#because tell me why i nearly just broke down over a bunch of perfectly normal albeit not the most tactful or kind moments yesterday

[lesbianpegbar]

next therapy sessions gonna go crazy i can already tell

#need to get deep into my borderline obsession with being perfect and me being a horrible person #because tell me why i nearly just broke down over a bunch of perfectly normal albeit not the most tactful or kind moments yesterday #whyyyy do i have to be on at all times. why must i always be a perfect human being with no feelings or flaws #who responds to every situation perfectly. hmmmm #my brain takes any moment where i wasnt emotionless and perfect and obsesses over it #like hey do you remember. do you. do you remember. youre a bad person huh #and its like awesome cool thank you #and then its a cycle bc it puts me in a horrible mood and then my brain freaks out even more at how irritable im being. lol #anyway #that was my quota for oversharing this week. bye #mine #personal

[jadequeen88]

Incel Tomura

I couldn’t think of a good title for this, so... I just went with something real blunt. Anyway, this was inspired by a friend and how she actually met her IRL boyfriend.

PAIRING: Incel!Shigaraki x egirl!reader

TW: face sitting, degradation, mommy kink, reader basically bullying Tomura (he deserves it)

3.2k~

AS ALWAYS MY FICS ARE STRICTLY 18+

“TCH!”

Tomura scoffed at the screen of his laptop. The Discord server he helped admin had gone to shit since he let that idiot Dabi loosen the requirements to join. It was one thing when Toga joined. He knew she was a decent gamer. But you? With those stereotypical cat-ear headsets, perfectly done make-up and short skirts? Please… He saw right through you. Just another fake ~uwu~ e-girl trying to pretend they knew what they were talking about.

It didn’t end with you being annoyingly informed in the gaming chat, either. You were always in the anime and manga chats, too… Suggesting different ones that there’s no way you actually enjoyed.

But the WORST part of you being in the server? Spamming the picture chat with selfies and outfit pics. No, it wasn’t against the guidelines and yes, you got lots of compliments (of course, you were clearly hot), but it made Tomura livid. Where there used to be pics of half-built PCs and screenshots of character upgrades, now there were endless pictures meant to tease and bait the guys in the server.

Today’s picture is what sent him completely over the edge. Your hair was put up in two messy space buns, signature pink cat-eared headset perched on your head. Your black, mesh top was straining against your tight, hot pink bra, barely hiding your cleavage and your slender neck was adorned with a chunky, black collar with a large, silver ring hanging from the front. The icing on the cake, though… the thing that broke him, was the face you were making. Eyes crossed, little pink tongue lolling past your perfect hot-pink lips, it was an obvious ahegao face. The caption read:

“New collar! Thank you for da gift @XxXknifey_wifeyXxX”

Followed by a bunch of annoying ass emojis.

Tomura shifted in his gaming chair, his growing bulge making his sweats tight. He gritted his teeth and opened his DMs…

******

You snickered as you opened your text chat with Dabi. Poor Tomura… He had no clue his friend was an old high school buddy of yours and sent screenshots every single time he bitched about your presence on the server. At first, it was just a couple of snide comments, but you quickly decided to turn it into a game. You’d add more emojis than you normally would, flirt shamelessly with Toga in the chat, and be very vocal with your opinions. Then it progressed with more and more selfies, pics showing off your new skirts, and pics of your pink, girly gaming setup. Today you pushed it with the ahegao face, you’ll admit. It was pretty out of character for you, but you couldn’t wait to hear about Tomura’s reaction from Dabi.

It was everything you hoped it would be:

Decay_666_

So can we give those bitches their own chat or what? Seriously, I’m sick of seeing their shit everywhere. Did you see her ahegao face selfie? This server was supposed to be for ACTUAL gamers, not fake e-girl sluts spamming the chat with their bullshit…

Cremation_Daddy

Lol, damn dude, calm down… we can make a separate chat. You’re the only one on the server complaining. Y/N really fucking you up that bad?

Decay_666_

Oh, fuck off… she’s just being an attention whore and it’s getting on my nerves.

Cremation_Daddy

Yeah, whatever you say. Prolly jerkin it to that selfie right now

You didn’t know why, but you kinda had a crush on the skinny loser. Knowing how worked up he’d get over the smallest things you did thrilled you. You wanted to know just how badly you affected him and today was the day you’d find out.

*****

Tomura heard a ping from his monitor alerting him to a new DM. expecting it to be Dabi giving him more shit, he scowled and clicked over to his Discord tab. When he saw that it was you DMing him, it was like someone had poured a bucket of ice water over his head. He could barely type he was so nervous.

Y/N

Hey :)

Decay_666_

Hi

Y/N

How did you like my new collar?

Tomura panicked. Had Dabi said something? There’s no way he’d do that. How did he even respond to that? He decided to feign ignorance.

Decay_666_

What collar?

Y/N

*image*

He audibly gasped. You sent him the selfie you’d posted in the chat earlier. Somehow, it was even hotter than the first time he’d seen it. Probably because you had sent it to him. You wanted to make sure he saw it. The thought alone made him painfully hard. He typed out a shaky response:

Decay_666_

Yeah… you look really pretty :)

He grimaced. He couldn’t think of anything clever when he was put on the spot like that. Plus, how long had it been since he’d spoken to a girl one on one? Much less a hot one? Never. That’s when.

Y/N

Aww, you’re so sweet :) wanna see it in person?

Now Tomura was wondering if he’d died and gone to heaven. Did she want to meet up? Wearing that fucking collar? There’s no way… He stared at the screen for a good ten minutes before another ping brought him back to reality.

Y/N

I’m free now if you are. Plus, there’s a new episode of *insert favorite anime* out and I didn’t wanna watch it alone.

Decay_666_

Yeah. Sure.

His response was almost uninterested but inside he was panicking. When was the last time he showered? How much time did he have to get ready? Did he even have any clean clothes? He leaped from his chair and ran to the bathroom to brush his teeth. Another ping rang out and he raced to check his DMs to see that you’d sent your address. To his surprise, you only lived a short walk from him. Another jolt of excitement shot through his spine as he quickly responded.

Decay_666_

Be over in 30 :)

He turned on the shower then started picking through his pile of clothes finding the ones that smelled the least offensive. He couldn’t remember the last time he’d been this nervous and excited at the same time.

*****

 Tomura shifted from one foot to the other, nervously scratching at the side of his neck. He caught himself before the skin there broke and he ended up having to deal with a bloody neck on top of already being a nervous wreck. He’d only been standing outside your apartment for a minute or two, but it felt like an eternity. He kept checking his phone to distract himself. Just as he was starting to question if this had been a good idea, the door flung open.

His eyes widened and his mouth turned into a thin line. You answered the door in a fucking towel. He began opening and closing his mouth like a fish that had been plucked from the water. You giggled innocently like it was perfectly normal to answer the door nearly naked.

“You’re here a little earlier than I expected! I just got out of the shower. Come on in,” you moved to the side to give him room to walk through the door into your small apartment. You were sure to not move completely out of the way so he’d have to almost brush against your chest. You could feel him stiffen and hold his breath as he passed by.

This was going to be so much fun…

*****

Tomura’s dick had been painfully hard the moment he’d seen you in that towel. Luckily, when you’d gone into your bedroom to get dressed, he was able to position it in his waistband so he wouldn’t be pitching a tent in front of you. The thought of you noticing him popping a boner just by looking at you in a towel was mortifying. 

However, what you decided to change into didn’t help his situation. Your baby pink terry cloth shorts would have shown the curve of your ass had it not been for the little row of ruffles around the bottom. Your tank top, the same baby pink color as your shorts, was pulled tight across your chest (holy shit, were you not wearing a bra?!). A fleeting glance at your chest proved to Tomura that you definitely were not wearing a bra.

“You can come on back,” you beckoned from the doorway of your bedroom, “I thought we’d be more comfortable in here…”

He gulped and rubbed his sweaty palms on his jeans before nodding and rising to walk towards you. Your room was foreign to him. Decorated with all shades of pink and purple, soft, plush bedding, and a soft pink glow emanated from the LED strip lights that lined the walls. Tomura stood awkwardly, looking around for a chair to sit in when you flopped onto your bed and began pulling up the streaming app on your tv. 

You looked up at him sweetly and patted the spot on the plush comforter next to you. “Come sit, Tomu! You don’t have to stand way over there. I don’t stink, ya know,” the wink you gave him made his knees buckle.

“Umm,” he chuckled nervously, “No, of course not. You, uhh… you smell…”

No, you were way too close. This was bad. There’s no way he would be able to string together a coherent thought, much less hold an actual conversation with you. You pout and lean in even closer to him.

“Tomuuuuu!” fuck, he hated that he loved that stupid nickname, “You think I smell?!”

“What?! N-no, not at all. I was trying to say that-”

Before he could finish his sentence, you tilted your head to the side offering up your neck for him to smell and he swears his eyes crossed as he tried to absorb what was happening.

“I even wore my new perfume! Go on, smell. Tell me what you think,” you smirk looking out of the corner of your eye.

Fuck.

You were teasing him, he knew you were, but his dick was so hard that he was completely at your mercy. He leaned in to take a tentative sniff and his eyes wandered lower. His breath hitched when he noticed the outline of your hardened nipples peeking through the thin material of your tank top. Before he knew what was happening, you turned your face forward and put your mouth next to his ear.

“Are you looking down my shirt, you pervert?” you purred. Tomura made some sort of incoherent noise and pulled away.

You laughed and pushed his shoulder playfully, “Geeze, I’m just kidding! You’re wound so tight.” you pause making a thoughtful face.

“Oh, I know how to help! Come on, over here,” you pulled him between your spread thighs and proceeded to rub his shoulders, working out all of the knots in his lean back.

After a few seconds, Tomura began to relax into your touch, slumping slightly and letting out a tiny sigh. He was deathly still the entire time you massaged him. He was terrified if he moved too much that his raging boner would free itself from his waistband. When your hands left his shoulders, he started to move away just to be pulled back into your lap. His head landed in your cleavage as your hands trailed down his chest. 

“Hmm, so tense, Tomu,” you whispered into the crown of his hair, “Is my massage not working?”

He wanted to yell that of course he was tensed up. That his dick is the hardest it’s ever been in his life and if he doesn’t hold as still as possible, he’s scared he might start humping the air like a pathetic dog. Before he can answer, your hand trails down to the waistband of his jeans, and he freezes. The tips of your fingers brush across his leaking tip and Tomura lets out a low, needy moan before he can stop himself.

“Just what I thought,” you purred as you began to trail your fingers up and down the hard bulge in his jeans, “Pathetic. Look at you, so fucking hard for me. And all I did was rub your shoulders.” He wanted to defend himself, but all he could do was whine as his eyes rolled in the back of his head while you continued touching him through his jeans.

“And to think, I never thought you’d want anything to do with some fake bimbo like me. Because I only game and watch anime for attention, right?” you squeeze his cock through his jeans, causing him to yelp. “Well? What do you have to say for yourself, incel? Wanna tell me why your dick is this hard for me if I’m so annoying to you?”

The realization that Dabi had told you everything flitted through the back of his mind, but he didn’t have room in his brain right then to be mad at him. He had to do whatever he needed to do to keep you touching him.

“I, ahh... I’m s-sorry,” he stuttered pathetically. The front of his jeans was wet from your teasing and the denim was rubbing him raw through his thin boxers, “D-didn’t, fuck, didn’t mean it like… ahh, l-like th-that.”

You loved how easily you could wreck him. You pet his hair back from his sweaty brow as you cooed at him lovingly.

“You know,” you removed your hand from the front of his jeans and he whined from the lack of friction, “You really hurt my feelings, baby. I thought you were so cool and the whole time, behind my back, you said just mean things about me.”

He sat up and turned to face you. His pathetic, needy gaze shot straight to your core. The power you held made you drunk and you desperately wanted more.

“No, no no no…” he grabbed your hands and you realized how clammy they were, “I’m-I’m so sorry. Please! Please…”

“Hmm,” you studied him for a moment, “Well… There might be a way you could make me feel a little better.” you tucked a strand of hair behind his ear, “You were so mean to me.”

“Anything! Please! I-I’ll do anything for you!” desperation started creeping in, thinking you’d leave him hanging with no relief. Little did he know, you had no intention of letting him go any time soon. Your plush lips curled into a devious smile. A soft hand reached up cupping his jaw.

“What a good boy, Tomu,” a tremor passed through his body. You reached over to your nightstand and pulled out the collar you’d taken the selfie in. 

“You know,” the collar danced between your painted nails, “This also came with a leash. I was thinking,” your lust-filled eyes meet his, “If you wanted to be a good boy for me… You’d let me see how pretty it looks around your neck.”

Tomura hesitated, his eyes rapidly moving between your eyes and the collar you held. After a moment of consideration, he nodded. You giggled and clapped your hands together excitedly leaping off the bed. You returned with a short, chain-link leash.

“Now,” you leaned in and fastened the collar around his neck. Your bodies were centimeters apart and Tomura thought he might pass out, “When you’re wearing your collar, you don’t call me Y/N,” you nudge his ear with your nose and whisper, “You call me ‘Mommy.’ Do you understand?” you feel him nod against your face.

“That’s not how good boys answer their Mommy. When you answer me, you say, ‘Yes Mommy’ or ‘No Mommy.’ Is that clear?”

“Y-yes… Mommy.”

“Mmm, what a good boy,” you placed a soft kiss on his neck and he let out the most delicious whimper. You hooked a finger through the ring on the front of the collar, “You’re gonna go sit in Mommy’s gaming chair and let her use you as a toy. Okay?” 

Tomura’s head was spinning and he almost couldn’t answer until you jerked him by his collar, “Y-yes, Mommy. Please, please make me your toy.”

You stood and dragged him over to your chair and made him sit, “What a polite boy you are! Saying ‘please’ without being asked. If you keep that up, you just might get a reward,” his belt buckle rattled as you worked his jeans down his narrow hips. 

A ragged breath escaped his chapped lips as you removed your tiny shorts revealing a black, lace thong. You straddled his lap, your dripping slit hovering a centimeter over the angry, leaking head of his cock. His hands shook as you placed them on your hips and slowly moved your thong to the side. Descending an inch at a time, only teasing his tip, was causing him to come undone underneath you.

“You’re already so close and I’ve only put the tip in. You better be a good boy and not come until I tell you to or you’re going to be punished,” you pushed another couple of inches inside and he nearly wept.

“I-I’m trying, M-mommy! I wanna be a good boy!”

“Mmm, I know, baby. You’re doing so,” another inch, “So…” and another, “Well.” you were fully seated on his cock now. Tomura knew he wouldn’t last. Your velvet walls were sucking him down harder than anything ever had before. It made his fleshlight feel like it was made of sandpaper. You had ruined him for anything else. 

With a few rolls of your hips and some high, airy moans, he was about to bust. “Mommy! Mommy, please! I-I’m g-gonna…”

“Tomu,” your voice was authoritative now, “If you come in Mommy’s pussy, I’m going to make you clean it out with your tongue then I’m going to sit on your face until I come as many times as I want.” your hand wrapped around his throat and you started bouncing on his cock. Your filthy words and aggressive motions catapulted him into an orgasm.

“You bad, BAD boy,” a smack to his cheek broke off his moans, “You disobeyed me! Did you do that on purpose?” your hand around his neck flexes, “Are you just a dirty incel that wants Mommy to get mean with you? Answer, Tomu!”

“Yes, Mommy!”

“Tell Mommy what you are…”

“I-I’m a-a… dirty incel.”

“And what do you want?”

“W-want… want Mommy to b-be mean to me…”

You lift him by the collar and attach the leash. He’s thrown onto the bed and you waste no time hovering your dripping slit over his face.

“Now,” you jerk the leash, “Clean up your mess.”

Tomura knew he should be disgusted right now, but his dick was getting harder by the second. With each lick inside your sloppy hole, he shamelessly moaned against your skin. The vibrations were going straight to your clit, causing you to ride his face harder. This went on until you’d almost reached your peak.

“Oh, baby,” you’re making Mommy feel so, so good, “I-I’m gonna…”

Tomura grabbed your ass and moved you back and forth on his face as he sucked your clit into his mouth. Your orgasm hit hard and fast. You lifted your body giving him a moment to breathe before sitting back down, earning a startled mumble from him.

“Don’t think that’s all,” you laughed and humped his face, making his eyes roll into the back of his head, “Be a good boy and mommy might even let you come…”

Tomura only nodded as he began to eat you again like he was starved. Maybe all the stuff you posted in the Discord server wasn’t so annoying anymore...

#Shigaraki #tomura shigaraki #shigaraki tomura #shigaraki x reader #shigaraki tomura x reader #shigaraki x you #bnha smut #tw // mommy kink #tw degradation #tw face sitting #jade writes smut

[theyreonlynoodlesmike]

A Reading: Part 3 (Poly!Lost Boys x Fem!Witch Reader)

<- Previous Chapter. Next Chapter ->

Warnings: cursing, threats, manipulation

Word Count: 3257

Y'know how I said I would update this fic and then I never did? Well, come get y'all juice

Still. They were all perfectly still after you explained everything that you'd seen. None of the boys moved, but none of them were looking at you. They were processing your words, with some of them having already asked a multitude of questions as you tried to explain. You'd told them that this path, the path they'd set themselves on, would only lead to death. Their deaths. But that, as you'd seen, it wasn't either of the brothers that fired the first shot. Well, it wasn't their hand on the trigger- stake- whatever. It was two boys you hadn't seen even in your vision. They were with the youngest brother, but the thing that you stressed was that he wasn't the one that staked him. Staked Marko. You didn't even know the kid, but you were trying to make sure he didn't end up on a missing poster. 

You'd described the images in as much detail as you could. From the cards, you guessed it would be Paul and then Dwayne next simply from their placement on the death card. David would be last, but, again, you guessed that that battle would be between him and the brunette. From the way he'd held the antlers, the way he'd stared directly at the platinum blonde. A shiver ran down your back, and you reached for your cat. You tugged him close to your chest, and glanced at the four vampires. You'd tried to be as helpful as you could, keeping in mind the disadvantage that you were at. The silence was starting to thicken the air, make the hairs on your arms stand up. Salisbury meowed, as if sensing your discomfort. That little noise broke them out of whatever haze they'd been under, and it was Marko that asked,

"Is it- Is this it? There's nothing we can do?" He asked, and, even if they were vampires, your heart broke for him for a moment. The way he looked at you, how big his eyes were. The rest had lifted their eyes as well. Paul's eyes were eager, pleading. As if you could stop this. Dwaynes were intense, staring into you. As if there were more answers written into the creases of your face that he could see if he just looked a little harder. And David? David's face was unreadable, but his eyes were alight with anger. You gulped, and quickly shook your head.

"No- no. This is just the current path you're on. You make decisions every day, ones that keep you or push you off of a path. You just have to find a way off of it, and onto a better one." You told them. There was hope for them, even if you knew part of you shouldn't have been encouraging that. They were vampires. Killers. You should be happy to find that the creatures plaguing Santa Carla were going to end up dead in a matter of weeks. But, you couldn't bring yourself to be. Not when they were right in front of you and some of them seemed to be fighting tears. Fighting hopelessness. 

"We could kill them." Paul suggested with a shrug, and you were quick to send him a glare. But, to your surprise, David shook his head. Perhaps it was just because he knew you'd argue, or maybe it was because David knew that wouldn't take care of all of them. Or some of them might die in the process. David was staring to the side, and you could practically see the way the gears were working. He was trying to figure this out, figure a way out of it. You pet Salisbury absently, feeling awkward in your own home. There wasn't like there was much you could do now-

"Why are you traveling alone anyways?" David asked suddenly, and the question nearly made you flinch. Your eyes flicked to him, and, without meaning to, your thoughts gave him your answer. Witch hunters flashed through your mind. Your most recent encounter giving him a crystal clear image of what you faced. Of your predicament. You were running, trying to escape the hunters that pursued you. He stared, and then he nodded. "Our problems are the same then." He said, and your eyebrows furrowed. You stared at him, wondering what he meant. Where he was taking this. To answer him, you said a small,

"I suppose." It was barely a mumble. You didn't know if you would call them the same. Vampire hunters and witch hunters were both hunters at the end of the day, but you were sure you didn't deserve the prosecution. Them on the other hand…

"This could work. You protect us, we'll protect you." He said, and his voice sounded as if he already decided it. You opened your mouth to protest, or maybe just question, but David interrupted you. "Or, we could just eat you." And you shut your mouth just as quickly as you'd opened it. They watched you, waiting to see what you'd decide, and you finally let out a sigh.

"What do you want me to do?" And David grinned. Some of their requests you could've guessed. Protection spells and wards, and Paul had even asked if you'd bless a few of his jewelry items. You'd replied to that with a simple,

"Won't that burn you though?" And he shrugged and replied,

"Why, are you a priest?" And you did your best not to let him make you smile. You really did. But it still lead to you saying,

"These are gonna take time, especially the spells. I won't- I won't be able to complete them all tonight." You said, especially with how exhausted you were. The sun was coming up soon anyways, and it wasn't like they'd be able to avoid the rays completely in your little caravan. Plus, you weren't sure your nerves would be able to tolerate staying in such close quarters with them for an entire day if they did get stuck with you. Luckily, they could take a hint and they all finally headed towards the door, and Marko called to you with a wave of his fingers,

"Don't go anywhere." He said teasingly, but part of you knew the threat that lied underneath. Paul winked at you and said a quick, 

"Check you later, chica." Before Dwayne sent you a pair of finger guns and headed out the door with the rest of them. David was last, and he hung around for a moment. He looked around your little home, at all your trinkets and things. And then his eyes settled on you. You could feel the suggestion in his tone as he said,

"Don't even think about leaving." He told you, and you felt your necklace pang. Deflect any of the mental games he was trying to play. You nearly wanted to glare at him for trying to use his mind control on you, but you bit your tongue. You were so close to getting off scot-free. You wouldn't mess it up with a harsh word. Instead, you just nodded, and you watched as he left the room and you locked the door behind him.

You fell in a heap into your bed, staring at the roof of your caravan. It had been a normal town, just trying to make a buck. Now, you were involved with vampires. Vampires. You ran a hand over your face and groaned. As you tried to get ready and settle into bed, you ran the events over and over in your mind. Perhaps you should've just kept driving, or stopped in the next town over. Anything to have avoided the predicament you were in now. You sighed and tried to fluff your pillow, Salisbury at your side as the sun peeked above the horizon. As you tried to fall asleep, you decided that this seemed to be a never-ending nightmare

You were quickly proven right when a loud knock came at your door. You'd been up for a few hours, but you'd been too shaken to really explore Santa Carla. Or to try to make any money. The night had been slow, with you working on a few spells that you thought could help your reluctantly made allies. The knock had startled you, and you went to the door to peer outside. You left the chain on just in case. Standing there was Paul, a wide grin on his face. You hadn't even realized it'd gotten dark yet.

"Evening, sweet-cheeks. Miss me?" He asked, and you sighed. You undid the chain and pulled the door open another inch. You were surprised to see that it was just him, and a part of you eased. One vampire you could handle. "Now, did you have a dream about me too or was that just me?" When you stared at him and didn't reply, he sighed and shook his head. He pushed himself up from where he'd been leaning and said, "David told me to come check on you. Make sure you were still here." He said, almost sounding upset that you weren't willing to play along. But you were sure that he must've been used to his fair share of rejection by now.

"Well, I am." You told him, standing in the doorway and staring at the blonde. He arched a brow, surprised by your coldness. "Anything else?" You asked, trying to speed this up. The quicker you could finish their spells, the quicker you could leave Santa Carla. Paul sucked his teeth and shook his head, crossing his arms over his chest.

"Nah, not really. You finish my ring?" He asked, keeping his tone cool. Even if you could tell he didn't enjoy how quickly you were trying to get rid of him. 

"Yeah, a little while ago." You told him. He glanced at the opening in the door, not so subtly asking. You sighed and pushed the door open. He grinned at the silent invitation, and followed you into the trailer. He closed the door behind him as you went to your bed, picking the piece of jewelry off of your makeshift work table. You'd meant to just turn around and give it to him, but Paul passed you to lay on the bed just next to the slab of wood you were using to place all of your things. He grinned up at you, staring at you from where you stood. You stared back, not looking half as amused as he did. His hair had splayed out behind him, and his mesh shirt had risen a bit. Showing off a sliver of skin. He grinned when he saw your eyes follow the movement of him pulling it down. You quickly looked away and went to sit on the bed on the other side of your table as Paul pushed himself up onto his elbows.

