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wynnyfryd · 6 months

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Trailer park Steve AU part 33

part 1 | part 32 | ao3

Chapter 8

cw: period-typical attitudes/language

"Steve," Robin hisses through the phone, and he can practically hear her nostrils flaring. "I have been trapped at Uncle Bobby and Aunt Deb's house for six. days." She drops her voice to a harsh whisper, the tone somehow even more disapproving at a lower volume. "HOW have you not kissed him yet??"

"It's not like I didn't try!" Steve throws his hands up; nearly knocks his broom to the floor. He's finally sweeping up the shards of glass in the living room, because he's tired of wearing shoes in his own house (and because at some point he's going to have to have the kids over whether he wants to or not. He's kind of surprised Erica hasn't shown up demanding to hang Christmas lights yet; that girl is aggressively festive.) "He was all 'ask me in the morning,' so I was gonna ask him in the morning! Not my fault it was Monday morning and his stupid uncle barged in yelling about how he was going to be late for school."

"You really shouldn't call him stupid," she interrupts, "that man is a saint."

"No, you’re right. Wayne's awesome."

It’s true. Wayne walked in on them that morning, like, fully spooning in their sleep — Eddie pressed all along Steve's back with an arm over his waist, their ankles intertwined — and rather than beat Steve's ass and ban him from their house like Steve expected him to, he just awkwardly grunted 'breakfast is ready' and shut the door.

"I'm always right," Robin gloats in his ear.

"You're always the worst."

"You love me." Steve hears shuffling as she adjusts the cord — probably wiggling around to lie on her stomach on the bed and kick her feet up in the air the way she likes — and then she says, "I'm still not seeing how this explains the other five whole days, though."

Jesus. Five whole days. Like she's his unimpressed boss and he’s late with the quarterly reports. "Our schedules kept not lining up! And then he went out of town with Jeff's family for the holiday."

"And you haven't called him?"

Steve glares flatly at the phone; hopes she can feel it through the line. "Literally how would I do that, Robin?"

"Well— I don't know! Maybe..." She hums in thought then snaps her fingers, talking fast. "Ooh! You could ask Wayne for the number? I mean, he'd have to know it in case he needed to reach Eddie, right?"

"Uh huh." Steve loves her solution-oriented brain, he really does, but that's one of the worst ideas he's heard in a while. (And he's including Mike and Dustin's attempted kidnapping last month.) "Yeah, let me get right on that," he snarks, switching the phone to his other ear. "I’ll just call them up and say, 'Hey, Mr. or Mrs. Jeff's Grandparents! This is Steve Harrington, may I—? Oh. Who's Steve Harrington, you ask? Nobody, sir or ma’am, just the kid who stood by and watched while his teammates gave your grandson a swirlie two years ago, so I'm sure he fucking hates me still for that! Anyway, can I please flirt with your house guest now?'"

Robin's whinnying into the receiver by the time Steve finishes his rant, and he begrudgingly laughs along with her, shaking his head as he stoops to pick up the dust pan.

"Okay," she concedes. "You may have a point."

"Thank you."

"But you still have to do something to make up for this when he gets home! Otherwise, he's going to think you're, like, having a straight boy crisis or something and get all weird."

"I'm not having a 'straight boy crisis,'" Steve rolls his eyes. He's having a bisexual boy crisis — at least, according to the three hour phone call he had with Robin the other night (which was humiliating, by the way; he never thought he'd be quietly crying tears of total confusion while saying the words 'I still likes boobies, though' out loud. Jesus Christ. Sexuality is embarrassing.) "And I already have a grand gesture in mind, anyway."

"Oh?" Robin perks up. "Do tell."

"I was thinking we could, like..." Hmm. It's sounding less grand when he goes to say it out loud. "Well, shit, I don't know. I thought we could go to one of his shows together when you get back, but now that sounds kind of lame?"

“No, that's good! That's perfect, actually. We can get a whole group together to go support him, then he'll see that you're not embarrassed to be seen around him with your friends."

"Wait, was that a concern?" Oh, god. He dumps more glass into the trash can; hisses when a little shard gets his fingertip; sucks the wound into his mouth. "Are you sure it’s not-? I mean, I want him to know I mean it in a romantic way, not just a friendly gesture."

"Well, yeah, obviously. But you can't just go by yourself; his bandmates hate you."

Oh, right. “Yeah.” That would be pretty awkward to loiter in a booth by himself all night while Jeff and Gareth and the other kid glare daggers at him. "Do you think you could get a group together? If I do it…"

"…We'll be hanging out with a group of dorky freshman all night?”

"Rude."

"Accurate."

"You know what? Tell Deb and Bobby they can keep you."

"Ah!" Robin gasps. "You would turn to stone like a troll in the sun without me, and you know it!"

Man, he misses her. "Yeah, I know it." He puts the broom back up on the hook. "When ya comin' home?"

"Soon, I hope. I swear to god if I have to hear Deb and Patty fight over the leftovers one more time—!" She cuts herself off with a strangled noise, and Steve laughs at her plight. "Anyway, yes. I'll ask some friends at school—"

"—Is one of those friends Vickie?"

“I can multi-task; shut up."

"I love you," he smiles.

"Love you, too, dingus.” Her voice dips soft and sincere for just a second; there and gone. “Hey, I have to go, Carrie wants the phone.”

“You have too many relatives.”

“Ugh, I know. Okay. Leaving for real now; can't wait to see you for Operation Woo Your Man!”

"Robin, no-!”

“Got to go byeeeee.”

“We’re not calling it that!” He holds the phone out with both hands so he can yell into the receiver. “Robin? Robin!"

The line's already dead.

—

part 34

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#trailer park steve au #steve harrington #eddie munson #steddie #steddie fic #my writing #my fic

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strawberrysturniolo · 3 months

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never grow up part nine

summary: after the same back and forth for six months, sunny finally decides its enough, until she's given the same hopeful moment again

part eight

Chris and I will never see a day where we aren’t best friends. No matter what our relationship or our friendship levels out as, I know he would take a bullet for me, and I can’t imagine a world where I don’t look for him first in a crowded room.

Of all the people I meet in my life, it all goes back to him. Every friend I make, every boy I meet, every person I try to love, they will never be him. It’s not even comparable. It will never be a fair battle. It will always be him.

The last six months have been eventful to say the least.

I turned 22. I celebrated in Boston. Chris wasn’t there. Said something about wanting to come and making an effort to fly back out. Last minute he said he couldn’t because he had to work. I said whatever, got mad for a bit, then got over it and got drunk with my friends.

I drunk called him, weeping some bullshit about how my birthday is never the same when he isn’t with me. Cried over how badly I wished he would move back home. He may have cried a little too, but I was too drunk to notice anything other than the pain in my chest from him being gone and the nausea coursing through my body as I held back every gag.

He apologized profusely, promising that he would make it up to me. The same broken promise I’ve lived with for three years now.

I shouted at him and told him to stop lying to me. He insisted that he was being honest. He promised that things would be different. They never were.

I slept with someone else. Had a short fling with someone that I thought could pull me out of the rut I was in, only to realize it was making me feel worse. Every time we fucked I imagined it was Chris. I then felt like shit because I knew it wasn’t fair to either of them, nor was it fair to me. I couldn’t move on. I was stuck on someone who couldn’t make up his mind.

Chris kept promising that we would end up together. Maybe he was right. I was getting too dizzy and exhausted going around in that whirlwind to even let myself be optimistic about our future.

I can’t keep waiting. I know he’s what I want, but I can’t put my life on hold for someone who isn’t sure of me.

So, I called it quits. Told him straight up, I can’t do it anymore. No more back and forth. We go back to being friends and only friends. I cut the ties that he had knotted between us, forcing us to stay attached no matter how hard we pulled. I always fell to my feet and he dragged me through the fucking dirt and I got up, dusted my pants, and let him do it over again. I took the sharpest scissors I could find and cut it in half, sawed at it until my hands bled, and watched him walk away and leave me behind, because finally, I wasn’t attached anymore.

I’ve managed to be okay with calling him my best friend with no underlying meaning. I’ve buried that higher level of us so low in myself that I can look at him across the country and feel nothing but friendship. I like it that way.

I’m graduating today.

Four years of college, stress, and long nights are over.

I let my mom curl my hair, let her pamper me and make me feel like a kid again before it all flies out the window. She puts gentle braids in my hair and curls the strands that fall down my back. She tells me to pucker my lips, and she swipes lipstick over them, making me feel like a little girl playing in her moms makeup again.

“How excited are you for today?” she asked me with a smile.

I smack my lips together, coating the lipstick over every inch. “More nervous than anything. It’s awkward. I just want to get it over with.”

She frowns at me. “You’ll remember this day forever, I know it,” she promises, and I let her think she’s right.

My mom and dad drove me to my school for graduation. I had one other ticket available, which I extended to Mary Lou, hoping she would make it. I grew up with her like a second mom to me, or maybe an aunt considering how close she is to my mother. Either way, she’s family. Always will be no matter how stupid her son can be at times.

When I sat in a folded chair in the middle of an auditorium and waited for us to line up, I turned around and found an empty seat next to my parents.

I for sure thought she would be here. She never missed an event for me. She was there for every sporting event, every birthday party growing up, everything. She wouldn’t leave me hanging like that.

It was empty when I crossed that stage, and it was empty when I sat back down.

I don’t know why it hurt so bad. Maybe she had something come up. Maybe she got stuck in traffic.

All I knew is that I wanted at least one Sturniolo there. And I kept getting let down.

The long day had finally come to an end, and I searched for my parents in the cattle of students and families trying to find each other after the ceremony.

“At least one of us graduated.”

My feet halted. I froze, not even able to bring myself to turn around and search for the voice that I knew all too well.

“Do you think you could copy that paper?” he asked next. I turned around, and the first thing he did was take the book from my hands. He opened it up and inspected my diploma inside. “My mom would love to have this on her fridge. Oh! By the way. She couldn’t make it, so she sent me instead.”

I swallowed, suddenly nervous, like he wasn’t real.

He grinned at me, the same cheesy, childish, and adorable grin I’ve watched remain the same while the rest of his face aged as we grew older.

“Give me a hug, Sunny,” he sighed. “I just flew the whole day away to be here. Think you can crack my back too? It’s killing me.”

My first instinct was to punch his shoulder, playfully of course. He let out a fake wince before grabbing my arm and pulling me into him.

My head nuzzled into his neck out of instinct. That spot was made for me.

“What are you doing here?” I managed to get out.

He laughed. “What a dumb question. I’m here for you, you goof. You thought I’d miss this?”

I pulled back, looking at him closely, like he was something from a dream. He straightened the cap on my head like he found all of this entertaining. “You weren’t here during the ceremony. I looked for your mom, and the seat was empty.”

“I got here on time. I promise,” he assured me. “I waited up top so you wouldn’t see me until now, but trust me, I got here and saw everything. I have pictures and videos to prove it.”

He pulled his phone out and swiped through his camera roll, which were screenshots of me walking across the stage while the rest of his family watched through FaceTime, cheering me on from home.

My eyes welled up, unsure of my emotions at the moment. All I knew was I was feeling something, and crying seemed like the only logical answer.

He held my chin and pulled me to look at him, wiping my tears once my gaze settled on him.

“I came, Sunshine,” he nodded. “I wouldn’t miss this for the world. You’re my number one girl, always.”

My lip trembled at his promise, seeing that he kept it. He shook his head at me, silently telling me to stop it, that him being here wasn’t supposed to make me upset. He wrapped an arm around me and led me to my parents instead, letting me stand awkwardly in photos with the three of them as they gushed and let out their excitement for me.

We all went to lunch after, nothing fancy, but we were together, and that was enough.

Chris came back to my apartment with me, which was now boxed up as our lease was coming to an end. I managed to find somewhere for us to sit comfortably in the clutter and eat our leftovers for dinner in my home.

We talked about the last six months – our lives, things we’ve done, what we missed out on.

“Did I surprise you?” he smiled.

I nodded. “Yeah, especially since I haven’t heard from you in a week.”

He sighed. “I’m trying, I really am.”

I shrugged, tired of this already. “Can we just drop it?”

“No, we can’t,” he insisted. He grabbed my thighs and turned me towards him, and I hate the way my body sparked when his hands were on me again. “I love you, no matter what, you know this. Stop making me feel like you don’t love me anymore.”

I don’t respond.

“Do you still love me?” he asked, now worried. His face softened enough to prove that.

“You know I do,” I mumbled. “Stop making me say it. It upsets me. It hurts, actually.”

“Well it hurts me that you don’t want to say it to me, because I would do anything to make you know I love you.”

Something in me snaps, because his answer isn’t fully true, and we both know that.

“Then maybe that’s all we know how to do,” I throw at him. “We hurt each other but promise to be with each other somehow for the rest of our lives. And you know what, Chris? I know for a fact I’ll be at your wedding, but the idea of being there in any other dress other than the white one I’ve had picked out since I was twelve keeps me up at night. And the idea of walking down the aisle and not being the one makes you cry makes me fucking vomit. So please, for me, make up your fucking mind. Stop playing these games with me.”

He kisses me after that, and I want to push him off, but my body has a natural reaction to him.

My hands find his cheeks and I pull him closer. My fingers eventually thread through his hair and pull on him until my back is pressed to the tile of the kitchen floor and his hands are on my waist, but we know it can’t go further because there’s nothing sexy about us fucking on my floor with boxes surrounding us.

He pulls back, catches his breath, and says, “No more games.”

I believe him, and I regret how quickly I do. “No more?”

“No more,” he repeats. “You and me. That’s all that matters.”

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#sturniolo triplets #chris sturniolo #christopher sturniolo #strawberrysturniolo #sturniolo fanfic #sturniolo smut #sturniolo x reader #chris sturniolo smut #chris sturniolo x you #chris sturniolo x reader #sturniolo #Spotify

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sihtricfedaraaahvicius · 11 months

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Note: request by @willowbrookesblog! also at some point I'll have a fic for every uniform, I swear.

Warnings: fluff! mention of period, cramps, blood, ptsd. also suggestive.

pairing: Modern!Sihtric x you (f)

Summary: You hadn't seen Sihtric in a while, and your period was about to start just when you got reunited.

Word count: 3,5k

Masterlist

'Why on earth are you crying?'

***************** 'It can start any time really.'

'What?'

'I mean… look,' you said. Sihtric glanced quickly at your phone, frowned, and brought his eyes back on the road again.

'I don't know what I just looked at, honey.'

'It's my period tracker. The app says my period should start in three days. But it's a little unpredictable, it can happen a few days early or a few days later.'

'Babe,' Sihtric whined, 'are you kidding me? You stopped taking birth control when I was away?'

'No, but I didn't order a new pack in time. I'm sorry, baby, it slipped my mind. I thought I still had a pack when I took the last pill, but it turned out I didn't. And the pharmacy didn't have mine in stock due to some delivery issue, so I was forced to have the seven day break, which happens to be now.'

'Babe,' Sihtric whined again.

'It's not all my fault,' you huffed.

You really thought that having a whole grown man for a boyfriend, who was about 5 years older than you, would not whine like a teenage boy when he heard you were about to have your period.

'No, I know,' Sihtric said, 'I'm not saying that…'

'But…' you frowned.

Sihtric sighed, 'Oh, come on. I haven't seen you in six months, I missed you, baby. I've missed your body and I just really want to have sex with you, okay? It's been a long time and I'm really fucking horny.'

You were both not into having sex while you had your period. And, unfortunately, your period was about to start around the same time that Sihtric, your boyfriend of several years, returned from a six month army training abroad, and you had picked him up just minutes ago. You've been crying so hard ever since you had jumped in his arms, you couldn't possibly drive back home safely, as your eyes kept tearing up every time you looked at him. You had missed him so much and wanted nothing more than to spend the rest of the day in bed with him, but you grimaced at the idea of your period starting while you had sex.

'My pictures weren't satisfying enough these past months?' you frowned.

'Baby, your pictures worked wonders, multiple times a day sometimes, but you know what I mean. Don't tell me you've been completely satisfied by just looking at my pictures or those few rare times we had phone sex.'

'Well, no… I want to have sex with you too, obviously.'

'So you admit you have used my pictures?' Sihtric grinned.

'Really?' you snorted, 'you thought I didn't get off to your risky selfies?'

'I like to believe you are an innocent girl,' Sihtric smiled and slapped your thigh.

'Ouch!' you slapped his arm, 'and, yeah, sure. Because what we did right before you left was so innocent?'

Sihtric bit on his lower lip to suppress a smile when he recalled his last time with you. You already had sex twice the night before his departure, and the following morning once more too, before you accompanied him at the military base to see him off. Once there, you found out you had about half an hour to kill before he had to get ready. So Sihtric had pulled you into his office, closed the blinds, and managed to make you cum three times within that half hour; with his hands, with his tongue and with his cock. You could hardly walk or think straight when he was done with you, and you barely remember seeing him off that day, because all you could think about was the way he had absolutely ravaged you on his desk while he was in uniform. And before he was able to communicate with you and send you some pictures, the memory of that morning had been rather sufficient.

'That's our little secret, lady,' he winked.

Sihtric absolutely loved having a girl who was a few years younger. He found women of his own age, or a few years older, were often too serious and not risky or adventurous enough for him. He truly felt he had hit the jackpot with you when he met you, years ago, and he was desperate to spend time with you again after being apart.

'Well, regardless, I'm sorry, babe, but I can't control it. All I know is that it didn't start yet.'

'But it can happen anytime?'

'Well, yeah.'

'I've been hard ever since you jumped in my arms, love,' Sihtric groaned, 'what are the odds that it starts today? Like… if I pull over now and take you in the backseat real quick, would we still be ahead of it then?'

'Sihtric, I don't know. It doesn't work like that, it's unpredictable. It's not scheduled like a train arrival or something,' you rolled your eyes.

'At least with trains you know they always arrive late,' Sihtric muttered under his breath.

'What?'

'Nothing, baby.'

You stared at him.

'Well are you going to pull over or what?'

'What?' Sihtric looked back and forth between you and the road, 'you really want me to-', before he finished his sentence, he braked abruptly as he passed an empty parking lot next to a gas station, and he pulled over immediately. You both looked at each other with a cheeky grin after he had shut off the car engine.

'Backseat,' Sihtric said sternly. You loved it when he barked around orders, but only during sexy time. Otherwise you just ignored him, because he'd be in a mood.

You both removed your seatbelt as fast as possible, got out of the car and jumped into the backseat, of which the windows were just dark enough to not see anything through it from the outside at first glance.

