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hmslusitania · 3 years

Note

If I may be so bold as to throw one of these your way, could I suggest:

24. Soulmate AU + 57. Forgotten First Meeting, with Buddie of course

24. Soulmate AU + 57. Forgotten First Meeting

Okay, so, it’s like this:

The first time your soulmate touches you skin to skin, it leaves a mark. And over time (because in a world where there are soulmarks, you know there would be entire scientific branches devoted to studying them) the different colours left behind on your skin have been decoded.

Red, weirdly, is for platonic love, so when eight-year-old Maddie Buckley holds her brand new baby brother for the first time and kisses him right there on his eyebrow, well, it leaves Evan with a splotch on his face and saves Maddie just, like, so much money in lipstick for the rest of her life.

The marks stay connected, too, throughout a person’s lifetime. Touch them together again and it sparkles under your skin like an effervescent tablet in water. And that’s true of all marks, not just romantic or platonic ones.

For a long time, those marks are the only ones either Buckley sibling has.

When Maddie gives him her Jeep and Buck runs, out from under their parents’ thumbs, she gets him to stoop down and kisses him on the eyebrow again, and then they don’t see each other for years.

Buck travels. He crosses the US a few times, back and forth. He goes to Peru, he comes back. He crosses the US again, taking a long drive through the deserts that look like paintings that make up the southwestern corner of the country. He ends up stopping the night in El Paso on his way between places, stocks up on provisions for the rest of his road trip to LA where he thinks he might try his hand at being a firefighter.

He stops a few other places, too, and doesn’t notice until he gets to the beach in LA and strips off his shirt to go for a swim. There’s a livid purple soulmark on his arm.

And he has no idea who it came from.

Soulmarks aren’t really essential for relationships, at least that’s what everyone keeps telling him when, ah, circumstances conspire to mean that Eddie and Shannon need to get married. Due to the whole “lack of soulmarks” thing, neither of them had really meant for their relationship to be serious, but, now, well.

Things are tense, at best.

But Christopher.

Eddie’s still terrified, of course he is, he’s twenty-two and he’s supposed to be a dad? But in the delivery room, he gets talked into trimming the umbilical cord just moments after Chris is born, and that’s terrifying, what if he fucks it up, and Christopher’s little belly is so small and surely he shouldn’t be putting scissors -- even sterilised medical ones -- anywhere near his newborn son -- he has a son, what even is happening right now -- and he doesn’t really mean to but he pats Chris on the shoulder to try and calm him -- being born is just, like, a lot for everyone, parents and children alike, and Eddie kind of wishes he was allowed to scream right then too, but he’ll leave that to the kid (oh god he has a kid).

Bright red blooms across Chris’s shoulder and for a wild second, Eddie thinks that maybe, somehow, his son is allergic to him.

The actual significance sets in a few seconds later when he notes that the pads of his own fingers are the same shade of red.

All three of the grandparents in the room take it in turns to pass Christopher around and see if they, also, have this connection to their grandson. They don’t. And to make things just that much worse, neither does Shannon.

So, y’know, things are tense.

At best.

It’s years later, after Eddie gets back from Afghanistan, after Shannon’s left Chris and given up on Eddie, after she’s sent the divorce papers, that he’s finally deciding he needs to take Chris and get the hell out of Texas. He hasn’t resolved to do this at all, he’s still just thinking about it (his parents haven’t tried to take Chris from him yet), and he’s doing his grocery shopping in the dead of night because he doesn’t really have another time to do it, what with working three jobs and having a six-year-old.

He’s so lost in thought about where they’d go if they left Texas and what he would do to support them that he’s only vaguely aware of someone bumping his arm as they cross paths in the aisles.

He doesn’t think much about it -- doesn’t really notice -- until he’s helping Chris with his cereal the next morning and Chris points out that there’s a big purple mark on his arm.

Chris wants to know what the purple marks mean, because he’s only ever noticed red ones, and Eddie doesn’t really know how to explain that it means Eddie touched the person he’s going to fall in love with and be in love with for the rest of his life, because he...has no idea who it was.

And so, mostly, Eddie tries not to think about it. He goes about his business, eventually his parents try to take Chris and they run for LA. He gets a job at the fire department and gets assigned a station.

There’s another guy on his shift who’s got a bruise-like purple soulmark on his bicep and -- according to Chimney -- a tragic lovestory to go with it. Chimney doesn’t know the tragedy, but offers some gossipy suggestions.

Buck doesn’t really like Eddie at first, but his posturing reminds Eddie just a little of a golden retriever trying to be fierce when you know the only thing going on in a golden’s head is fluff and love.

They pull a grenade out of a guy’s leg, and Buck likes him after that.

Hell, they survive an earthquake together with absolute aplomb, and Buck spends the whole time reassuring Eddie that Chris is gonna be fine. Buck doesn’t even know Chris, but it makes Eddie feel better.

It happens on their fourth shift.

They go to this dumbass call where a woman’s gotten her head stuck in a tailpipe at a cowboy bar -- Eddie wants to be haughty about the bar’s trappings in born-and-raised Texan, but, well, he’s been to pretty much this exact bar back home -- and both Buck and Eddie get hit on by the assembled onlookers. Usually, Eddie’s noticed, the soulmark on his arm deflects random flirting way better than his wedding ring ever had, but these women are drunk and he’s a firefighter so it could very easily be a bruise.

As they walk back towards the engine, Buck starts teasing Eddie about his apparent disinterest in the women. Eddie starts to fire back about Buck living in his invisible girlfriend’s house, but their arms brush together.

And they sparkle like fucking poprocks.

There are Other mashups you can read!

#and like its a soulmate au we know how that one ends #obviously they fall in love all the way and live happily ever after #I just really liked that end line so ¯\_(ツ)_/¯#the ghost ship scribbles #9-1-1 #9-1-1 fic #buddie #buddie fic

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five-rivers · 3 years

Text

Cold Case 3

For Dannymay 2021 Day 14: Neon

“Get up, losers! We’re going to the Neon District!” shouted Patterson, slamming the door to the tiny office open.

McGee looked up, dreading whatever new torture was planned for him. He had, at this point, spent weeks in Amity Park. He’d seen no hard evidence of corruption beyond whatever game they were playing with the maybe-maybe-not-a-government-agency. However, that might have been because he and his ‘partners’ had been shut in this literally-a-former-broom-closet for most of that time.

It wasn’t, quite, the worst hazing he’d ever experienced. It was, on the other hand, the most confusing. If only because it was far, far too elaborate.

“Did the captain approve?”

“Yep,” said Patterson. “And you know we’ve had activity there since Epiphany.”

“Wait,” said McGee, “why does Epiphany matter?”

“End of the Truce,” said Patterson.

“Truce?” he asked. “What truce?”

“You’ll see,” said Collins unfolding himself from his small chair. “Make sure you gear up properly. You’re about to get the full Amity Park experience.”

“Not quite full,” corrected Patterson. “Activity still isn’t up to normal levels. We don’t want to overwhelm our little spy here.”

Ah, yes. There was that, too. His superiors didn’t seem terribly alarmed by the way everyone here knew what he was there for. He was beginning to despair of ever being recalled.

The situation as a whole was very stressful for McGee.

“Gang activity?” asked McGee.

“Sometimes,” said Collins, laconically.

The drive took them to a part of town McGee had visited several times. His visits were not because of any virtue or establishment of the area, mainly because it was largely abandoned, but due to the fact he had discovered it was one of the areas most frequently listed as needing road repairs.

He could concur. The area most definitely needed road repairs. Along with everything else repairs.

The area did not contain a significant amount of neon.

“This is called the Neon District?” he asked as Collins backed the car up into an alley.

“Yeah, you’ll see why in a bit. Just wait until the sun goes down.”

It would be a wait, then. Patterson fiddled with the radio. Collins pulled a book from the glove compartment after he put the car into park. It would have been nice if they had said something to McGee about how long they’d be there.

On the other hand, he might as well use the time to dig for information. It wasn’t as if they didn’t know he was a spy.

“Have you spoken to Danny Fenton recently?” he asked. Considering how weird the kid was, the number of things his family was involved in, his (admittedly caustic) relationship with the already-suspicious mayor, and how often he showed up at various minor crime scenes, McGee was certain he was somehow involved in organized crime.

Perhaps even the gangs they were currently waiting for.

Oh. McGee hoped he wasn’t about to be offered up to the gangs. He’d become used to Patterson and Collins making light of how he was here to spy on them. Had they lured him into a false sense of security?

The two of them stilling at his question did not make him feel better.

“Look,” said Collins, turning to lean over the back of his seat. “McGee. Believe it or not, I like you.”

“As much as he likes anybody.”

“Stop trying to paint me as a misanthrope. Anyway. Are you investigating Danny?”

“Should I be?” asked McGee.

“No,” said Collins. “Look. He’s a kid. Unusual, sure, but still just a kid. Don’t drag him into whatever drama the county or state or whatever is dreaming up.”

McGee narrowed his eyes. If they were going to kill him anyway, he might as well ask. “Even if the Fentons are involved in a gang?”

Patterson and Collins stared at him.

“Is… that a joke?” asked Patterson. “I can’t tell. Is he joking?”

“The Fentons are not part of a gang,” said Collins. “The only thing criminal about them are their driving skills. They’re scientists.”

“Scientists don’t believe in ghosts,” said McGee, crossing his arms. “They’re rational people.”

“You haven’t met many scientists, have you?”

Collins rolled his eyes and then glanced out the window. “It’s dark enough to start to see,” he said. “Come one.”

McGee looked out the window and frowned. “Is that glow in the dark paint? Glowstick juice?”

He didn’t see anything like paint on the walls earlier. Was it clear?

“Sort of,” said Patterson. She did not elaborate.

As the night grew darker, the few intact streetlights on the sidewalks came on. There were not many lit windows. In the dark, the bright splotches and lines were easier to see, bright and vibrant against the shattered concrete, asphalt, and brick.

The graffiti seemed to come in two types: deliberate, geometrical lines and shapes, and random splotches and drips. The two often overlaid one another, the paint on the bottom dimmer than the paint on the top. It was entirely unlike any graffiti McGee had seen in the past. He hadn’t even known you could get glow in the dark paint to look so neon-bright after what must have been at least a day.

“Are we… looking for graffiti artists?”

“No,” said Collins, who had settled back in his seat. “Just wait for it, okay? It isn’t anything you can guess at.”

“Please tell me you aren’t pranking those people in white again.”

“We aren’t,” said Patterson. “It isn’t December anymore.”

“It isn’t a roleplay thing, is it?” asked McGee, throwing out one of his other theories.

“Huh?”

“Roleplay. You and them. Like, a game—”

“Hey, hey, hey,” said Collins. “We’ve got one.”

