn’t realize he wasn’t normal.” More to the point, she’d hoped that he wouldn’t come back. What the hell did he want, anyway? Sure, he’d said something about fixing whatever was wrong, but their ideas about what needed fixing weren’t likely the same.

“They might not. He was pretending to be normal when he talked to me.”

“He talked to you?”

“Just to ask after Dipper and Mabel.”

Wendy frowned. Soos didn’t sound too optimistic that Mabel and Dipper wouldn’t realize there was something weird about the kid, and frankly, she thought he was right. Mabel might be more forgiving, but Dipper…. “We’ll play it cool. Keep doing whatever you were doing. Try to keep an eye on them without being too obvious about it. I’ll prepare the fire pit.”

“The wood, campfire forks, hot dogs, marshmallows—?”

His gaze had wandered pointedly down to the box of salt pressing against the white plastic bag she carried, its blue label clearly visible. “Yeah. I won’t ring it thickly enough that it’s noticeable, especially since it’ll have to be in the gravel where nothing’s growing anyway, but if he’s going to pretend to be normal, then we’ll see how long he can keep that up.”

“And if he’s not affected by the salt?”

“We cross that bridge when we come to it.”

“And if we’re wrong and he is normal after all?”

Wendy snorted. “If he’s normal, he’s only normal for here.” She saw Soos shift uncomfortably and added, “If Stan comes back before I’m finished, give him the pitch about taking measures to ghost-proof the Mystery Shack and advertising doing that because it’s haunted. He’ll know how to get more of what we need, even if he doesn’t think it’ll do anything.”

“What if he’s not bad? The kid, I mean. Not everything is bad. Not everyone is bad.”

The kid had claimed he wasn’t a threat. He’d said he was stuck, that he just wanted to go home, that he had to fix something, not break it. What if it hadn’t been a lie? She didn’t see how his sneaking around could mean his intentions were honourable, but that didn’t mean she wasn’t missing something.

On the other hand, if he were simply determined to show a friendly face to the twins to get them to lower their guard, only to strike once he’d fooled them—

Wendy wasn’t sure if she wanted to take that risk. Having a healthy amount of suspicion now and apologizing later sounded much better to her than being overly trusting and being burned—especially if she wouldn’t be the only one caught in that fire. She and Soos had lived their entire lives here. Mabel and Dipper had not. They might not yet appreciate the degree to which not everything was as it appeared.

“You don’t need to be ready to attack,” Wendy finally said. “You just need to be ready to defend.” Soos nodded, maybe thinking her words were for both of them, but they weren’t. She had no intentions of simply being ready to defend. She wasn’t about to attack unprovoked, but if this kid did anything that set off alarm bells for her, she’d act on her gut. She trusted her gut more than her head. It was reliable in these sorts of situations.

The trouble was, her gut should have made a call on this already. Instead, she was still conflicted, and more time to mull it over on her trip into town hadn’t helped. Part of her still wanted to take the kid’s words at face value, but the little she’d seen of what he could do backed up the part of her that insisted he was far too dangerous to blindly trust. Soos wanted to give him the benefit of the doubt, but there was so much that could seem innocuous at first….

The knowledge that Soos was right and they had no idea if salt would actually help defend them didn’t make this any easier—especially when Danny was clearly interested in Mabel and Dipper. Soos had mentioned Dipper having a book, and she remembered seeing glimpses of it before. If that’s what the kid was interested in, how was she supposed to help Dipper and Mabel protect it while still protecting them?

Salt first. Purifying fire and questions later, if the kid decided to stick around for it. As long as he wasn’t hurting her friends, she was willing to give him a shovel and see how deep he dug.

XXXXXXX

Danny didn’t see the journal around, but Dipper apparently didn’t need it to draw his magic circle thing in the dirt. To be fair, Danny didn’t know if it was the same one as before, but he also didn’t want to find out. Which meant taking the initiative and trying to explain before they decided to pull more magic stuff on him.

“Please don’t do whatever you’re planning on doing,” he said, keeping his voice low in the hope that the guy he’d been talking to earlier wouldn’t hear it. “I just want to talk, I swear.”

“Are you ready to explain now?”

That was Dipper, with a bite in his voice that reminded Danny a bit of Valerie. Dipper might not sound even half as malicious as Valerie could when she was spitting curses at Phantom, but he was appropriately wary. “Yeah. But you have to promise you won’t try any magic stuff.”

“No. You’re not defenseless, and I’m not swearing away my ability to protect anyone.”

Oh. Right. He might think that particular promise carried more weight than a regular promise. He seemed to think giving his word would make it impossible to break. Danny didn’t know of any ghosts with that power, and frankly he didn’t want to meet one who had it. “You don’t have to. I just…. I promise I’m not here to hurt you or anyone else. I only want to talk. And not, y’know, risk being exorcised if you don’t believe me.”

Mabel looked from Danny to her brother and raised an eyebrow. He scowled at her but said, “Fine. If you don’t do anything except tell us the truth right now, I won’t try to exorcise you.”

Not ideal, but it wasn’t like Danny was planning on lying through his teeth to them, anyway—or that he couldn’t still attempt a lie if he felt he needed to. He had a feeling it wouldn’t work, though. He hadn’t had a whole lot of luck earlier. Maybe seeing through that thing was a kind of survival instinct around here, just like Secret Lab Guy had said.

Come to that, though— How had he had an entire conversation with someone, spilled half his life story to that someone, and not actually gotten their name?

Whatever. He’d ask later if he didn’t figure it out before then. It just proved the point, though. These people were good. Sharper than he was used to, unless almost everyone in Amity Park had already figured out his secret and was just being nice and waiting for him to make some kind of grand announcement.

Yeah, right. If Amity Park’s continued obliviousness wasn’t natural, then Vlad had done something. Not something Danny would thank him for, exactly, but something he wouldn’t fault him for, either.

“Thanks. Can I sit?” There weren’t chairs. There weren’t even logs. Dipper would be able to tell that he was staring at the circle drawn in the dirt, though, and know the question for what it was.

Mabel reached out one foot and drew a line through it with the toe of her shoe. “Yup!” she said, dropping down in place. “Pull up some grass.”

Dipper glared at her as Danny sat down on a patch that was more gravel than grass, but the other boy didn’t say anything; he just settled down and looked like he’d be ready to grab the axe beside him at a moment’s notice. Danny didn’t really want to find out if he knew how to use it. Then again, going by the assorted sizes of split logs nearby, he wasn’t overly skilled; even if it wasn’t a normal axe that Danny could avoid with intangibility, there was a good chance that Dipper was clumsy enough with it that he’d be easy enough to avoid.

“I’m sorry about not being entirely straight with you earlier when I said I would be.” Danny didn’t know where to begin, but an apology seemed smart when he still wanted their help.

“Which time, Phantom?”

Well, at least there wasn’t any lingering doubt. Danny sucked in a breath and let it out slowly to give himself a bit of time to think. Mabel looked ready to listen, but Dipper…. He still wasn’t sure about Dipper. “This isn’t exactly something I tend to tell strangers,” Danny said slowly, “but you’re right. I’m Phantom. I’m the one you let out of the thermos.”

Dipper was still practicing his glare, but Mabel asked, “So what are you? You’re not a ghost. We’ve seen ghosts.”

“I’m still a ghost,” Danny said, since as far as he knew, that was true. “Just…part ghost. Part human.” He rubbed the back of his neck and offered them a smile. “Remember when I joked about being the poster boy for interdimensional safety?”

“You expect us to believe you were in some sort of accident,” Dipper said flatly.

They didn’t need to know all the details, but— “Yeah. Lab accident. It didn’t kill me, or at least I don’t think it did, but I did get ghost powers, so that’s cool. Not something I’d recommend to anyone, but cool.”

Okay, Dipper definitely didn’t believe that, but Mabel nodded as if Danny had said something normal and not what probably sounded insane. “Why were you in the thermos?”

“Clockwork, I think. He’s the one who gave me the message to warn you in the first place, remember? Also the one who likes to pretend he doesn’t interfere but interferes like this. I thought it was Vlad, until I…until I realized how long it had been. And, no, before you ask, I don’t know who wrote that journal. I wasn’t lying about that. The only important bit I lied about was ‘Danny Fenton’ being a friend.”

“Why fess up now?” Dipper’s question was a challenge, sure, but Danny could hear the genuine curiosity behind it. Chance were, he wasn’t a great liar, either.

“Because I might need your help to get home. Especially if that help involves you trusting me enough to let me help you and you not trying to kill me first.”

“What were you looking for earlier?” Danny blinked, trying to figure out what that meant, and Dipper must have read that confusion on his face because he elaborated, “Mabel heard you. We know you were back before you showed yourself now.”

Right. She had been in the gift shop area, hadn’t she? “I was trying to find some clue about what else I’m supposed to do here.”

“And?”

That meant did you find it? Danny might’ve promised them the truth, but he’d also promised the other guy that he wouldn’t blow that secret, either. More or less. Hopefully that wasn’t what he was supposed to do here? “There’s something weird about this place,” he said instead. “It’s got this…feeling. I don’t know how to describe it.” It was something unnerving, like the feeling the Fright Knight could give you, but with more…. More I’m-watching-you vibes. Vlad times a hundred. If he didn’t need to stick around to get home, he’d be gone by now. Whatever Clockwork was trying to warn these guys away from, it felt like a danger on par with Pariah Dark.

Not that he’d be able to explain that to them.

Mabel reached over to poke Dipper in the arm. “Show him the journal.”

That would make things a lot easier for him. “I could tell you what it has wrong about ghosts. Or at least about me,” he offered. He wanted to do that regardless, but if he could give them more reason to show him, well….

“It seems to be right about you,” Dipper said, “unless you want to pretend that you’ve never been affected by anything we’ve done.”

Danny blew out a breath. “Look. Being part ghost doesn’t mean I’m exempt from everything that works on ghosts. It also means that I need to be careful around hunters, including you guys. But I’m not here to fight you or steal something or whatever your book says about me. I’m the good guy, I swear.”

“The good guy. Who needs his own little dedicated section in the journal.”

“Dedicated section?” That sounded worrisome. How much info did these guys have on him? Some of it had to be accurate, but if it was just full of things he’d done as a ghost with no context, like the stealing—

“More like a paragraph,” Mabel interrupted, “and it’s not even in the same language as the rest of it.”

Wait.

“Not the same language? What language is it?”

“See for yourself,” Mabel said. She elbowed Dipper when he didn’t immediately produce the journal and offer it up and then hissed a few things in his ear for good measure, which finally seemed to convince him. He pulled the journal out from beneath the vest he’d been wearing earlier, flipped through to the right page, and turned it around to show Danny.

Danny leaned closer, but he didn’t recognize the language, either. If it was something ghosts spoke, he’d never seen it written down, but aside from Wulf, most of the ghosts he’d met spoke English. He didn’t know how many other languages they spoke, though. He’d never asked. If this was some common language he had yet to learn….

“It might be the way it’s coded,” Dipper admitted, “instead of actually being in a different language. Some passages in the journal are coded, but they’re all the same code, except for this. I haven’t had any luck cracking it.”

Danny frowned, reading the page over before Dipper could take it away. He couldn’t see anything about a thermos or anything else that would have led them to him in the first place, but there was a bit of gibberish above that section written in green ink that might be the first code—

Wait. Green ink? Everything else in here was black or blue or some kind of brown that Danny really hoped wasn’t blood. “What else is written in this colour?” he asked, pointing to the passage.

“That’s it.”

“In the entire book?” That didn’t make sense. “But…why?”

“When I find the author of the journals,” Dipper said bluntly, “that won’t be one of the first questions I ask.”

“It won’t even be one of the first hundred,” Mabel added. “Dipper’s never understood the importance of colour.”

To be fair, it wasn’t typically high on Danny’s list of priorities, either, but this colour thing was definitely strange. How many other weird things were in that book if this didn’t make the list?

“Does it mean something to you?” Mabel asked.

Danny hesitated. The fact that it happened to be the same colour as his eyes—or his ectoplasm—in ghost mode could be a coincidence, but things tended to be a lot less coincidental when Clockwork was involved. Danny wasn’t really ready to bet that whoever had written this journal had simply run out of every other colour of pen that day. “Maybe,” he admitted, “but only in that it might point toward me.” Or another ghost like him. Hopefully not Danielle.

“So do you know who wrote it?” she prompted.

He shook his head. “I don’t know the handwriting. That’s not saying much, though. There are a lot of people—and ghosts—I know whose handwriting I’d never recognize.” He wasn’t even sure he’d recognize the Ghost Writer’s handwriting. “What does the other part say about me?”

“That something was stuck in a thermos behind the shack,” Mabel answered immediately, ignoring her brother’s glare. “Which it was.”

“It’s a Fenton Thermos, something specifically designed to contain ghosts. My parents build them.” If he wasn’t trying to keep his secret anymore, there was no harm in admitting that. “They’re paranormal scientists and inventors.”

“Like the author of the journal is,” Mabel said, shooting Dipper a pointed look. “That must be why the bit about the thermos is in there.”

“Not— I mean, I’m not thirty years old. Seriously. Do I look that old to you? I just turned fifteen last week.” Well. Last week for him. Not for whenever this was, five years in his future. “Me being in the thermos is Clockwork’s fault.” Probably. Except Clockwork wouldn’t have needed to catch him in a thermos to force him back here; he could’ve simply asked and called in a favour if Danny had complained, which he would’ve. More likely, Clockwork had merely taken advantage of someone else capturing him in a thermos, and that list of possibilities was long—and included more than one ally, even when the capturing was intentional.

“I don’t know all the details, okay? I just…. I haven’t met a ghost besides Clockwork that messes with time.” His evil future self didn’t count, not when Clockwork’s power had still been the vehicle for everything he’d done.

…Danny really hoped this had nothing to do with him. Now that he thought about it, he didn’t appreciate the thermos parallels.

Of course, now that he thought about it, the fact that he’d been stuck in a thermos had to be deliberate. Sure, it was a way to skirt the notice of the Observants, but Clockwork had messed with the timeline before without doing anything sneaky like that. If the thermos was important…. Coupled with the fact that there was a portal being built beneath a place called the Mystery Shack….

“That’s why I’m here.”

“You care to share with the class?” Dipper asked.

“The thermos, the portal—”

“What portal?”

Oops. “The, y’know, whatever, it doesn’t matter, the point is, you said the author of the journals was a paranormal scientist? Maybe an inventor, too?”

“No, no, don’t change the subject. What portal?”

“Like a portal to another dimension?” Mabel queried. “Is that why you talked about interdimensional safety earlier?”

Oh, crud. They weren’t going to let his slip about the portal go. So much for that secret. “Just…never mind that right now. Paranormal scientist. Inventor. Like my parents. He probably didn’t know them, it would’ve been too early on for them to have made a name for themselves, they might not even have been together yet, but…. Okay. This is gonna sound crazy—”

“Crazier than everything else you’ve said?” Dipper asked dryly.

“—but just go with me on this. Please. I know what happened when my parents messed stuff up, and—”

“And you’re warning us so we’re prepared and more careful,” Mabel finished. “So I don’t get impatient and Dipper doesn’t get complacent.”

Danny frowned. “What?”

“Your warning,” she repeated. “You’re not trying to get us to stop what we’re doing. It’s a terrible warning for that. That kind of thing just makes you wanna do it more, whatever it is. So you’re actually warning us to be more careful than you think we would be otherwise.”

Danny opened his mouth to tell her that warning someone not to do something obviously meant they shouldn’t do it, and then he remembered all the times his parents had warned him not to touch stuff in the lab.

Right.

Maybe she wasn’t wrong.

Just because that was what a warning meant, didn’t mean it would always have the desired effect.

Moreover, Clockwork would know exactly what to have Danny say to get the desired effect.

He’d thought he’d come to help with the portal, but he still didn’t know the blueprints of his parents’ portal as well as Tucker did. If this were just about helping them build or fix the portal in the basement without bad consequences, Tucker was a better choice than he was, and Clockwork could most definitely have arranged that.

But Danny had joked about being the poster boy for interdimensional safety, and he could still disassemble and reassemble most of his parents’ weapons in order to tweak them, even if he wasn’t as good at it as Tucker, and he’d be an idiot to keep ignoring the fact that Clockwork had made sure he had a thermos here.

The thermos wasn’t for him. It had never been for him. It had contained him, sure, but Clockwork must’ve made sure he was stuck in one so that he’d think of this. So that he’d think of what they’d done with his evil future self. And so he’d have it when he needed it.

There was a portal in a secret lab in the basement of the Mystery Shack, and the thermos written about in Dipper’s journal was for whatever was coming out of it.

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#gravity falls #danny phantom #phantom falls #crossover #fanfiction #gf fanfiction #dp fanfiction #my writing #ladylynse #snippets #crossover snippet #gf snippet #dp snippet

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lio-the-chaotic-nonbeanie-weenie · 3 years

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A Supernatural World: Chapter 2

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Summary: Fleeing their hometown of Miami, Florida due to it growing far too dangerous, Roman and his vampire brother Remus move to Detroit, Michigan. Remus hopes it’ll be safer here for his human (or so he thinks he’s human) brother. Roman only wishes to start anew after a traumatizing incident in his last college, hoping to make new friends and maybe even find love. They don’t know what this city or the future holds but it’s going to be quite the adventure as they explore their new surroundings and the…interesting people that live in it.

Pairings: Eventual roceit, Eventual Intrulogical, slowburn roceit, slowburn Intrulogical, romantic roceit, romantic Intrulogical. BROTHERLY CREATIVITWINS (rem/rom shippers fuck off)

WARNINGS: MENTIONS OF ABUSE, IMPLIED ABUSE, TOXIC PARENTING, MENTIONS OF SEXUAL HARRASSMENT, IMPLIED SEXUAL HARRASSMENT, POSSIBLE IMPLIED RAPE, SLIGHT BLOOD MENTION, SLIGHT MENTION OF MURDER, MENTIONS OF FOOD POISONING

Taglist: @mychemically-imbalanced-romance

(If anyone else would like to be tagged, let me know!)

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Moving to a new apartment after being on the run for so long had been exhausting but they made it and they were a lot safer now. For the first time in a long time, Roman finds himself waking up with little to no worries in his mind. He sits up and yawns, stretching his arms. He takes a deep breath and perks up a little when he smells breakfast in the air. With a rumbling tummy, Roman slips out of bed and ambles out of the bedroom and to the kitchen, finding Remus at the stove and making breakfast. Bacon and eggs sizzle away in the frying pan.

“Morning, Ree. Where’d you get that?” Roman asks, plopping down at the dining table.

“Hey, sleepyhead. I wasn’t going to go grocery shopping until some time later but I figured we could use a good breakfast after all the shit we went through to get here. So, I went out and bought a few things at the convenience store across the street.” Remus replies, plating up the food.

“I do miss having good breakfasts like this.” Roman giggles before making a face. “I don’t think I want to eat more yucky hotel food or disgusting gas station meals.”

Remus huffs a laugh and gives Roman his plate.

“It wasn’t that bad.”

“I got food poisoning twice in Alabama and Kentucky.”

“Okay, fair point.”

Remus shakes his head fondly at the memory of poor Ro throwing up in their motel room. He hadn’t meant to make his twin sick but he couldn’t exactly order anything fancy. He was trying to save up for an apartment. He did feel bad for Ro. His twin had been eager to try KFC when they got to Kentucky. Turns out that the KFC they ordered from was a bit, well, unsanitary. Oh well, at least they don’t have to worry about that now. Remus gets his own plate and sets it on the table before turning to the fridge to get juice for them both.

“So, did you sleep okay? I know I used my magic on you but it can’t always block the nightmares.” Remus says, setting the juice bottle on the counter and moving to get glasses.

Meanwhile, Roman eagerly starts eating. He makes a delighted noise and eats more.

“I did. It feels nice to wake up without worrying if someone broke in or freaking out because you thought the cleaning lady was an intruder.” he grins, taking another bite.

“That’s good. And don’t worry. I’m sure there’s no scary cleaning lady here this time.” Remus chuckles, pouring him and Roman some juice.

Roman giggles and goes back to eating, humming in thanks when Remus gives him his juice.

“I know, Ree. So, what are you going to do?” he asks.

“Well, since everything is mostly unpacked, I’m going to explore around the city and see what’s there to see. Maybe find a job too. We can’t exactly live on our money forever.”

“True. I’m going to see if I can enroll in theatre after breakfast.”

“Ooh, good luck with that. I know you’ll kill it out there.

“I know. Promise you won’t kill anyone out there?”

Remus huffs a laugh.

“Promise, Ro.”

The twins share a laugh and continue talking, Roman eagerly telling Remus all the stuff he’s excited to do again. Roman used to be in theatre in high school but it wasn’t fun. He had constant pressure on his shoulders to be a star performer in their parents’ eyes. He’d spent restless nights rehearsing and practicing under his mother’s command. He’d endure other nights where his mother would reprimand him for even the smallest slip up in his plays or when he didn’t get the lead role she demanded him to get. He’d been forced into diets and dressed uncomfortably to look perfect for his parts. Theatre was ruined for him then and he endured it until high school was over.

Then there was his first year of college. Roman had been happy to have at least a bit of distance between him and his abusive home. He had tried for theatre again in hope it would go well this time. It didn’t. The professor who led the whole theatre crew was a creep along with a few techies. Roman was the poor victim who was constantly targeted, getting groped or hit on whenever he was alone with either a techie or the professor himself. At first, Roman had been clueless, thinking the groping was an accident and the flirting was all in good fun. Then it kept getting worse and worse until one day, the professor and his techies cornered Roman in the dressing room and left him a wreck with his costume torn.

Remus found out when Roman came home crying and told him. They tried to get justice but the professor and the techies left no proof so their case fell flat and was never opened again. All they could do was leave that college. Of course, their parents didn’t side with them, accusing Roman of ‘asking for it’ and punishing him for ‘selling his body’. That’s when Remus had enough and broke out of the basement he was forced to stay in. He went to Roman and comforted him, telling him they weren’t staying here anymore. After waiting for their parents to leave the house for another drunken night at some bar, the twins packed up and left. Roman hasn’t tried theatre since. The funny thing is, that was only a year ago.

Now, Roman was feeling a bit confident and wanted to try theatre once more. He even wanted to help with costumes and makeup or maybe even make props. He also missed singing on stage so he was excited to do that again. Eager to try out again, Roman eats a little faster. He really wants to enroll and step up on the shiny stage floor again.

Meanwhile, Remus huffs a laugh, seeing how eager his brother is.

“Easy, Ro. You have plenty of time to sign up for theatre.” he says, patting his twin’s head.

Roman smiles bashfully.

“I know. I’m just so excited, Ree! I miss the stage! Now that we’re free from our parents and those creeps, I feel like I can do theatre again without all these problems!” he exclaims, grinning.

“I know but you can’t do that if you choke on your breakfast.”

Roman giggles.

“Right. Sorry.”

Roman slows down but keeps eating, babbling about theatre stuff in between while Remus listens along. It’s not long before Roman finishes and puts his dishes in the sink before going back to his room to get his laptop from his bag so he can start enrolling. His eager humming can be heard around the apartment and it makes the atmosphere a little bit more warm and peaceful.

Meanwhile, Remus quickly did the dishes then went to get ready to explore. He cleaned up as best as he could before getting changed into a black t-shirt, grey ripped jeans, combat boots, and a dark green leather jacket. He then returns to the bedroom and finds Roman sitting on his bed, already with his laptop on. Remus chuckles and ruffles his twin’s hair.

“Alright, I’m gonna head out now. Will you be okay with being alone for a bit?” Remus asks, watching for a moment as Roman reads through some search results.

“Yeah! I’ll call you if anything happens and Janus is upstairs too!” Roman beams.

“Good. I’ll be back later, Ro.”

“Kay! Stay safe!”

Remus gives Roman a lazy salute and leaves him to do his college hunting. He grabs his bat and his pocket knife from his backpack along with a pocket flask filled with emergency blood. Then he slips out the door and heads down to the lobby. He waves hello to Jeremiah as he exits the building, Detroit’s cool and smoggy air hitting his face. After making sure no one is around, Remus sneaks around to the back and jumps his way up the apartment building using the fire escapes there. He then climbs onto the roof. Sure, he could have taken the stairs but that wasn’t as fun. Remus takes a deep breath and walks over to the edge, taking in the view and plotting out a path.

Remus sees the bridge and the old freighter. In the distance, he can just make out the edge of Belle Isle in the morning fog. He can see a nearby police station too. Immediately, he makes a note to avoid the station for safety purposes. It takes a few more minutes but he figures out a route through a mostly empty street that leads to a cluster of small businesses and restaurants. Taking a deep breath, Remus turns and runs before leaping over a gap and landing onto the next roof. His speed picks up and he keeps moving, jumping from roof to roof.

