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makncheese12 · 11 months

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Big boom

Summary: in which your big bad wolf girlfriend has a terrible fear of storms.

A/N: Masterlist, make request here my friends🫶🏻

Warning: my writing

Enid Sinclair X fem!reader

You read across the pages in your book as the sound of the hard pounding of rain hits the roof above you. A bright light flashes across the open pages soon to be followed by a loud crack that almost shakes the school.

You were one of those people who enjoyed the storms, the way the rain is a perfect back ground noise to read to. It was even better at night time, when it would light up the sky and you could see the entire bolt of lightening strike.

Usually, the sound would lull you to sleep, the soft patters of the rain and the noise of the constant thunder but those thoughts were gone when you knew you would soon be accompanied by your girlfriend and you had to force yourself to stay awake for her sake.

She was, for some reason, afraid of storms. Especially big ones like these. Why? You didn’t know to be honest, especially with her being a large werewolf. But then again her personality didn’t exactly fit a beast of night that could tear your limb from limb if it chose to.

You had gotten lucky because you’re roommate decided to stay with her boyfriend on the night you knew your girlfriend would need you the most on.

You let a small smile rest on your face as another round of lights brighten up your room, imagining the sight of how she would hurry her steps into an almost sprint as soon as the thunder followed.

You think of all the past times she had come running to your room for comfort after her roommate had forced her away, threatening to use her as an experiment to test how lightening truly works.

You had always thought Wednesday to be an exotic person but you didn’t really like her threatening your girlfriend so often so you had just told her to come here instead.

Right on cue, the door is almost yanked open causing you to look up from your book to see a soaking wet Enid who was shaking and you weren’t sure if it was the fear or rain.

She wore her usual purple pajama pants and fluffy light pink sweat shirt that were now soaking wet, making her really look like a wet dog. You wouldn’t be surprised if she smelled like one.

“Aht!” You call out as she immediately makes her way to you once she slams the door shut behind her. She stops in her tracks just in time to hit the end of your rug, a pout evident on her face.

You stand from your bed and laugh at the grabby hands she makes at you, clearly impatient to get a hold of you. “Shoes.” You say, eyeing the muddy boots before going to your closet and pulling out a pair of sweat pants and a sweat shirt she would undoubtably take as her own. You make sure to stand just out of her reach when you walk over toward her.

She lets out a huff before sitting down and going to untie said muddy boots. Just as she finishes taking off one a loud crack snaps across the sky making her jump slightly as her hands become hurried.

“Big boom, big boom, big boom.” She mumbles to herself as she skillfully yanks her shoes off, standing up and taking the clothes you hold out to her. You smile to yourself as you watch her and her quiet little chant.

“Go dry off and get dressed.” you say with a small smile as your girlfriend gapes at you.

She glances toward the dark bathroom then back to you, her frown deepening. She doesn’t get the chance to protest once a light flashes across your room, now with a sudden eagerness to get into bed and close to you. You let out a quiet chuckle before making your way back to bed and lying down, keeping your blanket open so the girl could have easy access.

It’s not even five minutes before Enid comes rushing out of the bath room. You smile and open your arms to her and she doesn’t waste another second to get into them.

You let out a laugh as your head hits your pillow roughly, Enid already entangled within you; her legs tangle with yours, arms wrapped around you tightly and head tucked into its usual place in your neck. She’s still shaking as she lets out a long sigh of relief and you frown. It wasn’t often it stormed here but when it did, she would always end up like this. You didn’t like it.

Yes, she was very clingy at these times, not wanting to let go and very whiny but she was always like there. Clingy, wanting to touch you, never leaving your side but these times were different. She was also terrified of the sounds and sights. Her body would jolt every time thunder sounded out and she would try to bury herself in you.

(You remember the very first time she came to your room, she tried to and successfully crawled into your shirt and stayed there the entire night with you.)

“Poor baby,” you say, rubbing across her back as she lets out a quiet whimper trying to press more into you. “I know, it’s so scary.”

You reach your hand up and scratch her scalp. That along with you rubbing her back makes her visibly relax a little more and she lets a small smile rest on her face that smooshed against your shoulder.

She takes in a deep breath, your scent calming her even more as the storm continues.

“You’re warm.” She states with a shaky breath as her hands find their way under your shirt to warm themselves.

You let out a laugh from both her comment and the sudden ticklish feeling. “I figured with how cold you are right now.”

“It was the stupid storm.” She grumbles, flinching slightly as the thunder roars in response. You sigh and continue rubbing her back and scratching her scalp as you watch out the window.

You watch as the rain continues to patter against your window, never slowing down as the little droplets race each other down the glass only to be met with breaking off and forming a little puddle at the end.

It reminded you of Enid when she raced her to get passed the storm quickly, let’s out all of her fear then forms into a small puddle under your hold.

She was like a puppy learning about something scary for first time expect she always comes back in fear of the same thing instead of facing it.

Not that your complained.

A rather loud boom sounds out and shakes the castle a little more than usual. The sound makes Enids claws come out and knic you slightly before they disappear immediately.

“I’m sorry!” She states, soothing out the cat like scratches on your sides. The worry clear in her voice and face as she lifts it slightly to look down as the barely bleed marks.

“It’s okay, really.” You say and you grab the sides of her face and bring her into a soft kiss that escalates a pure out of her. The electrical feeling buzzing through you like a sudden chill and you thrive off the feeling.

Every since finding out you were her mate she had too thrived off your shared kisses. Thrived off you in general. Your soft touches, the way your eyes would look for and meet hers in the halls, the way your warmth would leave tingles on her skin after leaving the bed together.