You had barely laid down or Sihtric already climbed on top of you, unbuttoning your jeans as you worked his camo jacket.

'Show me those abs, sir, that's an order,' you smiled and bit down on your lip as you ripped his jacket off and pulled his shirt over his head. Sihtric chuckled and pulled down your jeans, and underwear, before he leaned back in. You looked at his muscular body and moved your hands up his torso.

'Hm,' you hummed with a sly smile, 'I've missed that sexy body of yours.'

'Show me how much you've missed it, lady,' Sihtric grinned and pulled you up to him, 'I've been hard at work, training soldiers to protect the country for you, little miss,' he teased, 'so you better give your man a nice ride now.'

'Oh, I'll thank you for your service, big boy,' you chuckled and pulled his cargo pants and boxers down.

You were to give him one hell of a ride, and luck was on your side it seemed, because when you were done, you still didn't start your period. You continued the road home, which was about an hour long, and as time passed you felt slight stomach cramps, knowing you had just finished in time.

You still couldn't keep your hands, or eyes, off your dark haired man, with his braids on top and curls in the back, so you kissed his lips and his neck at every traffic light. Which made Sihtric so horny again, while still being twenty minutes away from your house, that you had to give him a blowjob while he was driving, because you didn't want to risk having sex again as you felt your period approaching, and he desperately needed to be relieved.

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

'Hurry, baby!' Sihtric said and sprinted to the front door, 'I want to see Thor. I need to know if he still recognises me.'

'Wait, I want to film this. It's the first time you've been away for so long since we got him!'

You took out your phone, and your keys, ready to film the moment of Sihtric being reunited with your 1 year old Bernese Mountain dog, named Thor.

You opened the door and Thor came storming out right away. Barking, tail wagging, full on dog zoomies as he ran circles around Sihtric, before he jumped up to his chest, taking Sihtric by surprise and causing him to stumble backwards onto the grass. Thor made use of the moment and jumped on Sihtric's chest again, to which he groaned while the dog was licking his face. You were simply crying your eyes out as you filmed the entire moment, and you're not even sure if you had pressed record to be honest. Sihtric eventually fought the dog off and you all managed to get inside the house.

You made dinner as Sihtric kept Thor entertained. At one point you looked over your shoulder and found Sihtric, shirtless, standing up straight while holding Thor's front paws as he was dancing with the dog to the radio. You cried again and you blamed it on your approaching period. You were so happy to have Sihtric home again, but you couldn't deny you were a little irritated when, later that evening, Thor had jumped into Sihtric's arms and they had been riling each other up; howling like wolves together for 5 minutes straight. You blamed that moodswing on your period as well, but also melted at the sight of your oversized puppy dog in Sihtric's arms as he sat on the couch.

'Excuse me?' you crossed your arms. Sihtric and Thor looked up at you.

'When is it my turn?' you asked impatiently, looking at the dog in his lap.

Sihtric sighed and looked at Thor. 'It's not my fault, buddy. Mom wants your spot and she needs some loving right now.'

'Yes. And daddy will take you out for a walk later,' you said as you hissed the dog away.

'Babe, don't call me daddy, please,' Sihtric grimaced before he pulled you in his lap, 'here, boy!' Sihtric whistled, and Thor jumped back on the couch, where he tried to shove you away from your man, but you would not let that dog win, because you knew he was cuter than you.

Eventually, you and Sihtric cuddled and talked for hours, catching up on everything that happened the past half year, and you went to bed around midnight, shortly before Sihtric walked the dog.

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

'It hurts so bad,' you groaned as you laid in the fetal position. Your period had started shortly after you had gone to bed and the cramps were horrible. You also learned you had run out of the medication you took to help with the pain, so the entire situation just sucked.

Sihtric had found you in bed as you were in pain, and he came up to lay behind you, his arms around your waist and his body fully pressed against yours.

'Sihtric?' you asked after a few minutes when you heard him sniffle.

'Hm?' he hummed, followed by another sniffle.

'Sihtric,' you glanced over your shoulder, 'are you crying?'

'No,' he lied.

You turned around to face him and you couldn't help but chuckle.

'Why on earth are you crying?'

'I don't like it when you're in pain. I feel so useless. Is there anything I can do right now?'

'Honey,' you clicked your tongue, 'well, I guess you can make me some tea.'

You didn't have to ask twice, Sihtric was already on his way to the kitchen. Not much later he came back with tea, and a heating pad he had found in the cupboard, which he had filled with hot water.

'Here, I found this,' Sihtric said and handed you the heating pad, which you quickly shoved behind your lower back as you sat up in bed.

'I made you chamomile tea with some lavender. I read it's good for period cramps.'

'It is,' you smiled and took the cup, 'thank you, baby.'

You kissed his cheek and started sobbing again.

'What's wrong, my love?'

You gave him a long inaudible answer, due to the ugly crying, but Sihtric figured you said something about strong emotions, your period and something about the full Moon. He wiped your tears away and put his arm around your shoulder while you sipped your tea. When you laid down, Sihtric softly planted kisses on your tummy, and you nearly dozed off already.

'Will you wake me up at seven, sweetie?' you whispered in the dark, 'I have to go to the pharmacy and get those meds.'

'I will,' Sihtric said and kissed your lips before you both fell asleep.

But Sihtric didn't wake you up in the morning. Instead he snuck out of bed, got dressed, had breakfast and came back in the bedroom to kiss your cheek. He waited a short moment to see if you woke up, but you were simply knocked out and didn't even notice he had kissed your cheek.

'I love you, baby,' he whispered in your ear regardless, and gave you another peck on your cheek. Then he quietly walked out of the bedroom and took Thor with him as he walked to the pharmacy on a quiet foggy morning.

Almost an hour later they got back home again, and Sihtric was happy to see you were still asleep when he switched on the lamp on his nightstand. He carefully lifted the blanket up to sneak in bed again but then saw you were laying dead still, in a pool of red. His heart skipped about five beats at the sight. You always had a heavy flow the first two days, but as you often skipped your period, Sihtric didn't know about it. And even if he somehow knew it was probably nothing to be alarmed about, it still triggered his PTSD, bless his job, and he started nudging you awake as fast as he could.

'Baby, wake up. Baby, please,' Sihtric's voice trembled as he tried to wake you up, but it took a moment, as you were sleeping like a rock.

'Wake up! Wake up! Please! Baby!' Sihtric raised his voice as his panic took over, and you finally startled awake.

'Huh? Wh-what?' you blinked rapidly and confused, and before you could even adjust to being awake again, Sihtric had pulled you in his arms, squeezing you so tightly against his chest, you could barely breathe.

You quickly realised what had happened as you felt the wet puddle of blood underneath you and you didn't know if you felt more embarrassed about him seeing you like this, or upset that you had triggered him with a heavy emotion. You managed to calm him down, and he told you there was nothing to be ashamed of.

'It just spooked me because I simply didn't expect it, I'm sorry,' he said.

'No, I should've told you this could happen but I really didn't think about it. I didn't realise it would… I feel so bad. I thought you were more or less okay after all the therapy you had.'

'No, don't feel bad, please. And I am more or less okay, but there will always be this… this part of the trauma that can't be fully erased. And every now and then it comes out when I see a lot of blood out of nowhere. I mean, there's a reason I quit going on missions and switched to giving training. No chances of you know… seeing loads of blood again.'

You both apologised for another 5 minutes while telling each other there was nothing to be sorry for. You quickly went to the bathroom to fix yourself up while Sihtric changed the bed. When done, he pulled you back in his arms again and you fell asleep together until noon.

When you woke up you realised Sihtric never woke you up in the morning to go to the pharmacy. You groaned and rubbed your eyes, got dressed, and decided to best get going to stop this stupid pain.

You found Sihtric downstairs in the kitchen, shirtless, while Thor was circling around his legs and begging for food. You smiled at the sight of your man in his desert camo sweatpants while his army dog tags and hammer pendant dangled against his muscular chest.

'I made you pancakes,' Sihtric smiled when he saw you. He knew you loved it when he walked around the house without a shirt, so he would always do it when you weren't feeling your best. He also knew you loved pancakes and were in need of comfort food.

'Oh, I also picked up your meds earlier,' he pointed to the table, 'and I bought you ice cream and some chocolate,' he continued as he handed you a plate, 'you can add that to your pancakes. The ice cream and chocolate I mean, not your meds.'

You chuckled and were a little speechless. You figured you should definitely take that 7 day stop more often if this was how he would treat you each time. You grinned and walked up to him.

'Thank you, love,' you said and ran your hands up his torso as you pecked his cheek.

'You're welcome, princess,' Sihtric smiled and pulled you against his warm chest, 'want to watch The Office all day?'

'Yeah,' you chuckled. That show always made you laugh. You walked over to the couch with the pancakes, ice cream and chocolate while Thor followed with begging eyes.

'No,' Sihtric said firmly to the dog when you looked at him. But when you hopped back to the kitchen, to get your painkillers and a drink, Sihtric quickly threw Thor a piece of his pancake. And they looked at each other with a mutual agreement they would not rat each other out. You frowned when you saw the two of them giving you overly innocent looks and rolled your eyes. You weren't a fool. You knew Sihtric was Thor's favourite and Thor was Sihtric's favourite. You had accepted you were second place in both their hearts shortly after you had adopted Thor. They were lucky they were both so damn cute.

'Come here, babe,' Sihtric pulled you in his arms as you hit play on Netflix. Thor gave Sihtric puppy dog eyes for not being in his lap, and Sihtric winked, to which the dog started to wag his tail and stuck his tongue out as he panted, knowing he'd get some cuddles too later.

You watched tv all day and simply cuddled on the couch, doing nothing more than enjoying each other and the fact you were reunited again. You dozed off just before dinner time when Sihtric took the dog for a quick walk, and he ordered a few pizzas for you both to enjoy later. He carried you up to the bedroom, ran downstairs quickly to take the pizzas and called Thor over to come upstairs too.

Once in bed, you ate pizza, cuddled, and made out, which was rather risky but you both more or less kept your self control. After that, Sihtric massaged your shoulders softly, until you fell asleep in his arms while watching your favourite movie, with Sihtric on your left side and Thor on your right. And despite the cramps, bloodshed and the lack of sex, this was the best reunion you had with Sihtric in all those years. But you were both glad when the week had passed and you could start making up for all that lost time.

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

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shyvioletcat · 9 months

Text

ROWAELIN MONTH: DAY EIGHT

~ Single Parent ~ Ah yes, this is always one of my favourite days. This is part two to my Fish are Friends fic, so please enjoy. @rowaelinscourt

~~~~~

“This guy is loaded.”

Aelin snorted at her friend's awed exclamation as she eased off on the accelerator coming up the long, paved driveway. The house wasn’t obnoxiously large, but it was well beyond decent with a pretty facade and well kept gardens. And if the price he had offered initially for her services today was anything to go by, yes Rowan did have money to burn.

She had waited until she got home to text him back and to say yes to the offer of Ivy’s birthday party, claiming that now she had turned back into a mermaid she could talk mermaid business. With how the girl was so enamoured by the whole mermaid performance Aelin couldn’t even think of saying no. Rowan had immediately come back with a price just under what her gig at the aquarium paid in a fortnight and she stared at it wide eyed for a full minute. She knocked it back, then there was a mildly heated discussion over what the price should be. Rowan was overly generous, and Aelin helped equate the cost by saying she needed to bring a friend along to help her with her costume and they would split it. That had been fine, of course, and why Lysandra was sitting in the passenger seat.

The car stopped and Lysandra was still peering out the windows trying to get a better look. “His wife, slash girlfriend, slash whatever must be living the life.”

“He’s divorced,” Aelin said, pushing the gear stick into park.

“That’s an awfully weird thing to find out in a conversation that went for two minutes,” Lysandra added.

Aelin shrugged, seatbelt clicking as it undid. “Well his daughter did demand he kiss me.”

Lysandra paused from where she was checking over her make-up in the sun visor mirror, head turning sharply. “She what?”

“I had to keep the magic alive and I may have told her that I needed a kiss from my true love to stay a mermaid. There was something about a sea witch curse in there too.”

The mirror closed with a snap. “That’s real dedication.”

“Yes it is and that’s why I need you to go knock on the door and suss out where I need to go so Ivy doesn’t know I’m here until I’m dressed. I’m only human between three and six to her knowledge,” Aelin explained, gesturing to the dark wood door.

“I feel like there was an easier way to do this,” Lysandra said.

Aelin shooed her with a gesture of her hand. “I was under pressure, now go.”

Lysandra didn’t answer, just did what she was asked, hopping out of the car and making a show of knocking on the front door. Aelin sunk in her chair a little, ready to hide completely if anyone little appeared at the door. She managed to see an older woman with greying auburn hair look her way as Lysandra pointed to the car. There was some more conversing and then some nodding, and then Lysandra was coming back over to the car.

She opened the car door and lent in. “So, that lady was Iris and she’s the grandmother. She said all the littlies are inside making bracelets or something so you are all clear to sneak in using the side gate and use the pool house to get ready.”

“Fantastic,” Aelin replied and didn’t waste any time. Children were unpredictable, who knows when they might choose to stampede outside. “Let’s go.”

The two of them unloaded the gear, managing to get it all gathered together in one load. Tail and accessories in hand, the side gate was easy enough to spot. Aelin led the way, listening out for an excitable little girl who’s birthday she did not want to ruin. Sounds of laughter and music came from inside the house, but Aelin ignored it all and headed straight to the pool house. Luckily, the blinds were down on the floor to ceiling windows saving them the trouble. It was a tidy space, besides the child’s toys stacked in a corner. There were a few lounges, a small kitchenette and a door Aelin assumed led to a bathroom.

The gear was dumped on one of the lounges and Aelin started to strip off. “Alright. Let’s do this.”

~~~~~

Rowan tried to keep his hand steady even as the little girl in front of him was determined not to stay still. Ivy had begged him to do face painting at her party, and of course he was going to say yes. He had spent the last month practising on paper, his daughter and even his friends when they let him. Rowan had been good to start with, and now he was considering making it a weekend job. Not really, being a deputy principal during the week and being a full time dad was more than enough work for him. But at least it was therapeutic.

“Hold still for just one more second,” Rowan told the brown haired girl sitting in front of him. She huffed, but listened, the lure of a unicorn horn and ears overriding the need to see what was going on. Adding a few last details on the horn to really give it some sparkle and then he was done. “There.”

Rowan didn’t need to say more than that and the girl was off. He wiped his hands on an old tea towel and was about to refill some of the snack bowls when his mother approached him looking like she was holding in a secret.

She sidled up close, beckoning him a little closer so Rowan had to lean in as she whispered. “Your mermaid is here.”

“Oh,” Rowan said, taking a look around. “Where?”

“I sent her and her friend to the pool house,” Iris said. “After Ivy’s rave reviews I’m excited to see her myself.”

Because Aelin was all Ivy could talk about and she already fawned over her to anyone who would listen in her select circle of people she chose to talk to. Rowan had kept the mermaid appearance under wraps and he was glad to see his surprise hadn’t been ruined. His daughter was going to lose her mind.

“Pool time!” Rowan announced to the room, excited squeals drowning out his chance to say anything else.

Ivy was by his side in a second, pulling at her dress so she could get to the swimsuit she had insisted on wearing underneath. Rowan helped her before he could do some damage, revealing the mermaid scale patterned one piece with a frilly little tutu skirt around her waist.

“Come on, Dad!” Ivy said, pulling on his hand and trying to drag him towards the pool.

Rowan smiled at her eagerness. “Hold up, we gotta wait for everyone else to be ready.”

That didn’t take long at all and it was only about 10 minutes later that everyone was crowded around the new location for gathering. To help ease the minds of the parents he’d paid a couple of his friends to be honorary lifeguards. In the end he had chosen Connall and Vaughan, and it had taken some heavy consideration. Lorcan was out because his lack of care and observation might just end in disaster. Fenrys’ sole purpose would be showing off shirtless in front of the mums and anyone else who found themselves interested, and Rowan needed the children in the water to be the priority. And even though Vaughan had similar motives, he would at least include the supervision of the children in his displays. Connall was the easy decision because, besides Rowan himself, he was the most level headed and had more than an ounce of common sense.

“Excuse me.”

Rowan turned at the unfamiliar voice behind him. A stunning brunette who he did not recognise stood there. She didn’t have the look of one of the parents and she wasn’t a caterer—she was dressed too casually for that. It had him wondering who she was.

“Hi, I’m sorry but…”

“Oh, Lysandra,” she said, a hand on her chest. “Friend of Aelin.”

“Pleased to meet you,” Rowan extended his hand for a handshake which was returned.

“Likewise,” Lysandra said. “Aelin is ready but we’ve hit a bit of a snag.”

“How so?” Trying not to sound too panicked at the potential flow in his party plans.

“Um, she can’t exactly walk out of there.”

Rowan felt the confusion on his face as he tried to figure it out.

Lysandra smiled. “She doesn’t have legs.”

“Oh, right,” Rowan said, laughing a little. “What do you need me to do?”

“It’s a good thing you at least look strong,” Lysandra said, beckoning Rowan to follow.

“Mam, can you watch Ivy and the pool,” Rowan threw over his shoulder—her affirmative answer sounding as he headed towards the pool house.

The blinds were closed and Rowan did one last check of the pool before he ducked into the building right behind Lysandra. Aelin sat on one of the lounges in her full get-up, tail and seashells and the make-up that had her face sparkling. Once again, he was struck by how beautiful this woman was, it was an impossible thing not to notice.

“Nice to see you again,” she said with a little wave.

“You too,” Rowan said, then hastily added. “And thank you. For doing this.”

“Anything for the kids, right?” Aelin said.

“Speaking of, should we get to it?” Rowan asked.

Aelin gave a flourish of her hands down the length of her body. “By all means.”

Rowan tried not to be awkward as he bent down and scooped Aelin up bridal style, she even draped her arms around his neck. The tail made her stiffer than other women he’d carried like this, but he managed.

“If you could get the door?” Rowan asked Lysandra.

“Of course.”

Rowan was concentrating so hard as he stepped through the doorway, trying his best not to knock Aelin’s head or tail. She must have been concerned as well because her grip tightened and she hugged herself closer to him. He managed it all without incident and brought them safely into the sun.

“Look who I found in the bathtub!” Rowan announced, drawing the attention of the party. Ivy’s exclamation of Aelin rang out over all of it. He lowered his voice so only Aelin could hear. “Where do you want me to set you down?”