“Where?” asked Patterson, leaning towards Collins.

“Right there, see?” said Collins, pointing.

“Oh, yeah, yeah. Not too bad.”

McGee leaned forward to try and see what they were looking at. A particularly bright green splotch of paint on the side of a building? Wait, was it movi—

The ‘paint splotch’ suddenly stretched to at least six feet in diameter and disgorged an—

“Alien!” screeched McGee, pointing.

“It really isn’t,” said Patterson. “It’s pretty large for something that blobby, though. Should we call Fentonworks?”

“Eh, let’s see if it goes back in. It is a school night.”

“Oh, true, true,” said Patterson. “Anyway—” She turned to face McGee and hooked a thumb over her shoulder. “—that’s a ghost.”

#exhumed #danny phantom #dannymay #dannymay 2021 #dannymay 2021 day 14: neon

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aceofspadegrass · 3 years

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Hey hey!

Can you like make a fic about the cast (plus Mira's actress Riisa)

On a field trip to the hot springs ♨️??

Like just them chilling and chatting telling jokes nd stuff...maybe a bit of chaos sprinkle in there while they are in their cars with their car buddies

And the chaos still continues in the hot springs-

Characters: Kento Yamazaki, Dori Sakurada, Nijiro Murakami, Nobuaki Kaneko, Keita Machida, Tsuchiya Tao, Riisa Naka

Genre: Fluff. Just a little trip to the sauna. :D

1.1k words

Aaaand I finally got around to it! Huzzah! It's not the best, but I sure did try. Sorry I didn't put Riisa in more. :D

The bus rolls up to the street, the doors opening up. Sakurada and Yamazaki both board, greeting the bus driver before taking their seats, the others all waving and greeting the two.

“ Hi Yamazaki!” His friend Tsuchiya greeted as he took a seat next to her. Yamazaki greets her back, smiling. The bus shuts its door as it chugs forwards once more, Tsuchiya watching the outside begin to pass by. “ I’m excited for today, aren’t you?”

“ It’s just a spa day, right?”

Tsuchiya nods. “ Yeah, but they’re going to feed us-“

Yamazaki gives a soft laugh, Tsuchiya giggling a little. “ You’re more excited about the food rather than the hot spring waters.”

Tsuchiya nods again, happily patting her lap. “ It’ll be a good afternoon spent after a nice bath~” She leans against the back of the chair, absolutely vibing. Yamazaki just continues to smile and moves his attention to watching the others chat amongst each other. Sakurada was sitting next to Murakami at the moment, just across the lane from Yamazaki, Murakami excitedly talking about the shirt he was wearing, Sakurada also rather invested in the shirt. Yamazaki had to lean forward a little bit to see the smattering of cats all over the shirt over random splotches of paint. It was incredibly pretty, so he could see why the two were happy to take about it.

Yamazaki turns his attention to the seat right behind Sakurada and Murakami to Nobuaki. The man just had a seat to himself, earbuds likely in his ears as he bopped his head to music with his eyes shut. Yamazaki couldn’t tell what kind of music it could be, possibly his own music, maybe just some other music choices.

Maybe Barbie Girl. It was his life after all, and sometimes life requires a little silly song just because.

Yamazaki waves to Nobuaki anyways, even though it was likely the older gentleman didn’t even notice him waving back. It didn’t matter, he didn’t want to pull him out of his musical bop.

“ There’s just one more stop before we head to the hot springs.” Tsuchiya says, pulling her friend’s attention back to her. “ I hear we’re picking up Naka!”

“ Oh, really? She’s free today?” Tsuchiya nods excitedly. “ Yeah. They thought that we deserved more girls at the place, so….. We got Naka!”

“ Sounds great! How much longer though until we get to her?”

Tsuchiya goes silent, thinking. At that moment, a voice pipes up from behind them. “ It’ll be another 20 minutes to her, then an hour or so until we get to the spa.”

Yamazaki raises his head to look behind him with a grin, Machida waving with a grin. “ Hey!”

“ Hi Machida!”

“ How have you been?” Machida questioned, Yamazaki giving a nod and a thumbs up. “ That’d great! You look healthy.”

“ Thank you, you too!”

Machida’s smile somehow widens even further, Yamazaki sitting down and vibing as he listened to the others chat around him. Occasionally there was a a laugh somewhere in the bus, likely from a funny joke or quote. Tsuchiya didn’t let Yamazaki down with conversation either, the two getting into a light chat about funny dog videos the other has seen.

Well, the conversation spread to Sakurada, who got into it with Murakami, which led to the entire bus getting into a massive conversation about cute dogs. Yamazaki couldn’t help but laugh at how animated everyone got about dogs, some conversation slipping about the pet dogs a few of them owned.

The conversation lasted so long and deeply that they didn’t notice the bus stop, and the bus door his open until a new voice chimes in, everyone’s eyes shooting to the where the door was.

“ Man, am I missing all the fun? And about dogs no less?”

“ Oh, hello Naka!” Nobuaki chirps, waving from his seat. Naka smiles and waves back, walking down the aisle as Nobuaki scooted over so she could have a seat. The other were quick to greet her as well, and just as easily they went back into their conversation about dogs as if she had been there all along. There was laughter as the topic shifted into animals in general, then somehow into what everyone had been up to, each other having a turn to share. Nobody really had anything not to share, even if it was something minimal, the rest willing to somehow stretch it out to a few minutes of conversation.

The time passed by rather quickly, and at some point they ended up playing hand games as the bus chugged onwards to the hot springs as the sun slowly went downwards. At the moment it was a giant game where they went around the bus circle to try to remove everyone else’s fingers through aggressive rock scissors paper.

In the end, Tsuchiya wins, the girl cheering in her seat, Yamazaki clapping for her even though he had to face a bitter loss.

“ Good game! And would you look at that!” Riisa points out the window as the bus pulls into the lot. “ We’re here!”

The bus opens, and everyone files out, heading to the building with excited energy in the air. The staff greets them, and they all head out to their changing rooms so they could have a nice night in the spa areas.

It was truly nice, of course, Yamazaki sinking into the heated waters the moment he was able to, letting out a sigh of relief. The others apparently felt the same, all letting out their stresses.

Nobody talks for a few minutes, basking in the warmth of the water. Yamazaki shuts his eyes and takes a breath of the fog that enveloped the place, quiet chatter occurring between the older men. Nobuaki lets out a chuckle as he started going on about how he accidentally threw a drumstick under a chair and couldn’t find it for ages, although Yamazaki barely takes notice of the actual words as his body slips him into a pure bliss state of zero thought.

The next thing he knows, there is warm water poured over his neck and chest, and he shoots up a little in surprise, Murakami chuckling as Yamazaki opens his eyes and looks at the man, who was standing still waist deep in the spring.

“ Come on, it’s dinner time!” Murakami says, setting the cup down and carefully striding over to the edge, hoisting himself out and grabbing a towel to wrap his waist in as he made his way out. Yamazaki was quick to follow after, and soon they were back in the dressing rooms, outfits prepared for them already. They all get dressed and head to the large room where they would be given their food, all prepaid for them.

Yamazaki takes a seat by Sakurada and Murakami, everyone else still somewhere in post spa happiness. Not even a minute later their food gets brought out to them, everyone thanking for the meal before digging in.

#🂡🌿#yamazaki kento #sakurada dori #murakami nijiro #kaneko nobuaki #machida keita #naka riisa #tsuchiya tao #mmmm hot water~

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xxisxxisxxis · 3 years

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Special Preview: Gateway Drug | 1994

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"Ow!" I squeak when, hot oil popping my hand when I try to turn the bacon over in the pan.

"Mom, maybe you should wait for Dad." Jamey suggests from the stool at the bar, his water colors paint set scattered across the counter.

"'Mom'? Since when am I 'Mom'?" I ask him, feeling a little hurt.

"Woodson says only babies say, 'mommy'." He says next.

"You shouldn't be taking advice from a four year old who calls his mother by her name." I state.

"He lets me play with his hotwheels during toy time." He explains as Nikki comes in from the garage and heads to the sink to wash his hands.

"I can buy you your own hotwheels, Jamey. Don't let someone boss you around because they give you something in return." I tell him.

"Why not?"

"Because you're a Sixx. And Sixxes don't sell out." Nikki states, drying his wet hands.

"Exactly." I add, hissing when I get popped again. "Can you do this?" I reluctantly ask Nikki, holding my wrist that's got a red splotch on it now and he pokes his lip out.

"Aww, poor baby," he says.

"Yeah, I am, actually." I reply and he chuckles, patting me on the ass to move me out of the way. "Thank you." I reply, kissing his cheek.

"Ew!" Jamey says, grossed out.

"Ew?!" I raise my brows, looking at him and he knows what's coming as he wiggles down from his chair. "Ew?!" I step to him and he tries to run but I catch him, making him kick his legs, squealing and laughing when I wrap my arms around him and pepper kisses to his cheek while tickling him.

"I'm sorry, mommy, I'm sorry!" He laughs out loudly.

I eventually have mercy on him, catching my breath and he turns on me, tickling me and kissing my cheek, making me laugh and fall over to the carpet.

Within a couple moments we're both out of breath and laying on the floor, looking up at the ceiling…

"So, when can we go get my hotwheels?" He asks me.

I look at him, his brown hair and green eyes, his little dimples shining with his mischievous yet wholesome smile.

"You are so much like your dad," I tell him, tickling his little apple juice belly sticking out of his transformers shirt, making him laugh again.

The phone starts ringing and I stand back up with a groan, holding my back, still sore from my antics with Nikki last night, and head to the phone in the kitchen.

"Hello?" I answer it, rubbing my lips together, seeing Jamey go to Nikki to try to watch him cook.

"H-Hey, Viv, it's Robbin." I hear on the other end and I glance at Nikki's back that's turned to me while he stands over the stove.

"Hey," I reply, turning my back, looking at the wall.

"I know we haven't spoken since me and Nikki got into it but...I really need to talk to you because I don't know who else to really go to about it that won't run their mouth, right now." He says shakily and I furrow my brows.

"What's going on?"

"I can't tell you over the phone, Viv, you know, I really can't, it's um...do you think you can meet me somewhere?"

"Now?"

"Well, tonight," He says.

"Um...I--yeah, yeah, I can." I nod, remembering we only have Jamey since Monroe and Santana are with Sharise.

"I'm staying at that shithole hotel off Sunset, right now." He tells me.

"Okay, I'll be down there in a couple hours." I say.

"Alright, see you then."

"Alright, bye,"

"Bye." We hang up and put the phone on the hook and let out a heavy sigh, rubbing my forehead.

"Who was that?" Nikki asks, putting the bacon onto a plate.

"Izzy's back in town to visit." I lie without skipping a beat. "He wants to hangout." I add.

