#i blame this movie for keeping me up way past my bedtime last night & i regret nothing (b/c- i mean) | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

rosiehunterwolf · 3 years

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@fabro-de-omres HOLD UP BESTIE, I GOT ONE LAST FIC FOR YOUR LIST-

Star-Ninja!

Prompts: Siblings and Competition

Word Count: 5,884

Characters: The ninja

Timeline: Snapshots throughout the series

Trigger Warnings: None

Summary: What happens when the loveable gremlin the ninja adopted off of the streets introduces them to Starfarer comics?

Chaos ensues, of course.

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Read on Ao3

Tumblr work under the cut

“Take that! And that! Oh, yeah-” Jay leaped to his feet, grinning. “Die, lava zombies, die!”

Level complete. The words flashed across the screen, and Jay whooped. Only one more level and he would beat Zane’s high score.

“You could’ve beaten it faster if you had taken out the little guys first.”

Jay whipped around to see the little wispy-haired kid draped over the arm of the couch, staring at the TV screen with a glazed, listless look in his eyes.

“What are you doing here?” Jay snapped.

“I’m borrrred,” he whined, kicking his legs against the couch. “Can I play with you?”

“No.”

“Can I use the training course?”

“No, you’re not a ninja.”

“Then what am I supposed to do?”

“It’s not our job to entertain you, kid.”

“I didn’t ask to be kidnapped by you,” Lloyd snapped.

Jay felt his face flush. “So you’d rather still be with the Serpentine?”

“Well no, I just wanna have a choice!”

Jay stared at him for a moment. I don’t know his whole story. He’s a kid who’s been dealt a bad hand in life. He exhaled slowly. “Look, Lloyd, you’re just a kid. I know it’s hard for you to understand- but you’ve caused a lot of trouble. The Serpentine are dangerous, and you don’t know enough to deal with them. You just gotta trust us, okay?”

Lloyd sighed dramatically, sliding off of the couch and onto the floor. “Yeah, whatever.”

Jay rolled his eyes. “Can’t you find something to do for a little while? Please? I’ll talk with Sensei about what we’re going to do with you as soon as he gets back.”

To his surprise, Lloyd actually left him alone, and Jay turned back to his game. He knew it wasn’t a very responsible move, but he had never agreed to babysit the kid. Besides, they were going hunting for Serpentine again tomorrow, so it would likely be Jay’s last chance to have some downtime for an entire week.

By the time Jay had finally beaten the top score, his fingers were sore from playing. Flopping onto the couch, he glanced up at the clock. It had been an hour since he had sent Lloyd off, and he hadn’t heard so much as a peep from the kid.

Jay had only known him for a couple of days, but already that seemed like suspicious behavior.

He headed into the storage room that Sensei had scrapped together into a makeshift bedroom for his nephew. Lloyd was sprawled across his mattress, reading a book.

I guess he’s not up to anything. I shouldn’t have been so quick to judge him. Jay turned to leave before stopping suddenly and whirling back around.

“Hey!” he yanked the book out of Lloyd’s hands. “Is this a Starfarer comic? Have you been snooping around in my room?”

“No! I haven’t touched your stupid stuff. Figures, the one time I actually didn’t do anything wrong, you blame me.”

“Have you not heard of The Boy who Cried Wolf?” “What?”

“Nevermind.” Jay examined the comic. It was an old edition, but not one he owned. Besides, the cover was wrinkled and there were dog ears on several pages. Jay would never treat his comics so harshly. “If it’s not mine, then whose is it?”

“It’s mine. Is it so hard to believe that I don’t steal everything?’

“No, I mean, you like Starfarer?”

“Of cou- I, uh, I mean, Starfarer’s for babies, ha. I’m only reading this because it’s the only book I have and you wouldn’t give me anything else to do.”

“Oh, that’s too bad. I guess I’ll have to go enjoy my Starfarer comic collection on my own, then. Since it’s too babyish for big kids like you.”

“Your what?” Lloyd was suddenly sticking to him like a barnacle. “You collect Starfarer comics?”

“Not just comics.” He grinned as he watched Lloyd’s eyes widen. “Movies, posters, action figures- you name it.”

“No way! Can I see? Please, please? Just for a second-” Jay put a hand on his shoulder, holding him back. “Hang on, kiddo. I thought Starfarer was for babies?”

Lloyd shifted on his feet. “Well, I didn’t really mean that, I just- I was just testing you!”

Jay raised an eyebrow, smothering a laugh. “Uh huh. If you’re such a master, why aren’t you reading the new comics?”

Lloyd looked down, shuffling his feet. “I… this is the newest one I have. We didn’t really get many opportunities to buy what we wanted at Darkley’s. Especially not a book about superheroes. Because we were super busy being evil and stuff, heh.”

Jay felt his heart twist. Am I really pitying Lloyd Garmadon right now just because of some comics?

Although, when he looked at Lloyd now, he didn’t see the annoying, mischievous son of a villain. He saw a wide-eyed, naive kid looking at Jay with such hope that it was hard not to feel a strong urge to protect him from the burdens of the world.

Jay crouched down next to him. “Y’know what? I’ll show you my newer comics. You can even keep some, if you like.”

“Really? You’re not messing with me?”

“As long as you promise not to treat them like that.” Jay gestured towards the wrinkled comic. “Seriously, dude, you better go wash your grubby little hands before I even let you within five feet of my stuff.”

Jay didn’t think he’d ever seen Lloyd be in such a hurry to do anything.

---

“What’s this do?”

Nya snatched Lloyd’s hand away from the control panel. “Don’t touch that!”

“But what about-”

“Or that! Just-” She took a deep breath, running her fingers through her hair. “Don’t touch anything unless I specifically tell you to, okay?”

“Well, then what am I supposed to do?”

“I don’t know, find something. I’m not here to babysit you, Lloyd, I’m managing the comms. It’s important to make sure we stay in touch with the guys when they are on their mission.”

“I don’t need a babysitter,” he huffed. “Why couldn’t they take me with them? I am a ninja now. I could’ve bashed in some Serpentine heads!”

Nya glanced at him, glaring defiantly in his oversized gi. “I’d hardly call you a ninja, squirt. You haven’t even grown into that gi yet.”

“Yes, I have! See, it fits me perfectly!”

“...Lloyd, those pant legs almost completely cover your shoes.”

“They do not! Uncle Wu said I was a ninja.”

“A ninja in training, at best,” Nya corrected.

“What’s the use of being the green ninja if I don’t get anything fun out of it?”

“One day, green machine. You just have to be patient.”

He groaned loudly, flopping onto the chair. “I hate being patient.”

“No! You? Impatient? Who would’ve guessed?”

“Can’t you at least show me how to turn on the alarms?”

“No. Alarms are for emergencies only.”

“It is an emergency! I’m going to die of boredom!”

“Fine,” Nya relented. “What do I have to do to get you to leave me alone- and stay out of trouble? Can I rent you a movie?”

“Ooh, can I watch Zombies: Back for Revenge? Or Ghost Story? Or Dawn of Destruction?”

“Nope, nope, and nope. Too scary, too mature, too violent. Pick something more family-friendly, Lloyd.”

He pouted. “Kai got to watch those movies.”

“Yeah, well, Kai’s older than you and is responsible for his own actions. If you watch those, you’ll be up all night with nightmares and Sensei will never trust me again.”

“I won’t have nightmares! He’ll never know! Please, Nya.”

“No. End of discussion. Pick something else or nothing at all. Remember, it’s my money paying for the movie here. What about those… space wars movies you love?”

“It’s Starfarer,” Lloyd snapped, although his expression looked considerably lighter. “There’s one I haven’t seen yet…”

After Lloyd showed her the movie and she paid for it, Nya turned back to the control panel and checked for messages from the guys. Still nothing.

She really hated when they left her in the dark like that.

There were sounds of explosions from behind her, and a cheer from Lloyd- she glanced over her shoulder to see him grinning gleefully at the screen as the main characters blew something up. She shook her head- what was it with young boys and explosions?- but she couldn’t stop a smile from creeping onto her face. Glancing over at the comms, she double-checked that no one had said anything.

The guys obviously weren’t taking the effort to communicate with her. It wouldn’t hurt to take a quick break.

Sitting down next to Lloyd, she focused her attention on the movie. It seemed nonsensical and boring at first, but after a bit, Lloyd started explaining things to her, and, to her surprise, she found herself happy to listen. As it got later, his talking slowed, and at some point- Nya couldn’t quite identify when- Lloyd was leaning against her side, snuggling with their shared blanket.

Nya watched him carefully. She hadn’t cuddled with anyone like this since she had been younger, with Kai- but then, she had been the younger one, the one being protected. Now, she was experiencing what she imagined Kai must’ve felt, and despite how annoying he could be, Nya felt a strong urge to pull him close and never let him go.

She understood their reluctance to let Lloyd fight fully now. She didn’t want to ever send him off into battle, especially not the Final Battle.

How could this sweet, stubborn little wisp of a child be the green ninja?

Many hours and three movies later, Nya was afraid to even look at the clock. Rubbing Lloyd’s head, she murmured, “It’s way past your bedtime, kiddo.”

“‘m not tired,'” he mumbled in an obviously tired voice.

“I already let you stay up way later than you should be.”

“Just one more movie!” “Lloyd! These things are two hours long!”

“I promise I’ll go right to bed after!”

“That’s what you said after the last one.”

“Well, I really mean it this time.”

“No way.”

“Please?” Lloyd suddenly looked a lot more nervous, twisting his hands together. “Just… just until we hear something. From the ninja.”

“Oh, Lloyd.” She put a hand on his back. “It’s okay. They’re okay. Most likely, they just forgot to report back. They do that all the time.”

“But we don’t know that.”

“...Yeah. You’re right. We don’t.”

“Is it always this scary? Waiting for them to talk to you, not knowing what’s going on?”

Nya nodded slowly. “Yeah, a lot of the time it is, bud. But eventually, you learn to trust them. There isn’t a day that goes by where I don’t worry about their safety, but I know they are strong and capable and can take care of themselves.” Lloyd nodded. “That makes sense.”

He still didn’t look quite content with her answer, though. Nya leaned in, murmuring to him.

“Tell you what. What if we watch half of one more movie?”

Man, she was turning into such a disgustingly gross softie for this kid so fast, wasn’t she.

But the wide, genuine smile that split across his face made it worth it.

---

Kai stood in front of the long expanse of bookshelves, stacked with dozens and dozens of comics.

“Excuse me,” Kai gestured to the nearest bookstore employee, and he walked over. “Which part is the Starfarer section?”

The employee blinked at him. “You’re already in it. This entire wall is Starfarer.”

Kai gawked at the wall in utter amazement. There had to be at least a hundred books there. How were these many Starfarer comics even possible?

“Which one is the best one?” he asked the employee.

The man pushed his glasses up his nose, looking increasingly annoyed with Kai’s lack of Starfarer knowledge. “That’s hardly a straightforward question. Starfarer is our most popular franchise, they’re all popular. It’s impossible to pick one book. If you’re looking for our most popular selling comics of all time, that would be volumes 1, 32, 45, and 79. As for comics trending right now, that, of course, would be the most recent ones, 273 through 282. Although volume 13 has seen a sudden influx in readership. If you are looking for those with the best ratings-”

How do I say, ‘which comic is best for my little brother who was just aged up several years, without warning, and I want to help him regain his sense of childhood?’

Deciding this wasn’t going to be helpful, Kai gently dismissed the employee and began looking on his own. He tried to pick out ones with interesting covers, but ended up throwing many of them back after skimming the summaries on the back.

That wasn’t working very well either, and Kai was just about to throw the towel in and grab some random comics and hope for the best- or worse, call Jay and ask for help- when he decided to open one comic to skim it.

This quickly turned into a mistake, because before Kai knew it, five minutes had turned into an hour, and he had completely finished the comic. One comic turned into two, then five. He only was able to yank himself from his reading when he got a text from Zane asking where he was and that dinner was going to be ready soon.

Gathering up a large handful of the comics he had liked, Kai headed back towards the Bounty on his motorbike.

He found Lloyd on his bed, staring up at the ceiling with earbuds in. He pulled them out when he saw Kai, his gaze darting curiously towards the stack of comics.

“I got you these,” Kai said, setting them down next to him. “I know things are… different now, with you being older, but you’re always going to be my little brother. And I wanted you to know that just because you’re physically older doesn’t mean you have to stop doing the things you love. So if you still want to make doodles for our fridge, or make your food into shapes on your plate, or read Starfarer comics, no one’s going to judge you.”

Lloyd picked up a comic, slowly leafing through it. He was quiet for so long that Kai began to worry that he had completely messed something up. But when he finally spoke, he simply said, “You read it.”

“I… what?”

A smile spread across Lloyd’s face. “You read these before you bought them. Didn’t you?”

Kai spluttered. “I- what? That doesn’t make any sense! You have no proof!”

“The pages are creased over here. You always crease back the pages when you have a book. And there’s a slight depression here that shows the presence of fingers. Too big to be Jay’s or Nya’s, and too small to be Zane’s or Cole’s.”

Kai blinked at him. “You pay way too much attention to people, don’t you?”

“Hey, I paid attention during training, y’know!”

“More than we give you credit for, apparently.”

“I just can’t believe I spent all those months trying to pressure you to read Starfarer and you suddenly pick it up when I’m not even forcing you.”

“Shut up.” Kai shoved him gently. “It was a one-time thing. I was only doing it so I could find a comic you would like,”

“Yeah, so it makes sense you would look at them for five hours.”

“How did you- I mean, I didn’t go to the bookstore right away! I was doing other things! I only went there a few minutes before I came home!”

“Oh, yeah?” Lloyd raised an eyebrow. “What ‘other things?’”

“Uh, very important ninja business, like, um… patrol?”

“Cole returned from patrol two hours ago.”

“Well, this was a super-secret different patrol that Cole doesn’t even know about.”

“Really. Does Sensei know?”

“Nope. Just me.”

Lloyd elbowed him playfully. “You’re gonna have to watch all the movies with me now, y’know.”

“No way. Aren’t there like, fifty of those?”

“Twenty-seven.”

“No, thanks.”

“You have to! It’s part of the experience. Wait until I tell Jay you’re into it now.”

“You wouldn’t.”

“You bet I would!” Lloyd looked over at the pile of comics again, examining them more closely. “Nice, these are some good ones. Which ones did you read?”

“Um. The ones I bought?”

Lloyd looked up at him, his grin fading. “But like… not just these, right? You read others? In between them?”

“No… is this supposed to be some sort of poke at me being a slow reader-”

“No! I just can’t believe you read them in this order! Seriously, you couldn’t have gotten it any more wrong! You’ve ruined the whole series for yourself!”

“Oh, that’s such a shame, guess you better not tell Jay, then-”

“Oh, no way, you’re still getting into the fandom. We’re going to fix this. Come look at my comics. We’re going to read them together, and I’m gonna show you how to do it right.”

“Oh, is that Zane calling for dinner-”

“Nice try,” Lloyd smirked. “But you’ve entered the Starfarer fandom now. You’re in it, good and deep. There’s no coming back from this, Kai.”

“Glad to see your psychotic gremlin tendencies weren’t lost in the tea,” Kai grumbled. “Probably the one thing I could’ve gone without.”

---

“Are you out of your mind? The movie adaptions of Starfarer are way better.”

“Okay, there is clearly no hope left for you, Lloyd. The show is far superior to any of the movies.”

“Are you kidding? The budget for the show was so much lower! They just used a bunch of cheap, corny special effects, the movies were much smoother!”

“Visuals aren’t the most important thing, Lloyd. The show had a smaller storyboard team, meaning their ideas were more consistent and developed. The plot is overall much more in-depth in the show, and the extended time also gives them more space to do what they want.”

“It also leaves a lot of space for pointless filler! The movies are more direct. Every scene is important. Whereas I can name half a dozen episodes from the show- and that’s just on the top of my head- that were completely useless and would not change the plot at all if discarded.”

“You’re insane, every filler episode had importance! Some just showed it in smaller ways than others.”

“They could’ve fit the minor details into the other episodes!”

“Yeah, but filler is nice sometimes. Getting some more chill episodes between all the action is good.”

“No way, they’re boring and ruin the pacing. The movies have you on the edge of your seat throughout the whole thing.”

Zane sighed, glancing over at Jay and Lloyd. Their argument was getting increasingly more physical, with each boy attempting to tower over the other- not an easy task, considering they were both short.

“Can you two please be quiet? Or at least take this somewhere else? I’m trying to watch the news to make sure there aren’t any danger reports in Ninjago City.”

Jay suddenly whirled on him. “Zane! That’s it!”

“...What’s it?”

“Zane should decide! Which is better? The Starfarer movies, or the show?” Turning to Lloyd, he added, “Since he’s a nindroid, he’ll be the least biased of all of us.”

“One problem,” Lloyd said. “Zane hasn’t watched either.”

“Well, then, he’ll have to watch them,” Jay shrugged.

Zane glanced back and forth between them. “You want me to watch twenty-seven movies. And all seven seasons of the TV show. Just to help you win a disagreement.”

“It’s actually eight seasons,” Lloyd corrected.

“Exactly!” Jay beamed. “You’ll do great. Get back to us when you’ve watched them all and have formed an opinion. The sooner the better, so that I can prove Lloyd wrong as quickly as possible.”

“Hey! If anything, I’m going to prove you wrong!” “No way! The show-”

“Okay, okay, I’ll do it!” Zane stood up suddenly, putting his hands between them before another argument could break out. “Just stop fighting. Please.”

“You got yourself a deal,” Jay winked.

Two weeks and over a hundred hours of content later, Jay and Lloyd were staring at him expectantly over the dinner table.

“Well? What’s the verdict?”

Zane blinked at them with glassy eyes. “They were both very good. I enjoyed them. However, I feel like I never want to watch a minute of Starfarer ever again.”

“Seriously?” Lloyd fumed. “We waited all this time for him to not even properly answer the question?”

“Who cares about the question?” Cole grumbled. “Zane was so tired from watching your guys’ dumb Starfarer stuff, he messed up the gumbo.” Cole drew a spoon listlessly through the stew. “This is my favorite meal. I’m never forgiving you guys for messing it up.”

“Starfarer isn’t stupid,” Jay and Lloyd cried at once. They blinked at each other, surprised, and Kai and Nya laughed.

“I think that’s the first thing they’ve agreed on all week,” Nya grinned.

“It won’t last,” Kai murmured to her as the green and blue ninja set on Cole for his statement on Starfarer. “I give them two days to find something else to bicker about.”

---

“Hurry, Nya, he’s almost at the navigation!”

“I’m trying!” Nya bit her lip, an iron grip on her video game controller. “He’s sabotaged the security system!”

“No-”

Game over flashed across the screen, and Jay leaped to his feet, cheering. Nya rolled her eyes, tossing down her controller, while Zane, Lloyd, and Kai watched with disappointment.

“I can’t believe he won again,” Kai huffed. “How is he still undefeated? We’ve been playing this game for weeks.”

“I thought you were supposed to be good at this, Lloyd,” Nya grumbled. “You’re the Starfarer expert. You’ve got so many hours logged on here.”

“I’d like to point out that I’ve gotten closer to beating him than any of you have,” he snapped. “The last time I was only seconds away from winning.”

“Yeah, well, close isn’t good enough,” Kai said. “We need to beat him. Otherwise, it will get to his head.”

“Clearly none of us are going to be winning any time soon,” Nya groaned.

“There is someone who hasn’t played against him yet,” Zane mused. “Someone who has a track record of beating Jay’s top scores in games.”

Five gazes drifted towards the chair on the other side of the room. Cole looked up from his book when he realized the others were looking at him. “What do you want this time?”

“You gotta beat Jay in Starfarer: Alien Invasion 3,” Lloyd insisted, at his side immediately. “He’s undefeated. You know how unbearable he gets when he’s cocky.”

Cole blinked slowly up at them. “I don’t know the first thing about Starfarer.”

“I can teach you,” Lloyd begged. “Just do it. Please. Since when have you passed up an opportunity to beat Jay in something?”

Jay grinned. “Admit it, guys, I’ve defeated you. There’s no way Cole will ever win against me.”

Cole stood up abruptly. “Oh yeah? We’ll see about that. Lloyd, give me that controller. Jay’s about to get a serving of humility.”

For what appeared to be just another mundane rendition of a classic monster-fighter game, it surprised Cole to find it was actually much more complex and engaging.

It would’ve actually been really fun, had Jay not been so ridiculously goated at the game.

“What? Your character is invulnerable to the imperial sludge? How is that fair?”

Jay scoffed. “If you had read the Aliens Strike Back arc of Starfarer comics, you would’ve known that.”

“This totally isn’t fair. You have a bunch of background knowledge on Starfarer that I don’t.”

“It’s not our fault you’re the only one who hasn’t read or watched any Starfarer,” Lloyd said.

“Oh no,” Cole groaned. “You guys are dragging me into this too, aren’t you?”

---

“Where’s my copy of issue 117 of Starfarer?”

Jay looked up from the counter, where he was munching on crackers. “Like I would know, Lloyd. It’s not my responsibility to keep track of where you put your stuff.”

“I know exactly where I put it. But it’s gone now! I left it on my nightstand last night, right next to my bed. I haven’t touched it since.”

“Well, evidently, you have, since it’s not there now.”

“No, I didn’t touch it! Someone must’ve moved it!”

“And? I don’t see how this is my problem.”

“Everyone knows you’re the biggest Starfarer fanboy on the team apart from me, and I happen to be aware that you don’t own that particular comic.”

“I didn’t steal your comic, Lloyd.”

“Oh yeah? Then what happened to it?”

“Don’t ask me!” “You know that’s my favorite issue, Jay.”

“So? You think I’d take it just to spite you?”

“I think you’d-”

He cut off as Kai meandered into the kitchen, eating crackers and reading a comic.

Lloyd’s eyes widened. “Hey! That’s my missing comic!”

Kai glanced up at him. “You said I could borrow it.” “I did not! And give it to me, before you get cracker crumbs all over it!”

Kai rolled his eyes as Lloyd snatched it from him. “Alright, fine, take your dumb comic.”

Jay crossed his arms. “I think you owe me an apology, Lloyd.”

Lloyd stuck his tongue out at him, and Jay returned the gesture.

“Hey!” They turned to see Nya strolling into the room behind Kai, elbowing her brother sharply. “You said I could have that comic once you finished it.”

“Seriously, Kai? You can’t go around giving my comic to people without asking.”

“I wasn’t going to give it to her! She’s lying!” “Excuse me? You literally just said that like ten minutes ago-”

Zane and Cole joined them not long after, glancing around. “Guys! What’s with all the racket?”

“Kai promised me his Starfarer comic after he was done-”

“It’s not Kai’s, it’s mine! And he took it from me without asking and just auctioned it off to Nya!” “I didn’t auction off anything, it’s not like she paid me for it. Although, that's honestly not a bad idea…”

“What is this, a monopoly?” Jay asked. “We’re not paying for comics we already own, that’s dumb.”

“Yeah,” Lloyd agreed, “especially when they were mine in the first place.”

“Liar! Most of them were mine!” Jay insisted. “I should get dominion over my own comics!”

“Just because you own the most doesn’t mean you own all of them,” Lloyd countered. “You may have more comics by sheer number, but I have more rare comics than you and, overall, my comics have a higher value.”

“I’m sick of you two always deciding everything about Starfarer,” Cole said. “Why can’t one of us regulate the comics?”

“Whoever gets control over the comics is just going to have bias and distribute them to their advantage.”

“I think I would be the most responsible man for the job-”

“Stop lying to yourself, dirtclod, I’d obviously be better-”

“Better than Kai, yeah, if you’re trying to set the bar low.”

“Excuse me?”

“Guys,” Lloyd interrupted, slamming his fists down on the table. “There’s only one solution to settle this. We have a competition. Winner gets control over the Starfarer comics for… let’s say, the next six months.”

Kai cracked his knuckles, grinning. “You had me at competition.”

---

“When you said, ‘competition,’ somehow I was expecting something a little more grandiose than this.”

