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maybebanks · 3 years

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Special Treatment

JJ Maybank x Y/N

You and JJ get busted and are forced to spend the night in jail. Only Y/n gets some much resented special treatment. Leaving JJ jealous.

“I can’t believe we got caught. I’m gonna be in so much shit for this,” JJ muttered, raking a hand through his messy blonde hair.

You felt very guilty, if it wasn’t for you, JJ wouldn’t have gotten caught trespassing. He was a faster runner than you, and you had tripped, resulting in a pathetic injury.

“Hey, are you good? I know you have that ‘3 strikes’ thing going on with Peterkin..and - oh shit Y/n! Your leg is bleeding,” JJ said, moving you to sit down so he could get a better look.

“It’s fine,” you protested, “and don’t worry about me. You have your dad to worry about,” you mentioned.

JJ frowned, “don’t remind me,”

You were familiar with this cell, though it was way better when shared with JJ. You were here just yesterday, busted for shop lifting.

It was clear you were rebelling. And JJ wanted to know why.

He was intrigued.

“When we get outta here...can we go separately?” you said softly.

“Why? I was hoping we could grab food at the Wreck...please...” he trailed off, grabbing both of your hands and trapping them in his.

“No...I mean..you know I get scared of your dad. And besides, my mom wants me home,” you admitted.

JJ frowned, “yeah. I know. You get all..shakey,” he shrugs.

“I do not!” You blurted, pushing one of his shoulders.

“Yes you do, you’re hands are like this,” JJ told you, then put his hand out and started moving his wrist to shake his hand at a fast speed.

“Oh fuck you,” you groaned.

“Sure I’m down,” JJ joked.

“What?” You gave him a dirty look.

“You know,” he smirked, then he leaned over to you and started rubbing your shoulders, “you like that? Uhhh!” He moaned.

“Shut up!! You dumbass! They’re gonna hear!!” You scolded him, shoving him off of you.

“Yeah and what would they think? You more of a handjob or a blowjob kinda girl?” he joked.

“Oh my god...okay you need to..to chill with the horny boy act, got it? I know you’re just trying to get at me..but I’m not in the mood,” you sighed. Standing up and walking towards the edge of the bars.

“I see blushing,” JJ pointed out, pointing to his own cheeks.

You rolled your eyes, looking the other way.

JJ raised his hands in defense, “I didn’t mean to offend you. Just wanted to lighten the mood. Maybe get this tension under wraps,”

“There is no tension.” You stated.

“There is with you. You’re super tense,” JJ added.

“I just...I have a lot going on,” you shrugged.

“Wanna..” JJ paused, kicking his feet against the concrete, “..talk about it?”

“No thanks...” you sighed, returning to sit next to him again.

“Whatever it is,” JJ placed a comforting hand on your thigh, “I’m sure you can handle it.” He said. He knew you weren’t going to tell him, so he decided to give you confidence.

You stared at his large hand on your thigh, his rings shining from the light through the windows.

You smiled softly. And he returned it.

Before he could say some dirty one liner, the cell door opened.

You and JJ stood up.

“Y/n, let’s go.” The officer directed. He wasn’t the usual one who dealt with the jail people, he was a patrol officer. He has blonde, short hair he was tall, and looked about 30-40 years old.

“But..what about-“ You began.

“Just you.” He stated, looking into your eyes.

You looked back at JJ, he just shrugged.

So you followed the police officer out of the cell, and waved goodbye to JJ.

The officers hand met your lower back as you walked with him through the station. He nodded at a few cops at desks, no one seemed to question him as he walked you out the front door.

As an excuse to get him to stop touching you, you turned around, asking him a question, “excuse me. What’s..what’s going on?” You asked nervously.

“How about I give you a ride home,” he suggested, pointing to a small cop car.

“My friend...in there, I can’t just leave him,” you said.

“Maybank kid. Yeah I saw his record. For some reason, Peterkin always looks the other way, something to pity, I’d assume,” the Officer explains.

You sighed, knowing exactly what he was talking about, JJs dad.

“I can..um I can walk home, thanks,” you told him, walking around him.

He grabbed your wrist gently, “if I hadn’t done what I did, you’d be spending your night in that cell. Let me give you a ride home,” he almost ordered.

You bit the inside of your lip, but he was a cop, what was he gonna do? Kill you. Please. You shouldn’t be afraid of him.

You nodded, and he smiled, directing you to his car.

You attempted to get in the back seat, but he scolded you, and told you that you should sit in the front.

He drove you home, and parked in your driveway.

“I’ll walk you inside, make sure everything’s okay,” he said.

“Sir, I’m alright, it’s like 20 feet away,” you said, but he ignored you.

When you got to the front door, you knocked, him by your side.

Your mother answered, shocked, and quite unhappy at the sight.

“What did she do?” Your mother sighed, you looked at the floor.

“Ma’am, I’m officer Darren Wilden, we’ve met before, I was just escorting your daughter from the jail cell. Would’ve spent the night there, if I hadn’t got her out of there,” he told her.

You groaned.

Stepping up and heading inside, past your mom. She would have surly yelled at you, but she was now distracted by the officer.

Maybe it wasn’t such a bad thing.

Retiring to your room was not a great as you thought, you could hear your mother laugh at Officer Wildens stupid jokes, she even made dinner for him. So you put in headphones, falling asleep to your favorite playlist.

You woke up at your usual time, to spend the Saturday with the pogues. Excited, you headed downstairs for breakfast, still in your pajamas. You missed dinner last night, and were craving a muffin or something.

You entered the kitchen in slow steps, hearing someone cooking bacon or something. Your mom never cooks.

“Mom?” You asked, but your question was quickly answered.

Wilden was standing in your kitchen, shirtless, a white towel wrapped around his waist.

“Oh my gosh,” you blinked in shock. What hell was this?

“Good morning. Want any eggs?” He said nonchalantly. Standing near the fridge.

You scoffed. Walking around him, “no thanks,”

A few seconds later, your mother walked in.

She studdered, “uh Darren, why don’t you head upstairs, I’ll take care of breakfast,”

He nodded, “yeah sure,” and left the kitchen.

“What does he live here now?” You said sarcastically to your mom.

“Give me a break, honey....” your mother sighed.

“Yeah..whatever. I’m going to John B’s,” you said bluntly, then hastily left the house.

Once joining the group, you were basically silent the whole time.

“So! Y/n, how was jail?” Kie asked, smiling.

“How..how did you know?” You asked, “JJ you literally suck at keeping ur mouth shut,”

“What?!” He laughed, “I used to be brag about corrupting the good girl. But now your a convict just like me,” JJ shrugged, implying that you shouldn’t care.

Truly you just didn’t want to be traced back to Wilden, you hated that connection you now had. Could it even turn into blackmail? It just made you sick.

“Did you know JJ was in that cell for 24 hours longer than y/n! That’s some sexism right there,” John B mentioned.

“Don’t joke about that, dude,” Pope scolded.

“What? It’s true.” He defended.

“Wait...JJ, your dad didn’t show up to-“ you were surprised he had spent the night in the cell.

“Yeah. They didn’t even call him. For some reason, you got special treatment,” JJ said, nudging your arm.

That’s when it hit you. Your mother probobly did this to keep you out of jail. You felt sick. Horrible of what you had to done to make your mother do what she did.

“Whoa...you okay Y/n/n?” JJ asks, nudging you again.

You flinched at his nudge, but tries crossing your arms to cover it up.

You didn’t answer.

“You got all pale,” Pope added.

“Y/n/n, are you okay?” JJ repeated.

“I need some air,” you blurted, then jumped up and walked away from the group out on the doc.

“But we are outside,” JJ grumbled.

“JJ go talk to her,” Kie suggested.

“Me? She doesn’t wanna talk to me,” JJ shut down.

“Yes, she does. Now talk to her,” Kie demanded.

JJ grumbled curses to himself, he didn’t like to go be forced into things. And he didn’t want you to see him as a guy who didn’t know what to say.

JJ took off his hat and fumbled with it, “I really don’t mind...the uh extra jail time. But if you were there...I could’ve asked you if your-“

“Jesus, JJ,” you sighed.

“What did I do?” JJ asked, sitting down text to you on the dock.

“It...it’s everything. Like...I don’t want you here, so leave,” you insulted. You really wanted him to stay, but not give him the opportunity to find out how dishonestly you got out of jail.

“Okay. Easy, done,” JJ stated. But instead of getting up and leaving you in the dust, he moved closer to you, his knee touching yours.

You started to cry, why did he care? The tears were falling so fast you missed a few falling down your cheek. One landing on JJ’s knee.

“She...I can’t..it’s just stupid. And I hate myself.” You stuttered. Between gasps.

JJ put his arm around you, “why?”

“Because... she,” you said quietly, “slept with him,”

JJ frowned, distancing you from him slightly, “the cop?! Are you serious?”

“Yeah,” you said disappointedly.

“God damn, Y/n.” He said shaking his head.

“Please don’t tell anyone, J. I don’t really know why I told you. I just I can trust you,” you sighed.

“Yeah...uh okay Y/n. I’m uh I’m gonna go,” he shrugged, then stood up.

“W-wait! I need you J, where do you have to go?” You asked innocently.

“Look, if you think I’m okay with this? I’m not. Sex with a cop? Are you fucking kidding? What about us? All summer!” JJ exclaimed.

“Hold on-“ you attempted to explain, because JJ thought it was you.

“No. You know what. I feel like shit for ever opening up to you. I need some space from you.” He said disgustedly.

You started balling again, “JJ. It wasn’t me! What’s wrong with you!” You said, deeply offended by that accusation. Both you and jj had slightly developed feelings for eachother, but denied them the whole summer.

No one ever acted on them.

“What’s wrong with me? You’re the slut!” JJ shouted.

“Excuse me?!” You screamed back, offended.

JJ sighed, he took off his red baseball hat and threw it on the ground.

“To me, Y/n, a slut sleeps with someone to get something out of it. And that’s what you fucking did,” JJ retaliated.

“Fuck you. It wasn’t even me,” you mumbled, walking past him and down the driveway.

You didn’t want to go home. You were planning on spending the night at John B’s, but JJ really hurt you.

JJ replayed the conversation in his head, trying to figure out what he missed.

He regretted shitting on you, name calling. That wasn’t him, and it certainly wasn’t you.

You never explicitly told him it was your mom, but JJ believed you, that it wasn’t you. Now you just needed to talk.

You arrived at your house after walking for nearly an hour. But you couldn’t go in, not when you saw a cop car parked outside.

This angered you. How could he be here again? How could your mother do this?

Suddenly, a car drove up behind you. You were afraid to look. In case it was another cop.

“Hey, Y/n,” you heard JJ’s voice call.

You were stubborn, so you didn’t turn around.

“I shouldn’t have called you that shit. And I shouldn’t have let you leave. Wanna...let me apologize with dinner? On me,” JJ beamed, pleading.

“That would be nice,” you fought a smile, hopping in the passenger seat next to him.

more JJ reads!

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lunarkittens · 3 years

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now you’re on your own (won’t you come back home?) (1/?)

Word Count: 2,760 (In this part)

Rating: T

Pairings: Gen

Summary: Dean doesn’t believe in fate. But it is a strange coincidence that the one time Dean is ever in California, pointedly trying not to think about his little brother hours away in Palo Alto, he gets a voicemail saying Sam’s in the hospital. Pre-Series.

Dean doesn’t believe in fate. He can believe in a lot of other things, sure. Ghosts, ghouls, demons. Those are things he’s seen, things he can’t deny because they’ve been right before his eyes, have even tried to kill him a few times, but fate? Destiny? Give him a break. If any part of Dean’s life has been fate, he’s gonna need to talk to the guy in charge and maybe knock a couple of his teeth out, the fucking asshole. How’s that for fate?

But it is a strange coincidence that the one time Dean is ever in California, pointedly trying not to think about his little brother who’s hours away in Palo Alto, he gets a voicemail from Sam.

The mere shock of seeing his name on his phone makes him blink hard, like he must be imagining it, but he closes his eyes and opens them and pinches himself and it’s still there, still says Sam on the screen, still says he left a voicemail and all of a sudden Dean feels sick, his heart rate skyrocketing into the triple digits easily. He considers ignoring it. Sam left, after all. Looked Dean right in his eyes and still left, slamming the door behind him, like Dean never meant anything to him at all. Screw Sam.

But this? Two years into it?

Sam wouldn’t call him unless it was an emergency. The voicemail is from half an hour earlier, when Dean had been wiping sweat off his brow with his sleeve while a fire roared in a dug grave. Bye bye, bitch, he’d muttered, lingering a bit longer than he normally would. So this is California, he thought. He closed his eyes and felt the night air. Closed his eyes and wondered if he could maybe feel Sam somehow, his energy distinct in this great expanse of a state that crawled down so much of the West Coast. He came up empty, no energy, no little brother, and got in the car.

He didn’t want a motel, he wanted to gun it out of Cali ASAP and get the hell away from redwood trees and mountains and dry heat before he did something crazy like show up at Sam’s dorm or start crying. As far as he was concerned, California had stolen Sam from him.

There was no wanting to see the sights after that.

And then he’d gotten back in the car and seen the voicemail. Shakily, Dean presses play.

“Hey Dean.” Sam says. Dean shifts in his seat, ready to focus, to absorb. It’s been two years since he’s heard this voice, heard it say his name. However angry he still is, however sad, he wants to savor it.

Sam says his name the same way he always has, the exact same intonation, but he’s sighing it this time. “I don’t know if....Hell, I don’t even know if you care, or if you’ll even listen to this...and you don’t have to call me back, but well...You used to get pissed if I didn’t tell you stuff like this, so here goes. I’m at the hospital.”

Dean tenses, fists gripping the steering wheel tightly. “They’re gonna have to remove my appendix. I was really sick all day and my friend rushed me here. I’m fine,” Sam rushes to say.

“But I just thought...I don’t know why I called. Be safe out there, okay? I know you know what you’re doing, but just- God. Stay alive, okay?” And then there’s a silence that hangs in the air, just waiting to be filled before Dean hears Sam sigh and the voicemail ends.

Okay, fine. Palo Alto, it is. Dean puts the car in drive and intends to fully ignore the speed limit the whole way there, letting Led Zeppelin keep him awake.

When he gets there, and fuck it took a while. Why is California so fucking big? What if he had been on the East Coast? He calls three hospitals and finds the one Sam’s at, pulling into the parking lot and going inside.

It’s weird, when the receptionist asks his name and there’s nothing fake this time, no fake ID to pull out, nothing to lie about. He’s just...just himself. Dean Winchester, here to visit his brother.

“He finished surgery earlier.” The lady says to him.

“I’ll go ask the doctor if you can see him, but I’m sure he’s unconscious.”

“That’s fine,” Dean says. “It’s just kind of my job to look out for the kid, you know?”

Dean doesn’t know what it is, but something in his voice makes the lady look at him more intensely than she had a minute ago.

“Yeah,” she says, voice full of a meaning Dean can’t understand, the way that sometimes happens with strangers. “I do.”

She comes back a few minutes later while Dean sits in a rickety waiting room chair made of wood and she tells him where to go to find Sam. He wonders what friend of his took him here, can’t help but think that it should have been him instead. Him taking care of his brother, and no one else. Where is this friend of his, anyway? Who dumps someone at the hospital and doesn’t still around?

Dean distantly remembers as he makes his way to Sam that Christmas is soon. College kids go on break, leave for the holidays and come back after. He’ll have to ask Sam about it, if he’s been all alone. He won’t ask Sam to come back, already knows how that’ll go.

It doesn’t stop him from wishing for it.

Dean gets some of the worst coffee he’s ever had and pairs it with a plastic wrapped sandwich and some chocolate chip cookies from a vending machine he sees on his way to the room. Odds are Sam is gonna be unconscious for a while and Dean might as well have something in his stomach while he waits for Sam to wake up.

The doctor is around, greets Dean, says Sam is gonna be just fine, just needs to rest undisturbed, spend some time recovering at home. Says if Sam had gotten there any later, his appendix would have burst. The thought makes Dean shudder.

Sam looks young. 20 but to Dean he’ll always look 15. His hair is still long, his face serene in sleep from pain medication, and as much as it hurts to admit, he doesn’t look like a hunter at all. His features are too soft, not angry or hardened enough. It’s all Dean can do to not reach a hand out to stroke Sam’s hair, caress his forehead. That’s his Sammy. He thinks back to the voicemail, back to Sam saying, I don’t even know if you care. Of fucking course, Dean cared. How could Sam even think that? It was Sam who’d left-

And then his father’s voice, hard and absolute, comes booming through his head like a crack of thunder.

“If you walk out that door, don’t you ever come back,” And Sam’s eyebrows furrowing, as if he’s holding back tears, and Sam’s look at dean, it hadn’t been angry after all, now that he thinks about it, it had been- Oh, Sammy. Never.

Never.

Dean hangs his head and leans forward. He can’t tell in this hospital gown, but Sam looks okay. A bit skinny, hair a little too long, but hey. That’s Sam. At least California hasn’t changed him that much. He’s got a nice tan about him, a glow that looks sallow in the hospital lighting but Dean knows would look glorious in the sunlight.

Dean falls asleep in the hospital chair an hour into it, stomach full and head at an angle that’s gonna pinch later, but he had a long drive and Sam is here right where he can see him and that’s more than Dean’s had in a long time, and some restless part of him that never lets itself lay down and sleep is actually at peace for once, so he closes his eyes.

He tries not to think of Sammy all sweaty and shaky, sick and pale and clutching his abdomen, and then it hadn’t even been Dean who was there for him.

Dean wouldn’t have even know about this, not ever, not if Sam hadn’t decided to call, and why did he? Dean intends on finding that out when Sam wakes up. Why now?

Did Sam ever miss him? He sure missed Sam, when he’d let himself admit it. There are ghosts like the ones he sees every day, but there’s another kind of ghost too. Ones that are entirely human and still alive but haunt him all the same, and Sam’s been one of them ever since he left.

And there’s no bones to burn, nothing to salt or destroy, just Sam with him every step of the way, just haunting him all the way from California.

Sam wakes up not long after Dean does, groaning and blinking hard, squinting as his eyes adjust to the light, rubbing them. Dean almost laughs, the familiarity of the expressions. Sam’s woken up the same way his entire life, and Dean tries to get rid of his smile. he’d almost forgotten how awkward this was gonna be, having to interact with each other. Dean had gotten used to seeing Sam, had been sitting here for a while, but Sam was probably still stuck in yesterday, hadn’t expected Dean to even care, if his voicemail was anything go by, let alone be sitting next to him.

Sam looks around and when his eyes fall on Dean, he startles, hand on his chest.

“Fuck,” he breathes. “You scared the hell outta me,” he says, and Dean laughs.

“It’s not funny.” Sam says. “I thought you were a ghost or something.” Dean puts a hand on Sam’s shoulder with careful pressure.

“Not dead yet, Sammy. got a few years left in me.”

“You got more than that,” Sam says, stretching in bed and wincing slightly.

“And what about you?” Dean says. “Your appendix just decide to go AWOL?”

“Ugh,” Sam groans. “Dude, yeah. I was doing some reading, trying to get ahead for next semester, you know? And then I just felt this...pressure, on my side. Whatever, I just ignored it for a while. Then I started throwing up, and I just couldn’t stop.”

“Dude, gross!” Dean says, making a face to offset how bad he feels for Sam. Sam smiles at him, and they’re silent.

“How’d you get here?” Dean asks after a minute.

“My buddy Kyle hadn’t left the dorms yet so I called him and he dropped me off. It’s a lot cheaper than an ambulance.” Dean nods.

“And where’s Kyle at now?”

“Home. Everybody’s gone home for break. Believe it or not, it’s almost Christmas.” Sam says, smiling and shaking his head, mostly to himself.

“I know it doesn’t look like it, though.” Sam says, and yeah, no white Christmases here, that’s for sure.

“Where the hell are you staying?” Dean asks. Sam shrugs.

“Same place I did last year,” he says. “Pay extra to stay over break. I’m not the only one there. There’s a lot of international students who can’t get home.”

“Who’s gonna take care of you?”

“I am,” Sam says. “It’ll be fine. It’s pretty basic stuff. I am an adult, you know.”

“Sam, cmon.” Dean scoffs.

“What?” Sam says, defensive.

“We’re not doin that, okay? You just got surgery. You’re not gonna be by yourself.”

“Well, who else is gonna take care of me?” Sam asks. Really? Dean wants to ask. Is he really asking that?

“Really, Sam?”

“No, tell me. What- You’re just gonna put off hunting for a month and nurse me back to health?” Dean swallows hard.

“What if I did? Huh? What if I came down here just so I could do that?” Dean holds his gaze defiantly, jaw clenched, and Sam raises his eyebrows. He deflates, catching Dean off guard. It makes him raise his eyebrows.

“Dean, come on.” Sam says gently. “You can’t do that. There’s people out there who need you.”

“That’s really rich, Sam.” Dean bites out.

“That’s really rich coming from you. Just shut up, okay? You’re damn right people need me. One of them just so happens to be sitting in this room, and he just got a piece of his body cut out of him a few hours ago. I’m needed here.”

“Dean-”

“No, Sam! Okay?” Dean says, standing up now.

“Come on...Tell me. If you don’t want my help, say it. Tell me there’s not a part of you that wants me to stay and wants me to take care of you like before.” Dean swallows hard against a growing tightness in his throat, a burning in his eyes. He stares at Sam with a focus and intensity that could start fires.

“If you tell me that you don’t want me here, I’ll get right back in the car and leave. You won’t ever have to hear from me again. But you have to say it.”

Sam’s eyes are wet. He’s losing the same battle Dean is fighting right now.

“I’m not gonna say it,” Sam says softly. “You’re not gonna hear it. Not from me. I can’t...”

“I mean, you- You left us, Sammy,” Dean says more gently, more open and devastated than he ever wanted sam to hear him sound. He sits down now, posture nonthreatening.

“I mean, how am I supposed to-“

“Dean,” Sam says, firm enough to cut Dean off but not angry, not enough to start a fight. “You don’t understand.”

“I think I understand just fine-“

“No, Dean. I’m not gonna let Dad do this to us anymore! Do you see what’s happening? No more misunderstandings. I left him. I never wanted- I didn’t want to leave you. But then Dad said I couldn’t come back, and you didn’t say any different, and I thought you didn’t want me around anymore either, so I never called, never texted. I didn’t expect you to come, okay? I thought you’d delete the voicemail without even listening to it.”

“I thought you’d washed your hands of me, Dean. I was alone.” Sam scoffs.

“I mean, really alone. I used to always have you. If I didn’t have anything else, I knew I had you. And then I didn’t. So don’t say that- Don’t act like I ran out on you. I wanted to take you with me.”

Dean turns that over in his mind, can’t believe it’s true. It’s too much, gives him too much hope. He knows all too well about the dangers of hope. It’s too heartbreaking and amazing in equal measure. He thinks about going back in time and leaving with Sam, working a job and sharing an apartment with him in California, drinking cold beer on the beach and quizzing sam before tests, eating ice cream and going on summer road trips.

“Sam,” he says, pushing away those thoughts. “You know I would never leave Dad.” Sam nods, a tear falling onto the sheets.

“I know.” He sounds defeated.

“And you also know,” Dean begins. “That I’d never abandon you either. I got the voicemail and I-” Dean scoffs. “I must have broken every traffic law out there trying to get here in time, and- and you’re staying with me, got it?” he says, pointing a finger at Sam.

“We’ll find a place for the month and get you better. You gave up your right to argue when you started crying all over your little hospital dress.”

“Asshole,” Sam snorts. “Now I really don’t want you to take care of me,” he jokes.

“Too bad! It’s gonna be Nurse Dean all month long, surgery boy.” Sam lets out a little laugh, and Dean relaxes a little bit.

“Dean,” Sam says, serious again. “A month. How are we gonna pay for a month? And dad- How are you gonna explain this to dad?”

“Dad doesn’t bother me much about hunts.” Dean shrugs. It’s the truth.

“He just calls, asks if I finished ‘em. Always tell him I did because I do. He’s not gonna press me for details. And payment, well. I know a guy who’s got us covered.”

Before Sam can even open his mouth to ask, Dean’s pulling out a fake credit card and showing it in all its shiny and fraudulent glory.

“Burt Maximoff is a very generous man.” Dean says, grinning. Sam snorts again, shaking his head, but he’s smiling fondly all the same.

A month.

#spn #supernatural #sam winchester #dean winchester #long post #sorry i don’t have a new ao3 acc to post on yet so it’s on here...LMAO #i have more parts the second one is almost done i haven’t finished it yet though :’) but i will #i love sick!fic...#it’s 100% gen too! so no worries #this is set when sam is 20 and dean is 24!! so two years before the show starts #i hope everything makes sense i wrote this in my notes app and i cant reread it anymore i cant see #come back home fic

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shirtlesssammy · 3 years

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2x13: Houses of the Holy

Providence, Rhode Island

A woman sits in the dark, smoking cigarettes, and watching TV.

The lights start to flicker and the television flickers back to an evangelical preaching. Her house starts shaking and her angel statues start falling. There’s suddenly a bright light and the woman watches it in awe.

Sam Winchester, decked out in white scrubs, greets his patient, Gloria. Sam wants to talk to her about what she saw that night. Gloria tells him that she stabbed a man in the heart “because it was God’s will.” Sam wants to know if God talked to her (too busy fucking with your life, Sam) but she says no and that an angel came to her. The angel told her that the man she stabbed was guilty. She needed no other proof to do it.

Sam later finds Dean enjoying some music and magic fingers.

Dean’s on lockdown because he robbed a bank in Milwaukee. They discuss the case. It really seems that Gloria is just a religious nutjob. And Sam would agree if she wasn’t the second person in town to have murdered someone because an angel told them to. “Supernatural maybe. But angels? I don't think so,” Dean insists. BLESS.

They then have a very fun conversation about how unicorns don’t exist (And Truly, BLESS Andrew Dabb. This dude took this one off joke and made it reality.) In any event, Dean firmly doesn’t believe in angels. (In a far off voice I hear: This is your problem, Dean. You have no faith.)

Once they stop arguing about angels, they decide to check out the victim, Carl’s place. They head to the basement to see what secrets he had hidden.

Sam finds scratch marks on the wall. On a closer inspection, he also finds a fingernail. They start digging up the dirt floor and find a skeleton.

In a lonely apartment, a man lays on his bed, drinking himself to oblivion. His lights start flickering and the room starts shaking. Suddenly there’s a bright light.

Cut to the man, Zach, walking to another house and stabbing a dude right in the gut.

Dean’s listening to the police scanner when Sam walks back to the motel room with food. He also has news that three people disappeared from the library where Carl worked. Dean has other news --the not-angel struck again.

They head out to the victim’s house and sneak inside. Sam hacks into the dude’s computer and Dean browses his catalog collection. Sam finds locked emails that turn out to be to an underage girl.

Dean is baffled by this spirit or demon they’re dealing with. Sam points out it’s like an avenging angel. Oh, Sam, if you only knew angels are dicks. Dean connects the two victims --they both go to the same church.

They meet with the priest posing as new parishioners. They discuss this whole angel crap but the priest is a believer (obv.) and talks openly with Sam about what angels are thought to be like. They look at a painting of Michael, the archangel, while the priest describes his belief that they’re “more loving, than wrathful.”

As they’re leaving, Dean notices a memorial on the steps of the church. It’s for Father Gregory, who was shot there two months prior in a carjacking. Dean thinks they’re dealing with a vengeful spirit, but Sam still humors the angel aspect of it all. Dean knows that Sam prays everyday (and I sit weeping in the corner, thinking of Purgatory.)

An angel statue begins to quake. Sam looks at it with curiosity, only to be overtaken by awe as bright light suffuses the room. He passes out.

“I saw an angel,” Sam gasps to his brother later. He reports that the angel spoke to him and told him to kill a man. The kicker is, the doomed guy on Sam’s hit list hasn’t actually committed any crime...yet. Dean’s unimpressed by Sam “Minority Report” Winchester’s insistence that he’s been chosen by the angels and God for this mission. I give Dean a high five, then methodically throw rocks through every single one of my windows as I think about the next thirteen seasons.

Their mom used to tell them every night that angels were watching over them. “She was wrong,” Dean says bitterly, “There’s no higher power. There’s no God. There’s just chaos. Violence. Random unpredictable evil that comes outta nowhere. Rips you to shreds. You want me to believe in this stuff? I’m gonna need to see some hard proof.” (I gallantly resist making a dirty joke about Castiel’s “hard proof.”)