"Oh." He mumbles, unconvinced, and I sigh out.

"Jamey, baby, go wash your hands for dinner." I tell him.

"Yes, ma'am." He says, walking back to his bathroom.

"Is me going out tonight a problem?" I ask him, crossing my arms.

"I didn't say that." He says, turning to face me. "I didn't say that at all." He passively shrugs.

"You're acting like it." I say next and he turns back around to pour the grease in the pan out as I grab my glass of water off the counter and take a sip.

"Just '91 and '92 all over again." He

mumbles, referring to the copious amounts of time I spent with Izzy on the Illusion tour.

I slam my glass down on the counter and glare at his back.

"If you wanna accuse me of another affair, you can, I don't care." I tell him.

"I'm not accusing you of anything."

"'Just like '91 and '92'? Did you forget you accused me multiple times of screwing Izzy in those two years or…?"

"Trust me, Viv, it's hard to forget your wife barely calling you to check in, barely taking your calls--"

"I was under a lot of stress and pressure, Nikki, I was tired and wasn't awake a majority of the times you'd call."

"You were also pregnant and had no Goddamn business--"

"--Don't say that word, Nikki--"

"--Even being on that tour." He ignores me.

I don't answer, trying to understand his perspective before things escalate.

"I love you, but I'm going after dinner." Is all I say.

"You say that like anything I've ever said has stopped you from doing exactly what you wanted to do." He says as I'm about to go to our room and I immediately turn on my heel and face him again.

"Excuse me?" I snap.

"I'm hungry!" Jamey yells from his hallway, running this way.

"I'll handle you later." Nikki promises me in a grumble and our son comes in before I can answer.

#gateway drug

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letsgetsquiggly · 3 years

Text

Gus and the Mirror Banshee

Its FFF time again! A great way to end my study week and begin my work week, with a splash of creative intent! Its another Gus and Bubblegum Girl story! I'm so happy I revisted these characters. The silly episode of the week format is so fun to do after a long day at work. For Flash Fiction Friday prompt #90 WordCount:1060 Warnings: Swearing, as per usual, and depictions of spooky girls.

@flashfictionfridayofficial

As per his Saturday routine, Gus rolls out of bed at 9:00 and slippers his feet, puts on a pot of decaf, and goes to do the crossword at his kitchen table. All is calm, all is right. That is until a frantic pounding comes thundering upon his door. "Gus…Gus. Gus? Gus. GUS! Guuuuuuuusssssssss. GusGusGusGusGusGus." It's an oh no moment for Gus, trouble has literally come knocking at his door. "Godammit Mol I'm not in the mood." He calls from his table. "This is serious, Gus. SUPER SERIOUS." "I won't help you find a lawyer, Karen has every right to file a restraining order against you after the garden gnome incident." "What? No that's not it. It's my house, Gus. IT'S HAUNTED." Gus Sighs as he walks over and opens his door. "I'm going back to bed." "GUS NO! I can't go back in there. Don't abandon me in my time of neeeddddd." Bubblegum Girl, BGG, Molly, falls to her knees and begins to sob profusely on the doorstep. "Alright alright. Calm down. Please, stop. MOLLY STOP CRYING ILL HELP YOU GODDAMMIT!" The wailing and crocodile tears cease and desist almost immediately at this declaration. She springs to her feet with a renewed vigor. "Alright Gus, the enemy is…" She darts her head left, and then right, checking for any invisible eavesdroppers." "Mary Bloody Mary." "Oh for fucks sake Mol." Gus shakes his head as he goes to swap out his Saturday slippers for some real shoes "There I was," BGG begins, "on wikipedia, expanding my worldly knowledge" "You were bored wasting time on the random article link" "When I stumbled across one of the saddest things I've ever read." The crunching of gravel under their feet ceases as BGG abruptly stops and waves her hand in front of her face as if unveiling a profound revelation. "The Bloody Mary of folklore," "Uh-huh," Gus grumbled weakly "The article stated that she helps women get a glance at their future husbands. Sometimes though," Her hand darts to the doorknob and she turns her head sharply to face Gus, pausing for dramatic effect. "She murders the very women who summons her." He offers this simple reply, "Alright, so why is that sad?" "Well, she's a lady who lives in a mirror right? She's lonely Gus! She obviously just kills women because they don't want to be her friend! I understand why. It's very rude to summon a being from across the veil to just have her do simple parlor tricks" Gus gives his shoes a mindless wipe against the welcome mat at the entrance to the abode. "Right, sure." BGG was twisting the door handle at this point and stepped through the doorway into a vivid and wild technicolor interior. "So there I was in my bathroom, lights off, candles all around me, ready to summon and befriend the lonely mirror specter. I chanted over and over, "Bloody Mary Bloody Mary." In an instant, all the candles went out, the light bulbs in my vanity began to flicker, and the image of a shadow emerged in the mirror before me." "I'm sure it did Mol." Gus's idle gaze wander from band posters to Pollock-like paint splotches, to motivational kitten posters. The decorum of Bubblegum Girl's house was giving his no-nonsense brain whiplash. "Gus, are you listening?" "Ya, of course…" He trailed off as his eye caught several empty helium tanks and a plethora of un-blown balloons. "The shadow took the form of sickly skinny girl with long stringy black hair. Something seemed up with her eyes like they were missing? Or all black? Anyway, naturally, I said hello and introduced myself, and tried to make her feel welcome. I was all like "Hi Mary! It is SO nice to meet you! I'm BGG, Bubblegum Girl, my less fun real name is Molly though. I read about you on Wikipedia and your life sounded kinda sad and lonely, so I'm here to be your new best friend! We can talk about boys and I can show you all my favorite internet memes and you can feel loved and stop murdering people." BBG had led Gus up a flight of stairs and now stood outside a bright pink door with what he assumed was a stolen public bathroom sign with one of those upsidedown triangle women on it. "I figured she'd be super stoked right? I didn't summon her to just use her like everyone else. I, you known, cared about her well-being and interests and junk. We would be each others' friends from the other side of the veil. How cool is that?" As she reached out to the bathroom door in front of them she stopped to look at Gus, expecting a response. He was looking past her down the hall trying to catch a glimpse of some of the other illogical horrors that existed in this residence "I SAID, how cool is that Gus?" "Oh, cool, I guess?" "Right! It is cool, and a very nice, sincere gesture. Well, she didn't seem interested. In fact, she seemed pretty steamed that I summoned her at all. So you know what she did? She tried to STRANGLE ME. It was super uncalled for. I tried to tell her if she didn't want to be my friend she could have just said something, and that she should go back home. BUT THEN SHE WOULDN'T LEAVE. She was starting to pull herself out of the mirror when I left, so I shut the door and ran over the most intense, serious, intimidating person I knew! Your so stern and commanding Gus, she'll have to go home if you tell her too." BGG started to push the door open as she beamed at Gus as if she was dumping all the world's confidence into him. He returns her beam with a furrowed brow and a slight frown. "Look Mol, I'm sure all this is very real and actually happened. If I go in there and tell your mirror to leave you alone; you don't get to bother me on a Saturday for another month. Deal?" "Deeeeaaaaallllllll!" She sings as she flings open the door, revealing a shadowy, sickly woman with pale skin and stringy black hair. She loomed over Gus and stared at him with empty sockets. Gus drew a sharp inhale and slowly craned his head up to meet Mary Bloody Mary's Gaze. "You've got to be fucking kidding me."

#flash fiction #flashfictionfridayofficial #Flash Fiction Friday #writeblr #short story #mary bloody mary #mirror image #The Adventures of Grumpy Gus and Bubblegum Girl #If you read this thank you!

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ateezmakemeweep · 4 years

Photo

richboy!seonghwa (part 20)

word count: 5k

slight angst, fluff

(part 19) (series masterlist)

a week after yeosang's conversation with seonghwa, you both had your first official date. and in true fashion, he hadn't given you any warning about it.

because when you plopped down in his passenger seat that friday afternoon, you were ready for him to drop you home so you could spend the night in bed and finish your drama.

you made sure to tell him all about the absurd developments that had happened thus far: a car accident, two comas, followed by inevitable amnesia, a kidnapping and now a potential long-lost brother.

"we don't really know if they're actually brothers or if he's just pretending to be so he can get close to-"

and it's because of your rambling that you don't notice he passed your house, that he'd been going in the very opposite direction for about fifteen minutes, until he pulled into a random parking lot full of retail stores.

"where are we?" you suddenly squeak in confusion.

"no, please, go on about that ridiculous soap opera," he says dryly, "i've been so intrigued."

you narrow your eyes at his sarcastic tone, bending down to look around at the stores before back to him.

"i'm serious, yeosang!"

"so am i!" he quips, "but i think i'm more interested in the love triangle, because i know there's one. let me guess, the main lead is a good boy, handsome and probably pretty perfect while the other one is-"

"a giant asshole? dark? tortured? and the one who kidnapped her? yes," you snap, "so it's all feeling very familiar right about now."

he turns off the engine with a snort, jumping out of the car before going around to open your passenger side door. but despite his act of chivalry, you stay inside belligerently while keeping your eyes narrowed at him.

"why do you have to be like this?" he asks, letting out a heavy sigh.

"why can't you just tell me why we're here? you were supposed to bring me home," you whine.

"and now we have a date tonight, so let's go."

your mouth falling open causes a smirk to cross his face before he promptly turns around and makes his way toward the strip of stores. you let out an annoyed huff watching him cockily walk away from his car, not once turning around to see if you're following him.

and why would he when he knows you're going too? because you're quick to get out and follow after him out of pure confusion and interest, the sound of his door slamming and your yelp of "wait!" causing a content smile to cross his face.

"we're gonna paint your entire house?!" you squeal in the aisle five minutes later, eyes roaming over what seems like hundreds of cans of paint and color options on the wall.

"the pool-house," he corrects gently, arms folded over the front of the cart as he watches you have a slight mental breakdown in the middle of the store.

"ugh, what a rich boy thing to say," you scoff before adding, "and are you really trying to pass off making us do manual labor as a first date?"

"oh, i'm sorry, were you expecting a helicopter ride to a rooftop dinner in paris?" he asks, arms bumping as you walk next to each other. "and here i thought you were a humble girl."

you scoff at him again and he bites his lip so he doesn't burst out laughing at your disgusted face. "that doesn't even deserve a response and you know it."

"okay, then how about you shut your mouth and pick a color."

and apparently your complaints of 'manual labor' from just ten seconds ago are long forgotten because he watches your whole face brighten, an excited gasp of "i get to choose?!" escaping your mouth before you excitedly flip through the color splotches.

now that you think about it, it's actually quite a humble thing for a person with money to do. you had always assumed one would hire professionals to paint their homes, not wanting to put in the time and tedious work themselves.

because when you and your parents moved into your new house, you painted all the walls yourselves and it's clear by the numerous drip marks and laughable areas of uneven color. but it had been a fun bonding experience that you never thought in a million years you'd be sharing with the boy next to you.