The boys had made you nervous yesterday, but now? You were tired, grumpy, and just wanted to be left alone. But Paul was the least intimidating of the bunch, even if you knew you shouldn't underestimate him, and he was insistent on staying and amusing himself by touching all your things. He reached out to touch the herbs and jars you had on your table, and you lightly shooed away his hand. The gesture only earned a grin from him and he teased you by reaching out again. When you sent him a glare, he responded with, 

"You're really cute when you're angry." And you rolled your eyes. You tried not to let it chip at your resolve, but you could feel your cheeks heating up. You handed him his ring, a silver one with an eyeball on it, and you watched as he slipped it on. No burns. He grinned, playing with it and examining it. "So, what will it do?" He asked, and you waved your hand lightly as you spoke, calling a cup of tea towards you.

"It's just got some light protection on it. It'll warn off bad entities and help keep you safe." You said as you paged through your book, taking the cup from the open air and taking a sip. You didn't see how Paul watched the action, and you flipped the page. You were trying to find a spell that could protect all of them, or their space. You'd been consider the idea of warding wherever they slept during the day, but you were hesitant to suggest that. You didn't necessarily want to walk in a vampire den, allies or not.

Paul didn't move to stand, even after he had his ring. He hung around, even if he was just watching you read. He played with his ring, turning it on his finger, and the pair of you chatted here or there. Finally, he said,

"Did you- Did you do the dream thing?" He asked, and you looked up and responded with a confused hum. He looked surprised by your confusion, and quickly looked back down at your ring. "Oh, just- I really did dream about you and we don't usually…" He trailed off, and this time your eyes didn't leave his face. He'd looked away, and you could tell he was trying to figure something out. In fact, you thought he almost looked embarrassed. You tilted your head, the edge of your lips tilting up as you watched him. "Nevermind. How does your floaty thing work?" He asked, and you laughed and nearly choked on your drink from his description.

"My telekinesis?" You clarified, and he nodded. He was smiling, and it lit up his entire face. He was quick to reply,

"Yeah, that." And you found yourself staring for a moment. You knew vampires were supposed to be attractive. Most supernatural creatures were. It was a part of their appeal, like a venus fly trap. They pulled you in with their beauty and their charm, just to snap around you and eat you while you were still alive. But the way Paul's smile lit up his face? How easily he laughed and, while you could blame this on herbal substances, how he just seemed the slightest bit slow? It all made it seem as if he wouldn't hurt a fly. You smiled to yourself and said, 

"Uh, what do you mean?" You asked, and Paul was leaning in, nearly making your work table tip over. 

"Like, you can move things with your mind, right? So, is there anything you can't move or like- y'know?" He asked, and you swirled the spoon in your tea. You thought about it, and then shook your head.

"I mean, I don't use it all the time. I don't really think there's a limit it's just, like, how concentrated I am. But, I guess, I get tired when I use it too much." You told him. You didn't know why you were telling him these things, but you supposed he was good company. Better than you talking to Salisbury. If you were honest, it was probably the fact that it'd been a long time since you'd talked to anyone. And anyone that was as attractive as the blonde.

"Could you use it on me?" He asked, and you saw the glint of mischief in his eyes. You let out a scoff when he lifted his eyebrows suggestively, and you waved him away.

"In theory, yes." You told him, and he rested his head on his hand then. He gestured to you, as if encouraging you to do it. You gave him a look, and he rolled his eyes.

"Oh, come on. If I knew witches were as uptight as you, I-" And you flicked your wrist. He was pushed back and his wrists were pinned on either side of his head. A surprise noise left his mouth, and you watched as he struggled. You pushed your work table out of the way, moved to sit besides him, and looked down at him. Your face was only a few inches away from his, and you watched the way he tried to pull against the hold. But, the grip was solid and his wrists didn't move an inch. Gently, you grazed your fingertips against his jaw to gather his attention,

"Happy?" You asked, and you watched as his gaze lifted up to you. He was watching you carefully, but, as the grin grew on your face, a smirk grew on his. You watched as a fire in his eyes grew, and the heat of it threatened to burn you.

"Extremely." He said, biting his lip and raking his gaze over you in a way that didn't hide at all what he was thinking. You didn't need to be able to read his mind to tell. You laughed, tugging yourself away from him just when he started to lean up, and you flicked your wrist to let him go. As you sat back, he followed you. One of his hands went down to yours, his cool fingertips reaching to hold your hand. "Is there anything else you can do?" He asked, tilting his face close to yours. Your breath hitched and you leaned back, and you tried to find a way to make your mouth move. To ignore the flirting in his tone. To ignore the way that, if you didn't know what he was, you would've already pulled him in. You tried to remind yourself. Vampire. Not to be trusted. Not to be underestimated. You'd forgotten that Paul could hear you, and the next moment Paul was tsking and saying, "You think too much." Just before he leaned in to close the gap.

***

When Paul approached the boys with a pep in his step and reeking of the witch, David arched a brow at him and asked,

"Well?" And Paul gave him a lazy grin.

"She won't be a threat." Paul said easily, and Dwayne lifted his eyes to give him a glare. Paul lifted his hands up, giving the brunette a look back. "What? I did what I was supposed to. Her telekinesis is strong, but she gets tired if she uses it too much and she didn't do the dreams. There, happy? And," He said. He went to sit on the railing, just next to where Dwayne was standing. He was slipping the ring off of his finger to give himself something to play with as he continued, "I figured she wouldn't be a problem if she actually liked us." He said, and David watched him for a moment. For how dumb the blonde usually played, sometimes he wasn't dumb at all.

He'd sent Paul to scope her out, to figure out how strong she was, and to more so see how she'd react to just one of them. If she'd try to make a break for it or surrender herself to the situation. It seemed she'd picked the latter. And the blonde was right. It would help if she liked them, even if Paul had a specific type of like in mind. Marko landed a soft punch on Paul's arm, and affectionately said,

"You're such a dog, man. We sent you to get information, you ass." But it seemed nothing was going to dim Paul's mood. He shrugged and said,

"I did. I just answered a few of my own questions." He said nonchalantly. Star and Laddie were off somewhere, so it was just the four of them on the boardwalk that evening. They watched the crowd for a moment, before Marko finally asked,

"How far did you get anyways?"

#the lost boys #the lost boys 1987 #the lost boys paul #paul the lost boys #the lost boys marko #the lost boys david #the lost boys dwayne #david the lost boys #marko the lost boys #the lost boys x reader

[hnychn]

KARASUNO’S MANAGER !!

SYPNOSIS — it’s a new year and the karasuno team decides to throw a new years party in the school gym

WARNINGS — tooth rotting fluff <3

AUTHOR’S NOTE — none of this is realistic but shut up and let me live laugh and love with the idea it’s real

⇀ HAPPY NEW YEARS BABESS

⇀ so it all started out when noya and tanaka came up with the brilliant idea to throw a new years party

⇀ and since canonically, everyone in haikyuu are losers, everyone agreed 😀

⇀ of course you invited your boo kenma 😼 and the nekoma team

⇀ and kuroo invited the fukurodani team since bokuto heard about the party somehow

⇀ the party is held in the gym, it's byoc

⇀ "bring your own cups"

⇀ cause y'all broke broke 😭😭✋🏼

⇀ kidding . . . about the cup part, y'all are broke though . . .

⇀ anyways, so the team put you in charge of getting the drinks

⇀ . . . but they never specified non-alcoholic 😼

⇀ so you, being the six foot seven giant you were, got some alcohol

⇀ it was surprisingly easy

⇀ like the guy behind the counter didn't even ask you for an ID or anything and he probably assumed you were 21+ because of your features 🤡

⇀ i mean you do be chiselled by the gods themselves 🤪🥴

⇀ not me simping over you 🤺

⇀ so the party is about to start and you come in with literal bottle of alcohol like fUCKING JACK DANIEL'S AND WHISKEY AND RUM AND ALL THAT SHIT

⇀ and when daichi saw you with all the paper bags filled with bottles of alcohol he just-

⇀ . . . 🧍🏽‍♀️

⇀ "y/n. . ."

⇀ "yes? 🤠"

⇀ "why. . .why do you have alcohol?"

⇀ "you said to get drinks. ."

⇀ "i mEANT PUNCH-"

⇀ all daichi wanted to do was punch you 🏌️🏽‍♀️

⇀ LMAO BUT NOYA AND TANAKA TURNT UP WITH THE ALCOHOL

⇀ they poured that shit into those punch bowls? ya know? the ones in those cliche highschool movies

⇀ they got red solo cups and everything 🔫

⇀ anyways, so people start showing up and daichi panics because no sir, these minors aren't getting drink on his watch, but oops-

⇀ kiyoko locked him in the shortage closet 👁

⇀ "i'll let you out in 20 minutes"

⇀ because babes knew that's all it'll take for everyone to be blackout drunk

⇀ and she was right 💅🏽

⇀ fifteen minutes into the party, noya, tanaka, yamamoto, lev and a bunch of first years are drunk drunk.

⇀ suga, kuroo, asahi, and ennoshita are also drunk but like they're the chill typa drunk y'know?

⇀ they playing a game of uno with normal playing cards 🧍🏽‍♀️

⇀ kenma . . . doesn't want to be there BLESS HIM LMAO-

⇀ he's sitting in the corner, red solo cup in hand because kuroo took his pspspsp and won't give it back, even if he is drunk

⇀ and you- good god

⇀ YOU. ARE. D R U N K.

⇀ i'm talking the embarrassing type of drunk

⇀ you're dancing on one of the volleyball poles like a fucking stripper and bokuto is throwing napkins at you like they're ones please- 🔫

⇀ kenma is just in the corner staring like 🐚🌝 hello yes, officer? imma need animal control here asap.

⇀ LIKE DJFJD WTF IS MY BF DOINGG

⇀ he's embarrassed for you 😔✋🏼

⇀ but in the corner of your eye you see kenma sitting all alone so you go over to him, alcohol nearly spilling over the side of your red solo cup

⇀ "what're you doin all alone here, kitten?"

⇀ kenma crinkles his nose because you smell like alcohol, but he just shrugs

⇀ he says something but you can't hear him over he loud music, so you lean closer but you end up spilling your drink all over your shirt and you just

⇀ "ew it's sticky . . . i guess I'll just take it off"

⇀ SO YOU DO

⇀ IN A CROWDED ROOM

⇀ OF DRUNK POSSIBLY NOT STRAIGHT MEN

⇀ and holy fuck-

⇀ how knew you were so foine 🥴🥴

kenma's eyes widen when you suddenly pull off your shirt, your chest still slightly damp from the drink spilling on you. he could feel heat rushing to his face the longer he stared. kenma wanted to look away, he really did, but it was something about the way you rubbed your hands over your abs and chest to wipe off the moisture and the way you looked down with hooded eyes that had him entranced. he couldn't look away, and by the sight of the other people in the room also staring at you with no shame, they couldn't either.

despite being drunk, you could tell people were staring and it filled you with a sort of confidence you only got in the privacy of your room with kenma. speaking of kenma, he wasn't fairing any better. his head was turned to the side to look away, but his eyes betrayed him and stayed focused on your chest.

you smirked.

kenma gasped as you suddenly leaned forward, your hand slamming onto the wall next to him and the other pushing him by the hip, your cold fingers slithering up his shirt and sending chills up his spine. your breathe was warm next to his ear and kenma's blush intensified.

"see something you like, kitten?"

kenma's breathing began to get heavier the longer you whispered in his ear, his chest and pants tightening. kenma refused to look up, knowing half of the people in the gym were staring, but he would by lying if he said it didn't turn him on more than he already was.

your stopped whispering in kenma's ear and began trailing kisses down his jaw and neck, leaving marks behind. kenma had to bite his bottom lip to stop noises from escaping his mouth, but his restraint was limited due to the small amount of alcohol in his system.

your fingers traveled further up his shirt and caressed his waist, pulling him closer to you. pulling away from his neck, you turned to his lips, sucking and biting on them as if it would be the last time you would be able to. kenma's neck was littered with hickies that, even in the darkness of the gym, were extremely visible.

but before things could go any further, you were ripped away from kenma by a fuming daichi, "first you bring alcohol and get everyone drunk, then you try to fuck your boyfriend in the middle of the gym? i'm gonna kill you, y/n."

⇀ you were put on daichi watch for the rest of the night 😔🔫

⇀ but by the time 11 rolled around, you were a bit sober so i guess that's good

⇀ everyone gathered into he middle of the gym and counted down until midnight

⇀ kiyoko and yachi had hung some of those colour changing lights and gave the room some amazing vibes

⇀ and kenma was standing next to you, your arm slung over his shoulder as the lights hit his face perfectly and outlined every feature of his beautifully

⇀ you smiled down at him

"it's already 2021, huh?"

kenma looked up at you and immediately looked away when he saw that you were already looking at him. even after months of dating and nights spent in each other's embrace, he still got nervous when you looked at him the way you were right now.

eyes so full of love and lips pulled into a satisfied smile.

"yeah. . . i guess. . ."

you laughed and pulled him closer to your side, kenma stumbled a bit and grasped onto the new shirt you put on. it was a spare that you left behind in the clubroom one day.

"c'mon kenma! new year, new possibilities! what are your new years resolutions?"

kenma shrugged, burying his head deeper into your side, "i don't have any."

5 . . .

you smiled, "really?"

you looked back up at the digital clock kiyoko hung up on the wall just for new years, your smile never faltering. kenma loved that about you, your ability to smile no matter what. no matter the circumstances.

4 . . .

"what about you?" kenma asked, a small bubble of guilt building in his chest for not answering how he thought you wanted.

you looked down at him with the same lovesick eyes and satisfied smile, kenma felt his heart stop, "me?"

you looked back up at the clock, "hmm. . ."

3 . . .

"i think. . . " you drew out, a playful smile on your face when kenma pouted at your long answer. he slapped your chest when you laughed at him.

2 . . .

"i think," you tugged kenma in front of you and rested your chin on his head, a lazy smile drawn on your face as everyone else yelled about, excited for the new year.

1 . . .

"i think i have everything i could ever want right here."

HAPPY NEW YEARS!!

kenma gasped as you suddenly turned him around, lifting his face by the chin. everyone around you cheered as the clock hit 12 and it was now January 1, 2021.

kenma's heart pounded when he saw the same old lazy smirk on your face and the same old lovesick look in your eyes; but no matter how many times he's seen it, he would always feel the butterflies fluttering in hit stomach.

"happy new years, kenma." you whispered as you pulled him into a kiss.

what a way to start the new years.

⇀ everything after that was a blur

⇀ the party amping up as a way to start the new years and you were sure even daichi had a cup full of some unholy concoction of alcohol kiyoko made for him

⇀ when you woke up, you were in bed, kenma laying a your side.

⇀ with close on, y'nasties 👁

⇀ your head felt like it was going to explode and your stomach turned in ways it shouldn't

⇀ but you were too lazy to get outta bed

⇀ me 🤡

⇀ so you just pulled kenma closer and went back to sleep

⇀ dreaming of a happy future with the man in your arms

taglist:: @stickystrawberrysyrup @420-uwu @nvthvlyy @kaiwai @goshizaki-jun @thetrash-mammal @dprhvn @bakuhore

a/n :: i'll add the read more thing in the morning, i gotta start getting dressed for the new year party. this was kinda rushed too so sorry if it's a bit jumbled or something

#haikyuu x reader #haikyuu x manager #haikyuu x male reader #karasuno's male manager #karasuno x male manager #karasuno manager #haikyuu manager #haikyuu!! #haikyū!! #kenma x male reader #kenma x reader

[vampiric-daydreams]

Inkling

Jasper x Reader

This is Part 2 of the Jasper miniseries. Here is Part 1.

Summary: After the negative events of the last few weeks, Alice offers an explanation that just doesn’t seem to add up. You believe there is more to the mysterious family that meets the eye.

Word Count: 2,540

Tags: @awesome-badass-cafeteria-sauce @eggmettcullen @scuzmunkie @xcharlottemikaelsonx @oi-itsemily @cacti-succulents-andlesbians @aw0kenangel

A/N: There’s less Jasper in this chapter because a few things needed to happen in this part to keep the ball rolling. As the series progresses, the prerogatives of the Cullens will make more sense.

*

The buzzing chatter surrounding you broke the silence as you sat alone in a local café. It had been raining all day, and the people of Forks sought the solace of a sweet hot chocolate. You shifted in discomfort. Your socks were moist with dirty water you’d collected from splashing through a large puddle on your way in; and the pouring rain made your sleeves cling to your arms. You sat shivering at a corner table, goose bumps scattered across your exposed skin. The welcoming scent of coffee beans comforted you as you waited for your own hot drink to arrive.

A glare from a boy studying on the table beside you caused you to stop fidgeting with the sugar stick between your fingers. “Can you stop tapping?” he asked.

“Sorry,” you mumbled. You put the stick of sugar back in its place and took a deep, steady breath. You rarely met strangers, but lately you’ve been in a weird head space. An anonymous note in your locker had brought you here, requesting a meeting.

“Here you go,” the waitress said as she placed your scalding drink in front of you, the steam swirling from its surface. “And sorry for the wait. It’s always crazy here on these stormy days.”

“Thank you.” You weren’t in the mood for small talk right now. On top of this mystery meeting, you had gotten nowhere with the Cullen stuff. Everything had gone back to normal at school. No glares. No staring. No interacting of any kind. So, when Alice Cullen herself strutted through the door and straight towards you, the shock nearly knocked you over.

Her heeled boots clicked on the wooden floor. Stylishly dressed in an all-black ensemble with a trendy overcoat and a navy-blue scarf; her designer bag hung lavishly from the back of her chair as she slid into her place across from you. She smiled. “Thank you for coming, (Y/N).”

“What- seriously?” It came out louder than you intended, and the boy at the neighbouring table glared at you a second time. You whispered harshly, “I thought you guys were happy pretending I didn’t exist. Or do you have a new assumption to harass me about?”

Alice’s perfectly arched eyebrows formed a frown. “Actually, I came to apologise for our behaviour. Can I buy you a toasted sandwich or something?”

You scoffed. “A toasted sandwich won’t change my mind. What the hell was all of that? Actually, no. Never mind. I’ve been banned from talking to any of you, so I should leave.” Without letting it cool, you sculled your drink. The heat burned your throat as you tried not to wince. You couldn’t make a fool of yourself in front of a Cullen. Not again. You grabbed your phone and your keys and pushed your chair back.

“(Y/N), please. You deserve an explanation for everything.”

“Damn right I do!”

“Please sit and give me a chance to give you that. You’re welcome to leave, but please at least let me start?”

You plopped back down in your chair like a grumpy child and slouched. “Fine. Start.”

“Jasper was the first to notice. He noticed not long after the school year had started, but he mentioned nothing to us. Not that he needed to, he had no intentions - no offence.” You rolled your eyes. She swallowed. “But when Edward saw the way you looked at Jasper, he put it together. He’s gifted at reading people, and he felt you were getting too attached–”

“That was no-one’s assessment to make.” Your tongue still burned from your drink.

Alice nodded. “You’re right. It wasn’t. But Edward sees things in people… Often his own opinions and ideals surrounding certain topics will cloud his judgement. He mentioned his interpretation to Emmett in passing, who repeated it to Rosalie with different details. By the time I’d heard any of it, it sounded like you were plotting to separate us, which was why I was upset. I’m sorry, (Y/N). If I had known you had no intentions of actually breaking us up, I would have made them stop. No, I should have made them stop regardless of what I thought. Being a family for so long, we’re protective of each other. But I shouldn’t have let it reach the point that it did.”

The sugar stick once again found its way to your fingers as you stared at the girl in front of you. “Why are you telling me this?” It just didn’t sound right, despite Alice’s insistence. 

“Because I’ve seen how hurt you were by it, and I don’t want you to hurt yourself or believe you’re not worthy of receiving love. We behaved like a bunch of callous bullies. We’re sorry and so is Jasper.” A hard prick stabbed at your chest.

“It’s whatever. There isn’t anything we can do about it now. What’s done is done, right?”

“Jasper wanted to come and apologise to you in person, but he was afraid. He’s quite empathetic, which is why he couldn’t bear to talk to you yet. Even Edward-”

Edward. “He was right, in a way. While I had no intention to do something that would hurt you or make Jasper leave you, I certainly thought about what it would be like if he was mine. It just seems like a big jump to make.” Alice’s brown eyes twitched as they widened. “He assumed I thought about something and then launched into action against me–and you say he’s good at reading people? It just all seems a little weird.”

“Yes, our parents had a word with Edward about jumping to conclusions like that. He just didn’t want to see me get hurt. Jasper in particular feels terrible about how he handled everything.” You feigned interest as she tried to deflect your attention with Jasper’s name. “He thought reminding you of his love for me would make you change your mind about him, and when that didn’t work his first instinct was to shut you out. This should be coming from him, not me, but please understand that he regrets how his behaviour translated. And (Y/N), we all want to apologise to you. You’re allowed to talk to us, you know. We don’t bite. And the others are too ashamed to speak to you themselves without being approached first. Will you give us a chance to make it right?”

If you were ever getting a shot at finding out what they were hiding, this was it. 

You smiled sweetly, “I’d prefer it much better if we did that.”

Alice returned your smile, her kohl-lined eyes lighting up. “Remember, there’s no rush. After what happened, you don’t owe us anything. Take as long as you need.”

You nodded your head. “I will.”

 *

 For the first time in weeks, you arrived at school with a smile and something to look forward to. From the moment you entered the campus, you took the precaution to not actively think about your intention to dig deeper. It still seemed ridiculous, and you were sure you’d be cringing at yourself later on–but the circumstances were just too weird to you.

You spent the better half of the morning surrounded by your friend group, not ready to branch out and find the Cullens just yet. If they were as sorry as Alice had made them sound, they could stew in it for a while longer. You had already planned which order you intended to approach them in, too. Emmett would be first, as he seemed the least threatening. Next was Rosalie, and lastly Edward, who was the root cause of all of this.

You weren’t ready to go anywhere near Jasper.

The bell rang, and your group said their goodbyes as they went to their lockers. You fumbled with the combination lock on yours and gritted your teeth when it wouldn’t open. “Pretty sure the code hasn’t changed since yesterday,” a deep voice sounded from your right. Emmett. This was wrong; it was supposed to be you approaching them.

“Well I’ve had a rough few weeks.” You shot back. His wide smile faltered for a moment before shrinking away.

“I’m sorry about my contribution to that.” He spoke softer than usual. His eyes were the same warm gold as Jasper’s. Were they biologically related? Wait. No thoughts on campus.

“Yeah, the entire thing really sucked for me.”

“I didn’t want you to feel the way you did. I knew it wasn’t right. That excuses nothing, but I don’t want any bad blood between us. I’m really not that kind of guy.” His expression seemed genuine.

“You could have fooled me.” It came out before you could stop it. “Wait, no. Emmett I’m sorry, that wasn’t fair-”

“No, I get it.”

“No, you don’t. You did nothing. You didn’t even glare. I can’t be this mad at you.”

“I did nothing. That’s the problem. I let it blow out of proportion and by the time it got there, I couldn’t reign it back in. Alice gave you an idea of what happened, right? If I had kept my mouth shut after speaking with Edward, none of this would have happened.”

“If you had relayed the correct details and factored in Edward’s theatrics, none of this would have happened.” Rosalie appeared what seemed like out of thin air. You were sure you hadn’t seen her hovering nearby. Her warm brown eyes met your nervous gaze. You hadn’t been ready for any Cullens yet. “I’m sorry, too. You did nothing to warrant that reaction from us. I’m sorry for allowing myself to jump to those sorts of conclusions before you had even decided anything.”

If you had blinked, you would have missed Emmett nudging Rosalie with his elbow. No thoughts on campus. At least one storm was ending. Rosalie’s welcoming smile was not a sight you’d ever thought you’d see; and it was a clear sign that the discomfort would be over soon. But there were things - subtle things that didn’t always add up.

“I guess we’re cool then,” you said. You looked up at the couple properly. Although they didn’t compare to Jasper, they were both so attractive it was frustrating. It was the first time you’d seen them up close. Rosalie had the healthiest-looking flaxen hair you’d ever seen; and they both had such amazing skin. Neither of them had a single blemish to show. In fact, you recalled that Alice had pretty flawless skin as well—and Jasper’s complexion always looked so perfect. It was as if it blessed their entire family—which was even stranger because… Stop, just in case.

