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werezmastarbucks · 4 years

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tapes

kai parker series

tape 4-5/23

tape one tape two tape three

words: 1567

warnings: Joshua is a crap dad. cursing

TAPE FOUR

It’s twins’ birthday. Have they changed the wallpaper yet? Who knows, we’re in the living room. Everybody’s very excited. They turn five which means a very important year for the coven… but to them, this world is all important and unbelievably worth exploring. Kids this little don’t understand responsibility or duty yet, all they know is each other, food, mother’s voice, and funny moving pictures on the screen. There are many people in the room, again, all basking them in attention. So many pairs of expecting eyes turned to them, observing their every move like vultures, feeding on their confusion, and consuming the energy from their puffy pink and dark blue ribbons and dresses, questioning, discussing, pondering. Kai has his little arms around his sister, pressing quick fake kisses on her face just like mama and papa do. Josette is busy trying to pull the tablecloth from under all the dishes. It’s evening, and the kids finally sit still: everybody’s happy that hyperactive Malachai found solace in examining how strong Josette’s bones are. It’s like they know. It’s like they know about the merge, and they look at each other and consider which one of them will go down. But of course not, in reality they were probably thinking, why does it smell so funny and why is Aunt Aileen crying non-stop? Her facial features are twisted, that indicates she’s sad. Why is everybody else laughing then? However… you know what, I’m not sure they were even thinking that. I have very little knowledge of what the kids think about because I myself was never one.

Anyway, then we can see a big gap, and the picture changes. It’s present time – the best time of the day! Kai’s on his father’s, the coven leader’s, lap, Jo is sitting with her mum. All the chatter, laughter, glass sounds, and the big and small boxes float above the table. Parents unwrap the presents and announce: a toy! A dress! Josette gets about four or five dresses and Kai gets none. But he does get a pair of silk pants, a book of spells – his first – and even a dead bird. A DEAD BIRD! That’s one of the best presents you can get being a witch. You take the beak and use it in making potions… the feathers go on dream catchers, eyes – for blinding spells, and legs can be edible…

Okay, I’m pulling your leg, no witch really needs a dead bird, even a raven – it’s gross. Kaylo Perkins is just old and insane. He’s a slave of old religion and a big Satan fan. Dead bird goes into the bin right after the dinner, and Malachai screams properly about it, for like twenty minutes, because he enjoyed it.

They both get golden chains with the symbol of Gemini coven, and sets of toys. Josette gets her books on how to be a good girl (spoiler alert: she’ll never be). Malachai gets a mirror in silver frame from his mother – she talks to dead people through it. And a ring from his father that Joshua takes off his finger right then, and puts it on the chain. Everybody cheers. The favoritism in this family is so obvious you can write your messages in the sky.

“Say thank you!” Martha smiles to her children. Kai and Jo say ‘tha-ank you’ in unison and everybody goes ahh.

TAPE FIVE

We’re again in the Parker living room, like it’s a cheap sitcom with only limited amount of locations. You can hear somebody crying somewhere upstairs, but it’s more like a childish whine, the ‘he stole my teddy bear’ type. You know, if they only took Kai to a normal human doctor, that would all be so much easier, and they would tell them, well, there’s something wrong with this kid for sure. Joshua knows that already, but the mama Parker gave birth to this boy and she refuses to label him anything but genius, because he’s also so good-looking. Kai’s sitting on the couch and by the looks of it he’s around six or seven and he’s glued to the screen of a little television that’s in front of him.

“Kai, say what you’ve done”, a voice tells him behind the camera. We can also see Martha Parker walking slowly on the background, and she’s heavily pregnant.

Kai doesn’t react. His eyes don’t move and it’s like he doesn’t even breathe. When this boy isn’t watching TV, he’s talking about all the heroes and characters that he saw in the movies.

“Kai, what have you done?”

This is not his father’s voice; it belongs to a teenage girl we don’t know. Who is she?