"this is pretty," you say quietly, tapping your finger on a light yellow that has his face falling into a grimace.

"it's not for a nursery, y/n," he mumbles from behind you, the close proximity of his voice causing you to jump. you hadn't realized he had moved closer to you as you browsed, his chest now pressed up right against your back. you feel the breath of his words grazing your skin as he looks over your shoulder.

"how 'bout that?" he asks, his arm brushing yours as he points to the most hideous shade of brown you'd ever seen.

"that is so ugly," you bluntly state, his deep chuckle rumbling in your ear as he pulls his arm back to rest on your shoulder. you try not to jump at the open affection and touch he's giving you, his hand ever so often squeezing gently.

"oooh, what about this?" you ask, craning your neck up to show him the color sample. your cheeks nearly touch from how close your faces are now, holding your breath as you watch him look at it before meeting your gaze. you resist the urge to swallow nervously, his teasing eyes now looking right into yours.

"pretty," he mumbles, "it'll do."

you snap yourself out of it and nod, moving yourself in front of the cart and pretending to read all about what sheen to buy. because "flat? semi-gloss? matte? how are we to know?" you awkwardly choke out.

your cheeks warm when your hear his chuckle, his footsteps moving toward you until his arms reach around you to grasp the bar of the cart.

"you know, you talk a lot of shit one minute and then get unbelievably nervous the next," he lowly mumbles in your ear. "quite easily, might i add."

"i'm not nervous," you snap, placing your hands in the middle of the bar as you to start to push it down the aisle. "what gave you that impression?"

but nervous, you are. because how could you not be, with your body trapped between him and the cart? feeling his steady heartbeat against your back and the breath of his laughter in your ear.

"nothing," he hums, grateful you're in front of him so you don't see his smirk. you two walk through the store like that, his arms around you as you both clumsily push the cart and buy the rest of the supplies for your 'date.'

"oh, my god and why are you using so much!" yeosang complains an hour later; he made sure to cover the floor that morning and felt very grateful for it since you were, apparently, quite the messy painter.

"okay, weren't you supposed to be doing that wall!" you squeal, shoving him away before continuing to roll on the light blue paint. the both of you were happy with the choice, a nice, very much needed contrast to the black, modern furniture in the pool house.

it was overwhelmingly obvious it was the space of a boy who lived alone, walls bare of photos and the only pop of color coming from the extra set of red towels his mom had left in the kitchen. you had been refraining from asking more about the situation, curious if he ever ventured out into the main house or made it a point to avoid it at all costs.

"if you somehow manage to destroy this floor, i will-"

and that's how the first tragedy started, you so boldly dipping your finger in the tray and poking two blue dots on his face. he stared at you in shock for a second, like he was trying to decipher if you really just did that, while you held back the laugh desperate to bubble out of your chest.

"you didn't."

"i did," you say playfully, "and it shut you up for a few seconds so i just might do it-"

roller in hand, he's quick to smear it over your entire cheek, wet paint grazing your skin and the stray hairs that have fallen out of your bun. your gasp and open-mouthed stare causes his deep chuckle to echo through the pool-house, a sound so foreign to those walls.

"you got my whole face!" you yelp, holding your own roller out like it's a weapon. "i did two little specks on your cheek."

"two specks too many and now you look ridiculous. so i hope you're hap-"

you quickly roll the paint over both his cheeks now, first the right then the left, before dropping it in the pan and running over to the safe zone in the kitchen.

a smile crosses your face as you look at him with a giggle, the boy just standing there in disbelief before his neck snaps up to look at you.

"you're done," is all you hear his deep voice say, the dark teasing causing excitement to run through you until you see him going over to pick up the roller you dropped.

"yeosang, no," you get out, watching his figure stomp towards you, both paint weapons in hand before a nervous laugh erupts. "yeosang, no! the floor isn't-"

you run to lock yourself into the bathroom when you feel paint cover the back of your neck, a scream leaving your mouth as his arm wraps around your waist. "stop it," you squeal, wriggling against him but it only causes him to tighten his hold.

"no way, you started this!" he says, smiling at the giggles that leave your mouth despite the messy paint covering your bodies. your hands fly to his arms, attempting to pry them off as you move against him before the roller blindly swipes over the other side of your face.

"yeosang! my eye!" you gasp, hand flying up to cover it. he immediately drops the rollers onto the hardwood floor, quickly turning you in his hold and bringing his hands to your face.

"shit," he grunts out, his hand on your cheeks as he assess your face. "did i get a lot in?"

"yes!" you whine, "i'm gonna be blind now! what the hell!"

"i'm sorry," he says, "let me see it." his touch is soft on your face, his finger grazing your cheek in an attempt to knock your hold off. but you refuse, head turning to the side causing him to huff.

"c'mon, y/n, let me see."

a small whine leaves your mouth as you rub at your eye, a soft deep beg of "please," leaving his lips as he watches your face twist into a grimace.

and the gentleness in his voice almost makes you feel bad for your next move, skirting around him to take a hold of both the rollers with your unharmed eyes popped open.

your innocent giggle only heightens when you see the look that crosses his face, a hint of disbelief and anger with maybe even the tiniest inkling of pride; because perhaps he can even appreciate a sneaky move like that.

"that was dirty," he says lowly, shaking his head as a smile pulls at his lips.

"you're dirty!" you yelp, walking backwards with the rollers outstretched. "now, i will give this back if you stop talking shit and just paint your side.

"but there's no reason for you to use-"

you push the roller towards him threateningly, hoping to see him draw back in fear but per usual he just looks at you in amusement, eyebrow raised with a smirk.

"okay, fine," he says, throwing his hands up defensively because cute. "i won't talk shit about how you waste gallons of paint and drip it down the walls when you could just-"

"shh, all you needed to say was i won't talk shit," you say, sending him a teasing smile before politely putting down the roller on his side. "now i will be minding my own business over there."

he watches you prance over to the other side of the room, rolling over the blue paint far too many times before smearing it carelessly on the walls. he resists the urge to groan until you turn around and look at him, nodding your head at him excitedly.

because even though he'll have to go over it with extra diligence tomorrow, he can't quite find it in himself to care. not when he looks over to see you wiggling happily as you paint, humming under your breath before a shy look crosses your face when you catch his gaze.

he bites his lip so he doesn't chuckle, snapping his head back to the wall to paint. and it goes pretty smoothly for both of you, minimal arguing and instead falling into an accidental game of 21 questions.

"okay, i have another one," you say, hands on your hips as you look up at the rest of the wall, "how are we supposed to get up there?" because while you were able to get most of it, there was still a hint of the original white wall at the top.

you eye the ladder he brings out warily, testing it out and shaking on it. "okay, well obviously you should be staying still," he says with a roll of his eyes. you side-eye him coldly, asking him if he really knows how many injuries are caused by these death traps before shooing him away with the roller.

and you're almost done with the wall when your own impending ladder doom comes. paintbrush exchanged for the roller, you stretch up to cover the wall with one final swipe when you feel the shaky, metal clatter beneath you.

you quickly grab onto the side, letting out a silent gasp before taking a few seconds to steady yourself. and you only try again because you feel steady enough, rising up on your tippy toes to get one last swipe when the clattering is back.

your foot wobbles unsteadily first, the metal plank noisy and trembling beneath you before you completely lose your footing. your arm desperately reaches out to grab the side but you miss, letting out a squeal of yeosang's name before you feel two strong hands on your waist.

his arm wraps around you before plopping you down on the ground safely, spinning you in his hold with a blank look in his eyes.

"you gotta be kidding me," he says, humor lacing in his tone. you look up to see his eyes on you, the warm teasing look causing your cheeks to flush in embarrassment and maybe something else.

"that wasn't my fault," you say, poking his chest lightly.

"oh no?" he hums, "because i think that's what you get for making me think i made you blind for a minute."

you cover your mouth with a giggle, both of you looking around at the light blue walls as his hands still rest on you. "i think we did a good job."

"we did, right?" he hums, his hand coming up to scratch some of the dry paint off your face. "i think we're done for the day. even though half of it is on your face and the other half is still soaked onto your roller."

he sees the fire in your eyes before your hand comes up to smack him, gently grabbing your wrist to halt it. "i'm kidding, i'm kidding," he says, resisting the urge to laugh at you.

you let out a tiny huff, your hand coming up to the back of your neck covered with the uncomfortable stiffness of dried paint.

"you wanna take a shower?" and whether it's because of his deep, smooth voice or the idea of him asking you that, your eyes widen.

"alone. do you wanna take a shower alone, you sicko," he says, moving a dried, blue strand of a hair out of your face before smirking. "unless..."

another resounding smack on his arm echoes through the house, a chuckle leaving his mouth before he takes your hand in his and leads you into the bathroom.

astounded by just how long his hot water lasts, you probably spent far too much time in there. rinsing your hair and body as clumps of blue swirl down the drain. you put on the sweatpants and t-shirt he left folded on the sink for you, inhaling the scent of detergent and his natural scent before being greeted by the sight of him standing over the oven.

the smell of spices fill the small space, the evening breeze coming through the opened windows so you guys don't get gassed out by paint fumes. you pad over to see him stirring noodles, peeking over his shoulder on your tippy toes.

"i didn't know you could cook."

"of course i can," he says cockily, "a guy's gotta eat, right?"

he scoops a noodle out of the pot to feed it to you when he turns to see a slight pout on your face, his words making something tug at your heart.

"what happened now?" he huffs, pushing the spoon between your lips with a concerned look on his face. he watches you furrow your eyebrows at him but chew nonetheless, giving him a thumbs up before you lean back on the counter.

"nothing," you squeak after swallowing, "i just..." you notice now his hair is damp and his body's void of paint. "wait, did you shower also?"

"yes," he says, raising his eyebrow at your confusion. "in case you forgot, the real house is just a few feet away."

"oh..." so that answers your question from before. "i wasn't sure if you..."

"went in there?" he offers with a smirk. you shyly nod, your lips pursing into one another nervously. because nothing could ruin a date more than mentioning a possibly strained relationship with his only remaining parent.

"i usually don't, my step-dad's a bit of dick," he grumbles before his eyebrows raise sarcastically, "so naturally, we don't get along."

"but you're not a dick," you mumble.

because he can be, you'll be the first to admit it, but at his core it's becoming more and more obvious he's just a little damaged. horrific childhood experiences and the effects of needing to grow up quickly shaping him into a person whose first instinct is to hurt people so they can't hurt him first.

he turns to look at you with a smirk, his hands gripping your hips suddenly and lifting you to sit on the counter with a squeal. "did hell just freeze over?"

an exasperated look crosses your face, letting out a tiny sigh that causes his lips to turn into a soft smile.