The ninja had gathered around the kitchen table, glancing down at the box Lloyd had dropped there. Starfarer: Galaxy Wars, it read.

“Yeah, Lloyd,” Cole agreed. “A board game? Seriously?”

“Not just any board game. The most popular, most difficult, most fun game out there. It is truly for the Starfarer master. Part roleplay, part strategy, part trivia- it puts your Starfarer knowledge to the test. That way, we know whoever wins this didn’t just get the win out of chance, but actually deserves it.”

Nya raised an eyebrow. “I mean, I guess. But you better not be an expert at this game.”

Lloyd shook his head. “I’ve only played it a few times, I promise.”

“Okay then,” Kai said. “May the best ninja win.”

As usual, that lasted about five minutes until they were all yelling at each other.

“Oh, come on!” Cole threw down his card. “I got stuck in the Imperial Sludge Swamp again?”

“Ha!” Jay leaned forward, moving his piece across the board, jumping over Cole’s pawn. “Next time you know to pick a character with better environmental perks.”

“Cole’s character is more well-rounded, though,” Zane pointed out. “If you are unable to gather enough energy before the end, it is likely the aliens will take you out.”

“Quit your yapping and let me take my turn.” Kai snatched the dice from Jay’s hand and tossed them- landing a perfect 12.

“You’re cheating!” Nya snapped. “That’s the third turn in a row you’ve rolled higher than a ten. Are you using weighted dice or something?”

“He’s using the exact same dice I just used, Nya.”

“It’s called skill,” Kai scoffed. “Maybe someday, you can be as good as me.”

“Rolling dice is completely based on chance! If the best skill you can boast is being able to roll high numbers, I think I’m doing pretty well.”

“Yeah, well, we’ll see how useless it is once I win this thing and get total control over all the Starfarer comics.”

“Fat chance,” Nya huffed as Kai moved his piece.

“Oh, look at that, I found a pile of scrap metal! I get to roll again!”

“Are. You. Kidding me!”

“Wait,” Zane put a hand on Nya’s shoulder. “He’s right by the alien spaceship. If he gets an 11 or less, he’ll be on their turf and they’ll shoot him down, kidnap him, or confront him, depending on his stats. The only way he could possibly get through this without negative consequences is by rolling a 12.”

“There’s no way he’ll do it again,” Cole agreed. “Nya, this is your chance to overtake him.”

“Let’s see.” Kai grabbed the two dice and shook up his hands. He shook and shook, stopped to blow on the dice, then shook some more-

“Just roll the stupid dice,” Cole snapped.

Kai dropped the dice, and time seemed to move in slow motion. Lloyd held his breath, leaning forward-

And watched as the dice rolled one six, then another.

A perfect roll.

“Cheating!” Nya cried. “Cheating, I tell you! There’s no way this is possible.”

“We can’t let him win,” Jay groaned. “He won’t share any comics with us.” “Not true! I’ll let Lloyd have one.”

“Only one?” “That’s better than none at all,” Jay snapped. “At least he’s giving you something.”

“He’s not going to be giving me anything, because he’s not going to win.”

Kai grinned, gesturing at the dice. “Sure, be my guest. See if you can beat me.”

Lloyd rolled, earning a seven.

Jay hissed between his teeth. “Tough luck, green bean- you get injured and robbed by aliens.”

“Actually,” Lloyd said, slipping a card from his pile and slamming it down on the middle of the table. “I don’t, because I play this special ability card, allowing me to pick the number of spaces I travel. I choose 10, landing myself on the abandoned spacecraft. Then I use my character’s high level mechanics skills and use this card-” he slammed down another card that showed scrap metal reserves- “to instantly fix the ship. Then I spend my energy points to get another turn, use the gas from my generator to fuel the ship, and then am able to fly the ship back to the base and restore the artifacts. According to the manual, it would take three days from my location, and Kai, the closest, would take five days in his slower spacecraft, meaning it is impossible for anyone to beat me back, and I win the game.”

For a moment, they were silent, gaping at him.

“How?” Cole murmured. “Dude, how did you do that?”

“He just crossed half the board in one turn,” Kai spluttered. “And I was about to win! That shouldn’t even be possible!”

“How many moves were you planning ahead?” Zane shook his head. “Your strategy appears to be far more complex than any of us were anticipating for this kind of game.”

“I knew something was up when he kept stashing his ability cards,” Jay groaned. “We were all using ours, but he hardly used any- he was saving them up to use them all in a big power move and catch us off guard, the little rascal!”

“You liar,” Nya hissed. “You said you only played this game a few times! This was way too complicated of a plan for a novice player.”

“Technically, that’s true,” Lloyd grinned. “I have only played a few times. But I never said how long I played for each time.”

“You conniving little gremlin.”

“Now, Nya,” Lloyd scolded in a sagely voice, barely able to suppress his laughter, “I’d be careful how you speak to me from now on. If you’re rude, I may not give you any Starfarer.”

“Yeah, this is going to get old, very quickly.”

“I can’t believe it,” Jay sighed. “You never share comics with us.”

Lloyd gawked at him. “Are you kidding? It’s because of my sharing that you guys are even into Starfarer in the first place! Jay was the only one who knew about it before I came, but even he didn’t tell anyone else he was a fanboy and kept stuff hidden in boxes. When I showed interest, do you remember how excited you got? You took everything out, just for me.”

Zane shook his head, smiling. “I still can’t believe you got me to binge the entire series.”

“Or how I spent hours investing in that game and tracking down all that information in the comics just to beat Jay’s high score? Which I crushed, by the way.”

Jay scowled. “For the last time, you beat me by five points! You didn’t crush anyone.”

Cole scoffed. “Someone’s just jealous. If it weren’t for Lloyd, I would’ve never beat you.”

“You showed us all something we love, huh, squirt?” Kai ruffled his hair, and Lloyd pulled away, like usual, but grinned at him, bumping his shoulder gently.

“Remember when you used to get all upset at me for slacking off and reading Starfarer comics during training?”

Kai reddened. “That was different! We were preparing you for the Final Battle, there was a lot to be done.”

“Hypocrites,” Lloyd whispered, giggling as he ducked a swing from Kai.

“Well, what are you going to do now, ‘master of the comics?’” Jay asked. “Hoard all the books to yourself? Read in front of us to taunt us?” “Tempting,” Lloyd said, “but I think first, I want to play another round of the Starfarer board game.”

Cole blinked. “Lloyd, it’s seven pm. And this took us like five hours to get through the first time.”

The ninja blinked at each other.

“Oh, it’s on!”

#ninjago #ninbingo #my fic #rosie writes #lloyd garmadon #jay walker #ninjago kai #ninjago nya #ninjago cole #ninjago zane #ahhh this is my last bingo fic!#its been so fun thank you all!#I'm especially grateful for Fabro :)#without this event we might've never been anything more than just acquaintances :)#im so glad we're friends now #luv u bestie #thanks for being so supportive and for hosting this event!#thanks for reading!#reblogs and comments greatly appreciated!

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theotherackerman · 3 years

Text

My Mind Turns Your Life Into Folklore

NOTES:

Flashback: Mikasa, age 21 Current time: Wednesday January 20th

chapter twenty-three: the story of us

One year ago, Mikasa did not handle her upcoming father’s birthday very well.

She had gotten drunk.

More drunk than she had ever been.

The room was spinning, couldn’t feel anything sort of drunk.

If it worked for Eren, it could work for her.

She didn’t want to feel.

She didn’t want to think.

Every change of the minute brought her father’s birthday closer.

She had tried to call Eren but Ymir had snatched her phone away.

So Mikasa didn’t call Eren.

Instead, she wandered off into the backyard where Levi found her.

She sat down in the snow, not really feeling the cold.

“I know. You’re hurting. You have been, whether you want to admit it or not. You’re having issues because you’re not allowing the pain you feel to be felt. You’ve been through a lot, Mikasa. Give yourself a break,” Levi said as he offered his hand out to Mikasa.

After a moment, Mikasa took Levi’s hand and allowed him to pull her to her feet.

Ymir came out of the house moments later and helped lead Mikasa back into the house.

“She okay?” Ymir asked.

“No, but she will be,” Levi replied.

---------------

Eren woke up with his limbs tangled with Mikasa’s. He was unsure how he was going back to not sleeping with her every night. He loved waking up to her in the morning. She was sound asleep as he had woken up before his alarm had gone off. He watched her peacefully sleeping in his arms. He was still so in love with her.

His alarm went off. He swiped it away.

Mikasa mumbled something under his breath that he couldn’t make out before she was nuzzling into his chest, trying to go back to sleep.

“I’m going to shower,” he told her as he began to move.

There was some sort of noise of protest as she held onto him.

“Unless you want to join me,” he whispered into her ear.

She gave him a gentle shove.

“That’s what I thought,” he laughed as he stood up.

It was a strange little morning routine that they had already fallen into. He took his pills and then made his way towards the bathroom.

Eren noticed after he had returned to the bedroom after his shower that something was off about Mikasa. He remembered the whole reason he was here was because of her dad’s birthday looming ever so close.

She was always off on that day.

On her mom’s birthday, it was even worse.

No matter how happy of a day they all tried to make it, Mikasa still had the same feelings.

Eren didn’t blame her, couldn’t blame her. He knew how his mom’s death had affected him. He knew her birthday was also looming closer every day. With the towel still wrapped around his waist, he sat down on her bed.

“Hey, you okay?” he asked as he reached out and touched her face.

Mikasa nodded.

“You’re still a shitty liar,” he told her.

“I know,” she muttered as she looked down.

His thumb caressed her cheek. “We’ll make it through today and tomorrow...then we’ll go from there. One day at time, right?”

Mikasa nodded again, still not looking up at him.

Eren leaned in and briefly pressed his lips to hers. A gesture that he was still there, he still loved her, and that he wanted her.

If Eren was being completely honest, he had never wanted anyone else and he wouldn’t ever want anyone else. He had resigned himself to a life free of any romance after he had left her.

She kissed him back right before he pulled away.

He had left her.

She had gone through this without him last year.

And he had known it would be bad.

It was bad every year.

What kind of fucked up person would do that?

Eren wasn’t fully aware of the fact that he had grabbed Mikasa and pulled her into a hug until she was squeezing him back.

So he just held her.

After a moment, Mikasa finally spoke.

“Thank you,” she said.

“Always here for you,” he muttered as he rested his head on top of hers.

“Did you use my shampoo?” she asked.

“Yeah…..”

“You smell good though. It’s fine. Your hair is so much longer now.”

“Is that bad?”

“No, I like it. Is this scar new?” she asked as she traced a mark on his chest.

Eren nodded.

“Car accident?” she asked.

“Probably. There’s a small one on my neck too,” he said before he took her hand, he used her hand to trace the small scar on his neck. “That was from glass. I was unconscious when they took it out.”

“Luck you. I got to feel your dad pull the glass out of my face,” she muttered as she traced the scar on his neck.

“I’m sure he was at least trying to be gentle. The doctors were pretty mad at me for drinking and driving.”

“Good,” Mikasa said before she pulled out of his embrace.

“Hey! Well, you’re right. I kind of deserved it back then.”

“I’m going to go take a shower,” she said as she stood up.

“I mean you could have joined me…”

Mikasa tackled him, causing him to fall backwards onto the bed. He tried to wrestle out of her grip but even with him working out, she was still stronger. He also became very aware of the fact that he was still just wearing a towel. Mikasa quickly pinned both of Eren’s hands above his head.

Eren’s eyes met hers again.

“I’m going to take a page out of Niccolo’s book and say this is pretty much the hottest thing I’ve ever seen,” he told her.

“Thought you were stronger now,” she replied simply. No blush flooded her cheeks like Eren had hoped for.

“I just let you win.”

Mikasa rolled her eyes as she released his wrists.

“You really shouldn’t have done that.”

“Why?”

Eren’s only answer was to grab her and flip them so he was hovering over her. He could feel his towel slipping but it did stay in place. He knew another move like that and it would fall.

Mikasa biting her lip and refusing to look him in his eyes did not escape his notice. He stood up as he held onto his towel. He secured it as Mikasa got off of her bed.

“Told you I’ve gotten stronger,” he teased her.

“Yeah, yeah. So you’ve said. I’m going to go shower by myself.”

“Don’t sound so sad about it.”

Mikasa didn’t even bother to respond to him.

Eren waited until he heard Mikasa’s footsteps disappear before he sighed.

-----------------

Jean had no idea what to expect from Pieck. The woman was a constant surprise when it came to what she did.

So when she had shown up with takeout and wine, he had been surprised.

“Figured Connie would probably still be here so I decided to keep it PG tonight,” Pieck said as came into the apartment. “And I brought a bottle of whiskey for him.”

“Did I hear whiskey?” Connie asked as he came out of his room.

“You did. New brand. Thought the bottle was cool,” Pieck shrugged.

“Pieck, this is why you’re the coolest girl he’s ever brought home,” Connie said as he took the bottle from her.

“Does he bring many girls home?” Pieck smirked.

“Yes,” Jean said.

“No,” Connie replied at the same time.

Jean glared at Connie which just caused Pieck to laugh.

“He always seemed to get shot down at galas. So I think I’m going to believe Connie,” Pieck smirked.

“See? Coolest girl. Alright, I’m going to get hammered and then write this essay,” Connie said before moving the bottle in a small toast before going back to his room.

“Let me guess, you thought it would be something much more sexy that I was going to bring you for stress relief,” Pieck said before she sat the bag of food down on the table.

“Very domestic of you,” Jean smirked as he sat down at the tiny kitchen table.

“Shut up, don’t get used to it. I had a good shoot today so here I am. Plus this place has the best tacos around and it happens to be two blocks away from here.”

“Best tacos, huh? Just look like normal tacos to me."

Pieck rolled her eyes before she sat across from him. "You're the man who thought a twenty dollar wine was expensive. So maybe I don't trust your judgement when it comes to food."

"Well excuse me. I didn't have my mom take me to a winery."

"Maybe she should have."

Jean rolled his eyes before taking a bite of his taco. His eyes lit up.

"Told you. World's best tacos."

"Alright, fine. You win this one."

"I told you."

"...you got any more tacos?" Connie's voice called from down the hall.

"Yes, come get some," Pieck replied.

Their conversation slowed as they continued their meal. Pieck found herself liking being here in Jean and Connie's company. Besides the talk of exams and essays, Pieck would sometimes forget they weren't in the same age group as her.

And despite how much she tried to avoid it, Pieck really did like Jean. Once she got through that cocky, asshole persona he used, she found herself really enjoying her company.

But she wouldn't tell him or anybody else for that matter that.

They would all tease her about it.

This all should have been a red flag for her.

Evidence that she was getting in far too deep with Jean. Here she was bringing him food and alcohol because he had had an exam.

After dinner, Pieck found herself sitting on the couch with Jean watching some cheesy sci-fi movie he had found.

"Saturday there's this frat party Marco and I are going to. I'm not staying long," he said casually.

"Okay?" She asked as she raised an eyebrow.

Why would she care?

"So uh..if you wanted to like…"

"Spit out, Jean."

"I mean this is kind of becoming a routine thing and if you know you were expecting for us to…"

She reached up and grabbed his face. "You're cute when you're embarrassed," she teased him before she let go. "Go get drunk. Party. Whatever. I'm keeping my weekly date with Porco and Marcel anyway. But if it isn't past your bedtime, maybe I'll swing by."

"I won't be asleep," Jean said as he leaned back against the couch.

"Hmmm...will Connie be here?"

"Shouldn't be. He's got a thing with Ruth. He spent an hour on the phone with Sasha trying to pick out the perfect gift."

"What for?"

"I don't know. He likes to spoil his girlfriend and get them gifts for no reason. He's always been like that."

"Huh."

The talk of a relationship was making Pieck uncomfortable. Did Jean want that from her? She couldn't give that to him. It just wasn't something she was capable of. Maybe she should break this whole thing off.

"He's right though," Jean said after a moment.

"About what?" She was clearly confused.

"You are the coolest girl I've brought home."

Pieck held back a laugh, "I've never been cool in my life."

"But you are. I mean you have a studio, you're a working artist. You can play multiple instruments. There's no way you're not cool."

"I'm also unbelievably boring."

"I doubt that."

"I am. I go home, I have a glass of wine, I watch TV, and I go to bed."

"Better than what I do. Just study all the time."

"Oh please. Aren't you going to save the world or something?"

"Just because I'm a political science major doesn't mean I'm going to save the world."

"Hmmm...somehow I doubt that. You seem like the type."

"What type?"

"The type to do something stupid. I should go. It's getting late," she said as she stood up.

"Or you could always stay," Jean muttered.

She stopped and looked back at him. "Why do you want me to stay? You feeling alright?"

"Just a stressful day. That's all," he shrugged.

"Okay, well, I've got a shoot in the morning."

"Right. Yeah, I'll see you later."

Pieck nodded and left, closing the door behind her.

Jean groaned once she was gone.

"Dude, you're so screwed," Connie said from the other room.

"Tell me something I don't know," Jean muttered as he sat down on the couch.

"So Sasha and Niccolo aren't talking."

"Why's that?"

"Guess he flipped because we're still friends and exes. It's not like I didn't grow up next door to her."

"Weird. So is he out of the group?"

"Not yet. Ymir is waiting for the word to take him out though."

"I'll help her hide the body."

"Are you going to talk to Pieck about everything?"

"You know she's the first girl since Mikasa that I actually like to be around? I mean the other girls I've been with have been good for a fling but Pieck is…"

"Someone you want to wife up?"

"Yes! I mean no. I don't know. She's just different."

"Then you should tell her. I'm pretty sure she feels the same."

"I hope so."

--------------

Her friends were very good at getting Mikasa to not think about the fact that her dad’s birthday was the next day.

At least until it was time to sleep.

She tossed and turned. Eren held onto her, never complaining.

Eren pulled her close to him. She turned over so she was facing him.

“You’re okay,” he assured her, wrapping his other arm around her.

She didn’t feel okay. She felt like she was breaking all over again.

There was a knock on the door.

“Come in,” Eren said.

The door opened, Annie stepped in first. She was wrapped in her comforter.

“Scoot over,” the blonde said. Eren pulled himself and Mikasa over to the other side of the bed. Annie plopped down on the open space just as Armin was coming in with his own blanket. He climbed into the bed and sat down next to Eren.

“Armin?” Mikasa questioned. “When did you get here?”

“About twenty minutes ago. My classes are canceled tomorrow,” he explained.

“So we’re having a sleepover in your room tonight because fuck being alone. None of that shit here,” Ymir added as she came into the room with her own blanket. She turned Mikasa’s tv on with the remote. “No one kick me,” she warned as she lay horizontally across the end foot of the bed.

Historia came into the room next, dragging a blanket with her.

“Annie, let me use you as a pillow,” Historia remarked as she climbed into bed. She rested her head on Annie’s shoulder.

“Ymir, can I use you as a pillow?” Sasha asked as she climbed over Ymir so she was the opposite way with her feet towards Mikasa’s pillows.

“I don’t care. Just don’t poke me with your boney elbow,” Ymir said.

“Anyone squished?” Eren asked after a moment.

“I’m good. Toss me a pillow,” Ymir said as she held her hand out.

Eren reached back and grabbed a pillow. He tossed it to her and Ymir caught it.

“You know it’s a good thing you have a giant bed,” Ymir laughed as she put her head down on the pillow.

“Probably a good thing we don’t have more friends too,” Annie added as she rested her head on top of Mikasa’s.

Mikasa twisted so she could see the tv.

“Alright, so we will find the worst thing possible on tv,” Ymir informed them before turning up the volume.

“Give me that or we’re going to end up watching Hallmark movies forever!” Historia proclaimed.

“They’re horrible!”

“That’s the point but they are a form of torture I will not endure. Sasha, snatch the remote away.”

“Uh, no. Ymir is my pillow.”

Mikasa laughed a bit as her friends argued.

This was an improvement from last year.

#mmtylif #my writing

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lupienne · 3 years

Text

The Reality - Negan and Lucille

Hey guys, here’s a little Halloween fic of Negan and Lucille. I started it like two years ago and never felt motivated to finish it. So I finally sat down today on Halloween and wrote the end of it, and while I’m not really happy with it... whatever. Here it is anyway! I think it’s kind of bittersweet, but that’s just me.

The Reality

Gourds were on porches, leaves on the ground, and the stores were filled with pumpkin-flavored everything. The crisp air was a slap to the lungs, in a good way.

I'd always loved Fall, and I'd always looked forward to Halloween. That night when reality wavered on the edge. When you could be dark or light, the opposite of yourself – when you could be anything for just a few hours.

I hadn't been a fan of the days passing by lately. Dread sat like a tumor in my stomach.

The reality was... that reality fucking sucked.

I watched my breath puff out white as I came home on Thursday. Maybe it wouldn't fucking rain this Halloween. We might get snow instead.

After dinner, I polished off a few apple cider donuts, then settled on the couch to watch TV with Lucille. She was quiet and sleepy-eyed as the clock ticked towards my bedtime. The holiday was days away, falling right splat on a Saturday.

“Tony said he found some fuckin' booze flavored like Candy Corn. I hope that's not all he's gonna have, because that's gross as fuck.” I yawned. “What do you think I should dress as? Fuck, I shouldn't have waited until the last minute.”

We always attended Tony Synder's party down the block. I wasn't really crazy about the guy, but I'm not gonna pass up free food or secretly laughing at the neighbor's costumes. (I always looked fucking amazing.) I liked to switch up my style, but Lucille usually dressed as a witch. And not some sloppy, warty green hag...but a hot fucking witch. Her slim figure in a black corset, her tits pushed up, her cascade of black curls falling over one eye. In years past, we'd come home from that party partly drunk and ripping each other's costumes off as we stumbled through the door. God damn. I was almost getting hard thinking of it.

Almost. The past few years, Lucille had me at arm's reach and I couldn't blame her. I was shit, I was an unfaithful piece of shit, but she-

That shit didn't matter anymore.

“He-Man,” she said with a chuckle. “I want to see you rocking that little leather harness.”

“Goddamn, that's right on the edge of indecent exposure. Isn't he practically naked?”

“Why do you think I suggested it?”

“I would make a hot blond.” I slid closer to her, and she nestled against my side. “You gonna be my Bewitching Beauty as always?”

She was quiet for so long I thought she'd fallen asleep.

“...think I'm gonna sit this one out.”

“But why?”

“I don't know. Just not up to it, I guess. But you go, have fun. Maybe you'll find a hot date.”

I swallowed hard. After everything....I couldn't laugh at those types of jokes.

“...Stop that shit. You're the only hot date I want. I don't wanna go alone. We don't have to stay long.”

“Look, Negan, they won't want me there.”

“What the fuck are you talking about? Tony adores you, which is why I ain't his biggest fan, cause I know he's always wanted to stick his dick in you-”

She let out a laugh that was more of a scoff. “Doubt he feels that way now. Nobody wants a dying woman at their party, making things awkward.”

I felt like I'd been punched in the goddamn balls. My stomach went to my throat and I roiled with sudden nausea. Eyes burning with acid. I fought it, I fought it motherfuckin' hard . My jaw clenched like I was in rigor mortis, my body shuddering.

“Don't...don't say fucking shit like that.”

She nudged my ribs. “God, calm down, Negan. What about this, huh? I don't have any hair.”

“It's Hallo-fucking-ween. Everyone is wearing a motherfuckin' wig right now. You'll fit right in.”

She leaned her head on my arm. “I'm tired. I'll think about it. Ok?”

That meant no. But it wasn't official yet, so I was gonna stop at the party store and buy that fucking He-Man getup and the best witch wig I could find. She'd change her mind right quick once she saw me in that loincloth.

As she went to bed, I stared out the window at the orange light of our Jack-o-lantern. The nausea had settled back into my bones. A constant undercurrent, moving through my veins like poisoned blood.

Too many tricks, life. Not enough treats.

---

Friday night. I stopped at the party store. The cashier rung up my purchases, then looked me over with a twinkle in her eye. I refused to be flattered – ok, I was kind of fucking flattered. The wig for Lucille was the most expensive they had. If you squinted, it looked nearly like her natural spill of curls.

