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agustdakasuga · 4 years

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A Place Called Home | Chapter 14

Genre: Hybrid!AU, Poly!AU?, Soulmate AU, romance, fluff, humour

Pairing: OT7 x Reader

Characters: vet!reader, Arcticfox!Seokjin, Panther!Yoongi, Goldenretriever!Hoseok, Wolf!Namjoon, Calicocat!Jimin, Tiger!Taehyung, Rabbit!Jungkook

Summary: Having saved your own injured hybrid, you were determined to try and help any other hybrid that crossed your path who needed saving. But being a vet in a small hospital wasn’t enough for you. You wanted to do more, you wanted to make a difference. You wanted to give them a home.

When peace finally seems to be settling in the household, a threat comes your way and you need to think decide between your selfish wants and the safety of your hybrids.

*BUZZZZZ*

“Jungkook? What’s up?” You pressed your phone between your ear and your shoulder as you continued to type on your computer.

“Taehyung hyung is acting weird.”

“Weird how?” You grew worried. Namjoon and Jin were working today to help with Christmas orders while Yoongi had to go down to the music school for a meeting to discuss the upcoming winter recital.

“He was angry after you left and locked himself in his room. Even if Jimin hyung called him, he won’t come out. He didn’t even want lunch.”

“That is indeed weird. Hmm... I don’t have consultations for the rest of the day, only a surgery at 4. I’ll drop by home for lunch. Let Hoseok know and make sure Jimin is okay, please.” You said and hung up. Saving your report, you turned your computer off and headed out.

“Doctor?” The receptionist was shocked to see you with your things.

“Something happened at home. I’ll be back before my 4pm. If anyone needs me urgently, tell them to beep me.” You informed and she nodded. You got in your car and drove home.

“(y/n), you’re here.” Hoseok greeted you as you stepped through the door. He helped you take your back as you removed your shoes and coat.

“He’s still in his room?” You asked and the boy nodded.

“Thanks for taking care of everyone, Hoseok. I’ll go see what’s up.” You smiled and patted his head, heading up the stairs. Jimin was at the door, pawing at it while whining and calling out for Taehyung.

“Tae...” He whined softly.

“Hey, sweetie. Taehyung not answering you?” You greeted with a smile. Jimin jumped slightly at your sudden appearance. He broke into a grin, temporarily forgetting his best friend ignoring him and ran over to hug you. You chuckled, wrapping your arms around him as you let him nuzzle his face against your neck.

“Let me talk to him. Why don’t you go down and get some lunch.” You said. He nodded his head obediently and ran downstairs.

“Tae?” You called and knocked on the door. Immediately, the door swung open.

“What are you doing here?” His eyes widened in surprise. You noticed that they were red and slightly puffy, like he has been crying. You entered the room and Taehyung closed the door behind him.

“I got a call that my tiger was acting strange. Jimin’s been outside your door, he’s really worried.” You raised an eyebrow.

“I know, sorry.” He hung his head low. Walking over, you used your finger to lift his chin to face you. You searched his eyes but he avoided your eyes.

“What’s wrong, Tae?”

“Nothing.” He looked away.

“Not convinced. You know you can tell my anything. What’s bothering you, baby?” You tilted your head. Taehyung couldn’t help but growl as you called him ‘baby’. You blinked at his reaction, stepping back slightly. He got hurt when he saw that, as if you were scared he would hurt you.

“I’m sorry.” He drew you back into his arms.

“It’s hard to see you always being so close to the hyungs when you’re my mate too.” He confessed. You pulled away.

“Oh, Tae.” You finally understood. He was getting antsy because of the whole mate thing.

“You treat them all like men but you always baby me. I’m not a baby, I want to prove to you that I can be strong like the hyungs too. I can protect you like a good mate.” Taehyung ran a hand through his hair in frustration. You couldn’t help but giggle. You call him ‘baby’ not because you think he is a baby, it’s just a cute nickname.

“I know you’re capable, Tae. You don’t have to prove anything to me.” You cupped his cheeks.

“When I call you ‘baby’, it’s not that I don’t think you’re as strong or manly as your hyungs. I just call you that as a endearment. Everyone calls you Tae as well so I thought me just calling you ‘baby’ is special. I can stop that if you’re uncomfortable.” You shrugged.

“N-No!” He shook his head. He liked the idea of being the only one with a special nickname from you.

“So you accept me as your mate?” He looked up at you.

“I love you.” You smiled. Taehyung hesitantly leaned forward and placed his lips on yours. His hands squeezed your waist as his tail curled itself around your ankle.

“As much as I know you want to scent me as your mate, I’m sorry but I have to return to work.” You stroked his head apologetically.

“Tonight?” Taehyung asked. You chuckled and nodded your head. The both of you went back downstairs. Jimin stopped eating when he saw his best friend emerge beside you and jumped off his seat.

“Tae! You’re alright!” He smiled in relief.

“Sorry to worry you, Chim.” Taehyung said and hugged his best friend. Jimin shook his head and wrapped his hand around the taller.

“I have to go back to the hospital. I have a surgery at 4.” You told the rest as you scooped a bowl of noodles for yourself and Taehyung. Taehyung stayed by your side, trying his best to hide his first mate feelings. Like the rest, he just wanted to keep you for himself and stay by your side for the whole day. But he knew you still had to go back to work.

You knew it wasn’t easy for Taehyung to let you go right after you accepted him as your mate so you sat with him after lunch, the both of you enjoying a cup of tea.

“We can hang out tonight.” You told him, sipping the last bit of your tea.

“I’ll walk you to the door.” He followed you. As you wore your shoes, he patiently held your coat and bag for you. You slipped your arms through the sleeves of your coat and Taehyung adjusted them on your shoulders.

“Thank you.” You kissed his cheek and left.

The surgery wasn’t complicated and it passed without any problems. You returned to your office after settling the patient in her ward. The sun had set early, being winter, and you updated the online patient charts.

*KNOCK KNOCK*

“Come in.” You said, facing away from the door.

“Doctor, you got a gift.” Head nurse Park came in with a teasing smile. You turned around and raised an eyebrow, who would send a gift so late?

“What gift?” You stood up. She came in with a big bouquet of flowers. You took it in your arms, reading the card that was given.

‘Doctor Echo, thank you for taking care of my hybrids. Although I rather them stay dead, I will be coming to retrieve them very soon. - Anon’

“Secret admirer?” Head nurse Park teased. She wasn’t a hybrid so she couldn’t sense the change in your mood. But if your boys were all there, they would have sensed it.

“A-Ah, just a nice patient.” You forced a smile and she nodded, patting your shoulder and leaving. Crushing the note, you threw it in your trash bin and sat back on your chair, turning to face the window at the back. You felt shivers go down your spine as you buried your face in your hands. Suddenly, you felt so self conscious, like you were being watched.

“I’m leaving.” You told the nurse, handing the nurse your files for the day.

“Have a nice evening, doctor.” She smiled and you could only nod in acknowledgement, going to your car. You threw the bouquet in your backseat as you drove home.

“(y/n).” Hoseok greeted. By your scent, the hybrids immediately knew something was wrong with you.

“H-Hey, I-I’m gonna skip dinner. I-It’s been a long day. I’ll just s-sleep.” You said quickly and ran up to your room. As your room door slammed close, Jimin flinched, letting out a small whimper.

“What was that?” Yoongi turned to the other 6 hybrids who had equally worried looks on their faces. Everyone looked at each other and shook their heads. Standing up, Yoongi and Jin headed upstairs to your bedroom door. But of course, you locked it.

“Kitten.” Yoongi called, knocking softly. Jin’s ears twitched as he heard your muffled sobs through the door.

“Kitten, it’s me and Jin hyung.” Yoongi continued.

“P-Please leave me alone.” You squeaked. Jin sighed, placing a hand on the panther’s shoulder before they went back downstairs. Taehyung was pacing nervously.

“Tae, please sit. You’re stressing Chim.” Namjoon said and the tiger sat down in his spot.

“She’s not gonna talk anytime soon.” Yoongi sighed, rubbing his temples.

“Hyungs, what if she’s upset because of me?” Taehyung asked in fear. Of course, he told them what happened when you came back home this afternoon. The tiger began to think that you were feeling unhappy because of him asking you to be his mate. But you were fine when Taehyung sent you off earlier.

“I’m sure it’s not because of you asking her to be your mate, Tae. She wouldn’t be upset over that.” Yoongi assured.

“I’ll go to (y/n)’s office to see if there’s anything I can find. We still have time before curfew.” Jin spoke.

“I’ll come with to help search.” Namjoon raised his hand.

“You two go. Her staff pass is still in her coat. We’ll stay here in case she needs anything.” Yoongi said and Taehyung nodded his head, just wanting to be near his mate. Jin grabbed his keys and left the house with the wolf hybrid following behind him.

“Will (y/n) be okay?” Hoseok asked.

“Tae. I’m worried about (y/n). Can’t we see her?” Jimin whined.

“It’s okay, Chim. Let’s just give her some time and space.” Taehyung sat under the heating lamp, letting the smaller curl up against him for comfort.

In your room, you bit your thumbnail as you sat in front of your computer, contemplating whether to tell your team about the message you were sent. But you knew if you told them, they would relocate your hybrids.

“Wait it out, just a few days.” You told yourself. Pulling your legs up to your chest, you began to type a message to your hospital director.

The 5 hybrids perked up when they heard the car pull up outside. The two entered with grim looks on their faces. Namjoon took out a crumpled piece of paper from his pocket.

"What’s this?” Jungkook asked.

“We found it in the trash can.” Jin stated. Jimin reached out to take it but Namjoon stopped him.

“Wait. It’s... heavy. I think Yoongi hyung should read it first.” Namjoon said seriously and the others knew that he wasn’t joking. Yoongi licked his lips worriedly and unfolded the paper. He read the note and grew rigid. It was obvious who the note was from.

“Hyung?” Taehyung bit his nail.

“None of you mention this to (y/n), alright? Don’t tell her we have this note.” Yoongi looked at everyone, who nodded.

“What are we going to do?” Namjoon tapped his foot against the ground nervously. The 4 others were still lost but Jin also knew who the note was from. Someone knew your identity and your face because they addressed you by your organisation’s code name, which was dangerous for you and all of them in the house.

“Are you going to tell us what is in that note?” Taehyung asked.

“I think iIt’s from our old owner.” Namjoon said grimly. Even if Jungkook and Hoseok didn’t know their full background, they still knew that Yoongi and Namjoon were from an illegal fighting ring.

“The ring master?” Jimin’s blood ran cold.

“Yeah and I know it’s difficult but don’t start stressing about this because it’ll only stress (y/n) out even more. Let’s wait for her to think of a solution and handle it.” Jin instructed and they nodded.

“Let’s have dinner.” Hoseok said and everyone sat down. Dinner was quieter than usual.

“Chim, breathe. It’s okay.” Yoongi reminded. Jimin didn’t even know he was holding his breath. He took a sharp inhale of breath and exhaled.

“t’ll be okay.” Yoongi spoke. The newest 2 didn’t really know much about the organisation you were with that saves hybrids. Frankly, they all didn’t know much. Yoongi knew the most but what he knew was also a minimum. He was also the only one that knew what is bound to happen if you tell the organisation that you got a threat at work today.

“Is (y/n) going to eat?” Jungkook asked.

From the looks of it, you weren’t going to come down. Taehyung placed some fried rice into a bowl with some sides and went upstairs. He knocked on your door but obviously, you wouldn’t reply or open the door for him.

“(y/n), please eat, alright?” He placed the bowl down and turned. As he was about to go down the stairs, he heard you open the door, only to close it quickly.

It was only when it got late, after you were sure that all the hybrids were asleep, that you left your room. You only had your cardigan around you as you went out into the cold and sat on your garden bench.

“Please, I can’t lose any of them.” You whispered. Hearing crunching behind you, you turned around.

“I don’t smell (y/n).” Jin came out of his room. He went into Yoongi’s room to wake him up. Indeed, they saw your room door left ajar. Your scent was faint, you weren’t in your room.

“Where’s Taehyung?” Jin asked when he noticed the tiger’s door open as well. The 2 oldest walked around to look for you. Yoongi stopped when he saw two figures sitting on the bench. Taehyung had his arm around your shoulders as you softly cried against his chest. Your cardigan wasn’t sufficient in keeping you warm but Taehyung was.

“Don’t.” Jin stopped Yoongi from approaching the two of you. The smell of your fear was evident in the air.

“Let Tae handle it, they’re mates now.” Jin said and Yoongi nodded.

“I’m your mate now, you can lean on me.” Taehyung whispered. You didn’t give anything away but continued to cry. Taehyung didn’t try to force anything out of you either.

“You know I love you and the others right, Tae?” You cupped his cheek. He nodded, putting his hand over yours.

“I love you too.” He closed his eyes. You thought back to how in a matter of a few months, 5 new hybrids came into your life. Although you were content with Jin and Yoongi as your only hybrids, you couldn’t even imagine your life without the other 5 now.

For the safety of the rest of the hospital and your family, the director advised that you take a long vacation for now.

“The director said I should take some leave to spend time with you guys. Since the 5 of you came in, I’ve been so buried with work.” You lied through your teeth as you told them.

“Okay.” Namjoon nodded. Of course they knew that you were lying but just played along with you.

“Shall we go out?” You suggested. In your mind, you played the possible scenarios that could happen while you were out but you weren’t going to interrupt the boys’ lives because of your paranoia.

“Are you feeling okay?” Yoongi entered your room as you were changing.

“Yeah.” You felt his fingers grasp the hem of your long sleeve turtle neck to help you pull it down. Smiling gratefully, you kissed his cheek but he turned his head so you kissed his lips instead. He smirked at your surprised reaction, hand snaking to the back of your head to hold you in place. You let out a whine when you ran out of oxygen.

“Sorry, kitten.” Yoongi chuckle. You reached out to wipe the lipgloss that got on his bottom lip. He held your hand and led your back downstairs.

“I guess I don’t have to worry about whether the two of you are bundled up.” You told Namjoon and Jin. They were dressed a lot lighter, only in a t shirt, jeans and a normal jacket.

“(y/n)!” Taehyung came down, nearly crashing into you. He was excited to go out. You laughed and adjusted the collar of his jacket.

From the corner of your eye, you watched JImin waddle down the stairs, teetering slightly because of his puffy down jacket. You couldn’t help but smile and coo at how adorable he looked.

“My little marshmallow.” You squealed and hugged him. Jimin blushed slightly. He was sensitive to the cold as well so he wanted to make sure he was bundled up enough to not fall ill. With everything going on, the least he could do was not fall ill and give you another thing to worry about.

“Jungkook! Hoseok! Ready to go?” Jin shouted up the stairs. The two came out, Jungkook having an excited bunny smile on his face.

“Let’s go.” Everyone piled into the van. Yoongi drove with you in the passenger seat. When you pulled up to the mall, you were grateful that it wasn’t too crowded.

“We can split up since we all have different things we want to buy..” Hoseok suggested.

“Good idea.” Namjoon smiled.

“You guys split, I’ll go alone.” You told them. Good thing Hoseok suggested that because you actually written a list of things you wanted to get the boys for Christmas and none of them were supposed to know what they were getting. But the hybrids all looked alarmed when you told them you would go alone. They were worried about your safety as well.

“You shouldn’t be going alone.” Jungkook blurted out.

“It’s alright, bun. I’ll be fine.” You assured. ‘Bun’ was the nickname that you started calling Jungkook. You were the only one allowed to call him that without getting punched.

“Kook’s right, snowflake.” Jin said.

“Seriously, guys. It’s okay. If there’s anything, I’ll call you.” You laughed. In the end, it was Namjoon and Jin, Hoseok and Jungkook, then all the felines together.

“We’ll meet at the froyo shop in 2 hours.” Yoongi said and everyone nodded. You turned around and started walking. All 7 boys just stood there, watching you walk and disappear around the corner.

“She’ll be alright, right hyung?” Jimin asked. Yoongi gave a tight smile and nodded. They all split up to go get their respective things.

“Hmm...” You entered the first store. After observing the the boys, learning more about them, you saved up your money to get them their presents. They were all relatively easy to attain since they were pricey and not regular Christmas gifts. Yoongi, Taehyung and Namjoon’s gifts had to be ordered and delivered to the house. For the others, you called the shops in advance.

“Hello, I called last week about this?” You showed the picture to the store clerk.

“Give me one second.” She smiled with a bow and went into the staff room. As you waited, you browsed the shelves. Some bumped into your shoulder and you turned around.

“Sorry.” The man said gruffly and you nodded, turning back to the shelf. Something about the man was off. Slowly, you pulled your mask that was at your chin to cover your nose and mouth.

“Here you go madam.” The store clerk came back. With gloved hands, she opened the package to show you the contents.

“Thanks.” You said quickly, wanting to get out of there.

“Paying by?” The clerk asked. You handed your credit card over to her and kept your head low, you could practically feel the stare of the man behind you. Once she was done and handed you the hand written invoice, you were out of there. Quickly, you went to a crowded area and disappeared.

“Sh*t.” You cursed, putting a hand over your chest. You were being too paranoid.

“(y/n).” Someone put his hand on your shoulder and you whipped your head around in alarm, letting out a gasp.

“Oh, Hoseok, it’s just you.“ You let out a sigh of relief.

“Is everything alright? You look like you’ve seen a ghost.” Hoseok frowned. You nodded your head with a reassuring smile. You still had some things to grab so you left him. The rest of the shopping went by smoothly, kind of. You still looked over your shoulder occasionally.

As you headed over to the froyo shop to meet the boys, you saw them already gathered, sitting at a table and showing off their purchases. You stopped and just watched them. They left a seat empty for your arrival.

The way they smiled and laughed with one another made you smile as well. You knew what you must do.

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keity-devil · 3 years

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Original, this one was Not planed to be a ship fic, But, because I like the Destinyshipp, [and someone really enjoy my last one (@breathlessmorro, love you enjoy it.)], I edited and made it.

Emo-Bom

"Morro, come on." The Fire Master almost begged the Wind Master to come and train with him.

Kai didn't understand why he was doing this. For what? Anyway it was going to be a short workout- oh, that's why. He wants to end this. He might want to see Skylor later, maybe. But not Morro, who was looking at him unfriendly from the couch.

"I'm not going anywhere." Morro said sharply, sinking deeper into the soft cushions of the couch.

"Sensei said. His orders. Not mine."

Morro was silent. Kai knew why he didn't want to train, especially with him. He was afraid that the deed of the past would be repeated. Morro remembered the fire as it cornered him like a deer surrounded by the sharp fangs of ferocious dogs of prey, how the fierce hot fire grew around him, the sparks leaping like crazy in the air, his throat drying, his eyes it becomes a cold and gray waterfall, his body trembling, burning-

"Come on," Kai's voice brought him out of the gray memories. "I'm not going to use the fire on you. We're not going to use our powers for this training, okay?" Kai had reassured him in a calm tone, the same tone that calmed Lloyd after a nightmare.

Morro sighed heavily and annoyed. "Fine.." He said firmly and got up from his seat. He was sorry he was leaving the warm, soft place where he had sunk and made a small bed. He had a plan to take a nap there for the rest of the day, but it looks like the Universe has other plans for him this day. "Let's get this over with." Morro had passed Kai as he spoke, his hands beside him.

Kai looked back at Morro. When he first trained with him, alone, he used his firepower against him. When the fire completely surrounded Morro, he fell to the ground, trembling and breathing hard, very hard. He was actually panicking, he had gone into a panic attack, a big one. Then he saw him for the first time in a panic of pure fear, the first time he learned of his fear of fire. He knew water was, but the fire, he didn't expect it.

Kai and Morro had begun training with swords. None of them used their powers, as was their understanding. It was just the two of them. Zane, Jay, and Pixal had gone shopping for materials for the inventions and were going to make a short stop at Borg. Cole, Lloyd and Nya went shopping for food. And at the Monastery, Kai, Morro and Wu remained. Wu told Kai he was coming out in a few minutes.

Kai was about to fall due to Morro's hard blow, but he mobilized quickly. When Wu showed up, Morro changed, and Kai noticed that quickly. It wasn't that hard to see his facial expressions change, especially when it comes to the former ghost around Master Wu, otherwise it's hard to tell what he has or if something really bothers him.

"Hey, are you okay?" He asked in a whisper.

"Yeah.. Why wouldn't I be?"

"Since Sensei came out, your mood has kind of changed. Not that you've had a good one before, so you know."

Morro tensed harder. "Doesn't matter." And with that, he had managed to tear him down with a sharp gust of wind and sword.

Kai fell on his back, letting out a squeal of pain. Morro was scared, he didn't want to be so harsh with him or use his powers. He let his emotions dominate him again.

"Easy!" Kai snapped at him.

"Sorry." He helps him get up. "I didn't want to use them, it was an accident."

Morro glanced at his former and current father. He saw that he did not take his eyes off the cup of hot tea, as the little steam rose, until you could no longer see its tip in the sky, which held his gently between his fingers.

"Talk to him." Kai said suddenly to the brunette's ears.

"What the?! No!" Morro raised his voice reluctantly.

"Yes! I can see that- "

"Kai, Morro." Wu's voice was calm. For Kai, he was calm, neutral, but for Morro, it was awful. "Training is over for today. For both of you. The rest of the day is free, you can do whatever you want."

Wu slowly rose from his seat, taking the cup of tea with him. Morro let out an annoyed sigh and threw himself on the floor when Wu was out of sight.

"I'm a huge disappointment..." He murmured, letting his hands fall on his lap and the hair in his face.

"What are you talking about?! You're not! You can't." He couldn't believe what he was hearing, especially from Morro's mouth. Kai did not consider Morro a person to give up at all. NOT AT ALL. He fight him. He had seen that special gleam in his eyes. Why would he give up now? Why? It didn't make sense.

"I am. You've seen it too, I'm a disappointment to him. I'll always be one." He didn't trust himself. Was scared. Frightened that he didn't live up to Wu's expectations, that he wasn't good enough to be his student and... son. That he's that little boy lost again with no purpose in the world.

Kai got angry. Yes, he doesn't trust him completely, but he can't stand to see him like that. He knows that Morro is good, he is good and talented. He is gorgeous even when he gets angry. And that smile or grin that made him jump out in the past, and now it was daylight and- What are you thinking about now?

He stood at his level, put a hand on his shoulder, and Morro raised his head.

"Listen here, Emo-Ghost-Boy.- "

"Emo-Ghost-Boy?!"

" -Sensei Wu doesn't think you're a disappointment. He's himself... your adoptive father! He wouldn't see his own son as a disappointment. He told you you weren't one in his eyes and soul, why not Does that get into your head once?"

Morro lowered his head again. "Every time I look into his eyes.. I remember his look from long ago. How they looked at me with disappointment and hope that I would be the Green Ninja.. his light... And.. I was fixed on it."

"You're fixed dumb."

"Tell me something I didn't already know, Cherry Bom.- "

"Cherry Bom?!"

" -Please." He said sarcastically, but he still felt bad.

"Hey," Kai had begun. "Let's.. find something to do. Something funny, relaxing. You're too tense and stressed. That doesn't do for you any good."

In Kai's eyes, Morro was always like that. He didn't think he'd ever seen him relax- Oh, yes. Once time. When he slept. Then he was calm, as if he had nothing, absolutely nothing sad on his soul. Too bad that wasn't true even when he was awake.

"There is no relaxation where I come from." Morro said, his eyes fixed on Kai's.

"Don't be like Lloyd with this! Come on." It helps him get up. "We're going to change, and we're going somewhere to waste time. What do you say?"

"I say I'm going crazy with you today." On the one hand, he liked what he heard. A break wouldn't hurt.

"To know." He put his hands on the back of his neck, turning his back on the brunette, and his steps toward the entrance to the Monastery. "I'll knock on your door in 15 minutes. I hope you'll be ready then."

Morro looked at him. He could feel his stomach empty. Some of Kai's words made him wonder if he was doing it on purpose or not, if he hated it or not. He runs past the Fire Master, knowing he won't be ready in 15 minutes. Kai chuckled when he saw his reaction.

------

"Aaaand, where are you taking me??" Morro asked him lightly and curiously.

Morro hadn't been to town before, well, he was, but only with Lloyd or Jay. And that was for shopping. But to sit and admire the landscapes around him, no. This outing in the city seemed interesting to him. He was curious how it would be.

"Do you have a specific place in mind?"

"Not."

"Okay. Then stay calm, I can handle it."

The lights in the city captivated his eyes. The buildings were so big. Their architecture now was so different from when he was small. They were new, modified, modernized. It took Morro a while to get used to the technology, but with the help of Lloyd, Jay and Zane, he did it. He still had small question marks, but he was doing slowly. With small steps.

His dark green eyes, with a slight glint of light gray through them, saw something furry on all fours, stepping not so far away from them.

"Oh! A cat!!" Morro drew the cat quickly to him, beginning to stroke it when it reached his feet.

Kai stared at him confused by the brunette's unexpected reaction to the speechless little creature. "It's... a street cat, Morro. He has fleas and who knows what else he has." Kai told him. Apart from Lloyd, he did not think he would see anyone rejoice so much at the sight of a cat. It seems that Morro is a cat person.

"So, and? It's a cat!!" He smiled wide with joy at seeing and touching one. You could see the sparkle of a child in his eyes. "Can we keep her?? I promise I'll take care of her!! Or he's a He.. But I'll take care of her or he every time! Please!"

"Uh... If Lloyd failed to persuade us to take one, you won't."

"But I'm not asking them for this. I'm asking you for this."

Kai felt the fire in him grow. He did not imagine that he would hear these words from Morro's mouth. Now he was even more confused about his feelings.

Kai was watching the street cat after Morro. They both stared at him with wide eyes.

"You look so much like that cat."

"Hm?"

"You're both staring at me in the same way." Morro's childish smile appeared, and Kai could feel the redness appear on his face, forming the red of a rose in his youth. "Did W-Wu ever let you have one when you were little?"

"N-no..?"

"Then neither do I."

"Oh, come on now!!" The cat ran away from the brunette's hands. "Nooo! Kittyyy!! Come baaack!" He returned to Kai. "Look what you did! You scared the cat."