To Remus, it always felt thrilling to go on a rooftop run. He liked the feeling of cool air on his skin and the rush he gets when he leaps high into the air. It’s almost like he was flying. He liked watching the cars and buildings rushing by him. He liked being able to explore and see new places, especially the ones with good views or creepy vibes.

Maybe he’ll explore the burnt down mansion in the outskirts of Detroit some other time. He hears it’s haunted. Maybe he’ll explore that old tech company that shut down and became abandoned due to a lot of bad business incidents. He found some rumors online that the company was going to create an android before it fell apart and shut down. He also heard of an abandoned mansion hidden somewhere in an isolated location of Detroit. He heard rumors of the last owner being a rich CEO who was murdered by his wife and her sister. Others say his remains could be found at the bottom of his dried up indoor pool.

The thought of it all excited Remus more. It felt nice to be in a new place so once he and Roman were settled in enough, he decided he’ll explore those places in the future. For now, he jumps to another rooftop and pauses to catch his breath. He may be a vampire but not even the undead can run without tiring. Remus decides to hop down from the roof, exiting through an alleyway and slipping wordlessly onto the street. He carefully weaves between some people and hums as he starts walking, passing by a grey haired man and his companion walking a Saint Bernard.

Remus looks around as he walks. There isn’t much here. There’s a homeless man on the street corner, begging for change or food. There’s a stray cat sniffing at something in the garbage cans by the alleyway. There’s a small convenience store selling party decorations and supplies. Across it is an old bar with a flickering neon sign. A faded ‘Help Wanted’ sign sits in the window, asking for someone to come work as either a cleaner or to work behind the bar. Remus knew he had no skill in working behind the bar but he figured he could try for the cleaner position. Cleaning isn’t usually his thing but he’s willing to try so he can at least make enough money to pay for rent and for any funds Roman may have for theatre. Taking a deep breath, Remus steps inside.

“Oh! Welcome to Jimmy’s Bar! I’m Jimmy!”

#sanderssides #sanders sides #roman sanders #remus sanders #creativitwins #brotherly creativitwins

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a-solitary-marshmallow · 3 years

Text

Rewind Chapter 3

Awareness came in pieces, like waves lapping over the shore, slowly bringing back each sense. Ford yawned and rolled his neck to ease out a crick. He really should stop sleeping sitting up.

The warm form cuddled against him stirred and he placed a soothing hand on their head of soft curls until they stilled, burying their face in his shirt. Ford hummed happily and let his head rest back against the headboard, content to just stay here forever…

…wait a second.

Ford’s eyes flung open with a jolt.

What had he been thinking, falling asleep? Sleep was the one thing he couldn’t afford! He looked around quickly, heart pounding. He was still sitting against the headboard of his bed, pillows propped behind his back and a child-sized Stanley curled up in his lap, the way they had been when he must have fallen asleep part way through telling stories of his previous discoveries. His journal lay open at his feet. To his relief it was bereft of cryptic code and taunts. Bill must have been busy, or perhaps had not noticed Ford’s slip-up. He hadn’t been possessed.

Ford cursed himself. How could he have made himself vulnerable like that? The portal was wide-open for the taking! And there was no telling what Bill Cipher would do to his brother – his child brother, who was currently helpless and foolishly, trustingly snuggled against the front of Ford’s turtleneck.

He forced himself to take a deep breath. He couldn’t change the past, only the future. Now he had other things to concentrate on – namely, building a Bill-proof barrier, since his investigation on how to cure Stanley had hit a snag – he had none of the components he would need to start reverse-engineering a cure. The sun peeking through his window told that he must have been sleeping for at least an hour. Morning was already slipping away from him.

“Mmmph.” Stanley mumbled. Ford’s hand was still in his curls. Ford couldn’t resist ruffling those curls as Stan pulled his head up, yawning and blinking sleepily. “F’rd?”

“Good morning, Stanley.”

Stan rubbed at his eyes. “Whaza time?”

“Time to start working. Come on, up you go.” Ford lifted his brother from his lap. Stan whined at being put down on the covers.

“Nooooo, ‘s cold!”

“Then hurry up and get moving.” Ford swung his legs over the bed and stood. “I have a lot to do today.”

Stan grumbled the whole time. He was still wearing that old shirt. Perhaps Ford should get him something that fit better? No, it would be useless in a day or so anyway.

Ford spoke to himself as he walked.

“Now, I’ll have to go as soon as possible to get that hair – what’ll I do with you? Oh, children need to receive their daily nutrients, don’t they? Hmm, when was the last time I ate?” He couldn’t recall. “Never mind, it doesn’t matter, I’m an adult, I can stand to skip a few – hmm. Weeks? No, that can’t be right. I should eat too. I have coffee? Is it safe to give a child coffee?” He opened the fridge and stared in dismay at the rows of empty shelves. “Oh. That’s why I haven’t eaten. Guess I’ll just have to – buy some supplies. Yes. Come along Stanley, we’re driving into town.”

“Who’stha whatnow?” Stan stumbled into the kitchen after him. That was right, his brother was certainly not a morning person. Ford wondered again how ethical it was to give a child coffee. Probably shouldn’t risk it.

“Town, Stanley. I have to do some shopping. And come to think of it, you’ll need someone to watch you…” Unless he could just leave the child locked in a room? Ford wasn’t exactly familiar with babysitting protocol. Maybe it was better to just bring him along for now.

He dropped one of his old coats around Stanley’s shoulders and ushered him outside. The coat was a good call – it was still freezing. Ford was climbing into the car when he hit another snag.

“…ah.” He didn’t have a booster seat. Stanley would be riding in the back seat, it seemed.

Luckily the town was still waking up, so it was quite simple to walk in, grab some supplies, pay and leave without having to deal with the hustle of crowds. Ford pulled up in his driveway with a relieved sigh. He thanked his lucky stars that Gravity Falls was slow to wake on a Sunday… wait, no, what day was it?

Didn’t matter.

With his arms full of groceries, Ford nudged the door open with his foot. He could hear Stan grunting under the weight of his own load as he placed the bags on the kitchen bench.

Maybe he had gone a little over the deep end, Ford admitted to himself as he went about sorting groceries. He hadn’t realized until this morning that his fridge was empty. That did explain the hollow feeling in his stomach though. Come to think of it, when was the last time he ate? Not counting the copious amounts of coffee and energy drinks he ordered weekly.

It also explained Stan’s rumbling stomach. Honestly, Stan should have said something if he was hungry!

Said child wobbled his way into the kitchen with a shopping bag in his arms. Ford took it and started unloading it as well. Marshmallows – he didn’t remember buying those. Maybe Stanley snuck them into the cart. Ford could remember the gleeful giggles he and Stan would break into when they’d managed to sneak a treat into their mother’s shopping cart. Stan was always better at it than Ford.

Ford shook his head to clear it. He had no time for nostalgic thoughts anymore. He snagged two frozen single-serve pies plates and started searching for clean plates to put them on. Finally he found two with only a few crumbs on them – he brushed one off and placed it in the microwave, trying to remember if he’d paid his electricity bill recently.

He must have, because the microwave was heating and glowing when he pressed the right buttons. Ford sighed and leaned against the bench to wait.

Stanley was in the process of pushing a chair towards the table. He paused to let out a gigantic yawn, rubbing his eyes with his too-big sleeve.

“Tired?” Ford found himself asking. Stan nodded and yawned again.

“Mm hmm.”

“Did you have trouble getting to sleep?” The uncomfortable position must not have helped.

Stan finished pushing the chair and now he crawled up into it and rested his elbows on the table. On closer inspection he did look tired, dark bags collecting under his eyes.

“Nah.” Stan rested his cheek on one hand, squishing his round face slightly. “Just had weird dreams.”

A shiver ran down Ford’s spine.

He hadn’t even considered if – what would happen if Stan made a deal with Bill Cipher? Had already made a deal? It would explain why Bill wasn’t in Ford’s dreams. Ford hadn’t warned his brother about the demon, he’d been so sure that Bill would focus on him and him alone, but Stanley was vulnerable here and Ford hadn’t even thought about it-

“Did you make a deal?” He demanded. Stan blinked at him blearily.

“What?”

“A deal. In your dream. Did you shake anyone’s hand? Talk to anyone?”

Stan shook his head with another yawn. “Don’ think so.”

He was a child, Ford reminded himself sharply, a child that didn’t grasp the significance of what was happening. He needed to have patience. Or else Stan might clam up and refuse to talk to him further.

“Stanley.” Ford forced his tone to stay even and slow. Stan send him a curious look. “I need you to tell me everything that happened in your dream. It might be important. Okay?”

Stan frowned. “Uh – okay. Are you gonna interpret my dream, like Ma does?”

“…something like that. But it’s very important you don’t leave out any details.”

“Okay.” Stan hummed for a minute, in thought, before he brightened. “Oh, yeah! So I was in my car – I mean, I don’t have a car, but it was a dream and you just know stuff in dreams so even though I don’t have a car I knew it was my car – and it was all snowy outside. I think I was stuck in a snow bank or something. Hey Ford, where do snowmen keep their money?”

The microwave beeped. Ford placed the hot pie in front of Stanley and searched for a fork. “A snow bank. Continue.”

Stan pouted. “You ruined my joke!”

Ford handed him a fork. Stan sighed and poked at his pie while Ford started heating up his own. After a moment the child continued, his voice uncharacteristically somber.

“It was really cold. Like, really cold. I could see my breath and it wasn’t even cool. Haha – cool. I… didn’t know cold hurt so much. It was like my bones were made of ice, all cracking and popping.”

“Was anyone in the car with you?”

Stan screwed up his face in thought. “Um, no. Just me.”

“Then what happened?”

“Well, I had some matches and I was lighting them for warmth, but then they ran out.” Stan paused for a moment with a frown, comedic on his childish features. “I, um, was looking for some more in the glove box and a gun fell out. An’ I don’t know where I got it but I know it’s mine. S’ gotta be, if it’s in my car, right? But I don’t remember where I got it and I don’t know if it’s got any bullets in it.”

Ford nodded along. If Stanley could recall the dream so vividly, it probably wasn’t a normal dream, the likes of which tended to fade as quickly as they had appeared. But so far it didn’t seem like Bill’s style.

“What happened then?”

Stan bit his lip, wincing. “Um, you remember how we used to play Russian Roulette with soda cans? How we’d shake one up and take turns opening ‘em and try not to get the fizzy one?”

Ford got a bad feeling in his gut. “Of course.”

“I, um, I can’t remember why, but I wanted to find out if it had bullets in it. So I put it to my head and pulled the trigger.” Stan pulled a face like he’d tasted something sour. “There was this click and I guess it was empty because nothing happened. So I put it back and curled up all small, because it was still super cold, and I think I went back to sleep.” Stan shrugged with one shoulder. “Then it ended.”

Well, there was a lot to unpack there, and Ford could unpack it later. The microwave beeped to signify his breakfast was sufficiently warmed. He took it and slid into the seat opposite Stan.

“Is that everything? No one talked to you? How clearly do you remember it?”

“S’weird.” Stan admitted, pulling off the top of the pie to get at its insides. “So normally dreams kinda fade, all fuzzy-like, right? But the ones I had last night aren’t fading. It feels real but not-real.”

“Vivid?”

“Yeah, maybe.” Stan shrugged. Ford took a bite of his pie and was chewing before he registered what had just been said. He spluttered a little.

“Ones? Plural?”

“Uh, yeah.” Stan shrugged again. “The other one was weirder. Do you wanna know about that one too?”

“Do I – why wouldn’t I? Why didn’t you mention that?”

“Well, it was shorter and way more blurry. I couldn’t even see anything so I don’t think it really counts as a dream.”

“Tell me.”

Stan scrunched up his face. “You sure? It’s kinda silly.”

Ford sent him a look and Stan sighed.

“Fine. In the second one it was all dark, I couldn’t see anything. Well, not at first. There was this… man.” Stan shuddered. “This, uh, really creepy guy. And he put me in a coffin? No, um, a car trunk I think. It was all dark and then I couldn’t see anything. Then there was just lots of noises, and rumbling, and it got all wet.”

“Wet?” Ford echoed. Stan shrugged.

“Yeah, all wet. And cold. Like I’d been dumped in a lake or somethin’! Cause the whole trunk started flooding, which was really scary. An’ I don’t remember how I got out but at some point I was swimmin’ up feeling like my lungs were gonna explode.” Stan shivered, hugging himself. “An’ my mouth hurt and the water tasted like metal an’ it was so dark. Then, um… I dunno, I woke up or something?” He frowned. “Wait, no, there was something else – about a llama that knew too much? It all kinda gets smudgy.”

Unsettling, certainly, and something to ask questions about later – but for now it sounded like Bill had missed his chance to mess with the Pines twins. Ford let himself relax slightly.

“Thank you, Stanley, for telling me.”

“So are you gonna read my future or something?”

“No.”

Stan poked out his tongue. Ford sighed. The matter aside, he still had to find someone to look after Stanley while he got the unicorn hair! But there was only one person in Gravity Falls he trusted, and…

Well, that person might not pick up the phone.

But desperate times called for desperate measures. Surely, surely Fiddleford would at least hear him out? And if that failed Ford could always lock the child in a room for a couple hours.

Mind made up, Ford excused himself to go make a call.

His palms were oddly sweaty as he dialed the number he knew off by heart and pressed enter. The phone rang once, twice, thrice in his hand. Surely a hopeless endeavor. Ford was sure he wasn’t going to pick up, when there was a click and a crackly voice sounded tiredly down the line.

“Hello?”

His old assistant’s voice sent his heart leaping in his chest. Ford hurriedly cleared his throat. “Fiddleford? It’s me, Stanford.”

In the half-second of frigid silence that followed, Ford began to realize he might have made a mistake by introducing himself.

“Wait!” He gasped out. “Please don’t hang up.”

“What do ya want?” Fiddleford growled out. He sounded so unlike himself that it made Ford pause. But – no. This was Fiddleford. His research assistant. His friend. The one person he could trust.

“I – I need your help.” Ford admitted. He plunged on before Fiddleford could interrupt, “I was an idiot. You were right – about the portal, about Bi- the demon.”

There was a crackly silence. Ford took a deep breath.

“I know that what I did is unforgiveable. I abandoned you and refused to heed your warnings. I understand if you can never forgive me. But please, I need your help to fix what I’ve done.”

“I aint goin’ near that portal!” Fiddleford’s voice lifted in both volume and pitch. Ford hurried to reassure him.

“No, no, of course not. That’s not what I need your help with. And it’s not for me, it’s for my twin brother.”

“You have a twin?” Fiddleford demanded, a lilt of curiosity sneaking into his tone. He sounded a little more like the man Ford knew. “Why didn’t ya tell me that?”

“Stan and I haven’t on the best of terms recently.” Ford explained. “Fiddleford, you’re a father, you know how to take care of children. I need you to take care of my brother – just for a little while.”

“Whoa, hold up.” There was shuffling on the other end of the line. “I’m gonna need ya to go back to the beginning. What did ya get yourself into this time?”

Ford chuckled humorlessly. “An experiment gone wrong. Stanley – my twin brother – has been reverted back into a child.”

A pause.

“Fiddleford?”

His friend let out a sigh. “Yeah, sure, course this is happening. Weird stuff always happens around you, Stanford.”

Ford chose to take that as a compliment. “I currently have my hands full. There is a spell – a magical barrier, in fact – that can protect us against the demon you warned me about, allowing me to disassemble the portal without risk. But to do this I have so obtain several rare ingredients. I can’t take Stanley with me, and I can’t leave him alone. I was hoping you would be able to watch him. Just for a little while!” He added nervously. “I know Stanley can be a handful but I’ll be back as quickly as I can and-”

“Ford, shut yer yap.”

Ford shut up.

“I’ll not leave a child alone, no matter what I think of his brother. When d’ya need him taken care of?”

Ford let out a breath and thanked any and all deities that may have lent a helping hand. “I was hoping, today? As soon as possible?”

Fiddleford groaned. “Fine, fine – but only for the kid!” He added. “And in the name of keepin’ that demon away. Not for you.”

“I understand completely.”

“Ya still at yer cabin?”

“Yes.”

“’Course ya are. Now, how old’s yer brother?”

“Ah…” Hmm. Ford had never been good at ages. He’d passed through them himself and never looked back. “He’s old enough to talk. And complain about not having clothes that fit. Maybe about as old as Tate was when I last saw him…?”

Another long-suffering sigh. “A’right, a’right. I’ll bring some old clothes of Tate’s, see if they fit, and I’ll watch the little tyke for ya. But I’m not goin near that portal. Or any of your hinky experiments, ya hear?”

“Certainly. Thank you, Fiddleford.”

“Yeah, yeah. I’ll be there in an hour, maybe two.”

“Thank you.” Ford said again. Fiddleford hung up.

#fic #chapter 3 #gravity falls #The stans #stangst #rewind

23 notes · View notes

logical-little-lies · 4 years

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{Chapter 5- When The Other Brother is Bigger}//Soft, Cute, and Far Smarter Than You (Sanders Sides Agere/CGLRE)

A/N: This chapter is like, longer then most of the ones I tend to write? I write agere content for fun, so sometimes it's cuteness over quantity, y'know? But this is a whole 4600-ish words! Wow. Hope y'all like it!

Logan was a bit awkward when he was big again after throwing his first fit, and earning himself his first ever timeout. Of course, Patton could only comfort him so much. It wasn't guilt that he was feeling, but rather a form of embarrassment.

Logan's head shot up when he heard light knocking on his door the following afternoon. "Who is it?" he questioned from his spot at his desk, where he sat working on Thomas's schedule.

"It's Virgil, can I come in?"

Logan fully expected it to be Patton checking on him for the millionth time, so he was shocked when he heard the voice of the emo regressor. "Uh, yeah. Sure." Logan set down his pen softly, reaching forward for his mug and taking a sip.

"Are you drinking another cup of coffee? I know you had like, three this morning." Virgil narrowed his eyes. It wasn't as if he'd actually do anything, even if he was aware of the unhealthy amounts of coffee Logan drank, but he was still concerned.

"It's tea." Logan shook his head, tipping the cup in his direction so that he could see the clearish liquid before setting the mug back on his desk. "Did you need something, Virge?" Logan asked.

"Kinda of.." Virgil trailed off, sitting down on the end of Logan's bed. When he looked up, he saw Logan looking at him in an expecting silence. "So I know it's Patton's job to check in on you and stuff, and that I don't usually do this. But..are you okay after yesterday? You seemed really emotional and anxious."

Logan sighed before speaking. "Of course I'm fine. I just overreacted when Patton punished me because I was scared of him being mad at me. It doesn't make a lot of sense, but three year old me doesn't want to make sense."

Virgil chuckled a bit at that. "It does make a bit of sense though. I do it too, I assume that just because Roman has to be a little strict or something, that he absolutely hates me. It's not stupid or anything."

Logan nodded, giving him a small thankful smile. This was Virgil's way of telling him that he wasn't alone. The same mutual feeling that came about when they both realized they were regressors spread between them. A feeling of unity, of support.

Of family.

"And also, if you're embarrassed or anything, don't worry about it. I'm sure Patton understands that little you is going to do things like that sometimes, and he won't view big you any differently." There it was. Virgil finding what Logan was actually worried about. Logan had the urge to give a sigh of relief, because those were the words he needed to hear.

Instead, he gave a larger smile and thanked him. "Okay, cool. See you at dinner." Virgil got up and went to leave the room, he paused at the door with hesitancy, looking back at him and speaking quickly.

"Also, I'm like pretty sure Patton has a crush on big you. So there's that."

Virgil was gone and out of the room before Logan even got the chance to retort.

Logan sighed, going back to organizing the schedule and trying to convince himself that it couldn't possibly be true, and focus on his work. But no matter how hard he tried, his mind wondered and he thought:

What if Virgil was right?

"Oh, hello Logan. I went to check on you but I guess you were already up." Patton entered the living room, where Logan was on his phone. Patton assumed that if Logan was already up, he probably had work to get done today and wanted to be wide awake for it. He figured that the coffee mug on the coffee table in front of Logan confirmed his original thoughts.

"Morning, Dad. What are we having for breakfast?" he asked, looking up from his phone and making Patton pause in his tracks. Patton went to speak, but Logan quickly replied to his unasked question. "I'm fourteen again, by the way."

"How did you know that I was going to-"

"I figured you'd ask how old I am, you always do. Anyways, what's for breakfast?" he repeated. "I can try to make something myself but I don't know how well that would go..." he admitted.

"It's okay,don't worry about that." Patton assured, "I'll make toast for breakfast-" He went to keep speaking but Logan cut him off.

"Do we have Crofters to put on it?"

"You're just full of questions today, aren't you?" Patton teased, deciding to come sit with his regressor. He sat next to Logan, making sure not to look at his phone screen in order to respect his privacy. Logan turned it off, looking at him. Patton realized he wasn't amused by the teasing and that he wasn't going to respond. "Yes, we have Crofters." He gave up.

Logan was definitely excited about this, and if he was regressed younger, he would've bounced in place and giggled a bunch. But he just replied, "Okay, cool."

"Why are you up so early?" Patton questioned. "How long have you been awake?"

"Less than an hour. I just fell asleep watching Youtube last night, earlier then I usually go to sleep. So I woke up early," he explained. Patton paused, looking at him skeptically.

"Were you regressed last night, as well?"

Logan looked at him with wide eyes, as if he hoped he wasn't going to ask about that. "Uh..yeah, sort of. But it was after dinner and I was ready for bed, I didn't really need to come get you!" he defended.

Patton gave him a slightly stern look with a sigh. "Alright, but if you do need something, or regress younger then your teenspace, come and get me." he instructed. Logan nodded with an annoyed look on his face. Patton glanced at the coffee table, eyes widening when he saw the coffee mug again.

"Wait, why are you drinking coffee if your reg-"

"What coffee?" Logan cut him off, quickly snatching up the mug and chugging the last of it before Patton could take the mug. He wiped his upper lip with the back of his hand, giving Patton a dorky smile. Patton knew he shouldn't have, but he laughed a bit.

"Fourteen year olds shouldn't have coffee, no more." Patton took the mug from him softly. "If I catch you drinking anymore, you'll be in trouble." he threatened halfheartedly, still giving him the stern dad look. Logan immediately replied with a cheeky smile.

"You just won't catch me next time."

Patton seemed shocked. "You're gonna be bouncing off the walls whenever the caffeine kicks in, and I don't wanna be the one to deal with that."

"I mean..." Logan leaned back into the couch, "Do you have a choice? You're technically my only carer, and I've already drank it. And plus, I'm not a baby. Sugar and caffeine won't make me hyper." he scoffed at the end of his statement.

"We'll see about that, sweetheart." Patton gave him a skeptical look before getting up. "I'll go start breakfast, how about you get off your phone and do something else? Like read your comic books or something."

"I'll get off my phone..." Logan agreed quickly, shocking Patton. That excitement went away when Logan grabbed the tv remote and pushed the power button. He gave Patton a smile, while Patton gave him a disappointed look.

"That's not what I meant, and you know it." he said, crossing his arms as he watched him locate Netflix.

"I don't know anything. You told me to get off my phone,and in all technicality, I did." Logan started playing whatever show he was interested in at the time, and Patton leaned forward to kiss his forehead. He wasn't going to bother with pushing it anymore.

"Love you, Lo. I'll let you know when breakfast is ready."

He left, mug in his hand, disappearing into the kitchen. A little while later, he had butter,honey, and Crofters jelly sitting out on the table, along with a plate of stacked up pieces of toast.

"Babyyyy! Can you get Roman and Virgil for me?" He appeared in the door way of the kitchen, looking at whatever Logan was watching on the screen. Logan looked back at him, looking back to the screen after a few seconds of thinking.

"Maybe if you'd stop calling me baby."

"Logan." Patton stated in a simple and stern tone, crossing his arms again. Logan dramatically sighed, but he hopped up and headed up the stairs. "Thank you!" Patton called after him.

"Welcome, dad." Logan replied quickly, before he was completely up the stairs and heading toward the door of Virgil's room.

"Hi, Logan. Is it breakfast already?" Virgil swung the door open. The makeup under his eyes was smeared a bit, and he was still wearing black ripped jeans and a band t-shirt. He had fallen asleep in his clothes, and his hair was a bit messy.

"Yeah, Dad made toast for everyone. And he sent me to get you guys." Logan replied. Virgil went to open his mouth, probably to question if he was regressed due to his sue of the word 'dad', but Logan replied to his unasked question just like his did with Patton. "I'm fourteen again, before you ask about it."

Virgil gave an understanding nod. He walked back into his room, leaving the door open so that Logan could come in if he wanted to. "Okay dork, I was given the job of grocery shopping. If you want, and your caregiver doesn't care, you can come with me." Virgil offered as he picked up his hoodie that was balled up on a dark purple bean bag chair.

"Maybe if you didn't call me a dork, I'd consider it." Logan hesitantly entered the dark-styled room, his arms crossed.