“Ka-a-ai”, she utters. Her voice is annoying. The boy is sitting on the couch and watching TV, as if not seeing her. His face changes though: he hears something. In a second, we will hear it too.

Papa Parker rushes down the stairs so quick it looks like a flash. The camera shudders, the camera person takes a step back and bumps into something, gasping in pain. The picture is there, though. It’s like looking at a car crash.

Joshua’s face is twisted with anger, his eyes are black like blueberries. He runs to the couch where his son is sitting so fast you can’t really cope. Little Kai stands on the pillows, trying not to be caught off guards…

“You little monster!” Joshua groans as he grabs the boy by his shoulders and lifts him in the air.

Martha runs to them from the background. The living room is full of noise now. Kai is yelling.

“Dad, no, please!”

“Joshua, let him go!”

“He’s been draining her again!”

“Dad, I didn’t mean it! Please!” Kai is screaming in pain as his father is shaking him, then crashes him back down on the sofa pillows again. Martha keeps one hand on her big belly as she tries to pull her husband away. The tragedy is imminent at this point, and the girl holding the big camera whimpers really quietly, not sure what to do. The couch armset covers Malachai, but we can see his little arms fighting his father as he nearly chokes the kid. Way to go, coven leader! You gotta do what you gotta do. When a concerned parent brings their child to a doctor – not back then, of course, but now, when we do have technology to tell – the doc might say terrible things. Like, well, your child is definitely not okay. He wets his bed although he is old enough to understand, and he kicked Clementine in her stomach seeing that the dog is pregnant. It’s like… he’s projecting? Imagine the doctors in the late 70s saying shit like that. No, back then you didn’t go to a doctor for advice when your kid started acting out, breaking plates and keeping silent or screaming for fifty minutes straight. You better lay him down on the couch and give him a good beating so that he remembers he can’t assault his sister and watch TV all night long, and keep all the knives under his bed. Mama needs the knives to cook food. You take your darn kid by the neck and put him in the closet, make him the closet boy. Nevermind his wailing, and pleading, and crying, snot coming out of his nose and tears wetting the collar of shirt; he can’t do nothing, he’s not a witch! He doesn’t have any powers, little useless shit. There was so much hope on Malachai, they all relied on him to be the future leader, looking all like his dad, tall and pretty. With his wits and quick fingers, they imagined he’d beat Jo in the merge and become the good Gemini leader. But it seems he just doesn’t have it in him, and he’s so wicked because of that. All whiney, angry and sad. And this thing that he does! Look now, he’s about to do it with his own mama!

As Martha wrestles furious Joshua away, eyes like coals, nostrils flaring like a bull’s, the woman catches Kai by his hand, though he never stops wailing like a siren. One of his little hands covers his left eye – I wonder why? He’s crying as Martha pulls him from the couch and drags him towards the stairs.

“Go into your room and stay there”, she’s trying to outcry him, but it’s almost in vain.

“No, it’s dark! It’s dark, mum, I don’t want to be in my room, please!”

“Go into your room!” thunders Joshua. Kai’s shoulders shudders and he does it. Martha suddenly cries out, a look of shock on her face, and then kneels down on the floor as Kai keeps screaming. Joshua rushes to them and breaks their clutch, pushing the boy away. He nearly falls but manages to stay on his feet. His hand is still opened, he catches the air and breathes in deeply, his face slightly pinker, slightly more open, lighter. His eyes become a little more peaceful. As Joshua crutches over his very, very pregnant wife, he realizes: as soon as the father looks up, he’s fucked. So Kai runs away under the stairs and down into the basement. As if it’s not dark enough.

Phew! Disaster avoided. Josette is still crying upstairs. Camera is still rolling, the girl behind it breathing heavily. Well, that’s awkward.