"Me?! You scared her! You didn't keep it anyway."

The brunette stood up. "It doesn't matter, what's the next point??"

"A- I didn't get to the first one either. You were distracted by the cat!"

He blinked twice. "Oh. Okay. Then let's go first."

Kai sighed, but smiled.

The way they were going now, Kai knew him. He did it many times. Or to calm/sit alone, to eat, to see Skylor.

"And, we are here!" Kai was sitting in front of a restaurant.

"A.. noodle ..restaurant?" Morro said in an unimpressed and confused tone, why his eyes see.

"Mhm. You'll love their food. Oh, I have a girl friend here."

Morro looked at him for a long time. "Friend friend? Or girl friend in the sense of just friends?"

"Just friends. Why?"

"Curiosity." He opened the restaurant door and held it open until Kai entered.

"Thanks."

The Master of the Wind could feel and see how the eyes of the people inside were on him. He wanted to put on the hood of his coat, to leave the next second, but he stopped, knowing that someone would ask him questions.

'All is well. Pretend I'm not here. Pretend no one sees you. It's just you and Kai somewhere, spending time together with... a girl you don't know and you know for sure she'll take all your light and talk to Kai more and he'll ignore you and leave you- '

"Skylor!" Kai fiery voice destroyed his range of thoughts, but it made his heart beat faster and was afraid that what he sensed would become real.

A girl with red hair in a ponytail, warm eyes, orange clothes, and a kitchen apron over them, had smiled at them- simle at Kai.

"Hey Kai. I didn't expect to see you today."

"Neither do I. Oh, I want you to meet someone." Kai pulled Morro close to him. "Morro, she is Skylor. Skylor, he is Morro."

"I'm glad meeting you, Morro." Skylor smiled friendly.

"As I am." Morro smiled at her as friendly.

'I already dislike you.'

"I brought him to relax a little. Can you serve us your best, Sky? Please."

"If you pay." She smiles.

"You know I do."

The redhead giggled and went to make the two portions. Morro and Kai sat in their chairs. Kai kept telling him that the food here was wonderful, and about Skylor.

It wasn't long before the food arrived.

"Two servings of the best I served."

"Thank you very much, Sky." Kai thank her, and pay, as promised.

The brunette was almost staring at the noodles in front of him. His hands had slowly picked up the chopsticks, and he had slowly begun to eat. The warm taste of the noodles had warmed Morro, the taste of the warmth of the food had reminded him of his first hot meal the day Wu had taken him under his wing. He didn't know if he disliked Skylor or not, but he certainly loved the food here.

But nothing good lasts, at least for the former ghost it didn't last. Morro was getting bored, beating his sticks in the empty bowl. Kai kept talking to Skylor. His suspicion had come true.

'Can she talk a lot more?? Is she so a extrovert person? My head already hurts at how much she talks. If only you could talk something I understand and know! How can I get out of here? Hmm. Do it myself or do I take Kai with me? Well, I need him. I don't know the way home. I didn't pay attention. A bonus point for me on the 'You're Not Careful' list. Hmm.. Aha!'

Morro pulled out his phone. "Oh, Kai." He put on his most surprised, harmless, innocent voice he has. "I got a message from Lloyd. He says we have to go home. It's late however."

Kai looked at him intently after checking the time. "Oh, you're right. It's quite late." He returned to Skylor. "See you Skylor another time, thanks for the food."

"The pleasure was mine, Kai." Morro stood up first. He couldn't wait to leave. "And to meet you too, Morro."

Morro smiled falsely. "As I." And he leaves, just as the smile leaves.

------

There was a rhythmic knock at the Chosen One's door.

"Open." Inside, the Master of Fire had appeared. "Kai, hey. How was going out with Morro?" Lloyd smiled at him, one that made Kai skin rise.

"You say it like it was a date or something."

"If you like him," 'And he likes you.' "I can call it like that."

"You scare me with that smile. And it wasn't a date!" He felt red and ashamed that Lloyd could read him like an open book. "And if it was a date- "

"It was one."

" -Why did you send a message to Morro that we should return to the Monastery?"

"I didn't send him any messages. Nobody did. I think he lied to you. Have you been with anyone?"

"We went to Skylor's restaurant."

"Ooooh." He had taken a candy. "Then it explains why he did it."

"Why?!"

"I won't tell you that. I'll leave you alone to find out. Or you can find out from him if you ask him." He told him, shifting his attention back to the comic and candy.

Kai looked at him one last time, then went to Morro's room. He had knocked quickly on his door, receiving a confirmatory answer. Inside, Morro was wearing a cream sweater, and some black pants. His hair was caught in a mess with a hair clip. Some threads had fallen out. He was so nice to Kai's eyes and soul. He hadn't seen him look like that before, but he thought he looked really good.

"Kai? Are you... okay? You've been staring at me for a while."

"Morro, why you look so- why did you lie to me that Lloyd didn't text you to come back?"

'Focus, Kai. Now it was Not the time to say nonsense.'

"I wanted to get out of there." He answered quickly, in a neutral tone.

"Why?"

"Because it hurt my head how much she talked and she took you! I knew this was going to happen. That after you meet her, you'll put me aside."

"Are you... jealous?" Kai asked the question. That was the only word that had crossed his mind. Others did not exist even after he asked the question.

"Maybe! I do not know."

A smile spread around the Fire Master's face.

"Why.. are you smiling like that?" Morro asked him confused and a little scared/worried.

"Just don't.. you like me, do you?"

"Eh!? Nonsense! How could I do that?!"

"With the red face you have now I can."

"It's like yours is not."

One minute, two, three and four.

The embarrassing silence between them was great. It was as if the redness on their faces intensified, for Kai on his ears. Morro couldn't make a small breeze to cool the atmosphere. He had the impression that the heat of Kai's fire was turning the room into a tiny sauna.

"You like me?"

Morro's eyes widened. His shoulders had dropped, staring at Kai.

"I don't know.. I never know how I feel. If I really like you, I don't really know that." He answered honestly, still with emotions, he didn't know why either.

"Would you like to try?" Kai asked him with low hopes. He didn't think he would ever like Morro, but never say never.

"Maybe... If you don't tell anyone about it, I agree."

"I promise." He looked out the window of the room, which was half open. The sky was dark, tiny stars illuminating the sky. "I think it's time for a well-deserved sleep."

"Mhm. You know, it was fun today. I.. relaxed. Thank you."

"The pleasure was mine. Good night, Emo-Ghost-Boy."

"Good night, Cherry Bom."

He closed the door to Morro's room, leaving for his. He closed his own door, screaming for happiness in a pillow.

----------

Long. ... I don't have any excuse for this.

Maybe the next one will be a first kiss, idk. If you guys want, of course. Or something else.

#ninjago #morro #ninjago morro #kai #ninjago kai #destinyshipping ninjago #destinyshipping #my written #angst #fluff #is the vast mini fic I ever made #mini fic

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todoscript · 4 years

Note

10, Tamaki Amajiki, fluff or smut

Support

prompt: 10. “You really shouldn’t touch that… I told you.” genre: fluff. pairing: amajiki tamaki x fem!reader word count: 2.0k+ warnings: mentions of insecurities.

author’s note: This is longer than a drabble should be but I couldn’t control myself. Also, this is my first time writing for Tamaki so I hope I did well portraying him. Big thank you to @burnedbyshoto for being my beta reader as well as recommending the title for this work!

Tamaki Amajiki has experienced an extraordinary amount of circumstances in his life so far that not many boys his age could even imagine to go through. He’s fought crooks, robots, supervillains, hell even the yakuza, and has managed to come out in one piece every time and claim victory. Of course, he has his training and studies from a prestigious hero school to thank for equipping him with the tools he needs to combat such peril. However, no amount of training or experience could truly prepare him for this new, menacing adversary.

A classroom full of school children.

Being a trio backed up by the honorable title of The Big 3, Mirio, Nejire, and Tamaki were given the opportunity to represent U.A. High School as they speak to classrooms of elementary students next week. This was a chance to talk with the younger generation and encourage them to think about a possible career as a crime fighter, while also ensuring that their futures were in safe hands thanks to heroes like them.

As a shy, introverted person whose solution in these social situations is to envisage everyone in the form of vegetables, Tamaki was not keen on this idea. Kids were boisterous and contained way too much energy in their little bodies to handle, making it much harder to conjure them as potatoes in his head. Not only that, but these days they’ve grown judgemental and full of themselves. They boast about their newly developed quirks amongst each other at playgrounds, already comparing their abilities at such an early age. All in all, his fragile spirit cannot handle interacting with these miniature monsters.

Nejire and Mirio seemed much better suited for this task. They glowed with charisma, and their energetic personalities naturally drew people to them. No doubt, the kids will especially be fond of how receptive they are to their young and frisky attitudes. Tamaki felt he just paled in comparison behind their light; however, his two friends would not allow him to deem himself that way.

“C’mon Tamaki, you have so many things going for you!” assures an optimistic Mirio during lunch as Tamaki sulks in the thought of meeting the kids. “You have an amazing quirk! I bet if you show it off, the kids will love it.”

True, the ability to manifest certain animal attributes depending on whatever he digests could tide the youngsters into liking him. But at the same time, would they really be captivated that easily? Aren’t kids at that age more into flashy things like lasers and explosions? No one wants to see him with cow hooves and clam hands, not with Nejire spiraling concussive vitality from her palms and Mirio shooting right up out of solid ground.

“I… I don’t know if the kids would be into my quirk…” he murmurs, eyes averting to his twiddling thumbs beneath the table.

“Amajiki, if you’re aiming to be a Pro Hero, you can’t let a bunch of ten-year-olds deter you!” chides Nejire. She forks a bit of her strewn pasta.

“Easy for you to say, Hadou. You’re bubbly and approachable. Everyone always comes to you. Meanwhile, the freshmen were intimidated by me before I even spoke a word.” Tamaki broods at his plate of food that grows colder during the conversation, but he can’t muster an appetite to eat it. “I can’t imagine how the kids would feel.”

Nejire chews on her noodles with a pitched hum. The trill ceases the moment her eyes light up, an idea flickering in her head.

“Say, how about you visit ____ at support during hero training today? I bet she can hook you up with some flashy gear that they’ll like.”

The utter of your name sends Tamaki’s body rigid.

“Oop, I think you touched something you shouldn’t have, Nejire,” Mirio gestures to the steely expression written over their friend’s face.

Dealing with children was one thing, but you were another matter entirely.

Being enrolled at U.A. since their very first year, the senior students of the hero and support departments coincided together. They drew out each other’s potentials—whether it was fighting on the battlefield or producing new innovative gadgets in workshops. Naturally, within that time, Tamaki developed a fondness for you.

You were a spirited individual driven by your passion for creating and bringing out the very best out of everyone you worked with, which included himself. With him, you were patient, never one to discourage or berate him despite his nervous and awkward nature that he viewed as probably a displeasure to work with. You took all his strengths and weaknesses to heart, and created the right tools to make him shine in triumph.

If Tamaki is the dead night, then you are the moon and stars that lit up his dark twilight, enlightening the world with his true potential.

However, the boy has never brought up his feelings to you, driven back by the thought you didn’t reciprocate, or wanted to focus more on your future as a craftswoman rather than prattle with romance. To bring you up in his dilemma of having to interact with mere elementary school kids is the last thing he wants to do.

“I don’t—”

“C’mon Tamaki! This is the perfect opportunity to kill two birds with one stone!” Nejire enthusiastically waves a finger ready to describe her expertly thought-out plan. “You come to ____ asking for some of her gear, the ordeal brings you closer together, and then boom, you naturally confess your feelings and then impress those kids next week!” She sits with a proud, lifted head and hands on her hips after explaining her master proposal.

“Hm that’s quite an ambitious plan, Nejire,” chuckles Mirio.

“Way too ambitious if you ask me,” Tamaki scowls, uncertainty forming in his features.

“Confessing to someone you’ve liked for so long doesn’t come that easily…”

Nejire pouts, spinning the last remnants of her pasta around her fork. “Well I say you should still think it over! If anything, the new gear could help.”

And so he does. Lunch soon passes in the next flutter of an eyelash. During an academic class, Tamaki ponders the idea a bit more until it’s eventually time for their hero training course.

Lo and behold, he’s standing right outside the development studio with wickedly narrow brows and contemplating eyes, acting like if he glared at the door hard enough, all his problems would be solved. With his feet cemented into the ground, he doesn’t budge for the next couple of minutes. His mind bounces between his predicament and the possible solutions at hand, reaching to a standstill. Ultimately, he knows nothing will come out of not making a decision, so after another second of thought, he decides to progress.

The steel door jars open at a slide of the handle and Tamaki ganders at the messy workspace before him. He navigates through a mess of gizmos and gadgets with careful hesitant steps.

“____? Are you in here? I, um, need your help with something,” he calls, tentative voice drawing out across the room.

“Tamaki? Is that you?” He hears the distance between your voices, “Sorry, I’ll be with you in just a minute…”

He nods to no one in particular, standing in place as his fingers play with the hem of his white, hooded cape. Too late to turn back now, he thinks. While he dawdles, he can’t help but let his eyes wander around the room, eyeing the vast amounts of meticulously crafted contraptions and accessories all developed in a high school workshop.

The support course sure is something else, Tamaki regards the creativity such students have, being able to construct so many complicated gadgets. He doesn’t know how you do it, but supposes that was another charm about you that he admired so much.

Suddenly, a whirring noise catches his attention, and he turns in its direction. He spots a device flaring in place on a table across from him, the widget shifting and flashing into an assortment of colors that isn’t comfortable for his liking.

“Uh… ____… C-Can you come out real quick? I think there’s something wrong with this thing,” he warns, tone rising with every dissonant sound the device continues to resonate.

“OK Tamaki, I’m done. What do you need— Whoa!”

Your words are cut off by Tamaki, pulling you to him using vines sprouted from his fingers, thanks to the vegetables he managed to eat today. Confused, you brace against his chest as the evident droning whir increases in volume. Tamaki holds a wavering hand over the device.

“Ah wait, Tamaki, you really shouldn’t touch that!” you cautioned. However, Tamaki’s entire hand transforms into a giant clam that quickly envelopes the contraption just as it flares and reaches its peak. He contains the small burst of energy within his shell with a wince, preventing any catastrophe from befalling on both of you and the work studio.

“Hehe, told you,” you shakily laugh off which makes him sigh as he releases you from his steady grasp.

“____, you could’ve gotten severely hurt,” he chides.

“But I didn’t because of you, so thank you very much, Suneater,” you say with a grin. Tamaki slightly tugs his hood down to obscure the growing blush on his cheeks that threaten to expose his flustered reaction to your gratitude.

“It... It was nothing,” he manages. You nod in response before approaching the faulty contraption, shifting your gaze side-to-side to inspect the damage.

“Sorry about that, I think this is one of Hatsume’s inventions from Class 1-F.”

You toss it into a pile of other defective equipment, relaying in your mind to reprimand your junior later.

“Anyways, is there anything I can do for you, Tamaki? You said something about needing my help?” Ah, right, he nearly forgot. He slowly nods.

“I need some new gear…” he admits. A light of passion infused with curiosity dazzles in your eyes.

“What for? Going to face a new powerhouse crime organization next week? Ooh, maybe another gangster threat in the criminal underground? Or perhaps you need something to combat a future natural disaster?” you surmise, but Tamaki only avoids your gaze at all your grand guesses when comparing it to the true reason:

“I need something to impress these kids I’ll be talking to next week…” he mutters under his breath, as if embarrassed.

“Huh?” You knit your eyebrows, muddled by the answer. Tamaki’s head imbues with self-conscious, anxious thoughts about what you must be thinking. However, your response to his predicament is one that leaves him more perplexed than you are.

“Why? You don’t need any gear to impress anyone. You’re fine the way you are,” you say without a single pause or hint of doubt in your tone. Tamaki pauses, grabbing his bearings at your statement before eyeing his spread out hands, unsure.

“But I’m so plain, not flashy or charismatic like Mirio and Hadou… Would kids like me the way I am?” he urges the question with uncertainty, keeping his stare on his calloused palms.

Would you like me the way I am?

You reach out for his hands, holding your own over them and bringing his wavering gaze to peer into yours.

“Tamaki, the kids will like you for who you are as long as you’re passionate about what you’re aiming to do. And that’s to save everyone and become a hero, right?” you assure, slightly tilting your head.

“You protected me without even a thought in your mind just now. That makes you heroic and courageous,” you continue, “Your nervous and shy personality are just small little quirks about you that make you who you are. You don’t need to change that.”

A smile of pure adoration forms on your lips. “Plus it’s what I like so much about you.”

Tamaki’s eyes lift in realization at your statement, his hands slowly gripping yours from below like he may not have heard you correctly.

“You like me?” he repeats, and you nod your head.

“I’ve liked you since our first year, silly.” You giggle at the stunned look etched on his face.

“I…” his words are caught in his throat for a second over the growing developments, but with every ounce of his being, he musters them out, his tone laced in only warmth and affection for you.

“I’ve liked you too, ___, I-I always have. You were so dazzling that I couldn’t help but let these feelings for you grow, and now, I’m glad I got to say them to you.” He finally admits to all the emotions stirred inside him for the past three years, and your smile widens. You inch forward, planting a small peck on his cheek that renders him a flustered mess from the surprise.

“Alright, go show those kids who Suneater is next week!”

Nejire’s plan was a success, after all.

#bnha #bnha x reader #tamaki amajiki #mha #bnhabookclub #boku no hero academia #my hero academia #mha x reader #amajiki tamaki #tamaki x reader #tamaki amajiki x reader #my writing #bnha scenarios #mha scenarios #bnha imagines #mha imagines

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nautiscarader · 3 years

Text

Wendip Week 2021 Day 1 - Time Travel

Apologies for the massive delay, but my health, both physical and, as a result, mental, got a hit, and had to recover.. .we'll see how things go from there on, but at least I have some more ideas for other prompts.

I wonder if shipping week co-organised by me will accept my late prompts.

(ao3)

==================

Wendy Corduroy leaned behind the wooden wall of the Mystery Shack, giving a few squirrels a rather frightening looks. And she had to be careful, as her mission was of utmost importance.

Despite the years she's spent working, and then almost living in the Shack, she felt as if she was on a an enemy's territory.

And of course, in a sense, she was one...

She weight each step of hers, as she crept through the empty lobby. The tourist season hasn't started yet, and the only ones judging her were heads of fake monsters that decorated the walls.

And then, as she turned her head, she collided with someone.

- Oh, sorry, Wendy - her boyfriend offered her his arm and was quick to check her for any bruises - No worries, Dip. - Wendy smiled and returned the soft kiss. - Listen, uh, I gotta meet with Soos, so, uh, catch you later? - Sure, dork. - she smiled - Oh, watch out for the flocks of drummingbirds, they're gonna have a parade... I think they scheduled it. - Thanks for the tip! Love you!

She gave him a wave, and as soon as he exited the building, she returned to her mission, this time knowing that she'd have no one else to worry about.

But as she entered the upstairs room that once belonged to the young Pines twins, she realised she was sorely mistaken, as she met Dipper's frightened sight.

Her heart skipped a beat and her eyes widened, as she realised what might have happened. She was trained for such eventuality, though she prayed it would never happen again. She still had nightmares about the Bunker...

In the split second she drew her axe and aimed it at him, forcing him to drop his weapon of choice, or rather what would have been one, had it not been a simple backscratcher. His posture, however, indicated nothing but readiness, and he dared not to lose his enemy from his sight.

- Alright, safety question: favourite animal? - Platypus bear! - Dipper replied at once, the axe's blade inches away from his throat - First movie we watched together? - "A serving of irony, or how aliens tricked us with double-meaning words".

For a long while, the two stared at each other, until their erratic breathing returned to normal, and they lowered their weapons.

- Wendy? - Yeah, it's me... Dipdop. - she smiled - But then-

Her eyes widened, and she stormed to the window, knowing what she'd see.

Next to Soos' family van stood another Dipper and Wendy, laughing about something.

Dipper was about to reach for his make-shift weapon, until he realised that what looked like Wendy would have already killed him several times by now.

- Wendy, wait, why are you-

She reached into her back pocket, almost at the same time as Dipper did. And when their eyes met, they both understood.

- Oh, crud. It's you. - they both said, pointing to each other.

At the same time, the earth began to shake.

- Come on, we need to help them. Us. Come on!

She grabbed his hand and the two darted downstairs, and by the time they reached the ground floor, the Earth in front of the shack has already opened and from the rift that tore down one of the wooden benches, two round creatures emerged, both looking equally angry.

The creatures didn't have eyes, but the razor-sharp teeth and long noodle-like tendrils, dripping with thick, red liquid gave off enough warnings.

Though she shouldn't have look away from them, Wendy had to make eye contact with herself, and her other boyfriend, and when she did, she spoke one sentence.

- We both forgot.

The other Wendy and Dipper looked at each other, and both clapped their foreheads with their hands.

- Okay, but you guys are gonna explain it!

The other Dipper shouted and scooted away, just before the smoke cleared away, and the two Linguiniers split to chase them. But Wendy already formed a plan in her head: with the help of her boyfriend, she lept onto the broken half of wooden log that served as a bench, and when the tentacle was about to hit her, she dodged and was catapulted into the air, her axe already ready in her hands.

More thick, red paste covered the ground as two halves of monstrous orb fell to the ground, its tendrils still convulsing in its last moments.

But then, the two heard their voice, coming from the other side of the parking lot, and ran to help their doubles. But by the time they reached them, Dipper and Wendy have already trapped the other one by coiling its tendrils on a pitchfork that stuck out of the now-dead monster.

- Nice work. - Wendy congratulated the other two, tasting the marinara sauce from her shirt. - Shame it's gonna be our last meal, eh? - the other Wendy crossed her arms, looking at her with contemptuous look. - Well... it's kinda your fault too. - Dipper addressed the two, hoping to find common grounds.

A moment later, however, they all heard familiar beeping coming from their pockets.

===========

- Okay....

And old man hid his face in his hands, wanting to pull hair from his head, but finding very little to work with.

- So you travelled back in time and answered his sudden appearance, and you did the same to react to her travel.

He pointed to Dipper and switched to Wendy, both wearing the same half-frightened, embarrassed looks.

- But why did you go back in the first place?! - the man shouted, desperate to find some sense in the convoluted tale,

Dipper and Wendy paused for a while, gathering thoughts as if they could come up with a better excuse. But as the two looked at each other, they realised there was no other way, other than coming clean.

- Because yesterday was our anniversary. - And we were both so busy that... - ...We both forgot. - ...So we both came back, thinking we met... - ...The original versions of ourselves... - ...When in reality we met the older us.

The older man's face changed the shade from red, to yellow and purple, until it was once more hidden in his hands for a very long time.

- And you killed two of our time-repairers. - Well, they kinda attacked us, so we had to do it, before they ate us to clean up the timeline. - But then Soos came back, and trust us, he ate them, and there is no evidence. - Shut it! - the man slammed his hand onto the desk.

Wendy reached her hand to her boyfriend's, who entwined his fingers with hers, as they both awaited the judgement.

- Your timelessness, having heard the confessions of this blatant disregard of our rules what do you say?

The desperate man looked up and addressed the floating, enormous toddler that overlooked not only this room, but the concept of time, and the several neighbouring realities as well.

- Let them go, these humans are so cute - the new Time Baby answered, toying with a ball of time yarn. - Your time tapes are locked. All four of you, until we untangle this mess, get out. - he barked and slumped over his desk, watching as the colours on the faces of both Dippers and both Wendys brightened.

A moment later, the four young adults were in the elevator, finally able to breathe properly.

- Wow, were we lucky. - Dipper clutched his chest - No more time shenanigans for us, though. - Definitely. - the other one added, clearing the sweat from his brow. - Well... - one of the Wendys interrupted him, watching as their eyes widen - I had one more thing in mind. - No! - they both raised their hands in protest - Haven't you heard him? - Yeah but we won't be doing "shenanigans". - the other red-head continued, mimicking Dipper's strict tone. I mean, technically, it's still yesterday, right? So why don't we celebrate the anniversary... with us?

A frisky smile appeared on their freckled face, followed by a subtle, but vivid blush.

- You mean... - Dipper swallowed loudly - With two of you? - And two of you. - the two spoke at the same time, sending shivers down their spines. - That-That definitely classifies as "shenanigans". - Dipper exchanged nervous looks with his slightly younger self. - And we can do squat until the tapes got unlocked so do you have better idea?

The air in the elevator became much more difficult to breathe as Dippers pondered the situation they were in. And the fact that this was the most sensible option made them both excited and deeply confused.

Never before has spending an anniversary with younger versions of themselves, eating freshly-cooked pasta and meatballs been so much fun.

#wendip #nautiscaraderfics #wendipweek #wendip week #wendy corduroy #dipper pines #gravity falls

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starsfic · 3 years

Text

The Ghosts of Fiery Cloud Manor- Chapter 2: The Scholar's Manor

Summary: Xiaotian meets Tang and his partner.

AO3

-_-

"QI XIAOTIAN!"

The moment he stepped foot in the village, Xiaotian found himself freezing. The yelling was too close. Too close to the bark of his father. He slapped himself out of those thoughts, turning.

A man in a white and brown robe was hurrying up, red scarf fluttering after him. He came to a stop, leaning on his knees to pant. "Xiaotian, correct?" he said as he straightened, brushing dirt off his robe.

Xiaotian nodded, holding out his hand. "You must be Mr. Tang, right?"

The scholar gave his hand a firm shake. "Indeed, I am!" Tang said, using his other hand to fix his glasses. They turned at footsteps, watching another man, dressed in a yellow sweater, hurry up. "And this is my partner Sun Wukong."

"Like the Monkey King?" He couldn't help it. He had been obsessed with the stories since he was a kid.

For some reason, panic flashed across Tang's face. "Yes! Like the Monkey King! Not exactly like the Monkey King but close..."

Wukong took over at the scholar nervously laughed. "He's a big fan." He stage-whispered. "Anyway, kid, he saw your text and freaked out, thinking someone was still there and you were hurt or something."