“Shallow end, by the steps,” Aelin replied quietly before turning her attention to the party. “I heard it was someone’s birthday.”

Rowan set Aelin down and Ivy was there a heartbeat later.

“It’s me, Aelin. It’s my birthday,” Ivy said nearly climbing onto the mermaid.

Aelin graciously took it all in her stride, wrapping her arm around the girl. “I couldn’t miss that.”

Within moments Aelin had control of the party, all the kids flocking to her and her magnetic energy. Rowan left her to it, heading outside the pool fence to grab himself a drink. He grabbed a beer from the cooler in the kitchen before returning to the back patio to watch the show. There was no doubt in his mind that Aelin would be putting on a performance if her work at the aquarium was anything to go by.

“Dude, you got a mermaid?” That overly question came from Fenrys, who had appeared next to Rowan, face still decorated with a large rainbow and a collection of stars. Ivy had insisted her uncle get his face painted and like everyone else in her life, he hadn’t refused. “She looks legit. Where’d you find her?”

“The aquarium,” Rowan answered before taking a sip from the beer bottle in his hand.

“I don’t know if you’re kidding or not,” Fenrys said.

That made Rowan laugh. “I’m being serious. She works at the aquarium, and Ivy fell in love with her the other day. I asked her if she did private functions and she said yes.”

“Private functions? That sounds shifty as hell,” Fenrys added.

Rowan thought for a moment, recalling how Aelin had stalled and the awkwardness had skyrocketed. It was nearly enough to make him flush with embarrassment again.

“Yeah, I realised my error in wording pretty quickly,” Rowan admitted.

“How much did she cost?”

That voice was female and accusatory, it made Fenrys grimace sympathetically before he left Rowan to deal with answering. He turned around, finding his ex-wife just behind him, glaring in the direction of the pool before her eyes darted back to him. Waiting.

Strained was an apt description to describe the relationship between him and Lyria. They had been high school sweethearts that decided to get married before they knew anything of the world. They’d stuck it out years longer than they should have, divorce had been up for discussion when they’d found out Lyria was pregnant. It hadn’t helped the already precarious relationship and by the time Ivy was two Rowan found himself a first year teacher and a single father with majority custody. He had been ready to fight for Ivy but it was an obvious choice considering the stability and flexibility of his job. Rowan was guaranteed a job with manageable hours, he’d have school breaks off, and with the money he made plus what he had from his family to back him, allocating him as primary carer was an easy choice. It just left him open to continual criticism over the choices he made about raising his daughter, especially when it came to money.

“It doesn’t matter,” Rowan said. “She’s made Ivy’s day, what’s more important than that?”

Lyria hummed her objection, her gaze darting over to their daughter again at a bright burst of laughter. “You need to stop throwing money at things just to make her happy. She’ll grow up with a skewed view of the world, not knowing what the real world is like.”

Rowan resisted rolling his eyes. They’d had this discussion before, and they’d have it again. She always accused him of spoiling their daughter in the worst way. And maybe he did, to an extent, but Rowan was also sensible to a fault as his friend’s like to point out.

“We figured it out, and so will she,” Rowan said. “Hopefully sooner than we did, hmm?”

He left Lyria to muse over that, not wanting to have this fight and potentially ruin the party. Rowan decided his time was better spent refilling the snack bowls and checking the cake hadn’t been damaged in the fridge. Once those menial tasks were done and his beer finished, Rowan wandered to the poolside again.

Aelin was in the water now, showing the kids how she swam from one end to the other with her tail. It wasn’t just the kids watching either, like at the aquarium she had the whole crowd entranced. Rowan took up a spot on the transparent fence waiting to see what Aelin might be up to next. She’d stopped swimming and sat on one of the pool steps, from her hips down in the water. Bubble bottles had been conjured from somewhere and all the kids sat in a row having a competition to see who could blow the biggest one. Aelin pursed her lips, bubble wand poised in her hands. He was again struck by how beautiful she was, and just as he had been that day at the aquarium Rowan found it hard to look away.

The makeup she wore still remained intact depite he time in the water, the gold shimmer around her eyes highlighting their unusual colour. What had him damn near entranced was her smile, it seemed to brighten her entire being. Rowan felt like he was getting dangerously close to leering—respectfully—when he was interrupted.

“Not, bad Ro. Not bad at all,” Fenrys said, his only reply was an eye roll. “You don’t have to dent it, mermaids are hot.”

“I didn’t know you had that much experience,” Rowan quipped back.

“I’ve been chatting to her friend. Did you know she’s a mermaid too?” Fenrys asked.

“I did not,” Rowan replied flatly.

“Well, she is. And just like your friend here, she’s smoking. You did me a solid favour,” Fenrys went on to say.

Rowan sent his friend a questioning look. “What does that mean?”

Fenrys backed away, shrugging his shoulders and giving Rowan a conspiratorial wink to an unknown conspiracy.

Ivy saved him from being made to suffer through more idiocy, her damp hand patting his forearm where it rested on the top of the fence. “Daddy, I need to ask you something.”

Rowan stepped back so that he could lean down a little closer. “What is it, love?”

“Um, can I… wait. No, can you—“

Ivy’s rambling had him confused but half a second later it was all made clear. A wave of water hit him, drenching his head and arms, the rest of him saved by the protection of the fence. Ivy was caught in it too, but she just cheered and laughed, trying to clap but the floaties on her arms stopped her hands from meeting fully. Rowan wiped the water from his face and saw Aelin swimming away, smiling and sending him a wink. Rowan let out a chuckle at the antics, grinning broadly at the uncontrollable giggles bubbling out of Ivy.

“We got him!” Ivy squealed and then launched herself back in the pool.

He saw on Aelin’s face the mirror of his own lurching gut as Ivy hit the water. She knew how to swim of course, he wasn’t stupid enough to throw her a pool party if she didn’t, but most confidently with assistance. The concern for her safety was hard to shake, and luckily Aelin was right there, arms out to keep the girl’s head well and truly above water.

Rowan had no idea how Aelin was able to do everything she did without sinking to the bottom of the pool. If he had his legs bound together he would not be doing so well. His shirt was clinging to him uncomfortably and decided to change. So he left his daughter to the mermaid, knowing that she was in safe hands. Or maybe that was fins.

~~~~~

Aelin hadn’t expected to have this much fun at a kids birthday party. It might have been because Ivy was just so stinking cute and enthralled by the whole mermaid thing that it was hard not to be infected by it as well. Or it might have been because the pay was just that good it was an immediate mood booster. Aelin had expected it to be the latter, when in fact it was the former.

She had been in the pool for a good two hours, playing around and telling stories. When the kids started to shiver the parents had dutifully begun to dry them off. With the afternoon sun fading behind the clouds it was hard to keep warm, and that included Aelin. Her tail offered no insulation and just made the situation worse. Even though the kids begged for more entertainment while drying off or returning to the poolside, Aelin could feel the goosebumps on her skin even when she tried to ignore them. Soon she would start shivering and she was sure her lips would start turning blue. There was a lull in the activity around her and Aelin looked around for Lysandra or at least Rowan, hoping to flag either one of them down to get some help getting out of the pool.

Neither was within Aelin’s sight, and a shudder went from head to hip, everything lower down completely immobile. She needed to get out of her tail, and fast. Looking around again Aelin spied Ivy talking to a woman sitting on one of the pool chairs. Her brown hair was wavy and her gentle face seemed to hang on every work Ivy said. If Aelin were to hazard a guess, she would say that woman was the girl’s mother.

“Ivy,” Aelin called, her voice catching because she was just that cold. “Hey, Ivy.”

That time Ivy heard her, quickly walking over because she had announced more than once that her father said there was no running around the pool. “Hi, Aelin.”

“Sweetie, I wonder if you could find your dad for me,” Aelin said.

“Yeah, I can.” The little girl was excited and easy to please.

But on the way past the woman stopped Ivy, catching her by the hand. “We should get you dried off for cake.”

Aelin nearly groaned, because that was enough to divert Ivy attention completely. Watching Ivy being led away Aelin started cursing her friend who had somehow entirely disappeared without a trace. She kept looking over the various adults milling around and moving into the semi alfresco dining area readying for cake. Never spotting Lysandra, Aelin eyed the cement around the pool and contemplated the damage to her skin and tail if she had to crawl her way back to the pool house. The children might just die from shock if she stripped off her tail here.

The chorus of ‘happy birthday’ sang out from the house and Aelin peered through the crowd to see Ivy beaming at her expertly mermaid themed decorated cake. This was now ridiculous. Lysandra knew the kid even less than Aelin did, if she was in there singing along and hoping for a slice of cake while she was freezing her tits off out here.

“Where is she?” Aelin muttered as she wrapped her arm around herself.

This silicone tail might be the death of her. All she could do was be resigned to her fate. Aelin zoned out, keeping her body distracted and warm as she could by flicking her tail through the water. The sound of the pool gate creaking had her looking over and found Rowan approaching, a plate in hand.

“I brought you some cake,” he said.

“Thanks,” Aelin replied, voice unsteady.

That was enough to stop Rowan in his tracks, and Aelin watched his eyes dart over her. “You’re blue.”

“It’s turquoise, actually,” Aelin said, pushing a lock of damp hair out of the way.

Rowan put the cake on one of the pool chairs. “That’s not what I meant and you know it. What didn’t you tell me?”

“I tried to send Ivy to you but she got distracted,” she nodded over at the cake. “By cake.”

Rowan just shook his head, motioning for her to get ready to be picked up. Aelin bent her knees the best she could now that her legs were stiff and cold, and let herself be scooped up. He carried her back to the pool house, Aelin holding on tight while there was some awkward manoeuvring around the door handle.

“Where’s best?” Her saviour asked.

Aelin couldn’t stop the whole body shiver. “Uhh, here. I just need to get this tail off.”

Rowan obliged, easing her down onto the couch. It was difficult and awkward but Aelin rolled to the side and started battling with her zipper. Her cold and numb fingers were completely useless, all they did was slip and fumble. When she swore viciously she heard Rowan halt in his exit.

“Are you okay?” He asked.

Aelin gave up and flopped onto her stomach, she had never felt more like a fish in her whole career as a mermaid. “I can’t get out of my godsdamned tail.”

“Oh. Should I go see if I can find your friend?”

“No.” Aelin blurted out, quite loudly and on the wrong side of desperation. She was ready to start begging. “I need it off, now. Can you help me?”

~~~~~

Rowan just stood there, blinking down at the mermaid sprawled out on his couch. He could see goosebumps raised on her exposed skin, she was obviously freezing. The smartest option was to go and find her friend because he had never once in his life removed anything close to this tail. He didn’t know how, didn’t know where to begin.

“I feel like this isn’t a job for me,” Rowan said.

“I feel like a literal popsicle, and I’m not beyond begging right now,” Aelin said, and he swore that her teeth were chattering.

“If you insist,” Rowan said, leaning down and finding the top of the zipper.

It might have been the most impressive zipper he had ever seen, sturdy and strong, it had to be to hold the silicone together. Awkwardly unfortunate for him, it sat tight over her ass and it was hard not to touch it in the process. At least the materials were thick and Rowan told himself that was the firmness he was feeling. He tugged the tail down, but everything came to a rushing stop when he caught sight of what Aelin wore underneath. Peeking through the gap between the zipper sides near the top of her hips was a dark blue thong.

“Is it stuck?” Aelin asked with a glance over her shoulder.

Rowan felt his face flush, only deepening his embarrassment. “Ah, no.”

She laughed, maybe at him, maybe it was the situation. “I’m not shy.”

And by the gods did he believe that. Rowan ignored the flaming in his cheeks and the hint of a broad grin on Aelin’s face as she turned back around. “I’ll, uh… close my eyes then.”

Like he said he would, Rowan kept his eyes closed and let the zipper run its natural course. And then he didn’t know where else he was supposed to try and extract it.

“You have to pull at the hips and then work your way down, then do it all again until it comes all the way off,” she explained.

“Right,” Rowan said. That would be mighty hard to do with his eyes closed.

But Rowan gave it his best effort, fumbling between closed eyes and squinting. When there was a tug that gave way more than he was expecting on instinct his eyes opened, a hand flying out to stop himself from falling right on top of Aelin. His hand was lucky, his eyes not so much. He copped an eyeful.

Just as quickly he shut them, but the damage was done. He wouldn’t be forgetting that sight any time soon. Rowan went back to his task and in the end when she was free enough Aelin ended up kicking the tail off herself. Respectfully he kept his eyes down, rubbing at the back of his neck.

“There’s a shower you can use, it’ll get you warmed up,” he offered. “There’s clean towels and everything in there.”

“Thank you,” Aelin said.

Rowan left her to it, and even though she’d undoubtedly take a shower he was still concerned. Back inside the party had died down, mainly just family remaining, so he went to the kitchen and turned the kettle on. While that boiled he went upstairs and retrieved a hoodie. The day had started out fairly warm but without the sun the atmosphere had begun to chill. If she didn’t bring anything with her she’d just catch te cold again.

By the time he got back down to the kitchen the kettle was done and he filled a mug with water, along with grabbing a few selections of teas. No one noticed him leave and head back to the pool house. Most thankfully Ivy remained oblivious. She was better off not knowing Aelin was out there un-mermaidified and the magic be ruined at the end of such a perfect day.

Rowan knocked and heard a faint Come in. Aelin was sitting on the couch, dressed in leggings and a loose shirt. She was drying her hair with a towel, looking much better than she had a few minutes before.

“I brought you some tea,” Rowan said, gesturing to the mug. “And a jumper if you needed it.”

“Thank you.” Aelin took both and slipped the hoodie right over her head. The hood caught on her head and the rest of the fabric drowned her. But she at least looked warm and content.

Rowan offered the teabags and Aelin took a few moments to decide. She picked and dropped the bag into the awaiting water.

“You did a great job today,” Rowan offered. “Although you didn’t have to go as one as you did.”

Aelin picked up the string and bobbed the tea bag up and down. “How could I not? Ivy was having such a good time.”

“Still, it wasn’t something to risk your health over.”

“Not the worst situation I’ve been in,’ Aelin said, taking a sip of her tea and sighed.

The door opened suddenly and for one sickening moment Rwan thought Ivy might have tracked him down. But instead it was Lysandra, turning up from who knew where to finally help out her friend.

“Where have you been?” Aelin demanded, putting down her tea.

Lysandra gave a noncommittal twist of her shoulders. “Here and there.”

“I nearly died,” Aelin said drastically.

Lysandra actually shot Rowan before looking back at Aelin. “I am sure that’s not what happened.”

“You know what?” Rowan said, cutting through the building tension. “Why don’t I keep an eye out and you guys can head off?”

“Great idea,” Aelin said, putting her mug on the low table and pointing a damning finger at her friend. “If you think you’re getting a cut of the money you’re severely mistaken. You did nothing for me today.”

Lysandra actually laughed at her friend’s theatrics and Rowan decided this would be the best time to leave. He went and stood by the corner of the pool fence where he had a good view of anyone who might be coming outside. It wasn’t long before Aelin and Lysandra left the pool house, a hissed conversation passing between them as they headed for the side gate. Just before disappearing around the side of the house aelin stopped, giving him a broad smile and a wave. Waving back, he had to admit that he was sorry they hadn;t had more time to chat.