#kai parker #kai parker imagine #gemini coven #vampire diaries #legacies #imagine #parker #witches

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a-tragedy-told-in-metals · 4 years

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A Tragedy Told In Metals: Copper & Arsenic

Chapter: 2 link AO3

Playlist (Youtube) Playlist (Spotify)

Songs 4-8 apply to this chapter

CW: past child sexual abuse, past child abuse, vomiting, panic attacks

Toni jumped awake, her heart beating in her chest a million miles an hour. She glanced around to find what was attacking her, but she wasn't even sure what to look for. The racing calmed down as her eyes and mind adjusted to being awake, and she saw Rhodey standing in her room.

“Rhodey bear!” Toni pushed herself up “Why are you trying to kill me?”

“Not kill you, just wake you up,” Rhodey said, sitting next to her on the bed

“You weren’t supposed to be coming today. Right?”

“No, but I was sent to give you this.”

Toni took a manila envelope from Rhodey and squinted at the writing in the dim light of her bedroom. Toi’s mouth ran dry at the words.

“They want my armour this bad,” Toni muttered.

“Well, yeah.”

“They can’t have it. I told them that months ago.”

“The US military is not big on the word ‘no’”

“I’m aware. “ Toni said through gritted teeth

“Look, I tried to tell them off, but I’m not exactly in a position to be telling the top brass what to do. Not to mention I’m known as a biased party.”

“I really don’t want to go in front of Congress.”

“They can subpoena people.”

“I know. But I’m just mad they think they have a right to my things. They are my things, what the fuck do they think they’re gonna do with it? They can’t even get their drones to shoot straight, they think they can understand the Iron Queen?”

“ I’m pretty sure they want to blow stuff up, they don’t care about understanding the tech. Not to mention this would bring Stark Industries back under the thumb of the military.

“Iron Queen has JARVIS built into it, no one knows about him.”

“Look I’m not saying give ‘em the full suit. But you do have to come to the meeting. For me?”

“Fine, whatever,” Toni grumbled.

