#eighth grade selfies

[chuck-charles]

it’s already pretty embarrassing that I’m only now backing up the laptop I had from late high school/college that started having unfixable issues in spring 2017, but man, the CD drive just spit out pushing daisies season 2 disc 1?? I, actual tumblr user chuck-charles, did not notice it was missing for SIX YEARS???

#please I just wanted to save my old photos not drag myself to hell #this whole thing is such a time capsule…….. #eighth grade selfies #inspiring tumblr_ pngs on the desktop #me n my ex having adventures :’) #Adobe Photoshop Elements ™ ™ #growing up? humiliating #yet fascinating and beautiful #life of the dead girl #pushing daisies

[taminoarticles]

— Tamino for Holiday Magazine, No. 384, Autumn/Winter 2019-2020 (x) (x)

Tamino-Amir Moharam Fouad

Photographs by Karim Sadli Styling by Max Pearmain and Interview by Marc Beaugé

Tamino was born in Belgium to an Egyptian father and a Belgian mother, but his roots, dreams and memories are elsewhere. Here are his answers to the Holiday questionnaire

Do you enjoy traveling alone? Of course. I believe in the virtues of solitude and alone time. When I’m on tour, I often travel by myself. I arrive in a country I don’t know and get my bearings. You get a better understanding of a country when you go there on your own.

What do you do when you’re alone? I make music, and I read. This summer I devoured the first volume of My Struggle by Karl Ove Knausgård.

What’s your travel style: tour guide or head off on your own? Neither one. The best thing is to follow a local—not a guide, just someone who’s really familiar with the city and can show you the best places.

Is it possible to go somewhere and miss the unmissable? Depends. The things we think we can’t miss are never really unmissable. I visited the Eiffel Tower when I was in eighth grade. It was great, but I’m not sure I’d go back now. But I visit the pyramids whenever I go to Cairo. Why? Because they’re breathtaking. I don’t think there’s any other place on Earth that’s so monumental, so mysterious, so incredible.

Would you rather travel by car, plane, or train? I hate the journey because I’m always touring, which means I’m always traveling. I don’t have a license, so I don’t drive. Planes? I used to love them, but I’ve ended up hating them. I’m too big to be comfortable on a plane, and I’m not rich enough to fly business class.

Do you look out of the window of the plane or do you disdain the sky? I’m capable of getting into a fight to bag the window seat.

What movie only works on a plane? Bad Times at the El Royale, with Jeff Bridges. I’ve watched it on land and on a plane. And it was much better on the plane.

What languages do you speak? German, English and a bit of French. Right now I’m learning Arabic on Duolingo. I’m starting to understand a few words and sentences, but I can’t say anything. I can’t even order a meal in a restaurant. I haven’t gotten to the “food and drink” section yet. But I know all the names for domestic animals.

What’s your weakness when it comes to food? Lebanese. Mezze, hummus, etc. I like all of it.

Which place has the best street food in the world? Lebanon, obviously. Whatever Italians may think.

What’s one thing you absolutely cannot eat? Pineapple. I’m allergic to it. My tongue swells up when I eat it. The worst thing is that I love pineapples.

Do you post your holiday photos on Instagram? No, I avoid it. Actually, it doesn’t occur to me. When I’m on holiday, I take photos of the scenery. I keep them on my phone, and no one ever sees them, including me. I’m not really into selfies—or Instagram.

An item of clothing you’d never wear on holiday? A pink T-shirt, maybe. No, wait—Borat’s green swimsuit. I think that’d be quite hard to carry off. But maybe I’m too conservative.

Do you go to supermarkets when you’re abroad? Same as Instagram. I avoid them whenever possible.

Do you think the mountains are most beautiful in summer? Yes. I’m not obsessed with the seaside, in any case. I prefer lakes. For instance, I love swimming in Lake Geneva.

How do you visit museums? I have a very special technique. I focus on one or two artworks and spend a lot of time looking at them. I ignore everything else. It’s a form of snobbery, and I'm totally okay with that.

What would you consider the ideal number of guests for a dinner party? I enjoy one-on-one conversation, but it’s always a bit of a risk. If you get it wrong, it can be a disaster. I speak from experience.

Is there a smell you will always associate with vacations? The smell of the sea, I guess. No, the smell of suntan lotion, actually. It’s not the best smell there is, but it definitely smells like vacation.

Do you enjoy sunbathing? No, not really. I’m half Egyptian, so I tan very quickly, even if I don't want to.

How long can you stay at the beach? It depends entirely on the book I happen to be reading that day.

Is there a place you never tire of visiting? I really like the town of Dahab in Egypt. I’ve been there several times and never get tired of it. But so far I don’t think I’ve found a place I love so much that I’ll return throughout my life.

Where would you build the house of your dreams? That question is way too tough to answer. I don’t have a favorite city; I still haven’t come across it, but the house would have to be near a river or a lake. Most importantly, the view from the window would have to look like a painting. That would be the deciding factor.

THE END

#tamino #tamino amir #holiday magazine #article #interview #english #2019 #with photoshoot #original text #why was he so funny in this interview #the borat line..sobbing emoji

[wait-this-isnt-my-homework]

I posted 20,062 times in 2022

That's 2,032 more posts than 2021!

6 posts created (0%)

20,056 posts reblogged (100%)

Blogs I reblogged the most:

@weirdnoisen

@catalinakachie

@fox-of-glass

@nsxx99

I tagged 2,897 of my posts in 2022

#hxh - 109 posts

#mcr - 87 posts

#❤❤❤ - 50 posts

#gerard way - 49 posts

#kurapika - 29 posts

#star trek - 28 posts

#me - 27 posts

#fmab - 25 posts

#encanto - 23 posts

#literally - 23 posts

Longest Tag: 139 characters

#honestly just put them in parentheses & to the ½ power if you really cant handle putting them in the sqrt symbol once you know their size🙄

My Top Posts in 2022:

#5

Crash

0 notes - Posted April 1, 2022

#4

when i first saw ur icon i wasnt looking closely and i thought it was a wizard with a magnificent beard

Thank you, the eighth grade version of me that took that selfie would have loved that

0 notes - Posted March 4, 2022

#3

I like that tumblr doesn't show how many followers a blog has. Sometimes you can see who that blog follows, but most people turn that feature off.

I also hate drama, but you know what would get really messy really fast? Showing who people have blocked.

0 notes - Posted January 9, 2022

#2

Tumblr turned of my goth rave color pallette for my dashboard and blog page only???

1 note - Posted November 15, 2022

My #1 post of 2022

1 note - Posted October 5, 2022

Get your Tumblr 2022 Year in Review →

#tumblr2022 #year in review #my 2022 tumblr year in review #your tumblr year in review

[useramor]

i have a post in my drafts from EIGHTH GRADE and it was a selfie tag game oh my god-

#i was so LITTLE

[boygirlctommy]

MY CALC TEACHER JUST SAID ‘but first... lemme take a selfie’

#HE WAS LIKE ‘oh wait first i have to take attendance.......’ #‘but first #lemme take a selfie’ #HEHEBSBEJJSJSKJEJEHFJD #my post #MR TRONGONE #WHAT #I HAVENT HEARD THAT SONG SINCE EIGHTH GRADE

[69markwoo420]

here is my face from yesterday bc it’s 5 am now and i just chopped a lot of hair off and ahhh

#selfie #can rb #yalls i think im going to go to an actual salon #and get my hair professionally cut #which i havent done in three years #which was the first and last time since like the seventh grade ??? #idk my hair is a weird subject for me and ahhhh #like ive been cutting it myself since the eighth grade and fjjfnfnnff #but like i think im just gonna do it yknow ???

[femmeknife]

i’m edgy now 🕷 goth girls come get ur big tiddy gf

#eighth grade v2 and im a dyke this time #ps this is all a lie im an indie bitch and i listen to hozier i just want a goth gf #wlw #lesbian #selfie #ignore the tags flekcksnmc #my face

[britneyshakespeare]

I hate taking selfies on my phone + I never smile

#i got dressed i figured why not #wasn't gonna put on a t-shirt i've had since eighth grade NOT to get more than 30 minutes worth of shopping done #i've worn that shirt in so many selfies over the years. i could probably do a transformation of just me wearing that shirt #onion article: Area College Student Still Wearing Shirts From Middle School in Public #rad as hell

[matthewtkachuk]

why do you think that strangers gonna mind with PLD??? 💚💚💚

hi love, hope you don't mind this being a little late ❤️

pairing: pierre-luc dubois x reader

warnings: mentions of cyber bullying, fangirls being mean :/

word count: 1k

why do you think that strangers gonna mind

You’re not a stranger to unsavoury comments made about you on the internet. In the eighth grade you’d pissed off the wrong group of girls in your school and ended up drawing their ire vis a vis facebook. At the time it had been the worst thing ever, with constant harassment and even a private facebook group made to shit talk you, but looking back it was pretty funny that they were threatened by your friendship with one of their (and you use the term very loosely) boyfriends.

Now? Now every bit of social media you had was locked down or deleted. Instagram and twitter? Private. Facebook? A variation of your first and middle names that you’d told everyone was because you didn’t want future employers finding you. LinkedIn and Pinterest? Deleted. Spotify? Fake name.

The reason for that was simple.

Your boyfriend was a professional athlete and fangirls be crazy. You’d managed to fly under the radar for a lot longer than you thought you ever would, lasting more than a year and an international trade before an errant ponytail on your boyfriend’s wrist during an interview had the internet sleuths of instagram on your tail.

The tiny, insignificant detail had brought attention to the fact that he was likely dating someone, and from there you can only speculate it was a careless tag that led them straight to you. In the beginning, you’d never thought of making your account private. Really, you had 300 followers tops, and most of them were people you’d gone to school with throughout the years. It never crossed your mind in the early months of dating Pierre, especially since you’d never actually posted him on your feed, only tagging him in your insta stories that disappeared alongside the experiences together.

Even after you’d been found out, it hadn’t been a cute selfie of the two of you on your couch that nailed the final nail in your coffin. In fact, it wasn’t Pierre at all, it was a totally cute, totally innocent picture of Pierre’s bulldogs sleeping alongside your lab daschund cross. That had been enough though, firmly cementing you as the mystery girl whose ponytail had been around Pierre’s wrist.

Very quickly, you’d had to limit your comments and not much longer you went private entirely. Yet, somehow, particularly determined fans were able to make their way to your filtered messages and sent you insults through the messaging systems of other less conspicuous apps. You can’t really explain why, but you don’t really tell Pierre the whole truth behind your social media cleanse. Deflecting a little, you minimize the situation, stating it was ‘only a fan or two’ and it was just a good idea to lock it down before things got too insane.

And then they’d found your LinkedIn, the one you’d made in college because the career guidance staff told you that you’d needed one. Luckily, you hadn’t updated it since you were a sophomore and so the only information anyone was able to glean from it was long outdated and didn’t tell them much. Although you were pretty sure that the restaurant you’d worked at part time through college was receiving an uptick in patronage. Honestly good for them, if they’d offered a better salary and health benefits and your boyfriend hadn’t been traded to Canada of all places, you might have stayed long term.