Ahem. Anyway, Dean’s solid on the ghost theory. At the priest’s crypt they find wormwood growing - it’s a sign of a restless spirit. LOLLLL early seasons. Sam agrees to hold a seance.

They head out of a corner grocery a little while later, stocked with SpongeBob mats and candles for the seance, when Sam sees THE SIGN. Light glows around his mark - the guy he’s supposed to kill. While Ace of Base plays in my head, Sam makes a move to kill - er, stop - the ghost-tagged perp. Looking to forestall Sam’s murder-to-be, Dean tells Sam to run the seance and tails Sam’s suspect on his own. Dean watches the guy pick up a date, and then they’re off again.

Meanwhile, Sam’s obediently running the seance.

The priest appears in the crypt, horrified to see what looks like THE VERY DEVIL WORSHIP taking place. “I can explain,” Sam says before utterly failing to explain anything. And then light fills the room. The priest wonders if it’s an angel, but Sam sorrowfully notes that it’s only Father Gregory’s ghost.

The glowing angelic vision suddenly distills into a normal human figure. Father Gregory wonders why Sam isn’t killing his marked man. After all, he’s an angel and he commanded it! Sam glumly explains that NO, Father Gregory is just a normal ectoplasm-slinging ghost.

Dean loses the trail of the marked man, while Father Gregory explains that his kill orders are redemption for the killers and every one of his marks is guilty. “This is vengeance. This is wrong,” the older priest declares and I look VERY HARD at the rest of the show.

Meanwhile, the guy Dean was tailing parks his car in an abandoned alley and attempts to attack his date. JAB HIM IN THE EYEBALLS, LADY! Dean bashes his head in just in time and saves the date. The guy drives off and Dean follows quickly on his tail.

The old priest offers last rites to Father Gregory, who begins to flicker.

Sam watches in full puppy eyed mode as Father Gregory disappears, presumably to high five ghosts in Heaven.

Dean chases the Bad Guy through the streets until a truck pulls out in front of Bad Guy’s car. A metal pole bounces off the truck, pierces the windshield, and impales the guy right in the chest.

Later, Sam morosely packs his bag back at the motel.

For What the Fuck is this Motel Room Design Science:

Sam’s sad that there wasn’t an angel watching out for people on Earth. Dean pulls out his flask, takes a big swig, and promises to watch out for Sam. “You’re just one person,” Sam tells him. He’d hoped there was a higher power guiding their lives. One who’d grant Sam salvation.

“Knocking on Heaven’s Door” starts to play, while Dean confesses his current emotional state. He proposes that the insane way the Bad Guy died MIGHT have been God’s will. I kick Chuck right in the nuts.

Quakin’ Quotes:

Aw, dammit! That was my last quarter. Hey! You got any quarters?

There's a ton of lore on unicorns too. In fact, I hear that they ride on silver moonbeams and they shoot rainbows out of their ass

You’ve got faith. I’m sure it makes things easier

One of the perks of the job. We don’t need to operate on faith

Men cannot be angels

There’s so much evil in the world, Dean. I feel like I could drown in it.

Want to read more? Check out our Recap Archive!

#spn recap #dean winchester #sam winchester #spn 2x13 #houses of the holy #supernatural season 2

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xxmackenziexx · 3 years

Text

Chapter Twelve

Summary: Steve came up with an idea for their group project and shares his idea with reader. We also learn a lot more about this version of Steve and a hidden talent that he later shares with reader.

Warnings: swearing, mentions of masturbation (super small), anxiety, mentions of religion/faith (super small), description of a rocky father/son relationship, LOTS OF FLUFF, awkwardness, mentions of the tv show Supernatural * I think that's it but please let me know if I missed something*

Word count: 4,178 (roughly)

A/N: So no Bucky in this chapter but he'll be there next chapter, I already have a big chunk of stuff written with him, so don't worry. This is a bit of a long chapter, I got carried away and I promise the tags aren't as serious as they seem, I just wanted to add everything I could think of. Hope you like it.

He finally told her, and now, they had a real shot of being together, and that made him happier than he’s ever been, he couldn’t stop smiling.

She loves me too, y/n loves me…

Now back at home, your brain could safely tune out everything outside of your conversation with Bucky. Your whole body was on autopilot as your feet moved you through the familiar maze that was the layout of your home, seeming to move on their own accord. Your mind seemed to only be able to focus on one thing, and one thing only…Bucky. You couldn’t help the smile that found its way to your lips as you recalled the way his lips felt against yours, your fingertips coming up to touch your lips, still not quite believing everything that had taken place.

Before you knew it, you found yourself in the bathroom, running a hot bath, warm, dry clothes on the counter waiting for you. Your conscious mind may have been consumed with thoughts of Bucky, but your subconscious brain seemed to realize that you were soaked to the bone and freezing. You were thankful that at least some part of your brain had taken pity on your state as you sank into the hot water, steam rising all around you as you closed your eyes, letting out a deep sigh as the water started warming you up.

With your eyes closed, laying back in the steaming water …you smiled. You were happy, really happy. Bucky had told you that he loved you, and regardless of whether or not the two of you evolved into a couple, that knowledge alone filled you with such warmth and joy. You knew you needed to really think of the pros and cons of moving away from the friendship you’ve always known and instead towards a relationship, to really think about whether or not it was something you really wanted. You knew this, you knew you needed to make that decision, but you couldn't force yourself out of this little bubble you found yourself in after hearing the words Bucky had to say to you, feeling his lips against yours…

Everything in your mind came to a halt as your phone rang, vibrating against the side of the tub. Fearing the vibrations would send your phone straight into the water below, you reached for it and answered the call hastily.

“Hey, Steve, what’s up?” You asked cheerily.

“Uh…hey y/n…you good?” He questioned, seemingly suspicious of your obvious good mood.

You giggled, “I am most definitely good Steve,” you sat up a little, the water sloshing as you moved, “What's up?”

“Are-are you…in the…bathtub?” He asked incredulously.

You giggled again at hearing the tone in his voice, “Yea I am, I got all wet because of the rain and it made me super cold, so I figured a hot bath was warranted.”

“Uh…okay. Well, I’ll,” He cleared his throat before continuing, “I’ll go ahead and let you go so you can…enjoy your bath.”

“It’s fine Steve, really,” you assured him, “Everything okay?”

“Yea…just wanted to run an idea for the group project by you, get your thoughts on it.”

“Oh okay, what’s your idea?”

“Well…it’s kinda dumb. But what about doing like a-like a comic book type thing?”

“Oh my god, Steve! That’s-that’s a great idea! It would definitely help the three of us stand out with it being so original, I doubt anyone else could come up with such a good idea. Nice job Steve!”

You could tell he was self-conscious about the idea and assumed you’d think it would be stupid, but it was quite the opposite, it was a really good idea.

He let out a small chuckle, “You think so?”

“Absolutely Steve! I’m actually really excited about that idea,” you gushed, “But…there is one potential problem…none of us are good with art stuff, and that’s a big part of comics. We’ll have to figure that out.” You said, already running through possible solutions in your head.

“Well…I,” He sighed nervously, “are you busy later? Maybe we can meet up and brainstorm, I can show you some of the stuff I’ve come up with so far.”

Mentally checking your ‘schedule’ you answered him, “No, I don’t think so. But with the rain, I really don’t want to have to go back out. I…I get a little nervous when the weather gets this bad.” You told him sheepishly.

“If you’re comfortable with it, I can…uh…I can come over to your house,” He said timidly, “Or if you’re not comfortable with that we can figure something else out, it’s not a problem.” He rushed.

That was incredibly thoughtful of Steve, even if he didn’t fully understand why you didn’t want to drive in the rain.

“That works for me, I’m not sure what time my mom will be home from work, but I can let her know you’ll be here so if she does come home while you’re here, she won’t freak out if she sees a vehicle she doesn’t recognize.”

“That’s smart,” he chuckled, “What time works best for you?”

“Honestly if you wanna head over now that would be fine or if later works better, that’s fine too. I don’t have anything going on, I’m about to get outta the tub anyways, the water is cold now,” You laughed.

He laughed with you, “Well, we can’t have that now, can we?”

“Exactly!”

“Okay, well lemme grab all my stuff and get it together and I’ll head that way. Sound good?”

Standing up from the water and reaching for a towel, “Yup, sounds good. Getting out now, I’ll be ready in in a few minutes.”

“‘Kay, see you in a few. Bye.”

“Bye Steve, see you soon.”

Hanging up the phone you quickly dried off and started the process of putting on your clothes, choosing to go with some warm, fuzzy socks, dark wash jeans and a red long-sleeved Henley that Bucky had left over at some point, it still smelled faintly of him, and the thought made you smile. Afterwards, you picked up your phone and scrolled through your contacts to select your mom’s number, pressing dial, listening to the line ring as you gathered the laundry hamper that held your wet clothes to put them in the wash.

“Hey honey, you doing, okay? This storm snuck up on us all, how are you holding up?” Your mom asked, concern evident in her voice.

“I’m okay mom. Had a bit of a freak out at school but…uh…but Bucky helped me out and I’m home safe and sound now, took a hot bath and I’m okay, feeling much better.”

“Oh, I’m so sorry baby, I’m glad Bucky was there for you. Do you need me to come home, this storm is supposed to get pretty bad later on? I-I can’t make any promises, things are hectic, but I can try.”

“No, that’s okay momma, that’s actually why I was calling. You remember that group project that me and Bucky and Steve are working on? Well, Steve came up with a really awesome idea and he’s gonna come over so he can show me some of his research and we can brainstorm a bit, I’m gonna call Bucky to see if he can come over too since it’s a group project but he isn’t home yet. But I just wanted to let you know in case you saw an unfamiliar car parked out front. Don’t want you calling the cops,” you chuckled.

“Oh okay. Yea that’s fine baby, go ahead and use the credit card to order some pizza for you guys if you want, you know where it’s at hon.”

“Thanks, momma. You want anything?”

“No, I’ll probably be working pretty late today so I’ll eat before I head home probably. Just let me know when Steve or Bucky gets there, okay? I’ll let you know when I’m headed home. I love you.”

“Love you too, and I will.”

After putting the laundry detergent in the machine and selecting the right cycle, you grabbed your phone again to call Bucky, your heart beating a little faster than normal at the prospect of speaking to him after your shared confession but sadly he didn’t answer, instead, you were met with his voicemail.

“Hi, you’ve reached Bucky Barnes, I can’t come to the phone right now so feel free to leave a message and I’ll get back to ya as soon as I can.”

BEEP

“Hey, Buck...um…God, can’t remember the last time I had to leave you a voicemail,” you chuckled nervously, “But anyways, Steve is coming over to work on our project, he came up with a super neat idea that I wanna try and work with and since it’s a group project I wanted to see if you could come over too, there’ll be free pizza…so um…call me back when you can. Bye.” The words rushed out of your mouth in a nervous jumble.

God, what an idiot.

Before you could think too much about your awkwardness, you heard a knock on the door indicating Steve was finally there, so you made your way to the door and opened it for him. You saw he was mostly dry thanks to the umbrella he brought with him, which let’s be honest…genius move.

“Hey y/n.” he greeted you with a big smile on his face.

You motioned with your hand for him to come in as you greeted him, letting him know he could take off his shoes if he wanted, which he did, it was the only part of his ensemble that the umbrella wasn’t able to protect completely.

Leaving the wet umbrella on the porch, he made his way inside, “Thanks,” he said as he set his bag down on the couch and looked around before following you further into the house, “Nice place.”

“Um, thanks, it’s just me and mom so things are a bit mismatched, but it works for us,” she smiled, “What do you like on your pizza? My mom is gonna be stuck at work until later tonight, so she said to order pizza.”

Steve stood there, fidgeting from time to time, “Um…I’m okay with just about anything, what do you usually get?” He asked.

“I’m pretty easy, cheese or pepperoni.” You explained, laughing at your unadventurous taste.

He nodded and smiled, “Works for me.”

You were about to turn around to make the call and order the pizza when you noticed how uncomfortable he looked, “Um…are you okay?”

He looked up at you with wide eyes, like he had been caught stealing, “Yea-yea I’m okay. I just…I thought your mom would be home is all.”

“Oh…” you replied, visibly confused.

Steve must have noticed your confusion, “Oh, no no no. It’s not…it’s just,” he cleared his throat nervously, fidgeting a bit more, “It’s just that you’re a girl and I’m a guy and we’re…unsupervised?” Questioning that last word, not quite committed to the term with a shy smirk.

Oh.

“Well, I’m sorry she’s not here, if-if you’re uncomfortable we-”

“No, no it’s fine. Honest. I’m just…I’ve never…” he laughed at himself nervously, “I’m just an idiot, that’s all. I’m-I’m good.”

“You’re not an idiot Steve, don’t say that about yourself.” You chastised him.

He looked down at his feet and smiled shyly. “Okay, okay. To be honest…I’ve never been alone with a girl before and I’m not sure what the proper etiquette is.” He finished, looking back up at you.

This was news to you, you had seen the girls Steve has dated since you’ve known him, but regardless, you didn’t want him to be uncomfortable.

“Oh, okay…well, if you want to leave you can, I don’t want you to be uncomfortable Steve. I tried to get ahold of Bucky to see if he could come over too since it is a group project, but he didn’t answer, not sure why, but he’s not home yet either.”

“Honestly y/n, I’m okay. I just…didn’t want to make you feel uncomfortable either. But I’m okay, I can stay.” He assured you, smiling brightly at you, already seeming more at ease.

You nodded and smiled, tucking a stray lock of hair behind your ear, “Okay, well just let me know if anything I do makes you uncomfortable, okay?”

“Okay, as long as you do the same.”

Now that you’d both come to an agreement and cleared the air so to speak, you went into the kitchen to order a large pepperoni and a large cheese for you and Steve as he leaned against the counter with his arms over his chest. You still hadn’t heard from Bucky, which was weird, but you had some time to kill before the pizza got there so you gave Steve the obligatory house tour before settling down on the couch.

“What do you wanna watch?” you asked Steve, as you navigated your way to the Netflix homepage.

“Hmmm…I dunno. What have you been watching lately?” He asked thoughtfully.

“Well, I’ve been watching Supernatural a lot lately, it’s a really good show, but I also haven’t finished The Blacklist or Criminal Minds.”

He asked what each of the shows were about, never having watched them before but after explaining the premise of Supernatural and seeing your enthusiasm for it, he decided he wanted to watch that with you. You told him you’d restart the series at episode 1 so he wouldn’t be lost and then you both got settled in as the screen displayed a beautiful family getting ready for the night.

Before long, Steve was REALLY invested, the moment he saw that the father was in fact downstairs and not with the baby, he sat up a little straighter. You decided that watching Steve’s reactions to what was happening was your new favorite thing, he made these small gasps and even said: “What the fuck” several times, which surprised you, Steve didn’t typically curse that often, but he had already done it a handful of times before the title came across the screen, not even five minutes into the episode.

KNOCK KNOCK KNOCK

You got up from your seat slowly, glancing back to the tv every few steps, and went to open the door for the delivery driver, taking the pizza and thanking him before shutting it again and locking it. Steve was glued to the screen as you put the pizza on the coffee table, so you quickly grabbed a few plates and two sodas, some napkins just in case from the kitchen before you sat back down and divvied up the slices, handing a plate to Steve.

“Thanks y/n, this show is super good by the way.” He said, holding the plate underneath him as he took a bite, not taking his eyes away from the scene that started it all.

Dad’s on a hunting trip, and he hasn’t been home in a few days…

You smiled at Steve’s enthusiasm.

Yea, this is definitely gonna be a thing we do now.

Steve was a red-blooded American teenager, and although he made the decision to abstain until marriage for the sake of his faith, he wasn’t a saint. He found it incredibly difficult to continue a casual conversation with y/n with the knowledge that she was taking a hot both on the other end of the phone and he couldn’t control the way his body reacted to that news either, as much as he wanted to. Now, Steve wasn’t above masturbation, he personally believed it helped him stay truer to his faith by managing any temptations that came his way, but he couldn’t bring himself to work one out before going to y/n’s house, feeling it would be wrong since it was picturing her taking a bath that made him feel this way. So instead, Steve took several minutes to calm down, trying to imagine anything other than y/n naked, surrounded by hot water.

C’mon Rogers, get it together, don’t be a creep.

Now in his truck, Steve thought about what he was about to do…telling y/n about his secret passion filled him with dread, nobody knew about it outside of his mother and grandfather. The thought of someone else knowing made him extremely nervous, even if it was y/n. She was a kind and caring person and he expected nothing less than her typical tenderness and warmth once he disclosed his secret, but he was still apprehensive, to say the least. This was an incredibly personal thing for him and sharing it left him feeling raw and exposed, vulnerable.

Steve discovered his love for art completely by accident one day during his middle school years, back when his family lived somewhere on the West Coast, they moved so much Steve didn’t pay much attention to exactly where. It started as a small interest, but he quickly found himself spending hours and hours honing in his technique and perfecting his passion. Soon enough, Steve found that art had really become a secret escape, his saving grace against the world around him, more specifically, against his father.

Joseph Rogers was a career military man, he quickly became the world’s leading expert in his chosen field that regularly required him to travel the globe to lead lectures and seminars, benefiting not only those in the military sector but also the general public as well. Steve’s father was well known, and his reputation preceded him, he’d been a part of the institution since long before Steve was born, long before he met Steve’s mother even, and that sense of loyalty and patriotism was something Steve admired about his father, but it often left their relation lacking. Joseph was not a typical dotting father, he never displayed the warmth and love one would generally display towards their only son, the only times he really seemed interested in Steve or seemed a little bit proud was when Steve did well in football, so Steve stuck with it, knowing his father would be disappointed if he chose not to.

Now, Steve didn’t hate his father, far from it in fact, he was strict and overbearing, always wanting too much from Steve, but he had his moments where the uniform and rank slipped away and before him was just his father, the man he loved and respected. But he often found himself wishing they had a better relationship, he was always trying to gain his father’s approval and Steve knew that art was not the path to take to win over his father’s favor. While Steve was thankful for the discipline that training and football brought him, he just wanted to live his own life, out from under his father’s foot, and that’s why Steve decided to go away to college immediately following graduation, planning to get his degree so that when he enlisted, he’d go in at a much higher rank. He didn’t want his father there to influence his decisions about college and the military, once he turned 18, his life was his own. His only regret would be leaving his mother, she meant a great deal to him.

Finally reaching y/n’s house, Steve saw that it was just her truck in the driveway.

Well, looks like her mom isn’t home. Shit.

Knowing her mom wasn’t home made Steve’s anxiety even worse, it would have regardless of whether or not he liked y/n, and he very much did like her, so this was a new thing for Steve, but he made his way up the steps anyway, knocking on the door timidly.

Steve couldn’t believe how awkward he had been, explaining to her that being alone with her made him uncomfortable.

Nice way to win her over idiot.

After some fumbling on both their parts, they seemed to come to an agreement and soon they fell into a comfortable silence waiting for the pizza, watching a show y/n was crazy about, he could see it on her face when she explained it to him a bit and he decided he’d give it a try.

God, she’s so beautiful when she’s excited about something.

Very quickly though, his interest in the show was less about how much y/n loved it and more about his own enjoyment, it was a really good show, and he could see why she liked it so much, he felt rude not offering to help y/n with getting everything for the pizza but damn, this show was good!

Dad’s on a hunting trip, and he hasn’t been home in a few days…

“Oh my god.” He said around a mouthful of cheese pizza, completely enthralled.

It didn’t take long for them to finish off their pizza, y/n sat up and started cleaning up.

“Here, lemme help with that.” He said, making a motion to stand up and lend a hand, but y/n cut him off.

“No no, it’s okay Steve, go ahead and watch. You need to pay attention, you’re about to find out what’s going on.” She said, smiling at him and jutting her head towards the tv.

He nodded and gave his thanks before setting his attention back to the tv, y/n was right, things were getting good. And before he knew it, y/n was back on the couch, and they sat there together and finished the episode.

“Damn y/n, I can see why you like this show so much.” He said, smiling at her.

“I’m glad you like it!” She gushed, “How about we sit and watch it together whenever we can?”

And spend more time with you? I’m in!

“That sounds like a great idea to me!”

“Awesome, okay, we have to promise not to watch without each other, okay?” Hey eyes sparkled.

“Yea, okay, I can do that.” He smiled wide at her.

“Alright then, it’s settled.” She smiled shyly before looking down at her lap.

After a silent moment or two, they both agreed it was time to start working on their project, with or without Bucky. As they made their way to the table, Steve took out a few books for their project, a notebook and a pen and pencil out of his bag, stalling.

“Lemme go grab my book bag from upstairs really quick, all my stuff’s in there.” Y/n said before she did just that.

Steve sat there, literally twiddling his thumbs with nervousness until she returned and when she did, she smiled at him before sitting down. Now at the table with all the things they needed, Steve grew nervous again, it was time.

Now or never Rogers…

“So…” Steve began hesitantly,” You remember how you said that we had one big problem about doing a comic book for our project?”

She looked at him, “Yea…”

Steve didn’t say anything as he reluctantly reached over to open his bag and slipped his hand inside, clutching the portfolio for a moment before finally pulling it out and sliding it across the table to y/n.

He had never been so nervous as she silently opened the folder to the first page inside, her eyes became wide, and she softly felt the page with her fingertips.

“Oh Steve, this is…this is beautiful. Did you make this?” She said, completely entranced by the artwork in front of her.

“Yea…it’s a…it’s a hobby of mine.”

She was speechless as she continued turning the pages, seeing the artwork in front of her. The portfolio was a mix of various mediums, watercolor, charcoal, regular ole’ pencil, and even some colored pencil pieces.

“What’s this about?” She laughed as she pointed to the sketch he made of a monkey on a unicycle that was wearing his football jersey.

“Just how I feel sometimes, football really isn’t my thing, but my dad is kind of a hard-ass about it so…” He shrugged.

“I’m so sorry Steve, I had no idea.” She said, placing her hand on his arm comfortingly.

Going back to the portfolio, she flipped over some more pages and Steve realized which page she was about to land on, he decided at the last minute when gathering his things earlier not to take it out before showing her, not really knowing why, but he left it in there anyways.

Her eyes landed on an intricate watercolor painting of herself smiling with her camera in tow at a football game, and she gasped.

She looked up at him questioningly and he cupped the back of his neck nervously, “Um…I'm-I’m sorry if it makes you uncomfortable, it was just... it was just something I couldn’t get outta my head after the football game the other day. Sorry.” He could feel the blush on his cheeks.

“Don’t apologize, Steve, it’s okay, I’m not upset.” She smiled sweetly at him, noticing a slight blush on her cheeks as well. “Thank you for painting me, you’re incredibly talented.”

“Thanks…I had a good subject.” He chuckled, still nervous.

She didn’t say anything as she smiled shyly, but he noticed she did blush more before she looked down, continuing to look at his artwork.

Well, pretty sure she knows I’m crushing on her hard now.

Chapter Eleven Next Chapter

#bucky barnes fanfiction #Bucky Barnes #james buchanan barnes #bucky x reader #bucky x reader fanfic #teen bucky and reader #a/u bucky x reader #a/u steve rogers x reader #Steve Rogers #steve rogers fanfiction #steve rogers x reader #teen steve rogers #marvel fanfiction #slow burn #friends to lovers

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yikesharringrove · 4 years

Note

Hawkins High would have this reunion thing like all the kids who went there at the time would come like after 5 or 10 years to meet each other. So, what if Steve and Billy had something going on during highschool, but then Billy just left without saying a word to California, leaving Steve behind. They would meet each other there and Billy’s like more muscular and has a short beard. It gets Steve all hot just by looking at Billy, so they end up having sex 👀 (+ some angst too pls)

There’s smut

Steve tucked his shirt into his jeans.

He stared at himself in the mirror, sighing as he untucked it again.

He had gone through his whole suitcase at this point, trying to find something somewhat okay to wear.

He huffed as he took off his shirt.

“Can you chill?” Robin was sitting on her bed on the hotel. He had begged her to come with him, even though she had no interest in going to the reunion. “It’s not like anyone that matters will be there.”

“Really? You’re not hoping to see,” he put on a dreamy breathy voice. “Tammy Thompson?”

She threw a pillow at him.

“Guarantee you Tammy Thompson is doing better things than going to the fucking Hawkins High School reunion.”

“Well, whatever those better things are, it certainly isn’t fucking country music.” She threw another pillow at him. He tugged on a new shirt.

This one was nicer, fit a little better. He nodded once.

“Are you finally ready? It’s been hours Steve. The reunion’s probably over.” Steve threw the pillows back at her.

They checked in at the front table, getting their name tags and proceeding into the gym.

Steve made a beeline for the bar, getting two shots to loosen himself up. He got himself and Robin some drinks, and mingled.

He and Tommy had reconnected a few years ago, met up for coffee when Tommy was in Chicago one day.

He clapped Steve on the back when they hugged.

“You look good, man.”

“Hey, you too. Where’s Carol tonight?”

“Oh, she’s all sick.” Steve stared at him. He grinned. “She’s knocked up! We’re having a fucking baby. Can you believe that?” Steve hugged him again. “So, when are you two gettin’ hitched?”

Steve looked at Robin, and they both burst out laughing.

“Oh, we are not together!” Tommy furrowed his brows.

“Haven’t you two lived together since fucking high school?”

“I mean, on and off, mostly. But we’re, uh, not compatible.”

They had each moved in with significant others through the years, but when everything got messy, they ended up right back together.

The evening ended up being, pretty alright.

Robin rolled her eyes when Steve said that, but she didn’t complain, so Steve called it a win.

They were out on the dance floor, tearing it up like it was still ‘85.

Steve was laughing with some asshole he used to be on the swim team with when his locked on the gym doors.

His mouth went fucking dry.

Billy Hargrove was standing there, looking cool as ever, and hot as all fuck in a tight henley.

His hair was short, and he had a fucking beard.

Steve turned around, ordering himself two more shots.

Last time he saw Billy he was tugging on his jeans, was kissing Steve on the forehead and was tiptoeing downstairs, boots in his hand.

He left the next day.

Steve did not want to deal with this right now.

It had taken him years to move on from Billy, taken him fucking years of crying into his pillow and letting beefy blond guys fuck him in dirty bar bathrooms.

Four STD scares and a lot of wine later,he was over Billy. Completely and totally over him.

And here he was, looking at Steve and biting his bottom lip, and Steve was totally not over him.

Billy swaggered up to him, leaning against the bar, his shirt pulling across him pecs.

He was fucking jacked. Definitely bigger than he had been in high school.

He tossed a leather jacket down, ordering a scotch for himself.

“Long time no see, Stevie.” Steve slammed both his shots.

“Yeah. ‘Bout ten years, Hargrove.” He pushed off the bar.

He was itching for a smoke. Had quit about four years ago, but something about Billy brought back all those cravings, all those memories of sitting in bed, sharing a Marlboro even though Steve hated them, their fingers brushing on each pass.

He pushed out of the gym, leaning against the brick wall outside.

He scoffed at the alleyway where Nancy shattered his already broken heart.

“Steve,” Billy’s voice was soft.

“I don’t wanna hear it.” He refused to look at him.

“I just wanna talk.”

“Oh, so you finally learned how.” Billy huffed.

“I should’ve told you I was leaving.” Steve made a face at him.

“Oh, you should’ve?”

“Look, I’m sorry.”

“Great. Thanks.” He tapped his foot. “Jesus, you have a cigarette?” Billy rifled through his pockets.

And pulled out a pack of teal American Spirits.

“God. You’ve gone soft.” Billy shook his head, lighting two in his mouth, passing one to Steve. He had several piercings in each ear now.

“Trying to cut back.” Steve took the cigarette.

“I quit years ago.”

“Well, sorry to break your streak.”

“Something about you makes me need a fuckin’ cigarette.” He took a long drag. “You and smoking just go together in my brain I guess.”

“I was hittin’ it hard back then. Probably always just smelled like smoke.”

“I always liked the way you smelled.”

And maybe it was the shots Steve had knocked back, or the way Billy’s earrings glinting in the light, but Steve leaned in, taking a strong whiff of his collar.

“Still like it?” Billy was smirking at him.

“Liked it better with the Marbs.”