"Oh come on, you're wearing a spiderman t-shirt and a beanie. You're either a nerd or a dork, take your pick." Virgil teased. Logan now wanted to cover up his shirt, and he pulled the black beanie off of his head. "Hey, wait. I didn't mean it like that," Virgil quickly finished pulling the hoodie on, and he came over to where Logan stood, taking the hat softly from his hands. "I was only teasing, dorky isn't bad, and the hat and shirt look good on you."

He pulled the hat back over Logan's head, patting his head. "I'm sorry I teased you," Virgil apologized.

"It's okay..." he looked up, so that he wasn't staring at the floor anymore, giving him a weak smile. His eyes wandered over Virgil's hoodie, but he didn't say anything.

"Do...do you want my jacket, buddy?" Virgil hesitated, but Logan nodded a little.

"I-is that okay?" he stuttered a bit, he couldn't place why he wanted it, it just looked comfortable. Maybe the fact that it also belonged to someone he considered his brother while regressed factored into it.

"Yeah, of course it's okay. Just make sure to give it back to me when you're big again, okay?" he pulled it off, handing it to Logan, who smiled. Virgil didn't usually give his hoodie to anyone, but the middle seemed to want it fairly badly and he knew that Logan would take care of it. Plus, he had his old hoodie to wear if he really wanted too.

"Go get Roman and head downstairs, okay? I'm gonna be down in a sec," Virgil told him. Logan nodded, leaving the room and pausing in the hallway to pull the jacket on.

"Roman, Roman, Roman!" he knocked on the door loudly between each time he called his name, "Breakfast is downstairs..." he spoke sheepishly when the door flew open and Roman gave him a stern look. Roman knew for a fact that he was at least somewhat regressed because of how energetically he woke him up.

"Did you have coffee or something?" he asked jokingly, rubbing at his eyes. Logan nodded quickly, and Roman seemed shocked. "Is your caregiver aware of this?"

Logan nodded again, "He doesn't like it, but he knows."

"Hmm, well please tone is down a bit while I'm still half asleep, okay? I need beauty sleep."

"Beauty sleep whatever, Dad sent me to wake you up." He stuck his tongue out at the end of his statement

"I'm assuming we're stuck with teen Logan again?" Roman questioned, running his fingers through his hair.

"Fourteen." Logan confirmed. Constantly confirming with others that he was in fact, in teenspace, reminded him that he was a teenager at the moment and that was okay.

"The sassiness and dorky beanie gave it away." he teased. Logan pouted, this was the second time his hat had been called dorky within the span of ten minutes. "Dorky isn't bad." Roman corrected quickly, just as Virgil had. Logan nodded, turning to walk away without another word.

"Logan, are you wearing Virgil's jacket?" Roman realized, looking at him.

Logan nodded shyly, turning back around to face him. "Hmm, that's cute. Just make sure not to stain it, or you'll never hear the end of it from Vee." he gave a reassuring smile, Logan nodding gratefully and walking off, for real this time. He had been worried that Roman was going to pick on him for taking Virgil's jacket.

Logan went downstairs, going into the living room to get his phone off of the coffee table. Once he had acquired this, he went into the kitchen and greeted Patton. "They should be heading down soon. Look! Virgil let me steal his jacket," he laughed a bit, doing a twirl for his caregiver.

"That was very nice of him. Did you say thank you?" Patton asked, and Logan looked down.

"No, I didn't..." he sighed guiltily.

"Well, make sure you do at some point, okay?" Patton told him, coming closer to him and giving him a forehead kiss. Or at least, he tried to. Logan ducked away before he could, stepping to the side. Patton audibly gasped, looking at him. Logan giggled, sticking his tongue out like he did earlier to Roman.

"You're silly, kiddo." Patton shook his head, patting Logan's head softly before moving on to do something else. Logan pouted, because he expected Patton to go in for another forehead kiss after missing the first one, but he just kept going. Logan told himself that he was being a dork anyways, and that being playful was something for littler him, and that his caregiver didn't need to play along.

He didn't need to play, he was a teenager. He didn't need affection either, no hugs or cuddles or kisses.

But even as a teenager, Logan craved exactly that.

He watched Patton as he plated breakfast for himself, buttering the bread. Logan took action before he could stop himself, side hugging Patton by ducking under his arm. He wrapped his arms around his carer and laid his head on his chest. Patton chuckled, "Hello there, baby."

He dropped the butter knife back on his plate, and set the piece of bread down in favor of hugging Logan back. He hugged him tightly, Logan melting into the touch. "You know, you could just ask for a hug instead of attacking me."

"What hug? I don't need a hug," Logan replied, pulling away from him and grabbing a plate off of the stack on the table.

"The hug you just pulled away from..." Patton seemed confused.

"I never hugged you, dad. You're crazy," Logan kept going, making himself breakfast and acting as if he never hugged him. Patton brushed it off for now and didn't worry about it, because Virgil and Roman entered the kitchen.

Patton greeted them, and as they all sat down to eat, Virgil mentioned taking Logan to the store with him. "Um..well, I'm not sure if that's a good idea..." Patton admitted, setting his piece of toast down on his plate. Virgil seemed confused, as did Logan.

"Why not?" Logan questioned, looking at his caregiver with a confused glance.

"Well, I've never taken you outside of the house while regressed, I'm just worried that someone might see you acting younger and be mean." Patton explained, and Logan frowned.

"Logan's a teenager though, and I'll be there to help if anything like that happens. It's not like he'll throw a fit or anything, he's fourteen." Virgil argued.

"Last time he regressed to teenspace, he was so anxious that he practically threw a fit!" Patton snapped, not exactly shouting. He looked at Virgil with somewhat angry eyes. Patton never gave that look, unless someone he was protecting someone he cared about. Logan sunk down in his seat, zipping up Virgil's hoodie and hiding away from the world for the time being. Virgil raised his hands up in mock surrender before speaking.

"Patton, I'm sorry that I upset you, but please be mindful of Logan. You're probably scaring him by snapping." Virgil reminded. Patton's expression faded from anger to an apologetic look, and he looked toward Logan,who nodded a bit.

"Oh..I'm sorry sweetheart. And you too, Virgil...Just let me think about this and we'll talk after breakfast, okay?"

Virgil gave a nod of agreement, and Logan muttered a weak 'okay'.

Patton eventually agreed to let Logan go with Virgil, but not without a lot of convincing and second guessing his decision.

"Promise that you'll be nice to Virgil, and if you get to anxious-"

"Let Virgil know and step away to text you." Logan interrupted, pocketing his phone and looking at his dad. "I'm not a baby, and I'll be fine."

"Yeah, he's safe with me." Virgil assured, coming down the stairs, clad in his old hoodie and a pair of black ripped skinny jeans. "We're good, right?" he looked at Logan, double checking just to be sure.

Logan laughed, "We're good." he confirmed.

"Oh, okay. I love you both, be good," he looked at Logan, as if he needed the reminder, "And please be home before dinner."

Both boys nodded, taking their final hugs from Roman and Patton before heading out. Virgil let Logan sit in the passenger seat

The mindscape was set up to be a small, little town. It wasn't one that existed in the real world, but it was heavily based off of the real world and would change according to real world events. If they really wanted to, the mindscape extended past their imaginary town, it was a whole little world just inside Thomas's head.

"Okay, so I have a shopping list on my phone, and the grocery money we all pitch in for. Though I found that there's always a little extra money, so if you want an extra snack or whatever, go for it." Virgil spoke, stopping as they approached a red light. He looked around, his eye catching on a street sign as he assured himself that he was going the right way.

Logan nodded. He was usually the one to go on the grocery runs, so he already knew about how he slightly over estimated how much money they needed. He'd usually either buy something extra, a treat or dessert, or save it for the next shopping trip. They all got their limited allowance (for the whole 'realistic human life' thing), and they'd pitch in a certain amount of it to pay for food for their home.

"Is there anything you want for the store? That isn't already on the usual list, I mean?" Virgil asked. He was trying to start a conversation, but Logan was being quiet. That was the main reason he offered to take him with him for errands. Virgil wanted to spend more time with his newfound brother, though he'd never admit that out loud. Virgil and Logan regress together all the time, and there's been plenty of time where Logan is bigger than Virgil, but it's rarely the other way around.

Virgil wanted to know Logan more, and also earn his trust. Because it seemed that currently, the only person Teenage Logan really trusted, was Patton.

"I don't know, maybe one of those starbucks bottled frappe things?" Logan said hopefully, giving his, currently older, brother a look in the hopes that he didn't shoot it down immediately.

"Hmm, Patton wouldn't be to happy about that one...and if he found out, he'd be pretty mad at me." Virgil thought out loud, anxiously biting at his lip while he focused on the road. Logan sunk down in his seat in disappointment, immediately taking his hesitancy as a 'no' and looking out the window.

Virgil sighed, glancing at him for a split second before turning his head to examine the road in front of him. "I suppose...if you promise not to tell your caregiver, and you also don't get like, super hyper on me..." he pauses, taking a turn before continuing his conditional agreement, "You can get the coffee. But this is a one time thing, I don't condone littles-" Logan gave him a look.

"Middles?" he hesitantly corrected himself, glancing at Logan again.

"Or regressors." Logan nodded. Virgil hummed before continuing.

"I don't condone teenagers drinking a bunch of caffeinated drinks in one day. I know you had coffee this morning. But today's the exception, alright?"

Virgil was only agreeing to this because he wanted to make Logan happy. And he didn't quite mind stretching the rules just a bit to get there.

"Okay." Logan agreed, looking back out the window.

Virgil had a feeling that this would end up being a good day.

Or at least, he hoped it would.

"Virgil, I know I said I'd be okay..but I'm scared."

Virgil stopped in the middle of the cereal aisle, pulling the cart to the side so that people could walk through if they needed. Logan seemed ashamed to admit that, looking up at his, currently older, brother for support. Logan fiddled with the zippers on the cuffs of Virgil's jacket.

"What are you scared of, Logan?" Virgil spoke softly to him, in a voice that seemed to assure that he'd be ready to comfort him no matter what his answer.

"Dad was right, it's my first time going out while regressed and I feel..." he trailed off, his eyes following a cart as a family walked by the aisle. "I feel stupid. Like people are staring a me or something." He looked back at Virgil, who nodded.

"That's okay. I've never been out while regressed, but I'm sure it is a bit scary. I'm sorry that you aren't feeling the best, though." Virgil sighed, not quite knowing what to do. He thought for a moment before offering the best solution he could come up with. "How about you call Patton and talk to him while we shop? I think he'd be the best at comforting you right now."

Logan nodded lightly, pulling his phone out of his pocket. Virgil gave him a reassuring smile before pulling a few boxes of cereal from the shelf. As Virgil motioned for them to keep walking, Logan listened to his phone ring.

"Logan! Are you okay?" Logan winced at how loud Patton's voice seemed through the phone.

"Mhm, I'm okay. Just a bit anxious though...can you talk to me? I-i think it'd help." his voice was filled with hesitancy, but Virgil gave him a comforting look that silently told him 'good job'.

"Oh, yeah. I can talk to you. Do you wanna tell me why you're feeling anxious, baby?"

"I um...you were right," Logan fiddled with the zippers on Virgil's hoodie again, taking a turn into a aisle with bread and snacks. "I kinda started panicking the moment I got into the store. There's so many people, and so much noise. I'm just worried that I'm being judged, I guess." he hummed, glad that there was no one else in their aisle.

"I'm sure that everything is okay, sweetheart. Listen to me, not all the noise, okay?"

Logan nodded, then realizing that Patton couldn't see him through the phone. "Okay."

"Can you tell me what you guys have gotten so far?" Logan was confused by his caregivers request, but he looked in the cart as Virgil set something in it.

"We got Crofters! And butter, and bread." he identified a few items, looking at a few others.

"We can make more toast!" Patton cheered. Logan laughed at that.

"Uh, we have like three boxes of cereal in the cart. And coffee cakes! There's also macaroni..." Logan kept going, not realizing that Patton had successfully distracted him from his anxiety for the time being. Patton spoke in a calm, caring voice all the way through their shopping trip.

"We're heading up to checkout now. I'll text you when we're on our way home," Logan spoke into the phone, following Virgil's guide through the front part of the store.

"Alright. You feel better now, right?" Patton assured.

"Yeah, thanks dad. I'll see you later." Logan hung up the phone, pocketing it and taking a deep breath.

"Feeling better?" Virgil questioned softly. Logan hummed.

He felt almost pathetic for having to call his dad to coach him through a simple shopping trip, but he also felt a lot more at ease. He couldn't quite place why he didn't just pull himself out of middlespace if it really bothered him that much, it almost felt like it'd be to tiring to do. He was getting used to being able to regress whenever and not have to repress it, so when the time came that he might of had to, it felt to hard.

"Yeah, I'm okay. Are we heading home after this?" Logan asked, redirecting the conversation swiftly.

"No, actually. If you're okay with stopping somewhere else first, I mean." Virgil didn't elaborate on where they could possibly be going, which confused Logan.

As they checked out and scanned their items, Logan kept bugging Virgil about where they were headed. "It's a surprise. I'm sure you'll like it, though."

"But Virge! I wanna know!" he whined, handing Virgil his iced coffee to scan.

"Hmm, well that's to bad." he teased. "You'll see when we get there."

Virgil has had this idea since he realized that Logan regressed to teen ages. He was only able to convince Patton to let him take Logan because he revealed his little plan, the second stop that Logan would definitely be excited about. Of course, Logan couldn't know what it was quite yet.

"Virgilll!" he pouted, giving him pleading eyes.

"The pouty face only works when you're a toddler, Lo. Just be patient," he told him, pulling his wallet out of his pocket and looking at the total on the self checkout screen. He counted the money quickly.

"Will a candy bar shut you up?" he asked, pulling a few dollars from the stack.

"That only works when I'm a toddler," Logan mimicked him. It was true, if any of the sides needed to distract Logan while he was little, a piece of candy would do the trick. Of course, it would backfire in half an hour when he got hyper and bouncy, but it works in the moment.

Virgil raised his eyebrows, waving the three one dollar bills in his hand. Logan rolled his eyes, snatching them away. "Fine, I'll be back in a sec."

He disappeared to go pick out some candy, leaving Virgil to chuckle.

Virgil was glad he did this. He felt bad for putting Logan in a situation where he was anxious, but he could still say that they were having a decent time so far. And he was sure Logan would love the next place they were headed to.

There was just one question Logan had.

Where were they going?

A/N: Okay so this chapter is jam-packed! I finally hinted towards the romance part of this story, which won't really be a main focus, like at all. It focuses on the agere, and here and there there will be some cute fluffy shippy things. Lmk what you think of this chapter by commenting, reblogging, or sending me asks! (Depends on if you're reading through Tumblr or Wattpad!)

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bubbyleh · 3 years

Text

Do I Know You? - Chapter 6

Chapter 6: Holiday Season

It’s difficult, at first.

Of course it’s going to be. Bubby doesn’t quite know how to be a sibling, and to be honest, the person that Kleiner knew almost forty years ago doesn’t exist anymore. Hell, Bubby doesn’t want Isaac to find out just how much they’ve changed. It’s a challenge—a barrier to their relationship that they aren’t quite ready to break down.

But they do end up finding their common ground. Namely, as Coomer puts it, that they’re both giant nerds. Bubby made one offhanded, stupid science pun during one of their weekly dinners, and that was it. They’ve become a duo known for their terrible sense of humor and wisecracking ability.

And then November rolls around, and Kleiner asks a question.

“Bubby?”

It’s a nice Sunday morning, and Bubby had invited Kleiner over for some coffee while Coomer went out grocery shopping. It was more of an excuse not to do any work today, but hey, any brother time is a good time to Bubby.

Bubby sets his mug down to the side, keeping a loose grip on the handle. “Yes?”

“You didn’t really get to grow up, you know, doing the things we did,” Kleiner says. “So I was wondering, what holiday do you celebrate?”

Idly, Bubby taps the ceramic of their drink. “Well, I’ve been to a few Christmas parties,” they scratch at their chin. “But Harold’s Jewish, so we mostly do Hanukkah.”

And with that, Kleiner sighs. “Oh, you’re still Jewish. Good.”

“Huh?” Bubby tilts their head.

Kleiner only seems confused by Bubby’s own confusion. “What?”

“We’re Jewish?”

It takes a second for Kleiner to process, but when he does, he laughs. “Of course we’re Jewish! Have you seen my name?”

“I don’t know!” Bubby’s face grows red, which they instinctively cover. “I didn’t think about it!”

In what is perhaps an act of mercy, Kleiner changes the topic, pushing one of Bubby’s hands away from their face. “Well, we should try to get together, at least one of the nights,” he suggests, a sincerity on his face that Bubby’s not used to seeing. “It would be nice to do the lighting with family again!”

Family. That’s what they are, aren’t they?

A warmth worms its way into Bubby’s chest. It’s happiness, definitely, but there’s also pride mixed in.

“Definitely,” Bubby can’t keep the smirk off their face. “All eight, if we can.”

- ○ -

Kleiner is more than happy to go along with how Bubby and Coomer do Hanukkah, which is definitely easier. The first seven days, they tend to give each other small treats and trinkets, such as a favorite candy or a funny magnet. Then, on the eighth day, they would exchange their bigger gifts with each other as a sort of finale. It’s honestly easier on the wallet, and it was certainly less taxing to figure out one meaningful gift than eight of any variety.

The first few nights are pretty great! Bubby ends up throwing some of his gelt wrappers at Kleiner when he asks to have one, but that’s fair. There was also a bit of an incident on the third night where the menorah accidentally got knocked over, though there was thankfully no fire damage. They miss out on nights six and seven due to a couple of late shifts, but finally, the eighth night comes.

Bubby halts their rifling through the kitchen drawers and sighs. “We might be out of matches,” they finally admit.

“Should I go get Coomer, then?” Kleiner stands from the barstool.

“Well, let’s wait on him.” Bubby brushes past Kleiner and out of the kitchen, dramatically collapsing onto the couch. “We might have to send you back to get some from your place.”

Kleiner frowns, slumping back into his seat. “So,” he tries to play it cool. “You and Harold are engaged, right?”

Bubby chuckles. “Yeah! It’s… nice.” He rubs at his arm, smiling to himself.

“Well, how did it happen?” Kleiner asks.

Suddenly, Bubby starts blushing hard. “What?”

“Come on! Don’t tell me you don’t have an engagement story,” Kleiner grins. “Who asked who, where was it, do you have any plans yet? That stuff.”

“Oh,” Bubby gulps. “Right.” He manages to compose himself, lightly slapping his face a few times and taking a deep breath. “Actually,” he says, “It was a few months before-”

“I found some!” Coomer interrupts, brandishing a box that’s clearly seen better days. “They were all the way in the back back of the bedroom closet!”

Kleiner raises an eyebrow. “Why did you have matches in your bedroom closet?”

Bubby shrugs as he makes his way to Coomer, yanking the matchbox from him. He squints down at the box’s contents, rattling it slightly. “These look good. Wanna light ‘em tonight, Isaac?”

“Are you sure?”

“Yeah.” Bubby hands the box over to him. “They look kind of janked. Maybe you have lucky hands, or whatever.”

- ○ -

Old matches suck.

Kleiner mumbles under his breath as he tries to strike the match one more time. The wooden stick feels brittle, and since he’s already broken one match on accident, he’s hesitant to put more force in. Still, it’s apparently not enough, if the slight smoldering is anything to go by.

“Do you want me to try?” Coomer offers.

Bubby rolls his eyes. “Harold, you’ve broken every match you’ve ever tried to light.” They turn to Kleiner, watching him start to put the matches away. “Woah, wait.”

“What?” Isaac frowns. “It isn’t working. I was going to-”

“Try again.”

“Bubby-”

“Just try?” Bubby pleads.

Kleiner’s shoulder slump. “Alright.” He pulls a fresh match out, and after a breath, he strikes it against the side of the box.

Bubby blinks. The match lights up.

“Aha! I did it!” Kleiner shouts triumphantly.

“Quickly, the candle!” Coomer points to the center candle. “Before it burns out!”

Coomer gives Bubby a knowing look as they recite the prayers, which Bubby chooses to ignore. He keeps his hands folded behind his back, as if strangling them of the power he let slip.

- ○ -

“Okay, present time!” Bubby announces, slipping a couple of suspiciously squishy wrapped gifts towards the other two seated at the table. “Not to brag, but I think I outdid myself this year.”

“You know, gift-giving is supposed to be about others,” Coomer reminds him, doling out his own gifts at the same time.

They take turns opening each other’s gifts. Kleiner got Coomer a comfy bear hat, while Coomer had gotten Kleiner a knife, supposedly for self-defense. Bubby and Coomer got each other tacky gifts, a tank top for Coomer (‘I FLEXED AND THE SLEEVES FELL OFF’) and a hat for Bubby (‘I’D RATHER BE FISHING RIGHT NOW’).

The siblings, though…

Kleiner inspects the sweater he just unwrapped. It’s white, with a picture of a ball on a slope stitched onto it. Underneath it is written ‘I Have Potential’, which is a classic Physics joke.

“Do you like it?” Bubby asks. “I haven’t knitted in a while, but I wanted to-”

“Wait,” Kleiner pauses. “You made this?”

“Yeah.” Bubby rubs at the back of their neck. “It’s a fun hobby.”

Kleiner glances back at the design on the sweater. It even has a stupid, hilarious science pun.

“I love it,” he states.

Bubby nods. “Good. Now,” he eagerly begins tearing into the paper in front of him. “What did you get me?”

“Oh, well, er-” Kleiner stammers. “If you don’t like it, I could get you something else. I just thought that, since you don’t have a lot to remind you of the family, this would be a good start. But-”

He cuts himself off when Bubby pulls the picture frame from the paper. It was a good frame, Isaac had chosen it himself, but it didn’t at all compare to the photo inside. The picture was something old that Kleiner had dug up during some cleaning Bubby had guilted him into, among other family documents.

A young boy sits across from his baby sibling on the floor, holding a toy up as the baby sticks their tongue out and grabs at their brother.

Bubby gasps. “Is this us?”

Seeing the photo again manages to calm Kleiner, somewhat. “Yes,” he chuckles. “You were a cute little thing.”

Bubby stares down at the portrait in his hands. It feels heavier than its weight, as though forty years were condensed down into a single rectangle. When he looks up at his brother, it��s hard to keep his cool.

“Thank you,” he chokes out. “This is amazing.”

#hlvrai #half life vr but the ai is self aware #dr coomer #dr bubby #bubby #isaac kleiner #my writing #do i know you

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friendlyneighborhoodbisexual · 3 years

Text

The New sinner. Ch.1 new life

John seed x oc

Warnings:vulgar language

Description:Taylor gets invited to a college party by her brother whos running it but meets a different guy insted

(Some locations are not in game!)

———————————————————————

Taylor woke up on her couch with her sketch book laying on her chest “fell asleep sketching again dammit” Taylor mumbled to herself she quickly walked down to the bathroom and hopped into the shower she was an hour late to work and probably in trouble but she maybe okay since her boss was her brother when she stepped out the shower her phone started ringing off the hook “hello?” Taylor awnsered in a confused tone “hey sis no need to come into work today I’m doing repairs in the mountains” Daniel sighed “but I have rent due!” Taylor defended “look Taylor I’ll pay you enough for your rent okay?” Daniel assured “fine thank you brother love you” Taylor said “love you to” Daniel replied before hanging up on Taylor she groaned as she threw on her flannel over her black shirt even if she didn’t go to work she still needed to run errands in falls end she walked over to her roommate room hoping she’d maybe go with her “hey Natalie” Taylor whispered Natalie rolled over and yawned before looking Taylor in the eyes “what’s wrong Taylor?” Natalie asked “you wanna go run errands with me in falls end?” Taylor asked “don’t you work today?”asked Natalie “ no Daniels doing work in the mountains but I gotta go to falls end” Taylor replied “fine” Natalie said in defeat as she got up to go get dressed Taylor went ahead and walked out to her mustang so she could get first pick at music when all of the sudden her phone goes off

Favorite teenager: wanna go get lunch ?

Me:sure some wings from the diner around 12:00?

Favorite teenager:sounds perfect

Me:okay me and Natalie have to go shopping real quick then I’ll swing by to get you

Favorite teenager: see you then!

