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elareine · 3 years

Note

If you could, can you please write JayTim or RoyTim (whichever one you want) trying to be romantic and woo Tim (maybe with some puns, I love puns), but Tim is a bit oblivious towards it, because the other is so cool, therefore they must be trying to make friends and be nice with him and nothing more. So when he does finally realize its an italicized "Oh" moment.

Hi lovely!! Thank you for waiting so patiently for this fill. I... ended up making it JayRoyTim, I hope that's okay? It just fit so well, but I can totally write something else with JayTim or RoyTim for you if you want :)

Also, it turned out to be about pick-up lines more than wooing, sorry. I might’ve gone overboard with googling the puns. It's long enough that I put it on ao3, too. What's your username on there? Then I'll gift it to you.

if you were a transformer (you’d be optimus fine)

“Well, here I am.”

Tim looks up, utterly confused. “I didn’t call for you, but… that’s… great?”

Roy waggles his eyebrows. It looks faintly disturbing. Redheads should maybe not do that. Or, actually, Tim revises mentally, thinking of literally every other redhead Dick ever dated—that’s just Roy. “What are your other two wishes?”

“Coffee and some silence to finish working this case?”

Roy looks weirdly deflated at that, but he does get him some coffee. Tim soon forgets about it.

—

(“How’d it go?”

“Does obliviousness run in the family?”

“Yes. Yes it does. Have you met Bruce?”

“…okay, fair. Your turn next.”)

—

“Jason? What’re you doing here?”

Sure, Jason and Roy have been spending a lot more time in Gotham lately. Something to do with a case, Tim assumes. Maybe even with the one that they worked on together in Star City five months ago?

Anyway. They’ve been around, is what Tim is saying. Not at the manor, but at Tim’s apartment and his workspace, cause apparently it’s not worth rebuilding their safe house after it went up in flames, and Bruce and Damian are too often at Dick’s place. He’s not exactly surprised to see either of them anymore. (Pleased, yes. But not surprised.) However, Tim has no fucking clue why Jason is currently grinning at him from the other side of the library desk.

At least Tim has the good sense to check his name tag before he gasps: “Jason?”

“Oh, hey, Tim.” Jason’s grinning. “Guess you figured out my new job, huh?”

“Yeah.” Tim shakes his head. “Color me surprised.” So this is what Jason’s spending his days doing. He’s gotta be shadowing someone, right? Tim’ll ask him tonight.

“I’ve always liked this place.” Jason’s gaze is far away for a moment. Tim badly wants to know what he’s remembering. Then the older man seems to come back to himself and gives Tim a weird—maybe angry?—look. “It’s a good thing I’m a librarian, too, cause I’m totally checking you out.”

“Alright, I can take a hint.” Tim grabs his book and demonstratively walks over to the self-service scanners. Really. How rude.

—

(“Are you telling me he managed to resist you in your cardigan?”

“Apparently.”

“Aww. C’mere, babe.”)

—

So Roy blows things up all the time. No, really, Tim now totally understands why Dick was so happy when he heard the duo is camping out at Tim’s place for a change. His older brother even gave Tim a thumbs-up, for God’s sake. He must’ve known.

Cause yeah, there’s at least one explosion every two days. Or Roy dropping something cause he’s too focused on what he’s thinking to remember what his hands are doing. Or something dropping on him. Jason seems used to it; he just catches whatever it is or laughs at Roy. Tim… is starting to learn to do the same, actually. Whatever Roy comes up with at that moment is usually worth it, and besides, he’s kinda adorable.

Aaaaaaanyway. (He’s using that word a lot in his own thoughts right now. Almost as if he’s avoiding thinking about something. Hmm.) Tim’s not surprised when Roy walks into a room, stumbles, and slaps a hand over his eyes with a dramatic exclamation.

Tim, in shorts and not much else cause he got drenched in pollen earlier, just raises an eyebrow. “Alright, Roy?”

“Nope.” Roy’s hand is still covering his face, but Tim can still see his grin underneath. “I’m gonna need your name and phone number for insurance purposes.”

“Roy. You have both of these things,” Tim explains slowly, wondering if Roy sustained a brain injury or accidentally dosed himself on something. “And why insurance?”

“I was blinded by your beauty.”

God. Sometimes Tim wonders about the original Titans and their socialization for the two dudes if this is how they think making friends works. Then again, Kori, Donna, and Dick probably appreciated constant compliments about their beauty. It all makes sense. Roy must be so used to it that he even uses those same methods when someone unexceptional like Tim is around.

He smiles gamely. “I’m looking forward to hearing that phone call. Must be almost as great as the time Bruce tried to convince his insurance company that Clark dropping on his car wasn’t an act of God because God is demonstrably not a Kryptonian. Neither was the giant ape punching Clark out.”

Roy drops his hand at that. “…Batman did what?”

—

(“You were doing so well, too.”

“I knoooow. How much more obvious can we get?”

“I dunno, but I intend to try.”)

—

“Do you like Star Wars? Because Yoda only one for me!”

“Haha. No. Star Trek or die.” Tim’s answer is automatic. He’s had these discussions soooo many times with Kon before. Of course Jason also goes for the space cowboy soap opera.

Besides, Jason’s boyfriend is standing right next to him. He doesn’t mean to sound flirtatious with Tim. Or maybe he does, and it’s just good fun? Or maybe teasing him? Tim can’t figure it out, but he knows he doesn’t like the weird hollow feeling he gets in his stomach when he thinks about it, so he changes the topic.

And makes both of them sit down to watch some classic Captain Kirk, of course.

—

(“Should I be insulted by that pick up line?”

“Nah. There aren’t that many lines that imply a polycule, though.”

A kiss. “Alright.”)

—

One of the things Jason and Tim have in common is their predilection for motorbikes and fiddling around with them. Not that makes them unique in the batclan; Tim has never spent days quietly working side-by-side with Dick, though, the way he does with Jason. They started out with separate projects. Then Jason saw this vintage Ducati at an abandoned warehouse he was about to blow up and, well… Would be a shame, right? Tim just happens to have had one of these before—regrettably lost to one of Harley’s exploding baseball bats—so he offers his expertise.

It’s not because it means bending over the engine with Jason, closer than they ever are, their hands brushing when they hand each other instruments. It’s not.

Roy doesn’t join them. He’s too polite to say so, but he finds normal cars and bikes boring af. Doesn’t stop him from popping his head into the garage and whistling when he sees that they are shirtless and covered in grease. It’s a damn good look on Jason, so Tim can’t fault him for that.

Roy follows it up with a: “Are you a parking ticket? Cause you got fine written all over you.”

Tim can’t help it; he blushes at the suggestive tone. Those two never stop flirting with each other, do they? So far, he has managed to avoid stumbling over them while they’re making out (not that they’re making that easy—the kitchen? Really?), and he’d like to keep avoiding that, thank you very much. He’s already feeling guilty enough for his fantasies as it is.

“Uh. I should clean up,” he mumbles and flees.

—

(“Dammit.”

“…do you think that was a rejection?”

“Nah. He was definitely checking me out before you came and fucked it up.”

“That’s saying something if you noticed it.”

“What’s that supposed to mean?”)

—

So Tim has magically acquired cat ears and a very fluffy tail. Don’t ask. They’re gonna go away in eight hours, and until then, he’s gonna stay in the cave and work himself to distraction. Jason seems intent on keeping him company, though.

(It’s nice. Tim loves hanging out with Jason—that’s not the problem. The issue is that Tim is looking ridiculous, and Jason is being nice about it, and none of this is helping his stupid crush go away.)

They’re absently chatting about nothing until Jason says: “Kinda a pity you’re a cat, though.”

Tim looks up. Huh? Admittedly, he never pegged Jason as the type to go for catboys (though maybe… he did hang out with Kyle… perhaps it’s just that he definitely doesn’t go for Tims), but that’s still a weird pronouncement.

Jason is grinning. “If you were a chicken, you’d be impeccable.” He pauses. “Wait. Like even more than you already are. Uh.”

Tim sighs. Great. And now Jason is making fun of him again. “Whatever.”

—

(“A chicken?”

“Shut up. I panicked.” A sigh. “He was so cute with these ears.”

“…yeah, he was.”)

—

“You must be tired. You’ve been running through my mind all night.”

“I’m not tired,” Tim says automatically. Why does everyone keep asking him that tonight? Surely the shadows under his eyes can’t be that bad? He used concealer!

Something in Roy’s expression softens. “Aww. C’mere.” He pats the space on the couch next to him, and when Tim sits down, Roy pulls him half of on top of him and into a hug. “Relax for a bit, little bird.”

Tim sinks into the embrace, boneless all of a sudden. Roy just has that effect on him. Tim vaguely remembers thinking of him as his oldest brother’s cool friend and then Jason’s cool boyfriend, kind of a fuckboy but clearly good for Jay.

Now? Now, Roy just makes him feel safe.

—

(“So you spent the night on the couch just so he could sleep in your arms?”

“Yeah. Totally worth it.”

“Duh.”

“I just wish we could do that with him every night. Bet he fits perfectly between us.”

“Yeah.”

A pause.

“We might have to up the ante or switch tactics.”)

—

They’re talking about their favorite books—Tim doesn’t read as much as Jason does, but they discovered a shared love of sci-fi weeks ago—when Tim says: “Actually, that book kinda reminds me of you.”

“Oh?”

“Overly dramatic but good.”

Jason makes an offended noise, and Tim grins.

“I’m not sure which part I should argue about first.” Jason pretends to think.

Tim is always down to tell Jason that fuck his self-perception—Jason is a good man, one of the best Tim knows; that also feels too revealing right now. Instead, he gets up from their comfortable position on the couch and grabs the first stack on the table, carrying them over to the shelves to replace the gaps. “What kind of book would I be?”

“Babe, if you were words on a page, you’d be fine print.”

“Annoying and no one reads it?” Tim asks without turning around, trying to ignore the babe. That’s. That’s gotta be a slip of the tongue, right? Force of habit from spending so much time with Roy?

“No, fine,” and the emphasis is clear this time. Jason continues before Tim can reply: “Though if we’re talking books…”

Tim whirls around. “Save it. You don’t have to make fun of me just because I—“He swallows down the words.

Jason looks alarmed. “Tim—“

As if he can smell trouble, Roy chooses that moment to enter the room. Tim has barely heard him approach, Jesus. He doesn’t want to have this argument in front of Roy, though, so he just stands there in the middle of the room. Jason, too, has stopped speaking.

Roy, of course, takes one look at the awkwardness and decides to make it worse. Or more confusing.

“Did you just come out of the oven?” he asks.

“As this isn’t Hansel and Gretel, no, I didn’t.” Tim checks his shirt, just in case this is an actual conversation opener and not just a weird attempt at a distraction. “Do I have soot on me?”

“Nope.” Roy shakes his head, and he’s smiling that smile again, the one Tim is startled to recognize, the one he thought is reserved only for Jason— “Because you’re hot.”

And finally, Tim gets it. “Me?”

“Yes, Tim.” Roy’s moving in closer. “You.”

There’s a soft touch to Tim’s shoulder, and Tim whirls around, expecting Jason to be mad, cause his boyfriend is—is hitting on Tim, right, that’s what’s happening, Jason can’t be happy—

Jason is smiling down at him. His hand is still resting on Tim’s shoulder, but it slides down to his collar bone, a gentle presence as he murmurs: “You’re so beautiful that you made forget my pick up line.”

Oh. Oh.

Tim says the first thing he can think of: “Are you a raisin?”

Jason starts grinning. “I’m not even gonna qualify that with an answer.”

Tim smiles back. “Cause you’re raising my hopes for a kiss right about now.”

And he gets one. And then another, and then Roy joins in, kissing Tim’s neck and then his mouth and—Yeah.

They’re too busy for any more pick up lines right now.

#elareine writes #jayroytim

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whatareyousearchingfordean · 3 years

Text

Happiness Continues

Part 11: The Delivery

Summary: Jensen and Y/n welcome their newest addition to this world.

Pairing: Jensen Ackles x Plus Size Reader

Word Count: 7.2K+

Warnings: Language, angst, descriptions of labor and birth

Author’s Note: Baby Ackles is finally ready to make their first appearance. If you have been following this story since the beginning, you may want to grab a tissue, there just might be some tears (happy tears tho). Also, I will preface this chapter by saying I have never been pregnant nor given birth so please don’t @ me with any inaccuracies, I tried my dudes. Special thanks to my loves for the constant undeserved support and my devoted beta @emoryhemsworth xoxo Alex

Catch up with the series masterlist and then check out Alexandra’s Library for more by yours truly!

The winter sun had long ago dipped underneath the horizon, the night bringing a new level of quiet to the residential corner where the birthing center was located. Inside birthing suite two, the only soft light came from the LED strips that followed the length of the walls at the base and ceiling. Currently, they were tuned low and blue, the light mixing with the neutral decor in a way that made her feel like she was underwater.

Curled on her side in the queen-sized bed, Y/n watched out the window on the opposite wall. Through the sheer curtain, the center’s garden could be visualized. It expanded a few hundred yards until the treeline of the nearby forest began. In silence, she watched the water trickle from the stone fountain in the center. It had been turned off for the season, but the rain that had fallen earlier in the evening still clung to the piece, each drop falling in a slow rhythmic pattern.

Y/n found it more soothing than what the fountain had looked like last summer when they had first toured the place. She assumed if she was laboring in spring or summer, walking the trails in the garden would be something she found herself doing, even late in the evening as it was currently. But that was a dream she had let go of as the temperature dropped. All she had now was the counting of each drop in between contractions.

The instinct to hold her breath took over as the next contraction washed over her, the sharp inhale of breath alerting the dozing man next to her. Y/n closed her eyes and focused on taking deep breaths, trying to ground herself to the moment. Fingers pressed into her lower back, one on either side of her spine, applying counter-pressure to the contraction.

“Harder,” her word was weak, even in the quiet room. The pressure increased instantly, helping her to focus back on breathing through the contraction. It felt like a lifetime later when the pain began to subside before eventually tapering off. The sheets shuffled in the dark behind her before she felt an arm wrap around her abdomen.

“Where are you at?” Jensen’s voice broke into the room as he pulled her tight against his chest.

“I don’t know,” she admitted, her gaze back on the fountain outside. “Trying to be anywhere but here.”

“Is there anything I can do for you?”

“Birth our child?” she tried, unable to stop the smile from creeping up on her face. If there was one thing Y/n didn’t handle well, it was being in pain. She would put back up every wall that anyone had become successful in tearing down, choosing to stew in silence. It was a defense mechanism she had perfected long ago. Never let them see you sweat. Unfortunately, that also meant that she tended to get mean, keeping it all bottled up until she exploded like a shaken can of soda. She truly wished right then that she had a catheter in her back delivering the good meds to her lower body, but she had committed long ago to do this as naturally as possible, her comfort be damned.

“As soon as they figure out how to do that, I’ve got you, babe,” Jensen chuckled behind her, close enough for her to feel his breath on her neck. She nodded in unfortunate understanding, her hand coming to rest atop her husband’s where it lay on her belly.