They were both smiling. Emmett reached out his hand for you to shake. “Yeah, we’re cool.”

“Thank you for letting us apologise,” said Rosalie, as the last bell rang and the hallway emptied. It wasn’t like they’d given you much of a choice.

 *

 Jasper had done nothing specifically to attract your attention. All he did was stroll over to his locker. But even just walking, the way he carried himself, how almost seemed to glide, never failed to knock the wind out of you. You caught his attention though, by staring, and he immediately looked at you. His bored expression suddenly drenched in regret. The negative feelings from the last few weeks consumed you; the humiliation, how repulsive you felt you were to him. There was an empty feeling in your chest, and as his apologetic amber eyes beckoned you over to him. Your legs moved before you could stop them.

“It’s okay if you don’t want to talk yet,” Jasper pulled a small piece of paper out of his pocket. “But if you change your mind, call me?”

You clenched the paper tightly as it transferred from his fingers to yours, and your heart fluttered. Your mind went blank as you tried to respond. Open-mouthed and wide-eyed, you resembled a fish. Quickly, you turned away from him and walked back in the direction you came from. Your cheeks were burning as you continued to walk; thankful as you rounded the corner for not stumbling, but less enthused to see another Cullen in front of you. Alice. Again.

You knew it would continue to hurt you if you compared yourself to her; but she just looked so damn good all the time. If any of the Cullens were devastatingly beautiful, it was Alice - with emphasis on ‘devastating’. And the worst part of it was how nice she was trying to be to you. It was easier to soldier on when you could pretend she didn’t exist.

“Hey, (Y/N)!” She smiled kindly, eyebrows raised. You looked at her forehead, her skin didn’t wrinkle. It never did. She must have had some work done.

“S-Sorry, Alice,” you stammered, “I’m in a hurry.”

You picked up pace and rushed by her, taking refuge in the bathroom. She didn’t follow. You let out a sigh. You had come close to thinking again. You still scoffed at the idea that they could read minds or something, but you continued to guard your thoughts, anyway; and when you saw Alice’s eyes, one nearly slipped out. They were definitely much lighter yesterday, like chocolate - you were sure of it. Just then, they looked almost black.

It was driving you crazy. Tears began forming, but you refused to let them fall. Not over this. Not over something you were imagining. Jasper’s eyes flashed in your mind. That rich golden colour… When you’d first started liking him, you recalled Googling if his eyes were even possible and learning they were, but that they were rare; and for Emmett to share them as well was strange.

You bolted out of the bathroom and grabbed a random student passing by. She jolted from the shock of it. “Which of the Cullens are biologically related?” You sounded so aggressive, but you couldn’t stop yourself.

She chewed her bubble gum a few times and gave you a dumbfounded look before frowning at you. “Jasper and Rosalie Hale, obviously. What the hell is wrong with you?” She jerked her arm out of your grasp and shot daggers at you.

Unrelated, both with a scarce eye-colour. They seem to know what you’re thinking. They all look the same; pallid and tired-looking, yet alluring. You couldn’t stop yourself from going over the details.

You sprinted out into the parking lot, nearly knocking a guy down the stairs on your way. Before you could restrain yourself, you’d pulled a pen and a notebook out from your backpack and your hand began writing.

Wednesday. Alice, brown. 

Thursday. Alice, black. Rosalie, brown. Emmett, gold. Jasper, gold. 

#jasper miniseries #vampiric-daydreams #twilight fanfiction blog #twilight fanfiction #twilight imagines #jasper hale #jasper whitlock #twilight reader imagines #reader insert imagine #reader insert #vampire fanfiction #midnight sun #twilight #jasper x reader #jasper hale x you #jasper whitlock x reader #cullens x reader

[castielific]

Title: Fancy and the tramp

Story status: Complete, 8 chapters

Rating: Explicit

Tags: Dean/Castiel, Alternate Universe, Fake boyfriends, pretend relationship, homeless!Dean, rich!Cas, family, angst with a happy ending, temporary breakup, getting back together, coming out, past!homophobia, self esteem issues, Dean Winchester has a sexuality crisis, first time, homelessness, bed sharing, pining

Sex tags: anal sex, switching, bottom!Cas, bottom!Dean, first time, frottage, marking, blowjob, fingering, barebacking

Special warning: Contrary to what the title may presage, there are no spaghettis in this story. 

Summary: 

"Okay, let's be clear on one thing from the start. This is not a lifetime movie and I'm straight, so no falling in love, get it?"

"I get it, Dean," Castiel nods.

Well, that's it then, apparently Dean is going to a fancy engagement party with his new fake boyfriend. What a weird day. 

Link to AO3

Chapter 1 under the cut:

************

"Come on Ricky, you owe me that money!" Dean says on his phone, taking a step forward when the line of the coffee shop shortens. 

"I don't owe you shit, Dean. You still owe me the last three months of your rent," his ex landlord says on the phone.

"And I'll pay you, you know I will. But to get the money, I need a job, and to get that job I need some new clothes and-"

"Yeah yeah, I know the deal. You think no one has told me that one before? No bueno, man, I'm keeping your deposit," Ricky grumbles. 

Dean groans in frustration. "Come on, all I need is fifty dollars so I can buy a pair of pants without any holes in it. You give me fifty, I get the job and I pay you back, how does that sound?" he tries to negotiate. 

"Like a fucking lie," Ricky spits just before hanging up.

"No Ric-fuck!" 

The woman in front of him in line sends him a dark look. Dean rolls his eyes at her. Like she hasn't heard worse before. 

Ricky was his last shot. It was a long one, he really does owe that bastard some serious money. Guess he can kiss the job interview at two goodbye. It's some kind of assistant job. It sounds easy enough, buying coffee and picking dry cleaning and stuff. It was still a long shot anyway. Dean's only real job experience is being a bagger boy when he was seventeen and it lasted about two months before his dad decided to move them further east. 

So far, he'd always managed to get by doing repairs or cleaning at gas stops and motels. The older he gets and the harder it gets to find that kind of random job. People are more willing to give a few bucks in exchange for manual tasks to a kid than they are to a nearly thirty years old guy. Now they just tell him to fuck off. 

And since it's always been casual and off the book, the only official work experience he has is the bagger thing. He doesn't even have a high school diploma because he dropped out long before that. Not exactly a stellar resume. Which explains why he hasn't found work in eight month and is currently living in his car. Thank God he has Baby. 

He had been too ambitious thinking he could get his own place. It could only pay rent for about five months before he went broke. He's never had a home before, and had no idea that having an apartment cost so much. In motels, you don't exactly have to pay for water or heat or utilities. There was a bunch of stuff he hadn't planned for that ate up the last of his meagre savings. Ricky threw him out after three months when Dean couldn't scrape up enough money to pay rent anymore, putting a violent stop to Dean's pipe dream of living a normal life. He hoped it would be simpler to get a job if he had an actual address, had even thought about scrapping up enough to maybe get his GED. He's not sure what he's going to do now. 

He's always wanted to be a mechanic. If his dad ever taught him anything, it was how to take care of the Impala. John taught him all the basics and Dean got the knack of it. As a teen, he spent days reading car magazines and working on the Impala, trying to learn as much as he could about how cars worked and how to repair the different parts. He knows enough by now that he could easily work in a garage, but he's got no diploma, and hasn't found anyone willing to hire him on faith alone. 

The line of the coffee shop shortens again, the barista asking her order to the goody-two-shoes in front of him. Dean looks regretfully at the display of sandwiches. He searches his pockets and only comes up with three dollars. Of course, the cheapest piece of food cost four dollars. Dean sighs. Guess just a coffee will have to do today. 

He won't have another choice but to go to the soup kitchen tonight. He hates it there. The food is crap and he wants to punch the prancy people serving it. They always try to give him some Jesus bullshit with his food, like Jesus is ever gonna put a roof over his head and find him a decent job. Neither Jesus nor God nor whatever gives a crap about him. Not that he blames them. Hell, if they exist they're probably not big fans of the guy that used to slip into church as a kid to pick the lock of the donation box

"Just an americano, please," Dean says regretfully when the barista asks for his order. At least it will keep him warm and fill his stomach for a short while.

Halloween just went by and the weather is becoming really cold. He should use the last of Baby's tank to go as far south as he can before winter really hits. He probably won't get farther than Wichita though, and the thought makes him shiver. No one wants to get stuck for a winter in Wichita. Maybe he could go and see if he can make a few bucks at the nearest motel, that kind of place always needs a handyman's help. He hasn't tried the one on Corn Street yet. He's noticed only two lights are still working on their sign, he could offer to help with that. If he makes fifty bucks, he might be able to reach Austin. 

Dean stops on the sidewalk in front of the coffee shop, pondering if he should walk to the bar a few streets down or the motel. Sometimes Benny, the owner of the bar, lets him use the sink in the back to wash up. If he's lucky, he'll even get some leftovers from last night. It's generally just some stale pretzels, cold fries on good days, but it's still better than nothing. He's got two cans of beans and a car with an near empty tank to his name right now, so he's not picky. 

Dean takes a look at his watch. It's eleven thirty already, the leftovers are probably already in the trash at Benny's. The motel is probably his best bet. 

"I'll give you a hundred dollars if you pretend to be my boyfriend." comes a hoarse voice, way too close to his ear. 

Dean jumps, nearly spilling his coffee on himself. He spins to the right to face the man who just talked and is met with a pair of clear blue eyes. Way too close again. He waits a second for the man to take a step back as he realises as close Dean turning brought them, but the guy just continues to stare at him, head slightly tilted to the side. He's wearing an oversized trench coat over a dark blue suit that looks expensive. He's so close a gust of wind makes the bottom of his coat brushes Dean's shin. 

"Dude, personal space," Dean reproaches, taking a step back. "And fuck off, I don't swing that way," he adds, not meanly. It's not the first time he's getting hit on by a dude. Sadly, not even the weirdest. He's strictly into chicks though, so no dice.

"Two hundred bucks," the man insists. He looks ready to fall on his knees and beg, eyes going wider and wider as he throws a panicked look to the right of Dean's shoulder. "It won't take more than ten minutes and all you have to do is nod along," he begs, making Dean wonders if he's in danger somehow. Maybe he has a stalker or an abusive ex? 

Dean follows his eyes to a woman coming closer. She's very elegant in a grey pantsuit and a long white fur coat as she walks straight toward them. He can feel her eyes judging him even from thirty feet away, looking at him from head to toes. If he wasn't already self-aware of the number of holes in his jeans, he would definitely be under that gaze. 

"Five hundred dollars," the other man whispers just as the blond woman reaches them. 

"Castiel, dear, you should have told me we would have company, I would have notified the restaurant," the woman says, sending a clearly disapproving look toward Dean as she deposits a kiss on the other man's - (Castiel, apparently, what kind of name is that??) - cheek. 

"Mother, let me introduce you to my boyfriend," Castiel says, looking ill at ease. He's obviously not a very good liar. 

Dean blinks a few times as their attention turns toward him. Castiel seems to be trying to communicate something with his eyes, and Dean frowns in incomprehension for a moment before he gets the hint. 

"Huh. Dean. Winchester," he finally says. "Ma'am," he adds when she just continues to stare at him like he has grease smeared all over his face. He's pretty sure that she wouldn't want to touch his hand if he were to offer it to shake, so he doesn't. 

"Naomi Novak," she introduces herself. "What a delight to finally meet Castiel's new companion," Naomi says, her deadpan tone contradicting her words. "Of course, I would have preferred not to be ambushed by such an announcement. Castiel, you know, that Le Délice hates it when we change our reservation last minute. Who knows if they will even have a table for three," she declares, already composing a number on her phone. 

"It's okay, mother, Dean won't be joining us for lunch."

"Oh, is it because your attire isn't appropriate?" Castiel's mother asks, looking at the holes in Dean's jeans and the big leather jacket that used to be his dad's. "I assure you they won't say a word about it if you're with us," she reassures. 

Dean squirms a little, wondering what the hell is even happening. Ten minutes ago he was buying a coffee and going at his day like a perfectly normal person (well, albeit a homeless and jobless one). Now, his fashion sense is being criticized by the mother of a man who is pretending to be his boyfriend. Did a piano fall on his head or something? Has he finally lost his mind?

He looks to the man beside him. He's scratching the side of his neck in nervousness. The move makes his coat fall a little over his wrist, revealing a freaking Rolex watch. Dean looks back to the woman, eyes sliding on her diamond earrings and the huge rock around her neck. 

You know what? That's not okay. His stomach has been crying for food since last morning, and he's what? Supposed to help this stranger by saying no to free lunch at one of the most prestigious restaurants in town? Fuck no. He's gonna eat like a king and make a few hundred bucks off the back of those rich assholes. 

"In that case, it would be my pleasure to join you," Dean announces with his most charming smile. 

"What?" Castiel can't help but bark. "But y-your work thing?" he tries, sweating. The round panic eyes are back. Dean sends him his best shit eating grin. They both know he now either has to invite this stranger to lunch or reveal the lie to his mother. The guy is trapped and may as well continue to play along.

"It's not as important as a chance to finally get to know your mother, honey," Dean answers. "He's told me so many nice things about you, Naomi. Can I call you Naomi?"

"Of course, dear," Naomi says. She looks a little wide eyed too, probably thrown by Dean turning on the charm to the max.

"Perfect! We shall go now, we don't want to miss your reservation. I do hope it won't be too much of a bother for them to add a chair to your table," Dean says. He should probably tone it down with the pompous tone, because he nearly added an English accent here. 

Naomi leads the way, and Dean is going to follow when a hand grabbing his arm makes him fall a few steps behind. 

"What the hell are you doing?" Castiel hisses.

"Acting as your boyfriend?" Dean says innocently. By Castiel's glare, he's not fooled. 

"I asked you to nod silently for ten minutes, not to do method acting for a whole meal," he reproaches. Naomi sends a look behind her shoulder and Castiel smiles at her like there is no worries, indicating for her to lead the way, 

Dean shrugs. "I had some free time."

"I'm not giving you more money than planned, if that's your goal," Castiel says with a suspicious squint. 

"I'm fine with the five hundred as long as you're also paying for lunch," Dean says, wiggling his eyebrows as they walk toward the restaurant. Something passes on Castiel's face that Dean can't quite identify. The other man stares at him for so long that it's a wonder he doesn't trip. He finally relents with a long suffering sigh as they enter 'Le Délice'. 

Apparently, Naomi Novak is prominent enough that they don't mind changing her reservation after all. They're seated at a table near a legit indoor fountain. Dean is looking around, trying not to let show how impressed he is by the place. The walls are made of stone and covered in frescos that he always thought you couldn't see outside of a church or castle. A waiter gives him a leather covered menu and Dean opens it eagerly. After a few niceties to Naomi, they're asked what they want to drink. Dean has an inkling that he probably shouldn't ask for a beer in an establishment like this. 

"Same for me, please," he says after Castiel ordered some wine with a name Dean can't pronounce. At least, he hopes that's wine. Who knows. Hell, in this place the bottles of water are probably more expensive than his usual brand of beer. 

Dean starts to second guess his decision when he realizes that the menu is in french. What is it with rich people and France? He just wants a damn steak, how do you say that in french? Is there even steaks here or is it just frog legs and snails? Oh god, he hopes not. 

"I think I'll take the duck today," Naomi notes. "Nobody cooks it better than chef Francis. How about you Dean? Have you ever come here before?" There is a mean glint in her eyes that says she knows perfectly well he hasn't. Hell, from the side eyes he got from everyone as they crossed the room, everyone here knows he's not from their world. There are three holes in his jeans, threads hanging from the bottom and his dad's leather jacket probably should have ended up in the trash about three years ago. Even now, it's still too big for him and the sleeves are so scruffed that they're nearly paper thin. The original dark brown color has turned to a light beige in most places from wear. His scruff is just the bad side of too long now, and he hasn't had a haircut since April, strands starting to fall into his eyes. At least, he's wearing his best plaid shirt and managed to wash up last night, so he's not smelling too rank. Why would Castiel pick him out of all the people in the street at that moment to play his boyfriend? It makes no sense at all. From the guy's obvious discomfort as he hides behind his menu, he probably realizes it. 

"Actually, Naomi, duck sounds like a delicious idea," Dean says, voluntarily ignoring her question. To be honest, he’s never even eaten duck before, but it's poultry so it probably taste like chicken. You can't go wrong with chicken, right? His stomach certainly likes the idea, gurgling so loudly that he has to hide it behind a cough. 

Castiel ends up ordering some fish and soon their drinks arrive. Dean barely has time to sip at his red wine before Naomi pounces. 

"So, tell me everything, how did you two meet?"

Dean nearly chokes on his drink. Castiel seems to gulp down his whole glass. 

"We met at a coffee shop. Dean was in line in front of me and we started to talk," Castiel explains, not quite meeting anyone's eyes.

"How quaint!" Naomi exclaims, clasping her hands in delight. "I'm just sorry that you didn't tell me about it sooner, Castiel. How long have you been keeping this charming man a secret?"

"Not-," Castiel clears his throat, "-not long."

"Well, it's nice to finally meet you Dean. I sure wish this luncheon will give me the chance to learn everything about you."

Luncheon? Who even talks like that outside of Downton Abbey?

"I do hope I'll get to keep some mystery, we wouldn't want this guy to lose interest," Dean says with a wink. He pats Castiel's hand on the table. Should he hold it or something? How open on PDA are gay people those days? Not that he knows more about how heterosexual couple act in public anyway, especially in those crowds. It's probably safer to keep the PDA to a minimum here. 

"You have to at least tell me some things. For one, what career path are you on?" She looks like a shark circling her prey. 

"I'm a mechanic," he lies. He'd rather stay as close to the truth as possible. It's a little unfair that Castiel is letting him do all the talking when his initial demand was that he stayed silent, especially since it's his skin that Dean is apparently saving, but the guy looks like he's swallowed a potato whole. 

"Oh, that's...interesting," Naomi says in that insincere tone of hers. She looks like he told her he was fucking children’s corpses every full moon. He's two seconds away from telling her that he's actually jobless, penniless, and homeless, just to see her face, when Castiel intervenes. 

"How is Anna's engagement party coming on?" 

Thankfully, this seems to be a subject Naomi loves because she tells them about every aspect of the future party all the way through their meal. 

Duck, as it turns out, is actually very good. It's more like red meat than chicken, which is a great surprise. Although, Dean isn't a fan of the way rich people put tiny quantities of food in very large plates. He eats all the dinner rolls and scrapes every single bit of sauce out of his plate, yet he's still hungry by the end of it. He nearly starts crying when the waiter asks them if they'll take dessert and Naomi declines. He's starting to wonder if that little piece of duck was worth sitting through lunch with her. 

"That sounds like you're turning this into a wonderful event, mother, Anna must be delighted," Castiel compliments. 

"Oh, you know your sister," Naomi waves it off. "It sure feels like a nice opportunity to introduce your new beau to everyone."

Dean frowns. What's a beau? Is that him? That's not him, right?

"I wouldn't dare take any attention away from Anna," Castiel tries to refuse. 

"Don't be daft, you know your sister won't care. Everyone will be so happy that you've finally found-" she passes a long look, over Dean, like she's doubting anyone would actually approve of him. She certainly doesn't seem to, "-someone," she finishes lamely. 

"Oh shoot, I don't think I'm available that night," Dean tries to play off. 

"I'm not sure I've told you the date of it yet."

"Cas did," he says. The other man perks up at the surname, but whatever, 'Castiel' is a mouthful. "And I have this huh work thing, you know? Bummer," Dean says with a fake pout. 

"What kind of 'work thing' can a mechanic possibly have on a Saturday evening?"

Dean tenses up, pursing his lips. "One he can't get out of?"

"Nonsense, you're coming," Naomi brushes off. And that is that apparently. Shit. There is a vein about to pop on Castiel's forehead. "Castiel, dear, you look a little white. Was the fish okay?"

"I-Yeah-I-Actually, do you think we could possibly cut our lunch short? I am indeed feeling quite unwell."

"Of course, my dear," Naomi says, leaning forward until her hand touches his forehead. "You're as clammy as a fish. I should come home with you, and make sure you're okay," she announces, taking her napkin off her lap and deposing it on the table, ready to stand up. 

"No!" Castiel stops her, a little too brusquely. "I-Dean will take good care of me, don't worry," he says, getting up and grabbing Dean's arm so he does so too. Dean follows his lead, all too happy to get out of here. "Stay and enjoy your tea, mother."

"If you say so," Naomi says, sending an unsure look at Dean, obviously upset at being brushed off in his favor. "Call me this evening, or I'll worry all night."

"Of course, mother," Castiel acquiesces, kissing her cheek. Dean hovers behind him. Is he supposed to kiss her too? Wave hello? Shake her hand? 

"Dean," she says as what is apparently a sufficient goodbye. Thank God. "I'll be sure to see you on Saturday," she reminds just as they're walking away. 

Cas turns on him as soon as they're outside the restaurant. 

"What was that?!" he asks, not quite yelling. He starts pacing, rubbing a hand through his already pretty ruffled hair. 

"You owing me five hundred bucks? Dude, you're lucky I don't charge you more for the fresh hell I just lived through."

"You went through hell? You?!" his pacing gets faster and Dean has an idea that if he stops pacing he might punch him in the face. 

"That's what you get for asking this kind of stuff from a perfect stranger," Dean shrugs, pushing a pebble with the point of his shoe. His red sock is peeking out from a tiny hole near his big toe. It's such a contrast to how grand everything and everyone looked in there. It's making him feel like shit. He's maybe feeling a tiny bit guilty for trapping Castiel like that too. He doesn't seem like a bad guy, albeit one with a psycho mom.

Cas turns on him, eyes glaring and mouth open in what will probably be a flow of reproaches. He stops himself before he says anything though, seeming to deflate. He closes his eyes and takes a deep breathe instead, shoulders falling. "I'm sorry. You're right. I should be thanking you. I have no right to make you any reproach when I brought this on myself."

"It wasn't so bad, though, was it? I mean, I think I sold it?" Dean asks, a little hesitant. He even used pedantic talk and everything. 

"You did as well as could be expected."

"That's not much of a compliment…". 

"I shouldn't take more of your time," Cas apologizes, taking his wallet out. Dean goggles at the amount of cash in there. 

"You really shouldn't have that much cash on you, that's, like, asking for trouble."

Castiel squints at him like he's wondering if that means Dean is gonna rob him for a moment, before he hands him a wad of cash. 

Dean's eyes bulge out, "That's way more than five hundred dollars."

"There's also an advance in there to buy some clothes for the engagement party."

"The what now?" Dean blinks dumbly for a second until his brain catches up to what is happening. "Dude, no, I'm done!" 

"You were the one to push it so far in the first place," Castiel reminds. Accuses, really. 

"I just wanted to eat fancy food, okay! Not, like, go steady."

"There will be lots of food at my sister's engagement party," Castiel tries to persuade. Badly. 

Dean gives him a nonplussed look. The cash feels heavy in his hand. He's never had so much before. This could help him get a new start. What's a night of playing Downton Abbey compared to the many many nights he might not have to freeze his ass off in the backseat of his car thanks to it?

"Why are you even doing this anyway? And why would you choose me? Do I look that desperate for cash?"

"No," Cas says after what's definitely a too long pause. Dean scowls. "You were in front of me in the coffee shop line. I heard you talking on the phone. You said you needed some cash to buy a new outfit for a job interview. Begged, really."

"Where the fuck do you get on listening in on other people’s conversation?" 

"I didn't listen, I just heard."

"You know, what? Fuck you," Dean spits, "I don't need that bullshit in my life right now." He has enough cash to get to Austin and replenish his stock of food, even buy some new clothes. At least this way he can keep his dignity rather than being insulted by a bunch of rich assh-

"Please," Castiel begs, following him as Dean storms away. "You don't understand…"

"Oh I understand perfectly," Dean says, stopping and turning around so brusquely that they nearly bump into each other. "You think you can shit on other people from your high horse and that they'll still do your deed for a few hundred bucks. Well, I'm not your freaking puppet, man."

"I have never shitted on any-" he stops himself with a frustrated groan, before turning on the puppy dog eyes. "Dean, please. Listen to what I have to say at least?"

"I know what you're gonna say. I've seen that movie before, Cas. You're going to bring me to that party, so you can parade me around like I'm some earned price or some shit. Meanwhile you get to appease mommy dearest and the clan of hyenas putting pressure on you to find a husband, while still having the satisfaction of giving them a huge fuck you by bringing a guy like me instead of the golden boy they're dreaming of."