“Well, two packs a day was probably gonna make me keel over soon.” He smiled when Steve huffed a laugh. “So, how are you? What have you been up to?”

“Jesus, we really doin’ this?” Billy shrugged at him. “I’m good. I’m in Chicago now. I’m an E.R. nurse.” Billy smiled at him.

“Good for you.”

“What are you doing? Since we’re making weird small talk now.”

“Been here and there. Worked in garage for a while, waited tables. Stripped too. I’m an English teacher now, if you can believe it.”

“Oh, come on. You act like I don’t know you. I mean, fuck, how many times were you my own personal English teacher?” Billy looked down, ashing his cigarette.

“You’re actually why I decided to study it. I’m in a high school now.”

“Bet you’re the teacher everyone gets crushes on. Get love notes on your desk, and all that.” Billy laughed, rolling his eyes.

“Nah. I’m a little more tough lovin’ than that. Don’t take any shit.”

“You’re too soft for that. Don’t front.” Billy smiled, looking down at his feet.

“One a’ my kids has pretty bad dyslexia. Parents won’t do shit about it. Makes me think a’ you.”

“Shoulda seen me when I got to college. Diagnosed myself.”

“Nurse Harrington for the win, then.” Steve laughed, smoke pouring outta his mouth. He stubbed out his cigarette.

“Where are you living now?”

“Santa Monica.”

“Explains the tan.”

“C’mon, Baby. I’m always this golden.” He smirked, waggling his tongue at Steve.

And it was like being back in high school, with Billy teasing him on the basketball court.

And Steve didn’t think, just grabbed the lapels of his jacket, smashing their mouths together.

Billy leaned into it, holding Steve’s face between his palms, pushing him with his body against the wall.

His beard scratched against Steve’s skin, lit a fire in his gut.

“Where you stayin’ in town?”

“Shitty motel.”

“Take me.” Billy’s eyes were wide in the dark. He nodded vigorously.

Billy pulled him by the wrist to the parking lot, dragging him to his car.

The same car he had in high school.

The blue Camaro still smelled the same, and when Steve turned around, the backseat was still sporting that stain, a little white smudge of Billy’s cum that had dripped out of Steve.

He smiled to himself as Billy started the car.

He put one hand on Steve’s thigh as they roared through town, heading down the service road.

Billy pulled into the motel. Was back on Steve in a second.

Steve danced out of reach, slipping out of the car with a coy smile.

Billy shook his head as he unlocked the door.

He pushed Steve onto the bed, climbing on top of him.

They wasted no time, tearing at one another’s clothes.

Billy pulled off his shirt, and Steve stared, brushing his fingers over his chest piece, a deer with white roses tangled in it’s antlers.

“Pretty.” Billy smiled down at him as he traced it. It was black and white, hyper realistic.

Billy leaned over him, kissing at his neck, trailing down his collar bone.

“You think ahead? Condoms? Lube?” Billy looked up at him.

“Who do you think I am? Was fuckin’ praying you’d be at that thing.” He kissed down his body.

Steve worked one hand into his hair, holding on while Billy swallowed up his cock.

“Holy shit.” He tossed his head back, one of Billy’s hands coming up to hold his own.

It was so easy, falling back into their old ways.

Billy knew just how to play his body. He got him hard and leaking in a second, moved his tongue so well, sucking Steve down.

“So good at this. ‘d forgotten.” He hadn’t forgotten how good Billy made him feel, doesn’t think he ever could. Just tried to push that shit away until he didn’t spend all of his waking hours thinking about him.

Billy mouthed down his dick, moving to suck lightly on his balls, spreading Steve’s legs open, and licking over his hole.

He pushed his tongue inside of him, sucking on his rim.

His beard was rough against Steve;s inner thighs, but he kinda loved it. Didn’t even mind the lame little pornstache Billy had grown in the summer.

Steve squirmed.

He hadn’t been with anyone in a while, didn’t get a lot of time off from work to date and fuck.

“Billy, just fuck me.”

“Haven’t tasted your sweet little ass in years, Pretty Boy.“

“Yeah? And who’s fault is that.” Billy sat up, looking at Steve as sincerely as he could with spit down his chin.

“You know, I really am sorry about that.”

“Billy, let’s just, talk about this later, okay?” Billy chewed on his bottom lip. Steve pushed his head back down.

He didn’t want to think for a moment, didn’t want to think about benders and crying at Robin while he threw up tequila and rainbow pills.

He let Billy work him open with his tongue and two of his fingers, let him dig into his prostate and bring Steve right to the edge.

Billy pulled off him, digging in a suitcase for a stack of condoms, a few little packets of lube.

He crawled back on top of Steve, rolling on a condom.

Steve spread his legs, rubbing the side of his knee against Billy’s torso.

Billy lined up, and pushed inside.

They both moaned as he bottomed out, his hips pressing flush to Steve’s ass.

He pulled out, his cock heavy, stretching Steve wide.

He rolled his hips, propping himself up with both hands on either side of Steve’s head.

Steve wrapped his legs around his waist, so much thicker than he was in high school. He felt up Billy’s body, feeling hard muscle before wrapping his arms around his shoulders.

“Missed your pretty sounds.” He was back on Steve’s neck, sucking bruises into the skin. “No one has ever made me feel as fucking crazy as you.” And he began fucking into him faster, harder. “Can you still cum with nothin’ but a cock in your ass?”

“Yeah. Been a minute, but if you-” he cut himself off with a moan, back arching as Billy shifted, hitting that perfect little spot.

He was all breathy, his voice high in his throat, eyes wide.

Billy was smirking at him, had doubled down, started going harder, rougher.

“I’m gonna-” He didn’t finish his sentence before he was cumming, his whole body going tight.

It seemed like he was cumming for fuckin’ hours, eyes squeezing shut as he made a mess of himself.

Billy was painting when he floated back into his body, had spilled out into the condom.

He kissed Steve’s temple.

“Fuckin’ beautiful.”

Steve closed his eyes, pretended for a minute that Billy had never left.

“Why did you leave?”

Billy was quiet. Steve still had his eyes closed.

Billy warmth was gone, and Steve cracked one eye enough to see Billy’s retreating back. He went to the bathroom, and Steve could hear the faucett.

He came back, the condom disposed of, and a towel warm and wet for Steve.

He cleaned him up, just like he used to.

“My dad kicked me out. Didn’t have a whole lotta choice in the matter.”

They had been planning a summer together. Were planning on hanging out at the mall and going to the drive in, and being stupid dumb kids.

“You could’ve called.” or asked me to come with you.

“Figured it’d be best if we just went our separate ways. Clean break.” Steve went still.

He was up in a second, shoving his clothes back on.

“Hey, you okay?”

“Fuck you, Hargrove.” He didn’t look at Billy.

“Steve-”

“No. It was not a clean break. It was messy and shitty, and I was over you. It took me fucking years, but I did it.” He wiped at his eyes. “Can’t believe I was so stupid, let you back into my life. What the fuck was I thinking?”

He jammed his shoes on, marching to the door.

Billy hadn’t moved from his spot on the bed.

“Have a nice life, or whatever.”

He slammed the door behind him.

It took him seven minutes of walking, and eighteen minutes of sitting next to the road crying his eyes out before he shoved a few quarters into a payphone.

Robin was back at their hotel room. He knew she was mad at him for ditching her, but when she heard the tightness in his throat, she softened, agreeing to pick him up.

“I fucking hate myself.”

Steve had his head pressed against the window.

“Steve, it’s okay-”

“No, it’s not. It took me so long to move on, and now, now I’m right back at square one.”

“This isn’t square one. You’ve done this before, you can get through it again.”

“But at what cost? I should’ve told him to fuck off. Not given him the time of day.”

“You’d feel just as shitty if you had done that.”

And he knew she was right.

She was always right.

He settled lower into his seat, let her take him back to their hotel, to his neatly packed suitcase and plane tickets for the morning.

He tried pushing Billy out of his mind.

Already had plenty of practice.

And all he wanted was blue eyes and a cigarette.

#yikes writes #lemons #steve harrington #billy hargrove #steve harrington x billy hargrove #billy hargrove x steve harrington #harringrove #harringrove fic #harringrove ficlet #harringrove drabble

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thiccpettybitch · 3 years

Text

Made For Loving You Baby

Here is my Porter Gage/Fem! Sole Survivor Fic. If im gonna be honest this is one of (if not THE) fic i am most proud of? It just kinda...worked out so well atleast so far lol. So here is chapter one, if you wanna read the rest you know what to do! AO3

(like always most if not all of my stories are 18+ everything from sexual content to gore, murder blood and everything inbetween, if you’re not comfy with it i’d suggest you stay away. If you are more interested in what the tags are click the link above)

’’What. The. Fuck’’

’’Boss?! Ya’ mind knocking?!’’

‘’Not if it’s my own fucking quarters’’

‘’Right, Shit, I’m sorry Boss’’

‘’Boss? You taking orders from some kid now Gage?’’

‘’It ain’t like that’’

‘’The fuck you just say?’’

‘’Woah! Boss relax she didn’t mean nothing by it’’

‘’The hell I didn’t’’

‘’Take your chem whore and get the fuck out Gage!’’

‘’Jealous bitch?’’

‘’Jenni don’t-‘’

‘’You know what? Just fucking stay. I’m outta here’’

‘’Boss wait! Fuck…’’

Gage scrambled for his pants and almost tripped over his own feet as he tried his best to pull them up and walk at the same time.

‘’Gage what the hell? You’re just gonna leave me here?!’’

‘’J- just grab your shit n’ meet me at the bar. I gotta fix this’’

It took what felt like an eternity before the damn elevator finally arrived and he was able to get in it. She was already half through the park, he knew it. He had seen how fast she could storm off if she was pissed off enough and this time she was just about ready to kill someone… more than usual that is.

His heart was pumping wildly in his chest and for the first time since all that bullshit with Connor he was scared. Sure Colter had been fucking crazy when he got pissed off, killing and hurting anyone or anything that got in his way but things were different with-

It hit him like a fucking brick wall, he didn’t know what to call her besides Boss, he never even took the fucking time to ask something as simple as that and now she was mad as hell roaming either Nuka World or heading back to the commonwealth. He couldn’t let her turn out like Colter but have her just skip out wasn’t an option either, he had to find her – fast.

The elevator stopped and he rushed out half running hoping that she’d end up just standing outside having a smoke or bashing some Disciples head in for staring at her ass. His gut twisted when she was nowhere to be found, he had to figure out just where the hell she would have gone and that was fast.

‘’Hey Gage’’

Gage – startled to all hell – turned around to see Savoy lighting a cigarette and blowing out smoke towards the sky.

‘’Savoy’’

Gage greeted, it wasn’t a secret that the Boss wasn’t a fan of the Disciples (considering the fact that she could be quite brutal and had a…thing for knifes and blades) it was a bit of a surprise. What was even more surprising though was the fact that she got rather well along with Savoy – to put it simply Gage didn’t like it. He never knew what was going on inside that guys head and trying to read it from his expression was a waste of time even when he wasn’t wearing that ridiculous mask.

‘’You lookin’ for OB?’’

‘’Yeah, you seen her?’’

He took another drag of his cigarette before exhaling the smoke away from Gages face like he was considering if he should tell him or not.

‘’Yeah, I saw her. She was heading towards that old gas station, pissed as hell too. What did you do?’’

Gage wanted to snap at him for just assuming it was him but seeing as it actually was he just sighed.

‘’Brought a guest up to her quarters, got a bit. . . carried away’’

Savoy snorted and choked on some smoke.

‘’Yeah, if I caught you in my bed with your pants around your ankles I’d be mad too, would probably just kill you though so you might want to look out’’

‘’Yeah well she ain’t some blood thirsty savage’’

‘’If you say so. You better hurry up before she actually decides to go after you’’

‘’Ya, thanks for the help.’’

Gage stopped in front of the old Red Rocket station his hand hovering in front of the door, he had to give her props she knew what she was doing. The entire station had been secured with Turrets and a huge fence surrounding the entire station. She had built a foundation on the roof and another floor with a bedroom and more. Although the three gangs had helped build the place it was hers and they knew not to invade her privacy.

Gage didn’t know what to expect, last person who just barged in had ended up with a broken arm and pissed himself when she had pulled out her blade. And she hadn’t even been mad at the time just asserting her dominance. At least that’s what Mason had called it.

She wasn’t ever mean to Gage if anything she was nicer to him than anyone else, he saw her as a friend sure but was often reminded that no matter age or height she was the Over Boss and wasn’t afraid to show it. She was just never mean or hostile towards him.

‘’Fuck it’’

He mumbled and slid the door open, he waited a second to see if she would have been there to greet him with a knee to the gut but she was nowhere to be found. He closed the door behind him and headed for the upstairs ‘’bedroom’’ and sure enough she was sitting at her desk staring at a cigarette box.

‘’Hey Boss… You okay?’’

No answer.

‘’You worried me there, thought ya’ might have just skipped out on us – headed back to the commonwealth’’

No answer.

‘’Shit… Boss I’m sorry, okay? I shouldn’t hav-‘’

‘’You could do better’’

Gage was taken a back and had to convince himself he had actually just heard her say that.

‘’Ain’t like I’m planning on settling down with her or anything we were just fucking’’

‘’In my bed.’’

‘’Now come on Boss, how many times I gotta tell ya’ I’m sorry?’’

He sighed and sat down on a couch in front of the bed. How she managed to get such a clean mattress he’d never know.

‘’What’s this all about Boss?’’

‘’You fucking in my bed’’

‘’I ain’t talking about that! How come you ain’t yelling at me, throwing shit hell I’ve seen you snap at people for just staring at ya’ for too long’’

‘’Your point?’’

‘’Where is the anger? Why is it never directed towards me?’’

She went quiet again reaching for the box of cigarettes and pulling one out, she placed it in between her lips and turned to him. Gage couldn’t help but chuckle she never brought her own lighter. He got up and walked up to her flipping out his lighter and placing it in front of her.

‘’Would you believe me if I said I respect you?’’

‘’No’’

He grinned and she just rolled her eyes taking a drag from the stick in between her lips.

‘’What If I told you I can relate to you’’

She held up the box and he pulled out his own cigarette lighting it and taking a drag himself.

‘’How so?’’

‘’A lot of ways. I Hate being the center of attention, always has. Hate how easily i get attached… I trust people and they end up stabbing me in the back’’

‘’Ya, people don’t often deserve trust’’

‘’No I’m serious the bastard actually stabbed me before he ran out with a bag full of my caps and my finest Bourbon’’

He snorted and shook his head, he missed that one-sided smile she had.

‘’I trust you.’’

He stopped smiling and looked up at her, her tone had changed and she was staring at him now all amusement wiped off her face.

‘’I- uh… Trust ya’ too Boss-‘’

‘’Don’t- don’t say it unless you mean it Gage. I just wanted you to know that I know what it feels like, and that I really do trust you’’

She took a last drag before she put it out and exhaled the smoke through her nose.

‘’No need for an answer now or ever i-‘’

‘’I trust ya’ Boss. I really do’’

She looked him in the eyes again and smiled, her eyes looking strangely beautiful in the dim light.

‘’Now can we be done with all this emotional shit?’’

Gage laughed nervously, truth be told he did find her beautiful, her eyes her hair her skin, everything. He remembers the time he had to help her clean a gash on her cheek and he got to slide his thumb over her cheek.

God damn if that wasn’t the smoothest skin he’d ever felt under his fingers, he was no stranger to women or the way their skin felt under his touch but never had he felt such warm and smooth skin. Weird as hell that he was even thinking about this shit.

‘’Gage how fucking long has it been for you’’

‘’I- What?’’

‘’You can’t sit quietly for a few minutes before you’re all flustered’’

‘’I ain’t thinking about fuckin’ Boss!’’

‘’Mhm… You should get back to that lovely old lady before she runs off’’

‘’I only paid for an hour anyways’’

‘’Jesus H Christ Gage you paid for her old ass?!’’

He groaned loudly with a look of defeat across his face, yup she was back to normal.

#fallout #fallout 4 #porter gage #Companion #sole survivor #female sole survivor #fanfic #ao3

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ronoken · 3 years

Text

Captain Cowgirl Rides Again

So...

I had an idea this week. And I ran with it. And I may have devoted more time to this than I should have, but this is what two days of frantic writing without any prereading or combing through looks like.

For readers of my work, you’ll be able to peg when this takes place pretty quickly.

Also... I’m open to changing the title. Maybe something with the words What To Do at the start...

Enjoy. Also, let me know what you think.

***

In the far future…

Caline M. Bourgeois, age 10, frantically ran down a fourth-floor hallway in the Grand Pairs hotel. She breezed passed a frozen housekeeper and scooted around a stuffy old man in a hat that was stuck mid-step before she skidded to a stop in front of a door at the end of the hall.

“Okay,” Caline said to herself as she huffed from exhaustion. She put her hands on her knees to catch her breath. She was dressed for the Fall, wearing jeans, sneakers, and a fluffy green sweater. Her sandy blonde hair was hanging loose to her shoulders.

Steel blue eyes looked to the room number on the door, 409. She reached into the pocket in her skirt and took out a key ring. With slightly trembling hands, she flipped through her keys as her mother’s voice echoed in her head.

‘Remember,’ her mother had warned her. Caline remembered the conversation vividly. ‘This key is only to be used in the event of an emergency. I’m serious, Callie-bear. You never, ever use this unless you have no other option.’

Caline swallowed down her nerves as she held up an unassuming silver key.

“Am I gonna get in trouble for this, Ziggs?” Caline asked, nervously.

Ziggy, the black and white goat kwami, floated out of her pocket to stare at the key with her. “Whelp, I reckon things can’t get any worse right now. If I were you, I’d go for it.”

“…And you don’t think she’ll be mad?” Caline asked.

Ziggy chuckled. “Yer mom used to use time travel to hook up with her boyfriend. Kiddo, she ain’t got a freakin’ leg to stand on in this instance. You go for it.”

Caline blushed and nodded. “Right then.” She slid the key into the lock. It was the only door in the entire hotel that didn’t have a keycard pad, instead offering a keyhole that none of the cleaning staff had any access to. Most of them thought it was used for money laundering or drug running, or that it was possibly haunted. Regardless, no one had access.

There was a good reason for that.

“Here we go,” Caline said as she opened the door and stepped forward into a white, glowing rectangle.

Behind her. The door swung shut with a click.

***

Caline blinked.

She was back in the hall.

“Huh,” she said as she looked around. “This doesn’t feel any different.”

Ziggy looked around and shrugged. “Maybe yer gramma don’t like to redecorate. Why don’t we head outside and get a move on? Can’t hurt anythin’.”

Caline frowned at the lazy kwami. “You know we have to be careful. We don’t…” She leaned in and whispered. “We don’t want to mess up the timeline.”

Ziggy shrugged. “Callie, you could march through that there door with a flame thrower and not do half the damage yer ma’s done. Trust me.”

Caline snickered, but only a little. After all, she was there on official hero business. And official heroes did not snicker.

It was true, her best friend Daisy had said so. Granted, she had been transformed into Lord Death Tiger at the time, and they had been playing Pirate Queens, but still.

“Focus, Ziggy. We need help, and mom always said that if I needed help, then this is where I’d find it.”

Ziggy looked around. “It looks like a hotel hallway,” he said.

“Well, like, not here-here. You know what mom meant. Come on,” Caline said as she headed to the stairwell. She’d played here enough to know the quickest way to the service entrance out back. And from there…

A few minutes later, Caline stood outside on the service dock and steadied herself. “Okay,” she said. “I can do this. I can totally do this.”

“Hey now,” Ziggy said. He put a hoof on her arm and looked up at her. “Don’t get all bent outta shape. Just focus, take some deep breaths, and believe in yourself. Y’all got this, partner.”

Caline looked down at him. “And I won’t get in trouble for using you?”

“Well, didja get in trouble when ya tried me out at home?”

Caline shook her head. “But that was the only time we ever transformed. And that was in my bedroom.” She looked up at the buildings around her. “This is real.”

“Hey now,” Ziggy said, his voice soft. “Y’all been getting’ ready fer this since you were seven years old. I’ve been watchin’ over you, squirt, so I know. Yer every bit a member o’ yer family, and I am plumb honored to be assigned to another Caline.”

“For real?” Caline asked.

“You know it, partner.”

“But what if I mess up?” Caline asked. “Or, or what if something happens! What should I do, Ziggy?”

“Well,” Ziggy said as he rubbed his chin. “If something happens, you should handle it. Just remember all the times we played pretend. You’ll know what to do.”

“Well, okay, yeah. But what?”

Ziggy looked her in the eye. “The right thing, of course. Yer a hero, girlie. An’ today’s the day you discover it.”

“Really?” Caline asked.

“Really,” Ziggy said. “Like I said, y’all got this.”

“Yeah,” Caline said. She wiped her nose with the back of her sleeve and looked at the buildings around her again. “I got this.”

***

To her credit, Caline only crashed into a building once.

She was rotating between screaming in terror as she flew through the air with every launch of her Shepherd’s Staff and cringing as she effortlessly touched down on the rooftops of Paris. It took her roughly ten minutes to get her bearings, what with the combination of leaping and falling, and the pure adrenaline coursing through her veins, but she eventually got the hang of things. At last somewhat confident in her new abilities, she checked the GPS on her staff and turned towards her destination.

The Dupain-Cheng Bakery.

She landed right at the front door and quickly retracted her staff. Around her, people stopped and stared. With a nervous laugh, Caline tipped her hat at them and headed inside.

You read that right.

Her plan was simple. Talk to/meet her great grandparents, casually ask if their daughter was around, deftly avoid any hero-related questions, and then beg for help.

It was only after she wandered through the front door that she realized how difficult that would be while still transformed, but hey, cut her some slack. It’s her first day.

Caline froze, wide-eyed as she realized her goof. She was about to come up with some frantic excuse/backstory as to why a hero was in the bakery, but then she realized she didn’t need to.

In front of her were who she assumed were her grandparents, however they were currently ensnared in a sea of vines. The bakery looked like it had been taken over by an angry rainforest, and in the middle of it stood a green-skinned man in overalls and a straw hat. He was surrounded by vines that pulsed lazily with his movements, and he was yelling at the helpless couple.

“Foolish bakers!” The green man screamed. “I am Gar-Doom! If you don’t have any quality veggie-based treats for me, I’ve got a veggie-based doom for you!”

The man, whom Caline assumed was her great grandpa Tom, frantically mumbled something and tried to point to a display case, but he was too covered in vines to really do much. Also, his mouth was a bit covered with foliage.

Caline quickly turned around and left the bakery as fast as she could. She bolted around the corner and slumped against a brick wall to hyperventilate.

“That’s an akuma!” She gasped. “Oh my God, that’s an actual akuma!” She was shaking so bad she started crying. “I’m not ready for this! I don’t know what to do! I don’t know what to do!”

The front doors of the bakery burst open as Gar-Doom was carried outside by a squirming mass of gigantic green vines. All around, people were running and screaming as the akuma flipped a car over and started laughing maniacally.

“Yes, YES! Run, you foolish meat bags! Flee in fear from Gar-Doom!”

Caline watched, petrified. The akuma looked so big. He was right there, loud and violent and very real, and…

“I shouldn’t even be here,” Caline whimpered. “I want my mom. This isn’t right! I just…”

A steel pole shot down and slammed into Gar-Doom’s back, knocking the akuma to the ground.

“Forgive me for saying so, but I find it hard to believe you had a bad dining experience at that particular bakery,” a light-hearted voice called out.

Caline watched, wide-eyed, as a sleek black superhero descended in front of the screaming and writhing monster.

“Oh holy cow. That’s… That’s Chat Noir! The first one! Oh wow.” Caline was transfixed by the sight before her. She had heard stories about her grandpa, sat through endless debates between him and her Aunt Emmy about who wore it better, and of course she’d met Plagg before, but to actually see the legendary superhero in his prime?

Chat Noir retracted his staff and gave it a twirl. “It looks like someone needs a pruning.”

Chat Noir dodged a vine that swiped at his head. A second later, a yoyo cut through the air and sliced through the offending growth like a knife through butter.

“Let’s trim the gardening jokes back a bit, kitty. We’ve got work to do.”

If Caline was star-struck before, now she was positively reeling. Ladybug gracefully landed right next to her black-clad partner. She was smirking at the akuma and casually twirling her yoyo like it was a Tuesday at the park.

“Oh holy cow, she’s so confident!” Caline murmured. “Oh man.” Caline stared in amazement. “My grandparents were badass.”

Off to the side, safely tucked behind a parked car, Alya was busy recording the action and narrating on her phone.

“If you’re just joining us, a new akumatized villain has decided to attack the lunch hour crowd. This time, he’s targeted the Dupain-Cheng bakery! Renown for their macaroons and quality service, it’s anybody’s guess what caused this customer to flip. But that’s okay, as Paris’s heroes are on the scene!” Alya looked up from her phone at Ladybug for a moment, her eyes shining.

“So cool,” the reporter murmured.

And of course she’d seen Ladybug dozens, if not hundreds of times. And yes she’s a hero herself, but there’s just something magical about seeing your idol out and about and kicking ass. So, forgive her if she was taking a sideline approach for the afternoon.

Also, Alya couldn’t film and fight at the same time, so there was that.

And there was the other thing.

Honestly, once Nino figures out what she’s up to, he’s gonna flip his lid and probably hover near her for, like, a week. I mean, seriously? Who charges toward a giant tentacle monster to get some footage when they’re nine weeks pregna…

Oh snap. Getting ahead of myself. Sorry, not supposed to blab yet, but don’t worry. They’ll tell everyone at the barbecue this weekend.

Ladybug gave Gar-Doom a quick once over before nodding. “Right. I’m guessing the akuma is in his lunch sack.”

Chat Noir blinked and looked to his partner. “Seriously? You figured that out in five seconds. That’s… Wow.”

“It’s one of the many reasons you love me,” Ladybug shrugged and rolled out of the way as a vine slammed into the street where she had been standing. “He just burst out of a bakery. I’m guessing he didn’t like his order.”

Chat swatted a vine away and frowned. “Who wouldn’t like something from there? That’s the best bakery in town!”

Ladybug blushed as she dodged. “I think you’re biased.”

“So what if I am?” Chat bantered back. “The owner’s daughter is cute.”

Ladybug backflipped away from a series of vine spikes that peppered the road where she’d been standing. “Careful there. I hear she’s married.”

“If they’re so great, then where are the veggie snacks?” Gar-Doom hollered. “I mean, come on! It’s not that hard to offer a variety!”

Ladybug threw her yoyo at the demonic gardener. “It’s a bakery, you moron! Everything in there is vegetarian!” She yelled at him.

“They serve buttercream!” Gar-Doom shrieked. “I’m vegan!”

Ladybug groaned. “Then ask for the veggie brownies or the vegan macaroons! Mr. Dupain always makes a batch! They’re right freaking there!”

“I wanted strawberry!” Gar-Doom whined. “All he’s got today is chocolate!”

“Oh, for God’s sake,” Ladybug took aim and cracked Gar-Doom in the face with her yoyo. “Well, too bad!” She snapped.

Both heroes advanced on the crumpled akuma as he rubbed his face.

“Huh,” Chat Noir said with a smile. “This one was pretty easy.”

“I know, right?” Ladybug said as she reached for the bag at Gar-Doom’s side. “I don’t even think I broke a sweat. Say, are you free for the day?”

“I just got done early with work,” Chat said, smiling. “Where’s…?”

“With their Aunts,” Ladybug replied. “I needed the day to get some work done. Also, Cammy wanted a playdate with the girls, and since you were out goofing off…”

“Hey now,” Chat said, mock hurt in his voice. “I was out putting food on the table!”

“Really? Because last I checked, you were doing a charity shoot,” Ladybug reminded him. “To advertise for the local food pantry? For free? Remember?”

Chat blushed and rubbed the back of his head. “Oh yeah. Um, sorry?”

Ladybug rolled her eyes. “Don’t sweat it, kitty. It was really sweet of you. Now, let’s…”

Gar-doom suddenly blew a yellow cloud of pollen in both heroes faces.

“Ha!” The villain snickered. “Seriously? I can’t believe I was able to lure you in that easily! Enjoy my neurotoxin pollen, chumps!”

“LB?” Chat asked, his voice bordering on panic. “I, um, I can’t move!”

“Ne… Neither can I!” Ladybug said. She tried, but her body was completely locked up. They were both frozen on the spot.