“Actually, could you top off my water bottle?” Y/n spoke back up after a moment of content silence.

“Of course. Ice?” He questioned, already climbing from the bed to grab her bottle on the nightstand near her.

“Please,” she confirmed.

“Be back in a flash,” Jensen pressed a quick kiss to her forehead before leaving the room to get ice from the main kitchen in the birthing center. A sigh left her mouth as she pulled herself into a semi-sitting position on the bed and grabbed her phone from where it lay charging. There was a mix of messages in her notifications, all from friends and family with varying messages of encouragement. She appreciated the gesture but to be honest, what Y/n wanted more than anything was to not have all the attention on her. It was yet another symptom of being uncomfortable. Her solace lay in the simple fact that she was not expected to answer any of the messages she received, considering she was in labor and all. Forgetting why she even grabbed the device in the first place, Y/n noted the time and tossed it back on the nightstand.

It was officially after midnight. Well, technically it was almost twelve-thirty which meant it was Jensen’s birthday. Y/n had found it funny when he had called his mother earlier to let her know that the baby was coming, Jensen had made his stupid joke only to have his face fall when Donna had laughed a little too hard. Her husband was caught up thinking about his mother and teasing the older woman that it didn’t even cross his brain what Y/n going to labor meant for him. Now, as she found herself nearly seven centimeters dilated as the clock turned into the new day, it seemed their baby would share its birthday with their father.

Jensen came back then, breaking her out of her thoughts but unable to knock the warm smile from her face. He walked around to her side and perched on the edge of the bed, one leg tucked under him as he faced her. Y/n took a drink of the cool liquid, relishing in the calm it brought her.

“What is that smile about?” He had an equally bright smile of his own, unable to contain it as he watched his wife.

“Nothing just… happy birthday,” the pregnant woman shrugged in her seat, her eyes casting down to wear her hands now cradled her bump.

“Yeah, it is,” he agreed, his heart feeling so whole when he thought about it that it felt as though it might burst from his ribcage. There was so much love for the woman in front of him, he didn’t know what to do with it. It scared him sometimes. It didn’t matter what was happening at the moment, but he could look at her and he would forget for a second that the world existed outside them and all he knew was that she made everything okay. His heart would skip a beat so fast he barely noticed and the urge to cry became overwhelming. Only this time, he refused to fight it, allowing a few tears to well up in his eyes.

“What’s this about?” Y/n sat up, concern now etched into her features as she brought herself close enough to her husband that she could wipe away the single tear that had escaped down his cheek with her thumb. She had caught sight of it, of course, even in the low light of the room. In the few silent seconds that he sat there smiling, she felt warm under his stoic gaze, unsure of what was going on in that head of his. Jensen shook his head, his smile still not faltering.

“I love you,” he said simply.

“I love you, too,” Y/n agreed, her concern melting away and taking with it the crease in her brow. Her husband cradled her face in his hands, pulling her face up to press his lips to hers. He poured every emotion that was currently making him dizzy into that kiss, afraid that if he didn’t, she would never know. But she did know, and though Y/n didn’t need more than those three words, she couldn’t deny him the release he so evidently needed. The desperation seeped from his every pore as his lips brushed against hers, unwilling to part until the need for air overtook everything else.

A gentle knock on the door snapped his brain back down to Earth. Jensen released his hold on her face, watching as it took her a second longer to open her eyes once they parted. He cleared his throat before calling out.

“Come in.”

Their midwife, Melek, snuck into the room, not making a sound as she closed the door behind her. She turned the lights up just a touch, giving the couple a warning beforehand.

“Hey, I’m just back to check your progress,” she snatched a pair of gloves from their place in one of the drawers and came to the side of the bed Jensen was still perched on. He moved out of her way as Y/n scooted down the bed slightly. Melek asked Y/n how she was feeling as she went about her work. The midwife listened and nodded along to everything she explained.

“Well, we are getting very close. Based on how you’ve progressed so far, this baby could be here in the next couple of hours. You are going to start feeling the urge to push soon, might feel like you have to poop, don’t ignore that or any other changes you notice.” Melek stood from the bed and tossed her gloves before washing her hands. She made a note on the whiteboard in the room before coming back over to the couple.

“You are welcome to continue relaxing, whatever feels best. However, if you feel up to it, I would suggest taking a walk in the garden. I know it’s cold and late, but it will help to energize you before the big work starts.”

“Thank you. Is that safe?” Y/n was adjusting her nightgown back into place as she talked.

“Yes, if you choose to take a walk, I would go now. No longer than twenty minutes outside and I will be back in another hour,” Their midwife confirmed. The couple nodded in acknowledgment of her words, offering her more words of ‘thanks’ as she exited the suite.

“Well, what do you think, momma?” Jensen put his hands on his hips as he looked down at her.

“Couldn’t hurt,” Y/n shrugged. She offered him an innocent smile. “Help me put on my shoes?”

“Deal.”

****

A low groan emanated from her chest as she battled through her current contraction. Her hands were locked around Jensen’s neck as she rested her head on his shoulder. The actor was rocking her back and forth, once again applying counterpressure to her lower back.

“Oh god, I feel nauseous,” Y/n breathed out as the contraction subsided. She let up on the weight she had been putting on her husband.

“That’s normal though, right?”

“Yeah, I was just venting,” she let the air out of her lungs rush past her lips. “I don’t expect you to do anything about it.” Her words were clipped as they tumbled from her mouth before she could stop them. The laboring woman cringed as she felt her husband stiffen underneath her. The soda had popped. Her movements were hesitant as she raised her head to look at him, regret written across her face.

“I’m so sorry.”

“It’s okay, you are allowed to do whatever you want to me today.” The smile that graced his lips was tight, but she suspected it was more from the exhaustion than anything. She could see the heaviness in his eyes.

“No, it’s not. Come on, yell at me. Tell me you don’t need that shit because you were just trying to be helpful,” she pleaded with him, the guilt heavy in her chest.

“You want me to pick a fight with you while you are in labor?” Amusement was heavy in his words.

“Yeah, please? I deserve it. You are being far too nice to me.”

“It’s not happening. Sorry, babe.” Y/n growled in frustration, causing her husband to throw his head back and laugh.

The sound of yet another knock had her releasing her grip on her husband as she called the midwife in. It was time for the hourly check of her labor progression, a task that Y/n had grown a distinct distaste for. As the hours came and went and it felt like nothing was happening, it all just felt pointless. At this point, she was begging this kid to come out.

Melek made quick work of the check, a smile on her face after when she pulled off her gloves. “Seems as though it’s time, momma. You are fully dilated. How are you feeling?”

“Uh,” Y/n shared a look with her husband as their midwife headed over to the tub on the opposite side of the room and started the water. She gave a quick synopsis of what had happened in the last hour before asking, “Are we pushing now?”

“We can start. Sounds like you’ve already had some urges to. Right now it’s about listening to your body and what it’s telling you. I’m going to grab the nurse while you get in the water.” Melek left the water running and the couple dumbstruck.

“Okay, I guess this is happening,” Y/n scoffed, allowing her husband to help her from the bed. He stripped down to his boxer briefs while she slipped off the gown she was wearing, leaving her as naked as the day she was born. Jensen helped her into the tub and down to sit between his legs. As the water reached its max level, he stopped the tap and urged her to sit back against his chest.

True to her word, Melek was back in no time with a nurse and everything else they would need. They flourished around the room, getting ready as yet another contraction hit. Y/n’s grip on her husband tightened, her mind focused on one thing now. Jensen was whispering in her ear, helping to guide her breaths. Y/n gave in to the urge to push, more than ready now to have this over with. The pattern was quick and repeated itself again, and then again, and again.

The time clicked away on the clock on the far wall, each passing minute mocking the laboring woman as it turned over the hour. If she had thought she was exhausted before, it was nothing compared to how she felt now. Sweat dripped from her forehead, small tendrils of hair that had fallen from the bun on top of her head stuck to her flushed skin. She dropped her head onto her husband’s shoulder, soft pants passing her lips as she tried to relax before the next contraction hit.

Only it didn’t take long, the pain returning before she even had time to think. The contraction had her doubling in on herself, concentrating on bearing down. Her scream originated low in her chest, the sound of it low as it echoed out in the room. Y/n knew that Melek was coaching her, but she couldn’t hear the words anymore, her body too far spent.

“I can’t,” As the contraction dissipated, she threw her head back and hid her face in the crook of Jensen’s neck.

“You can, Y/n. Your body was made to do this,” Melek encouraged, a hand on the poor woman’s shoulder. Y/n swatted it away as she let out another sob.

“No, I can’t. I’m too tired,” her shoulders shook as she let it all out. Jensen turned and placed a kiss on her temple.

“Honey, if anyone can do this it’s you,” he whispered in her ear. “I know you’re tired and that means you are ready to quit, but you can’t, not yet. Just think about holding our baby in your arms, you are so close.”

Another sob shook through her as she indicated her disagreement with his words. She wanted to believe him, she wanted to believe him so badly it hurt but Y/n had never felt so defeated in her life. This was finally it and she couldn’t do it.

“Look at me, Y/n.” He waited for her eyes to open and focus on him. “You can and you will. I’m right here, I’ve got you. You are gonna push this baby out and we are gonna love it so much all this will be a distant memory. Nothing else will matter but the life we created.”

“You drive a hard bargain,” she hiccuped out with a laugh. Jensen chuckled along with her, offering another kiss to her temple. They nodded at each other, silent words being passed between them just before the next contraction hit. This time she put all her energy behind it, refusing now to be defeated. It was far from easy, but only she could do it now.

She couldn’t be sure how many contractions later it happened, the only thing she was sure of was the instant relief that washed over her body. Her eyes snapped open as Melek pulled her gook covered baby from the warm water of the tub, holding up its long body so both her and Jensen could see.

“It’s a boy!” Melek announced, placing the infant against Y/n’s bare chest. It all happened in a second and Y/n was holding her son in her arms. Jensen was peppering her face with kisses and muttering soft praises, his arms wrapped around her and helping the nurse wipe the baby clean. More sobs racked her body as soft cries came from the tiny body in her arms. Everything felt like too much like her whole being was vibrating on some new frequency she didn’t yet understand. It was invigorating and terrifying at the same time.

“I told you!” Y/n turned to look at her husband, the sobs that had been shaking through her now intermixed with soft laughter.

“Yeah, you did, babe. I’ll promise to never question you again,” the smile on his face grew as soon as he realized what she was talking about. The giggles coming from his wife seemed to seep into him and soon he was laughing along with her.

Y/n feigned a scoff, chuckles still seeping past her lips and a beautiful smile on her lips. “Don’t make promises you can’t keep, Ackles.”

“Wouldn’t dream of it.”

****

It took a while before anyone was able to pry her son from her arms and even then, she refused to give up to anyone besides Jensen. It wasn’t that she didn’t trust the nurse or midwife, she just felt that if she gave him up, the feeling in her chest would go with him. Only the soft voice of her husband was able to coax her out of the bubble she had wrapped herself into. Reluctantly, she handed the infant off to her husband who passed him on to be weighed and measured.

The nurse was then able to help her out of the tub and into the shower, washing away the remnants of her son’s birth from her body. In that short amount of time, she ached to hold her son again. Her mind couldn’t focus on anything besides him, and it pissed her off. She didn’t feel in control of herself, consumed by the maternal instincts now flooding her neurons.

When she emerged from the bathroom, Jensen was propped up against the headboard, his legs casually crossed at the ankle in front of him. Discarded still at the foot of the bed was his shirt he had peeled away before they had gotten into the tub, but he had slipped his Nike joggers back on his tall frame. His large hands dwarfed their son, who was only in a diaper, where Jensen held him against his chest. The couple shared a smile before she made her way over to him, climbing gingerly into the bed next to her husband and son. Y/n curled herself into his side as the nurse left them to be alone.

“Nine pounds and seven ounces, twenty-one inches long,” Jensen smirked down at the sleeping infant. Y/n choked out a breath, her jaw dropping open in the process.

“Jesus, I’m never gonna be the same,” she blew out a breath. The tired woman laid her head against her husband’s shoulder, her eyes never leaving her sleeping child. She could feel her husband shaking softly with laughter. Mostly, she was just as amused as him, but on the other hand, she wasn’t kidding.

As she settled into her spot, their son began to stir, his face scrunching into a frown. Jensen moved quickly, pulling the kid away and offering him to his mother.

“What, the first time he even indicates he might cry and you immediately hand him over to me?” Y/n leans away from her husband, a confused frown etched into her features.

“Uh, yeah, I don’t have the goods,” the Texan flicked his eyes down at her chest before looking back at her face. He had one eyebrow raised and a smirk on his face.

“Okay, how do you even know he’s hungry? Maybe he needs to be changed?”

“He’s fresh out of the womb and hasn’t eaten anything, you do the math,” Jensen held him out again. Y/n rolled her eyes for effect when the truth was she couldn’t wait to get her hands on that baby again.

“Well go get the midwife, I don’t know what I’m doing here,” Y/n tilted her head towards the door. She had one hand cradling the infant and her other was working to pull her gown away from her chest.

“Right,” he bounded from the bed, grabbing his shirt as he went and pulling it over his head. The door barely had time to shut behind him before he was returning, Melek in tow. The midwife was more than helpful, guiding Y/n and her baby through their first feeding. It took them a few tries before it seemed like they finally got the hang of it. Melek left them again to the peace of the early morning.

The sun had yet to breach the horizon but that didn’t stop the birds from putting on a show outside. Jensen had climbed back into bed with his family, situating himself as close as possible to his wife. It gave him the best vantage to watch the miracle they had created. He rested his hand on the baby’s head, rubbing his thumb across the infant’s hair.

Y/n didn’t even bother averting her gaze as her husband nestled into her side. She was far too transfixed on her son. Every emotion felt magnified a thousand times since she gave birth, to the point where she felt like she might burst. It was hard to sort through them, the exhaustion of her body not helping at all. Now, as she stared down at the precious life she and Jensen had created, the only thing she felt was calm. His eyes were closed as he fed, the soft gurgles and breaths he let out the only noise in the suite.

“He’s perfect,” she mumbled to no one in particular, she just felt it needed to be said.

“He really is,” Jensen agreed. “I had no doubt, which is why I got you this.” Y/n tore her eyes away then as Jensen procured a long velvet case from behind him. He offered the object to Y/n who took it with her free hand.

“What is this? It’s your birthday today, not mine,” she tried arguing.

“Just open it, you dork. Besides, you’ve already given me the best gift I could ever have,” Jensen urged her to open it. His eagerness washed off him as he smiled at her, his hand back on his son’s head.

Being careful to not jostle the child eating in her arms, Y/n used both hands to flip open the case. Laying against a dark cushion inside was a gold bracelet with a row of seven round stones in the center. She caught the card that was placed inside when it tried to fall away, reading the small paragraph.