“Thanks, baby girl.” Rhodey kissed the top of her head.

~~~~~

Toni was in her most official looking clothes, sitting on the stupid bench and being followed by both celebrity paparazzi and political news junkies. This is what always happens, everyone has to have an opinion. Having Happy and Rhodey backing her was nice; they made sure no creeps were right behind her. Rhodey gave her a reassuring smile from across the aisle. Toni just rolled her eyes back.

The Senators filed in, and Toni's stomach flopped when she spotted Stern amongst the assembled blowhards. The irritation she’d been carrying turned into thick repulsion.

The stupid hearing was called to start and Toni squeezed the edge of the seat hard to keep herself in the moment.

“Ms. Stark, we have called this hearing to discuss the matter of the weapon you call the Iron Queen armour. Do you understand?” Senator Williams, the head of the committee.

A spike of annoyance cut through the inky depths of shame and fear at his condescending tone “It’s not a weapon.”

“Then what is it, exactly?

“As you said, it’s armour. Not just some bomb or gun.”

A new Senator spoke, “We recognize it’s a complex weapon. Which is why we need it, this kind of tech could be so effective in the hands of people who have the ability to regulate it.”

“You don’t know how to regulate it-- also, since I’m the only one with it, isn't it already regulated?”

“Right now you’re the only one, but other people are already trying to replicate your weapon.”

A video of poor copies of her tech played over. The Senators listed the countries imitating her. None of them even had the repulsor tech to get the suits into flight. Not to mention none of them had a proper reactor; their poor copies of her arc reactor were dying before they could even get the first shot off.

“None of those people are even close to what I’ve made. Those aren’t a threat to anyone.”

“Right now none of them are. But you owe it to your country to allow us to have the tech to protect people. It’s what SI has been known to do, both Obadiah Stane and your father understood that. Your company has a history of patriotism, it would be a shame to let them down. ”

Toni glared at them. She stole a glance of Rhodey who had an expression that read “Oh fuck” and Toni took a deep breath.

“No, you see, I don't owe you anything. I said no more weapons sales and I meant it, and Iron Queen isn’t even Stark Industries property. I’ve been spending the last months giving back by protecting people and cleaning up the messes that Stark Industries has created, thanks to me and those men that you hold in such high esteem. By not giving it to you or anyone else, I'm already protecting people,” Toni said, her tone as measured as possible.

“But you have no right to monopolize this tech. A civilian shouldn’t have this power, especially not someone with your record of irresponsibility. Those suits are dangerous and rightfully belong to the government so you don’t cause any more mayhem. You will be compensated.” Senator Stern growled.

To her genuine surprise, her fear completely left her, rage burning through her veins instead as she stared down the man who had tried to rape her. She wanted more than anything to just punch him in his dumb, possessive mouth so he would never talk down to her again.

“Oh, but you see the armour and I are one and the same. I can’t give you just the suit. Buying the suit would be like buying me, a person. That sounds like prostitution which I’m sure the Senate doesn’t want to be a party too. Though now that I’m thinking about it, you have some experience in the area of buying women’s...no, girls’ bodies, don’t you Senator Stern?” Toni said, her voice sickly sweet and laced with venom.

Stern turned bright red and shouted “How dare you! You are accusing a United States Senator of such a thing?”

“Can we all calm down?” Senator Wiliams shouted

Toni leaned back in her chair and smiled. All the pompous dicks had their feathers all ruffled, it was kind of fun to cause such a fuss.

“Back to the topic at hand,” The now annoyed Senator Williams said, “I understand you have... reservations about sharing your work with us, but be advised we will continue to try and re-create your technology. Having your guidance would make the process run smoother.”

“Who are you having build it right now?” Toni asked, confused.

“Hammer tech.”

Toni snorted, they were so low on her radar. “Why even bother? They couldn’t make a Model One Stark phone without screwing it up.”

“Well, we don’t have many options considering you won’t work with us.”

“Then just stop trying to mess with things you don’t understand.” Toni shot back.

“Do you even understand what you are messing with, Ms. Stark? It’s dangerous to fly around in a weapon. People trained for combat should do it, don’t you think? You’re just not the right kind of person to operate this. Let people who understand national security and fighting wars handle this. You can handle the mechanics, that’s what you're good at. But you just don’t have the right temperament or skill set to do this.” Some really old man Toni had never seen before said fixing her with a faux kind look.

Yeah, no, he did not get to talk to her like that. Toni fixed the man with her best stare. “You never questioned if I knew what I was messing with when you got the stuff I built. You’re only butting in now because you don’t get to own it. You want to control it and use it in your wars, but for the thousandth time, Iron Queen is not a weapon to use in anybody's war. It's more than that. I built it to help people and to avoid collateral damage, not cause it. You don’t own me, or The Iron Queen armour. And you never fucking will!”

Toni stood up and turned to leave. Happy thankfully jumped in front of her to part the sea of bodies. The flashing lights threatened to blind her, but she fumbled forward. Getting in her car, she sat down and closed her eyes. Toni flinched slightly when she felt a hand on her shoulder.

“It’s me, Toni,” Pepper said softly.

“Sorry for all that,” Toni said with a half laugh.

“Yeah, that’s gonna take some clean up. I think Rhodey is the one who’s gonna need an apology, though. He works with those men. Also, our PR department. They have to field the calls.”

Toni just grunted. Half way home they had to pull over for Toni to throw up her coffee. It was still humiliating to puke in front of Pepper, even if she had seen Toni wigged out and naked once.

~~~~~

Toni, Happy and Pepper were eating. The flight home from DC sucked. Toni had thrown up and then fallen asleep. But now the headache had faded enough for her to no longer feel like her head was spinning.

“You wanna let us know what all of that was?” Happy said gruffly.

“What do you mean? I just hate assholes like that.” Toni shrugged.

“Toni you were like the walking dead on the way home and threw up. That’s not just pissed off behaviour.”

“It’s just complicated and stupid.”