“Don’t worry about it,” Gar-Doom said through a toothy grin. “Once I have your miraculous, you can get back to being the weak, worthless, squirming bags of meat you were when you got here. Of course, you won’t have your powers anymore…”

Caline blanched as she saw what was happening.

“NonononoNO! They’re not supposed to lose! They… They’re gonna…” Her eyes went wide. “They’re frozen.”

‘It’s happening again,’ she thought.

She was shaking with fear. Her mind raced with images of her family, her friends, all of Paris frozen in place. The horror on their faces, the look of panic. The look on her mother’s face…

Almost without thinking, she grabbed the retracted staff at her belt and gave it a squeeze.

“No.”

She suddenly felt calm, as if a cold bucket of water had just washed away her shakes. She could practically feel her heartbeat in her ears.

“This isn’t happening again.”

Caline took a deep breath.

‘The right thing, of course. Yer a hero, girlie. An’ today’s the day you discover it.’

Caline felt Ziggy’s words wash over her. She clenched her fists and felt strong. She suddenly felt confident. More confident than she had ever felt in her life.

“This is just like when we’d play in my room,” she said, her voice even. “I can do this.”

She looked to the monster attacking her family.

“No one hurts my grandparents.”

Gar-Doom was reaching for Ladybug’s ears and leering at the shiny red jewelry. Ladybug could only watch in a cold panic as she begged him to stop.

“Not happening,” Gar-Doom muttered. “I can’t believe it was this easy! I…”

A pole rocketed through the air and slammed into the akuma’s face.

Ladybug, still frozen, watched as the villain was launched off his feet and sent hurtling into the Dupain-Cheng’s glass storefront. The windowpanes shattered in an explosion of glittering shards as the akuma actually bounced off a cake display and crumpled on the tile floor beyond.

“What?” Ladybug asked, confused.

Chat Noir tried to shrug. “It wasn’t me,” he called out.

Gar-Doom scrambled to his feet and wearily stumbled out through the broken storefront. “Who did that? WHO DARES STRIKE GAR-DOOM?”

A breeze blew down the street. A plastic bag lazily tumbled by.

“That’d be me.”

Alya, shocked at this surprising turn of events, swung around to film the newest arrival. Standing in the middle of the street was a young girl, not even Ladybug’s height. She was sporting a pair of patterned leather boots, a white skintight suit, a lopsided belt, a black and white splotched vest, and atop her head, covering a pair of small horns, was a black and white Cattleman hat. Her bright, emerald eyes were slitted vertically, and her blonde hair moved with the breeze. Her thumbs were resting in her belt, and she had a piece of what looked like long grass in her mouth.

Upon closer inspection, it was a plastic straw.

‘Presentation matters!’ Her Aunt Alix’s words echoed in her head.

“Yer gonna stop harassin’ these heroes, Mister,” the young girl said. Her voice was shaking, which didn’t help her forced drawl. “If ya don’t, I reckon I’m gonna have ta get rough. I reckon.”

“Who the Hell are you?” the akumatized menace sneered.

The hero spit out the straw and reached for the staff at her hip. She extended it and gave it a twirl. The sun glinted off the steel rod as she slammed it into the pavement in front of her.

“I’m Captain Cowgirl.”

Alya nearly dropped her phone. “Oh, my God! A new cow themed hero has joined the battle!”

***

At that moment across town, Caline Bourgeois (senior) spit out her iced coffee as she watched the livestream footage on her phone.

“CHLOÉ!” She cried out.

“I’m busy babysitting,” the blonde replied from the next room.

“Someone new has Ziggy!”

Chloé was at her side in an instant. She was holding a squirming one year old in her arms as a little girl of no more than five years old drifted into the room behind her, a Ladybug figurine in her hands. Following right behind her was a slightly taller girl with light red hair and blue eyes. A Queen Bee figurine was in her hands. The two had been playing heroes vs dinosaurs. The heroes were winning.

“Huh,” Chloé said as she looked at the phone in her mom’s hands. She then looked to the baby she was holding. “Well, that doesn’t look like you, does it?”

She looked back at the livestream. “Can you turn it up?”

Caline fumbled for the volume.

“…A new hero has appeared, and she’s… Yes! She just called herself Captain Cowgirl! The Captain appears to…”

Caline tried to listen to the rest of Alya’s broadcast, but she couldn’t hear anything over Chloé’s hysterical laughter.

***

Gar-Doom stared down the diminutive hero in front of him. Grinning, he let out a low chuckle. “You’re just a kid. Why don’t you run home to mommy and daddy before I go and do something permanent?”

Caline turned her head towards the frozen heroes and nodded slightly. “You mess with them,” she turned to glare at the akuma. “Ya answer to me, varmint.”

Side note. Caline had no clue what the heck a varmint was, but she’d heard Ziggy say the phrase enough during playtime that she felt confident she was using it correctly.

“Is that so?” Gar-Doom asked. A mass of green tentacles started to swirl around him as he was lifted off the street. Caline had to look up to keep eye contact. “Well, I hate to be the bearer of bad news, flesh bag, but if you don’t clear out of here right now, Hawkmoth is going to get three miraculous today.”

Caline felt herself start to shake from nerves, but she swallowed back her fear.

“Hawkmoth isn’t getting anything but a punch in the kisser if she, erm, he bothers to show his yellow face around here,” Caline snapped. “Now, ya’d better hand over that there pouch on your belt before I have to get rough with ya!”

“Man, she’s really leaning into the cowgirl thing,” Chat Noir, still frozen, said from the sidelines.

“It’s like seeing Ziggy as a human,” Ladybug agreed. “Hey, I think I can wiggle my fingers. Chat! The toxin is wearing off!”

“I know,” Chat said, grinning. “I can move my hand. I’ve been trying to flex and get my body to loosen up, and I think I can get to my staff.”

“Who would have thought all that flexing in front of the bathroom mirror would have paid off?” Ladybug quipped.

“It’s not my fault I’m so pleasant to look at,” Chat replied with a wink.

“Foolish child!” Gar-Doom said as he brought his arms up. Around him was a virtual forest of vines, all protruding from his back like the tentacles of some nightmarish octopus. “I gave you a chance to run, but you’re apparently too stupid to save your own hide! You think you can stop me? I am the gardening menace of Paris! I just took down the two mightiest heroes in town! I’m twice your size and have giant tentacles! And what do you have? A pretty staff and some dress up clothes? You think I’m scared of some little kid playing cowgirl?”

Caline lifted her staff slightly as she looked down at the street beneath her. She remembered a trick she’d seen her mother try once and how unbelievably cool it had been.

‘Please work,’ she prayed.

“It’s Captain Cowgirl, you overgrown weed!” Caline yelled back. “And my staff can be pretty if I want it to be!”

With that, she slammed her staff down as hard as she could on the manhole cover at her feet.

“What?” Gar-Doom asked as the world went into slow motion.

The manhole cover flipped up like a coin from the impact. Caline spun with lightning speed and brought her staff around like a baseball bat. She cracked the manhole cover with all her might and sent if flying at the surprised akuma with the force of a cruise missile.

Thankfully, akumatizations provide superhuman strength and durability, otherwise young Caline would have accidentally performed her first decapitation. The manhole cover hit Gar-Doom in the face and sent him crashing through the brick façade of the bakery behind him, vines and all.

Caline stared, slack-jawed at the hole she’d made.

“Did I just do that?” She mumbled.

She nearly jumped when she felt a hand on her shoulder. She looked up to see Ladybug standing beside her, smiling.

“You sure did, partner. Mind if we take it from here?”

Caline gave her head a small shake, her eyes the size of dinner plates. “You can do things,” she said.

“That I can,” Ladybug said as Chat Noir jumped through the hole. A moment later, he emerged with a bag in his hand.

“Hay, LB? You might wanna do the cure thing quick. This guy is looking a little, um, bad.”

He tossed the bag down to Ladybug, who ripped it apart. A quick swipe of her yoyo at the purple butterfly that emerged and one swarm later, and things were as good as new.

“So cool,” Caline muttered as the two older, taller heroes stood in front of her. She blinked as they extended their fists to her.

“Really?” Caline asked. She was nearly hopping up and down.

“Sure,” Ladybug said, smiling. “You totally saved our butts back there, newcomer.”

“You sure did,” Chat Noir said with a grin. “That was some fine shootin’, partner.”

Caline grinned and put her fist out with theirs.

“Pound it!”

***

Ten minutes later, the three heroes sat on the balcony of the Dupain-Cheng bakery, each with a complementary sweet and drink. Ladybug and Chat Noir had been hugged quite excessively by the owners, and then Caline felt the full force of the baker’s gratitude as they took turns complimenting her on her outfit and thanking her for freeing them.

“You were wonderful out there, dear,” Sabine said as she hugged Ladybug. “Are you okay? Did anyone get hurt?”

“We’re fine,” Ladybug said through a smile. She hugged Sabine back. “I’m just glad you two are okay.”

“You did great out there, son.” Tom was hugging Chat Noir and patting him on the back. “I’m so proud of you.”

“I, um, I really didn’t do that much,” Chat Noir said. He was blushing and hugging the gigantic man back.

“And who is this little hero?” Sabine asked. She turned to Caline and bent down to get a better look at her. Caline retreated a little to Ladybug’s side. “You really saved the day, didn’t you?”

Caline slipped her hand into Ladybug’s. Surprised, the red and black hero took it and gave her a gentle squeeze. “She’s new, apparently. This cowgirl just showed up out of the blue and got to work.”

Sabine stared at her for several seconds. “These silly magic masks always mess up the eyes, you know that? I’m sure she doesn’t have goat eyes in real life.” She glanced up at Ladybug. “Who’s her mother?”

Ladybug shrugged. “I honestly have never seen this one before.”

Tom leaned over to get a good look at her. “Well, she’s got our jaw, son.”

And such pretty blonde hair!” Sabine offered. She glanced up at Marinette and mouthed, “Camille?”

Ladybug shrugged. “We were, um, we’re going to head up to the roof to debrief, if, um, that’s okay with you?”

“Of course!” Sabine said. “Here, take these with you!” She frantically handed Ladybug a bag of sweets.

“And some drinks!” Tom offered. He handed Chat Noir two steaming cups. “What would you like, Miss Cowgirl? Apple juice? Grape?”

Ladybug cleared her throat. “It’s Captain Cowgirl, actually.”

The small hand she was holding gave her a squeeze as if to say thank you.

“I like apple,” the tiny hero said in a small voice.

“Here you go, then. One apple juice,” Tom said, smiling. He pulled a juice box out of a cooler from behind the counter and handed it to Caline.

“Thank you very much,” Caline said. “It’s, um, it’s really nice to meet you both.”

Sabine and Tom smiled at her. “Well,” Sabine said as Tom put an arm around her. “It was lovely to meet you, too. Thank you for saving my favorite heroes.”

Caline stared at the two of them for a moment. “You’re both so nice. This, um, thank you. This was, I wasn’t expecting you to… Thank you. This is really great.”

“Hey,” Ladybug said in a soft voice. “You wanna come up to the roof with us? Maybe see what snacks they put in that bag before Chat Noir eats them all?”

They glanced over at Chat Noir, who had already taken a pastry from the counter and shoved it in his mouth. “What?” He mumbled through the food. “I don’t eat enough.”

“You eat as many as you want, dear,” Sabine said. “You need to put some meat on you.”

“That’s not meat,” Ladybug said. “But you’re right, he could stand to gain a pound or two.”

“Mmmffmm.” Chat responded as he continued to chew.

***

“So,” Ladybug said as she took a bite from a cheese danish. She was sitting in her favorite pink and white patio chair and sipping a mocha. She’d insisted on leaving them behind when she moved out, as she still loved stopping by the balcony on patrols. “Forgive me for saying so, but you don’t look like the last person I gave Ziggy to. Is she okay?”

Caline blushed and took a bite of her dessert. She had picked a huge cherry danish and was devouring it with gusto. “Uh, yeah. She’s got another one, now. This is so good! Like, I’d heard stories, but… This is incredible!” She took another bite and looked to Ladybug. “This is so much better than mom makes! She never uses this much sugar. Thank you for this. And, um, yeah. Thank you.”

The two older heroes watched Caline with a look that the younger hero couldn’t quite place. It was somewhere between amusement, curiosity, pride, and love. It was something she was admittedly used to from these two.

“Captain Cowgirl, was it?” Chat Noir asked.

Caline nodded. “Yep.” She sipped her juice box.

Ladybug smiled at her. “You were really brave out there today. You handled yourself like a hero.”

Caline blushed and smiled. “Thanks. That, um, that was my first time, actually.”

Ladybug’s eyebrows went up at that. “Seriously? Well, you did a bang-up job. Our first time was a complete disaster.”

“It wasn’t that bad,” Chat started. He saw the look on Ladybug’s face and deflated a bit. ‘Okay, yeah. It was pretty bad.”

“You’re first time, you say?” Ladybug asked, a smile playing on her lips. “You’re not from around here, are you?”

Caline shook her head no. She didn’t like to lie, and she honestly thought secret identities were kind of dumb. Especially when it came to family.

“No, ma’am. I’m from, um, later.”

“Thought so,” Chat said. He and Ladybug looked to each other and smiled. Chat crossed his arms and said, “So, how did you get Ziggy, Camille?”

Caline nearly choked on her danish. She coughed for a second and then said, “Camille? Excuse me?”

Chat nodded. “It’s okay. You’re not the first time traveler to pop up with Ziggy.”

“Oh,” Caline said as she put two and two together. “Oh! You think… No, I’m not… Aunt Camille doesn’t use Ziggy, she has Barkk.”

Ladybug looked the younger hero over again. “Wait. Aunt Camille?”

Caline nodded and wiped her hands on her tights.

Ladybug got up and approached Caline. She knelt down to look the tiny hero in the eyes.

“You know who we are, don’t you?” Ladybug asked.

Caline nodded again and bit her lip. “I, um, yes?” She looked from Ladybug to Chat Noir. “Is that okay?”

Ladybug thought about what Caline had said. “You weren’t expecting to get into a fight, were you?”

Caline shook her head no.

“But you came to the bakery looking for us?”

Caline nodded. “For you.”

Ladybug put a hand on the small hero’s shoulder. “What happened, sweetie?”

It had been a very big, very stressful day, and there was something about having your grandmother look you in the eye and speak in a kind voice that had an almost magical quality to it. Caline dropped her transformation and started to cry. She threw herself into Ladybug’s arms.

“Hey now, it’s okay,” Ladybug said, slightly surprised. The girl in her arms was shaking like a leaf.

Chat Noir knelt beside them and put a gentle hand on the young girl’s back. “You’re safe, love,” he said. “Whatever is the matter, we’ll help put it right. We promise.”

“They… They’re all frozen! All of them!” Caline blubbered. “Mom, dad, all, all the heroes… Everyone in Pa, Paris! I was, I was the only one who wa, who wasn’t…”

“Shhh,” Ladybug said. “Spots off.”

There was a warm flash of light, and Caline pulled back to look into the concerned, wide eyes of her grandmother. But it was wrong. Her face wasn’t wrinkled, and her hair was a rich, navy blue… She looked so young, but her smile was the same, and she smelled the same, and she was warm, and for a moment, Caline felt like she was home.

Caline let out a small, surprised laugh through her hiccupped tears. “Oh, wow. You, you look so pretty, Gramma.”

Marinette froze.

“Oh, my God,” Chat nearly whispered. “Claws in.”

Caline looked over at the young man kneeling beside her. “You both look so good!” She looked at Adrien for a second. “You don’t have your beard, Grandpa. This is so weird. I… I’m so sorry! I really didn’t know what else to do, but… But I was told if there was an emergency to come here, and, and I know I’m not supposed to use the door, but there wasn’t anyone left and…” She wiped her eyes. “Am I in trouble?”

Marinette pulled the young girl into a hug. “Of course you’re not, sweetheart.” She looked to Adrien, who was doing his best not to panic. He was also rubbing at his chin.

“Hey,” Marinette said as she pulled back to look Caline in the eyes. “Do you know the rules about time travel?”

Caline shook her head. “Only that I’m not supposed to do it, or Aunt Alix gets really mad.”

Marinette snickered. “Well, one of the big ones is to not reveal too much about the future, okay? I need you to tell us what happened, but when you do, try not to spill to much future stuff. Don’t tell us anything other than what we need to know. Can you do that for us?”

Caline nodded. “I can do that. Um, so, uh, I was playing in my room, and there was an akuma alert, and mom and dad said they’d be right back. I was watching the fight on my phone, and then there was this huge flash of light, and everyone froze.” Caline shuddered. “Everyone. Like, the whole city.”

Adrien frowned. “How come you didn’t get frozen?”

“Mom and dad said my room has magic shields that protect it from akumas and magic and stuff,” Caline said. “They said it was just built like that.”

“Don’t tell anymore than that,” Marinette said. “Okay, so you were in a shelter of some kind. That was clever thinking on your parents’ part to make your bedroom so safe.”

“It was mom’s bedroom,” Caline offered.

Marinette looked to Adrien. “Wanna tell me something about the apartment?”

Adrien shrugged. “Look, Chloé did a ton of stuff when we moved in. Maybe she shielded it?”

Marinette turned to Caline. “Sweetie, do you remember anything about the akuma they were facing? Anything that might help figure out what happened?”

Caline nodded. “He called himself Stopwatch. I think when mom broke this clock thing on his chest, it, um, exploded? And that caused, um, everything. I think.”

Marinette glanced to Ziggy, who was floating beside Caline. “Anything you want to add, Ziggy?”

“Mistress,” Ziggy said with a mid-air bow. “Might I say you are lookin’ plumb lovely.”

“Thank you,” Marinette sighed. “Ziggy, the akuma?”

Ziggy nodded. “Right. So, from what I could see on the magic talky glass, he was all defeated and such, but then he said somethin’ ta honk off yer daughter, and she landed a good hit right on his chest and from what I could gather, that’s when things went south.”

Caline looked to Marinette, her face a picture of worry. “Can you help?”

Marinette bit her lip as she thought. “I think so. Had… Was I… Huh. Was Ladybug there?”

Caline blinked. “Well, um, yeah. I just said… Yeah, she was there.”

“Had she thrown her lucky charm?”

Caline nodded. “I think so. I something on the live feed. I think it was a pair of scissors?”

Marinette allowed herself a small smile. “Right. How did you get here, sweetie?”

“The door at the hotel.” Caline leaned in. She cupped her hand to the side of her mouth and whispered, “the secret one.”

Marinette looked to Adrien. “Do you know anything about a secret door?”

Adrien shrugged. “Chloé never mentioned anything to me about one.”

“Huh,” Marinette said. “Would you mind showing me the door?”

Caline nodded. “I can do that.”

***

When they arrived at the Grand Paris, they were met with a flurry of questions. Caline Jr. was stunned as she looked around at everyone, and everyone in turn kept eyeing her.

It didn’t help that all three of them were transformed.

“Can I play with your staff?” Emmy asked, wide-eyed.

“How come you’re a cowboy?” Camille asked.

“She’s a cowgirl,” Emmy said.

“Wanna see my room?” Camille asked. “We’ve got dinosaurs.”

“You are so adorable!” Sabrina gushed. She had taken off work early to come up and mee the new hero.

“Ziggy, huh?” Chloé asked, smirking. She handed a fussy baby Gina to Chat Noir. “Here you go. This one needs changing.”

Chat frowned. “Ugh. You’re right.” He held his daughter on his hip. “Girls, give the Captain a little space, would you? She just got here.”

“Hey, kiddo.” Caline (senior) knelt in front of the shy hero. “You really leaned into the role, didn’t you?”

Captain Cowgirl looked at the redheaded woman with wide eyes. “Are you Ms. Bourgeois?”

Caline smiled. “That I am. Pleased to meet you, Captain.”

Caline junior swallowed. “I, um, Ziggy told me about you and how cool you were. I, um, I made this from the stories he told.” She looked to the older redhead. “Is that okay?”

Caline smiled and felt herself tearing up. “I think it’s perfect, sweetheart. You wear the suit well. Do… Am I allowed to ask if I know you?”

Caline junior shuffled her feet. “We, um, I…”

Caline, while not the instant connect-the-dots master Marinette was, had been exposed to enough awkward time travel nonsense that she was starting to put things together. “Are we, um, are we related?”

“Caline,” Ladybug said. “You shouldn’t ask that.”

Caline senior sighed. “Fine, fine.” She looked to the small hero again and thought about it, but didn’t say anything more.

Chloé leaned towards Ladybug and whispered, “I take back everything I ever said about Ziggy. This is comedy gold.” She spoke up. “Can I get a shot of the two of you? I’d like to have a picture of both Captains.”

Caline senior shot her daughter a withering look before sighing and dropping to one knee. “Come here, partner,” Caline said as she patted her leg.

Caline junior looked to Ladybug, who smiled and nodded. “If you want to, it’s fine.”

Caline junior shuffled over and sat on the older woman’s knee as Chloé took out her phone and snapped a quick picture. “Perfect,” the blonde said, still smirking.

“So,” Ladybug said in her business voice. “We actually came by for work reasons. The Captain here needed my help with something and said the hotel had a, um, secret door?”

Caline junior nodded.

“What secret door?” Chloé asked, confused.

“NOPE,” A voice yelled from behind them. The group jumped and turned to see the adult Bunnyx standing there. She had a frown on her face and her arms were crossed. Marinette noted that her hair had some gray in it, and her mask looked like it was covering some lines.

“I was wondering when you’d show up,” Ladybug said.

“It took me a bit, what with the timeline turning itself inside out,” Bunnyx said with a chuff. She glanced down at Caline junior. “Captain. Care to tell me what you’re doing here?”

The small hero shuffled back to Marinette’s side. “I didn’t know what else to do.”

“She really came through for us today,” Ladybug said. “And from the sound of it, something big happened where she came from. Where were you?”

Bunnyx let out a small sigh. “Trying to fix things, but then someone did a hopscotch back in time and I’ve been trying to track her instead of cleaning up what happened.”

“I’m sorry,” Caline junior said. “I didn’t mean to do anything bad.”

Bunnyx rolled her eyes and messed up the young girl’s hair. “I get it. You’re not in trouble, kiddo. I just wish you’d waited, like, five more minutes.”

“So, is everything fixed?” Ladybug asked. “Can she go home?”

Bunnyx looked to Ladybug. “What, back in her time? Hell no. That era is stuck.” She eyed Ladybug. “We need a Ladybug to fix things.”

Ladybug smiled. “Well then, I think you’re in luck.”

“Can I come?” Chat Noir asked.

Bunnyx answered before Ladybug could. “You need to get your kids home before five.”

“Why before five?” Chat Noir asked.

“Because, um, I’m coming by with an offer to babysit so you two can go out to dinner?”

“You are?” Ladybug asked, confused.

“You are?” Chat Noir asked, a small smile growing on his face.

“Yep,” Bunnyx said with a nod. “One sec.” She slid out her pocket watch and opened it. The group watched as she frantically typed something on a holoscreen.”

“Yep!” Bunnyx said as she quickly closed the watch. “This time’s me will be there by five, so, um, go freshen up. Please. Now.”

Chat Noir sighed and nodded. “I get it. Come one, you two. Let’s get you home.” He looked to Chloé. “Were they good?”

Chloé nodded. “They were fine. They’re always fine.”

Chat Noir glanced at Chloé’s very round belly. “You good?”

“I’m here,” Chloé said. “Another two weeks, and I can lay down again.”

Bunnyx snorted.

“What?” Chloé asked. The annoyance in her voice was clear.

“Try three and a half,” Bunnyx said.

“WHAT?” Chloé snapped. A grinning Sabrina took her hand as Chloé fumed. “He’s going to be late? That’s…”

“Ridiculous,” Bunnyx finished. “Come on, you two.” She looked to the two waiting heroes as she opened a portal. “We’ve got a city to save.”

***

When the three heroes arrived in the future, Ladybug was a bit unsettled. Everything was quiet. More than that, it was still.

She shuddered. “This is slightly familiar.”

“Sorry,” Bunnyx said. “It’s why I didn’t want Adrien to come. I figured you’d associate this with the whole Chat Blanc thing. I didn’t think you’d be comfortable with, well…”

Ladybug put her hand on Bunnyx’s shoulder. “Thanks, Alix. I appreciate it.”

They walked a short distance to the Louvre, Caline’s hand firmly planted in Ladybug’s. When they got there, all three heroes took a moment to register the sight in front of them.

The heroes of Paris were stuck, some of them in midair, and all were pointed towards what looked like a green and purple man. He was tired up in a thin, black cord that was being held by what looked like Ladybug, who was stuck, mid-punch, with her fist shattering what looked like a giant clock on the colorful man’s chest.

Marinette drifted past the heroes that were present. Some of them looked extremely familiar, while others were brand new to her. She did her best to block them out, as the less she knew about it, the better. Instead, she focused on Ladybug.

Marinette put her hand to the young woman’s cheek. This ladybug’s uniform was inverted from hers, black with red spots. Also, she was wearing a red jacket, complete with metal shoulder clasps.

Marinette looked into a set of familiar green eyes that were peeking through a mask that was slightly covered by a mop of short, brown hair.

“Can you help her?” Caline asked. “Can you help my mom?”

Marinette leaned forward and kissed the frozen, angry-looking young woman on the forehead. “I’m going to, sweetie. I promise.” She looked down and saw a pair of scissors on the woman’s hip.

“I’m guessing you understood the charm?” Bunnyx asked.

Ladybug nodded. “Sewing scissors. I figured.” She looked to Bunnyx. “I was supposed to get a visitor today, wasn’t I?”

“Not saying one way or the other,” Bunnyx replied.

Ladybug just smirked as she threw the scissors into the air. A massive wave of Ladybugs washed over the city, and suddenly, everything was moving again.

The groups faltered, a flurry of “what just happened?” “Did we just die?” And “Don’t do that!” screams all echoed around the courtyard.

Gina blinked as she stood in front of a restored security guard. “Um, did… Did I just cure you?”

“MOM!”

Gina, still surprised, barely caught the black and white blur that was her daughter as she was nearly tackled. “I thought I’d never see you again!” Caline sobbed.

“Ca, er, um, hey. What are you talking about?” Gina asked, bewildered. She piked up her daughter and hugged her. “What do you mean you…”

Gina glanced past the group for one second as a white light caught her eye. It was only for a moment, but she saw a familiar red and black hero smile and wave at her just before disappearing into a white portal.

“Was that…?” Gina half-whispered as Caline hugged her tighter. She glanced at her little girl. “What did you do today, sweetie?”

Caline looked to her mother and smiled. “I got to meet a whole bunch of people, and I saw Gramma and Grandpa, and, and I had my first fight. And I won! And… And I used the key. I’m sorry.”

Gina smiled and kissed her daughter on the forehead. “Well, if what I think happened just happened, you’ve got nothing to apologize about.”

Beside them, a yellow and black bee-themed hero stepped up and gave them a hug. “What’s this little one doing out here?”

“I think,” Gina said as she glanced to where the portal had been. “She just saved Paris. And us.”

“Well now,” Yellowjacket said, smiling. “What do we call you, Miss hero?”

Caline looked at her parents and smiled. “Y’all can call me Captain Cowgirl.” She tipped her hat.

André sputtered and buried his face in his wife’s shoulder. Gina started elbowing him while doing her best not to bust up. “Stop it. Stop it! You’re gonna make me drop her!”

“We, um, we need to call Gramma Chloé tonight,” André said. “Better yet, let’s swing by and visit. This is just perfect.”

“You’re terrible,” Gina scolded him. “And I agree.”

Caline laughed and hugged her parents as they did their best not to break down in laughter.

***

That night, after dinner, a visit to the Grand Paris, and so, so many pictures, Caline nestled in her bed as her parents kissed her goodnight and quietly shut the door to her room.

“Hey Ziggy,” Caline whispered.

“Ma’am,” Ziggy said from his small pillow.

“Thanks for today,” Caline said.

“Aw, shucks. I didn’t do anything. Y’all were the one who took out that varmint. I just provided the wardrobe.”

“You told me I could do it,” Caline said.

“Yeah, well, you did do it,” Ziggy said. “I ain’t never had a holder as young as you are, but I’ll tell you what; I ain’t never had one as brave as you, either. It took real courage to make that call and go back in time, and it took even more to face down that dumb ole’ plant guy. Yer every bit yer parent’s kid, and every bit yer namesake in courage.”