"Actually…"

He explained about the lack of footprints in the dust and the paintings. Tang visibly calmed when he heard that there hadn’t been an actual intruder. “You’re right, the paintings still being there are a good sign.” He rubbed his chin in thought, not seeming to notice as Wukong wrapped an arm around his shoulder and start leading him down to the village, gesturing for Xiaotian to follow. “It’s possible that the stories kept any wannabe thieves away…”

“The stories?”

Tang glanced at him with a smile, his next words bearing a sharp contrast.

“Oh, the ghost stories.”

-_-

Sunlight drew Xiaotian from slumber. He didn’t get out of bed immediately, mulling over dinner last night.

In the inn’s dining room, over a meal of vegetarian noodles, Tang had laid down the history of Fiery Cloud Manor. Yes, the manor was built right where Red Boy, one of the most famous villains of Journey to the West, was claimed to live, giving the manor its name. One of Tang’s ancestors had built the manor centuries ago after he came back from studying in Britain. A few weeks after his sudden death, the manor had suddenly been abandoned and locked up and none of Tang’s family allowed to go in.

Which led to the rumors of ghosts.

But what kept playing Xiaotian’s minds was what Wukong had said, clearly not intending to be heard.

“Hopefully, ghosts are the only thing that’s in there…”

He finally pulled himself out of bed, stretching. He got dressed and packed a bag, a plan outlining in his mind. Tang didn’t have any maps of the manor, so Xiaotian would figure out the layout of the manor and get a feel for what was there and what needed to be done. He needed cleaning product and a unit more specific than ‘a lot’ would be helpful.

When he opened his door, the monkey waiting outside wasted no time in clinging to his front. “Seriously?” Xiaotian voiced, staring at the monkey. It gave a happy chirp. “This has to stop, you can’t get attached.” He continued on this vein as he walked downstairs, not even noticing the innkeeper, Mr. Syntax, watching until he chuckled.

“Good company?”

“He’s persistent,” Xiaotian said, plopping the monkey back onto the counter. “I’ll give him that. Hey, do you know if there’s anywhere I can get a packed lunch?” The monkey reached for his loose hair and he batted its hands away. “I want to get a full day out in the manor.”

“Oh, I’ll whip something up while you’re eating breakfast.”

Xiaotian thanked him and headed into the pub, ordering some dumplings. He couldn’t resist snapping a picture and texting it to Pigsy. Pretty good, but not as good as yours! A few minutes later, there was a response of Good. Miss you. Xiaotian sent back a miss you! before the innkeeper handed him a brown paper bag. He headed out and soon found the trail again.

The soft mist of morning lingered around him as he started his hike. Now that Xiaotian was slightly more awake, he noticed more details on his walk. Bull and monkey statues, worn away by weather and time, lined the path. Scattered here and there were wild peach trees, soft breezes scattering pink and white petals. With the sunrise, it was beautiful.

By the time Fiery Cloud Manor came into view, he was smiling. His smile stopped when he saw the closed gate…

And no headband.

Some critter must've gotten curious. At least he had a spare...which he had forgotten. Xiaotian pushed that aside and headed through the gate and to the door, making sure to wedge two large rocks he found to prop open the doors. When that was done, he studied the floor.

The entrance hall floor was made of red marble, gold veins cracking through it. The wallpaper was a similar shade of red- clearly, Tang’s ancestor hadn’t cared about how red on red would look- and when he wiped some dust away, he found a pattern of bulls. Above, a crystal chandelier would’ve offered light, but it was more spiderweb than crystal. Xiaotian shivered at the thought of spiders. “You probably have a lot of them,” he said out loud. His voice bounced off the walls, echoing into the depths. “You probably hate that- believe me, I would.”

Weirdly, he felt less weird talking to the house than the monkey.

“Let’s get to know each other.”

He set down the hallway, pulling out his phone to start his playlist. He hummed along to the music as he found more paintings, as well as vases and decorative armor and weapons. Which was weird. Wouldn’t someone take something like that when the house was abandoned? Xiaotian found himself pushing those thoughts away when he came to a traditional paper push door, a pair of large flames decorating it.

He pushed them open, sending dust scattering. The marble floor in this room had been replaced with wood with a reddish tint to it. Xiaotian moved his gaze up and yelped when he looked back.

"Okay." He said when his heart stopped racing. His several reflections repeated the motions of his mouth. "Mirrors. Didn't expect mirrors." Xiaotian headed in. There had to be windows somewhere, right?

Nope. All Xiaotian found in what he was recognizing as a ballroom were mirrors, occasionally broken by the white wall underneath. This room probably looked less creepy when the golden chandeliers above were lit. But for now, Xiaotian was glad to get out.

The rest of the manor was less creepy, thankfully. Four floors and an attic were open for examination. He found a door that must've led to a basement, but the door held firm when Xiaotian had tried to open it. He brushed it off, happy to wait to deal with that, and continued his exploration. Most of all, he found Tang wasn't kidding when he had said that the manor had been abandoned suddenly.

None of the furniture looked missing. The decor was still decorating. Some of the rooms still had clothes in their closets. Then Xiaotian entered the library. "Are you kidding?!" he yelled to nobody. "Who just leaves their books?!"

There wasn't a single gap in the bookshelves that filled the room. There was a marble fireplace, any fire having long since died out, and dusty furniture. There was a desk that, under further examination, looked like whoever had been writing had simply gone up to get a snack and had never come back. A portrait of a familiar woman- the same woman from the painting downstairs, that horn hairstyle was hard to miss- looked down at the desk with a look of distaste.

"I feel you." he told her.

He continued his examination, humming along to the next song to come on. He froze when a kid screamed for more candy. "Mei!" Xiaotian grabbed his phone, turning it on to show it had gone to his Don't Even Think About It playlist. In retrospective, he probably shouldn't have a playlist titled this. Or use Xiaojiao's birthday as his passcode.

He switched it to a different playlist and then turned to texting his best friend. You're five hours away, how are you still driving me crazy?

A minute later, his phone lit up with a call from Xiaojiao. He answered it and her giggle filled the library. "Sounds like someone found the new song!"

"Yeah, that horrible Disney remix. Thank you for that."

Xiaojiao let out a snort, soon calming. "So, how is it? Epic disaster or nice fixer-upper?"

Xiaotian looked around. "More like epic fixer-upper. Mr. Tang was right- this is the perfect place for a museum."

"How bad is it?"

That was another weird thing. For a house that had been abandoned for at least a century, there was surprisingly no damage. "Just some dust, cobwebs, and grime here and there. But seriously, this place is amazing."

"I see you found your soulmate."

He couldn't help his own snort of laughter. "Yes, I predict a spring wedding. I wish you were here to see it-" Something hit his back and he screamed. For a moment, there was nothing but panic.

Finally, the creature hopped off…

And the inn monkey blinked innocently up at him.

"MK?! Is everything okay?!"

"Fine!" Xiaotian said, feeling his heart race from the scare. "It's just the monkey."

"...the monkey?"

Said monkey let out a chirp before hopping up onto his shirt, reaching for the paper bag. "No," he told it, holding the bag as far as he could. "I will not feed you! Sorry, Xiaojiao, this monkey apparently likes to hop from the local nature reserve."

There was a coo from the other end before someone else spoke. "Okay, I have to go!" Xiaojiao said. Xiaotian froze at her planning voice. "Love you, bye!" And just like that, she was gone.

He was broken out of his confusion by paws batting at his hair and he gave in. "Fine." Xiaotian said, sitting down on one of those comfy-looking armchairs. "Let's see what we have that won't make you sick."

The bag was opened and he pulled out some noodles, Peking duck, white rice, and some spring rolls. Finally, Xiaotian found a bag of dried peach slices, marketed as peach chips. He popped open the bag and handed it over to the monkey.

They ate in companionable music-filled silence. The monkey occasionally paused to cock it's head. Then, when Xiaotian had finished his lunch and was placing the trash in the bag, it let out a series of chirps and squeaks, mimicking the tune. "You're a talented little guy, aren't you?" Xiaotian asked, reaching over to give it a head scratch. Realization struck a moment later.

Oh boy. He had gotten attached, to both house and monkey.

He could deal with that later, he mused as he leaned back, feeling sleepy. His stomach was full, the armchair was comfy, and the library was surprisingly warm, which all pushed him deeper into the abyss of slumber. It wasn't an issue. He could take a quick nap...

He didn't notice a figure watching him as his eyes fell shut.

#The Ghosts of Fiery Cloud Manor #my writing #Monkie Kid #Lego Monkie Kid #Peachtea #Qi Xiaotian #MK #Tang #Sun Wukong #Long Xiaojiao #Mei #Peachteashipping

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rosesloveletters · 3 years

Text

Self-Shipping Reference.

I have been debating on creating a self-shipping reference for these two, but since I am certain of our dynamic at this point, I wanted to delve right in; I love Will and Jakob so very much and I wanted to create a little collection of our relationship like I’ve done before in the past. Most of all, this is for me so that I can have it as a reference, so there is absolutely no obligation to interact with this post. If you do, thank you for showing us so much love and care, I really appreciate it more than anything. This community is so welcoming of self-shipping and that means a lot to me<3.

last updated: June 17, 2021

please do not read if you are not interested in or comfortable with self-shipping.

word count: 2,908

Ship name?

Our collective ship name is Grimmrose, for obvious reasons (my poly heart can hardly take it😭✨💛)

I do not feel I should need to say this (as it should already be implied), but since I do not want angry anons in my ask box about this, I will state: Will and Jakob are not romantically involved in our dynamic; the love they have for each other is familial only. They both share me, but that is as far as it goes. There is absolutely no incestuous aspects of our relationship.

Date you got together?

Jakob: May 26, 2021. The open honesty and security within our vulnerabilities were what prompted Jakob and I to jump in headfirst. We knew how we felt almost immediately; Jakob believes in love at first sight and I value that sentiment. It was a mutual understanding that the two of us were meant to be together (even if I hadn’t already known, the darling would have convinced me - he is extremely persuasive and given to a dreamer’s mindset.) The two of us easily came to an agreement on beginning a relationship because of how similar we have found ourselves to be. It was not difficult to access what each other was thinking and how we chose to approach those thoughts and feelings. Jakob is driven by those, after all, and his bright spirit and general interest in the things that cannot be so easily explained drew me to him.

Will:

Platonic: May 26, 2021.

Romantic: June 14, 2021.

Will was, to my surprise, not as difficult to access as I expected. He has a much different personality to Jakob’s; the two are near opposite ends of the spectrum. Will’s mission has been to protect Jakob, mostly from himself, but Jakob does not understand that the reason Will is so hard on him is because Will feels helpless around him. Jakob’s mind is so bright and open, while Will does not understand how to compete with that nor how to understand or fit into Jakob’s world of folklore and mythical, magical beings. He feels weak in comparison to Jakob’s spirit; Will values my ability to cross those lines and connect with both him and Jakob. Will has never known another to be so well-suited for his brother and he is respectful of how we interact, since until now he has been the only one who has been able to reach Jakob. We were platonic for several weeks out of respect for Jakob, but soon entered into a mutual agreement to share the love that we all have for each other; the brothers agreed to share me since they have both developed such strong feelings.

Favorite personality trait?

Jakob: His sense of security within vulnerabilities. Jakob is more given to childlike excitement and the thrill of action whenever it is of a magical quality. He fidgets, has a distinct nervous energy/uncomfortable body language, a clear mind but one that fancies fiction over reality. Whenever he drinks, he’s giddy and excited; the only one who can get through to him in these moments are Will and I. The thing is, Jakob has never tried to be anybody but himself. He is aware that these qualities are not valued by the vast majority and are perhaps seen as weaknesses or even are simply frowned upon (much of this he experienced as a result of the way Will treated him over the years), but even all of that has never caused his personality to shift or made him close himself off. Jakob has always found security within who he is, regardless of whether those around like it or not.

Will: His protective commitment to those who he loves. Even though Will canonically admitted his frustrations over Jakob and how he “hates” his younger bother, stating how Jakob “drives him mad”, he is fiercely protective of him and committed to maintaining their relationship in spite of any disagreements or arguments. Will does not give up on those he loves. Even though it would have made sense for him to toss Jakob into the streets and leave him if he truly hates him, but Will does not. Despite his confession, he has never actually hated his brother; Jakob makes him feel weak, helpless and inferior because Jakob’s comprehension of things beyond Will’s understanding or compulsion to understand or look beyond what is right in front of him is too different and unusual to him.

Favorite physical trait?

Jakob: His eyes. Jakob’s eyes are so expressive; they sparkle in the light and his irises twinkle. His soul appears as if it were made from stardust and every bit of him glows. His eyes reflect the innocence and playful mischief bound within him; he is a dreamer at heart and his eyes mirror that.

Will: His smile. There is a scene when Jakob and Will first arrive at Marbaden and they are confronted by the townspeople with weapons, uncertain of who these two strangers are, and when Will tries to explain who they are his smile is simply dazzling. I believe that was the moment I found myself in love with him; I have not seen a smile so bright in a long time. Here’s a screenshot of his smile (Jakob’s expression in the background is so funny😂):

Couple song

We do not have a couple song yet; we have couple albums.

Taylor Swift’s albums Folklore and Evermore are sister albums, so it only makes sense that they are representative of the two brothers respectively: Folklore for Jakob and Evermore for Will.

Both albums are suited to the three of us; the feelings provoked from both establish the tone of our relationship.

Pet peeves…

There is only one: their constant bickering/arguing and fights. It is natural for siblings to fight, but the longer I spend with these two, the more consistently they seem to fight in front of me. I do not believe the fighting affects their relationship as perhaps it did in the past; they seem very content, even after they’ve been fighting a while, and neither of them holds a grudge anymore.

Favorite outfit on them?

I will share photos since it would take some time to explain in enough detail; I am a sucker for older/medieval clothing (perhaps this is why this movie spoke to me in such a way?)

These are my favorite outfits of theirs:

their armor is a close second, because it really makes me laugh:

Favorite meal?

Jakob: This bit is indicative of all of us and I was the one who introduced the brothers to this meal - vegetable soup; beef/broth, noodles, peas, carrots, tomatoes, corn, green beans, potatoes. The brothers are used to eating whatever is being served them at the pubs they visit and the inns at each town they stay and, needless to say, are not often prepared a meal especially one to their specific tastes. The first time I made this for them, they ate heartily and it has been their favorite since.

Will: This is less of a specific meal and more of a eating habit of his, but Will is partial to sweet treats and desserts of all kind. His favorite treat is soft bread with a sticky, sugary glaze (wait until I tell him about glazed donuts😂)

Early bird or night owl?

Neither of the Grimms are particularly one or the other. They both have been known to stay awake all hours of the night for one reason or another; Jakob stays up writing most nights when brand new ideas flood his mind and prevent sleep. He works whenever inspiration strikes and if that is the middle of the night, then Will or I will find him hunched over his desk, pen scratching away across the page as he squints to read what he has written under the low candlelight.

Will stays awake late born out of a habit he has yet to change. He does not like to sleep very soundly until he knows that Jakob and I are either asleep or keeping each other company; Will takes responsibility of us quite seriously. Since we’ve begun a relationship, they do not go out as much as they once had and when we do, they are awake nearly the entire night and whenever they crash, they are both out cold.

If I wake up throughout the night, Jakob sleeps so soundly that he would not know (he wears earplugs if we’re staying at an inn because the noise bothers him.) Will always wakes up whenever I do; the shifting around wakes him, but he does not usually open his eyes or speak to me until I come back to bed and he settles me back into my spot.

Snorer or sleep talker?

Jakob: SLEEP TALKER! Jakob talks in his sleep nearly every night, most especially if he has had something to drink beforehand or if Will has gotten under his skin about something. Stress/anxiety also trigger it; I don’t hear him often, because he only does it in a deep sleep which is usually whenever I’ve already fallen asleep.

Will: Will does not snore or talk in his sleep; he is unusually quiet, however, he will groan or mumble softly if he’s turning over or something like that. He does not move a lot when he’s sleeping either.

Do you have any pets together?

No, our lifestyle is not suited to pets, unless horses used for transportation count.

Pet names! (Both from them and yours for them)

Will’s for me: little one/little girl, peanut

Jakob’s for me: sweetheart, darling, lover

Mine for Jakob: Jakey, Beanstalk (turning Will’s mean comments into something sweet💕), Dreamer, Sweetie/Sweet One/Sweet Baby

Mine for Will: Blondie, Prince Charming (only in certain scenarios)

Ones Jakob and Will use collectively for me: Briar Rose, Rosebud, Unicorn, Beauty/Belle (a play off my favorite fairytale), Princess

Ones I use collectively for Jakob & Will: Grimmy

How often do you fight? What starts fights?

I have yet to have any fights with either of the brothers (though I have had mild disagreements with Will over the way he speaks to Jakob.)

Jakob and Will fight often and about everything, but more often than not, the source of the argument is their personality difference. Their interests clash significantly and they find it difficult to coexist at times because Will feels he must fill the role of Jakob’s caretaker, while Jakob simply wants Will to be his brother and believe in him.

I usually do not get involved in their squabbles unless Will speaks out of turn. He can be somewhat hateful in the remarks he makes to his brother and I am not afraid to set the record straight. Jakob has gotten much better at standing up for himself; he is not afraid to get physical if things escalate to that point, though I have yet to see them lay a hand on each other. Jakob knows that one swift punch is all that he needs to deliver for Will to fall in line and understand that he is serious; he saves them for when he needs them and has only punched Will outright one time, that I am aware of.

Who apologizes first?

This depends on who feels they are “wrong”. Will does not like to apologize, so usually it is Jakob who initiates the apology. Occasionally, neither will apologize and it is implied that they both have and things will continue on like normal as if nothing ever happened (this is best case scenario.)

I have not known them to simply not apologize to each other for wrongdoing; Will has apologized to Jakob on a number of occasions where I have been present. If Will apologizes, it is usually for speaking too harshly to Jakob or bringing up the “magic beans” he has terrorized Jakob with for years.

Big spoon or little spoon?

Jakob: Jakob adores being the little spoon. Even though he likes to hold onto me at night, nothing seems to compare to being held. Jakob has gone the majority of his life without being shown affection and tender love; he is so touch-starved that he asks to be held almost every night.

Will: Will is the only F/O (aside from J) who I allow to be the big spoon on a regular basis. I trust him implicitly and know that he will keep me safe; he likes to hold onto me while we sleep so that he knows and can feel he isn’t alone. He does not like to sleep whenever it is too cold and he wants a warm body pressed against him.

Dom or sub?

Jakob: Submissive.

Will: Dominant.

Will has had his misgivings over Jakob and I, both being submissives, entering into a relationship together, but it has not presented an issue so far. Most of the time, Jakob and I love all over each other so it doesn’t matter one way or another😂 It is rare for Jakob and I to be sexually intimate.

Will takes on the more dominant role, since he has been so with Jakob over the years of their lives before they’d met me. Will is the nurturer and takes care of us both; he remains protective of us despite certain insecurities and fears. Will takes on more of the sexual responsibilities of their relationship with me because of his experience with women.

What are their kisses like?

Jakob: Jakob’s kisses begin as achingly shy, reverential ones that develop into slowly sensual, spontaneous or exploratory ones. Jakob likes to hold my hands when we kiss and I like the way his facial hair pleasantly scratches my face; he is always extremely gentle and never oversteps. I especially love when he kisses me with such eager impulsivity that our cheeks turn red and we laugh when it’s over.

Will: Will’s kisses can either be covetous and greedy, fervent, and deeply passionate or chaste and flirtatious. He always cups my cheeks, chin or tangles his fingers in my hair at the back of my head while kissing me; his lips often taste sweet or sugary from how often he indulges on sweets. My favorite of Will’s kisses are the languid, open-mouthed ones when he uses his tongue.

What do they smell like?

Jakob: Parchment, books and ink, candlewax, earth just after it has rained, sweet basil, a vaguely sweet musk, warm skin.

Will: Warm sugar, sweat/spicy musk, pine, flame.

What are their hugs like?

Jakob: Bear-like, full-bodied, fiercely affectionate and warm.

Will: Long, tight, unexpectedly powerful and almost needy.

Who is more protective?

Will.

Both brothers are fiercely protective of me and I know that, in spite of their differences, neither would ever let anything happen to me. As long as they are facing danger together, they would willingly take on any enemy (Jakob would never let Will face danger alone and vice versa.)

Interested in children?

No. Will says that Jakob and I are enough like children as it stands😂

Who needs the most TLC when sick?

Will AND Jakob. They are both huge babies whenever they are sick and all they want is to be taken care of. Surprisingly, they bicker a lot more whenever they’re sick; mainly, they fight over who gets to cuddle me first.

Whenever I am sick, I tend to react the same way and the brothers are more than obliged to take care of me in any way they are able. Will takes the more ‘hands-on’ work like fetching me a drink, food, blankets, etc. and helping me move about as I need. Jakob does not like to leave my side and he will not do so unless instructed by Will and he will fetch me whatever is needed and then return to cuddle with me.

Who says ‘I love you’ first?

I was the first one to say ‘I love you’ to either of the brothers. I told Jakob first; we nearly admitted it at the same time. We knew how we both felt upon the first of our meetings.

It took me a while to say ‘I love you’ to Will. Our relationship began platonically; I did not feel comfortable saying so to him until I spoke with Jakob about it first. Intuitive of human emotions is he and he was already well-aware of how we felt about each other and, with his blessing and consent, the brothers agreed to share the love and, well, me.

Which of you is more accident prone?

I bet you’re thinking either me or Jakob. WRONG! It’s Will. Jakob and I are very steady on our feet because we are full of rambunctious energy; Will is more laid back than either of us and he gets more indignant whenever he does accidentally hurt himself.

Bed hog?

Jakob is more of a bed hog than Will or I. He is consistently moving around in his sleep, talking, etc. There is one unspoken rule: Jakob sleeps on the left side of the mattress, I am in the middle and Will is on the right. Both use me as a barrier and do not cross to the other’s side of the bed at any point and they each take turns cuddling with me until we all fall asleep.

Who loves the other the most?

As if it even needs to be said, we all love each other equally, but in different ways. Jakob’s and Will’s relationship and love for each other is strictly familial, while the brothers’ relationships with me are both romantic.

Will understands and accepts that my relationship with Jakob takes priority, as we began ours first and I am unspokenly Jakob’s above all else. Any and all major decisions are made between Jakob and I; we of course always consider Will’s emotions, well-being, etc. but Jakob prefers to take the reins in terms of calling the shots, in spite of Will being the dominant and more protective one. He feels like Will owes him this and Will is happy to allow his brother this courtesy, considering this is Jakob’s first true relationship.

#🌹grimmrose #self-shipping

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hopscotchandlemon · 4 years

Text

All She Ever Wanted

Prompt number: 10. All I ever wanted

Fandom: NCIS

Rating: Teen

Warnings/Tags: Mentions of Death and Child Abuse

The drug paraphernalia scattered next to the empty crib made Gibbs shudder internally. The dead Marine in autopsy was somehow linked to this nondescript house in Maryland and the more they saw, the more sordid it became. Ducky had said the Marine died of a heroin overdose but a lack of track marks or any physiological signs of drug use meant it looked like this had been their one and only foray into the use of intravenous drugs. Indeed, they passed a drugs test only 4 weeks earlier. He ordered Bishop and Torres to bag and tag the evidence before going outside to take a look at the neighbourhood.

The house had been empty when they’d arrived and the homeowners seemed to be long gone along with their foster children. His phone rang, it was McGee.

‘Boss, all the foster kids are in school apart from Maisy, who is a 14 year old girl who quite often doesn’t attend and has been reported missing to local police.’

‘Ok McGee, send over her photo so we can keep a look out,’ he replied.

A moment later his phone pinged and the photo of an unhappy looking girl with her brown hair and green eyes appeared on his screen. He looked up, aware of someone walking up the sidewalk. He watched as the girl from the photo ground to a halt on seeing all the cars outside the house. To compound things, a police car lit up behind her. With a terrified look on her face, she ran diagonally across the road and Gibbs tried to intercept her.

‘Maisy wait, you’re not in any trouble,’ he shouted across to her, moving closer and closer. The police car accelerated past her. As Gibbs managed to get to her she started lashing out and was able to land a punch to Gibbs’ mouth, splitting his lip. He managed to get his arms around her as she attempted to hit and kick him. One of the local LEOs drew their gun and pointed it towards the girl. Her legs immediately buckled, meaning Gibbs had to lower her to the ground as she screamed hysterically.

‘Put the weapon away,’ he yelled at the police officer, letting go of the girl who had now curled herself into the tightest ball. Her sobbing nearly broke his heart.

‘Maisy, my name is Special Agent Gibbs. You are not in any trouble, we just need to ask you some questions,’ he held a hanky to his busted lip.

The girl remained on the floor, clearly terrified. By now Torres and Bishop were with him and wondering how the timid looking child on the floor had managed to swing a punch at Gibbs. They obviously knew better than to say anything though. Ellie got down to her level and tried to reassure her, putting a hand on her shoulder but she flinched instantly, making Ellie retract her hand.

Having managed to stem the bleeding from his lip, Gibbs mused as to what this poor girl must have been through in her life to make her so terrified. Once he’d been to ball out the LEO who had drawn a gun at her (and by default, at him) He crouched down to the floor. Her watery green eyes were looking at him.

‘Are you ready to get up?’ his voice was gentle. His battered lips smiled at her.

She nodded. He offered his hand which she took and slowly got up. He explained where they were going to take her and reiterated that she was not in any trouble. Ellie led her to the car and she got in without any resistance.

Back at the office, Gibbs went to find Jack, sensing that he’d need her to help him question Maisy. Jack grimaced when she saw his now bruised and swollen lip.

‘A 14-year-old did that? Not good for your reputation Gunny,’ she teased.

Gibbs gave her a look before relayed the story to her, how she’d just crumpled when the gun was pointed at her.

‘Do we have her file from children services? Might help with questioning.’

‘Torres is requesting it now as well as an advocate. Bishop is getting her some food because it doesn’t look like she’s eaten in a while.