‘Customised with seven beautifully crafted semi-precious stones amidst a string of shimmering beads. Each stone is traditionally associated with various characteristics that also typify those born in that particular month – The March birthstone is Aquamarine, which has a pale blue appearance and symbolizes honesty, loyalty, and happiness.’

The tears fell from her eyes as she read, threatening to turn into full-blown sobs. Y/n sniffed as her emotions continued to get the better of her, using the end of the blanket to wipe the wetness from her cheeks. Happiness. There wasn’t anything she could think of better to describe how she was feeling. It was indescribable happiness that had begun on that New Year’s Eve two years ago and continues through the life she now held in her arms. It was happiness she feared she would never get to experience, and yet, here she was.

“Jay, this is beautiful. But how-”

“I ordered one for February too, can’t be too careful,” he answered before she could ask, earning a giggle from his wife. “You really like it?”

“Honey, I love it. I can’t imagine a more perfect gift.”

“Here,” Jensen pushed away from the headboard and offered his hand to take the case from her. She handed it back to him, allowing him to take the delicate bracelet from its setting. He urged her to raise her arm, making quick work of clasping the piece of jewelry around her right wrist. “There, perfect.”

“Perfect,” she agreed.

****

The midwife cleared Y/n and the baby to go home just before noon that day. They had spent less than twenty-four hours in the birthing center, but as she dressed her son to go home she couldn’t help but feel like she was going to miss it. That stupid little room now held so much meaning to her, and she hated it. The exhaustion and hormones were making her stupidly sentimental.

As they turned into their driveway, Jensen was forced to pull their SUV into the yard since the entirety of their driveway was filled with cars. He hopped out of the driver’s seat to help Y/n from the car before grabbing the car seat with their son inside. Her husband allowed her to waddle along in front of him, a smirk on his lips when she looked over her shoulder before opening the gate to their home.

Across the stone courtyard, she could see their family all huddled in front of the expansive window that saw into their living room. Everyone waved excitedly as the new family made their way towards the house. Y/n took in the faces of her and Jensen’s parents, along with her brothers and their families. Jensen’s siblings were too far out to make it right now, but even still Y/n was surprised to see her brothers. Donna and Alan had come down as soon as they called to let them know Y/n was in labor, staying in their guestroom for the coming week to help the new parents adjust. She expected her parents too, even though they couldn’t stay longer than the night, rooming in Jared’s guesthouse and leaving in the morning. But yeah, her brothers were a surprise.

The family was greeted and the door, an array of excited faces welcoming them home. Someone had hung a ‘congratulations’ banner, with a matching ‘happy birthday’ one just below it. Everyone wrapped the new mother up in a tight embrace before passing her along to the next family member while the kids swarmed Jensen and the baby. It took quite some convincing from the parents to quiet down the little ones, all excited to meet their new cousin and forgetting that they needed to chill out as he was sleeping currently.

“Alright,” Jared’s voice broke above the commotion of multiple conversations. “As the godfather and the whole reason this child even exists, I call dibs on holding him first!” He looked to his sister, his brows high on his forehead as he waited for her answer.

“You all are going to get a turn, I don’t care who goes first. But stop saying you are the reason he exists, it’s weird… ” She waved him on before adding, “and don’t forget the sanitizer.”

Jensen lifted the car seat to the island as Jared bounced over to him. He literally was bouncing on the balls of his feet, his sister rolling her eyes as she followed behind him. The giant of a man moved delicately as he pulled the sleeping infant from the car seat. If she had thought her son looked small in her husband’s arms, it had nothing on how he looked compared to Jared. He took the newborn over to sit on the couch, all the cousin’s swarming him in no time.

“You need anything?” Jensen put his hand on her lower back to bring her attention from their family to him.

“A water?” She suggested as she looked over to him, knowing she would need it sooner rather than later. He nodded and turned to grab a water bottle for her. A soft ‘oh’ had her turning her head back towards her husband. Jensen stepped out of the way to show her their freezer full of Tupperware of different foods.

“We all made a few things for the freezer. I know Donna is staying with you for a little while, but once she is gone, you’ll thank me,” Y/n’s mother appeared next to her.

“Thanks, mom,” Once again she found herself fighting back the tears as she pulled her mother into a tight embrace. Sharon ran her hands up and down her daughter’s back as the younger woman refused to let go. Half of it was not wanting to let go, the other half was hiding her tears in the black sweater her mother wore. When she finally relented, Jensen was standing there with a tissue. He offered it to his wife who took it with a sheepish smile before he also hugged his mother-in-law.

The group in the kitchen returned to the living room where the rest of the family was, fussing over the baby. Jensen sat down in his chair near the fireplace that was angled to where the rest of the family was on or near the couch. He grabbed his wife’s wrist and pulled down along with him, situating her into his lap. The new mother fidgeted in her seat, struggling to get comfortable.

“Would you stop that?” Jensen’s voice was low in her ear as he squeezed her legs in a vain attempt to hold her still.

“I-,” She shifted again with a soft sigh before turning to whisper in his ear. “I’m very sore down there, and your legs are not the most comfortable right now.” His lips formed a thin line as he nodded. Before she could say anything else, he lifted and moved them both so she was situated in between him and the side of the chair, effectively taking the pressure off of her sensitive area.

“Better?”

“God yes,” she huffed before snuggling into his side. The couple watched content as their family traded their son around. The looks of amazement from the kids and the near tears from the adults filled her heart more than she imagined it could have ever been before. Just when she thought it was full, it somehow found room for more love and happiness.

“So, have you two decided on a name yet?” Sharon spoke up as he was passed to her. The older woman was gently bouncing on her feet, her husband peering over her shoulder.

The new parents shared a look, unsure which of them should answer the question to the information they had filled out in his birth certificate just before leaving for home. Everyone had been asking since they got the news he was officially here, though the couple didn’t have an answer as they struggled to come up with something. Jensen tilted his head to her, signaling that she should answer.

“Yes, after an agonizing two hours of staring at him and willing him to tell us what his name should be, we finally picked one,” Y/n explained, her husband chuckling next to her at the memory of her talking to him as he slept. “His name is Ezra Jay Ackles.”

There were murmured compliments and agreements that the name more than fit the little bundle of joy they had just welcomed into their family. Sharon passed Ezra on to his other grandmother, the woman giddy as she took over baby holding duty. Ezra had woken up by now, his dark eyes searching and unsure of the commotion around him, but he had yet to fuss.

“Did you go with Jay because he looks just like Jensen?” she questioned, not taking her eyes off the infant in her arms.��

“Ugh don’t remind me,” Y/n huffed, her face scrunched up at her mother-in-law’s words.

“Hey, I thought you liked the way I looked,” Jensen pouted next to her, but she could see the twinkle in his eye.

“That’s not the point. It would be just my luck that I carried him for nine months, was in labor for over eighteen hours while also needing to feed him every two hours, for him to look just like his dad. Where’s the justice in that?” Y/n frowned as her family laughed at her confession.

“Welcome to my world,” Gen piped up. “All of them, little clones of their dad.” The Padalecki women all nodded in agreement to that sentiment, much to the annoyance of their husbands.

“Hey, the Padalecki genes are strong, we can’t help it,” Jared protested, making Jensen throw his head back in laughter.

“If that’s true then I guess the Ackles genes are even stronger,” the new father countered, earning a shove from his wife.

“Alright you two, put the rulers away,” her joke got the rest of the room cackling at the boys’ expense. That satisfied the woman more than she would ever admit.

Not long after the reveal of their baby’s name, the family began to pack things up and head out. It had been a busy and tiring twenty-four hours for the new little family, and their loved ones headed out to give them some peace. Once everyone was gone, Alan offered to go to the store and grab something to whip up for dinner, leaving just Donna with the new parents.

“Y/n, honey, why don’t you go lay down. I know you haven’t really slept since yesterday,” Donna piped up, noting how the woman’s eyes were getting heavy. She was curled up on the couch next to her husband who was holding their son once again. Donna was picking up the mess left by the family.

“Mmm that sounds good but he will have to feed soon, I should just stay here,” Y/n answered with a hum. She couldn’t deny, a nap sounded wonderful but everything was about Ezra and his needs now.

“Couldn’t we just give him a bottle?” Jensen asked, earning a shake of the head from both of the women in the room.

“No, if you guys are committed to breastfeeding, she’s got to get her milk supply in and the best way to do that is for him to feed. Also, there is nipple confusion,” Donna stated matter of fact with Y/n nodding along the whole time.

“Nipple confusion?” Jensen looked to his wife, confusion written all over his face. The term sounded familiar to the actor, but he couldn’t for the life of him come up with a definition.

“It means that Ezra could get confused between the bottle and the breast, and the concern is that he would prefer the bottle,” Y/n explained, her hand absentmindedly running along her son’s cheek.

Jensen nodded in understanding and shrugged, “Not if he’s my son.”

The new mother reared back in confusion. “Why?” was the only thing Y/n could say after she and Donna looked at him with equal disgust and disappointment. Jensen grimaced under their looks before she continued. “Your mother is in the room.”

“I’m sorry, I’m sorry, Mom, I don’t know why I said it,” the look of shame on his face morphed into fear as he prepared for a scolding, but that moment never came. Instead, Donna stood and walked over to where they were seated.

“Alright, give me the kid,” the older Mrs. Ackles reached out for her grandson. Jensen gave him up without question. “Both of you need to sleep. Don’t worry, I will come and get you if he gets hungry.”

“It’s best not to argue with her when she makes that face,” Jensen muttered under his breath, but not so quiet that his mother didn’t hear him. She raised her brow at him, an action that was remarkably similar to the one Jensen often emulated.

“I’ll take your word for it,” Y/n agreed, allowing her husband to help her to her feet. Jensen gave his mom a quick peck on the cheek in passing as he pulled his wife along with him to their bedroom.

Inside the curtains were still drawn from when they had left yesterday, only a small sliver of light peeking into the room from its edges. Neither of them bothered with changing, knowing it was too much work for now. Instead, Jensen just turned down the bed, allowing them to slip under the cool covers. He settled into the pillows, lifting his arm to invite her back to his side. Of course, she obliged, snuggling into his chest with one hand placed where she could feel the steady beat of his heart under her fingertips.

Jensen wrapped his arm around her, his hand resting against her arm, rubbing soft circles against her skin. He stared up at the ceiling in the semi-dark room, watching the spinning blades of their ceiling fan make countless revolutions. His mind was racing, all the emotions of the last day starting to get to him now that he had nothing else to focus on.

Y/n was silent as well, but he knew she hadn’t fallen asleep yet, her body still too tense to have fully succumbed to the exhaustion. If he wanted to ever get some shut-eye, he knew he had to get some things off his chest. He needed to let go.

“You know what this reminds me of?” There was a gruff undertone to his voice, yet it still managed to be soft as he sought to not startle his wife. She hummed in response, letting him know she was listening. “Our first night together. Well, after… everything.”

“How so?” Y/n shifted so she could have a better view of her husband who now had her full attention.

“I couldn’t sleep then either. Too much going on in my head,” Jensen took a deep breath, his eyes still on the ceiling as he continued. “I kind of have this tendency to push all my emotions to the side to deal with them another time, even if that other time never comes, but that night, I just… I couldn’t get myself to do it. As I stared down at you, sleeping against my chest with that stupid little content smile on your face, I realized that you were worth all of it, every emotion: the fear, the anxiety, and even the guilt; they were all worth feeling for you.”

The crease in her brow deepened as her husband confessed to her what he went through that night. Jensen looked down at her then, a smile on his face and tears once again pooling in his eyes. He brought up his hand to caress her cheek before continuing.

“I never believed in love at first sight, hell, I still don’t, because even through all of that fear and anxiety what I felt most of all was love, and that didn’t happen overnight. It happened in the weeks we had spent in the makeup trailer, in the way you trusted me with the things you wouldn’t even tell your brother, and in your sarcastic comebacks that never failed to surprise me. I spent weeks falling in love with you and didn’t even realize it.”

“The only thing I could do was watch you sleep, so irrevocably in love with you that I was scared if I pushed away those bad feelings… if I didn’t consider every possible thing that could wrong from that moment on, that I would lose the best thing in my life now, so that’s what I did, just watched you sleep and go over every possible scenario my mind could come up with of how us being together could go wrong. I know...” He had to stop again, needing a moment to take a shuddering breath. “I know that day when I told you we needed a break hurt you and made you question everything I ever said to you and sure we’re past it now, but I really need you to know that when I came to you that next morning and asked you to go on one date with me, I didn’t make that decision lightly. I had decided before you even tried to sneak out of the guesthouse that you were worth everything.”

“Why are you telling me this now?” After he was silent for a moment, she couldn’t bear it any longer.

“Because I… I feel so much right now that I can’t shut it out. The love I feel for you and our son right now, I want to stay in that feeling forever. Even if it means facing every fear or anxiety over making sure you both are safe and happy and thriving. I just had to let you know that you two are my whole world now and I will spend the rest of my life never letting you forget it,” Jensen confessed, allowing the tears that he had been biting back now flow freely. Deep down he knew it was what he needed, that release of every emotion before he could truly relax. Just like she also knew that the time for words was over.

“Thank you for telling me that,” she nuzzled back into his side, pressing her cheek against his chest to listen to his heart again. Y/n knew it wasn’t easy for her husband to admit all of that to her. Those true moments where he exposed himself fully to her were rare. Not that she minded, Y/n didn’t need him to cut out his heart and serve it on a silver platter. Her husband was a man of action. He showed her all she needed to know in every first cup of coffee he brings her in the mornings or running her a bath when she needs time alone. Marriage is as much about the little things as it is about any grand declaration. If you asked Y/n, she would take the soft smiles and lingering touches over a grand speech any day, but this was nice too.

Part 12: Home

Forevers: @22sarah08 @akshi8278 @anathewierdo @atc74 @awesome-badass-cafeteria-sauce @briagallen @callmekda @dawnie1988 @deandreamernp @deanwanddamons @ellewritesfix05 @emoryhemsworth @foxyjwls007 @hobby27 @janicho88 @jensengirl83 @katehuntington @lyarr24 @malfoysqueen14 @miss-nerd95 @mrsjenniferwinchester @msmarvelouswinchester @polina-93 @sleepylunarwolf @stiles-stilinski-24-dylan @smol-and-grumpy @suckmyapplejacks @superfanficnatural @supraveng @talesmaniac89 @thoughts-and-funnies @tranquility-or-chaos @waywardbeanie @winchest09

Happiness Continues: @afangirlreacts @anaelsbrunette @ashleyrose0117 @austin-winchester67 @cno92 @deanbowlegsackles @deangirl93 @deans-baby-momma @death-unbecomes-you @dvnmbabe @fangirl199813 @spndestiellover @hoboal87 @itsdesiree86 @jbsgirl4eber11 @let-me-luve-you @linki-locks11 @lunarmoon8 @neverland14353 @onethirstyunicorn @parinarain @rebeccathefangirl @rebelemilu @smoothdogsgirl @spnfamily-j2 @squirrelnotsam @stoneyggirl @supernatural3002 @traceyaudette @winchestergirl82 @winqhster @zpandaqueen

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Text

Darling, So It Goes

Happy holidays, @slothbaby424! I may not have had as much time as I would like to have had to work on your @destielsecretsanta2020 fic, but I hope you enjoy it anyway (so sorry but it has not been proofread. At all). And a big thank you to @exmintha for the idea when I was struggling!