As it stands, you’re in Winnipeg and Pierre is too, and above anything else you’re young and in love and Pierre, rightfully so, wants to plaster you all over his instagram. It should make your face warm, cause your heart to beat a little faster than is medically necessary. It doesn’t though, it just fills you with an awkward sense of dread that is proven rational by the comments Pierre doesn’t see and the messages you don’t show him.

You’re relatively confident in yourself, having learned to love the body you were blessed with a long time ago, and you know that more than anything you have a good and kind heart, but yet you can’t help but let the awful things that strangers say about you take root in your heart.

It has you protesting the next time he wants to post a video of you playing with the dogs onto his story - at first, playfully wrestling for his phone to delete the photo until the air turns thick with tension as you all but demand he not post it.

It’s not until he asks what’s going on that you break, pulling your dog onto your lap and tearfully admitting you don’t want to hear what strangers on the internet are going to say about you.

“Why do you think that strangers are gonna mind?” he asks and you can’t help the sarcastic laugh that leaves your lips. Your dog whines quietly at the heartbreaking sound and you comfort her with a hand running down her back.

You admit it all then, the taunts and the insults and the threats. The real reason behind your social media purge and the twinge of fear that lights up your insides every time you see the little notification pop up on your phone.

“I didn’t want to worry you,” you tell him after he asks why you never told him what was going on.

“I want to know what’s going on with you always,” he protests and you relax into his embrace on the couch. “If you don’t want me to post you on my instagram anymore I won’t, but I like to show you off.” The grin on his face is so endearing, canine teeth on display that you can’t resist the urge to kiss it right off him.

You let him post it, and every other post he wants that features you, including one a year and a half later that focuses on a pretty little ring on your left hand.

After all, who cares if a stranger minds?

#nhl fic #nhl imagine #nhl imagines #nhl blurb #pierre luc dubois fic #pierre luc dubois imagine #pierre luc dubois imagines #pierre luc dubois blurb #pierre luc dubois x reader #shelb writes #shelb writes blurbs #shelbs 1.5k

[bubblyhoney]

boyfriend vibes

warnings: cursing, sapnap being cute, unjustified hate for americanized greek food bc he’s a brat and silly (edit: he said he’s not picky but idc it’s lol)

tags: sapnap x gn!reader

words: don’t care idk it’s pretty short heh

A/N: you guys are getting fucking fed with two post in two days... slurp it up

-

let’s talk about boyfriend!sapnap

a topic that frequents my mind before i go to sleep

definitely the type to get bored and try on all your clothes no matter the size

“let’s be honest, these pants make my ass look fat”

and def uses your shampoo

maybe it reminds him of you, maybe it smells nice, maybe it suds so good he has to snap a soapy titty pic and send it to you

true to his name, he’s pretty sappy

has to have a part of his body on yours at all times when you’re together

watching TV? hand on your calf

out to dinner? arm around the back of your chair and just brushing your shoulder

baking cookies at 3 am? head on your shoulder, just resting comfortably

don’t even get me started on when you’re sleeping

he definitely likes being the little spoon

and honestly who doesn’t?!

he just likes being in your arms :.)

this dude bitches constantly about greek food in florida bc while he’s not generally pretty picky about it sometimes a gross food ruins his day

“this sucks, gyros aren’t supposed to have fucking lettuce” “king....chill” “i won’t fucking chill this sucks and i want to go home”

“it’s spahn-a-kopita not spOOnakopita you fucking carrot”

he enjoys nothing more on the weekends than laying outside on a picnic blanket and listening to music with you

florida is hot as fuck in the summer but he’ll suffer just to listen to you hum to his music and nod your head

makes him feel proud, honestly

you constantly are running your hand through his hair

tugging and smoothing it down back and forth

makes his cheeks red 0.0

one of his favorite things is getting ready with you

he watches you get ready in the mirror sitting on the (closed, dw) toilet and suggesting little details like jewelry or a shirt color

he’s also a fucking nerd about TV and movies

“did you know she was like 16 when he kissed her in the parking lot there?? pretty weird but it’s judd nelson so nobody cared i guess”

“omg that’s a reference to [blah blah blah nerd stuff]”

“DONT GO INTO THE HAUNTED HOUSE YOU INSOLENT FU—”

one time you tried to pick up one of his expensive mangas and he nearly flipped his shit

“i just dusted that babe!!” “i just wanted to look—” “okay look from afar and get your grubby little fingers off of it”

(idk why i’m writing him so fussy but he is a 20 year old male so)

he remembers all your birthdays, all your anniversaries, all your favorite foods, all your favorite colors and songs

he likes to show you how he cares

i get the vibe that his love language is acts of service

so he’ll buy a couple prints from your favorite movie and hang them up above your desk like “i thought it’d be a cute graphic wall :]”

maybe cook you your favorite comfort meal and make a cute little set up with candles and nice napkins

even if you two aren’t doing anything productive or necessarily important he always listens to what you have to say

definitely brings up interests you’ve told him about earlier bc he wants you to know he is listening and understanding

makes fun of your old instagram accounts and can’t even fathom why you decided that haircut was appropriate for eighth grade

his wallpaper is a picture of a selfie from your emo phase

“come on..... i love the bangs.”

both your lock screen and home screen are over-edited pictures of his minecraft skin crouching bc you know it he thinks it’s funny

one time he brought home flowers from publix and said “flowers for my flower ;)”

sappy piece of shit

fitting

-

A/N: ask or send me stuff!! requests, rants, anything. :D leave me some stuff in the comments too!

#sapnap #mcyt #sapnap x reader #sapnap x gn!reader #sapnp x you #sapnap fluff #sapnap fic #sapnap fanfic #sapnap headcanon #sapnap one shot #mcyt x reader #mcyt x you #bubblyhoneyfics

[astranva]

TikTok Series | And it went like...

// masterlist //

Word Count: 936

Category: Fluff

Warning: None

Summary: Y/N does the “I decided to date a guy…and it went like…” TikTok challenge with Harry.

someone suggested I write those as headcanons but I don’t like writing in that format so ☹ sorry ☹

..

With a growing fanbase, that was one thing Harry seemed to joke about with you.

Ever since you began to indulge in the videos the app provided and creating some of your own, your followers have only been going up and your videos were highly anticipated, especially the ones with Harry in them.

It wasn’t like you recreated the viral dances all the time, no, but when you did recreate them you were always a laughing mess and the video always ended up showing how you had trouble getting the hang of some of the dances and instead, always ended up making fun of them.

The ones you included Harry in, as they were everyone’s favorites, they were also yours. People began exciting and funny challenges that made you curious to know how your own boyfriend would react to them and so, you found yourself compromising some of your privacy to have fun.

You were scrolling through the app, liking some videos and cringing at others, occasionally sending a video or a couple to your friends, before you came across that one couple’s video.

"Moon" by Kid Francescoli began playing while a text on the screen read “So I decided to date this girl from 8th grade and…” as the video played a slideshow of fancy pictures of the couple before the a voice sang “And it went like…”, various videos of the girl started playing of her being a goof while the music changed to Mambo no.5, making you laugh.

You opened the sound, beginning to watch more videos like that one, all making you laugh as you liked them.

“Aaaand, the fruit salad!” Harry appeared from the kitchen, joining you on the couch and handing you a bowl of the fruit salad he had been making, “Ta-daaaa!”

“Looks good, H, thank you.” You smiled, leaving a soft peck on his lips before sitting up straighter.

“What’s that song? It’s been playing for a bit now.” He asked before taking a spoonful of the chopped fruits.

“It’s a TikTok challenge thi-” With a smile, Harry rolled his eyes at you, causing you to laugh mid-sentence, “Look! It’s fun!” You turned the phone his way, watching him as he watched.

He chuckled once the Mambo no.5 began, eyes on your screen. “Can we do it?”

“Really?!” You asked excitedly, putting the bowl on the table before scooting closer to Harry who smiled at your excitement, watching as you began tapping on your phone.

“Add that picture from last Christmas at mum’s,” he pointed, “Oh, and definitely that one.” He pointed to the one where you both stood beside each other on a yacht, his cap on your head and your arms around each other. “We look so good here.” Harry said, adding a picture from a wedding the both of you attended; you had one arm around his waist while the other hand was on his chest, Harry’s arm around your waist while his other hand held a glass of champagne as he stood in his cream-colored suit while you showed off your backless dress.

You then added a picture from after his One Night Only show in London, you kissing his cheek and him grinning with his eyes closed with Fine Line’s iconic background behind you.

Another picture of the both of you lying on the snow in heavy winter attire, grinning at the camera.

Another selfie, your head on Harry’s shoulder, his head on yours with you sticking your tongue out while Harry smiled widely, dimple showing.

It was then enough photos, you adjusted the timings on them before you began adding videos and pictures for the “and it went like…” and Mambo no.5 transition.

For the first video, you added a small snippet of you looking at the camera with the front camera on before Harry suddenly appeared and bit your cheek.

For the second video, it was Harry in his swimming trunks, his hair wet as he stood at a fair distance from the pool, you filming on the other side before he gave you thumbs up and ran, jumping up and cocking his legs to the side while holding two peace signs before jumping into the water.

For the third video, it was Harry cuddling your leg while you played with his hair.

For the fourth video, it was Harry doing his famous move in his show – the “whale”.

For the fifth, it was Harry drawing tattoos on your arm with a sharpie.

For the sixth, Harry was strutting like a runway model on a treadmill while the mirror beside him showed you laughing while recording.

For the seventh, it was Harry in the studio, sunglasses on with his guitar on him, strumming it harshly while bobbing his head.

For the eighth, it was you recording from the backyard of your house as Harry came out with a smile before his foot stepped on the skateboard lying, making him slip sideways.

For the ninth video, it was of Harry’s back before you called him, making him turn with your bra worn over his face.

For the final video, it was a video Sarah took of the both of you. Harry was on your back, his limbs wrapped around you as you groaned while staggering, giving him a piggyback ride backstage.

You then added the text to the beginning of your video; “So I decided to date this man child of a rockstar and…”

“You put up with me so well.” Harry said dramatically, leaving a wet kiss on your cheek.

“I deserve the world for putting up with a man child.”

“Hey!”

#tiktok series #tiktok and it went like #harry styles #harry styles imagine #harry styles one shot #harry styles fluff #harry styles fluff imagine #fluff #fluff imagine #fluff one shot #harry styles fluff one shot #harry x reader #harry x y/n

[field-s-of-flowers]

Post-canon toh headcanons that nobody asked for (Mostly Luz and Vee)

Note: Most of these aren’t theories as much as just stuff I think would be fun. That being said, have at it!

-So I think Luz will eventually find a way to get the portal open and travel between worlds. I also have this (completely batshit) idea that the portal will only open about once a month: on the cusps of the zodiac signs. So Luz (and sometimes Camila and Vee) visit the demon realm once a month. Luz also winds up spending summers at the owl house.

-The first time Eda and Camila meet, it’s about a month since Luz gets back home. Eda is expecting Camila to be angry and blame her for all the danger Luz has been in on the Boiling Isles. Instead, Camila says this: “I’m so glad to meet the woman who kept my Luz safe in this hellscape.”