Once Sloane had read her file she sighed loudly and put it down on the desk. Gibbs walked in.

‘Useful?’ he asked, motioning towards the file.

‘I can see why she reacted like she did at the scene. Poor girl has a history of physical and sexual abuse from her dad, who was a cop.’

‘Gibbs took a sharp intake of breath, his face uncomfortable with what her had just learned.

In the conference room, Jack led the questioning. Maisy kept looking at Gibbs, a worried look on her face.

‘Is everything ok Maisy. Would you prefer Agent Gibbs left?’ Jack asked.

She shook her head.

‘I’m sorry,’ she spoke nervously, her finger pointing towards Gibbs mouth.

He smiled at her. ‘It’s ok. I know you were scared.’

Jack carried out the interview and Maisy was forthcoming with information, telling Jack about the drug dealer foster parent. She didn’t recognise the Marine but she was able to provide information that was useful to their inquiry.

Gibbs knew the information she’d given them put her at risk and he put in an application for protective custody. When it was granted, Jack agreed to stay with Maisy at Gibbs’ house. It was a sad inditement on her life as a foster child that she didn’t even question it, she just appeared resigned to going where she had to. Gibbs drove her home while Jack went to the shops to get Maisy some clothes and toiletries as well as picking up takeaway on the way home. Once Jack arrived, Gibbs got the plates out and dished up the food. They sat at the table together to eat. Jack what chatting away about nothing important. Gibbs was giving her his patented ‘what-are-you-talking-about’ look. Maisy twiddled her fork around in her food. Gibbs noted how the unhappy girl from before was smiling. She caught him looking at her, smiling every bit as much as she was.

‘Hey you look happy. Or are you just amused at us two?’ Jack commented.

‘I don’t usually get this this sort of normality when I get to a foster home. Usually it’s bad because my last placement couldn’t handle me or something like that. But this, just sat here eating noodles and listening to you two, it’s good and that’s all I really wanted.’

Gibbs and Sloane looked at each other, almost telepathically telling each other to look up how to register as a foster carer in the morning.

#fictober20 #ncis #ncis fanfiction #Leroy Jethro Gibbs #jacqueline sloane #nick torres #ellie bishop #ncis one shot #10

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vnights · 4 years

Text

Canned Food

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Includes a bit of heavy angst, and depictions of children in high-stress situations. Writing some of Mikes more iconic memories (and the source of his food-related trauma whoops) enjoy ??

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Michael has an incredibly strict diet. It must be from some kind of bowl or container, and it all must be one thing. Specific, yes, but it’s necessary if he wants to hold his supper. It wasn’t always like this, though. Lil’ Mikey used to snack often, and take large mouthfuls of food during family dinners. He used to be a real eater! Now, he can only remember those taco-tuesdays.

...All the children were waiting for their father at the table, listening to the front door open and close, all without a greeting. Tension began to rise in the kitchen as the three watched William enter, stripping his coat off, and looking at the empty plates. There was a scowl, but.. This bad-day negativity was quickly pushed down, being replaced by forced joy, a small grin finding the mans lips.

“I take it you’re hungry?” He asked with a head tilt, his smile rising as all three nodded at the same time.

“We’ve been waiting here for hooouuurrrrs! I thought we were going to starve!” Elizabeth exclaimed dramatically, slouching in her seat and pouting. This drew a chuckle from her father, who shook his head at her.

“Your brother hadn’t grabbed you a thing? I’m sorry, sweetheart.. How irresponsible of him.” His eldest son went wide eyed and held his arms out, mouth shaped in a small ‘o’, becoming personally offended by taking unwarranted blame. While moving to the fridge, William snickered and corrected himself. “I’m joking, loosen up a little bit.”

Frozen vegetables were removed from the freezer and placed on a pan, a pot of water being centered on the heating stove. A simple meal was planned, mac and cheese with veggies. It was easy, and required little effort. ...Doesn’t mean it isn’t like a chore, though. Today has been active from start to finish, and Will was mainly hoping to just.. Sit for more than a second. Luckily, things need time to warm up, giving him time to rest, taking a seat at the table with his children.

“Did everyone behave? No fights today?” His opening question.

“Eliza threw a big hissy-fit ‘cause she couldn’t play outside, then she went out anyway and started screaming when I pulled her back inside!”

“I didn’t scream! Yuh- You should have just let me out!”

“But you didn’t want your shoes, and you got dirt all over the flo-“

Both kids silenced upon looking over, watching their parent rub his temples, feeling a headache coming on. He grumbled lowly and leaned over, deciding to.. Not argue, and just settle it. “Elizabeth, you need to listen when Johnathan is in charge. It’s all I ask of you. Johnny, just.. Just let her play without shoes, it’s not a big deal. Nnnnow... Michael? How was your day?” The middle child finally looked up from the bear in his lap, simply shrugging in response. His tiny scowl spoke much more than he did, however. And.. Seeing as both the other kids seemed hesitant, one could guess something else happened today. “...Mike. Go ahead, dear.”

Glancing to Johnny and Eliza, the boy sighed and opened his mouth very wide, taking in a big breath. “...Johnathan was in my room and wouldn’t leave, so I left and went into his room, and then he came and pulled me out and ripped my shirt! An’- An’ he ripped Chica’s foot, too, and I tried fixing her but- But Elizabeth said she could help, so I gave her Chica and she made it even bigger’er, and when I said I was gonna tell you, they shut me in the bathroom, and wouldn’ let me out if I promised not to tell, but I- I told..” The child lowered his head and raised his shoulders, looking between his brother and sister, who now wore angered expressions.

There was no energy to deal with this. None. “..Why can’t you just get along with one another?.. This is why I don’t leave you home anymore!..” William stormed and stood up, squeaking the chair back loudly, causing both Mike and Eliza to flinch. He turned to take care of the thawing food, putting everything in and on the oven. With that little outburst, the tension has made its reappearance, keeping the kids on their toes. With silence finally filling the air, William had the chance to calm himself, grabbing a book on his way back to the table. “...Please stay hushed, sweets. Daddies head is pounding..” His request was accepted by each of them, each Johnathan, Michael and Elizabeth being silent, shooting glares at one another.

Waiting for the oven to beep was agonizing. The ice they were standing on was thin, as their fathers temper was like a ticking time bomb, just waiting for that one, little, thing. They were lucky to not have set it off. For right now, anyway. Once food was ready, William sighed heavily and stood up, folding his book and setting it aside before going to the stove, asking the kids to line up with their plates. One by one, they were sent back to the table with full plates of food, retaking their seats before digging in. Johnathan and Elizabeth did, anyway. Michael seemed to be.. Distracted, and not eating. He just didn’t feel like it, his stomach being stirred with anxiety and bad feelings and everything.

His reluctance was noticed early on.

“...Michael, why are you not eating?” William started softly, keeping his temper collected.

Mike shrugged, keeping his eyes to his teddy. “I will in a secon’..”

“...At least show me five bites. Can you do that for me?”

“I guess so..” Mike nodded and did as he was asked, scooping up five rather tiny bites. He’s simply lost his appetite, rethinking the day and all. None of his family members seemed impressed with his hesitant swallows, though.

“C’mon Mike, it isn’t torture! Just eat the food!” Johnathan decided to add.

“I am! Lea’me alone!” Michael shouted in retaliation.

“Stop bickering and let him eat! He’s eating! There is no time limit on food!” William blew a fuse and shouted, making every hush-up again.

They had a quiet meal. Only three of the people at the table finished their plates, Michael was still not done. Not nearly. Johnny and Eliza went to their rooms, Will went to shower, and Mike was told to stay until his food was finished. There were no doubts, not a single one, which is why William took his precious time rinsing the work days grease off his body and mind. And, for a moment, it seemed to work. He felt better, and after a nice, long hour and 40+ minutes shower, he was so ready to see his sweet little angels ready for bed. It was when he re-dressed and exited the restroom that his mood was immediately wrecked.

“Michael Afton!” He shouted loudly, causing the boy to flinch harshly and look over, fear filling his features. “Why are you still seated?! Have you taken even one more bite?!”

“I- You said stay here ‘til I was done!..” The boy whimpered, tugging his bear closer as his father approached.

“Look at that plate! You haven’t even touched it!” He pointed down at the food, resting his other hand on the chair. “I gave you so much time just to eat! I slaved to make sure you were fed, and you-! Nnngggg!! MICHAEL! Eat!”

With the, currently, small outburst, Mike teared and quickly turned to grab the fork, his wrists shaking greatly while he scooped up the veggies and mac, shoveling it into his mouth. A noodle found its place down Michaels throat, tickling on the way down, making the child set his utensil down and begin coughing. Due to the pause, William’s anger only grew, making him boil over with a growl. He slammed his fist down onto the table, making Mike yipe frightfully.

“You don’t get to take your time anymore! Eat! Eat your food!” The consistent yelling made Michael begin to cry, emotionally retreating into himself. William tensed, clenching his fist tightly before, once more, slamming it down, hitting the edge of the plate this time, sending Mikes food all over the tables edge, and the floor. This completely busted Wills temper, making him fume. “FINE! Since you’re too incompetent for anything, I’ll do it for you!”

“Daddy-?!” Mike shouted worriedly, scooting back before getting grabbed. William, in a shocking act, force-fed his child, grabbing a handful of mushed, cold food and shoving it into Michaels mouth. The boy desperately tried pushing the others arm away, only to get it roughly shoved against his face. Eventually, Michael began kicking, being able to release himself from his fathers grip, and making the chair wobble and fall over, leaving the child gasping, crying, and crawling away. He then choked wetly, puking on the kitchen floor over the course of two cough-ups. Mike sobbed lightly with a shiver, carefully looking back to his father.

William was staring down at the mess he made with an expression of complete shock, and sorrow. Guilt washed over him like a thick blanket as a soft, barely audible breath left his throat. Listening to Mike whimper and cry drove him mad, causing his clean hand to rest over his own mouth, and making him step closer, kneeling down in a much softer, much less scary manner. “Michael, baby I’m sorry, I didn’t.. Mean t.. Mikey, come here, come here, my love..” He slowly motioned over, scooting closer to the other. Michael shivered as William got closer, scooping him up like a baby. With a nuzzle and a cuddle, William carried the child while pacing around the house, whispering soft, sweet words of comfort in an attempt to make up. The commotion certainly kept the other kids in their own rooms, at least..

...That sick never left him. Even now, all this time later, he still has to settle for good ole’ Spaghetti-O’s.

#//yes at the end I refer to Mike himself #five nights at freddys #fnaf #fnaf rp #possible tw #possible trigger warning #//I wanted to get Something out there #//SO I HOPE THIS IS OK?? SRY ITS SO LONG AND KINDA SLOPPY AND STUFF #Michael Afton #William Afton #Elizabeth Afton #Johnathan Afton #//custom name for Big Bro cause he needed Smthng

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sleepless-in-starbucks · 4 years

Text

if love was a snake, it’d have bit you

Ao3

Summary: Remy, Patton, and Drew are dating. This is a fact. Remy, Patton, and Drew refuse to admit they are dating. This is also a fact. Guess it's up to Roman, Virgil, and Emile to force them to acknowledge the truth. Content: Some swearing, kissing (mostly face kisses, but some lip kisses too), nb!Patton + nb!Emile, genderfluid!Remy, oblivious gays, seriously guys, so much obliviousness, the obliviousness might kill you, gods know it killed me, Disneyland cast member AU Pairing: Romantic Mosleepceit Additional notes: So many additional notes -Big thanks to @emo-disaster for beta-ing for me and confirming the gays in this fic are wayyyyyy too oblivious -This fic is almost 11k words. it was meant to be around 3k. I’m so sorry. -Inspired by, but not actually based upon, this disneyland cast member au -This is probably hella inaccurate to real Disneyland but i don’t care alright -This fic is a (late) b-day gift for the one-and-only @notveryglittery !!! She’s an incredible person who I’m extremely happy to know, and I’m really hoping she even kinda likes this mess of a fic dsfbcdsjf

“-and if you’ll just sign here, I can finalize that upgrade for you.”

The woman smiled at Remy as she accepted the pen he offered her. She looked tired, her entire appearance screaming ‘overworked mom’ even without the literally screaming (playfully, but still screaming) kids behind her. She definitely needed the vacation.

“I can’t thank you enough for this,” she said gratefully, quickly signing the paper Remy offered her.

“It’s no problem, ma’am,” Remy said, smiling politely as he took the paper and pen back, hitting a few keys on his computer as he did. “Just happy to make your stay as magical as possible. Here’s your keycard.”

The stressed mother accepted the keycard from Remy with another smile. “Thank you.” She reiterated the sentiment before convincing her children to give her their hands and heading off for the elevators, her wife following with the luggage. Remy smiled after them, briefly letting the last of the room change form sit unfinished on his screen.

“You’re going to get yourself fired for that eventually, you know.”

Remy’s smile only grew at the sound of the all-too-familiar voice. He turned back to his work then, enough of Roman in his peripheral for Remy to tell he was strutting his stuff as a friend of Flynn’s. “Ah, you know they love me too much for that.”

“More like they don’t look hard enough to catch all your illegal ‘on-the-mouse room upgrades.’” Roman corrected, leaning against the back of the receptionist desk. “Though if they ever do? You’re screwed.”

“Shush, I’mma be gay and doing crime til Disney falls.” Remy responded cheekily. “And speaking of people who are going to get themselves fired, shouldn’t you be over in the good ol’ Disneyland already?”

Roman shrugged. “Shift doesn’t start for another half an hour. I’ve got time.”

“Time for what, exactly?”

Roman grinned at that. “Gossip, of course!”

Remy grinned now, too. “Well, if you’re looking for tales, a little birdy’s been keeping me updated on a blossoming relationship between one of the friends of Rapunzel and one of the friends of Snow White-”

“Oh, not that kind of gossip.” Roman interrupted, waving his hand dismissively. “I’m talking the good gossip- preferably about you and your boos.”

Remy scoffed, shaking his head as he hit the enter key and finished out the form. “Hard to gossip about those which I do not have, hun.”

Roman groaned, slumping against the desk and throwing his head back. “Oh, please, Remy, don’t tell me you’re still in denial.”

“Denial about what?” Remy asked, finally turning his full attention to Roman. “The fact that I’m single?”

“The fact that you have not one but TWO partners!” Roman answered, dramatically holding up two fingers. “Not only are you being a proper partner HOG you are refusing to admit as such.”

“Well if you’re just looking for someone to be the soul to your mate, handsome, I think I can hook you up.” Remy said teasingly, briefly lowering his sunglasses to wink at Roman.

Roman met the wink with a deadpan stare. “You’re a taken man.”

“Only if you make it so.”

“You can’t keep pretending your partners don’t exist.”

“I can if I don’t have any partners.” Remy told him, finally pushing his shades back over his eyes and giving up at his mock attempts to seduce Roman. “Now, of course, I have two very close friends with whom I do many things with, but given I’m not dating either of them, calling them my ‘partners’ seems a little much, don’t you?”

“I get it, I get it, I have good friends too.” Roman said, as if he were going along with what Remy was saying until he quickly added, “Except I’m not obviously DATING them!”

“You’re hopeless, princey, truly hopeless.” Remy said in response, smirking as he patted Roman’s cheek. “Ya gotta stop finding romance where it simply ain’t.”

“The only thing I am finding is the truth behind all the bullsh-”

“Remy!”

Both Roman and Remy turned from each other, gazes moving to the entrance, where the voice had originated from. The owner of the voice was hurrying over to them, their blond curls pulled back into a loose ponytail, keeping their hair out of their face and allowing them to smile brightly at both Roman and Remy. They stopped in front of the receptionist's desk, taking a moment to catch their breath and straighten their relatively small red tie.

“Heya sunshine.” Remy greeted easily, smiling at Patton in a way that was a little too soft to be a proper smirk “May I ask what brings you here in the middle of your shift? You’re gonna get yourself fired.”

“‘Worth it for a chance to see you.” Patton told him sweetly, giggling just a bit and ignoring Roman’s expression of self-confirmation. “Buuuuuuuut I'm on lunch break. Just came over to ask what you wanted for dinner. I know the plan for tonight was take-out, but I just realized that we have all the ingredients to make lasagna- aside from the noodles, which we can pick up on our way home- so I thought it might be fun to make that tonight instead!”

“Sounds wonderful to me.” Remy answered. “We’re going to keep it a secret from Dee though, right?”

“Of course!” Patton agreed. He leaned over to stage whisper to Roman, “It’s his favorite.”

“Oh, you guys know each other’s favorite dinners, do you?” Roman asked, smiling in a knowing way and wiggling his eyebrows at Patton. Patton tilted their head to the side, clearly confused, while Remy answered casually,

“Of course! You can only live with someone for so long without picking up on what they like to eat. Dee’s favorite is lasagna. Patton’s favorite dinner- which is coincidentally their favorite breakfast, lunch, and dessert as well- is waffles. And mine, of course, is a nice big cup of espresso-”

“Don’t lie!” Patton cut him off, smiling as they leaned on the counter and ended up within an inch of Remy. “Your favorite dinner is chicken soup!”

“Remy hates soup.” Roman said, raising a suspicious eyebrow.

“Not chicken soup.” Patton confirmed, not looking away from Remy. “That’s his favorite, no matter what he says.”

“Mmm, nice try, Pat, but that’s not it.” Remy denied. Patton pouted at him then, and almost immediately Remy relented with, “My favorite dinner is your chicken soup. You’re the only one who knows how to make it right, hun.”

Patton giggled. “I make it just like anyone else would!” they insisted, though their smile brightened even as they spoke.

Remy’s smile grew as well as he leaned forwards just a bit, pressing his forehead against Patton’s. “Nah, honeypie, you got somethin’ all the other recipes don’t.”

“And what’s that?” Patton asked.

“Loooooooove.” Remy answered, grinning broadly, seemingly happy to ignore how cheesy his answer was.

Patton didn’t mind the cheesiness. “You’re too much,” they said, too playfully to be chastising.

“Better than being too little.”

Patton just grinned at that. “I have to go.”

“Alright, sweetheart.” Remy said, expression seemingly not changing, though a close observer (aka Roman) might have noticed his smile dip just the slightest. “See you at six?”

“Mhmm!” Patton confirmed with a hum. They pulled away from Remy, pressing a quick kiss to his forehead before they ran off, waving one last goodbye as they reached the doors before disappearing outside. Remy lazily waved his fingers after Patton, watching the doors a moment after Patton was through them before turning back to his computer and his work.

“Ready to admit you’re definitely dating at least one of your partners?”

“Nope,” Remy replied without missing a beat. “Though if you really want me to have a partner, you’re single… I’m single…” Remy waggled his eyebrows at Roman.

Roman ignored his advances. “The chemistry between you and Patton is so strong I’m surprised nothing’s exploded yet.”

“That was weak.”

“Shush.” Roman waved his hand dismissively. “I mean, for the love of Apollo, they kissed you goodbye!”

Remy half-shrugged. “They do that with all their friends.”

“They didn’t give me a kiss.”

“They were in a rush.” Remy explained away. “But if you really want a kiss-”

“-I will get it from my darling friend of Rapunzel,” Roman finished for him, having leaned over to check the time on the bottom of Remy’s screen. “I got so distracted trying to get you to tell me the truth I lost track of time.”

“What truth?” Remy asked, tone light. “The one about us making a perfect couple?”

Roman smiled sweetly at him, as though Remy was naive. “Maybe in a universe where you didn’t literally live with your soulmates,” he said, patting Remy’s shoulder before he turned and headed towards the door. He raised his hand over his shoulder without turning back, half-waving at Remy as he added, “Call me when you’re done being in denial!”

Remy just let out a light huff of amusement, shaking his head and turning back to his work. Roman could say whatever he wanted, but the fact remained: Remy was (un)happily single and most certainly not dating his roommates.

Yeah, sure, maybe he could’ve mentioned that his ‘best friends’ were also his crushes, but, hey, it wasn’t like that was that important, right?

Patton was staring intently at the floor. Well, more technically, they were staring intently at the mess on the floor and trying to convince themself they were supposed to be cleaning up said mess and not doing anything else with it.

The bell near the front of the store rang as the door swung open, but Patton ignored it. Plenty of people filtered in and out of the store. They did, however, pay attention when the sound of approaching footsteps got closer than the signs should have allowed.

“I’m sorry, this aisle is currently closed, if you don’t mind-” Patton started immediately, tone polite as they looked up, fully expecting to find an angry customer who refused to go over one extra aisle for whatever sweet treat they were looking for. They stopped when they saw who it was, polite-but-fake smile being replaced by a genuine one. “Oh, Virgil, hello there!”

Virgil smiled back, half-waving before he turned his focus to the floor, careful to step around the mix of glass shards and chocolate-covered balls of something as he came up next to Patton. “Busy day?”

Patton shrugged. “It was fine until someone didn’t put the jar fully back on the shelf. I’m just glad no one got hurt.”

Virgil nodded. “That’s good,” he agreed. “Waste of some perfectly good candy though.”

“It is,” Patton bemoaned, looking sadly at the mess. Virgil side-eyed them.

“Pat, you haven’t been considering eating the fallen candy, have you?”

“Maybe?” Patton tried, looking at Virgil only to find his expression completely disbelieving. They sighed. “Yes. It just looks so yummy! Even mixed in with all the glass! Because the glass sparkles and makes it kinda magical looking and it couldn’t hurt to have just one-”

Virgil put a hand on Patton’s shoulder, stopping them from bending down and grabbing one of the candies before they could move an inch. “All the candy here’s magical. Eat some of the candies that aren’t also glassy.”

“Mhmm,” Patton hummed in sad annoyance. “But it’s such a waste… I can stop it from being waste…”

“You could, but should you?” Virgil asked.

Patton groaned. “I shouldn’t,” they said. “But I want to…” They sighed, turning their gaze from the tempting mess to Virgil. “Distract me. Why are you here?”

“Other than to stop you from making poor dietary choices?” Virgil asked rhetorically before going on, “I’m avoiding Roman.”

“Avoiding him?” Patton repeated. “I thought you two were getting along. Don’t tell me he started another prank war-”

“No, he’s just being annoying,” Virgil answered. “He wouldn’t stop bothering me while I worked, because Remy apparently hadn’t been in the mood to entertain his gossip, thereby making me the person stuck listening to it. Guess Kev’ decided letting me walk it off for half an hour was better than me tearing a costume in frustration.”

Patton nodded as they moved to once more hold their broom, beginning to sweep up the mess as they said, “What was the gossip?”

Virgil leaned back on the shelf behind him, waving his hand pointlessly. “Oh, same old same old. Just talking about you and your partners, mostly how oblivious Remy is- which, I get it, Remy can be obtuse, but that doesn’t mean I want to hear about it all morning-”

“What?!” Patton cut him off, voice a higher pitch than they had intended, stopping halfway through a sweep to look at Virgil in disbelief and confusion. “My- what partners?!”

“...Remy and Drew. Duh,” Virgil said slowly, blinking at Patton as if they were missing something incredibly obvious. “You know. The people you live with. And are clearly dating. Those partners.”

Patton laughed, a weird hybrid sound of amusement and awkwardness. “I think you’re a little confused there, kiddo. I’m not dating Remy or Dee- they’re just my friends!”

“Yeah. Friends you’re dating,” Virgil said, raising an eyebrow at Patton. “Don’t tell me you thought I wouldn’t notice. It’s fairly obvious.”

“I don’t know how it can be obvious if it isn’t true.” Patton responded, going back to sweeping as they looked away from Virgil. “We’re just friends. At least I am, anyways.”

“What does that mean?”

Patton briefly looked up from their work to look at Virgil instead. “Aw, shucks, Virge, you’ve seen how Remy and Dee look at each other. If anyone’s dating, it’s them.”

“And you?” Virgil pressed, prompting Patton to look down again at their work. “I’ve seen how Remy and Drew look at each other, but I’ve also seen how you look at them. They’re pretty similar looks, my dude.”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about.” Patton answered, even as their cheeks flushed a light shade of pink. They risked a glance at Virgil, only to find him looking at them disbelieving. “Okay, maybe I love them a little more than just as friends.” Continued disbelief. “A lot more! But that doesn’t mean we’re dating.”

“And why does them looking sweet at each other make them dating, but you doing the same just makes you just friends?”

“Because I think I’d know if I was dating them, silly.” Patton responded simply.

Before Patton could continue, or Virgil could speak up, they were interrupted by the sound of quickly approaching footsteps and the slight crunch of glass as the newcomer misstepped and stepped on the mess. “Well this looks… delightful.”

“Dee!” Patton said, dropping their broom against the shelf as they carefully (but still hurriedly) stepped around the mess to approach their roommate. He was dressed as a friend of Aladdin’s, wearing baggy pants and a raggedy shirt-vest combo, his small red hat carefully hiding his bun, presenting the illusion of him having short hair. Slight touches of make-up highlighted the scar running from beneath his left eye to the bottom of his jaw, Drew always happy to tell the very dramatic tale of how he got it in a sword fight (when the truth of the matter involved a very long story having to do with toast, ferrets, and the reason why he wasn’t allowed to use the ice machine anymore). “What’re you doing here?”

“Why, unhappy to see me?” Drew asked sarcastically, though he was smiling at Patton.

“Never!” Patton responded resolutely. They wobbled a bit as they got closer to Drew, almost stepping on a particularly ugly shard of glass, but Drew reached out and grabbed one of their hands before they could fall, stabilizing them and helping to lead them right up in front of him. Patton giggled at his help, not releasing his hand even once they were done moving. “Just curious. Shouldn’t you be at the wishing well?”

“Oh, I was,” Drew told them, free hand rising up to tuck a stray curl behind Patton’s ear. “But then I wished to see the loveliest face in the world and found myself here with you.”

Patton giggled again. “The wishing well must be broken if it didn’t just provide you with a mirror.”

A touch of pink coloured Drew’s cheeks at Patton’s words, and in the background Virgil turned from watching the two of them to stare blankly at the shelf across from him, as though it was a camera and he was in The Office.

“Trust me, angel, it made no error,” he said, despite his minor blush. “But to better answer your question, have you noticed how bright it is outside?”