Again, here’s the playlist. It’s not necessary, but I like listening to music while writing and it’s got a load of Christmas bops on as well!

And, here’s the fic! It is 4639 words, and here’s the link on AO3 if you prefer.

{o0o}

“Pretty please?”

Dean huffed in annoyance, shifting from foot to foot. He really didn’t want to spend a day being pestered by demanding young children and their parents, but when Donna asked like that… well, he wasn’t a monster. “Fine. But if anyone gets any kind of bodily fluid on me, I am out.”

“I’m sure you’ll be fine, sweetheart,” she replied, grinning wildly, and Dean had to smile back. And so, that was how Dean Winchester found himself decked out in the full Santa outfit - beard and hat included - for the Wayward Sister’s Christmas party.

Ever since they had set up the girl’s home, Jody and Donna had insisted on a big Christmas party. The first year, it was just a way to entertain the kids for the day, but since then it had evolved into an affair of epic standards. Practically the whole of Sioux Falls would show up at one point or another, usually with presents in tow. One year, Jody had confessed to Dean that they probably wouldn’t have been able to keep going without the support they got at Christmas.

To start with, Dean was not a good Santa. There were so many children that he had to keep track of, and who all wanted something and asked awkward questions that he didn’t have the answer to, and the hat was itchy and he could hardly see past the beard. By the time lunch rolled around, however, he had gotten into the swing of things, and was actually starting to enjoy himself.

That was when a stranger dumped a litre of chocolate milk over a guest’s head.

{o0o}

Castiel had been very grateful to get an invitation to a Christmas party, especially one from the people who had helped him adopt his son. He had learnt the hard way that society really doesn’t like gay people adopting kids, even if they were single.

Two hours after arriving, however, he was starting to have second thoughts. There were way more people than he expected and he had never been what someone might call a ‘social butterfly’. More like an ‘anti-social slug’, as Gabriel had once called him. The food was nice, but as it turned out, not all the people were.

“So, where’s your wife? Leave you with the kids, did she?” a man - Zachariah, Castiel thought his name was - said, punching him in the arm slightly harder than necessary.

“Oh, no, I enjoy doing things with Jack. And I’m not married.”

Zachariah looked Castiel up and down, and let out an interesting noise. He supposed it was probably meant to resemble disbelief, but to him, it sounded like an elephant stomping on a whoopee cushion. “Divorced, are you?”

Castiel raised his eyebrows. Did this man realise he was asking wildly inappropriate questions? He had half a mind to say ‘widowed’ just to see his reaction, but he didn’t dare. “No, I’m not.”

Zachariah seemed mildly uneasy at that, as if he wasn’t sure what other options there were left. “Well, I’m sure a nice lady will come along soon.”

“Actually, I’m gay,” Castiel corrected. So what if it wasn’t 100% true? In his opinion, this idiot deserved to be made as uncomfortable as possible.

Zachariah’s reaction was a little more… extreme than he was expecting. And, by extreme, what Castiel meant was that the man seemed to go through several stages - disbelief, at first, then confusion, and then his posture turned rigid and his face started turning a deeper and deeper shade of tomato red - before completely exploding into some kind of homophobic rage.

Castiel wasn’t even listening to the man ranting, just picking up words like ‘Jesus’ and ‘disgusting’ and more slurs than he could count. He was more concerned by all the children nearby who could hear the garbage this man was spouting, and he needed a way to quickly shut him up.

So, he took the obvious route, and poured the entire carton of chocolate milk that he had got for Jack over his bald head.

{o0o}

Dean felt, as Santa, he should probably go and sort out whatever argument the two morons were having that led to the waste of a perfectly good drink. He had been concerned about kids getting some kind of gunk on him, but apparently adults were equally messy.

“Hey, hey, what’s going on?” Dean asked, standing slightly in between them even though he couldn’t imagine either of them starting a fist fight. The guy covered in milk looked furious, but he was the kind of jerk who wouldn’t want his suit to get any messier than it already was, and the other dude looked like he was in some kind of shock.

“This- This queer just assaulted me!” Suit Man shouted, and Dean suddenly and rather desperately hoped that that chocolate milk was never coming out.

“Excuse me?” he asked, not entirely sure how to respond to that.

“It’s disgusting. They shouldn’t be able to raise a child in that lifestyle. It’s appal-”

“Shut up,” Dean said, rather forcefully and uncomfortably aware of the entire room’s eyes on him.

“What did you just say to me?”

“I said, shut up. What is really disgusting here is your behaviour. You think it is okay to be horrible to another human being just because of who he loves? Now that is bad parenting.”

If anyone asked him later, Dean would say that he was fuming. That his anger was clouding his judgement. That this dude was being an asshole at Christmas in front of kids. Maybe that’s why his brain spotted the teachable moment - no one argued with fucking Father Christmas - and leaned down, slowly pulling the other man towards him and kissing him gently.

To be honest, Dean was sure that he would pull away. In fact, he gave the stranger plenty of time to do so. But instead, he kissed back. Maybe he was in shock. Maybe he also saw what Dean was doing. But they kissed, and Dean knew, somehow, that it was the beginning.

{o0o}

Castiel went to that stupid party because he thought it would be a good way to entertain Jack for the afternoon, and instead left feeling simultaneously embarrassed, with the bonus of a random man’s number. Who he had kissed. In front of a room full of people.

To his continued surprise (although Castiel thought that perhaps there was a limit on how many surprises he could process in one day), the man - Dean, he said his name was, seemed genuinely interested in going on a date with him.

The Roadhouse didn’t look like a particularly romantic spot, but he was not backing out now.

“You must be Castiel.” A stern-looking woman looks him up and down before nodding in approval. “I’m Ellen. You better not hurt my boy,” she warned with a threatening smile, gesturing towards where Dean was sitting in a booth in the corner. He was clearly not reading the menu, his eyes glassy and unfocused, but he fiddled with it anyway, his leg restlessly bouncing under the table.

“Hello, Dean,” Castiel greeted as he sat down, hoping he was hiding his nerves as well as he thought he was. Remember, fake it ‘til you make it, Meg’s voice reminded him. She had been so excited when he called her about his date, threatening him with unspeakable violence if he didn’t show up. Although, Meg could threaten unspeakable violence about anything. She once left the entirety of his cutlery drawer under Castiel’s duvet just because he forgot to feed her cat once.

“Hiya, Cas,” Dean replied, grinning at him. Even though he was clearly nervous, he still seemed sincerely glad to see him, and it warmed his heart. “You don’t mind if I call ya that, right? Oh - before I forget, you should totally get the Elvis burger. It’s absolutely amazing.”

The meal went remarkably well, considering that Cas usually avoided dates like the plague. First dates were the worst - the annoyance of getting to know each other, and the inevitable awkwardness at the end - and he rarely saw anyone more than once. After a particularly bad night, which had ended with Meg having to come and pick him up from a park during a thunderstorm, Cas had sworn off dating. Yet, here he was, and he couldn’t deny he was enjoying himself.

Just as they had finished eating, two girls bounded up to the table. They clearly knew Dean somehow; one was skinny and blonde and Cas could swear that he could see a knife peeking out from her apron, and the other had flaming red hair and a t-shirt which proclaimed ‘the internet is broken, so I’m outside today’.

“Wanna decorate cookies with us?” they exclaimed at the same time, and before he could process what was happening, Cas had been dragged over to the kitchen where there was already a tray of perfect biscuits cooling on the counter.

The next half an hour was spent in a whirlwind of icing and sprinkles and sugar, and Cas loved every minute, although he really hoped that none of the cookies ended up being given to customers, because he had seen Jack make mud cakes more hygienic than this. Charlie sat in a corner on her phone, blasting Christmas music while focused on texting and taking pictures, whereas Jo was thoroughly entertaining herself by drawing inappropriate designs on her biscuits. Dean and Cas’ actually ended up looking okay, but neither of them were artists, so the cookies still looked like they had been decorated by a toddler.

When they were finished, they left Charlie and Jo to clean up and went back into the main area of the now empty restaurant. A new song came over the speakers, slow and enchanting, and Dean offered Cas a hand. “A dance before you go?”

Dancing with Dean, Cas decided, was magical. They swayed together, gradually getting closer and closer until their chests were pressed together and Cas’ head was resting on Dean’s shoulder. For a minute, Cas could forget everything but this moment. He allowed himself to simply be lost in the music and the warmth of Dean’s body, listening to the steady thump of his heartbeat and feel the gentle rise and fall of his chest.

As the song ended, Dean carefully pulled apart just enough to lean down and join their lips in a tender kiss, and Cas thought that he could be in heaven.

But the kiss only got deeper and suddenly Cas’ mind flickered back online just in time to remind him what a ridiculous idea this was. Red flashing lights screamed and wailed and reminded him of what always happened, and the sudden warning jolted his body into action, pulling away from Dean in a panic.

Dean looked down at him with a lazy smile, only frowning when he realised something was wrong. “Cas? Wha- did I do something wrong?”

Cas was shaking his head and reversing all at once, all higher functioning processes having been thrown out of the window. He was babbling, apologising and saying it wasn’t Dean and all the while he knew he was on the edge of some kind of embarrassing meltdown, so in the end, he let his feet do the talking, and fled.

{o0o}

Dean didn’t think the fact he hadn’t left his house in two days had anything to do with the best date he had ever been on ending with the other dude running out on him, but apparently Charlie did. She had been pestering him all day, asking if he wanted to help her decorate for Christmas or go and get milkshakes or watch a film. No matter what she suggested, Dean always declined. He wasn’t feeling it, and if it had anything to do with the trenchcoat staring at him from across the room, he wasn’t going to admit it to anyone.

It wasn’t the first time someone had run out on him, of course, but usually that was on a particularly awkward date or if something bad had happened. He just couldn’t understand what had sent Cas running out of the Roadhouse like that, so panicstricken that he forgot his coat which he came with. Dean didn’t think he had read the situation that badly; in fact, he had been sure that the other man had been enjoying their date.

He sighed and pulled the pillow over his head, trying to ignore his phone as it pinged constantly. Yeah, it was probably Charlie spamming him, but there was always the chance it could be Cas…

Charlie: What about we just go on a really long drive?

Charlie: You can pick the music

Charlie: You shouldn’t be cooped up on Christmas eve eve!

Charlie: Dean Winchester, you better not be ignoring me

Charlie: Dean???

Ellen: You still coming to the party tomorrow?

Oh, shit. Dean had totally forgotten about the Annual Roadhouse Christmas Bash. It was the perfect opportunity to distribute the presents and cards he bought, there was plenty of delicious (and free!) food, and it was generally the highlight of his Christmas. Everyone would be there - Ellen and Jo, Bobby, Charlie, and practically everyone else who lived within a hundred mile radius.

No matter how down Dean was feeling, he wouldn’t miss it for the world. In his opinion, family came before everything.

Dean: course i am

{o0o}

“Come on Clarence, it’s Christmas!” Meg encouraged, nudging Castiel’s shoulder. “I’ll go with you, and Claire can watch Jack. She already agreed.”

Castiel looked down at the napping toddler, one thumb in his mouth and a teddy clutched tight in his tiny hands. It felt like he had barely spent any time with his son in forever, even though he knew it wasn’t true. He knew that if he really didn’t want to go, Meg would let him weasel his way out of this particular social gathering, but he couldn’t help but think that it might be good for him.

“An hour’s all I’m asking,” Meg begged. He was surprised she hadn’t threatened him with Nair or something yet.

“Fine.” Just one hour, and then a quiet Christmas. What could possibly go wrong?

{o0o}

Dean had busted out his favourite leather jacket, and (at Charlie’s desperate begging) was even wearing just a bit of eyeliner. He was determined to not let his failed date ruin his favourite thing about Christmas, and he would be damned if he spent another minute thinking about Cas.

(So, maybe he had brought the forgotten coat along with him, but that was just so he could give it to Ellen in case Cas came in the Roadhouse again! She was much more likely to see the dude again than him, anyways. It wasn’t Dean’s fault that - because of Charlie’s enthusiasm to get inside - he had left the thing in the Impala's trunk.)

For the first hour, his plan entirely succeeded. He was distracted by the gift exchanging and the procuring of food and catching up with old friends and avoiding people he didn’t like (namely that one girl who delivered food for Ellen sometimes who he could swear was a demon). It was only after the hour mark when he swore he saw a familiar mop of dark hair, but he immediately dismissed the thought. No way.

He went into the kitchen and chatted to Benny for a while, enjoying catching up on his old friend’s life. Perhaps he got a bit distracted when he heard a familiar gruff voice in the hallway, but other than that, he was sure that his mind was playing tricks on him. Besides, Jo was always up to something. Just because she had a glint in her eye when she came into the kitchen, it didn’t mean anything special. Probably just that some poor fool had a whoopee cushion on their chair somewhere.

It was about halfway through the party when Dean’s plan really started to fail. The music suddenly seemed too loud and the once friendly crowd suddenly made him feel claustrophobic. The smell of burgers and chocolate - no matter how delicious Dean knew they were - was making his stomach roll. The best course of action, he decided, was to step outside for a few minutes, to get some fresh air.

He didn’t expect to find Castiel already out there.

{o0o}

Meg - being Meg - had absolutely insisted, upon their arrival at the Roadhouse, that she didn’t know that it was the location of Castiel’s failed date. Apparently she had been invited (with a plus one) because she occasionally delivered food for them or something, but Castiel smelt a lie in there somewhere.

It would be fine. One hour, free punch and food, and he could go home. He could avoid Dean for one hour. He might not even be there.

An hour in, and Castiel was sure he wasn’t there, in fact. He politely greeted Ellen (who glared daggers at him, which he felt he deserved) and Charlie (who apparently knew Meg). He had a conversation with Jo outside the kitchen (which mostly consisted of him asking where the toilets were and Jo asking if he had called Dean). In fact, he was actually having a fairly pleasant time when he realised that they probably wouldn’t make it home in time to relieve Claire of her babysitting duties, so he quickly rushed outside to call her, but she didn’t pick up.

God only knew where Meg was, but she was - as she put it - a ‘big girl who could handle herself’, so Castiel didn’t bother waiting up. He simply called a taxi, hoping it would get there before he froze to death. He still hadn’t managed to find his favourite coat, and he had deeply mourned his loss.

He was so caught up in hopping from foot to foot and thinking about how much of a tip he was going to give Claire that he nearly didn’t hear the voice coming from the doorway.

“Cas?” Dean Winchester asked.

Fuck, he thought, slowly turning around to be met with the sight of the gorgeous man with a handsome jacket and eyes like a forest. Oh, he was so fucked.

“Hello, Dean,” Cas replied instead, not sure what else to say.

The younger man walked up to him tentatively, as if any quick movement he made might scare Cas off. “Uh… what are you doing here?”