-They wind up passing Vee off as a cousin of Luz’s on her father’s side, and she changes her appearance to look a little younger than Luz. She starts human school in eighth grade as Violeta Noceda.

-Since mija is Luz’s nickname, Camila starts calling Vee preciosa (definitely not based on what my abuela calls me). In return, Vee starts calling Camila her aunt- first as a bit of a joke, but it sticks. Luz is absolutely thrilled.

-Luz posts selfies of her and Vee on both Instagram and penstagram saying Babe wake up new cousin just dropped. Amity comments But I’m already awake???

-When the portal was closed, Luz had no access to wi-fi, so she missed all the memes that happened in that time. Vee had to fill her in. Their favorite one is “there are many benefits to being a marine biologist.”

-On a related note, Luz teaches all her Boiling Isles friends about memes. Gus is fascinated by this part of human culture. Willow loves them as well, while Amity is pretty confused about how they work. Edric and Emira get really good at memes, but nobody can top Eda, the Boiling Isles’ resident meme master.

-Speaking of Eda, when the day of unity happens (in March) she and Lilith get their powers back! Eda’s thrilled, and Lilith is ecstatic, but nobody’s happier than Gwendolyn Clawthorne for her daughters.

-And speaking of Lilith, she’s TERRIBLE at memes. She makes unholy combinations of really old memes that just scream “How do you do, fellow kids”

-Gus is soooo happy to finally be able to explore the human world! His dad is kind of strict about it, but eventually he agrees to let Gus spend a few days with Luz in gravesfield. And yeah, they totally paint each other’s nails.

Idk I just love making headcanon posts and I have a lot of feelings so here

#Soph’s posts #The owl house #toh headcanons #luz noceda #vee noceda #camila noceda #eda clawthorne #lilith clawthorne #amity blight #gus porter #I’ll reblog with more probably

[ginazmemeoir]

I NEED THE STORY BEHIND YOUR FAMILY ALMOST GOING TO JAIL

Ok so Hong Kong, summer of 2017.

It is the first trip outside of India taken by the Gargs. I'm in eighth grade, my brother in fifth, and we've just stepped down from our 10 hour long flight (with a short stay at Bangkok for refuel).

My father looks miserable. He's in shorts (which got torn in the flight), 7 year old chappals which he would wear to their death, a cheap shirt stained with food, his baniyan sticking out, hair unkempt, beard unshaved and eyes still bleary cause he "can't sleep on planes" (mmhmm ask me who had to here him snore for 3 hours).

We step down and are headed to McDonald's when the airport authorities speak something in Chinese. Obviously we don't get it. Then a translator says that the guards are taking us away to be deported or sent to jail (some Indians were suspected of smuggling in drugs that day). We all panic. Internally. They can't know we're rattled.

We are led to the interrogater, a smartly dressed tall woman who terrified me. A white American is throwing a tantrum there, screaming "THE EMBASSY WILL HERE OF THIS YOU DAMN CHINESE!!!", his giant fat belly agreeing with him.

We sit down. My brother immediately becomes a star for the rest of the trip and our subsequent trip to Singapore the following year, with people squealing at him and saying "cute baby" and "hero boy" and clicking selfies with him. He basks in his stardom and starts playing a game on my dad's phone. We were there for roughly three hours, out of which we waited for two. The lady then called my mother. She, despite a ten hour flight, was still presentable - a blue and white striped summer dress, pumps, makeup and hair she just combed with her mini brush.

The lady interrogated her civilly, asking our purpose of visit, checking her background and bank account. She then asked her occupation. "Homemaker", my mother replies. "Homemaker?" the interrogater wonders, puzzled. "Then who's financing your trip?" she asks. My mother points at my father "Him. My husband. Those are my two kids with him." The interrogater is now astonished. She looks over at us, an eight grader with glasses, a fifth grader, and a fat man; and balks. "Him? Your husband? And you're a mother of two kids?" She calls us over and inspects our passports and visas, while my mother contains her laugh. She then lets us go with a sigh and apologises for the inconvenience.

My mom recounts the whole incident to us on our way to Disneyland, where we were going to stay for the first three nights and two days.

And that is the day my father learned the importance of looking good.

[damthosefandoms]

It’s Not Someday Yet

Read on ao3 here!

Artemis drops her tray onto the table and takes a seat directly across from Dick Grayson. He’s pulling out his one-of-a-kind, collectible, metal Superman lunchbox.

He once told her that there’s a story behind the lunchbox—something about his foster father and Superman and some kind of history—but Artemis can’t understand why Bruce Wayne would have beef with Superman, so she sort of tuned Dick out when he was explaining it.

He flips the lid open, then turns and looks at Artemis.

“Hi,” Dick says, pulling out a Capri-sun. “Barbara is out sick today.”

Artemis doesn’t say anything. She just nods her head as a greeting. Usually, when Barbara is absent, the two of them just sit in silence until the bell rings.

But today, Artemis has other plans. She sits back in her chair and watches as Dick pulls the wrapper off his straw. Her mind is going a thousand miles a minute, and she doesn’t even know why, but the kid looks so focused and for a second, she can almost picture Robin sitting there in his place.

Weird. There’s that thought again. A really weird thought. Sometimes she wonders, though. Dick’s a weird kid. For example: the first day of school. She had no idea who he was. He popped up out of nowhere, took a selfie with her, and then in the blink of an eye was gone. If Artemis didn’t know any better, she’d guess he was a speedster or something.

“We’ll laugh about this someday,” he’d said. Artemis had asked Dick about it at least four times since that day, and she still didn’t know what it meant. He refused to tell her. He’d just shrug and say that, “If you’re still asking, it’s not someday yet.”

If Dick can get away with doing weird things out of nowhere, so can she. So she asks him exactly what's on her mind today.

“Hey, do you ever think about where all those Justice League sidekicks go to school?” She asks, maybe with a little too much interest in her voice, but it’s not like she’s looking for real answers. She already knows most of them, anyway.

Dick, however, is so caught off-guard that his normally-steady hands jerk and instead of sticking the straw of his Capri-sun into the hole where it’s supposed to go, he stabs it directly through the center. It pops out the other side, miraculously not spilling juice everywhere.

He looks up at Artemis, then frowns at the defective juice pouch in his hands. He sets it down on the table (figuring out how to drink that is a challenge for another time) and folds his hands. He looks Artemis directly in the eyes.

“You’ve caught my interest,” he states. “Go on.”

It’s weird; Dick Grayson is pretty much the only person at Gotham Academy who Artemis can’t read. There’s so much emotion in his expressions and movements. He never stops talking. Yet somehow Artemis still can’t figure him out.

“Okay, well…” Artemis pauses before she even starts.

She can’t exactly just say where all of her teammates go to school. It’s not like she doesn’t know. M’gann and Conner are at Happy Harbor High School, but the two of them aren’t even known to the public as heroes yet. Zatanna just joined the team last weekend. Artemis knows she’s at some catholic school in New York, but she doesn’t know which one. She honestly has no idea how school works in Atlantis, so Kaldur’s out of the question, and Wally’s at Keystone High School.

So naturally, she starts with Robin. He’s what got her thinking about this anyway.

“They’re all teenagers, right?” Artemis says. Dick nods.

“Right, so theoretically, they’re all in high school. Except Robin, I think. He’s like, what? Twelve? Thirteen?”

Dick blinks. He keeps his face as blank as possible. “You think Robin is twelve? Isn’t that a little...young?”

Artemis shrugs. “I don’t know, he’s short.”

Dick bites his tongue to keep from snapping back at her. He’s still expecting a growth spurt, thank you very much.

“Anyway, he’s probably in middle school. I’d guess seventh or eighth grade, but who knows. But like, the others, right?”

Artemis waves her arms as she explains her theory. Clearly, she’s been spending so much time around Wally that she’s picking up his mannerisms. Dick can deal with that; he’s been putting up with Wally for years now.

He actually doesn’t talk to Artemis much. At the cave, yeah, they’ve had their moments, but that’s Robin, not Dick himself. Honestly, this is probably the best conversation Dick has ever had with her since a few months earlier when she confronted him about Wally’s ridiculous disbelief in magic.

(She’d started ranting to him about their trip to the Tower of Fate, and Dick laughed and told her that Wally was just a disappointed Harry Potter fan who never got his Hogwarts letter. In Wally’s defense, he really does look like he could be a Weasley.)

Again, though, that was Robin, not Dick. He reminds himself that Artemis doesn’t know the difference. This is just them at school. It’s not the same as talking to his teammate…but Dick doesn’t really care. He thinks she’s cool either way. He decides to throw her a bone, because he’s pretty sure he can tell where her thought process is going with this.

“I’ll bet Aqualad probably goes to school in Atlantis, if they even have schools underwater,” Dick offers. Anything to keep the conversation off of Robin—off of himself.

Artemis nods eagerly. Clearly, she’s thought of that already. He nailed it. “Red Arrow’s eighteen, which means he must have graduated already, but he probably went to high school in Star City.”

Dick raises an eyebrow at that. Time to play dumb. “How’d you know that he’s eighteen?” He asks. No normal civilian should know that. He wonders what kind of excuse she can come up with.

Artemis holds up one of the weird, floppy French fries that came with her school lunch and makes a face. They’re not very good—it’s the weird kind that are all slimy and gross. It’s too bad it’s not Friday. They have pizza as an option every day of the week in the cafeteria, but on Fridays they order it in special from one of the best pizza places in Gotham.

“He just looks older, I guess. And didn’t he just quit being a sidekick like, last July? Maybe he literally graduated out of the job.” She frowns and drops the French fry back onto the tray. It makes a splat noise and both she and Dick wince.

Dick pulls out a bag of potato chips from inside his lunchbox and hands it to her. She takes it without question. Then he tilts his head like a confused puppy and looks at her.

“Are you implying that being a sidekick is, like...an after-school activity, or something?” He asks, intrigued. That’s not exactly how he would’ve described it.

“It’s probably more like volunteering, I think. Like how we have to do it to get hours for graduation so we can get our names called earlier when we walk or whatever?” Artemis says.

Dick laughs out loud at that. “Yeah, okay. Volunteering. Isn’t it a known fact that Robin was like, eight or something when he started? Can you imagine Batman trying to sell that to a little kid? Like—hold on.”

Dick holds his hands up next to his head and sticks up one finger on each hand, clearly pretending to be Batman. “Hey, kid, want to get some volunteer hours done? We can build some houses for the homeless, walk some dogs, help old ladies cross the street, and oh, yeah—fight a bunch of psychopaths and rescue people from burning buildings! I know that sounds scary, but don’t worry—it’ll look fantastic on your resume!”

He and Artemis both crack up.

“What’s up with that, anyway?” Artemis asks, when they’re both calming down.

Dick picks up his sandwich and raises an eyebrow as he takes a bite. “What do you mean?”

“What kind of hero dresses a little kid up in a leotard and lets them fight criminals every night? It’s crazy.” Artemis watches Dick’s face as she asks it. He suddenly seems very interested in his sandwich.

“Maybe it wasn’t Batman’s decision to make.” Dick says, sounding just a bit too confident in his argument. “Maybe Robin had his reasons to do it, you know?”