At home, I put my hand on the package, and felt a rush of fucking darkness come over me. I had to fucking sit there, like so many nights, fighting the thoughts that stung like needles. If I let them keep stinging, the tears would come – the fucking breakdown would follow.

So I fought it. I shut it down. I fucking locked it up, because Lucille doesn't like it when I fall apart – and why should she? I'm the man. I'm supposed to be her rock. She hates it when I cry. I hate it when I cry.

So I fucking smiled when I walked in the door. I smelled Chinese food. Lucille was already piling mine onto a plate – the sweet n' sour chicken I love. All she ordered was a tub of Wonton soup. I frowned, but said nothing. At least she's eating.

She looked at the bag in my hand, and she too, said nothing. “Dinner's ready. And I rented some Halloween movies.”

We ate and watched Child's Play and Micheal Myers and a leprechaun who makes bad jokes. I didn't mention the costume or the party, but I knew I'd be going alone. I spend the last movie wondering how I'll excuse my wife's absence, and how the fuck I'm gonna endure the pity in their eyes. It fucking pissed me off. That they're putting her in the ground already. That she's putting herself there.

“Honey,” she rubbed my tense arm. “You ok?”

“Yeah, babe. Just...indigestion.”

And damn this woman, she got up to make me a cup of peppermint tea. I sat there numb, wondering what the fuck I'm going to do without her.

----

“By the POWER OF GRAYSCALE, behold my glorious sword! ...and by sword, I mean dick.” I adjusted He-Man's fake-fur loincloth. Played with it, flipped it around. I wore some black boxers under it, but I was still worried about...slippage. I looked so fucking ridiculous.

I slid on the blond bob wig, examining the hot mess in the mirror. “Haha, oh yeah! What a fine motherfucker. Jesus H Christ. I am a glutton for punishment. Ok, babe. I'm decent! Come check me out before I head over there!”

“It's Grayskull, not Grayscale. Get it right, Negan.”

The bedroom door swung open and my mouth dropped. My Lucille stood there, the black wig cascading over her shoulders. Her body, slimmer than ever, hugged by a slinky black dress and purple corset. Glitter dusted her chest and cheeks.

“Goddamn, woman.”

“I couldn't miss out on that Candy Corn booze.”

I smiled, but we both knew she wouldn't be drinking that. She'd be spending the night over the toilet. I had to banish that thought fuckin' quick. She already spends too many nights over the toilet.

“I'll taste test it for you first. Let you know exactly how fucking disgusting it is.”

We headed down the block, passing early Trick-or-Treaters. The rain had come after all, but merely presented as a pathetic drizzle. The mist in the air diffused the street lamps into yellow balls of light. I wish I'd brought my coat to drape over Lucille's bare shoulders. Spooky music played from our elderly neighbor's house and he waved at us. Lucille waved back.

Tony's yard had become a graveyard of cardboard tombstones and dry ice. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Lucy shiver.

“Want me to go back and grab a coat?”

“Don't be dumb. We're almost there.”

On the porch, Tony's tween kid sat in a lawn chair with a bowl of candy. No costume, how quaintly rebellious. She looked bored as fuck until we rolled up, and then she snickered openly. Dear fucking God. I hoped my loincloth was in place. My nipples were like fucking pebbles on either side of the plastic harness. I quickly banged on the door.

Tony opened it. “Negan! And Lucille! Very nice, very nice. Love the costume, although I'd never call you a witch. Or anything rhyming with it.”

We did an obligatory laugh. The tween rolled her eyes.

“You look cold, Negan. Better step inside. I got the lager ready to go.” Tony had the same damn smirk as his kid.

“Why did you pick this costume for me again?” I muttered. We passed through the entryway strung with a beaded curtain of bats and spiders. The living room was bathed in red light and Monster Mash blasted from the stereo. Tony's wife always went all-out with this shit. A skeleton sat in the armchair and fake cobwebs were every-fucking-where. I hoped the dry ice didn't affect Lucy's breathing.

Wifey Tanya came over, hugging Lucille and complimenting our costumes. I glanced down, wondering how they saw her. Did they know the shadowed eyes and gaunt cheeks weren't make-up? Did they notice the weight she'd lost?

I still saw beauty. The cut flower, vibrant and blooming –just don't think of the future, the withering-

Freeze that shit in time. I closed my ears to nothing but the soundtrack of screams and creaking doors, back-lit with the wailing of ghosts. Party guest voices blabbered over it all. We melted into the past. It was another party like the parties of years before. Slightly pathetic in that 'thirty-something's hanging out' kind of way. Laughing too loud. Secretly sizing each other up.

At least the lime green jello shots were good.

So yeah, it was just another lame party, and because of that, it wasn't. Because for a while...we were normal. Lucille laughed. I saw her smiling. Within her costume, she wasn't the Sick One. She was the mischievous witch, mingling with devils and cowboys and kitty cats.

Mrs Tillerman from school was there. She drank too much of that nasty Candy Corn atrocity. I caught her checking me out and I felt – for maybe the first time ever – ashamed. Other women looked at me too, making slightly-tipsy comments in my direction. I was glad Lucille was across the room, no doubt bored out of her mind listening to Ms Crouch talk about her fucking kids. And by kids, I mean her cats.

“Mmm, hello, He-Man. Nice sword. Remember that time after school?” Mrs Tillerman, winking and nudging.

“Sorry, He-Man has no fucking recollection of that.”

She'd sucked my dick once. Just once. That was really enough for me. I think I'd only allowed it because I could. Now, I saw what a fucking piece of trash I was. Hopefully, when she sobered up, she would too.

“You don't?” She took another swig from her solo cup and let out a burp. I quickly turned her in the direction of the bathroom. Just in time, because Lucille was drifting my way.

“Motherfuckin' crowd is getting drunk. There's probably going to be barf in the apple-bobbin' water. As if bobbing for apples isn't fucking gross enough.” I had to yell as The Addam's Family theme blasted from the speakers.

“Yeah.” She looked pale under the glitter.

“You had enough?”

I knew she had. We'd done it, we'd made our appearance, we'd given proof of life. I squeezed her hand, then found our host. I was tired, had papers to grade, been a great party...you know the bullshit, Tony.

We walked home silently. I wanted to ask how she was feeling. It was a lump in my throat. She'd probably just be annoyed. Say I was worrying too much. Say she was fine.

The warm glow of our porch washed over us. It sparkled the glitter on her cheeks, flushed pink from the cold. I wanted badly to kiss her. Instead, I fumbled in my He-Man boot for the house key.

Kids screamed and laughed on the street, swinging their bags of candy. It was just another Halloween in a long line of them, stretching out into our future. Maybe ten years from now, our kid would join the others.

Tomorrow, I wouldn't think like this. But tonight – fucking dammit, I was going to pretend we had years ahead of us.

I got the door open, got us in, shut it against the chill.

“Fuck. Don't know if that was worth going to. You have fun?”

The orange glow filtered in through the glass panel of our front door. Moonlight through the windows, silvering the interior. Everything was dark, but sharply edged with white. Lucille turned to face me. She discarded her witch's hat, the wig – no...her hair, looking real and soft and luscious, spilling onto her shoulders. She slowly drew one hand up my naked stomach and my skin shivered under the touch.

“He-Man,” she rasped. “I've put you under my spell.”

“Lucille...?”

“It's Lucianna. Maiden of the Night. And I've cast my spell upon you.”

I imagined she'd gotten that crap from those dumb novels she liked to read. The ones with guys who wished they were as hot as me on the cover. “Oh yeah? What spell is that?”

Her hand drifted under my loincloth. I let out a breath. Shit. I hadn't felt her touch me there for weeks.

“The spell of Lust. I'm irresistible to you.”

She didn't need a spell for that.

She rose to her tiptoes, her cold arms against my chest. “...Negan. Make love to me. “

“...but...Lucille...”

It's too strenuous for you. You'll be tired. I'm afraid I'll hurt you -

She didn't look tired. Her eyes were dark and wide, her skin sparkling. The chilled hands sliding under the plastic harness were strong and sure. Her lips hungrily pressed to my chin. “...Don't resist me, He-Man. Give me this night – a Halloween like we used to have.”

I fucking melted like the half-frozen rain under the burning Halloween moon. What could I do?

“By the power of Grayscale, I pull forth my sword, Lucianna!”

“That's Grayskull, He-man!” She laughed as I backed her to the couch, my hands fumbling at her corset. “Ooh, that's such a big sword you have. You sure you can lift that thing up?”

“Witch, I'm gonna impale you so fuckin' deep with my hard steel. You just fuckin' wait.”

“Oh, I'm waiting, but you still have your clothes on.”

Heh. Good thing He-Man was half-fucking-naked already. The witch was helpless to my brute strength as I lifted her and carried her into the bedroom.

To be honest, there wasn't anything rough or hard about it. Even on devil's night, I had to maintain some sense of restraint. My hands gently stroked ribs under frail skin, planted kisses onto delicate shoulders and licked along a ridge of collarbone. Lucianna, my withering flower, her beauty stretched across bones.

Her hands, digging hard into my shoulders, her legs, wrapping me like squeezing pythons – well, they felt anything but weak.

After, we lay breathing and nestled together. The light outside came and went, broken up by drifting clouds. Lucille's sharpened features were softened. Her wig was still on and still looked real as fuck – money well spent. Her eyes, half-lidded, were tired, but tired in a good fucking way.

“Not a bad fucking Halloween, huh, Lucy?”

“Pretty damn good fucking Halloween,” she whispered.

She closed her eyes, and I watched her, drowsing there in the dark. Her spell was slowly melting away; her magic could only veil the truth so long.

But for a few hours, reality shifted and wavered on the edge. She was alive, she was here, and we would spend our nights beside each other, just like this.

For just the brief span of our last Halloween night, I could have it. It was my reality.

And the reality was... that reality was fucking great.

#negan #comic negan #lucille #fanfic #fic #lup's writing #thanks for reading :)

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orenstern · 3 years

Text

I’d like to admit that I’ve never in my life read the Diary of Anne Frank. I’ve stood outside her house before, almost 14 years ago, and could feel something of her echoes, but never had before or since seen her words or witnessed her mind.

Up until a week ago, that is, when I chanced upon a copy of her diary. I picked it up the very moment I saw it, an instant reaction and so quick I forgot to realize I’d always been innately afraid to read her work, her letters to self. Because it somehow always seemed to me like, of all the work available by now-dead writers, her diary entries would feel the most like ghost stories, like real life talking to a ghost. It’s always scared me, the notion of talking to this particular ghost. No other ghost ever proposed to raise in me the slightest feather of a concern let alone fear.

But she always had.

And I can’t even remember having seen a portrait of her until last week. As hard as that might be to believe.

Where she was concerned, it has been like living in a house where all of the mirrors had blankets covering them. And believe you me, I’ve been in many houses where real life people were still living there and it was just precisely that, blankets over the mirrors, and the inhabitants were just looking at me without a hint of shame, sorrow or remorse in their eyes. Without any hint of knowledge of the display they had erected. If it fact it was them who had erected it. Just, this is the way it is here looks in their eyes.

The fucking things you see over a life. The understated non-plussed near-miss, oh boy did it hit though I am yet unstruck, horror you sometimes see. And how often it doesn’t even faze you. You just step over it like you would any old mound of dirt, not at all an active grave, except the low key and surpressed knowledge reminding you that all the earth is an active 5 billion year old Grave and Tomb and Monument and Pyre all wrapped into one, and all the universe a 20 billion year old same thing.

So I picked up the book. And I gazed at the front cover for a good long while. At her portrait. At Anne. I looked at her portrait for the first time, and I transported my mind back to her house, and I imagined she and I were standing there together, side by side. Outside. Looking at her own house in silence, together. And we both walked away, together, headed for a fast train to Paris, by way of a stroll along the Prisengracht, and short interlude at the Van Gogh museum. No other manifestations than that. I did not even imagine our bodies or our faces. I just remembered having done that before, peering out from the windows of my own eyes, with a companion by my side, and imagined this time, Anne was there with me doing the same.

And then after these thoughts, I opened the book. But I turned immediately to her very final entry. And I read only this Tuesday, August 1st, 1944 entry.

I’m sure I am not the only one who has read her writings and recognized themself in her words. But for certain, what she had written seemed and felt like something I’d written at least a thousand times. Her precise sentiments, and word choices, her very style. Parts of her style is my style. I must have picked that up either from writers who were familiar with her writings or just plucked it out of the wind somehow or some other way. But still that was not the eerie part.

The eerie part was the last two paragraphs. Which I copied down by hand into one of my own journals, with a blunt non-sharpened 3 inch pencil with no eraser no less, was all I had at the time. It was eerie because for at least a decade but more and more lately like the curvings of a quadratic formula, I’ve been hearing the phrase “Set Intentions” like you might hear during guided meditation or whenever someone wants to Exalt the Secret of Manifestation to you.

And I wasn’t at all going to share any of this with anyone. I had no plans to say any of this outloud to write anything on it or engage it any further or even ever again. I wrote the passage in my journal and I’d figured I was fully intending to never ever look back at that passage, or talk about it, or allow myself to recall it, and otherwise resolved to keep the blankets over this mirror forever.

But then I was scrolling this evening and just saw someone had shared a picture of Anne. And that too was a first for me to witness. Now I saw her face twice in a week, at the bookends of the week, both on Wednesdays at roughly about the same time of day. Happy to call that coincidence. Very happy to call it that.

But, I had also been just on a smoke break from my own writings, a letter I was writing to a loved one and the tenor of the letter of where I had left off when I stopped for my smoke break had just moved onto omens.

Oh boy, right?

Well now, still happy to be coincidentally maybe now just only synchronistically having this experience. But given it all, I’d resolved to share.

And by share, I’m not sure I can bring this all into any firm sense of things that could make it any less eerie. Though I will try. And if I don’t fully strike the right note in this attempt, I will know it, you won’t have to tell me, but I will publish the attempt anyway as an earmark of this encounter, and double back on it maybe whenever it is that I have found the right note or chord to strike or strum.

I’m thinking of two things, one I was going to save for my letter when I moved past omens. And one I was going to tell a friend of mine after watching a movie he recommended that I still have not told him. So I will choose neither and tell you both of them in this writing.

Most importantly, this is not at all about victim blaming, please have the courage to see past that, as Anne apparently might say that, at least, one of your two voices, if you only had two, would have such ability. And this, even if that means this courageous voice disappears after only 15 minutes.

First, I can remember back to a time when I am not more than a few months older than my son is now, maybe six months older. I am lying in my little boy bed, in my little boy bedroom in the house I grew up in, a little cape style enhanced cottage. It is night. The walls are blue. The headboard is all white and soft and plush to the touch, and riveted by silken buttons, smooth to the touch and shiny to the eye, though woven round by very fine white thread.

I am laying on top of the covers. This is colorful Snoopy and the Peanuts bedding. It’s not exactly yet bed time. But it must still be before the Vernal Equinox because the sun has been down for a good while and its not yet past my little boy bedtime. And the room is lit golden by a single 40 maybe 60 but really probably 40 watt incandescent bulb. It’s gold in there, it’s almost orange that low gold glow. And I’m laying at angle on the bed. And I’m pointed feet first at the east corner of the bedroom, which is also precisely lined up with Cardinal East. And I shit you not, but on this evening, a few weeks before my actual birthday and I wouldn’t be surprised if it was on my original due date, I was thinking to myself, “I must be dreaming in this life. I am going to remember this moment forever. When I get older. And I believe I am going to wake up someday from the distant future back here in this moment, back here in the age, back here just the way I am now.”

I’ve not tampered with this memory at all since then. I’ve remembered it precisely and often ever since. I’ve referred back to it thousands of times. In a sense, I in fact have never left that room or that night. I built it into every single night since. Like one of Tom Riddle’s horcruxes. And this before I had ever heard Row Row Row Your Boat. And this before I had enough speaking skills to say these thoughts outloud even if I wanted to but enough language understanding to think them and remember.

So that’s the first thought.

The second thought, it’s about that movie my friend suggested I watch over the summer. It was a horror movie, a new one. You may have watched it yourself. Called Ghosts of War.

My feedback to him the day after I watched it was pretty simple. A. I enjoyed it. B. The sniper I think is my favorite. C. It reminds me I have another horror movie That I do not mention to him by name then, but I only say that it is in the genre of horror that is not shriekingly scary, or rather does not rely on shriekingly scary moments. Because it does contain a couple of those potentially frightful jolts. But that is not it’s best foot forward. This type of horror is not the exciting amusement park kind. This type of horror is the kind that enters your bloodstream and stays with you and haunts you over a long period of time, long afterwards. The kind of horror you might find yourself waking up from sleep even a year or more later and not feeling right and having witnessed. D. I might get back to him someday with more commentary. Oh and E. I really enjoyed seeing Billy Zane. Particularly as the dichotomy of American Doctor and SS Colonel.

But wouldn’t you know shortly after I finished writing down that passage from Anne Frank’s final entry, pledging to not look at it ever again, I found myself in another room talking to a person about that actual movie that ghost of war reminded me of that I didn’t tell my friend what that movie was. To this new person I did say its name. It is paranormal activity. The first one. I said that movie is the first time I had witnessed a genuine horror film, That has the capability of genuinely haunting me for a long long period of time, in my adult years. And it doesn’t contain hardly any,if at all, shriek moments.

The horror of that movie is it’s power to slowly and steadily and surely wrap itself around your heart with fear and anxiety, and with full command, Sustain you in that state while flexing and relaxing it’s own valves, to show you who’s boss and who is in command.

Furthermore I told this person, that such a film as this paranormal activity is is not a film to watch when you are in a heightened state of consciousness. You’ve got to be half asleep at the wheel half dead inside to properly survive that film. Because in the final moment, and I admitted this to that person, when you see the demon at last, he jumps straight into your eyes. Straight into you. That movie is perhaps the ultimate act of transgression, that I’d ever seen to that date. And I admitted to this person that it took me a good long while of concerted and methodical effort, to rid myself of that motherfucking demon. Such is the exquisite accomplishment of that particular horror movie. I spared my friend this story, because I’m pretty sure he would’ve shit his pants if I told it to him in person. I think I’m only about 30% joking about that.

But tomorrow being that some stories stay with you longer than others. Some stories you actually have to exorcise from your mind. it’s very good training. Especially if you happen to frequently find yourself in other peoples houses and those houses have all the mirrors draped over by blankets. And those other people walk about aimlessly as though they have no idea how odd that appears to be. if you know what I’m saying. And if you can believe what I’m saying is actually true.

But no I don’t think I’ll ever tell my friend about the paranormal activity story. What I will tell him is another thought I had about ghosts of war. That I think on some level in someway we are all ghosts of every war. Wars that we’ve seen and wars that we haven’t seen, either depicted in books or movies or for trade for real on the news both of foreign lands and domestic. And even wars in our own mind, common place words with our neighbors or friends or family or loved ones. I think in someway we just are ghosts of it. Carrying the crosses of it.

And I remember a story I wrote or a poem maybe it was about a universal snake and a universal monkey. The universal snake head swallowed the universal monkey. Seemingly defeated him in battle. Seemingly killed him. Seemingly was digesting him. But unseeming to the universal snake, the universal monkey to this day will not die. And for all eternity the universal snake has had indigestion on account of the universal monkey’s eternal will not to be extinguished. They say it ain’t over til it’s over. They say don’t stop believing. I say that’s probably very good advice and we should all listen to it. The Monkey is listening to it right now, and has been forever. That monkey won’t quit. That monkey is in a pickle but he’s got a slim to none chance and yet he won’t quit.

How this works back to ghosts to war and how we’re ghosts of war with everyone, and how this works back to Anne Frank. It’s up to you what you wanna believe in, I believe in the fact that God won’t ever let us really kill each other. We might see it happen with our own eyes. Right before us. But I believe that even as it happens it also instantly unhappens.

We have the ability to look backwards in time and forecast forwards in time but we only have the ability to live in one moment of time at a time and that we called the present. We have no idea what actually happens in previous moments of time once we’ve moved past them. Except how they exist in our mind. But for all we know in a moment that someone apparently kills another, whether it’s a person to a person or an animal to an animal. How do we know it doesn’t on happen once we’ve left that moment? Natural law has a place in this world. So natural law gets its way in this world. But there are such things as the overlapping thesis of all the different laws. And divine law is a thing in that overlapping thesis. Just as well as natural law is. So it is totally possible that once we make a mess of things, the Custodian comes along to fix it.

It’s possible along the same probabilities or maybe even slightly better than Lloyd Christmas’ chances of getting the red head which he eventually did.

To another person who overheard me talking to that first person last week about paranormal activity, the next day she came to me with concerns. I listened to these concerns. And my response was what you do is up to you. Including whether or not you trust yourself or not. If I were in your shoes I would try to trust myself. Even as everyone around me might seem intent on leading me to betray my own trust. if I were in your shoes, I would choose to believe that no one actually has the power to do that. No one actually has the will to want to see you fail, to fail yourself. Because that would be them wishing them to fail themselves. And while they might get away with that in one moment in the next that moment is wiped clean. If I were in your shoes I’d be telling that to myself every moment I had these concerns you are telling me about.

I further said, and I stop talking about if I were in her shoes. I further said what you think is happening is happening. What you understand about what is happening is only ever coming into focus more and more. You may not have all the Time in the world, but you do always have the luxury of patience. There’s no rush when it comes to the process of understanding. Something tells me we’ll repeat the lesson infinitely if necessary. something also tells me that won’t actually be necessary. The lesson will come clear eventually. Have faith in that and likely all of your fears and concerns will be abolished. The probability of it being otherwise, however great it seems, as Pascal very effectively demonstrated, infinitely pales to the seemingly tiny probability, the Boson particle infinitesimally small and impossible to fathom yet there it is nonetheless almost something you can now actually reach out and grab but even still something you can see if only by way of prediction probability, of it not being otherwise.

So that in other words no sword actually ever really falls upon the neck but he’s only ever caught by the Hand.

I’ve been waiting to wake up to this reality ever since my two-year-old self woke up to that reality and said I will be waking up here someday again.

But I did tell that second person, be careful the stories you tell yourself. They could be like that movie demon that enters your mind and poisons your body, like that story I told last night. The mind can make almost anything real. That’s a quote from a movie also, but it comes from somewhere. Didn’t it? So possibly probably in all likelihood whatever story you tell yourself whatever imaginary though you have as an objective: if somewhere in this universe. Somehow manifest itself. Somehow find a way to be born and become true. Often a lot faster and more hellishly than you thought possible.

The mind is it’s own place. It can make heaven out of hell and hell a heaven. I don’t need to read the whole diary of Anne Frank, to know beyond what her final entry says. That she was equally gifted at doing both. And that, my friends, is not victim blaming. That is just what it is.

And so behold the final two paragraphs of her final passage:

As I’ve told you, what I say is not what I feel, which is why I have a reputation for being boy-crazy as well as a flirt, a smart aleck and a reader of romances. The happy-go-lucky Anne laughs, gives a flippant reply, shrugs her shoulders and pretends she doesn’t give a darn. The quiet Anne reacts in just the opposite way. If I’m being completely honest, I’ll have to admit that it does matter to me, that I’m trying very hard to change myself, but that I I’m always up against a more powerful enemy. A voice within me is sobbing, “You see, that’s what’s become of you. You’re surrounded by negative opinions, dismayed looks and mocking faces, people, who dislike you, and all because you don’t listen to the advice of your own better half.”

Believe me, I’d like to listen, but it doesn’t work, because if I’m quiet and serious, everyone thinks I’m putting on a new act and I have to save myself with a joke, and then I’m not even talking about my own family, who assume I must be sick, stuff me with aspirins and sedatives, feel my neck and forehead to see if I have a temperature, ask about my bowel movements and berate me for being in a bad mood, until I just can’t keep it up anymore, because when everybody starts hovering over me, I get cross, then sad, and finally end up turning my heart inside g out, the bad part on the outside and the good part on the inside, and keep trying to find a way to become what I’d like to be and what I could be if… if only there were no other people in the world.