“Just tell us. If we couldn’t handle complicated then we wouldn’t be your friends.” Pepper replied

Toni looked up. The real reason she had lost control was because facing man who tried to rape he head on was not fun. Add on to that, the last man had sounded too much, too much like Obie. It hadn’t registered right away but now it was clear. And of course, she really hated people wanting to use her, it felt shitty.

“Yeah, it wasn’t.”

“What was it?” Pepper said.

“Stern, he’s the man who... who drugged me that time Fury got me out. I wasn’t just being an ass, he really tried to buy me off to fuck him with drugs.”

“Bastard.” Happy muttered under his breath.

Toni half smiled at that. She met Pepper’s sympathetic expression and Happy mad on her behalf. She could tell them now. It was an opening, as organic a time as there ever would be. It wasn’t something they had to know, but they were her family. Toni wanted them to know, really.

“That’s not all though. It’s them wanting to use me, I’m tired of people always just wanting to control me.”

“I understand...” Pepper started.

“No, you don’t. Obi...Stane, you know he tried to kill me and stuff, but that’s not really the worst part. Starting when I was ten he...” Toni shuddered tears starting to flow from her eyes she looked away from both of them, “He sexually abused me till I was twenty. Do you remember when I thought I was pregnant Pep? He would have been the father.”

Pepper gasped bringing her hands to her mouth. Happy’s hand hit the counter with a grunt.

Staring at them, looking like they were in so much pain, Toni faltered, “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to upset you, I'm sorry,” was all she could think to say.

“God Toni, why are you apologizing? You didn’t do anything wrong.” Pepper said.

To Tony's surprise, Happy brought her into a bone crushing hug, eliciting a small squeak from her.

“Sorry.” Happy said releasing her.

“It’s fine, you just caught me off guard,” Toni said giving him a smile.

“Why didn’t...why didn’t you tell us before?” Pepper asked.

Toni blew a harsh breath from her mouth, “I didn’t know it was wrong for a long time. I mean, I loved him, and I was ten, so I just assumed it had to be okay. It’s what am I good at anyway, ya know? So even when I realised it was kinda hinky for a grown man to have sex with an eleven-year-old I figured I’m a slut anyway, so how could it matter? I also assumed no one cared, or that you’d be mad at me, and if someone did do something I had no idea what I would do if someone took him away. It felt like it was my fault, still does a lot. I had to have done something wrong.. And I promised to never tell, so I didn't ever tell. I literally never told anybody until he died, I just let him do it.”

“Toni, it’s not your fault okay? And you’re not a slut. No one has the right to make someone else have sex with them,” Pepper said.

“And the only people who do that to kids are scum.” Happy said with a nod and an air of finality.

“Thanks,” Toni said.

It was nice to have people listen to her. She felt a tug in her chest, but it wasn’t sentimentality or rage. It was the burn of corroding skin.

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cheeseeatingtrashmonster · 6 years

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Camp Counselor AU

Nelix Week day 5: Roommates.

Read the whole month on AO3

Roommates

“Why are you doing this, again?” Gabriel asked as he and Felix followed the Gorilla down a dirt road surrounded by pine trees.

"Work experience. Because it gets me out of the house. Because the program came highly recommended by my guidance counselor at school. But to be honest, the thought of seeing you surrounded by nature while dropping me off was more than enough."

"This is a waste of your time. You could have spent your summer studying or practicing your violin."

"Yes, seeing you, saying that, with actual trees behind you is worth all the sunburns and bug bites and screaming children this summer could possibly give me."

At the door to Felix's cabin Gabriel said his goodbyes.

"You'll be calling for a ride home within three weeks," was Gabriel's last words before leaving with the Gorilla.

The cabin was small, six sets of bunk beds lining the walls with lockers and a clothes hanging bar against the back wall. Felix took the top bunk in the back left corner and unpacked some of his things into one of the lockers. He was reviewing his schedule for the rest of the first day when the door banged open again.

"Why are there rocks everywhere?"