“An eight-year-old had reasons why he wanted to punch mob bosses and supervillains in the face?” Artemis looks confused now. Dick sounds really serious for some reason, but she doesn’t get why it would be so personal for him. “I mean, I know they say video games are making kids more violent, but—”

Dick cuts her off. “Sometimes things happen, Artemis. Maybe Robin had a bad thing happen to him and wanted revenge. Dunno about you, but I totally understand it.”

“After all,” Dick says, picking at the crust of his sandwich, “the best day of my life was when Batman and Robin caught the guy who killed my parents.”

Oh. Right. That’s why it’s personal for him.

Artemis is quiet for a minute. She glares down at the bag of chips in her hand.

Then she says, “Yeah, maybe I can relate too. If I got the chance to get back at...”

Artemis shakes all the thoughts of her father and sister out of her head. She crumples the empty chip bag and tosses it over her shoulder. It lands in the closest garbage can. She wasn’t even looking. “Yeah, I can understand it, too.”

They sit in silence for a few minutes. Just when it’s getting awkward, Dick breaks it.

“Kid Flash is probably in your grade, you know. He’s, what, sixteen-ish?” Dick says.

Artemis stares at him. It’s like he could hear her thoughts; how’d he know that her mind wandered and she’d started to think about Wally? “Fifteen, I think. A very immature fifteen. And he’s a total dork, too.”

Dick laughs at that. For some reason, it doesn’t occur to Artemis that there was absolutely no reason why Dick Grayson should be laughing at a comment about Kid Flash being an immature dork. She shouldn’t even have said that part, honestly. How would she know anything about his personality, unless she actually knew him?

But Dick laughs, and she doesn’t question it for some reason. For some reason, in that moment in time, it made perfect sense for Dick to laugh at a joke about Wally. As if he knew exactly what Artemis meant—as if Dick knew Wally. But Artemis doesn’t realize that at the time.

Then, for some other reason that she’ll never understand, Artemis adds, “He’s...he’s kind of cute, though.”

And Dick proceeds to choke on his sandwich.

Artemis tries to help him, but Dick waves her off. He’s coughing, which means he can breathe. After a few seconds and a long sip of water (from Artemis’ water bottle that she’d just bought and hadn’t opened yet), he’s all good again.

Of course, the entire time he was choking, he wasn’t even bothered by it—he was more trying to process the fact that Artemis just admitted to having a crush on Wally. Granted, she has no idea that she just told Robin that, but still. Holy shit.

He can’t even tell anyone about this! His go-to person for gossip is Wally. That’s not an option! Holy shit!!!

“Are you okay?” Artemis asks, and when Dick can finally breathe again, he says, “Yeah, yeah, just fine.”

He takes another sip of water. “I’m going to have to owe you a water bottle,” he says. “Forgot to bring cash to school with me today.”

Artemis waves her hand. “Don’t bother, billionaire. I don’t really need it. Having the excuse to get out of class to go get a drink at the fountain is much better.”

Dick takes a breath and relaxes. Artemis is back in her seat now.

He looks her in the eyes. “So, you like Kid Flash? What kind of ‘like’ are we talking here? Like-like?”

Artemis rolls her eyes at him. “Like-like? What are you, thirteen?”

Dick stares blankly at her.

“Right,” Artemis says. He is thirteen. “Skipped a grade. I always forget.”

Dick holds up a finger. “I didn’t skip anything. I simply tested into school at a higher level than most kids my age. You can’t skip a grade if you started out ahead—”

“—and were homeschooled before that,” Artemis finishes for him. Dick’s only corrected her a thousand times. Annoying little brat.

“Anyway,” Dick says, tossing his empty sandwich bag into the garbage can (again, without looking) and closing his superman lunchbox. “Kid Flash. You’re into him?”

Artemis shrugs. In any other situation, she’d be getting super defensive right now and blatantly denying the truth. She’s in denial. She’s comfortable with that.

The only reason she isn’t freaking out right now is that she doesn’t really need to. It’s not like Dick knows Kid Flash personally. It’s not like he’ll head straight to Mount Justice after school and run around telling everyone he knows that she has a crush on Wally.

She looks at Dick and tells him the truth. “I guess? Like I said, he’s kind of cute.”

Dick stares at her. “He wears a mask. You can’t even see his face. How do you know if he’s cute?”

Artemis freezes. “Well, yeah, but...sometimes you don’t need to see their face. You can just tell, you know? Personality and stuff. He’s a hero, a good person. I respect that.”

“Yeah, okay. I guess you have a point. Besides,” Dick says, shrugging, “it’s not like you actually know him. None of this matters in the long run, right?” His eyes widen when he realizes what he said. “Ha! Get it? Run?”

Artemis laughs, despite herself. She’ll give Dick Grayson credit for one thing and one thing only: he’s the only person on Earth who could out-pun Robin.

Dick laughs at his joke, but Artemis just rolls her eyes. “I can’t believe I’m talking about my crush with a literal baby,” she says.

“I’m thirteen, Artemis. And my name is Dick. I think it’s okay to assume I know more than you’d think,” he says, smirking.

The bell rings. Dick looks up. He shoves his lunchbox into his backpack.

“We both have math now. Race you there?” Artemis challenges him. They’re in the same math class despite Dick being a grade under her because he’s so advanced.

Dick smiles, pulling his backpack on. “They don’t call us mathletes for nothing, Artemis. I’m much faster than I look.”

“Oh, yeah?”

“But not as fast as your boyfriend.”

Artemis grabs Dick by the back of his backpack, pulling the kid behind her, and then takes off running.

Dick’s a brat, but he’s still a pretty good friend.

#young justice #artemis crock #dick grayson #wally west #barbara gordon #robin #nightwing #kid flash #spitfire #yj #dc comics #my post #julie writes stuff #fan fiction #fanfiction #fanfic #my fic #fic

[kythed]

circus mirrors & stereo hearts

sugawara koushi x reader

this one goes out to my new friend, @twat-101 :) it’s a bit long, but I hope you still like it ! sending lotsa love your way <3

synopsis: (y/n) is struggling with her mental health so her best friend suga-san invites her over to study. general chaos and dumbassery ensues.

warnings: some swearing, mentions of mental health struggles, suga’s tone deaf singing.

word count: 4,226

--

Koushi always kept his windows open. Always.

In the winter, this transformed his room into a tiny Antarctica, replete with stray snowflakes, but in the summer, it meant cool tradewinds cutting through the typically stifling heat, creating a little pocket of the ideal climate. You often found yourself there in these warmer months, perched on the corner of his bed, contently listening to him blithely gossip about his teammates or playing a giggly game of Connect Four rife with not so subtle cheating.

Today, a sunny August Saturday, was no different. Koushi sat cross legged on the carpet. Sprawled out across his pale blue comforter, which smelled of fresh linen and that familiar Old Spice he’d been wearing since the eighth grade, you listened to him recite a chapter from your history book, something about post World War II foreign policy. Struggling to remain attentive, however, you found yourself spiraling into those cheerless resignations of hopelessness that had been far too frequent for you lately.

“--which resulted in Europe’s economic recovery chiefly in terms of raw materials, food, and fuel. The Soviet Union soon attempted to replicate a similar plan but ultimately-- hey, (Y/N)?”

You blinked hard and sunk back into reality, turning onto your cheek to look Koushi in his big brown eyes full of rather matronly concern. “Hmm?”

“Do you know what we’re learning about right now?” he asked, sounding both amused and disapproving. A strand of grey fell in front of his face and he quickly blew it away, smiling slightly. “Because it seems like you’ve been zoning out for the last ten or so minutes. I wanted to give you the benefit of the doubt, but Mr. Shishido specifically said this chapter was going to be on the test.”

“Uh… something about muzzer Roosia?” you joked with an exaggerated accent.

Koushi rolled his eyes and flicked your forehead. You yelped and glared at him reproachfully. “We were talking about the Marshall Plan. The United States’ recovery aid program for Western Europe after wartime devastation.”

“Right, right, I knew that,” you protested as Koushi tugged on your forearms and you toppled off the bed, nearly landing right on top of him. With a soft laugh, he extracted his limbs from yours and plopped his head into your lap like he used to when you were kids, resting beneath the boughs of that little oak tree in his backyard, listening to a choir of cicadas croon under a late afternoon sun. The ghost of a grin flitted over your face as you looked back on those halcyon days of your childhood. Usually Koushi’s mom would come out onto the porch with a couple of already-melting lemon popsicles in hand, and the two of you would scramble out of each other’s embrace and tear towards her, breathlessly racing for a priceless reward of sweet smiles and sticky hands.

What you wouldn’t give to go back to that time of gleeful oblivion, before your world became characterized by that all too persistent self-consciousness and excruciating anxiety. What you wouldn’t give to once again feel worthy of Koushi’s innocent adoration…

“--(Y/N)!”

For the second time today, you shook yourself awake. Koushi gazed up at you, brows furrowed. “Sorry, what were you saying?”

“I was asking if you needed to take a little study break. Obviously, you do. I swear, your attention span gets shorter every day.” He pointed somewhere behind you. “Mind grabbing my phone? It’s on the bed.”

You leaned over as far as you could without disturbing Koushi’s position, head still nestled in your lap, and swept your hand over the covers before it bumped into his phone, which you promptly snatched and dropped onto his stomach. He gave a soft “oomph” at the impact before pulling up his Spotify and selecting a playlist, the cover of which was a selfie of the two of you at last year’s spring carnival. A blurred sakura tree provided the perfect backdrop for your smiling faces pressed cheek-to-cheek to fit in the frame. Sugar dusted the corners of Koushi’s mouth, the last trace of the powdered donut you’d shared right before.

“What’s that? I don’t think I’ve listened to that one before.” You reached for the phone, but Koushi held it out just out of reach as music began to play, batting your hand away. “I look awful in that picture; you could’ve chosen something a little more flattering.”

“Oh, shush. You looked pretty that day, wearing that blue sundress with the little flowers on the hem… blue really suits you, you know.” Koushi smiled fondly at his screen, and you blushed despite yourself. “It’s a compilation of all our songs. I listened to this a lot last summer when you were in France with your family for a month. Whenever I missed you. You were off climbing the Eiffel Tower or making croissants and I was lounging around here, bored out of my mind and wishing you were home so we could be bored together.”

“You sappy bastard,” you said, though you really felt quite touched. “I didn’t even realize we had a song.”

“Not just a song,” he corrected. “Songs. Plural. Most of the songs we’ve ever listened to together, I reckon. Anything that reminds me of you, I put on here.”

“Why in the world would you do that?” you asked, aghast at his effort.

Koushi laughed at your surprise. “You’re my best friend, (Y/N). And believe or not, you mean a lot to me. I just like remembering the stuff we’ve done together.”

You nodded slowly, letting your fingers rest on his forehead and gently play with his grey locks. His eyes closed as you settled into a brief, comfortable almost-silence, tainted only by the soft, muffled melody trickling from tiny phone speakers. You cocked your head. “What song is this?”

“You don’t remember?” Koushi asked, sounding almost offended. He turned the volume up a few notches and held the phone closer to your ear.