Yours, Anne M. Frank

#Anne Frank #Diary of Anne Frank #set intentions #Ghosts of War #manfesting #summoning #positivity #be careful what you wish for #mysticism #book review #movie review

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assembledherethevolunteers · 4 years

Text

Future Management Chapter 1

A/N: WOW! Um…hi all you new people that follow me now. Thank you all SO much for your love and support of the prologue! I hope you enjoy ‘Part One’!

Pairing: Ben Hardy x fem!Reader

Summary: You and Ben Hardy had been together for the better part of a decade. After hitting a rough patch, the two of you decide to end things. However, one small surprise keeps you two connected more than you thought.

Warnings: Angst, alcohol consumption (not a lot, but it’s there)

Catch Up: Prologue (https://assembledherethevolunteers.tumblr.com/post/188795655663/future-management)

Tag list (Because that’s a thing now!): @lovebirdy93 @jonesyaddiction @im-an-adult-ish @taylorroger-s @amy-brooklyn99 @springholland @stassaurus @hahaboop @tcnystqrks If I missed you I’m sorry! Please let me know if you want to be added.

FOUR YEARS LATER

You closed your eyes and sighed, waiting.

“My first guest is in the up and coming film ‘See You Around’, a thriller that lives up to the book in every way, which comes out Friday. Please welcome, Y/N L/N!” Stephen Colbert announced.

The audience erupted and you walked out. You waved at the audience and walked to Stephen’s desk. You gave him a hug and an air kiss to the cheek before sitting down.

“Hi, Stephen,” you gave him a dazzling smile.

“Hi, Y/N, always lovely to have you here,” Stephen gave you a smile back. “How have you been since you were last here?”

“Great! Great! Working and mommy life is always hard to balance, but I’ve got the best people around me in both aspects, so it makes it a little easier for me.”

“Speaking of mommy life,” Stephen reached for something under his desk and held up a picture printed off your Instagram. It was of your daughter, Ben, and you, all three of you smiling up at the camera. You each had a hand on her arm. “This picture. Isn’t she the cutest?”

The audience ‘Aww’ed like they usually did when Eliza was brought up. You beamed at the picture and then them.

“Now where was this taken? Her name is Eliza, right?”

“Yes! That was taken at Eliza’s third birthday party here in New York a few months ago. She’s definitely got her daddy’s eyes, huh?” Your smile softened.

“And so the co-parenting with your ex-husband is going well?”

“Yes, you know it’s easy…well, easy isn’t the right word at all. Being a parent is always difficult, you know how it is!” You swatted at Stephen with a chuckle. Stephen gave an exaggerated nod to one of the cameras, and the audience laughed. “But, with Eliza not being in school yet, she spends six months with me here in the states and then six months with Ben in England. So that makes things easier on us. We just want what’s best for her, ya know? And having a great relationship with her family here and her family there is important.”

“Of course, and it seems like you two are doing a great job.”

“Thank you, she is just the sweetest little thing. We love her so much.”

“As you should, as you should. Now, this film!”

The rest of the interview focused on your film coming out. Stephen had told you he’d read the book and seen an advanced screening and he had loved it. That made you feel good. You loved your work, but sometimes you would put your heart and soul into a project and nobody liked it. Or saw it.

You spoke about your co-stars, how it was having the author of the book so involved in the process, and how the director had made the atmosphere light and easy outside of actual filming since you were dealing with such difficult material.

“So do you have any other things on your horizons?” Stephen asked after you explained a clip from the film, signaling the near close of the interview.

“No, not right now. I’m hoping to take Eliza on a vacation before I get too busy again.”

“Well that sounds great, I’m sure you two ladies would enjoy just some mommy/daughter time. Y/N, thank you so much for joining me tonight,” Stephen smiled, shook your hand, and then looked at one the cameras. “’See You Around’ hits theaters this Friday! We’ll be right back!”

“I really did enjoy the film,” Stephen said to you, the audience applause drowning out your conversation.

“Thank you so much, Stephen. We worked so hard on it.”

“I can tell!”

“Y/N,” one of assistants came up to you with your phone. It was a FaceTime with Ben. “I’m sorry, this is the third time they called in the last few minutes so I think it’s important.”

You quickly answered and saw Eliza’s face fill up your screen.

“Mummy!”

You grinned wide. It was always funny when she was staying with Ben because she tended to pickup some of his pronunciations and words.

“Hi, Lovebug!”

“Who’s dat?” Eliza pointed behind you.

You moved so that Stephen was more in frame. He looked a little nervous, but Eliza gave him a huge smile.

“This is my friend Stephen, we just talked about Mommy’s movie, but I have to go because he’s going to talk to somebody else now. Can you say goodbye?”

“Bye, Mr. Stepen!”

“Bye, Eliza!” He waved and you gave him a quick hug before you walked back to your dressing room.

“Are you having fun with Daddy?”

“Yeah! He and Unkie Gil took me to da park!”

“Oh did they? Did you go on the swings?”

Eliza nodded enthusiastically.

“Unkie Gil pushed me high! And den Daddy took me on ALL da slides!”

“Whoa! All of them?”

“Yeah! And den we went to da…um…Daddy?” Eliza looked up as if Ben was holding the phone for her.

You heard Ben just off the camera.

“We went to the deli and had lunch and then we saw Gran for dinner.”

You hated the way his voice still made your heart beat a little erratically. That stupid deep voice shouldn’t still make you feel like that.

“Yeah! And den Daddy gave me a baf and now it’s almost bedtime, but I wanted to talk to you!”

“Aw, baby, Mommy misses you.”

“I miss you too! Daddy says I can see you soon!”

“That’s right! Mommy’s going to be coming to see you at Daddy’s soon!”

Your movie was going to do a premiere in London in about two weeks. Everything was actually going to work. You and Ben had agreed it would just be easier for you to stay in his guestroom. It had taken a long time discussing the arrangements, but you both decided, for Eliza, it would be easier if you stayed with Ben while you were there.

“Yay! And you can meet Frankie! I love her, Mummy!”

Your heart thudded painfully. Who was Frankie? The new nanny? You couldn’t remember the name of the London nanny for the life of you and you chastised yourself for not remembering the name of the woman taking care of your child when Ben had to work. A new friend of hers from the park? Or…did Ben have a girlfriend? No, there was no way. You two had made a deal that the other had to at least know about a new significant other before Eliza could meet them.

You were going to ask about her, but Eliza switched gears so fast, it was hard to get her back to one topic after she already blew past one.

Eliza was telling you about a bug that she had found on one of the slides when she yawned loudly.

“Alright, Birdie, let’s get you to bed,” Ben appeared, picking Eliza up and they both looked at you through the screen and your breath caught for a moment. It was striking how much Eliza looked like him when they were right next to each other like that. “Tell Mummy goodnight.”

“Night, Mummy! Love you!”

“I love you too, Liza. I’ll call you tomorrow, alright?”

Eliza laid her head down on Ben’s shoulder and nodded.

“Bye, Y/N,” Ben gave you a smile and you did your best to return it. Then they were gone.

You set your phone down and looked at yourself in the mirror. The image of Ben holding a sleepy Eliza was something that you couldn’t shake.

It had been nearly four years since your divorce, but you missed him every day.

The two of you were supposed to be doing this together. You should’ve come off set and had Eliza run into your arms, picking her up and giving Ben a kiss. Him telling you that you did a great job, or giving you crap for talking about how handsome and talented your co-star had been.

But no, you both had screwed that up. Now, instead of coming off the interview to your husband and daughter, you were alone in your dressing room. Having to pretend you were just happy with Facetime.

Your phone started ringing again and you looked at it. It was your co-star, Jackson Moore. You answered.

“Hey, Jack,” you hoped your voice didn’t betray any of your disappointment that it wasn’t Ben.

“Hey, Y/N, how was the Colbert taping?”

“Great! Gave you all the compliments I could. Not sure everybody bought them though.”

Jack laughed. You liked his laugh.

“Some of us are going to 54 Below for some drinks, want to come?”

“Oh hell yeah! Who’s preforming?”

Jackson said some name that you didn’t know, but it didn’t matter. You needed a drink.

“There she is!” Jackson waved you down when you walked into the bar. You grinned at the group of your coworkers.

“Hi, everybody!” You waved around the table. There were five people that you had worked with. Jackson gave you a shy smile and pushed a drink towards you. It looked like your favorite.

“Thanks, Jack,” you gave him a kiss on the cheek.

You saw him look embarrassed. The two of you had been flirty through filming. It was easy to blame it on the proximity and that you were playing each other’s love interests. You liked Jackson, but you just weren’t looking for something. You just wanted to focus on Eliza and your work (and maybe still being in love with your ex-husband didn’t help things).

You enjoyed yourself. Maybe a little too much. You also couldn’t help but hear Eliza saying the name “Frankie” over and over.

You pulled your phone out of your purse and stared at it, trying to decide if it was a bad idea or not.

“Shots!” Molly, one of the other actresses brought over shot glasses for all of you. You all groaned.

“No! Molly we’ve got more interviews tomorrow morning!” Jackson cried, but Molly ignored him, passing out the shots.

You all brought them together in a cheer and took the shot. That made up your mind.

You unlocked your phone and sent off a quick text.

Y/N: Who’s Frankie?

You put your phone face up on the table so that you could read it as soon as Ben replied. You pretended to be interested in something that Ginger, the woman that played your best friend in the film, was talking about when your phone lit up.

BEN: Don’t get mad…

You hated when Ben did that. There weren’t even those gray dots that showed that he was typing. Your inhibitions were lowered, and you almost sent a follow up when a picture came through.

There was a gorgeous woman holding a brand-new looking puppy out to Eliza. Eliza was grinning at the puppy, one hand extended to pet the dog’s ears.

Your heart sunk. Just like you thought. Ben had a new girlfriend. Why did you care? You and Ben hadn’t been together for four years! You had no more claim to him!

BEN: I swear I was going to run it by you 1st but Gwil accidently mentioned her and Eliza was so excited to meet her. I hope that’s OK.

You put your phone down and wiped a tear out of your eye.

“What’s the matter, Y/N?” Jackson asked you.

You glanced at him. He was handsome. His dark straight hair and dark eyes were so different from Ben. You also forgot that he had a southern accent, it coming out after some alcohol.

“I um…” you gave a watery chuckle. “Nothing, just miss Eliza. Her dad sent me a picture of her.”

“Can I see?”

You pulled the picture up again and he cooed at the screen. You looked over Jackson’s face. He was good looking. And he was sweet. He’d met Eliza and was adorable with her. Why couldn’t you give him a chance? If Ben had a new girlfriend, why couldn’t you have a boyfriend? You’d basically been single since the divorce. Ben pretty much had been too, now that you thought about it.

Until now.

“Hey,” you whispered in Jackson’s ear.

He looked at you, realizing how close the two of you were sitting. He met your eyes and you saw them widen for a moment.

“Do you wanna get out of here?”

Jackson swallowed and nodded.

You sent another text to Ben.

Y/N: Sure. It’s fine.

#ben hardy #ben hardy x reader #ben hardy x you #fan fic writing #queen #gwilym lee #joe mazzello #rami malek #lucy boynton #krissys writings #future management

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lovemesomesurveys · 4 years

Text

Have you ever done a craft that you found on Pinterest? I did dabble with some water painting a few years ago during Christmastime, actually. I made a few different Christmas poster things inspired by ones I saw on there. Like, they had different Christmasy quotes or song lyrics and some had pictures of Christmas trees or something. Do you get scrapbooking layout ideas from anywhere? I don’t do scrapbooking. What do you do to wipe off the dust from ordinary life? I’m always cleaning under the keys on my laptop. Are you content with mystery, or do you wish you knew everything? Uhh. I wouldn’t want to know everything. I like continuing to learn and discover new things. There’s also things I never want to know. I also like mystery in the sense of surprises. Like, I hate spoilers and I don’t want to know what any presents are before I open them. What do you do when someone irritates you on Facebook? If I see an annoying or stupid post I just keep scrolling.

Do you think your hair looks better natural or dyed? I think it looks much better dyed red. Do your parents disrespect you? My parents are respectful, pretty chill people. I mean, we get in disagreements and bicker sometimes, who doesn’t, but I wouldn’t say they disrespect me. Have you found that love covers over a multitude of sins? I mean, you can love someone but that doesn’t excuse their toxic, bad behaviors. It doesn’t mean people can treat you or others cruelly just because you love them. What was the last Grand Opening you went to? Hm. I don’t know if I’ve ever been to a grand opening. Not that I can think of at the moment. Do you have anything coming up tomorrow? Nope. What’s one thing that makes your stomach hurt? I’m lactose intolerant, so having dairy will definitely do that. Otherwise, I just have stomach issues and get stomachaches and pains for whatever reason. Ever had a living nightmare? These past few years in particular. Do you have a lot of haters? Ha. I’m so irrelevant. I’m sure I’m not even on anyone’s radar for them to feel that strongly about me. Outside of my family, I feel people are indifferent to me. I don’t make a big impression.

Do you think successful people always come with a pack of haters? Yes. There are people who can’t stand to see successful, happy people. They want to try and tear them down. There’s also just a lot of trolls who think it’s fun to hate on people. Do you have supernatural abilities? Uh, no. Do you kick yourself when you make mistakes? Do you say, “I wish I would have” a lot? All the damn time. There’s so much I wish I did and didn’t do and I’m always kicking myself so to speak for it. Are you doing the most you can with your life? Not even. I’ve completely let these past few years pass me by as I just waste away. Do you let people walk on you? I’ve had it happen in the past. Are you ok? I always just wanna start belting out to MCR when a question like this comes up. Do you have a friend you miss right now? Former friend, yeah. Do you ever write snail mail to your friends? I don’t have any friends anymore, but nah dude. I’ll send you a text or hit you up on social media if I need to reach you, ha. Do you make your life look better than it is on Facebook? I guess in a way because I don’t post personal shit. I used to post like sad quotes and lyrics and images back in the day, but I stopped doing that years ago. I very rarely post anything anymore and when I do, it’s something funny or #relatable that I saw and shared to my timeline. Or a check-in to somewhere if I think it’s of interest. Mostly; though, I’m just on there scrolling through my feed and “liking” things here and there. Do you feel God’s presence regularly? Yes. Do you experience chronic pain? Yes. Do you believe God loves you and is rooting for you? I know He does. Have you ever dreamt that you were falling? Ugh, yes. Worst feeling. I hate that feeling of jolting awake. What would your dream career be? I have no idea. Are you a daydreamer? ”You may say I’m a dreamer, but I’m not the only one.” Do you daydream so much that you wonder if there’s anyone who doesn’t? Uhh, I wouldn’t say that. My daydreaming is more me zoning out and dwelling about things from the past, thinking about current things, or imagining up scenarios. Do you ever just sit and daydream for awhile? My mind just wanders off like that. Is the snow falling where you are right now? It doesn’t snow here. :( What is your favorite part of nature? The beach, particularly the ocean. Though, we all know I’m not about getting into the ocean. That deep water and the creatures that dwell down there aren’t for me. Just thinking about that... :O I do love looking out at the ocean and just watch/listen to the waves crash in and out. It’s very, very calming. I let my thoughts get swept away with the waves. I also love the cool, ocean air and smell. Do you wish you could be a world traveler? Yes. Do you wish you could live in another city for a year? Ooh. That would be nice. I actually want to move to another city permanently. What city would you like to visit? There’s countless places I want to visit. What has been your favorite city that you’ve visited? Various ones in California. If you had kids, would you take them to Disney World? Pfft, I’d go now if I could. I don’t need kids for that, ha. I’m the big kid. I love Disneyland, so I’m sure I’d love Disney World as well. Have you ever stood in line to get a Disney character’s autograph? Yeah. As a kid and as an adult, haha. My favorite was a few years ago when we got pictures with Chewbacca and Darth Vader. Do you own a birthday crown? No. How long does it usually take your hair to dry? Do you dry it naturally or blow-dry it? I just let it air dry. It takes forever, though. Do you straighten your hair? Not anymore. I used to. Do you sleep with a teddy bear? I have a few stuffed animals on my bed that always just sit on my bed. Would you consider yourself a free spirit? No. Do you need to clean out your closet? I actually just did that a couple weekends ago. Do you watch YouTube videos regularly? Yep, everyday. What’s your favorite coffee shop? Starbucks. Is your Pinterest page cluttered? I have a few pinned things, but I don’t use Pinterest much for that. I use it to find and save photos for my phone background, typically. Do you want to start a collection? I have a few collections. Are you a role model? Would you consider yourself a good example? No. Are you a leader or a follower? I feel like I’m just sitting on the sidelines watching the crowd go by. Who’s your favorite person? Not a person, but my doggo. (: Who have been your favorite American Idol contestants? I liked a few from the first few seasons like Adam Lambert, David Archuleta, Tim Urban, and of course, Kelly Clarkson. Did you used to name your Barbies? Yep. What unnatural hair color looks best on you? I love dyeing my hair red. Is your life boring? ”I need another story, something to get off my chest. My life is kind of boring, need something that I can confess.” Do you usually feel better around people or alone? Depends. I like spending time with my family, but I also need my alone time. Is there a broken relationship in your life that you want to fix? Oh, like the friendships I ruined a few years ago because I’m a shitty person? I wouldn’t even know where to begin at this point. Like...what could I even say. I know they’re hurt and probably hate me, and I don’t blame them at all. They deserved more than I what I gave them. The more time goes by, the worse it is. I still don’t feel like I’m in the right headspace to try and fix things. Like...I don’t think things would change and we’d end up in the same spot because I’m still a mess. And I feel horrible for feeling this way, but there’s a part of me that doesn’t want to. :X I wish I went about things differently, most definitely, but having some people out of my life now is the worst thing.... Do you ever think about Heaven? Yes. Are you ready for Heaven yet? I pray it’s not my time, yet. Are you afraid of where you’re going to go? I pray I go to heaven when it is my time. Do you have a tree outside your window? Yes. Do you feel better now than you did last night? I feel the same, really. Is your sleep schedule messed up? Ohhhh yeah. It has been for years. It switches up, though. Still all bad, but different. Like, currently my bedtime is like 5, sometimes 6, in the morning and I sleep until 1. Does your body have any problems with it? It has a lot wrong with it. Are you doing ok spiritually? I’m working on strengthening my relationship with God. Have you taken any huge risks lately? No. Silence or songs? I don’t like complete silence ever. I need something, whether it be the TV, YouTube, or music. I sleep with the TV on for that reason (and for some light because I can’t have it completely dark either). Tea or coffee? Coffeeeee. Books or movies? I enjoy both. Do you ever watch your favorite movies from when you were a kid? Disney movies are timeless. ^If you were going to do that, what would you watch? Something Disney. Do you ignore rude people or do you call them out? I’ll talk shit about them to myself or someone I’m close with like my mom, ha. I don’t confront people. Well, unless it’s someone I’m close to who says or does something rude. Do you have trouble staying organized? With my life, yes. It’s showing externally now; though, too. My room has gotten cluttery and I hate it. It never used to be that way. What has been your most favorite adventure? All the trips I’ve taken. What has been your greatest mistake? I’ve made a long list of ‘em. Are you happy with your life right now? No. Do you take anything to make your feel better? ”I take prescriptions to make me feel a-okay I know it’s all in my head.” Sorry, ya’ll know I’m always breaking out into song. Anyway, I currently don’t take any anti-depressants or anti-anxiety pills. Are your parents still together? Yes. What color socks do you have on? White. Are you under a blanket right now? I have one wrapped around me. Are you hopeful? :/

#personal #text #survey #surveys

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fanficsaremylifeline · 4 years

Text

He totally got it... sort of... maybe...

On AO3:

https://archiveofourown.org/works/21104123

*****

“I don’t remember the last time you got dressed up for me like that”, Magnus smirked as he came up behind his husband, who was currently inspecting himself in the mirror.

“I think that’s because every time we do have time to ourselves, you always hurry to get me out of whatever I’m wearing”, Alec shot back as he straightened out his tie.

“Can you blame me, though? Besides, you never seem to complain.”

“I am definitely not”, Alec made clear, turned around and wrapped his arms around Magnus’ shoulders. “But I am really looking forward to having a nice dinner date.”

After a gentle kiss, Alec linked their arms and together they walked out into the living room, where they were met with three sets of wide eyes.

“Daddy, you look really nice!” Rafael jumped off the couch and walked over to properly inspect Alec’s attire.

“Thanks, honey.” He kneeled down and tousled Rafe’s hair. “Might want to tell Papa as well.”

“Papa”, he smiled, “Daddy looks really nice tonight!”

“Yeah, he does”, Magnus laughed along with the other grown-ups. “But how do you think I look?”

“Like always”, Rafe shrugged and climbed back on the couch and tried to win as much room on Uncle Jace’s lap from Max as he could.

“Wow”, Magnus deadpanned, “you Shadowhunters really know how to compliment.”

Alec just snorted a laugh and turned to their eldest. “We’re heading out now. You gonna look after Uncle Jace?”

“Promise!”, the little Shadowhunter nodded.

“Good. Have a fun evening”, Magnus smiled and put a kiss on his and Max’s cheek, before Alec parroted and kissed his sons as well.

“If anything’s wrong, we’re just a portal away.”

“Go”, Jace urged them, “enjoy your evening. Don’t worry, I got this handled, darling.”

“If they can have fancy dinner, so can we”, Jace decided as soon as the door closed. “What do you feel like?”

“Fries!”, Rafe beamed, Max excitedly brabbled after him, which sounded to Jace like the brothers were in agreement.

“How fancy”, Jace deadpanned, before grinning right back: “sounds perfect!”

Not that Jace was one to toot his own horn like this, but he had the two boys under perfect control. He got them fed, cleaned and in their little beds and after three pirate stories, Rafe finally fell asleep. Little Max was still brabbling quietly in his crib, but he couldn’t be that far from drifting off either. So, Jace could relax on the couch, with Chairman Meow on his lap.

Until he was startled by a weird sound. “Did you hear that, too?”, Jace whispered to the cat as he muted the TV.

There was no screaming, no moping, nothing from the kids, so they had to be alright. Woah, what was that? A shadow flew across the room, before flapping in front of Jace’s face. Oh fuck, he almost threw the cat halfway across the living room in shock. After he calmed down again, he realized it was a bat, no doubt. A blue bat. Blue. Just like Max… WHAT THE FUCK?

“Max? Is that you?”

The bat took two rounds around Jace’s head, which he deciphered as a yes. He hurried around to make sure that all windows and doors were closed, before he checked the crib, just to be completely sure that yes, this little blue bat was in fact his nephew. And the crib was empty. Fuck.

He fell on the couch and looked at the bat doing rounds around the chandelier. A bat. An actual bat! His brother’s warlock child had turned into a bat. Only the flapping of Max’s wings made any noise and Jace did all he could to keep from freaking out; that wouldn’t help anybody. But what was he supposed to do? WHAT?

And then his phone rang. Alec. Fuck. He felt the colour draining from his face and took a deep breath before he answered the call. “Hey, Alec, how’s your night?” Jace did his all to sound relaxed.

“It’s nice, but are you alright?”

“Sure, why wouldn’t we be?”

“I just get the feeling something’s off… I can sense that you’re worried, anxious. Magnus says I’m over-reacting, but I just need to make sure that everything’s alright.”

“Sorry, I’m just watching some movie with some very creepy killer-dolls and I guess I just got a little too worked up.”

“Oh. That’s worrying in a different way. Remember, they can’t hurt you.”

“Ha, ha, very funny.”

“Right then”, Alec laughed, “get back to your scary movie and I’ll get back to my husband before he finished all of my dessert. See you!”

Uff. Jace was an idiot. He should have just told Alec the truth, told him about his blue warlock baby-turned-bat. But no, he was too scared of his brother’s revenge, he wouldn’t tell him, at least not until he had tried everything he could.

Which wasn’t a lot. He wasn’t a warlock, knew very little about magic and even less about bats. He tried to catch the bat, tried to direct him back towards the crib, but nothing. An hour later, Max still flew in circles over Jace’s head as if it were the best thing in the world to do in the middle of the night.