As Rowan watched her disappear from sight he was disappointed that he didn’t have another excuse to see Aelin again. Maybe he would have to take another trip to the aquarium just to see what might happen next if he by pure chance she was there too.

~~~~~

I’m currently in a quirky hotel room and posting from my iPad so I’m not even going to attempt the disaster that is tagging at the moment.

#To the very excited anon #Work was way busier than I expected today #But here it is!

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soranihimawari · 7 months

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Cats & Sweet Starts

Kuroo Tetsurō has been nominated for many things: most likely to succeed, most likely to be chemistry quiz bowl champion, most likely to date a supermodel… but when he stands in front of you at your first JVA-interns reunion, he’s sopping wet from the beer a horrid ex-boyfriend of yours throws at your face. Or at least tried to.

“You always protected ‘em huh Kuroo? Just like helped cover her mistakes when the boss was around,” the jerk scoffs.

“I just did it because you kept putting ‘em down at the board meetings, asshole,” Kuroo says before wiping his face. He turns to you asking if you’re ok, you nods. However, before your old fling at the office leaves, you put your glass down and march right up and sock the idiot who ruined your friend’s suit with your fist.

Kuroo laughs a bit stunned you could hit that hard. Jerk of an ex-fling looks at you and rubs his cheek.

“Pop quiz dickweed,” you square your shoulders in your bar attire. “Before volleyball what was the the one sport I was the captain for?”

The rag doll of a guy who probably has an STD now for being a player looks at you says you probably broke his cheek and you shake your head.

“Does it look like I care? You ruined our reunion. Get out of here,” turns to look at Kuroo with an apologetic smile. “Your suit’s ruined. I really liked that one too….”

An hour or so later, the pub is lively again and you walk together with your current department neighbor at the JVA. He talks about how badass you were after he took the whiskey sour hit on your behalf.

“… but you kicked Kuwabara’s ass. Have you always been that strong?”

You’re at the lobby of Kuroo’s apartment complex about to leave after saying your goodnights.

“Hmm… you didn’t know me in high school, but i guess I still am, haha. Don’t forget I’m paying for your dry cleaning. Just send me in the invoice, ok Kuroo-kun?”

He nods and waves as you head to your home via hailing a cab.

You’re about to be dropped off in your drive way when you piece some things together and tell the driver you’d pay him double to take you back to the apartment complex he picked you up in.

The ride back to Kuroo’s complex was an entertaining one. You tell the driver all about how Kuroo introduced himself in the first day; you were cubicle buddies for the next six to eight months during your internship five years ago; now you’ve officially signed on with him your department and his work on promotional athletes from the national team…

“I’m in merchandise development and he’s in sports contracts,” you say proudly at the light right before the complex.

“And falling in like, happened when?” The driver asks bemused.

“Three years ago when we had to fake a relationship so his family would stop worrying about him too much,” you smile.

“And falling in love…?”

“Two hours ago when my ex splashed a cocktail all over his face…thanks mister.”

You hand the driver some cash and run straight to the elevators.

Meanwhile, Kuroo is on the phone with his team trying to sort out his emotions that are tied to you until one of them turns into all of them saying what he’s known since you bought him that little cactus for his big boy promotion desk. It stares at him everyday and he watered it for a year then on the eve of your friendship anniversary (his idea you went along with), you tell him it’s a fake plant. You and him laughed together over tea time. Kuroo’s friends agree saying he’s just got to for it and see what works.

“I gotta go fellas, thanks,” Kuroo hangs up and though he is in his tank top under shirt and old college sweatpants, his finger hovers over your name on his phone. Sighing he’s about to call you when he hears a knock and goes to open the door after seeing who it was.

“YN?”

You smile brightly apologizing for the late house call after you saw each other not that long ago:

“Excuse me,” you say sternly, standing on your toes to kiss him.

Kuroo’s golden eyes seem matte and warm when you pull away. Your cheek is stroked gently by his curled forefinger and his other hand holds you steady when you return to the ground shoes and all.

“Wh-when?” He lingers near you before you push him inside to close the door behind you. His smile is Cheshire like and cheeks are a soft plum pink under the fluorescent lighting of his living room. He holds your hand and realizes you haven’t answered just yet, but he sees your blush spread.

“Pub,” you laugh and he cups your face to kiss you again. “You?”

“When you reminded me you did judo,” Kuroo laughs too, letting you kiss him for as long as you’re able to. He returns them with as much vitality as he deems worthy.

#🌻— flying around collecting pollen—queue #sora after hours #haikyuu x reader #kuroo x reader #haikyuu fluff

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kinzis-writing · 1 year

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Only Exception | Robert “Bob” Floyd pt. 3

Summary: it’s finally time for the dreaded “suicide mission” and Y/N now has to worry about her father, boyfriend, and best friend. How can she distract herself while the people most important to her are gone?

Warning(s): mentions of anxiety, death, reader worrying themselves sick, worst thoughts possible.

Series Masterlist: Part One, Part Two, Part Three, & Part Four

*Not Edited!*.

p.s: I didn't keep my taglist because I know it has almost been a year since I have written. I know people can change their minds in that long, so my taglist is open, just let me know if you want on it! Be sure to mention if you want on my permanent taglist, top gun, certain characters and so on!

*Gif Not Mine*

It was time, it was the day that Y/N dreaded more than anything. The day that the three most important people in her life would leave. The day that she wouldn’t hear from them or know if they made it home until the mission was over. Bob had stayed the night with the girl as they shared some intimate moments between one another. Y/N had stopped before sex, claiming that it was something for when he got home. Hoping and praying that it would encourage him to come back safely. Their night was spent with kisses stolen and just genuine feelings between the two. Bob had gotten a small amount of sleep, while Y/N didn't sleep at all. She had a lot to lose today, and she knew that.

“You ready to head towards base?” Bob asked the girl softly. He knew that she dreaded this day more than anything. Bob wished that her could promise his return, however, he knew that it wasn’t possible to promise to come back. They started calling it a suicide mission for a reason. Even though Y/N didn’t know exactly what the mission was, her gut didn’t feel right after seeing how her father, rooster, and bob had acted around her.

Y/N nodded in reply to Bob’s question, “Ready as I’ll ever be.” She mumbled as she stood up and grabbed her keys before the couple made their way out to her car. Bob was leaving his truck parked at her house instead of leaving it parked on base. He knew as soon as the girl found out that he was home that she wouldn’t waste anytime coming to pick him up.

Bob watched as the girl kept her gaze straight ahead, the tears coming to surface in her eyes was something that the navy boy didn’t miss. He hated being part of the reason why she was upset and anxious, but he knew it came with the job. That was part of the reason was previously single, it didn’t help that he was shy at first, but he also knew what the job required. “I’m sorry to be part of the reason you’re upset.” He whispered as he leaned over a placed a hand on the girl’s thigh.

The Mitchell girl left out a sigh as she inhaled and exhaled before glancing over at her boyfriend for a moment and then back to the road. “Don’t apologize. I knew what I was getting into when I started dating you, Bobby.” She replied. “Being on base is going to be hard since I have to stay in the dark.” She mumbled as she came to the outskirts of the Navy base.

“You took the navy job?” The boy next to her asked as she nodded. She hadn’t told anyone, but it was the only job offer that she currently had and a job would keep her mind settled. “It’s only a six-month contract, but it will work while I look for another job.” She mumbled as she stopped at the gate and got into the base. “I have to get my name tag and everything made this morning so I’ll be here until take off.”

The car was pulled into a parking space only a few minutes upon entering the base. They knew what It meant, and they weren’t ready for it. Y/N knew that her dad would pick Rooster, phoenix, and bob for sure. Not sure who else he would pick. Mainly because she knew that he believed in how they work and how they are good at their job. “So, this is it, huh?” Y/N sighed as the pair got out and leaned against the girls car. Phoenix was over by Roosters Ford and she knew that her father was inside getting ready to fly the mission as well. Even though he wasn’t suppose to fly it, Y/N knew her father and how he would get his way in flying this mission. “I know you can’t make promises, but you better come back to me in one piece, Floyd.”

Bob gave the girl a small smile. Y/N had never used any other name than Bobby and he knew that her anxiety was at an all time high. “Listen, Y/N, I like you a lot and I would definitely promise to come back home if I could. If something were to happen today… just know that the time we spent together was the best time of my life.”

The Mitchell girl never cried in front of people, well, she tried not too that is. She always had the “tough” persona when it came to certain emotions. Today, today was the first day that she cried in front of people and didn’t even care. “I love you, Bobby.” She whispered before pulling him in so she could kiss him. “Please try your hardest to come back.”

Bob nodded and opened his mouth to speak but before he could another voice shouted after him, “hey bob!” The voice of Natasha brought the couple out of there intimate moment. “You ready to head in?” The Floyd boy nodded before placing a kiss on Y/N’s forehead and heading towards his pilot with a soft Farewell to his lover.

The Mitchell girl hurried to get inside so she could also tell her father and best friend goodbye and to come back in one piece as well. She needed to talk to Bradley and her father before they left and before she went to finalize her job. “Dad!” The girl called as she saw Pete walking towards where all the aviators were gathering. “I love you, please fly safe and come back in one piece.” The girl then pulled her dad into a hug, and he kissed the top of her head gently. He knew what this mission intel’s and hated keeping his daughter in the quiet. He also knew it was classified information and he would get in trouble if he were to tell anyone besides his naval aviators. “I don’t know if I’ll get to see Bradley, If I don’t can you tell him that I love him and I hope he comes home as well. You two need to not be reckless and get whatever it is done and out.” The Mitchell girl stated as she watched her dad nod.

“That’s the plan.” Pete told his daughter as he noticed all the navy members lined up. “I’ll keep an eye on all of them, especially Bob.” He teased.

“Hey, Bob isn’t the pilot.” Y/N mumbled before bidding goodbye to her father and walked towards the med-unit in the base. Arriving to the unit, no one was there. She knew that it may be because the aviators were being looked over before they took off for their mission to make sure they were safe enough to fly.

After about 25 minutes of waiting, the door to the med-unit finally opened and in walked an older woman. She was probably in her late forties or early fifties. She wasn’t old, but she was much older than the Mitchell girl. “Hello dear, can I help you?” She asked kindly while she went to throwing some of her items away and then getting her other items organized.

“I’m here for the position. I was supposed to get everything ready for my first shift.” Y/N told the current nurse working there. The woman nodded and reached into a drawer and pulled out the paperwork that needed to be on file for the Mitchell girl.

“Fill this out and I will go set up the photo station for your badge.” She mumbled. Y/N took a seat on one of the soft cushioned chairs and began filling out her paper work. Common questions like name, birthday, nurse registry number, allergies, so on and so forth was asked. “It’s ready when you get your papers filled out. My name is Darla, it’s nice to meet the girl they’re replacing me with.” She told the younger girl.

“Are you retiring?” Y/N asked softly as she handed the clipboard with information to the older nurse. She knew that in certain circumstances you can retire at an earlier age on a military base than you can bedside in a hospital.

“No, I got another job. My niece helped me get it, apparently they fired a nurse at the local hospital due to neglect and I applied when they posted the job.” She answered Y/N’s question while the two headed to the photo room to take a badge photo.

“Neglect huh?” Y/N asked as she stood in front of the board that had a white background so she could get her nurses badge made.

To be honest, the younger girl’s blood was boiling. She was 99% sure that the position that the navy nurse had gotten was her old job. Of course, the hospital had put down neglect for the reason they fired her, but how could they have paid out her contract if they were telling everyone she neglected her patients. It wasn’t on her nursing record or anything, so it made no sense.

“Our boss wanted me to go ahead and give you the schedule, you start tomorrow morning.” The older woman told her as she handed her all the packets, her badge, and her schedule. “There is another nurse that they alternate you with. A few that they had hired had their contract run out, so there’s only a couple nurses left until another contract is signed or something else happens.” She explained.

Pretty soon Y/N left and the current nurse got called to the cafeteria for a fire mishap with the cooks. Y/N knew that the team had already left to head to the aircraft carrier and that she wouldn’t hear from them for days and maybe even weeks. This was going to be hard and she knew it.

It had been days since the girl had saw Bob, her father, and Bradley. It felt as if she was never going to see them again, seemingly because she was not allowed to be told anything. She had been working in the med-unit on Top Gun’s base for four days and was not staying busy. It was not like bedside nursing, since you were constantly on your feet, having to deal with a code, or so on. It had almost been a week since she had any contact with her boyfriend and to say the girl was growing nervous was an understatement.

“Med-nurse needed in admiral office.” The radio that was connected to the girl’s unit wall came through. Y/N grabbed the things she may need before she headed out to the main office on base, she knew that it may be something minor, however, it didn’t help her nerves any. “We don’t have much time so I am going to tell you so you can get to work. We have two aviators being transferred from the aircraft to here. We need you to get two beds ready.”

“Yes, sir.” The Mitchell girl spoke sternly before leaving and hurrying back to her med-unit so she could get the beds ready for the two aviators. The girl’s anxiety was extremely high, she knew that it was probably bob and phoenix or someone that was starting to get close with. Once the beds were set up in two different rooms, she went ahead and started to get her bedside trays ready with what she may need when examining whoever was coming home and being rushed to the

med-unit. “Get them in the beds now, they need to be examined to make sure they have no further injuries.” The voice that Y/N knew had to be Jake Seresin voiced out in a worried tone.

“Hangman, know your place.” A stern older voice called down to the other aviator.

“I saved their asses for a reason, no one deserves to lose a family member.” Hangman muttered from what the girl could hear.

Y/N shook her head before standing up and opening the door to the first bed just in time for two. Aviators to carry in Rooster for the first bed, next two more aviators took her father to Bed two. Both men were awake, Rooster had visible injuries on his face and Pete looked overall okay. Once the other aviators went out to the waiting area, Y/N turned to two of the most important guys in her life. “Why am I not surprised it was you two?” she muttered before grabbing her items and wheeling her cart over to Rooster to fix his visible injuries up first.

“To be fair, Mav saved me.” Rooster spoke as he winced when the younger girl started cleaning his visible wounds. The two men had stripped the top of their uniform off and let it hang so they were just in white tees on the top.

“You shouldn’t have come back for me, kid.” Pete mumbled as he watched his daughter do what she went to school for. He had not ever got to see her when she was working.

“Well as stupid as you two are, it doesn’t seem to be that bad. Of course, they’ll want to the doctor to examine for internal damage.” Y/N spoke as the two navy aviators watched their family member do her job. “But I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t relieved when it wasn’t Bob that they drug in.”

Rooster gave the girl a smirk, “Y/N’s in love.” He teased as the girl rolled her eyes before moving onto her father who was waiting to be examined. “Seriously though, I told Phoenix that your wrath was horrible.”

“It wouldn’t have been her fault.” Y/N expressed as she just found some gnarly bruises on her father and no open wounds. “The doctor should be here in a minute, if he thinks you have no internal damage or bleeding then you’ll be good to go.” She mumbled as she went and threw her garbage away.

She didn’t know what to do next. Should she go look for Bob or would she be better to stay in the room until the doctor got there? She wasn’t sure. She knew she wanted to go find Bob but it also wouldn’t be completely correct to do that.

“Y/N.” Pete finally spoke up, causing the girl to look at her father. “Bob’s a good kid. He really cares for you and I just want you to know that I don’t think you could’ve found better for you out of this class.” Y/N gave her father a small smile before noticing Bradley’s sour expression.

“Excuse me?” Bradley mumbled in faux hurt. “I’m joking, it’s gross. You’re my little sis.” He spoke trying to seem like he was bothered by Pete’s words but couldn’t act like he was.

Y/N bit her lip before taking in a deep breathe, “I love him, I really do.” She mumbled and before she could say anything else the naval doctor came in to look over everything. After about an hour of thorough examination and to make sure there wasn’t anything to be worried about they got dismissed. Y/N, being their nurse, walked them back out to the waiting area where most

of the men and woman who went on the mission was waiting. The only ones missing were Bob and Phoenix. Y/N knew he was okay, but she couldn’t help but feel a bit disappointed since he was gone. “Hey Jake,” Y/N called grabbing everyone’s attention. “Can I talk to you for minute?” She asked as the man nodded and followed her back into her med-room. “I just want to say thank you, for helping my father and Bradley. I heard what you said in the hallway earlier and it means a lot.”

Hangman shrugged like it didn’t mean anything, “You’re welcome.” He settled instead of saying his usual smart remark. “Whether they believe it or not, no man left behind.” He mumbled quietly before giving the girl a pat on the shoulder and leaving the room.

Y/N sighed as she took a seat, her neck had been killing her because she hadn’t slept good in almost a week and she just wanted to get some rest. “Were you talking to Hangman?” The voice she loved so much spoke making her jump up from her seat and turn around. “I’m sorry I wasn’t outside I was with Phoenix, she was worried about Rooster.” He mumbled.

The Mitchell girl didn’t care where he was when she wanted to see him first, what mattered was that he was here now. He was safe and on the ground. “I was so worried about you.” She muttered. Before walking over to him and pulling him into a hug.

“I’m fine.” Bob whispered as his eyes raked over the girl in front of him. “Have I ever mentioned how good you look in your scrubs?” He asked as the girl playfully rolled her eyes at her boyfriend. “It’s a turn on definitely.” He mumbled.

Y/N shook her head as she let out a small laugh before pulling his neck so his lips met with hers. She missed this. She missed him, knowing he was fine and was here, missed the way she felt when he was near her. She missed everything about the guy in front of her.

“I love you,” Bob started as they pulled away from their intimate kiss. “I meant to say it back but Phoenix got me away from you too fast before we left.” He mumbled.

“I can’t wait to have you to myself tonight.” She mumbled as she laid her head on his chest and fiddled with the buttons of his navy uniform. Truth be told her mind couldn’t process that he was back and safe. She knew that this wouldn’t be the first mission that she would be worried for him, but she knew that none of that mattered right now.

“The group wanted to get together at the hard deck for a few tonight? Does that sound good and then we’ll leave early and head to yours?” Bob asked softly as he pushed some hair out of the girls face.

“Sounds perfect.”

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goldenraeofsun · 2 years

Text

Day 14: All for you

One of these days, Dean is going to break the Good Guy Code and straight-up murder the Angel.

“You can’t kill him,” Sam says wearily as he takes pieces of Dean’s body armor to pack away in its special case.

“Just watch me.”

Sam rolls his eyes, frowning as Dean hands him the chestplate. “Is this a bullet hole?”

“It’s a dent from a bullet.”

“You said it didn’t get you!”

“I said I wasn’t hurt, which is true.” Dean sits on the couch in Sam’s home office to wrestle off his combat boots. He straightens up just to get hit with bitchface #5.

“Vigilantism has no room for semantics,” Sam says, also very bitchily.