“Of course I have,” Patton answered. “It must be warm out there.”

“It is warm,” Drew confirmed, sounding as if there was more he wasn’t saying but wanted Patton to pick up on anyways. “Some might even say it’s hot.”

“Just like you?”

Drew’s blush grew. “I think you’re missing the point.”

Patton’s smile turned a shade mischievous. “I’m not. I’m just waiting for you to admit to it.”

“Cruel, sweetpea, cruel.”

“Just admit it already!”

Drew sighed dramatically. “Alright! I fold! I admit that hydration in the face of the harsh sun is important.”

“Andddddd?”

Another sigh. “I admit that I forgot my water bottle, which I likely wouldn’t have done if I had simply used one of your sticky notes.”

“I even doodled a snake on your reminder!” Patton said, lightly hitting Drew’s chest. “It was cute AND helpful.”

“Just like you,” Drew commented, moving his hand from Patton’s hair to cup their cheek as they flushed. “And I’m sorry, dear, I really didn’t think I’d need it.”

“And yet, you’re here,” Patton teased lightly before turning towards Virgil, extending a hand. “Virgil, there should be a water bottle behind you- think you can hand it to me?”

Virgil did as he was asked, glancing behind him and finding that, yes, perched on the shelf was a metal water bottle covered in snake stickers. He grabbed it and turned back towards Patton, passing them the bottle. Patton took it and turned back to Drew, offering it to him.

“Oh, must I take it?” Drew asked, looking reproachfully at the bottle. “You’re so much nicer to hold.”

“Mmm, you need to get back to work before they catch you slacking,” Patton told him. “I’ll still be around to hold later.”

“Is that a promise?” Drew asked, even as he let his hand fall from Patton’s cheek to take his water bottle.

“Even better,” Patton answered, letting go of Drew’s hand so that they could loop their pinkies together instead. They raised their now joined hands so that they were in easy sight of Drew. “It’s a pinky promise.”

Drew smiled. “Good,” he said, bending his pinky a bit to squeeze Patton’s. “I’m holding you to it,” he punned before reluctantly stepping away, letting his and Patton’s pinkies remain linked until he was forced by distance to let go.

“So,” Virgil spoke up, slightly startling Patton, who had been waving at Drew until he walked out of sight. “You’re not dating them, you lied?”

“I didn’t lie!” Patton defended, moving back towards the broom as they spoke, once more careful to avoid the glass as they stepped. “I’m not dating him! Or Remy!”

“Oh, yeah, because calling each other petnames and trading compliments til you’re both blushing and not wanting to let go of each other and looking at each other like you’re the other’s world is really just ‘best friend’ behaviour,” Virgil said, voice thick with sarcasm.

“We’ve lived in the same apartment for months, Virgil, we’re close!” Patton said as they went back to sweeping. “That doesn’t make us partners.”

Virgil let out a breath. “I know, Pat, but you really should see the way you two were looking at each other. It sure as hell wasn’t plain-ol’ friendly.”

“Language.”

“Stop dodging the point.”

Patton stopped their work, turning to look at Virgil as they rested their chin on the broom handle. “I don’t know what point you think I’m dodging, kiddo. Dee- and Remy- are my friends. They’re dating each other, but I’m not dating them. It’s not that hard to understand.”

Virgil didn’t respond to that at first, instead just blinking slowly at Patton a few times. “I’m starting to understand why Roman was in such a mood,” he finally said as he pushed himself away from the shelves. “If Remy’s half as oblivious as you are, I’d be complaining too.”

“Oblivious about what?” Patton asked, confused. “They know who they’re dating and who they’re not.”

Virgil didn’t answer, instead just chuckling and shaking his head. “I should get back before Kevin decides to be less lenient about my wandering time. See you later, pine-on.”

“Bye, Virge!” Patton said cheerily. “And good pun!”

Virgil responded with a half salute behind his head as he wandered off. Patton watched him off as they resumed their sweeping, focusing on their work and not any of the interactions that had just occurred. Say what he would, Virgil was wrong- Patton’s relationship with Drew and Remy was strictly platonic, and they had no plans to mess with what the three of them did have (an amazing friendship) anytime soon.

Drew dropped his bag before he collapsed against the wall, sliding down it halfway as he let out a huff. Though the day had been no longer than any other, the sun had been much more annoying than usual, and he was ready to be home and surrounded by not only air conditioning but also people he could stand. Absentmindedly he rubbed at the remains of make-up on his face, the only part of his costume he was still in since having changed out at the end of his shift.

“Are you suffering from heatstroke, or just bored?”

Drew looked up, finding Emile in front of him, smiling in amusement.

“A bit of both,” Drew answered truthfully. “Forgot my water bottle at home, though Pat had grabbed it for me at least. But neither their shift nor Remy’s is over for at least another fifteen minutes, so…”

“So I’m just someone to distract you until one of your partners can take over?” Emile asked, teasing.

“My partners in crimes, you mean?” Drew said. “Because I’ve told you before, Em, I really shouldn’t be talking about them here- you’re going to ruin our plan to invade ‘Beauty’s palace and get the treasure.”

“And what treasures are you going to find in there?”

“Hopefully, the key to a full hundred years of rest,” Drew told them before adding, “And gold. Mostly going for the gold.”

“Mhmm.” Emile hummed. “Happy to hear you’ve got your future set. Your criminal enterprises sound like they’re going to go over very smoothly. Now, as to your actual partners…”

“Do you think I’m cheating on my current criminal partners?” Drew asked, sounding offended. “With whom, another team? Emile, I thought you knew me better than that.”

“I think we both know I’m referring to your romantic partners.”

“Ah, yes.” Drew crossed his arms and leaned further back against the wall. “You’re referring to my roommates, who somewhere along the line you got confused as also being my romantic partners. They’re not very good at crime, you know.”

Emile grinned. “Not even good at stealing your heart?”

Drew just waved his hand dismissively. “Patton steals the heart of everyone they meet. Remy is not subtle at all when they go for the steal. Neither of them would make it a day in the world of crime.”

“But you admit that they’ve stolen your heart.”

“I admit they steal everybody’s heart.”

“But not like they’ve stolen yourssssss.”

Drew sighed, pulling his water bottle out of his bag and taking a sip of the water while he waited for Emile to stop. “Don’t be like Virgil and Roman, Emile. You’ve been given the precious gift of actually having a brain cell. Don’t waste it.”

“You can say whatever you want, Drew, but that doesn’t change the truth, even if you’d like to pretend it would,” Emile replied calmly, sounding smug. “We’ve all seen the way you three look at each other. You can’t lie your way out of love truer than that of Tiana, Naveen, and Charlotte’s.”

“Don’t have to lie to tell the truth,” Drew responded, returning his water bottle to its place in his bag. Before Emile could rebuke his words, the door that led outside of the first aid station opened, and two people walked in.

“Excuse me,” Emile said politely to Drew before they headed towards the people. After a brief moment of conversation, Emile walked further into the building with one of them while the other came over towards Drew.

Drew smiled when the newcomer was close enough for him to identify. “Hello, darling.”

Remy returned his smile, leaning against the wall and facing Drew. Remy was clearly off-shift, both costume and nametag removed, and was now sporting a sea-green bracelet. “Good evening, charming. Miss me?”

“Constantly,” Drew answered effortlessly. “I assume the same to be true of you?”

“I miss you every second you’re not in my presence more than the moon misses the sun,” Remy answered, maintaining veir composure for a moment before veir expression broke and ve laughed. “Like that one? I heard someone in the lobby tell it to their husband.”

“It is unbearably cheesy,” Drew told ver. “Though I’m sure also very sweet, if you mean it.”

“Good thing I mean it then,” Remy said jokingly. “People suck. I got yelled at twice today. I missed you and your not-yellingness.”

“Is that all you missed about me?” Drew asked, smile turning sly. “Because I know I miss you for more than just your sometimes-not-annoyingness…”

“Oh really?” Remy asked, shifting so that ve was facing Drew even more. “Well, I miss you for your not-yellingness, and for your looks- scar most certainly included, hun, it makes you look roguish- and for your mind, and your charisma, and, of course, your snark.”

“You flatter me.”

“Look in a mirror, sugar, you make it easy,” Remy told him. “Now I’m dying to know why you missed me.”

“Oh, how could I not?” Drew asked rhetorically. “There’s your charm, as sarcastic as it may be, your humor, your refusal to stand down against idiots, and your sense of fashion- though I must confess, I consider it a sin to hide such dazzling eyes.”

“Compliment my charm when you’re the real charmer ‘round here- I see how it is,” Remy said playfully, smiling.

Drew returned the smile. “I’m just telling the truth.”

“Mhmm,” Remy hummed non-committedly, though veir smile didn’t drop. Ve reached forward, brushing some of Drew’s hair behind his ear before moving to run veir fingers through it. Drew leaned his head closer, allowing ver easier access to his hair as ve pulled it over just one of his shoulders. “Your hair’s a mess.”

“It’s been in a bun all day.” Drew explained, closing his eyes and focusing on the soft and calming feel of Remy brushing through his hair, occasionally scratching at his scalp. “It got tangled.”

“Too lazy to fix that problem yourself, sweetheart?”

“I like it better when you do,” Drew admitted.

Remy chuckled as ve continued, veir attention turning more towards gentle touches against Drew’s skin as ve worked. “I should braid your hair tonight. Might not tangle as quickly that way.”

“If we do that, we’ll need to stop at the store on the way home,” Drew said. “Our beloved sunbeam will want to put flowers in my hair, and I do not believe we have any at home.”

“We already needed to stop for some dinner fixin’s anyways,” Remy told him. “We’ll just add ‘flowers prettier than your face’ to the list, though I’m afraid if we go looking for those we’ll never find them.”

Before Drew could return the compliment, the sound of approaching steps stopped him. He opened his eyes just enough to see that they belonged to Emile, who was smiling broadly and just a touch satisfiedly at them, before he closed his eyes once more.

“Hey there, babe,” Remy greeted. “How you?”

“I’m peachy keen!” Emile answered enthusiastically. “Yourself?”

Drew didn’t need to see Remy’s face to know that ve was smirking. “I’ve got the prettiest man in the world melting into my touch, so I’d say I’m doing pretty swell.”

“Bold words from the most gorgeous being to ever grace this planet’s surface,” Drew countered, opening his eyes so he could return Remy’s smirk. “And I’m not ‘melting into your touch,’ I’m giving you easier access to the hair you so wish to tame.”

“Whatever you say, sugar.” Remy responded casually, right before ve ran veir hand through his hair again, stopping halfway through to press veir fingers against the base of his neck, rubbing just the slightest of circles into his skin, which was cheating, because ve knew perfectly well that was one of his weak points. The motion alone had Drew leaning closer towards Remy, letting out a small sigh that morphed into a huff halfway through.

“That’s cheating,” Drew said, trying to sound accusing but only succeeding in sounding tired and slightly whiny.

Remy laughed. “Don’t care, darling, not even a little.”

Drew hissed at ver, only earning himself another laugh.

“Well you two certainly seem happy,” Emile pointed out, the slightest hint of trickery in their tone.

“I’d like to think we are, yes,” Remy said.

“Not that it’s surprising,” Emile continued, failing to sound very innocent. “I’m sure anyone’d be happy spending time with one of their partners.”

“I’m sure they would,” Remy said neutrally. “Not sure what that has to do with anything right now-”

“They’re talking about my partners in crime.” Drew interrupted. “I told them earlier about my plan to raid Sleeping Beauty’s class and steal her secrets to a hundred years of sleep.”

“I see. Well I do hope you plan on sharing those secrets because goodness knows I could do with a good century of napping.”

“Goodness and me,” Drew agreed, reaching forward and pushing Remy’s sunglasses up a bit, frowning at how dark the bags under veir eyes were. “Why else would I steal the secrets if not for you?”

“Awwww, you care,” Remy cooed, tone a mix of goodheartedly mocking and sincere. “And what do you mean, ‘goodness and me’? Hun, you are goodness.”

“You’re sweet, but we both know that’s Pat.”

“I don’t see why it can’t be both of you.”

“This is getting ridiculous!”

Drew and Remy turned towards Emile at their outburst, Remy tilting veir head to the side in confusion while Drew asked,

“What is?”

Emile waved their hands at the roommates. “You two! You three! This!”

Remy and Drew glanced at each other before looking back at Emile. “This?” Remy asked.

“You’re so oblivious it puts the Scooby Gang’s obliviousness to Shaggy’s godhood to shame!” Emile said, thoroughly exasperated.

“I’m sorry what was that-”

“I mean, look at you two!” Emile said, gesturing at where Remy’s hand was still running through Drew’s hair. “All you do is compliment each other and worry over each other and know exactly what to do to make the other melt into your touch!”

Drew shrugged. “So? We’re friends.”

“And we’ve lived together for months,” Remy added. “Kinda hard to not pick up stuff about each other.”

“This moved past friendship weeks ago,” Emile told them, crossing their arms. “You can pretend to be sly, but you aren’t.”

“We’re not pretending anything,” Drew replied, raising an eyebrow. “Are you alright, Em? No offense, you seem a little... agitated over this.”

Emile squinted at them. “You’d be agitated if you were me.”

“Huh. Vaguely ominous,” Remy commented idly, unperturbed by the conversation. “You should really talk to Roman though. He’s been having the same misconceptions about me and my roommates’ relationship. I’m sure you two lovelies can find the truth if you talk it out.”

“We’ve already found the truth,” Emile said confidently.

“If you say so,” Remy responded, reaching into veir pocket as ve spoke, pulling out veir phone and checking the time. “Patton’s shift should be over in a couple of minutes. Wanna go greet them?”

“The only sunshine I always want to see,” Drew answered. “Don’t tell them we’re going to braid my hair just yet, though, alright? I’d prefer to surprise them.”

Remy grinned. “Of course, hun.”

Drew returned the grin before shifting over so that he could pick his bag up, ignoring Remy’s protest at his hair moving out of playing-with range. “You do know that going to Patton requires moving, right?”

“I do, but that doesn’t mean I have to be happy about it.”

Drew chuckled as he straightened up, slinging his bag over his shoulder. “You can play more with my hair when we get home, starlight, don’t worry. Come on, let’s go get Pat.”

Remy pouted, but ve still lifted veir arm and allowed Drew to slot himself in against veir side as if it was the most normal thing in the world. Remy’s arm wrapped around the top of Drew’s shoulders, holding him close as they headed towards the doors.

“Have a goodnight, Em,” Drew called over his shoulder right before they left, door lightly thudding as it fell shut behind them.

Emile let out a little huff. “Night-night lovebirds,” they said, even though they knew the couple in question couldn’t hear them. They waited a moment after they left before pulling out their phone, flicking to the group chat they, Roman, and Virgil had lovingly nicknamed ‘operation Get These Gays Together’ (originally known as ‘operation if they don’t get together I’m going to shoot them and then myself’ when Virgil named it) and sending a quick but vital text.

Usually, Emile preferred the passive route. They preferred to push people towards the solution, help them subtly, let them figure it out for themselves with only a bit of their help.

But that method was driving Emile (and Roman and Virgil) insane. They had tried the easy, passive way.

It was time to be aggressive.

The first thing Remy registered upon waking up was that they’d really rather not. The little bit of sun that made its way through their half-open eyelids was already too much and they were almost a hundred percent certain they still needed another five hours of sleep to be anything close to well-rested.

Therefore, immediately after opening their eyes, they shut them once more, rolling over and pushing their face into the surface beneath them to try and drown out all possible light. While this did solve the immediate problem of ‘too much light,’ it presented a new one for them to deal with- the fact that something close to him was warm and moving.

The discrepancy between where they remembered falling asleep last night- on the couch, alone- and where they must be now- somewhere big enough for more than one person to be sleeping, and apparently not alone anymore- was enough to convince Remy to open their eyes again. It was easier if only for the fact that the sun was now behind them, illuminating the sight in front of Remy instead of blinding them.

Remy was unsurprised to find the warm moving ‘thing’ was, in fact, their roommates- Drew curled up against Patton’s back, arms wrapped around their chest, one of Patton’s hands resting on top of Drew’s and their other sprawled out across the bed, almost touching Remy.

The sight made Remy smile. They reached out to lay one of their hands over Patton’s outstretched one, gently rubbing circles and nonsense patterns into their palm while they waited for them to wake up. While they would like to figure out how they ended up in bed instead of on the couch, and while they knew all three of them would eventually have to get up for work, they didn’t see the point in rushing anything. If they were already late for work, hurrying now wouldn’t change that, and Remy had decided long ago that there were few things in the world that mattered to them more than seeing both Drew and Patton rested, relaxed, and happy.

Slowly but surely, Patton began to wake up, shifting around in Drew’s grasp for a moment before their eyes fluttered open and they saw Remy. Upon seeing them, Patton smiled a sleepy but fond smile.

“Good morning, sweetie,” Patton greeted them, yawning partway through their sentence. They twisted their hand a bit so that they could hold Remy’s, beginning to rub circles into the back of Remy’s hand. “You look nice.”

Remy found it doubtful that they, in all their sweatpants, ratty t-shirt, and disheveled hair glory, were looking like anything more than a mess, but they were loath to reject any compliment that came from Patton.

“You look just as cute as always,” they returned, smile growing at Patton’s small giggle at their response. “I am, however, a little curious as to why I’m seeing your beauty right now.”

Patton’s brow furrowed in confusion for a moment before smoothing out as they realized what Remy was asking. “You fell asleep on the couch last night, right?”

“Last I recall, yes, and I’m sorry to say I don’t remember coming to… wherever this is.”

“It’s my room,” Patton answered. “I was cold, and I had pinky-promised Dee we could cuddle. We were goin’ to ask you to join, but you fell asleep while we were putting away the lasagna and we decided we didn’t want to risk waking you to move you. You’re such a light sleeper… and Dee said you hadn’t been sleeping as much recently.”

As Patton finished speaking, they reached out to brush a thumb underneath one of Remy’s eyes, as if they could erase the bags that were there.

Remy reached up with their free hand to catch Patton’s, gently pulling it away from their face and intertwining their fingers instead. “Don’t worry about me, sunshine, I’m fine. Just a few more sleepless nights than usual.”

Patton hummed, clearly not satisfied, but they didn’t say anymore on the topic. “I know I didn’t bring you in here,” they said instead, looking forlornly at the space roughly a foot long between them and Remy. “I wouldn’t have brought you in here for cuddles and then not cuddled you,” Patton explained, sounding melancholy.

In an attempt to at least partially console them, Remy scooted closer to Patton, narrowing the gap to only a few inches. They kept themself from moving all the way against them only because they knew exactly what would happen, knew Patton’s arms would wrap around them and hold them close, trapping them in the cuddle pile they’d have no will nor want to escape, and, as nice as it sounded to let reality drift away as they sank back into sleep so close to their two favorite people in the world, Remy knew they couldn’t, knew they had to be at least a little bit responsible and wake up and go to work and do more than just waste the day away holding each other.

Though damn if that wasn’t a tempting thought.

“So does that mean Dee moved me?” Remy asked.

“He must’ve,” Patton answered before frowning. “Though I don’t ever remember him getting up… here, I’ll just ask him.”

Patton turned over slightly, letting go of one of Remy’s hands so that they could gently shake Drew’s shoulder. “Dee? Dee, honey, do you think you could wake up for me? Please?”

In response, Drew half-groaned, half-yawned, and shifted so that his head was pressed into the crook of Patton’s neck, effectively hiding him from both his roommates and the sun. Patton giggled quietly at his action before they titled their head around and pressed a slightly awkward kiss to the top of Drew’s head. “I know you don’t want to, love, but you’ve gotta get up.”

Drew didn’t respond for a moment, but eventually he sighed, lazily lifting his head away from Patton’s shoulder. He returned Patton’s kiss atop their head before shifting his attention to Remy, blinking blearily as he focused on the third person in the bed.

“Mornin’ darling dearest Dee,” Remy greeted. “Sleep well?”

“Mhmm,” Drew hummed noncommittally, but from the way his arms tightened around Patton, holding them closer, Remy could guess he had slept very well curled up with Patton. “What’re you doin’ here?” he slurred, awake enough to realize Remy should still be out on the couch if not awake enough to speak properly.

“We were kinda hoping you could answer that one, hun,” Remy said. “Because I don’t remember coming in here, and Patton doesn’t remember moving me.”

Drew frowned. “I didn’t move you. Wanted you to sleep.”

“So I’ve heard,” Remy commented, now frowning themself. “So. If none of us put me in the bed, and none of us have any sleep walking and/or possession problems we haven’t told the others about…”

“How did you end up here?” Patton finished for them, completing the trifecta of frowns.

The unanswered question finally convinced Remy to sit up, squinting as they looked around the room for some explanation. It did appear to be Patton’s room, from the animal posters hung on every wall to the rainbow they had painted onto the light switch cover with nail polish, so it was unlikely they had all been kidnapped, which Remy was going to consider a good thing. Something did stand out to Remy, however.

“Hey, Pat, you haven’t put any random notes on your door recently, have you?”

Patton shook their head in confusion. “No. Why do you ask?”

Remy didn’t answer them immediately, instead sliding out of the bed and heading towards the door. Tapped to it was a folded note, ‘to the oblivious gays’ scrawled on the front of it. Remy pulled it off the door, unfolding it and quickly scanning the message inside. When they finished, they groaned.

“I’m disowning all of our friends.” Remy said, tossing the note to the side in annoyance as they grabbed the door handle, trying (and failing) to turn it. They groaned again. “Fuck.”

“Language.” Patton said automatically as Drew pushed their glasses onto their face for them, Patton blinking a few times as they stopped needing to squint at everything. “What is it?”

Remy ran a hand through their hair as they moved to the only window in the room, attempting to open it for a moment before deeming it a lost cause. They sighed and turned back towards the bed. “We’ve been locked in.”

This got both Patton and Drew to sit up, both looking more awake as they frowned at them. “What do you mean, we’ve been locked in?”

“Exactly what I said,” Remy replied, leaning back against the wall behind them. “Our most lovely friends have locked us all in a room together and apparently won’t let us out until we ‘confess’ or some bullsh- bullcrap, because this is 2012 and we’re a story on fanfic-dot-net.”

“Confess?” Patton repeated before realization dawned on their face. “Oh. I- Virgil was talking about that yesterday, but I didn’t think he actually- well I didn’t think he really meant anything by it.”

“Same with Emile,” Drew said. “They talk about it so often I just figured it was some sort of joke for them.”

“Roman was talking about it too,” Remy added unhappily. “He pointedly ignored all my advances as well, which was rude. I like to think my distractions are at least worth one returned flirt.”

A moment of silence stretched out between them before Drew sighed and said, “So they did this, huh.”

“That’s why I’m disowning them, yeah,” Remy informed him. “Also on the list of disownments is my cousin, because apparently he’s the one who gave them the key they used to break in here and set this whole mess up.”

“Logan’s not usually the type to go for this sort of thing,” Drew pointed out.

“He isn’t, but I think he’s still annoyed about that one time I stole all his Crofter’s.” Remy said. “Though now he’s indirectly keeping me from my coffee, so who’s the real monster here?”

“At least you’ve got us,” Drew offered.

Remy smiled at that, annoyed expression softening. “Yeah, that I do,” they agreed, pushing off of the wall and padding back over to the bed, joining the semi-circle and leaning against Patton’s side. Drew wrapped an arm around both Patton’s and Remy’s backs as soon as they were settled, holding the three of them together.

“So now what?” Patton asked after a moment of comfortable silence. “Should we call in to work sick?”

“The note said they’d cover it,” Remy answered with a scoff. “No clue how they plan to do that, but they’ve made it into a them-problem.”

“And when are they going to let us out?” Drew followed up. “Because we’re going to have to eat soon.”

“I have a bag of emergency cookies in the closet, if worse comes to worst,” Patton added.

“Of course you do,” Drew said, though he sounded only fond.

“They said they’ll swing by around lunch to free us and, I quote, ‘congratulate us on the proposals,’” Remy laughed. “Roman’s words, if you couldn’t guess.”

Drew chuckled. “And if we try to break out of our makeshift prison?”

“They’ve stolen our phones and tapped them to the door, so if we break it down, we risk breaking our phones.” Remy explained. “Logan also reminded us that glass is sharp and dangerous when broken so we shouldn’t even think about shattering the window.”

“So no breaking out,” Drew summed up. “Guess we really are stuck here ‘til they return.”

“Yep,” Remy agreed. They turned their head so that they could plant a kiss against the side of Patton’s head. “At least I’m stuck with y’all. Better be trapped with angels than free with demons.” Remy smiled when Patton blushed a shade of red that Remy thought just made them look even prettier.

“Well someone’s getting awfully poetic,” Drew quipped, though he was also blushing.

“It’s what happens when I don’t have my coffee,” Remy said offhandedly. “Deal with it.”

“Only if you accept that you yourself are also an angel.”

“Oh, rude, babe, real rude to ‘u-too’ my own compliment back at me.”

“If you want to make this easier on yourself, just accept it, my dear,” Drew advised. “I can wax just as poetic as you can, and will if I think I must.”

Remy sighed, holding out the sound for a moment before they folded. “Fiiiine, I’m an angel.” They leaned around Patton, getting close enough that they could press a kiss to Drew’s forehead. “But you’re still the prettier one.”

Drew gasped dramatically at that, but before he could respond, Patton sighed, sounding fond and vaguely melancholy. Remy pulled back from Drew just enough to look at Patton.

“Aw, our sunshine feeling left out?” Remy asked teasingly, kissing Patton’s forehead as well and wrapping their arms around Patton’s waist. “Don’t worry sweetheart, you’re just as pretty as Dee.”

“Oh, no, it’s not that, I promise!” Patton reassured them with a laugh. “You two are just so cute together, that’s all.”

“We’re all cute together,” Remy said, pressing a quick peck of a kiss to Patton’s chin. “Helps that we’re all cute.”

Patton laughed again. “No, I mean- together-together, you know? You’re a good couple.”

Remy and Drew reacted to that, both glancing at each other in confusion and uncertainty. “Couple as in two people, or…?” Drew asked.