"I-" Castiel stops himself, pursing his lips. "That's actually not that far from the reality."

"Of course it isn't. Told you, I've seen that trope before. Except this is real life and your plan sucks, so you can keep your money and I'll keep my dignity. Just grow a pair and tell them all to fuck off, will ya?"

"You sure do like saying that to people," Castiel sulks. "Are you sure you can't do it for me?" 

"Oh believe me I would love to tell your mom to fuck off, but I like my balls attached to my body, so that's a hard pass."

Castiel laughs slightly at that and Dean can feel his own anger start to abate at the sound. "Good self-preservation instinct on your part," Cas mumbles. The puppy look is still there, except now it's making him feel like he's kicked the puppy.  

"You know, we're in the 21st century, right? You shouldn't feel pressured to the point of inventing a boyfriend. Who gives a shit about that nowadays?"

"My family does," Castiel answers in a long sigh. "You don't get it, how could you... I have three brothers, Dean," Castiel explains. "Two sisters. My little sister, who is just nineteen, just got engaged. I was already seen as the irremediably unwed one and now I…," he pauses, sending a nervous look at Dean, looking ashamed.

"Oh come on. How hard can it be? You're rich, objectively good looking. Do you have weird kinks or something?"

 "I-I wouldn't know. I've never even been in a relationship before," he confesses, looking at the ground.

"When you say 'relationship', you don't mean you've never…" Dean inquires. Cas' cheeks redden, and Dean blows like he just got punched. "Wow. That sucks."

"Yes, it's very pathetic."

"What? Eh no, it's not pathetic. Surprising, yeah. But, to each their own, you know?"

Cas inclines his head like he's not sure he does know. 

"I'm sorry I tried to drag you in all of this. You seem like a good man. You don't deserve-"

"-to be served on a platter to your family?" Dean asks, searching Castiel's gaze until they exchange a smile. 

"Yes. That." The man is still looking dejected. The money is still in Dean's hand. That duck really was good. Damn it.

"The food better be freaking awesome," Dean relents with a frustrated grunt. Castiel seems instantly relieved. "And you're not pretty woman-ing me," he warns, pointing a finger at the other man. "I'm choosing my own clothes and I don't give a shit if I don't know which fork to use for fish."

Castiel's head is tilted and he's blinking owlishly, like he doesn't understand a word that Dean is saying. Figures. He's not sure how he could convince anyone that he's this dork's boyfriend, honestly. Naomi certainly looked like she wasn't fooled. 

"I'm sorry for the way my mother behaved toward you. I assure you, being yourself will be amply sufficient to the task."

"Dude, the way y'all talk, where do you come from, Victorian England?"

"I-I don't think I have English ancestry, no. Why?"

They blink at each other for some time. 

"I must be a freaking masochist."

Cas' face scrunches up even more in incomprehension. 

"Okay, let's be clear on one thing from the start. This is not a lifetime movie and I'm straight, so: no falling in love, get it?"

"I get it, Dean," Castiel nods. 

Well, that's it then, apparently Dean is going to a fancy engagement party with his new boyfriend. What a weird day... 

You can read the rest on AO3

#destiel #destiel fic #deancas #dean/castiel #dean/cas #spn fic #ao3 fic #destiel fanfiction #AU #pretend/fake relationship #homeless!dean #rich!cas #myfic #my fic #castielific #castielificfic

[ihatecoconut]

Misunderstood

Cross Posted to AO3

“Race, c’mon.” Jack called, “I don’t have time to stand outside here and yell at you until you come out, but I will.”

There was a muffled response from the other side of the door, which Jack chose to interpret as an affirmative, but was more likely a repetition of the ‘fuck off’- the only thing he had heard from Race since he had locked himself in the bathroom. He still didn’t know why.

Race had come home almost half an hour ago, slammed the front door and locked himself in the bathroom. Jack, who had stuck his head out of the kitchen at the door slam had just had enough time to watch Race borderline sprint to the bathroom and lock the door. He had been in their since, had only started responding to Jack after twenty minutes, and Jack was pretty certain he had been crying.

“Race please.”

“Fuck off, Jack!” Yeah, definitely crying, Jack could hear the crack in his voice.

He sighed and slid down the wall until he was sitting in their tiny corridor opposite the bathroom door. “I can’t help you if you won’t tell me what’s wrong.”

“Who said I want your help?” Race retorted.

That, Jack decided, was progress. It was something out of him other than ‘fuck off’ and it was also kind of an acknowledgement that something was wrong.

“Alright, how about Davey’s help?”

Race didn’t respond to that, choosing instead to throw something at his side of the door- or that was what Jack assumed he did, considering all he heard was a thump and he couldn’t actually see Race. Either way, he took it as an affirmative.

Cowboy: hey can u come over smthns up w race

DaveyBaby: Yeah, of course, do you know what it is?

Cowboy: nope hes looked himself in the bathroom & wont say anyth or come out

DaveyBaby: I’m on my way, I’ll be about ten minutes

Cowboy: thanks.

Davey didn’t respond, and Jack took that to mean that he had put his phone away in order to drive. Ten minutes- he could deal with ten minutes of unresponsive Race; he’d been dealing with Race since they both moved in to Medda’s nearly eight years ago.

“Are you gonna talk to me yet?”

“Fuck off, Jack.”

Apparently not.

*

Davey arrived exactly ten minutes later, as expected because he never drove over the speed limit, no matter the emergency (‘I won’t be able to help in an emergency if I’ve been pulled over by the police, Jack!’) and he always perfectly calculated the amount of time it would take him to drive said speed limit. The only indicator that Davey was as worried about this as he was, was the fact that he opened the front door and let himself in, rather than knocking and waiting for Jack.

“Where is he?”

Jack waved his hand listlessly at the door, “Still in there.”

“Alright,” he raised his voice slightly, “Race?”

A pause. A thump. “What?”

“Are you gonna come out?”

“No.”

Any other time, Race would have jumped at the opportunity to make a joke about being gay and coming out, but instead of throwing out the ‘I’m gay’- even miserably- he didn’t make it at all. Jack watched as the crease in Davey’s brow deepened.

“How long has he been in there?”

“About forty minutes now.”

He nodded, and Jack could almost see him breaking down the problem in his head, “Race?”

“What?”

“Have you eaten today?”

There was a small, broken sob and Davey’s eyes widened, panicked.

“Yeah,” Race said, “I ate.”

The two of them exchanged a confused glance,

Davey turned back to the door. “Uh, have you got a drink?”

There was a quiet sniff that they only picked up on because they were listening out for any more sobs, “No.”

“Will you open the door enough to take a water bottle?”

Jack resisted the urge to roll his eyes at Davey’s unconscious mothering.

“Yeah,” Race sighed, “I guess.”

Davey smiled, looking slightly relieved, “Thank you. I’ve got one here.”

A hand stuck itself out of the crack that appeared, and Davey placed a water bottle- that he had apparently just brought with him in his satchel? - in it. The hand disappeared quite quickly after that and there was the sound of Race re-locking the door. Jack looked up at Davey.

“What now?” he mouthed

Davey held up a hand- the universal sign for ‘hold on’- “Race? We’re gonna go into the kitchen now. Shout or come out if you need anything, ok?”

“Yeah.”

Davey nodded and bit his lip, the worried look was back in his eyes and Jack wasn’t feeling any better than he had been ten minutes ago, the only positive he could see was that he- the most emotionally stilted person he knew- was not dealing with this alone. Carefully, the two of them moved into the kitchen. “Where was he?” Davey asked quietly, glancing back at the corridor before looking Jack straight in the eyes.

“I don’t know,” Jack replied, keeping his voice to the same volume, “he said he was going out, I asked him if he was meeting someone and he said yeah and then left so…”

“You don’t know who he met?”

Jack shook his head apologetically.

“Ok, ok. Let’s go down the list.”

“Huh?”

“Our friends. You know, people he could have been with.”

“Right, ok, go ahead.”

Davey nodded and pulled out a pen, “Paper?”

When Jack finally found a blank piece of paper, Davey spilt it into two columns- ‘Not’ and ‘Possible’. Down the ‘Not’ column, he wrote ‘Davey, Jack, Sarah, Katherine, Albert.’

“Albert?”

“Sarah was helping him with his math class.”

“Ah, ok.” Jack took the pen and added to the column, ‘Elmer, Smalls, Sniper, Crutchie’

“Were they with you?”

“Yeah. Except Crutchie, he was at Medda’s today.”

“Alright, and now the possible column.”

Together they managed to collect the rest of their friends’ names in the other column- ‘Tommy, Mike, Ike, Blink, Mush, Spot, Finch, Henry, JoJo, Buttons, Specs, Romeo.’

“That’s a much longer list.” Jack pointed out, unhelpfully, “What are we gonna do, text everyone and ask if they were with Racer?”

“Unless you have any other ideas, yeah.”

“I’ll take the top six then.”

Davey nodded reluctantly- it wasn’t the best way they could do this, and it was a little bit of an invasion of Race’s privacy, but Race never cried and he wasn’t offering anything they could do- so they both sat down, ready to text a bunch of their friends and offer no explanation for their question. As people slowly responded, they crossed names off the list. Ten minutes later, Race emerged from the bathroom, just as they had got it down to the twins and Spot.

“What are you guys doing?” he asked quietly, a massive difference from Race’s normal demeanour.

“Trying to work out who you were with.” Davey told him, oblivious to Jack wincing at his honesty, thinking that Race wasn’t going to be happy about that, “Because it might help us work out how to help you.”

“Oh.” Race responded, listless and emotionless, “Who do you have?”

“The twins, Mike and Ike.” Davey watched Race for a reaction, “And Spot.” The reaction to that was immediate, Race’s face crumpled, and he curled his knees up to his chest.

“Spot, then.” Jack muttered, and then louder, “Ok, what did he do and how much should I hurt him?”

“Please don’t hurt him,” Race whispered, barely audible through where his face was buried into his knees, “I think I love him.”

There was a long pause and Davey and Jack exchanged a bemused glance, “Ok,” Jack finally said, “I’m gonna need an explanation on that one.”

Race sat up again and rubbed his sleeves over his eyes, “I thought we were dating, we go out every week and we hooked up at Jack’s last party, so I thought we were dating, but apparently not because he asked me who I was dating, which must have been his way of trying to let me down gently, but I thought we had something and-“ he broke off with another sob.

Jack was choking slightly, “You had sex?” he demanded, “With Spot Conlon?”

“Yeah, and we kept dating after that, but apparently we weren’t.” Race managed to get out between sobs. Davey stood up and went to get a glass of water,

“Calm down, drink this and calm down, we can’t do anything while you’re like this.”

Race nodded, accepting the water, and breathing deeply after ever sip, the other two watched him until he had finished the glass and seemed a lot calmer.

“Ok,” Davey sighed, “I think I know what happened.”

The other two looked at him, Race with raised eyebrows that quite obviously asked him to go on.

“Ok,” Davey started, “so, before you had sex- “

“Please just say hooked up,” Jack interrupted.

“Before that happened,” he continued, shooting an irritated glance in Jack’s direction, “the two of you were already going out for meals together, spending time together- doing what you classed as going on dates?”

Race hesitated, obviously unsure of where Davey was going, “Yes?”

“Alright,” he nodded like this made sense, “and then you… ‘hooked up’ and neither of you spoke about it, you didn’t acknowledge it at all.”

“Well, you know Spot, he doesn’t like to talk about things.”

“And then you continued to go on what you classed as dates?”

Davey could see some of the clarity he had dawning in Jack’s eyes, unfortunately Race still looked confused, and it was Race he was trying to explain the situation to.

“Yeah, Mouth I don’t get where you’re going with this.”

“Did Spot know they were dates?”

“Uh…” the horrified realisation was finally rising across Race’s face like the sun across the ocean, “I mean, he must have, right?” He looked at both them desperately, “Right?!”

“He is a little dense.” Jack offered, almost immediately wincing from the sharp kick Davey delivered to his ankle- apparently growing up with a twin taught you to do an insane amount of things unnoticed.

“This cannot be happening.” Race whispered, “Oh God.”

“You could talk to him.” Davey pointed out, “Tell him what you meant, apologise for not talking to him clearly, et cetera.”

“I’ve never heard someone say that out loud.” Race informed him, still in the same distant, horrified tone as before, “Et cetera. Who says that?”

“You’re changing the subject.”

“I know.”

*

Hotshot was in an incredibly similar position to the one Jack had been around 20 minutes previous; the only difference was that Spot, rather than locking himself in the bathroom, had chosen to pace the length of their apartment, muttering under his breathe and waving his hands angrily. He had been doing that for about 15 minutes and she was starting to get sick of it.

“Are you gonna snap out of it, or what?”

He paused, blinking at her as if he hadn’t noticed she was there, “What?”

“Snap out of it, Spot!”

“Yeah, sorry.”

He immediately resumed his pacing, and she resisted the urge to bang her head against a hard surface,

“Spot,” she groaned, “why are you doing this?”

“Me and Racer went to Jacobi’s for lunch.”

The urge to bang her head against a hard surface and not stop until everything stopped, “You do that every week.”

“Yeah, yeah I know that.”

Hotshot gritted her teeth- this was her best friend, and he was obviously struggling with something, so she was going to help him through this and not yell at him. She let out a calming breathe. “Then what’s the fucking problem?”

“He told me he had a boyfriend.”

“If you keep only telling me half pieces of information, I’m gonna hurt you.”

“Alright, alright! He told me he liked having a boyfriend, and I was upset because I’m a little bit in love with him and we hooked up at Jack’s last party and I thought that might mean something, but I’m a good friend and I wanted to be supportive, so I asked him who he was seeing and he just left and I couldn’t go after him because neither of us had paid, so I paid and then I was gonna go after him, but he and Jack moved in together and I don’t have his new address yet so I can’t and I don’t know what to do about it.”

“Jesus Christ.” She muttered, slightly overwhelmed with information. “When I said stop giving me half bits, I didn’t mean dump all of it out.”

“I don’t know what to do, Niamh.”

“Alright, ok, we, uh, we should probably deal with that slowly.”

He was looking at her the way he had used to when they were still two kids in an abusive foster home, and she had taken on the role of his older sister. “Ok.”

“What do you mean you hooked up at Jack’s last party.”

His face went red, “I didn’t mean to say that bit.”

“Yeah, I guessed. Explain.”

“Explain what, Niamh? You know how it works.”

“Don’t get snappy with me, Sean.”

He leaned back into the couch, “Sorry.”

She ran a hand over her face, running back over his little info-dump in her head, “You’re in love with him?”

“Yeah…”

“Why?”

“Why?”

She hadn’t meant to ask that; she had just never even understood how the two of them had become friends- they had almost nothing in common from what she had seen- and was therefore utterly thrown by his deceleration of love. “I don’t know, Sean.”

“He’s so kind.” Spot whispered, “he’s so nice to everyone, and he smiles at people on the streets, and the kids at his dance studio all adore him, and he always makes time to talk to them if we see them in public. He always makes sure that Davey has time to chill at Jack’s parties ‘cos otherwise he would spend the whole time worrying, and he dances so prettily.”

“Huh.”

He sunk further into the couch- anyone else would think he was ashamed of his deceleration, of the fact that he liked another boy, but Niamh had known him long enough to know he was waiting for her validation, he wanted to know that she thought it was ok. Often, she had cursed the people who had made him crave validation for every response, but it was more important in that moment to give him the validation than to tell him he didn’t need it.

“I’m glad you found someone.”

Spot smiled up at her, just a small thing, but it was there, and then it was gone, “It doesn’t matter, though, he’s got a boyfriend.”

“Yeah…”

The two of them sat in silence for a few minutes, which was Spot’s general attention span in the quiet, “I don’t understand why he wouldn’t tell me who it was.”

“What do you mean?” Niamh asked, running back over that part of his monologue in her head- so I asked him who he was seeing and he just left and I couldn’t go after him because neither of us had paid, so I paid and then I was gonna go after him, but he and Jack moved in together and I don’t have his new address yet so I can’t and I don’t know what to do about it.

“I mean he just left!”

“And how did he seem?” She asked slowly, carefully making her way towards the same conclusion Davey had reached with Race.

“Uh, upset, I guess? But I don’t know what he was upset about because I would never abandon him or be mad about who he’s dating so…” Spot trailed off and looked up at her again, and the expression was back.

“You asked who he was dating, and he seemed upset?”

“Yes. Are you listening?”

“And you hooked up at a party?”

“Yes.”

“And you go out to eat with Race, and just Race, every week, no matter what?”

“Yes, Niamh, what’s your point?”

“I think it’s you.”

“You think what’s me?” Spot demanded, and his ‘King of Brooklyn’ façade was up, concerningly since he had never felt the need to be emotionless around her.

“I think…” Hotshot explained carefully, “that Race thinks the two of you are dating.”

“What?”

“Yeah…”

“But he told me he had a boyfriend.”

“No…” Niamh corrected, “he told you he liked having a boyfriend. He said that. To you.”

Spot’s eyes had gone wide, “Oh no.”

“It’s not that bad.”

“It’s so bad, Niamh! He probably thinks I was rejecting him or something!”

Niamh didn’t know Race that well, but if he was a true match for Spot, he probably did jump to a conclusion that stupid. She neglected to point that out, instead grimacing sympathetically, and watching him as he jumped back up and resumed the pacing he had been doing previously- she couldn’t even bring herself to criticise him this time. “You could talk to him?”

“I don’t know where he lives, Niamh! How am I supposed to do that?” Spot was waving his hands frantically, “He probably hates me!”

“Spot! You have a phone!”

He froze, halfway through another step, hands up in the air where they had been when he suddenly stopped. She was half tempted to pretend to reset him, but that would probably be insensitive considering his panic.

“My phone.” He finally whispered and dove across the room to grab it. “What do I sa- hey!”

Niamh snatched the phone out of his hands, helpfully already unlocked and pulled up Race’s contact- the only contact in his phone with an emoji after it.

“What are you gonna say?”

“Hey, I think I might have misunderstood you earlier, can we talk please?” she spoke as she typed it out, “That ok?”

“I-uh yeah.”

“Good.” She hit send and they both stared at the screen. “Maybe we should do something else for a while?”

“Yeah…”

*

Back at Jack and Race’s, the three of them were trying to come up with some sort of plan. Davey kept shooting down most of what they came up with- most notably ‘kill him.’ ‘avoid him.’ ‘seduce him.’- and was starting to look slightly done.

“Oh my God!” Race suddenly shouted, holding his phone out at arm’s length, “He texted me!”

Jack and Race politely ignored Davey’s “Thank God,” instead choosing to read the text several times,

“Huh,” Jack said, “I think Davey was right.”

The boy in question leaned over the shoulder that Jack was not reading over and glanced over the message. “Yeah. I think Spot might be on the same page as us now.”

“So, what do I do?” Race asked, looking up at him hopefully.

“…Text him back?”

“Yeah, yeah, uh I’ll ask him to come here? Or should we go somewhere else?”

“The park.” Davey suggested, “It’s kind of neutral ground.”

“You’re a genius!” Race informed him, typing fast enough that his fingers were almost a blur, “If you didn’t like Jack and I didn’t like Spot I would absolutely date you!”

“Thanks…”

“He responded! He said yes! I’m leaving!”

“Please put on shoes and a coat!” Davey cried as he made a break for the door with neither of those things.

“Yeah, yeah, ok.” Shoes and coat in place, Race gave them a cursory wave and sprinted out the door, slamming it shut behind him.

“I am so glad that crisis is over.” Davey sighed, sinking back down on the couch, “And I am now going to sleep for three years.”

Jack laughed and ran a gentle hand through his boyfriend’s hair, “You do that.”

*

Nobody ever actually found out how the conversation between Race and Spot in the park went, but they did announce that they were officially dating- and kinda had been for three months- in the groupchat later that day. Hotshot and Davey also received some nice socks a few days later, supposedly from an anonymous donator, but the ‘thanks for your help with Race/Spot’ respectively did kind of make the lack of signature pointless.

#newsies fanfiction #newsies #the newsboys #newsies fandom #racetrack higgins #race newsies #Sprace #spot conlon #writing #writer #writers #my work #my writing #fluff

[iwillsithereandtrytocontribute]

No Happy Ending

Masterlist Ao3

Pairings: Implied Lyfrassir Edda/Marius Von Raum

Warnings: Major character death, Mechanisms-typical threatened violence, Coughing blood, Thoughts of suicide, 

Don’t worry, I don’t describe the death in a ton of detail, but be warned. 

This is my first fic for the Mechanisms fandom. I was listening to The Bifrost Incident again and thought "Hey I've seen a bunch of content where Lyf survives and meets/joins the Mechanisms. What if they didn't survive?" And because I had to deal with that thought (it's a Mechanisms album let's be real) now you get an hour's worth of straight stream of consciousness. Enjoy! :)

“Log of Lyfrassir Edda Inspector- oh that doesn’t matter anymore I suppose. Just Lyf then if anyone actually listens to these when I’m gone.” Lyf coughed wetly into their hand and stared somewhat disinterestedly at the blood that splattered across it. They took a moment to catch their breath. “This will be my final entry I imagine. None of the ship’s functions have worked correctly in weeks.

“First it was the-” they were cut off by a sudden blur in their vision. It took a moment for Lyf to realize they were still holding the recorder. “The navigation systems went down first, then one by one various systems shut down or broke. I am nearly out of food and water and the oxygen pumps stopped almost an hour ago.”

Lyf stared at their hands, shaking and covered in their own blood. “I know I was touched by the outer gods. Even I wasn’t fast enough to escape their grasp completely. But I know they will not save me. I wouldn’t want them to if they could. Perhaps in a moment of weakness I would fall to them as Odin did, but here in the cold of space I don’t even have the option. It’s for the best.”

They gazed at the sputtering lights around them, the broken gauges and stuck knobs. They had been tempted just to end it many times, but something always stopped them. If Lyf had been more foolish or perhaps just slightly less stern they might have called it hope. Hope that they could flee and survive. That they could take advantage of the gift Loki and Sigyn had given the Yggdrasil System with their lives. But they were austere as ever and chalked up their perseverance to nothing but fear of dying.

And Lyf was afraid to die. Even here, even now, as they felt the end approaching as they had for weeks now. They were afraid. They realized the log was still running. They might as well spend their last hours leaving something to be remembered by.

“The recordings of my findings and the events of the Bifrost incident are all here. You may even have listened to them if you’re listening to this. I sincerely doubt there will be anything left of my home system, not after what Odin released there. They might even leave there one day, consume the rest of everything. It doesn’t matter. I’ll be long dead.” Lyf laughed. A short bitter laugh that turned into another wracking cough.

“I didn’t have much on Asgard to be perfectly honest. No family to speak of, few friends. The one constant I had were those blasted Mechanisms. I suppose they’re the reason I lasted long enough to make it all the way out here instead of being trapped in that psychedelic hellscape. They’re the reason I asked for a transfer from the prison to transport police. The amount of violins I confiscated from Marius,” Lyf said as an afterthought.

“They always disappeared not long after I left them. I guess Von Raum and the others could always have escaped. They must have wanted another story .” Lyf put more malice in their voice than they felt. It was hard to feel real anger towards the Mechanisms, other than maybe Jonny. He was a piece of work, Lyf thought with a grimace. Jonny had taken the longest to capture and the most work to contain and recapture. Everyone knew- had known someone who’d been killed or injured by Jonny d’Ville. Lyf couldn’t say they had any love for the man.

Ivy, they could respect. She was incredibly logical in a way they found endearing. Raphaella la Cognizi scared them. True, Lyf had a ton of respect for her, but she was the closest thing they had ever known to a mad scientist before Odin. Brian was nice, as was Marius when he wasn’t being an idiot. Lyf had only called him Von Raum to annoy him, so Marius had responded in kind. A smile tugged at the edges of Lyf’s lips even as they struggled with each breath they took. Ashes and Tim scared him the normal way. The “We will destroy everyone and everything you love with a smile if you wrong us” way. Stay on their good side, and they’re nice enough. And the Toy Soldier… Lyf didn’t like thinking about the Toy Soldier. It unsettled them.

Lyf wasn’t sure how much of that they’d said aloud, if they had said any of it. Oxygen deprivation was really getting to them. They gave a tired smirk at the monitor above them as if any of the cameras still worked. “If the Mechanisms ever get ahold of these my message to you is; fuck you ,” they said with feeling, before doubling over in another coughing fit.

“I don’t have much-any time left,” Lyf rasped. “I-I Lyfrassir Edda signing off for what is likely the last time.”