Magen taylor heard Natalie sit down in the car she sat down her phone and started down the road “where do we have to go?” Natalie asked “we gotta go to the store or one gunna be two starving bitches and later where gunna pick carmina up for lunch at the diner” Taylor saidas Taylor parked the car in front of the store she turnt to Natalie and asked“okay do you wanna go in?” Natalie just shrugged and hoped out the car as the two walked in they quickly walked over to the food section and split up to find the rest of their list after Taylor found all of her part of the list she found Natalie talking to her brother Daniel “what are you guys talking about?” Taylor asked “Daniel was telling me about a party at the spread Eagle later tonight” Natalie awnsered “Mary may said it’s mostly just a party for the college kids and young adults you’ll fit in perfectly” Daniel assured “sounds lovely do you know who’s all going so far?” Taylor asked “carmina,me,all the junior deputies,Alex,Nathan,wheaty,Catherine,lisa and that’s all I know so far” Daniel said “sounds like a hell of a party I’ll look into going” Taylor assured “okay see you there sis” Daniel said before walking away “okay do you have all of your stuff?” Taylor asked “yea let’s go check out”Natalie said as the two started walking up to the check out they could see kids buying 500$ worth of party supply’s knowing hope county they knew how to throw a party and it just made Taylor jittering with excitement “okay jitter bug calm down and pay” Natalie ordered “okay sorry” Taylor apologized as she stuck her credit card into the terminal “I’m guessing you guys got invited to the college party?” The Cashier asked “yea why?” Taylor asked “be careful lots of kids have been taken at those partys” the cashier warned “don’t listen to her that’s old spooky story bullshit” Alex assured “okay I’ll go with what you say Alex” Taylor said with a smile as she walked out the store the girls threw all the bags into the back of the car and sat down in the car Taylor quickly grabbed her phone and called carmina as she drove down the road “hello?” Carmina awnsered “hey girl start getting ready because when we put away our groceries where gunna go get you” Taylor said “okay see you in a minute” carmina said before hanging up “you think what that cashier said is true?” Natalie asked “probably just a bunch of bullshit like Alex said” Taylor assured as she parked outside their house “don’t be a pussy about a little thing someone said now help me get these groceries out so we can go get carmina” Taylor order Natalie rolled her eyes and proceeded to help Taylor carry the bags after a few minutes they were back on the road

(At the diner)

“Here’s your guys order 10 boneless bow wings”the waitress announced as she sat down the plate “can I get some ranch?” Taylor asked “sure I’ll bring that right out” the waitress said “so have your guys heard about the big party yet?” Carmina asked “yea we were invited by Daniel you have any clue when it starts?” Taylor asked “in about two hours” carmina replied “oh damn well you wanna just hang with us until then?” Taylor asked as she sat two more wings on her plate “sure let me ask my dad first” carmina said but before she could grab her phone Taylor’s goes off “speak of the devil” she says as she flips over her phone

#1 pilot: hey can carmina stay with you guys till the party starts I’m having to go help hurk in the whitetail mountains and I’m taking Kim with me so I don’t cuss him out

Me:sure she was gunna ask if she could roll with us anyways

#1 pilot: okay have fun

“Your stuck with us anyway your dad has to go help hurk” Taylor said carmina just shrugged as she grabbed the last wing “I’m cool with that” “okay ladies how we payin?” The waitress asked “I’ll-“ Taylor cut carmina off and pushed her credit card out the way “I’m paying” Taylor assured the waitress nodded and walked away “you didn’t have to do that I could’ve pay for myself” carmina offered “nah it’s fine I payed my rent off till next January so figured I’d save you the money” Taylor said with a smile “thanks” carmina said “guys look at this post” Natalie said as she flipped her phone around “that’s at the spread Eagle now if that dosent look like one hell of a party I don’t know what dose” Natalie said “looks like people are already their should we get going?” Carmina asked Taylor shrugged “I don’t see why not it’s just a block down from here” as the waitress brought back Taylor’s card the girls quickly got up and started walking down to the spread Eagle

(At the party)

Led lights were flashing to the beats of the song girls were dancing on the tables boys were chugging for bets but after a while taylor walked out back with Mary may to have a break from all the loud music “I’m suprised how you can walk in a straight line from drinking so much with the boys” Mary may said in shock Taylor chuckled “I’m from texas I used to out drink all the boys in high school with Natalie on my side” “your from Texas so what brought you to hope county?” Mary may asked “I came here under a scholarship for welding and mechanics type shit but I grew to attached to this place now I have a well paying job friends and one hell of a bartender” Taylor said with a smile “thanks let me check in on these kids before they start tearing everything down” Mary may sighed as she started to the door Taylor decied to walk to her car and take a break

Group chat:favorite teenager,best friend,me

Me:i started to get a headache so I walked back to my car I’ll be back in a second

Favorite teenager:okay don’t run off tho lol

Best friend:theirs some medicine in the console if your headache dosent stop

Me:okay thank you❤️

Taylor sat on the front of her mustang watching the stars in the sky she loved hope county at night it was so beautiful “nice night isn’t it?” Taylor quickly turned around to see a man in a trench coat standing next to her car “how long have you been standing their?” Taylor asked “long enough to know you have a good taste in cars” the man complimented “thanks it’s a 2017 mustang gt” Taylor said as she walked over to the man “the names Taylor by the way and you are?” she asked “John seed” he awnsered “oh your the one who has chosen flying around?” Taylor asked “yes that was me” John said “it seems amazing to get fly around hope county kinda jealous ” Taylor said “have you ever flown before?” John asked “yea I actually have my own plane over at nick ryes place since I don’t have an air strip” the two where cut off by Natalie carrying carmina to the car “she out chugged the boys but blacked out” Natalie said as she sat carmina down in the car “you two wrap it up I’m ready to go” Natalie said before sitting down in the car Taylor chuckled “well I better get going see you around” she said with a smile “see you later” John said with a light smile Taylor quickly sat down in her car and started down the road to her and natalies house

Me:hey carminas passed out in the back of my car so will just let her crash at my place tonight. (1 image)

#1 pilot:okay did she drink at all?

Me:yea she out drank the boys and won 300$

#1 pilot: sounds about right well at least if she with you I know she’s safe

Me:thanks I’ll make sure to bring her back in one piece tomorrow

#1 pilot: okay

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detectivejigsawpines · 4 years

Text

Relatively Relativity-part 5 (Ford gets forcefully decaffeinated and Dipper gets chest hair)

Seeing how freakishly big and hairy his arms were (at least compared to how they were just yesterday) told Dipper that no, it wasn’t a dream, he really was an old man now. Great.

Mabel was already out of bed, so Dipper started to sit up-and immediately tried not to groan as he realized that Stan’s comments about how much your joints ached first thing in the morning at this age had not been exaggerated.

Oh man...I hope my body’s not going to be this badly in shape when I get old for real. Is my back supposed to make that kind of noise?

“Ow, ow ow ow…” Dipper swung his legs around to the side, and went through the arduous process of standing up. Once he was actually on his feet, he felt more or less okay.

Until he nearly jumped out of his skin at the sounds of yelling from downstairs.

Dipper sprinted downstairs as fast as he could (again, not as fast as when he was thirteen), following the sounds of yelling towards the kitchen. A million horrifying scenarios flitted through his thoughts as an explanation.

Had a monster broken in and attacked? Was something on fire? Worse, was someone on fire?!

He skidded into the doorway-and saw Mabel standing with a hand pressed flat against one of the cupboards, keeping it shut, while Grunkle Ford appeared to be trying to climb her, and Grunkle Stan stood at the stove looking far too amused at the level of conflict that was taking place (then again, this was Stan we’re talking about).

“What in the heck is going on here?!” Dipper demanded.

Ford finally seemed to manifest how undignified his current behavior was; he immediately let go of Mabel and hopped away, attempting to smooth down his clothes. “Ah-good morning, Dipper. We-were just-having a small disagreement on proper morning sustenance-”

“Mabel wasn’t lettin’ him have coffee,” Stan translated.

“He’s too young for it!” Mabel retorted.

“Oh for-we are not actual children, Mabel! In case you’ve forgotten, I am more than forty years your senior!” Ford looked a little like he was about to stamp his foot.

“Not right now, you’re not!”

“I’m afraid I’m gonna have to side with Mabel on this,” Dipper reluctantly admitted. Immediately he found himself having to shrink away from his mini-grunkle’s withering glare. “Considering what you guys were like with the Mabel Juice yesterday, it’s probably not good for you to get high amounts of sugar or caffeine in your systems!”

Ford looked like he was about to snarl out something indignant-but then the truth of Dipper’s words sank in, and he slumped down in reluctant acknowledgment. Grumbling wordlessly, he stomped to the fridge and yanked out the carton of apple juice that was in the door.

Stan snickered-and then swore when he realized that the batch of scrambled eggs he was making had started burning due to his not paying attention.

“Language!” Ford scolded.

“Sorry. Guess I’ve spent too long away from kids.”

Mabel blinked. “Wait. Since we’re the grownups now, does that mean we can use those words?”

“No!” Stan hurriedly shuffled the eggs around until he’d gathered the blackened ones into his spatula, allowing him to shake them into the trash. “I don’t wanna haveta explain ta your mom why you came home with a bad case of sailor mouth!”

“We’re in junior high now, Grunkle Stan,” Dipper reminded him as he sat down, “We already hear all of them several times a day.” “No excuse.”

Dipper was tempted to try figuring out how to make coffee just to see what it tasted like (okay, and maybe to annoy Grunkle Ford a little). But he decided he wasn’t ready to try experimenting with the process yet, and so he just had juice along with eggs and cereal.

“Where’s Soos?” he asked as the rest of his family sat down.

“They got some early tourists, so he’s showing them around the exhibits while Melody runs the gift shop,” said Mabel. “And it’s shopping day, so Abuelita’s getting groceries.”

“Hope they weren’t freaked out by all the racket.”

****

Elsewhere in the Shack

Soos nearly jumped out of his skin at the sounds of yelling, which could be heard from all the way on this side of the house, but he rolled with it.

“Whoa, sounds like the Summerween ghosts have started up early this year.”

A small child at the front of the group raised her tiny hand. “What’s Summerween?”

Soos knelt and put a large hand on her tiny shoulder. “We have much to discuss.”

****

For a little bit everyone ate in relative silence; finally, though, Dipper cleared his throat. “Melody suggested we should try wearing some kind of protective gear in case the flowers act up again.”

“I made us all masks!” Mabel held up four strips of brightly colored cloth with elastic straps at the ends, and their names stitched onto them surrounded by rainbows and flowers and stuff.

“That probably depends on whether it was just ingestion of the pollen that changed us, or if they needed to make contact with us,” Ford mused, rubbing his chin. “We should probably prepare for both outcomes, just in case. I think I have what we need in the basement.”

He hopped off his chair-and paused to give himself a slightly annoyed/confused glare at having done so, before shaking his head and making his way out of the kitchen.

When he returned, it was with a large, clunky-looking watch thing strapped to his wrist.

“This generates a small force field system that can completely envelope the flower and prevent the pollen from spreading; it also makes things levitate.”

“Whoa.” Stan’s eyes grew ridiculously big and shiny. “Can I use it?”

Ford narrowed his eyes at his brother. “Are you planning to try and pick pockets with it?”

“...No…”

“Uh-huh. I think I’ll hold onto it for now.”

“Hmph. Whatever.”

****

The mini-grunkles were still in their clothes from yesterday, which were kind of filthy, so at Mabel’s insistence they changed into some of Dipper’s spare things.

Stan held up a blue-and-white striped T-shirt, tilting his head quizzically. “If you got all these clothes, why the heck do you wear the same outfit every day?”

“And when do you take time to wash it?” Ford asked, wrinkling his nose.

Dipper flushed. “Don’t you guys start!”

“HA! See, I’m not the only one who thinks your hygiene practices are gross!” Mabel crowed triumphantly.

Dipper shoved his hands in his pockets and stalked out of the attic.

****

Eventually everyone took the time to get dressed before their new expedition.

Mabel had made herself a brand new sweater (purple, with “HOT GRANDMA” written on it in sparkly bright blue letters), and borrowed one of Abuelita’s old dresses to wear under it. Dipper, meanwhile, had pointedly put his clothes in the wash, and borrowed a pair of Stan’s khaki shorts and a red Hawaiian shirt.

Well, at least I finally have chest hair, he thought as he buttoned up the shirt, examining his torso in the mirror. At least there was one thing to enjoy about old age.

Unfortunately, it was accompanied by a large quantity of stomach hair...and arm hair...and ear hair...basically a lot more hair than he’d been expecting.

He was only stopped from seeing if shaving some of it off would be more effective than it had been for Stan by the realization that his family was probably waiting for him.

“Took ya long enough,” Stan scolded when he returned to the kitchen. “C’mon, let’s go already!”

They headed out the door-and immediately ran into Wendy, who had at last showed up for work.

****

Aw, crap.

Dipper realized he had forgotten to text her about what had happened.

“Uh-hey, Wendy. Believe it or not, it’s us.”

She did a long, slow blink. Then, raising one eyebrow, she asked, “...Do I want to know?”

“We had an accident with a magic flower,” Mabel explained. “So now we gotta get another one to figure out how to change us back to normal.”

“Ya wanna come?” Stan asked.

Wendy smiled at him. “That’d be awesome, Mr. Pines, but I got work.”

Stan’s face contorted into an expression of shock. “Wait, what? You’re passing up a chance ta slack off work?!” He reached up a tiny hand to feel Wendy’s forehead. “Are you feeling okay?!”

She snorted and shoved him off. “Soos pays me extra if I stay through a whole shift. And I’m trying to save up for a car, so I need all the help I can get.”

“...So the secret to keeping you from slacking off was to pay you more?” Stan pondered this for a bit...and then shook his head. “Nah, it’s not worth it.”

Wendy laughed and punched his shoulder. “Later, dorks.” She started to walk past, before spinning around on one heel. “Oh, Dipper-loving the new hair. Gives you a kinda silver fox look.”

...Despite himself, Dipper couldn’t help blushing and grinning as he ran a hand through his hair. And then he sighed as he ignored a smirking Mabel and headed to the car, ready to share joint custody of the driver’s seat with Stan again.

The fact that Wendy only ever saw him as attractive when he was way older than her was probably a sign that he’d made the right choice in stopping pining over her.

Heh heh...pining.

Because he was a Pines.

...Oh crap, now he was starting to think dad jokes were funny.

We gotta get changed back soon.

********

...Sorry, Wendip fans, but I just don't see it happening.

It's not even the age difference, so much as that personality-wise, she strikes me as just staying a "cool big sis" figure to both him and Mabel.

(Also I'm kind of biased towards Dipcif-)

Nothing, you didn't see that.

Moving on.

#gravity falls #grunkle stan #grunkle ford #age swap #relatively relativity #ford wants coffee #getting ready to go #not wendip #sorry

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5-falsehoods-phonated · 4 years

Text

To Owe A Date

Request fill from AO3 I got carried away with.

@cecie-does-stuff-things I thought maybe you'd like to be tagged since it's DeSleep!

Summary: The new barista at the coffee shop Janus frequents is a shameless tease of a flirt. Janus finds he doesnt really mind.

Warnings: none

Ships: DeSleep, Janus x Remy

WC: 1,499

Rarely was Janus in a worse mood than he was that morning.

It had started off fine, his sons getting along relatively well for the most part. Remus had only stolen one shoe and hidden it the morning and Roman had only gone off on one tirade concerning some musical or another. He loved both of them dearly, chaotic as they were with their typical escapades and he loved listening to their interests and debates on those interests, but they often made for exhausting mornings that made him crave the sweet release of caffeine before he felt ready to face his clients, many of which acted less mature than his seven year olds.

As it was he gently massaged his temples as he kept a fast pace to the nearest coffe shop, which made average drinks at best but was cheap and on his way to the tattoo parlor so he really couldn't complain. Burying himself further in his caplet as he went (yes they were still in style, it was warm and kept his arms free) he stepped hurriedly inside, the small bell tinkling and alerting the worker behind the bar.

Janus' brow furrowed slightly as he took in the new cashier, styled hair swooping low over a dark set of sunglasses and an eclectic assortment of what looked like silly bands adorning his wrists. Sighing quietly he prayed that the newcomer knew how to make coffee already and wasn't a completely new trainee, otherwise this day was going to be a lot more painful than he had anticipated.

"Hey shortcake, what's your poison?"

Janus blinked, the server stood at least a head taller than him, making his comment instantly infuriating. "I have to wait until at least two before consuming alcohol. Unfortunately coffee is classier than wine before noon."

The barista laughed outright. "Ooooh, tired wine mom aesthetic! Don't worry, in this shop we love Karens."

"You won't in about five seconds if I'm still refused service, no ones too tall for a kick to the kneecaps." Janus leaned pointedly against the counter, refusing to acknowledge the others shameless flirting, if that's what it could even be called. The other whistled low and grabbed a small pad and pen, straightening and standing to attention.

"Yes sir." The sultry tone definitely didn't go over Janus head but he merely rolled his eyes and glared point blank. "Alright fine. Geez girl, you are absolutely no fun. Do you know how boring it is in here most days? Can't blame a guy for trying. I'm gonna guess...you're probably a lightweight, so decaf with lots of sugar hun?"

Janus snorted. "Fuck no. A mocha with two extra espresso shots and whipped cream. I'll pay the extra."

Raising his eyebrow the barista jotted down his order and smirked. "Love a man who can hold his espresso. It'll be just a minute...?"

"Karen."

Laughing out loud again, he just nodded and turned away forwards the various machines to go about filling the order. In no time at all it was done, his cup handed over with Karen ♡ carefully written on the side. Paying quickly, Janus turned to leave, only pausing when the man's voice called out to him.

"See ya later babes."

"Depends on how good the coffee is." Janus threw over his shoulder not bothering to look back as he left to actually go to his job. Walking briskly down the sidewalk he idly took a sip of his order while checking his phone for the time.

...well shit.

Concentration fully on his drink he realized that even if that shop wasn't already his regular coffee shop it certainly would be now.

-----

"Dad! Guess what I did today?" Roman jumped up and down excitedly clutching his backpack.

"No, his story's stupid! Guess what I did instead!" Judging from Remus' mud covered jeans Janus could definitely give a guest as to what he did. Sighing in mock exasperation, he shifted the groceries and continued to carefully step up the stairs.

"I suppose it'll be up to whoever can get the groceries over to Mrs. Gibson the fastest can tell their story first." That way too he wouldn't be tripping over them trying to unlock the door with an armload of groceries.

"RACE YOU!!" As soon as they reached the landing Remus took off, leaving a loudly protesting Roman to catch up with him.

"Quieter please, and be-!" A loud crash followed by apples skidding across wood. "-careful. Are you alright?"

His worry dispersed as Remus scrambled up and began picking everything up and shoving them back in the bags, his brother begrudgingly helping him. Smiling and shaking his head he turned to the door and attempted to reach the key while still holding the bags, a feat which he stubbornly refused to believe was impossible now that he had started.

"Do you like, need help or-?" A familiar voice had him glancing up, mouth running dry as he recognized the sunglasses wearing flirt from that morning.

"How am I supposed to be enraptured by my saviors eyes if I can't gaze into them like the star struck lover I am?" Janus drawled, still making a valiant effort to reach his pocket.

"No can do babe, fluorescents are just as bad as sunlight and I enjoy looking at your own eyes too much to risk blindness." So saying he reached over and took the groceries, smugly carrying them all one handed while holding a cup of coffee in the other.

Pretending not to notice his burning face Janus turned to finally get the door open just as the boys were running back down the hall.

"Dad Mrs. Gibson gave us candy-! Oh! Hi mister!" Roman stopped abruptedly in front of the stranger, who smiled and tipped his head.

"Sup kid." Unfortunately, Remus didn't have the luxury of paying attention, too enraptured by the bag of chocolate he had been given to bother slowing down and barreled his way straight into his twin.

Janus saw the dominos fall in slow motion; Roman stumbling forward and reaching out for something to grab, which just so happened to be the baristas arm. Coffee spilled in a waterfall on both of twins' heads and in a desperate attempt to remedy the situation the man jerked his hand up and away, getting a face full of ice and the remaining coffee in the process. For a moment time stood still, but taking in everyone's drenched appearance Janus couldn't help a small small to grow to a grin, a snort breaking the silence as he struggled to contain his laughter, apologizing through it nonetheless.

"I'm so sorry, are you-are you okay?"

Before he could answer he was cut off by Roman. "I'm so sorry I didn't mean to it was an accident-!"

"Hey kid, check this out." The man kneeled, setting the cup down before flipping his glasses up and letting chunks of ice fall from behind them. "No use crying over spilled coffee. It's chill."

Janus stared incredulously before letting loose another peal of laughter. He nudged open the door and ushered the boys inside. "Go clean up before you end up sticky. I don't care if you like it Remus go."

"Boy they took chaos twins to heart didn't they?"

Janus turned around and offered an apologetic smile. "I really am sorry about all of this-"

He waved him off. "It's cool babes. You just owe me coffee now."

Janus smirked and tugged on his groceries, taking them back. "I'd say I just owe you an offer to come in and clean up. Where's the coffee coming from?"

"Oh I might have a place in mind."

----

"This is not what I thought you meant." Janus stood with a deadpan expression as he took in the small cafe that was decidedly not the other's place of work.

"I never eat where I work babes." The man replied, reading Janus' thoughts.

"I thought I was just buying you coffee?" He sputtered following after him.

"Oh you paid me back with that yesterday when I washed my hair in the sink. This is because i owe you a date."

Who the hell- "You are really forward aren't you?"

The other tipped his glasses down slightly to wink. "You haven't told me to fuck off yet so I'm just taking it in stride."

"This is one date, to be clear."

"Sure Karen."

"Janus."

The other stopped and whirled around. "What babes?"

Janus ran his fingers through his hair in exasperation. "It's Janus."

Smiling, the man stepped forward and leaned slightly to fix his hair, making his face erupt in flames. "Call me Remy, shortstack."

Janus scowled. "I'm not that short!"

"Babes, I'm like a head taller than you. You're kids'll probs be taller than you by the time they're ten."

Bickering all the way to the door Janus couldn't help but smile. Short just meant dibs on being the little spoon, and he had every intention of taking advantage of that.

As always this work is also available on AO3!

#false writes #sanders sides #sanders sides fic #janus sanders #remy sanders #sleep sanders #desleep

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styles-is-the-name · 4 years

Text

Just Before You Go - Part Three

this is my first shot at a harry-y/n fic, and it will be multiple parts. Harry is a single father of two that hasn’t even looked at another woman in years. For the first time in five years, he finally feels like he’s returning to himself all because he met someone unexpectedly at a grocery store. Even though his kids are determined to help him find love again, will it be possible? (There eventually be smut, but will mostly be fluff.)

TW: suicide, self harm, and others will occur

Word Count: 2,399

“Harry, you do absolutely amazing work!” Your eyes widen slightly as you continue flipping through his books looking at different tattoos he’s done over the years. Each one is beautiful and unique.

“Thank you, love. I’m not like a traditional tattoo artist if you couldn’t tell. I won’t do any tattoo that another artist has done.”

“So if I were to ask for a butterfly, you wouldn’t do it the same way another person did?”

“I would ask you why you want the butterfly and depending on your response, I will find a butterfly that suits your reasoning perfectly.”

“Do you know about the butterfly project?”

“I sure do. Is...is that why you want one?” You look down breathing out shakily and nod nervously. He sits down next to you gently placing his hand over yours. “I’m here for you, Y/N. I know that we just met and you don’t trust me yet, but I am here for you.”

You smile up at him through tears and nod not able to speak fearful that you might start crying. He hands you a tissue and you dab the corners of your eyes trying not to ruin your makeup. The two of you look over at Darcy who is petting her cat lovingly.

“She’s very beautiful.”

“Thank you.” He smiles at you widely. “She looks exactly like her mother did.”

“She mentioned...you know...what her mother did.” You say softly not sure how to approach the topic. He sighs shakily leaning back on the couch.

“She really struggled with postpartum depression after she had my son. I didn’t realize it was as bad as it actually was. I spent more time with the kids than I did with her. She...she cheated. And when I found out...she killed herself in front of me.”

“Harry...oh my god. I’m so sorry.” He nods awkwardly trying to blink back all the emotion he feels right now. You decide to change the topic to help him out. “So should I bring anything to dinner tomorrow? I can bring dessert.”

“You cook?”

“I do, but I mostly bake.”

“The kids love baking.”

“So maybe...I can bring something over and we can cook and bake together.”

“Like a family.” He smiles lightly at you making your heart flutter.

___________________________

The whole day was so miserable and long for you. You were impatient and you hated it, but you managed to get some of your job applications sent out. Hopefully you’ll be hearing back from schools within the next few days. One of the only good things about who your father is is that he sends you money every week. That’s how you’ve been surviving.

Around three, you decide to call your best friend, Louis. He’s always good to talk to in a crisis or a fashion emergency and in your case, it’s the latter.

“Y/N!”

“Louis!”

“What’s up, babe?”

“Okay so. There’s a lot I have to catch you up on.”

“Is there a guy?”

“How did you know?”

“I haven’t seen you this happy since-“

“Don’t even say his name. I swear to god I will fly to New York and rip out your vocal chords.”

“Okay! Okay! Calm down. But anyway. Spill the tea!”

“Well I was at the grocery store yesterday and I met this man.”

“Name? Age? Nationality? Religion? Race? Relationship status? Criminal record?”