Patton raised an eyebrow, now looking confused themself. “I mean, I guess that too, but I mean- well, I mean romantically.”

Another uncertain glance between the supposed ‘couple.’ Remy laughed awkwardly. “Hate to break it to ya, hun, but I think I’d know if I was dating such a cutie.”

“Same here,” Dee echoed.

“Oh. Oh!” Patton said, blushing red now in embarrassment. “I’m so sorry, you just- the way you act together, I- you’re so comfortable together-”

“We’re all comfortable together,” Drew pointed out, albeit quieter than he had been speaking a moment ago.

“I know, you just- I- oh, I’m so sorry!” Patton repeated, hiding their face in Drew’s shoulder. “I feel so silly,” they added, their voice now muffled.

Remy chuckled, reaching forward to card their fingers through Patton’s hair. They scooted a little closer to them as they scratched at their scalp as well. “Don’t worry about it, honey-love. Everybody makes mistakes.”

“No, it’s not that, I just…” Patton cut themself off before actually getting to their point, shaking their head a bit before they pressed their face even further into Drew’s shoulder.

“Oh, come now, beloved,” Drew coaxed, rolling his shoulders and trying to convince Patton to lift their head. “You don’t have to hide anything from us, much less your beautiful face or heavenly voice.”

“It’s silly,” Patton whined, just loud enough to be understood. Remy laughed gently, brushing their hair to the side so they could kiss the back of their neck.

“That’s okay. We’re not going to make fun of you or anything,” Remy assured them.

Drew leaned over and kissed the top of Patton’s head, pulling back only a little. “What’d you say, love? Can I see those pretty, pretty eyes?”

It took another moment of Remy playing with their hair and Drew sweet talking Patton before they were convinced, slowly lifting their head up just enough so that Drew could see their eyes. Drew smiled at them. “There you go. Isn’t this nicer?”

A little smile slipped onto Patton’s face. “Your eyes are much, much more gorgeous than the fabric of your shirt, yes.”

“I should hope so,” Drew replied, leaning his forehead against Patton’s. “Now, I’m sure both me and our lovely moonbeam are very curious as to what’s got you trying to hide from us.”

“Yeah, sugar, you’re not usually like this,” Remy added, though they didn’t sound worried, just sweet. “What’s got you feeling so silly and shy?”

Patton rested their cheek on Drew’s shoulder, looking between their roommates. “Promise you won’t hate me?”

“We could never,” Drew and Remy said at the same time.

Patton nodded, took a breath, squirmed a little in place, and finally said, “Y’know how I’ve never really said that you guys are together, even if I had no reason not to say it?”

“Uh… yes?” Remy answered, sounding slightly baffled by the question.

“Yeah, well… there was a reason for that.”

“...Okay?” Drew said, tone matching Remy’s.

“It’s because I didn’t really want to accept the fact that you two were together.”

Twin silence from Drew and Remy. Patton let out a little sigh, sounding more amused than annoyed.

“I didn’t like acknowledging the fact that you were both taken,” A pause to give their roommates a chance to finish for them; when neither of them spoke, Patton continued, “because I didn’t want to acknowledge the fact that you were both taken but neither of you were taken with me.”

Another pause, another stretch of silence as Drew and Remy each processed Patton’s words, the confessor themself once more hiding against Drew’s shoulder. Then- dawning understanding.

“Oh,” Remy said first, looking at Drew with wide eyes. “Oh. Patton, I-”

“It’s really okay if neither of you feel the same, really, I don’t even expect you too, we’re friends, and that’s what we’ve always said we were and always been, and that doesn’t need to change I just-” Patton laughed, slightly breathless as they tried to fit everything they wanted to say in only the space of a few seconds, “I just feel silly that I never even bothered to tell you guys because I thought you were dating, that’s all.”

It was quiet as Drew and Remy processed that, Drew looking at the bed as he thought while Remy looked off at the wall, clearly lost in their thoughts. It only took a moment for them to sort them, however.

“Hey, Patton?” Remy said, getting Patton to lift their head once more from Drew’s shoulder and look at them, Patton’s expression a mix of pained and hopeful. Remy reached forwards, cupping one of Patton’s cheeks with one of their hands, smiling a little stupidly as they did so. “Wanna hear a silly little secret of my own?”

Patton's eyes widened, suggesting that they knew exactly what the secret was, but they still said, in a quiet, almost awed voice, “What?”

Remy giggled, just a little, reaching out with their other hand as well and holding Patton’s face in both their hands as they answered, “I have a crush on both my roommates too,” they said in a mock-whisper, as if they were at a sleepover and they were all twelve. “I never told them because I thought they weren’t interested in me like that, but recently I’m starting to think I might be wro-”

Remy’s confession was cut off by Patton letting out a little squeal of excitement, pushing themself forward so that they could wrap their arms around Remy’s midsection, knocking them over and ending up with them both sprawled across the bed. Remy had just barely recovered from the action when Patton started peppering kisses across their face, going over their forehead and both their cheeks before they ended with a kiss on their lips, one that was brief but still sweet and loving and warm and undeniably Patton.

“You jerk.” Patton said, though there wasn’t a hint of heat in their tone as they laughed. “Why didn’t you tell me this three months ago?!”

“I had this whole friendship thing going on that I didn’t want to ruin!” Remy defended with a laugh of their own. “Though, if I had known that’d be your reaction, I’d have gone off and ruined our friendship long ago, sweetness.”

Patton’s smile broke into a grin and they kissed the tip of Remy’s nose, eliciting a quick but joyful giggle from them. “You’re forgiven for your slowness in telling me for how utterly perfect you are.”

“Why thank you, angel,” Remy said, pushing themself up just enough to give Patton a fast nose kiss as well. “But don’t you think we’re missing something- or, better put, someone- from this ‘perfect’?”

Patton’s eyes widened at the reminder. “Oh my gosh, you’re right!” they said before turning around to look at Drew. He was still sitting in the same spot he had been. It was clear he had been watching Patton and Remy, but upon them turning their attention to him, he seemed to suddenly find the entire rest of the room much more interesting to look at.

“Dee?” Patton said, forcing the aforementioned to turn his attention back to them or risk being rude to one of the people he was currently locked in a room with.

“Yes?” Drew asked, trying to sound aloof and neutral. He failed horribly, however, his voice coming out as something closer to mock-formal.

“Me and Remy have both made our confessions… do you have one of your own?” Patton asked, once more sounding hesitant.

When Drew didn’t respond instantly, Remy rushed to add, “It’s completely alright if you don’t, of course. No pressure whatsoever, we can still be friends, it’s just- well, not to sound like the people who locked us up in here in the first place, but I kinda feel like that’s not really what we should be.”

“I-” Drew started before cutting himself off, looking down as he fiddled with the hem of his shirt. “I do love you guys, really; I mean, who couldn’t after living with you for so long, you’re too incredible not to love, but… I don’t know how I love you.”

“...Care to elaborate?” Remy pushed after a minute stretched in silence.

Drew shifted in place. “I guess… we’ve spent our entire friendship doing everything a couple might do- spending time together, learning each other’s favorite things, getting stupidly domestic, literally sleeping together, cuddling, sharing little kisses, and I just… don’t know if I love you romantically or not.”

“Alright,” Patton said slowly, nodding their head before frowning. “I’m… not sure how to figure that out.”

“Me neither,” Remy admitted. “There must be something romantic we haven’t done with you, right?

Drew shrugged. “I don’t know. We’ve covered all of the bases, as far as I can tell. No wonder everyone thought we were dating…”

“Not all of them,” Patton said, pulling Drew out of his barely started musings. They smiled at him, softly and sweetly and just a bit shyly. “Dee?”

“...Yes?”

“Do you want to kiss us?”

“Kiss you- I already have kissed you, what do you…” Drew cut himself off as he realized what Patton meant, his cheeks quickly turning a crimson red.

Remy chuckled as they sat up, Patton shifting a bit to their side so that they could properly sit up. “Hate to put words in your mouth, sweetheart, but I’mma guess that means yes?”

“I… yeah, yeah it does,” Drew conceded, chuckling a little awkwardly. “That sounded awfully charming.”

“Everything you say is charming when you’re a charmer,” Patton responded, and Drew’s cheeks turned a shade darker as the awkwardness in his expression relaxed into something more akin to soft adoration.

Patton patted the bed directly in front of them and Remy. “Come over here, lovely.”

Drew did so willingly, pulling himself over so that he was once more part of the group. Patton smiled tenderly at him as he settled himself before reaching out and gently taking his face in their hands.

“Stop me if you need to, okay?” Patton said. Drew half-laughed, half-scoffed.

“I doubt I’ll want you to stop, much less need you to,” he told them, and Patton smiled wider at him before leaning in, their careful and loving hold on Drew’s face holding him still until their lips were connected.

The kiss was longer than Patton and Remy’s had been, more planned, but it was still just as welcoming and comfortable, as if this wasn’t their first kiss but instead their hundredth; somehow both oddly familiar and excitingly new.

Without even realizing it, Drew found himself leaning it, placing his hands on Patton’s waist to hold steady as he did so, more than happy to drown in the kiss as much as he could.

Patton pulled away when he was reaching the edge of breathlessness, smiling brightly at Drew even as they moved back, still holding his face. “How was that?”

“I love you,” Drew said as an answer, letting out a laugh in the form of a huff as he went on, “Oh, god be damned, Patton, I love you.”

“Language,” Patton chided lightly, though they both knew it meant nothing.

“Hey now,” Remy spoke up, drawing Drew and Patton’s attention. They were pouting, though amusement flashed in their eyes. “I’m feeling a little forgotten over here.”

“Forget you?” Drew asked, normally suave tone now simply breathless and incredulous. “I could never.”

“Then prove it,” Remy demanded, reaching out and making grabby hands at Drew despite the fact that he was barely two feet from them. Drew didn’t mind it, however, simply laughing at the display of affection. He gently took Patton’s hands off his cheeks, kissing the back of both of them (to the delight of Patton) before releasing them and closing the small gap between him and Remy.

“There you are,” Remy said, as if Drew had been hiding somewhere far off and not simply kissing their partner (their partner, not just his partner but Remy’s too) instead of Remy. “Do I get kisses now?”

Drew laughed. “Yes,” he said, not bothering to drag the moment out as he reached forwards, cupping one of Remy’s cheeks in his hand and pulling them closer. “You get kisses now.”

He kept to his promise as he kissed Remy, not holding it out for one long kiss like he and Patton had done but instead kissing them over and over and over again, quick little kisses that lasted seconds but still meant worlds to the both of them, that were still caring and inviting and loving even if they were brief. It worked better that way, Drew decided, especially when Remy evidently grew bored of just kissing his lips and moved on to covering the rest of his face with kisses instead.

“I’m starting to think I really am a jerk for not confessing anything sooner,” Remy said when they had, apparently, deemed Drew’s face properly kissed, now pulled back so that they could look Drew in the eyes as they grinned lopsidedly. “I’ve been severely neglecting giving you- and Patton- all the kisses you two deserve.”

“Not that that ever stopped you when we were friends,” Patton pointed out, leaning against Remy’s side and reaching out to hold one of Drew’s hands as well.

“That’s because even then I knew I was making a mistake,” Remy said, happily taking advantage of the fact that Patton was once more close to them to kiss their forehead.

“I just can’t believe the people who locked us up had it right,” Drew said, squeezing Patton’s hand as the hand he had been using to cup Remy’s cheek moved to hold one of Remy’s hands. “We really have been horribly oblivious, huh?”

Remy laughed. “I’d say that’s pretty accurate, yeah,” they agreed before smiling mischievously. “We’re not going to let them know that though, right?”

“Oh, goodness, of course not,” Drew responded. “Otherwise they might start thinking locking people up will always work, or, even worse, they might get an ego boost.”

“I think Roman will explode if that happens- his ego’s already big enough as is,” Patton added. Drew’s and Remy’s attention immediately turned to them, both looking shocked, to which Patton defended, “What? I can be petty towards our friends too!”

Drew chuckled as he quickly kissed Patton’s cheek. “That you can, dearheart, that you can.”

“It’s not like you’re wrong either,” Remy pointed out. “Really, letting Roman know this planned work might kill him. We’re just going to have to pretend it didn’t, for his sake.”

Patton and Drew both nodded as solemnly as they could given the circumstances. “I vote that we tell them this experience has really brought us closer together in our friendship instead,” Drew offered. “That way we can still be horribly obnoxious-” Drew paused to peck quick kisses to each of his partners’ noses to prove his point before continuing “-and also keep Roman and his ego safe.”

“A perfect plan,” Patton agreed. “Though… what do we do if they catch us calling each other partners?”

“We tell them how we decided we really felt like ‘friends’ no longer properly described how close our friendship was, so we decided to start using partners,” Remy answered immediately with a grin. “Really, we can turn anything into just another extent of our ‘friendship’ is we try hard enough. The real question is for how long do we do that? When do we give them their satisfaction?”

Drew hummed in thought for a moment before he said, a wicked smile racing his face as he spoke, “I’d say we’ll have to wait them out at least until we get married. We can tell them it’s for tax benefits.”

“We’re going to get married?!” Patton exclaimed, eyes shining at the thought.

“Well, I mean-” Drew floundered for a moment, clearly having gotten so caught up in how to best taunt their friends that he hadn’t even considered the implications of what he had said “-we’ve only just got together, but- if this lasts and we don’t regret anything, well-”

“We’re going to get married!” Patton repeated, this time with no question in their tone, tugging Drew closer to themself and pulling Remy closer as well so that they were all squished against each other. “We’re going to get married and we’re going to move out and find a better apartment with one huge bed- oh, or we could get a house with one big bed, and we’re going to adopt a dog- no, two dogs- no, ten dogs!- and-”

Drew gently stopped Patton’s rant by kissing them until they were breathless, resting his forehead against theirs when he finished. “And we’ll drive our friends absolutely insane with what a lovely life we’ll be living,” he added softly.

Remy moved to press their forehead against both of their partners’. “And we’ll be in love forever,” they added, which was an extraordinarily cheesy thing to say, but in the moment, it also felt like the right thing to say.

In fact, pressed against the two most important people in the world to them, still feeling giddy at everything that had happened in the span of barely fifteen minutes, Remy felt as if, for the first time in a long time, absolutely everything was just as it should be.

They were looking forward to getting used to that feeling.

#mosleepceit #ts patton #ts janus #ts remy #ts sleep #ts roman #ts virgil #emile picani #ts logan mentioned #the cryptid speaks #fanfic #fanfiction #ts sides #sanders sides #dani #argo #this fic is a huge mess but hopefully it's a decent one sbdfcsdjf

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snowdice · 4 years

Text

Road Trips and Missing Persons (Part 5)

Fandom: Sanders Sides

Relationships: Patton & Virgil, Virgil & Deceit, Logan & Patton, Emile & Remy

Characters: Patton, Virgil, Deceit, Remus, Roman, Logan, Emile, Remy

Summary: Patton was just getting groceries. The next thing he knew, there was a knife at his throat and he was an unwilling uber driver. Virgil’s on the run after the murder of his dad, and it’s not just his paranoia that’s telling him he’s being chased down. He has to get somewhere safe, somewhere he can trust, and all he has is a couple of stories from his dad and a name: “Green Bellow Foods and Dispensary.”

Notes: Secret Agents AU, knives, carjacking, kidnapping, murder mentioned, guns mentioned, pepper spray, blood mentioned, drugs mentioned (more to be added)

This is a fic I’ve been writing on study breaks that you have probably all already seen at this point. I’ve affectionately named it the Goblin Brain Fic because it’s helping my brain actually get motivated for studying. I’ve slightly edited it for wording and grammar, but not for content from my previous posts. Feel free to send in asks to direct it because I’m not 100% sure where this is going and you can help decide if you feel so inclined! You can see the process I went through to build this at this link.

Part 1 Part 2 Part 3 Part 4 My Master Post

Emile hummed a quick tune as he pulled into the grocery store parking lot near his apartment. He’d just finished his last session of the day with Kai and Remy had asked that he watch Virgil this evening after work and possibly this weekend, so Emile was picking up something to cook for dinner before heading over there. He was going to grab ingredients to make Virgil’s favorite dinner, spaghetti and meatballs (well his actual favorite dinner was pineapple pizza from the local pizza joint, but Emile wanted to serve the boy something at least somewhat healthy for once in his life.)

That in mind, he went straight to the pasta aisle. While contemplating which of the spaghetti noodles he should grab, he noticed a man with a cart also perusing the aisle. He glanced at the contents of the man’s cart. “That’s a lot of cheese there friendo,” he commented.

“I’m trying to make homemade macaroni and cheese,” the man divulged with a smile.

“That’s always fun,” Emile replied, smiling back himself.

“I’ve never done it before. Do you have any suggestions for noodles?”

“Hmm… how about shell ones?”

“Ooo, like the boxed Velveeta shell macaroni, but better!” He enthused. “Aw! They have mini ones!” He snatched the box excitedly. “They’re so cute!”

“They are,” Emile agreed as he finally selected the whole wheat store brand spaghetti and slid it into his cart.

“Thanks for the suggestion! Have a nice day,” the man said and turned to leave.

“Bye!” Emile called after him.

He then continued on his quest, grabbing pasta sauce and a lot of fresh vegetables to sneak into the canned sauce as well as to leave in his brother’s home with the hopes that either his brother or his nephew might actually eat something healthy for once if it was right there. (Doubtful, but Emile could hope.)

He then spent an inordinate amount of time, debating which popcorn to get. Emile was thinking tonight would be a good night for movies with Virgil, and Virgil’s favorite snack was popcorn. He really should get the less buttery one, but he knew that Virgil liked buttery popcorn more. Perhaps he should compromise and get plain popcorn, but that one healthier ranch flavored powder topping that he liked. Decided, he grabbed the popcorn and the topping and went to exit the snack food aisle. “Hey,” a man with a mustache drew his attention away from his task. “My friend lost his little brother in the store. Have you seen a younger teenager walking alone around here? We think he might have gone to the snack food aisle.

Emile frowned. “Nope I haven’t seen anyone. I hope you find him soon.”

“Thanks,” the man said already distracted with looking around again.

“Maybe try the front desk,” Emile suggested. “They could call over the intercom.”

“My brother’s already there,” the man replied waiving the suggestion off. “But thanks.”

“Well good luck!” Emile said as the man walked away towards the back of the store.

Gee, it took him almost 40 minutes to get groceries, he realized when he glanced at his phone in the checkout aisle. He shouldn’t let himself get that distracted.

Once he’d paid for the groceries, he took everything to his car and shoved them in the backseat. Right as he was about to stick the key in the ignition, he got a text message from his secretary.

‘Kai forgot his phone in your couch again, but your office is locked. Are you able to swing by really quick to let him in?’

He texted back ‘Sure! I’ll be there in 5.’ He wasn’t going to keep Kai away from his phone for the night and it wasn’t like the groceries he’d grabbed were extremely time sensitive. So, he drove back to the office.

Kai seemed thankful for his willingness to drive all the way back even if his ‘thank you’ was rather distracted as he was already typing something on his phone the moment after Emile handed it back to him.

He said goodbye to Kai and to his secretary and hopped back into his car intending to drive to Remy’s house. He’d just started the car when his phone started to ring.

“Yello,” he said cheerfully.

“Emile,” the serious voice greeted on the other end of the line. “This is Logan Sanders.”

Emile sobered immediately. “Hi Logan. Is something wrong? Do you have a patient for me?”

“No, actually,” Logan said. “It’s… about your brother.”

Emile froze. “What about my brother?” he asked. “Remy is on light duty.”

“He was yes,” Logan said. “However, there was a complication.”

“What type of complication?” Emile said and a bit of anger came to his tone unbidden.

“He was specifically targeted,” Logan said, and despite the calm way he spoke, Emile could detect the distress in his tone. “I’m very sorry, but he’s dead.”

“Oh, god. What about Virgil?”

“That’s the other thing,” Logan continued. “As soon as I heard of Mr. Gates death, I dispatched an agent to his home for protection, but when he arrived, his son was not there. There were signs of a break-in, but the perpetrator’s car was still there, and my agent believes Virgil fled the scene and was followed on foot. My agent is currently searching for him…”

“There’s a ‘but,’” Emile concluded.

There was a slight pause, just enough to tell Emile he wasn’t nearly as unaffected as he was pretending to be. “I haven’t heard from that specific agent in over half an hour.”

“Okay,” Emile gulped, suddenly feeling sick to his stomach. There were hundreds of explanations for that, but many of them were bad. “Okay. I’ll go look myself since I know him and where he might go. I’ll,” his voice cracked a bit. “Call you if I find anything.”

“Alright, and I’ll…” but whatever Logan was going to say was lost as a hand touched Emile’s shoulder.

Emile screamed and tossed his phone as he accidently slammed his elbow into the car horn making it blare.

“Calm down! It’s just me,” said a voice.

“Frickin Frozone shitake mushrooms terrible tigger fish paste and cabbages, Remington!”

“You could curse like a normal person, Emile.”

“And you could not break into my car like a normal person,” Emile shot back turning around in his seat to face his older brother. “I’ll presume you’re not dead then.”

“Aw, were you worried about me?” he asked.

Violence is never the answer. At least that’s what he told his patients. Emile punched his shoulder the best he could from this angle. It clearly didn’t hit too hard as Remy just laughed.

“Sorry, Em,” he said reaching forward to ruffle his hair. Emile slapped him away.

“What happened?” he asked.

“Mega Bitch Ex decided she wanted me shot in the head and I decided I didn’t want that.”

“What does that mean?” Emile asked.

“It means,” Remy answered. “I faked my own death and while she thought I was dead,” he dug something out of his pocket and dangled it in front of him. It was a flash drive. “I stole this.”

“What is it?”

“Super-secret spy business.”

“Remy.”

“All that matters is she really shouldn’t have it and Logan will be very happy I got it away from her.”

“Speaking of Logan…” Emile had dropped his phone when Remy had surprised him, and the call had ended. He picked up the phone. “I should call him back.”

The phone was slapped out of his hand the second his picked it up.

“What the kriffing kriff Remy?”

“Please just say fuck. I beg of you,” Remy groaned. The phone starting ringing again from its place on the floor. Doubtlessly it was Logan since the last thing he’d heard was Emile screaming like he was being murdered.

“I need to answer that, Remy,” Emile said with a frown.

“You can’t. It’s too risky.”

“You literally just said you stole it for Logan. Why can’t I just answer the phone, say Remy’s fine actually, and he has a super-secret spy flash drive to give to you?”

“Because you don’t say shit like that over the telephone,” Remy told him while starting to wiggle his way into the front seat. “We’re going to take this thing to Logan in person and no one can know I’m alive until then.”

“I know you’re alive,” Emile pointed out.

Remy grabbed Emile’s phone when it stopped ringing and hit the power button to turn it off. He stuck it into his pocket. “Family doesn’t count,” Remy said. “…Also, I needed a ride.”

“Are you really going to keep my phone hostage this whole time and also what happened to your car?”

“It… uh… blew up,” Remy said. Emile stared at him blankly. “Yeah… so, anyway.”

“What do you mean it blew up?” Emile asked.

“I said ‘anyway.’”

“Saying ‘anyway’ doesn’t mean I just magically forget what you just said.”

Remy waved that off. “Anyway,” he said again. “We’ll have to pick up Virgil and … do something with him. I’m not leaving him home alone during this.”

“Right. I assume since you’re not dead that Virgil isn’t actually missing,” Emile concluded.

But instead of agreeing and telling Emile where Virgil was to go pick him up, there was silence. “Virgil is what?”

Want to read more? Click below!

Part 6

#sanders sides #emile picani #remy sanders #virgil sanders #remus sanders #roman sanders #janus sanders #creativitwins #patton sanders #logan sanders #platonic moxiety #knives #kidnapping #carjacking #murder mentioned #guns mentioned #adriana writes #road trips and missing persons

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demialwrites · 4 years

Text

Fallen Angel, Down to Earth

Fuck me, things have been rough with my mental health lately. So I slowly nurtured this fic. It was relaxing to write so it’s not too exciting. It’s a nice length, tho!

Hanging upside-down was more awkward than you previously thought. Especially since one of the biggest heroes of Wutai was the one holding you up. By the ankle and you were sure his hand was made of iron by the way he gripped you. If anyone saw Sephiroth holding you from plummetting to your death over a cliff, the story would spread like a nasty fart until everyone in Shinra knew. And laughed. You would have laughed, too.