“Meg convinced me to come,” Cas answered, his eyes never quite meeting Dean’s.

“Meg? She- Is she your girlfriend?” Dean looked hurt, but Cas couldn’t help but laugh.

“God, no. She’s my neighbour,” he chuckled.

“Oh, sorry,” Dean mumbled.

It was a lot quieter outside, but even with the background noise - wispy notes of music and the occasional growl of a car’s engine in the distance - their silence seemed deafening. Neither of them was quite sure what to say, and even though Cas knew that it was him who owed Dean the explanation, he did not have the energy to explain himself. In all the twenty two years in which he had understood his sexuality, he had never once been able to describe his experience succinctly, or even in a way that wasn’t babbling nonsense.

Of course the taxi was taking its sweet time to show up.

“I’m sorry,” Cas blurted out, at the same time Dean stammered, “why did you leave?”

They are silent for another moment. “It’s hard to explain,” Cas hesitated.

“Well, I’d kinda like to know,” Dean snapped, wincing as the words came out of his mouth. “Sorry, ignore me. I’m being a dick. You don’t have to explain if you don’t want-”

“I’m asexual,” Cas declared abruptly, cutting Dean off.

Dean opened and closed his mouth for a few seconds, trying to process this. Cas knew, he just knew from the look on his face that this conversation was going to be as horrific as it is every. Single. Time.

“I’ve not heard of that before,” Dean eventually stated.

Cas sighed. He liked Dean, he genuinely did, but it was usually The Talk that scared people off. “I’m not sexually attracted to anyone.”

“Oh,” Dean mumbles, sounding disappointed. “So, the other night…?”

“Romantic and sexual attraction are two different things. I enjoyed our date, but I… panicked, at the end. People tend to, uh… expect things, and I didn’t want to lead you on. Sorry, again. I should have handled it better.”

“S’okay. So you don’t have sex at all?” Dean asked, deadpan. Suddenly, he realised what he said, and he clapped his hands over his mouth. “I am so sorry. That is such a weird question. Don’t answer that.”

Cas huffed out a laugh, watching his breath disappear into the night. Looking up, he watched as the stars winked at him against the inky backdrop, and he took a deep breath. “Would you like to go on another date?”

Cas finally allowed himself to look at Dean, and he was greeted with a warm, sincere smile. “I would love that.”

The moment was broken when Cas’ phone rang, and he fumbled to pick it up with his frozen fingers. “Claire! Sorry I’m late, I’m on my- what’s wrong? Claire, slow down. The hospital? Shit, I’m on my way.”

Cas glanced up at Dean, barely registering his concern, only managing to choke out, “Jack is in the hospital.”

{o0o}

Dean didn’t even hesitate. There was no way in Hell he was gonna let Cas wait for a cab when his son was hurt, and he was bundling the distressed man towards his car before he could even protest. “Which hospital?”

Cas stood by the passenger door completely rigid, his brows furrowed in confusion. “Dean, what are you doing?”

Dean looked at him incredulously, one eyebrow raised. “Giving you a lift, dumbass. Baby is way faster than any taxi.”

“Baby?” Cas asked, but he got in the car anyway.

Luckily, the Roadhouse was only a twenty minute drive away (if you went by the speed limit, and Dean most certainly did not) but even that seemed like an age when he was trying to simultaneously not crash the car and comfort the man in the passenger seat. Dean didn’t have any kids of his own, but he could imagine that this was the worst possible thing that could happen to Cas; to have your own child in danger and not being able to be with them must be torture.

Cas was opening the car door before they had even come to a full stop, and by the time Dean had parked, he was already inside. By the time Dean caught up, he was already deep in conversation with Jody’s daughter, who was distraught. It was almost scary; Dean remembered her as the girl who had thrown a full grown man out of a second story window because he groped her, and every interaction he had ever had with her had made her seem like a badass.

“What’s going on?” he asked, gently shepherding them towards a seat in the waiting room.

Cas wasn’t listening. He had already stormed off and was in a heated discussion with the receptionist, who kept shaking her head more and more forcefully.

“A dog attacked him,” Claire hiccuped. “Just came out of nowhere and started tearing at him.”

“Hey, hey, it’s okay,” Dean assured her, bringing in a hug. He didn’t even care that she was probably getting snot all over his favourite jacket.

Cas stormed back over, looking like he was ready to level a city. “They won’t let me see him until they’ve operated.”

“Shit,” Dean replied, a plan forming. “Okay, here’s what we’re gonna do. Claire, you go outside and call Jody and ask her to pick you up, ‘kay? I’m gonna call someone at the Roadhouse to bring some supplies so we can camp here overnight if we need to… Cas, do you have a spare key or something? I can get someone to pick up some stuff from your house that you might need?”

“Meg has a key,” he sniffled.

Fifteen minutes later, everything is as sorted out as it can be. Bobby - the only person left who is safe to drive - was giving Meg a lift to Cas’ place to pick up their things and to bring some food, and Jody was there to pick up Claire.

“It’s not your fault, kiddo. Go home and get some rest, we’ll keep you updated,” Dean reassured her.

An hour later, the doctors agreed to let Cas in to see Jack, assuring them that he will be absolutely fine. When Cas finally untangled himself from Dean’s side, he seemed reluctant to leave him, but Dean just smiled gently at him and squeezed his hand. “I’ll wait right here,”

In the end, Jack gets discharged the very same night, coincidentally right as Bobby and apparently an entire ensemble from the Roadhouse show up. Jo is there with enough leftovers to feed an army, and Charlie and Meg had enough blankets and bags of clothes with them that Dean winced when he spared a thought for the state Cas’ house was going to be in.

It was a little awkward when Cas walked out of the hospital with a sleeping Jack in his arms, bundled in one of the many blankets, but Bobby just huffed and offered to give them a lift back home. Charlie clambered into the Impala without a second word - it would not be the first time she had slept over at Dean’s while drunk - leaving Dean to say goodbye.

“Night, Cas. And Merry Christmas,” he said, squeezing his shoulder reassuringly.

“Thank you, Dean,” Cas replied, and they both knew he wasn’t talking about the holiday wishes.

{o0o}

The next time they actually managed to see each other was New Year’s Eve. Dean had shown up on Cas’ doorstep with chocolate, an armful of fireworks, and his usual lopsided smile. Obviously, he was not going to be refused.

They set the fireworks off as soon as it went dark, Cas holding Jack a safe distance away while Dean lit them, his silhouette dancing in the darkness of the garden. The bangs elicited excited squeaks from Jack, his eyes open wide in awe. He had never seen fireworks up close before.

After Jack had been tucked into sleep, Cas returned downstairs to find Dean lounging on the porch, two glasses of champagne poured. They sat outside for hours, watching the explosions of colour mix with the stars until it was impossible to tell them apart.

Cas couldn’t help but think that Dean was beautiful in this light; mellow and golden, his eyes sparkling underneath a halo of sparks.

Before long, it was a minute to midnight. “I… can I kiss you again?” Dean mumbled, his eyes flicking over to Cas nervously.

He smiled reassuringly. “I think I would like that.”

“Oh, uh, awesome.” It was hard to tell, but he was sure that Dean was blushing furiously. “I just wasn’t sure if you were, like, aromantic or something.”

Cas’ eyebrows shot up in surprise. “You know what that is?”

“I googled it all after you told me. Figured I should probably learn all the terms, y’know?”

All of a sudden, Castiel realised that he might be falling in love. No one had ever bothered doing anything like that for him before.

A chant started up in the distance, a thousand voices all counting down at the same time.

Ten

Nine

Eight

Dean gently cupped the back of Cas’ neck, pulling him closer until he could feel the warmth of his face.

Seven

Six

Five

Cas smiled up at him, lost in the forests that he called eyes.

Four

Three

Two

“Happy New Year, Cas,” Dean whispered, and their lips collided, better than any firework.

#i hope you enjoy #destiel #my writing #fanfic #destiel secret santa #christmas

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writerlyhabits · 5 years

Note

7 and 63 for the Tenth Doctor please!

I know this took me forever, but can I just say that I actually had a lot of fun with this?? Holy cow, most of my time was spent thinking of how to do it, but once I had an idea I took off!! (thanks to my roomate, she kept reminding me to write for you guys😅) Anyway, a bit of fluff, bit of alien invasion, and some sweet moments with the Doctor. Thanks anon!!!♥️♥️

7.“Is that blood?” “No?” “That’s not a question you’re supposed to answer with another question.”

63.“Only a fool would fall in love with someone as deadly as me.”

“The Doctor in an antique shop … you’re finally where you belong,” you giggled playfully.

“Oi, watch it!” You continued to giggle at him, earning a half smile, half pout from the tall man as he continued examining the objects on display. Donna had insisted on dropping by at home for a bit so she could see her Grand-dad and catch him up on their latest adventures. And of course, when they walked through town and happened upon an antique shop, who wouldn’t want to drag a group of time-travelers in there?

“It’s so strange to see these all old and rusted now,” you sighed as you picked up an old camera. “Remember the one we got in 1903?” The Doctor beamed at you.

“Oh, how could I forget!” He came up very close behind you to look over your shoulder at the device in your hands. “We took some lovely photos. I know for a fact I took a nice one of you in that short blue skirt, that sure turned heads. You were being splashed by a wave at that little beach we found,” he grinned down at you.

“That’s because you failed to tell me it was there! I was busy entertaining you, looking at that damn camera, I didn’t even see it coming!”

“Maybe cause I did that on purpose … You’re cute when you’re surprised.” You turned away to examine the camera because there was definitely a pink haze across your cheeks, and you didn’t want to give him the satisfaction of seeing it. “Well, that and the fact that I had to get back at you for throwing me under the bus at lunch.” You burst into laughter, the Doctor joining you.

“Alright you two, stop your flirtin’ let’s get a move on,” Donna smiled, earning a chuckle from Wilfred, as she beckoned for the two of you to follow her out the door of the little shop. Glancing at each other, you set the camera down and did as you were told.

Walking down the street beside the Doctor, the other two distracted in their own conversation, he nudged you with his shoulder. “You’re awfully quiet, you alright?”

“Perfect actually, I like having a relaxing afternoon, I don’t get much of those following you around the universe,” you mused.

“I wouldn’t speak too soon, you might just jinx that relaxing afternoon of yours.” Just then as you walked past a little alley, you heard a scream. Nobody else seemed to notice it, and the Doctor was quick on his feet, lurching into action. As Donna and Wilfred had disappeared into another shop, the two of you ran to investigate, happening upon a pool of deep red—almost purple—liquid.

“Is … is that blood?” you asked him as he approached it.

“No?” he answered hesitantly.

“That’s not a question you’re supposed to answer with another question.”

“Well it could be many things,” the Doctor explained, pulling out his brainy specs and his sonic screwdriver. You waited anxiously as he examined the substance, hoping that he wouldn’t try and lick it, as he was apparently prone to do. He stood back up, seeming to have come to a conclusion, so you prompted him again.

“So mister perceptive, is it blood?” He looked at you with the faintest trace of a smile.

“Nah love, only the usual,” the alien told you, trying his very best to keep his excited grin contained.

“The usual? Oh, do explain Doctor.”

“Oh you know, something alien, a little ominous … probably dangerous,” he smirked at you, a look that you thought made him look very handsome. Quite the wrong time to be having those kinds of thoughts though, isn’t it?

“Well, that can only add up to an adventure.”

“I told you that you jinxed your relaxing afternoon.”

“We both know this is going to be more fun,” you smiled. The Doctor unashamedly allowed himself to grin from ear to ear.

“Oh we were made for each other,” he claimed excitedly as he, rather abruptly, planted a kiss on your cheek. Before you had any time to question his affection let alone process it, he had grabbed your hand and took off, you doing your best to keep up with his long legs.

Clue after clue, strange event after another, you were following close behind the Doctor as he approached an old building you believed would lead you to the culprit. Sure enough, the two of you happened upon a group of pig-looking aliens, the Doctor releasing your hand only to put his in the air in response to the many weapons that were being pointed at you.

There was talk of the Shadow Proclamation, which you still didn’t quite understand, and spreading the weird alien goo all over Cardiff, but the creatures just roared with laughter. You noticed out of the corner of your eye that one was taking aim at the Doctor and you panicked. “No you don’t,” you muttered, reaching down beside you to throw a crystal looking thing in its direction. You managed to knock the blaster out of its hand, the Doctor making an impressed noise that was just barely audible. However, in a flash one of them grabbed you, turning you to face the Doctor and held yet another blaster to your head.

“Okay, so that was a bad idea,” you murmured sheepishly, “It was a good shot though, didn’t expect that.” The Doctor gave you a look telling you to be quiet, and he continued to negotiate.

“Alright look, let her go, and we can sort this out like civilized adults, right?” The one who seemed to be in charge of the lot gave another chuckle.

“No, I’ll tell you exactly how this is going to go; you’re going to hand over what you’ve taken from us, or we’ll blow her brains out. Now you wouldn’t risk the love of your life now would you?” The Doctors expression became somewhat intimidating, but you could see a sad look in his eyes.

“Only a fool would fall in love with someone as deadly as me.”

“We don’t have to go calling names, that’s not nice,” you murmured half-heartedly as the blaster was pressed more firmly against your head. You realized what you said, cringing, hoping desperately that he hadn’t heard you.

His expression changed as fast as a flash of lightning, his eyes growing wide as he turned his attention back to you. Well … he definitely heard you.

“Right, well … We’re going to talk about this later,” he stated firmly, though looking quite flustered. You looked away sheepishly and let him continue with the pig-people. “Look, I’m only going to give you one more chance, that’s all you get; let her go and leave this planet alone, or suffer your own consequences.”

There was a moment of silence, the head pig tapping his … fingers … against the desk he hid behind, contemplating.

“And is your little pet worried about your intentions?”

“Actually, quite the contrary,” you voiced. “I’m doing fine, just a bit worried about your fate because let me tell you, when the Doctor offers you a second chance you should take it, otherwise … well, let’s just say the alternative isn’t exactly a treat.” The pigman only laughed again. Seriously, these guys had to be delusional, nothing was getting through their thick pig skulls.

“Then why don’t we find out what exactly the Doctor has in store for us.” With that, he flipped open a glass case and pushed down on the trigger to release his master plan. You were harshly shoved back towards the Doctor, who caught you in his arms.

“Sorry about that, I didn’t exactly think their master plan could just be activated by pushing a button,” you explained, watching what was unfolding in front of you. The leader went to push another button, the Doctor murmuring an “I wouldn’t do that” to no avail, causing some sort of electrical force field to short-circuit and hold all the pig men where they were. The Doctor stood to his full height and looked at them all.

“See, the thing about this little device I’ve taken from you is not that it was gonna stop you,” he started, pulling a tangled ball of wires out of his pocket, and the head pig’s eyes got wide. “All I’ve done is mess with your controls. Which means for us, my dear,” he looked down at you and grabbed your hand, “is that we should run!”