“Louis! Oh my god. His name is Harry Styles.”

“Oh my god that’s amazing. Imagine him so deep inside of you that you start scream-“

“OKAY! Okay! Enough!”

“Continue.”

“He’s a tattoo artist.”

“Seriously? Dude that’s so cool! Maybe I should make a trip out there.”

“Oh my god he’s amazing, Lou. He showed me some of his past tattoos and they’re all amazing.”

“You’ll have to send me pics.”

“I will the next time I’m at his shop.”

“You went to his shop?”

“Just shut up and let me talk!”

“Okay bossy.” You roll your eyes giggling.

“Well he has a British accent.”

“That’s your weakness!”

“I know! He’s a single father.”

“How many kids and how old?”

“Two. Darcy is nine and she's the sweetest little girl I’ve ever met. I haven’t met Carter yet, but he’s six and adorable.”

“And their mom? You don’t need a crazy ex around.”

“She’s not in the picture.”

“Seriously? She had two kids then just left?”

“Lou, it’s more complicated than that.”

“Well, tell me!”

“She killed herself.”

“Oh my god.”

“I know. But Darcy is really trying to get us together and guess what.”

“What?”

“Every Tuesday they have taco Tuesday. And they invited me tonight.”

“Yasss! My girl is gonna get some dick tonight!”

“Louis! Oh my god. Why did I even bother calling you.”

“Because you probably need help picking out an outfit.”

“Yeah I do. I don’t wanna be too dressy, but I don’t wanna be too casual either.”

“You know that yellow, flowy top we bought before you left?”

“The one that has ruffled sleeves and goes down to my thighs?”

“Yeah that. Wear that with leggings and sandals.”

“And my hair?”

“Braid it to the side and natural makeup.”

“Thanks, Lou. I owe you. I gotta go though so I can be there on time. We’re cooking together.”

“Awwww! You’re a little family already!”

“Oh fuck off.”

“Love youuuuu!”

“Yeah yeah.” You hang up giggling then rush to get ready.

_______________________

“But daddy! It’s not fair! Why did Darcy get to meet her and not me?!”

“Bubba, I already explained this to you. Darcy was at the store with me, but you get to meet her tonight. She’s coming over for dinner.”

“But I wanted to find you a girlfriend!” Harry blushes bright red. It’s not that he’s embarrassed to have you called his girlfriend (if it weren’t too soon, he probably would ask you to be his girlfriend himself), but having your kids talk about it is just a little weird.

“She’s not my girlfriend, Carter.”

“YET!” Darcy looks at Carter smirking.

“Jinx! Knock on wood. You owe me a soda!”

“Daddy.” Carter whines looking up to Harry.

“I need you both to be on your absolute best behavior tonight okay?”

“Okay daddy.”

“Yes daddy.” Carter leans closer to Darcy. “Is she pretty?” Darcy giggles and nods. Harry rolls his eyes sighing.

“She’s beautiful. Beyond beautiful. But we just met, guys. Nothing serious is going to come from a din-“

The two are running towards the door before Harry can even finish. Darcy opens the door right as you were reaching to ring the doorbell.

“Y/N!” She hugs you tightly catching you off guard. You hug back smiling lightly and wave to Carter.”

“Hi guys!” Harry walks over wanting to just melt into the floor seeing how embarrassing his kids are being.

“Guys, let her in! Let her in.” Darcy let’s go of you and let’s you walk inside.

“Woah.” You look around at the beautiful interior. “It's beautiful in here!”

“Daddy said you’re beautiful too!”

“Carter!” Darcy nudges him with her elbow.

“What?! He did!” Harry squeezes his fists biting his lip nervously.

“Well, your daddy is very handsome.”

Harry can’t help, but smile. He feels like he’s in high school again. He just met you yesterday and his heart is already racing when you compliment him. The only difference is that he is twenty-six almost twenty-seven and he knows it’s not just some school girl crush. It’s more than that. He hasn’t felt like this in nearly five years and to say that it’s terrifying doesn’t even come close to how he feels.

“Darcy, you were right! She is really pretty.”

“I know!” The two giggle running into the living room. Harry looks up to you blushing deeply feeling bad.

“I’m so sorry. I told them to behave. Looks like they decided not to listen.” You giggle.

“It’s okay, Harry. I wasn’t sure what to bring for dessert so I just brought stuff to make homemade chocolate chip cookies.”

“From scratch?”

“The best way to make them!” He leads you into his kitchen talking over his shoulder to you.

“My mum used to bake cookies from scratch and she would have them ready for when I got home from school. I tried to figure out how to make them the way she does, but I never could figure it out.”

“The secret ingredient is sour cream. Sounds disgusting, but it just makes the cookie more moist. Also, milk instead of water.”

“I knew the milk, but not sour cream. God I worked in a bakery as a teenager. I should know these things!”

“Awww little Harry in an apron!” You hold your heart jutting out your bottom lip. You see his gaze move down to your lips and your knees just about give out on you.

“Just be thankful my mum isn’t here. She’d be showing you all sorts of baby pictures.”

“We should have invited her then! I’d love to see those chubby baby cheeks. I love babies.”

“What’s your favorite age to teach?”

“Probably both elementary and high school.”

“Not middle school?”

“Oh hell no. Those brats are so rude it’s not even funny. And they’re too hormonal.”

“I would’ve thought that high schoolers are more hormonal.” You sit down on the counter popping a cherry into your mouth while watching him roll his sleeves up. Your mouth waters but you can’t tell if it’s from the cherry or his tattoos.

“That’s what you’d think, but they have the majority of their hormones in check. I mean think about it. Most girls start their periods in six grade. That’s around the time that guys started yanking off to socks.” His laugh sounds like music to your ears. You’d do anything to hear that again.

“True. I love how you put it like that.”

“I mean it’s true! I’ve heard most guys prefer socks over the male dildo vagina things.”

“What guys have you been talking to?!”

“My brothers and my best friend.” You shrug amused by the conversation.

“Well I just prefer my hand.”

“But doesn’t that make a mess?”

“If you aim right it shouldn’t.”

“Oh my god. I’d struggle if I were a guy for a day.”

“How so?”

“My aim sucks. I wouldn’t be able to even pee.” He throws his head back laughing.

“Well if I were a woman for a day, I wouldn’t be able to leave my bedroom.”

“Why? Too busy fingering yourself?” You giggle rolling your eyes.

“Eh. I’m more of a tits guy.” Just the way he said that makes you feel light headed. You know you need to change the subject before you have to go to the bathroom.

“Oh whatever. Anyway. Tell me about yourself, Harry.”

“What do you wanna know, love?”

“Anything and everything.” Harry hands you a pan and the package of meat. You pop another cherry into your mouth before hopping off of the counter and turning the burner on.

“Well, I was raised in Holmes Chapel.”

“Isn’t that just a few hours outside of London?”

“Yeah. It’s a pretty small town, but it’s lovely.”

“Why’d you move here?”

“For uni. Three of my lads and I moved here. We got an apartment and went to uni together.”

“What do they do for a living?”

“Well Niall owns his own club. Zayn is a model. And Liam is about to graduate med school.”

“Oh wow. That’s a big variety.”

“I know, but I know who to go to for free drinks and surgery if needed.” You laugh while pouring the meat into the pan. This isn’t as awkward as you thought it would be. It’s actually pretty fun.

“Where did you go to college?”

“We went to NYU but Liam is at Chapel Hill for med school.”

“I went to NYU!”

“No way! Class of 2012.”

“Class of 2014!”

“We probably saw each other around campus then. You were a sophomore when I was a senior.”

“I actually went to your graduation. My best friend Louis was graduating.”

“Louis? As in Tomlinson?”

“Oh my god. You know him?!”

“Yeah. We were pretty good friends. We lost contact a couple years after graduation sadly.”

“Maybe you should reconnect.”

“I would love to, but I don’t even know how to get in contact with him.”

“Here. I’ll FaceTime him.” You walk over to him touching the small of his back while FaceTiming him.

“Wha-“

“Y/N? Oh my god! Harry! I was wondering if you were him!”

“Lou! Hey man!”

“How’s life?!”

“It’s great! You?”

“Wonderful. I’m actually thinking about proposing to El.”

“Oh my god. That’s awesome!” You give him the phone giggling. It warms your heart hearing the two of them get along. They’re the two most important guys in your life right now. And you have a feeling that Carter will probably be the third.

You walk into the living room and see the kids watching tv. You lay down dramatically with your head in Darcy’s lap and your feet in Carter's.

“Hey! Your feet are smelly!”

“Hey!” You pout sitting up. He giggles and jumps into your arms making you groan.

“Just because your feet are smelly doesn’t mean I don’t want cuddles.” You laugh holding him close.

“Alright. What are you guys watching?” Darcy pauses the tv looking at you.

“There’s nothing really to watch.”

“Do you have Disney plus?”

“Yeah, but I don’t know what to watch.”

“Have you heard of Wizards of Waverly Place?” They both shake their head no making you grin. “When my brothers and I were growing up, we would watch it all the time. It’s about two mortals that have three kids that are witches.”

“What are mortals?” Carter looks up to you confused.

“Mortals are people like us. We don’t have any powers.”

“I’m not a mortal! Daddy says I’m Superman!” You laugh pinching his cheek.

“You sure are Superman!”

“Can we watch it, Y/N?”

“Of course. Selena Gomez is one of the lead characters.” Darcy gasps pressing play immediately. She moves closer to you cuddling into your side.

Your heart has never felt this full before. Sure you’ve had cuddles from some of your kids, but you’ve never done this before. Carter rests his head on your chest sucking his thumb. You close your eyes just soaking in the moment.

Nothing could make this any better.

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j--meat-hook--j · 4 years

Text

A Trip to the Mainland (Taiyuu cooking event) (?)

@taiyuu-high-oct

A Train from Taiyuu Island to Mainland Japan took a couple hours, hours of ocean, boredom and more ocean. Staring at the TV, Zeke remembered a time before Taiyuu, before Japan even.

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A small town on the coast of Germany, a large building, a small apartment.

A teenager enters, around 17 years old, wiping his feet and looking around, the clock reads 8pm. He spotted his younger brother in the living “room” by himself watching cartoons. The younger one couldn’t be older than 9.

“Hey, kiddo. Where’s Mum?”

“She got called into work.”

Frustrated in his mother’s irresponsibility and lack of note, the older brother tried to keep the conversation going as he made his way to the kitchen.

“Whatcha doing?”

“Watchin TV.”

“Oh, so you found the remote?” “No.” Flick. The channel changed.

Opening the pantry the older brother found… half a loaf of bread and a whole lot of empty space.

“Have you had anything to eat yet?”

“No. Mum was gonna get groceries but she got called into work.”

Biting his fist in frustration, the older brother pounded the pantry door with his head. Silently seething in anger the older brother put on a happy face, the older brother came out and sat next to the younger brother.

“Let’s go out for dinner tonight, just you and me.” “Won’t Mum and Dad get angry?” “They’ll never know, I got a little extra money from work today.”

“I mean… sure.”

“Alright, get your stuff ready and we’ll leave in a few.” The older brother wrote a note for their Mother, if she returned home tonight.

When the two got ready and were almost out the door, the younger brother stopped.

“Umm... Schlaut?”

“What’s up Zeke?”

“Are you sure Mum and Dad won’t find out?”

“Hey, we’ll leave our trash in a public bin, they’ll never know.”

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Finally on the Mainland of Japan Zeke had a couple trips to make.

The first stop for today was to withdraw money, but look like a cool guy, Sunglasses on. Wandering around the Whatever City, Zeke can’t remember what it’s called, he started to get his bearings.

‘Alright, grocery shop’s there, post office’s there and-’

Zeke felt a rumble down to his core.

‘It’s going to be a thunderstorm tonight.��

Finally finding an ATM in Whatever City, that took forever. Taking his “Credit” Card out Zeke approached the ATM, noone was nearby anyway but he still felt he had to play the part.

Feeling the ATM Zeke felt all the different compartments, searching for the most used 4, Zeke found what he needed.

Trying the first one: Whirr, Zzzt And Dispense. 1000 Yen, not quite what he needed.

Next compartment: Whirr, Zzzt and Dispense. 5000 Yen, close but not the notes he needed.

The Third compartment: Whirr, Zzzt and Dispense. 10,000, exactly what Zeke needed.

Grabbing an extra 13 10k Yen bills Zeke had enough to pay for his tuition, with some left over.

That wasn’t right, only take what you need. Zeke remembered when this all became second nature to him, why quickly searching these machines became so easy.

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“That’d be 50 Euros sir.” A cashier lady, in a large mall grocery store.

“I’m really sorry, can you wave it just this once?” Schlaut, now at the age of 19, pleaded to the cashier holding a 20 Euro note.

“I’m sorry sir, if you couldn’t afford it you shouldn’t have picked it up.”

“But this is all we have for the week, we’ll go hungry without this food.” Schlaut

“Then get 20 Euros worth of food or get out of the store.”

“Fine. C’mon Zeke we’re outta here.” Zeke, now 11 years old, followed his brother out of the store.

“What’s the plan now Schlaut?”

“I dunno kiddo, we’ll figure something out.”

It wasn’t long into the usual walk home when they walked past an ATM, it’s screen illuminating the sidewalk. The screen flickered strange colours, reds, blues even a neon green. Schlaut paused, did a slow turn on his feet and paced to the ATM.

“Zeke?” “Yeah Schlaut?”

“Are you doing that?”

Zeke’s stiffened and he turned his face away from his brother.

“Zeke look at me.”

Zeke reluctantly looked at his Older Brother, the pupils of his brown eyes glowing a slight blue.

“Did I do something wrong?” Zeke was looking at the ground in shame.

“No no no no nononono nono, no Zeke. You did something very, very right.” Schlaut hadn’t felt this excited in a while.

“Let’s play a game Zeke, see if you can find some paper in this machine.” Schlaut pointed to the ATM.

“You mean money, isn’t that stealing?” Zeke was willing to do this, but he wasn’t very happy about it.

“Hey, we’re only going to take what we need ok? No more. We’re not villains, we’re survivors. See if you can find a 20 note and a 10 note.” Zeke had found a way to save us!

“Ok. I’ll try.”

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Returning back to the present Zeke held about 2000 Yen too much in his hands. The fridge at Taiyuu was running low, this money seems appropriate for everyone to use.

Zeke went to that small grocery store he passed by earlier. Fresh fruits and vegetables, that’s what Taiyuu needed, none of that instant shit. Apples, carrots, broccoli and one pack of the cheapest Cup Noodles he could find.

‘How would the others at Taiyuu react? I don’t think Sako or Spellman would be particularly fond of me anymore. Ah well, they won’t find out. All the years of pulling this same stunt we were only found out once.’

Zeke paid a total of 1962 yen.

“Have a good day.”

“Yeah, you too.”

‘Only found out once.’

Supermarket (Schlauts Quirk)

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“How’s that Zeke, just enough to get us through this week. Mum should have the day off tomorrow so we’ll cook a whole bunch then.” Schlaut, now 21, said to his brother Zeke, now 13.

“Yeah, maybe Dad’d have time to help as well.”

“I doubt it kiddo.”

RUUUUUUMMMBBBBBLEEE

“We should get going before it rains, seems like a storm is brewing.

Off they were on the usual walk home, Through an empty courtyard, groceries in hand. Not too much, just enough to get by.

“Hey Asshole!”

Schlaut turned, almost like he was expecting this.

“Yes, Gregory?”

A potbellied man, more of a sphere than a man, called out to the two.

“You mess with one of us, you mess with all of us.”

“Us?” Zeke panicked.

“There’s about 4 of them, stay behind me Zeke.”

“What, who are you talking about, how do you know these people?”

“It’s complicated. You wouldn’t understand.”

3 other men came up from behind the Sphere Man. One looked too long to be normal, another looked like a leaf man, the last one had spines coming out of his back.

“Yeah, not so tough are ya now there’s more of us.” Sphere man said, he sounded like he was from New York, which is weird because this is Germany.

“Huh, Good one boss.” The Leaf Man said, he had a very deep voice.

“Yeah, good one boss.” The Spine Man said, he had a very snively voice.

“Hehehe, heheh hehehe hehehe” The Long Man said, he had a very creepy laugh.

“You made it easier for me.” Schlaut butted in, sounding far too confident for a 4 on 1 fight.

RUUUUMMMMMMMBLLLLLLEEEEE

Long Man reached over and punched Sphere Man in the face.

“Aaaah, Tony, whaddya doin? Hit him not me!” Sphere Man was both confused and angry

“Heheheh, heheh, Hehehehhe!” The Long Man’s laugh seemed very panicked and confused.

Leaf Man punched Spine Man, Spine Man grabbed Long Man. It was a free for all, none of the assorted goons and henchmen ever came near Schlaut and Zeke, Zeke leaned over Schlauts shoulder.

“What are they doing Schlaut? Why are they here?” Schlaut looked back at his younger brother. “Don’t worry, Zeke, they’re taking care of it themselves.” Schlaut looked at Zeke for a moment, just one moment was all it took for Zeke to notice the slight red glow from his brother's pupils.

It wasn’t too long before the four strangers were all on the ground unconscious. Not once did the 4 even take a step towards the Funkee brothers.

“Let’s go Zeke, it’s all taken care of.” “But… but-” “Let’s GO Zeke.”

RUUUUMMMMMMMBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBLLLLLLEEEEE

They turned to continue on their way home, when Zeke heard skidding. No. Rolling? Turning around in curiosity Zeke saw Sphere Man rolling towards them, like a ball. A very angry ball.

“Schlaut, look out!” Zeke jumped, panicked and….

FLASH

BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOMMMMMMM

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Not done for the day yet, still gotta send a letter off to Mum back in Germany, quick visit to the Posty and back to Taiyuu. Card, letter, shipping. Totaling 300 yen, that is cheap!

Hey Mum,

Taiyous Taiyuus going great, i think im really hitting it off with everybody here. This place seems more my style than uA anyway. Theres a whole bunch of really weird people here. One person can even shapeshit shapeshift!

Anyway hows things with you, hows the new job in France?

Has Schlaut come back yet?

Love,

Zeke

“Just one letter, wouldn’t a text be better?” The teller was confused.

“It’s just a little tradition we have. Notes and written things are easier to keep anyway.”

Zeke made his way back to Taiyuu, hours on the train, again. The news reports were going on about a villain by the name “The King”. Luckily Taiyuu covered the costs of going back to Mainland Japan. Making his way back to the kitchen area Zeke deposited the fruits and veggies into the communal fridge. However, Zeke kept the Noodle Cup.

Zeke set the kettle to boil and thought of the day everything changed, the day Schlaut left. There was no bang, there was no warning. Around when Zeke was 13 Schlaut just, poof, gone. The whole family thought he was dead for months until Zeke’s 14th birthday, where Zeke got an RC car, brand new and very high end. It came with a note.

Hey Kiddo, Happy Birthday. Sorry I couldn’t be there this year

Noone ever really bothered Zeke again, of course Zeke still had his friends but noone bullied, assaulted or even annoyed him again. The icecream place even gave him a discount. Teachers were a whole lot nicer, even recommending him to hero courses like UA: LA, Shiketsu and Seijin. That was 2 years ago.

The screech of the kettle brought Zeke out of his thoughts. Filling his Cup Noodles with boiling water Zeke had made a shitty meal at Taiyuu.

BOOOOOOOMMMMMM

“Ow ow ow ow ow ow ow hot hot hot hot hot hot hot hot.”

Maybe not.

#taiyuu oct #Zeke Funkee #round 2 #cooking event

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merlinistheredheadedstepchild · 4 years

Text

Wolf Moon - June 5, 2011

Opens on police searching the woods and dogs barking

Is that house ever the McCall house again? Pretty sure it doesn’t ever look like that

How exactly is Stiles hanging from the roof? Do his knees bend backward? “No a body of water.”

God they’re such babies in this. Stiles is way to jazzed about the body being cut in half. Scott is little red riding hood.

Beacon Hills Preserve- No Entry after dark

Stiles is wearing a light blue Beatles shirt and plaid and hooded cargo jacket and khakis Scott is wearing a burgundy AE zip hoodie and light wash jeans Only one of these is an acceptable outfit

It is raining and thundering Scott nearly gets trampled by a dozen deer and loses his inhaler Cell phones don’t have flashlights on them yet Oh look, half a dead girl When werewolves attack Scott nearly gets hit by a red SUV after escaping the alpha

Beacon Hills High School- Est. 1941

Stiles has a navy target shirt and a hoodie under a blazer Scott has on so many layers and the ugliest appliqué tee shirt

Introducing super powers and Allison Argent

I like her scarf and her hair and her jacket Lydia that skirt is not dress code approved

Man I wish the girl who comes up and complains about Allison hitting it off with Lydia had stuck around. Or that she was Erica.

There is so much American Eagle in this episode

State champs three years running because of Team Captain Jackson This is clearly from when Lydia and Jackson were meant to be a grade above them.

Introducing Coach And his first pep talk

A whistle twenty feet away nearly breaks Scott’s brain It’s the bomb-di-bomb song! Jackson’s so fucking dramatic

“It was like I had all the time in the world to catch the ball.” “I can smell the mint mojito gum in your pocket.”

Stiles jumps to lycanthropy in about seven seconds, but to be fair Scott did say he thought he saw a wolf

Introducing a very baby faced Derek Hale Close your mouth Stiles

“He’s only like a few years older than us. His family burned to death in a fire like ten years ago.”

Cats gone wild That is a skyscraper pretty close to the animal clinic it’s also pretty close to where I live (it might be the mall parking lot?) Glowing eyes and dog obedience Allison has a ‘I’m not like other girls’ speech. Which I do not like. Scott cowboys up and asks the new girl out

And then he wakes up in the woods, in a cave, by a creek. In the fog. Not muddy at all. But there’s an alpha on the prowl In daylight (which is contrary to stuff we learn later)

“My mom does all the grocery shopping.”

“I’m sleepwalking three miles into the middle of the woods and I’m pretty much convinced I’m out of my freaking mind!”

“You’re not gonna believe what the animal was. It was a wolf.” Stiles went from joking about werewolves to believing in werewolves and it took like, three days

Coach’s second pep talk Jackson’s so agro

Scott is incapable of making angry face But we get some more super powers

Why are there so many print outs?

Lycaon Wolfsbane Silver Where did that history of lycanthropy book come from Stiles? It looks fifty years old. Who wrote it?

Stiles is wearing a white Lucky Brand tee Scott again has all the layers So much gray and the worst blue

The full moon’s tonight “You’re cursed Scott.” “Your blood lust will be at it’s peak.” Stiles nearly gets his brain smashed in trying to cancel the date

Introducing Melissa, mom of the year. Scott is old enough to drive. Which means he was probably has a fall birthday, right after the cut off.

Scotty, the tee shirts Allison’s cute though. Blazers are great Derek creeps on the party and makes a dog behave Oh look, bad music-less dancing Lydia, why are you creeping on Scott while making out with Jackson? Is this supposed to be a hint about her future arc? Stiles, did you really wear a button up and a tie to a party? Not a blazer too

Derek, sweetie, I know that you’re just being protective of Scott but you come off so creepy But also he’s clearly supposed to be young enough to easily blend in at the party My guesses on ages in this episode are Scott- recently 16, Stiles- about six months into being 16, Allison- eleven months into being 16, Lydia- 10 months into being 16, Jackson- recently 17, Derek- about half way into being 19. This all changes a number of times throughout the show and no one ever knows how old anyone is. Except for Erica.

The music in this transformation is fantastic Kinda psycho-ish Understandably Scott got vibes off Derek and made assumptions Superhero landing Drool and pointy ears

Introducing the jeep and Stiles running like there’s something wrong with him Victoria does not have time for Stiles

The werewolf run is just terrible but his face is cool It’s weird that his body is so hairless when he’s got mutton chops

Hello Mr. Argent

Hey look, Derek actually saved somebody It’s sweet that he’s so willing to save Scott And by sweet I mean fucking heart breaking “The bite is a gift.” “I don’t want it.” “You will. And you’re gonna need me if you wanna learn how to control it. So you and me, Scott, we’re brothers now.” Just get right up in the wounded, confused teenagers face and spout some culty non-sense

Scott’s priorities are Allison hating him Stiles’ priorities are how to figure out this werewolf thing and not even a little bit Allison Allison accepts his vague apology and we find out her dad is a hunter End episode One

#Teen Wolf #Teen Wolf Rewatch #tw s1 #Wolf Moon #1.01

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kumkaniudaku · 5 years

Text

Old Friends

A/N: Been gone for a minute. Hopefully this is a peace offering.

“Mommy, AJ is putting his mouth on the shoppy cart again.”

Tasha’s eyes snapped away from the zucchini noodles on aisle six to examine the fourth interruption in her shopping experience in less than ten minutes. Sure enough, Noah’s mouth was attached to the cart’s handle, shining the germ-infested metal with his constant drooling.