Dean grimaces. “Are we done here?”

Sam waves him off, and Dean stalks up to his room.

The old Winchester mansion shows its age in the creaky stairs, dusty corners, and windows permanently fogged over with grime.

To the rest of the world, the Winchester heirs gave up their fortune to various charities (not that their millions-bordering-on-a-billion did enough). Sam, the youngest, went to medical school to become a stand up member of society. The oldest, though, he squandered the rest they had left on extravagant vacations and lavish parties.

Dean flops down on his bed with a groan. Only three years as a vigilante, and he feels thirty years older. Sammy’s going to have to replace both his knees soon. And maybe a hip.

Maybe Sammy should just take all his bones out at this point and replace them with titanium. Dean would finally be able to keep up with the Angel, at least.

He rolls over, staring up at the mahogany ceiling of his bedroom.

The Angel blew into Lawrence a year ago, packed full of super strength and badass feathered wings, making cryptic remarks about divine plans for humanity and shit. Within a month, he got a fanclub/religious cult to follow him around and give the guy a complex the size of Niagara Falls.

Dean simply added him to his villain-of-the-week list – until the Angel blinded fifteen fishermen in the harbor. He said it was the work of “demons”, but all Dean knew was that the crew went out to sea with all their eyeballs intact and came back with 20/infinity vision.

Six months ago, the psycho escalated to setting an entire neighborhood on fire to kill an apparent “witch”.

Dean stopped him in time, but it was a close fucking call.

This year, though, the Angel abruptly changed his tune. Dean used to catch him kidnapping random civilians and the occasional assault. Now, he’s far more likely to find him rescuing cats from trees and Timmy from down the well. It makes Dean’s blood boil.

What the hell is he up to?

The question has been circling Dean’s brain for far too long.

* * *

Dean ducks out of the gala, checking his phone for police alerts.

“Mr. Winchester!”

Dean swiftly pockets his phone and turns, plastering a bland smile on his face before he sees the newcomer. “Oh, it’s you,” he says sourly.

Cas hurries up the marble stairs, dodging other departing patrons, sticking out like a sore thumb in his boxy trench coat and off-the-rack suit among all the tuxedos and designer gowns. “Do you have a comment about tonight’s fundraiser?”

Dean rolls his eyes. “Can’t you make one up?”

Cas bristles, all offended like he gets every time Dean tells him to get lost or pass off someone else’s words as Dean’s. “That would violate my journalistic integrity.”

“Dude, you cover human interest puff pieces,” Dean says scornfully. “Nobody cares.”

“I care,” Cas says, stung.

Dean crosses his arms over his chest. “For fifteen grand a plate, the shrimp was dry.” He raises an eyebrow. “Happy?”

Cas makes a face like Dean personally force fed him a dozen dry-ass shrimp. “That’s hardly a –”

“That’s all you’re getting,” Dean says sternly.

Cas – Castiel – Carpenter has been a pain in his ass since he caught up with Dean outside Dick Roman’s last New Years Eve party. He hounded Dean for a quote, following him all the way from Roman’s lobby to the street, waiting with Dean for his car to arrive. He kept asking about Roman’s plans to scrap affordable housing developments near the river in favor of luxury condos.

Dean, with a few too many drinks in his stomach, told him Roman could learn a thing or two from the Scooby Gang. Real estate scams never seem to end well in Carver City.

The Winchesters, of course, already had a plan for Roman. Top lawyers, paid through a shell company owned by a shell company based in the Caymans, were already compiling environmental impact reports, and Dean had plans to visit Roman’s penthouse and perhaps dangle him off it, if he didn’t see things Dean's way.

Cas, the sly son of a bitch, hadn’t even printed a word of their discussion, and Dean only found out Cas covered the goddamn gossip pages the next weekend as he scanned the paper for Cas’s byline at two in the morning after a late night run-in with the Angel.

“Mr. Winchester –”

“I’m a busy man,” Dean says coldly as he shoulders past Cas. “If you need to talk to me, you know my PR number.”

Cas falls back, scowling fiercely. “I know you have something to say, Dean!” he calls to his back.

“Get your clickbait somewhere else!”

Dean has places to be and ass to kick, no matter how many times Cas bats those baby blues his way.

* * *

Dean groans, since when did Crowley have the kind of funds to hire these goons? The last he heard, Crowley's mayoral campaign was hemorrhaging money, and Crowley was spending every cent on voter suppression and scare tactics to get his base to the voting booths.

Dean staggers into the storage unit warehouse, clutching a hand to his side where a lucky knife got between the plates of his body armor. He stays alert – a dozen of Crowley’s henchmen tried to take him out and failed, but that doesn’t mean another dozen aren’t waiting in the shadows.

Charlie’s algorithm traced vast amounts of Crowley’s remaining cash to holding five storage units, paying top dollar for quality and security.

Whatever the hell Crowley is keeping here, it’s valuable.

And valuable to Crowley means indispensable to anyone else.

Dean slumps towards the first locker, breathing heavily. His head pounds, and the overhead lights flare as he glances around, trying to get his bearings.

He mentally adds a concussion to his tally of injuries. Sam’s going to have his work cut out for him tonight, if Dean gets home at all.

He reaches into his toolbelt, and his fingers scramble for his set of lockpicks for too long. How the hell he’ll be able to manipulate the delicate tools – well, that’s a bridge to cross when the lock itself stops swaying in front of his eyes.

The blow from behind hits him out of nowhere.

Dean falls forward with a grunt, his ears ringing.

“The vigilante himself,” an unfamiliar voice sneers. “What an honor.”

The next hit cracks the side of Dean’s reinforced cowl, and his ears ring with the force of it. He scrabbles back to his feet, widening his stance on an instinct honed from years of practice. He’s still as wobbly as a newborn kitten, but at least he doesn’t look it.

The man wears a uniform of the warehouse staff, but there’s nothing minimum wage security guard about the way he fights hand-to-hand.

A flurry of blows rain down on Dean, his head, his neck, his chest. The body armor in his suit can only absorb so much of the impact, and Dean’s losing ground, quickly, backed up against a concrete wall.

He has one taser left, though. At his next opening, he dodges a right hook and jams the metal disk against the goon’s neck.

He spasms with a crackle of electricity, and falls to the floor to reveal –

“Fuck,” Dean swears loudly, swinging his fists up to protect his face, not that they’ll do much against superstrength.

But it takes his sluggish brain a soupy moment to realize the Angel's hands aren't raised in fists gunning for his face.

The Angel’s palms reach up to cup his cheeks, and Dean winces, squeezing his eyes shut against the harsh light that always pours out of the Angel’s eye sockets, obscuring his entire face.

“You’re injured,” the Angel murmurs in his otherworldly voice that makes Dean’s chest vibrate with an uncomfortable resonance.

“Nothin’ slips by you, does it?” Dean forces out because, even when he has nothing left, he still has his pride.

The Angel pulls back Dean's cowl, and Dean tries to push the Angel off him, but he might as well be trying to wrestle with a concrete wall. The Angel intones, “This might feel strange.”

“No…” Dean protests, and, god, if these are his last words, they sound pathetic.

“Shh, Dean,” the Angel says, and he doesn’t sound at all surprised by the sight of Dean’s face. Two fingers press against his bare forehead, and Dean jerks away instinctively, but can’t move a hair in the Angel’s firm grip.

A cool, almost rain-like sensation trickles out from the point of contact.

Dean opens his eyes.

Is the light pouring out from the Angel dimming?

Dean’s definitely seeing more clearly now, and the pounding in his head has disappeared. With mounting confusion, he watches as the Angel’s high beam eyes flicker like a bad television signal.

His face – Dean only sees a flash or two, but he would swear –

The Angel stumbles back a step, and Dean straightens, inhaling a painless lungful of air. “What the hell just happened?” he demands.

The Angel shakes his head, and his wings flicker next. They pop back into existence in the space of a blink. Like a lamp on it’s last legs, the beams of light emitting from his eyes give a few weak flares before dying out completely.

“Son of a bitch,” Dean breathes.

Cas sags against the opposite wall, his wings disappearing for good with a silent breath of air. Whatever he'd done to Dean had drained him.

“You –”

Cas stares up at him. “Me,” he agrees quietly.

“What the hell are you playing at?” Dean demands. “You’re – you’re –” He can’t say it.

Cas pushes himself to his feet, his face pallid and eyes weary. “I’m an angel of the lord.”

Dean can’t help his loud snort. “You’re still sticking with that?”

“It’s the truth.”

Dean lays a hand on his utility belt, eyeing Cas warily. He might look as threatening as a belly-up hedgehog, but experience has taught Dean that some opponents are never more dangerous than when they’re cornered.

“If you’re a real angel,” Dean says stiffly, “why are you here? Why now?”

“I was sent here to start the apocalypse,” Cas says.

Dean narrows his eyes. “You’re joking.”

“I don’t joke.”

Dean steps closer, scanning Cas for any sign of an impending fight. “You wanna give me a reason not to end you right here and now?”

But Cas stays right where he is. “Those were my orders. But when I arrived on Earth, I had my doubts.”

“It was you – the blind fishermen,” Dean says coldly, “that incident on Halloween.”

Cas nods miserably. “Mistakes, all of them.”

“I couldn’t figure out what was up with you,” Dean admits. “You went from nabbing Patty Hearst in December to landing broken planes in the river in January.”

Cas tilts his head. “Because of you.”

Dean can’t have heard that right. But as Dean lets the silence drag on, Cas doesn’t take it back or explain. Dean crosses his arms over his chest. “What the hell does that mean?”

“You showed me humanity is worth saving,” Cas says, his voice almost painfully sincere. “So I disobeyed my orders. I turned my back on Heaven. I followed in your footsteps.” He meets Dean’s stunned gaze squarely. “I did it all for you.”

“I – what?”

“You care so much for this city, for your people,” Cas continues, and Dean, torn between telling him to keep going or shut the hell up, stays silent. Cas goes on, “You regularly put yourself in harm’s way to protect them, usually from themselves. You donate enormous sums of money and manipulate an extremely complicated political machine to make sure they have safe water to drink and places to rest.”

Dean rubs the back of his neck, muttering, “Somebody’s gotta.” He jerks his head up. “Hold on, you knew it was me? The whole time?”

“Why do you think I was so hellbent on talking to you?” Cas asks dryly, the faintest of blushes dusting his cheeks.

“And I always thought it was because of my perky nipples,” Dean says distractedly. All those times Cas hollered questions about the latest government developments; where his next grant was going; who he was backing in the mayoral race. That was the Angel.

“I’m, uh, sure they’re very perky,” Cas says awkwardly.

Dean narrows his eyes. “How’d you find out?”

Cas cocks his head, his blue eyes intense as they study Dean’s face. “Your soul. It’s unlike any other I’ve encountered in the way it shines.”

Dean swallows, embarrassed of all things. “You can see souls?”

Cas nods. “Yours as well as the five people behind these storage locker doors.”

Dean freezes. “What the fuck?” He stares, horrified at the closest one, his hand already pulling out his set of lockpicks. “You’re serious?” At Cas’s confused nod, Dean swears colorfully. “And you kept talkin’ like we’re on a Sunday drive?”

As Dean ducks down to get to work on the first lock, Cas says matter-of-factly, “None of Crowley’s victims are near death. They’ve all been fed and watered recently, and eleven more minutes won’t have a great effect on their physical or mental health.”

“Alright, Patrick Bateman,” Dean says, but the accusation lacks any heat, “Superhero Rule Number One: you always get the damsels out of distress first.”

“I understand.”

Dean glances up at him as the lock clicks open. “After this, you and me, we’re gonna have a long talk.” He huffs a laugh as he pulls his cowl back up. “You want to know what I think about this city? I’ll give you enough quotes to fill a bible.”

“I might hold you to that,” Cas murmurs as Dean heaves the metal door open.

Read the sequel here!

#suptober22 #destiel #fanfic #destiel fanfic #superhero au #superhero dean #superhero castiel #doctor sam #rich dean #journalist castiel #enemies to lovers #rae writes fic

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catreginae · 1 year

Text

Thou Shalt Not Fall - The Past: Homecoming

Link, Mask, and Tune all return from the final battle with Cia, but Link doesn't seem to be feeling better.

TW: somebody intentional his hands, although the reason has nothing to do with emotional distress or mental illness. To skip this paragraph, it starts with "Mask could only watch in stunned silence". Just jump to the next paragraph and you should be okay (but do tell me otherwise!).

This is the start of something I call 'The Past Arc' because I am Very Original and Very Creative. This was what the people on Tumblr voted for. It's slated to have four parts but I am not good at estimating. Also, sorry in advance for typos - I've been working on this chapter on and off for like six months and I'm a little tired of looking at it.

When Time was a child, a child who was simultaneously a mature adult who saw too much of the world and a child who felt too small for it, he met two other Heroes named Link.

The first kept his name, since he and the other Link, an older kid in blue, were unintentional guests and that was putting it mildly. He was dubbed Mask, for the masks he carried, and the other was called Tune, as he was a conductor and liked to hum or sing to himself when he was bored. Mask became close to both of them. He viewed both of them as the Hylian brothers he never had and even though he tried not to become attached to people he would have to leave, he loved them both.

But much to his annoyance, those bonds had to be tested, because after his final battle with Cia, Link started acting strangely.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Mask didn't notice anything until a few days after the fight, when they first returned to the castle. Zelda let the three Links stay in the castle, as Tune and Mask didn't have a way to return home as of yet and Link said the barracks were his home and Zelda decided that wouldn't do. Tune and Mask shared a room and Link stayed in a separate one down the hall, somewhere between their room and Zelda's office. The room was far too large and lavish for Mask's taste, with two of the biggest beds he ever saw, covered with blankets that seemed precious for him to use. There were chests that he and Tune could fit inside of just for clothes, some giant table with an attached mirror that was painted white, and there was even an balcony outside. Although he couldn't see himself spending much time in the room, he picked a bed as soon as the room was offered the room and slept through the morning, staying in bed until about nine in the morning. Tune woke up a bit earlier than he did.

Link on the other hand, didn't get up until well past three in the afternoon.

Mask and Tune found him with his face buried in the pillow, his hair sticking up in all directions. Mask was pretty sure he was drooling, surely a sign of how deeply asleep he still was. Tune started laughing while Mask just huffed at him, deciding to try to shake Link awake. Proxi came out from a pile of fabric on the beside table that Mask soon recognized as Link's scarf and went straight to him.

“I'm glad you two are here! No matter what I do, I just can't wake him up! Impa thought he needed the sleep since hasn't fully recovered from the battle, but this seems... excessive,” she mumbled, her glow dimming slightly.

That made Tune stop laughing. He went over to his bed and climbed on it, since the bed was fairly large and Link was sleeping right in the middle of it. Even with Tune being surprisingly tall and lanky, he wouldn't have been able to really reach without going on the bed. “Hey. It's time to get up,” Tune said, putting a hand on his bare shoulder and shaking him. He didn't respond at first, so Tune did it again.

“Hey! Link!” Mask called out as Tune continued to shake him. Finally, Link opened his eyes, squinting in their direction.

“Link?” Proxi asked.

“Hmmmm. Whatimeisst?”

“Past three in the afternoon,” Mask mumbled.

If nothing else, Link heard that, and immediately bolted up. “Why didn't anyone wake me? And why is so damn bright in here?” he asked as he rubbed aggressively at his eyes. Eventually, he seemed to just settle for digging the heels of his hands into his eyes and keeping them there. Tune scrunched his face, studying Link closely.

“Impa thought you must have needed it,” Proxi answered, fluttering by his head. He lowered his hands and just stared into the covers, his eyelids beginning to fall.

“Are you sick?” Mask asked. He never saw the captain so out of it before. As far as Mask knew, Link's wounds weren't that serious and he was able to walk most of the way back to the castle by himself, but that could change and change quickly. “Maybe we should check your wounds.”

Link didn't respond. Instead, he collapsed against the the pillows, his breathing already deepening.

“I guess he must be,” Proxi muttered.

~+~

Link thought he knew what exhaustion felt like. He knew what it felt like to wake up after after losing a lot of blood. He knew what it felt like to be up all night trying to plan and fight with barely any sleep. This... this felt different. It felt like sleeping wasn't helping at all, that there was something deeper to his exhaustion than amount of sleep he was getting. He never needed so much sleep before and yet, it wasn't enough. It was never enough.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Sleeping until well into the afternoon, sometimes sleeping until dinner, wasn't the only thing that was new.

Mask and Tune were in the kitchens, helping out the chefs as they cooked dinner. Their way home had yet to appear and while they didn't want to say goodbye, it was making the two of them antsy and eager to just do... something helpful. They both agreed that it couldn't be good if they were still around, especially since most of the time displaced heroes already went home. For some reason, it was them, Ravio, and a nice girl named Marin that was still sticking around. If their work was done, surely they would have been allowed to return like the others.

Tune was singing what he called a shanty to himself, not at all shy about who was listening. He was the only one in the room who knew the words but Mask and the chefs hummed along to it. It was actually kind of fun, even if Mask had to stand on a stool to reach the counters and all he was allowed to do was stir the pot. Usually, he would be more bothered but considering he never did learn how to cook after all this time, he was actually perfectly happy stirring the pot. The only thing that bothered was the fact that at one point, he could have reached the counter without the stool.

Suddenly, the door opened and Link wandered inside.

“Ah, Link! What can we do for you?” one of the chefs, an older lady with her greying hair tied into a bun.

“Mind if I just look around?”

“Sure!” She sounded happy but Mask didn't miss the confusion laced in her voice. “Just don't get in the way.”

He nodded and entered the room. Mask, making sure he was still stirring the pot, watched as Link opened cabinets, dug through the pantry, and even disappeared into the cool room. He was clearly looking for something and apparently, he couldn't find it. That was until Link suddenly emerged from the cool room with a slab of raw meat in his hands.

“Mind if I take this?”

The chefs looked at him as if he grew a second head. He took their stunned silence as a 'yes' apparently, because he thanked them and walked away.

Mask later learned from Proxi that Link actually just... ate it like that. Raw and chewy.

Tune was strangely calm about it. In fact, he had the same look on his face that Link usually did when he was trying to figure out a plan.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~

The raw meat helped. It wasn't exactly what he was craving but it was a lot closer than anything else he tried to eat. Still though. It wasn't right. It wasn't what he wanted needed. What was it though? What did he need? Why was he always hungry? It didn't matter how much he ate, he was never full. His stomach became a never-ending pit.

He was hungry. So hungry...

~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Link suddenly had a lot more sun burns than usual.

During those days where Link was awake in the afternoon, Mask, Tune, and Proxi always tried to take him out to spar to get some exercise and fresh air. He was starting to spend a lot of time cooped up inside, spending most of his time in his room scrutinizing documents and notes, looking for something that was off although what that could be, Link didn't say. Mask didn't know what he was looking for and not even Link seemed to know what he was looking for, aside from 'something not right'. However, with some careful phrasing and appeals to the tactical side of him, they managed to get him outside to practice a couple of hours a day.

And at first, it went great. Link didn't go easy on either of them. If anything, he seemed a little stronger than usual, putting more force behind his attacks than normal. Oh, he hated the idea of them being on the battlefield but in a spar, he went all out.

After the first day, his cheeks were bright red and Mask' face hurt just looking at him. It was like they were sparring in the Gerudo Desert and not in a military ground with soft grass and dirt. After a couple of days, his face was peeling and strangely bumpy and it was at that point that Tune dragged him into Zelda's office. She quickly disappeared and then came back with a bottle full of something green, which is smothered all over her hands. Link winced as Zelda started rubbing some type of lotion all over his face.