The aliens yelled as you left them behind you, stuck by their own doing. You and the Doctor weaved in and out of the halls, bursting through the doors of the building, and sprinted out to the field in front of you. The building exploded, the blast sending you and the Doctor into the grass.

You picked your head up and looked behind you, seeing nothing but rubble, the Doctor standing up and offering you a hand. Taking it, you smiled at him and asked: “So let me guess, your bunch of wires messed up their machine so much that instead of blowing up London, it was like a self-destruct?”

“What did you mean when you said I shouldn’t call names?” You hadn’t been expecting that question. Usually, it annoyed you when he ignored your questions, but now that it was the other way around you had figured that maybe he would have at least waited a bit.

“I’m not gonna get an answer to my question am I?” you tried.

“No, because you already know the answer; now what did you mean?” he snapped. Not angrily, more confused if anything, but it still wasn’t a conversation you’d planned on having.

“Oh use your head Doctor, you know what you said, there’s only one thing I could’ve meant by that.” You started to walk away from him, wanting more than anything for Wilfred and Donna to show up and save you. He grabbed your wrist before you got too far and pulled you back towards him. He stood very close, looking at you with so much emotion you didn’t even know how to gauge a response. Luckily, you didn’t have to.

Before you could even think of something to say he had crashed his lips into yours, which told you exactly how he felt, and that was an emotion you knew how to respond to. He moved his hands to hold your waist gently, and your body reacted immediately, grabbing his tie and pulling him down closer to you. His mouth moved this way and that, kissing you from a handful of different angles as you draped your arms behind his neck and he held you close.

When the call for air became incessant, he rested his forehead against yours, never relinquishing his hold on you. When the both of you opened your eyes to look at each other, you were reduced to nothing but giggles.

“Somehow all of this just makes sense,” you murmured contentedly.

“Mm? And why’s that?”

“You’ve always got aliens and explosions in your wake. I don’t know, it’s just very … you.” He was grinning from ear to ear, the soft look in his eyes being replaced very quickly by his usual, playful, eager one.

“Speaking of aliens and explosions, as sweet as this is,” he paused, leaning in to steal another kiss from you, “we should probably go find Donna and tell her what’s happened, make sure she’s alright.” You moved to do just that, but the Doctor kept you close for one more kiss. Satisfied for the time being, he released you, his hand falling into yours, and the two of you made your way back onto the street where you had left the rest of your party. Donna, of course, had missed everything. Her and Wilfred had been in and out of shops and had been testing out noise-canceling headphones when the explosion had gone off.

“And the both of you didn’t even realize we were gone?” you asked, not knowing whether to be amused or offended. Donna looked at her grand-dad guiltily, following his gaze when he nodded toward you and the Doctor. Seeing a hand around your waist for the first time since your little reunion, she beamed.

“Well, I’ve gotta be completely honest with you, after seeing the two of ya in the antique store we wanted to see if, maybe if we left you alone, that something’ might happen,” Wilfred explained, nodding towards the hand on your waist. As if realizing his own actions the Doctor was quick to retract his hand, a blush coming to his cheeks. It was kind of cute if you were honest, you’d never seen the Doctor blush.

“And judgin’ by lover-boy here, I’d say we were right!” Donna laughed, giving her grand-dad a very proud high-five. The tall man beside you rolled his eyes.

“Okay, if the two of you are done then, I’m headed back to the TARDIS.” He turned on his heel and walked out of the shop. He grinned to himself when he heard the door open again, and saw you appear out of the corner of his eye.

“I can’t believe them,” you sighed, finding your spot by his side again. “From Donna I expected, but Wilfred?” The Doctor giggled.

“He’s certainly got a few tricks up his sleeve, always a surprise when he’s around.” The two of you laughed, and the Doctor put an arm around your shoulder as he made his way back to his blue box, placing a kiss on the top of your head.

#prompt request #anonymous request #request #my writing #Tenth Doctor #tenth doctor x reader #10th doctor #10th doctor x reader #doctor who #the doctor x reader #the doctor #I really like this one #like I'm shocked that I actually wrote that #its got a whole alien invasion and everything

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tessatechaitea · 5 years

Text

Team Titans #20

Is it sexist to point out cameltoe?

It's been about two weeks since I read a Team Titans comic book so I can't remember what was happening, which is probably a good thing. It's nice to see that my brain apparently has some kind of organic Roomba that cleans up after I've soiled my mind with terrible media choices. Revamping my old Patreon page has kept me away from re-reading terrible old comic books. If you enjoy my take on comic books perhaps you'll enjoy my take on The Bible? Or if you don't like reading astoundingly insightful and probably pretty funny commentary on The Bible if it costs you as little as one dollar per month, you can still bookmark the site because you'll get three free song reviews each week too! But if you want me to review a particular song, you'll have to give me money. I don't give my wisdom away for free! I mean, I do! But only in certain circumstances. I think what was happening in this comic book was a right-wing corporate and media conglomerate asshole (much like Rupert Murdoch) was preparing to time travel into the future where he could take the place of Lord Chaos and rule the world. It's the kind of plan only an idiotic super villain in a comic book could come up with. Any real life super villain would think, "I have so much money and power right now in a world I recognize, why should I risk everything by traveling into an unknown future where my biggest enemies await? Better to just buy a private island in the present and look at porn all day." But for some reason, comic book super villains are never satisfied. They never think, "I could retire with the amount of money it's going to cost me to create this death satellite!" The always think, "Man, having lots of money really kills your ambition. Maybe I should use it to endanger my freedom and possibly my life?" Idiots!

Based on these silhouettes, one of Lord Murdoch's henchman is just a gigantic sentient penis.

The Team Titans leader for the future narrates the big battle so maybe we'll soon find out who the mysterious leader really is! I think I've been guessing Terry Long throughout most of this re-read because who else could it be? Unless Terry's kid has one of those comic book experiences that ages him quickly, he probably won't be leading the team as a nine year old. Although I can't think why I'm ruling that out when I easily accepted Nightwing once driving a motorcycle straight up a skyscraper and Starfire falling in love with Wolfman-written Nightwing. A few pages into the battle, a bunch of Team Titans members (not from the titular and most important team!) begin to die. First killed is Gunsmoke. You might not remember Gunsmoke because Gunsmoke was a terrible name and Gunsmoke never did anything except help provide some context on the plot. We learned from Gunsmoke that the Team Titans were spread out all across history because the Team Titans leader created a truly inept time machine. Gunsmoke's last words (aside from "Arrrggghhhhh!") are "Great. Don't tell me y'all saved my butt in the Old West just so I can get it kicked in 1994." I guess in 1994, creating a character that's simply a guy dressed like a cowboy didn't cut the editor's mustard. The second character to die is Monsieur Poniard of Judge and Jury. He should thank his terrible name for cutting his comic book career short. "Mister Dagger," even in French, just isn't going to inspire the kind of terror that a super villain should inspire. And, yes, I'm aware of how many terribly mundane and crappy names exist within the DC Universe! I'm just saying, "One less is a good start." The third Team Titan to die is a nameless Titan in the background of Monsieur Poniard's death. She (or he) has orange hair and wears a purple costume so I think we can all agree why he (or she) had to die. You know, because Starfire already had claims on that terrible color combination. After Lazarium (Lord Murdoch's super villain name) takes down the main Team Titans in one blast, he jokes, "I love the smell of ozone in the morning." I know that's supposed to be a joke because he says, "Heh heh," immediately after. Earlier, Blue (unless it was Green or Purple or Yellow. Remember, the colorist of this current story arc is an idiot) quipped, "Yeah, and monkeys might fly outta my -- OOOOF!" So we have all the evidence we need that Jeff Jensen's main writing crutch is movie and television quotes. The fourth Team Titans to die is Two Gallon Hat.

I often come up with characters for my stories that I know are stupid but I insert them into it anyway simply so that other characters can call them stupid.

While all of the other Titans from throughout history are being slaughtered by Lazarium's henchmen (where did he get henchmen who put such effort into henchmanning?! I bet he pays a living wage, offers great health care choices, and provides a hefty pension), Mirage remains stuck in traffic on the streets below.

If only Mirage could easily do something to keep from being recognized!

I don't know what she did with Deathwing but I hope it involved a hedge clipper and a blender. Mirage steps out of the cab to find Cokie Walters staring at the corpse of Two Gallon Hat. Cokie apologizes for some reason which leads to Mirage threatening Cokie if she doesn't help Mirage save the Titans. Now how the hell is a bubble gum gossip reporter supposed to help with that?! "Mister Lazarium! Mister Lazarium! Is it true you pee through the gate instead of over the fence?!" Realizing that the Titans have met their match, Terra resorts to pleading her case: "Lazarium! No! Please — you can't just kill us like this!" Lazarium, who is a super villain who has really thought out his plan and understands the power of a truly great one-liner, replies smartly: "Oh, yes, I can, Terra — especially you!" I just got goosebumps reading that! Although after the Wayne's World and Apocalypse Now lines from earlier, maybe Jensen stole this retort from a movie too. Wasn't this the great line from the end of Die Hard 2: Dying Ain't My Thing when Bruce Willis sets the airplane fuel alight? Five hundred and thirty Titans got there asses handed to them by Lazarium and his goons. But not to worry because Prester Jon, Redwing, Battalion, Donna Troy, and just-out-of-a-coma Nightrider have arrived to save the day! And don't think they're going to do it silently! Battalion has a new battle cry that I can't believe didn't catch on with the youth of 1994.

How was this not one of the best selling DC posters of 1994?

Battalion goes down in one shot. Most of the characters will probably go down in one shot because Killowat will probably need to prove himself. Will saving the world from Lazarium be enough to make Mirage forget he's a racist jerk? Hopefully not! The first person to nearly put Lazarium down is called Liquid Joe. Being that he's called Liquid Joe, you know he's not going to wind up being the hero. His blast of slime doesn't even faze Lazarium. Time for Cokie and Mirage to save Killowat so Killowat can save the day! Cokie knows where Killowat has been restrained because she's a tabloid journalist. This was the era where we all believed Geraldo was going to discover the secret of the universe. Now we know Geraldo's only goal was to uplift Geraldo. That fucker will say anything for praise and a paycheck. I suppose you can say that about anybody who appears on Fox News though. After losing dozens of Titans, I have to admit that my plan would be to give Lazarium the time travel device so we could be rid of him. If he time travels into the future, he's not our problem anymore! Heck, he probably won't ever be our problem! The future no longer contains Lord Chaos so who knows what he's going to find in 2001. If in 1994 I were told that 2001 would be the beginning of some truly inspiring xenophobic bullshit masquerading as patriotism, I would have been all, "Yeah, I can buy that." Maybe that wasn't a good example. Killowat defeats all of Lazarium's henchmen with one push of a button. Then he goes after Lazarium. Lazarium believes he'll win for the same reason all bad guys (and Deathstork (who is a bad guy but sometimes people begin to think maybe he's a good guy who was never actually convicted of statutory rape so is it really rape? (Yes. The answer is yes. I'm answering on behalf of a large percentage of male Americans who would get the answer to this question wrong))) believe they'll win.

Technically it's not rape if you say, "Here! Take it!" I'm just judging by American legal standards which have an even lower bar than that to declare something isn't rape.

Killowat gives Lazarium a bunch of his power which causes Lazarium to overload and explode into a smoking scorch mark on the roof. But we can't believe Killowat has just killed somebody (even though his name depends on the idea that he kills) so he makes sure to think, "The overload couldn't have killed him. His corporeal form must be around here somewhere." Well, wherever Lazarium went, it's clear that this story is winding down, so he's technically defeated. But he would have been back if this comic book hadn't been cancelled in a few more issues! Oh wait! He's back a few pages later so Nightrider can feast on his blood. Now nobody has to worry about Lazarium anymore and nobody cares if Dagon murdered him because what's a vampire supposed to do? Not eat people?! Anyway, the time machine simply opens a black hole in the sky which consumes hundreds of the poorly named Team Titans. Preser Jon shuts it down and now the Titans have to deal with being part of 1994 forever. I mean, at least until the end of the year when they'll have to deal with being a part of 1995 forever. Or for a year, anyway. The final page of this issue reveals the leader and it's definitely not the leader anybody working on this comic book had planned it to be. Instead, it's Monarch because — guess what, motherfuckers?! — it's Zero Hour time! Team Titans #20 Rating: A-. I'm only giving it a high grade because this issue was the start of Zero Hour. Not that Zero Hour isn't a completely flawed premise that was just another gimmick to allow DC's editors to fix shit that the fangenders kept haranguing them on. But it is interesting that this terrible little Titans off-shoot comic book is where DC decided to begin the entire Zero Hour premise. My other favorite part of this is how we find out that Monarch is the Leader. My supposition is that Zero Hour was thought up long after The Leader was already a mysterious presence in this book. I'm sure the writers and editors of this book had an idea about who The Leader should be. Maybe it was Dick Grayson, or Terry Long, or Starfire, or a reintegrated Danny Chase. But it certainly wasn't Monarch which meant they changed the goal line as the story proceeded. Which is a microcosm of what happens during the Zero Hour event! It was obvious throughout much of Zero Hour that Captain Atom was going to wind up being Monarch. But since so many fans had guessed it and expected it, DC decided that instead of continuing with a plot and character arc that made sense, they would simply reveal that Monarch was Hawk. Sure, it was a surprise! But it didn't make any fucking sense. Fucking comic books!

#Team Titans #Teen Titans #DC Comics #Zero Hour #Comic Book Review

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dancedogsanddevotion · 6 years

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Unqualified.

Preface: This topic came to mind while I was thinking of leaders but is applicable for any follower of Jesus who might- and probably will- encounter hard questions with themselves and/or others.

This is the first time I’ve sat down to write something about what Jesus has been teaching me in a long time. I pray that you feel at least a little bit more confident, encouraged and enthusiastic about loving Jesus and all of His kiddos- like you and me- after reading this.

When I was 17 I started leading kids. Where to? Well, many places. Camps, coffee shops, difficult discussions, but mostly to Christ. That was the goal, at least. As a leader I have seldom felt actually prepared and qualified to show kids, or anyone, the road to Jesus. Why? Probably because when I was their age I was making decisions I would later try to forget, and because Jesus was just the guy I had to hear about on Sundays. Maybe some of you can relate.

In the midst of those idiotic, rash, damaging decisions, Jesus found me and said “Hey. I love you. You’re a mess. Let’s chat.” And because He’s literally the most perfect and irresistible thing to anyone ever, being full of love and light and hope and humor and creativity and all- oh yeah and dying for us- I fell in love with Him so fast. He led me out of the rotting garden from which I was eating and continues to lead me through this new glorious garden with fulfilling, vibrant, sometimes sour fruits that taste good after a while. Some examples of those sour fruits being self-control and patience; like when Jesus tells me not to buy another Ben & Jerry’s pint even though it’s on sale, or when I’m going to be late to a meeting because of bumper-to-bumper traffic and can’t do anything about it.