They clicked off the recorder and set it down on the table by the chair they were sitting in, next to a small pile of similar recorders. Lyf took the deepest breath their air-deprived lungs would allow and closed their eyes.

In the greatest mercy the universe would ever bestow upon Lyfrassir Edda, it allowed them to die in their sleep. One might even have been able to call it peaceful.

Drumbot Brian stood on the bridge trying to puzzle out where that beeping was coming from. Nastya had added a lot of systems to Aurora before she left and well… Brian hadn’t had nearly long enough to learn them all. Finally he managed to find it. Ah a radar… thingy. He wasn’t really a pilot. Why was he the pilot? He would be much better as the doctor seeing as resurrection was his thing. Brian made a note to bring it up with Jonny or maybe Ashes seeing as they were the quartermaster (not that they ever did any quartermaster-like duties). The increase in beeping brought Brian out of his thoughts. That looked like a ship. Floating in the middle of nowhere?

Brian shrugged and left to go find Jonny. He always threw a fuss if he wasn’t the first one notified of anything and Jonny throwing a fuss generally led to him quite literally shooting the messenger. Brian didn’t much feel like dying today.

He found Jonny in the library, which was strange. He typically avoided books like a plague and Ivy hated having Jonny in there. Jonny gestured Brian over as soon as he saw him.

“Come on. Come on ,” Jonny whispered furiously as Brian took his time walking to him.

“Who are you hiding from this time?” Brian asked loudly. Jonny glared daggers at him. Ah well, he was starting to think antagonizing Jonny today would be worth getting shot.  

“Ashes. I might have stolen their favorite hat.”

“So you’re hiding in the library.”

Jonny gave Brian a knowing look. A look that made Brian wish he had the eyebrows to express his disdain, because that look said that Jonny thought he was doing something really clever. 8 times out of 10 he was wrong and the other 2 times ended up with someone dying. “Exactly. Ashes is banned from the library, too much flammable materials or something or other.”

“That’s why you’re banned from the library too.”

“Exactly why it’s the best hiding spot.” Jonny peeked around the corner at the sound of footsteps outside, hand over the gun at his side. He caught a glimpse of Raphaella’s wings as she passed the open doorway.

In the split second Jonny was turned away, and therefore less distracting, Brain remembered he had for once actually been looking for Jonny. And that it might be somewhat urgent. Oops.

“Uh Jonny?”

“Uh-huh. What?” Jonny wasn’t paying attention to him.

“There’s a transport ship outside.”

That got Jonny’s attention. “Any idea who?” he asked with a grin that meant he was in the mood to shoot someone. Brian shrugged inwardly, as long as that person wasn’t him.

“No clue. Looks familiar, but I can’t place it.”

“Lovely.” Fight with Ashes forgotten, Jonny strode out of the library whistling Tales to Be Told and Brian walking just behind him.

They arrived at the bridge to find the ship had drifted even closer, or maybe the Aurora had gotten closer, it was hard to tell. Jonny studied it for a long time before snapping his fingers a couple times as he tried to remember where he remembered it from.

“That’s from As-as something.”

“Asgard?” Brian asked. Jonny nodded.

“That’s the one.” He put his foot up on Brian’s chair and rested his elbow on his knee. “Wonder what it’s doing he- Hey Brian, when are we in relation to the whole Yggdrasil system collapse thing. The Bifrost Incident? We were going to make a new album out of that story right?”

Brian checked one of the monitors, halfway surprised that Johnny remembered the Yggdrasil System. Although, to be fair, they’d been there for almost a century and even he couldn’t be drunk the entire time (events 300 or so years in the future ago were outliers and so could not be counted).

“We’re a couple months after. Why? You think someone escaped the train?”

Jonny shrugged. “No idea, but we might as well get the rest of the crew up here.” He turned and pressed a couple buttons until he found the comms. “Crew of the Aurora,” he exclaimed with his usual gusto, “this is your Captain speaking.”

“FIRST MATE!” They heard Tim scream at the top of his lungs from the armory. The armory wasn’t too far from the bridge and damn could Tim scream.

“ Captain. We’ve found something rather interesting, a transport vessel from the Yggdrasil System. If anyone would like to come with us to take a look get up to the bridge. You have five minutes.” Jonny poked a couple more buttons until it seemed like the comms had shut off.

It wasn’t long before they were joined by Tim, Marius, Ashes, and the Toy Soldier.

“We didn’t invite you,” Jonny sneered at the Toy Soldier.

“I’m just happy to be included!” the Toy Soldier said happily, oblivious as ever. Johnny rolled his eyes.

“Right. Can we dock it or something?” Ashes asked, leaning on the door-frame with their hands in the pockets.

“Aurora?” Brian asked tentatively. The Aurora was unreliable at the best of times and now that the only person she would always listen to was gone, she was testier than she’d ever been. Still, they heard the satisfying clunk and hiss of the airlocks attaching and sealing. The doors slid open to reveal a small ship.

Close as they were, it was clearly Asgardian design, all sleek edges and intricate grooves. For a transport vessel, it was decent quality although obviously not built for the kind of travel it had been doing. Jonny stepped in first. Well… his gun went in first while the rest of him followed. The Toy Soldier trotted in behind him and the rest followed in a sort of amorphous blob.

There was just enough space for the 6 of them to fit in the largest of the two rooms. Everywhere they looked was broken equipment, a frankly impressive array of destruction for this thing to have gotten as far as it had when it wasn’t built for out-of-system travel.

“There’s no way anyone from that system could have survived this much system failure,” Brian whispered as if the likely dead person in the other room could hear them.

“They could have been, what was it? ‘Touched by the outer gods?’” Jonny asked.

“Who came up with that line?” Ashes snorted.

“Me,” Marius said distractedly as he moved towards the table by the door. There was a small mound of recorders on it. He pressed play on one of them. The sudden sound made everyone jump. Then they heard it.

“Log of Inspector Second Class Lyfrassir Edda New Midgard Transport Police. I was able to barter for a transport ship. I’ve spent most of my savings on this, food, water, and fuel. I have some left over that will hopefully last me until I can find work in another system. Already things have begun going wrong. I brought my recordings of the Bifrost incident with me, I don’t think anyone will believe if I didn’t, and attached to the last one are some messages we’ve been receiving on various frequencies from everywhere in the system.

I didn’t tell anyone I was leaving. I just left a copy of the recordings and got out of there as quickly as possible. I think I escaped the worst of it, though the nightmares I’ve been having are certainly nothing of this world.

If I don’t stop, I might survive this. I might survive this.

Log ends.”

The Mechs stared at each other for a moment before Marius shoved his way forward and thrust open the door. In the pilot’s seat sat Lyf, their eyes closed, blood spattered about the small room. Their uniform was long past wrinkled and blood-stained. Their dark skin was the palest Marius had ever seen from them.

Marius had seen war. He had been through horrors, and committed such atrocities in kind. He had thought that his many centuries of mechanization would have made him desensitized to death by now, and it had. But it was so much easier to come to terms with Lyf’s death when they weren’t laying in front of him, covered in their own blood. This touched him deeply, in a way he couldn’t remember feeling before.

He didn’t remember walking to the medical bay, but he must have because here he was. Lyf lay on the table that they usually put their dead crewmates on to wait for the resurrection process, but there would be no resurrection process.

Raphaella had come in sometime during the time Marius had been in there and given her verdict. Lyf could not be mechanized. They had been dead too long and even if they hadn’t been, the touch of the outer gods would not have allowed for mechanization.

And Marius was alone again.

Alone with a corpse that would never walk again. That would never tell him, and Marius smiled slightly at the memory, to shut the fuck up and put the goddamn violin away, again. Lyfrassir Edda was gone. For good.

They listened to the tapes. All of them. All of the Mechanisms had known Lyf and most of them had even liked them. Besides, they weren’t entirely cruel and oblivious. They knew this was something Marius needed. Not to mention it helped with the whole album-writing part of their gig.

Marius listened to those tapes. He listened to them over and over again until he had them memorized. Well, except for the final recording. It hurt too much to listen to it more than once.

Marius always had the one of them that approached immortality with the most skepticism of the Mechanisms. How disappointing that he had been right.

Let me know what you think! If you like to be tagged in other works in this fandom (or others) or have any questions my inbox is open. Stay safe! :)

#the mechs #the mechanisms #lyfrassir edda #drumbot brian #marius von raum #ivy alexandria #raphaella la cognizi #gunpowder tim #ashes o'reilly #the toy soldier #the bifrost incident #jasper writes #jonny d'ville

[zwritestuff]

if you fall, i fall [jackie/nicky]

a/n: for the lovely layla @portfoliono​ ! i hope you like it, it’s 7.4K of tooth rotting nackie fluff, because you said you like jackie and your favorite ship is nackie, so i ran with it. i hope i did it justice. the prompt for this fic comes from @dailyau​ “We’re teachers and our students keep getting in trouble and causing general mayhem to try to get us together so let’s just pretend to date so they stop doing that and whoops I think I kind of like you now.”

 also- thanks for frey for beta-ing and catching the plot holes. what would i do without you?

ao3 link.

***

Jackie has to bite her lower lip to prevent a loud laugh from escaping her mouth, but as Nicky keeps on talking, it becomes nearly impossible. 

“And then they promised me they’d stop cheating on the tests if I asked you on a date. I wonder if they’d keep that promise, though, because some of them clearly cheated on these exams,” she finishes, holding up two paper sheets with same mistakes, and Jackie erupts in laughter.

It’s already a routine for them to have a second breakfast together in the teachers room on Fridays, since Nicky rarely eats breakfast on her own, and talk about the crazy stuff their students say and do to convince them they should date each other. Jackie’s not sure how it all started, nor where did they get the idea, but it had been going on ever since the school year started and at this point, they’re finding it more amusing than annoying.

Well, Jackie finds it amusing. Nicky not so much.

“The little shits are getting on my nerves,” Nicky declares solemnly, earning a slap in the arm from Jackie. “What? I’m not wrong,” she says with a cocky smile, sipping on her coffee.

Jackie cocks a brow, taking a bite from her toast. “No, you’re not. But don’t call the kids ‘little shits’,” she scolds her, and Nicky puts her hands up in mock surrender.

She’s not a fan of calling their students names —what teacher is?— but she definitely has to agree with Nicky. They are little shits. Not all of them, clearly, but the overwhelming majority is, anyway.

Jackie slouches in her chair, stretching her wrists as she sighs, looking at the pile of papers she has yet to grade. She takes a long sip from her mug and rests her head in her palms, watching closely as Nicky grades exams, muttering words in French and occasionally complaining to Jackie that an exam is clearly done with Google Translate. She chuckles softly, making the oh so typical comment about how they didn’t have Google Translate when they were in Middle School, and Nicky laughs wholeheartedly.

“When I was in Middle School, I didn’t have half the guts the kids have these days,” she says, grabbing her red marker and circling a few mistakes in a sentence. Jackie hums in agreement. “Not that it’s bad, it’s amazing. These kids are the future. I just wish they’d use it for something more important than convincing us to go on a date.” Nicky rolls her eyes, discarding the red marker and moving onto the next exam.

Jackie thinks for a moment that it doesn’t bother her half as much as it should, because they’re still children and it’s normal for them to act childishly, and that, if anything, she’s flattered the kids think her and —in their words— “the pretty French teacher with a nice accent” would ever go on a date with her if she tried hard enough, because half of the teacher staff is already after Nicky.

Well, anyone with functioning eyes is after Nicky, which only makes it more difficult to even have a shot with her.

She doesn’t care, though. Nicky and her have been good friends since Nicky started working at school eight years ago, and Jackie is fine with just being friends. For real. Nicky is fun, has great taste in movies, and always has a cup of wine ready when Jackie needs to vent after a bad day.

They work well as friends, no matter how many times the kids insist they’d go well with each other and that when Jackie is teaching the French revolution, she could have Miss Nicky over to help her with the class. 

Out of the blue, an idea crosses her mind. It’s stupid, not practical at all, far too cheesy, and, all in all, not something a grown woman in her thirties should be even thinking of doing — but it settles in her mind, buzzes around incessantly until she can’t help but say it out loud.

“We should just tell them we’re dating already, that’ll get them to stop, surely,” she says, trying to sound as convinced as someone who just suggested to their colleague they should fake-date to stop a bunch of twelve year olds from interrupting their classes.

Nicky cocks an amused brow, a smile creeping on her face as she sets her coffee mug down.

“You think? Isn’t that just adding gasoline to an already burning fire?” She inquires, sounding far too dramatic. Jackie laughs shortly, biting the inside of her cheek, regret slightly washing over. Until a complimentary idea pops up in her head.

“Well, maybe. But if we say we went on a couple dates, or, I don’t know, dated briefly and broke up, maybe that’ll be enough for the kids to drop it,” she suggests, chewing on her lower lip.

She knows it’s stupid to go to such a length to get the kids to drop it, but they’ve reported it to Principal Hall and she just laughed, saying it was just a matter of time before they stopped, or that it’d end once they advanced grades.

Nicky seems intrigued by the idea — how wouldn’t she? She loves those cheesy rom coms with that same trope, or the friends to lovers one, or anything that’s cheesy and sugary enough to leave her longing for a great romance.

Jackie’s not expecting her to say yes, though. Because Nicky is a responsible adult and-

“Alright, let’s do it.”

Oh.

Jackie blinks repeatedly before she registers what Nicky said. “For real?” 

Nicky shrugs, giving her a playful smile before taking a sip from her coffee. “I don’t see why not. It’s convenient for both of us, and if I get you to take me to a dinner during it, I have nothing to complain about.” She briefly looks up at her and gives her a sly wink.

Jackie stares at her for a moment. So it’s just as simple as that?

“Alright. Let’s do it,” she echoes, and goes back to grading papers.

And it is as simple as that.

 ***

 It may not be that simple.

For starters, they have to figure out a lot of details; like when was their first date, what did they do, and where did they go. 

They get together on a windy Saturday, in a cafeteria that serves the best pastries in the whole city, or so Nicky claims. The least thing Jackie cares about are pastries, but she appreciates it when Nicky buys her one and sets it next to her mug of hot chocolate, claiming that she has to try it or she’s breaking up with her. 

Jackie lets out an over the top offended laugh. “Why don’t we tell people that we broke up because we had an irreconcilable fight about pastries?” She suggests playfully, taking a bite of the pie. It tastes amazing, but she’s not giving Nicky the satisfaction of agreeing with her.

Luckily, Nicky is busy devouring her own slice.

“I think that’s a pretty solid reason to break up,” she replies, her mouth is half full, and Jackie scolds her softly, but Nicky dismisses her with a wave of her hand. “I don’t know why are we still fake dating if you don’t consider Shuga’s pastries the best in the whole city,” Nicky teases, and Jackie rolls her eyes with a grin.

“You got something here,” Jackie says, bringing her hand to Nicky’s chin and leaning over the table. Nicky freezes mid-movement, staring intently at Jackie as she gently brushes off the crumbles from the corner of her mouth. “There.” She smiles and withdraws her hand, not thinking much about the way Nicky brings her hand to touch where Jackie’s thumb was just seconds ago, hesitating before going back to what she was doing. She doesn’t think about it at all.

“Thank you,” she mumbles with a small smile. Jackie grins again, dismissing it with a wave of her hand.

They resume their conversation about what the hell they are going to say if questions about their relationship come up, which they will, and Jackie can tell Nicky’s seen one too many movies, because she comes up with stories worth of a Hollywood romance that Julia Roberts probably stars in.

Jackie turns her outlandish ideas a few notches down to make them more believable, and Nicky complains because, to her, it’s totally believable that their first date happened on the coldest day of the year, having dinner over at Nicky’s apartment when the power went out in the whole city, so they lit up candles, wrapped themselves in all Nicky’s blankets and cuddled until the next morning.

It sounds like something, but not a believable something.

Nicky folds her arms with a childish pout, mocking Jackie for her lack of ability to have fun with their little trickery.

“We’re already living our own Hollywood drama, we might as well have fun with it,” she debates matter-of-factly, raising her index finger and straightening her posture. Jackie knows that position and tone, it’s the one she uses when she scolds the kids. She chuckles softly.

“We could have fun, but we gotta make it believable. The kids aren’t idiots,” she points out, and Nicky clicks her tongue, placing her chin on her palm, tapping the table with her perfectly manicured nails as she thinks of another explanation.

Nicky hums thoughtfully as Jackie takes a last sip from her hot chocolate, setting the mug aside. She stares at Nicky, counting and connecting the beauty marks on her face. They remind her of the stars, and before she can get any more cheesier, an idea comes to her mind.

“You know this restaurant called Avril’s? The one that’s on a rooftop with the glass ceiling?” Jackie asks, Nicky nods shortly. “Let’s say we had dinner there and the waiters wanted to kick us out, because we stayed over closing time and were too busy stargazing, talking about everything and anything,” she offers, wondering if it’ll meet Nicky’s standards of romance. 

Apparently it does, because she claps excitedly, and her smile is so bright Jackie swears she could outshine the sun.

“That sounds amazing! And something you could treat your fake girlfriend to, y’know,” Nicky cheekily suggests, a playful grin growing in her face.

Jackie snorts. She’s not sure if she means it, but she agrees anyway. Besides, what’s the worst thing that can happen if Nicky texts her one night, demanding to be taken to Avril’s? They’ve had dinner together before, it’s not a big deal.

 ***

 It’s Valentine's Day when they decide to start with their little white lie.

The kids from the students’ council are selling flowers, with personalized little notes for an extra dollar. They do it every year to collect funds for some of the many projects they have going on. If you’re not courageous enough to buy a flower and send it to the person you like, they deliver it anonymously for five more dollars. The middle school kids are always sending each other flowers anonymously, with the occasional brave boy that walks up to his crush —usually a girl from higher grade— and gives them the flowers before running away. 

Jackie knows it’s Nicky’s favorite part of the entire year — of course it is — so she wasn’t the least bit surprised when Nicky suggested she gives her a bouquet of roses right in the middle of the hallway. Jackie preferred something a little more lowkey, but Nicky put on puppy eyes and batted her eyelashes prettily, and she said please several times, so Jackie lost the war before it began.

The bell for recess echoes through the entire school and Jackie calmly collects her stuff as the kids exit the class with clear enthusiasm. She bids them goodbye, tells them to remember to do their homework, and soon she’s alone in the class again, suddenly wondering if she should go with the plan.

Almost as if on cue, a text from Nicky comes through. 

I’m waiting for you already, xo.

She bites her lower lip. She can do this, it’s just buying flowers, walking a few feet to meet Nicky, and then hiding in the teachers’ room before she has to teach her next History class. Easy peasy.

Jackie walks up to the nearest flower stand, noticing how a few of the students she’s just said goodbye to are floating around. Perfect.

She greets the students, asks how the sells are going, and they chirp excitedly about all the anonymous deliveries they’re doing.

“Do you wanna buy some flowers, Miss Cox?” One of the girls, Melissa, asks sweetly, batting her eyelashes and pushing a bouquet of roses towards the teacher.

Jackie laughs wholeheartedly. “Sure, why not? How much for these?”

“Ten dollars.” Melissa’s smile doesn’t even quiver. Jackie quirks an eyebrow. She’s making Nicky buy her a slice of pie for this.

“Alright.” She pays for the roses, and the kids ask if they’re for her mother or someone especial. “Wouldn’t you guys like to know,” Jackie teases, thanking them for the bouquet and walking away, heart racing in her chest as she walks towards Nicky.

Nicky’s talking with the art teacher, Crystal, perched against the door of the art classroom, looking casual as ever. Sometimes Jackie wonders if Nicky really is as laid back and relaxed as she always seems or if she’s a great actress. 

Jackie takes a deep breath, and it’s not long until she can hear Crystal ramble about the art exhibition she’s prepared with the kids, and Nicky nods with a polite smile, saying something Jackie can’t quite make out.

It’s then when it hits her that other teachers don’t know about their little scheme.

Shit.

“Jackie! Hi!” Crystal chirps excitedly upon laying eyes on her, and Nicky turns to see her with a smile shiny like that day at the coffee shop. It makes Jackie feel a little lightheaded, but she manages to babble out a greeting. “How have your classes been so far?” She asks sweetly, and Jackie awkwardly settles herself next to Nicky.

“As good as they can be on a day like this, and you?” She politely asks back, and Crystal happily babbles about the cheesy projects her students turned in when she said the theme for today was love.

“One of them did a realistic portrait of a rose, and it was so pretty! It was like the ones you have,” Crystal points out innocently, but she stops for a second, blinks repeatedly, and looks back and forth between Jackie and the rose bouquet she’s holding. “Oh, you have roses. Are they for anyone in particular?” She asks, but by her tone Jackie can tell she hasn’t quite caught on the way Nicky leans against her, wrapping her hands around her bicep.

Nicky’s touch sends shivers down Jackie’s spine, and, for the love of everything holy, she tries not to blush and to keep her voice steady as she speaks.

“Yeah, they are,” she vaguely says. Because Crystal didn’t ask for who they are. And besides, she probably has an idea of who-

“Aw, that’s nice! I hope your Valentine likes them. I’m gonna buy some flowers for my own Valentine too, see ya around!”

Oh. So it really wasn’t a lie that Crystal is oblivious.

Jackie just stands there awkwardly, with Nicky still hanging off her arm. She turns to see her and hands her the bouquet.

“For you,” she simply says with a meek smile. Nicky coos, grabbing the bouquet, smelling the flowers and slightly pressing it against her chest. “You owe me a slice of pie from Shuga’s,” Jackie whispers in her ear, and Nicky rolls her eyes, smile still present on her face.

“Consider it a date,” she teases, tugging on Jackie’s arm so they start walking. “That went better than I expected,” Nicky mumbles close to Jackie’s ear and stands on her tiptoes to press a kiss to her temple. It makes Jackie’s stomach twist, but she dismisses it as nerves. A few students stare, but they act as if they didn’t notice it.

“I think so,”  Jackie replies, Nicky giggles as if she just said something funny and rests her head on Jackie’s shoulder.

For the rest of the day, Nicky sporadically texts her about her student’s reaction and how they all want to know who gave her the roses. Nicky never said her name, but she did act flustered when one of her students said Jackie’s name. It was all they needed to jump into conclusions.

Some teachers gaze at Jackie out of the corner of their eye when they see her in the teachers’ room, but she pays them no mind. 

At the end of the day, Nicky grabs her at the entrance of the school and kisses her cheek to say goodbye. Jackie’s heart skips several bits, but all she does is touch the mark of lipstick Nicky left behind, replaying the feeling of Nicky’s lips on her skin for what feel like forever, before snapping out of it and heading to her car.

 ***

 The next day everyone, teachers included, seem to know there’s something going on between them. Jackie feels as if she was sixteen all over again when she walks through the hallways, trying to keep her poised facade, while students follow her with their gazes and whisper something to their peers. 

And she thought she’d be more respected as a teacher. 

She doesn’t have any classes to conduct during first period, so she pathetically hides in the teachers’ room. The new maths teacher is there, too - Gigi, if she recalls correctly - and she stacks pens and pencils in her bun as she grades homework, seemingly not noticing Jackie’s there. So Jackie just settles herself, grabs the papers she still has to grade from her bag and sits on the other side of the table.

They exchange just a couple of words; the only time Gigi talks to her is to ask if she has white out, the rest is just her mumbling curses and wondering aloud what on God’s green Earth she’s reading.

“Do you have any idea who’s the literature teacher in eighth grade? It’d be really nice if they gave these kids some calligraphy exercises,” Gigi comments in an annoyed tone, and Jackie chuckles. 

“Oh, I tried it too. It doesn’t work, believe me. They either don’t do it or pay someone else to do it,” Jackie says with an eye roll, and Gigi quirks a brow.

“Huh, the worst part is that this is actually what I was doing when I got calligraphy homework,” Gigi chuckles, rubbing her eyelids as she sets the papers aside for a moment. “How long does it take until I can read chicken scratch?” 

Jackie laughs wholeheartedly, if Gigi knew that after all this years she still can’t read some of her students writing.

“Give or take, a couple of years,” she says instead, because she’s not about to stress this young teacher this quick and early in the morning. “It gets better the more you get used to your students.”

Gigi sighs heavily, standing up from the chair and walking up to the sink. 

“I wonder how Nicky deals with bad calligraphy, since most of the homework and exams she has to grade is already unreadable sometimes,” she says, and Jackie shifts in her seat a little, wondering if she brought Nicky up intentionally because she heard the rumors, or-

It’s too early for Jackie to be overthinking already.