Felix looked up to see a very frustrated young man lugging a pair of suitcases and a sleeping bag behind him up the steps into the cabin.

"Are you Nino?" Felix asked, reaching to hold the door open for the newcomer.

Nino looked up and forgot the toe he had stubbed on a rock outside the door, and how tired his arms were from lugging his bags around, and that the sun was giving him a headache. The exact words that entered his mind the moment he saw Felix Agreste were, "Oh no, he's hot."

"Here, give me a bag," Felix said, reaching to help. Somehow this resulted in both of them dropping all of Nino's belongings on the floor.

"Well now I'm glad I left my laptop at home," Nino muttered, picking up a bag and lugging it to the top bunk in front of Felix's.

"I would hope so," Felix said. "There's no internet signal in most of the buildings and we weren't supposed to bring them anyway."

"Why not? I didn't bring it because I didn't want some punk kid breaking it. I didn't know we weren't supposed to."

"You seem ill-prepared," Felix said, setting Nino's second bag on top of the row of lockers.

"This was not my first choice summer activity," Nino said. "Sorry, I didn't catch your name."

"I would have given it if you had answered when I asked yours."

He's hot and kind of a jackass, Nino thought. "I'm Nino. Nice to meet you."

"Nice to meet you," Felix said, trying not to roll his eyes at the obvious sarcasm from his co-counselor. "I'm Felix."

"Well, Felix," Nino said, climbing up on top of his bunk and starting to make his bed. "What did you do wrong to spend a summer in Hell?"

"I'm here voluntarily." Felix climbed to his bed to see Nino better. "I like working with kids. I want to be a teacher someday."

"Fair enough. Ugh, is it always this hot in here?"

"I brought a box fan, but it won't do much," Felix said. "But I hear it cools off at night. Why are you here, if it wasn't your first choice?"

"My parents basically said that I needed to get a job and get out of the house more, and most of the places I applied wouldn't take me, so here I am." Nino sat back against the wall behind him. "It's not that I don't like kids, and I get to teach some of the music and drama classes, which will be fun. But I'm more of an air conditioning and wifi guy than campfires and swimming in lakes."

Felix nodded. Maybe this grouch he was rooming with wasn't quite as unpleasant as his first impression would have him believe. "I'm sure I'll have trouble adjusting to the accommodations, but I'm just as happy with a book in the sun as a book inside."

"I'm a Kindle guy myself," Nino said. "You ready to head down to orientation?"

"Sure," Felix said, grabbing his sunglasses. "I look forward to working with you this summer."

"You too."

/*****/

“Felix!” Nino yelled from the middle of the cabin. “You are the only person in the entire camp who irons their clothes. Why are you also the only one unable to understand that you can’t leave wet towels in the middle of the floor or open boxes of candy in your luggage?”

“My personal appearance and the amount of experience I have keeping my own environment aren’t in any way related.”

“I’m pushing you in the lake at the swim race tomorrow.”

“Jokes on you, we have opposite schedules tomorrow. I’m at the crafts table while you’re at the lake.”

"Then who's gonna remind you not to glue your hand to your shirt again if I'm not there?"

/*****/

"Nino," Felix whispered, trying not to alert the cabin full of half asleep nine year old boys. "Are you awake?"

"No."

"Nino, there's a spider over my head and it's horrifying and I seem to be paralyzed by fear."

"Fine, give me your book," Nino said, dragging himself from his sleeping bag to climb across the gap to Felix's bunk.

The loud "thunk" of the book smashing into the spider made three of the boys scream.

/*****/

"What are you doing?" Felix asked, holding out the ice cream cone he had bought for Nino.

"If I stand in exactly the right spot on top of this picnic table I get enough of a signal to check Twitter."

"You have a problem."

"I'm aware." Nino felt something cold hit the side of his hand. "When did I get ice cream?"

"You have a serious problem."

"I know, dude."

/*****/

"Sit with me at the bonfire."