Let's Marvin Gaye and get it on

You got the healing that I want

Just like they say it in the song

Until the dawn, let's Marvin Gaye and get it on

“I don’t know if--” you cut off as it dawned on you. “Wait… no way. This isn’t…?”

“It is.” Koushi laughed as your face flushed a vivid crimson. “Uchimura’s party.”

Though embarrassed, you grinned, remembering that night. “The song that played at her twelfth birthday while we were in the closet during seven minutes in heaven.”

“We were way too young for that dumb game,” Koushi said with a smile, shaking his head. “God, I was so nervous. That was my first kiss, you know.”

“It was mine too,” you admitted. You remembered sitting on the carpeted floor of Uchimura’s rather cramped closet, knees touching, just barely able to see the outline of Koushi’s face illuminated by the smallest sliver of light shining through a crack in the door. He’d leaned forward, taking your hand in his own small clammy one. “It was really just a peck, though. It might not have counted.”

“It counted,” said Koushi firmly. “Whenever I get asked about my first kiss, I say it was ours. I say it was the best one I’ve ever had, too.”

You shook your head with a soft laugh. “Now, I know that’s a lie. I didn’t know what the hell I was doing.”

“Neither did I,” agreed Koushi. He caught your eye, crinkling his nose cutely. “That’s what made it so sweet. It was innocent. I tasted your bubblegum chapstick on my lips afterwards.”

“Bubblegum chapstick, huh?” You rolled your eyes and poked him softly in the ribs. “I couldn’t look you straight in the eyes for like three weeks after that.”

“I remember. You kept running away whenever I tried to talk to you.”

“Yeah, I know. I’m not sure we would’ve even stayed friends if Ms. Miyato hadn’t partnered us up for the volcano project at the end of that month.” You recalled those afternoons spent in Koushi’s kitchen, newspapers covering every visible surface and a huge, paper-mache volcano resting on the dining table, splattered with orange and yellow paint and smelling strongly of Elmer’s glue and vinegar. Oftentimes, work sessions would dissolve into paint fights, staining your school uniforms with small, colorful hand prints.

“Nah,” said Koushi confidently. “I wouldn’t have let you go that easily.”

“Maybe you should’ve,” you said under your breath.

Koushi stared at you for a second, sighing. Then he reached up to grasp your hand, interlocking his fingers with yours and softly stroking his thumb across your palm. “You know, it was Uchimura’s eighteenth last weekend. You didn’t come.”

“Yeah. I had to study.” That was a lie. You just hadn’t thought anyone really wanted you there. Uchimura had been a friend of yours for years, but she had plenty of other friends to celebrate with. Probably didn’t even notice you weren’t there…

“She asked me where you were,” Koushi continued. “I said I didn’t know because you didn’t answer my texts that night.”

“Sorry,” you said quietly, avoiding eye contact. “Studying.”

“On a Friday night?” You didn’t answer, and Koushi squeezed your hand. “I had to choose Daichi for my charades partner… do you have any idea how shit he is at charades? He flopped on the ground and started convulsing, so I guessed ‘epilepsy.’ Guess what the word really was.”

“What?”

“Orgasm. The word was orgasm. You’d think he could just execute a simple pelvic thrust and make a face, but no, he had to go ahead and act like my great uncle Kaito when he had that heart attack at his ninety-fifth birthday last year.”

You cracked a small smile, imagining Daichi violently wiggling on the floor like a fish out of water. “Sounds like I missed out, then.”

“You really did,” said Koushi, eyes twinkling. He suddenly got solemn. “I missed you. Would’ve been a million times more fun with you there.”

“I doubt it.” You fiddled with the edge of your shirt, smile fading. “I can be a real killjoy sometimes.”

“Not to me,” said Koushi. “Whenever you walk into the room, suddenly that’s the only room I wanna be in.”

Your breath caught in your throat and you swallowed thickly. “Koushi… why are you telling me this?”

“You’ve been avoiding me,” he said simply. He took your hand again, the one that had been playing with his hair, and held it to his chest. You felt his heart beat erratically beneath your palm. “You’ve been avoiding all our friends in general.”

“That’s not true,” you protested, though your heart sank. He had noticed. You wished you didn’t have to drag him into all your problems. “I’ve just been busy.”

“Busy with what, (Y/N)? Homework? Our physics teacher came and talked to me at my locker after school, asking if you’ve been struggling with any personal issues, because apparently you haven’t been turning in your assignments.” Koushi glanced up at you. “It seems like you’ve just been locked away in your room whenever you’re not in class. Not doing work, not going out. Remember a couple weeks ago, when I asked if you wanted to go see that movie with me at the drive-in? You said you had a family dinner in town, but later I passed by on my bike and your bedroom light was on. And today, it took four separate phone calls before you finally picked up and I managed to invite you over… I’ve been worried.”

“Maybe I’m just changing,” you protested weakly. “That’s a thing that happens. People change.”

“I agree, you have been changing. Just not for the better.” Koushi squeezed your hand again, his skin warm on your own. “I haven’t seen you smile, really smile, for ages. You’re always faking these days. What’s going on?”

“I…” you trailed off, trying to think of some excuse. The last thing you wanted was for Koushi to see what was really going on inside your head.

“The truth, (Y/N).”

You relented, shoulders sagging. “Just been tired, I guess.”

“Tired of what?”

“Tired of…” Your eyes grew moist despite your best efforts and you fought to keep from choking on the sob rising up your throat.

“Tired of…?” he pressed on, eyebrow raised.

Your next words tumbled out in a rush. “Just tired of being me, okay? It’s like… it’s just like, whenever I look in the mirror… I don’t like what I see. I don’t like myself, so I don’t want to be me anymore. I’m so tired of it. And I feel like everyone else is, too. Everyone is tired of my shit, so I thought I’d just do you all a favor and disappear.”

Your words stunned Koushi into silence. He remained resting in your lap for a few long seconds before he felt something hot and wet roll down his cheek. A tear. But not his own.

He looked up just in time for another one of your tears to land on his face, right underneath his eye. Quickly, he sat up and tenderly cupped your face in his hands, gently brushing the tears away with his thumbs. “Oh, (Y/N)... c’mere. That’s such bullshit.”

“I’m sorry, I’m sorry,” you hiccupped as he pulled you into his lap by your waist-- facing him-- and gingerly tucked your head into the crook of his neck. “I’m sorry you have to see me like this. It’s gross, I know.”

“It’s not gross,” said Koushi, fiercely hugging you to his chest. “It’s much better than watching you try to pretend like you’re fine. I don’t care if your snot gets on my shirt-- that’s a small price to pay. So long as I can be there for you right now.”

You cried harder, immense guilt racking your body at his inexplicable kindness. “I’ve been treating you terribly these past few months, but you’re still so good to me. Goddamnit, Koushi. I don’t deserve you.”

Koushi pulled you back by the shoulders, narrowed eyes searching your face, though tears continued to stream down your cheeks. “(Y/N). You don’t have to earn my love.”

“I-- love?” you asked, eyes wide. You snatched a tissue from Koushi’s bedside table and blew your nose loudly.

“Yeah,” he said firmly, without missing a beat. “I said it. I love you. And don’t ask if I mean in a friend way or a girlfriend way, because the answer is neither. I love you like you’re the person I wanna spend the rest of my life with. I don’t care if that means as, like, your husband or just as your best friend. Whatever I can get, I’m happy with, because I love you like you’re a part of me. Unconditionally. I thought you knew that.”

“Please, don’t say that,” you sobbed, covering your face with your hands. “I’m not good enough for you. I’m really not.”

Koushi pulled your hands away so he could look you in the eye. “What don't you understand about the term ‘unconditional love’? It’s unconditional. There is literally nothing you nor anyone else can say or do to change that. Unconditional love is not a feeling, it’s a choice, and I’ve made that choice. I’ve had nearly two decades to think about it, so now I’m telling you I will love you no matter what. I always have, alright? This isn’t exactly how I wanted to say it, but it’s true.”

You stared at him, disbelieving. You hadn’t known he’d felt this way. Of course, you two had been partners-in-crime your entire lives, and you couldn’t count the number of times he’d materialized at your side as soon as you were in the slightest bit of trouble. Whenever you were a dollar short at the canteen, he’d stuff a five in your hand and push you towards the front of the line. That time you went camping with his family and you forgot your sleeping bag, he’d given you his and spent the night shivering. He always carried an extra pen for you because yours often inexplicably ran out of ink in the middle of a test. He’d been there for every crush, boyfriend, and breakup, cheering you on and drying your tears when the time came. He’d been there when your pet dog died and you planned a funeral in your backyard, complete with a little cardboard headstone, holding an umbrella above your head when it began to rain but you weren’t done mourning. He’d just always been there when you needed him.

You’d tried to be there for him, too, because, as you had begun to realize, his pain was your pain and vice versa. That time when you were six and he’d lost his favorite stuffed animal (a giraffe) it had felt like you’d lost yours too. That day in junior high when he fell out of the oak tree trying to retrieve a stray frisbee and broke his arm, you swore you felt the same pain in yours. Last year when he got dumped outside the gym on Valentine’s Day and you found him sitting in a corner, trying to hide the fact he’d obviously been crying-- you’d stayed late to crack stupid jokes and eat the chocolate he meant to give to his girlfriend, because he deserved a girl who would eat the damn chocolate. Not stomp on his heart and leave it to bleed. I love you like you’re a part of me. You understood.

“It’s okay to not be okay sometimes, but it’s not okay to bundle it all up and bury it deep inside when you have someone right next to you wanting to help you bear that burden.” Koushi’s voice shook just slightly. “It just… it hurts to see you like this, okay? (Y/N), if you love me back, then let me help you. Let me be there for you. Please.”

You were silent for a moment, staring into his pleading eyes. Those beautiful brown eyes.

Then you took a deep breath and started laughing through the tears. You were sure you looked insane, puffy eyes, red nose, and mascara running down your cheeks, but it didn’t matter. “I do. I love you, too. I love you. I didn’t know I loved you before, but now I do, because if you were torn away from me that heartbreak would probably kill me. No, it would definitely kill me. And it would hurt like a motherfucker while it did.”

Koushi let out the breath he’d been holding then, after a brief pause, began to laugh with you as you laced your arms around the back of your neck. “Oh, yeah? Well, losing you would probably hurt like a father-fucker to me.”

“Is that worse than a motherfucker?” you asked, giggling at the ridiculousness of it all. Here you were, bawling on the floor of your best friend’s room while you confessed your love to one another and cussed each other out at the same time.

“For sure. It’s a million times worse than a motherfucker. It’s like, if something hurting like a motherfucker is the equivalent of getting shot by a Nerf gun, something hurting like a fatherfucker probably feels like getting run over by a tank.” Koushi intertwined his fingers with yours yet again and smiled.

“You’re a dumbass,” you said, but you laughed anyways as Koushi looked proud of himself.

“I know,” he said softly, affectionately. “But I’m your dumbass.”

You sighed and shook your head. “I’d love you to be. But you could still do so much better than me--”

“Will you stop saying that, already?” Koushi took your face in his hand, stroking his thumb right beneath your eye. “You’re the most radiant person I’ve ever met. Notice how I didn’t say ‘beautiful’ because the word beautiful doesn’t even begin to cover it. Although you are that, too.”