And then Alec and Magnus came back home; Jace heard them laughing as they walked up to the apartment door. Damnit, Jace was done for.

“Hey”, Alec greeted him, as they walked hand in hand into the apartment.

As soon as he heard them walking in, Max flapped over to his dads, excitedly flying around their heads.

“Hey blueberry”, Magnus smiled, “it’s way past your bedtime. Why aren’t you sleeping?”

“WHAT?” Jace’s chin was somewhere on the ground and he could only look with big eyes from Alec to Magnus to the bat.

“What’s wrong?”

“What’s wrong?” Jace jumped up and gestured towards Max. “Your son is a bat and you don’t care?”

“Oh, he does it sometimes”, Alec shrugged.

“This is normal?”

“Yup.”

Oh, Jace couldn’t believe this! “And you didn’t care to tell me?”

“I’m pretty sure I’ve told you about that at some point.”

“I think I’d remember being told that my nephew occasionally turns into a bat.”

“Unc’ Jace?” Rubbing his eyes, Rafael walked out into the living room. His hair was wild, standing up in every direction.

“Hey buddy, Sorry, did we wake you?”

“Nuh-uh”, he shook his head, “stayed awake until Papa and Daddy are home again.”

“Of course you did”, Magnus chuckled and picked the little Shadowhunter up. “But now that Daddy and I are home, you can go to sleep, alright?”

With a yawn, the boy nodded, buried his head in the crook of his Papa’s neck and immediately fell back asleep.

Jace was still so focused on the bat, he didn’t realize Alec walking up to him until he put his arm around Jace’s shoulder.

“Sorry for the trauma”, he chuckled.

“Not gonna lie, your family is really weird.”

“And you know a thing or two about that, don’t you, Wayland-Lightwood-Morningstar-Herondale.”

“Fair enough.”

“Thanks for tonight”, Alec changed the subject. “Was really nice to go out.”

“I bet... And no worries. Now that I know your son can shapeshift, I’m prepared for next time. One last question, though. How long is he gonna fly around like this? Does Magnus magic him back or how does it work?”

“He’ll eventually just tire himself out”, Alec explained, watching his kid with the biggest heart eyes. “We make sure that all the windows and doors are closed; we’ve already learned that trying to catch him isn’t very fruitful.”

“Again, something that would have been really nice to know an hour or so ago.”

It was late when Alec and Magnus slipped into bed. Magnus had portalled Jace back to the institute, Max was no longer winged and lay now sleeping in his crib.

“So”, Magnus rolled over on his side and grinned at Alec. “when I asked you earlier if you had told Jace about Max’s abilities, you said you did that.”

“And?”

“And I got the feeling the reason Jace was unaware about our bat-baby has something to do with you wanting to mess with your brother. But that’s probably just my imagination going wild, right?”

“Definitely, I would never, ever do something like that to the guy that has me redo all his paperwork”, Alec affirmed, but couldn’t bite down his mischievous grin anymore.

“You do know that he will get back at you for that one, right?”

“Let him try”, Alec yawned, pulling Magnus a little bit closer, “I’ve got the High Warlock of Brooklyn on my side.”

#shadowhunters #alec lightwood-bane #magnus lightwood-bane #jace herondale #rafael lightwood-bane #max lightwood-bane #the baby is a bat #a blue bat

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fuzzballsheltiepants · 5 years

Note

Hey! Combine 46: “ Can I kiss you right now? ”57: “ Is that my shirt? ”59: “ You own my heart. ” with your choice of jerejean or jeaneil ♡♡♡♡♡

I had too much fun with this! It’s unedited and I’m exhausted so forgive any stupid mistakes:

Jeremy slammed his laptop shut and glared at the lid with its stupid smug rainbow Trojan decal. He was halfway tempted to test its aerodynamics out his upstairs window, but he didn’t want the hassle of buying a new one. And it wasn’t precisely the computer’s fault that that ridiculous reporter hadn’t been able to keep her mouth shut. Or that he had watched the interview on repeat half a dozen times, and it didn’t get better with familiarity.

He pulled out his phone and started to tap out a text, but it was coming out all wrong and he slammed the little backspace button aggressively. Screw this. He’d go take a shower, blast his music as loud as he wanted, and when he finished all of this bullshit would be behind him and he could make dinner in peace.

It sorta/kinda worked, at least until he came back downstairs in his favorite oversized shirt and threadbare sweatpants, hair still wet, humming Wait For It under his breath. His phone binged at him; he checked it reflexively and saw a text from Kevin Day of all people. He didn’t even read the damn thing, just let the phone fall; it bounced off the edge of the table, hit the chair on the way down, and landed, face down, on the tile floor.

Figured.

He had planned on some broiled fish and veggies with that passably-edible whole grain couscous his nutritionist had hooked him up with, but there was no way in hell he was eating that now. Luckily there were some onions, a habanero, and a packet of ground beef in the fridge, and his mother had sent him her home-canned tomatoes a few weeks ago.

If ever he needed to make chili, today was that day. It didn’t take long before the familiar aroma of sauteing onions was wafting through the whole first floor. There was something so comforting about the routine of chopping and frying, the scents and the sounds. After a few minutes, his heart rate had slowed enough that he went and snagged his phone off the floor. By some miracle, the screen hadn’t cracked. Okay. One good thing today.

Cranking Hamilton back up, by the time he was stirring in the tomatoes he was bopping along with the music. He had gotten into it with one of the defensemen on his team over Hamilton, but he defied anyone to really listen to it and not get completely entranced. Jeremy lacked the willpower not to sing along; he didn’t even give a shit that he absolutely sucked. “I am not throwing away My. Shot. I am not throwing away. My. Shot.” He spun around in the kitchen, holding his wooden spoon like a microphone—only to discover Jean standing, bemused or amused, in the doorway.

Jeremy immediately hid the spoon behind his back, and Jean’s beautiful mouth twitched up. “Is that my shirt?” Jean asked, surveying Jeremy.

“No,” Jeremy said. Jean raised one eyebrow. “It was your shirt, but I have claimed it in the name of missing you.”

Jean laughed and dropped his suitcase to come into the kitchen. Jeremy tossed the spoon onto the counter and let Jean pull him into his arms. “I missed you,” Jean murmured into his ear.

“Me too. I didn’t think you’d be back until later.”

“I caught an earlier flight.”

Jeremy wasn’t precisely short, but Jean could still rest his cheek on the top of his head and standing like that was Jeremy’s favorite thing in the world. He wanted to stay there for the rest of time, or at least until bedtime, but after a not-long-enough moment Jean released him.

“It’s a chili night?”

“Yeah,” Jeremy said, looking over his shoulder at the pot just beginning to bubble.

“What happened?”

Ugh, Jean knew him too well. Jeremy went over to stir the chili and turn the heat down on the stove; he felt like he was being eaten alive from the inside out, all interest in food devoured by the parasite of anxiety. “You saw the interview?” It was almost impossible to meet Jean’s eyes; it would have been unforgivable not to.

“I did, mon cher. You did brilliantly.” There was no lie in his beautiful gray eyes, but Jeremy literally did not know how he could say such a thing. He almost wondered if Jean had missed the all-important last two minutes.

“I outed us.”

Jean nodded. “Yes, I noticed.” There was no humor in his voice, no dismissal, no censure. “But given the disgusting things they were asking about Laila and Sara, I don’t blame you. I probably would have been far less…diplomatic.”

The gnawing creature in Jeremy’s gut quieted. It had been appalling, the way the woman had tried to goad him into trashing his former teammates. And her jaw-dropped shock had been rather amusing when, instead, he had calmly informed her that no, he did not believe that they were setting a poor example for young girls, and that if they were then so were he and Jean, and honestly half of professional exy.

“Can I kiss you right now?” he blurted out.

Now Jean did laugh. “I didn’t think you needed to ask.” He closed the gap between them.

He would never get tired of this feeling. It had been years since Jean had showed up in California, a battered shell of a person, his soul retreated into the deepest crevices in an attempt to survive. Every moment since then had been a small miracle, but kissing Jean—the fact that somehow he had managed to earn Jean’s trust and love—well, that was the eighth wonder of the world.

Somehow he managed not to burn the chili, and they spent the rest of the night talking. About Jean’s trip to New York; about the movie they had been wanting to see; about the end of the season and their plans for the few weeks before their national teams called them up. Jeremy still couldn’t believe that if all went well they’d be playing against each other in the Exy World Cup tournament, but so it was. And then they spent time not talking much at all.

Later, so long past midnight Jeremy couldn’t even believe the clock, he lay curled onto Jean’s chest, listening to the slow thud of his heart and letting the tension of the past twenty four hours dissipate into nothingness. None of that bullshit mattered anyway, not when he had this.

Just before he fell asleep, Jean murmured something in sleepy French. Jeremy wasn’t so good at French, and it took him a few moments to piece this together. When he did, tears started in his eyes. You own my heart.

Jeremy tucked himself in impossibly tighter to Jean’s side, thinking of the ring he had bought while Jean was in New York, that would be ready to be picked up tomorrow. “You own my soul,” he whispered, then let himself drift off into dreams.

#aftg #all for the game #jeremy knox #jean moreau #jerejean #my writing #tfc #the foxhole court #ask meme #prompts

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hisgirlfriday22 · 5 years

Text

Untangle Me

Chapter Four- An Unconventional Thanksgiving

———————————

As October turned into November, Lachy and Molly continued to get to know each other and quite quickly became close friends. Rarely did a day go by that they didn’t at least text, if not spend an hour or two in a phone call. Molly found it so easy to talk to Lachy, as if she’d known him much longer than nearly two months. In such a short time, he’d become Molly’s best friend, someone she could talk to about anything and everything, and she could hardly imagine life without him.

Due to their busy work schedules, neither Lachy nor Molly knew when they’d get to see each other again, especially with the holidays coming up. At the end of November, the Wiggles tour in the States would be over and Lachy would be flying home to Australia. In fact, it was on Thanksgiving Day that Lachy was due to fly back to Brisbane. Molly couldn’t understand for the life of her why Anothony had decided to book flights on one of the busiest travel days of the year. Well, for the United States, at least. They were all bound to be stuck in the airport for hours.

Molly would spend Thanksgiving with her parents at the Seacliff Inn, as she did every year. Typically, there were a few guests spending the holiday there too, but this year not a single room had been booked, and for that, Molly was glad. This was the first Thanksgiving since her breakup with Asher, and the first one she’d be spending single in almost four years. It was both refreshing and depressing at the same time.

As was tradition, Molly went grocery shopping with her mother the night before Thanksgiving and then returned to spend the night at the inn so she’d already be there to help with the cooking. However, as this year it was only herself and her parents, it wouldn’t be nearly as elebarote of a celebration. Molly and her mother would still cook Thanksgiving dinner, but the plan was to sleep in and have a lazy morning watching the parade and maybe a Christmas movie or two before any cooking was to be done. But of course, nothing ever goes to plan.

Molly would have loved to sleep in, but at 6:30 on Thanksgiving morning she found herself completely wide awake. She blamed her inability to sleep on the fact that she was up before 6:00 a.m. on most mornings for work. Her body was just used to being awake at this time and it tended to happen on weekends as well. So, with a sigh Molly got out of bed and pulled on a pair of thick fuzzy socks before she made her way downstairs to the kitchen. If she was wide awake, she might as well make coffee.

Before she stepped out of her room, Molly made sure to grab her phone. She knew Lachy didn’t celebrate Thanksgiving, or at least, he didn’t celebrate the same time she did, but she thought she’d message him a Happy Thanksgiving anyway. Besides, she knew that he was already at the airport waiting for his 8:30 a.m. flight.

“If it even leaves by then, that is…” She muttered to herself as she curled up on the love seat in her parent’s private living room, coffee in hand. Once she was settled she began to type out a text to Lachy.

“Good Morning And Happy Thanksgiving!”

While Molly waited for a reply, she sipped her coffee and scrolled through some of her social media apps, though she didn’t have to wait too long. Soon her phone began to buzz with not a text but a call from Lachy. She smiled a bit as she accepted the call. “Hello?”

“You’re certainly up early. What happened to sleeping in, hmm?” Lachy questioned. “Happy Thanksgiving to you, too, by the way.”

“Well, you know, it’s another side effect of being a teacher. I’m almost always up before the sun. It’s a curse, my days of sleeping in are few and far between.” She replied. “You’re already at the airport, I take it?”

“It’s all the coffee you drink, you can’t convince me otherwise. I swear you drink more coffee than any person I know, Molls. You’re addicted.” Lachy’s voice held a teasing tone despite the fact that he was absolutely right. “ And I am, yes. The others, however, are not. There’s talk of bad weather out west that will delay some flights or possibly cancel some, so Anthony suggested staying in the U.S. through the weekend rather than being cooped up in an airport for God knows how long..”

“Hey, don’t you ‘Luke Danes’ me Lachlan Gillespie! There are worse things in this world to be addicted to than coffee, you know.” Molly mused, smirking slightly, though her smirk faded as she heard him explain about the bad weather. “Why aren’t you with them?” Surely he wanted to be with his friends rather than spending hours in the airport.

There was a deep sigh on the other end before Lachy began to speak once more. “I’m just ready to be home in Brisbane, Molls. Don’t get me wrong, I love being here, but, I miss my family and my dog, and sleeping in my own bed ...” His voice trailed off.

In all of the many phone conversations Molly had had with Lachy over the last couple of months, she’d never heard him sound as tired as he did at that moment. She couldn’t blame Lachy for being tired and homesick, especially after he’d been on tour since early August with very little down time. Anyone would be exhausted after that.

“I’m sure you are, Lach. I couldn’t imagine being away from home for so long. Any news about delays for you flight?”

“Not yet, so I’m assuming no news is good news? I hope so, at least…” He replied, “My flight is due to leave at 8:30, so I’m guessing…” Molly heard Lachy’ pause for a moment before he sighed once again. “Well, scratch that, it’ll be leaving at 2:45 p.m. now. They just posted a delay on the screen.”

Molly glanced at the clock above the television on the wall and bit her lip. It was only around 7:15 a.m., so she knew he had quite a wait in store for him. “Well, so much for luck, huh? Where are you flying out from again? If you haven’t gone through security yet, maybe I could come and sit with you while you wait. I know it’s not the most fun thing to wait in an airport all alone.”

“I haven’t gone through security just yet, but I’ll be fine. It’s a holiday, Molly, you should be with your parents. And who knows..Maybe I’ll get lucky and the flight will leave earlier. Let’s just hope no Little Wiggles spot me... “

Molly opened her mouth to reply when she was interrupted by her mother. “Molly Beth? Who on God’s green earth are you talking to this early?”

Molly turned to look at her mother and shook her head, mouthing “I’ll tell you later.” To which her mother just shook her head and continued into the kitchen to presumably pour herself a cup of coffee.

“Speaking of parents, that sounds like your mum? You know, it is rude to call someone before 9:00 a.m. Molly Beth...” Lachy teased.

Molly rolled her eyes. “Excuse me, sir, you’re the one who called me!”

“Yes, but you texted me first, so the blame still falls on you.”

Molly shook her head. “Well, you were awake anyway. Had I known you weren’t at the airport, I’d have never texted you that early.”

Lachy chuckled a bit. “Are you sure about that? It isn’t the first time you’ve texted me at the crack of dawn, you know. Though to be fair, I do have a tendency to keep you awake with phone calls and texts way past your bedtime, don’t I?” Lachy chuckled once more as Molly hummed in agreement. “ I guess it’ll get worse once I‘m actually home. There’s a 14 hour time difference between South Carolina and Brisbane.”

Molly wrinkled her nose at this information. She still wasn’t excited about that. Once Lachy was back in Australia their conversations would be limited to Skype, and only when they were both awake and free from work. “We’ll figure something out.” She said softly.

“We will.” Lachy agreed before breathing another weary sigh. “I should let you go. It’s thanksgiving, you should be spending time with your parents. I should also go see if there’s anything I can do about getting my flight switched.”

“I’ll keep my fingers crossed. Let me know if anything changes.” Molly replied. She knew the chance of Lachy getting an earlier flight was rather slim, at least one with minimal connections. But she wouldn’t say that out loud, she figured he knew as well as she did.

“I will.” Lachy promised. “Have a happy Thanksgiving, Molly.”

“You too. Feel free to call or text whenever you’d like today. I know it can’t be fun sitting in that airport all day alone.”

“Oh, you’re not getting rid of me that easily. You might just be my source of sanity in all of the boredom I’m sure to face.” Lachy chuckled. What he didn’t know was that his words brought a slight blush to Molly’s cheeks, though she’d deny it. “But I’ll definitely call you once I know when my flight leaves.”

“You’re sanity? Are you sure about that?” Molly shook her head despite the fact that Lachy couldn’t see it.

“Quite sure.” Was Lachy’s reply. “Now go talk to your mum! Bye Molly. “

“Okay, okay.” Molly laughed. “Bye Lach.” And with that she hit the “end” button before standing from the couch and heading into the kitchen where she found her mother already working on breakfast.

“It’s about time you got off the phone. Who were you talking to?” Sarah asked as she gestured toward a carton of eggs. “Care to crack those for me?”

Molly nodded and began to crack the eggs for her mother’s breakfast casserole. It only occurred to her right then that she hadn’t mentioned Lachy to her parents. Though, there really wasn’t a reason for her to have told them about him, was there? He was, after all, just a friend. “Oh no one, just a new friend.” She replied.

“What’s his name?” Sarah questioned with a raised brow.

Molly shook her head. “Mom...I never said it was a guy.”

“I know you Molly Beth, your cheeks were blushed when you came in here. Are you talking to Asher again? Oh I hope so, you were so well suited. “

Molly tensed a bit at the mentioning of Asher and she shook her head. “There’s not a snowball’s chance I’ll ever speak to

him again, Mom. I mean it. Asher and I are over and that’s all there is to it. “

Molly heard her mother sigh before she spoke again. “I wish you’d tell me what went wrong with him. Everything seemed so perfect between you. And the wedding was so close…”

“Mom, please. That’s enough. I don’t want to talk about him, okay? He’s very much a part of my past. And I’d prefer to leave him there.”

“Okay, fair enough. I’m sorry I brought him up.” Sarah said as she continued to fry sausage on the griddle. “That still doesn’t answer my question. Who’s your friend?”

Molly couldn’t stop herself from grinning even if she wanted to. “Well, his name is Lachy. And before you start, we’re just friends. I met him earlier last month At McGuire’s and we sorts just clicked?”

“McGuire’s? What were you doing there, you never go to McGuire’s…” Sarah sounded skeptical as she gave her only daughter a look.

Molly shrugged and reached for a whisk to begin beating the eggs. “Hannah and Sophie invited me to go with them and I agreed.” She chose to leave out the details of the drugged drink, it wasn’t necessary and would only worry her mother. “I bumped into him at the bar and we struck up a conversation. We exchanged numbers before we left and...yeah, we’ve been talking ever since and we’ve become really good friends.”

“You exchanged numbers? That’s really not like you. It took you forever to talk to…” Sarah paused, realizing she was about to bring up Asher again to her daughter. “Sorry Molly…”

Molly shrugged and shook her head. “It’s okay. Um, where do you want these?”

Sarah pointed to a glass casserole dish that already had a few other ingredients in it. “Pour them in there, top it with cheese, and slide it in the oven.”

Molly nodded and did as she was told before she set about making another cup of coffee. “He’s actually stuck at the airport today. That’s why I was on the phone with him so early. He’s flying home to Australia, but his flight has been delayed. He was supposed to leave at 8:30 but they’ve pushed it back to…”

“Australia?” Sarah’s voice held a skeptical tone once more. “Why was he in Folly Beach?”

Molly smirked a bit. “He was here with his band…”

“Band? Is that why you were at the pub in the first place?”

Molly shrugged. “Kinda?”

“Molly Beth!”

“What?” Molly questioned with an air of innocence in her voice. All the while, she was hiding a smirk from her mother. “There is nothing wrong with being in a band. They’re actually kind of good. They sing Irish and Scottish Folk music. They’re called the Unusual Commoner’s, I think..Come on, Mom, what is it?”

Sarah was silent for a moment as she moved to the task of slicing fresh fruit. “Nothing, it’s just...Meeting a guy in a bar, exchanging numbers with him, getting close to him despite the fact that he lives in halfway across the world. That’s not like you, Molly. I’m just concerned is all. I don’t want you getting hurt again.”

Molly bit her lip as she listened to her mother. “It’s different with Lachy...I can’t explain it. We’re only friends, Lord knows I’m not anywhere near ready for a relationship with anyone. But like I said, we clicked..I couldn’t leave that bar that night without giving him my number. And I’m so glad I did.” She smiled a bit as she moved to help Sarah with the fruit. “He’s become my best friend. I know, it sounds crazy, I’ve known him less than two months, but I can’t imagine not having him in my life. That’s crazy, right?”

Sarah glanced at her daughter from the corner of her eye and smirked slightly. “No, I wouldn’t say that’s crazy at all. I’d say you’re in lo..”

“Stop right there! I’m not in love with him, Mom.” Molly said firmly. “I’ll say this once again, we’re just friends. And that’s all we’ll ever be.”

“You said yourself you clicked with him, you can tell him anything? Sounds like love to me.”

“I’ve known him less than two months.” Molly sighed, resisting the urge to roll her eyes

“Love at first sight is a real thing, I don’t care what you say. “ Sarah chimed in.

Molly shook her head in almost disbelief. “This isn’t some Hallmark Christmas movie, mom. People don’t fall in love in two months.”

“They do if they’re soulmates...Do you mind grabbing the strawberries from the fridge?”

Molly, however, didn’t move to grab the strawberries as she was asked, but rather she stood and stared at her mother in shock. “You’re delusional! Soul mates? There’s no such thing…Lachy and I are not soulmates...we’re not in love, we’re just friends and that is all we’ll ever be.” She muttered. She finally moved from her spot to grab the berries her mother had requested.

Sarah continued to smirk as she took the box of strawberries from Molly’s hand. “Okay, whatever you say.” She said with a shrug.

“We’re not!” Molly said firmly. It was at that moment that her phone began to buzz, signalling an incoming call. She grabbed the phone from the counter to see that Lachy was calling her, just as she’d guessed.

“Speak of the devil…” Sarah mumbled as she send a mischievous grin toward Molly, who did her best to ignore it.

“Mom..” Molly rolled her eyes as she hit the accept button and held the phone to her ear. “Hello?” The smile that lit her face didn’t go unnoticed by her mother, even if Molly wasn’t aware of it herself. However, the smile faded into a frown as Lachy began to speak.

“Hey..I have a bit of bad news. It seems my flight has been cancelled due to the winter storm in Colorado. Not sure when I can get another flight out of here.” Lachy sighed. “It’ll be Monday at least, if I’m lucky.”

Molly bit her lip. “So, you’re stuck in the airport?” She questioned.

“Well, that’s one option. I thought about booking a hotel for a couple of days in Savannah until I can book another flight. Thankfully, all my clothes were packed in my carry on suitcase.. My work trunk has already been shipped back with the others…”

Molly frowned as she thought of Lachy spending the weekend alone in Savannah when he really wanted to be home. Especially not Thanksgiving weekend. Despite the fact that he didn’t celebrate, it still bothered her that he’d be alone. Especially when he was so close to Folly Beach “Don’t be silly Molly…” She thought. “You haven’t known him nearly long enough to even propose the idea of him coming here…” But damn her mouth and brain for not being on the same page. Before she could stop herself, she was asking him to do just that. “Why not come here?”

There was silence for a moment and Molly could hear her heartbeat pounding in her ears. Finally, Lachy spoke up. “Molly, I couldn’t do that. It’s Thanksgiving, it’s a time for family. I couldn’t impose... “

“And friends. You shouldn’t be by yourself. My parents own an inn, and there’s no one staying here this week. I could come and pick you up from the airport…” She offered.

Molly could hear her mom clearing her throat behind her, no doubt trying to get her attention, but she ignored her as she waited for Lachy’s response. In all truth, she wanted to see him and she hoped he’d agree.

“Molly, are you sure about this? I really don’t want to interrupt your holiday.”