“Ah, Zelda-” he started, hissing in pain as he did so.

“This will help, trust me. How did this happen though?”

Link merely shrugged.

“I'm worried about you, you know. You hardly visit. I barely see you anymore even though we're both in the castle.”

“Sorry.”

“Don't be. You know you can talk to me about anything, right?”

Finally, Link offered a smile. “Yeah, I know.”

~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Link went through every medical document he could find but nothing matched up with the symptoms he was feeling. The exhaustion, the sudden sensitivity of his skin, the craving he couldn't figure out, the constant, gnawing hunger... he couldn't find anything that linked them all together. Why was it so hard to find what was wrong? He supposed he could visit the healers in the castle, but something in his gut told him not to.

Proxi sat on the top of his head, peering down at the documents on his desk.

“Did you find what you were looking for yet?”

“Not yet.”

~ ~ ~ ~ ~

It got to the point where Link refused to leave his room and only Proxi was allowed in. He locked the door to keep everybody out, and he just kept his window open, so Tune and Mask made sure that their window was open to give Proxi another way back into the castle. They were sure that Link wasn't trying to lock her in there, but he was definitely anxious about something.

“He isn't well,” she mumbled as she sat on Mask's shoulder. It was a clear night and Mask wasn't ready to go to sleep yet, so he decided to admire the world from his window. Although there was a bit of space between the castle and the rest of Castletown, like the way it was like in his own era, he could still see lights coming from the town. Or city. It was more like a city. It kind of reminded him of Clock Town.

“In what way?” Tune asked, squaring his shoulders. He had the face that Link would use he was thinking, his eyebrows knitting together and mouth pulled into what Mask thought looked like a thoughtful frown. He couldn't help but to think that maybe Tune knew more about Link's odd behaviour as of late than anybody else. It was almost like he was waiting for something.

“He seems to be in pain and I don't think he's had anything to eat since the raw piece of meat,” she answered. “He's either asleep all the time or awake and fidgety. He's definitely out of it too.”

“Hmm... is he making any unusual noises? Like hissing or growling?”

He definitely knew more. How?

Proxi nodded solemnly. “And his magic feels weird too, like it's tainted or corrupted somehow. Well, it felt like that since we came back from the Valley of Seers but I thought it was because he was exposed to so much of Cia's magic and it would go away after a bit! It's only gotten worse though.”

Suddenly, there was banging down the hall.

“Mask, go get Impa and meet me at Link's door, alright? Make sure she's armed.”

Mask nodded and left the room, ignoring the continuing banging coming from Link's room. He knew Impa wasn't hard to find, she was always with Zelda and Zelda was either in her room and in her office these days. He went to the office first and he was happy to find that the door was open, letting light spill into the hallway. Impa was just beside the doorway in the office as Zelda worked at her desk.

“Mask? What is it?” she asked when she spotted him standing in the hallway.

“There's something wrong with Link,” Proxi answered with a frown. He wished he knew what was wrong but at least Tune seemed to know. Impa looked to Zelda, who turned in her seat to look at them. “He isn't well but we think there's something more serious going on. Tune said that Impa should come armed.”

Zelda bit her lips but she didn't need to be told twice. She was instantly out in the hallway, following Mask and Proxi back to Link's room with Impa hot on their heels, hand on the handle of her giant sword. It didn't take long to reach his room, where the banging ceased but the loud noises inside didn't.

Tune was standing outside with what looked like the curtains in their room, cut into long threads.

“Tune? What's going on?”

“We don't have a lot of time so I'll explain later. We have to make sure he can't hurt himself or anybody else first. Impa, you're the strongest here so you have to hold him down. He'll probably try to attack us.”

Zelda's eyes were glued to the door. She looked completely distraught but took a deep breath and looked to Impa.

“Try not to hurt him too badly.”

“I'll do my best. There's no promises, though.”

“Mask, open the door. Impa, are you ready?”

Impa nodded. Mask gulped and turned the door knob slowly, then pulled the door open. The effect was instantaneous. Mask looked into the room for all of one second before Link was practically flying at him, his eyes a glowing yellow, lips pulled back into a wicked snarl and revealing canines that were far too large. Tune pulled him out of the way just as Impa raised her foot, her foot landing squarely in the middle of his chest. He hit the floor, clearly stunned.

Tune and Impa didn't hesitate to take advantage of it either. Impa sat on his back, settling her legs on either side of his hips and twisting his arms behind his back. He snarled and hissed, trying to buck her off as Tune tied one of his curtain strips around his wrists with some sort of complicated knot. Tune then moved on to his feet.

Mask could only watch in stunned silence, wringing his hands together as Tune withdrew a knife from his boot and used it cut his palm open. He shoved his bloody palm over Link's mouth. Link stopped moving, his eyes now completely focused on Tune's hand.

“Zelda, Mask, tie him up more. Leave one for later,” Tune commanded. Zelda was the only one who moved to follow his instructions, leaving Impa to help her. Mask found that he couldn't move though and he couldn't fight the tears welling up in his eyes either. Dammit, he hated crying, he hated being reminded that he looked like a child, but he was so worried. What happened to Link? Where did the man he regarded as his older brother go? What replaced him?

Thankfully, the snarling and hissing ceased completely as Tune pulled his bloodied hand away.

“What... what happened?” Link asked, his voice hoarse and quiet. His eyes were still yellow, pools of yellow encased in a red ring that Mask hadn't noticed before, but he could recognize the Link he did know within them. At least Link wasn't gone, but who knew how long he would be around for? “Where's Proxi? What's going on?”

Proxi flew, hovering in front of his face. “I'm here Link, don't worry!”

“Link... you're a vampire,” Tune mumbled. “This isn't your fault but we still have to restrain you for the time being. That wasn't nearly enough blood for you. I'm sorry.”

“A what? Somebody tell me what's going on!” he said in a low growl.

“We'll figure out the details later!” Zelda answered, raising her voice slightly. “Link, try to remain calm, alright? Impa, please summon a wagon and a soldier who can keep a secret. There's a noble family made up of vampires and I'm sure they can help.”

Impa nodded and jumped to her feet, stepping over Link and running past Mask, who was still just standing there, his feet glued to the ground. He was a hero, he should be able to act under pressure, to move forward even though he was scared. Link needed help and support and Mask just froze.

“Zelda... I'm scared.”

More tears welled up in Mask's eyes. Link sounded so small and vulnerable.

“We know, Link. We know. Just hang in there for us, okay?” Proxi said, pressing a delicate hand on his forehead.

“Impa, I'm trusting you to safely deliver Link to House Donte. Take Tune along with you, he seems to know what's going on. Make the preparations and come back for Link and Tune. Finally, make sure that Donte house knows that we are aware that they have nothing to do with what happened to Link.”

Impa nodded and took off running. Tune stayed behind and moved to sit beside Link, who turned his head away to ignore all of them. Mask almost joined them but instead, he found his eyes focused at the upturn furniture, the documents Link spent the past week studying tossed carelessly on the floor when the desk was flipped over. The curtains were torn, as were the bed sheets. A chair was smashed into pieces. Mask took a deep breath and turned to Zelda.

“I want to go with them.”

She frowned. “I need you to stay here. With Link and Tune gone, we'll need a hero to stay here in case something happens in their absence. The fact that you haven't gone home concerns me. There must be something brewing in the background. We can't afford to relax just yet.”

Mask frowned. As much as he wanted to be there with Link, who was definitely going through one of the scariest and most confusing moments of his life, he could understand Zelda's reasoning too. In a rare moment of clarity in the adults around him, they were seeing past the child-like frame and seeing him for the hero he was and they needed him. It would be tough but he needed to be at the castle.

Link would have Tune, at least.

Proxi left Link's side and zoomed to Mask's side. “Don't worry, Mask! I will stay with you and help keep an extra pair of eyes on the kingdom.”

“What about Link?” he asked.

“I know he would be worried about you and Tune.”

Mask took a deep breath. “Okay. Tune, you have to take good care of him until he gets there, okay?”

Tune nodded and threw up a salute. “You got it!”

~ ~ ~ ~ ~

“Zelda, what is a vampire?”

Tune and Impa gagged Link and hauled him away two hours ago and Mask found himself unable to sleep. How could be expected to try and sleep now knowing that Link was struggling and scared? Mask found himself in Zelda's office where Zelda was busy shifting through all the books in her shelves, seemingly trying to find one in particular. Proxi kept her promise and stayed by his side, sitting on his shoulder like she often did when she decided to hang out with him instead of Link.

“They are beings who survive by drinking the blood of other beings,” Zelda answered simply. “They're very rare in Hyrule but they're more common in other kingdoms. They can be very dangerous when they're starving or if they simply don't care about people, but plenty of vampires coexist peacefully with people in other kingdoms.”

Hmm. Interesting. It would explain why he hasn't heard of them in Hyrule but he did travel outside of the kingdom before, and hadn't heard of them there either. He wondered what kingdoms she could be talking about.

“So that noble family then...” Proxi mumbled.

“They are vampires, yes. Vampires can live for centuries so they've risen to the status of nobles simply by staying alive longer than any other family. They share their wealth and title with a Hylian family to hide though, so most people in Hyrule wouldn't know that vampires live there.”

“And you're sure they can help Link?”

“They have no other choice. Both of us want to keep the existence of vampires away from the public, so they will have to help him if they want him to keep their secret,” Zelda said quietly as she finally seemed to have found the book she was looking for. “This is a book about vampires, although this was written from the perspective of getting rid of them... but it might still be helpful. It came from Holodrum but it was translated into Hylian.”

“You just have a book on vampires just sitting on your shelf?” Proxi asked.

“I got this library from my grandmother,” Zelda said with a shrug. “I'll go through it tonight and see if there's anything in here we should know about. Of course, Impa and Tune might also have insights from House Donte. We'll meet up and discuss this when everybody is back.”

~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Tune and Impa returned three days later without Link. Mask expected that. There was no way that Link would learn everything he needed to know to navigate his new world in a span of a couple of hours. Neither Tune or Impa said much of the trip, just that the family did take him in and that Zelda's message was delivered.

When two weeks passed though, Mask was starting to worry.

“I'm sure he'll be back!” Proxi said as she spun around his head before settling down on his shoulder. “He wouldn't abandon his friends and he wouldn't abandon the kingdom.”

“I suppose.”

He looked to Tune, who was busy polishing his sword in the room they continued to share. He didn't seem worried at all. Quieter than normal, sure, but he didn't seem to be worried like Mask was. It reminded Mask of how the fact that he didn't seem all that surprised that Link was a vampire. In fact, he was the reason why they could properly restrain Link with minimal injuries to Link. It was like he knew what to what to do before he even saw Link, like he done it before.

“You have future knowledge, don't you?”

Tune sighed. “Yeah. I just don't know how much I can say. This is my present but I know his future.”

Time travel could be strange like that.

“He does come back. I can promise you that. I know this isn't over yet. He won't leave the job half finished.”

“Thank you,” Mask mumbled. It did make him feel a little bit better.

#linked universe #linkeduniverse #linked universe fanfic #lu warriors #catreginae: thou shalt not fall #self harm #to feed your vampire friend #my writing

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blubushie · 1 year

Note

have you talked about how you got misty? i feel like you have but i dont remember

I got Misty at the very very start of 2022 from a breeder out near Chico CA (I was going to get a shelter dog because I love shelter dogs but unfortunately they wouldn't adopt to me because I live in a van). The breeder was not responsible and when Misty was given to me, she had fucking parvo. I spent six hours with her and she never stopped vomiting even after we'd been parked for four hours (I thought that maybe it was just carsickness, my childhood dog got carsick when I first brought her home).

But no, four hours later she didn't improve. So I drove her straight to the emergency vet because they were the only one open at that hour, and they immediately took a parvo test. And guess who came up a hard positive. They took her in and I camped out in the carpark until morning. She was stable but her outlook wasn't good ("critical but stable") and I then had to make the drive another hour to a different vet who could hold her in-house and treat her, as the emergency vet was only open at night. She spent ten days in ICU and then she came home, and she spent a month in quarantine at the house. It sucked because I couldn't even pet her with my bare hand due to risk of contamination to my older dogs. I spent less than six hours with my dog before she was taken from me by a preventable disease.

The breeder was fucking horrid. Kept claiming she didn't know she had parvo, but I don't buy that for a second because I asked why Misty was damp when I picked her up and she said it's because she bathed her. Either the woman was drying off Misty's vomit (and thus, as a breeder, must have at least suspected parvo) or she was outright washing the vomit and diarrhoea off of Misty, which would've been a near-definite positive for parvo in a 10-week-old puppy. And the breeder, upon finding out how dire Misty's condition was, insisted I just bring Misty back instead of taking her to a vet. She was very fucking insistent I not take Misty to a vet. I am fully convinced that if I'd brought Misty back she would've just been allowed to die.

Anyway I informed the vet of all this, and then informed animal control when they showed up to take a statement, and last I heard from the officers on the case the breeder is now blacklisted from breeding for the next five years due to not fitting California standards when it comes to disease control and prevention and negligence to provide veterinary care (which is required by law in California for breeders). The vet attested that Misty's stomach was completely empty and she hadn't eaten in at least three days, so there's no way the breeder hadn't known she'd given me a sick and dying dog. And she was content to let it run its course and kill said dog.

Anyway, I got my money back, Misty recovered, and the breeder can no longer breed dogs. I had some behavioural issues with Misty at first because it's incredibly hard to train her--she's headstrong and unfortunately because of her parvo situation she's been very wary of food ever since and she's not food-oriented in the slightest. (This is why she accepts so little treats. It took multiple Macca's runs before she'd accept even a piece of the meat). She nipped a lot, but I've never counted that against her because she's half-Aussie and that's completely normal for her breed and I knew what I was getting into with a herding-retriever mix.

For her it was mostly just training. Sit, stay, heel, things like that. She's learnt as time goes on and she's heavily influenced by praise, but I can't give her too much or she gets too excited and then distracted. She can sit, she's still learning to stay, she can heel (and knows not to jump up on people) but getting her to stop barking once she's riled up is a nightmare. But much like my first dog she picked up my visual cues while working immediately. A rising whistle is "come to me," a short chirp means "look at me," and a simple tilt of my head tells her which direction we're going to go in. It's very useful when she's stopping to sniff something, and she doesn't run off. I left her off-lead in the bush but she always stays on lead around roads except in Outback towns, where she free-roams and goes says hello to people while I do things. One of the funniest sights I've ever seen is walking out of the Daly Waters Pub and whistling for her, and from up the track comes Misty, Kevin the lab behind her, Blackface the goat behind him, and Polly the horse a short distance behind them. All in a row. She's got a massive crush on Kevin. If I park in Daly Waters and open my door she launches over me and bolts off to go find her boyfriend.

This is the first time Misty's been back in California since I got her and she's very much enjoying it, more than I am :]

#blu whos #mistyposting

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jboofan · 2 years

Text

There's something wrong with Manager Kim YN Part 25

Don't judge me

"Are you sure you're okay?" Secretary Kim looked at YN, concerned.

YN felt the sick in her throat as she took a sip of water and tried to breathe slowly. He made her feel funny in her stomach, and it was a feeling that she no longer allowed to control her life.

She just wanted to go straight to her office, get her things and go home. She didn't care about anything else right now.

"Hey, is it OK if I leave for today?"

Kim looked at her, "I'll take you back. Just let me grab your things for you."

"It's fine, you have things to do, don't let me stop you. Just call Jin and see if he is free otherwise get the driver."

Yoongi kept his distance as YN exited the office and cautiously made her way to her floor, using another lift.

"She barely got out the other one and she's going back in?"

He saw her from the door having been left ajar, after ages finally summoning up his courage.

"Can I come in?" said a voice. YN looked up as Yoongi walked in.

"Hi, can I help you?" she said gripping her bag for dear life. How did he still look the same? Why did their interaction feel the same. She sure as hell didn't feel the same.

"I, needed to ask you something. Are you okay? Should you be working?"

"Thanks for helping before. I'm fine," she tried to come across casual as she could. She felt the beads of sweat gathering on her head.

Yoongi stood, awkward.

"You came back?"

"So.." she pretended to look at him, confused.

"So, I've been looking for you, I kept calling you for days after you left. No one would tell me where in America you were. Jin threatened to leave the group if I ever literally spoke your name, and now you decided to return??" he eyed her suspiciously.

"It's been a couple years, I've lost count. If you'll excuse me I need to leave."

"It's been three years six months and eleven days, but yeah who's counting right?" he called after her as she opened the door and tied her coat tighter, anxiously.

"You have your life, and I have mine. So if you'll excuse me," she didn't wait to hear another word leaving him there and speed walking as quickly as she could away from him.

Jin waited anxiously in the car as Secretary Kim flagged her down and they got in.

"I thought you were going to stay longer?"

"I've decided to work from home," he smiled, tapping his laptop as she climbed in quick.

She hardly said a word the whole way back.

"You OK?" Secretary Kim asked her.

"Yeah I'm OK."

"You sure you are OK? Cos you don't look it." Jin asked looking at her, as he waited for Kim to open the door.

"There's something I need to tell you." She looked at them both.

"You may want to sit down."

Jin and Secretary Kim sat down and looked at her.

"I slept with Yoongi."

Jin looked confused. "Ok, gross I didn't need to know that."

"Almost three and a half years ago. When we first got married."

"I'm not sure what's going on here, and I thought I was the smart one," Kim replied.

YN rubbed her hands. "It's complicated."

Jin got up and hugged her. "Is that why you looked scared when you saw him as you fled to the car just now?"

She nodded.

"Why do I get the feeling there is more to this story?" he looked at her.

"I'm not ready yet. I promise as soon as I sort things out, we can sit down and have the rest of this conversation."

"Ok," Jin clapped with finality, you've got a day off now so what do you wanna do?"

"I need a big drink," she admitted. "That, and I need to set up the rest of her room for her."

"Wow you've not taken a break have you?" he looked around at the child's room, the bed and it's fixtures all ready for it's new occupant.

"I want everything to be perfect. She hasn't stopped talking about Uncle Jin and Grandpa Kim since we called her last night."

Jin smiled, "What can I say, I'm so cool. I'm gonna teach her how to rap."

"God help us," mumbled Uncle Kim under his breath at YN finally smiling, as they helped her finish off the room.

Yoongi sat in the garage of his empty home. He sifted through his marriage certificate and papers and pulled out any pictures in the crate. Right at the bottom was a frame that had been thrown in, without a care.

He hadn't packed away any of YNs things, but got the feeling Ha-Na may have.

Yoongi brushed the dust off it, and looked at it. It was of their wedding day, in the court house everyone happy.