“Oh, goodness. I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again-- you’re so sappy.”

Koushi rolled his eyes with a smile. “Yeah, I am. You like it though.”

“You caught me,” you said as he leaned forward and pressed a soft kiss to your forehead. You leaned into it, savoring the warmth of his lips on your skin. “I do.”

“But really, (Y/N),” he said seriously. “It astounds me that you don’t realize that.”

“Don’t realize what?”

“That you’re cool! You’re so cool and fun and awesome. And a zillion other adjectives I could sit here and list out for hours. You’re the only person who can make me laugh when I cry, and you make the best hot chocolate I’ve ever tasted, and you’re a literal god at Mario Kart, and you’ve got the prettiest eyes I’ve ever had the privilege to look into.” You flushed as Koushi thought for a moment, chewing on his lip before his eyes widened. “It’s kinda like a circus mirror, I think.”

“What?” You furrowed your brow.

“The way you see yourself is like someone looking into one of those circus mirrors. It makes you look too tall, or really squished, or just bent out of shape in general. And if that was the only mirror you’d ever looked into, you’d probably think that ugly, distorted reflection is how you actually look in real life. You can’t see yourself for how amazing you really are-- but everyone else can.”

“Well, aren’t you just full of relevant analogies today?” you teased. A circus mirror. Now that was something new. You had to give Koushi credit for the comparison-- it actually did kind of make sense.

“What can I say?” he said, puffing out his chest. “I’m a poet.”

“So I guess that would make you my real mirror then?” you offered shyly. Koushi looked confused for a second. “If the way I see myself is supposedly ‘distorted,’ then you can reflect to me how I supposedly really am.”

“Oh, yes!” he said happily. “I’m the mirror. I like that. Quit talking like you don’t believe me, though. You’re incredible. A little thick-skulled sometimes, yes, but incredible nonetheless.”

“It’s going to be hard for me,” you said quietly, gently running a hand through his hair. “Really hard. I haven’t liked myself for a long time.”

“I know. I know. But someday, you’ll be able to understand what a beautiful human being you are. I’m sure of it. I need you to promise you won’t give up until that happens.”

He held out his pinky for a pinky swear, something you two did frequently as children. You smiled and laced your pinky with his. “Alright. I promise.”

“Good.” Koushi stood up, brushed the wrinkles from his pants, and offered you his hand. You took it and he pulled you up. “Listen. Do you remember this song?”

His little playlist had been playing this entire time. You hadn’t noticed. You strained to catch the lyrics. “Turn it up a little, I can’t quite hear.”

...a stereo

It beats for you, so listen close

Hear my thoughts in every note

“Koushi.” A slow smile spread across your face. “Tell me this isn’t Stereo Hearts.”

“Oh, this is Stereo Hearts alright!” he responded gleefully. He took your hand and spun you around like a ballroom dancer, catching you before you tripped over his bedside table. “You remember when we--”

“When we performed it at the junior high talent show and got booed off the stage?” You giggled, remembering that awful night that was somehow hilarious in retrospect. “I still have nightmares about that.”

Koushi continued to swing you around in some sort of clumsy dance, pulling you this way and that while you laughed wildly. “It’s ‘cause you were such a shit singer.”

You gasped in mock offense. “No way! You’re a much worse singer than I am. At least I can carry a tune.”

Koushi just rolled his eyes and grabbed a hairbrush from his shelf, using it like a microphone. He sat you down on the edge of the bed and began to serenade you in his terrible, tone-deaf manner.

Make me your radio

Turn me up when you feel low

This melody was meant for you

Just sing along to my stereo

“God, you really do suck at this,” you said, but he just smiled and kept singing. You had to admit, it was sweet. As silly as the memory associated with the song was, it remained a nostalgic favorite even now. You had to join in a few times, just for memory’s sake.

I only pray you never leave me behind

Because good music can be so hard to find

Koushi sat down next to you and wound one arm around your waist, leaning close.

I take your hand and pull it closer to mine

Thought love was dead, but now you're changing my mind

You turned and leaned in too, nearly touching noses.

“Hey,” he said in an almost whisper. “(Y/N) (L/N), I love you.”

“Hey,” you whispered back, gaze flitting down to his lips and back up again. “I love you, too, you sappy bastard.”

...so sing along to my stereo

“I know.” He closed the remaining inch of distance. Your hand tangled itself in his hair while his tugged your body a little closer.

The kiss was almost as good as the one in Uchimura’s closet all those years ago. Almost.

#haikyuu #haikyuu headcanons #haikyuu imagines #haikyuu scenarios #haikyuu x reader #anime #sugawara #sugawara koushi #sugawara x reader #sugawara koushi x reader

[solalunar-eclipse]

Team Dark: A Holiday Special

Chapter One: Omega

Two | Three

Word count: about 5800 words

WARNING: this chapter contains entomophagy (eating insects)

Author's Note: I'm finally back! Sorry to make you all wait so long, but I really wanted to get this project out by December, so...here it is. I hope you all enjoy! (Also, apologies in advance for any bad formatting: Tumblr is being very uncooperative right now.)

...

It was, officially, a ‘lazy day’.

Team Dark was spending time at home, resting after the holiday frenzy of yesterday. Rouge had suddenly realized that they hadn’t decorated yet and that they all still needed to come up with present ideas for Team Sonic, so she and Shadow had spent the entire time in a sort of constant state of panic. Omega tried his best to help them, intermixed with a lot of gloating about his perfect memory and how he’d remembered to get a gift already.

He’d gotten punched halfway across the room for that one.

Now, a certain striped hedgehog was relaxing in his room, reading a book quietly. Until (of course) the peaceful silence was shattered by a loud blaring noise that sent him racing out the door and halfway down the stairs to their common area. Rouge was standing in the middle of the room, and shouted out to him, “Shadow! Come down here, I’m calling a group meeting!” Shadow winced and massaged one of his ears, his quills relaxing from their startled position as he walked over and sat down on the couch. He glowered at Rouge, who stood in front of him with the ‘team meeting airhorn’ still in hand. Despite his stare, she was still poised to blast again if Omega didn’t show up soon. Thankfully for Shadow’s hearing, Omega appeared quickly, albeit with much complaining about being dragged away from his targeting system calibrations. “Alright, Rouge, what’s all this about?” the hedgehog sighed, leaning forward and resting his arms on his knees. She smiled cautiously at the two of them. “Before I say anything, I want you guys to know that this offer is optional. If it’s too much for you, you don’t have to say yes.” Omega spun one of his hands around, making a slight whirring noise. “Please continue.” Rouge sat down on one end of the aforementioned couch, sinking into the cushions with a sigh. “Okay. Let’s see. I haven’t...ever talked to you guys about my family before, have I?” “I do not recall you initiating any such conversation.” Omega answered, at the same time as Shadow replied, “No….?” “Well. Considering everything...I kind of figured it’s about time I told you all my story.” She smiled again, but it was a little bittersweet. Shadow inched closer, caution sparking in his eyes. “Where to start...I mean, I have a mom, two sisters, a stepsister, a stepbrother, and a stepmom. And a dad too, I guess?” “You guess?” Omega asked skeptically, before being shot a fierce ‘no questions‘ look by Shadow. “It’s alright, hon.” Rouge said, putting a hand on the hedgehog’s shoulder. “I guess I should really start at the beginning.” “My dad was a cat and my mom is a bat- obviously, hah. My two officially related sisters are twins, three years younger than me. Right before they were born, though...my dad left. He took all the cash with him when he did. And, well. Left Mom with a barely-paid-for apartment and without a job. “We, uh. Heard later that he ran off with some lady from his job. Mom...didn’t take it too well.” Shadow’s eyes widened and Omega smacked a fist into one hand. “Rouge. Is your father, hypothetically, good at withstanding high-powered attacks from a hypothetical extremely destructive robot?” She snickered. “No, he’s not. But please don’t actually fight him, alright?” His hands crackling with chaos energy, Shadow hissed, “Rouge...I think I like his plan.” He bared his fangs as he spoke, looking furious. Rouge smiled gratefully at the both of them. “Thanks, guys, but he’s really not even worth your time. Let me keep going, okay?” Omega sat back, irritated at the lack of pulverizing Rouge’s father going on, and Shadow, reluctantly, allowed his chaos energy to dissipate. “Yeah, so he left, and that was a whole thing. Mom worked hard for us, but it just...wasn’t enough to make ends meet. I started my career of...relieving people of their fancy objects-” here she winked- “at the age of eleven to help out. Dropped out of school after eighth grade to start full-time thievery once I turned fourteen, and, yeah. I had to leave home, otherwise Mom and the twins would’ve been in real trouble. “I got busted after two whole years by the one and only Guardian Units of Nations- not a bad streak, if I do say so myself. Then, I started working for G.U.N. to pay my dues to society, and...you all know the rest after that. I still kept sending checks back to the family, though.” Shadow and Omega were both looking at her with unreadable expressions at this point. “I’ve stopped doing that now, actually, since Mom’s been with her girlfriend for like a year now. She’s dating this super sweet cardinal who gives her basically everything my dad never did- her name’s Camellia and she has two little kids from her last marriage. She’s been so good for Mom, honestly.

“I know it’s usually supposed to be this whole thing where the stepdaughter hates the stepmom, but that’s not for me. When I got the news, I was just like ‘Oh, so that’s why I’m pan’ - yeah, really- and now I’m cool with it. Plus, I’ve got two new little sibs, so it’s all fine.

“So...yeah. That’s my family.”

Shadow sat there in deep thought for a minute. “Your family sounds nice...I’m just sorry you had to go through all of that.” he said, when he finally spoke up.

“Yeah, they’re great- and it’s okay. I mean, if it wasn’t for all that, I never would’ve found you guys!” she said, looking much brighter now. “Now that you know about them, you wanna see some pictures?”

“Certainly.” Omega said, curious to see these people that Rouge cared for so deeply.

“Okay, so...these are my twin sisters, Midori and Neela.” she said, showing a social media post of two identical coffee-colored cats posing for a selfie. Even their fur markings were exactly the same, as well as the shade of their golden eyes. Despite the fact that they were felines, something about them looked an awful lot like Rouge. The shape of their faces, perhaps?

“And here’s Camellia and Mom.” A picture came up of a beaming, moderately curvy white bat and an equally overjoyed cardinal with their arms around each other in front of a beautiful sunset.

“This is Jade, my stepsister, she’s ten-” Rouge showed an image of a young goldfinch playing soccer, kicking the ball fiercely. “-and that’s Spark, my stepbrother.” A small cardinal with a grin as broad as his mother’s was swinging on a swing at a playground, his eyes bright with the excitement of childhood.

Shadow smiled, looking as though he were a mixture of genuine happiness and a little ever-present pain. “They all look wonderful, Rouge. I’m...honored...that you felt like you could show us this.”

“That wasn’t so bad, honestly- I’ve been wanting to figure out how to do that for a while.” the bat said. “This is going to be the hard part.”

Two pairs of eyes watched her expectantly.