Caline smiled at that. “Thanks Ziggy.” She scooted to the small goat creature and smiled. “You did good.”

Ziggy started to tear up. “I… I did?” In a small voice, he asked. “Y’all think I’m good?”

“You’re the best kwami in the whole wide world,” Caline said. She leaned forward and kissed him on the forehead.

Ziggy blushed and made a small circle with his foot in the sheets. “Aw, shucks, ma’am.” He choked a bit on his words. T’weren’t nothin’.”

Caline settled in, her eyes on Ziggy. “Hey, can you tell me a story about her?”

“Shucks,” Ziggy said. “Which one do you want ta hear?”

“You pick,” Caline said as she yawned.

Ziggy leaned back and rubbed his chin. “Okay then. Well, there was this one time? A huge apartment buildin’ had caught fire. Anyway, yer Gramma Chloé had already charged over, but ole’ Caline, she just knew that yer Gramma needed help. So, she goes ta get me from restroom dungeon, and then like lightnin’ she charged right over and into the fire.”

Ziggy glanced over at Caline, who was already asleep. Smiling, he leaned back against his pillow and stared up at the ceiling.

“Anyway, ole’ Caline bursts in like a tornado and gets straight ta work. She just scooped up that Gramma o’ yours and this little gal that was hidin’, and like a comet, she just burst outta the building right as it was comin’ down. She plumb saved both their lives that night, as she was set ta do. On a count of her bein’ a hero.”

Ziggy glanced over and heard soft snores coming from his charge. He floated over and made sure her covers were pulled up to her chin.

“She was a right fine hero, just like you.” He floated up and kissed her on the forehead. He then glanced to the careworn reading chair beside Caline’s bedside.

For a moment he paused. He then smiled at the seemingly empty space.

“Sweet dreams, Miss Caline.” Ziggy said in the quiet darkness of the room. “You rest easy. I’ll keep watch.” He settled against Caline. “I promise. I’ll keep her safe.”

While the future is never set, Ziggy knew that come what may, he would do his very best for the young girl sleeping beside him. He knew there was nothing he wouldn’t do to keep her safe, and that he would never stop working to earn her trust.

She was his holder, and she had said he was good. She said he was the best.

And coming from Captain Cowgirl, that meant the world.

#fanfiction #captain cowgirl #miraculous ladybug #mamabug

18 notes · View notes

crystalwillow · 4 years

Text

Truly. Madly. Deeply. - Ethan x F!MC

Tagging a few people in this one: @vibrantlyjaz @tsrookie @schnitzelbutterfingers @queencarb @mrsvanderlinde

As the sun rose the next morning after they returned back to Boston, Ethan awoke as the sun streamed through the skylight above his bed, he smiled at Casey as he registered her sleeping peacefully next to him. Looking at the time on the clock he let out a small sigh. It was time to leave the blissfulness he had been feeling for the past two weeks, and go back to the chaotic world of Edenbrook. Gently he rubbed Casey's arm stirring her awake a little. "Cassie? We need to get up and ready to go back to work now." he whispered tenderly and was met with a tired groan in response to which he chuckled. "I know. I feel that way too. You've made me feel happier and open up more than I have with or to anyone in the past two weeks. I kind of hate you for reminding me what true happiness feels like. But the reasons I love you outweigh that one so..." he mumbled and kissed behind her ear softly. "Ethan..." she murmured, reaching for his hair and tangling her fingers in it gently. "Come on. Let's grab a shower." he smiled as he got up, pulling a sleepy Casey with him.

"You're going to have to open your eyes at some point in the next 5 minutes."

"No. Ethan's a comfy pillow. I'm tired."

"Casey.." he chuckled as he washed her body

"Shhhhhhhhh"

Shaking his head with a smile, he somehow managed to wash Casey's hair and himself before stepping out and wrapping towels around both of them. By the time Casey had woken up properly, Ethan was dressed in his usual formal wear for the hospital, but there was something different about him. Casey looked at his side profile as he riffled through his wardrobe looking for something. "I do believe you accidently left- ah! Here it is." he beamed as he turned back to Casey, his favourite knee length blue dress of her's in hand. "What?" he asked at the quizzical look on Casey's face as she studied him curiously. That's when it clicked. It wasn't his clothes, hair or anything like that which was different. He was smiling a genuine smile. His trademark scowl had gone, along with the wrinkles that normally accompanied the look. "I love you." Casey grinned happily, "I love you too. Now hurry up and get dressed or you'll be late." Ethan said as he gave her a quick kiss before heading to the kitchen. When he came back, he left some toast and orange juice on the dresser for her, explaining that he was going to leave now as so to avoid any suspicion that would arise from arriving with Casey by his side.

"... So I'll leave you to lock up the front door yeah?"

"Yeah sure. ... Ethan?"

"Cinnamon roll."

"When are you picking Jenner up from the kennels?"

"Why?"

"Because your apartment feels empty without him."

"... Yeah... it does. I was hoping to get him after my shift tomorrow. I finish just after lunch."

"But that means you're working all morning today. Having a late nap in the on-call room and working all night."

"You know me and my work ethic too well. It's scary sometimes. ... Did you not want to meet me there? We could get him together. I'm sure he's missed you more than me anyway. You seem to have a knack of getting guys to stare at you and love you more than others."

"Honey... are you.. jealous of .. your dog?"

".. ha! When you put it like that it does sound ridiculous."

"Ethan Ramsey, I cannot believe you're jealous that your dog likes my cuddles."

"Well he used to love mine.. but you stole him from me."

Casey looked up from the mirror as she smoothed out the creases in her dress and laughed at the pout on Ethan's face. Walking over to him, she wrapped her arms round his neck, tilting his head so that she could see him properly. He smiled at her lovingly before giving her a quick kiss. "I guess I should get going before I'm the one who's late." he chuckled and gave Casey a few more pecks before he left out the door. "Oh! ETHAN!" Casey called out, opening the door and sticking her head out in the hallway, catching him at the end, just about to turn the corner. Damn this man and his giraffe legs. "Can I put my stuff in here from the car and pick it up later?" she called out, "Yeah sure!" he replied and with a wave he was gone. After moving the bags from her car into Ethan's apartment, Casey made sure she had the spare key she had been given and left, making sure to lock the door behind her. She drove most of the way to work, parking a couple blocks away and walking the rest of the distance. When she arrived, she stepped through the doors into the main atrium taking a deep inhale as a smile grew on her face. "Man it's good to be back." she said with a smile as she walked to her locker and started with her day. She crossed paths with Ethan a couple of times in halls, giving him a smile which he returned. Soon she stopped seeing him a knew he had gone to catch some sleep, and had clocked out before he woke up. She had just finished unpacking her bags in her room when her phone chimed with a text notification.

- 10:43PM –

Ethan: Didn't wanna stick around and say goodbye to me?

Casey: You were sleeping

Ethan: So? I wanted to see you before you left.

Casey: stop your pouting, E

Ethan: I didn't even..

Casey: I make it a habit to know my boyfriend inside out

Ethan: is that so... 😉

Casey: Get your mind outta the gutter Ethan xD

You have work to do. Which you should probably get back to, by the way..

Ethan: Yes ma'am.

Casey: God you're whipped..

Ethan: I'm what?

Chuckling to herself, she shook her head a little placing her phone on charge before going to the kitchen and fixing herself some food before heading to bed. The next day she spent her morning reading some old revision cards to keep her mind sharp on medical knowledge and before she knew it was leaving out the door and heading to work. She was halfway through her shift when her phone dinged in the back pocket of her jeans as she was talking with a patient. Once she was done, she stepped out into the hallway, taking her phone out and unlocking it as she closed the door behind her. She chuckled at the message Ethan had sent her, then aww'd at the next message that popped up. It was a picture of Jenner in his bed, looking sadly at the camera. She sent a quick reply and then pocketed her phone returning back to work.

Things slowly started to feel normal again as she got back into the fast pace things moved around the hospital with ease, and soon almost three months had passed since she got back from her parents house with Ethan. She hadn't seen him in a couple of days but that was normal, he was a busy in-demand man after all. One day she was standing in a small queue in the cafeteria when Dr. Harper Emery approached her. Concealing the eye roll she wanted to do so badly, she put on a professional smile as the woman stood in front of her.

"Dr. Valentine."

"Dr. Emery."

"I have a question for you."

""Uhh. Okay?"

"You're friends with Dr. Ramsey yes?"

"We have a friendship, yes."

"I see. So you'd have his personal phone number?"

"What's it to you?"

"Do you have his personal phone number? Yes or no, Dr. Valentine."

"I don't see why I should tell you, quite frankly. Not after the stunts you've been pulling trying to ruin the friendship we have."

"Look. He hasn't shown up for work in two weeks and he isn't answering his house phone or his work number. We've tried almost every phone in the hospital, which numbers he may pick up but nothing. You're our last hope to knowing where he is and why he isn't at work."

".... Okay, fine. Yes, I have his personal number. I'll give him a call and see where he is."

"Thank you, Dr. Valentine. Find me later to report on his status."

"Yeah. Fine."

Casey sighed and moved forwards in the line, frowning a little as harper stalked off, heels clicking on the tiled floor. She purchased her snack and a bottle of water, making her way outside and pulling her phone out as she sat on a wall. Unlocking her phone she dialed Ethan's number straight away and waited anxiously as it rang.

".... You've reached the voicemail of Ethan Ramsey. Sorry I cannot take your call right now. Leave a message after the tone."

Sighing she hung up and tried again. But every time she tried she always ended up getting his voicemail. Sighing and with a sudden loss in her appetite, she pocketed her phone before scooping up her cookie and bottle of water. Heading back inside to finish her shift. As the end of her shift drew closer and closer, she made a mental note to stop by Ethan's and check on him. She may not like Harper, but she had to agree that this wasn't like Ethan at all. He always informed the hospital if he was going to be late or off sick. Anything, he always picked up the phone and called the people who needed to know. As she was getting ready to head off, one of the nurses approached her. "Dr. Valentine! I'm so glad I found you." she said breathlessly, "What's wrong? Has my patient gone into cardiac arrest again?!" Casey panicked, but the nurse shook her head. "I was wondering if you could cover the last hour of my shift? I just got a call from my neighbor that my house has been broke into and the police need me there ASAP." she explained. Casey swallowed, she needed to check on Ethan, but this was important too. Smiling she turned to the nurse. "Of course. You head on home. I hope everything's okay. Let me know if you need anything." she responded, and the nurse thanked her before running off. The hour passed by slowly as Casey watched the clock on the wall opposite the nurses station. Soon the nurse that was to take over arrived and Casey clocked out. She headed outside on the phone, calling for a cab. Arriving at Ethan's apartment building a few moments later, she paid her fare and scrambled inside as fast as she could. She reached Ethan's door and knocked first, waiting for the door to open but 2 minutes quickly turned into 10. Which soon turned into almost an hour. Having enough, Casey took the spare key to his apartment from her bag and slowly opened the door, walking in to a mess of takeout cartons and bottles covering the floor. "E-Ethan?" she called out hesitantly, walking further into the apartment. "Honey? Are you... Home." Her voice trailed off as she entered the kitchen and saw Ethan slumped in a chair, head on the counter with his eyes closed. A glass of whiskey next to his hand. She quietly moved the glass and sat next to him, placing a gentle hand on his shoulder. "Ethan.. Sweetie. What're you doing sleeping here in the kitchen? ... E?" she said softly as she continued trying to wake him and when he awoke, he startled at her presence. "W-what are you d-doing here? How.. How did you get in?" He exclaimed leaping up and away from her. She frowned at him. Something was definitely off here.

"Ethan it's okay. I'm here to make sure you're okay. Like all good girlfriends do."

"G-girlf-friend?"

"Yeah. We've been dating for almost 3 and a half months now. ...Ethan? Are.. Are you okay?"

She watched him cautiously as he looked at her, panic rising in his eyes and becoming more intense by the minute, until he eventually started shaking his head causing Casey to frown.

"Baby, what's wrong? You can talk to me."

"Y-You.. You're going to hate me. I-I can't lose you Casey. Please!"

The pleading in his voice and desperation that was now mixed in with the panic in his eyes pulled at her heart. He was in so much distress and what was he on about she was going to hate him. Knowing she had to calm him down, she stood up from her seat and slowly moved towards him.

"Honey.. I know you're scared right now but take deep breaths for me okay? I'm not going to hate you. I never could. ... We've talked about this remember? We'll support each other through everything. Regardless of whether or not we're together. ..Do you trust me?"

She stopped a few inches in front of him, looking up into his eyes with nothing but kindness and the want to care for him. Finally he rushed into her arms, hugging her tight as he sobbed into the shoulder of her jacket. She hugged him back trying to slowly the violent shakes of his body that accompanied the sobs leaving his mouth. But it was no use, this man was a wreck, the only thing she didn't know though was why?

Moving with Ethan to his couch, she sat down with him handing him a tissue from the box on the coffee table. Together they cuddled and Casey held him until he had exhausted his tears, and his throat was raw. When he looked up at her, she felt a sharp pang in her chest at the red circles round his eyes and the sadness that was in them. She wanted so badly to ask what was wrong but decided it was better to let him speak when he was ready. Remembering the unopened bottle of water in her bag, she took it out and gave it to him. "Here. Drink this." she said softly, "Th-Thank y-you." He hiccupped, sitting up as he took it, opening it to take a gulp before laying down in Casey's lap. A few more moments of silence passed as Ethan sniffled and coughed a few times. Then he turned on his back and looked up at Casey, swallowing hard.

"Are you okay?"

"No. I won't be for a while."

"Why?! Baby, what's happened? I've never seen you this upset before."

"I- It's Jenner.."

"What about him?"

"He's gone Casey... All because I was careless, and almost tripped over a plant pot, so I got distracted. ... Casey he got off his leash and ran into the road. I had to pay for him to be put down. He-He's gone."

Casey went numb at his words, but it wasn't Jenner being gone that got to her. He was blaming himself. She hugged him again as he sat more upright and whispered that things would be okay again soon. Ethan looked at her with a frown.

"Why aren't you shouting? You weren't there to say goodbye to him with me. You should be mad. Casey why aren't you mad?"

"Ethan. Why would I be mad at you? You were obviously in a state of shock after everything that happened. Plus, being mad would solve nothing, it would only hurt you more and I don't want to hurt you darling. I want to support you and make you smile, even if you don't want to. I love you Ethan and that's never going to change. I don't want you to be alone through anything. Especially something like this. You've lost your best friend that you'd known how long?"

"Almost 15 years. It would have been 15 years on September 4th."

"September 4th?"

"Yeah. I remember picking him up from the rescue shelter as just a little clumsy puppy. His ears flopped about like curtains in a strong breeze and he had the cutest of smiles on his face. When I held him for the first time after getting home he done nothing but lick my face and hit away anything that took my attention from him. Loose papers with medical notes on them were shredded to bits if I left the room for even 2 seconds. He was so adventurous, I done a lot of exploring with him in those days. But as he got older, he became more and more like me."

"What? Permanently scowling and calling any new dog a rookie even when they helped him save a woman's life on their first day at work?"

"I didn't know you then. You were just another annoying face in the crowd."

"Another ann- ETHAN!"

"What?! You were annoying. But only because I could see you had the potential to match my skills or be even better than me and I felt threatened."

"... Wow. Ethan Ramsey was threatened by a first day resident? That's got to be a first."

They chuckled quietly. The air almost felt lighter for a brief moment before their faces fell serious again.

"You know. September 4th is tomorrow. We should do something together in Jenner's honor. He wouldn't want his dad to be moping around the house, with takeout containers littering the floor, ignoring his work and what he's vouched to do for others. He'd want you to drag your butt to the shower, put on your best 'what seems to be the problem today?' face and continue to make good memories that you can share when you see him again."

"Casey..."

There was still pain in Ethan's eyes as he spoke and the strain in his voice killed her inside, but deep down he knew she was right. Jenner wouldn't want him in the current state he was in. Every day when he saw a speeding car the images of that day would come back to him somehow, but he couldn't let that stop him from his work.

"By the way, Ethan."

"Yeah?"

"You should probably go and get that shower. You stink."

"Is that so huh? Cinnamon bun. Is that so?"

The two laughed and wrestled with each other as Ethan tried to shove his armpit in Casey's face. The carried on playfighting for a while before Ethan headed to the shower and Casey grabbed a black bag, picking up his rubbish and cleaning his living room up. She was almost done when she reached Jenner's bed. With a sad smile and tears stinging her eyes, she crouched down and made it up just how he always had it, placing it by the sliding door. "He always was a sucker for looking out at beautiful views." Ethan said as he lent against the doorframe between his bedroom and the living room. Casey turned around and looked at him. "Oh. Uh I hope you don't mind that I..." she said gesturing to the dog bed and Ethan just shook his head with a small smile in his lips. "No. it's fine. I wasn't able to bring myself to do it because it was too... painful." he grimaced as he crossed the room to the couch, taking a seat and patting the spot next to him. Casey smiled and sat next to him.

"Why don't you come and stay with me for a few days?"

"I couldn't. You already live with 4 other people."

"So? Ethan.. You need to be around people who care for you right now. Not festering in here alone."

"But Casey..."

"No buts. You're coming with me okay? We all care for you. Yes, Jackie and Aurora have emotions too. Don't look so surprised."

"There's no getting out of this, is there?"

"Look at you. Putting those smarts to good use."

"And what do you put to good use?"

"My ass. I hustle 24/7 baby."

They looked at each other before bursting out in laughter, falling on top of each other. As the laughter died down, Ethan looked up at Casey hovering over him and swallowed.

"How are you so beautiful?"

"The same way I got lucky with you."

"Casey..."

"Ethan..."

They were about to kiss when Casey's phone rang, completely ruining the mood. With a sigh she sat up and dug through her bag, picking out her phone and answering it.

"Hel- Oh it's you. Hello Harper. Yes I called him. No he didn't answer. ... I'm debating on whether to cook a beef steak or a chicken steak for dinner. Why would I have a- You what?! That's stalking! I can have you done for that! I don't care if you're at home now! No Harper. You can- WE'RE FRIENDS. I'm outside his apartment door. I've been here for hours now. Well, one of his neighbor's let me use their bathroom. I'm a human with bodily fluids that need to be released you know. Because he isn't answering his door. You know I'm going to the police. I'm not comfortable with your actions. I'm going to the police and then I'm taking this to the board. You may give up on your friends Dr. Emery, but I don't. No. You don't get to dicta-" Casey shouted into her phone and then looked at it in disbelief as the line went dead. "That... That BITCH!" she shouted, throwing her phone back in her bag. "Hey. What happened? What did she want?" Ethan asked as he gently took Casey's hands in his own larger ones. "She fucking followed me here! Waited outside for 55 minutes then followed me up. I hope you have a nice neighbor who would be happy to cover for me because I wasn't out there when she passed, I just lied to her. I swear. It's like she doesn't want you to be happy!" she rambled on furiously and Ethan's eyes softened at her worry for him. "Look why don't I go and pack a bag, you call a for taxi and we'll go back to yours. You're right that I need to get out of here for a couple of days." he smiled softly, and Casey nodded with a small okay. After giving her a kiss on the forehead he went back to his room, and sorted out his things for the next few days, packing anything he would need into a backpack before joining Casey in the living room.

"Hey, Cassie. Are you okay? You're doing that thing where you chew your lip again."

"Hm? Oh. Yeah. I'm fine. The taxi's on it's way. We should go wait outside."

"After you."

Together they made their way outside and they waited for the taxi to pull up. When they arrived at Casey's Elijah and Aurora occupied the couches and gave the two puzzled looks as Casey turned round from closing the door. "Uh Casey?" Elijah asked, gesturing between her and Ethan. "You go head to my room. I'll catch them up to speed okay babe?" she said to Ethan as she pushed herself onto her tiptoes, giving him a quick peck on the cheek. Ethan return her kiss and then Casey joined her friends as Ethan went to her room.

"So. Um.. You both know Ethan's been missing from work for a couple of weeks right?..." Casey started and told them everything that happened, Aurora scowling when Casey mentioned what her aunt had done, with regards to following Casey to Ethan's apartment. "That sounds exactly like something she would do." Aurora commented with disgust but her facial expression softened when Ethan came back into the room. He looked around awkwardly as if not knowing where to sit. Casey patted the space between herself and Aurora and he took a seat, cuddling close to Casey, and Elijah smiled at him in his usual friendly manner.

"You're welcome to stay as long as you need Dr. Ramsey."

"Thank you doctor..."

"Greene."

"Right. Dr. Greene. Thank you."

The two men nodded at each other curtly before Ethan settled back on the couch with Casey, Aurora and Elijah made their way to their room a few minutes later leaving the two others to cuddle on the couch before heading to bed.

The next morning Casey woke up before Ethan who was kicking his legs, whimpering in pain next to her. She was about to cuddle him when he suddenly bolted upright. "Jenner! NO!" he shouted, breathing and sweating heavily with tears streaming down his face. Next to him Casey pulling him to her chest, kissing his temple gently and rubbing his back. "Hey. Shhhhh, it's going to be okay. It's going to be okay. I'm here okay?" Casey cooed softly to calm him down whilst stroking his hair. She smiled to herself at how cute it was that this had always calmed him down. She remembers him telling her a story from his early teen years, where his father stroked his hair until he fell asleep because he was stressed over a test. Then she giggled to herself as she looked down at him, knowing it was something he'd never grow too old for or tired of.

"What's got you giggling?"

"It's just.. I find it cute that at 37 this still calms you."

"Well it is soothing."

They mumbled between each other until it was time for Casey to get up. After she had showered and gotten ready for work, she waited for Ethan in the kitchen with Sienna, Elijah and Jackie, cooking breakfast for them to scoff down before having to run out of the door. When Ethan came through, everyone gave him a weird stare.

"What are you all looking at me like that for?"

"Uh D-Dr. Ramsey your uhhh..." Jackie stammered

"Well um..." Elijah trailed off going back to his food

"Honey... are you feeling okay?" Casey said as she got up and walked over to him.

"I'm feeling as good as I can be."

"Okay well um.. I'm just going to go ahead and tell you that.."

She swallowed the leftover pieces of food in her mouth as she gestured for him to lean down and she whispered into his ear, "Your bottom half is naked."

Ethan looked down and his eyes widened in horror.

"Dr. Greene, Dr. Trinh, Dr. Varma. I am so sorry. I ah..." he apologized blushing profusely

"It's okay babe. Just go finish getting ready yeah?"

"Y-Yes. Of course."

Ethan covered himself with his hand and quickly returned to Casey's room to finish getting dressed. Later they were all at work when Casey pager beeped as she worked next to Ethan and Baz trying to solve a case. Peering at her pager, she rolled her eyes and groaned a little at the message. "Dr. Valentine?" Ethan said colder than intended as he looked at her from his desk. "Sorry. I've got to go. I've been summoned by the deeeeeelightful former chief of medicine, Dr. Emery." she smiled as Baz looked at her with a raised eyebrow. "What did you say delightful like that for?" Baz asked. "Long story." Casey and Ethan said together. "Ookay then.." Baz commented and then got back to work with his research as Casey left the room. When she reached Harper's office, she knocked on the door and was invited in.

"What do you want?"

"I think you know what I want. Casey."

"Actually. You're right. I do. And it. is. not. happening."

"Oh Casey. You're mistaken. It will happen. Or I'll put your whole relationship on blast."

Casey swallowed harshly as she looked at the photo Harper slapped on the desk in front of her. For a brief moment in time she felt like she'd lost control but then she hardened her resolve and looked Harper coldly in the eyes.

"It won't. Ethan is a friend and a colleague. And like I said to you yesterday. I DON'T. GIVE UP. ON MY... FRIENDS."

And with that Casey stomped out of Harper's office back to the diagnostics room, gathered her stuff and stomped down to the cafeteria to be alone in her corner and continue her research. Ethan frowning at her in confusion as she left the room. Later that down Casey was lounging on the couch at home when there was a knock on the door, with an annoyed groan she got up and answered it to find Ethan standing there.

"Oh hi. I forgot you didn't have a key. Sorry. I should've waited for you."

"No it's okay. I've been dealing with a PITA."

"Lucky you!"

They shared a chuckle at Casey's sarcastic tone as they sat down on the couches. Well Casey laying back on the one she got up from and Ethan occupying the other. He watched her carefully and noticed the way her brows were pulled together in annoyance and anger but then he noted the sadness and pain in her eyes.

"What's up, my little cinnamon bun?"

"Nothing. I'm fine."

"Casey."

"I'm fine Ethan really. You should go change. I promised we'd do something for Jenner today, so let's head out before it gets too late to do anything."

"If you insist..."

Ethan got up with a sigh and made his way to Casey's room to change before returning to the living room and sitting back in his previous spot.

"ready?"

"I am."

"Then let's go."

Casey got up and put her sunglasses on before grabbing her keys and opening the door, but Ethan didn't move.

"Well let's move then, Ethan."

"Something's happe-"

"NOTHING. Has happened. Can we please just... go, before I change my mind."

With a sigh Ethan got up and walked outside, Casey following him, shutting and locking the door behind him. He went to hold her hand, but she stuffed the in her jeans pockets and walked ahead of him, taking a left and descending the and out main door of the apartment block. He felt hurt at her actions but tried to conceal it as he knew something must have happened at the hospital. She wasn't usually ever this cold with him. She'd always been warm and welcoming. Casey stopped a taxi and got in the front, leaving Ethan to sit by himself in the back as they went to their destination. When they got there, a small smile tugged at Ethan's lips as he noted the sign at the front of Jenner's favourite park. Casey paid the fare and they walked into the park, Casey's hands still permanently stuffed in her pockets as she walked a few paces ahead of Ethan. He stopped in his tracks causing her to stop and turn around, looking at him in annoyance that he'd stopped.

"Something's happened, and I'm not taking another step with you Casey, until you tell me what it is. and don't deny anything, you're not holding my hand. You're about 5 paces ahead of me, and you're being cold towards me which isn't you. So, what is it?"

"Nothi-"

"No! Don't give me that bullshit Casey Jane Valentine."

Sighing Casey turned her head and continued walking so he wouldn't see her hardened resolve crumble, but she eventually broke out into a run. "Casey!" Ethan shouted and broke out in a run to chase her. Somewhere along the way she'd turned down a trail and ran behind a tree. She was now sitting on the grass area surrounding it as she sobbed what felt like a million tears. She knew Ethan and Harper had a history together but why she being punished for him breaking things off with her? Why did Harper hate her? As her thoughts raced faster in her head, it got too much and she screamed into the void around her before laying on the ground feeling defeated, loud sobs emanating from her throat as she hugged herself for comfort. She felt so alone. Like such a bitch for treating the man she loved so coldly just to try and prove that they were 'only good friends' and that's when it dawned on her. She couldn't do this secret relationship thing anymore. She and Ethan either had to let everyone know and risk their jobs. Or it was going to be over for them.

As Ethan's feet pounded along the pavement to catch up with Casey, it took everything in him to not let the tears that stung his eyes, fall out and down his face. He had to give it to her when it came to running, she was the fastest person he knew, but he slowed to a stop as they turned onto the trail, bending over to catch his breath, supporting himself with his hands resting on his knees. He'd just stood upright again after catching his breath when he heard an all too familiar scream of pain that shook him to his core, as the worst scenario rushed into his mind. Casey had just been murdered by someone on the trail who was waiting in the shadows for the perfect victim. Adrenaline took over his veins once more, and he sprinted through the trail in search for his girlfriend. He was sure whatever had gotten her to act like this had to have been caused by Harper because she'd been in a super weird mood after going to her office after being paged. When he found Casey she was still laying in the grass sobbing so hard it was painful to watch, he approached her but didn't step on the grass just yet. "Cinnamon roll? Can I sit with you?" he asked, a little more hopefulness in his voice than he had intended to be there, sighing when he got no response. Pain coursing through him as he watched Casey there in the grass crying. He approached her and crouched down next to her, wrapping his arms round her shuddering frame tentatively, bracing to be rejected but sighed into her hair, pulling her close as she wrapped her arms round his torso, burying her head in the crook of his neck. "It's okay. I'm here for you." he soothed softly as he rubbed her back comfortingly. After a while Casey's sobs subsided and they made there way off of the trail holding hands. As they came upon the park café Casey had planned to take Ethan to, she let out a deep sigh, looking at the ground.

"What's the matter?"

"Can we... talk about it late? I-"

"Hey. Of course. That's fine."