“I wouldn’t have asked you if I wasn’t sure. You said you’re at the airport in Savannah, right? I’m only a couple of hours away. I could be there by…” she looked at the clock, seeing it was now about 8:00. “Probably around 10:30.”

There was a pause once more before Lachy finally spoke again. “Okay, That sounds really nice actually. Thank you.”

The two worked out a few details of where they’d meet and what color and make her car was before they said goodbye. As soon as Molly hung up, she turned to head upstairs to her old room, but she was stopped by her mother.

“I take it we’re having a guest after all, then?” Sarah questioned with a raised brow.

Molly was once again biting her lip, a habit she’d had since she was a child. An apologetic expression was on her face. “Mom, I…”

Sarah shook her head, holding her hand up, though a warm smile tugged at her lips. “You don’t have to explain yourself Molly. You go get ready and I’ll make sure a room is ready when you get back. You’d better hurry! You told him you’d be there by 10:30, and traffic is going to be a mess!”

Molly grinned. “Thank you!” She exclaimed as she bolted up the stairs to her room to get ready. The entire time her stomach fluttered with butterflies she couldn’t quite explain. She knew one thing, though. She couldn’t wait to see the man she’d grown so close to in the past two months. She only wondered if he was just as excited to see her...

#lachlan gillespie #lachy gillespie #lachy wiggle #the wiggles #untangle me #fanfiction #slowburn

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scullys-right-eyebrow-txf · 6 years

Text

Fox Mulder vs. Questionable Holiday Movies

Warning: Pure Fluff. Christmas Fluff. Christmas Kidfic Fluff

Tagging @today-in-fic

Night 1

Physically and emotionally exhausted, Dana Scully pulled her aching body through the front door of her apartment and promptly tripped over a large toy dump truck.

“Dammit,” she whispered as she regained her footing and kicked the row of trucks out of her path before resuming her trek down the hallway.

It was 1am, three days before Christmas, and Scully was finally off work. After a week of late nights at the hospital, she was done until after the holidays and she only wanted to celebrate with eight full hours of sleep.

She stumbled into the bathroom and stripped off her scrubs before stepping into the shower to wash away the hospital odor, and then pulled on the clean pajamas that Mulder had set out for her. (Sleeping naked had stopped becoming an option once William began to walk and had a tendency to show up in their bedroom at daybreak.)

Speaking of the little 4 year old bed-hog, he was planted firmly on her side of the mattress when she made it into the bedroom. Scully softly pushed William to the middle of the bed toward Mulder and climbed in tiredly beside her boys.

“Hmm, Mommy?” the child said, half awake.

“Hey baby, what are you doing here?” Scully asked, lovingly running her fingers through her son’s hair.

“I had a dream,” he mumbled into the pillow.

“I’m sorry. Do you feel better now? Do you want me to take you back to your room?”

“No, Mommy, Santa’s in there,” William said, curling into his mother’s body.

“What?” Scully whispered in confusion.

“Shhh, Scully. Just let him stay here tonight,” Mulder said, reaching out blindly to stroke her arm, which he missed entirely and ended up pawing at her face.

She swatted his hand away. “Okay, okay,” she answered, wrapping her arm around her son and melting into her pillow, too tired to argue with either of them.

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

“Hey, Mulder, I’ve got a question,” Scully said the next morning as she sipped her coffee while watching Mulder and William pick up the remnants of the previous night’s toy explosion.

“And what would that be?” he asked from his place on the floor.

“Why is Will suddenly afraid of Santa Claus?”

“He isn’t afraid of Santa. It was just one bad dream, isn’t that right, buddy?” he directed to his son.

“Nope, I don’t like Santa anymore. He’s scary, like in the movie,” William stated as he became distracted and began playing with his toys rather than cleaning them up.

“Mulder, what movie is he talking about?” Scully questioned her husband.

He sighed heavily and placed himself next to her on the couch to confess. “It’s just this campy old movie from the 60’s that we watched last night called ‘Santa Claus vs the Devil.’ And don’t give me that look, Scully. It’s not scary and Santa is the hero! And it’s just so bad that it’s hilarious.”

“Well apparently Will didn’t think it was hilarious. He wouldn’t even go into his room until I hid his big stuffed Santa. And he loves that thing!” she said in exasperation.

“I guess he projected the creepiness of the devil onto Santa. Because as I said before, Santa comes off very well in this movie,” Mulder explained. “Don’t worry Scully, all we have to do is get him excited about Christmas and he’ll snap out of it.

“You better hope that that he snaps out of it soon. We’re meeting Mom at the mall at 6:00 so he can get his picture taken with the big guy.”

“He’ll be fine,” Mulder said, reaching out to give Scully a quick peck on the lips. “The little guy has been so excited to tell Santa all about the train set he wants for Christmas. It will be great, I promise.”

Night 2

“That was a disaster,” Scully groaned, collapsing beside Mulder on the bed, both still fully clothed.

“I’m sorry, Scully. I really thought he would be okay,” Mulder said, his words muffled by the pillow that his face was buried in.

The situation had actually been far from okay. It had started out well enough. William had been so distracted by his excitement over seeing his grandmother that he didn’t even realize why they were waiting in line. He was happy enough to receive little candy canes from the elves traversing the line in order to keep the waiting children content, but then he realized what he was waiting for. Beginning to panic, Will demanded to be picked up by his father and that only made things worse because then he could see the man himself, Santa Claus.

It started as small whimpers. The parents around them gave Mulder and Scully sympathetic looks, but then came the loud cries that evolved into screaming and the looks became much less sympathetic and much more judgmental.

All it took was one glance between the partners and they were heading toward the exit, William screaming the whole way.

“At least he fell asleep in the car and was too out of it to realize that we put him in his own bed,” Scully murmured.

Right at that moment there was a loud knock on the bedroom door.

“You just had to say something, didn’t you?” Mulder asked, giving her a side eyed glance.

“Mommy? Daddy?” came a sweet little voice from the other side of the door.

“You can come in, baby,” Scully said, sitting up resignedly.

Will threw open the door and made a bee line for the bed, landing squarely in his mother’s arms.

“I want to sleep with you tonight,” he told his parents. “Please Mommy.”

Scully looked at Mulder before turning her eyes upon that sad little face that at the moment looked just like his father’s. She couldn’t say no to either of them.

“Just tonight, sweetie,” she said, brushing his hair off his forehead.

William gratefully burrowed under the cover between his parents and Mulder reached out to rub his arm affectionately.

“You know this want be just tonight, right?” he asked his wife.

Scully sighed and flopped back down on the mattress. “We’ll worry about it tomorrow.”

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

The little family of three huddled around the kitchen counter. It was Christmas Eve and they were making a large batch of sugar cookies, as had become their tradition. The dough was mixed and spread out and Mulder and Scully were helping William use the cookie cutters. There was a combination of shapes such as wreaths, bells, and Christmas trees, but there was one that was being conspicuously avoided by the child.

“Hey Will, let’s do this one next,” Mulder said, showing the little boy the cookie cutter shapely roughly like Santa.

“No, Daddy!”

“Come on, Will. We’ve got plenty of red frosting that we need to use up,” Mulder tried to reason with the child.

“Santa is not welcome here,” William stated sternly before turning back to his work.

Mulder and Scully gave each other incredulous looks over his head, a whole conversation with only their eyes. A conversation that included thoughts such as, “Who knew a miracle baby could be such an ungrateful troublemaker,” and “We should just return all his gifts to the store.”

“Well William, if you feel that way, then I guess you shouldn’t be expecting any gifts tomorrow morning,” Scully said.

The boy only shrugged in response, but his parents could see the nervousness flit across his face.

Night 3

“It’s time for bed, Will,” Mulder said as he turned off the cartoon on the TV much to the dismay of the child.

“Just one more show, Daddy, please.”

“No go, buddy. It’s already past your bedtime,” Mulder said, shuffling William toward his room.

“But…but,” he tried to argue bravely, despite the fact that his chin was trembling.

“But what?” Scully asked, still a little peeved after the incident that afternoon.

“But you know who comes tonight. I’m scared, Mommy.”

And just like that, Scully’s resolve crumbled. She crouched down to William’s level. “Baby, it’s okay to be scared, but you know that Mommy and Daddy would never let anyone come in who was dangerous. We trust Santa, and you trust us, right?”

Will nodded his head, his eyes on the floor. “Do you think Santa will still bring me a present after what I said about him?” he asked sadly.

Scully kissed his head, “I think he might do just that. We’ll let you sleep with us one more night so you won’t be scared but tomorrow it’s back to your own bed. Deal?”

“Yep,” he said happily.

“You go on and get in the bed while Daddy and I turn out the lights, okay?”

“Don’t forget to put out some milk and cookies for Santa!” Will yelled over his shoulder as he sprinted for his parent’s bedroom.

“You’re such a softie,” Mulder said as he and Scully began to quietly pull out the hidden presents and place them under the tree.

“I blame you. Where do you think he got those puppy dog eyes?” she asked. “Also, this is all your fault. All for some damn movie. And I was going to give you an early Christmas present,” she said with a raised eyebrow.

“Uh…,” he could only reply. Between her work schedule and their uninvited visitor, it had been over a week and he was desperately in need of that Christmas present.

“But instead we have a munchkin in our bed. Pity,” she said teasingly.

“Oh, Scully,” Mulder groaned. “I’m sorry. I’ve never been sorrier in my life. Tomorrow that kid is out!”

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

“Mommy! Daddy! Santa came!!!” Will yelled, jumping on their bed way too early.

An hour later, Mulder and Scully were surrounded by wrapping paper and one hyper child.

“I can’t believe that he brought me a train set. I didn’t even get to tell him that’s what I wanted! And legos! And a new truck!” William didn’t know what to play with first. He simple ran from one toy to another excitedly. “I love Santa!” he exclaimed victoriously.

Mulder and Scully watched from their place on the couch and laughed at their son’s sudden change of heart.

“Will, buddy, I know you’re happy but you need to settle down or you’ll wear yourself out,” Mulder said as the boy sprinted to another corner of the room.

“That wouldn’t be such a bad thing,” Scully whispered, cuddling close to Mulder. “He might need a nice long nap before we head over to Mom’s and that would give me an opportunity to give you your Christmas present,” she said, trailing a hand up his thigh.

Mulder let out a ragged breath, “You know what, Will? Just keep having fun.”

“Yeah!,” Will yelled. “Best Christmas ever!”

“Best Christmas ever,” Mulder said, kissing Scully in a way she wouldn’t soon forget.

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

Four months later

“Daddy! Mommy! Open up,” the little voice called through the locked door.

“No,” Scully whimpered, her head falling back on the pillows.

Mulder’s head landed on her chest where he had previously been trying to unbutton her blouse with his teeth.

“What is it, William?” he asked.

“I need you,” Will answered urgently.

Scully sighed and pulled herself up. She opened the door and William burst through, running to hug her.

“What’s wrong, Sweetie?”

“I had a nightmare. It was the Easter Bunny. He’s scary,” Will said, burying his face in her shoulder.

Scully held her son tightly and turned her accusing eyes on her husband.

“I didn’t know that he had come into the room, Scully, I swear,” Mulder said, his hands up in submission. “ I was just watching this movie ‘Donnie Darko.’”

“And it has a scary bunny?” she asked, carrying their son to the bed.

“I didn’t know he was watching, Scully. I swear, I didn’t know…”

Night 1

The End

#mulder and scully fic #mulder and scully are happy parents #mulder and scully deserved a happy life #myfic