Felix had crept up behind Nino and leaned forward to whisper in his ear. Nino didn't jump like he'd hoped, but he did shiver when Felix's breath hit his skin.

"And why would I do that?" Nino whispered back, watching two of their campers try to skip rocks while two others competed to see who could scream louder.

"I'll share my s'mores with you."

Nino wasn't sure if Felix was being intentionally suggestive or if his mind was making everything dirtier, but he knew there was no way he was sitting with anyone else that night.

/*****/

"It's been four weeks," Felix said, leaning over to Nino's bunk. They now slept so that their heads faced each other, making it easier to talk without disturbing their campers.

"It's the middle of the night, Felix," Nino said, squinting at him through sleepy eyes.

"My father said I'd never last three weeks."

"We'll celebrate this weekend when the kids are gone," Nino said. "We'll plan it in the morning. I swear I'm excited for you, but I'm going back to sleep now."

/*****/

"Why are you even here if you can't follow basic instructions?" Felix snarled. "Did it not occur to you that despite how dull your job is, it is actually important to get it right?"

"Felix what the hell?" Nino said, trying to be quiet so he didn't get in trouble for swearing in front of campers again. "You can't speak to people like that."

"She almost handed Greg a plate with strawberries on it," Felix said. "Even after he handed her the meal card that said he was allergic. Even after he said out loud 'no strawberries'. I still had to turn around and see her almost hand him a plate with strawberries."

"Okay, go take a walk," Nino said, putting a hand on Felix's shoulder and guiding him to the door. "No harm was done, and I've got this from here, okay?"

"Watch her," Felix said, glaring back at the lunch lady.

"I will."

/*****/

"How is it that every Friday I can't wait for the kids to leave, but every Sunday morning I can't wait for the new ones to get here?" Nino asked, sitting next to Felix on a log overlooking the sun setting on the lake.

"I don't know, but Saturday evening is definitely the magic spot between the two," Felix said. He stole a glance at Nino's profile before looking back at the oranges and reds and purples before them.

"You need to up your sunscreen game, bro," Nino said, reaching a feather-light finger over to brush against Felix's cheek and down his nose. "You'll be a lobster before the summer's over."

"Maybe you're just making me blush," Felix said, catching the hand and holding it between them.

/*****/

"Felix, stop buying me ice cream," Nino said, flopping onto his back in the grass of the athletic field. "I'm going to get fat."

"You swam so much today, I seriously doubt that," Felix said, not looking up from his book. "Bobby, don't throw the ball at people's faces!"

"Are we supposed to be teaching them anything right now?" Nino asked, looking at the group of campers running wild with a variety of kickballs, soccer balls, and baseballs.

"I now declare this free play time," Felix said with a sweeping gesture with the hand not holding his book. "The ones that need to blow off steam will tire themselves out, the ones that need to rest will sit in the shade and gossip." He looked up from his book to sweep his gaze over Nino's form next to him in the grass. "You're definitely not getting fat. And I enjoyed watching you swim today."

"Yeah?" Nino pulled his hat over his face but it didn't hide his smirk. "Maybe we should go swimming together on Saturday."

"Maybe."

/*****/

"What's the first thing you'll do tomorrow when you get home?" Felix asked as they packed up as much of their belongings as they could on their last night, the last set of campers having left that afternoon.

"Nap, then eat something that doesn't smell like the kitchens here, then go online and become a lump on the couch until my brains fall out my ears. You?"

"Shower in a shower that has water pressure, nap, and then go to the library."

"Cool," Nino said, zipping his bag halfway shut. "And what about the day after that?"

"After that?" Felix asked, stretching idly as he pretended to think. "I was thinking of you."

"Cool," Nino said, crawling up to his bunk.

"Cool," Felix said, walking over to shut off the light.

Nino reached out and pulled Felix to him by the front of his shirt for a kiss.

“Cool.”

#nelix week #mlshipfleet #miraculous ladybug #nelix #felix agreste #nino lahiffe #camp counselor AU #events #my writing

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