"Thank you. I just want to eat now. And celebrate Jenner's life with you."

With a soft smile, Ethan opened the door to the café, and they took a seat inside, their usual drink order being brought over almost straight away, and they thanked the kind old lady who had become somewhat of a friend to them over the past year since Casey started joining Ethan in walking Jenner. They placed the order for their food, and made small talk whilst they ate it, before they left, Ethan headed to the bathrooms, and Casey went to the counter to talk to the kind old woman, who smiled at her with a fondness only a grandmother would.

"Hello dear. Was everything to your liking today?"

"It was outstanding as always Margret"

"Oh good. I'm glad. ... Now I would notice that look anywhere. What can I do for you darling?"

"Well, you see, the thing is. Ethan... he um... he had to have Jenner put to sleep after he got into an accident with a car. Today marks the 15th year since he brought him home from the rescue shelter and I'm helping Ethan remember him in the best ways possible. I don't suppose you have any of those biscuits he always liked spare, do you?"

"Oh of course I do my sweet. You know I always would keep one safe for the rascal."

Margret walked to the back and returned a few moments later, passing her the biscuit just as Ethan rejoined Casey by her side, lacing their fingers together. "Here you go. I hope whatever it is you have planned goes well. And my condolences for your loss Ethan, my darling." She said with a warm but sad smile as she briefly squeezed Ethan's shoulder with a tight nod. After some goodbyes, Casey and Ethan walked back into the park and down the path to the main gates. Once on the main street, Casey stopped a taxi and this time sat in the back with Ethan, which he had to admit, warmed his heart a little. When they arrived back at Casey's apartment complex, Ethan covered the fare and they walked up to the apartment together. Outside the door Casey knocked even though she had her keys, which confused Ethan.

"Sienna?! We're back!"

".... COMING!"

A few seconds later the door flew open and Sienna handed Casey a blindfold. Turning to Ethan, Casey jumped trying to put it on him which made him laugh.

"Baby, what are you doing?"

"Trying to blindfold you, duh."

"But why."

"So the surprise isn't ruined."

"... I'll humor you this once."

Ethan smirked as he took the blindfold from her and slipped it over his eyes. After checking he couldn't see, Sienna held the door open and Casey led him into the apartment.

"Okay... I want you to bear in mind that this was all very last minute so not everything is here but.... I do hope you like what we've put together for you okay?"

"Cinnamon roll, you know I'd like anything you put together for me."

"Okay, I want you to brace yourself, count to three and then remove your blindfold."

Casey placed the biscuit Margret had given them on the coffee table and picked up her gift, standing in front of the couch with her roommates in anticipation. When Ethan had counted to three, he removed the blindfold, letting his eyes adjust to the room, gasping as he took in the decorations surrounding him. "Casey... when did you have the time to arrange all of this?" he asked as he moved towards a picture frame with a picture of the three of them in together, all looking happy. "Well. It wasn't all me. I happen to have some very awesome friends who were down to help me and, well, you. All of us here have grieved a loss at some point in our lives so far, but we also all know how much Jenner meant to you. You were inseparable. And we want to help you through this difficult time." Casey spoke softly as he walked around looking at the decorations, appreciating the lengths they had all gone to for him. For Jenner. Suddenly emotion hit him like a train, and he started crying as he turned to Casey, pulling her into a tight hug. Everyone else in the room getting emotional too.

"Uh, Dr. Ramsey." Elijah said as he blew his nose.

"Please. Call me Ethan."

"Okay. Um, Ethan. Casey said it wasn't necessary for me to do seeing as I'm struggling with my money at the moment, but I wanted to get you a gift too. We all did. So well.. this is from myself, Jackie, Sienna and Aurora. It won't match Casey's gift but we uh... here." Elijah hesitated as he passed the wrapped gift, Ethan gratefully accepting it as he sat to open it. He gasped as he removed the wrapping upon seeing what it was.

"Is it... bad?"

"No Dr. Greene, uhm, Elijah.. it's perfect. Thank you."

"Casey mentioned you broke yours and it still hadn't been replaced, so we gathered the same pictures and had another made for you at this shop not too far away. Thankfully, they understood and fast tracked our order but.. the best addition is this.. May I?"

Elijah held out his hand and Ethan passed him the photo cube, watching as he flipped it around before turning it, to show Ethan a picture of Jenner that had wings and a halo added to it, with the caption, 'I'll be waiting for you dad. Love you always.' on it. Tears fell from Ethan's eyes again as he lent on Casey's shoulder, taking the cube back from Elijah. "Okay. My own roommates are out gifting me to my boyfriend now. I may just have to kick y'all out." Casey joked to lighten the mood a little and they chuckled as they dabbed at their eyes with tissues.

"This is emotional. I hate emotion." Jackie sniffled

"Come on Jack. If Ethan can cry then so can we." Aurora said

Ethan hugged Casey and the others took seats on the couches and in chairs as the mood settled back down before Casey gave Ethan her gift.

"Before you open this. I know you aren't one for jewelry, but, like we've said. I know how close you were and still are to Jenner, so I thought this would ease things for you. Because he can still be with you all the time."

Looking a little baffled Ethan carefully opened the gift, throwing the paper to the side as he opened the jewelry box to find a pendant inside. Carefully he opened it, instantly tearing up again as he saw a picture of himself, Jenner and his dad on one side, and a smiley Casey on the other. "Cinnamon roll." he cried as his voice cracked, pulling her into a tight hug and kissing her cheek. "It's beautiful. Thank you so much. I love you. So so much."

Emotion filled the room again as everyone cried at Casey's gift, and the matching pendant she had been wearing all day, hiding it under her sweater. "What did I do to deserve you all?" Ethan asked, as he dabbed and blinked the last of his tears away. They all shared a light chuckle, and Aurora cleared her throat to give an answer.

"You not only inspired us, but you pushed us in our first year to be our absolute best. You made our bond as friends stronger, for me, you mainly showed me that I needed friends. If I wasn't to end up at stiff as you that is. But most of all, you loved our Cassie. You gave her kindness, compassion, support. Everything you have here. Now. Is because you deserve the kindness and love you've given out. Back."

Jackie looked at her quizzically.

"What?"

"When did you become so sentimental?"

"I could ask you the same damn thing right about now."

"Touche."

After talking about Jenner's memory, there was one more thing to do before they all headed to bed for the night. With the biscuit from Margret tied to a few helium-filled balloons, they headed out onto the balcony and looked up at the sky. Ethan taking the balloons from Sienna.

"Hey buddy. It's your dad. I hope they're looking after you up there, because if they aren't they'll be hell to pay when I get there. Anyway, you um. You don't need to worry about me too much. Your mom and her friends are looking after me down here. You should go ahead on more adventures to tell me all about when we meet again. Just like I'm going to for you. I uh.. Well both me and your mom went to see Margret today, and we've brought you your favourite treat. We thought we'd send it up to you so. Here you go buddy. Enjoy. And remember, small bites. Good boy. I love you. Goodnight for now."

He spoke with thick emotion before letting the balloons go as he tightly held Casey's and Elijah's hands, the others joining the chain as they watched the balloons carry the biscuit higher and higher until they couldn't see it anymore. They headed back inside and locked all the doors and windows, cleaning up the mess and going to bed. Casey and Ethan never spoke about where their relationship stood that night. Were they to remain a secret or not. Little did she know the next morning that question would be answered for her. But for now, her focus was sleep. And cuddling Ethan.

------ The Next Day ------

Feeling refreshed still, half way into the morning at work the next day, Casey stood in a hallway marking a chart as the hospital's PA system dinged overhead. She expected it to be a trauma call or something calling someone to the ER, but she froze as the familiar voice filled the halls and heads turned to stare at her.

"Good Morning staff of Edenbrook. This is Dr. Ramsey. I sound ridiculously happy given recent circumstances in my personal life. But there is a reason and I no longer care if it costs me my job. I'm happy because of a certain doctor. She's probably blushing right now and untucking her hair trying to hide her face whilst it's scrunched up in embarrassment. Anyway, this is not the time for tangents. I'm in love with and dating Dr. Casey Valentine and I've finally stopped giving fucks to hide it. Casey. I love you. I fucking love you. That will be all. Please resume your days as normal."

Casey rushed to a nearby supply closet, a grin spreading on her face as she shut the door. He loved her.

Truly. Madly. Deeply.

#pixleberry studios #choices fanfiction #choices stories you play #playchoices #ethan ramsey fanfiction #dr ethan ramsey #ethan x casey #choices open heart #open heart fanfiction #ethan ramsey

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kiritella · 5 years

Text

Fading Lights

Pairings: Father!Bucky x Daughter!Reader

Words: 3.1k-ish

Warnings: A creepy-ish villain, drowning?

Type: angst to fluff

Masterlist

-------------------------------------

The pounding in your head radiates down your spine as reality slowly comes into focus and you quickly realize you aren’t at school anymore. The concrete scrapes against your arms as you attempt to move, stinging pain shooting in your wrists as the rope tying them together cuts further into your skin. Your eyes scan the darker room, the sickly yellow artificial light illuminating the damp and completely concrete walls, a large metal door that bursts open, causing a creak in the hinges and a course of fear to spill in your veins as several men walk into the room.

“Finally,” one of them says as he kneels beside you, a hand coming to rest on the side of your face, gently brushing back and forth over your cheekbone, “I was beginning to think maybe my men hit you too hard on the head and killed you.”

His hand travels from your cheek to where blood is clumping your hair together, examining the gash on the side of your head. His eyes flick back across your face, filled with what could only be described as awe, and his voice comes out soft, almost delicate, drawing out each word in a low tone, seemingly controlled in every manner, “They made quite a mess, didn’t they? It’s not really my style, I prefer much cleaner ways of killing, much more painful ways.”

You try and flinch away but don’t get far, “Don’t touch me,” you growl, but your voice is clearly laced with fear, how couldn’t it be? You are sixteen, tied up, and people are talking about killing you. Being the Winter Soldier’s daughter may have toughened you in some ways, but this isn’t something you are prepared for.

The man grins and it’s just a little too wide for his face, “Don’t worry, it’ll be over soon,” he says while stroking the side of your face as you strain to get away from his touch, a wave of fear burying itself in your bones. He slowly stands and the men behind him start forward and pick you up under your arms, “Take her to the chamber and turn on the mics.”

The men start dragging you out and you twist and scream, kicking at everything you can, but nothing comes of it. They take you down a few hallways until they enter another room, this one has a glass box in the back, a single light above it, dimly casting a glow around the prison. You are pushed up the steps and one of them unties your hands and shoves you into the glass room. You take the opportunity and charge the door before they close it, catching one of the men off guard as you tackle him to the floor and land a punch to his jaw.

“You little bitch!” he shrieks as the other guard pulls you off him, holding your arms behind you as you fight to get out of his hold.

“Let me go!” you scream, fighting against him, but you know it is useless. The guy you punched strides forward and lands a fist right in your gut, causing a grunt to leave you and they throw you back into the glass box before they close the door, a slight sealing sound echoing in the space as the men turn and leave the room with a snarl.

-------------------------------------

The moment Bucky heard your voice coming over the intercom, his heart stalled, “I swear to god, if you touch her!” he shouts, lunging at the man in front of him only to be yanked back by the chains on his right arm, his left completely limp at his side from the specialized cuff attached to his wrist.

“You’ll what, Mr. Barnes? You are incapable of doing anything to help your little girl,” the man says, recalling his interaction with you not ten minutes ago, “I have to say, she is quite beautiful, such kind eyes, soft skin.” He looks at his hands as the memory of him tracing your face crosses his mind, a distant gaze in his brown eyes.

Bucky growls and pulls against the chains, anger coursing in his blood at the thought of this man laying a finger on you and he isn’t the only one. Natasha strains against the chains clasped on her wrists and ankles, suspending her vertically in the air, standing on her toes, as Clint struggles to get out of his confines. It was a mission gone south, usually, they would be slightly calmer, knowing how they were going to escape, knowing someone was coming for them, but this was different, they have you. The team’s snarky ray of sunshine and all would go to hell before they let anyone lay a hand on you.

“You should all know by now that resisting the chains is useless at this point,” the man says as he turns to leave the room, a placid expression on his pale face, “But there are things finish, so I shall continue, yes? As for your daughter, Mr. Barnes, I do believe I have some work to do.”

The door slams shut as Bucky once again charges after him, the chain straining to hold him back yet secure, “Stay away from her, you son of a—”

“Dad?”

Bucky falters when he hears your voice over the speakers, loud and clear, Natasha and Clint’s eyes widening in shock that you can now hear them, “Y/n?”

“Dad?!” you say and Bucky nearly breaks when he hears your fear-drenched voice.

“I’m here, Baby, I’m here, are-are you okay?”

“Dad, what’s going on? Where are we?”

“I-I don’t know, Baby, but I need you to talk to me, you gotta let me know if you’re okay. Did they hurt you?”

“I-I’m okay, nothin’ a little time can’t heal. Dad, I-I” your voice cracks and Bucky can hear the utter terror in your words.

“Hey, hey, it’s alright, we—We’re gonna get outta here, just hold on, Steve’s coming for us, don’t worry. Just t-tell me about your day, alright? Just keep talkin’ to me,” Bucky says, not really knowing who the support is for at this moment, you or himself. He just needs to know you are okay, to hear you, because his heart aches at the thought of not being able to save you if something were to happen, if someone tried to hurt you, he is stuck in this damn room.

“Okay, um— A-After I left this morning and made it to school…” you continue through your day, adding as many details as you can, periodically checking if Bucky is still there. Talking helps to calm your nerves slightly, so you ended up seated on the floor with your knees curled up to your chest as you go through your day all the way up to the point where you got kidnapped, a small fight until a blow to your head knocked you out. You’re not sure how much time has passed since you first started talking, but you know it must have been a while, and you only halt when a strange but subtle sound breaks the air.

“Sweetheart?” Bucky’s voice calls over the intercom, “Baby, talk to me.”

“I-I’m still here,” you stand up and look around for where the noise is coming from, and look down when something cold hits your feet, the sight chilling you to your bones and sending fear rippling in your heart as a whimper escapes you.

“Hey, what’s happening? What’s going on?” Bucky asks and the panic is clear in his tone, “Y/n, talk to me.”

“E-everything’s fine, just...scared,” you say, refusing to let your voice shake, despite the fact your entire body is starting to tremble as you sink back to the floor, sitting in the water that is slowly starting to rise in your tank.

Bucky sits back against the wall, his eyes squeezing shut, “I know, Baby, but Steve’s comin’, just hold on for me, we’ll get outta here.”

The line goes quiet for a moment, you’ve already tried to break out of the tank, the glass must be some high-level stuff because nothing is working. Bruce said that you have the super-soldier serum running through your veins, but it hasn’t made any presence known in the aspect of powers. He says it will probably occur as you get older or maybe not at all, but for now, it is a waiting game since you are the first kid born with the serum originating in your DNA. So, long story short, it isn’t helping your current situation.

“Dad?”

“I’m here, Sweetheart.”

“Can-can you tell me a story?” you ask through a trembling lip, the water already rising up to your elbows from where you are sitting.

Bucky’s brows furrow at your request, but doesn’t dare question it, “Which one you want to hear?”

“When you met mom?”

Bucky smiles slightly, it’s one of your favorites, especially after your mom died, so he doesn’t hesitate to begin, “Well, I went out for the day, decided to walk around a bit so I left my Harley in a parking garage and just started roaming the city. Must have gotten about half an hour in when, out of nowhere, it starts raining, and this isn’t just ‘look it’s sprinkling’ it was a heavy downpour, the wind picked up and I just started running to the nearest open shop, which just so happened to be a bookstore. I can still hear her laugh from that day, it was so soft and sweet, had me spinning around to see who it was, and damn, I’m pretty sure my heart stopped for a second. She had this tea—” he stops speaking when there is an odd noise coming over the speakers, “Sweetheart, what’s that sound?”

You take a deep breath before responding, now standing as the water rises up to your waist, “There’s nothing over here,” you say, biting back the sob that’s begging to make its way from your chest.

Worry spikes in Bucky’s chest, something doesn’t feel right, “Baby, what’s going on? What’s that noise?”

You squeeze your eyes closed as tears fall and slide down your face, joining the water below, “Nothin’s happening yet, maybe it’s the wires or something?”

Bucky’s gut twists, but he swallows and takes a deep breath before continuing, “When I saw your mom, she had this teasing glint in her eyes and she was absolutely stunning, and then came the embarrassment, because there she was looking so casually beautiful and I was in some plain jeans and a ragged t-shirt, half soaked, hair all a mess and I probably looked like a wet dog, but she just smiled and offered some tea and a seat to wait out the storm…” he continues on his story, making sure to leave nothing out, like how her face lit up when she smiled, or the way her eyes crinkled when she laughed.

-------------------------------------

“I still don’t understand why we are doing this,” the guard at the cameras says to the pale man who is in charge of the base, the orchestrator of the events playing out before him, “I thought we were going to kill the Winter Soldier?”

The pale man traces his palm as he watches you through the cameras, the feeling of your face on his skin still vibrant, “Everyone knows,” he says, voice smooth and slow, “If you want to kill a man, you take what is most precious to him, you kill his heart, the one thing he values most in the world. After that, he’ll break, and his soul will die.”

“Yes, Dr. Zaldon,” the guard says quickly, a chill running down his spine.

-------------------------------------

Bucky keeps talking, continuing through their first date, and you are biting back every sob, swimming to stay afloat in the tank, the air running out at the top and you break. Memories of you and your dad flashing across your mind and you finally break, “Dad? Daddy?”

Bucky’s mind goes numb and fear dumps in his veins at the pure panic in your voice, “I’m here, Baby, talk to me, what’s wrong?”

“Daddy?” you sob and your voice shakes, “Daddy, I love you.”

Bucky’s fear quickly turns to panic as he jumps to his feet, “What’s going on? What’s that noise?”

You’re sobbing as you strain your neck to catch the disappearing air, “I love you— I-I love you, Daddy.”

Bucky starts yanking the chain, pulling against its base in every way he can, as strong as he can, “What’s going on?” he shouts as he frantically tries to break free, Natasha and Clint mimicking his actions, but Bucky’s heart sinks when all he gets is a garbled response, “Y/n? Baby? Talk to me!”

A loud thunder shakes the room and gunfire sounds before the door burst open to reveal Steve, “You guys alright?” he asks while ramming his shield on the cuff on Bucky’s metal arm, instantly reviving the limb and Bucky snaps the locks on his flesh hand as Steve frees Nat and Clint before they all run out of the room.

“They have y/n,” Bucky shouts as they weave their way around the base, charging every room they see in order to find you.

Steve reads the fear in Bucky’s face and tone quickly and is about to say something when Sam’s panicked voice shouts a little farther down the hall, “I need help in here!”

When they arrive at the room, Bucky’s heart stops, the dread seeping in his bones bursts and the pure panic floods his system as he runs to the other side of the room where Sam is shooting at a tank filled with water, your body suspended in the middle, convulsing at the lack of oxygen, “No—”

Soon Nat is shooting at the tank as well, Steve hitting it with his shield with all his strength, and Bucky pounding his metal fist into the glass, but it isn’t getting them very far. Your body starts convulsing less and Bucky nearly screams, “Stay with me, don’t you leave me.”

The glass starts to break when Tony’s voice sounds out, “Everyone move!”

No one has time to react before his blasters fire above their heads and completely shatters the glass. The water dumps out of the tank shoving everyone back as your body limply flows out and rests on the floor. Bucky scrambles to your side, a smile on his face and a relieved laugh echoing in the room, “Y/n, baby, it’s okay, you’re safe.” His hands smooth back your hair as he waits for your eyes to flutter open, but his heart clenches when they don’t, “Come on, Baby, we’re out, Steve came for us, just like I said. Sweetheart?”

Steve shakes his head, refusing to believe and Sam nearly collapses. Natasha slowly kneels beside Bucky who is now hovering over you, continuously smoothing your hair back, whispering things to you. She presses her fingers to your neck where a pulse is supposed to be, her eyes squeezing shut as tears slip down her cheeks when she doesn’t find one, her voice coming out cracked, “Buck…”

He just shakes his head, “No...No—Y/n come on, Sweetheart,” he says, voice thick with tears as he starts tapping your face lightly, “Wake up, Baby.”

When it doesn’t work, he leans down and tilts your head back, squeezing your nose closed as he breathes air into your lungs, coming back up and starting chest compressions, “Wake up, I’m here, I came, Baby, daddy’s here, just wake up.”

“C’mon, Sweetheart, open those beautiful eyes. Stay with me,” Bucky chokes on a sob as his tears slip and fall on your face, “You have to stay, you can’t leave me, I need you.”

Steve’s tears are already falling and Sam has to lean against the wall for support, Natasha is holding onto Tony’s armor as they all stare at the scene before them. Steve eventually nods to the others and motions to the door and they all follow him out of the room, providing Bucky some privacy as they all allow themselves to cry. The base is taken, everyone’s been captured, so they allow themselves to mourn.

Bucky breathes into your lungs and starts his compressions again, unable to see you through the tears in his eyes, “Wake up, I’m here, daddy’s here, daddy’s here, please wake up, I can’t do this, I need you.”

“Open your eyes…” his sobs break through, your pale face so soft and gentle, relaxed and Bucky can’t breathe, the pain in his chest erupting.

“Baby?”

“Sweetheart?”

“Sugar?”

“Princess?” he pleads as his body gives out and he collapses over you, wrapping you in his arms and pulling you to his chest as he sits up on his knees, “I love you too, Baby, I love you—I love you so much,” he says through his sobs and he pulls your limp body tighter against his chest as the pain becomes too much and a bitter scream pierces the air, echoing down the hall and sending shivers down the other Avenger’s spines.

Bucky buries his face in your neck, keeping you close, muttering “I love you” over and over as he rocked you back and forth. Time seems to slow down and there is nothing but the empty ache in his chest and the feeling of your limp body against his. Your smile flashing across his mind, the way you tilt your head back when you laugh, the slur in your voice when you get tired...Gone...he clings to you as the wrenching sounds spill from his lips. A sprint of something warm tickles his neck, but he doesn’t move until your body convulses in his arms. His head shoots up and your body heaves forward and sideways as water spews from your mouth and you start coughing, gasping for air.

Bucky sobs as you move in his arms as you catch your breath, relief flooding through his veins, rolling back into him with half-lidded eyes, “Y/n?”

“Dad?”

He doesn’t even try to hide his tears as he pulls you tight against him, crying into your neck, “I’m here—Daddy’s here.”

You don’t have the energy to even move, if you did, you’d wrap your arms around him and cry with him, relief washing over you, “Dad?”

Bucky lifts his head and uses one had to smooth your hair out of your face and he presses a kiss on your forehead, then to your temple and your cheek, burying his face back in your neck and feels the way your chest rises and falls as you breathe, “I’m here, you’re safe, I’ve got you.”

You summon your strength and lift an arm up to his head and gently pull him back, his eyes are red and puffy, his lower lip shaking and eyes raking over your face over and over, “I’m right here, I’m okay, it’s okay,” you say softly as you wipe a stray tear falling from his eyes and you can feel him tremble under your fingers.

“I love you,” he says and his voice comes out thick and shaky as he presses a kiss on your forehead, “I love you so much.”

Tears well up in your eyes again and your voice cracks, “I love you too.”

Bucky holds you close and wraps an arm under your legs as he begins to stand, lifting you with him. You bury your head against his chest and neck and you shift your arm around his shoulder as he carefully leads you out of the room, “Let’s get you home.”

-------------------------------------

#fading lights #bucky #buckybarnes #bucky x reader #bucky x you #james buchanan barnes #bucky x abused!reader #bucky x reader protective #james barnes #father!bucky x daughter!reader #dad!bucky x daughter!reader #dad!bucky #protective bucky #kiritella #bucky oneshots #bucky one shots #bucky one-shots

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pinkchanelbag-moved · 5 years

Note

i just found your blog but i actually love it sm can you write a lil sum sum w nick based off sunflower bc i will never get tired of that song

thank you babyyy this is stupid long im sorry it got really messy and i ended up hating it but its too long not to post so im sorry that this is trash lol

---

sunflower - n.m.

you’d be left in the dust

unless i stuck by ya

you’re the sunflower

i think your love would be too much

“dog, you’re not really making any sense,” edwin sighed to his distressed friend. “slow down.”

nick sniffled and rubbed his forehead, scared of the deep feeling of resolution sinking into his stomach. the realization that this could be the end of his relationship.

“i told her i would pull up to her place after the movie, but after i just picked up z and we drove around and i kept my phone on silent ‘cause i knew she was gonna call.”

“you were avoiding her?” edwin asked, making a perplexed hand gesture. “why?”

“i don’t know!” nick exclaimed. “she’s flying home for her midterms tonight, and today was her last recording session so she’s gonna be studying all day and i just didn’t wanna be around her during all that brainy shit, it just gets on my nerves.”

edwin frowned in confusion at his friend, but held his silence.

“anyway, she called brandon to ask about the movie, and then you guys obviously, and when she got around to zion, that’s when i decided to go see her.”

brandon re-entered the living room with a bottle of water that he handed to his friend. he sat down on the floor across from nick’s seat on the couch and beside edwin’s on the loveseat. edwin rested his elbows on his knees, leaning in to listen, while brandon settled his back on the side of coffee table with upset eyes.

“she…she wouldn’t let me in.” nick paused to take a gulp of his water. the water squeezed past the lump on his throat. “she said she hadn’t studied at all ‘cause she was worried about me. she said she was done, and that she was tired of our relationship being her trying to get me to be nice to her and trying to trust me when she never knows shit about…about…i dunno, something like that, i don’t remember.” with his eyes glued to the ground in a deadpan stare, he said, “she said she didn’t wanna be with me. and then she closed the door, and i left.”

brandon and edwin shared a look before trying to detangle the situation that had just unfolded before them.

“so…ummm…” brandon rubbed his mouth. “have you guys been having problems like this? ‘cause i don’t think she woulda done this unprovoked.”

nick sighed, clenching his jaw in an attempt to hold back tears.

“i guess…i don’t know, bro…she’s just always busy. i mean, not busy, but always moving. she’s always doing the most, whether it’s recording or going to meetings or working on her clothing line or tryna stay caught up at college or…i don’t know, flying to the fuckin’ moon. and i’m just tryna be with her, not with, like…her grind. does that make sense?”

“kind of…” brandon answered.

“but nick, she literally invited you over on her only free night to study before going home for midterms. she’s trying.”

“yeah, i know, but it’s like…when i’m with her, it’s like i know that she could be doing some more important shit, and that she probably wants to, but she gotta slow down and make time for me. like, ‘don’t have dinner with me, you should be running for president or some shit.’ that typa shit. and i’m proud of her, for real. i really got the baddest out there, but i wake up and shower and maybe work out and then go see her, and by that same time she’s cleared half her schedule of the crazy amount of shit she has to do. when i’m with her, i feel like i’m wasting her time.”

“yo…” edwin said after several seconds.

“you’re a fuckin idiot,” brandon finished for him.

“yeah, thanks, fuck you,” nick said throwing his body back to the cushion.

“no, for real. you’re mad at her and treating her like shit because you feel small next to all her success? that is the worst thing a guy can do to a girl, nick. get over yourself, bro. you’re crazy about her and you’re avoiding her because she loves you and you’re—what, insecure?”

“yeah,” edwin gestured to brandon in agreement. “and she loves you too. obviously, or she wouldn’t have put up with your shit for so long. you got so lucky. a strong ass girl with her future and her life straight. if you feel like you’re not good enough, you should be doing the exact opposite of whatever the fuck you were doing before. you should treat her like the world. and why she loves you, that’s none of your business, man. that’s ‘cause of god.” he gestures to the air above him. “she’s winning in every part of her life except with you, because of you.”

nick’s eyes alternated between his two friends for some time, comprehending their advice. he dug his palms into his eyes and groaned.

“why the fuck didn’t y’all tell me that before she broke up with me!? she’s boutta leave the fuckin state!”

“when’s her flight?” edwin asked.

nick checked his watch and took a deep breath.

“two hours.”

“get the fuck outta here, then!” edwin yelled, getting up from his seat.