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libbylax16 · 7 years

Text

Living Among the Dead

Don't own Naruto only the story! Just language in this one really Hope you enjoy my first attempt at fanfiction! R/R would be much appreciated! The city is quiet at night despite all the lights illuminating part of the cold sky. Before the sun is even setting, people are in their houses, the doors locked, and the curtains drawn. So there is absolutely no one out. Even the rats from the sewers seem to know better then to be out past night fall. But tonight is different. With everything happening, it's nice to go for a walk and clear the mind. Even if it's practically forbidden.. The wind is starting to pick up as I make my way towards my house. My light pink hair is beginning to fly everywhere along with my coat. I quickly button the center button so it doesn't fly off. As I make a turn down another street, I hear crunching behind me as if someone else was stupid enough to be out this late. I don't turn around and I definitely do not stop. We've all heard the rumors and stories about why we all stay inside before nightfall. People believe that.. something lurks among the city streets at night, waiting, hunting. For someone who was unlucky enough to be caught out past their bedtime. A lot of people have gone missing after being seen outside after dark. But no one is usually found.. Well alive that is. Numerous bodies have been found before, except for a select few who have never been disovered. All the bodies that we found have had their throats cut out, so that leaves room for superstitions as crazy as they come. I continue walking, picking up the pace as I enter a darker area. I wouldn't even think of going through here if there was a more direct way other than this one alley. The sounds bouncing through the dark and murky walls are creepy to say the least. I know for a fact someone is following me, but I am too tired and too sore to care. I just got out of the hospital after training with Naruto and Sai in the fields. I work at running the hospital as much as possible and usually get caught up with Naruto, either training or eating at Ichibad's before heading home. Tonight, I had worked late but promised the guys I'd eat with them which then basically turned into a training session after a couple stupid things were said. I make it out into the moonlight and basically sprint for my apartment that's further down across the street. It may just be paranoia, but I lock my door with a seal around my apartment as to prevent anyone from getting in that is using an unusual amount of chakra. I walk through and turn on any lights I see necessary to be on this late. "Freaking nerves.." I hiss out as I grab a bottle of wine from my cooler and a glass from the cabinet in the kitchen. It's not a small apartment but it's big enough for a small group to stand comfortably in, which is why I got this really... My friends and I always seem to have gatherings here or at Sai's... I don't know why though he never has anything but art and scrolls.. Not that the art is bad but there's just so much.. Tons and tons of art and scrolls.. That would be the main reason his house is a backup for mine. I walk to my room upstairs with a glass of red wine and my phone. I've learned from past experiences that it's not wise to not answer when one of my boys, or anyone I know really, calls. So I have to keep it on me at all times. I walk over and press play on my old stereo, it lets some weird noise out before playing a random song. I swear the damned thing hisses at me sometimes.. I set my glass down on the dark oak dresser by my door and walk to the bathroom to turn on the shower. I glance at my large balcony window before grabbing my clothes and stepping back into the humid air. I strip down to nothing before stepping into the hot water, letting my aching muscles relax into the warmth. I still can't believe the boys got into another fight, all because of me not drinking at dinner. Naruto thought it was because I was scared of turning into Tsunade who couldn't put the bottle down even as Hokage. Sai on the other hand just thought it was because Sake is disgusting, which it is. So in truth, both of them are right. I can't stand the taste and I don't want to have to try and run a hospital drunk. I can't even imagine trying to be a top medic with an alcohol problem. My thoughts are interrupted as my phone starts going off. "I'm walking on sunshine! Woah! I'm walking on sunshine! Wo-o-oah! I'm walking on sunshine and don't it-" I pick up, knowing who it is by the ringtone. "Naruto, I just saw you-" "Sakura! Can I come over?! It's creepy out here!" "What? Why can't you... Fine." I say tiredly as I turn the water down so I can hear better. "Okay good 'cause I'm outside now!" He says before someone starts banging on my front door. "Ugh hold on." I say before hanging up and turning the water off. I grab my teal towel and slip on my flats before running down the stairs, my hair still dripping all over the place. Honestly I just don't want him out there alone longer then need be. Bad memories.. "Hey! Thanks!" The blonde idiot says before running in behind me, leaving me staring at that dark alley again. A shadow moves slightly as I turn on the porch light. "Whatcha looking at?" He asks from behind me before I shake my head and turn the light off, leaving it dark again. "Thought I saw something.. Now what are you doing here?" I demand as I slam the door and lock it again. "Well you see.. Sai and I were gonna head home, but then we got distracted and ended up back at Ichibad's for another drink and Sai lives close to here so I had to walk alone in the dark and it's pretty damn scary out there." He says laying back against the couch. "And your reasoning for coming here instead of with Sai?" I ask, fixing my towel and walking into the kitchen. "I just wanted to see my Sakura." He says turning on the tv and kicking his shoes off before propping them up on the coffee table. I scoff as he leans back and gives me a sly toothy grin. He's grown a lot in the last few years, insanely handsome with his tan features and messy hair always sticking up in random places. Training in the summer is the best because he just so happens to not have a shirt on most of the time. "Sai wouldn't let you stay, would he?" I say laughing a little before heading towards the stairs. "No.. Hey where ya goin?" He asks as I start on the first step. "To finish showering and go to sleep. Which you need to do too. You reek." I say before walking up the stairs and heading to my room. This is actually a regular occurrence with him. Ever since Sasuke went missing at night, he's been wary about staying out after dark unaccompanied. So I let him stay in the guest room, but most of the time he'll end up in my room at some point during the night when he hears a noise. Which is okay, I mean I enjoy the company sometimes. I make my way to my bathroom and grab my glass I left on the dresser. It seems to have warmed up after being left out, it's a slightly redder color. After taking a sip and almost choking, I lock the door and slip back in the hot water. That wine had a strange irony taste to it, but the bottle isn't from Konoha. I get a lot of my wine from out of town. Okay so I don't drink sake but I do drink wine.. I'm a pretty heavy wine drinker. After finishing my shower, smelling like strawberries, and finishing the glass of wine, I throw on my bra and underwear and step back into the room. "Saku! Hey can I-" Naruto begins before seeing me half naked and standing there like a statue. "Naruto!! The hell?!" I scream before grabbing a shirt and throwing it on. "Sorry! Sorry! I was just uh.. Oh yeah! Can I use your shower?" "No! There's one downstairs for a reason." I say before grabbing my glass and walking back down stairs not bothering to grab pants. "But Sakura.." He whines as he follows me into the kitchen. I just pour another glass before leaning back on the counter and rolling my eyes. "Why?" "Well it gets scary down here and cold and your room is always so warm and smells amazing.. Just like you." He says, watching me as I examine the dark wine bottle. I don't really listen too carefully and instead read the bottle. The label says Dark Desires 1820.. The bottom is carved with a symbol.. "Sasuke?" I say as the symbol matches the Uchiha family symbol. "What?" Naruto says walking next to me and staring at the bottle. "This symbol.. Was Sasuke's family secretly into the wine business or something?" I ask, setting the bottle down and grabbing my glass again to examine the liquid. It's a deep red and doesn't have any bubbles or anything in it. "Not that I remember, but his brother wasn't really around so it could be from him. So can I?" He asks, giving me his sad face. No matter how hard I try I can't say no to his face. I giggle a little, blaming it on the wine and nod, exaggerating my sigh. "But how about I stay down here while you take a shower in the guest room and then go to bed." I say, trying to make a deal. It's not so much the privacy point as much as it is he always gets dirt all of my bathroom that I have to go back over and clean. "Fine.... But will you still see me to bed?" He says waiting for my nod but I simply shake my head causing him to look down sadly before taking off for the bathroom. I laugh a little and take my glass and sit on the couch. I pick up the remote and turn on the tv. The movie Big Fish is on. One of my absolute favorite movies with Ewan McGregor. A lot of things have changed over the years in Konoha. New couples, new missions, new people. Temari and Shikamaru ended up hitting it off after sparring a few times and meeting up on missions. Obviously Ino and Kiba after he helped her out on a mission to Suna. Then there's Naruto and I, mainly we just date without labeling it as that.. It's not that I'm scared of a relationship it's just.. I don't want anything to happen where he gets too attached. He's got a lot more possibilities than I do to become something, Hokage for one. So we keep it simple for now just acting normal unless one of us feels the need to get physical. I feel my eyes getting heavier before I finish off my second glass. - I feel someone pick me up and hold me to their chest. They smell nice.. Wait what? But I'm too tired to care so I just wrap my arms around the person's neck and snuggle into their chest. - "Sakura.." I'm running through the outskirts of town at night. Why? I'm too focused on getting away to even think about why. "Sakura, I will find you." A deep voice says from somewhere around me in the trees. I sense someone moving behind me and before I know it, I'm on the ground. With someone hovering over me. I can't see their face, but their eyes are a dark red and I watch as they get close to my neck. "Sakura, I've missed you." I hear the person say before they sink their teeth into the spot connecting my shoulder to my neck. It's an odd sensation causing me to let out a scream as I'm overcome with an ice feeling running through my veins. - "Sakura!" I shoot forward into someone's arms, shaking. That dream was so freaking real. "You okay?" Naruto asks, hugging me to him tightly. "Y-yeah.. That was just a fucked up dream.." I say quietly. I mean that was one of the realist dreams I've ever had.. And who was the guy? "What.. What time is it?" I ask, backing away from him on the bed. I notice it's finally light outside.. Really light out. "Only like 10." He says in a very nonchalant tone. "Oh ok-..." I begin until I realize what he just said. "It's already 10?!! I'm so freaking late!!" I scream, basically falling out of the bed, only to be caught by my waist. "It's Saturday.." "I have to meet Tsunade at 10:30 to discuss things for a new children's wing on the hospital!! Oh my-" I run into the bathroom and throw my toothbrush in as I run back into the room and fly around, grabbing different articles of clothing. "Sakura-" "Can you throw me that pwease." I say slightly before putting my toothbrush back in. "Sakura!" "What?!" "Granny called earlier and I moved the time for you." I pause and take a breath. "Oh shwe.. She.. you did?" I say, removing the toothbrush. He nods and chuckles at me. I look down and see that I'm half dressed with my hair all on one side and toothpaste on my chest. "Yeah.." I say awkwardly before backing into the bathroom. Oh my jeeze. That was so embarrassing! Wait why was that embarrassing? It's Naruto. I've had a whole wet t-shirt incident happen with him and Sai and Kakashi. Not to mention that time Lee stole my top so I had to run around the field half naked. I quickly pull back my hair and wash my face and chest of toothpaste and get rid of my toothbrush. I put a little eyeliner and mascara on and open the door. "You never got to kiss me goodnight Sakura, maybe that's why you had a bad bad dream?" Naruto says from my bed that he's laying shirtless on with only boxers on... I just roll my eyes and fall down next to him still in my underclothes, consisting of a teal bra and maroon underwear. "Sooo... Can I?" He asks turning to me hopeful. I just laugh until he takes that as a sign to go ahead. He pulls me over to him and begins to kiss me lightly So like I said before, I just haven't accepted telling everyone that we do these things about every other night.. I mean they already assume so why put the effort into that? He rolls me over so I'm on top of him, still kissing. Suddenly his mouth is now on my neck slowly creating circles with his tongue. This goes on for a few more minutes until we go to switch so he's on top. If I had bothered to check for anything weird I wouldn't have missed the man that made it through my window and was now staring at us. "Sai?! The hell is with you guys and sneaking into my apartment, uninvited?!" I basically scream, grabbing the shirt laying on the ground next to the bed and pushing Naruto off of me. "Naruto said I could come over... And nice shirt." He says causing me to glance down at the white shirt with the Uzumaki family crest on it. Literal face palm. "Gahh!!" I feel my eyebrow begin to twitch, so I take off down the stairs to grab breakfast. I reach up and rub my sore neck.. Sore neck? I lower my hand that seems to have something red on it. "The fuck?!" I run to the bathroom down the hall and switch on the light. I rub a sore spot between my collar bone and neck that has red on it. It comes off.. "It's just wine.." I say, letting out a breath of relief. "Hey, Sakura! You okay in there?" Naruto yells from the hallway, not wanting to invade my privacy. That's a first.. "Yeah!" I say coming out into the light cascading through the window to our right. - "Tsunade, we need a children's wing! I mean we don't have enough room already, but-" "Sakura, if you bothered to look before you came.. It's already been done." The hazel eyed woman before me says with a smirk before taking a swig from her sake bottle. "...What?" I say astonished. "You mean.." "Yes, I already had it added." She says causing me to freak. Like really freak. "You are THE best!!! Thank you so much!" I screech before running and hugging my grandmother tightly, almost knocking over the chairs I had been walking around. The reason I've been wanting to add a children's wing is because of the amount of young kids that try to go to the fields and train and end up needing help. Considering the fact we already usually have a large number of adults coming in from missions gone wrong children usually have to wait, so if we added a pediatric ward that would help with the kids getting treated. Plus I'd get my own giant office.. "Yeah, yeah. Now shoo, I've got 'work' to do." She says holding up her bottle and some paper work. I nod quickly before basically skipping out of the room. "Hey, Sakura. How'd it go?" Kakashi asks, leaning outside of the door on the tan wall. I don't even respond, I just hug him tightly, missing the slight red that spreads across his face. "G-Good, I assume." He stutters as I back up. Kakashi Hatake stuttering? Oh well I'm too excited to care. "It's been added! Let's go celebrate.. Wait, no I probably shouldn't, I mean I need to go and.." "No, you deserve it! You've worked over every night for the past two weeks, trying to get it done. I'll take you to the best place around." He says grinning under his mask, I can tell because his eye is squinted upwards. Even not being able to see his face Kakashi is still one of the more attractive men I've seen in my twenty years. With his grey hair sticking back allowing a full view of his handsome features. "Okay. Let's go then." I say smiling and kissing his cheek. The dark cloth tickles my lips as I linger for a second. "Thanks." I add before taking his arm and walking down the dim hall. Most likely dim so the light doesn't kill Tsunade with her hangovers she gets.. Kakashi's POV I can't believe what I'm seeing.. She's got her lab coat on, but only a low tank top and shorts. Not to mention all the skin showing from her beautiful milky legs. I know it's wrong to think about my student like this but.. She's grown into the most beautiful woman I've ever seen. Her long pink hair and doe like emerald eyes are enough to push someone over the edge, but her curves are just.. She is the picture of beauty. And I know I'm not the only one who thinks so.. She's just so innocent and pure looking... Until you get her on the training fields then that's a whole other story.. She's made it so far from her younger years where she would need saving, now she's the one saving people. As we step into the sunlight, we are greeted with people scurrying by quickly, unless they see her and they slow down to stare at her. I glare at anyone who dares look longer than a second, but I go back to watching her as we walk over the cracks in the sidewalk. "Hey, Kakashi, you okay?" She asks as we walk out to another busy street. She caught me staring again... "Uh yeah! Yeah! Fine, just.. You've got something red on you." I say quickly, pointing to the red blotch on her neck... "Shoot! I thought I got it all off! I had some wine last night and.. Well the blonde idiot showed up and I fell asleep and apparently he wasn't careful taking the glass from me. Heh.." She says rubbing at the wrong spot. Before I know what I'm doing, I've reached out and rubbed the spot after licking my finger. She freezes and her face turns red. Sakura's POV Oh. My. Fuck. Is Kakashi wiping my neck off? After licking his finger? Woah there.. Calm down! I can't help the redness that crawls onto my face as he rubs against my neck. "S-sorry. You were missing it." He says, clearing his throat and turning into stone. If he's ever caught doing something he thinks is wrong he'll put on his stone façade and continue as usual. "T-thanks.." I basically squeak as we continue walking. Honestly, apart from our age difference, we'd probably be a perfect couple. But alas he's my sensei and more than likely doesn't even try to think of me in that way... It would be amazing though if he did.. I mean with his abilities going on missions with him would be an actual work out and he's helped me more than a few times in the past. Suddenly two arms snake their way around my waist, causing me to send my arm back defensively, only to have it caught by a hand. "Hey! Saku! Kakashi." Naruto says from behind me as he lifts me up. "Put me down!" I scream as he spins me around like a doll. "Aren't you two a sight for sore eyes." Kakashi all but hisses. I glance over to see Sai walking next to us with blank eyes. He's still not too keen with his emotions, but we've been working on that for a while now. "Sorry, were we interrupting something?" Sai says, almost sarcastically. Almost. "We were just headed to- lunch!" I scream as Naruto almost falls over the curb. "Put me down, damnit!!" I add until I'm set down gently. My boys.. Er well Naruto at least.. Naruto is the most rambunctious guy you'll ever meet. But hey, someone's gotta love him for it. "Sorry.." He says sadly before taking my arm. I really don't even try to fight it at this point. "Can we go to Ichibad's?! Please!!" Naruto yells causing me to hold my head. Just because I drink wine doesn't mean I don't get headaches after drinking a few glasses. It works weirdly for me. "We can just eat somewhere different Saturday night." I whisper to Kakashi as we change direction and head towards said place. The streets are filled with people, all busy and running to jobs or lunch. There is a group of kids playing on the street corner. I sigh as I remember the days that we were all kids who would just run around and annoy Kakashi to death, with Sasuke. Somewhere in the outskirts of town "I must have that beautiful doll.." "Didn't she try to kill you..?" "That's irrelevant." "I called dibs, yeah!" "Y'all are fucking wrong! I saw that hot bitch first!" "Yeah she probably loves to be called a bitch." "Bite me fishy!" "I would but I don't eat shit." "Fuck you and-!!" "Hey! I am the leader and what I say goes! Now shut it!" An orange haired man barks as the other men in the room grow silent before starting up again after a few heated glares. "Tobi likes the pretty woman!" "I wonder if she likes fish.." "Oh you fucking wish!" "Like she would ever look at you assholes. But me.. I've known her all my life.." "Wait.. What?! No fair, yeah!" A blonde yells as the younger Uchiha in the room stands up and walks towards the door. "Wrong again, brother. I was here years before you and took care of her when you were still a child." The older Uchiha says, half way snorting at the attitude of his brother. Some boys just have the need to be so damn dramatic.. "Did she ever want to be with you? Or cry when you disappeared? I don't think so!" The younger one yells like an angry toddler before stalking out of the room, earning multiple eye rolls from the other men in the room. "As Fucking if." A silver haired man says, rolling his eyes before continuing in the discussion. "I think it's his time of the month, yeah." Someone remarks earning a few chuckles before hearing a door slam. "Sakura.. I'm finally going to find you.. Tonight.." - "No staying the night at my house again." I say pointing at Naruto, earning a whine. "But Sakura.. I love our sleepovers! You're soo warm and you smell delicious!" I literally go blank. I cover my face with both hands and groan. "That's what you two do when he stays the night." Sai says from beside me, not exactly asking but just trying to call us out on it. "No!! He sleeps on the couch until something scares him and he runs up to me like a little girl!" I yell before stalking off, angrily. It's getting dark out. "I'll walk you home." Sai says as Naruto dramatically makes whining sounds. "No fair!" "Thank you, Sai." I say taking the artist's arm, he tenses up slightly. He tries to hide it but I see his faint blush and him glance at me. I've almost mastered figuring out sullen looking men and their expressionless faces and what they actually mean, lots of practice through the years. "Soo how's life." I say as we walk past Ino's' flower shop and take a right down another street that's full of children running before getting called inside. "Apart from being around idiots all the time. Fine." He says like a stone again. Well there went the hope of improving his emotions.. "'And how was your day my lovely Sakura?'" I say mimicking his voice. "Well thank you for asking, Sai! It was great." I tease, earning a scoff. "Well would you look at that. Here we are." I say looking at the two apartment buildings. Sai lives literally one apartment complex down from me. Naruto is just annoying. Cute and dreamy but annoying nonetheless... "See you tomorrow, Sakura." He says, walking up to his door, but he waits for me to get to mine and we walk into our separate houses at the same time. It may seem silly, but it's just a precaution after so many people have gone missing at night.. I lock my door and put the same seal on my house as last night.. And every other night. After making sure all is in check I walk in and grab a glass of water and walk up the tan carpeted stairs to my dark room to turn on the shower and take a bath. I start to set up my towel and move the curtain only to be interrupted. Funny how I can never just get into the shower right when I want. "Tiptoe through the window, by the window. That's where you'll-" I pick up quickly, I hate that creepy song. I only have it because Ino hates it too and I like messing with her. "What's up, Ino?" "Girl!! You'll never guess what just happened!" "What?! Did you finally learn how to fly?!" I say sarcastically, making a pig reference. "What?! Oh what? Hey, no! Kiba just proposed!!!" She all but squeals into the phone. I put her on speaker and walk around to find my night clothes. "How'd he do it?" I say, trying not to sound jealous. I mean we are twenty finally, but she always does everything before me. And I mean everything.. Except when it comes to work or training. "We were just hanging out, ya know! And next thing I know we're making out and-" "Ino, you know I don't like hearing about your sex life." I say loudly so she can hear me. I pick up my hamper of clean clothes and start putting them away in the appropriate drawers before tossing some on my bed. "Oh stop being so uptight! It's not my problem you won't let anyone touch you. I mean you've got Naruto, Kakashi, and Sai! Three guys! Three! All who want to get in your pants and be with you, obviously really really badly! Oh and Gaara and-" "Get back to your story." I say huffing as I walk back into the bathroom to turn off the water once it's filled the tub. "Okay so we were making out and he grabbed my hands and then Akamaru interrupted us and I was pissed until I saw the dog smiling! Smiling! With a ring on one tooth!! It was soo romantic!" She says, sighing dreamily into the phone. Ugh she always gets things like this first.. Even if it is a ring with dog slobber on it.. "That's great! I call maid of honor!" "Well duh! And I'm sure one day you'll give in to one of those guys and lose your V card. And then live happily ever after." I scoff at her remark and throw off my shirt onto the floor in the bathroom. "Uhh who said I still had it?" I comment, smirking a little as I hear her sputter a bit. "Oh come on, you would've told me.. Right? Right?!" "Congrats Pig, bye!" I say laughing as I hang up and walk back into the bathroom with clean underclothes. I add a strawberry bath bomb to the water and then slip in after it's disintegrated, turning the water a pink color. I sigh a bit thinking about how far she and I have come in our friendship.. Back when we were a lot younger we used to fight all the time once we realized there was a cute boy our age, little did we know how fruitless it was to fight for him. We weren't always brats to each other, I mean she helped my self esteem when I was close to giving up on trying. She would help me with my hair and added a bow to it to bring the attention away as much as possible. Then after a while we were just talking about different things and we both brought up we liked someone and when we found out it was the same person.. We weren't going to let the other win just like everything else we tried for. After I was on the same team with said guy we just fought even more but eventually we both gave up after countless rejections and made up and became really good friends. I wouldn't exactly say I trusted her with my life but everything else? Sure. "Looks like she actually beat me this time.." I sigh out, sinking further into the water. My pink hair starts to rise to the surface before floating around me as I move my head. - After a soothing bath and many strange noises from my room later, I put my bra and underwear on and walk into my now dark room. I almost call out to whatever was here, assuming Naruto just let himself in until I hear something creak in the closet. Even Naruto knows that freaky trying to scare me shit doesn't fly. He learned that the hard way and still has a scar to prove it. I grab a kunai quietly from the dresser and hold it in my defensive stance. I listen for more movement which probably wouldn't have been a big deal had I not seen something move slightly behind the sliding door to the left. I'm not one to fuck around with intruders... Unless it's Naruto.. "I know you're there." I say loudly as I wait for something. I reach over and turn on the light in my closet and room, hearing an instant hissing noise from the same place as the creak. "Sakura.." I recognize the voice almost immediately. I've dreamt of this voice for the past eight years. "S-Sasuke?!" I practically yell as he opens the closet slowly. He's got pale almost white skin and black eyes with a hint of red that seem to be staring right through me. His hair has stayed the same coal color with the back spiked and the front framing his face. His overall appearance seems to have gotten more.. Handsome... If that's even possible for an Uchiha. "What the hell?! What happened to you?! It's been eight years!! What the fuck dude?! We were all worried sick! And I.. I.." I begin before looking at the water in my glass on the dresser. "I need a drink." I say, walking into the hall, completely avoiding the man standing in my room. Sasuke's POV I watch as she walks away, she's even more beautiful than I remember. Her porcelain legs have gotten longer and more toned and her stomach is flat and has a few marks adorning it, probably scars... Her face is unbelievable. She is honestly the most beautiful woman I've ever seen.. Her light green eyes and light pink hair give her an innocent look that matches what Ino said about her still being a.. My throat clenches as my brain even tries to think of the word again. It's funny how before I was a total douche and now.. Now I can't imagine not knowing her. She's a picture of beauty in her own unique way, looking innocent but fierce at the same time.. Why the hell is she having this effect on me? "Are you coming?" I hear from down the stairs. I quickly transport myself to the kitchen, not going unnoticed by her. Her eyes widen before she reaches for a kunai laying carelessly on the table. "Are.. Are you a.. A-" She stutters trying to think of the word to describe what I'd have to be to be able to do this. "A demon?" I finish her sentence, leaving her astonished but glaring nonetheless. "Yeah.." She remarks, her finger tips gliding from the top of the blade down to the ring hold, not taking her eyes off of me. "Yes, among others.." I glance briefly at her hand to watch her reaction. Although she used to be weak, her chakra was no where near what I'm sensing now. This fact alone makes me keep my guard up. "Vampires don't belong in the city.. That's why you left? Your brother.. he.. So now you kill people? For no reason other than your own need!" She begins to raise her voice and fully grabs the kunai, prepared to slash at me. I react quickly and activate my eyes. "You will forget that I have to kill people." I grumble out at having to say that to her. It's silly and cliché I know, but hey that's an issue people don't usually like to just gloss over. "So what have you been doing all this time..?" She asks warily, setting down the small weapon before walking towards her wine cooler and pulling out a bottle. I watch as she cautiously moves to get a glass and pour herself a half a glass before mumbling something and pouring it to the brim instead. Unless wine has gotten much more disgusting, that's not wine.. My senses tingle and my eyes begin to turn completely red, everything in my being telling me to attack. "What is that?" I say, smelling the putrid liquid even more. "An odd bottle of wine I got the other day as a gift from someone.." She responds before drinking some out of a glass she poured. Wait.. That's the.. Fuck. "Don't drink any more of that!" I yell, grabbing the bottle and trying to control myself from almost throwing it across the room. Even in my dazed state I can still process that that would not be a very welcome thing to do in her house. "What are you doing?!" She yells back causing me to flinch at how her voice screeches. "This isn't all wine." I explain before I feel her standing closer, looking over my shoulder with her barely clothes chest pressed against my arm as she looks at the bottle. I almost fall to my knees. Her sweet scent blocks out the bottle and leaves tingles throughout my mind. Without thinking I find myself almost leaning my face towards hers. Strange thing is, she's not moving away. Instead she's staring into my eyes as if waiting for instructions on what to do. Sakura's POV I almost drop to the ground at his thundering voice, and almost drop the glass bottle. I regain my composure though and question his yell, only to be met with obsidian eyes that seem to smolder me on the spot. I try to move but can't seem to feel my body at all.. Wait is he leaning towards me? All I can do is stare at his lips and feel my heartbeat increase tenfold. I mean to pull away, but I just can't find it in myself to even look away. It's like I can't control my actions... "Sakura.." He whispers. That voice. That's the one from my dream! I strangely let him venture closer to my lips as I feel his hot breath grace my skin. He sets down the bottle on the table before setting his hand on my waist. "Sakura.." He says once again as we get closer, barely letting there be a hair space between us. I take in his strange scent as he is about to close the gap between us. He smells of rain and.. Pine.. It's intoxicating and I don't realize it until a couple seconds after that we are finally touching. "Mmnmn.." I release a breath I didn't realize I was holding in. The kiss is light, almost tender as I step closer and wrap my arms around his neck kind of reluctantly. I allow him to wrap his arms around my waist, bringing me closer and pressing us together. My tongue suddenly traces his bottom lip, teasing him almost. "S-Sakura.." "Don't stutter. You sound too much like my blonde idiot." I say, smiling against his lips as he does the same. Wait.. My blonde idiot.. My smile fades almost immediately.. He is pulling me flush against him as he begins another kiss that is harder than the first one. I try to force myself to pull away, thinking of Naruto and how wrong this really is, but my body won't move. I don't know why my body is giving into him, I mean I haven't seen him in years and he shows up and takes away my wine.. Well I mean it's not like I don't have more, but still. I feel him slowly nip at my bottom lip before tracing his tongue along it. I somehow manage to regain my composure and pull away quickly. "So care to explain the bottle that someone had to pay for?" I ask as I glance at the bottle that's been completely disregarded. "It isn't wine... My brother and his foolish minions decided to send you a bottle of their.." He begins but oddly shies away before finishing his sentence. "Their what?" I demand, glaring in his general direction with the way this night has gone. "Their blood. Well it is mostly wine. Like 98% wine and 2% blood." He finally gets out, almost rubbing the back of his neck but he refrains. "Oh so like drinking 2% milk. Great. What does that mean for me?" I say as I find another bottle in my cooler. "If you had finished it all, you would almost be like me." "Wait... Why are you here again?" I ask, finally registering everything. This guy comes back after eight years as a vampire and breaks into my apartment for some reason. Sasuke Uchiha is not the visiting type so there's got to be a reason. "Well.. I uh.. Itachi and the Akatsuki group are.. They want you to.." "If you don't spit it out soon I'm going to kick your sulking ass out of my house." I say, getting irritated at his stuttering. It feels like some sort of spell just wore off.. The eyes. He had me with his eyes. That bastard. "The guys want you." He finally says, glaring at the wall behind me. I turn around and try to find the source of his anger. "I see you've decided to get the girl before we had the chance to." A man with dark hair and red eyes says from the chair in the corner of the living room. It's too dark to see features but from the odd chakra I can assume.. "Itachi. Why are you here?" He seethes out before stepping around me. I glare in his direction before stepping beside him, I don't like people trying to fight for me when I can handle myself. "What reason do I have for not claiming the blossom here." The man says before my assumptions are correct and I freeze a little more. Itachi Uchiha. The famous missing killer. He murdered almost all of his clan, but he left his brother and mother. His other family consisted of over 15 people. After the bodies were found, he went missing and no one has seen him since. Even though he left the select few alive.. They were just empty shells.. They had nothing really left, the only thing keeping Sasuke alive was his mother and his decision to live his life in hate towards his brother.. As long as I tried I could never change him out of that and then one day he was just.. Gone.. He stayed out too late and was taken.. His mother seemed on the brink of death but the Hyuuga Clan took her in for some reason.. I think it was for possibly superficial reasons but it did help her, she's still living there today. Okay back to reality here.. I back up a few steps, only to back into someone. I quickly turn and am faced with a giant blue man. He looks like a shark, complete with black eyes and pointed facial features, including gill looking things by his nose. He's got to be at least seven feet in height, I have to look up to see his face which should be intimidating but I'm too focused on what the fuck is happening to even consider intimidation. My eyes go wide and I back up into someone else, this time it's a blonde with blue eyes.. Who looks exactly like Ino... What the fuck? Wait.. No No No. "What's wrong, dear brother? Expecting someone else?" Itachi says, standing up and walking towards the door way. The Ino imposter is staring at my chest and eyeing my figure, I almost growl before his blue eyes snap back to mine. Why was he even.. My face goes red as I realize that I'm topless except for a bra and only have my shortest shorts on.. Why? Because it was supposed to be hot and Naruto was possibly coming over later.. A girl has to present herself sometimes.. As I move to get out from between the two men I hit another body. I look up to see a redhead. A redhead I thought was dead. A few years ago, when I was younger, our group was attacked and this guy decided to try and kill Naruto. I had grabbed the nearest thing, which happened to be a katana, and I Thought I had sliced through his torso. Key word now is thought. My breath hitches as I fully start realizing who they all are.. The Akatsuki. The most dangerous.. Creatures within.. Well anywhere. I focus my face back on the red headed demon before me, my eyes slit as I tighten my fist. His chestnut eyes watching my every move with amusement clearly evident in his expression. I feel my blood boil and my chakra start to collect in my fists. "Surprised to see me, doll." Sasori says as he steps forward, causing me to take steps back, right into another freaking person. I turn quickly and come face to face with a silver haired man with violet eyes who has a sly grin on his face. Any other fucking people?! "You're one hot bitch." He says looking at me hungrily. "Excuse me?!" I yell before they all step closer, boxing me in. Before I can retort against this pig I focus on freaking out about all of them.. It's not the fact of being scared so much as the fact of being surrounded by bloodthirsty criminals while you're half naked. "Leave me alone!" I scream as I turn around quickly, watching all of them. Their eyes all red. I begin to freak out, my breathing quickens and I feel lightheaded. "I.." I take a deep intake of breath as my vision blurs. No.. No.. No please no don't faint... "Just relax, yeah." The blonde man says looking into my eyes and taking my arm lightly. "N-Naruto.." I say quietly, hoping he felt the surge I sent him through the floor. My connection with the elements is one of the strongest in the village so I'm able to send vibes through the ground to other people. It's odd but hey I don't question it when it's pretty handy. "Isn't that cute, she has a little boyfriend. But of course, not for long, yeah." The blonde guy says, reaching for my face. I try to tear my face away from his hand but I take another intake of breath and feel myself falling. Sasuke's POV I can't believe them. She never had a chance when they all surrounded her and enacted their eyes. She looked like she was restraining her terrified expression as she fainted into Sasori. Of course it was him. If she knew, she'd attempt to kill him again. We all saw the hatred in her eyes when she saw him.. "What is your problem?" Someone asks as I stalk towards them and her. She fainted with a pained expression. I walk to her and pick her up under her knees and shoulders. "Hey leave the fucking shirt off seriously." Hidan remarks with a grin, earning a couple agreements but I just scoff. "You are all pigs." I say before appearing in her room. I lay her gently on the bed. Her sheets are a lavender color with an odd stitched comforter sprawled out across part of the bed. Her room isn't very big, but it has a lot of... personality.. She has pictures of us hanging on her walls, along with pictures of her with Sai and the other two. His expression looks like me when I was younger. Emotionless. I never showed anything after the massacre of my family. Little did I know the full reason behind it. It's why I'm not As hostile towards my brother as I once was. I walk towards her closet where I assume she has clothes hanging up. How wrong I am. She has a weapons shrine, along with shoes and... Blankets.. She's so odd.. But intriguing nonetheless. "Hn." I walk back to the short, but stout, old dresser that her mother used to have before they went missing. None of us actually know what happened to them though. So it wasn't us.. They honestly just disappeared. Which isn't the better alternative here.. If you really think about it that means that they just up and left their 12 year old daughter to fend for herself... The dobe's family took her in though, until she was 18 and wanted to go out on her own. I find a pair of sweatpants and an oversized shirt. A very oversized shirt. With the Uzumaki crest on it. I throw it to the ground and grab a small long sleeved shirt and gently slip her arms through and then the rest of her into the shirt. She's like a doll, fragile and close to breaking. I try to be as careful as I can hoping she won't wake up to me dressing her, but with how many of them used their eyes she may be out for a while. "What are you doing? We were enjoying the view, yeah!" Deidara yells as the others stand at the threshold of the door. Unwilling or unable to enter the room, except for Sasori.. I smirk as I realize what she did. She put a seal on her room that prevents anyone that she hasn't physically touched from coming in. That would help with any intruders that weren't supposed to be here. I make a low growling noise as the red haired puppet master nears us. "Fuck off strings." I growl out as he eyes her, his fingers start to glow blue before I pick her back up and walk towards the window. There's suddenly loud banging at the front door.. and yelling. We all turn towards the noise and begin to disappear "Sakura?!! Are you okay?!" I hear the blonde haired dobe I used to train with, yelling from outside her front door. I roll my eyes as the others are gone, leaving me to walk back to our base with her. I don't mind in the least bit though, all of them are just ignorant and don't know how to treat her. She's so beautiful.. Her hair has grown way past her shoulders and sways in the wind as I walk. Her expression has turned from pained to.. Relaxed. She slowly curls into my arms, causing me to pause and stare as her small hands work their way up and around my neck so she can rest her head on my shoulder. She almost glows as the moon illuminates her pale skin, giving her the appearance of a ghost almost.. Her dark lashes dust her pink tinted cheeks that lead down to her pink lips slightly stained from the wine she had been drinking earlier. "N.. Naruto.." I hear her almost moan as I start walking again. Of course the dobe would get her.. I should never have left to find Itachi. She tried to stop me, but I was too stubborn to care about what she had to say.. That's why one night I snuck back to erase the memory of me leaving and calling her annoying for crying. I replaced it with the memory of me just disappearing like her parents. Don't know of that's better or worse.. "S..S-" She starts to groan out before her eyes begin to flutter. I freeze. Sakura's POV I had an odd dream. Like really odd. I dreamt that Sasuke showed up and then the whole Akatsuki group appeared in my house. Funny dream.. Why am I swaying? And not in my bed.. I begin to open my eyes and am faced with a dark shirt and pale skin. "What.. What's going on?!" I begin to struggle as I feel arms tighten around me. I start pushing away until I fall to the ground. It's cold and covered in leaves. I'm in the forest surrounding the town of rain. "Sakura, calm down! It just me!" A voice says from above me. It's.. Sasuke.. It wasn't a dream. "Why.. Why am I not in my house?" I say looking around, but keeping him in my peripheral vision. "I told you why.. They want you." "So you kidnap me?!" I begin sending shocks through the ground through my hands. "Naruto will find me. And so will Kakashi and don't get me started on Tsunade." I say as he begins to reach for me. I don't know why I feel threatened but something is up, my memories of everything surrounding him are foggy. "Did.. Did you do something with my head?" I ask before putting my hands to my temples and pushing my chakra into the foggy parts. Words flash through my eyes. Death. Disappearing. Blood. Killer. Akatsuki. "You're.. You kill people." I say blankly as I stare into the sky. "We can discuss everything once we get to the base, the sun is going to be up within the hour." He says before taking one of my hands. I feel instant relief course through my body, but I fight it. This is how they can get people away from others. They feel unthreatened and do anything they are asked. That makes sense with all the missing person cases, it's mainly young or middle aged women, which would be easier to lure away than a grown man. "I.. I don't want to go with you." I finally get out even after my body protests about it. "But what about.. You don't have a choice here." He says before turning cold and grabbing my arms. He throws me over his shoulder as I start to struggle until I look at the trees flying by.. It's beautiful.. They all look like one of those old oil paintings where nothing is definite and it's all blurred together. It looks so unbelievably beautiful that I don't even realize the arms holding me to a firm body. Before I know it, we stop at a large.. Building? It looks like it could be anything from a house to a workers mill. "I'm supposed to take your chakra away so you can't leave." He says stoically as I look around us absentmindedly. "I.. I don't want to disappear." I say looking back at the building and remembering the new addition to my hospital. Tsunade just had it added for me.. "The new ward!.. I'm not.." I say quietly to myself as I realize what's happening. I'm never going to see the new children's ward that I worked so hard to get passed by the committee. I'll never see Tsunade again either.. My own grandmother or mother better yet, she always looked after me when I was a child and even as I grew up. I feel my face drop and I fight back tears thinking about losing all of the people I care for.. Ino and Kiba's wedding.. I won't get to see any of my friends get married.. But I can fight. "I.." I hear him start before a loud banging comes from inside the building. "She's here!!! The beautiful lady is here!! Tobi wants to see her!!" Screaming starts erupting from the doorway of the place. "Get inside!! You'll scare her away! Yeah!" "Fucking dumbass." "Stop!" Suddenly a figure runs from beside the house. Headed directly for me. "Stop him! He's gonna kill her!" The shark man from before yells as the group runs after him. I let out a strangled scream as the guy almost clobbers me, but I'm pulled up just in time to escape him. I stand completely still as I register what just happened. "Holy fuck. Tobi! You almost killed her!" The grey haired man yells as they start to run to where I'm at. The guy that caused all of the noise and everything is a decent height with an orange mask covering his face, he's wearing a black t shirt and black pants that stop at the ankle. His black hair is spiked over the mask and he looks like a grown man just acting like a child, he gives off an odd aura.. This is Tobi? I finally glance down from the tree I'm standing in, but Sasuke is standing there glaring at a spot behind me. "Wha-.." I turn around and find myself in Itachi Uchiha's arms. His face is blank but his dark eyes are gleaming with some sort of emotion.. "I.. You.. He.. Me.." I stutter before feeling his arms push me away. I almost squeal as he just drops me from the branch, but turn brace myself for the fall. Instead of hitting the ground, blue arms wrap around me before my feet can even touch the ground. "Asshole.." Someone grumbles from behind me. I'm just in shock at this point. First I'm kidnapped, then some random kid tries to clobber me to death, and then I'm pushed from a tree. The hell is up with my day?! "Tobi wants to meet the pretty lady!!" The guy from before begins to whine as I'm held in place, midway between the ground and the tree branch. The arms around me belonging to the shark man, the very muscular man... No not even starting that. "I.. What in the hell is going on?!" I demand as I'm set down gently. Everyone stares at me as I look around at them and remember everything. My feet begin to hurt as I realize I'm shoeless and standing in the sharpest bed of roots I've ever stood on. I step down onto something soft.. Of course I stepped on someone's feet. "S-sorry." I apologize quickly and step away onto more roots causing more pain than before. Wait why the hell am I apologizing they are the ones who took my shoes in the first place! "Where are my shoes?!" I yell before I'm picked up again. "Inside." An orange haired man with piercings says as he watches the arms that pick me up like a child. I don't even bother to look at the shark man I know is holding me again. I smell the slightest hint of fish, it's not terrible which isn't a good thing. I need to hate these men. They kill people and don't even care.. But why would he.. Oh never mind. "I.. Don't understand." I say as he begins walking towards the house, followed closely by the others. The door way is hidden slightly under an overhanging porch like thing, causing a shadow to reach out a few yards, it's almost ominous looking if it wasn't for the weird looking... Mailbox? No not a mailbox it's more of a bin with scribbles on it. "So she's the girl everyone is crazy over?" A blue haired woman says as we walk into what I assume is a living room. It's dim and a little too man-cavey for me. There are a couple dark colored couches and a pool table in the far corner, there's a big flat screen against the wall to my left with movies in a bookshelf type thing under it and... Video games? Skilled assassins have a PlayStation... I allow my eyes to look through the rest of the room. There's a lamp and an arm chair in the corner past the tv and then a full sized book case with hundreds of books. After the book case is a small side table and then a door way leading into a dimly lit hallway then another hallway to the right of this doorway, it's under the stairs leading up into blackness. "I can see why." She adds to her previous statement as I'm finally set down onto the soft dark colored rug spread across the floor. "Come on! Go find your own girl! She's into guys!" Someone yells as the woman eyes my figure. I feel my face turn red as she pauses at my chest that's slightly showing too much cleavage. That's why I never wear this shirt in certain situations, it's too revealing. I wrap my arms around my chest after I pull up my shirt. The woman still stares at me through toffee colored eyes and bluish purple hair. Her figure is somewhat hidden under the large black cloak with red clouds on it, I can tell she's barefoot and wearing what seems to be leggings. This is Konan. "You're fucking hot. I'm Hidan." The silver haired man says as he looks me over hungrily. I just roll my eyes, I've dealt with this kind before; overly cocky with inflated pride. "That's great I so wanted to know." I huff out sarcastically before he goes to grab my ass causing me to spin around and deck him square in the jaw. I smirk happily, satisfied after hearing a pop. That is until I hear him groan out like he enjoyed it causing me to scowl at the man now reaching for my leg, he moves his hand up to pop his jaw somehow without a medics help and stands up looking even more intrigued. Fuck my life. I deliver a swift kick to his ribs hearing a crunch even with no shoes on. He falls back, smiling the whole way. "Stop fucking smiling!" I yell before chucking the nearest thing which happened to be a tan colored lamp at him. I successfully hit the part of him I was hoping for causing him to groan even louder but still in pain as any guy would be if they got a lamp to the crotch. "That was so fucking funny!" The blonde one, Deidara I think, says as he is almost rolling on the ground from laughing so hard. "Heh at least it shut him up for once." Kisame, the shark man, says smirking at me almost admiring my work of turning Hidan into a fucking toy. "The lamp! What the fuck we have to pay for that! Who the fuck is she?!" A man with old newspaper looking skin yells as he walks in eyeing the lamp them glaring at me. He's got green eyes and dark hair.. Kakuzu I think. "Who the fuck are you?!" I yell back brazenly as he looks like he could kill me. "Oh shit here we go about finances again.." "I am the financier of this fine establishment and you little bug just destroyed something we will have to waste money on! I should eat you!" He growls out which would've been intimidating had he not been looking at the lamp longingly. "Oh fuck off!" I yell causing him to start stalking towards me only to be cut off by Kisame stepping in front of me and glaring, almost growling at the other man. "Hey! Shut up! It's just a lamp but no more smashing stuff around here to keep the peace. Konan would you please.." Pein, their orange haired leader if I remember correctly says pinching the bridge of his pierced nose. "Don't worry, you'll get used to them soon enough, but for now I'm gonna get you a shirt that doesn't distract everyone so much. I'm Konan, by the way." Said woman says, grabbing my arm and taking off down into the dark hallway under the stairs. Okay I hate the dark. Like nothing in this wide world scares me more. I'd rather be stuck in a burning room then in a pitch black room. "Lights!" I squeak as we walk further into the dark nothingness that's threatening to swallow me whole. "Oh! Sorry! I've gotten so used to it.. Here we go!" She says as the lights along the walls click on. I relax a bit and continue walking through the wood paneled hallway. I start contemplating running out the window at the far end but I feel it would be completely useless due to the group of vampires within this place. It's not that I'm scared believe me I'd beat some ass if given the chance, but I know when I'm outmatched and the whole Akatsuki? Way above my level. I'll just try to beat who I can and go from there.. "So.. I should turn all the lights on around here huh?" Konan says as we walk up a few stairs. At least she's trying to be nice to me compared to the others.. I've had my fair share of men trying to get in my pants but those guys.. whole new level. "Uh yeah.. I can't handle the dark too well." I say quietly before we stop in front of a light oak door with cherry blossom designs carved into it. "Wha.." "They've all been Extremely excited since they decided to snatch you.. Which I guess is understandable, but they're all a bunch of creeps if you ask me.. That's why I'm cool both ways." Who'd have thought they planned taking me so far that they carved a door.. Someone has a bit too much time on their hands.. I bet it was the blonde he looks very... flamboyant. I laugh to myself a little as she reaches for the handle. I gasp loudly as she opens the door, revealing a light purple room that looks exactly like mine.. Except for my pictures.. The bed is on the far right wall next to the bathroom, there's my dresser next to the door we walked in and a closet on the wall across from my bed to the left of us. I see two outlines of windows on the far wall but they're covered by dark curtains. I look over to the bedside table to find my stupid radio and half broken lamp. "Is this.. How?!" "We're supernatural beings with teleportation abilities. We can do anything. Even move furniture from one house to another." I walk in hurriedly and look in my dresser, hoping to find a shirt I had in there before. Naruto's shirt. "Not all of my clothes are here." I comment as I glance around quickly looking for the shirt. If I find it, I can send a message to him through it. It's weird but it works. "Sasuke was the one who dealt with most of it, so I don't know." She says leaning in the doorway. Oh course that asshole would be the one to handle my things.. I know he's not physically an asshole but I sure damn could've mistaken his personality for one. "You do have a nice choice of underwear though." Konan laughs and winks at me but I'm too focused on finding anything that I can that Naruto would've held or anything.. But there's nothing. I look around a bit dumbfounded at this whole thing.. At least the room is nice.. Right?