“Aaron, no! Take your mouth off of that.” Her walking came to an abrupt halt to frantically pull her son’s face away from the cart and wipe the spit from his cheeks. The teeth breaking through his itching gums made any surface attractive for biting except the teething ring she had handed him before they ventured into the store.

Snatching a baby wipe from her purse, she worked to clean the handle while searching through his travel bag for another ring for him to chew.

“Mommy, how come Daddy is Aaron and AJ is Aaron too?”

“Your brother has your daddy’s middle name, Boop.”

“Well, how come me and you don’t have the same middle name?”

“Because we liked Noelle better for you.”

“But why?”

Tasha took a deep breath to compose her bubbling emotions and offered a closed mouth smile to her daughter. “Because that’s what you do when you’re a mommy and daddy. You give kids names.”

“Can I name my kid Bunny? I love bunnies!”

“Sure. Have all the animal named kids you want when you’re older.”

Accepting the explanation, Micah returned to the book in her hands much to Tasha’s delight. Grocery shopping alone was already Hell on Earth, but the addition of both of her children was turning the trip into a madhouse. She’d managed to strategically avoid the candy aisle and Micah’s desperate plea for “just a taste,” but knew a storm was brewing after she swiped the zucchini pasta into her cart and began the trek toward the breakfast cereal aisle. Chadwick hated the sugar-filled treats and discouraged her from bringing them into the house, but he also wasn’t the one to shuffle a grumpy child out of the house and to school every morning. Tasha would make the decision and ask for forgiveness later.

As she browsed the tidy shelves for a compromise between sweet delights and bland whole wheat options, she heard the loud shriek of a child and prayed it wasn’t one of hers. Another round of spitting giggles shared between two children finally made her turn her head. Instead of being met with mischief, she found Noah engaged in a starry-eyed exchange with a curly-haired little girl in a cart across the walkway.

“You think she’s pretty, huh,” She smiled before turning her attention to the other child. “What’s your name, pretty girl?”

“Oh, this is Olivia,” a male voice that Tasha didn’t acknowledge answered for the little girl.

All of the emotions of having a baby in her presence sent CoCo’s voice into the high pitch that adults use with children, and she had to scold herself mentally for reaching out to touch the unfamiliar child.

“Oh my God. I’m so sorry,” Tasha apologized as she stood to her full height. “I get so excited when I see babies. Especially one as cute as Miss Olivia.”

“Yeah, well she’s a handful.”

“Aren’t they all?”

Adjusting her baseball cap on her head gave the other participant in the conversation a full view of Tasha’s face and her the same, piecing together the voices with an old, yet familiar presence.

“Tasha?”

“Elijah?”

Both adults stood frozen, receiving short flashes of their time together while people struggled to maneuver around them. The low curse from another disgruntled patron pulled both of them out of their thoughts and back to the present moment.

“Mommy, that man is not Daddy,” Micah informed, apparently done with reading her book and ready to supervise the situation.

“No, he’s not. This is one of Mommy’s old friends. Say hello to Elijah.”

Elijah waved back at Micah who narrowed her eyes and refused to return the gesture.

“Tough crowd,” he laughed as he rocked back and forth on his heels. He hadn’t changed much since Tasha last saw him years ago. He carried a bit more bulk across his arms and chest and sported more stubble than he used to, but he still had the same kind twinkle in his eye and warm smile.

“It’s been a minute huh, Tasha?”

“It has,” CoCo trailed off, staring in space before gathering her bearing and making eye contact. “How are you? Everything goin’ okay?”

Elijah smiled as another family passed between them to take a look at other items and nodded, “Yeah. Things are great. I’m back out here getting the business off the ground. For good this time.”

“This time?”

“Well, you know, after…” The situation quickly became uncomfortable at the mention of their sudden and painful breakup, forcing both of them to focus their attention elsewhere until they were ready to continue. “I moved back to Atlanta for a little while, got my stuff together, and then relocated to Houston. Now I’m here.”

“That’s uh...that’s good to hear. I’m sure Houston was beautiful.”

“It was. I learned a lot, met a few people, and started that real estate consulting firm I used to obsess about.”

Tasha nodded at the information without speaking. Guilt was starting to spread into every corner of her mind, and no matter how she tried to hide it, her eyes went sad. She couldn’t help but feel responsible for deferring his dreams.

“I see everything worked out with you,” Elijah continued, gesturing toward Micah and Noah. Micah’s stood in the cart with her eyes still narrowed as she observed the interaction while Noah’s mouth had found its way to the handle of the shopping cart again. If ever there was a time for her children to pretend to be perfect angels, it was now.

“I saw the wedding photos. And the birth announcements, the promotions, all that. I should’ve kept that to myself. I promise I wasn’t stalking you. The ShadeRoom is just usually on my explore page.”

“No, it’s cool. Things are great with me. You’ve met Micah, and this is Noah.”

“That one looks exactly like you,” he laughed as he motioned to Micah. “The expression and stance are all you.”

“Think so? Everyone says she looks like her dad.”

“Eh, kinda. But I see your spirit in there. She doesn’t take anybody’s shit.”

“You said a bad word, Mister ‘Lijah! One dollar in the swear jar for you.”

“Micah, be nice,” CoCo warned the tiny version of her. Though she heard her mother loud and clear, Micah calmly sat back inside the cart and continued to eye Elijah. She was taking notes for a later retelling to her favorite person.

Turning back to Elijah, Tasha attempted to salvage the conversation.

“I see you’re doing well too. Olivia has your eyes.”

“That’s what my mom says,” He laughed.

“Oh my God, I hope Mama Cheryl doesn’t hate me.”

“Hate is a strong word. But I’d watch out if I were you. Mama’s quick in that new power scooter.”

“Yikes. Okay, noted,” CoCo winced after an uneasy laugh. His mother had never been fond of her, and she was sure news about the breakup didn’t help. “So, Olivia’s mom. Is she…”

“She’s back in Houston for a little while. We’ve been doing the long-distance thing, but by the end of the month, she’ll be here so we can finish planning for the wedding.”

“A wedding! That’s great!”

“We gotta get it done before she starts showing again. She’s hell bent on fitting into the dress she chose before she got pregnant.”

“As she should be! Every woman should feel beautiful on their big day!”

“You know, you sound like her. You sure you don’t know Alyssa Tyler?”

“I don’t, but I’m sure if we share similar thoughts, she’s a great woman.”

The pair shared a laugh that felt more like friends reuniting than ex-lovers fumbling their way through their first in-person exchange since the breakup. Suddenly, though, the energy shifted when the weight of Elijah’s words set in.

He was getting married. They’d probably never see each other again after a chance meeting in the supermarket and, if that was the case, CoCo needed to clear the air before she lost the moment forever.

‘Hey, E, I need to apologize.”

Elijah’s smile dropped into a distant frown as he shrugged, “It’s cool, Tash. I-”

“No, it’s not cool. I did a terrible thing to you, and I’m sorry. I’m sorry for not coming to you in person. I’m especially sorry for all of the pain that I’ve caused. It’s completely up to you if you choose to forgive me or not.”

“Look,” he started as he lifted a restless Olivia from her place in the grocery cart. “I was unbelievably hurt after what happened. I thought about trying to get you back, but I realized one thing.”

“That you didn’t want to go to jail for murder?”

“No, I was prepared to go to jail.” The seriousness in his admission lasted for a brief moment before he laughed to ease the tension. “What I was going to say is that I realized that you made the decision that was best for you. I would’ve loved for things to be different, but then we both would have never been placed in the situations we’re in now. You have a dope ass family, and I found the woman that I wanna spend the rest of my life with. We’re good. I promise.”

In his way of signaling a truce, Elijah extended his arm to present his closed fist to Tasha which she bumped her knuckles.

“I should tell you, though,” he started. “I was gonna propose later that night.”

“Wait, what? The night of the charity event.”

He nodded while situating his daughter on his hip, “The plan was the gift you the house, and once everyone was gone, I had a little setup in the bedroom upstairs. Honestly, I almost pulled the engagement ring out of my pocket instead of the keys, because I was nervous.”

One thousand what if scenarios rolled through Tasha's mind following Elijah's revelation. What if he would’ve gone through with the proposal? Would she have said yes? With her rational mind, she was sure the answer to her final question was no. Not only was she not ready to be married at that point, but she’d been toying with the notion that she needed to explore what possibilities lay within Chadwick.

“Wow. I-I...I didn’t know that.”

“It’s best that you didn’t. What was meant for us came true. Just answer one question for me.”

“Sure! Anything.”

His eyes darted to Tasha’s left, finding Micah continuing to eye him over her Dr. Seuss book before lowering his voice for privacy.

“Were you ever cheating on me?”

“God no,” Tasha exclaimed. “We didn’t start dating until after you and I broke up. I swear.”

The rush of relief on his face and the breath he let out confirmed that Tasha need not divulge certain parts of her and her husband's union. As far as Elijah was concerned, it was months rather than literal hours that separated the relationship.

Just as Elijah opened his mouth to continue the conversation, Olivia released a shriek so loud that it scared Noah into tears. Being unable to communicate her discomfort with words only exasperated the situation. Two crying babies, a shady daughter, and all eyes in the immediate area on them forced Tasha and Elijah to say their goodbyes.

“It was nice seeing you, Elijah. Please, send us a wedding invitation or a link to your registry so that we can get you two a gift.”

“Will do, Tash. Tell Yvonne I said hi. See you later, Little Mama.” Elijah’s free hand extended to shake Micah’s that resulted in a harsh stare. “She really is you. It’s like the first time we met all over again.”

“Trust me; I was much nicer.”

“Mmmmm, I beg to differ.”

After a final set of laughs and goodbyes that carried empty promises to see each other again, CoCo completed her shopping trip with relative ease. Having closure on the situation that had privately plagued her for years lifted a figurative weight from her shoulders. Now, she could finally close that chapter of her life and mentally forgive herself.

As she set off toward an impromptu stop at her favorite shoe boutique to try on a pair of shoes she would request for her approaching birthday, CoCo dialed Chadwick on the car phone. Micah’s ears perked at the sound of her father’s voice, and she sat up from the nap that was beginning to claim her eyelids for a closer listen.

“Babe, I got the pasta noodles you wanted, but you have to cook them. I always get the recipe wrong.”

“That’s fine. It’s my night to cook anyway.”

“The last six Thursday’s have been your night, but I’m happy to see you adhering to the schedule.”

“This isn’t the way to get me to continue if you were wondering,” he laughed on the other end. “The car is quiet. Are the kids asleep?”

“Noah is, I don’t know ab-”

“DADDY! MOMMY WAS TALKING TO A MAN AT THE STORE! HE SAID HE WAS GONNA SUPPOSE!”

“Micah!”

Tasha stared in horror at her center console as the line became eerily silent. Of course, she had no intentions of hiding the information from Chadwick, but she sure as hell didn’t want her conversation with her ex to be blurted by her daughter who only had some of the facts straight. She was sure her husband had hung up the phone if not for the sound of the television in his background.

“I’m gonna assume 'suppose' means propose. You out here gettin’ married on me, girl? I thought for sure having both the kids with you would keep you safe. I guess you just that fine.”

“HE HAD A BABY TOO! HER NAME WAS OLIVIA. AJ LIKES HER!”

“Oh my-Micah, sit down and hush!”

“Nuh uh, tell Daddy all about it, Princess!”

“No! Micah, you be quiet and, Aaron, I will talk you when we get home. Goodbye!”

Neither Chadwick or Micah could get another word in as CoCo ended the call with lightning speed. When she looked in her rear-view mirror, she found her only daughter in her booster seat with her arms crossed and a searing glare directed toward her.

“I see it’s time to teach you about girl code, Boop. Rule number one: let Mommy tell Daddy first!”

__________

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#Chadwick Boseman #chadwick boseman imagine #chad x coco #chadwick boseman fan fiction

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jancys-blue-bayou · 5 years

Text

Opals and mixtapes (Jancy fic)

This is a belated birthday gift to @iamthethumperanon my partner in fluffy Jancy crime. Have 6500+ words of fluff inspired by a certain s3 still showing a certain someone wearing a new necklace.

Also on Ao3 and FFNet!

”So, what do you and Nancy have planned for Valentine’s Day?” His mom raises an eyebrow at him and smiles over the breakfast table as she asks the innocuous question that sends him into a slight panic.

What do you and Nancy have planned for Valentine’s Day. What do you and Nancy have planned for Valentine’s Day. What do you and Nancy have planned for Valentine’s Day. Valentine’s Day. Shit. What day is it today? The 7th. So it’s in one week. Shit. He didn’t even realize.

”Oh no…” his mom continues as she sees the look on his face. His panic must be etched across it.

”You forgot it?” Will asks from his seat.

”I didn’t forget it! I just… never thought of it…”

”That is forgetting it,” Will points out.

That’s true. It’s just… he’s never had to think about it before. In kindergarten he, like the other kids in the class, made a card for his mother to give her on February 14th. But as he’s gotten older he’s not payed Valentine’s Day any mind, he’s never had cause too. It’s just been a dumb commercial holiday. The only effect it’s had on his life is that it’s been one day of the year where the high school halls has been a veritable gauntlet of loveydovey teens exchanging gifts like the world and their relationship depended on it.

Now he is one of those teens, he realizes (perhaps too late). Honestly he still thinks it’s a dumb commercial holiday. But he has no idea what Nancy thinks of it. Maybe she rolls her eyes at it. Or maybe she expects… something, from him. He does not know what. Oh god. He has no clue about this sort of stuff. Really has no clue about how to be… a boyfriend. Even if Nancy told him he’s doing great when he voiced that sentiment before. But of course she says that, she is so kind and nice and sweet. He loves her, so much more than he can really wrap his head around even. She loves him too, she told him. Tells him, every day.

If she expects something of him for this day… he wants to give it to her, whatever it will be. Who cares if it’s just a dumb commercial holiday, it can still be about them and… be romantic.

”I have to get her something,” he says, making his mind up.

”Yes you do,” his mom agrees.

”Do you know what you’ll get her?” Will asks.

”No…” he answers, dejected, before getting up to put his dishes in the sink.

He does not know. What can he possibly get her that she’ll like… no not just like, love? That she couldn’t get for herself? That she hasn’t already received in gifts… shit, she was with Steve last Valentine’s Day… Steve is loaded with cash, he wonders what he got her, could’ve gotten her anything… he can… not. Shit. For Christmas, which he was deathly nervous about, he went for very personal gifts. Got her gun ammunition and a photo of Barb he’d taken in the beginning of the previous school year for the yearbook (from which he scrapped it of course) and held onto because he didn’t know how she’d take seeing a photo of Barb before, but with Nancy getting some closure in getting justice for Barb he took a chance on that it would be appreciated now, which it was. But that was then, and he can’t well get her anything like that now… not that Christmas screams ”revolver ammo!” but somehow he feels Valentine’s Day says it even less.

”Don’t worry honey, we’ll think of something. I’ll help you look!” His mom clasps her hands together and looks at him excited and with hope in her eyes like she believes he actually won’t screw this up.

”Thanks… ready bud?” He answers and looks at his little brother who nods and gets up so they can drive to school, stopping for Nancy (and Mike) on the way.

XXX

A knock on the door makes Will put down his crayon and get up from his desk. Mike’s sick, Eleven’s with Hopper, Lucas and Max are doing something that apparently is just for the two of them, and Dustin is weirdly enough still hanging after Steve for some reason, so he’s a bit at a loss on who’s come over but still he’s in a hurry to open, it got a bit lonely with his friends all preoccupied and Jonathan and mom out looking for a Valentine’s gift for Nancy. He would’ve came with them if he had known none of his friends could hang out, though having time to draw is nice too.

”Hey Will!”

”Hi Nancy!” He looks at his brother’s girlfriend, surprised. She beams at him. ”Jonathan isn’t here he-” he goes to explain, trying to think of a good lie to tell concerning his brother’s whereabouts.

”Covering a shift I know, he told me,” Nancy cuts in.

Oh, good that Jonathan had already covered that. And lucky for him Nancy cut him off, he was going to go with ”has a dentist appointment”. Which he now realizes would’ve been stupid, since it’s Saturday. He’s not good with lies.

”I lucked out he did actually… I needed him to be out for this…” Nancy continues.

”For what?” He asks.

”For me to be able to make my Valentine’s Day gift for him! Can I come in?”

”Oh, of course,” he hurries to step aside and let Nancy in while processing her words. ”Make your Valentine’s Day gift to him? Here?” He wonders.

”Yes! I’ve been stressed out, wracking my brain on what to get him, he’s really hard to shop for you know, and this week I got an idea but then didn’t know how I could execute it, until now. Look at this!”

Nancy has taken her coat off and opens a backpack she had slung over her shoulder earlier and shows him its contents. There’s a couple of records in there and a whole heap of mixtapes.

”What are those?”

”All the mixtapes he’s made me.”

Wow. Jonathan’s made him a lot of mixtapes through the years, but he seems to have made double the amount for Nancy just in a few months (at least he assumes he didn’t make her mixtapes before November when the Gate closed and his brother got a girlfriend). Not that he’s jealous, he’s just happy his brother has Nancy now. He’s never seen his brother happier than he’s been these last few months.

”Music means so much to him and I love how he always shares it with me, what he likes, what’s important to him and close to him so I thought… I should make him one! With songs that makes me think of him. What do you think?” Nancy explains her idea to him.

”That’s a really good idea,” he nods.

”Right? I think it can be good… only problem is I can’t record off my stereo and my dad’s record player doesn’t have a cassette deck and it’s broken anyway, and so I’ve come to take advantage of Jonathan’s.”

”Oh, okay. Do you know how to make mixtapes?” He asks.

”Technically no, but I’ve observed him doing it. Do you?”

”I think so?”

”Cool, can you help me out? Together we should manage it right?”

”Sure!”

XXX

”But mom, jewelry is expensive…” he quietly protests as his mom steers him to the store he’s walked past many times without ever entering.

”Oh come on sweetie, I’m not saying buy her a big ol’ diamond, but there are more affordable things. I think, haven’t been in here for… well a long time. Anyway. Besides this is Hawkins, not exactly Tiffany’s on Fifth Avenue. You said you wanted to get her something pretty and nice.”

He did say that, so he follows his mom into the store. Inside there’s display cases filled with all sorts of jewelry and he feels out of place in the fancy store with impeccably clean aisles and nice furnishings. He knows this isn’t exactly his mom’s scene either, but she seems much more confident than him, maybe it’s her determination and attitude of not taking any crap no matter what people think of them. He doesn’t know where to even start, he’s a lousy shopper. He thinks, at least. It’s kind of hard to tell because it’s not like he’s had much experience shopping for stuff other than groceries, and clothes when he’s outgrown everything and definitely needs something new. Other than that it’s pretty much just the record store that he’s frequented. A lot of times just browsing without buying anything. He’s felt at home there. Not like here, he doesn’t know where to look or what to look for. A necklace? A bracelet? A ring? What do you give Nancy Wheeler?

His mom seems to have an idea though, or at least takes initiative by striding right up to the nearest display case and starting to look. He quickly follows her.

”See, not everything is super pricey just because it’s jewelry, there’s some stuff you can afford,” she says as he joins her in looking at the display showcasing a bunch of different rings that does fall within his budget. He has some money saved up and when he told his mom how much she insisted on slipping another five dollar bill into his hand which he’s planning to give her back or at least put away and use for groceries instead. He appreciates the gesture but she shouldn’t put money on this it’s for him to get Nancy a gift, his mom’s hard-earned money should go to other things.

”Yeah… I’m not sure about a ring though like doesn’t a ring seem a bit… um… well I don’t know how she’d take it…”

”Sweetie there’s more rings than just for engagements and marriage,” his mom chuckles. ”I’m not suggesting that. I definitely think you should wait until after high school before you ask her to marry you,” she continues with a smile.

”Mom…” he groans. ”We’ve only been-” he starts but she cuts him off.

”Yeah yeah I know I know you’ve only been dating for a couple of months, just like you’ve only saved each others lives and the whole world a couple of times,” she grins. ”And you only spend just about every day and night together-”

”Night?! You know about-” he cuts her off, horrified.

”Yes Jonathan, you two are not as sneaky as you think,” his mom smirks at him.

”Oh God…”

”I haven’t said anything because I really don’t mind, you know. I had been thinking about this stuff before, of what I would do when you got a girlfriend. I thought of all the rules my mother had for me when I was your age and how I hated it and how stupid it was because it wasn’t like I couldn’t just go out and see-”

”Mom…”

”Right, not important, anyway point is you are responsible and I trust you, and Nancy. So I don’t see any harm in you two spending the nights together. Like everything you can do at night you can just as well do during the day so-”

”Mom!”

”Right, right. I’m just saying, you don’t have to have Nancy sneak out in the morning or get in at 6 AM and pretend you just got up early. However much I do enjoy your performances at those occasions.”

”Okay I… Okay. Thanks. Can we please talk about something else?” He tries, desperate to change the topic of the conversation.

”Sure, so if not a ring then what do you have in mind for Nancy?

”I don’t know um… what girls want um… a necklace maybe?”

”Well, I’m sure she’d love anything from you but yes a necklace is a good idea! Let’s see…”

His mom looks up and around the store to see where they can find necklaces. Just then someone comes up from behind and gets their attention.

”Well hello there!” A cheery voice calls out.

”Oh, hello Claudia! I didn’t know you worked here,” his mom greets Dustin’s mother.

”Hello Mrs. Henderson,” he greets.

”How lovely to see you two! And yes oh it’s been awhile since we talked hasn’t it? It’s been a few months, I was laid off at the old place but my sister’s husband owns this place and had an opening,” Mrs. Henderson explains.

”Oh well that’s great, that it worked out like that,” his mom smiles and he nods.

”It really is, I’m very happy. Well, so what brings you in today? Oh, is it something for a certain someone for the special day coming up?” Mrs. Henderson is practically beaming at him as she says that last part and he blushes.

”Yes Jonathan’s in the market for a nice necklace to give to Nancy, maybe you can help?” His mom butts in.

”Oh how exciting! Oh yes follow me right this way, we have a lot of really lovely ones. Do you have an idea of what exactly?”

”Er… no I…um…” He fumbles.

”Well no worries, you can just have a look here for a start you see, I think some of these may be of interest, they’re classic and stylish you see, elegant and not so tawdry,” Mrs. Henderson continues without missing a beat and shows them a display with simple but elegant necklaces, most of them in his price range.

”Oh these are nice,” his mom coos.

”Yes they are,” he mumbles in agreement, looking over the selection, trying to find anything that could be worthy of Nancy. The cheapest ones are simple heart-shaped designs in gold and silver which feels too simple, or ordinary. The most expensive ones here have diamonds. Those look great but is way above what he can afford.

”See anything you like?” Mrs. Henderson asks.

He may have. There’s several ones of similar designs with different gems attached. His eyes have been drawn to one with a light blueish greenish, almost turquoise, gem.

”How about that one?” He asks unsure, pointing it out to his mom and Mrs. Henderson.

”Oh that’s lovely,” his mom says.

Mrs. Henderson gets it out of the display case and holds it up for them to take a closer look.

”It really is,” she chimes in. ”Is she an October birthday?”

”Huh? Yes she is how’d you- but this is for Valentine’s Day not-” He’s very confused.

”Oh I just meant, it’s an opal. It’s her birthstone then.”

”What’s a birthstone?” He asks, more confused.

”Oh,” Mrs. Henderson looks surprised for a second, like she wasn’t ready for someone to have that gap in their knowledge. ”Well for every month of the year there’s a different gemstone symbolizing that month, and it’s a person’s birthstone if they’re born then. So people often give necklaces like these as a gift to someone for that.”

”Oh. I just thought, it’d go with her eyes so…”

”Oh! Well it would, she has gorgeous eyes doesn’t she? And how lucky are you then, the birthstone is just an added bonus!”

”Right…”

”It really looks great honey. You’re right, it goes with her eyes. She’d look lovely wearing it. I’m sure she’d love it,” his mom says.

XXX

”Well I want to set the tone right away, so we’ll start with this,” she tells Will and puts on Time After Time which will be the first song on the mixtape.

”What’s this?” He asks and she realizes that having Jonathan Byers as his chief influence regarding music probably means Will doesn’t have great knowledge of pop hits. She might have to remedy that.

”Cyndi Lauper,” she tells him.

”I like it. What do you mean with setting the tone?”

”Well it makes me think of him. Us,” she explains, timely enough just before they reach the chorus.

If you're lost, you can look and you will find me

Time after time

If you fall, I will catch you, I'll be waiting

Time after time

If you're lost, you can look and you will find me

Time after time

If you fall, I will catch you, I'll be waiting

Time after time

Will nods. She explains further.

”It’s one of my favorite songs. I first heard it when- well have you heard Girls Just Want to Have Fun?”

”I think I heard it at the Snow Ball. All the girls were dancing to it.”