Along the way, during my walk with Jesus through this new garden of life, He said “Hey, now that we’re tight, I want you to lead kids to Me.” I slowly, kind of comedically- like the way Jim does in The Office- looked back at the old, dying garden I came from. “Me? After all I did in that nasty place? Lead kids? I don’t think so,” said 17 year old Markella.

Whoopdy-do, here we are, almost four years later and leading kids is my job. It’s funny how Jesus doesn’t care how unqualified we are, how messed up our past is, or if the only Bible we have is on our phones. If we give ourselves to Him, He’ll make it happen. Annoying; it’s like He knows what He’s doing or something.

In my almost-four-years of leading, I have met some of the most wonderful people I could have ever dreamed to meet. To any girl who has ever let me be their leader, you should know that you filled me with more of Jesus than any verse ever could. Also I love you and you changed my life. Thank you. And to any leader who I’ve ever had the pleasure of leading next to, you have been my rock at times whether you know it or not, and you're a superhero. Every hard conversation, every prayer for a kid’s test, and every cent towards coffee and gas (it’s a lot, I know) does not go unnoticed. You are walking agents of grace. (Donna Hatasaki said that once and I was like “MINE, THAT PHRASE IS MINE NOW” but really it’s hers. But you are an ‘agent of grace’.)

My almost-four-years of leading have also brought to me some of the hardest questions I have ever encountered. Like ever. Like I’d have an easier time doing rocket science than answering some of these kid’s questions. They either want my brain to explode or for me to just start crying on the spot.

You could guess some of these questions;

“Why do bad things happen to good people?”

“Did God create evil?”

“Why does the Bible say that Adam came from the dirt, but my science class teaches us evolution?”

“How far is too far?”

“Is it okay to question God?”

“What is the Holy Spirit?”

“I think I might be gay, is that bad?”

Y’all! Jesus loves you, that’s the best I got!

So many times I’ve heard these and I’m like “where’s the fire alarm?? Jesus?? I’m scared??” because the last thing I want to do it give an answer that is either wrong or misguides them.

I was asked to create a way to respond to just about any and all questions that I think is pretty solid, and this is what I came up with. I don’t have answers to the hard questions but I hope with these three filters you’ll walk away from that conversation proud of and confident in what you said.

1. PRAY and WAIT.

After you hear the question, literally pray. Like in those few seconds between them asking the question and it being awkward or seeming like you didn’t hear them, pray.

“Jesus, give me the wisdom and patience to answer this question. Provide the best possible answer. Use me to tell them what they need to hear. Don’t let any false information leave my mouth. Guide my answer and fill me with grace for them and passion for You in my response.” I’m not saying you will have time to pray all of this, it’s just a handful of a few phrases that can put your heart in the right place.

Then let the Holy Spirit do it’s thing. Maybe you’ll feel this brilliant answer washing over you. Maybe you won’t feel anything at all. Just trust that Jesus is there and He’s on your team.

2. ANSWER SLOWLY.

An obvious follower to #1; but a lot of us forget this one. I do. Sometimes we don't know the answer, and then other times we are convinced we do know the answer, which is where it gets tricky. I’ve definitely answered some questions hastily before, and I’ve walked away from the conversation feeling like I swayed them one way or another because I answered too fast, and talked from my opinions; not my heart.

When responding, first of all, it’s okay to say “Hmm, I am not quite sure.” Or “Regardless of my opinion, the short answer is _______.” Or “I don’t know, let’s look in the Bible together.” These are okay. And say them slowly. Like physically speak slowly and gently. It’s possible that whatever you're going to tell them will be hard to hear.

Answering slowly gives you more time to BE INTENTIONAL.

I can't emphasize this enough. Actually I’m still working on my “Intentional” post. Jesus was not always happy, or always working, but He was ALWAYS intentional. Always always always. Be completely intentional with every single word you say, and the only way to do this is to be patient and slow.

3. ASK QUESTIONS.

Many times, the original question is rooted in a much more intense place than we might imagine. By asking questions, you show the other person not only that you are interested and that you want to know more but also that they might have answers to their own question. Thanks to my YoungLife leaders who did this for me, I was able to answer lots of my own questions with the knowledge I had, but just didn’t realize I had it.

These aren’t answers, but I have found when encountering a question only God can answer, by praying, being patient, and asking more questions I learn more about the person asking the question and I can love them better, and hopefully be a little bit more of Jesus for them than if I didn’t do those things.

I love hearing about leading techniques and ways to embody Jesus. Please let me know of any suggestions, comments, ideas, etc.

<3 Markella

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peterkayscarshare · 7 years

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Listen to the Words 1x04 & 1x05

Not much at all going on in ep 4, although a lot of cracking tunes. Just a couple of apt choices, rather than insight into their minds.

1x04

Labour of Love - Hue and Cry (Beyonce dance) Get on Up - Five (Janine and Elsie fight) Mmmbop - Hanson (carwash) Bump and Grind - R Kelly (Golden Hour/Ted2) How Bizarre - OMC (Dave Thompson is a knob) If Only I could - Sydney Youngblood (sponsored animals) Everybody Wants to Rule the World - Tears for Fears (losing virginity)

1) Mmmbop - This is a song about friendship and the fact you don’t know which ones will flourish and be around for you in the darker times in your life. And fittingly the lyrics tell us to hold on to the ones who really care... as John and Kayleigh grip hands as John helps her through her panic attack.

You have so many relationships in this life Only one or two will last You go through all the pain and strife Then you turn your back and they're gone so fast Oh yeah And they're gone so fast, yeah Oh So hold on the ones who really care In the end they'll be the only ones there And when you get old and start losing your hair Can you tell me who will still care Can you tell me who will still care? Oh care

2) If Only I Could - Just a little aside that this song about making the world a better place plays while Kayleigh is telling us about the animals she’s adopted.

1x05

Episode 5 is MUCH more interesting with song choices, as we start to really see their relationship shift form friendship to something more.

When Smokey Sings - ABC (running to the postbox) Put Yourself in My Place - Kylie (dropping the kids off) New Sensation - INXS (Kayleigh driving them to work) Have a Nice Day - Stereophonics (wedding song discussion) Hero - Enrique Iglesias (Golden Hour/Ted2) Picture of You - Boyzone (Rachel jealousy) Devil Woman - Cliff Richard (Rachel) Drive - Cars (Kayleigh is going to have to move) I Knew You Were Waiting - George Michael/Aretha Franklin (Playing Who am I?) Somewhere In My Heart - Aztec Camera (Who am I? cont) This Time I Know It's for Real - Donna Summer (mechanic’s arrival) Stronger Than Love - Johnny Cash (shit for brains)

1) Hero - Although this song doesn’t have any deep meaning in this episode - it’s used to show the saintly Ted is also good with children - it does give us an interesting parallel in the future. In this episode when Hero plays, and they watch Ted2 in action, Kayleigh says “he can lift me up like that anytime he likes.” She’s looking at Ted2 as a heroic figure. He can be her hero. Yet, fast forward to 2x04 and Kayleigh’s fantasies are John as her hero, and she lets him know. “John to the rescue. My hero.” Ted2 is nothing but eye-candy, John is the hero of her heart.

2) Picture of You - This is an interesting song lyrically as at first it sounds like someone who’s made a bad choice romantically, with someone who will break their heart. But as the song goes on, it shows that in fact that person was there for them through it all, despite what they thought of them.

Didn't they say that I would make a mistake Didn't they say you were gonna be trouble People told me you were too much to take I couldn't see it I didn't want to know

I let you in and you let me down You messed me up and you turned my life around You left me feeling I had nowhere to go I was alone how was I to know that

You'd be there when I needed somebody

You'd be there the only one who could help me

I had a picture of you in my mind Never knew it could be so wrong Why'd it take me so long just to find The friend that was there all along

Who'd believe that after all we've been through I'd be able to put my trust in you Goes to show you can forgive and forget Looking back I have no regrets 'causeYou'd be there, when I needed somebody You'd be there, the only one who could help me

I had a picture of you in my mind Never knew it could be so wrong Why'd it take me so long just to find? The friend that was there all along

You'd be there, when I needed somebody You'd be there, the only one who could help me

If you focus on the chorus, it’s Kayleigh’s thoughts on John - she thought he was someone but there he is flirting with Rachel, and so it’s proving her mental image of him wrong. Although this is the opposite meaning to the song itself (an image of someone who was trouble but was there through it all). Of course, the overall theme is one that does relate to John and Kayleigh whichever way you take it - the friend that was there all along. Why’d it take me so long just to find?

3) Devil Woman - Glaringly obvious what this one’s about from the video - Rachel is the “devil woman” leading him astray. The question is, is John’s smugness because he’s enjoying the attention of Rachel? Or because he’s sparked some very obvious jealousy in Kayleigh? Given that in 1x06 he says he’s not actually interested in Rachel, I think we can be sure it’s the latter.

4) Drive - Oh how I love this. Utterly perfect matching of song and scene, as Kayleigh reveals she’s going to have to move to Bury and they both decide John can no longer drive her to work. “Who’s gonna drive you home tonight?” indeed.

Who's gonna tell you when it's too late Who's gonna tell you things aren't so great You can't go on thinking nothing's wrong, but bye Who's gonna drive you home tonight? Who's gonna pick you up when you fall Who's gonna hang it up when you call Who's gonna pay attention to your dreams Who's gonna plug their ears when you scream You can't go on thinking nothing's wrong, but bye Who's gonna drive you home tonight? Who's gonna hold you down when you shake Who's gonna come around when you break You can't go on thinking nothing's wrong, but bye Who's gonna drive you home tonight?

But more than just that line, the whole song sums up what their relationship has become. They are they to hear each others dreams and fears, pick each other up - literally and emotionally, they have become THAT PERSON to each other. And perhaps at this point neither of them realise just how much. Kayleigh’s tears reflect the lyric “you can’t go on thinking nothing’s wrong”, because it seems like Kayleigh is the one to realise not having John drive her to work means more than simply who’s gonna drive her home tonight... it’s something much deeper than that.

5) I Knew You Were Waiting/Somewhere In My Heart - I’m grouping both of these together because we only hear brief snatches of them during the scenes waiting in the car for roadside rescue. Both can be seen as about finally finding the person in your life who has made all the pain and misery worthwhile cos now you’ll see it all through together.

Like a warrior that fights And wins the battle I know the taste of victory Though I went through some nights Consumed by shadows I was crippled emotionally Somehow I made it through the heartache Yes I did. I escaped. I found my way out of the darkness I kept my faith (I know you did), kept my faith When the river was deep I didn't falter When the mountain was high I still believed When the valley was low it didn't stop me, no no I knew you were waiting. I knew you were waiting for me

So we were drawn together through destiny (oh, boy) I know this love we shared was meant to be

**********

Who cares what people say We walk down love's motorway

Ambition and love wearing boxing gloves And singing hearts and flowers

Somewhere in my heart There is a star that shines for you Silver splits the blue Love will see it through

6) This Time I Know It’s For Real - Never was there such a perfect song for Kayleigh’s feelings at this point, and frankly throughout season 2.

I'm going crazy just to let you know You'd be amazed how much I love you so baby When I get my hands on you I won't let go This time I know it's for real Should I write or call your home Shout it out with a megaphone Radio, TV news Got to find a way To get my message to you To say I love you with a neon sign Anything to make you mine

I'm going crazy just to let you know If I wait too long for you I might explode baby I've been around the block enough to know That this time I know it's for real

She’s desperate to bring up Rachel again, and ask if John is going to go out with her. Rachel’s interference has made her face up to her feelings for John and she’s prodding around trying to find out what he feels. This song signposts what Kayleigh’s going to do next - pushed on by the end of their car sharing time, and the looming Rachel, Kayleigh needs to let John know how she feels. How will she do it? Write I love you in a neon sign? Or get him to “listen to the words” of Pure and Simple?

7) Stronger Than Love - speaking of neon signs... Peter and co couldn’t have made it ANY CLEARER what is driving the emotions and relationship between John and Kayleigh when they use this song.

Six foot six he stood on the ground, He weighed two hundred and thirty-five pounds, But I saw that giant of a man brought down to his knees by love. He was the kind of a man that would gamble on luck, Look you in the eye and never back up, But I saw him crying like a little whipped pup because of love. You can't see it with your eyes, Hold it in your hand. But like the wind, it covers our land, Strong enough to move the heart of any man, This thing called love. It can lift you up, Never let you down, Take your world and turn it all around, Ever since time, nothing's ever been found, That's stronger than love.

(interestingly the second verse deals with non-romantic love, but it’s the verse about a man brought to his knees that they chose to use)

It’s utterly clear what’s happening here, that despite the anger in this scene, these two are fools for each other, and John will forgive it all (even though it was his fault!) because he’s in love. I mean there’s signposting and then there’s literally telling the audience in a song HE IS IN LOVE!

#peter kay's car share #carshare #John x Kayleigh #listen to the words

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cannibalilly · 7 years

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Goretober Day 8: Glitch

Fandom: Doctor Who Characters: Donna Noble, Ten Length: 1,743 Goretober Rating: (4/10). Could have been way scarier if I had let it escalate... Damn it! I need to start killing characters for Goretober!