You pled silently with him to put you down. You would have spoke the words but the hero himself but you were too engrossed in checking him out up-close. You did that instead, brows knitted in concentration. He did wear more belts than he needed to. His long, silver hair was glorious. And his eyes were a spring green that you'd never seen before. His black slit pupils dilated when your eyes met and you shivered. "Please, put me down, Sir!" you blurted. He smirked slightly before doing as you asked, giving his full bottom lip extra curve. He was surprisingly gentle, not just dropping you to the hard ground. "Are you hurt?" he asked. You sprang up, rapidly patting yourself down for injuries. You came up with nothing but extra dirt. "No!" Another slight smile. "Good." He turned from you and walked away. You stood there for a second before you realized he expected you to follow without being asked. You hurried up to his side. "So what do we do now?" "We find everyone else." Oh, right. You forgot you got separated from the rest while you were falling off the cliff. "Where could they be?" you wondered aloud. "I don't know. This shouldn't have happened." You followed Sephiroth around for a while, with no one in sight. You almost followed him around a corner when he quickly doubled back a step, shoving you back, also. "What?" you hissed quietly. He whipped around, hair brushing your knee. He squeezed your shoulder and put a finger to his lips. His pupils were wide again. You got lost in their blackness until a procession of bomb monsters floating past caught your eyes. They came from where you were heading. It was a much bigger group than you were used to. If not for Sephiroth's presence, you would have been terrified. You were hyper-aware of his hand still gripping your shoulder. He let go when he felt it was safe, checking around the corner again. You put your hand where his used to be. "C'mon," he said. You joined his side again. "Why didn't you just kill them...if you don't mind me asking, Sir." "There were too many for me to guarantee that I could keep you alive." Your shoulders relaxed down. "Ahhhh. That's nice." "I thought you might like that," he teased. To you, Sephiroth was just wandering around. But he pointed out evidence on the ground that proved otherwise. Bootprints and such. It surprised you how knowledgeable he was. He followed the trail until you started yawning. You tried to hide it. "The excitement of nearly dying probably tired you out," he said. "Let's stop for the night." As much as you wanted to keep going and return sooner to a warm, comfortable bed, at least you got more time with Sephiroth. Maybe you would learn more about him. He told you to set up camp while he took care of the fire to keep the chill at bay. You put down your bedroll, then looked up to find him lighting a suspiciously thick pile of branches with fire materia. Like he had snapped small trees in half. After some bland rations, you both settled down to rest. You got into your bedroll while he sat on top of his. You wanted to ask him about himself but the warmth from the fire was making you drowsy. He was gazing up at the clear and starry sky. You looked up as well. You gazed along with him in silence, the stars reminding you that the planet was spinning slowly on its axis while it orbited the sun. A massive, round cradle for all the tiny living beings on its surface. You yawned, the drowsiness increasing. So easy to lay your head down on that cradle and sleep like a baby. This experience with Sephiroth soothed away some of the intimidation you held before and you hoped you would get to work with him again. He did you a favour and found you himself in the halls first. "Hey, Sir!" "Hey," he replied. "I know you want to avoid the humiliation of everyone finding out what happened at the cliff. I'll omit from my report what exactly happened if you go on a date with me." "You don't date!" you blurted without thinking. It was always what you heard. He'd been asked many times and always turned them down. He was just teasing you. "You're cute when you're flustered. Are you turning me down?" He didn't seem concerned with your answer, just gazed at you with that same smirk as when he held you over the cliff. It had a softened, dreamier edge. It wasn't aimed at your eyes but lower. Your lips or maybe your body. You were still confused but had no reason to say no. "Yes, I guess..?" His gaze jumped back up to your eyes. "Alright, then. Where should we go? Normally, I'm too busy to go anywhere for fun." You suggested your favourite spots to eat. You would love to hear his opinion. He shook his head; too many people would bother him. That left you stumped. "I want to see your place," he said. "Show me how you live." "Me? It would bore you." "I'm curious." He leaned down closer. "Humour me." Your heart beat faster, butterflies went nuts in your stomach, and you agreed. On the night of the date, death was at your door. He had glowing green eyes. Actually, it was Sephiroth in black with the hood up on his hoodie. You smiled, laughing inwardly at yourself. His shadowed face unnerved you at first but you couldn't be surprised at his fashion choices based on his battle gear. The zipper on the hoodie was down halfway, showing a grey shirt. Black jeans and boots completed the outfit. He pulled the hood down and all of his hair out of the back of the sweater where it had been tucked and looked relieved. You assumed he didn't want to deal with anyone who would recognize him off the Soldier recruitment posters and didn't question it. He held out a white plastic bag that was tied at the top like takeout normally was. That got you a little excited. "I had one of the cafeteria chefs make something similar to the food you mentioned." "And they just did that for you?" He shrugged. "Yes." Like it was a normal occurrence. You wanted to peek inside the bag of takeout but instead, took it to the dining table. Instead of following, Sephiroth got distracted in the area just inside your door. "What's this?" he asked, picking up a knickknack and inspecting it. "Oh, I..." Sephiroth went around, picking up or pointing out various items with which decorated your apartment. You explained how you got each one and what drew you to it. It was like a child using a magnifying glass just to see how things look in more detail. Maybe this was his version of fun. You looked for an opening to turn it around and ask /him/ something but you couldn't bring yourself to interrupt. "Why don't we eat?" he finally said, turning from your personal items with a satisfied look. You embarrassed yourself by sneaking glances at his full, curvy lips while he sucked in noodles from his portion of the takeout. The date was looking up. A good view and the heavenly slide of greasy chow mein down your throat. Mmmm, fat. The cafeteria chefs didn't skimp on the meat and vegetables, either. Sephiroth finished his portion with a healthy appetite and said, "Not bad." There was an awkward moment until he told you he wanted to see what you normally did on a night like this. You thought, No, that's boring. I'm boring. How is he not bored yet? His expectant look won over. You went to your bathroom to grab some items. You came back and placed a couple of sheet masks on the table. He picked one up and eagerly read the package. "I see. Is this like a hair mask?" "Yeah!" You lit up with a smile, thankful that he caught on quickly. "I use those." "What?" "Surprised? This hair requires a lot of maintenance." He said that so casually but you couldn't picture him lovingly brushing and styling his hair. Either way, you had an out-of-body experience when Sephiroth, the most famous hero of Shinra, ripped open the mask and applied it carefully. Thankfully, your real body was numb enough without your soul to follow suit and put on your own mask on autopilot. Since he was wearing the mask, you decided it wasn't so bad to do the other thing you normally did on work nights; watch TV. You made a guess that he would want to watch a documentary because he spent all evening soaking up information. Turns out it was a good choice. He commented often that he had been to the various places filmed and how easily he had dispatched any monsters shown. It reminded you who you sat next to and you were glad he was friendly. You were starting to get sleepy from the all carbs and the late hour. Sephiroth, in contrast, seemed like he could stare unblinking at the TV screen forever. You shrugged inwardly; it was weird but least he was easy to please. Staring at him, it struck you that this entire time you wanted to see him humanized. Not the untouchable hero from the recruitment posters. This date had done just that. He was weird but who wasn't a little? You smiled at him. "This was a good date," you told him. He returned the smile. "I'm glad you think so." He held his hand out, palm-up. You put your hand on top. He closed his fingers and rested your two hands on his thigh. You fell asleep. Sephiroth let you sleep until he decided it was your bedtime. He nudged you awake and guided your half-asleep self to your bed.

#long post #lonnnnnnnng post #ff7 #sephiroth x reader #gender neutral reader #fluff #comedy #my shit

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quicksiilver · 3 years

Text

In My Father’s Eyes

A new series!

Summary: An amateur New York City artist in her freshman year of college is journeying through life alone without a mother or father. At nineteen she’s been through more than anyone older than forty could say. Passionate about her art and her best friend, she finds one late night at work begins the story of her path to becoming the savior of many worlds. Unexpected news of her family strikes her hard, but a new potential love interest with shared life experience eases the pain.

Part One: The Artist

Word Count: 4.3k

A/N: I’ve been writing this for some time now.. It’s not on any specific timeline, but if I had to place it it’d be as if Infinity War and Endgame never happened. First time I’m posting a fic! Enjoy!

It was midnight on Saturday in New York City. The bar I worked in religiously was getting ready to shut down for the night, the second bartender and my best friend Shaun and I getting started on our closing tasks. We were on a street corner in the heart of Manhattan and we were always slammed, but tonight was unusually quiet.

Squatting down behind the bar I started stacking clean cups as Shaun wiped down the counter top.

“Pretty weird tonight, huh?” He asked. Glancing to him and his shaggy blonde hair I nodded.

“In my years of working here I’ve never seen a night like this,” I sighed standing to my feet hurrying around the bar to turn off our lit up ‘open’ sign in the window. Just as I got to it two men came in the door letting it violently swing shut behind them. Slowly lowering my hand from the light switch Shaun gave me a sarcastic pout making me smile.

“Hello, gentlemen,” Shaun greeted them happily, setting up coasters in front of their chairs. Both men had disciplined looks upon their faces as they spoke to one another. The dark haired man with odd glasses on his face gave Shaun a subtle wave as they took off their coats and sat down.

“I’ll give you guys a minute,” Shaun nodded and took a step back. I met him behind the bar and we both went into the kitchen.

“Just when I thought we’d be outta here kinda early tonight,” I groaned rubbing my hands over my eyes, “I’ve got such a busy day tomorrow, and it’s my only day off this week.”

“I got them, don’t worry,” Shaun shrugged his shoulders, “Why don’t you head out of here, shut off that sign and go home?” He turned to start scooping some ice into a bucket to take out to the men, and shot me a look over his shoulder raising an eyebrow. I just watched him for a second before shaking my head.

“Are you sure?” I asked sweetly, feeling a tad guilty.

“Yeah,” He said with a smile, “I know you’ve got school stuff to deal with. I got them,” He said again playfully, making it more clear to me. I gave him a nod and a smile. He returned it and then went to work taking the ice out to the guys ready to take their order. Peeking around the corner of the kitchen I looked at the guys curiously. They looked important and spoke secretively to one another, nearly on each others laps but not in a gay way. One was dark and brooding, and the other seemed jockey and poised. Neither were dressed as if they were people of importance, but they sure gave off the vibe they were. The man in the glasses glanced up at me. We held eye contact for only a moment before I felt a chill down my spine and the urge to turn away. When I looked back Shaun was making their drinks and caught a look at me.

“Rachel,” He said sternly with a smile, “Go home,” He said at a whisper. Sighing, I smiled, and uncomfortably made my way around the men at the bar to finish cleaning the place up. I went around the place stacking the chairs on top the tables, making sure our menus were in the right places and switched off the sign in the window feeling eyes on me every now and then. As I came around the counter for the last time so I could clock out at the monitor on the bar, I made eye contact with the other man and slightly stumbled over my feet. He had soft eyes, and dirty blonde hair that fell perfectly on his head. He had a polite poise to him, yet gave off a strong energy of raw man. He was gorgeous. His eyes were familiar, however, as if I had seen them before. When I finished at the monitor I gave Shaun a quick hug, grabbed my keys and took myself home.

Midnight streets of the city used to scare me as a kid. My friends used to tell me stories in school of homeless people who would turn into zombies once the clocks hit twelve, or how dangerous things get, especially once it’s dark out. The stories would scare me so bad I ended up sleeping in my mom’s bed most of my childhood. It was just her and I growing up, the two of us in a crappy apartment here in Manhattan. She had me when she was young, only nineteen years old, but she made it work when she wasn’t in any trouble. I adored her and loved her more than anything. As a young child before I was in school we spent a lot of time outside walking the streets of the city or playing in Central Park. Walking around the trees with flowers on them was my favorite place to be. I can remember spring time and how we would go collect the flowers and put them around the apartment. Sometimes we would lay down on the grass looking up into the sky and she’d pick petals off the flowers setting them on my nose or forehead. She’d tell me stories, mainly fairytales, of far away places and magical beings. I was obsessed with her rendition of The Little Mermaid.

She was great to me, we were best friends, but at the end of the day she was terribly messed up. As soon as I was old enough to walk to and from school alone I would come home and she’d be passed out either on the couch or our bed. Alcohol was her choice of poison. The first time I found her I was seven years old. I can remember putting a blanket on her and kissing her cheek saying goodnight as I went on to do my homework and eat Cheetos for dinner.

Around eleven it was mainly me in the apartment. My mom went through a constant cycle of getting sober, then falling back in, then getting sober again. I did my best to help her through it all while getting myself through middle school. She had a job, she was a waitress at a diner for many years and it was her working there that gave me some experience for the bar. The other women who worked there never seemed to mind if I sat there for hours waiting for my mom to finish a shift. They would check up on me, bring me mac and cheese and sometimes desserts if I drew them a few nice pictures on the paper placemats.

When I was thirteen I started doing anything to make a buck. Seeing an empty fridge and my mom struggling to pay our bills really forced me to grow up, fast. I was taking out garbage for the tenants in our building for three dollars a bag, and babysitting anyone for five dollars an hour. I tried to sell some of my moms drinks she had in our fridge, but I quickly learned that wasn’t a great idea. I was a brand new teenager experiencing change alone when I should’ve had my mother there to help me.

By sixteen she was dragging. It had become visibly clear to me that I no longer had a mother and that I was taking care of her instead of her taking care of me. I got my full time job at the bar on the corner cleaning dishes, and she was stealing some of my money. Confronting her about it was never an answer, and if I did she would break down.

I was seventeen when she died, and it broke me. To grow up and watch someone you love fall apart in front of your eyes is something I wouldn’t wish on my worst enemy. Walking into your home after a night of work to your mother on your kitchen floor. She was thirty-six. She didn’t get to see me graduate high school, she wasn’t here to watch me get accepted into a community college here in Manhattan, and she won’t be here for anything else.

Now at nineteen, the age she had me, I work full time at the bar doing everything. I’m in my second semester of college studying art, something I’ve always loved, and I’m keeping myself on my feet in the apartment. I swore to myself that day two years ago that I would never pick up a drink, and that will forever be something I stand by.

Pushing the building's gate open, I fought to close it because of how rusty it was and jiggled my keys around searching for the one for the front door. I got myself inside and then started up the stairs taking them two at a time to reach the third floor. I could hear music coming from my neighbors and a strong smell of marijuana which never fazed me, that's been normal since I can remember.

I locked my door behind me with my key and then slid the safety lock shut. Kicking my shoes off at the door I took a deep breath and tossed my keys onto the table by the door. I made my way into the living room, turned on the tiny tv and then turned into the kitchen to search the fridge for something to eat.

Settling for leftover cold pasta, I tore off the lid of the Tupperware and flopped onto my ancient couch.

The New York City news was going on about its upcoming spring festivals and I couldn’t help but feel excited for them. I normally kept to myself now, but the few friends I have were into a lot of the things I was. Shaun, who‘s my age, goes to the same school and is an English major, and two of our other friends, Jessica and Elliot, are art majors with me. They’re a year older than Shaun and I. All three of them still live home with their parents, and they’re all well informed with my situation and have been nothing but supportive. This time of year we loved going out to parks and spending time in between our classes outside. I couldn’t wait to be out in a green, grassy area drawing one of my friends as they posed for me.

My eyes were falling in love with the shots of flowers the news was showing that when my phone rang I didn’t even look away.

“Hello?” I answered distractedly.

“Rach!” It was Shaun.

“Hey, you seem a little too happy.”

“You know those two guys? That came in?” He spoke quickly.

“Yes,” I answered and shoved two cold noodles into my mouth.

“They were... well I’m pretty sure that they were those guys? You know the ones that did the whole thing?” He fumbled on every last word.

“Shaun... what!” I laughed audibly, adjusting myself in my seat.

“Avengers! Rach! Avengers!” Shaun shouted and I froze. Avengers was a word the public hadn’t heard in years, at least me since I was in school. New York City nearly went to shit years prior, but thanks to them we managed to bounce back, and even the last time they were big in the news the city could’ve been wiped out again. I was thankful to still have my mom around during that time, and that none of my friends' families were affected. It still amazed me we lived in a world where these people were real.

“Shaun... what?” I repeated my words in disbelief.

“Rachel, I swear. The guy with the short dark hair and glasses? Tony Stark. Iron Man,” He paused and I could hear a door shut and keys jingle. He was just now leaving the bar, “And the other guy? Captain America!” He said proud of himself. An image of the blonde guy at the bar popped into my brain and I nearly choked on a noodle.

“You good?” Shaun asked as I coughed.

“Yeah,” I said quietly once I could speak, “I’m just... holy crap!” My stomach did a flip. Kids in school would brag about meeting an Avenger, some would even go as far as to pretend they had powers themselves and that they were one of them. Shaun was a huge Avengers fan. It was never in my lucky stars to meet an Avenger and I just so happened to be in the presence of two of them tonight.

“Ya know, I knew they seemed important,” I said shaking my head looking back to my tv screen, “Did you see the way they were talking? Do you think something is going on?” I asked Shaun who gave me a simple answer back.

“Who knows, anything could happen.”

“True, remember the attack a few years ago? Who saw that coming,” I rolled my eyes.

“I’m sure Cap did,” Shaun said confidently. I could hear the smug smile on his face.

“Shaun, do you love the man?” I asked, both of us laughing.

“Maybe I do!” He scoffed, “Something the matter with that?”

“Not at all,” I said, “Get home safely please. Can we talk tomorrow?”

“Of course we can,” He said.

“Okay,” I smiled then felt butterflies in my stomach once I remembered the men at the bar, “We saw Avengers!” I nearly screeched and Shaun laughed. We cheered a bit more before saying goodnight and hanging up.

I cleaned up my spot in the living room heading into my bedroom. Pulling my work clothes off of me, I tossed them to the floor beside a laundry basket that was nearing its limit, and walked into the bathroom meeting my reflection in the mirror. My tired blue eyes were staring back. Rubbing my fingers under them a few times I groaned at how dark the circles looked against my pale skin. Turning on and leaning over the sink, I scooped some cold water in my hands and splashed it over my face looking back up into the mirror.

There was a long day ahead of me tomorrow. Two projects are due next week by Friday and tomorrow is my only day off from working down at the bar.

I reached for a hair tie on the counter and pulled my dark hair into a bun on top of my head with a sigh.

After brushing my teeth and washing my face properly I turned back into my room, pulled a sweatshirt over my head and rolled onto my mattress burying myself in all the pillows I had come to collect over my nineteen years of life and fell asleep.

Thunder shook my apartment and I jolted awake, springing straight up in bed. Lighting as bright as day struck the sky and soon after was another clap of dangerously loud thunder. Muffled voices came from the living room, and after another rumble of thunder the voices turned into screams.

“Mama?” I called out, feeling my stomach start to flip. I could hear her scream again as if she was shouting to someone else inside with her. Swinging my legs over the side of the bed I jumped to the floor, my purple nightgown hanging below my knees. My nails and toenails were painted pink and I had a temporary tattoo of Blues Clues on my arm. My room continued the shake and the lightning kept striking. I heard the wind outside pick up, the whistling coming through the windows. Peeking out of one of them all I could see was the darkness of the sky and the tops of a few buildings, but no rain. I wasn’t tall enough to see down to the ground yet.

“Mama?” I called out again, a bit louder this time getting closer to the closed door.

“Rachel,” She shouted, “Go to sleep!” Her voice was broken, she sounded like she was in trouble. My stomach flipped again and I felt my heartbeat pick up. If she was in trouble I wasn’t going to go back to sleep. She taught me that if I was ever in trouble that I should call 911 and answer their questions. I knew all of my information and everything about my mom. I lifted a hand and turned the doorknob. The phone was on the counter in the kitchen. The bedroom door creaked open slowly and I looked out into the living room but didn’t see anything. Taking two more steps out I found the phone on the counter with my eyes and felt proud. I was going to make it. As I was running for it, I looked toward the front door and saw my mom sitting on the floor against the door with her hands and legs locked up in a metal band that looked like they were shaped like snakes. She was crying and she looked like she was hurt, she was bleeding on her face and her arms. I slowed my running.

“Mama?” I pouted reaching a hand toward her. The room fell silent and it seemed as if the entire world did too. The thunder and lightning stopped, and so did the wind. The noises that caused my mom and I to shout had all gone away. I froze and watched her and she shook her head quickly side to side and cried.

“Rachel, go,” She begged, agony in her voice, “Go, go, go.”

“No,” A deep, gravely voice spoke. Slowly looking beside her I found a man so tall he looked like he wouldn’t fit inside of our doorway. It was dark so it was hard to figure out what he looked like, but it almost looked as if his skin was blue.

“Rachel,” He spoke again, coming closer to me. My small feet walked me backwards as he came toward me, backing me against the living room wall.

“Baby, run!” My mother screamed, but before I could take off a large blue hand was grabbing onto me and picking me up. I let out a piercing shriek at his cold touch and continued to scream the longer his icy hands held me in the air.

Suddenly I sat up in bed to the sound of my phone alarm going off beside me with a gasp. Fumbling around for it, I shut it off and flopped back onto my pillows taking a long deep breath. It wasn’t the first time I had dreamt something up like that. As a kid my mother always told me how active of an imagination I had. She influenced me to get into art by telling me to write about these dreams and draw pictures of what I saw. There’s two notepads full of pictures of men and women like the man I just saw in that dream somewhere buried in my school things. Elementary school teachers would scold my mom for letting me tell my stories and share with the other kids, but she allowed me to express myself and taught me to not be afraid of who I was, and I’m thankful for that because I live by it to this day. I refuse to shrink myself for another human being which automatically didn’t make me too popular in high school.

Picking my phone up I swiped open to my messages between Shaun and I and told him about the dream. Setting my phone back down I waited patiently for the ding and lifted it back up once I got it.

S: You haven’t had a dream like this in a few years.. right?!

I started to type a response, but he double texted me and read my mind.

R: Since my

S: Since your mom passed right?!

I deleted the words and nodded to myself.

R: Yeah. I think it’s just me being stressed over this semester ending.

S: That seems fair enough?

R: It does.....

There was a moment before he texted back.

S: .....but?

I laughed at how well he knew me. He knew more was coming.

R: ....but I would only dream these dreams whenever she got bad.

S: How old were you in the dream?

I paused and tried to remember the things that I saw. The nail polish, the tattoo, the Little Mermaid nightgown.

R: Probably eight.

S: Right... and that’s when you were becoming more independent right? You were walking yourself to school and she was... starting to go through a rougher time.

R: You’re right.

A minute passed before either of us said anything. Then we both sent a message at the same time.

R: What time do you work today?

S: You okay??

I laughed to myself and sent him a thumbs up.

S: Okay good...... and I open at 1 today. It’s Sunday so it’s just me there. You should swing by and hang out if you don’t work yourself too hard today!

R: Thanks Shaunyyy. I probably will.

He sent me a heart and I smiled tossing my phone on the bed. It was nine thirty and time for me to get started on this day.

Breakfast was the usual, an Eggos waffle in the microwave and a cup of almost burnt coffee because my pot was on the fritz. I watched the news for a half hour to catch up on any life business I had the potential of missing, and then I showered and unpacked all of my art things on the kitchen table. My paints were set out along with a few different sized canvases I had just bought after getting paid last Wednesday. My two projects were simple. One was for my color theory class, I needed to efficiently mix paint to create a proper color wheel with every color on there, and then add beside the wheel all the definitions to what each word meant. This project being more than easy for me, I finished properly in almost an hour. The second project, however, took me three. It was for my regular painting class, and the assignment was to freestyle and create something that represented who we were as a person.

I scribbled for forty-five minutes on scrap paper trying to come up with a story about me and who I was and where I came from, but in the end I couldn’t see how anyone would find ‘Girl Grows Up Alone with Drunk Mother Who Dies and is Left More Alone’ interesting. I was just another sob story everyone was tired of hearing. I never even learned from my mother where we were from or how we ended up here. It was just the two of us. I never met any other family members. I never even knew who my father was. We never spoke about it, and I’ve kicked myself for it since she passed because I never asked her.

My eyes flickered between the blank canvas and the piece of paper I violated. Grabbing the sheet I crumbled it in my hands, stood up from my chair and frustratedly threw the paper into the kitchen and watched as it bounced off a cabinet, onto the counter and rolled into the sink. I got myself a glass of water and decided on a quick break to give my brain a rest. Looking around the apartment sipping the cool water I let my mind wander. I remembered the dream I had, and what I had said to Shaun. It was clearly a stress dream. Although, I thought, judging by the thoughts I had afterwards maybe it was a sign. My mom influenced me to be an artist because of my dreams. The dreams gave me an outlet, a different world to immerse myself in and create on a piece of paper.

I nearly dropped my glass on the floor. Setting it down I hurried back to the table and began mixing some blue paint. I was going to go back to my roots, where it started. The visions that got me into art.

By the time I was finished I was more than proud. My arms were covered in shades of white and blue, but I was happy. My mind had traveled while I was mid-painting and the canvas turned into a world I had never seen before. The people were from my dreams, but the world and scenery around them came from somewhere else inside of me. It was clearly fantasy, but beautiful.

Glancing to my phone I had a missed call from Shaun from five minutes ago. The time read two fifteen. Wiping off what paint I could on my hands and arms, I tapped on Shaun’s name to call him back.

“Hey!” He answered at nearly a whisper seeming excited.

“Hey, I just got done,” I said slipping my shoes on, “I feel like a mess but I want to come hang out down there.”

“Uh, yeah,” Shaun said sarcastically and I laughed, “Rach, they’re back.” I paused and raised my eyebrows.

“The Avenger’s guys?” I asked, slipping on shoes.

“Mhm,” He said, “They just got here. That’s why I called you before. It’s just the two from last night.”

“That’s crazy,” I said, “Kinda weird.”

“Not weird for me, I’m loving this!” Shaun said. I couldn’t see him, but I knew he was cheesing behind the phone.

“Shaun, I’m sorry, but Captain America is not going to have a crush on you,” I laughed out loud grabbing my keys and leaving my apartment.

“Shut up, Rachel,” He groaned.

“I’m on my way now, and beware!” I teased, “I’m a little hangry!”

“Nacho’s coming right up,” Shaun said and I hung up with a small thank you.

#marvel fanfiction #marvel fanfic idea #marvel fanfic series #loki fanfic #loki fanfiction #Loki Laufeyson #peter parker #peter parker fanfiction #captain america #Bucky barnes #Thor Odinson #marvel fanfic #The Avengers #avengers fanfiction #avengers fanfic

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bi-the-way-i-love-bunnies · 4 years

Text

(And they were roommates au)

Drarry drabble ~ 10/21

“What the fuck?”

Harry glanced at the paper in his hand before checking the room number again. Yep, this was it. No mistaking it then. An equally confused Malfoy looked up from where he was unpacking before scowling at him.

“Potter,” he acknowledged, “What in Merlin’s name are you doing here?”

“You’re Drew Black?” Harry couldn’t help but blurt out.

Drew Black, a student majoring in psychology, just like him. At least that’s what his form had told him. He’d also be Harry’s roommate for the next school year. Crap.

“Yes Potter,” Malfoy rolled his eyes, “That’s my alias.”

“But this is a muggle university?” Harry couldn’t help but question.

Malfoy scoffed and turned back to the box he was dealing with earlier, “I have the same right to be here as you, you know.”

“But you hate muggles!”

At that, Harry saw Malfoy grimace a little. “Yeah, well, the war could change many perspectives on things.”

Once the war was over, the first thing Harry did was try enrolling in the Auror program. It sounded good at the time. It was his dream career as a teen, Ron would be there, and it would give him something to keep him busy. However, after a month or so of training, it proved to be a fatal decision.

He didn’t account for how exhausted he’d be after everything was done. And hunting down remaining death eaters and bad guys didn’t benefit his mental health at all. Not to mention there was constant pressure for being the boy who lived twice, all mighty savior of the wizarding world. Not taking his final year of newts was really starting to show, but all his colleagues were pretty patient and assured it was fine. It wasn’t.