So she snorts and rests her chin on her heel of her palm, loosely looking over her papers.

“She’s, uh, she’s used to it by now, I guess. She has this, um, this instinct that never fails her, y’know?” Jackie offers, trying not to stutter and failing miserably. But she sounds like someone that’s so excited to talk about her girlfriend that she can’t get the words right, so she guesses it’s a good thing. It’s the little things that sell this fake relationship.

Gigi turns around to look at her, taking a sip of water and quirks an eyebrow, the sign of a smile creeping on her face as she sets the cup down.

“How long have you been dating?” Gigi asks, straight to the point. Jackie bites the inside of her cheek. Well, that was quick.

“Couple of weeks,” she answers, suddenly noticing Nicky and her didn’t talk about how long they were dating for when they had planned this whole thing. Shit.

It seems like a good enough answer for Gigi, so she goes back to her pile of papers and takes a green pen from her bun.

“She’s never told me anything about it,” she mumbles. “You guys wanted to keep it a secret, I’m guessing? I’ve been told shit spreads quick around here,” Gigi says jokingly, causing Jackie to chuckle. That’s probably the understatement of the century.

“Sort of. We’re just taking things slow,” she comments softly, with her cheeks getting a slight shade of red. This is the first time she’s talking about her fake relationship and for some reason, it makes her feel warm and fuzzy, as if this was real and not a pretend game. 

Gigi looks up to meet her gaze one last time and smiles. “Well then, good luck. Nicky can be a bit of a pain in the ass sometimes,” she teases with a smile and goes back to grading.

Jackie mumbles a soft thank you, wanting to say that Nicky is actually funny to be around, that she always looks forward to seeing her because she always makes her laugh, and how everytime she smiles, Jackie feels lightheaded. 

But she doesn’t say anything, just goes back to grading in silence, and bids goodbye to Gigi when it’s time to leave for her class.

Her students have clearly heard the rumors, and they try to pry by asking if she’s hung out with Miss Nicky recently and if she would consider telling her to tone down their amount of homework. Jackie just laughs and announces she’ll give back the homework she took for grading. That shuts them up almost immediately.

Some of the students that like to cause problems once in a while try to bring it up again, but Jackie shuts them down at lightning speed, using the stern voice her mother used on her when she was their age. That gets the job done and makes the students fall back into silence. 

At the end of the day, she finds Nicky at the entrance, and she’s about to say goodbye to her, when Nicky places a kiss on her cheek, leaving her lipstick behind.

“I’ll see you tomorrow, honey,” she says, winking at her before turning around and heading towards her car. 

Jackie stands there for a second, watching Nicky leave as she smiles dumbly. She wouldn’t mind if this became a routine.

 ***

 “Do you wanna go roller skate tonight?” It’s the first thing that Nicky says when Jackie picks up. 

Jackie cocks a brow. It’s a Wednesday afternoon, and Jackie’s watching “I Dream Of Genie” yet again, cuddled up on her couch with a blanket. Their scheme had been going on far too well at school. Everyone knew about them, including Principal Hall, who had pulled Jackie aside to get all the information she could. And Jackie couldn’t lie to Jaida, she was her best friend after all, so she ended up telling her everything and made her swear on Beyoncé she wouldn’t say anything.

Jaida said she wished her luck trying to not fall in love with Nicky, that she’d seen how this plays out in movies, and that it was a matter of time before they end up dating for real.

Jackie had ended that conversation by leaving, saying she had work to do and hiding the blush on her face by burying her nose in her scarf.

“Nicks, we have work tomorrow,” Jackie tries to argue, and for some reason she can feel Nicky rolling her eyes on the other side of the line.

“It’s disco night over at this skating rink I know,” she says, blatantly ignoring Jackie’s complains. “Can we go? It’ll be just for a little while, please? We’ll be back before your bedtime!” Nicky teases, and Jackie laughs shortly.

“My bedtime is at nine.”

“The rink opens at seven thirty.” 

There’s a short-lived silence on the line as Jackie tries to fight back a smile. If she didn’t know any better, she’d say this is a date. 

“I’ve never roller skated before, will you teach me?” She asks, standing up from the couch and walking towards her closet. 

“Oh, I’ve never roller skated either,” Nicky confesses nonchalantly, and Jackie gasps, taken aback, immediately asking why she’s inviting her if she’s never skated before. She can almost see Nicky shrugging. “We can figure it out together. If you fall, I fall, cherié,” she offers, making Jackie blush just a teeny tiny bit.

“Alright. You’re picking me up, I suppose?”

“Of course! Wear something cute,” she says, and Jackie has no way of knowing, but she’s ninety percent sure Nicky winked when she said that.

“I’ll be waiting for you,” is all that Jackie replies before Nicky hangs up.

 ***

 Nicky is terrible at roller skating, but Jackie isn’t any better either.

They hold onto each other for dear life, rarely letting go of the edge of the rink and laughing loudly when one of them falls. 

The rink is filled with people far more talented than them, that skate in tune with the songs blasting through the speakers, and Nicky is just getting up and shaking off the dust from her butt when her favorite song, “Pookie”, comes in. It’s as if a switch is flipped. She grabs Jackie’s wrist and does her best to copy what the seemingly professional skaters are doing, while Jackie complains that she’s going to make her fall.

“I’m counting on it,” she replies with a cheeky smile, grabbing Jackie’s hands and chanting the chorus of the song as she drags her around. “Loosen up, babe!” Nicky exclaims happily, and Jackie giggles.

The fact Nicky called her babe most certainly does not make her heart race. Absolutely not.

Jackie tries to follow Nicky’s command, but she ends up stumbling again, except this time she brings Nicky down with her.

Nicky is laying next to her, and Jackie apologizes profusely once she’s able to sit up, but Nicky just laughs so carelessly and wholeheartedly that it infects Jackie too.

“Wanna grab a cherry cola?” Nicky asks, pulling Jackie up. Jackie cocks a skeptical brow.

“They still make those?” She inquires. Her hand is still laced with Nicky’s, but she doesn’t bring it up nor tries to break the contact. It’s nice, and Nicky is keeping her steady, anyway.

There’s an area with snacks and drinks, tables scattered around, so they take off their skates for a moment, and Jackie looks for a table while Nicky gets them drinks. Jackie complains, because Nicky won’t accept her money to buy snacks, to which Nicky simply replies, “I’m paying, because that’s what fake girlfriends do,” she assures her, though Jackie can swear she hesitated when she said “fake girlfriend”.

She tries to convince herself that it’s just her mind, because Nicky knows this is just a casual hang out and their relationship is still fake. They’re just friends. Nothing else and nothing more (a tiny part of Jackie wishes it wasn’t like that, though).

Nicky comes back shortly after, with two cans of coca cola and two bags of chips, jokingly saying that dinner is ready. 

“I haven’t forgotten about your promise of taking me to Avril’s,” Nicky teases, making Jackie chuckle as she sips on her coke, spilling some of the drink down her chin.

“You really haven’t, huh?” She replies, aiming for the tissues, but Nicky grabs them first.

“Let me pay back the favour,” she says, and Jackie is about to ask what she means, when she takes her chin with one hand and gently wipes away the drink with the other.

Nicky’s touch shouldn’t give Jackie chills down her spine, shouldn’t make her feel butterflies in her stomach, and on top of all, it shouldn’t make her heart beat uncontrollably.

It shouldn’t. But it does. And the smile along with the soft stroke of Nicky’s thumb against her skin when she’s done definitely don’t help.

“There. All clean,” Nicky announces with a satisfied smile. Jackie gathers herself to muster a thank you, and busies her mouth with the chips. “Hey, let’s take a selfie.” She pulls out her phone before Jackie can swallow, scooting herself closer and focusing the back, so it shows that they’re at the roller skating rink. It disappoints Jackie a little that this is probably a part of their scheme, but she smiles with her cheeks full of chips either way. 

“You look cute,” Nicky compliments her, and before Jackie can say anything, she adds, “You are cute.” There’s a softness behind her words that surprise Jackie, heat spreading down her neck, and she has no way of knowing, but she’s sure she’s blushing ever so slightly.

“You are pretty too,” she returns the sentiment once she gains her voice back. Nicky smiles sheepishly, looking down at her phone. Jackie stares at her out of the corner of her eye, and if she was a bit more delusional, she’d say Nicky is blushing.

Her own phone lits up with a notification and she sees that Nicky posted the photo they just took together, captioning it with “Love this goofball @cox_jackie” and a string of red heart emojis.

It’s the word “Love” that makes Jackie’s heart go wild.

Almost immediately she has Jaida in her DMs, along with other nosy teachers like Crystal and Brita, asking if she and Nicky are together-together for real. She covers her face with her hands, completely flustered, and hears Nicky giggle mischievously.

“I hate you,” Jackie says, her hands still covering her face.

“You love me,” Nicky teases, snuggling to Jackie’s side as she scrolls through Instagram.

“Maybe I do,” she mumbles quietly, hoping it got lost in the noise of the rink. Nicky looks unfazed, so maybe it did.

Jackie notices it’s not long before nine, but she doesn’t bring it up and neither does Nicky. Instead, they stay for as long as they can, falling flat on their butts and helping each other up, leaning on the other for balance. 

Her ass will hurt tomorrow, and she’ll have to lean on tons of coffee to survive her class during the first period, but it’s worth it. Having a nice time with Nicky is worth it.

 ***

 Their scheme is maybe getting a little out of hand.

Neither Jackie nor Nicky can step into the teachers’ room without being attacked with questions about how their relationship is going; Nicky is the cheesy one that comes up with intricate answers for simple questions. She talks about Jackie as one talks about their crush when they’re fifteen and experiencing love for the first time.

It’s adorable. It makes Jackie want this to be real oh so badly.

It was a few weeks into their pretend relationship when Jackie realized she might like Nicky more than a friend and a fake girlfriend; she wants to kiss her, give her hand a squeeze when they’re watching horror movies and there’s a scary part, buy her coffee on her way to the school because she knows Nicky doesn’t have breakfast most of the time, to text her random cat photos she finds on the internet, buy a succulent with her and take care of it, slowly adding more plants to their collection.

Well, they technically have done all of that already - except the plants part. But Jackie wants it to be real, to stop doing it to get coos in the teachers’ room and showing off on social media. 

Jackie blames it on the almost daily dates, the constant texting, the kisses she gives her at the end of the day, leaving her lipstick behind, the cuddles anywhere and everywhere. Plus, Nicky is a very convincing actress, apparently.

She’s getting too attached to all of it, but she can’t. They will “break up” eventually. So when the other teachers, and even friends out of school, ask about her relationship, she keeps her answers short, polite, and precise. Nicky always excuses her by saying she’s just very private.

Jaida, on the other hand, likes to make fun of her for the situation she’s willingly messed herself into, and the jokes only increase when Jackie admits through gritted teeth that she may or may not have fallen for Nicky. Jackie can only shut her up when she brings up how Jan, the new football coach, has been working at the school for less than a week, and yet she has a big crush on her.

It’s a Friday morning, the only day they have a little bit of peace, and Nicky is talking about how stressed the kids make her, because, apparently, they are still keen on using Google Translate instead of checking their damn notes. Jackie listens and tries to cheer her up, but there’s a question burning on the back of Jackie’s mind, though she’s not sure if she should bring it up right now.

“Do you have any plans for the weekend?” Jackie asks out of the blue, just to stop her mind from going back to those three words. Nicky shakes her head, saying something about spending it grading, binging Project Runway, and ordering take out. Then, Jackie remembers the promise she made Nicky when all of this mayhem started. “Do you wanna go to Avril’s on Saturday?”

Nicky blinks repeatedly before a smile breaks onto her face, nodding enthusiastically. “I thought you forgot,” she says softly, fidgeting with her fingers.

“I didn’t, I wouldn’t.” Jackie offers her a shy smile, biting the inside of her cheek. “Is nine okay for you?”

Nicky cocks an amused brow, “I thought your bedtime was at nine,” she teases. Jackie laughs nervously.

“You changed that, I guess.”

***

Jackie makes an effort for their fake date (but is it fake? who knows anymore), puts on her favorite dress, a pair of heels, and braids her hair carefully. Spring is coming, and so is the warm weather, but she brings a jacket just in case. Who knows, maybe Nicky might need one?

For a change, she picks Nicky up, and does her best not to crash the car because of staring at Nicky out of the corner of her eye. She looks beautiful, but what else is new? Besides, it’s the first time she’s seen her wearing a suit, and the sight makes Jackie easily flustered. It’s casual, yes, but it’s not what she would normally expect from Nicky - who definitely won’t be needing her jacket tonight.

Little did Jackie know, it was just the start of a night full of surprises. 

A waiter takes them to their table, leaves the menu and says he’ll be back to take their orders. Nicky whistles once he’s gone, looking at the place.

“Well, this sure is fancy,” she comments to break the ice. Jackie hums in agreement as Nicky looks up, her eyes widening at the sight of the ceiling. “It’s so pretty.”

Jackie’s eyes, however, are still glued to Nicky. “I’ve seen prettier things,” she says, and Nicky pulls her gaze to meet Jackie’s, a cocky grin setting on her face.

“Like what?” She inquires, and Jackie hums, feigning thoughtfulness. 

“Well, for starters, Shakira-” Nicky yelps, offended, clutching her chest. Jackie laughs wholeheartedly. 

“And here I was, thinking you’d say something nice to your fake girlfriend!”

Jackie hates how she adds the “fake” before “girlfriend”, but she doesn’t say anything. It’s not the time, not yet.

“If it’s worth anything, I think you look beautiful tonight,” she says earnestly, and her heart skips several beats when Nicky bites her lower lip, looking away with what Jackie can only hope is a blush.

“You look stunning,” Nicky returns the sentiment, and Jackie beams.

They place their orders and talk about random topics before their food arrives. Jackie can’t say she’s sure, but at times she swears she can feel a different air hang around them. An air of unsaid words and glances that linger a second too long, of blushes hidden behind drinks and flustered laughs. She hopes she’s not imagining it.

They fall into a comfortable silence once their orders arrive - well, the silence lasts just for a moment, because Nicky moans when she tastes her lasagna and insists Jackie has to try it. After a few moments of goading, Jackie complies, and is taken aback when Nicky holds out her fork and urges her to eat it before it ends up on the tablecloth. 

Jackie locks eyes with Nicky as she leans forward on the table and wraps her lips around the fork, and there’s something in Nicky’s piercing gaze that makes her shiver.

“Tasty,” Jackie concedes with a giggle, Nicky smiles proudly, but Jackie’s sure she sees her swallow thickly. She parts her lips slightly, but shuts them almost immediately, stuffing her mouth with lasagna, and Jackie follows suit by going back to her risotto.

Dinner goes by in the blink of an eye, and Jackie feels her skin prickle with anticipation and anxiety; she just wants to say it. To lay her heart out in front of Nicky in order to get an answer for once and for all, so she can start getting over a fake relationship that, for being fake, got under her skin.

She wants to bring it up, she’s itching to say it, but she can’t gather the courage to do so in a casual way that wouldn’t sound so calculated, but she doesn’t want it to be a spur of the moment either. Jackie wants to give Nicky the Hollywood romance confession she deserves - whatever happens after that, happens.

The night is coming to an end, and Jackie feels like throwing a childish fit. She can’t let it end without telling Nicky. Jackie wishes she had ordered wine, maybe that would’ve let her tongue loosen up a little.

“Should we order dessert?” Nicky wonders, vaguely looking at the menu. “I dig the chocolate fondue, honestly,” she says, looking up at her through her eyelashes, Jackie quirks an eyebrow.

“Isn’t that a little too much for one person?”

“We can share,” Nicky offers almost immediately, making Jackie snort.

“Alright, habibi.” The word slips from Jackie’s mouth before she can think much about it. It’s nice though, even if it feels a little more personal than just calling Nicky “babe” or any term of endearment in English.

“You should call me habibi more often, I like it,” Nicky comments with a giggle. And she may not know it, but it makes Jackie’s heart swoon with happiness.

***

The chocolate fondue is probably the best idea Nicky has ever had.

It’s tasty, messy, and they get their lipsticks ruined by the chocolate with the first strawberry they dip, but damn it if it isn’t worth it. Nicky repeats the action of feeding her, and Jackie feels bold enough to return the favour. Their eyes are locked the entire time, and Jackie feels as if she’ll drop the bomb at any moment.

It certainly doesn’t help that Nicky starts making jokes about never wanting to break up with her if these are the perks of their fake relationship. It stings only a little, though it creates an opportunity for her to tell Nicky the three little words that have been burning at the back of her throat for the past weeks.

“If we break up, can you still take me here? These weeks with you have been way better than most of my relationships,” Nicky comments nonchalantly, almost making Jackie drop her chocolate-covered strawberry. Her heart starts pounding against her chest, forcing herself to look up to meet Nicky's gaze.

She's staring right back at her, with a look she can't quite decipher.

Jackie inhales sharply, realizing her opportunity had arrived. She breathes in deeply, licking her lips and hoping her voice doesn't betray her.

“Aw, you're exaggerating,” she says, trying to play coy and hoping and praying it goes the way she wants to. 

It does, sort of. Nicky softens up her gaze, smiling gently at her.

“Well, not really. My relationships haven't been all that great; maybe because I'm too much of a hopeless Hollywood romantic, and I expected a lot of my relationships. I know that's bad, but- During all this time I've spent with you, it was easy to feel as if I was in a movie,” she confesses earnestly, evading Jackie's piercing gaze.

Jackie can feel her heart beating in her ears, a rush of adrenaline overtaking her as she grips on the fabric of her dress, trying to form a coherent sentence.

“Says the one who lives on reruns of ‘Breakfast at Tiffany's’,” Jackie teases, her voice coming out breathier than she would've wanted, but Nicky laughs and her nerves melt away. “If I'm being honest, I like being your fake girlfriend, it's probably one of the best ideas I've had, if I do say so myself,” she proceeds, trying to sound jokingly, but before she can get another other word in, Nicky interrupts her.

“Yeah, it's your greatest idea, though there's only one thing I don't like about it,” Nicky says, her voice quivers every other word, and Jackie frowns, not understanding for a moment until it clicks.

She stares into Nicky's eyes, and she stares right back. And then she sees it. The feeling Jackie couldn't grasp on—it's love. Or something awfully familiar.

There's silence between them for a moment, until it gets awkward, and Nicky frowns slightly, opening her mouth to say something, but Jackie interrupts her this time.

“I like you,” Jackie admits in a whisper, low and breathy, staring right into Nicky’s eyes. And for a moment she thinks it got lost in the noise of the restaurant, but by the way Nicky’s eyes grow wide, staring right back at Jackie with a sparkle she’d never seen in them, Jackie knows she caught it.

“I like you too,” Nicky says softly. “I’ve known for a while. Even before this,” she confesses, and Jackie can feel her head spinning, her heart is pounding so hard against her chest that she’s sure if Nicky tries to listen carefully, she’ll hear it despite the noise of the restaurant.

She can’t believe this is actually happening. 

“I wanted to tell you sooner, believe me, but the words wouldn't come to me, and I was afraid you would reject me, because you're so pretty and cool, and all the teachers have a crush on you, and I felt like I wasn't good enough, and-” Nicky interrupts Jackie's rambling by reaching across the table and squeezing her hand, looking at her as if she's the most precious human to have ever existed.

“All the teachers may have a crush on me, but I have a crush on just one of them. Guess who is she?” She teases, giggling giddily. Jackie smiles, her cheeks getting as red as the strawberries in front of them.

“You're so cheesy,” Jackie says with a snort, allowing herself to get lost in Nicky's soft touch for a moment, until the curiosity takes the best of her. “So, uh, does this mean this is our first real date?” She asks shyly, stroking the back of Nicky's hand.

Nicky smiles, bright and beautiful, and if it wasn’t because Jackie’s sitting, her knees would inevitably buckle.

“The first of many, hopefully.” She winks, and Jackie holds back an excited screech. 

“So, this was indeed my greatest idea,” she says, and they laugh happily, the night slipping away between giggles and blushes they don't bother to hide anymore.

#my fanfiction #rpdr fanfiction #jackie cox #nicky doll #nackie #teacher au #there are minor cameos by gigi and crystal #and a hint of jaida/jan if you squint

[thelostandforgottenangel]

Dancing With Your Ghost

Because of the high demand needing more I continued my fanfiction ‘What Might Be Our Last Dance’ so for everyone who reblogged liked and reached out I made this especially for you all so please let me know what you think and remember I love each and everyone of you *Blows Kisses* Enjoy guys and please forgive me for this 

@bloody-dark-shells03 @lonelyheart-clubband @fyreball66 @blossom-skies @midnightrebel669 @betelgeusessonajblog @nikitaboeve @masoulcold2 @mistyroselove @ravn-87 @darksaphire2002 @zombiesnips-blog @masoulcold @coco-rena @geekgirl24​ @leetah2999​ @raphaelsrightarm​ @moonlightprime​ @bayverse-turtle-power​ and everyone else that liked the first story hope I did it justice

It had been well over a month since the mission and like she had feared Raphael hadn’t returned to her the next night, or the next, or even a week after that sending her into a deeper depression with every passing day that she waited by the door for her husband

She had their daughter to care for, had schooling and dance lessons to continue for the child, a nursery that her and the turtle were wanting to set up together for the little one coming soon but she couldn’t

She knew she had to keep going but she could no longer sleep staying up all night hugging his pillow telling herself this was all going to turn out okay long as she kept her faith not believing he was really gone, eating was a task she struggled with but forced food down if nothing but for his child going to care for her babies if nothing more, chores were slacked on until she was wondering the lair through the night trying to keep her mind busy from thinking the worse when her love didn’t walk through the door

Her heart ached wishing she had just begged him for one last dance, had kissed him again, maybe had just ran to him before he stepped out the door if only to tell him one more time she loved him

She shattered finally the morning she woke up after passing out from exhaustion to feel their little one kicking seeing her belly moving realizing he had never felt the movements would never feel the kick of what she was hoping was a son, just how much he was going to miss of the kids growing up unable to get off the bed as she cried until she heard her little girl rushing to get her out of bed forcing a smile

The hardest part was the questions her curious little turtle kept asking like; when her daddy was coming home to dance with her and momma again? Where her uncles were and if she could play Mikey’s games? Why she was crying and Grandpa Splinter wouldn’t come out of his room? It broke her to tell her baby they would be back soon while trying not to break down pushing through the day in hopes for good news to come

And finally it did

Slowly his brothers returned one by one each in bad shape

Michelangelo had came home first a few day after she had marked that month off the calendar screaming out for her when he didn’t see or hear anybody dragging himself in with a shattered ankle his head bleeding from a large gash where he had looked to have hit something hugging her tight when she had grabbed him sobbing into his chest glad to see him alive, trying to flirt with the woman as she stitched him up and had to set his ankle getting a sad smirk from her; even with a head injury he was still the same Mikey

His arms surrounding her was a momentary relief she never realized she needed

The stressed lines in her face deepened as he kissed her cheeks, without meaning too she finally asked what her heart dreaded but he couldn’t tell the woman anything of Raph more then they had been split up Raph with Donnie he with Leo to cover the front, seeing her face sinking further he quickly mumbled that Leo had pushed him out of the way before an explosion had sent him flying but that he didn’t remember anything before waking up under a bunch of rubble from the building that had went down

He hadn’t had contact with the red masked turtle since the night they left

A few days passed with no word of the others but the fact that Mikey was home gave her hope happy to see he was healing quickly and complaining when he couldn’t get up without crutches, a week later she was startled out of her thoughts in the middle of the night while holding a soft blanket Raphael had knitted for the baby by a crash in the living area, singing to keep her calm in hopes he would hear her if he did come home, thinking her husband was in the den she jumped up rushing down stairs not seeing anything

There was a second she panicked thinking the Foot had found their home going for a bat Casey had left months ago walking further seeing the light in her father in laws room aluminate a stretch of concrete that was wet moving over to find Donatello laying near the pool soaked to the bone and bleeding from a few wounds he looked to had treated and bandaged at some point groaning as she touched his shoulder looking up with a smile.