"you can be a dick, more often than not," you make sure to clarify, "but you're not a dick. or a bad person."

his eyes roam over your face, a strange feeling shooting through his heart before he leans forward to peck your lips. your eyes widen at the easy, casual way in which he does it, before his warm mouth is on yours. he smiles against your lips when he feels them part, his hand moving to rest on your thigh as he slips his tongue in cheekily.

you bite down on his lower lip thinking you'll have the upper-hand now until a squeal leaves your mouth at his hand tightening on your thigh.

"stop it," you mumble against his lips.

"you stop it," he counters, dipping his head to place a lingering kiss on your neck. "getting so brave like you won't be a shy mess in three seconds."

the hissing sound of water overflowing has yeosang pulling himself away from you, turning down the heat as you watch him stir with a smile. your eyes roam over his face, chiseled jaw and perfect cheekbones and his damp, dark hair falling into natural waves.

you ask if you can help do anything and even though he says no, you take it upon yourself to set the small table for two. he shakes his head at you so brazenly going through his cabinets for cups and bowls but a part of him loves seeing you that comfortable. because the whole thing is really so domestic, a day of shopping and painting completed with dinner and a movie at home.

yeosang watches you take the first bite, anticipation written all over his face as you swirl the noodles and messily plop them in your mouth. his smile widens when you exclaim how good it is, the shyest "thanks" leaving him as he dabs at your mouth with a napkin.

he pulls back to see a blush creeping up on your face and has the balls to laugh, like you're not supposed to be flustered by him being like this.

"stop laughing," you whine, throwing your hands over your cheeks.

"i can't help it," he smiles, that uncharacteristic softness slipping back into his tone. "you're cute."

an awkward giggle leaves your mouth, shaking your head at him.

"what?" he asks, nodding his head toward you with a smirk.

"what do you mean, what?!" you squeak, "who are you to make me feel this flustered?"

his loud chuckle booms through the pool-house, turning his head to the side so you don't see just how wide his smile could get. and it's brewing in him to blurt out that you're his, that you've been his for quite some time and now he hopes to make it official.

but he waits for dinner to finish, poking fun at your messy eating habits and pink cheeks while you scoff at him and kick his legs under the table. you quickly gather the dishes as he goes to set the living room up with a movie and an array of blankets and pillows on the couch.

"yeosang, no, wait, i'm almost-"

his arm tightly wraps around your waist while the other one reaches out to turn off the faucet before he dragging you towards the couch. he throws himself down, your body falling right onto his and if your arms didn't reach out to stop yourself you probably would've face planted right onto him.

"that isn't fair, you cooked," you whine with a pout, "the least i could've done was clean up."

"well, i can think of other ways for you to make it up to me," he mumbles, pulling your face down till your lips are only a few inches away.

"wow, aren't you so smooth," you say back, words sarcastic and biting despite your heated gaze falling to his lips.

his confident assertion of "yes" causes you to giggle until your lips meet again tonight, mouths parting on one another as you quickly fall into the steady, natural movements. because kissing him shouldn't be this easy, your lips shouldn't fit and melt into each other so perfectly.

but it is, tongues clashing and breathy sighs leaving your mouths as you both feel yourselves quickly getting more heated. his hands grip your hips roughly, your own coming up to rest on the arm of the couch to give you more leverage.

and then in a daring move, you plop yourself down a little more on his lap, smirking against his lips when you hear a harsh hiss leave his mouth.

"careful," he warns lowly, feeling his adam's apple bob when you start to slowly kiss and lick and bite down his neck.

but because you wanna do the exact opposite, because you wanna see him close to losing his control and composure, you suddenly lean yourself back and pull him up just to straddle his hips with a playful wiggle of your eyebrows.

"now why would i wanna do that?" you mumble, turning your head to the side coyly, "when i could just get you-"

he pulls your face down you meet his again, mouths crashing as he completely dominates the kiss. his tongue pushing past your lips as he swallows your surprised groans and squeaks, his arms wrapped tightly around your waist.

"yeosang," you whine when he pulls away, taking a fist full of your hair and tugging your neck back ever so slightly. his hot, wet tongue trails down your skin before he bites down, sucking that sensitive spot right above your collar bone causing a strangled, extremely obvious moan to leave your mouth.

"so that's what you sound like," he hums against your skin. your head snaps back up when he pulls your hair again, your overwhelmed heated gazes meeting.

"what do you sound like?" you ask, attempting to grind yourself down on his lap before his hands fly to your waist to halt it.

"we're not talking about me, baby," he hums. "we're talking about you."

your wide eyes stare back at him, like you're already completely trapped under the spell he's about to put on you.

"you're mine now. you know that, right?"

and despite the lust and desire creeping through your veins, the slight building of pressure between your legs, your heart still jumps and flutters and your glossy eyes widen. because you shouldn't like that so much. like the sound of him telling you your his.

"hm?" he hums, pulling your head down to peck your lips. you try to deepen the kiss but he quickly pulls away, leaned back cockily as he roams over your flushed face. "do you like that? do you want that?"

"to be...yours?" you ask breathily, turning your head to the side questioningly. "like...your girlfriend?"

he smirks at the title, watching your chest heave up and down and trying to control his own. because the feeling of you under him is killing him, especially when you've been moving back and forth so teasingly. but he has to make sure this is done tonight, right now, at this very moment.

"if you want that," he hums.

"i want to," you say and it's surprisingly sweet despite the compromising position. so maybe that's why he asks you for clarification, asks to hear you say "i wanna be yours" fully as you stare at him with want and need and desire.

"good," he says with finality.

and something about the whole situation then causes you to giggle, your head throw back in laughter as your hazy mind thinks back to the first time you had the (dis)pleasure of meeting this man.

"um...i'm y/n, by the way," you tell the boy quietly causing him to stop short and you nearly bump into him. he turns around, looking at you with a quizzical expression and you swallow the panic rising in your throat. "thank you...i know this is probably the last thing you wanna do during your lunch period so i really appreciate-"

"yeah, you're right," he snaps, rolling his eyes, "so why don't you just shut up and follow me?"

"oh god, what has you laughing now?" he asks, tone dripping with annoyance despite the humor laced in it.

"nothing," you say innocently, smiling brightly at him. "but you know, i've been having some trouble with my work, maybe you can like tutor me or-"

your words are quickly cut off by his lips crashing on to yours one final time, giggling against his mouth as you wrap your arms around his shoulders to deepen the kiss.

and it's your very giggles and sighs that can be heard through the backyard later that night, hongjoong and seonghwa deciding to creep through their friend's yard and inform him of their plan to go to the amusement park tomorrow.

"was it san's idea?" seonghwa asks as they open the gate quietly, the automatic light shining down on them in the dark night.

"of course, the giant baby," hongjoong quips causing seonghwa to laugh quietly. they make their way towards the pool house when the smaller boy hesitantly speaks up again. "how are you with y/n? should we invite her too?"

a small sigh leaves the boy as he shrugs, watching the water ripple through yeosang's heated pool from the chilly breeze. because he's been trying to slowly talk to you again, refusing to go back to his seat in 4th period but at least acknowledging you know with polite smiles and waves.

"we're fine, i guess...i just feel so stupid to be...upset about it still. because we were never anything," he explains, "and now i feel bad because i can barely talk to her in class but here i am being friend's with yeosang again."

"well yeah," hongjoong says, "but you didn't have, like, crazy feelings for him and want to kiss him."

seonghwa quietly chuckles as he nods his head because "that's true, i definitely don't wanna kiss yeosang."

hongjoong squints as he makes his way closer to the pool house door, seeing what looks like two figures on the couch lit up the flashing television. he only needs to take three steps closer to see it's you straddling yeosang's lap in a heated make-out session.

his eyes widen before he throws out his arm to stop seonghwa, the boy nearly falling forward.

"what are you doing?"

"he's busy," is the only thing hongjoong says, "let's go. we'll just text him."

"wait, what? how do you know?" seonghwa questions, something about his friend's tone unnerving him.

"i can just tell, c'mon," hongjoong says, attempting to push seonghwa back towards the pool. but it only heightens the boy's suspicions, moving his friends arm out of the way before his eyes look through the glass door into the pool house.

and it's at that exact moment you pull back from yeosang's lips with a giggle, your head thrown back in laughter before your squeal rings through the open window as he pushes you back down onto the couch.

seonghwa's quick to snap his gaze away, mumbling "oh," under his breath and trying to ignore the awful pang in his chest. because he's been working not to be angry or upset, understanding just how important you must be to his best friend for him to open up to you and form some sort of bond.

but that doesn't mean he wanted to see that, see you both so happy and giggly as you sit there on his lap and he gets to hold you. he stomps out of the backyard, ignoring the conflicting emotions of pain and anger and resentment swirling in his body.

hongjoong follows the boy with a sigh, grateful he was able to catch the gate before it swung back with a bang.

"are you okay?" the smaller boy asks stupidly; but what else can one say after seeing that?

"yeah."

but both the boys can hear that he's not okay, that maybe dealing with this is gonna be a lot harder than he thought.

(part 21)

#seonghwa #yeosang #seonghwa fluff #yeosang fluff #seonghwa angst #yeosang angst #ateez fic #seonghwa fic #yeosang fic #ateez fluff #ateez angst

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ggukstummy · 4 years

Text

so let them bloom

pairing: Painter! Taehyung x Reader, Angel! Jimin x Reader

genre: angst, just angst. pure angst. hopefully i make you cry :')

one line description: (Y/n) fell in love that could never be.

word count: 3k

Petals.

All she could feel were the petals stuck in her chest.

So let them bloom. She watched him, Kim Taehyung, The man behind the flowers in her lungs. because he was so beautiful, who wouldn’t grow a garden for him? (Y/n) took notice of the little details, his tiny mole and his beautiful laugh. The gallery he put together was finally for the whole world to see and visit, and the paintings proved his talent and hard work had made this moment finally happen.

(Y/n) turned her head away from staring at him talking to a friend, she was desperate to keep this a secret. This one sided crush, though the tightness on her throat begged to differ. This was no crush. And she knew that her heart ached because she was longing to just be in his arms. A sigh came to her, then a fit of coughs trailed after and the hands on her sides quickly covered her mouth, something was coming out. Taehyung looked to his best friend and the boxy smile he wore was immediately replaced with a concerned frown.

“Are you okay, (Y/n)?”

“As fresh as a Daisy!” she chuckled, one palm behind her as she turned to look at him, the twinkle on his eyes grew brighter at her words, and he laughed a bit before he resumed talking to his friend.

Her grip on the blood red petals tightened.