He ignored the ping, dusting off his dirty knees to see what Jungkook had posted. A selfie of him and YN at the gym, entitled "Working out with the Boss Lady!"

Great.

YN smiled as she made her way to her office, briefcase in hand.

"Hey," Yoongi touched her arm. YN turned to face him just outside her office. How could she have missed seeing him as she came down the corridor?

"Have a good workout?" he tried to remain calm.

"None of your business," she shot back quick, "what can I do for you?" she turned away to hang up her coat, and unzipped her case and lifted out her laptop.

He stood. Waiting. God he still hated it when she didn't look at him. He waited, let out a big sigh til she finally looked up at him, through her long eyelashes.

Yoongi smiled, "So I went home last night and I found a picture of us."

"Excuse me?" she tilted her head. He took out his phone, YN got up and quickly shut the door and took his phone.

Her voice dropped to a whisper. "Oh god."

She closed her eyes and handed it back, and moved away.

"Why you walking around like you don't know me?"

"Because I don't know you. It was a fake marriage. A long long time ago. I don't want people knowing that I slept with you."

"You don't want anyone knowing you were with me? What's so wrong with sleeping with me? I don't think you had any complaints?" her last comment stung, and had got his back up.

"Bullshit, you know as well as I do that it was convenient and impulsive. The important things you should remember you don't, and you come up here all acting like everything is fine. I'm your boss, so no I don't need anyone knowing about that. Am I making myself clear?"

She was serious.

He threw his hands up in the air. "That's fine. I understand." He looked at her, "It's good to see you, after all these years. You're VP finally."

She smiled, "President," she corrected him. She sat back down and logged into her laptop.

Secretary Kim knocked on the door and opened it. That man had a problem of never waiting long enough to let her say come in.

"Sorry, am I disturbing?"

He knew he was but he wanted to know what the tea was.

YN shook her head, "No not at all, Min was just leaving."

Yoongi tried to smiled, "Please, sweetheart."

Kim watched him leave. "Everything OK?"

YN didn't make any eye contact and suddenly found the contents of her handbag very interesting.

Kim didn't buy it. "This is the second time I've noticed something between you and Yoongi. Tell me what's going on with you. And don't lie."

"It's nothing. We just remembered how much I've changed, and he hasn't," she planted a smile back on her face.

Kim looked at her.

"I don't believe you, but I won't force you to tell me either."

Yoongi kicked a trashcan in defeat, as he came out his studio several hours later.

"Hyung, come on let's get some food," Jimin, Tae and Namjoon begged him to come out for something to eat. Try to take his mind off the shock of seeing YN the way he did.

"Still doesn't make up for the fact you kept it a secret from me," he mumbled as he slowly made his way down to them.

"Mommy!" he heard someone scream just ahead of him in the distance. She was holding Jackson's hand, she looked tiny compared to him. He hoisted her in the air and she continued waving and pointing in his direction.

He turned sideways and watched as she waved and shouted out "Mommy!" again. The little girl let go of Jackson's hand and ran to YN who stood saying goodbye at the reception desk to her guests.

YN heard her voice, and knew. She spun around, scanning the wide foyer for that voice and saw the little girl waving her down.

She smiled, childishly tapping Secretary Kim's arm in excitement as she pulled away, who was also smiling and followed her.

Yoongi witnessed the beautiful smile on YN's face as she dashed across the floor in her heels, kneeling down and embracing the little girl tightly.

He watched her hold and kiss the child, and hugging Jackson Wang. He wasn't sure what he was witnessing but he couldn't pull his eyes away from them; watching her hug him, whatever she spoke evidently had him sporting a massive grin as she kissed him on the cheek.

He felt his stomach in knots, "wait, she's an eomma?" he asked himself, ignoring the feeling he turned to the others, dry mouthed.

"I'm not hungry anymore. Who wants to go for a drink?"

Jackson laughed as he explained.

"We thought we would surprise you," he told her before she could say a word.

"I thought you guys were gonna come in this evening?"

Jackson grinned, "So we were having breakfast and someone was so excited to see her mom she rang Grandpa Kim."

"My princess wanted to see you even quicker so of course I obliged and changed their flights," he looked down at the little girl, and pinched her nose.

"She made them puppy dog eyes at me, and I was a goner, how could I not call uncle to help us?" laughed Jackson

YN couldn't stop smiling as she hugged him, "Thank you," she kissed his cheek and turned back to her daughter, "thank you for bringing her."

"One minute hyung," Jimin and the others jogged over to YN and Yoongi felt like it was some family reunion even his band members were a part of.

Except him.

"Hyung where you going?" Namjoon called to Yoongi.

"Back to work, I've lost my appetite," and ignoring the calls went back upstairs.

"Do you remember me?" Jimin asked, as a worried YN looked around for Yoongi, but he was nowhere to be seen.

"You can answer sweetie," YN rubbed her arm.

"Jimma samcho," she said quietly burrowing into Jackson's chest, shy.

"Yes, it's your Jimin Samchon, me and Taehyung Samchon and —" he spotted Namjoon jogging over, "And Namjoon Samchon came to see you a few months ago!"

"Do you have a favorite singer?" Jimin asked, holding her little hand, whilst she kept a firm grip on Jackson.

"My Jackson," she giggled pointing at him.

Tae feigned shock, "What! I thought it was me!" making her laugh.

YN smiled as Secretary Kim called her over, taking Ari with her.

"Ari is too cute man," Jimin smiled.

"Tell me about it. Such a good girl she is. Never any trouble," Jackson beamed.

They paused their conversation as Ari began to sleep on YN's shoulder, Jackson shook hands with the others beckoning the others to leave.

"Shall we go?" she asked him.

"I'm ready when you are." Jackson gently took Ari off YN and placed her comfortably in his arms.

"You still coming around tomorrow yes?" YN pointed to the three guys.

"Yep, I'm bringing Hobi and Jin," YN waved them off and excitedly headed home with Ari.

"You got everything?" Jackson asked as she got in beside him, looking back at Ari in her car seat.

"Yeah," she smiled looking at Ari, content.

Jackson said nothing but noticed how restless she looked the whole way home especially the way she gulped back a double shot of whiskey that evening.

"You never did like wine. Surely Korea had some good ones to offer you?" he half smiled as he watched her pour another. "So, you wanna tell me the rest of that story, that you said was complicated?"

"Oh it's a good one alright," she said sarcastically.

"Well you know me, I ain't exactly perfect myself. Try me. Have you told Jin and Uncle?"

As if by magic Jin and Uncle Kim walked in from the kitchen.

"How about you tell us what's going on?" Jin and Jackson asked.

YN let out a breath she didn't know she was holding.

"Please don't judge me.." she began.

@craftymoonchaos @bbl3ssy @ireadthensuetheauthors @pb-n-juju @audreonne @larenelizabeth @kyle-told-me-whats-up @alexayoonlee @forvever-ddaeng

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magnolia-among-the-stars · 2 years

Text

GIRL CRUSH [PHOENIX 2/8]

PART OF MY “WHATEVER THIS IS” SERIES WHICH CAN BE FOUND HERE

PAIRING: NATASHA ‘PHOENIX’ TRACE x Female Pilot!Reader

NICKNAME: Aries

It goes without saying but I do not give permission for anyone to use my work or copy it somewhere else.

Want to be added to the tag list for this character, all stories or another character? LET ME KNOW HERE :)

PART ONE / PART TWO / PART THREE / PART FOUR / PART FIVE / PART SIX / PART SEVEN / PART EIGHT

PLOT: With both their WSOs gone constantly, you and Aries are left to bound and spend all your down time together. But there’s a secret that the two of you have kept from each other - not quite ready yet to come out in the light, but your attraction to each other might just force everything to the surface.

A few days after Phantom got home from her long-extended tour, you took a trip down the coast of North Island and up to a quaint curvy road to where a house sat near a lighthouse. The warm smile curved onto your mouth as you took in the cooled temperatures and tugged your seatbelt off.

Feet planted on the ground, you saw Phantom wave from the front porch, chipping away with white paint and a glass in hand. “What a site for sore eyes,” you called lightly, slamming your door shut and moving toward your friend. She giggled lightheartedly, examining her freshly painted toes and smoothed a hand over her denim shorts.

“Beats a medic uniform any day of the week, huh?”

“Not quite,” you trampled up the small steps, “If I have to see you in the field in your uniform, you’re like an angel.” The comment settled too easily among the soldiers, a compartmentalization of their duties.

“Lemonade?” you took a moment to look over the red round table and matching metal chairs sat snuggly in the corner. Beside the pitcher of lemonade was a bottle.

“You day drinking Phantom?”

“I just got back from a six-month tour,” the woman sighed, “Of course I’m drinking.” She took her time pouring out your shot before mixing it with the lemonade, adding a lemon slice and a rosemary stick before passing the glass your way. You took some time, learning about her missions and rescues over the course of the last six months. “We only lost one guy,” Phantom shared, making you swallow down the ice cube rolling around your tongue.

“Fuck,” you replied, placing your glass down on the table as you took in the information. “He went down in his plane somewhere over the coastline and when I got down in the water, he was all blood and bones when I got to the wreckage.” Phantom had a far-off glint, breath shallow as she surely saw the man’s face in her mind.

You reached over, placing a warm hand on the flesh of her kneecap. “Hey,” you mumbled quietly, watching as Phantom returned to the present. “You did everything you could. You always do Phan.” Her small smile thanked you, pouring a full shot straight of vodka before tipping it back.

“Enough about me,” Phantom swore off and waved a hand as the alcohol seeped into her soul. She leaned back in her chair and smiled, “Tell me what’s up with you and Phoenix.” You looked out to the lighthouse, suddenly enthusiastic about the foaming of the water lapping at the base of the rocks. “Oh, come on Aries.”

“Don’t Aries me,” you replied, glancing back at your close friend with warmed cheeks. You scratched at your neck and cleared your throat as you took another sip of your lemonade. “Nothing is up with us,” you said, tone less than confident though you would blame that on the sickly acidic nature of the lemon. You felt her gaze on your left cheek, burning into the flesh there.

“You haven’t told her.”

“Of course not,” you murmured and turned to look at her. “Most of the team doesn’t even know.”

“You have to tell her,” Phantom replied all too quickly and you quipped an eyebrow at her.

“I’ll do that when you talk with Bradley,” you shot back, head tilted to the side as you stared down at her expectedly. The sound of his name made a visible nerve echo inside of Phantom and she rolled her eyes. You knew the history of the two, just as she knew all the harm that you went through in your first few months of coming out of the closet.

“I’m going out to the drive in with her tonight,” you shared finally after a few minutes of quiet. Your gaze returned to the waves, the crashing of the water peacefully against the sound of your heartbeat rapping in your eardrum.

“Tell Natasha,” Phantom smiled lovingly, hand patting the back of yours across the table. “I’m sure it will be worth it.”

Later that night, you pulled up to the barracks to pick up Natasha. You had thrown on a pair of boyfriend jeans and paired it with a simple white top. Your hoodie was through into the back seat, along with blown up air mattress stacked with fluffy pillows and a ton of freshly washed knitted quilts. Natasha rushed out the door, cheering wildly with a six pack in hand in pursuit of the passenger of your SUV.

“I’m so pumped,” she cried out as she clamored inside and shut the door behind her, settling into the cool leather and air conditioning. “Have I mentioned-,”

“That you love The Goonies?” your wide smile beamed at her as you began backing out of the space, “Just once or twice.” She giggled, tucking her silky hair behind her ear to reveal a simple ear cuff. She looked beautiful.

“Thank you for coming with me,” Natasha murmured, suddenly a little shy as you pulled onto the road to take off to the theater. “Bob and Gemini totally bailed on us…you think they’re hanging out?” Her fingertips brushed along the dials of the radio and turned to your Spotify, clicking a Soft Pop playlist.

“The two of them are so private,” you replied, humming along to a Lady Gaga song. “They could be married for all we know. You would never know,” the two of you giggled as you settled into a comfortable silence.

@luckyladycreator2 @ceilingfann @rosiahills22 @peaches-1999 @caswinchester2000 @hopefulinlove @cevans-winchester @double-j @pnsteblnme @desertgremlin @arieltwvdtohamflash @cloudbasic @milos-map

#whatever this is series #natasha trace #phoenix #natasha trace imagine #natasha trace imagines #phoenix imagines #top gun #top gun maverick #top gun fiction #natasha phoenix trace

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thrushforreal · 1 year

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It all happened so fast, the Joker escaped from Arkham, Barbara Gordon was shot damaging her spine - effectively putting Batgirl out of commission - the Joker gone in the wind not to soon after. The twins nightly rooftops jaunts left them with more violent pictures of Robin in action. And as the days go on the more violent and uncontrollable Robin becomes in his anger, until one night Robin wasn’t out.

Only a few days after did Bruce Wayne leave on a trip with his son Jason to Ethiopia, a trip that would last only a couple weeks and end in tragedy. Gotham mourned two deaths, or what they thought were two deaths, their own Robin, and Jason Todd-Wayne. Both caught up in an explosion set by the Joker, who was the reason that Batman and Robin were in Ethiopia.

The days and weeks that followed made it clear just how deeply this had affected not only Bruce but Batman as well. Withdrawing from his company and going out more as Batman. Trace has lost track of the number of times the two of them had to call an ambulance for common thiefs that he would catch.

This continued for three months until Tim couldn't do it anymore. He had already stopped taking pictures of the masked vigilante.

Trace decided to stay home to keep an eye on the Bat during his patrol, as Tim got a bus to Bludhaven. Richard Grayson had been hanging out around Halys Circus, so that's where Tim was going.

Tim basically ambushed Grayson at the circus, appearing after he heard something about a mystery that needed to be solved. He helped Richard, "Dick, just call me Dick," with his problem and was able to make his case.

"Batman needs help. He needs a Robin."

"I can't be Robin again, kid. I can't go back to being a sidekick."

"But he's getting harsher! Sending more people to the hospital! If he doesn't have Robin, he's going to cross a line he can't come back from!"

"I agree that he needs help, and I will help. As Nightwing, not Robin."

"You don-"

"Go home." And as Dick said that, he turned and left. Tim, while not completely failing, he hadn't exactly done what he set out to do. So home he went.

In the following months, things did improve slightly. Trace was happy to report back to Tim that the number of times they called 911 had dropped. Tim was refusing to go out, couldn't get good pictures of your heros if they weren't really acting like heros.

He did go out once with Trace, and despite his twin whisper yelling at him not to let the Bat see him, he went straight up to him. He confronted him on his actions the past months and told him that he needed a Robin because that was what kept him alive. Batman refused. He wouldn't be responsible for putting another child in that costume. For another child dying on his watch. Especially one that reminded him so much of Jason.

Then, six months after Jason's death came something the twins had worried about. Two-face had launched an attack on Gotham City and, in doing so, had somehow managed to trap both Batman and Nightwing.

Because of their nightly activities, the twins had been able to figure out where they were being held, but they were unable to contact the police about it before their doorbell rang. Trace got up and opened it to show that it was Mr. Alfred Pennyworth, the Wayne's Butler. "Ah, Mx. Trace, I do believe that you and your brother can help me with a dilemma." And first of all, how did he know that Trace used Mx instead of Ms? Was he psychic?? And second, Trace definitely knew what was in that suitcase he held. So they let him in and watched as he gave Tim a Robin suit.

"You'll have to forgive me for giving you an old suit, yours is still being made."

"Old suit... wait, mine? What do you mean by that?"

"I don't think that we have time for this chat Mr. Timothy, Masters Bruce and Dick are in need of help." That got Tim moving, putting the suit on and racing out to save the two. "Now Mx. Trace, if you would come with me. I am going to need help preparing the medical bay in the Cave"

"Absolutely!"

Trace helped set up but left back to Drake Manor before the others got back. Only one teenaged vigilante needed to be chewed out tonight. A couple week later, two suitcases appeared on their doorstep, one with Tim's new Robin uniform and the other containing one that was identical on most everything expect color scheme, a bandana, and a red cross where the R was on the Robin suit. That night, Gotham welcomed another Vigilante to go with Batman and Robin.

The Vigilante Thrush.

#batman oc #trace drake #trace drake-wayne #tim drake #tim drake-wayne #dick grayson #batman #batman and robin #bruce wayne #nightwing #alfred pennyworth #thrush #this got kinda bad at the end but eh #c'est la vie

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brokcave · 2 years

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Welp uh, I didn't expect myself to write Cyberowl angst in a day-

When I was writing this, I wasn't in my best mood. Stressed and tired but mostly depressed. In hopes of filtering out these feelings, I decided to write it out mindlessly. To my surprise this actually turned out to be a good idea and I somehow wrote it better than my previous drafts. Despite some possible errors made in this fic, I didn't really proofread much so yeah-

This was of course inspired by other Cyberowl fics like "Your home upon a hill" by Darkkyo (this fic destroyed me) and "The Dynamic Duo" by TJDempsie. You can find them on AO3 of course.

Disclamer: this drabble contains some angst and slight mentions of self-harm and sexual content, if you're not a fan of this then you may scroll pass by.

Friday the 13th

One and two...

Two months and a week into the protocol, it was Friday the 13th, he had never believed that a day like this would cause him bad luck (he had always thought it was just a myth) until he had met a peculiar man. His stature straight and fine with a voice that showed how delightful he was yet it also showed how cunning he could be.

His skills were clean and his mind was powerful, but his morals were broken. Especially when it came to information. The man seemed to hold no guilt when it came to taking it, keeping it while also putting up a price for it.

He despised him. He couldn't believe he was working with him, let alone in the same room.

He had to do something.

Three, four, and five...

Three to Five months had gone by, his hate had grown bigger. He had tried and tried to convince the other what he does was shameful yet the other never batted an eye nor flinched when he was told.

"He held no guilt," he thought as he walked past him. He hated him. He had no shame.

He carried on to work as he carried his anger with him, fueling him to finish the job quicker and better than the other. Showing off to the others, especially Cypher, that his way was better than his. Shaming the other even, a last resort in bringing him away from that path.

Six and seven...

It had been six weeks and it was seven in the evening, he wasn't supposed to be here, in a room with wires all around, with screens and cameras strung around either showing life or none as it blinked light into the spy's room.

The man was crying, wailing even, never thought he'd see the day the man he despised would fall before him in a puddle of tears. Even more, with drops of blood.

Cypher held Sova tight, whispering the same name all over again, begging and pleading for the end to quickly come upon him.

Nora. Nora. Nora-

He wanted to see his beloved that was waiting for him on the other side. He kept chanting- no, he kept sobbing out his regrets of not saving them as his bloody wrists soiled the hunter's shirt.

If Sova knew this is what would happen behind closed doors then he wouldn't have said these things to him, he wouldn't have left him behind all this time, he wouldn't have filled his plate with unnecessary stress and doubts. Clouding his overall judgement and later self-destructing as he hears a metal clank falling out of his hands, revealing it to be a blood-soaked knife. His knife, to be exact. How he got it? He didn't know nor care, he was more focused on the one question that shattered his view on the very man he despised.

What has he done?

Eight...

Eight days.

Eight days since what had happened. He was in the workshop once again, keeping an eye on the somber spy.

After crying and screaming his heart out a week ago, Sova had immediately brought him to Sage. She then warned Cypher to care better for his health along with comforting him, meanwhile Sova was given an earful of lectures after everything Sova had put him through. No matter the intentions.

He remembered looking at the passed out man with pity and guilt that time, even now was no different.

The other had noticed the ashamed owl and engaged conversation, hoping the other would look past it. Surprisingly, Sova entertained him.