She physically dropped hugging him as the genius forced his body up nuzzling her when she clung to him tightly laughing between sobs as he tried to lighten the mood

She helped him to the couch drying the turtle off as he gave her part of the story as she fixed him up having to force his leg straight to pop his knee cap into place again wrapping it up as the turtle accounted how he had disabled their computers but before he could find out what they were plotting he had been attacked by the soldiers – how Raph had protected his shell making him retreat when they had been over run but past that they had lost track of one another when the second wave of reinforcements arrived telling her that last he had seen him he was with Leo

Him and Leo didn’t always see eye to eye on things but they were one hell of a team together able to work together perfectly even when they were at odds so if he was with the eldest she knew he was coming home – Raph would come back because she trusted Leo to bring him home safe knowing there would be a chance they’d be arguing over who saved who’s ass out there but she welcomed that coming fight if just to see them smile as they joked with one another

Slowly she started to wait by the door less no longer fearing for him she fell back into routine until the morning two weeks later she had been making breakfast turning to place the eggs on the counter looking up having thought she was alone suddenly screaming as she dropped the pan seeing a bloodied Leonardo in the doorway leaning on the frame, he looked so tired looking up at her his normally bright blue eyes dulled calling out to her so weakly she hadn’t moved thinking it was just a nightmare until the eldest reached out his eyes rolling back before he hit the unforgiving ground unconscious

Her screams pulled the others to the kitchen as she rushed to his side seeing most of his wounds were old from the battle on their mission getting Mikey to lay his head on her lap as Donnie worked on his wounds trying to wake him looking out to the way he seemed to have come praying she’d see Raphael but he wasn’t there

It was easy to see he needed medical attention soon unsure how bad his wounds were from all of the gore but  she could feel he was burning up his skin too hot, it took both younger turtles to get him up unstrapping his gear leaving it where it landed to hurry off getting a bed ready for him already in nurse mode when they laid him down laying a blanket over him as they placed ice on him trying to slowly bring his temperature down hearing him groan finally from the cold wiping off the blood from his face calling his name softly

For a moment it felt as if everything was going fast and slow in the same second

He didn’t respond to her for a moment her mind tricked her into thinking his chest wasn’t moving checking for a pulse finally finding one calling for Donnie to get her some oxygen hearing her little girl crying at the door quickly telling her to go play in her room as she tried to get to her uncle wanting him to hold her

Mikey saw the torn expression in her face as she tried to get Leo back but was going between the nurse and mom within her begging in tears for her baby to go out of there when for a moment Leo wasn’t breathing, she thanked him as he grabbed her taking her to her room explaining Uncle Leo wasn’t feeling too well

Her sweet voice asking where daddy was shattered her on the spot becoming numb as she worked getting him on fluids after locating the worst wound seeing the skin had festered now understanding why he was sick spotting the set in infection finally finding her voice just as Splinter entered the room to see his oldest son

“D-Donnie…” pointing for her medical bag the woman was mentally thanking god and whoever had convinced her to get her medical license; having never thought she’d be having to use it but was grateful she knew what she was doing having Donnie give her a hand in cleaning the worst as Splinter cleaned him up flinching at the extent of the infection in just one smelling something foul, grabbing up a tool she set to scraping away the infection gunk as much as possible while cleaning it thoroughly

To keep herself calm through the process she talked to the oldest turtle seeing once Donnie had cleaned the rest of his wounds he had started dressing them with plenty of ointment sighing once his breathing evened out still unconscious asking her if she needed him to take over but she couldn’t answer having him hold Leo on his side as she repaired his shoulder that had a nasty cut from a sharp object seeing it had torn clean through everything skin, muscle tissue, ligaments… someone had tried to take his arm off

Cleaning it was an unforgettable experience she wished she could rid from her memories her eyes burning and head pounding at one point nearly losing her mind as he started seizing up one hand locked around her wrist screaming even if she was sure he was sedated but she kept talking to Leonardo telling him he was okay, begging him to hold in there as stitches were placed her hands shaking so bad at one point she had to stop heart breaking in thinking if he was this torn up, if he had come home like this what would Raph look like

Three hours later he was finally pieced back together and resting calmly but for some reason the woman couldn’t leave his side holding his hand unable to move as the others told her she needed rest but she couldn’t function everything just felt numb

Mikey had brought her daughter in at some point to let her see Leo the little girl strangely calm as she reached for him finally getting placed on the bed and told to sit still so as not to hurt her uncle

She tried, really desperately tried to tell herself this was all a nightmare but it wasn’t and like she had been weeks ago she was panicking in thinking the worst for days on end scared what would come when Leo woke up, finally unable to shoulder the pain she slumped forward laying her head down shattering beside the leader’s bed pleading for herself to just wake up

She didn’t remember falling asleep but when she opened her eyes she was beside Raphael on the couch safe in his arms watching their favorite movie giggling making him jolt as she jumped him kissing her turtle passionately while he sat there shocked finally just pulling her close returning the affection asking her what she was doing hearing the husk in his breathless voice grinning as she just hugged him telling him she loved him so much saying everything she regretted not telling him the last time they had touched until he chuckled whispering she could never lose him, she almost called him a liar but instead holding him for as long as she could asking him to stay with her

Some hours later she felt somebody petting her hair groaning telling Raph to let her sleep a bit longer nuzzling into his hand until her eyes snapped open looking up at the gentle touch seeing Leo still had his eyes closed but he seemed more relaxed but as the woman reached out the leader took a deeper breath smirking as she touched his hand mumbling he was insulted, she got up fast feeling the same hand pulling her forward into a hug clinging to her as she cried into his neck kissing his cheek hearing him whispering before tears were soaking her cheeks making her look over seeing the one thing she never had

Leonardo – in tears apologizing and pleading for forgiveness

She shook her head trying to wipe the tears away smiling telling him he was fine that she had stayed on her own but as he looked up she saw something in his blood shot sapphire orbs that had her frozen on the spot her heart already not holding up in suddenly understanding shaking her head, his bandaged fingers touching her cheek watching him break as she refused to believe what she was hearing

“I couldn’t get to him in time”

Her breath left her in a distraught scream as she stumbled back shaking her head repeatedly saying ‘no’ he had to have some kind of brain damage and was confused but as he recounted the last few minutes of the battle it settled in her chest he was reliving it even though the woman could see him trying to keep it together but lost his ability to speak as he forced out the last thing he could physically remember

He couldn’t find Mikey after the bomb had gone off his shouts for the youngest turtle as he searched the piles for his baby brother had drawn Raphael to him after he had made Donnie run for it both of them searching franticly finally being forced to run when The Foot had ambushed them driving them to retreat into a trap both of them had been looking for a way out losing more ground before the red masked turtle had pointed to a window yelling for Leo to go as he held off the enemy

As he got it open calling for Raph to retreat he saw his brother becoming over ran, going back to help him he hadn’t taken two steps before the building had exploded sending him through the wall and into a free fall crashing on a roof feeling bricks and debris pelting him as the middle of the building went up in flames

She remembered screaming that he was lying, pleading with him to tell her this was all a hoax but as she got closer he just pulled her into his chest telling his sister in law he was so sorry seeing the rest of his family running in to find her curled up against his chest sobbing her heart out in knowing her husband was lost

After having to finally explain to their baby daddy wasn’t coming home the questions and tears had forced her to admit he was gone forever and right there trying to comfort a sobbing little girl she collapsed hugging their girl mourning she couldn’t make this better

She was completely numb after that night spending two days in confinement inside her room unable to walk away from his area

Their memories hung on the walls

The love she had felt in their bed

His scent and clothes and the way he had always been there

For two days she couldn’t force her body up keeping her daughter beside her through the sleepless nights until Mikey or Donnie would come to get her to let the woman have a moment to grieve without having to hold it in to keep the others from seeing her crack all over again, when she finally could get up she grabbed his hoodie putting it on and just curled up on his side breathing in his scent until she could let sleep take her

Leo came to see her once he was healed up enough to get around on his own rubbing her back as she laid there silently promising they would still help her, his voice growing thick as he laid down beside her hugging her close telling her he’d always be there like the rest of them swearing the kids would always have a father but it shattered her to know Raph wouldn’t get to see them grow up

Her due date was getting closer and it started to dawn on her she would be giving birth without him repeatedly swearing she wouldn’t be able to do it without her husband holding her hand but Donnie couldn’t help reminding her this was going to happen no matter how much she tried deny it which only deepened the depression that only her children could pull her from talking to the little one in her belly telling him of his father and how wonderful he was

She wanted to see him in her dreams but every time she closed her eyes he was gone from there too a distant memory she was dying to see just one more time but he was gone from there as well, where he had been haunting her dreams since the night they had left Raphael was gone from her happy place

A week passed and when she could finally walk out of the room she stopped at the bottom of the stairs seeing his family had made a memorial for him right there by the weight room his smiling face in a photo had her stuck in the middle of the room never seeing Leo coming up behind her but the moment he touched her she went limp feeling him holding that much tighter helping her to take the steps forward until she was able to reach out grabbing the picture of them from their wedding day seeing how happy he looked as she walked down the aisle laughing sadly at how his eyes had held so much love that day going back to their room alone clutching that picture as she fell to the floor

Life seemed to be moving forward but she was caught in that night he had walked out the door; Donnie had gave her a check up getting a good look at the infant she was carrying wanting to tell her what the baby was but she refused to know wanting to keep to what they had promised going to find out together when she gave birth, at one point she had called him for breakfast turning when Leo had said her name realizing she had set the table for him and made his favorite, when asked one night the woman had said he was coming home soon making dinner in a daze before Mikey was hugging her from behind

There were days she swore she heard him talking to her, several days started with his deep sleepy voice in her ear, one night after getting her daughter down for bed she had thought she heard him yelling her name rushing downstairs to see nobody was home, the day before she was talking to him and turned to find nobody had been talking back

She was just starting to think she was going crazy when one night she heard their song stumbling down to the den to see Donnie had passed out at his computer accidently hitting the music file she had forgot was on his monitor going to turn it off but the tune stopped her as she looked over to the memorial taking in his face

As if on it’s own her limbs moving the female back thinking of him as she pulled the red bandana of one of Raph’s old masks he had gave her for her hair down covering the already wet eyes that were letting more tears fall moving slowly around knowing where not to go dancing like they had that last night her emotions being let out as she moved crying loudly when she got to the part that required a partner but as she started to drop a pair of hands landed on her waist keeping her up

She didn’t want to turn around to be disappointed but the press of a hard chest plate on her back made her take the next step finding the figure behind her moving at the same time doing her best to imagine it was the man her heart longed for

Before she knew it she was being guided through the movements by her partner every step made at the exact time whoever had decided to step in was taking the steps like they had done them a million times supporting her heavily pregnant body like she weight nothing

The rough feeling of the calloused fingers on her wrist as she was spun and the height had her thinking it was Leo who was usually the one still up with her lately hoping he wasn’t hurting himself to give her a moment of happiness

Completely suffocated by the fragrance of Raph’s hoodie she didn’t smell the smoke under the cologne she had sprayed just to keep him with her, the gentleness in the care the one holding her showed, the way those big hands cradled her larger body just perfectly, the hot breath on her neck that for a moment had her so calm she forgot where she was taking anything she could get

For just a second she was in heaven not a care in the world

For a moment she didn’t remember the hell that was taking over inside her

She smiled through the tears soaking his mask pleading for it not to end too soon even though the music stopped finding they kept swaying with her

The startled shuffle as Donnie jumped in his roller chair in front of her made her snap to attention pulling the fabric off looking up but was met with the three turtles staring at her in disbelief leaving her confused

Leo who had come down to look for her when he didn’t see her in her bed when heard her sobbing erratically already in tears at the sight behind her, Mikey had just woke up after watching his brother’s favorite movie series going to go upstairs to cuddle up with his sis needing comfort when he saw something moving through the lair heading for the woman never noticing his older brother at his side choking out something she couldn’t hear, Donnie had finally startled hearing the music playing loudly just before it ended waking up and becoming frozen in his chair his eyes wide looking past her like there was a monster standing behind her

That was when it hit the woman somebody was still dancing with her eyes going wide as a soft kiss was pressed to her neck hearing a deep growl from behind her she had never thought she would hear a pair of strong arms wrapped tightly around her body

“Thought I’d never get ta ‘ave this dance with ya again” the deep voice against her ear had her in tears so convinced it was all in her head finally turning around slowly seeing Raphael standing before her, both hands trembling while taking in the massive turtle who was beaten and bloodied, his clothes burned and torn, a deep gash in his cheek that had healed wrong but – he was alive

She couldn’t breath stumbling back scared her mind was making her see him now on top of hearing her love when he wasn’t really there looking up at him as he moved forward so slowly his expression so soft compared to the hard look he wore all the time seeing the broken look on his mates face as he reached out to touch her stopping just inches away letting her come to him but the moment he touched her she trembled his name coming out so softly under her breath he hadn’t heard it at first

She touched his hand breathing rigidly so shaken she was scared she was about to wake up “R-Raphie… is it-”

He nodded seeing she was so guarded and stiff “It’s me baby… ’m right here it’s me” the turtle pulled her forward smiling as she seemed to latch onto him touching his face repeatedly choking out a wail as he grabbed her fast hugging her tight his lips instantly on hers showering her in affection laughing as she kissed his face looking him over not even caring he looked like something out of a horror flic smiling like he could see she hadn’t done in so long

Before he had came in that entrance he had tried to clean himself up just in case his little girl was up but he was still a mess it had taken him a while to get home his body killing him having to dig himself out from under the building that had went down on him yelling for his older brother not wanting to think Leo was under the ruble

He hadn’t been able to walk for a week having smashed his ankle in trying to jump out of the way after the first blast the wall probably saving his life even though it had almost crushed him a shattered support being the only thing that had kept it from smashing him under the weight his phone destroyed in the explosion and no way to contact the others he had been held up in a abandoned substation miles away

He had been through being severely sick due to infection without anyone to help finally passing his fever and forcing himself to get up, it’d been hell walking but once he had numbed it had been easier needing to get home had him pushing through until he couldn’t go having to rest but the moment he caught his breath he had gotten right back up needing to get back to his family fearing the other’s hadn’t made it home, needing to see his daughter if only one more time, swearing he was going to dance with his girl again

Looking down at her he apologized telling her he had come back even if he hadn’t promised he had made it home like he hoped she had believed kissing her as she placed his hand on her belly before feeling the kicks his golden orbs growing misty as he looked down seeing his little one was moving a lot seeming to know who was squeezing mommy

Leo stumbled forward touching his brother’s arm gaining his attention chuckling as he pulled him into a hug showing that softer side, he had sat his girl down hugging his brother before he got tackled by the other two groaning in pain yelling for them to chill but he didn’t push them off chuckling seeing her laugh as his brothers gave him all kinds of hell over taking so long to get home glancing over as she lowered herself beside him kissing him softly before a small voice made them all look over

Standing at the bottom of the stairs was the little girl still looking sleepy calling for her momma; the noise had to have woke her up if it hadn’t been her recent nightmares daddy wasn’t there to chase away

She stumbled forward each of his brothers moving as he sat up seeing this baby looking at him almost like he was a stranger as he got up with some trouble until Leo pulled him with his good arm grunting in effort to not show he was hurting

He chuckled getting on his knee that popped loudly from the pressure but he didn’t even flinch calling her name as she looked to her mom and uncles then back to him holding his hands out seeing tears as she hugged her turtle doll closer “C’mere daddy needs a hug” the woman hugged his arm as the little girl slowly took a step whimpering out a cry unsure she was seeing him before he clapped his hands waving her forward “C’mon kitten ya gonna make me wait”

Her golden green eyes lit up at his nickname for her realizing she wasn’t imagining him “D-Daddy…” he nodded chuckling as she pulled her gown up off the floor running forward tackling him being met with the unmovable wall he was as he hugged her tight trying to hide the tears as she cried into his neck loudly clinging to him like he would disappear if she let go “DADDY! MY DADDY HOME!”

He pulled his girl into his side kissing her and his baby squeezing them both nuzzling into his wife’s chest as she held him when he finally broke laughing through the tears nodding as she whispered to him that she was never letting him go again

He needed a shower bad wanting to just be in something more comfortable, his injuries needed to be looked at but right then all he wanted was to stay right here for a moment longer kissing her belly whispering his praises and affections to his goddess thanking heaven he hadn’t lost this chance

#teenage mutant ninja turtles #story continued #love and loss #heartbreak #tmnt raphael #this song just ripped my heart out #fearful #sadness #broken #depression #Blood #slight gore #RAPHAEL FEELS #daddy turtle #dancing #tmnt leonardo #action #tmnt donatello #tmnt bayverse #tmnt michelangelo #tmnt 2016 #song inspired #Raphael x Female #tmnt 2014/2016 #Youtube

[cadday]

Collateral Damage - Chapter 4

The next few days are better in his opinion. He gets his bandages removed and upgraded to an eyepatch which has him and Ienzo running around the castle pretending to be pirates for a better half of a day, it ended when treasure was successfully procured in way of sea salt ice creams. His face is permanently scarred and it’s pretty rough to look at but he already remembered how bad it looked so oh well. He remembers yellow eyes, pointed ears, and whitening hair in his reflection too but that isn’t their now and he just avoids mirrors in case his eyes play tricks on him. 

He needs meds a little less but his eye still hurts from time to time, as well as his head and chest but he never mentions those. Braig also get’s to use his guns and much to the shock of pretty much everyone besides him his aim is perfectly fine. Even mutters something under his breath about how he was probably shooting with one eye open this whole time anyway to show off because he would be a reckless idiot to have poor gun safety practices and he merely smiles with as much teeth as he can at the scientist.

With his depth perception fine he gets to get back to guard duty and he never thought he’d be so excited to maintain order so much in his life. 

Aqua hasn’t returned, and Braig tries not to dwell on what that could mean, what he couldn’t prevent. Still the Xehanort Terra never appears so he hopes for the best but waits each day for the worst. 

He wakes up screaming frequently, sometimes more than once a night. Dilan usually is the one who gets to him first and he only hopes Ienzo’s room is far enough away that he doesn’t hear him. No one ever brings it up at least and he’s too much a coward to ask. He also never finds the thing Dilan says he’s missing. Ienzo and Master Ansem both bring it up as well but he has no answers when they ask why he stopped wearing whatever it is. No one can find it so it’s pointless anyway.

He still has trouble talking but the others are getting used to days where he can’t choke out any response. Braig wishes he could just turn his voice back on but it seems pretty satisfied to stay as far as possible. 

Today he’s patrolling near the entrance when he gets a weird feeling, and he ends up following the weird feeling away from the regular patrol path. He ends up at the fountain and is confused until he realizes he’s not the only one there. The little girl with red hair is hiding behind a tree but not very well. He stands there staring at the child and debates just leaving before realizing that he should probably check to make sure the kid is not actually in danger and wander over. He stands next to her watching her peak out from behind the tree before leaning over slightly. 

“Why?” At least he can talk today. The little redhead girl jumps quite a bit and Braig snorts as she looks at him startled. She’s not scared for very long as she suddenly shushes him and points back to where she was looking. Braig shrugs and kneels down next to her to watch whatever it is their watching. Nothing happens for quite a while, and really he applauds this kids patience but then he watches a bunch of freaking heartless appear and nearly has a panic attack. He grabs onto the girls arm to get them out of there but the heartless merely scurry around in a circle then vanish back to the darkness. He let’s go of her arm and sighs in relief before looking back at the kid. Princess his heart un helpfully supplies. He frowns at her as she blinks back up at him. Keyblade his heart whispers more concerned and he tries to resist the urge to smack himself in the face. He knows her. Just can’t remember how, she doesn’t seem to really know him so it must be something that happened later. Hopefully something that will never happen now. The little girl takes his silence as permission to explain which is fine. His head was starting to hurt again anyway.

“They started showing up a few days ago. They are scary like the other monsters but weird because they don’t normally come after anyone else...I didn’t want to worry Grandma so if something feels wrong,” She puts a hand on her heart. “I go hide. That way she’s safe.” She seems so proud of herself, Braig wants to pull his hair out in frustration. 

“No.” She blinks at him surprised and then waits for more. Braig tries to focus on what needs to be said, his head hurts so dang much.

“Castle, for help. If, next time.” Red head girl blinks up at him slowly and then beams like a freaking lighthouse at him. 

“I should go to the castle next time they show up! Okey doke I will I promise.” He nods seriously because he can’t think of a better response and at least the kids smart enough. He pats her on the head and she honest to god giggles, he wasn’t sure he heard someone giggle before so dang weird, and waves her off to do whatever weird pure hearted kids do after they got chased down by heartless. 

He goes back to patrol and tries not to think about how he’s going to explain the girl when she shows up one day running from little heartless bastards. Braig decides to put that in his things to worry about later section of thoughts.

Back on the regular guard patrol the rest of the day was uneventful and he wandered inside for dinner not expecting much else. After dinner when they are all lounging around as Even, Dilan and Aeleus are talking about notes on something and Ienzo and him are not so discreetly throwing paper balls from abandoned notes at each other and Ansem the Wise is quietly not throwing paper at the back of Ienzo’s head as well while he pretends to just be listening to Even’s comments on some sort of experiment and Dilan suddenly interrupts with something surprising. Or it should be but instead it just has him blinking slowly as his head does the this has happened before or you know this headache thing he gets now.

“Isa and Lea broke into the castle again. They keep trying to get to the lower rooms but we can’t tell what for, it’s like they're trying to find something.” Dilan frowned and looked at Aeleus who nodded along seriously. 

Braig frowns he thinks he remembers something, there was a girl that wasn't there or wouldn’t be there or never was. Or maybe not. His head hurt and he pressed a hand against his bad eye as if that would relieve the pressure before throwing another wadded up paper at Ienzo and ‘missing’ to hit Master Ansem.

“Hmm. Well just keep an eye on them, if they break in again just ensure they don’t get into anything that could harm them. Children are often led by their hearts so there must be a reason.”

“We shouldn’t indulge the behavior Master. It’s not exactly a good idea to encourage breaking and entering.” Even handed some more scrap pages to Ienzo and Braig snorted. Encouraging bad behavior indeed. 

“Give job, won’t break in.” Braig wrinkled his nose at his speech. He needed his brain to catch up with his thoughts here because caveman talk was starting to grate on his nerves. 

Master Ansem looked at him surprised so Braig tossed a paper ball at him which Dilan intervened and caught. He ended up throwing it back at Braig who just didn’t bother catching it and dramatically fell to the floor like he had been wounded. Ienzo dissolved into laughter at the overdramatic display and Braig grinned.

“Hmm. Well we could make the offer. It would at least make their exploring less intrusive and easier to monitor.” Even squawked on about more children and babysitting Ienzo and Braig was enough. Ienzo and Braig unloaded their paper balls at him in retaliation. 

The rest of the evening devolves into more science talk and paper ball fights till slowly they all excuse themselves to bed. Braig heads to his room at first but thinks about Isa and Lea and stops. With a put upon sigh he grabs a light and heads down to the lesser used levels. 

Some of the halls don’t have power still and a lot won’t, don’t, will never, now that they don’t intend to build more labs. It’s strange because it’s not how he remembers it but is exactly as it should be and his brain is fighting against the two versions of what is and isn’t. Headaches back with a vengeance. Braig wanders for a while to zero success until he thinks he hears a voice. He sees no one though so he goes back the way he came and still nothing. He does a circle and well he hears it again. It’s a girl for sure. She sounds confused but no one is there. Not physically at least. 

“Hello.” He waits and moves to leave when no response comes at first but then quiet and confused he hears it. 

‘hello’ 

He holds his light up higher and tries to ignore the panic seeping in at the shadows in the room and the fact that he can’t see this person in the dark. With a start though he realizes he feels a presence nearby. 

‘your scared, your heart is, it’s my fault.’

“No” 

‘it’s okay, i won’t hurt you, can’t even, there's nothing left.’

Braig looks around uncertainty and out of the corner of his eye he thinks he sees a star made of shimmering lights. But when he looks at it directly it’s gone.

‘it’s me. you must have a strong heart to see.’ He wants to protest but can’t find it in him too. 

“Can..I..Help..you?”

‘i don’t know, i was supposed to do something important but i no longer remember and can’t seem to leave, i can’t even remember my name, just that the place that was is gone, and my friends that were have left. like dandelions.’

“Okay...Your..only..heart...need...ride...to leave.” Braig really has to think about what to do next but this girl doesn’t feel like Luxu or the coot so he gestures to himself.

‘you are afraid of this, your heart is afraid.’ He shrugs as a response but doesn’t take back the offer.

‘you are very kind, i promise to sleep and will leave as soon as i can.’ Braig nods and tries not to panic as his chest suddenly feels strange and theres a familiar distinct presence of another will in his head. It’s not controlling or invasive like others and eventually the girl’s heart settles away quiet and dormant in his mind. He feels oddly calm suddenly and quietly takes his light and goes to bed. He does not have a nightmare.