Jimin’s dazed eyes made contact with Taehyung’s. He murmured tiny yes’s and granted his friend a few nods. Jimin wasn’t really into the conversation anymore, not after the girl he’s looking after had just spoken.

Park Jimin was an angel. He had no business being here, save for the fact that his target was standing behind him. (Y/n) was fated to die the moment she fell in love with Kim Taehyung, and while she might look like she’s admiring the golden splotches on a framed piece, he knew what she was trying to distract herself from; the crimson flowers in her hand. He had been very intrigued with the concept of love. Who would ever risk dying in the name of such sin?

Not him, never.

Because love was forbidden for angels. Jimin was destined, doomed to never feel. Attachments are useless in an angel’s line of work, and would only hinder their purpose- to take the lives of their assigned targets. He found the idea of Grim Reapers almost silly. Never in his life had he seen such a hilarious belief of hooded gruesome figures taking people’s lives, when the only ones doing so couldn’t be more opposite. If they knew death looked as beautiful as his kin, would they seek it?

Taehyung, as much as he enjoyed talking about his paintings, found his friend staring at the distance, and he craned his head to see what had caught the petite man’s attention. Seeing his line of gaze pointed at (Y/n), he giggled a little before poking fun at him.

“That beautiful lady you’re staring at is (Y/n)!” Taehyung beamed, “She’s my good friend, wanna meet her?”

Jimin snapped his head back to Taehyung, “Huh? Yes- I mean no! No, no thanks.”

“Why not? You’re a nice person and single. She’s a nice person and single, I can try hook you up with her, she’s a good person!”

“Just- no. I’m not looking for anyone right now.” Jimin’s ran his hand through his locks, the beautiful black tousles in his touch, “I thought I told you that already.”

“That was three months ago!” The blond responded, a scrunched forehead made way into his handsome face, “I just don’t want you to pass a chance when they’re right there! (Y/n) doesn’t like anyone right now!”

“How do you know that?”

“I know her Jimin. I’ve known her since I was little, since SHE was little. Trust me, I would know whether she liked someone or not.”

Jimin kept silent, deciding to sip on the drink he had in his right hand to avoid speaking of the matter. Even if Taehyung were successful in finding him a partner, he would never truly be able to love them like how humans love. That’s just in his nature, how he was created. Besides, he was certain he wouldn’t stick around long enough for this human to find him anyone. Once (Y/n) dies, which is due soon, he would be gone from his life forever.

It was a sunny day the first time Jimin spoke to (Y/n), when the woman had been tending the stray cat who roamed around her block. It wasn’t that Jimin tried to approach (Y/n), no, as he had always been around to watch over her just in case she died a death that wasn’t hers, but maybe that day he was too close, for the cat’s ear flicked up as soon as it could sense his presence, and he couldn’t help that angels just naturally attract living forms.

“Hey- hey! Don’t just jump out of my arms after you had taken all my food-”

Beautiful brown orbs blink back at her, and (Y/n) soon found herself wishing that she hadn’t spoken so loudly to the orange feline. Was that what brought him here?

“Oh! I- I didn’t realize there was somebody here!”An awkward smile painted her face, “Is he yours?”

Ah. She must be referring to the content kitty purring in his arms. Jimin shook his head, fingers absentmindedly stroking the forehead of the little creature. “You come here everyday to take care of him, you know he is a stray.”

“How’d you know that?”

“I live around here.”

“Well, he seems to like you.” The woman stated, “I’m glad that there’s someone other than me looking out for him! I’m not always going to be here.”

Jimin knew what she meant.

And he knew he should have gone back home after that, should’ve let the cat out of his hold and mutter a response before never meeting her again. Jimin had already messed up when she found out he watched her feed the cat everyday, and by god he needed to keep his sights straight. This is his job. He needed to complete it and move on to the next target.

But Jimin came everyday anyway.

He came everyday to talk to her, convincing himself that this was in his line of work, that he was taking pity on this mere human, about to die in weeks for her love would never be returned.

“Jimin, hi!”

“(Y/n)!”

A meow came then, perhaps the cat greeted them both. (Y/n) knelt down to scratch the cat, looking at Jimin with a brow raised as she did so, “You’re here everyday now too, where do you actually live? I still don’t know.”

“That’s not that important,” Jimin pointed to a random street, “It’s that way. I don’t live near here.”

“Well, you must love this kitty to come here everyday then!” (Y/n) giggled, booping its pink nose. The orange calico looked at her confusedly. “You feel that kitty?? The love from Jimin? I bet it must feel nice, being coddled everyday like this!”

Meanwhile, the man being talked about had gone quiet. Love? Does he love this cat? He shook his head, no, it isn’t the cat that he looked forward to every time he came here.

He stared at both of the mortals, nothing but a soft smile slowly formed on his face. And he knew he wasn’t supposed to feel this way, or feel at all for that matter. But the moment was just too perfect not to relish in..

“I guess I really do love her.”

(Y/n) made eye contact with the angel, “Sorry, the rascal was trying to bite my hand. What were you saying?”

“The cat.” He grinned, “I guess I really do love the cat.”

(Y/n) didn’t know what it was about the man named Park Jimin. She couldn’t deny her attraction towards him, it almost felt otherworldly, inhuman even. He was beautiful and stunning and gorgeous.

But this wasn’t love, it could never be, not as long as these flowers in her lungs still bloom and this ache in her chest still stayed whenever she thought of Kim Taehyung.

Her dry chuckle at the thought brought Jimin’s attention towards her figure. Jimin looked at her before turning his attention back towards the cat, petting him softly then standing up to greet her.

“(Y/n), hello.” His cheeks lift slowly to form a soft smile, “Come play with me and the kitty.”

The woman grinned back at him, she wasn’t feeling well today, so she just decided to briefly stop by, knowing Jimin would take care of the rest regarding the cat they had decided to take care of together somehow.

“Unfortunately, I’m only here to drop you these today,” she pulled out an opened can of sardines and a ball of yarn and handed them to him. The cat was biting the dirty toy mouse Jimin had gotten him. She would have to wash that, she noted. But not today. She couldn’t be bothered today. Something felt off and she just wanted to go home and sleep. “I don’t feel good, I think I just need some rest.”

“Are you sure?” Jimin quickly put down the can of sardines for the cat to munch on, dropping the ball of yarn as well. “I can accompany you home if you’d like.”

“No, Jimin-” a headache shot through her, “I’m fine. I can get home myself at least.”

The frown on Jimin’s face was clear as day, clearly he did not like the idea of letting her go back alone, yet he nodded and wished her a safe journey back home. The black haired man turned to look at the cat again, happily gobbling his food. Without thinking, he started petting the furry creature once more, mind going elsewhere.

Jimin, you’ve crossed the line. He told himself. Why’d you offer to take her home? You promised yourself this is as far as you would take it. She is human and you are an angel. This has to sto-

“Ouch!” The bubble he had put himself in burst when the calico decided to bite his wristwatch, he gave him a stern look, “Bad kitty, look what you’ve done to my watch..”

Jimin sulked, looking at his watch now sporting a scratch, at least it didn’t cover up important parts like the numbers and date. Jimin continued his activity of giving love to the cat, his fingers curling to lovingly stroke his head before something passed his mind.

Oh no.

He looked back at his watch.

He sucked in a breath.

Oh no no no.

The date.

It was 20th May.

Jimin had never had his mind this empty, hear every beat of his heart this loud. He had never stood up and ran this quickly, eyes dilated, and if he could give out cold sweat like humans could, he would’ve. He near flew towards the direction of (Y/n)’s home, almost revealing his white feathers for every passerby to see.

How could he forget his work? The sole task he was given when he was sent down to earth? The longer he took to get to her, the longer she would feel the flowers. He had to be by her side in an instant, to free her from their blooms.

It hadn’t been two minutes before Jimin saw her lying down on a bed of flowers, coughing, crying in pain and clutching her chest. Jimin almost instinctively ran towards her, wanting nothing more than to cradle her head, easing her of her hurt that he almost didn’t notice his good friend had already did that for him.

Kim Taehyung.

The man himself.

Jimin didn’t know what to do. He watched the intimate moment between them both, cursed the disease silently as he stared at the two of them. He knew he had to flick his finger and reap her soul, take her away for the head angel to decide what next. But Jimin decided to give them both mercy, for (Y/n) had taught him empathy and sympathy. He granted them one last chance to talk to each other.

Taehyung had found (Y/n) collapsed on a sea of red near the river he usually passed by to go home. His fingers trembled, sweating bullets and he lifted his friend’s head to lay on his thigh while he crouched so shakily he thought he might’ve passed out. Why is- why is she coughing so loudly? Why is her face so scrunched up in pain and her throat- oh god, why does it sound like she couldn’t breath?

He had thought it was blood that she was coughing out, panic taking over him so much until he took a deep breath to calm down before realizing that this- this wasn’t blood.

These were flowers.

Taehyung’s world stopped, his best friend was hurting because of some person?

“...Who?”

Fate was cruel, fate was cruel because not only did (Y/n)’s life was about to be taken away for she loved a man that didn’t love her back, fate also decided that the same man would be a nice man. A good man. A man who would feel guilty finding out that he was the reason somebody died.

(Y/n)’s coughs subsided. Was this what little mercy god had given her? To talk to the culprit of her death? The man she loved so much she would die for him?

She wanted to look at Taehyung so badly, but his stare was too heavy and she was too weak.

“...You.”

If Taehyung’s world stopped before, it came crashing down right after.

“Me..?”

Maybe (Y/n) shouldn’t have told him, then Taehyung could’ve continue living his life guilt-free, safe from not knowing, but some selfish part of her which had dreamed for his arms for so long couldn’t hold back much longer.

“Yes, you.” Her eyes twinkled, finally looking at the man, she can feel death closer than ever and though the tightness was still in her chest, she felt a burden lift from her shoulders, “I love you Kim Taehyung.”

Why him?

“No,” Taehyung could feel his heart break, “No. You- you don’t love me. You don’t. Don’t- don’t do this (Y/n). I would never- I would never cause you so much pain. ”

“You didn’t Taehyung.” The smile she gave him was so beautiful, and he loved her so much, god he loved her so- so much- but not in the way she loved him back. “Nobody did. I put this upon myself, and I’m happy.”

“Are you really?” The tears started falling, like drops of glitter onto her cheek, “(Y/n), are you really?”

“Couldn’t be happier.” She grinned, the bloom in her throat much more apparent to her.

He clutched her tighter to his chest, wishing, praying to every power out there to do something. Make him love her. Make her love someone else. But he couldn’t do anything except hold her a little closer, because he was just Kim Taehyung, a mere human.

The funeral was sunny, held in a beautiful field serving as the grave site where she would lay to rest. Her body was laid onto the wooden coffin she would soon be encased in forever, the white dress she was wearing looked ethereal and Jimin knew among all the souls that he had taken, he would never forget hers.