She exhaled. “Every year...my family has this big, three-day Wintersweek party. And when I say big, I mean seven out of my mom’s nine siblings and their spouses and kids. Like, more than twenty guests big.”

Omega interrupted her there. “If your mother has nine siblings, why did none of them bother to help her when she needed them?”

Rouge looked at the floor, a little sad. “Four of them were in debt themselves, two live in crazy places around the world and didn’t really know, and...the other three tried to help. Mom refused to take more than she could pay back. They still helped do other stuff like watch us while Mom was working, though.”

“Understood. You may continue.” Omega replied, shifting into a slightly less confrontational pose.

“So. I always go to this party, except for those two years when I was on the run. This is going to be my third year back. And…

“I really, really, reallyreally want to introduce my family to my two best friends. You know, the ones who live with me and always have my back and mean the world to me.” she said, looking straight at Shadow and Omega. The former blushed a faint green at the praise, while the latter scoffed.

“Of course you wish to do so. Our excellence is unparalleled.”

Rouge smiled hopefully at them. “I know it’s a lot to ask of you guys, but...will you come to the party this year?”

Omega processed this for a minute. “How amenable is your family towards weapons of incredible destructive power being present in their home?”

“Well, see, about that….” Rouge muttered. “...you might have to empty your weapons cartridges before we go.”

“I am unsure if this is an acceptable outcome. I will respect your wishes to an extent, but I refuse to be without weaponry at my disposal.”

The bat thought for a moment. “...you can bring the flamethrower, but only if you put a PIN lock on it.”

“...”

“...”

Rouge stared him down. “There’s going to be kids there. Kids.”

“Accepted.” Omega said finally. His tone switched to a more triumphant note as he added, “I shall come and impress all of your relatives with my power.”

Shadow had reservations, too. “Won’t it be weird, having people who aren’t really your family there?”

“Shadow…” she said gently. “...you two are as close to me as my ‘real family’, and I want you to be there.”

Omega noted that Shadow was behaving in a manner that suggested he was ‘flustered’. He folded his arms tightly, lowered his head, and his mouth was pressed tightly into a line- an attempt to hide a smile. “...but won’t I take up too much space? An extra bed is more difficult to manage than an outlet.”

Rouge sighed sharply, becoming frustrated with his hesitance. “Mom has air mattresses up to her ears specifically for this, and she lives in Camellia’s house now, which has like ten bedrooms anyway. And you’re totally not going to be ‘a bother’ or anything, so don’t even say that. Mom basically screamed when she found out I was bringing people, and I mean that in a good way. She didn’t stop asking me questions for half an hour.”

“I…” Shadow said tentatively, close to giving in.

“If they’re ever too much for you, though, just feel free to hide in one of the back rooms. There’s plenty of places where you won’t be disturbed.”

The hedgehog sighed, but he didn’t look upset. “I suppose I can try, for you.”

“Yes!” Rouge shouted, kicking her legs before getting up and bouncing up and down. “Heck yeah! This is gonna be great!”

…

Over the next week, they discussed the party numerous times, and Rouge spent a lot of time sitting in the middle of mountains of wrapping paper, packaging presents for her family. Omega and Shadow had tried to help her, but she’d insisted that they not worry about it. “It’s my family,” she had said, waving them away. “You being there is already more than enough. I’d never ask anything else of you.”

Shadow had still made cupcakes, though. Omega helped with the icing.

On the first day of the event, they set off early, making the several hours’ drive from Central City up to Rouge’s family’s house (north of Empire City) so that they’d arrive just before lunch. Thinking of Shadow, Rouge didn’t want him in particular to get caught up in the early (and supposedly quite intense) greetings that her family usually participated in. Omega resolved to turn his force output down just a little- he didn’t want to accidentally break someone’s hand instead of merely shaking it in introduction.

Of course, this all meant they had to endure a four-hour car ride together, involving lots of fights over what music was playing, several different long-distance driving games, and multiple threats to toss one another out the window while moving at 80 mph or more.

So, generally uneventful for them.

...

When they arrived at the family’s house, the E-series robot decreased his optic zoom to 85% just to take the entire place in. It was truly an enormous building, built from what appeared to be stone but on closer inspection was...actually stone. Unexpected, yet impressive.

Omega was mildly uncertain about the heating capabilities of such a house, but at least it was structurally sound. He would have to decide on its defensibility later.

“Wow.” Shadow muttered, his eyes wide. “I know you said it had ten bedrooms, but...wow.”

“I said I wasn’t messing around with you!” Rouge laughed brightly. “This place is crazy big.”

As soon as they opened the door and the bat stepped inside, the team was greeted by a loud shout of “Rouge!” from various delighted family members.

Her immediate family rushed over first, giving her lots of hugs (while her parents relieved Omega of the numerous presents she’d had him carry). Her stepbrother jumped up and down, asking, “Did you bring a present for me? Do I get one? Do I?”

Rouge smiled at him, picking the little cardinal up and giving him a hug. “Of course you do. There’s one right over there!” she said, pointing towards the giant pile of presents.

Rouge’s mother came rushing back over at that, greeting her daughter with a tight embrace. “Oh!” she exclaimed, noticing Omega and Shadow standing by the door. “Are these your friends, Rouge? Come on, introduce us!”

The younger bat grinned. “Alright, so this is my partner-in-crime and our resident edgy goth, Shadow,” she said, gesturing towards the hedgehog. He responded with a glower at Rouge for the latter remark and a polite “Nice to meet you.” to the family.

“And this is my personal palanquin (just kidding, just kidding) and awesome destroyer of enemies, Omega.”

“Greetings, Rouge’s relatives.” Omega said, turning his volume down to a level that Rouge had termed ‘inside voice’. First impressions and all that.

After making their way through many, many more greetings- which Omega recorded to play back for name storage later- the team were finally seated at one of the large couches in the living room. Rouge, being Rouge, began to chat cheerfully with a couple of her family members, describing her latest escapades with the other two team members as well as her general social life.

Shadow and Omega didn’t speak much at first, but the latter in particular soon began to interrupt her stories to point out multiple inaccuracies (mostly Rouge underplaying how utterly awesome he was). He found that he quite enjoyed talking about their various adventures, in fact.

However, the three quickly discovered that some of Rouge’s relatives had...misunderstood her stories.

One of the many aunts- whose name Omega had not yet stored- spoke up. “Rouge, I know you said you were bringing friends, but you don’t have to be shy with us, sweetie. Shadow here seems like a very thoughtful boyfriend.”

Chaos ensued. Rouge choked on her water and Omega had to pound her on the back to help her breathe again. Meanwhile, Shadow seemed to have reflexively assumed a defensive, curled-up position, yet Omega could still make out a faint glow of green from within the black and red ball.

“No!” the bat shouted, once she’d regained her breath. “No, no, we’re only friends, really!”

Her aunt seemed unconvinced, as did several other guests.

Shadow slowly uncurled, prepared to back Rouge up- though he seemed to have temporarily forgotten how to speak in his shock. His mouth moved silently, and he seemed to be having trouble stringing together a coherent sentence.

“I am not romantically involved with Rouge in any way.” he began slowly. “I assure you, she means the world to me, but in a platonic manner. I am grateful to have a friend like her, but that is all we are to each other.”

Several other relatives decided to weigh in on this.

“He seems like a very polite friend!”

“Rouge, even if you’re not together, you had better hang on to this one.”

“He certainly likes you, and that’s what’s important.”

“It’s alright if you aren’t dating, honey!” Rouge’s mom added. “Healthy platonic relationships are very important.”

The younger bat shook her head, covering her eyes with her hand. “Guys, please.” she groaned, before looking over at Shadow.

The hybrid appeared to be surreptitiously trying to get in touch with his hedgehog heritage and burrow underneath the cushions by this point. Rouge grinned at him and wrapped an arm around his waist, pulling him back out into the open. “Come on, don’t make him embarrassed! It’s only day one, guys!” 

Shadow cringed at that. Omega, meanwhile, was most definitely not recording any of this and storing it safely in his blackmail folder. Not at all.

…

A little later on, after everyone had eaten lunch, Omega (being the strongest on the team, despite Shadow’s protests otherwise) hauled their suitcases upstairs with little trouble. Rouge had been too busy talking to come with him, and Shadow looked as though he’d buried himself in a pile of cushions and probably wouldn’t be moved without extreme force, so he’d gone up alone.

Looking around the small room, he...found it quite tolerable, honestly. Sunlight streamed in through two medium-sized windows, and there were several empty floating shelves on the walls for their things, as well as a linen closet. There were only two beds in the room, since Omega just required a…

Ah, there it was. A charging port.

The robot was actually more pleased than he expected with the amount of mock evergreen, poinsettias, and other such ornaments in the room, though. He wasn’t much one for artistic expression himself (preferring to express his thoughts via some choice language and a few well-aimed rockets), but his friends were more...appreciative of such things and would likely enjoy the decoration.

Bored with examining the room already, he put down the suitcases and began to explore the house, trying to figure out what the floor plan looked like. He walked through all of the different rooms, enjoying himself while examining all of the possible defensive vantage points and the most optimal attack areas. 

Sure, fighting was his job, but who said he couldn’t enjoy contingency planning? Mapping out attacks on his place of residence and figuring out how to best repel invaders was one of his favorite pastimes (right up there with visiting the mall with his friends).

However, once he had planned out about five different strategies, he realized that an hour had gone by and that it was probably a good idea to go check up on said friends.

After he carefully made his way back downstairs- trying to walk in a way that didn’t shake the house was difficult- he saw Rouge still chatting with some of her cousins and looking very happy. Shadow was barely even visible, curled up in a dark corner and alternating between reading and listening to the conversation. Everyone honestly seemed to be enjoying themselves.

However, there was one jarring thing about this warm, familial scene that Omega noticed. 

The little children.

They were everywhere. Climbing their parents like a jungle gym, interrupting conversations left and right, running around underfoot, and generally causing mayhem in their wake. While Omega highly appreciated their impressive ability to cause confusion and chaos, he suspected that most of the other people here did not. Multiple guests looked ready to break something, and the robot was fully aware that Rouge’s family did not share his opinions on wanton destruction.

So, he decided to do something about this.

“SMALL CHILDREN,” he shouted, gaining the attention of the entire household. “I CHALLENGE YOU TO A SNOWBALL FIGHT.” That was an acceptable (and fun) form of violence, if he remembered correctly. Rouge certainly looked interested.

The children began to bounce around in various states of excitement, their energy somehow increasing exponentially at this prospect. “Whose team will you be on, mister?” Rouge’s stepbrother asked bravely. 

“MY OWN. NONE OF YOU CAN DEFEAT ME.” Omega declared.

“Yeah, right!” an older child shouted. “Come on, guys, let’s go!”

The entire group rushed outside and began to build a snow fort for the upcoming attack. Most of the children were clearly struggling to organize, as half seemed to comprehend the need for a well-structured creation and half were just piling up snow like maniacs.

Meanwhile, Omega began to carefully form large building blocks out of the snow, building a formidable fortress (snow could be imposing, alright??). Once he was satisfied with his semicircle construction, he noticed that he still had a few minutes to wait before the children finished theirs. He spent this time making snowballs, as well as a few other...adjustments. When the children shouted out “Ready!”, he was more than prepared.