#sasusaku #narusaku #deisaku #itasaku #kisasaku #sasosaku #kakasaku #sakura haruno #naruto uzumaki #sasuke uchiha #fanfic #Akatsuki

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oceanofinsanity · 7 years

Note

RebelCaptain: Soulmates AU

Thank you for the prompt! I looked through my AUs tag for a specific soulmates AU, and this one came out a bit longer than intended...I had the idea of writing out the entire movie, but figured taht would be long af. If you like it, however, please let me know, and I’ll do my best to do a rewrite and basically elongate this fic to last throughout the premise of Rogue One.

Happy reading!

Jyn had never been the artistic type.

All of her drawings are doodles on her tablets while SawGuerrera tried to teach her the basics of every language he’d come acrossduring his time in the Alliance. Theinformation had come in handy a few times; Jyn wished she’d paid moreattention, but who could blame a six year old kid?

She had liked drawing circles in the corners of her pages,paper suns illuminating her dark world.

Therefore, when the first drawing appeared on her leg, shestared at it for a full five minutes.

It was a flower. Andnot just any flower. It was a drawing ofa flower that she had never seen before. Its petals were long and sharp, breaking outinto a circular format. She wished therewere color, and right in front of her eyes droplets of color began appearing onher leg. Each petal became a vibrantshade of red, and for a split second Jyn thought she was bleeding.

When the colors stopped appearing, she gently traced herfingers over the pattern.

“Where are you from,” she muttered. She’d heard of such stories, soulmates comingtogether through drawings. She’d heardthese stories from the older women, the ones who remembered the fall of theRepublic, stories of the before. BeforeLord Vader, before darkness, before.

Jyn blinked, and grabbed a nearby pen. She paused for a moment, and then begandrawing.

Cassian jumped at the sensation of a slight tickle on hispalm.

He’d left the tattoo parlor fifty credits lighter, butsatisfied with the result. He had neverseen these types of flowers anywhere except on his home planet; it wasn’thomesickness, not quite, but there was something peaceful about seeing thatflower engraved forever upon his skin.

That is, until words began appearing on his palm.

For a second, Cassian thought he was cursed. His culture, he could recall, frowned upontattoos and any kinds of permanent markings that could be made on the humanbody. He whispered a quick prayer in hisnative tongue, then squinted.

The words that were appearing on his hand did not resemble acurse at all, or even any form of punishment. Instead, they looked like…scrawls.

“H…e…l..l..o,” he muttered aloud as each letter appeared ina short, cursive text. “What the…”

The phase ended at hello, as though waiting for him tocontinue. He looked around through thecrowd, wondering if someone were playing a practical joke on him. No one paid him any attention, except toshove him out of the way.

So, Cassian did the first thing he could think of. He went back to his ship.

“K-2!” He called out,almost immediately upon entering. Theink on his palm had yet to leave his skin. ‘K-2, where are you?”

“Here, oh great Captain,” K-2SO responded, coming out fromaround a corner. “This ship is turninginto a wreck-“

“Explain this!” Cassian thrust his palm into the droid’s face.

“Captain Andor, this is a palm. It is a section of the human body-“

“No, not the body part, you idiot. The writing. It just appeared.” K-2SOinspected the single word with a closer scan.

“Writing that just appeared – interesting.” He paused for a moment, his white eyesflickering as his circuits went through his databanks. “There are a few options. One is a strange disease located only onVenir 6, but my memory does not recall you being there.”

Cassian shook his head. “It wasn’t painful at all. Ticklish, if anything. It feltlike someone was writing something on my hand.”

“An invisible person?”

“Not likely…I was in the middle of a crowd, and moving myhand a lot.”

K-2SO paused for another second. “This next option seems unlikely but…thereare stories of happenings similar to this. A type of soulmate, if you will.”

Cassian snorted, and lowered his palm. “Soulmates. That disease is more likely.”

K-2SO’s eyes continued to flicker. “There are many stories of theseaccounts. They are old, yes, but theywere uploaded into my memory for some reason – perhaps one of the Imperialguards had enjoyed a relaxing story before bedtime.”

“How human of them,” Cassian quipped with a sigh beforesitting back down in his pilot’s seat. “The tattoo’s done, now let’s get back to-“

“Your tattoo.” K-2SO’s voice sounded as close to an exclamation as Cassian supposed itever would. “Now it makes sense. You were never allowed to write on your skinbefore, but now that you have, the other person can feel it, too.”

Cassian had to admit it to himself; these stories had capturedhis interested.

“Old wives’ tales, no more than that, but there were storiesof soulmates discovering each other through writing. One would write something on their body, andit would appear on their soulmates’.”

“What about when I’m fighting, and get cut?”

“Must be like a sort of fail-safe – the writing only appearsif it is delivered painlessly.”

Cassian felt suddenly grateful that this other person, ifK-2SO’s theory was even slightly correct, had not had to suffer the same scarsthat he had had to go through for the Rebellion.

“So if I write back…do you think they will get it?”

“Your vocal shift indicates that you might be starting tobelieve these tales.”

Cassian chuckled. “Itwouldn’t hurt to have some…magic in this world that we can see. Or perhaps it’s just the Force acting in adifferent light.”

He grabbed a pen before the adrenaline could leave him, andstarted to write on his palm.

Jyn twirled her pen around her fingers. I was so stupidto believe those tales, she thought to herself, staring straight past hercell door.

But the flower-

Probably a curse, with my luck, she thought toherself. She’d been lucky enough to finda pen in a prisoner’s contraband, but I should never have traded my meal-

She gasped, and opened her palm. It was tingling.

Her “hello” had begun to fade; a bit of a cheesyintroduction, but she had no idea what else she could’ve written to begin. The new scrawl was much messier than hers,with fewer loops and more jagged edges.

“Are…you…r…real?” Shefinally managed to read, with a lot of squinting. She blinked, and tried again.

Well that’s a lovely introduction, but grabbed herpen nonetheless. She wrote out her loopyscrawl, then paused, unsure how much more she should reveal. He could be an Imperial officer, for all sheknew. Or worse – someone from SawGuerrera’s company, a group of people who abandoned her and left her to fendfor herself. She frowned, mentally goingthrough everyone in the group.

If any of them end up being my soul mate, perhaps Ishould just rot in this cell, Jyn thought ruefully, and decided to keep heranswer to its one-word length.

“Yes,” Cassian read aloud, his heart beating. It had been written very clearly, slightlybelow his wrist.

“That’s it?” K-2SOasked. “Very disappointing.”

“They might have been interrupted,” Cassian responded, witha bit more anger in his tone than he’d expected.

“Interrupted? What ifthey’re part of the Empire, or some weird-“

“Always jumping to conclusions, K,” Cassian replied, turningback to the ship’s control panel, and wondering in the back of his mind if thiswas all some spice-induced hallucination. He shook his head, as if that would have made the effects wear off anyfaster, but when he opened his eyes the words were still on his wrist and palm,clear as day.

Pulled by his curiosity, Cassian grabbed his pen again.

“Cassian, the Senator is waiting for you.” K-2SO said, flipping a few switches. “StarForge Station was supposed to be a shortdetour-“

“Hold on, K,” Cassian growled, his pen moving all thefaster. He threw it down when hefinished, and pulled the accelerator.

“There, happy? We’reoff.”

Jyn felt a small tickle once again as she was being herdedto her new cell. Her roommate lookedabout as kind as the other one, although she supposed that she herself did notlook very approachable, covered in dirt and wearing a scowl that seemed to fitmore naturally onto her face than a smile.

She sat down onto her cot and gave her roommate an angrystare, one which was promptly returned for a moment, and then dropped.

Clearly her new roommate did not wish to fight for dominanceas much as her previous one. Perfect. Jyn sat on the edge of her cot, careful tokeep one eye focused on her cellmate, and lifted up her sleeve.

Do you think this has happened before?

Jyn read the words in her head, and then read themagain. It sounded like the question of achild, tugging on his mother’s sleeve and asking if the fairytales she read tohim at night contained any sort of reality. This scrawl was incredibly messy, as though the other person hadscribbled it down in a rush.

She gently shook out her pen from where she’d hidden it in apocket in her sleeve.

Do you think this has happened before?

The words rang in her brain. She had never allowed toherself to think about the before. That dark time contained memories of her father, her late mother,whatever the hell Saw had been in her eyes…no, there could only be the now.

Jyn pursed her lips, and picked up her pen again as memoriesof the stories came flooding back. Sherecalled her mother’s voice, so soothing and low, whispering beside her bed asshe drifted off to sleep. She wondered,briefly, if her parents had been soulmates. If they had met by drawing on their own skin.

She heard the footsteps of an approaching Stormtrooper, andscribbled out an answer as fast as her cramping hand would allow.

Cassian grimaced, and almost jerked the wheel of the X-wing,but managed to steady himself. If K-2SOhad eyebrows, Cassian imagined he’d be raising them at his actions.

“Is it your soulmate again?” The captain could practically feel the droid smirking.

“It’s the ghostwriter, yes,” Cassian responded. “Soulmates only exist in stories, K.”

Cassian stared out at the stars. No asteroids in sight, no planets, noImperial ships. Just darkness and pinpricksof light. He sighed, and rolled up hissleeve. The words written on his skinmade him chuckle.

“Only in stories,” he muttered aloud. “So what does that make us?”

Even the reprogrammed droid couldn’t come up with a responseto that question.

“We’re almost back at Yavin IV,” Cassian remarked, pullingdown his sleeve. “If the extraction wentwell, pretty soon we’ll be meeting with the famous Jyn Erso.”

“Do you really suppose she’ll help us find her father?”

Cassian shrugged. He’d stopped the pretense at empathy along time ago. “One can only hope.”

He looked at the stars once more. They seemed to wink at him. He sighed, and tugged at his sleeve oncemore. He took out his pen, and scribbleddown a sentence.

“Stories always have a spot of truth in them,” K-2SOremarked.

Cassian sighed. “Ithought you were a droid, not a storyteller.”

“I’m just saying, for someone who doesn’t believe instories, you seem to be going along with this one.” The droid’s white, flashing eyes stared straightahead, as bright as the stars.

“Let’s just focus on meeting this Erso, alright?”

Almost immediately, he gasped in pain, and pulled his achingpalm away from the wheel. Evidently, theirconnection had strengthened enough for pain to pass through.

Jyn stared straight ahead as she felt a tickle on her upperarm. She was quickly running out ofspace to write, and in shackles, one can only move one’s arms so much. With some difficult maneuvering, she managedto pull up her sleeve to her elbow, and read the new words.

What’s your story?

She supposed the other writer must be some kind of hopefulnovelist, whiling away his hours on some long-lost planet.

Perhaps he’ll write a story in which I break out of thishellhole, she thought. She took aquick glance around. No one was payingattention to her, but there was no way she was going to risk pulling out whatcould be considered contraband on the shuttle headed to a grueling day oflabor.

Jyn’s eyes caught sight of a stray screw, lying carelesslyin the open. As nonchalantly as shecould, she grabbed it with one hand, and started scribbling onto her freepalm. The marks she was making were deepenough to make her wince, but she had long ago learned to suppress her facialexpressions.

Perhaps blood will travel across as well as pen, shethought briefly before the shuttle suddenly stopped and her entire world wasblown apart.

Cassian stared at the young woman standing defiantly infront of him. Despite her strongdemeanor, there was something gentle hidden deep within her green eyes.

His palm still ached from the last, short message. Jail. What kind of story starts in a jail? Damn K-2, I should reprogram him to get all of those stupid tales out ofhis head…

And yet, his mind wandered. He blinked, and realized the senator had been gesturing to him. He eyed Jyn up and down, and came closer.

“What do you know of Saw Guerrera?” His interrogations had never been anything,if not straightforward.

“Nothing, except that he abandoned me when I was a teenager. Haven’t seen him since.” A very matter-of-fact tone for someonewith nothing left to lose.

It’s like looking in a mirror.

“A pilot defected from the Imperial army. We have information that he was sent to Sawby your father.”

Something flickered in Jyn’s eyes. A distant memory, perhaps, that she’d triedall these years to keep locked up.

“Would he recognize you if he saw you now?” Hope. This entire mission relying on an old man’s memory being even slightlyfunctional.

Jyn shrugged. “Whatdo I get if I come with you?”

“Your freedom.” Senator Mon Mothma responded before Cassian even had time to open hismouth. Jyn smiled.

“Sounds good to me,” she replied. She stuck out her bare hand, and Cassiancould feel his eyes widen.

The markings on Jyn’s palm were the exact same as the oneson his.

Wordlessly, he held up his own hand. Soulmates, he couldn’t help but think,as his brown eyes met her green ones. Soulmatescaught in a crossfire.

To him, it seemed as, suddenly, he was thrown into a storyof his own. Something deep within himstirred, and Cassian wondered if their story could have a happy ending.

Jyn took his hand and shook it, a look of pure disbeliefpainted upon her face.

Soulmates, she thought, and, in spite of a gutfeeling that something bad was going to happen, she smiled.

#prompts #answers #rebelcaptain #long af #cassian x jyn #Anonymous

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