Taehyung had just finished his speech, sobbing and crying. Everybody was, except for him. Jimin tried his best to avoid meeting Taehyung, feeling guilty that he was the one who reaped her soul, but also angry that Taehyung would not love her back.

They wouldn’t be here if it weren’t for the both of them.

“Jimin…?”

Jimin groaned inwardly, before pretending to had just notice him, “Oh, Taehyung..!” It was forced.

“You… you know (Y/n)?”

Of course he would ask that. This was her funeral.

“Only a little bit.”

Taehyung cried some more, and Jimin couldn’t help but feel awkward as he’s standing there, watching him do so. Taehyung gripped his hand and dragged him to where she was. He knew that Taehyung wanted to punish himself by looking at her.

So Jimin let him take the lead and stop right in front of her casket.

“It’s all my fault.” Taehyung’s voice was quiet, and Jimin looked at him as if it was the first time he found out.

“Oh- oh really?” He gulped the saliva down.

Taehyung could only nod, hands brought together. His mind had only apologies in them, hoping that (Y/n), wherever she was brought to, could hear and forgive him.

It was after two hours that Taehyung finally ran out of tears to cry, and everybody had gone home too. The only sound that was there was the wind blowing through the grass, rustling and playing within the meadow. The duo stood quietly, before Taehyung spoke.

“How did you meet her?”

Jimin thought about it for a second, “Through you.”

“So you decided to talk to her in the gallery after all?”

“Not quite.”

The conversation continued on for a few moments, before the sun started to set and Taehyung had to go home for he still had to take care of his siblings.

And only Jimin was left.

He drew closer, looking at her. Like how he would with their cat, absentmindedly reaching out to touch her cheek. She looked so beautiful in there, so beautiful yet so lonely. He wished they could’ve spent more time together, but angels need to move precisely on schedule, and he could not waste anymore time admiring the woman who made him feel for the first time-

He felt it.

The petals.

A tear went down his cheek.

So let them bloom.

#bts #bangtan #taehyung #jimin #kim taehyung #park jimin #fanfic #bts fanfic #angst #hanahaki #bts x reader

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flyboy-and-fight-me · 4 years

Note

Prompt idea: After the war, Rey, Finn, and Poe attend some sort of art therapy session together.

Oh nonny, you have no idea how much I love this, here’s some fluff

I’m No Artist

“Oh noses are not meant to look like that.” Poe’s said tightly, he looked crazy, precariously balancing himself on the edge of his seat with his tongue sticking out and eyes crossed.

“Pretend its on purpose, that’s what I’m doing,” Rey chuckled, splattering some bright blue paint onto her canvas

“We’re meant to be channelling what we feel-”Finn sighed across from them “it doesn’t have to look ‘right’ at all,”

They were on Tython. Rey had found out about the place from the ancient Jedi texts- it was the birthplace of the Jedi, and the three of them were seeking to form a new order, a place for young Force-Sensitives could go and learn and be safe. There had been a few older Jedi- some that had survived the first rebellion that had come forward and sought to join their new order. There were clone troopers too- not many, but a few. Finn had bonded with Kix more than anyone on the base at D’Qar, and then later after Exegol.

The base they were in wasn’t much better than the bases they’d been in before- but that was okay, it was all familiar to them. Finn had become so used to the homey atmosphere of the Resistance, and the gentle camaraderie of those around him.

His canvas was still empty. Blank white. Poe was drawing a face, and Rey was adding random splotches of colour around something very dark at the centre of her image. He didn’t know what he wanted to paint. There was so much that had happened to him over the past few years. He had left the First Order, helped save a Jedi and become a general of the Resistance and then found out to be a Jedi himself- and that had lead them here, to this beautiful world.

Still his canvas was blank.

He looked over at his friends. Poe’s expression had calmed down and he was focused so intently on his painting. Finn could tell it was something important by the way Poe flushed when he caught his eye.

He took his canvas off the easel, turning it to show him. It was indeed a face, multiple actually. “It’s... it’s everyone. Paige, Leia, Snap... I... I miss them- I don’t want to forget what they looked like.” His voice trailed off towards the end and Finn reached out, putting a comforting hand on his shoulder.

“It’s going to be okay, we’ll remember them. All of them.” He believed it, he really did. He’d read the texts over and over, it told him they were part of the Force now- but he wasn’t so sure. Yes there was the Force and all its abilities, but there was also the hearts of those that remembered and loved.

Rey turned to both of them with a small smile on her face, and the two men waited for her to turn her own picture around to show them. It was an abstract piece, full of light and colour and movement. At the centre there was a dark splotch, in stark contrast to the rest of it.

“It’s all of us, everyone I’ve met, this is you, Finn-” she pointed to a blue smear near the middle, “and this is Poe-” she tapped the orange blotch next to it getting paint on her finger. Not that she minded.

“What’s the dark part?” Poe asked, Rey took a deep breath in,

“That’s me,” she sighed, “It’s who I was before all of you- all of this.” She gestured around her, “I was lost, I didn’t know who I was. But I do now, and that’s all because of you two...” Finn and Poe smiled at her, and Finn reached out with his other hand, taking hers and squeezing it.

“What are you gonna do buddy?” Poe asked him eventually, Finn shrugged.

“I don’t know... there’s so much.”

Neither of them replied, but nodded in understanding. It was a few minutes and the two others went to get something to drink. Finn sat on his stool, staring at the blank canvas. How did he feel? It was a simple question, and yet not. But still he picked up his brush, mixing some of the paint and getting to work. He didn’t know exactly what he was doing, but he knew it was right, he let his feelings guide him.

It was messy, and unrefined by the time he felt he finished, but it was enough, it was something, something important. He had never given much thought to it to be honest- but really it had been there through it all... every occasion, very moment, every battle.

“Is that the Falcon?” Poe asked from behind him, the two of them stood either side of him, looking at the weird grey smudge that actually looked pretty good.

Finn smiled, looking at what had been a symbol of freedom- not only to him, but to so many for so long.

“Yeah, it is.”

#star wars #star wars the last jedi #star wars the force awakens #star wars the rise of skywalker #rey skywalker #finn #poe dameron #can be read as #stormpilot #and or #jedistormpilot #finnpoe #i think #eh its gen tbh #art therapy #anon

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peppersonironi · 4 years

Text

For @duketectivecomics‘s Duke Week Day Six: All in the Batfamily

Summary: Duke gets woken up at night and is roped into a strange initiation ceremony into the bats. Despite initial chaos, Duke finds that he is actually enjoying himself, and that maybe being a part of this family isn’t such a scary thing. Throwing a glitter bomb at Batman is definitely scary though.

“Are you ready?”

Duke opened his eyes, to find Dick Grayson hovering a few inches away from his face. “Gah!” Duke let out, scrambling backwards on his bed till he hit the headboard. “What are you doing?”

“Poor reflexives,” Duke looked past Dick to find Damian frowning at him, “And he should have known we were present before waking.”

“Settle down, kid,” This time Jason spoke, “Not everyone is as freaky as you.”

Duke blinked the sleep away from his eyes, and surveyed the scene before him. Dick was still by his bed, grinning. Damian and Jason stood behind, along with Cass, Tim, and Stephanie. Wow, when was the last time he’d ever seen all these guys together in the same room without killing each other? Duke had a worrisome feeling that he was the reason for this strange behavior.

“Um,” Duke asked, “What’s going on? It's 2 am.”

“We’re welcoming you to the family!” Dick’s grin grew impossibly wider.

“But I’ve been here four months?”

Tim shook his head. “But you haven’t had a proper welcome, yet. We had to wait till everyone was here, and Steph insisted she be a part.

“Heck yeah!” The blonde teen said, “I’m a part of this family, whether you like it or not! Bruce even gave me an allowance!”

“You tricked him into giving you his credit card,” Jason replied dryly.

“Like you haven’t done that before.”

“I don’t bother tricking him.”

Duke looked back and forth at the exchange, trying to wrap his mind around what was happening.

“That doesn't answer my question.”

Damian sighed. “In order to truly be a Wayne, you must go through the initiation period.” “That's not ominous at all.”

“Tour,” Cass said, “You learn things. Not bad, fun.”

Duke nodded. “Thank you, Cass.” He was still confused, but at least she was trying.

“If you would get dressed, we have much ground to cover.” Damian sniffed, but even Duke could tell the kid was excited.

Dick backed away from the bed. “We'll be right back, Duke, get ready!”

*****

Five minutes later, Duke found himself hastily dressed and standing in the entrance hall of Wayne manor. His siblings were arrayed in a semi-circle before him, all of them in weird red robes. They had managed to set up tiki torches at intervals around the room, adding to the atmosphere of doom.

“We are gathered here today to celebrate the bonding between two families. That of the Thomas' and that of the Waynes.” Duke blinked at Tim. “Why are you making it sound like we're getting married?”

“Shh!”

“In this great ceremony, We accept you, Duke Thomas, into our fold. After this day henceforth, you will be one with the bats.” Tim took a deep breath and continued reading from the scarily large book in his hands. “The bonding day is set in three parts. The first, a display of power. You shall be shown our places, and our things, so that you are made privy to the goings on in the lives of Gotham's most secretive family. Next, You shall be given tasks by each member of the clan – excepting Bruce – that you must complete. Fail even one, and be warned.” Tim stared Duke down. “You have been warned. The final and most dangerous stage of all …” Tim stopped reading, and every single one of the gathered Waynes began to stomp their right foot. This went on for several seconds. “Is … Cake. Do you accept the challenge, Duke of the Narrows?”

Duke sighed. He didn't quite like the sound of this, but he might as well. “Sure.”

Jason whooped, and even Damian cracked a smile.

“Well,” Steph said, “let's get on with it!”

* * * * *

“And it was in this room that Dick broke his first chandelier.”

Duke paused, staring at Jason who had taken over as tour guide after Tim started foaming at the mouth. “First?”

The now recovered Tim grinned. “Yup! He's broken twenty three and a half in his fifteen year stay at the manor.”

Duke nodded. “Alrighty then.”

“Over here are some pictures of Bruce's great-great-great-great-great-great-great something aunts. If you look closely, you'll see the outline of mustaches. Bruce made us erase them.” Stephanie bounced by, pointing out exactly which paintings she had decimated.

The tour had been going on for almost an hour now, and Duke would be lying if he said he wasn't having fun. Sure, he had seen most of the stuff here, but the stories that went along with them were amazing. It was sweet to know which room Dick insisted they have a family movie in, back when it was only him, Bruce, and Alfred. It was hilarious to find out that the strange purple splotch on the love seat in one of the east wing's drawing rooms was from the time Damian insisted on trying slushies. Or the many tails that arose from the kitchen. From Bruce attempting to cook (He'd always wondered why Alfred had banned him) to the time Jason sleep walked himself into making beignets.