”Oh that’s right! That was cute. Well, that was her first single and I heard it on the radio last fall. I mean not this fall but the one before that. Um, like two months before everything happened uh… it must have been September. Me and Barb played it all the time… then the album came out in October right in time for my birthday and um, Barb got it for me. We listened to it all the time until…” she trails off. It’s still so weird and hard to talk about. With Will no less, with everything he’s gone through, she’s not sure how comfortable he is talking about any of that time at all.

”Sorry,” he offers and looks fine though. ”It’s a great song,” he adds.

”Thanks. I listened to it a lot, over and over last year before we were even um… I had to stop because it just made me think of him when we weren’t… but then now since I’ve… listened to it a lot again and yeah it just… makes me think of him. I think it’s about us. Sorry that’s so cheesy and sappy but-”

”It’s not cheesy it’s romantic,” Will shrugs, slight blush on his cheeks.

”Right, anyway… well you’ve at least heard of Madonna right?” She continues and picks up the next record.

”Yes,” Will smiles and rolls his eyes to signal that he’s not completely clueless regarding pop music.

XXX

”So, what else do you have planned?” His mom asks as they make their way out of the store after saying goodbye to Mrs. Henderson who couldn’t stop talking about what a cute couple he and Nancy apparently makes.

”I don’t know I… I should take her out for dinner right? Somewhere uh, nice… but I don’t know any nice places um… and you know, money…”

”Well, may I come with a suggestion?”

”Yes?”

”You are a catch Jonathan-”

”Mom…”

”- you are handsome and charming and nice-”

”Mom… where’s the suggestion?”

”I’m getting to it! And funny and smart and brave. These are all great qualities that makes you the most special amazing guy in the world, and I’m sure Nancy agrees with me.”

”Mom…”

”But you have another very special quality that makes you stand out even more from all the other hapless guys around: you’re a great cook, Jonathan.”

”I’m okay, mom.”

”No, you’re great. You’re really great in the kitchen. I think so and Will thinks so and I know Nancy thinks so too. She’s not faking all those yummy noises and ’oh my god Jonathan this is great’ every time she’s over for dinner. And she’s a girl who was raised by Karen Wheeler who feeds her family good, just like you by the way. So, going out to dinner is nice and all but do you know what’s even more romantic for a girl? When a guy cooks you a great dinner himself. I think you should cook for Nancy yourself. Make it romantic, with candles and stuff you know. I guarantee you she’ll be like putty in your hands.”

”Putty in my hands?”

”I mean, you know… I’m just saying, she’ll love it and it will be very sweet and romantic!”

”Right… I mean…”

”Will and I will be out of the house so you’ll have the place for yourselves.”

”… okay… um… yeah that sounds… like a plan. But oh god what should I cook her?”

”Well, her favorite, obviously. Come on son.”

XXX

After having explained to Will that Like a Virgin isn’t literal but more… metaphorical, Follow Me by Blondie has also been added to the tape. Will really digs Blondie and says he’s sure Jonathan will like them too. Which makes her weirdly happy, Blondie is her favorite band. It’s not like it’s the end of the world if Jonathan doesn’t like them but… it sure would be nice if he did. And she thinks Will is probably right, he knows his brother’s tastes very good of course and even she knows that though he’s generally more inclined to punk he’s not averse to new wave so.

”Hey there’s a New Order song that he’s played for me that needs to be on the tape, help me dig through his records,” she requests and starts to look through all the records and tapes Jonathan’s got by his record player.

”Sure, what song?” Will asks.

”I forget the name of it… it goes like…” she starts to hum the tune but Will looks on confused. ”And then it goes like ’Up down turn around please don’t let me hit the ground’ and then later like ’I’ve never met anyone quite like you before’ um…”

”Uh… um… wait, Temptation?” Will suggests.

”Oh, maybe I’m not sure about the title really…”

”I think he has the single wait… here it is,” Will digs out a record and soon well-familiar tones fill the room.

”Yeah that’s it, awesome! Thanks.”

”No, problem. I love them. New Order, and Joy Division before that. He has a lot of their stuff. He really likes them.”

”Yeah I like them too.”

”So what’s special about this song?”

”Oh it was playing in the car after our first like, real date, when we found a place to stop and be together like that for the first time since- uh I mean…” she drastically cuts herself off as Will’s eyes bulges out and she realizes she almost started to tell Jonathan’s little brother about the second time she and Jonathan had sex. ”Er, I mean it just reminds me of our first official date and it’s a nice song for a nice time um.”

”It is a nice song,” Will nods, trying to move past the awkwardness. In an effort to do the same she drastically changes the topic.

”So uh, Mike’s freaking out about what to do for El and his first Valentine’s Day. I’ve had to help him all week because he’s clueless about what to do.”

”Tell me about it, it’s all he talks about now. It’s kind of annoying,” Will rolls his eyes but smirks. ”Lucas too, about Max. And Dustin is desperate to impress some girl in time for it.”

”Oh, who?”

”Just any girl I think, no one in particular. Suddenly everyone is girl crazy. I don’t get it.”

”Oh, huh. I tried to talk to him at the Snow Ball hmpf… he should just relax a little. But yeah I can see how that’s annoying. But oh speaking of the Snow Ball, how about you? What ever happened with that cute girl you were dancing with?”

”Oh uh… we’re just friends. We sit next to each other in Math. To be honest I think she just wanted to dance with anyone and thought I was as good as any…”

”Aw, don’t say that maybe she likes you for real.”

”I don’t know. I don’t mind, I don’t really like her all that much… I mean she’s alright, but it’s not like… that. I don’t know. I don’t really care about girls all that much… I mean uh, yet or like… I don’t know,” Will stumbles over his words and she gathers it’s not something he really wants to talk about so she decides to back off. To be honest his reaction kind of reminds her of how Barb used to react to talk about boys at that age. Barb was never interested in boys… She decides to just leave it.

”Oh well that’s no big deal. I mean you guys are just in eighth grade not like you should be in a hurry, you’re not even out of middle school yet. It’s just funny to me how Mike acts now, I never thought he of all people would get a girlfriend already in middle school. Biggest dork in the world,” she smiles.

”Sure that’s not me?” Will rolls his eyes and grins.

”No way, you’ve always added the cool factor to your little group,” she insists.

”What cool factor?” Will questions.

”The cool artist one!” She grins.

Will laughs and shakes his head.

”Anyway, speaking of cool artists, this may also be cheesy but I’m going to put ”Heroes” on the tape just because,” she continues and reaches out to flip through Jonathan’s David Bowie records.

”Because you two are…” she can just hear Will mumble under his breath and it makes her grin but when she looks at him he looks down and pretends to be reading the liner notes of the New Order record so she turns back to the Bowie pile with a smile.

XXX

Well, Jonathan’s definitely got something planned. When he picked her up for school he mumbled a ”Happy Valentine’s Day” and nervously asked her if she is free tonight. Normally he’s not nervous to ask her that. She’s very intrigued by this. Especially when he asks if she can borrow her mom’s car and come over at 7 because ”I mean I’d love to pick you up but I have to um… uh… prepare…something.”

She could, so here she is now, pulling up in the Byers driveway a little before 7. Joyce’s Pinto is gone, she notices. Jonathan was very tightlipped about tonight, not letting any information slip no matter what she tried. Not even when she started making out with him in the darkroom while asking him about it did he lose enough focus to spill the beans. She’s glad he didn’t though, if antsy to see what he’s got planned. Whatever it is she’s sure it will be amazing. It’s not like Valentine’s Day is a huge deal to her. She had to kind of roll her eyes at some of the stuff she witnessed at school today. She overheard Josie raving to Vicky and Leslie about how Greg apparently is the perfect boyfriend and so romantic because he surprised her with roses and chocolates in a grand gesture by her locker in front of everyone. When just last week in the same spot Josie very publicly dumped Greg because he had kissed Kayla at Drew’s house party over the weekend.

She’s all for romance, but some guys, like Greg, seems to take Valentine’s Day as the one day a year they have to be romantic and then the other 364 days they can do whatever as long as they “make up” for it on February 14th. She’s been with Jonathan for three and a half months now and he’s been romantic… every day, with her. Just all the time, in the little things. It’s in the little things for her, everything doesn’t have to be a grand gesture to be romantic. Though something grand today she wouldn’t be averse too… just not in public, she’s thankful he’s like her in that he’s more private than public about that stuff. Last year for Valentine’s Day Steve had been waiting for her by her locker with a huge bouquet of roses and a huge heart-shaped box of chocolates and while she appreciates the gesture, having the whole hallway full of people staring at her waiting for her move was mortifying. Ever since that November her and Steve’s relationship had been the talk of the hallways. Until they got back together everyone stared at her and whispered as she walked down the hallways alone, then when she went back to Steve she could feel everyone staring at them like they were expecting more drama any second. It died down over the months but at that point in February her and Steve’s relationship… drama, was still the juiciest gossip at Hawkins High.

Plus that morning hadn’t been her best. She had seen Barb’s parents the night before which had brought up all the feelings she was trying to bury right up to the forefront from where they were bubbling just under the surface, and she cried all night and didn’t get any sleep and felt like a wreck as she fixed herself up and dragged herself to school only to be greeted with that. With a boyfriend waiting for her looking expectantly at her and a hallway full of people all also looking at her expecting something. She really could’ve done without that. Her first instinct had been to turn around and bolt, get away from all the people and expectations and facades she had built up, but of course she didn’t. She did what everyone expected of her, she walked up to Steve and called him an idiot in a sweet voice and kissed him and accepted the flowers and chocolates.

It took until Halloween until her facades crumbled and she defied everyone’s — most of all her own — expectations and did what she truly sought after. Getting justice and getting Jonathan. He’s many things, brave and strong and sweet and funny and kind and nice and smart, and he’s also not showy but private and genuine with his emotions. No grand public gestures today, just as always sweet Jonathan by her side the whole day, with the mysterious promise of something more tonight, privately. She can’t wait, so she hurries her step as she makes her way up to the porch with the mixtape in her coat pocket.

XXX

He realizes he must have checked the oven nine times in the last thirty seconds but he checks it again. Almost ready. Almost. It has to be perfect. He glances at the clock on the wall. Still 6:53 like the last seventeen times he looked. He walks over to the dining room table. It all looks nice right? It’s nice but not too over the top, he hopes. Like he’s trying but not like… trying too hard. Can he try too hard with Nancy? Should he light the candles now? No, after she’s here, right? Yeah, definitely. Crap, a lighter. Or matches. He forgot. He rushes back into the kitchen and rummages through a drawer and finds a lighter. Same one they used to set fire to a monster once, he realizes as he puts it in his pocket. Should he rethink the shirt?

The sound of a car coming into the driveway jolts him out of his thoughts. Crap, he hopes he went with the right shirt, after changing four times. Too late to change again now. He stands ready by the door as he hears her closing a car door outside. Should he open it already? Or let her knock? Should he maybe wait a second before opening it so to not give away that he’s standing here waiting? Crap! The food! He runs back into the kitchen Instead and looks in the oven again. Yep, ready now. Where’s the damn oven mitts? There. He hurries to carry the dish out to the dining room. Just as he sets it down on the table, near the bottle of wine he got Eric to go in and buy for him, there’s the knock on the door. He hurries towards it, halfway there realizing he should probably lose the oven mitts, throwing them into the kitchen.

XXX

”Hey…”

”Hi!”

Wow he looks so dreamy. He’s wearing his best shirt (at least the one that’s her favorite on him. It really brings out his eyes) and smiling at her in that way that makes her heart skip beats.

”You look great,” he tells her, taking her in. It makes her blush, what he says and how he looks at her.

”Thanks. You too. My favorite on you,” she tells him and reaches out to place her fingers to the collar of his shirt as she steps forward to kiss him. His lips are soft and nice. They always are. Even when they’re a bit chapped from her kissing him throughout a whole night they somehow remain soft even after that.

”Come in,” he smiles at her when they break apart and he steps aside to let her in.

He takes her coat and she takes in the- oh, is it…?

”It smells wonderful Jonathan, it smells like-” she starts.

”Yeah,” he blushes and nods and smiles. ”I know it’s your favorite so… I wanted to do something nice, tonight um… so I thought we could uh, have dinner… here. Just the two of us, I mean. My mom and Will aren’t home. So it’ll be just us…”

”That sounds lovely,” she beams at him.

She takes his hand and he leads her to the dining room. There he hurries up to the table to light two candles while she’s left standing looking in awe at him and his efforts.

”You did all this for me?”

”I… yeah… I hope you like it I just wanted to make-”

He probably had many more sweet things to say but she can’t contain herself she just has to kiss him because he’s so sweet and cute and dreamy. Has to kiss him a lot actually, so much so she presses him up against the wall and suddenly they find themselves in a little make out session.

”I love it,” she halts to tell him.

”We haven’t gotten to the food yet,” he points out with a shy smile after he’s caught his breath.

”Your point being?” She grins. ”This is so sweet Jonathan. I love it already.”

XXX

Well, so far this has gone better than he could have hoped for. She made out with him before dinner even. And again after. And has told him over and over how he’s apparently the sweetest and cutest in the world (which he definitely disagrees with, because clearly that’s her just look at her) and that the evening’s been perfect. But now the moment of truth is here. This part he’s more nervous about than anything.

”I got something for you,” he tells her.

”Wait, there’s more?” She looks surprised.

”Yeah this was just… um, well I want to give you something also.”

”You’re unbelievable,” she grins and shakes her head. Then looks at him. ”I have something for you too. Wait here.”

She gets up, goes over to him and kisses him and then hurries out of the room to get it, whatever it is. He never thought about her getting him something. Now he’s very excited about that.

Nancy quickly returns, hiding her hands behind her back. Looking like she’s about to burst from excitement.

”Can I go first?” She asks.

”Sure,” he says while getting up from his chair.

”So… I made you this,” she says and reveals a mixtape. He feels his jaw drop a little and hopes he doesn’t look like a total dork as he continues to listen to her. ”I’ve played you some of my stuff before but you share so much of the music you love with me, and I know how important it is to you… it’s part of you, so it means a lot that you do, like all the tapes you make me, I love them and I wanted to make you one with music that’s important to me because it… well, this is all made up of songs that makes me think of you… us… in different ways… which makes them very special to me… um… I hope you like it,” she finishes and hands him the tape.

”This is amazing… thank you,” he tells her as he stares transfixed at the tape in his hands, scanning the track list written in Nancy’s beautiful handwriting. This is his favorite mixtape ever, he knows already. ”Thank you so much… I love it…”

”You haven’t listened to it yet,” she notes.

”Your point being?” He mirrors her from earlier and it makes her laugh. ”I love it already. And I can’t wait to listen to it. Thank you.”

”You’re welcome,” she blushes before kissing him.

”So… I got you this. I hope you like it. If not that’s okay um,” he tells her and fishes the box with the necklace in it out of his shirt pocket.

”I will don’t sell yourself short,” she starts. When she sees the jewelry box she quiets. He hands it to her and she takes it in her nimble hands. She flips the lid open and gasps. ”Oh my god Jonathan…” she takes the necklace out and holds it in her hands, admiring it as she drops the box on the floor. ”This is beautiful oh my god… I love it thank you so much oh my… oh my god you got me this and did all this tonight and I just made you a mixtape? Oh god I feel so-”

”Just a mixtape? This is amazing Nancy, it means so much to me that you made this for me, that you want to share this with me… and I… wait you really love it?”

”Yes oh my god Jonathan, it’s beautiful! Oh my god it’s an opal, isn’t it? That’s my birthstone this is so sweet…”

”I know… okay, I didn’t know that at first, I found that out… I just thought, well it matches your eyes and so I thought it was really pretty because… well, your eyes… are… um…”

”God that’s even sweeter… I… wait hold on…”

Nancy quickly takes off the necklace she’s wearing, the nice ballet slippers one she always wears. Which she told him her parents got her for Christmas when she was 11 and still doing ballet, and which she kept wearing as a kind of memento of that time even after her ballerina days were over. She obviously loves that necklace, which gave him second thoughts about the necklace he got her after he bought it but since he’d paid for it and all he felt he should just go with it even with the doubts. Her reaction has erased those now.

”Help me put it on,” she asks and hands the necklace to him and turns around with her back toward him and sweeps her hair out of the way.

”S-sure…”

He undoes the clasp and gently puts the necklace on her. When he’s clasped it again she quickly turns around and looks right at him, beaming with her whole face.

”So how do I look?”

”Beautiful…” he manages to get out. She’s breathtaking.

She kisses him again and takes his breath away.

”I love you so much, you know,” she tells him.

”I love you too.”

”I still feel bad you did all this and got me this and I just made you a mixtape…” she tells him, hands locked behind his neck.

”It means the world to me though. And this is just… I just wanted to give you something nice… and have a nice night with you…”

”It’s been the best night. Still I should have gotten you more…”

”Well, I don’t really want much more than what I’ve got right now,” he tell her and pointedly holds her closer.

”Aw… well still, your birthday’s coming up soon…ish. And I’m going all out. Think I’ll throw you a parade. Buy you your own island or something. Get the President to make it a national holiday,” she smiles.

”Hey hey hey. Our own island I could get behind,” he smirks. She giggles.

”Right? Well for now I think… a house to ourselves does just fine…” she says and gives him a look.

”Happy Valentine’s Day,” he tells her and picks her up. She reciprocates the sentiment and giggles as she locks her arms and legs around him while he heads straight to his room.

#jancy fic #jancy fanfic #jancy fanfiction #jancy #nancy x jonathan #nancy wheeler #jonathan byers #stranger things fic #stranger things fanfic #stranger things fanfiction #st fic #stranger things

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awakeshedreams · 6 years

Text

Parachute {7}

Summary: Jungkook would do whatever to keep you safe.

Pairing: Jungkook X Reader

Genre: Angst, Fluff, Smut.

Wordcount: 3K

Warning: light swearing. Mention of death.

A/N: Hello friends :) a quite heavy angst themed chapter oof 😳 a couple of chapters left fr this time hehe tbh I'm kind of nervous to end it because sjsjjsjs I don't know :( anyways I hope you all have a great day/night 💜 sorry for the spelling or grammatical errors I've edited again and again but there'll definitely be something.

*italics are flashbacks

“What the fuck are you doing here?” Jungkook sneers with flared nostrils as his grip tightens around the brunettes wrists, instead of showing any sign of pain or struggle to get out of his grip, she smiles. She was enjoying it.

“I just came to visit you Kookie, don't you miss me? ” She pouts and Jungkook scoffs.

“I don’t know how the fuck you got in here but you better leave and I better not see you again.” He threats, throwing her hand away as he walks past her. He has some thing more important to do, finding you.

Miso almost trips when their shoulders brush against each other and she clenches her fists in embarrassment and dejection before turning around.

“You know I’m the only one who can handle you, she'll get tired. The only one who knows about you. You know that.” She blurts out, making Jungkook stop in tracks, exhaling deeply, tongue poking at his left cheek.

He was going to snap.

Jungkook freezes as his eyes widen. You must have been the one to let Miso in, it was just the two of you here. And if that’s the case and you’re currently nowhere to be seen, she must have said some thing to you. And knowing Miso, she definitely would have said something.

Jungkook turns hot on his heels as he slowly walks towards Miso, a wry smile etching on her lips as she crosses her arms over her chest.

“What did you say to her?” He growls lowly and Miso just laughs.

“Oh Jungkook,” she says as she uncrossed her arms, her red painted nails trailing down from his collar bones, solid chest and ridged abdomen to the band of his sweatpants before Jungkook grabs her hand and glares at it.

“Are you scared?” She whispers as she gets closer to his face, the smell of her perfume as intoxicating as ever, a scent he once found comfort in and seeked but now it made him dizzy and nauseous in all the bad ways.

She bites her lip, before she abruptly place a kiss in the corner of his lips with a smirk, leaving a faint red stain.

Jungkook tenses up as he looks at the mischievous girl with wide eyes.

He feels his blood boil to the max as he stared at the her with eyes filled with spite and anger.

“Leave,” He growls but the girl simply smiles as she bites her lips.

“But Kookie-" Just then the sound of some thing dropping makes Jungkook freeze and the dark haired girl of him just grins as she looks past him.

Jungkook had been so consumed by anger and hate that he didn’t even hear the front door open.

You had went out with Hoseok this morning to get groceries. Today was Jungkook's birthday and although you always made a special dish, the boys had suggested this time making him seaweed soup. Usually Namjoon's wife would help you but she was gone so Seokjin said he would over the phone.

Hoseok came earlier saying he came to pick you up to go grocery shopping because Seokjin was busy with some wedding stuff at the moment, reminding you to leave a note telling Jungkook where you would be before you left. He laughed when you asked him if he was going to be cooking, telling you he really can’t proper cook even if it would save his life.

“Jungkook! We're back !” Hoseok chirps as he joins you at where you stood frozen with grocery bags plopped on the floor. Hoseok's furrows his brows before following your gaze freezing when he sees Miso and Jungkook. He must admit, from the angle it looks quite suspect.

Before Jungkook can turn to face you and Hoseok you look away.

“Um I’ll be in for a while. Sorry about this but can you help keep this for me?” you say as you lean down to grab the two small plastic bags and hook it onto Hoseok's fingers and turning around. Not caring to stop when you hear him call out for you and quickening your pace when you hear Jungkook call out for you and you hear his footsteps approaching you.

You hold in your breathe until you finally get to the door, opening it and shutting it in a second, sighing in relief when you hear the click from the lock.

Jungkook stops on the other side as soon as he hears it too, hand on the doorknob as his shoulders slump.

“Hyung,” he says sadly as he looks at his older brother who comes to give him an encouraging squeeze of the shoulder.

“Just give her time. She’ll cool down,” he reassures with a soft smile and Jungkook nods.

He looks over to the girl in red, the one who always managed to ruin everything in his life till this day. He glares at her with disgust and hate.

“I hope you know that I fucking hate you more than before.” He says with a dry laugh and for the first time since she has arrived, the smile on her face is wiped off.

“Also leave before if have my men make you.” He rolls his eyes before walking off, leaving Hoseok and Miso.

Hoseok doesn’t spare her a glance, following suit as he sighs and small smile forms on his face, irritating Miso who clenches her fists.

“Why is Miso here ?” Jungkook asks everyone in the room with piercing eyes, hunched over the kitchen island.

“We needed her for the next mission.” Yoongi shrugs as he slurps on his ramen.

“And you didn’t tell me any thing about it?” Jungkook laughs dryly.

“I forgot.” Yoongi honestly says to which Jungkook sighs.

“I was going to tell you, to be honest she wasn’t even supposed to come till after you agreed to it, if you would. She just appeared today for some reason.” Yoongi continues to explain.

“She hasn’t changed one bit, huh?” Seokjin shakes his head as he laughs.

“Well, we don’t need her. We can do it without her.” Jungkook insists, arms crosses over his chest.

“Do you have a better option?” Jimin smiles mischievously. Jungkook doesn’t pay much mind to Jimin as he is always like that that but when he sees what he is hinting at he immediately refutes.

“No. I'm not doing that. Never.”

“What about Taehyung's girl-" Jimin begins but shuts his mouth the moment Taehyung walks in. Namjoon sends him a scowl of disapproval as he shakes his, to which Jimin just shrugs.

“What have you got Tae?” Hoseok smiles at the younger man who had just walked in, comforting Taehyung who smiles back and joins them.

“A lot.” He says with a victorious smile as he lays down documents on the table and Jungkook can’t help but chuckle as he pats his shoulder.

“Great! Make it quick. Jungkook has somewhere to be in a bit.” Seokjin says as he locks his arms around Taehyung and Jungkook’s necks making the younger boys laugh.

“Yeah,” Jungkook nods with a sad smile. Taehyung ruffles his hair and the boy is smiling brightly again.

“Stop. Let’s get to business." Jungkook says firmly as he says Taehyung’s hand away and tries to hide his smile and begins to take in his other persona.

You don't know how long you've locked yourself in your room but you know that it’s probably been one too long as the room has gotten dark and the sun has began to set.

You wanted to leave the room but you were still on edge. Was she still there ? Was Jungkook there? Were they still talking to each other? It looked like she kissed him. Did they kiss? Did he like it?

Miso.

You’ve never seen her in your life but you’ve heard that name.

But the moment you saw her there with Jungkook, you knew it had to be her.

‘jet black hair', ‘bright red lips,’ ‘sharp dark eyes,’. Those features anyone could posses but you’ve heard too much about her during your time at the gym to not recognize her when you encountered her.

The OH so famous Miso who had broken the ‘bad beast' Jeon Jungkook’s heart.

It was the talk of the gym, the town even. You can never forget just how hurt he was then. At first all you would see was how much more aggressive he was when boxing, even during training. He had ruined so many punching bags.

This was before you had really gotten close with Jungkook and he was still not very talkative then.

You had sneaked into the dressing room, not knowing if Jungkook was there. You had left your gift for Jungkook here when you were helping cleaning around the other day and you came to get it back.