They continued on and on, talking first about work but later evolved to some revelations, then soon turned into light-hearted conversations. They would've talked a lot more if it weren't for Killjoy passing on Cypher's dinner, they looked at the clock and saw that it was eight in the evening.

They both then say their goodbyes, then later come back in the morning to continue these joyous moments.

Nine, ten, and eleven...

Nine months, ten weeks, and eleven days. That's how long it took for their relationship to develop and honestly, Sova had never felt happier than before.

The sound of glass sliding and bumping into one another as Cypher flicked a pawn onto the board's surface, he takes it and places it in a pile of Sova's pieces.

The other scratched his head, seeing that his king was cornered. He took a few moments to think of a strategy but gave up in the end. Oh, how losing never felt better, because the moment Cypher giggled and smirked at him, his heart had started to flutter along with the tip of his ears burning red.

Cypher then noticed and stared, both now looking at each other with contentment and curiousity. Moments of staring turned into seconds of moving closer to each other, making sure no space was left between them.

Minutes then rose with unlikable tension as Sova unconsciously places his hand on the other's cheek, carressing him slightly. Cypher's hand then went to his, guiding it to the mask's opening, motioning him to lift it up. As he did so, their lips immediately connected along with their hands intertwining as they pushed each other around.

So needless to say, hours later, unscathed clothes were tossed on the ground as the creaking furniture was the only sound made throughout the night.

Twelve...

Twelve hours since their rendevous. He never would've expected to be in another's bed, let alone to be under the covers with the man he once despised.

When they both woke up, both of them just embraced each other, not wanting this to be a dream. Not wanting to return to the harsh world that awaits before them. All they wanted was to enjoy the moment that they have, a new found relationship that had surely shook their world.

But Cypher's phone rings with the Captain's name being shown, he didn't want to let Cypher go. He just couldn't. And he wished he never did.

By the time he got out of bed.

By the time he was given his mission.

By the time he went to Sova and said, "I love you."

The other had ended up in a hospital bed, wired up to machines.

The mission was a disaster, everything in the protocol was. Their mirrors had ended up ambushing the team and severely injuring them, but their wounds were nothing in comparison to Cypher's as he was on the brink of death.

Sage had long passed out and was being treated Skye, meanwhile Sova stayed by Cypher's side, trying to get him to hang on. He could feel himself starting to hyperventilate when Cypher inched his hand onto Sova's, gliding it lightly above his.

Beep...beep...beep...

The other was choking a sob as he looked at him, the bandages wrapped around his face and arms, making him barely recognisable along with the tubes and wires that were attatched on him, pumping air and blood into him.

Beep...beep...

His hand slowly made its way to Sova's face, carressing him as he gasped in for air. He was trembling, trying to hold himself together for him. His tears pricked at his eyes as the pain in his chest start to bloom, it hurt to see him like this.

Beep...

The machine was slowing down, Sova feeling frantic but Cypher hushed him, smiling softly at him as his tears start to fall. His voice was hoarse and scratchy as he whispered, with how loud the room was it could be easily missed. But not for Sova.

"I love you...so much my...my dear..."

Beeeeeeeeeep...

His hand falls as the machine rang, his eyes lacking color and light with his eyelids being left half-opened.

Sova gasped and trembled, holding the now cold and lifeless hand. His shaken sobs were enough to catch the other's attention to the sight before them, Sova holding his only rival's hand as he cried choked on his own sobs.

Never would he thought that the phrase "I love you too" could hurt him so badly, it was as if his heart took a beating and was then stabbed harshly with a knife. His throat had become strained and scratchy as he tearfully shouted out his sorrows. His body trembled as he lands on his knees, holding desperately onto the hospital bed and onto his lover's hand.

His name became a chant as he continuously said it, in a tone that practically begged to stay by his side as Brimstone pulled him away from the bed. Their now awakened healer frantically running to Cypher, holding onto hope as she held her orb out. But they all knew it was too late as his body stilled, lifeless and cold. His soft smile that was once warm now chilled into his bones, immortalizing the memory of his lover, covered in blood and bandages, dying from a battle that had no end.

Thirteen...

He first said that he had never believed that a day like friday the 13th would ever give anyone bad luck, even upon himself. But the day when he met Cypher, he had started to believe that belief as he remembered how he once was with Cypher.

But now, as he watched as his beloved gave out his final breath at 12AM, on the friday of 13th. The belief had made it clear that not only would this be a remembrance of a bad day when he found Cypher, it would also be the worst day of his entire life as he now lost his only rival. His best friend. His dearest lover.

#valorant cypher #valorant sova #cyberowl #boredwritin #idkhowitcametothisbutyeah

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pureimaginefic · 3 months

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Vicki sat in an antique white rocking chair on the balcony just outside her bedroom, her legs curled up underneath her. She sat in a trance like state, just staring blankly ahead. A cool summer wind blew softly across her face as voices resonated in her mind.

"I've missed you you know" Brian's voice echoed in her brain.

"Did I go somewhere?" she asked.

"You know what I mean" he said.

She sighed and rested her head in her hands, she then quickly covered her mouth and ran frantically back inside, slamming the bathroom door shut behind her. Sounds of retching and heaving came from the bathroom, she filled up a cup of water to flush her mouth out and spit it into the sink. Bits and pieces of that night kept coming to her, the passion, the kissing, the water raining over them in the shower, the steam rising up over the curtain, but one thing was always missing. She picked up the phone from its cradle and began to punch in a number.

"Em? Hey, I'm glad you're home, listen I really need someone to talk to and it's too personal to do over the phone, do you think you can come over?" she asked.

She sat on her bed in shock when she heard footsteps on the stairs.

"Hey" Emily said coming into Vicki's room.

"Hey, thanks for coming" Vicki said shutting the door.

"Yeah no problem, you okay?" Emily asked.

"Uh...I don't think so" Vicki said "I keep thinking back to the night of the Poison concert" she said.

"Well from what you told me it was pretty memorable" Emily said to her "Vicki, what's wrong?" she asked.

"Em...I think I might be pregnant" Vicki said nervously.

"Oh my god" Emily said "Okay let's sit" she said sitting on the bed with Vicki. "Now what makes you so sure you might be...you know?" Emily asked.

"I've been going through it over and over in my brain" Vicki said.

"Okay and?" Emily asked her.

"I don't remember using anything" Vicki said.

"Which time?" Emily asked.

"Any of them" Vicki said to her.

"Well did you feel anything?" Emily asked.

"No... I don't know" Vicki said "I've been throwing up for the past three days straight" she said.

"That could be anything, that doesn't mean you're pregnant” Emily said.

"Em I'm not stupid, I've just seen four of my friends go through this in the past six months" Vicki said to her. "That's why I asked you over here...I need you to do me a favor" she said.

"Well yeah sure, anything" Emily said to her.

"I need you to go and get me a home pregnancy test" Vicki said.

"Me?!" Emily asked.

"Em, please?" Vicki pleaded.

"You are the only person I would do this for" Emily said to her.

"Thank you so much" Vicki said hugging her.

"Course" Emily said to her "I'll be right back" she said leaving.

Vicki bit her nails as she paced her living room, waiting for Emily to come back "Oh thank god" she said relieved as the door opened and Emily came inside.

"You ready?" Emily asked handing over a plain paper bag.

Vicki sighed "I guess" she said taking the bag, they headed upstairs and went into her room. "You bought three?" Vicki asked pulling three boxes out of the bag.

"Well yeah, one test is not going to be accurate, you want to be sure don't you?" Emily asked.

"Yeah, I guess" Vicki said taking them all and going into the bathroom.

"Well?" Emily asked as the door opened and Vicki stepped out.

"It takes a couple minutes" Vicki said to her, she then sat next to Emily at the edge of her bed.

"You okay?" Emily asked putting her hand on Vicki's back.

"I'm petrified" Vicki said to her.

"If it does turn out to be positive...what are you going to do?" Emily asked concerned.

"I don't know, I don't know, I just can't believe this is happening" Vicki said hiding her face in her hands.

"It's going to be okay" Emily said wrapping her arm around Vicki's shoulders "You have options."

"I know" Vicki said to her.

"And whatever you decide I'll be here for you" Emily said reassuringly.

"Thanks Em" Vicki said smiling at her.

"Course" Emily said.

"I just wish I could say the same for my boyfriend and my mother" Vicki said to her "She's going to hate me" she said sadly.

"Of course she won't" Emily said.

"Em, my mother basically thinks I'm perfect, I mean what am I? I'm a straight A student, I make honor roll every semester, I don't get into trouble..." Vicki said to her.

"No one's perfect, she knows this and she knows you're human, you make mistakes like everyone else...trust me there's no such thing as a perfect human being" Emily said to her.

Vicki looked back at the clock on her nightstand "It's time" Vicki said standing up and going into the bathroom. They all lied on the sink counter lined up in a row, three small plus signs staring back at her. "Oh god" she said tearfully.

"It's okay" Emily said holding her tightly as she sobbed "You'll be okay" Emily said trying to soothe her.- Pomp & Circumstance ch.19 "Beach Baby"

#jr. bsb series #original characters #bsb fan fiction #pomp and circumstance #jr. bsb birthday #bradley birthday spam

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casspurrjoybell-24 · 8 months

Text

Sugar Punch - Chapter 39

*Warning Adult Content*

Two years later. . .

- Theo -

As my day came to an end, I felt relieved that I managed to finish all my work and sent it in before the deadline.

Four months of late nights and coffee binging, I finally had time off from the project my team and I were working on, it was our second big project and with our name finally out there, we couldn't mess it up.

Leaning back in my chair, I rub my face and sigh out, then look at the time to see that it's three in the morning and I desperately needed a shower.

Turning my PC off, I grabbed my things and made my way out of the office, before loosening my tie, everyone had already left hours ago and since I was the last one here, I had to lock up before I left.

Locking up, I head out to the parking lot and unlock my car, seeing the headlights flash ahead of me and the car beep as I opened the door to my car, and got inside.

How long has it been since I got time to myself?

It feels as though all I do these days is work and eat instant noodles, it wasn't ideal but this was the cost of having a job I only dreamt of when I was back in high school.

I was fortunate enough to land a job straight out of university, as a game programmer I couldn't complain, the money was great and the job gave me freedom to choose what jobs I wanted to take on and which ones I didn't.

I had my own small team but it was perfect, everything felt like how it should be at a job, I showed up, did my job and left with a smile on my face every single day.

Driving home, it didn't take me longer than twenty minutes from the office and once I park the car, I head for my apartment building and start walking towards the elevator, to get to my apartment on the sixth floor.

I lean against the wall of the elevator and closed my eyes to destress myself before I headed inside my apartment, not wanting to bring my work life home, this was a ritual of mine to live a happy life, not only at home and work but also in my relationship.

That's when I wonder if he's awake...

Unlocking my apartment door, I head inside and lock it again, all the lights are off, so I knew that he was fast asleep in our bed, as he probably got home two hours ago and was equally tired.

Quietly, I walk into the bedroom and see him fast asleep, cuddling his pillow with half the blanket off him, he looked funny when he was asleep, with his mouth open,and naked with nothing but socks on.

Arthur Jones... my boyfriend of six months.

I take off my clothes and head into the bathroom for a quick shower before I get into bed and get some much-needed sleep, it takes me twenty minutes to wash and brush my teeth before I head back into the bedroom, to climb into bed and under the blanket.

"Mmmh... Theo?" Arthur mumbles, as I wrap my arm around his waist and I lay down next to him.

"Yeah, it's me... go back to sleep," I softly said, as he hummed out and instantly went back to sleep, leaving me laying there as I got lost in my thoughts.

It was times like this, that I can't help but think about the past and how far I've come and how much I've changed since then... since him.

Maddox Zane...

I've not seen him since that day, the day he broke up with me, as days went by, I knew that it was finished between us, then as months went by, I started to persuade myself that it was all probably for the best.

I had dived deep into my classes and studied hard, I kept my head down and got a job, now two years later I'm in a happy, healthy relationship with someone who loves me and someone I could see a future with.

Still, I thought about him, it could be once a week... once a month, it didn't matter what I was doing, who I was with or where I was, Maddox always found a way inside my thoughts.

Despite this feeling not going away, I was desperate to make my relationship with Arthur work, it didn't matter that I was still in love with someone else, I knew that in time, everything would fade and Arthur would fill the emptiness I feel inside of me.

Once a month I checked up on Maddox, just to see if he was happy and every time I looked him up online, I couldn't help myself but miss him, his voice, his touches and the way he made me feel like I stood ten feet high.

He started dating a month ago and although I had no right to be upset, I couldn't stop myself from wishing that it was me.

Clary Fraiser, she was, from what I read online about her, a humanitarian who did lots of charity work, she loved kids, she was the only child of a wealthy family and most importantly... she was head over heels in love with Maddox.

I hated that I still thought about him, I was happy now, Arthur was good to me and for me, I shouldn't be thinking about him anymore, something was clearly wrong with me, I should hate him for the hurt he put me through.

Even so, I still admired Maddox, I still watched him fight and I still didn't hate him, he probably had his reasons for ending things and the more I thought about it, I knew what we had was still new and something we weren't ready for.

I was okay with it now. I understood and had I moved on.

I close my eyes and rest my head against Arthurs back, blocking his face from my mind as I force my mind and body to rest, as exhaustion soon takes over me and I fall asleep.

SUGAR🥊──── 🥊PUNCH

I walk into my kitchen, to see Arthur, sitting at the table, drinking coffee while on his laptop.

"Hey there, sleepy head," he says, once he sees me, smiling happily as he types away.

I groan and head straight for the coffee.

"Morning."

"What time did you get home. I didn't hear you get in?" he asks, as I pour myself a cup of coffee and then stretch my arm, before grabbing my cup and sitting down next to him.

"Late, you were out cold, and I didn't want to wake you up," I said, smiling at him, as he looked at me, with bed hair sticking up in every direction.

He snorted out before leaning over to kiss me on the lips.

"You should've," he says, pulling back, smiling at me. "I haven't seen you in a week. I missed my boyfriend."

Smiling apologetically, I take a drink from my cup and look at what he's doing on his laptop, I saw he was on Facebook and talking to his mom, who I haven't met yet but heard so much about.

"You'll be happy to know it's finished then," I say, rubbing my sore neck as I put my cup down. "I finished at 2:30 this morning."

"Babe."

He got up from his seat and wrapped his arms around me and kissed me on my head.

"This is perfect timing. My mom is coming into town today and she's been begging me to finally meet my super smart and sexy boyfriend," he beams, as I look up at his face.

She wants to meet me?

Not this again...

"You know I..."

"I know," he interrupts me, rolling his eyes and sitting back on his seat. "But it's been months babe and she's my mother and I don't know... I'm spending more time here and things are good with us... What if I just moved in here?" he says, as I felt my chest squeeze uncomfortably.

I swallowed hard and then laugh out nervously.

"So soon?"

He looked at me like I was crazy.

"It's been months, babe. Don't you think it's time? This way we could spend more time together and you know... it's been a while since we've been together."

This talk always made me uncomfortable.

It wasn't that I didn't want Arthur here but the moment he moved in, then everything became official and for some reason, whenever I thought about it, I got an uneasy feeling in the pit of my stomach.

I should just stop and say he's right.

I know I'm being ridiculous but this feeling...

Not to mention I hated the nickname 'babe' and sometimes I had to wonder if he even knew my name.

"Arthur, it's just not a good time for me. I'm not saying no, I just think we should wait," I told him and his face turned serious and shook his head.

He closed his laptop and got up from his seat.

"I don't understand you. What is the big deal? We love each other and living together is the next step," he groaned, frustrated, getting up from his seat, carrying his laptop as he stomped off.

He paused and then turned around; his face now angry.

"Is there someone else? Is that why you won't meet my mom or live with me?"

Where does he get this from?

"Not this again..." I sigh, not wanting to talk about this again, when he knows he was the only guy I was seeing.

Arthur liked to move fast and I learned from my past that moving too fast wasn't always the best way to start a relationship.

He also liked to push things onto me out the blue without allowing myself to have a say in anything.

I liked Arthur but he was clingy and as much as I worked and tried to be a good boyfriend, he didn't understand that I needed time to adjust.

"Can we not talk about this right now? You know I'm only seeing you. I don't have time to shower Arthur, how the hell would I have time to cheat?" I shake my head, getting up from my seat and putting my empty cup in the dishwasher.

I didn't want to argue with him, not so early in the morning and on the first day of my vacation, I knew that if I engaged any more than this, it would only end up with Arthur crying and leaving.

"Look..." I went over to him and held his hand as I pressed my lips to his cheek. "I just need more time, okay?" I said softly, as his eyes filled with tears looked at me.

"Fine."

He wipes his eyes, before leaning in to kiss me on the lips.

"I just love you babe... and I want to spend more time with you. I hate not seeing you and sometimes I worry I'm not enough for you."

My chest throbs at his words as I force a smile, despite this familiar feeling swallowing me whole.

"I promise you there's nobody else. Now stop crying." I playfully lean in and kiss his nose before moving back. "Just trust me, okay?"

He frowns but nods his head, as a small smile reached his lips.

"I do. I'm just... acting crazy. I'm sorry babe."

Laughing, I walk past him and pick up my gym bag by the door and then slip on my shoes.

I could feel Arthur watching me from the doorway and when I looked at him, I knew exactly what he wanted.

It's been a week and he always get like this but today I wasn't in the mood to have sex with him.

I needed to get this frustration out and as much as I wish sex would do it for me, it didn't but punching a bag did.

"I'll meet your mom."

I put my bag over my shoulder and open the front door, then look back to see a happy Arthur, grinning from ear to ear.

"Really?" he asks as I nod my head, tightening my hold on my bag as he runs over to me and presses his lips roughly onto mine, multiple times whilst saying 'mwah'.

"I love you. I love you. I promise she will love you as much as I love you. I just know it," he says, as he kept kissing me.

I chuckle uncomfortably as I quickly kiss him back on the lips and then step out into the hallway, putting my black cap on.

"I'll be back soon, I promise."

"Don't be too long… I've missed your body," he says with a knowing grin as he looked down at my gym shorts.

I smile back at him, nod my head and close the front door behind me.

Once the door shuts, I feel like I can breathe again and for whatever reason I started to feel sick and nauseous as I started walking away from my apartment, a dark thought crossing my mind that I desperately wanted to forget thinking about.

I hated that I thought about running away from Arthur, to just pack up and ghost him, after-all, he's done nothing but be there for me and he tried, he really did try and make me happy.

I'm trying too but it didn't matter how much time I spent with Arthur, I just didn't love him like how I loved Maddox, the feeling just didn't come and the more time I spent with him, the more guilty I felt.

Time... all I needed was time and in time things were going to change, I just had to bear it and let Arthur make me happy.

For now, I was going to work out at the gym, as Tony is most likely waiting for me with a grumpy expression on his face from how late I'm going to be, when I do eventually show up for training.

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