Donna knew she had vastly underestimated the statement “it's just a routine health-check” the moment the glass tube slid down and captured her. Instinctively she pressed her hands against the cold surface and tried to push. Of course the glass wouldn't give way. “Relax, it just figured your VR-check is broken or- Geez, you don't have one at all,” the woman with the shortly cropped said. She was young, younger than Donna, and operated a terminal in the medical bay. “Damn right I don't. And it'd better stay that way,” Donna replied, fear fuelling her anger. A metal arm descended through the ceiling and joined Donna in her glass tube. “Oy!” she pounded her fists against the glass. The sound attracted the Doctor, who had been bent over a computer terminal on the other side of the room. He took off his brainy specs and walked over. He walked quickly, but didn't seem alarmed, so Donna allowed herself to calm down. “You okay in there?” he asked, his voice was muffled by the glass between them. Donna spread her arms as far as the tube would allow her to. “What do you think?” “Looks like a routine health-check to me,” the Doctor commented and glanced at the girl for confirmation. She nodded, happy that at least he seemed to understand, and turned the monitor of her computer so he could see. “Oh, and look! They're giving you a VR-checker as well, now that's nice. Usually those are really expensive.” “Part of our general health insurance plan,” the girl explained and the Doctor whistled approvingly. “Spaceman!” Donna barked. The metal arm had come dangerously close to her. “Get me out.” “Is there a way to cancel the program...” he glanced at her nametag, “Julia?” The girl wiped her finger up over the display, scrolling through whatever protocol. The arm continued to descent and Donna hunkered down in the tube. “Julia?!” her voice higher than she had wanted. She couldn't help it, the metal arm had grown a thin needle and was approaching her. “Err,” Julia's finger moved faster. “Uhm, I'm sure there must be, I just... can't seem to find it.” The Doctor, realising there was no time to get Donna out, said, “Donna, hold still.” Donna squeeze her eyes shut. She didn't want whatever was about to happen to happen, but the firmness in the Doctor's voice scared her fighting off the arm might result in something worse than an unwanted injection. As a child she had been scared of getting vaccinated, but her mum had told her she might break off the needle if he fidgeted too much and it would get stuck in her arm. She hadn't been afraid of vaccinations after that, only of needles. For a moment, nothing happened, except for Donna's heart drumming in her ears. Then something bit into her temple and before she managed to yelp, it stopped. Donna didn't open her eyes until she heard Julia saying, “there it is!” followed by an electronical bleeping sound. Donna opened her eyes jus in time to see both the metal arm and the glass tube ascending back into the ceiling. Then the Doctor was at her side. “You okay?” “Of course I'm not!” she snapped. “What did they just jab into my head?!” “Err,” “If you say, it was that VR-thingy,” she threatened, pointing a finger at him. “Err,” the Doctor echoed and Donna's expression darkened. “Look, it's a really harmless device,” he offered to pacify her, but he stood up to get some distance between them in case she decided she wanted to hit him. He scrolled over Julia's computer and skimmed whatever he saw there. “Yup, harmless. It's the good-old, safe default model. The C4 version before the upgraded it to 5 and these things became semi-sentient and turned against them. Err, Julia, forget what I just said. You lot do you, don't let me interfere.” Julia looked at the Doctor with wide eyes and Donna slowly rose to her feet. Gingerly, she dared to touch her temple where the needle had penetrated the skin. She flinched out of habit, but the second time she touch it, she realised she couldn't feel a thing. No punctuation, no bump and not even sore skin. “See?” he asked with a hesitant smile. “All good.” She lowered her hand. “I want it gone.” “But-” “I don't care how safe it is,” she interrupted him. “Get it out of my head.” “If you got used to it, you'd see all the perks it has. It has a built in dictionary for example.” “So does the TARDIS, without having to use brain surgery.” “It also takes calls and has a tracking device. We could never lose each other on a foreign world again.” “If you're so scared of us losing each other, why don't you wear a dog collar. They come with tracking devices too, plus a fancy leash.” “Donna, it surveys your vital signs, keeps a profile of your general well-being and it has access to-” “I. Don't. Care. Spaceman, listen to me. I shouldn't have to ask that of you. If I want it removed, you remove it. End of argument. It's my body! And I can't recall ever having asked for an upgrade.” Donna didn't know why, but the Doctor visibly flinched at the last word. “Right. No, of course, you're right. Sorry. Julia?” “We-we never had to remove a VR-checker. I'm sorry. We can fix them when they are broken, but remove... Excuse, what did you mean by turn against us?” The Doctor sharply turned around, offering Donna his arm. “Let's get you into the TARDIS. I've got everything I need there to remove the VR. Good-bye, Julia. It was so nice meeting you. Take care. Also, maybe stop working here when they bring out the new upgrade. Or not. As I said, I don't wanna interfere. Bye.” Together, they hurried back to the TARDIS. “Better get us out of here,” the Doctor mumbled and started punching in a new location into the TARDIS' keyboard. “Spaceman. Could we do my head first?” “Sure, just a moment. We'd better be off before Julia decides she wants some answers and comes knocking-” He flicked a lever to start the TARDIS before finishing the sentence. The rest of it was lost in the humming of the engines and Donna's agonized screaming. She pressed her hands against her head to keep it from bursting. Her mind seemed to be on fire. Even though she kept her eyes close, colours exploded in front of her, bright and blinding and impossible to shut out while her eardrums were pierced by a cacophony of sounds. It all lasted for maybe thirty seconds, then it was over and Donna was kneeling on the floor. Tears streaming from her eyes and her hands clamped around her head. Slowly, much too slowly, the pain started ebbing away. The lights faded from view and silence returned to her and she could push herself up on wobbly legs. She didn't know how, all she knew was that she had just caught the briefest glimpse at what the TARDIS was. At how she worked and felt, and it had almost driven her mad. She stumbled back to the doors. Out. Just away from the ship. “Donna!” the Doctor's voice was like white noise. She pushed herself through the doors and stumbled out, back into the hallway of the medical bay they had wanted to leave. True to the Doctor's prediction, Julia came jogging down the corridor. Her determined look giving way to a worried one as she spotted Donna. Donna's view cleared and as Julia's face came into view, so did all kinds of windows full of text. Information about Julia, private details, pictures of other people that were connected to her. “You were kicked out of school for arson?” Donna muttered and Julia's eyes widened. “How do you know that?” it was the Doctor's voice and Donna closed her eyes again. Everything was still so blurry. “Donna? Are you still in touch with the TARDIS? What else can you see?” “I can see... everything about Julia. Birthday, health stuff, her diary and... that is some really messed up way to break-up with someone, Julia.” “Make her stop!” Julia snapped. “Donna, look at me,” the Doctor said, but Donna kept her eyes closed. “No. All that stuff about Julia is overwhelming and she's only what? 30?” “I'm 24!” “You're 900 something. That'd kill me!” “It won't. I promise. I need to know if you can see anything about me, Donna. It's important.” Tentatively, Donna turned around to the Doctor and opened her left eye just a fraction. His face swam into view and next to him, windows popped up. The Doctor tilted his head. “So? What do you see?” Donna squinted and then her eyes opened wide. “So that's what your real name is.” The Doctor' gaped at her and Donna couldn't keep a smile from spreading over her face. “Just kidding. All I see when I look at you are a bunch of question marks.” He sighed. “Don't ever do that again, you hear me?” “My mind almost combusted, don't I get to have some fun out of this? It's just a name anyway, isn't it?” “That's not the point right now. I'm not in Julia's database. If you'd seen anything about me, it would have meant the TARDIS had permanently burned itself into your mind. That would have been bad.” “How bad?” “Bad bad. But since you can't see anything that means it's not the TARDIS telling you these things. Its engines simply burned a circuit in your VR-checker and granted you complete access to everyone's files.” “Oh God,” Julia gasped. “That means she knows... everything! About everyone!” “Oh, don't get your knickers into a twist. I'm not from around here, I'm not gonna blackmail you. Even though you'd deserve it for injecting me with this ultra-facebook.” “Don't worry, we'll get the device out of your head. Right now.” “I'm not going back in there,” Donna pointed at the TARDIS. “It'll be okay. You're completely safe as long as we don't move her,” the Doctor offered her his hand. “Are you sure?” she asked, hesitant to take his hand. “This wasn't like what you did to me in that Ood prison. This was way worse.” He smiled. “I promise.” And with a sigh, Donna took his hand.

#goretober #glitch #doctor who #fanfiction #tenth doctor #donna noble

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brawltogethernow · 7 years

Text

Neutral Element - A Great Escape

Installment Masterlist

Characters: Anevka, Violetta; Length: 2k

“I see,” says Anevke, when his sister shoots him in the back. He’s surprised. Not because she’s decided her best course of action is to shoot him — because Tarveka knows that gun pulls to the right, and yet she didn’t aim to the left.

He’s still surprised when he wakes to blurry half-consciousness in the Great Hospital.

“You think she spared you?” says Violetta, perched at the foot of his hospice bed like a purple bird, making a nonchalant show of trimming her nails with a pocket knife. “Tcha! Your sister’s a snake. An incompetent snake. She probably just forgot, the prissy prima donna. Like she shouldn’t know how to assess a gun barrel by now, honestly….” She descends into irritated muttering, but remains apparently undistracted from her show of being dangerous while looking distracted. She’s waiting for his order. Well, she can just wait another minute, because trying to hold onto a single thought is like trying to keep track of a single fish in an ornamental pond. What to do, what to do. The Baron’s forces are occupying the town, and he’s lost his key to controlling the citizens anyway. His ancestral keep might have been exploded. And mere days after he inherited it, no less. If it weren’t for Vado the Unfortunate, that would probably be a record. He’s vulnerable right now, and the members of his family who support Seffie’s candidacy are no doubt eager to storm in. He’ll have to make himself seem useful to them if he wants that to slack off. Currently, Violetta is his only available resource. He’s surprised to see her. He thought she’d been restationed far away…

…In Mechanicsburg. He’s in Mechanicsburg. Why is he in Mechanicsburg?

Why am I in Mechanicsburg? he tries to say. What comes out is: “Your hair is very red. It’s your plumage.”

Violetta stares at him like he’s insane. He has no idea if that was intelligible. He faintly hopes not. “Ho, boy,” she says, and reaches into one of her pockets for a green vial.

The real kicker, Anevke reflects bitterly when his thoughts are more in order, is that his scheme was going so smoothly at the start of the whole debacle. Before it evolved the way it ultimately did, damn the Weißdamen for never forgetting their original loyalties. There was a simple, brutal beauty to their plan with the wasps: It would have been a neat marriage of the two oft competing purposes of the Knights of Jove. But then Anevke’s incorporation of Lucrezia’s technology had to be ruined by the return of the woman herself. Or worse, a dozen shadows of her. Where is her main brain? If he doesn’t know that, how is he supposed to kill it?

Violetta keeps tutting at him for trying to get all the information she has out of her as they try to escape the Great Hospital without drawing attention, but they simply don’t have the luxury of dawdling.

“And my sister?” he asks, as they crouch behind a fern waiting for a guard to change shifts. Security isn’t normally this tight, he understands, but the Baron is receiving care here. Violetta has just summed up the rather depressing state of Sturmhalten — It won’t do any good to go back there, for now, and Tarveka, if she persists, has surely thought along the same lines. “Where is she?”

“Well, technically I’m only supposed to keep an eye on you,” says Violetta. “But she might have snuck into that death trap up on the hill to aid the true Heterodyne or whatever. Is that part of your plan?”

Violetta glances at him at that point, and her expression implies that she received enough of an answer to her question from his expression.

“…And you didn’t feel inclined to stop her?” Anevke manages eventually.

Violetta shrugs. “Gotta say this for the princess —” Her tone makes it obvious “princess” is meant as an insult and not as a title. “— she’s a lot harder to poison now.”

Anevke frowns, both eyes but only half his attention on the hallway. Tarveka has mostly been his ally, and is a clever strategist and politician. By the sound of it, she’s trying to throw it all away for love. Such a path doesn’t suit someone so naturally pessimistic, but Anevke reckons Tarveka knows that.

Suddenly he realizes something, and groans.

“What?” says Violetta, peering up and down at him skeptically like she’s checking if he’s started bleeding from any new areas.

Since raising his arms doesn’t hurt at that particular moment — which feels like a privilege, though less so every minute — he massages the bridge of his nose. “Tarveka has run off with the Heterodyne Girl. She’s going to defend her with everything she has.” If the best plot to succeed required the girl’s death, could he take his sister’s latest little toy? When things are requested of Tarveka, she normally gives them up with a smile. But if she were to dig in her heels and really try…

“Uhhh huh,” says Violetta, skeptical. Anevke can’t blame her; Tarveka’s effectiveness had blindsided him only days ago, and it landed him here. Still, the other thing he’s realized, that is definitely something the Order’s worst Smoke Knight will appreciate.

“My sister has run off with the Heterodyne Girl,” he repeats again. He rolls his eyes. “My fated bride.”

Startled, Violetta snorts.

The guard finally changes, and they dash down the hallway, and do an up-and-down, to be safe.

“So are you going to work with the Order’s pawn in town?” Violetta asks as they double back through a ward full of unconscious cyclopes. A sign propped in a barrel in the middle of the room between the two rows of beds says: “Do Not Wake”, with a double-sided arrow. Violetta treads directly on their beds, silently. “She should be trying to take the Castle by now, if she hasn’t been held up.”

“No,” he says. “We’ve had reports on how that infernal machine works. If a true member of the Heterodyne family is inside, it’s far too late to uproot her. Going along with the fake at this stage would be a foolish game of roulette, though I have no doubt someone is still going to try to go through with the whole mess. But that is not going to be me. No, Tarveka’s in the right about one thing: At this point the best thing is to try to curry the real girl’s favor. And don’t mistake me, she is the real thing.” He startles at an errant tank of arms someone left soaking in brine in the middle of the walkway, and gingerly steps over it, careful not to brush against another arm shaped like a hairy ham that’s attached to one of the slumbering denizens of the hospital beds. “We could still use her if we got her on our side,” he says. “But I don’t imagine she’s feeling very charitable toward us as a body right now. Well, unless my dear sister’s seduction routine is working.”

“Uh,” says Violetta, “you’re not saying you want to go into the Castle, do you? Because you are pretty easy to poison, and I don’t think that’s a good idea.”

“God, no,” says Anevke. “There cannot be enough going on in there to make that worth it.”

They vacate the cyclops ward, pounding down another hallway on silent feet.

“I highly doubt the girl would be pleased to see me,” continues Anevke, swiveling his head around looking for Hospital staff and patients. “At this point, the best thing is to respect that, and avoid the chit. Let Tarveka soften her up, she’s good at that.” Although he would regret not having access to Tarveka’s modified voice. Honestly, leaving the Heterodyne Girl alive and Tarveka with her? It was redundant. But the Sturmvoraus siblings often ran up against points of contention like this. Tarveka and Anevke were both prone to bouts of irrationality, but often strongly disagreed on what was worth being irrational about.

Violetta effortlessly detaches the cover to a vent on the wall that should lead outside and swings into it, reaching down to help him up. “And when someone from our family tries to kill you?” she says, yanking him up with both hands. “I mean…” she says, looking at his bandaged, bed sheet-clad state and reconsidering. “When someone else from our family tries to kill you, again.”

“I’m certain I can convince some of them to stay backing me,” mutters Anevke, starting to inch down the vent. Violetta impatiently inches after him. “It’s not like the other candidates are particularly exemplary. ...And I’m far and away the most mature option, if nothing else.”

“Tweedle is older than you.”

“By a month. And our dear Cousin Tweedle is a twit.”

“I definitely never said she was not a twit. I wouldn’t say that knocked silly on hallucinogens.”

“Fair enough,” he grants. “Anyway, who cares how old Tweedle is? You’re just being pedantic.”

Violetta snorts again. “She’s not ‘a candidate’,” — she pauses crawling to make finger quotes — “but people who don’t know that Seffie is the smart one think she can watch him or something. So you’re going to have to stop discounting the kiddo and assuming people won’t want him over you.”

“Doesn’t the current plan involve constructing a ‘grand romance’?” Anevke demands, voice bleeding distaste. “Xerxsephnius is, like, fifteen. Doesn’t the Order expect people to have any standards?”

“He’s not —” Violetta sniffs. “Well, it doesn’t matter, because no, they don’t,” she says.

“…Fair enough,” Anevke says again, sighing. They leave through the other side of the vent, leaping from it onto the eaves of a neighboring roof. Anevke pauses before unfolding from his landing crouch to assess his physical state, but he actually feels fine. Press onward, then.

“Soooo,” says Violetta. “We’re out. Where to now, Highness?”

“Not Castle Heterodyne, that’s for sure,” says Anevke, brushing himself off and extricating an overly personable mimmoth from where it hitched a ride in the folds of his hospital gown. “You don’t have to worry about that.”

He was practically inviting eventually ending up there, really.

#politics!#girl genius #ggne #fic #w

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