#kingdom hearts #kh braig #xigbar #braig #fix it #time travel #luxu is a dick #luxu #kairi #dilan #aeleus #aqua #ventus #terra #master xehanort #ienzo #even #hearts #isa #lea #ansem the wise

[porscheczar110]

Accents - Rayllum One Shot

Based on an idea by JellyJay.

Summary: Callum wants to visit and elven town. Rayla makes him practice his accent. Lots of fluff.

Please consider reading here.

——

“Rayla PLEASEEEE, I really want to see one of your villages! You got to see our villages, it’s been a month and you STILL haven’t let me see one of yours.” Callum was practically whining at this point. Rayla hated whining, but it didn’t sound so bad coming from him.

She rolled her eyes, “Callum, I am a trained assassin. It takes years of hard work and dedication to convince people you belong somewhere when, in reality, you don’t.” Rayla was particularly proud of how she fooled the humans in the last two villages. Only a master trained assassin could pull that off, not a dopey human prince.

Callum stared blankly at her for a moment, then a smile began to creep across his face. Finally, he burst out laughing, as if he was having a hard time keeping his amusement contained.

“Oh that’s funnyyyyy,” he drew out, “you had me going there for a second. You are a trained Assassin, but blend in you did not! Ha, I think the only reason people didn’t notice you were an elf was the massive fight going on in the main square.”

Rayla was not amused. Her ears drooping a bit she said, “I thought it was pretty good…”

“It wasn’t that bad! But the accent was crazy off. It sounded like you were from...well I don’t even know.” Callum started laughing again, his eyes full of joy. Rayla’s face began to warm. She loved it when he laughed. Their mission was serious and could save thousands of lives, but Callum still found a way to make the journey enjoyable. It warmed her heart.

“Ok dummy, if I was so bad, you can’t be much worse. I will let you come this one time...let’s get you ready.” She gave him a small smile. Callum couldn’t control his excitement and wrapped Rayla in a bear hug as the last word left her mouth.

Her face was burning like crazy, this will be loads of fun, she thought rolling her eyes.

——

Rayla’s fingers danced across Callum’s face, tracing intricate patterns that would pass as his moon shadow tattoos. At each touch, Callum could feel a little more heat rising to his cheeks. By the time half of his fake tattoos were finished, Callum was sure that his blush must be visible to Rayla. Sure enough, as she started the next marking, Callum caught a small grin on her face.

“What’s so funny?” Callum asked a little to defensively.

“Nothin’. Absolutely nothin’,” Rayla answered. She cleared her throat and went back to work, but every now and again Callum still caught her grinning. It only made him blush more, which of course made her grin more. It was a vicious cycle, but not one that Callum was eager to break. He liked seeing the amusement play between the upturned corners of her lips and that shimmer in her eyes.

“You seem all choked up,” Rayla teased when she was almost finished. Having been lost in a daydream that may or may not have involved Rayla, Callum nearly jumped at her words.

Her face was slightly flushed now. Callum hadn’t noticed because he had been so lost in his daydream. But now, he could see the light dusting of purple/pink on Rayla’s cheeks. She was probably just tired from painting his face. That was it.

“Hmm?” he hummed out.

“Where’s that accent that you seemed so confident in before?” Rayla pressed with a mischievous grin.

“Where’s that acc’nt ye seemed so confeedent in before,” Callum mirrored. Rayla’s grin fell as her mouth opened in surprise. Her eyebrows raised and Callum was sure now that his face must be beet red. He’d sounded like an immature child who was mocking a teacher and he knew it. Clearing his throat to try again, Callum barely opened his mouth before Rayla burst into laughter.

“I’m sorry,” she huffed out between laughs, “I was in shock, it hadn’t hit me yet,” Callum put on his best pout but Rayla didn’t seem to notice. “That was horrible, you need a lot more practice so please, continue.” She gestured with her four fingered hand, telling Callum to try again and giving him another idea.

“Wait, Rayla, do you have an extra pair of gloves?” Callum asked in his perfectly normal human voice.

“What’d’ya need those for?” Rayla asked. Callum could still hear the light lilt of a laugh in her voice, but Rayla didn’t give Callum a chance to answer. She reached her clean hand into her bag and pulled out a pair of black, four fingered gloves.

Callum grabbed them greedily and worked to fold his pinky in a position that would work and slip them over his hands. Rayla watched inquisitively as the gloves went on with surprising ease. Callum’s head jerked back and Rayla forced herself to swallow another laugh.

“Rayla, how are our hands the same size?” Callum asked, his voice heavy and serious.

“Haven’t you ever noticed?” Rayla laughed, “It probably has to do with the fact that I’m taller than you.” She hovered over him and Callum sent her a harmless glare, “Now sit still and practice your accent, I need to finish your tattoos.”

____

“Rayla, it’s really not that funny,” Callum said again. Was this the millionth time he’d said that? It sure felt like it.

“I’m getting bett’r,” Callum whined, still holding onto the fake accent, “I think we’c’n go to town anytime and it be absolutely cheery.” Rayla, who still hadn’t recovered from her earlier laughing fit, broke into another.

“Callum please,” she wheezed. Had she sounded this bad in her human accent? Surely not.

“So’re we going or not?” Callum waved his ‘four fingered’ hand around. Rayla could see the little lump of his folded over pinky and wondered if it was cramping by now. He certainly was dedicated. Maybe if he just didn’t talk much they would be okay.

Rayla finally rolled her eyes “Yes, yes. We can go, you big dumb human. But first, give it one more go. I need to be sure that if anyone talks to you, you don’t make a complete fool of yourself.”

“But you’re just going to laugh at me again,” Callum sighed.

“Nooooo, I promise I won’t,” Rayla replied, not entirely honest.

“Let’s go int’town then ‘nd meet our fellow eleven frends,” Callum said, being careful to say it just as she had taught him.

Rayla was silent for a moment, taking in what he had said. As expected, her lips started to turn upward again into a mischievous smile. Then, she started laughing again.

“Hey, you said you wouldn’t laugh at me anymore,” Callum protested, slightly offended that she hadn’t been true to her word.

“Oh Callum, I am trying hard not to! That was actually really good, it just sounded so funny coming from you.” Rayla continued laughing. It didn’t look as if she would be able to stop any time soon.

Instead, Callum watched her laugh. Her laugh was like sweet music, dancing off her lips into the nature around them. It wasn’t just the sound of her laugh, though, it was everything. The way she pulled her silver-white hair behind her angular ears as she doubled over. The way her purpleish face lit up with the warmth of her laugh. She sounded and looked so perfect, he realized. He wanted to freeze time so he could save this moment and never let it go. It was then that the realization dawned on him, Rayla was pretty when she laughed. No, that wasn’t right. She was always pretty, from the first moment they met. He had just never thought about it before.

Callum was blushing as he looked up sheepishly at Rayla. She stopped laughing when she realized Callum had grown silent.

He had never looked at her like that before. She wasn’t really sure what that look meant. But, it was new, it was different, and it was exciting.

“Come on Callum, let’s get going,” Rayla said, blushing uncontrollably at the look he had given her.

“Ok,” he whispered. There was no doubt about it, he was hopelessly infatuated with his elf assassin friend. Maybe, just maybe, they could create a world in which they had a chance.

——-

They walked towards the town silently, still not completely recovered from the realization before. As they walked, they came across a pond. Callum hadn’t seen the tattoos Rayla had painstakingly painted on his face before. Now was as good as time as any.

As he stopped to stare at his reflection, he noticed Rayla almost try and stop him. What was she so nervous about? When he returned his gaze to his reflection, he realized why. The purple markings painted on his face looked really familiar.

Callum pondered that for a moment. He always wondered, but never asked, “Rayla, do you face tattoos mean something important? I’ve always been curious.”

Rayla looked even more uncomfortable now, if that was even possible. Callum could tell that his curiosity had struck a chord, but he wasn’t really sure why.

“That’s a good question, Callum.” Rayla wasn’t really sure she wanted to tell him. It was a personal thing for moonshadow elves, usually reserved for mates alone. Also, Callum had just seen his tattoos, and probably wouldn’t understand, but his were modeled after hers. This was an adjustment that only the most dedicated elven mates would ever go through. Why had she done that?

“And the answer?” Callum asked innocently.

Fine, fine, I’ll tell him. It’s not like he will care anyways. Rayla broke down easily.

“Well,” she began carefully. Her fingers bunched together nervously. She looked down and noticed, drawing her hands apart as she began her explanation again, “It’s an old custom, not many people go through with it anymore. And I’m just doing it because I know my tattoos better than anyone.” Rayla rambled, a faint blush rising to her cheeks as Callum stared at her attentively.

“I’m sure you humans have your own customs, but when a moon shadow elf decides to fight alongside someone for their entire life - sometimes they will make their tattoos match. So uhh,” Rayla wrapped her fingers around each other again, “You’re tattoos look a lot like mine.”

Callum’s eyes had grown wide, too wide. Rayla was partially worried she had broken him. But then he spoke, quietly at first:

“So people in this town will think we are...together?”

Rayla blushed again. She had done way too much of that today. “Yea, I uh, guess that’s right.”

Callum contemplated her response for a moment before smiling, softly. He reached out his hand, urging her to take it, “well we might as well start now.”

Everything inside of Rayla rebelled against the thought of holding Callum’s hand. But she took it anyways. Deep down, she knew why she had drawn his tattoos to match hers. It was time to find out if those feelings could be reciprocated.

“Let’s go Callum, we can’t keep the town waiting forever.” They smiled fondly at each other, both enjoying the warm embrace of each other’s hands.

#rayllum #callum x rayla #tdp callum #tdp rayla

[brushstrokesapocalyptic]

The Legend of Asriel PART 6 | DEATH MOUNTAIN

it’s about as unpleasant as it sounds.

Frisk and Chara reach Death Mountain, and their first order of business is seeking out a blacksmith who can reforge their sword. There’s a bit of a famine going on right now so none of the Gorons are in working condition, but someone happens to direct Frisk to a Zora who lives just out of Goron City.

Following those directions, Frisk and Chara find an elderly turtle man sunning himself on the edge of a hot spring. Chara recognizes him and is confused as to why he’s here. Frisk knows not of their history with this guy though, and just walks up to ask if he can help reforge their sword.

Gerson laughs and says he’s not called the Hammer for nothing, he’s sure he can fix whatever toy sword they broke during target practice. Frisk removes the bundle from their backpack and shows him the shards of the Master Sword. Gerson rubs at his chin. “Hmm. Tricky one, that.”

Can you do it? Frisk writes in their notebook.

“The blade shouldn’t be too hard, I’ve got all the material I need here.“ Chara resists the urge to bring up the missing piece. “The hilt is harder, it’s made of a special material you can’t just melt down and cast into a new shape. I’d need to make another from scratch.“

Is it rare?

“Somewhat. As luck would have it, there is a deposit in the nearby mines, but those are flooded out.”

Frisk looks him up and down. ...Aren’t you like, a turtle? Surely a little water can’t stop you.

Gerson laughs heartily. “A little water is nothing, even for my old bones. Lava, however, poses quite a risk.“

Frisk makes a soft noise of understanding. If I got you a piece of this stuff, could you reforge it then?

“Of course!“ Gerson says. “I’d be delighted to, in fact. Not everyone can say they reforged the Legendary Blade of Evil’s Bane!“

Frisk beams, bundles the shards back up, and tells Gerson they’ll be back soon before hurrying off again. Chara trails them with a skeptical look. “Okay I appreciate the enthusiasm, but how exactly do you plan to get this weird rock? Do you have a supplier or something?”

Frisk slows to a stop, staring into the sky with a look of impending realization.

“...You didn’t think that far ahead, did you.“

Frisk most assuredly didn’t, but they won’t let that stop them! They do some more poking around, and eventually encounter a Hylian bard living it up in the town square, providing a brief moment of levity for the Gorons in this trying time.

Chara wonders how he can stand wearing such impractical clothing in this sweltering volcano, and Mettaton offhandedly mentions something about the laboratory near the peak before he registers that the person he just replied to is a ghost.

The dude doesn’t stick around, leaving Frisk and Chara with just the clue pointing towards the laboratory. It’s not much, but it’s all they’ve got, so they go to investigate.

The lab seems abandoned at first, all dark and messy and stuff. Frisk pokes around a bit, not giving it up as a lost cause just yet, and then Chara hears a weird scuffling noise. Frisk sees them tense, and they turn around just in time to see a flash of golden scales vanishing around a corner.

They give chase, and with a little help from Chara they track down the mysterious creature. A light flickers on, and Frisk finds themself face to face with a yellow Lizalfos in a lab coat.

For a moment, the two of them stare each other, down. Frisk isn’t quite sure what to make of the monster, and the Lizalfos looks kinda like a deer in the headlights. After a moment, though, Frisk’s hand inches towards their sword, and the Lizalfos rears back not to attack, but to frantically wave her hands defensively.

“Wait wait wait I can explain!“ she says, and it takes Chara a moment to dart into the right spot to interpret because they were not expecting a talking lizard. “Y-you see, I’m not a-actually a monster! I-I’m Dr. Alphys, and I’m t-t-totally a normal person, I’m j-just cursed to look like this! J-j-just c-cursed!“

Frisk raises an eyebrow, removing their hand from their sword and straightening up. They glance at Chara, who just shrugs, then dig out their notebook again. Do you need any help with that?

“N-n-no, it’s quite alright!“ Alphys says, looking a little sheepish. “I-I-I don’t get out much s-s-so it’s not like it matters how I look! I’ve got all my brains u-up here, s-so I’m fine!”

Frisk nods, relieved that they don’t have to add another layer to this fetch quest chain. I heard you can make heat-resistant clothing, they write.

“Where did you—“ Alphys starts, before pausing. “O-oh, I suppose I did give Mettaton some of my prototypes... how were they, by the way? That guy never gives me useful feedback.“

Frisk shrugs. He didn’t look bothered by the heat, but honestly it’s not that bad.

“Speak for yourself,“ Chara comments. “I’d be dying if I weren’t already dead. You’re just a weird desert gremlin.“

Frisk ignores them.

Alphys, unaware of the ghost floating next to her, nods thoughtfully. “Good, good, the tests I ran seemed positive but it’s good to have more data. Oh— w-were you interested in my fireproof clothing as well?“

Frisk nods. If it’s available, I’d like to buy a set.

“O-of course! Might I ask what you n-need it for?“

I wanna go into the mines but I hear they got flooded with lava.

Alphys pauses. “...Erm, a-and why do you want that?”

I need a special stone to reforge this legendary sword that got broken.

A long moment passes between them.

“...Can’t argue with that,“ Alphys says, then turns and walks away.

Frisk pays up and Alphys custom fits them with a nice heatproof tunic which I haven’t designed yet, but I probably will eventually and whenever that happens I’ll probably edit in a picture here.

But anyway now they’re decked out in sweet fashion and so they trek off to the mines, which are another dungeon. I don’t have nearly as much to say as I did for the Lost Caverns. It’s a bunch of mines and stuff, there’s magma. They get the Burnt Hammer, which is basically the equivalent of the burnt pan but like. It’s a hammer. And there’s some kinda a monster or possessed machinery or a monster possessing machinery, and after Frisk kicks its ass the mines go back to normal and everyone rejoices and they get a cool blue rock which happens to be timeshift stone but shhhhhhh it’s not that important.

And so they return triumphantly to Gerson’s forge, materials in tow, and ask him to reforge the Master Sword for them. Gerson laughs, declares that they truely do have the soul of a hero. Then he asks what kind of sword they’d like him to make it into, at which point they kinda stall out because they were kinda assuming it’d just be forged back into its original shape.

“Nonsense,“ Gerson says. “Trying to copy the original perfectly is a fool’s errand, and if it’s going to be reforged for a new wielder why not have them choose its shape?“

Frisk agrees with this reasoning, but they don’t know enough about swords to make a decision. Chara, however, does. They tap Frisk on the shoulder, an odd glint in their eye, and spell something out for Frisk to write in their notebook. They show it to Gerson, and he clearly knows what it means as he laughs again and gets right to work on that sword.

It takes time to make a sword, and so Frisk stays a couple nights in Gerson’s cottage. Chara keeps randomly snickering every time the Master Sword comes up in conversation, and they refuse to explain themself, so Frisk just resigns themself to finding out what they told Gerson to make when the sword is done.

After the better part of a week has passed with Frisk doing various sidequests for the Gorons, Gerson finally presents them with the reforged Master Sword.

Frisk unwraps it from the cloth covering carefully, examining the sheath before tugging it free to look at the blade. It’s beautifully crafted, the hilt carved into something reminiscent of a bird while the blade is razor sharp. They can’t help but admire the craftsmanship, and even Chara pauses to ooh and aah a little before they collapse into another fit of giggles.

“You know, it’s kinda funny you picked that kind of sword,“ Gerson comments, and Chara barely manages to pull themself back together enough to interpret. “See, there was this young whippersnapper I used to know, and they always said that was their favourite kind of sword. You know why?“

Frisk tilts their head in a silent question.

“They said it was ‘cause of the way the hilt is put together,“ Gerson explains. “In their words, it isn’t technically a sword. Just a very large knife.“

Chara descends into a full on fit of laughter. Frisk stands there for a long moment, then looks back down at the Master Sword. Then they set it down and take out their notebook. Does that make this the Master Knife, then?

Gerson joins Chara in laughing. “I like your style,” he tells them, as he follows them to the door. “Remember me after you’ve saved the world, alright, kid?”

Frisk nods, slinging the Master Knife over their back, and slaps Chara on the shoulder on the way out to get them to stop laughing already, it’s not that funny.

(It’s absolutely that funny, Chara insists inside their own head. God they love knives.)

[Next Part] [Index]

#loz ut #loz #undertale #legend of zelda #i am an excellent artist #my writing #well this took a while

[artistlove17]

I cut my last 2 friends off yesterday. 🙄

Let me try to get it all in one post... if that's possible.

For starters, they keep stealing from us. Several times my friend Joseph (who has been our friend since 7th grade) has stolen shit from my fiance. He stole a power cord out of our playstation and claimed it was his, even though my fiance and I both remembered that when he came in he said he had forgotten his cord and we gave him ours to use while he stayed at our house. But as he was leaving my fiance asked for it back and he defensively claimed it was HIS power cord and shoved it off in his bag.

My fiance also let him borrow a bunch of games once while he was out travelling and couldn't play them, only to come home and Joseph claim he never gave him any games. We're 99.99% sure he sold those games because he thought my fiance would forget about them. 🤦‍♀️

Joseph also stole some fake plastic guns my fiance had one time. We had them in the trunk of our car and Joseph literally just took them when he was getting his bag out of our trunk.

Then there's Eli. Joseph's "wife."

We took them camping once and had bought a first aid kit as a part of our camping supplies. But then when we were dropping them off back at their house she just took our entire first aid kit. She carried it in with her and then when she went to the bathroom I grabbed it and took it back to our car. It really pissed me off how she just took it and didn't even care that we saw her taking it without her even asking, like she really thought we either wouldn't notice or wouldn't say anything to her. 🙄

I have no idea why they just keep stealing random shit. 🤦‍♀️

Then there is the fact that they make their relationship seem like a competition with ours. My fiance and I have been dating for nearly 7 years (it'll be 7 in January) and have been engaged for 1.5. Joseph and Eli have been together maybe 2 years. They started dating right before my fiance and I got engaged, and then they immediately got engaged after we did. Then they RUSHED to get married, Joseph even made comments about selling his playstation so they'd have money to get married. 🤦‍♀️ And as soon as Eli got a $6000 inheritance from her Grandma, they ran to the courthouse and got married and invited one of Eli's friends but didn't invite us... even though they had been talking about wanting us to come with them for weeks. And every time they're around us they just make their relationship seem like some kind of competition with ours and keep asking us when we're "finally" going to get married... as if we haven't been together for 7 fucking years. Marriage isn't even really anything we're focused on right now. It just really irritates me that they think their 2 year, unhappy, problem filled relationship is ANYTHING compared to ours.

Another problem IS their relationship. They are constantly having break downs and yelling at each other and constantly asking us how "we deal with things like that".... my fiance and I have NEVER yelled at each other. We've never gotten to the point of just absolute anger that we have a full blown fight. We bicker and argue yea, you're going to do that with ANY other human being. But we handle it like adults and talk about it. We don't just freak out and throw tantrums like children and yell at each other the way that they do. 🤦‍♀���

They honestly have a very toxic relationship. Joseph treats Eli like crap.

For example: My fiance made four hotdogs in our campfire the last time we went camping. He made one for each of us for breakfast. Joseph got up and got 2 of the hotdogs... and then Eli said "I'm hungry" and he told her to make herself a hotdog... my fiance told Joseph that he made one for her but Joseph ate both and so he should make her another one. Joseph acted all upset to have to make his WIFE another hotdog after he fucking ate hers... like what the actual fuck?

He's also admitted to my fiance that he gets mad at Eli and yells at her and calls her names, like she went to open their car door once and the handle broke (not her fault) but Joseph got pissed and called her stupid. And he acted like that was just completely normal and was wondering if we ever did that... 🙄🤦‍♀️🤦‍♀️ like what the FUCK. No, that is NOT normal you dumbass mother fucker.

There's also the fact that Joseph is just... nasty. Like not to be mean to the guy, he was our friend for a long time, but over the last couple years every time we hang out he just smells like shit. Like actual shit. He will not take a shower and he's always got oily hair and smells terrible. He literally refuses to shower and it's really nasty and the smell makes me gag when he gets in the car.

We've also tried and tried and tried to get Joseph to come work with us. We've offered to pick him up and take him to and from work with us and everything... but he literally won't even answer the messages despite him and Eli CONSTANTLY complaining that they need jobs and they have no money... Eli is "disabled" so she thinks she can't get a job, despite the job we are at now being a sitting job. She thinks her hips wouldn't be able to handle her working... which is whatever, I can't tell you what HER body can handle. But Joseph is perfectly capable of working yet he will not even talk to us about an EASY job that we can 100% get him... it makes no sense. He just DOESN'T want to work. He wants to sit around playing video games but that's not going to get them anywhere, and when his dad (who is morbidly obese and in terrible health) dies, they'll have nowhere to go and not a penny to their names.

And the biggest thing for me... is that they CONSTANTLY... CONSTANTLY, use their mental health issues as EXCUSES for everything. I have depression and anxiety and my fiance has severe social anxiety... but we still FORCE ourselves to go out and do things and get a job and take care of ourselves. We don't allow our mental issues to ruin our lives, we just DEAL with them in any way that we can. We aren't about to sit in a room rotting and make ourselves even more depressed because we don't want to deal with our shit.

They have melt downs and episodes every single day and just sit around focusing on things that MAKE them feel bad. They will sit and complain and whine about something until they make themselves depressed... they do it all the time when we take them out to do stuff and then it just ruins mine and my fiances moods.

We went camping last weekend and it really sealed the deal for me cutting them off...

We got there and it was getting dark. We always go camping at my moms because they have a lot of land and we can camp by ourselves wherever we want on their land, which is awesome.

So my fiance and I wanted to go let my family know that we were there like we usually would do. And when we came back Joseph and Eli were sitting in the car very pissed off...

Eli tried to say some crap about us leaving without setting up their tent first and tried to make it a joke. "Well we said we should probably set up the tents first! But nooo, and now it's dark" which I didn't find funny at all... it was just really annoying. Like first of all, I needed to let my family know we're here so they don't freak out about someone being on their land. And secondly... ya'll are both 21 and 22 years old, you can't set up your own damn tent??

Which, they do that shit any time we go camping. They act like we're supposed to treat them like they're our damn kids or something and do every little thing for them. And it's so damn ridiculous.

Then my brother came down there to drink with us and Eli and Jospeh walked off on their own and Eli was crying and shit and having a breakdown while Joseph was just pissy about something. They acted like they just did not want my brother to be there... which really pissed me off.

Like, that's MY brother. This is HIS land that my family and I have invited ya'll to camp on. I invited him to come drink with us because I wanted to hang out with him... and ya'll are forreal throwing a fit because we aren't giving you all of our attention or something??

Ugh. That's all for now. I might add something else I think of later.

But point is, we had really shit friends and I'm so done with them. 😤🤦‍♀️

#ex friend #ex best friend #bad friends #friend #best friend #friends #frienship #storytime #storytelling #story