When Harry voiced all his complaints to Ron and Hermione one night, he was leant a sympathetic ear.

“Oh god! I’m so glad I’m not the only one,” Ron revealed as he flopped back onto the couch after grabbing another butterbeer. “No offense mate, but if you didn’t say anything I would’ve told you I was quitting next week or something.”

“Yeah?” Harry gave a wry smile, “Was it all getting to you too?”

Ron thought about it for a moment before answering. “Not as much as you have, I don’t think. I mean, I’m not the one for killed Voldemort so there’s less pressure on me, but it feels too similar to-”

“Being on the run. War memories. Trauma?” Harry voiced.

“Exactly,” the two shared a smile. They just got each other like that.

“While it’s lovely you two found out you didn’t want to be an Auror anymore, what are you guys going to do now?” Hermione, the voice of reason, spoke up.

The two men remained silent as they thought about it. Actually, now that Harry wasn’t planning to continue with training, what was he going to do now?

“I don’t exactly know yet,” Ron spoke up first. “Whatever it is though, I’m planning on staying close to home. Mom and the rest of them really need the support right now you know?”

Hermione nodded, “That makes sense.” None were willing to bring up Fred’s death right now.

“What about you Harry?” Hermione turned back to him.

Harry shrugged. “Same answer as Ron I guess. It’s not that I don’t want to stay close to home or finish my Hogwarts year like you, but maybe I’d like to get a hobby or learn stuff away from the press.”

Hermione looked thoughtful for a moment before offering a suggestion. “Well after Hogwarts, I was planning to attend a muggle university to expand my education. You could do the same, and you don’t have to worry about coming back or staying close to us. There’s quite a lot of muggle options and I’m sure McGonagall would love to help with writing up all the documents you need.”

“You think going back to school would help me?” School didn’t particularly appeal to him, but Hermione’s suggestion sounded better than what he first assumed.

“There’s a lot of variety when it comes to Muggle studies, Harry. Who knows, maybe you’ll find something right for you.”

“Yeah mate,” Ron agreed, “It could do you some good. And if you ever get sick of it you could always come find me and we could be awkward veteran dropouts together.”

Harry let out a small laugh. “You’re not going back to school then.”

Ron shrugged. “Maybe not now. But whatever I do, I’ll figure it out.”

And so the next few days Harry hung out at Ron and Hermione’s, the former helping him sort through colleges he could apply to with the new papers freshly acquired from McGonagall.

“Best of luck to you Mr. Potter,” she gave him a warm smile when she handed off the papers the day prior. James Evans, it read, his new alias a bold crisp print at the top.

And so with Hermione’s help and Ron keeping him grounded every time Harry felt like quitting and turning back, he eventually settled upon majoring in psychology at a university in New York. It was an ocean away from home, but he felt that it was the right choice. And Hermione and Ron promised to owl whenever they could and try visiting him every other week.

The day they left for the portkey station was one of the hardest moments of his life. Even with the war, at least he still had Ron and Hermione.

“Remember we’re only a portkey away,” Hermione hugged him, “And remember to write all the time!”

Harry laughed, “Yeah I searched up the closest owl station to the school. Only a 20 minute walk from campus.”

Ron and Hermione shared a glance between the two of them, one that Harry couldn’t decipher.

“Actually Harry,” Ron disappeared for a second before coming back with a drape covered object.

“Go ahead and lift it mate,” he encouraged, so Harry did. When he lifted the veil he wasn’t expected to find a light brown and white barred owl staring back at him.

“Oh,” Harry marveled quietly, taking in the creature before him.

“I know you’ve really missed Hedwig,” Hermione bit her lip, “But we figured you might want a companion with you.”

“Yeah,” Ron agreed, “And she’s really well behaved! The seller said that she liked delivering letters a lot, this way you’ll be able to reach us anytime.”

Harry looked between his two friends and his new owl before engulfing the pair in a giant hug, “She’s perfect guys!” He pulled back to give them a fond look, his two friends mirroring his expression. Eventually, he turned to face his new pet, “Does she have a name?”

“Oh uhm. The shop named her Nessarose.”

Nessarose. It seemed very fitting for the pretty owl.

“I think I’ll nickname her Nessie,” Harry decided after a while. Nessie gave a small hoot in agreement.

From there, the trio said their final goodbyes and Harry was whisked into New York.

Upon arrival, the school gave him all the papers he needed after registering. An hour or so later on campus, he wandered around the area and found a local owl hotel of some sort, which Nessie was sure to enjoy. She was free to leave and come out of her room whenever she wanted via the skylight of her room. Before he left, the people at the hotel showed him the incantation of a spell to contact them in case he needed Nessie to deliver an owl, or if he just wanted his companion’s company in general. Once that was settled, he was back on his way to settling in, checking all the forms for school, including his dorm room and dorm mate. At the time he didn’t think much of it. Now he was sort of regretting not looking at the name closer. Drew Black? It was obvious the more he thought of it, watching his roommate unfolding what looked to be silk bed sheets.

“Right,” Harry sighed, “I think I’m going to ask for a change of dorms.”

“Why Potter! I didn’t know you hated me that much,” Malfoy gave him a condescending look.

Harry scoffed. “Shove off Malfoy. I just don’t think we’d room well together that’s all. We’ll drive each other up the walls before next week.”

“Your funeral,” Malfoy didn’t look up. Harry frowned but moved past the doorway. There were two beds and separate desks, a small living space complete with a mini coffee table, and a tiny kitchen. A window was present at the back wall, acting as a sort of divider between the two sides, perfect for owls. He glanced over at Malfoy again. Maybe he’ll give him the benefit of the doubt. After all, he testified at the git’s trial for a reason. Besides, they had a week to settle in before school officially started. How bad could it be?

Three days later and Harry was regretting everything. Right now the two sat in tense silence, Malfoy at his desk, and Harry working at their small kitchen table. They just finished an argument about eating whose food, as stupid as it was.

“Seriously Potter! That was my last packet of instant noodles!”

“I didn’t touch your damn noodles Malfoy! I bought my own, you paranoid prat!”

Later on, it turned out that Malfoy’s instant noodles were in the pantry. How anyone could mistake the fridge for a pantry was beyond him, but it happened anyway. Also, it turned out Harry did lie earlier. He was the one that moved the noodles in the first place, he just didn’t remember until after their argument. This resulted in another row between the pair after Malfoy found out.

Harry rolled his eyes. These petty arguments were slowly driving him crazy. And lately, Malfoy has gotten more snappy with him, like it’s Harry’s fault that Malfoy can’t adjust to muggle life. If they were going to keep this up, Harry’s going to quit school before it even starts.

A sudden thud made Harry jump in his seat, causing him to look up to see Malfoy standing up after taking out his frustrations on his textbooks. “That’s it. I can’t do this anymore. I thought I could stand you but clearly, I was wrong.”

“Well, you think I could stand you either? You don’t exactly make living with you easy!” Harry resorted back.

“I could say the same for you,” Malfoy glared before letting out a loud sigh, “Whatever Potter. Let’s just get moving and hopefully by tomorrow I’ll never have to see you again.”

“Likewise.”

They headed over to talk to their resident advisor to request their change of roommates, however when asked, the RA shook his head and gave them sympathetic glances.

“If you could find someone to swap with you, it might work. However, the last of the dorm rooms got filled out about 2 or 3 days ago. If you came, earlier it might’ve worked, but for now, you guys are stuck with each other.”

They left after they were assured quite a handful of times by the RA that there really wasn’t much that he could do. So the pair left, the walk to their door room filled with heated words.

“I told you I should’ve just swapped roommates when given the chance!”

“No need for the I told you so’s Potter. If you’ve taken your own advice we wouldn’t be in this mess.”

“I thought we were past hating each other and arguing. It’s called giving the benefit of the doubt Malfoy! It’s what decent people do!”

Their bickering continued even once they entered their dorms. They only stopped when their neighbor started banging on their door telling them to shut up.

Eventually, they settled on an uneasy truth to just ignore one another. Can’t find your instant noodle pack? Bottle it up and just go to the local grocery store. Complaining about your roommate’s messy side of the dorm? Shove over their stupid pile of piled up laundry back to their side and ignore them. Tripped on your roommates textbook which they placed on the floor yet again? Simmer quietly and pick it up and place it back onto their desk. All in all, the tension in the room really piled up.

Harry couldn’t really wait until the weekend Ron and Hermione visited, so he opted to write them an owl. He cast the summoning spell for Nessie and waited as he dug around his desk looking for a piece of parchment.

Nessie hooted a greeting at their open window just as Harry found a small piece of parchment a few minutes later.

“Hey, Nessie,” he invited her in. At the corner of his eyes, he noticed Draco staring at them, but chose not to comment. “I don’t have any owl treats since I forgot to go buy them, but I’m pretty sure we have some spare crackers in the pantry.”

Nessie gave a small hoot of delight as Harry left to raid the pantry. By the time he found what he needed and got back, he was surprised to see Draco softly petting Nessie’s wings.

“Uh, Malfoy?” Harry prompted as he held out a cracker for Nessie, which she gladly accepted.

“I didn’t know you’ve gotten a new bird Potter.”

Harry shrugged, “Nessie’s a gift from Ron and Hermione before I left for the states.”

“How typical for the three of you,” Malfoy commented, continuing to give his attention towards Nessie, “I dread to think of who named her. It sounds so...plebeian.”

Harry rolled his eyes, “Well I thought it was a good name. Nessie’s short for Nessarose.”

“You poor dear,” Malfoy cooed, and wasn’t that weird to think about. Malfoy showing affection, much less to Harry’s owl.

“Nessarose,” Malfoy started, “Do you mind if I use you to deliver a letter too? I think mother is missing me quite terribly and it’s a tad too late to head to the local owlery. I’m sure Potter doesn’t mind sending out one more letter alongside his.”

Nessie let out a tiny hoot of agreement while Harry huffed behind him. The git didn’t even bother to ask him, yet Harry didn’t deny him the request.

He watched as Malfoy headed back to his side of the room, already starting on his letter. Harry did the same as he addressed the letter to his friends.

Dear Ron and Hermione, Harry began.

I miss you both terribly and I’m sorry for not sending an owl sooner. Anyway, let me sum up my experience at uni so far. The biggest thing is that I hate my roommate (yay how fun!) I’m pretty sure the school has made a terrible mistake in rooming us together.

He paused and spared a glance at Malfoy, who was deeply concentrated on his letter to his mother.

I don’t see how they thought we could ever live well together, Harry resumed, I think those surveys for the perfect roommate must be flawed. Hermione, I’m sure you’d love to come here and fix the current curriculum they’re using. If it was working properly, we wouldn’t be in this mess in the first place. The git even used Nessie without my permission! Not that I mind all that much. Nessie seemed happy to help. I’m just pissed he didn’t ask me directly. And to answer your question across the ocean, Hermione, yes, my roommate’s a wizard. It sounds like a good thing, but trust me it’s not. On another note, he refuses to call her Nessie. So he’s taken to using Nessarose in stride. Prat.

Anyway, Nessie is doing well so far! I found a local owl hotel and the workers informed me that she goes out daily. It’s fascinating how their system works, really. I’ll tell you guys more in detail on your next visit since I can’t be arsed to write it all down on parchment. So far they said that Nessie has been catching fresh mice every day, so I’m glad she’s happy. I think she’s really taken with New York because of that.

Back to my roommate problem, you’d be shocked to find out who it is. I knew I was. And what are the odds we’d be rooming together? Out of all the universities he could’ve gone to, and of all the people he could’ve been roomed with. I’m really starting to think Ron’s theory of how I have a cursed life is correct. Well, lemme just say to the universe fuck you guys for messing with my life.

You see, my roommate is -

“Potter!” Malfoy interrupted loudly, smirking when Harry jumped causing his quill to leave a horrible streak of ink on the paper along with several ink blots.

“What, Malfoy!” Harry bit out and glared at him, making the prat smirk wider.

“Just wanted to comment on how awfully slow you are at writing letters. Couldn’t think of much to write with that brain of yours, could you? I didn’t even know that the school accepted such stupidly incompetent people.”

“Looking at you, I was wondering the same thing,” Harry resorted back angrily before looking at where he left off. You see, my roommate is- ...

A blonde self absorbed prat who wouldn’t know the difference between an obnoxious snob and himself unless it actually hit him in the face, Harry angrily finished writing before handing off his letter to Nessie. Nessie, bless her, just took it happily and flew away, Malfoy’s letter already in hand.

Well, at least one of them was in a good mood. Ron and Hermione would just have to excuse his hastily finished letter, no thanks to the prat.

He turned around only to find Malfoy’s smug face looking back at him. Maybe Harry should’ve done some running or something during the week when he had a chance, because now all he had was built up frustration, and if Malfoy didn’t step back, all that frustration was going to go straight into his perfectly posh face.

“I’m heading out,” Harry growled, grabbing his wand, moving quickly to the door. The Slytherin wasn’t fazed.

“Aww, but we were just starting to get along!” Malfoy teased.

Harry couldn’t resist casting a minor stinging hex at the git, taking small satisfaction in his yelp. In a second, Malfoy was back to scowling at him again. Good.

“Be back later,” Harry left the dorm in a strop. He really needed to clear his head.

#drarry #part 1 or something #harry potter #draco malfoy #harry x draco #drarry fic #drarry fics #can you tell i was listening to wicked before I wrote this?#LOATHING #unadulterated LOATHING #and they were roommates!#enemies to friends to lovers #my fic #hp fanfic #hp #hp drarry

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morelikesin · 4 years

Text

Morning

A small drabble on an emotional morning with Phoenix and Miles 💕 This takes place any time after Dual Destinies. I'm writing it where they're already married. This is just a quick bit I wanted to write when I had the idea :') I also drew a quick something at the end. The fic is under the cut!

Phoenix really wished he had more days off - everytime he was, there was always a great smell in the house from Miles' cooking. Being off work more often meant more of that, even if a little less bank coming in. It would definitely be worth it.

Lifting himself up from the cushioned mattress and tossing aside the velvety soft blankets atop of him, he stretches his limbs with a low groan - reaching his arms back before pulling them into his lap as he relaxed. Taking in a deep breath, he pulls his legs over the side of the bed and hoists himself over so he could see what was on the menu this morning.

Closing the lid of the cooking pot to steam the rice, Mr. Edgeworth hummed quietly to himself a peaceful little tune; one of which he'd seem to be making up as he went along. Turning his attention elsewhere as the grains cooked, he lowered the heat for another burner to medium, where he was cooking miso soup. Adding in a good few tablespoons of yellow miso paste, he whisked the substance into the already simmered broth before adding some previously cut up blocks of tofu. Raising the spoon to catch a quick taste, he found it was light, slightly sweet, and smooth in a way he quite enjoyed. Something was missing though, of course - turning towards the fridge to grab a few stalks of watercress to chop and throw in.

Stepping out from their bedroom and making his way downstairs into their kitchen, Phoenix paused a moment to simply watch his love candid from the steps. Miles, dressed in his soft, white robe like every morning accompanied by his perfect-as-always hair. Phoenix could nay say the same, given his own styling takes ten minutes on a good day.

Watching the way he so gracefully moved even without knowing eyes were on him was incredibly cute - though Miles would never let him say that, with how against that description he was when it was of himself. For now, Phoenix knew Miles was cute. Handsome, of course. Sexy, of course. Cute, of course.

Phoenix made his presence known by making a soft yawn as he walked down the last few steps, walking into the main kitchen and making sure to gently hold his hand against the small of Miles' back as he stood next to him. The latter shook his head slightly whilst quickly chopping up the watercress aforementioned - swiftly picking them up between his hand and the knife and tossing it into the soup.

"Good morning, Wright. How did you sleep?"

Phoenix made a darling little laugh that Miles loved so much - the type with a sort of deepness to it; a sort of breathlessness. "Well, I slept just fine with you by me, hun," he spoke prior to pressing his lips against the prosecutor's cheek, "with you being as warm as a radiator and all, ha..!"

Miles scoffed. "Very funny. Is that all I'm good for in bed? To keep you warm?"

"I was about to say no, but..'keeping me warm' sure has a lot of meanings. And I think you're good for all of them." Phoenix sighed, sporting a small smile as he pressed his face into the nape of Miles' neck contently - lips gently kissing his shoulder. It earned a sweet, if calm, sigh from the prosecutor.

"..I could say the same for you. But it's much too early for this, mm? We can work out our flirtations after we eat breakfast."

Phoenix kept his dorky smile splashed on his countenance as he pulled away, raising a hand to brush back some strands of hair from his eyes - finding himself not too annoyed today with his 'naturally-spiky-but-not-spiky-enough-and-more-messy' bedhead. "That works with me; everything smells so good!"

Miles looked flattered from that. "Thank you, Wright. It is certainly better than what you normally make yourself in the morning-"

"Hey- don't knock cup coodles! I could live off of those."

Miles furrowed his brows and gave a glance to Phoenix in exasperation. "This is why I'm the one who feeds us. Anyhow.." The former smiled to himself as he pulled a plastic package of soba noodles in front of him on the counter - removing the wrapper and slowly adding the noodle block into the miso broth. "Maya called me earlier. She asked me to tell you that she'll be unavailable all day."

With Phoenix opening the fridge door to grab something to drink, he paused to speak before grabbing the carton of orange juice - much like many of their groceries, an expensive brand that Phoenix wasn't used to, and Miles' choosing. "Oh? Was she planning on taking Trucy and Pearls somewhere?"

Miles shook his head as he wiped off his hands with a damp washcloth that he'd set beside him prior, "Sort of. She wanted to make a trip to Hazakura Temple - she and Pearl are to train while Trucy is their...how did she put it, ah.. 'hype-man'." He felt silly even recalling the term, but Phoenix's expression seemed to prove that he knew what he meant.

"Hah- well, she'll get no bother from me then. I'll just check up on them when they get back. We have the whole day to ourselves, for once.." Phoenix meekly spoke - pouring himself a glass of the aforementioned juice before guzzling it down in a post-sleep thirstiness. He wiped his upper lip with his wrist as he went back in to pour some more.

"It is rare, isn't it..?" The prosecutor seemed somewhat sorrowful in stating that. "I want to make the most of it. It's not often I'm not out travelling, or you're not on duty, or there's no emergencies."

Phoenix parted his lips to speak, before sighing and looking down to his cup solemnly. He set it down. "...Yeah. But..I still love you all the same." He looked back up to the love of his life; a carefree smile pulling at his lips and a special brightness glittering in his eyes, "We're a family. Things are..always going to come up, but our time spent away or together feel all the same to me. The only difference is that I get to actually kiss you, in times like now. Being apart..just reminds me of how much I trust you."

The words hit harder than Miles expected them to. Even with the defense attorney's unorganized nature, and his less-than-articulate manner, it was somehow more meaningful to him. Phoenix was always emotional, and true to what he said - this was no different. Edgeworth's expression was strong; brows furrowed up and eyes purposefully lying low.

Phoenix paused, "..Come here."

He gestured for a hug after his gentle words; Miles all too eager for the embrace. Phoenix's arms draped over Miles' shoulders, wrapping around his neck as to pull himself closer. Vice versa was Miles wrapping his arms tightly around Phoenix's waist; both of their heads lay upon the other's shoulder, welcoming what warmth was available. They held each other for what felt like so long, and simultaneously not long enough; the only reason for their part was so they could meet at their lips, instead. Passionate, and yet soft - just a simple press without much else, yet it was all they needed. By the end of their embrace, their heads leaned forward to touch at their foreheads while holding each other's hands between their chests. Their thumbs occasionally brushed over each other's wedding rings.

"..You know how much you mean to me, Phoenix."

"I know, Miles." He huffed out a short breath before breaking into a smile, "..You could always just say 'I love you'."

And with that, the silver-haired Edgeworth broke into a laugh and slowly pulled away, "Alright, alright..I love you. You know that."

"I love you too, Miles."

Phoenix watched as his love went back to his work - Miles grabbing his wooden chopsticks as to stir the noodles. The more defensive of the two sat at the dining table, glass in hand.

"...I'm going to guess that you won't want onions in your serving of noodles."

Phoenix pretended to gag in response to Miles, "Ghk-! Absolutely-! Onions taint everything they touch..." He hesitated, "..Other than onion rings. But that's the only good thing with onions!"

Edgeworth rolled his eyes with a playful smile, chuckling to himself a bit at just how strongly Wright felt over such a thing as onions. "Of course. Though, you're missing out on their flavour, dear - I've never met someone other than you who has a distaste for them."

"You haven't met anyone with any tastebuds," Phoenix scoffed back - earning a snort from the other.

"Oh, have I? Dear, I think you're referring to yourself there."

The defense paused; his face lifting as his cocky court grin curled onto his lips. "Unfortunately, Edgeworth, I think you have some words to eat. Clearly my statement is right - anyone who's ever tasted an onion could tell you that it tastes like damn garbage."

The prosecution stifled a laugh, lolling his head to look over his shoulder at his rival. "Oh, Wright. I'm afraid you've buried your grave - onions obviously give any dish they're added to an excellent depth of flavor."

"Well obviously they do not- ow-!" Phoenix burst into a soft laugh as Miles leaned over to smack his arm with his chopsticks - ending their court imitations. "Hun-!"

Miles rolled his eyes and looked back down to his cooking. "My love. We don't need to argue over onions. Besides, I'm not about to settle a case over opinion."

"Ha-! Well then, baby doll, I'm prepared to settle a case of any kind. Maybe you just don't have that kind of determination?" Phoenix jested, taking another swig of his orange juice.

"Of course you would be, Feenie." Miles hesitated before chuckling to himself. Swirling the noodles inside the pot, he shook his head. "That's a new one. I don't know where that came from... It's sort of cute, no? Feenie. Hm."

When Miles went to look at Phoenix for his approval, he was numb; his husband's face suddenly not as lively as it once was. His eyes gazed low, gazed dryly. His hands tensed around the glass he held, knuckles bearing white. Worst of all, his countenance really held no expression at all - the fact that it was so stiff, so miserable looking was what'd caused Miles to choke back a breath.

What was it about that name that suddenly struck Miles as odd? Feenie. Feenie.

"It's.. uh.. not great, honestly, Miles. No offense or anything."

"I'm- sorry." Miles was admittedly stunned - a little ashamed, a little confused, very concerned. "..For some reason its.. ringing a bell-"

"Dahlia."

"I'm..sorry?"

"..Dahlia used to call me that. You know, before.."

The room was drenched in silence - Miles struggling to find any words to say. What could he say to that - what should he? Though, the look on Phoenix's pitiful face urged him to find something.

"...I didn't mean to hurt you, saying it. I-" Miles hummed to himself and turned his head to Phoenix, lip bitten and unsure how to word himself. He slowly looked back down to his cooking when words couldn't properly form in his throat.

"It's fine." Phoenix nodded - looking away and tapping his fingers on the table in a sort of anxiousness. "You didn't know."

"I didn't remember," Miles scolded himself, "I should have remembered such a thing like that."

Phoenix looked a little put off. "Don't feel guilty for that. It was so long ago - I.. I didn't expect you too."

The soft bubbling of the broth in the pot filled the silence between them; chopsticks occasionally hitting the sides of the pot, Pess jingling her collar as she scratched herself from the living room all the while. Phoenix tried to will Miles to turn around so he could assure him it was fine, without words - however when Miles never did he spoke up hesitantly.

"I didn't mean to ruin the mood."

Miles quickly scoffed and turned to look at Phoenix with a pained expression, "You didn't, Phoenix. You were just telling me of something that hurt you."

"It's just a nickname, though," Phoenix laughed at himself, seemingly ashamed, "It's a little stupid to hurt so much over a nickname, isn't it?"

"I don't think so," Miles replied, his tone hurt from his husband stuffing his emotions down - such a thing from Phoenix was rare, and it made this hurt just a little more than usual. Setting the chopsticks horizontally on the counter, he ushered himself away from the stove to lay a gentle, lithe hand on Phoenix's forearm, and leaning down so he could rest his chin atop his head.

Phoenix nearly melted into his touch, feeling comforted by Miles' body and his warmth. Finding solace in the safety of his arms, Phoenix allowed himself to exhale a deep breath and relax. Unsatisfied with the arrangements, however, he shook his head and gestured his head down. "Get in front of me a bit, Miles."

He wasn't about to complain, though as he moved in front of Phoenix to kneel, Miles was still a tad confused. Before he could ask why Phoenix wanted him to, the man placed his hands on the prosecutor's cheeks and leaned forward to kiss his forehead.

"I prefer looking at you, dear," Phoenix hummed. He moved his hands down to take Miles' own - raising them to place endearing kisses against flushed knuckles and fingertips, much to his husband's timidity. "..Thank you. For not minding putting up with me and all."

"Ah, yes," Miles started, smiling, "I married you because I simply 'didn't mind putting up with you'."

Phoenix laughed as he realized the hilarity of what he had said, "Hey! You know what I mean!"

"I married someone I just 'put up with'." Miles continued, chortling to himself, "Not in an act of pure love or anything."

Phoenix hushed Miles' teasing by leaning down and pressing his lips against the other's - the two humming against the warmth before falling into the quiet passion, then lingeringly pulling away. Their hands kept their doting hold still.

"..I love you, Phoenix. However, breakfast is due to overcook."

Phoenix shrugged and pressed his lips against Miles' cheek, unwilling to pull away as proven by how he spoke against his skin. "I don't mind."

"Suppose you wouldn't," Miles breathed out, amused.

Miles held himself in Phoenix's grasp before reluctantly pulling away to take charge of the stove again. Phoenix didn't seem to be happy with such an arrangement, so he took it upon himself to stand and wrap his arms around Miles' waist, head resting on his shoulder. The prosecutor pressed his palm against Phoenix's forearm in silent fondness - his other busy stirring food.

#ace attorney #narumistu #wrightworth #phoenix wright #miles edgeworth #gyakuten saiban #aa #tw #trauma tw #finished #my art #don't steal #original #morelikesin #traditional art #mine #my work

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