Cass had insisted they tour the air vents (He didn't know you could get into them, let alone that they could fit people, and wasn't quite sure what to do with the information) and trying to get Jason squished in was a highlight of the night. Cass also showed Duke the best hiding places in the manor, in case he ever needed to hide during a prank war. Or Bruce.

Stephanie knew the places with the thinnest walls, and also other tricks for listening in on conversations. She said she'd never had to use the information, but Duke wasn't convinced.

Dick explained the pros and cons of each chandelier in the manor, along with a very detailed instruction pamphlet on getting yourself onto one. Duke promised himself he'd never try.

Tim knew all the best wifi spots in each wing. Somehow, the wifi wasn't the exact same in every part of the house.

Jason knew the best sniper perches, and how to get there. Also, the coziest spots in the library, primed and ready for any avid bookworm. (Duke was actually excited for the second. He really did enjoy reading, but usually stuck to his room)

Damian was very solemn as he brought Duke to random places around the house that were apparently Alfred's (The cat's) and Titus' favorite hang outs. “In case you need a friend who is not as fallible as humans.”

The tour ended on the roof, each sibling taking to their claimed section. Duke was permitted to choose his own, and did so. He ended up picking a quiet outlook on the forrest, over the west wing.

Duke was given a few minutes of peace, not noticing till a little ways in that he was alone. Huh, he thought, this is kind of nice.

“Alright, Narrows,” Duke turned to find everyone staring at him, “You ready for the fun part?”

* * * * *

“Now lift up your left foot two inches … got it!”

Unfortunately, the first challenge that was given to Duke by Dick, had him breaking his earlier promise to himself. For you see, Duke Thomas now found himself wrapped in the crystal and gold of Wayne Manors largest chandelier.

“Are you sure this is safe?” Duke asked for the seventh time.

“Perfectly!” Dick replied, but the snickers and filming phones of his siblings made Duke question the acrobat's words.

Duke shifted on the chandelier and heard a soft cracking noise. He froze, terror rushing through his entire body.

“That was just me!”

Duke looked to down to find Stephanie pulling a couple twigs from her hair, and snapping them in two. She had a manic grin on her face. Oh, she knew exactly what she had done.

“Just don't do it again!”

“Don't worry, Duke,” Dick called, “You're almost done! You just need to chill for a bit longer. I'm gonna toss up this candy bar, and you need to eat it. Just try not to look like Superman when he sees kryptonite. If you don't catch it, you fail.”

Duke took a deep breath, letting it out slowly. “Okay, I'm r-”

The candy bar was flung up a second before Duke expected it, causing him to fumble and reach out a bit to far to grab it. The chandelier swung dangerously, and Duke let out a scream. A moment later, however, the swinging calmed down, and Duke paused long enough to register the roaring laughter coming from bellow him.

“Stop!” Duke said, “This isn't funny!”

“Yeah, it kinda is.” Tim was the first to speak, after having to lean heavily on Steph. “You forget, Duke, that each and every one of us had to go through this. It's great to see someone else panic. One of the few pros to Bruce's adoption addiction.”

Duke glowered. “Just stop laughing.”

“Chill, Duchess,” Jason grinned up at him. “Just eat the candy and you can come down.”

Duke sighed and unwrapped the kit-kat that had given him the worst fright of his life – and that included everything he saw on patrol. He gingerly broke it in two, put on a gruesome grin, and took a bite.

Everyone cheered, and Duke's grin became slightly more genuine. “You have completed the first task,” Tim said in a solemn voice. “Let us move on.”

Everyone filed out of the room, and Duke started to panic. “Hey wait! How do I get down!”

* * * * *

“I don't know if I can do this.” Duke sat in the batchair, Alfred having moved graciously to allow Duke to complete his task.

“It's simple Narrows,” Jason said, “Just press the button and ask the question. Simple.”

“But does it have to be … that?”

Jason looked very serious as he answered, “yes.”

Duke sighed. “Here goes nothing.” he reached forward and press the unmute button. “Hey, B?”

Batman's growl came through the speakers. “What are you doing awake, Signal? It's the middle of the night.”

“But you're awake.”

“I'm part of the night patrol. You're not. So what are you doing awake?”

“I need to ask you a question.”

Bruce sighed. “Go ahead.”

Duke sighed and looked back at his sibling who were all grinning maniacally. He turned back to the computer. “Does Santa exist?”

Bruce let out the most long suffering sigh Duke had heard that week. “One of your siblings better not have put you up to this.”

Duke looked at Jason, who was frantically shaking his head. “No, B. It's just, the freaking devil is real, right? And the greek gods, and a whole bunch of other stuff? So why not santa?”

Bruce sighed. “Good night, Signal,” and he logged off.

“Not our best,” Jason said, shaking his head, “next time we should ask how babies are made.”

“NEXT TIME?!?!?!!?”

* * * * *

“You can get it down in one gulp if you try hard enough!”

Duke looked over skeptically at Tim, who was making Duke drink a special blend of espresso, five hour energies, and Monster.

“You just need some ambition!”

Duke gulped. “Ambition to die?”

Tim sighed. “Just do it. If you don't, you'll fail the challenge, and you DON'T want to find out what happens then.” His point was emphasized by every single one of the bats unleashing their personal batglares upon him.

Duke grimaced, grabbed the venti Starbucks's cup, and gulped it down. He swayed for a moment. “I'm never sleeping again.”

Tim grinned, “Nope!”

* * * * *

Damian's task was relatively simple. His pets had to approve of him. They'd already gotten Alfred's, Titus', and Bat-cow's approval, and they were outside trying to find Jerry the turkey.

“Got him!” Stephanie called from bushes, and a loud squawking ensued. She walked over, carrying the bird and placing in front of Duke.

Everyone stood still for a moment, then Damian spoke. “He approves.”

Duke grinned. “Great, what's the next challenge?”

Damian smirked, and Duke's stomach dropped. The eleven year old turned around and whistled sharply. Large wing beats sounded from far off and a huge shape appeared on the horizon. As it approached, Duke could make out what appeared to be a large, fuzzy dragon. The animal landed right in front of Duke, and Damian continued.

“Thomas, meet Goliath.” the tiny terror turned to the beast. “Goliath, decide his fate.”

* * * * *

“So, what do you have for me, Cass?” Duke asked warily. He knew Cass was the nice one, but he wouldn't put it past her to choose something … questionable.

Cassandra smiled sweetly, leaned forward, and whispered in Duke's ear, “hug Jason.”

Duke sighed. That wasn't too bad. He turned around and faced Jason head on. “So, what did she sa-”

Jason was cut off by Duke launching forward and wrapping his arms around Jason's huge chest.

The young man sighed. And wrapped his arms around Duke. “Eh,” he said when he saw the looks he was getting, “Duchess isn't too bad.”

Dick grinned. “Does that mean I get a hug?”

Both Duke and Jason tensed. “On the count of three,” Jason whispered, “We run.”

Dick grinned and opened his arms.

“One.”

He took a step forward.

“Two.”

Dick smiled. “Come on, guys!”

“THREE!! RUN!!!”

* * * * *

“Now pour delicately, Master Duke,” Alfred said as he instructed Duke on how to properly have tea. Everyone had insisted on going to Alfred before Stephanie's challenge, which had Duke worried slightly, but he honestly enjoyed having tea.

“Don't forget to have good posture,” The butler continued. Duke frowned slightly. Maybe this would be longer than he thought.

* * * * *

“Now a tad more glitter. You can never have enough!”

Duke followed the instructions, finishing up the glitter bomb which Stephanie had taught him how to make. He wasn't sure what it was going to be used for, but he knew it wasn't gonna be good.

“Great job, Duke!” Stephanie grinned, then turned to Dick. “How much longer till Bruce gets back from patrol?”

Ah. Yeah, this definitely wasn't going to be good.

“Five minutes,” Dick replied, “Everyone in position!”

And so Duke found himself dragged into the Batcave, glitter bomb behind his back, and a hastily memorized instruction to throw and run in his mind. Five minutes later, the batmobile rolled into the cave. Bruce jumped and and came over to Duke.

“What are you still doing up?”

“Bruce, would you ever disown me?”

Bruce frowned and pulled off the cowl. “No, Duke. Of course not.”

Duke nodded. “Would you ever break your no-kill rule just for me?”

Bruce smiled and shook his head. “Never.”

“Okay, most important question,” Duke paused and took a deep breath, “Would you ever blame me for something that isn't my fault?”

“Not if I can help it, I promise you that.”

Duke took another deep breath and nodded. “Alright.” He then in one swift movement pulled out the glitter bomb from behind his back, and threw it at the Dark Knight of Gotham. The Caped Crusader. The Batman.

Duke turned and bolted, leaving a stunned Bruce Wayne in his wake. Once he was in the stairwell, he turned in time to see Bruce completely covered in purple glitter. He looked down at himself, then up to the heavens.

“STEPHANIE!!!” He yelled.

* * * * *

“That was legendary, Narrows!”

Duke grinned back at Jason. Sure, lobbing a glitter bomb at the guy who was currently giving you a home (not to mention said guy was THE BATMAN) had been one of the worst experiences of his life, but even he had to admit it was funny.

“Seriously, Duke,” Tim replied, “I don't think I could have done that.”

“And the dialogue leading up to it!” Dick grinned as he sat next to Duke on the couch.

“It was worthy of cake,” Damian replied, a smile on his face.

“Speaking of cake!” Stephanie announced as she strolled into the room, a large cake in hand. On the top read 'one of us'. She set it down on the coffee table in front the sofa.

Cassandra grinned as she handed Duke the cake knife. “One of us,” she said, and the chant was soon picked up.

“One of us! One of us! Once of Us!”

Duke grinned as he sliced through the cake. Everyone cheered.

“So how do you feel, Duke? Got the crazies yet?” Stephanie asked as she collapsed on the sofa.

Duke grinned. “Not yet.”

Jason laughed. “Give it some time, kiddo.”

Duke settles back and took a bite of his cake – blue velvet – and pressed play on the movie. Everyone settled down, eating cake and enjoying The Incredibles.

* * * *

A few hours later when Duke was the only awake, Bruce quietly walked into the room.

“How'd initiation go?”

Duke sighed contentedly. “Good.”

Bruce smiled. “Get some sleep. You did well tonight.”

Duke didn't bother trying to figure out the implications of that sentence, opting instead to settle back into the cuddle pile. Cass, tucked under his arm, Damian on his lap, Dick wrapped around his other side, Stephanie atop Jason, and Jason and Tim woven into the chaos of limbs. It was warm and strangely comfortable.

Duke sighed, smiling. It's nice, he thought, belonging.

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