“i’ll call maggie and see if she’s already on her way to the airport,” brandon told nick, who was already jumping off the couch in search of his car keys. within minutes, he was on the road, flying through the night traffic one hand on the wheel and the other placing calls to your phone that went unanswered every time. after a few minutes, brandon’s text was a beacon of hope.

maggie says she just left ina taxi

nick swerved to make an exit that would take him to the airport, throwing his phone on the dash.

he drove for some time, heart thudding in his chest like a drum, looking through the window of any taxi he could see. finally, about ten minutes out from the airport, he spotted a taxi. as he neared it, he saw a familiar head of hair atop a lowered head, the curve of a nose. just briefly, he saw you sitting in the backseat.

he quickly found his place behind the taxi, never faltering. he texted your phone—stop the taxi get outta the taxi ill drive you there—and watched as you lifted your head and looked at the cars around you to find him. you looked over your shoulder and made distant eye contact with him. it was difficult to see in the darkness of the night, but he knew it was you, and you knew it was him. even from here, he could see how drained you were.

you left his texts unanswered still, but now nick knew where you were. he followed the taxi the rest of the way to the airport. nick watched the driver park and swivelled into place beside him. he jumped out of the car, and the first word out of his mouth was your name. he ran around his car to the side in which you were sitting. you hadn’t gotten out yet, but rather stared at the seat in front of you.

“y/n, can you hear me out?” nick asked. he moved to the passenger window in front of your seat and knocked on it, signalling to the driver. “i’ll pay the fare. i’ll pay the fare, i’ll pay it, i was supposed to drive her,” he says. the driver nods hesitantly before deciding to go on his phone.

“y/n,” nick said, back to your window. “please. okay, you don’t needa talk, but just listen, okay?” he swallowed, preparing to speak, but found that he had no words. he had been so worried about getting to you in time that he didn’t think of what to say to get you back. panicking, he tried to recall the things his friends told him.

“i’m…i—i’ve been treating you like shit. like, you’re right, what you said about how i’m not even nice to you sometimes. and it’s not…not cause i have any kinda bad feelings toward you. i love you. i love you, it’s like…i love you so much and you’re just so—“ he stopped his to take a breath, and the tears now caught up with him. “you’re so strong and intelligent and beautiful. you’re fucking radiant and you’re perfect, and you treat me so good that i feel like compared to how great you are, i’m just not all that. and you’re doing so much shit with your life. i feel like i’m in your way. ‘cause you don’t need me and that scares the shit outta me.”

you took a deep breath, hung your head, and nick felt like he was getting to you.

“please, can you just…come out? so i can talk to you?” he pleaded. he watched as you frowned in contemplation at your feet for five, ten, twenty seconds. finally, he stepped back as you slowly opened the door and stepped outside with your arms folded defensively over your chest.

“i…” he began, his heart aching over your puffy, red face. “i can’t take it sometimes. your love is too much, ‘cause there’s nothing i’ve ever done that would make me deserve it.”

finally, you met his eyes. nick felt all his emotions caving into his chest at once.

“you loving me is like…” he blinked at the sky for a moment. “it’s like…it’s like a flower loving an ant. it doesn’t make sense.” he tapped his temples in emphasis. “and i guess it’s just always been easier to avoid it than work toward even feeling like i deserve it.”

finally, he was done. he waited for you, praying you would believe him after the trust he had let wilt between you two.

“you always deserved it,” you said quietly, looking to the ground. “just by being you. i never asked for anything but for you to be with me.”

nick scratched the nape of his neck, his tears sliding lazily down his cheeks.

“i’m sorry,” he said in a cracked voice. you looked up at him, watched his contorted face for a moment with wet eyes before sighing and blinking. your arms unfolded from your chest, and after a moment’s thought, slowly came around nick’s waist. he pulled you into a tight hug and buried his face in your hair.

“i’m sorry,” he whispered several more times. you pressed your mouth to his shoulder and let your own tears run at the relief that you wouldn’t have to do this thing; you wouldn’t have to leave the man you love. you heaved a deep breath and melted into him for comfort over the hell that the last few hours had been.

“please don’t make me feel like that again,” you whispered in a genuine plea. “like you don’t care about me.”

“i won’t. never again. never,” he shook his head, voice muffled.

suddenly, you let out a small chuckle.

“what?” nick asked, pulling away slightly.

“i’m really gonna fail my midterm for you.”

#nick mara #nick mara imagine #nick mara x reader #nad.txt

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actualbird · 4 years

Text

and for this rec list for @dghdafeedbackfest, it is time for the TEARS!!!!! here are some fics that made me cry real actual goddamn tears, many times in public. be warned and have tissues ready if you decide to embark on these fics!!!

in this world, we’re just beginning by cakesnake, nosecoffee

“I'm going to solve a mystery.” He tells Todd proudly.

Todd snorts. “Because you're a detective?”

“Correct. And you're going to help me.” Again, telling him, there is no question, Todd is intrinsically linked, he can feel it.

“Says who?”

“Says me.”

“This place is legitimately paradise, there's nothing to be solved, no mysteries here.” He shrugs, and takes another sip of his drink.

“If this place is such a paradise then why aren't you having fun?”

( A San Junipero AU )

CONTENT WARNING: DEATH. it’s a san junipero AU and if you dont know what that means, i implore you to quickly google it before you endeavor on this fic, just like i did. will that make you cry any less now that you know whats going to happen? ABSOLUTELY NOT. i read this fic right before an 8am class and my eyes were RED from BAWLING. the emotions in this fic are intense and really god me in the heart but also made me believe love is real.

I Can't Tell One From the Other (Did I Find You Or You Find Me) by Lavellington

"I can't possibly meet your parents on Sunday, Todd! It's too soon! I haven't done any preparatory research!"

"Yeah," Todd says, "we all know you're Mister Preparatory Research."

Todd's still trying to Fix Things with his family, and he's not sure if introducing them to Dirk Gently counts as progress in that department.

part of a series!!!! the whole series is wonderful but this fic is really my favorite of the whole thing. it doesnt look like itll make you cry, but it will, oh it will. i love this fic so much because it’s the kind of hurt that feels like pulling out a splinter. it has to happen to get better. wonderful piece.

and i could give you all the olive trees by orphan_account

Todd opened his eyes to a vision of dancing white and yellow blobs.

‘Daisies,’ he croaked.

‘I told you to run,’ Dirk said.

(Dirk and Todd get captured by Blackwing. It's no picnic.)

CONTENT WARNINGS: BLACKWING, VIOLENCE, AND INJURY. this fic is not for the faint of heart but if youre a fan of seeing characters get hurt but never give up this fic is gonna be amazing for you

The Only Way Out is Through (Or: How to be Almost, Mostly, Okay Again) by electricteatime / @kieren-fucking-walker

"Terrible as it is, it’s easier to cling to the hope that there were good reasons for what they did. That the people who treated him well were at heart good people, and they hadn’t just been lying to him the whole time, that the small amounts of affection he’d been given were real and tangible. Even when he knows the truth somewhere deep inside it doesn’t mean he wants to acknowledge it.

But, like all things, it’s only a matter of time."

*** The only thing Dirk Gently has ever learned to do with his trauma, is shove it down as deep as it will go, lock it away, and hope that ignoring it means it isn't really there. For a while at least, it works. But when the past comes knocking looking to make amends, and pretending that none of it was as bad as it seemed isn't an option anymore, the delicate balancing act he's been practicing for years finally tips over the edge.

Healing is painful, recovery isn't linear, sometimes you have to tear everything down before you can start to rebuild.

His own demons might be the scariest thing he's ever had to face, but it's not something he has to do alone, and in the end that makes all the difference.

OHHHH MANNN OKAY OKAY SO. this fic is my all time favorite wip right now. i patiently wait for new chapters like a frothing at the mouth chihuahua waiting for a treat. this fic contains some real heavy stuff in terms of dirk’s trauma but more importantly, dirk’s recovery, and it is handled so goddamn well. this fic makes me cry, but it also gives me hope. do you want dirk gently to Get Better? THIS FIC IS FOR YOU!! PLEASE READ IT, I LOVE IT A LOT!!!

All Roads Lead to Nowhere (Except the one that Leads to You) by electricteatime

Todd’s heart stops. Or it feels like it does because… that’s a voice. That’s a human voice. That’s a human voice that he must have been hallucinating. He’s been driving too long, drunk too much coffee, didn’t get enough sleep last night he’s just-

“Bloody hell, it’s dark in here.”

Nope. Todd scrambles to open the car door and flings himself away from the vehicle, stumbling backwards until he lands on his ass, staring at the car with wide eyes and struggling to catch his breath past the sheer terror that’s overcome him all of a sudden.

This isn’t happening. ***

Todd knows the work he does isn't the most morally sound, being a delivery guy for a local gang was never going to to be, but the job is good, the pay is better, and no matter how temporary it was supposed to be when he started he has no intention of stopping now.

Then a strange man with an even stranger name wakes up in the trunk of his car, and everything goes to shit.

this is one of the first few fics i read for this fandom and i am blown away every single time i reread it. todd’s characterization in this fic hits the ball out of the park, and characterization and journey are just done so well it brings tears to my eyes. gorgeously crafted fic!!!

(He Wouldn’t Say) Kidnappings Were a Routine Part of his Career by Bumblie_Bee

Dirk is woken by something colliding with his face. Hard. He opens his eyes, and at first the room around him is hazy and dark, but as his eyes adjust and the blurriness clears a little, he sees he’s in what looks to be a warehouse and realises that the ‘something’ that had collided with his face was, in fact, probably a fist. Which would make it more of a ‘someone’ than a ‘something’, if he’s going to be precise.

CONTENT WARNINGS: VIOLENCE AND INJURY. okay this is straight up whump with comfort but goddamn do i love whump and comfort. what i love so much about this fic is that it doesnt just whump the hell outta dirk, it makes dirk go through the messy process of physical recovery. it’s so so difficult, and that makes me cry. oh but what an honor to cry for this fic!!!

you are the one (you hold me in my place); by unintentionallyangsty

three months after the events of Bergsberg and Wendimoor, Dirk is kidnapped again.

following this, it becomes very clear, very quickly, that Todd hasn't yet taken the time to mentally process the drastic shift that has taken place within his life, leading up to this point.

this is the aftermath.

CONTENT WARNING: BRIEF SELF-HARM. this fic is pretty intense on the emotions and it makes me cry because it is so apparent that the trio care about each other so much!!! wonderful look into how todd is dealing (or not dealing) with everything happening

if you cry reading these fics, dont forget to drink some water to re-hydrate!!! also dont forget to leave a comment to show these fic writers some love!!!! happy (or not so happy...) reading :Dc

#dghda #dirk gentlys holistic detective agency #fic

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musicmeisterandtheinbox · 4 years

Text

Somebody Sure As Hell Messed UP (Part 1)

((Hey everyone, sorry about the long absence until now. This is an RP event with @darcimasonusb @askthetoyman @asktheonearmedbandit with Dennis being caught up in this stupid divorce drama. ugh. Mondays, am I right? Thanks for reading! Hopefully, Dennis doesn’t die. you know how that goes.))

Tonight was a night per usual in Gotham City. A frosted air brewed in for Winter was just around the bend. Two peculiar young people rode along in a calmer part of the city thanks to a moped in the shape of an 8th note, for they had quite an adventure planned.

“You know what you’re doing, right?” Dennis muffled, covering his mouth with his lime green scarf.

“Yes, I’ve done this before!” Darci chuckled. Her blonde hair caught bits of frost as she analyzed the series of closed stores.

They stopped somewhere interesting and took a gander at the locks. “Just thought I’d ask cause-”

"Cause what?“

"Well, you’re so… normal. I don’t mean that in an insulting way either. It’s just, no powers, no backstory, you just showed up!”

"If that’s your definition of normal then it wouldn’t be normal, would it?“

“I guess it isn’t… huh?”

As he lurked through the sewers beneath the street, the cowboy tried to place himself in the near pitch-black environment. A right turn, a hair left, straight for a couple hundred feet. Don’t fall in the water; it takes too damn long to clean that stuff out. ‘Nother right, and up the access ladder. It should let right out to the back alley. The businesses connected to it ain’t that fancy, but they’re easy pickins. But which to choose?

Maybe that Lil’ liquor shop? Eh, done those too many times to count… That bakery’s already closed; no fun in that… oh, now ain’t that a beaut? A Lil’ ol’ diner! Maybe a little slow, but just enough people. Oh, now ain’t this gonna be a hoot? The cowboy cops a squat in the alley to wait for his proverbial “high noon.”

Dennis and Darci had a long look at the locks and realized, there’s just too many people around to do a good robbery. “Do you wanna just wait it out a bit?” Darci asked

“Yeah that sounds good” Dennis fixed his bright red hair a bit, “What do you wanna do in the meantime?” “Hm. I’m not particularly hungry but do you wanna grab something?”

Dennis crunched the numbers in his head, “I had some cantaloupe around 4… or was it honeydew? Either way, I could eat.” It was 10 PM.

“C'mon we can go down to that honky-tonk around the block, bet there’ll be something fun too.” And to the diner, they went. Dennis parked his stupid awful moped scooter near the entrance and both walked inside. Business there was slow but the atmosphere screamed the 1950’s. The checkboard floor, teal booth seats, and Crosley brand Jukebox were all dead ringers for this notion. A woman in around her mid 30’s called out to the two “Sit where ya like and staff will get right to ya!” And so, they did. A booth somewhere near the jukebox and a hall leading into the restrooms.

Reuben watched the customers coming in and out of the building. That music note scooter immediately drew his eye. He shifted over to get a better look as the riders dismounted. Dennis Prowell: “the Music Meister.”

“This really will be interestin’!” The second one, a woman, was partially obscured. Before he could get a better look, they had both moseyed in. A waitress came up to their table with two menus. “Hi! My name’s Jannette, I’ll give ya a minute, but first just wanna let you know that the soup for tonight is Chowda.” They thanked her in an awkward unison and flipped through the selection as she walked off to help another group of guests.

“Soooo.” Darci started.

“Hm?”

“How’d you end up the way you are?”

Dennis looked up in a bit of confusion, “What do you mean?”

“Like, how’d you become a villain?”

“Oh! Like a tragic backstory! Right. Yeah, my powers are genetic.” She looked up.

“…that’s it?”

“Yeah, had some bullies, dealt with that.. then I just went out and did crime. It was a primal urge… like arson!” They continued to chat, unknowing of what lied ahead.

Now seemed like a good as time as any!

B L A M

A shot rings out, shattering the glass door. A boot busts the rest of the glass out. The cowboy steps in and tips his Stetson. “Alright folks. This is a stickup. Y'all know the drill! No quick movements. lay yer wallets and jewelry out on the table. Let’s make this short an’ sweet and no one’ll get hurt.” He sticks his six-shooter in the face of the waitress behind the counter. “And you. Empty the register into’ this sack.” He lowers his weapon and tosses her a bag, then poises for attack again.

Dennis whispered over to Darci “…Weird, but I got this.”

She knows he doesn’t got this.

Dennis got up and put his hands in the air, whistling to the tune of an old Western movie. …

Darci stood still, analyzing the scene, waiting for an apt time to act.

“Ah ah ah, don’t come another step closer, Mister. I’ve got you dead to rights. And what’s that tune? You deridin’ me?” Mocked the Bandit.

“…ohmygoditsnotworking.” He looked around in a panic. The people around him were frozen to his tune. Maybe I could? NO that’s a death wish you promised there’d be no body count. What if… Darci knew he’d be a dead man if she didn’t do something quick. Without thinking, she grabbed Dennis by the arm and started bolting down the hall to find an escape

“What in Sam Hill? Hey! Get back ‘ere! The both of ya!” He glanced around the diner at the spellbound customers. “DAMN IT!” He grabbed the sack and the register’s till and cautiously ran down the hall in pursuit.

They darted into the women’s bathroom and locked the door behind them.

Good news: The bandit can’t get in! Bad news: They can’t get out!

“Holy shit..” Dennis caught his breath, holding his scarf “Any clue who that is?!” Darci stared off into nothing, listening in on what the Bandit is doing outside. Dennis ruffled his fiery hair in an anxious scramble. “He wasn’t affected, he could be deaf.. but then he wouldn’t have heard…”

He slowed and held his hand over his holster. “I know y'all are back ‘ere!” He kicked the manager’s office door open. Not there. The storage room. Nope. He continued down the hall, spurs clicking against the linoleum.

Darci leaned in and listened to how he kicked the door open. That sound. The clang you get when you hit the wood with… no. That’s can’t be it. It’s… It’s exactly what it looks like. "Darci, over here,“ Dennis called her over pointing to a patriot hopper window.

Men’s room. No dice. Women’s? Locked. “Knock knock? Is this room occupied?” He blasted at the lock twice with the revolver. “Now, come on Mr. Prowell. I don’t wanna hurt you or yer lady friend.” He pushes the door open.

That plan didn’t go far. Dennis raised his hands up again. Darci stood her ground by holding Dennis’s waist and staring the Bandit down. “Oh great, he knows my name. Listen, … ‘cowboy’ you obviously got a lot to do. Loads of places to see, and I just want to say… You really have a…” Dennis went off on a slow and shaky tangent while the gun was pointed at him.

Taking a step into the room and looking at them both, the Bandit gasps and immediately staggers back. “Y-you, uh, y'all are lucky! I’m willing to, ehm, go easy on yah. Uhhh… Sorry, Ma'am.” He high tails it out the back door and silently down the manhole.

Dennis couldn’t exactly process what had gone on. “…What was that?” “Let’s get outta here.” Darci let go of him. “That’s.. that’s a good idea.” They stepped out and walked out of the hallway, everything was deafeningly silent, whoever was left there was packing up their belongings. When going out, Dennis gave a sheepish wave and Darci continued to scan the area. Both of them got onto the scooter and went back to going about the city. “…so uh. Where to next?” “Somewhere far away from there.”

WHAT!? YOU SAW HER? WHY DIDN’T YOU CAPTURE HER? “I’m sorry, boss! She had someone else with ‘er! That “Music Meister” feller. And I was right in the middle of a stick-up! I couldn'ta just picked her up. It’s kinda hard when you only got one arm!“ Fine. Get to the safehouse and wire me the funds you got. I can take care of this. “Good luck, boss…”

The ride felt endless. A horrific feeling welled inside both of them.

“I knew it, god damn it. I knew it..” Darci’s hair flowed in the wind.

“You mean the cowboy?” Dennis had a tired look in his eyes.

“Who else?” she lied through her teeth.

“That guy was kind of an odd-ball.”

“He’s got some scheme brewing. We need to just get out of here before he comes back with some new weapon.”

“Don’t get me wrong, I believe that this cowboy’s looking for trouble, it’s just this guy’s got one arm and came in with just a revolver. Guys like that can’t just miraculously get the funds from a mob boss without a damn good reason.”

Darci wanted to tell him the truth, but that would just add on another layer of unwanted confusion. So she just nodded in agreement.

“You know, Gotham isn’t as Dog eat Dog as it seems to be,” Dennis started. "It’s more like… Your connections prevent from getting lobotomized by a guy in a mask. You keep each other safe from a bigger present danger! If that makes sense… Just know I got your back if you need it.“ "Same here..” She replied, chilled by his example.

“Maybe we should try again?” Darci asked, “like go around to another store. Not around there though..” She pointed in the direction they’d left from. “The nights still young..” Dennis didn’t want to quarrel with the cowboy again, but God he itched for this to turn into a fun night. “I don’t see why not!” he turned right, the businesses there were all closed at that point. It’s as if the stars aligned once again!

Dennis pulled in near a clothing store. “Where do you want to start?” Darci asked. “Well, you gotta start with the locks right?” Dennis replied. “And what if there are security cameras?” “I’ll just do what I always do.” he shrugged. “Well aren’t you a broken record.”

Darci got off the scooter and examined the lock. She took out a bobby pin from her hair and started fiddling it inside. Click! She gave a thumbs-up as the door creaked open. They both walked inside, skulking around to see if anything was of interest or present danger. Dennis caught his eye on a necklace with a black quartz pendant. Selina would love that. So he stuffed it away into his pocket, humming a tune.

Meanwhile, Darci was grabbing a handful of chapsticks, shoving them into a white purse she grabbed nearby. “That’s-” “Chapsticks? Yes :)” Darci put on a funny sort of smile. “That’s a lot of chapsticks…Okay, it’s what your heart desires.” “My heart also desires… this!” she snatched a leather jacket from a clothing rack and promptly threw it over her shoulder.

Knock knock knock.

Their hearts dropped. Dennis pointed over to behind the cash register. The two hurried to crouch behind the counter. Darci signaled to stay quiet, trying to keep some level of composure. But her mind was racing. Maybe we should call the cops… No! Are you out of your mind, Darci?! The cops will just haul your shell to a junkyard and turn your code into Dopey-Doh in Arkham!

Knock knock knock.

Dennis murmured “H. How?” Darci collected the pieces together already, this was happening again! Why does he want to torment me?! “Let’s go out from the front..” They foxtrotted over to the entrance and creaked open the door. A quick and speedy escape was just around the corner!

KNOCK KNOCK KNOCK KNOCK KNOCK KNOCK KNOCK KNOCK KNOCK KNOCK KNOCK KNOCK KNOCK KNOCK KNOCK.

“Let’s get outta here..”

Darci hurried Dennis out the door.

Uneasy silence as they step through the door.

“T R I C K O R T R E A T !”

A heavily synthesized voice croaks. Laughter like something from a cheap Halloween decoration blast around them. A massive bowl sits in the middle of the street in front of the store.

They shook by the creature that stood in front of them like a hungry predator. “RUN!” the two scattered back inside for cover.

Two rubbery green arms explode out from the inside and pick the bowl up like a grotesque pair of legs. It scuttles onto the top of the building and begins knocking so rapidly, the building shakes on its foundation.

“WHAT THE HELL IS THAT?!” Dennis shouted, shaking to the rhythm to the knocks. “I DON’T KNOW!” Darci yelled over the rumbling. The ceiling started to break apart. “JESUS, IT’S GONNA KILL US BEFORE WE GET OUTTA HERE!” “LIKE HELL I’LL GO TO HIM AGAIN!” Darci refused, but Dennis had already run outside in hopes to get hold of his getaway scooter. We gotta get outta here! “DENNIS YOU OAF!” Darci called out, trying to usher him back in.

The shaking stops. Another dreadful silence, occasionally broken by the drop ceiling panels falling from the commotion.

Dennis realized what this thing was after. It wants her. But why? “What are you doing?! Get back inside!” Darci called out again. “G E T. O U T.” Dennis mouthed to Darci. He stared at the creature, trying to decipher its next move. Dennis reached in his jacket pocket and started shuffling through…

The bowl sits atop the roof completely still. The arms appear to have receded back into the bowl and it has shut down for the time being.

Ah-ha! Now’s our chance! Dennis pulled out his keys and started up the scooter! “Darci. Let’s get outta here!” he shuddered in a whispery tone. “Please trust me on this.” She had to take this leap of faith. If the bowl didn’t catch her, the police surely would’ve. Darci darted outside, took the keys, and started up the scooter! Dennis joined her in a hurry.

As soon as the woman peeled out of the crumbling structure, the voice whined out again. “T A G, Y O U ’ R E I T ! H E H E H E H A H A H A H A H A ! ! !” The bowl hoisted itself back up and trotted towards them. With one more cackle, a third rubber arm bursts from the inside of the bowl and snatches at the pair. “G O T C H A !” The bowl pulls the extra appendage back inside before tearing out of the way like a bat out of hell.

As Darci attempted to drive to safety, Dennis felt his body pulled away from the scooter. He screamed. Darci looked back only to see that the worst possibility was now her reality! Her loved ones were being taken from her once again by him! But fear overcame Darci that night. She drove out of sight of the bowl and behind a few cars; peering over and regretting her choice already.

The hand grasped around its prisoners until the moment it got into the bowl. Almost immediately after, the sounds of machinery began to whirl and plastic sheeting was being pulled up around Dennis. A heating element crimps the ends and seals the whole box up tight.

Darci looked on in horror, hastily hiding away from its line of sight. “WhatdoIdoWhatdoIdoWhatdoIdoWhatdoIdo?” Her hands were shaking. “God! You can’t even protect your own friends! You’re! so! hopeless!” She reached for her phone in her left pocket. “Maybe I can- No! That’s an awful idea!” She tugged her hair. “I shouldn’t get people wrapped up in my business more than they already are! I don’t want to lose Edward either!” “Go out there and save him! You can’t keep living like this!” Tightening her hands into fists, Darci turned around to face the creature! … But. It had already fled.

#music meister #ask blog #askverse #Darci Mason #toyman #one armed bandit #rp event #off stage #((aw yeah it's DIVORCE tiem baybey))#((also we planned the event VERY poorly so have a candy bowl in January))#gun tw #ask to tag

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okietokiee · 5 years

Note

from the 45 otp prompts, 25 w skwistok? :D

25. “I can’t be mad at you.”

This prompt is so cute and became long, shameless Fluff :’)

Skwistok / Anniversary

Skwisgaar was extremely proud. Though that was arguably his default mode, he had an extremely valid reason at the moment (other than being the fastest guitarist to ever grace the earth).

His and Toki’s one-year anniversary had been fast-approaching for the past month. But now it was finally the day-of, and he was the most prepared he could ever possibly be.

He wasn’t known as an esteemed playboy without good reason; he truly was a romantic at heart. And, though he could admit past romantic endeavors were mostly shallow and just a means to an end, he could honestly say this time was different. This time he was out to woo Toki and absolutely reinvent the world’s idea of romance. In a good way.

And it started with an -eughhh- healthy breakfast in bed.

After a klokateer handed Skwisgaar the impeccably prepared tray full of assorted fruits Toki was annoyingly fond of in addition to his favored brand of sugary cereal, Skwisgaar was on his way.

Toki was still deeply asleep, spread out like a starfish smack-dab in the middle of Skwisgaar’s four-poster sized bed, where he had previously left him to retrieve his first surprise.

The swede smiled fondly and set down the tray by the bed, plopping down and peppering Toki’s face with a multitude of quick, sloppy kisses.

Toki was slowly stirred awake, and he giggled, returning Skwisgaar’s smooches with his own. He even started making some moves bring his kisses a bit lower, and he was incredibly surprised when Skwisgaar stopped his movements with a small push and cough.

“Whats wrongs?” Toki asked, sitting up and stretching his sore muscles.

Skwisgaar grinned. “I gots yous breakfast,” he declared, as he picked up the tray from the floor and set it on Toki’s lap.

To say Toki was confused would be an understatement, but he was never the type to look at a horse’s gift on the mouth. Or however that phrase went. Especially when that horse was an incredibly sexy Swedish guitar God with a tray of Toki’s absolute favorite foods to start the day with. He wasted no time and was munching happily. Skwisgaar even humored him and was currently eating a crisp red apple with no complaints.

“Afters yous done gets yous swimsuit readies, we goinks somewhere,” Skwisgaar said with an air of nonchalance, sneaking glances at his boyfriend.

“Where’s we goins Skwisgaar?” Toki asked after finishing his glass of orange juice.

Skwisgaar smirked. “You’ll sees.”

An hour later, if Toki’s excited, ear-splitting screech was anything to go by, he was pleased with this surprise.

“I can’ts believes you buys de whole Splasharoonie Water Parks!” Toki yelled gleefully, already tearing off his clothes and eyeing the tallest waterslide.

Skwisgaar gave a nonchalant hand wave. “Pfft, it no big deals. Nots dat expensives anyway. Besides now we cans come here whenever we wants,” he finished with a smile.

And though both boys could rest assured that they could now visit the famous waterpark whenever they felt like it, the day was not wasted and by the end of the day they both tried every waterslide at least twice and were comfortably exhausted.

After a couple hours of lying close together on a beach chair, idly playing with each other’s hair and laughing about any stupid subject or observation that comes up, Skwisgaar surprised Toki once again.

“You hungries?” Skwisgaar asked, combing his fingers through Toki’s chocolate locks.

“Starvings! You wants to heads back nows?” Toki answered, sitting up a little.

Skwisgaar grinned. “Nos, stays down, I gots it,” he said as he grabbed his Deathphone from the nearby side table and sent a quick text.

Within minutes, a group of Klokateers approached and began setting up a picturesque picnic right in front of them, complete with a woven basket, Norwegian delicacies, and a generous assortment of booze. It was heaven.

Toki was both incredibly overjoyed and completely bewildered now.

“Skwisgaar…”

Skwisgaar beamed, expecting his well-deserved praise and kisses right about now. “Yes Toki? It’s nice, ja?”