Since they were, again, Rouge’s relatives, he was very, very generous and gave them the first chance to fire. The children launched snowball after snowball, but he ducked behind his fort and only one found its mark. Once they were all out of ammunition and scrambling for more, he felt a smug sense of satisfaction.

It was time.

He loaded his arms full of snowballs…

And proceeded to launch them out of his machine gun ports at the children.

The kids scattered in all directions, shrieking with a mixture of fear and excitement. Omega, during their attack, had thought to make even more projectiles, turning what was supposed to be organized warfare into a one-sided rampage of destruction.

By now, Rouge had appeared on the deck and was currently howling with laughter, tears streaming down her face as she watched Omega launch his onslaught of snow. Shadow was standing at the doorway along with several others, a giant wicked grin spread across his face.

The E-series robot truly wished he could make that second expression right now. He turned to Rouge, watching her cackle…

...and immediately proceeded to fire a massive amount of snow at her as well. Her laughter transformed into a gasp of mock betrayal as she scooped up some of the offending substance, packing it into a weapon of her own. “Oh. It. Is. On.”, she hissed, shaking the snow off her wings.

Taking to the skies, she began a counterattack, distracting Omega with varied sizes of snowballs and forcing him to try and fire directly upwards. The children, realizing that they had a powerful ally in Rouge, began to make new projectiles themselves and threw them at him from all sides, until Omega finally found that he was struggling to handle the attack.

As he began to turn the tide again, he realized suddenly that this was entirely due to Rouge’s absence…

...and of course that was when a shadow fell over him.

Followed by a giant pile of snow.

He flailed in the icy trap as he struggled to regain his bearings. Once he had managed to clamber halfway out of the snow, he saw Rouge hovering above him. Her wings struggled to hold her in the air as she laughed again, and he noticed sulkily that she was holding a sheet.

“Cheater.” he muttered, indignant at having been trapped in such an unflattering manner.

“Cheating?! From the guy who launched snowballs like missiles? Really?” she shouted down to him good-naturedly, shaking her head. “Talk about hypocritical, Omega.”

The E-series robot still insisted on having the last laugh, though- he had to get out somehow, so he powered on all of his fans at full blast to clear away the snow. And if everyone was standing too close to avoid the resulting icy shower, well then that was their problem.

After that, though, everyone had to go inside and dry themselves off. Organics couldn’t handle being wet and cold very well, and Omega didn’t like the idea of his circuitry being shorted out. He felt a great sense of satisfaction at having established his status as the cool one on the very first day, though.

He spent a little more time with the young ones after that, playing several rounds of a popular card game called One with them and stacking up all of the plus-fours. The robot showed no mercy even in games.

Several children, evidently impressed by his prowess (or perhaps just in awe of the fact that he was a giant robot) begged him for promises that he would play more tomorrow, to which he quickly agreed. Not long after, to everyone’s disappointment, the kids’ parents came and practically dragged them to the dinner table, having shouted their names four or five times by this point.

As he walked into the dining room, Omega surveyed the area, focusing for a moment on the glow that the many candles gave off on the table. Fire was always a nice touch.

Looking further, he noticed that the wooden table alone was a formidable piece of furniture, filling the largest room in the house and forcing some chairs to squeeze up against the wall just to make space. And that wasn’t even mentioning the feast laid out on top of it. Omega ignored that for now in favor of sitting down on one side of Rouge after he saw her at the table. Looking over to her other side, he noticed Shadow surveying the food spread out on the table with what most would consider a completely blank look.

Omega, however, had experience with analyzing Shadow’s facial expressions, and noted the slight tension in his face as well as the fact that he was fidgeting with his silverware. Both he and Rouge had a good idea as to why, too- Shadow didn’t need any of this.

The hybrid had been created with incredible physical resilience, able to withstand the most arduous of conditions. This included a significant lack of food. He actually ate only about three times a week, and even then he only consumed small meals. While it was about time for him to eat today, the fact that there would be even more food over the next couple of days seemed to have produced a conundrum for him.

If he ate now, he wouldn’t need to later, which could be quite awkward, particularly when everybody else would. Omega thought through the options and decided that there were three main paths he could take: eat now and not later, not eat now but do so later, or possibly attempt to eat a little on all three days.

Rouge seemed to have realized this as well. Leaning over to Shadow, she whispered, “Whatever you want to do is fine, hon. It’s okay if you eat a lot over these few days- everyone else here will too. If you don’t want to, though, that’s cool- just make sure you have something at some point, alright?”

The robot watched as Shadow relaxed slightly at her understanding words. The change was almost imperceptible, but he now sat back in his chair instead of forward, and he’d stopped adjusting his place setting.

Once everyone was seated and they’d given a quick toast, the family began to dig in. Shadow sat back and waited for everyone else to take some food first- a wise choice. Rouge, on the other hand, entered the rather impressive food frenzy with a voracity that her team members knew all too well- she often complained that one of her few vices (aside from gems and other sparkly objects) was food.

Omega took this time to survey what he could see of the dishes, interested in finding out for himself what a proper Wintersweek meal looked like. He saw two dishes that appeared to be some sort of poultry, as well as bowls of finger food that looked like they were filled with crickets and beetles. Various platters of cooked vegetables in every color of the rainbow covered the table, some with sliced fruit available as well. Loaves of bread in multiple shapes and sizes were scattered throughout the presentation, accented by artfully placed centerpieces.

Quite honestly, it looked impressive.

Rouge had a little bit of everything on her plate, and was currently digging into a buttery baked potato like she hadn’t eaten in weeks. Omega silently put his napkin next to her plate, the (sarcastic) message clear: You need this more than I do.

Shadow, meanwhile, had taken a little fruit, one piece of meat, and two slices of bread, but seemed very hesitant to eat much more than that. He looked to be quite invested in a conversation that several of the adults were having about their own teenage experiences, often leaning in slightly when a funny story came up.

Omega mostly kept an eye on his friends, while also half listening to the children talk about the latest video game that had become popular. It seemed to contain lots of fighting combined with some impressive storytelling, and the robot made a note of the game title for his own use later.

However, as he checked on Rouge again, making sure she hadn’t choked on her food, he noticed that she had left her plate to the side in favor of talking to her family about...wait.

Omega knew this story.

This was a story where he was walking through the halls of an abandoned underground hideout for a highly sophisticated ring of criminals (an assignment for their entire team). In which said diabolical criminals had installed multiple traps designed to keep people out. And these traps. Included magnets. That specifically messed up artificial intelligence.

Omega’s memory had been severely impaired by the event, but Shadow and Rouge told him later that they had discovered him stumbling around the main hub of the base, rambling out loud about things as ridiculous as current weather patterns and- he shuddered internally- kittens. He was eternally grateful for this memory loss, though, as the two had apparently, instead of taking this seriously, dissolved into helpless laughter on the spot.

Of course, they had taken him to Tails to get fixed up. But not until after Rouge had filmed another five minutes or so of him acting absolutely loopy while their laughter, punctuated with the occasional gasp for breath, filled the background.

And she was just getting to the part where they found him now-!

The E-series robot shot out of his chair and clamped a hand over Rouge’s mouth, turning his volume low and hissing “Don’t you dare.” in her ear.

Unfortunately, this only added to everyone else’s interest, as Rouge began to cackle loudly at Omega’s evident embarrassment and her memory of the event. “Tell us! Tell us!” Camellia (Rouge’s stepmother) cried out, clapping her hands and looking for all the world like a child who had just been handed a chocolate bar. 

“Help me, Shadow!” Rouge shouted through the steel grip on her face, slurring her words with laughter. The hybrid, happy to take a break from the crowded room and equally happy to shame Omega, pried the robot off of Rouge and somehow managed to drag him out of the room as everyone now leaned in to hear her finish the story.

“So we were really worried, right? Since we hadn’t heard anything? And then we-”

Shadow shut the door on her voice and smirked at Omega, but there was a tinge of real happiness in his expression. “It’s alright, Omega. She doesn’t actually want you to feel bad, you know.”

“That’s what you say.” he scoffed. “Rouge isn’t in there telling them about the time you didn’t eat for a month on a mission and then binge-”

“Alright, alright!” Shadow groaned. “I get it, but let’s let her have fun, alright? This is her family, after all.”

“Fine.” Omega grumbled. “But I will get you back for this.”

“Sure you will.” Shadow raised an eyebrow at him.

This led to a fierce staring match/arm-wrestling battle and subsequent argument over who won, immediately followed by Omega pulling out his phone and the two watching a recently popular obstacle course show. Of course, they both agreed that they could do far better than any of the contestants.

Eventually, though, as the evening wore on, the two joined back up with Rouge to head to their room. Shadow took a hot shower while Rouge changed into her favorite pajamas- they were soft and white with little pink hearts all over (her favorite colors). 

She yawned loudly just as the hybrid walked in, already wrapped in a blanket and pulling on some plain black nightwear. He didn’t really need it, but his fifty-year stint in what was essentially a superpowered freezer had left him with a distinct dislike for the cold.

Omega had already plugged into the outlet and begun to charge, but yet…”Why don’t I get a blanket?”

“What the heck d’ you want one for?” Rouge muttered, already exhausted. 

“Well, you both have them.” he muttered sulkily, glowering at them from his corner of the room.

The bat opened up the closet in the room, looking up at the top shelf. “Shadow, c’mere. I can’t reach this thing by myself.” 

He walked over quickly, not appearing to be tired at all. Omega, as always, knew better, and saw the fatigue from the long day that he tried to hide behind his “Ultimate Lifeform” title.

Rouge jumped onto his shoulders in a practiced movement, snatching a pale purple fluffy blanket from the shelf and flinging it half-heartedly at Omega. “There’s your blanket.” she declared, before jumping straight from Shadow to her bed.

She settled into her usual sleeping position, with her feet hooked over the headboard and her face and pillow about halfway down the bed. It wasn’t a typical behavior for most, but she was a bat, after all. “‘Night, guys.” she murmured, already half asleep.

Shadow carefully lifted his blankets and slid under them, trying to keep them as neat as possible. The hedgehog shifted into a half-curled position, displaying his quills to the world and protecting his vulnerable legs and chest. “Sleep well, Rouge. Goodnight, Omega.” he said softly, still trying to stay awake.

“Good night.” the robot replied.

Omega kept an eye on his teammates, the room lit only by a patch of moonlight from the window. He listened to Rouge’s slight snoring, and watched as Shadow’s eyes slowly closed and his breathing evened out.

The robot was always cautious about shifting into his own form of ‘sleep’, but reminded himself that this was not enemy territory. This was Rouge’s family’s house, and they were all safe.

Still, he watched his friends sleep peacefully for a while longer. Then, he selected low power mode from his menu of choices and allowed his eyes to go dark.

#shadow the hedgehog #rouge the bat #e 123 omega #team dark #team dark: a holiday special #thought i'd give rouge a big family to make up for shadow & omega having none #she still had a rough childhood though... #:( #90% of omega's 'contingency planning' was definitely fantasizing about awesome battle scenes #shadow is moderately sad as always #hope you enjoyed!! #sol's fanfiction