That’s when you heard the voice of someone crying.

You froze when you saw him, hunched over his lap with his face in his palm.

You felt your throat go dry and heart clench at the same time.

But still you approached him, slowly sitting next to him.

You simple stared at the locker ahead of you and you tapped your lap.

“Y/N?” He asks and you suddenly jump in your seat.

“Yeah?” you asks as you smile and lush yourself closer to him, heart clenching when you see just how red and puffy his eyes and nose were. His glassy doe eyes looking at you for comfort and you feel a sudden need to protect and take care of him like he’s a little hurt boy.

“Can I hug you?” He asks suddenly and you are taken back, eyes wide as you try to process what he had just asked of you.

“I'm Sorry, it’s okay if you don't want to it’s just when I’m sad my mom used to hug me and I feel comfortable with you-" he had began, brushing it off lightly with a nasally laugh but you didn’t let him finish.

You wrapped your arms round his neck, taking him by surprise but he doesn't retort, instead his arms come around your waist, pulling you closer to him as he nuzzled his neck into the crook of your neck and took in your scent.

You began rubbing his bare back and whispering comforting words when you felt your shoulder dampen while his body shaked.

Ever since that day, you had envied and admired this Miso girl.

The first and last time you saw Jungkook full on cry was because of and for her. He must have really loved her. She was his first love after all.

Even after you two got together you were still somewhat insecure, you had heard some of the things the guys would say regarding Miso and Jungkook’s previous relationship.

Some said she got pregnant and for very long you lived in anxiety thinking that one of the days she would show up at your door with a child in hand and Jungkook would go with her, he loves kids. And you wouldn't stop him because no child deserves to be fatherless, especially not because of your selfish feelings.

Some said that she cheated on Jungkook and vice versa but you knew Jungkook would never cheat so you didn’t pay mind to that. Some even said he got involved with her so he could fuck her mother and when her husband found out she broke it off so Jungkook was broken. That's where you drew the line and stopped listening. There were so many more rumours but you never once asked Jungkook to confirm or deny any of them. You trusted him.

So why did you storm out like that before ?

“Ughh!” you groan as you tug your hair, wishing you could rip it off your skull.

Just then there's a knock on the door.

“Y/N?” Seokjin calls out from the other side.

You get up, slowly opening the door to a small crack and using your one eye to search the living room beyond Seokjin’s broad shoulders.

“It’s just me,” he laughs and you flush, suddenly feeling embarrassed at how you were behaving.

“Let's go,” he chirps as he walks into the kitchen.

You don’t even end up doing much, after making you chop up some onions and veggies Seokjin has you sit down while he takes over. He handed you some snacks since he knows you haven’t had any thing since you got back and you've locked yourself too long in the room since morning on an empty stomach.

You're staring the wall and too deep in your previous thoughts that you don’t realise Seokjin has been calling you for a while.

“Y/N?” Seokjin calls in concern as he gently taps your shoulder.

You jerk up in your seat by surprise.

“Hmm? Sorry I was... I wasn't paying attention.” You laugh sheepishly.

“No it’s fine. We all daydream.” He laughs as he shakes his head.

“Pass me the salt, please,” he says as he motions towards the island and you get up immediately and pass it to him.

“You’re a really good cook.” You compliment as you observe the simmering pots next to him.

“Yup. Heard that a lot. Except from one person. They trash my cooking but still eat my food, not leaving a single thing on the plate.” Seokjin laughs with subtle pout and you can’t help but laugh.

“That’s cute,”

“Yeah, she really is.” Seokjin says as he smiles and you can’t help but feel warm at the adoration in his eyes.

“So what is your plan for today?” Seokjin asks after you are done for a bit and he joins you at the dining table.

Right. It was Jungkook's birthday. You usually only spent the mornings with him, some time in the afternoon he would go out and come back late at night and you would have a cake lit up for him and the two of you would celebrate together.

He would always come back with puffy eyes and avoid your gaze, wanting to just hold you or for you to hold him to sleep.

You couldn't help but think that maybe he went out to cry about Miso, today was after all the anniversary of their break up and it was something that had really shook his heart and scarred him, she was his first love after all. But again, you never asked.

You shift in your seat as you play with your fingers.

“I don’t know." Honestly you didn't, what if he went back to Miso and would never return?

Seokjin nods as he clasps his hands together on the table.

A thought comes in your head.

“Seokjin, I have a question.” You asks shyly as you suddenly feel invasive.

“Sure,” he smiles and you exhale before speaking.

“On his birthday, Jungkook... He’s been going out and coming back at night. Do you know where he goes? D-does it have to do with Miso?” you ask nervously and Seokjin eyes go wide.

You begun to panic and worry, so it’s true ? He goes to Miso? So he really could not return this time?

Your hands shake unknowingly as your eyes tear up.

Seokjin notices and immediately realises you probably have your doubts and decides he should clear them quick.

“Relax Y/N,” he smiles as he places a hand on your shoulder and you feel your breathing get lighter but not light enough.

“Jungkook never told you about any thing? About his birthday? What do you know about it?” Seokjin asks carefully and you shake your head.

“No. He never said any thing. But he always seems so sad at that day, I guess it’s because it’s the day he and Miso broke up.” You painfully admit as your finger nails dig into your palm on your lap.

Seokjin sighs in defeat. He was waiting for Jungkook to tell you but it seems that today’s interruption and the sudden appearance of an unwanted uninvited guest wouldn’t allow it. He knew Jungkook had planned it, he was even going to ask you to go with him to the place he visited every year on his birthday.

“Y/N, it has nothing to do with Miso.” He says and you furrow your brows.

“What?” you ask in confusion. It had everything to do with Miso, right?

“Yeah, they did break up on that day but Jungkook couldn't care less about it, not then not now. ” Jin says with a reassuring smile and you feel as if a weight has been lifted off your shoulders. But just as soon as you heart feel a light and free, new load of curiosity and guilt weighs it down heavier.

If it wasn’t because of Miso that he had emotionally broken down in front of you that day and that he spends the whole night out for every year then what is it. Where was he going and why ?

“T-then what is it?” you ask, stuttering as you take in Seokjin’s sombre expression.

“Y/N, Jungkook's birthday, his mother died on that day.”

You feel your heart drop to your feet as you process the words he said.

Suddenly everything clicks.

That's it for today :) I hope you liked it! Next time 💜

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judedeluca · 6 years

Text

Titans: Cakes and Confessions (RoyXDonna)

I’ve been trying to type something for #royharperbdayweek for the last few days, but I’ve been artblocked. I finally busted my ass and spent most of last night working on something I felt comfortable enough to finally post on here.

This takes place in a post-Rise of Arsenal, post-New 52, and post-Rebirth world where the DCU has started gaining a semblance of their real lives back after getting free of Dr. Manhattan’s brainwashing. It involves Roy, Lian, and Donna dealing with some emotions left over following Lian’s death and what Donna went through in Blackest Night.

There’s mention of Donna’s kids and Lian’s baby brother, and some chubby!Roy stuff.

Really hoping to hear some thoughts and inputs on this since I don’t normally write fan fics as long as this in one sitting.

It was a nice looking jack-o'-lantern. Not an angry or scary looking one, but not a silly, dopey-looking one either. Lian wanted to feel proud, but she had to get a second opinion. "Does it look okay, Donna?" Lian Harper asked her surrogate aunt, Donna Troy, as Donna finished cleaning the bowls and cups they'd just used. Donna wiped her hands on a dish towel before joining Lian's side. On the kitchen table there was a triple layer cake, covered in rich chocolate icing. Lian had just finished decorating the top of the cake with orange, green, and yellow butter cream frosting to make a pumpkin face. It smiled up at the young and younger women. "It looks wonderful, Lian." Donna said, patting Lian's back. "But it does look like a pumpkin, right?" Lian was unsure as she looked into her aunt's eyes. "You're not just saying that?" "You won't be getting false praise from me, honey." Donna commented, then kissed Lian on the top of her head. That made Lian believe Donna was speaking true. "I bet Daddy will love it." Lian mentioned. "I hope he does too." Donna added, as they had spent most of the afternoon baking the cake for Lian's father Roy, while also keeping an eye on Lian's baby brother Tommy. This weekend, Donna's ex-husband (Terry or Jerry or whatever his name is) had custody of their son Robbie and her stepdaughter Jennifer. So Donna convinced Roy to let her watch Lian and Tommy for the afternoon feeling he'd been doing a lot lately and could use some time to himself. It was entirely transparent she wanted time with Lian to do something for Roy while he was out of the house, but no one said anything. Tommy had just been fed and put down for a nap while Lian iced and decorated the cake. She insisted on doing it by herself to prove she could. "Well we both love all the other cakes and stuff you've been bringing over." Lian reminded Donna. "But thanks for letting me help with this." "It was my pleasure having you as a baking partner." Donna hugged the young girl. "I'm gonna go check on Tommy." But before Donna could leave the kitchen, Lian had a question she wanted to ask. A question that had been on her mind for a while. "Donna?" "Yes, Lian?" Donna stopped and turned to face Lian again. "Is everything okay?" Lian asked, a look of concern on her face. "Huh?" The question sort of caught Donna by surprise before Lian began talking. "You've been coming over a lot lately," Lian explained, "And I know you and Daddy aren't together-I mean, 'Together' together anymore. Are you alright?" "Don't worry about me, honey. I'm fine." Donna smiled. But Lian wasn't fully convinced. "Is it cuz of all that stuff that happened when I… you know." "No, Lian." Donna replied. "Well, how come you're over so much?" Lian continued. "Do you want me to stop coming over?" Donna asked. "No! I love having you over. And so does Daddy and I'm sure Tommy does as well if he could talk." Lian emphasized. Donna laughed a little before she spoke. "I just liking spending time with you guys, and I like cooking for you guys." Donna explained. "I'll say." Lian smirked, thinking about all the homemade sweets and stuff Donna had been leaving for Roy at their house, and at Titans Tower, and at Donna's place. Her dad especially seemed to really like them. And it was starting to show. "I'm gonna go check on your brother before your dad gets home. Okay?" Donna smiled at Lian. "Okay." Lian smiled back. But as Donna left the room, Lian's smile faded and the look of concern returned. She wasn't convinced at all. … "I'm home!" Roy called out from the front door. "Any wild and crazy parties or dead bodies better be taken care of by the time I step over the threshold!" He held two big bags of groceries in his arms, and one plastic bag containing takeout hanging around his wrist, as he entered the house when Lian came running out of the living room. "Daddy!" She threw her arms around her dad's waist and squeezed. "Etai Yazi!" Roy called back, which was Navajo for "Little Girl." "Gimme a sec," he said as he tried to place the reusable bags down on the side table in the hallway. He then kneeled down to Lian's level and gave her a big hug and kiss on her cheek. "Missed you." "Missed you more." Lian replied, kissing Roy's scruffy cheek. "And you didn't burn the house down while I was gone." Roy whistled. "I'm impressed." "Well I can be trusted not to burn the house down. Unlike some people." Lian folded her arms and gave her dad a pretend angry glare, referring to a certain incident Roy had while Lian was… away. "True, true. You're certainly more trustworthy than I am." Roy conceded as he stood up. "We all know you're the responsible one, though I don't know where you get it from." "Oh and, guess what?" Lian asked. "What?" "Boop." Lian poked at his belly button, sticking out after his shirt came untucked. "Hey!" Roy shooed her off as he tucked his shirt back in. "Well it's your own fault for getting fat." Lian smugly informed him. "I know, I know," Roy smirked. "I'm gross." "Nah, you're not." Lian hugged her dad again. "Whatdja do while we were here?" Lian asked. "I took care of some stuff at Titans Tower, then I did some shopping. No big deal." "Come look what me and Donna did while you were out!" Lian began to pull her dad into the kitchen, bumping into Donna who was coming out of the first floor bathroom. "Hi Mr. Speedy." Donna said as she hugged Roy. "Hi Ms. Wonder Girl." Roy replied. "You guys have fun?" "Always." "Surprise!" Lian practically shoved the cake in Roy's face. "You guys made this together?" Roy asked as Donna took the cake from Lian. "Does it look good?" Lian asked. "It looks great!" Roy messed up Lian's hair before turning his attention to Donna again. "But what's the occasion?" Donna shrugged, acting like it was no big deal. "No occasion, just wanted to do something nice while you had the day to yourself." Was the convenient explanation she gave. "I did the icing myself, and I put the pumpkin on it since it's almost Halloween." Lian revealed. "It's chocolate and spice." "I really don't know what I did to deserve you two." Roy kissed Lian on the cheek and then Donna. "You're spoiling me." "I can put these away if you wanna check in on Tommy." Donna offered as she set the grocery bags on the kitchen counter. "It's cool, I can do it." Roy reached over, but Donna playfully slapped his hand away. "No no, go see Tommy." Donna insisted. "He wasn't any trouble today, was he?" Roy asked. "Not at all." "I'll go with you, Daddy." Lian joined her father. The two Harpers headed upstairs to where Tommy Harper, nee Blake, the youngest member of the family slept. Roy quietly opened the door and stuck his head inside to see Lian's baby brother sleeping soundly in his crib. "I hate leaving him alone." Roy sighed as he closed the door. "It's cool dad, we had fun with Donna." Lian explained. "But, um…" Roy saw the look on Lian's face and knew what she was referring to. "She didn't tell you what was wrong, did she." Roy guessed. Lian sighed. "No." Lian shook her head. "But she's sad about something, Daddy. I saw it when I asked her what was wrong. It was like when you used to tell me you were okay, even though you weren't." "Damn it." Roy muttered to himself. "I'm sorry." Lian apologized. "It's okay, peanut. You didn't do anything wrong." Roy reassured her. For the last couple of months, Donna had been acting strange. But then it had been a strange couple of years for a variety of reasons and they were only just returning to a semblance of their old lives. Their REAL lives. Probably the strangest things had been how Roy was brainwashed into thinking Jason Todd was his best friend, and Donna had been replaced by a doppelganger who then gave her life to save Donna. With Roy and Donna back on the Titans with their friends Dick, Wally, and Garth, things felt real for the first time in a long time, even before the world had been gutted inside out. It was like someone had engineered a string of tragedies to make them as miserable as possible before killing them. Now they were all alive and healthy, and so were their kids and loved ones. Yet Donna had started becoming… not clingy, but, was motherly the right word? Overeager? It seemed that way to Roy and Lian, and to a lesser extent Tommy. Admittedly, he was a new addition to the Harper household after Roy learned of his existence and rescued him from Tommy and Lian's mom a few months ago. Donna seemed to worry a lot if Roy was eating enough, and had been showering father and daughter Harper in a variety of baked snacks and treats. Cakes, cookies, pies, even these delectable pomegranate pastries Donna learned of from her sister Diana. Roy was certainly enjoying them more than Lian was, since Donna saw more of the older Harper than the younger one. If he had to stay late at the Tower, she had food ready for a late night snack. If he was arriving early in the morning, there was breakfast in case he skipped the meal. It certainly explained how Roy had put on such a significant amount of weight and developed a noticeable belly on his large archer frame. Roy could sense SOMEthing was bothering Donna, as this type of behavior was new. Oh sure, Donna had long doted on Lian as if she was her daughter. But baking and preparing meals hadn't really been something she was interested in. Roy and Lian weren't ungrateful, but they wanted to know what the problem was. He kept trying to ask her if she wanted to talk, but she smiled and said she was fine. The way she said it, Roy could recognize a slight trace of sadness. Then she'd hurry off to do something else, a mission or monitor duty or something with her sister Diana and the Amazons. Lian recognized it too, but she was always a perceptive child and probably noticed before Roy did. They began to feel guilty that Donna was doing all this for them and asking for nothing. Maybe they were imagining things and she was trying to be friendly. But maybe not. That was why Roy had caved in so easily when Donna suggested he take a day for himself and let her watch the kids. He'd agreed with Lian that she would try to ask Donna what was on her mind without him in the vicinity. "What are we gonna do, daddy? I hate seeing her like this." Lian admitted. "I should've gotten Dick and the others to help," Roy said more to himself, "but I didn't want to put her on the spot in front of everyone." "But she hasn't been acting weird with them, right?" Lian asked. "It's just us, for some reason." "Yeah…" Roy furrowed his brow, trying to think. … Downstairs in the kitchen, Donna had finished putting away the rest of the food in the fridge when Roy tapped her on the shoulder. "What'd you pick up for dinner?" Donna turned and asked him. "I got some chicken and rice with plantains from this place near the supermarket." Roy explained. "But hey, before we eat…" "Yes?" Roy sighed. "Donna, I want you to please tell me what's wrong." Roy asked his teammate and best friend. "You sound just like Lian a little while ago." Donna laughed. "You guys worry too much. Can't I do something nice for one of my best friends and his daughter? Is that so strange?" "No, but I mean," Roy scratched the back of his head as he tried to come up with the right words. He should've been direct to begin with, but feared he was over thinking things. He trusted Lian's judgment, though. "I remember you don't like it when everyone expects you to act like their mom. So Lian and I, we were both wondering if you're really okay doing all this. The baking, cooking." "Roy-" Donna was about to begin before Roy cut her off. "Hey, I'm not complaining or anything. Aside that I'm gonna need some bigger clothes, of course." Roy smiled and patted his new belly. "I appreciate all the stuff you've done and how you're trying to look out for me and my kids. But I feel like I'm taking advantage of you, and that isn't even the main thing I'm worried about. Donna, Lian and I both think something's going on with you. Please, if something's wrong I wanna help. We both do." Donna wasn't sure what to say, Roy's green eyes locked on her blue ones. "Please? Tell me what's wrong?" Donna hesitated and looked away from Roy and Lian. She scratched her arm. "It's… it's silly, really." There was a little tremble in Donna's voice. "Well look, why don't we eat dinner first, and then you can tell the two of us what's on your mind over that cake you and Lian made. Promise?" … Donna wasn't sure whether or not to look forward to the talk after dinner, which was something of an event when Tommy absolutely refused to eat unless Donna was the one to feed him. Roy had barely eaten anything as he struggled to get his stepson to budge a little on the subject of mashed carrots. Lian was happy to get dinner AND a show, until Tommy swatted his food in Lian's direction. After Tommy finally settled down, had his bath, and was told a Navajo legend to get to sleep, Roy, Donna, and Lian sat in the living room with coffee and cake (and milk for Lian since she didn't need the caffeine AND sugar). Roy sat in the middle of the couch with Donna and Lian flanking him on both sides. "So, tell us what's bothering you, Donna." Roy got straight to the point. "Am I gonna have another baby brother, Daddy?" Lian wondered. "Is that why you're so unhappy Donna?" Donna practically choked on her cake. "Ahaha! No, Lian, nothing like that." Donna assured Lian. "I figured," Lian sighed, pinching her dad's side. "But I was hoping he was eating for two." "Hey now-!" Roy almost dropped his plate as he squirmed. "It's cool daddy, I like you better this way." Lian giggled. "You make the best pillow when we stay up late watching movies and you're a lot happier than you were before." "True. So thanks for that, Donna." The three of them set everything down on the coffee table before they began to really talk. Donna looked down at her hands, folded in her lap, as Roy and Lian aimed their attention solely on her. "I know my behavior has been bizarre lately-" Donna started. "I wouldn't call it 'bizarre'-" Roy added. "But with all the ridiculousness of the past few years and how badly things went for all of us," Donna began to list the horrible things everyone went through, "Prometheus, the Black Lanterns, the Villains for Hire, and then the time Barry Allen and Dr. Manhattan stole from us, I've been feeling… I-I guess I'd call it regret." "Regret?" Roy was confused, wondering what she was referring to, "For what?" Donna looked at Lian before she spoke again. "Lian," Donna felt uncomfortable just remembering what happened, "You know about what happened after you…" "Died?" Lian finished. Roy and Donna both winced. Her death. One of the most painful moments of Roy's life. A senseless accident that was a harbinger for what felt like an eternity of unhappiness for both the Harpers and their extended family. "Um. Yeah. I-I do." Lian reluctantly confirmed. "The last time your dad and I spoke before things got really bad, at your, um," God Donna hated everything right now, "Funeral. It wasn't great." "I know about that too." Lian revealed rather somberly. She knew about the awful things her father had screamed at Donna regarding the deaths of her own children. How he'd accused her of "Whoring in space" with Kyle Rayner while her son died in a car crash. Which absolutely wasn't true, by the way. "Looking back on it, I've felt, yes, what your dad said to me was really out of line, but I shouldn't have let that stop me from trying to help." Donna was now referring to how almost everyone in Roy's life had completely, utterly failed at trying to help him deal with Lian's death. Even with how aggressive he'd turned in the most recent days after Lian died, the lack of empathy most of Roy's friends had given was astonishing. It hurt worse because it turned out more had been going on than everyone assumed, which they would've noticed had they really paid attention to Roy's behavior. "Donna-" "No. Please let me get this off my chest." Donna stood and seated herself in a chair away from Roy and Lian, so she could get a better look at them as she spoke. "I've been wondering about if maybe, if I'd tried harder to reach out to you Roy, when you started slipping, then maybe things wouldn't have reached the point they did. I've seen how much you've worked towards making it up to Lian, and how hard you've been trying with Tommy. I feel like if I'd been more help back then, you wouldn't have needed to work so hard now." "I didn't 'slip,' Donna," Roy firmly told her, owning up to his actions, "I did drugs, called you a whore, tried to kill Dick and Mia, and joined Deathstroke's fake Titans because I was angry and using Lian as an excuse to justify all the crap I pulled." "I'm not trying to absolve you of the stuff you did Roy-" "He's been doing his best for me and Tommy!" Lian interjected, almost pleaded, to Donna, to immediately make her feel better and end this unbearable moment. "And I help with Tommy too! Plus I already forgave him for all that, a-and he apologized to Uncle Dick and Mia, anyway!" "It's alright, Etai Yazi." Roy tried to soothe her. "I'm sorry, is what I'm trying to say. I didn't do enough to help after Lian died. When Robbie and Jen passed away, I-I don't even want to get into some of the stuff that went through my head. You wanna believe part of me hated you, Roy? Because you still had Lian and I barely saw Robbie at that point after the divorce? I should've been more forgiving after that argument." "And so you've been worrying so much lately, doing all that cooking and baking…?" "I wanted to do something more tangible to show I care and that I wanted to make up for it." Donna finally admitted. "I've been trying to pay attention. It's easy to say stuff about doing everything I can to help, but I figured this was the best way to show it." Roy and Lian looked at each other and then looked at Donna. "Well, I've been trying." Donna sighed and sank back in the chair. No one said anything for a minute that seemed to last hours, before Roy stood up. "Donna, can you stand up please?" Roy extended his hand towards her. "Huh?" "Come on, up and at 'em." Roy said. As Donna took Roy's hand, he pulled her into a tight embrace as Lian stood behind Donna and placed her hands around her waist." "Listen Wonder Chick," Roy began, "you've got nothing to be sorry about and nothing to apologize for. I heard about what happened with the Black Lanterns, and you'd have been totally justified for taking my head off after what I said." Roy referred to the nightmarish ordeal where Donna encountered a zombified version of son, whom she tried to kill in order to stop. It didn't work, and what she did continued to haunt Donna even though Robbie was alive again. "Yeah, I would have and he's my dad." Lian agreed. "Even before I found out, I didn't blame you for anything. You didn't do anything wrong. It's not right for you to blame yourself when you needed help too after what you went through. And I'm sorry I made you feel like you had to make it up to us." Donna wasn't sure what to say. "Come on, I hate seeing so unhappy. What can I do to make you feel better?" "Yeah, what can WE do?" Lian corrected. Donna relaxed, and smiled. Roy and Lian let go and she sighed, a sigh of relief instead of unhappiness. There'd been too much sighing today. "For starters, next weekend you can make breakfast for me, Robbie, and Jen when she visits." Donna joked, then sniffed and wiped away a tear from her eye. "And then the six of us, Tommy included, can spend the afternoon baking at the Tower." Donna mused. "Snickerdoodles, peanut?" Roy conspired with Lian, taking Donna totally seriously. "Roy I'm ki-" "How about something with macadamia nuts?" Lian wondered. "No good, Jen's allergic to nuts." Roy surprised Donna by mentioning that since she wasn't aware he knew of her children's allergies. "Okay then snickerdoodles!" Lian declared. "Does that help?" Roy asked Donna, mock pouting with puppy dog eyes. "Snickerdoodles?" "You're both such dorks." Donna held his hand. "Well, DUH." Both Harpers said. "Besides, I'm the Titan who's supposed to be constantly ashamed of themselves." Roy joked. "It's kind of my whole shtick, in case you hadn't noticed." "Yeah, stop stealing my dad's shtick!" Lian ordered. "It's all he has going for him. It's bad enough you made him fat!" "Yeah, it's bad enough you made me fat!" Roy parroted his daughter. That was too much for Donna and she started to laugh, and laugh, and laugh.

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