“Ja, it’s amazings! Buts…”

This caused Skwisgaar to pause. He gave his man a scrutinizing stare. “What ams wrong? Dey forgets de stinky herrings? Gotdammit! I tolds dem dams klokateers-”

He was cut off from his rant by Toki’s light tugging on his arm. “No, no! It ams absolutely perfects! It’s just…”

Skwisgaar was confused and frustrated now. “Whats? Spits it out.”

Toki was flustered and finally got out a strained, “Why?”

For a painfully long moment, Skwisgaar had no idea how to respond. He briefly considered the idea that Toki was pulling his leg, and he let out a scoff. “It ams obvious you dildos. You knows what days it is.”

Toki still had that annoyingly confused look in his big blue eyes. “I’m sorries Skwisgaar, what’s you mean?”

That was definitely the straw that obliterated the camel’s hip, and Skwisgaar angrily replied, “Our one years anniversaries you dildo!”

Toki paled. “That ams today?”

Skwisgaar let out a frustrated groan. “Yes, it ams been on dis day for de past, I don’t know, year?” He said snidely, his good mood ruined. “I can’ts believes you forgets!” Outraged, the Swede pushed Toki off him and stood up, marching away.

Toki scrambled up, chasing after his boyfriend and trying to apologize. “Toki ams so sorries Skwisgaar! I aments goods at rememberings dese tings, and I didn’t realize you was de type to wants to celebrates dis!”

Skwisgaar abruptly turned around. “Of course I wants to celebrates today! It’s my first anniversaries with someones I-” Skwisgaar paused, cutting himself off. He flushed red with anger and maybe a hint of something else. “Euuuuughh, it don’ts matters anymores… I ams goinks home…” He finished dejectedly, blocking out whatever fervent apologies and promises Toki made.

The following day was full of Skwisgaar, understandably, locking himself up in his room with just his guitar for company to sulk, avoiding the object of both his affection and ire in every way he could.

It was also full of Toki desperately trying to make it up to his man, in whatever way he could. He’d already caused the deaths of 2 klokateers after an attempt at baking Skwisgaar a cake, and he was prepared to lose more if needed.

But his current plan (to the relief of his manager and employees) did not involve any potentially life-threatening machinery.

He was dressed in a strikingly similar fashion to his Steve Vai phase years ago, but this time in a blindingly bright, glittery red 4-piece suit with his flying-V tucked under his arm.

He looked cartoonishly absurd, and the rest of Dethklok was not blind to that.

“Er… Toki, you sure Skwisgaar will appreciate this, uh… what are you doing again?” Nathan asked, already pretty used to the Scandinavian couple’s lovers quarrels.

“I’m goins to serenade him,” Toki declared proudly.

Pickles gave a big laugh, and walked up to give Toki is supportive clap on the back. “You gett’em kid. He’ll love it.”

Murderface rolled his eyes and mumbled vaguely encouraging, vaguely insulting platitudes Toki’s way.

Toki, emboldened by his friend’s support, marched confidently up to Skwisgaar’s door and gave it a hard succession of knocks.

“Gos aways!” Was his only muffled reply.

With a nervous sigh, he plugged his guitar into a nearby amp brought by a klokateer and he prepared to make a complete and utter fool of himself.

Within moments, the halls of Mordhaus was flooded with the smooth, dramatic sounds of Air Supply partnered with Toki’s broken, tone-deaf english. Which was quickly followed by Pickles’ barely contained laughter.

“Ams all outta loves! Ams so losts wivouts you! I knows you was rights-”

Toki was so lost in the sappy music, he didn’t even notice as the Swede’s door slowly creaked open and the object of his desperate love slowly stepped out into the hallway to bear witness to his passionate tribute.

As he finished with an intense improvised guitar solo that honestly rivaled his best live shows, he was surprised to hear the melodic laughter of his song’s intended recipient.

“Skwisgaar!” Toki cried, throwing his guitar aside and shamelessly wrapping his arms around the taller man.

“Toki ams so sorries! I never wanteds to forgets our anniversaries! I does anyting-”

He was cut off with an abrupt, fiery kiss from the Swede himself, and when they both separated after a long, amazing moment, he completely forgot what he was saying.

“Toki… I just can’ts be mad at yous can I? You dumb dildos,” Skwisgaar said fondly, holding his idiot boyfriend in his arms.

“Sos yous forgives mes?” Toki asked hopefully, smiling widely.

Skwisgaar laughed. “I guess, afters a performance likes dat. Why can’ts you play dat well in rehearsals?” He teased.

“Oh, shuts up,” Toki laughingly replied.

He playfully shoved his Swedish boyfriend straight back into his room where he followed, and he made sure to shut the door tight.

Within moments, the halls of Mordhaus were filled with even more romantic sounds, although these sounds were more reminiscent to a dirty video than an 80s love song.

- - - - -

I guess I don’t really know what drabble means?? I’m sorry this ended up wayyy longer than originally planned ;-; But I was overtaken by the sap and needed to write it LOL

Also, I blame @little-murmaider for her Skwisgaar loving Stevie Wonder hc, because now I’m an absolute sucker for Skwistok interacting with soft, painfully sappy love songs

#edgtheow #answered asks #my fanfic #mtl #dethklok #skwistok #im not that happy with the abrupt ending and i wanna come back and fix that maybe!! and add what happens behind those closed doors ;^) LOL #skwisgaar skwigelf #toki wartooth #fanfiction #metalocalypse

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toutallyahoe · 5 years

Text

Prompt List

Decided to make my own and here we are now. Feel free to repost, or request a prompt and character~

═══════════════════════

1. "I swear I though it was a good idea..."

2. "Tell me why am I doing this with you again?"

3. "Sorry but I didn't remember asking for your opinion."

4. "I haven't sleep for like 38 hours."

5. "I don't think that's healthy..."

6. "Have you seen this dumbass?" *holds a photo of __*

7. "I swear to all your fucking playboy magazines that I will slap you, __."

8. "No. No you can't have that!"

9. "But whyyyyyyyyyyyyyy!"

10. "For goodness sake, __! It's because it's for a kid and your a fucking 28 years old adult!"

11. "I didn't think that would actually work..."

12. "Have a little more faith in me, __!"

13. "Faith? Hell no dumbass! Now look at the damn road!"

14. "Everytime I see her/his/their face, I feel like throwing up."

15. "I feel like that burrito is slowly coming back again."

16. "Hey, I got th-- oh my God-- CAN'T YOU ATLEAST PUT SOME PANTS ON?!? JEEZ!!!"

17. "Admit it, you love me."

18. "Beg. I feel powerful."

19. "Your so God damn stupid!"

20. "No. Regrets."

21. "If it wasn't for both my hands broken, I would've punched you by now."

22. "Listen up asshole! I've been inlove with you for awhile now and it's about time you fucking know it!"

23. "I... I didn't expect this... Like... At all..."

24. "Is this your final form of stupidity or are there more?"

25. "Probably should have went for the blue one, huh?"

26. "Can't you just man up and ask her/him/them out?"

27. "You don't just ask that fine piece of art out, __!"

28. "I seriously doubt that but go ahead."

29. "Wish I had the patience to not fucking punch you right now."

30. "You have beautiful eyes... You know that?"

31. "I... I thought I loved you..."

32. "What about us?"

33. "Did you already ask someone to be your date?"

34. "Tried. End up embarrassing myself in front of her/him/them..."

35. "Can't you see, you've already got the perfect girl/guy/person inlove with you!"

36. "I... I didn't mean for this to happen!"

37. "Hey, um, I just want to say... YOU GUYS LEFT ME IN THE FUCKING PARKING LOT!!!"

38. "I swear if you wont shut up now, you'll regret it."

39. "Bold of you to assume I want to live/have money/give a crap."

40. "I'm just gonna yeet myself now."

41. "That's it! Im done! I can't deal with this shit anymore! See you all in never!"

42. "You're literally made of of metal."

43. "Can't I just surprise the love of my life?"

44. "You can't if you scare the crap outta them!"

45. "Please tell that was you __..."

46. "I'm surprised your still here."

47. "Imagine the shock I/she/he/they went through when I/she/he/they discovered that it wasn't real!"

48. "I don't seem to recall saying that..."

49. "I just like like you..."

50. "So... It's a date date?"

51. "Is it wrong I find her/him/them attractive like that?"

52. "God damn it __! You useless lesbian/gay!"

53. "Close your mouth there or else flies would come in."

54. "So, about that bet I won."

55. "Listen, I don't care who the fuck are you. But if you lay a finger on my friend again, she/he/their the least of your fucking problems."

56. "Um, quick question but... HOW THE FUCK DID YOU GET HERE?!?"

57. "Your window was open. You seriously need to lock them, like, what will happen if someone went inside?"

58. "__, you're staring at her/him/them again."

59. "I swear that girl/guy/person is the most perfect thing in the planet."

60. "You could've asked you know."

61. "You sound like a twelve years old going through puberty."

62. "We get it! Your adorable!"

63. "I. Want. To. Fucking. Sleep."

64. "Knock knock motherfucker and open up!"

65. "Hurry up! It's so cold outside!"

66. "You. Me. Cuddle. Now."

67. "Get you sexy ass back here now."

68. "How are we dating again?"

69. "That... That wasn't porn..."

70. "I get so turn on when she/he/they does that..."

71. "Is it bad that I wanted to kiss you?"

72. "I can't believe you forgot your own birthday."

73. "Did you just call me daddy?"

74. "Mistakes were made."

75. "I admit it... That wasn't one of my greatest plan..."

76. "You shot the fucking guy!"

77. "It didn't kill him, didn't it?"

78. "You look cute when your angry."

79. "Is it hot in here or is it just me?"

80. "No. Just please shut up for once."

81. "Who made you cry?"

82. "I swear I'll protect you..."

83. "I just can't leave her/him/them behind!"

84. "Go! Leave me and run!"

85. "I-i can't! I love you!"

86. "Well, your an idiot for doing so."

87. "W... Was it just a lie...?"

88. "Tell me the truth, please!"

89. "I wish you the best."

90. "Did you ever looked back and thought about us?"

91. "I... I'm sorry for this... I didn't for you to get hurt..."

92. "Well too bad! I did!"

93. "I did this for you!"

94. "You did this for yourself!"

95. "Go away and leave me alone."

96. "I never stopped loving you. "

97. "Promise me that you'll survive this..."

98. "I don't tend to break my promise any time soon."

99. "Will it hurt? Dying I mean..."

100. "No. It'll feel like falling asleep."

#prompt list #writing prompt #prompt #dialogue prompt #lgbt+ prompt #otp prompt #writing ideas #dialogue #writing

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rareficsnstuff · 5 years

Text

Flub [Oikawa, Bokuto, Kuroo, (Iwa, Makki, Matsun)]

Summary: Oikawa arranges a three-on-three practice match featuring Bo and Kuroo. But he happens to be a little off his game today, leading to stupid mistakes and consequences. Also: since when was Bo so perceptive?

Words: 3,200

__________________________________________________

“I guess this is the place,” said Oikawa as he, Iwaizumi, Matsukawa, and Hanamaki stood in front of a municipal gym somewhere in Tokyo. How did they end up here?

It was summer after their graduation and, somehow, Oikawa had started texting Daichi about what their plans were for the future. Oikawa had mentioned that he would’ve liked to have some sort of practice match with a bunch of strong players separate from regular training, but outside of his three third-year buddies from Aoba Johsai and the third-years from Karasuno (who were largely unavailable at the moment), he didn’t really have any connections to people like that. That’s when Daichi brought up Karasuno’s summer training camp where they had been continuously ‘harassed’ by Nekoma and Fukurodani (specifically their highly spirited Captains). He told the setter he would ask them if they were interested in a match with the former Seijoh players and that he would get back to him with the answer. Long story sort: they were very interested. So Oikawa received their contact info from Daichi, and they set a place and time for the match.

Oikawa really hoped this practice would somehow give him answers to help him break through this wall he recently found himself stuck behind. He would never tell anyone, but Oikawa was terrified that he would never reach the potential of a national team level. After all, in all of middle school and high school, his team never was able to beat Ushiwaka and his protégé ended up defeating his team at the end of his high school career. He was beginning to doubt himself again. And he hated himself for it.

“This should be interesting. One last hurrah before the Seijoh third-years go their separate ways, huh?” mussed Iwaizumi. “And against Bokuto. He’s one of the top 5 spikers in the nation, right?”

“Yeah, I gotta say, I’m really looking forward to this!” said Hanamaki.

“Well, we’d have to make it inside the gym first,” Matsukawa drawled.

“Right you are, Matsun! Well, then! Shall we, fellas?” Oikawa flourished and without further comment, they entered the gymnasium to meet the two former captains.

___________________________________________________

“Yoooo!~” said Kuroo.

“Hey, hey, hey! You guys must be the Seijoh formers, yeah?” Bokuto said, flamboyantly. The four stood, only slightly dumbfounded by the energetic welcome before Oikawa replied.

“That we are! It’s wonderful to meet the two of you! Thank you so much for indulging us!” As per usual for the setter, each word was carefully selected and soon, everyone was exchanging greetings and introductions.

“Alright, so how do you guys wanna split the teams up?” Kuroo asked a little later.

“Well, all together, we have three wing spikers, two middle blockers, and one setter. But, Makki here could just as well play the role of setter under the circumstances. I think Bokuto and Iwaizumi should be on opposing teams and Matsun and Kuroo would oppose each other as well,” Oikawa reasoned.

“Alright then: how about Bo, Oikawa, and Matsukawa on one team, and Iwaizumi, Hanamaki, and myself on the other. Sound good?” Kuroo asked and everyone nodded and murmured their approval.

____________________________________________________

About ten minutes later, everyone was finishing their warmups and Bokuto’s attention was drawn to Oikawa who was practicing his serves; his eyes closed, head bowed, and gripping the ball as though it were something truly precious. He was oozing with intense focus and, frankly, Bokuto just couldn’t resist. He was so serious. He just had to.

Creeping up behind him, he carefully moved his hands towards the setter’s sides. The sound that suddenly resonated throughout the gymnasium startled everyone, causing them to look towards its source. Bokuto had tasered his sides and he uttered something akin to a strangled sea bird as his elbows slammed against his sides and he doubled over, wide-eyed and slack-jawed. The whole room stilled.

For a couple seconds, the only sound that could be heard was the ball bouncing as it slowly came to rest on the ground after falling from Oikawa’s hands.

“Huh- W-wha-?!” Oikawa stuttered, looking cautiously back at the guy behind him, his cheeks pink.

“Heh… Oops. Sorry, man, I just wanted to see if I could break your focus. I mean, you were so serious!” said Bokuto honestly. The other four boys chuckled under their breath as Oikawa began to pout.

____________________________________________________

As the match settled into a steady rhythm, the incident was more-or-less forgotten while everyone focused on their opponents. Into the second set, it was clear that Bokuto, Oikawa, and Matsukawa’s side was the more powerful. But only just. Regardless, everyone could tell that Oikawa was a little… off.

“Alright, make it a good one, my man!” Bokuto shouted as Oikawa prepared to serve again.

“Yeah, and if you make us lose because of your shitty serves, you owe me dinner,” said Matsun dully.

“Oh common! Would you drop that threat already! I’m doing my best!”

“If you lose, your side’s getting a penalty,” said Iwaizumi from across the net. Makki and Kuroo nodded.

“Stop it! Lemme work!” Up went the ball, and up went Oikawa, slamming it down hard on the other side of the net…

“…”

“way’ta knock it outta the park, you piece of garbage,” said Matsun. Needless to say… it was out.

“Thanks, dude!” said Kuroo mockingly as Iwaizumi and Makki laughed.

“GAAAA! Damn it! I’m sorry! I’ll get it right next time, I promise!”

“Hey, don’t worry about it, okay?” said Bokuto brightly.

“If that were you, Bo, you’d be all mopey now,” said Kuroo.

“Shut up, I’m getting better!”

With Oikawa’s flub, their side lost their one point lead and the two teams were now tied, causing a deuce. The tug-of-war on the lead went back and forth for some time until Oikawa was up to serve again, with various jeers and mockeries in tow. Oikawa grumbled. He could only imagine what kind of hellish penalty those jerks on the other side of the net would come up with and their mocking was not helping him concentrate.

He took a deep breath and tossed the ball, jumped, and brought his hand down on it, slamming it down with everything he had...

Except… it didn’t make it to the other side.

Everyone froze, their jaws hanging and wide eyes locked on Bokuto who seemed to have stopped breathing. Oikawa went pale.

“Oh my god, I am so sorry, Bokuto! Are you alright?!” the setter panicked.

“Is he okay?! Did it hit him in the head?!” asked Iwaizumi.

“Nah, it was his back, but…” said Matsun.

“Hey, man, say somethin’!” said Makki.

“Bo. You good, bro?” asked Kuroo.

Oikawa stood behind the group, holding a hand to his lips and shuffling nervously from one foot to the other as everyone waited for Bokuto to respond. Bokuto’s face was downcast and shadowed, his shoulders unnervingly slack. It was weird to see him so quiet.

Everyone startled when he suddenly turned his head sharply to look behind him at Oikawa. He was glaring. To everyone else in the room, the threatening effect was lost on them by the way Bokuto’s lip stuck out in a pout, making the glare look more like a child having been denied ice cream. But to Oikawa; who, for one thing, wasn’t familiar with him as a person, and, for another, was the cause of his agitation, it was definitely effective. If Oikawa was pale before, it was nothing compared to how he looked now. His eyes were like saucers.

Without warning, Bokuto spun on his heel and began making his way towards the setter in long, heavy strides. Seeing this, Oikawa squawked, turning away from him to fall on the ground in a cowering ball, his arms covering his head in defense.

“I’m sorry, I’m sorry, I’m sorry, I’m sorry, I’m sorr-!“ he chanted in desperation. He was at a loss of what to do. He just didn’t know Bokuto! He seemed like a pretty cheerful, easy-going guy, but Oikawa didn’t know what would happen if someone pushed his buttons! He didn’t know what would make him snap!

His panicked thoughts were interrupted by a sudden contact and Oikawa screamed. He couldn’t believe this was happening right now; the guy was tickling him! Bokuto had his fingers planted in the spaces between his ribs, vibrating them there and making Oikawa cackle in surprise.

“WHAHA- NAHahahaha!”

The others chuckled, Iwaizumi rolling his eyes as his former Captain was tortured for his mistake.

“Geaaahahaha! WHYEEEHEHEHE?!” he asked through his laughter, rolling to his side and pawing weakly at Bokuto’s hands.

“This is what happens when you’re too tense during a match; you make stupid mistakes and someone ends up hurt!” Bokuto lectured. But the goofy smile on his face told everyone that he wasn’t really angry: just Bokuto being Bokuto.

“Naha! I-hehehe! I-I’m sorryyyyhehehe! It was an a-hAHAHAhaaa ahaccidehent!” Oikawa tried, his laughter and squirming getting a little more desperate when his tickle monster switched to attacking his exposed hip with one hand, while his other began worming itself under his arm.

“Nope! Too late for that, buddy,” said Bokuto, still smiling like an idiot.

“Yeah, be a man and accept the consequences!” Makki cheered.

“Hey, I think there was a water fountain right outside. Do you wanna go refill our water bottles?” Matsun asked passively.

“Sounds good,” said Makki. Iwaizumi nodded with a grunt of agreement and the three of them turned from the spectacle before them and began making their way out of the gym.

“Wahait! IWA-CHAHAN, HEEEHEHEHELP!” Bokuto laughed at the desperate plea.

“Maybe later, Shittykawa. Thirsty,” he said bluntly. Oikawa spit something that sounded a bit like ‘traitor’ through his laughter as they left and Iwaizumi chuckled to himself. The idiot deserved this right now. And he kinda needed it, too. He had been way too tense lately. Maybe Bokuto had just noticed that too and decided to help in his own way.

“Geeze, Oikawa, you sure squirm a lot,” said Bokuto while he was currently busy attacking his stomach and sides. “Hey, Kuroo, could you gimme a little help here?”

“Sure~” he sang eagerly.

“Get his arms outta the way for me, yeah?”

“NAHAOoo! Goho away, Shihit hahahair!”

“Excuse me?! What was that?! You makn’ fun of my hair now?! You better get’em good, Bo,” he teased as he knelt on the floor above Oikawa’s head and pried his arms away from his middle to hoist them above his head. Bokuto himself moved to sit on his thighs, just above his knees, effectively pinning him down.

“Heh! Oh, I intend to, dude. You know, I’m gonna have a welt on my back for weeks from that serve!”

“NO, NO, NOOOhoho! Lehemme GO!” Oikawa pleaded.

Before he could get another word out, Bokuto began massaging his upper ribs and the setter was overcome by laughter once again. With nowhere to move, the only option he was left with was to arch his back off the floor and throw his head back in desperation. This action, however, drew Bokuto’s attention to his hips. So he moved the attack there, causing Oikawa’s hips to come crashing back down as he contracted his spine in a frail attempt at escape. When he started squirming form side to side, Bokuto moved back up to his ribs, and the cycle continued like this until tears began to form in his eyes.

“Stahahahaa- ahahaha! Naha- pleahehehaha! I-hhahaha!”

“You really gotta learn to relax, man. You’re aimn’ for the national team, yeah? You keep freakn’ out about what people think of you as a player, and you’re gonna hit a wall real fast. Don’t waste your energy comparing yourself to other athletes and just kick some ass,” said Bokuto over his victim’s loud laughter.

“Yeah, bud, just forget about all the critical jerks out there and just do you,” said Kuroo calmly from above him. If it weren’t for the incessant tickling Bokuto was putting him through, their words would be calming and even encouraging to Oikawa’s stressed, stubborn mind. But the fact of the matter was, he was being tickled to near death right now and it only got worse when he suddenly became aware that Kuroo was adjusting so he could hold both his hands in one of his, freeing up his right hand to torture him as well.

“NAHAhohoho! Kuhuroo- pleahaha!” Kuroo had begun walking his fingers from his inner forearm, down to his inner elbow, and to the underside of his bicep (which, apparently, was very ticklish). He spidered his fingers there for a moment longer than he had planned, reveling in the way it made the guy cackle and his nose scrunch.

“Did you find a sweet spot, Kuroo?” asked Bokuto, grinning happily. Oikawa wanted to crawl out of his skin.

“Seems like,” Kuroo chuckled. “Try his legs, Bo.” Bokuto’s happy grin turned wicked and he quickly shifted to sit backwards on Oikawa’s upper thighs so he could have better access to his thighs and knees, but still keeping them pinned to the floor. Still suffering from Kuroo’s mild attack, Oikawa’s panic rose a little when he felt Bokuto begin to slide his knee pad and brace down to his ankles. He put up a commendable effort trying to kick the big guy off, but big Bokuto was. 78.3kg was a lot of weight to throw under any circumstances, and Oikawa was already so weak from laughter. He was stuck. Doomed to continue suffering in this torment until his monsters chose to show him mercy.

“Noho- ha! S-stop thahat! Bohokutohohooo! DON’T!”

With an eager glance back at Kuroo, the two shared a knowing look before both Kuroo and Bokuto went in for the real attack.

“GEYAHAHA! DAHAHA! NOOHOHO!” Gruff, broken cackles tore their way form Oikawa’s throat as Kuroo began scratching at his underarms, making his shoulders shift spastically, and Bokuto started squeezing at the meat of his thighs and his legs squirmed weakly, trying in vain to bring his knees up in some kind of defense.

“So, you think you’re relaxed enough to actually play with your head in the game, Bud? No more nailing people with your cannon serve? That really hurt ya’know. I can already feel it starting to swell up,” said Bokuto good-naturedly as he glanced behind himself at the writhing setter.

“AAAAHAHA! IHEhe I’M SOHORRYYYHEHEHE!”

“But are you gonna chill out and play cool, or are you gonna keep stressing about pointless stuff like comparing yourself to other players and what-ifs?” said Bokuto, shifting his attention to Oikawa’s knees. Kuroo glanced at him curiously. Did he miss something? This was the second time Bokuto had said something like that. But Oikawa hadn’t mentioned anything about that. He figured Bo was just looking for an excuse to justify his actions. Shrugging, Kuroo played along anyways.

“Yeah, man, that’s the deal-breaker. All baggage was supposed to be checked at the door. You can let loose here,” Kuroo added, never once stopping his own torture on Oikawa. Left underarm, right underarm, left, right, left, neck…

“Gehaha! Ahalrihihight, alrighihight, I-AAAAAAAA!!” Oikawa released a none-to-masculine scream into the air and all movement briefly stopped. Bokuto and Kuroo looked at each other in excited astonishment.

“Which one of us made’em do that?” Kuroo asked, grinning as Oikawa took the opportunity to greedily heave oxygen into his lungs. Bokuto shrugged with a shake of his head before he nodded to Kuroo to try his spot again.

Kuroo obliged eagerly, spidering his finger along his neck, jawline, and ears. Although this produced a startled, high-pitched string of giggles (a beautiful reaction), it was not the reaction they were looking for. Kuroo looked back up at Bokuto and shook his head as his partner in crime grinned, turning back to their victim’s legs.

Bokuto had chosen to target Oikawa’s inner knees with light spidering tickles when he screamed, so he returned there to torment him with the same touch. Another scream; not unlike a woman’s. The pair’s grins widened and Kuroo laughed.

“Bingo!” he cheered.

“Oikawa~ Did I find your weak spot?!~” Bokuto teased gleefully.

“Nohohooo! Guhuys, please! I-I’m sohorry, I’m sorry! Pleahese dooon’t!” he begged, giggling tiredly. Bokuto chuckled, giving Kuroo a mischievous glace.

“Thirty seconds?” he prompted. With a cheshire grin, Kuroo nodded.

Both attacked again; Bokuto at his weak spot and Kuroo switching between the undersides of his biceps and his neck. So that they could stay true to their word, they counted down loudly and obnoxiously, somehow making time move slower and the sensations shooting through his nerves ten times worse.

Oikawa wasn’t even technically laughing at this point. He was all screams trailed by high-pitched, obnoxious cackles and interjected by deep, sharp inhales only to let the sequence start all over again. The poor guy’s face was glowing red and wet with tears as he finally fell into silent laughter, occasionally interjected by a desperate, hiccupping gasp for air.

“ZEROOOOO!” Bokuto and Kuroo shouted in tandem and immediately withdrew their hands. As Oikawa attempted to restore his regular breathing pattern, the two climbed off him and backed off to give him some space. His labored breathing was speckled with hiccups and leftover giggles as he lazily slung his arms over his middle, his eyes closed in exhaustion. But in all his efforts to compose himself, he couldn’t wipe the giant, dopey grin off his still very red face.

“Is he dead yet?” Iwaizumi’s gruff voice asked from behind them as he and the other Seijoh forms returned, smirking at the flustered, spent state of their former captain. Kuroo and Bokuto laughed.

“Not quite, but close, I think,” said Bokuto, giving the heap on the floor a pat on his thigh and making him flinch. Everyone, including Oikawa, laughed.

“Hey, man, you alright?” Kuroo grinned fondly.

“Y-yes. Ihi’m good,” Oikawa panted.

“Dammit, I thought you had killed him. Oh well,” Matsun said dully.

“What’s that supposed to mean?!” shouted Oikawa, finally sitting up. The others chuckled.

“Hey, are we gonna finish this game, or what?” Makki asked.

“Yeah, yeah!” Bokuto responded excitedly. “Oikawa, you should get some more water before we start, though!”

“Sure,” he said as he stood and went to get his water bottle.

On his way to the fountain, Oikawa couldn’t help but recall Bokuto and Kuroo’s encouraging words to him. He noticed it had been Bokuto who brought it up first; his insecurities. But how did he know all that! He hadn’t said anything about his hope to join the national team, or how he had a bad habit of comparing himself to genius prodigy players, or the suffocating weight he felt when he considered what other people thought of him and his acquired skills! Iwaizumi was the only one who knew he wanted to represent Japan one day and he hadn’t told him that he’s been struggling with the other stuff again! There’s no way Bokuto could have read all his insecurities and aspirations in the short time they’ve played together! Or was there…

As he screwed the lid back on his bottle, he decided that, for now, he concluded that Bokuto Koutarou was the kind of guy who was just full of surprises.

#haikyuu!!#ticklefic #bokuto koutarou #oikawa tooru #kuroo tetsurou #very mild swearing #comfort #this ended up longer than expected #and deeper

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