Everything about you made her more and more obsessed with you, and she loved it along with you. It had also seemed to calm her down even more.

She leans in and takes another kiss for herself, then another which pulls a giggle out of you which makes her want more.

It’s her turn to grab the sides of your face as she begins kissing all over, any thoughts of the storm raging outside gone and the only ones there are the ones who want to hear you laugh.

She starts with your cheeks, then moves to your nose then your head, becoming more gentle as she moves down to your eyes then back to your cheeks.

Your smile continues to grow as her kisses slow down, leaving softer ones in her wake before leaning back to look at her work. Disappointment fills her face as she remembers she’s not wearing lip stick. The sudden reality hits as thunder hits again making her stiffen up a bit.

“Would you like me to read to you? Until you fall asleep at least.” You ask pulling away slightly and she nods, giving you another soft kiss on your lips before going back to her place on your neck, eager to hear your voice to distract her from the storm.

You reach for your book that had fallen onto the floor after Enid jumped into your bed with you but it’s just out of your reach. You let out a quiet huff before looking down to Enid who continued to stay in her spot.

“Maybe a little help?” You ask, hand out reaching for the book as you look down at her. Her eyes peek from your shoulder to see the book and just how out of reach it was.

She then reaches out and takes the book with ease, even in her odd position, before handing it to you and going back into her spot before it got to cold.

You smile lightly before opening the book where you set the book mark and continuing where you left off, reading the words out loud in a soft voice you knew would lull your girlfriend in a calmer state as she begins setting small kisses on your neck.

After what you knew was at least forty five minutes of Enid just listening to you, adding her own sleepy commentary in the process and you listening to her breath. Her kisses become less frequent and her breath eventually evens out into quiet snores.

Your smile grows as you close the book quietly and reach to put it on your bed side table before clicking your lap off.

You settle into a more comfortable position and just watch her for a few minutes, brushing the stray hairs on her face to reveal the scar she had received last year.

A let out a small sigh before leaning over and place a kiss across the scar and settle back into your place as you wrap your arms around her tighter and close your eyes, ready to finally fall asleep.

“Goodnight, you big puppy.” You mumble before drifting off into your own dreamless sleep.

A/N: it’s a little short cause I’m tired but I still like it🥲

#enid sinclair #enid sinclair x reader #Emma Myers #Emma myers x reader #wednesday addams #wednesday series #wenclair #wednesday addams x reader

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starwrighter · 6 months

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I have a cold and that’s scarier than anything I could write this October. Tw suicidal idealizations

So! 3/??? Halloween prompt.

Danny is in Gotham because his sister was invited to tour some prestigious school in Gotham because of how smart she is. Danny’s not resentful, truly he isn’t. He’s proud of her. He’s happier for her than he’s ever been for anyway. It’s just… Hard knowing the future his death stole from him.

Seeing his sister succeed while he still has to fight to keep what little remained of his life is bittersweet. He’d never say any of this out loud because he loves her and she’s one of the only people he can truly count on to support him.

After a few days in Gotham with all these bitter and depressing thoughts Danny start to believe that he needs to die. He doesn’t want to kill himself he just… Wants to not be Fenton or phantom anymore. He doesn’t want be the stupid failure of a kid in a family full of geniuses. He doesn’t want to be seen as a villain or hunted for trying to help people. He’s just so, so so so tired and just want’s to not deal with any of this anymore.

Danny goes ghost for the first time since entering this city. Sitting on a roof with his head tucked in between his legs. When he hears someone drop behind him going on this whole spiel on “Not jumping,” it strikes him as odd because the usual response to seeing phantom is anything but compassion. Danny waves the guy off with a mournful smile and a reassurance of “I think you’re a bit too late to save my life, most that’d happen now is me phasing through the core of the earth”

The guy sits next to him, shocked when his attempts of patting Danny’s shoulder passes right through. Danny can’t help but snicker. “Don’t worry about me I’m still new to the whole ghost thing,” he looks disturbed at Danny’s response but not in the way people usually did when they saw phantom. He introduces himself as nightwing and Danny finally recognizes him as one of Gotham’s vigilantes.

“How do you do it?” The question spills out of his mouth bitterness leaking into his words. Nightwing looks confused.

“Everyone loves you guys, everyone trust’s you,” his eyes water as he speaks

“No matter how many people I save, how many buildings I stop from collapsing and criminals I stop, they still paint me as this monstrous villain,”

“I can’t believe I died for this shit,” Danny scowls, Nightwing is speechless. Danny then decides that he doesn’t want to be turned in to the GIW by a vigilante and dips.

Dick and the entire fam who were listening to the entire encounter are horrified because apparently there is a child who fucking died being a vigilante and people are attacking for it?! They make the connection with the ghost dick talked to and phantom but not the connection between phantom and Danny Fenton. Danny is very confused when the entire justice league comes down on amity park the moment they get home.

#even better if Danny is outed as helping phantom and not being phantom #dp x dc #dpxdc #dc x dp #dcxdp #halloween prompts #tw suicidal idealization

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jq37 · 4 months

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The Report Card – Fantasy High Junior Year Ep 1

We're SO Back

School is back in session y’all!!!!

Fantasy High has returned to us after a long break and I am thrilled to come out of my recapping hiatus to bring back the Report Card for Junior Year! You know I could let my favorite chaotic high schoolers go un-analyzed!

This episode wastes no time in getting started so neither will I. Brennan makes what I think is a very strong narrative choice by starting us in media res at the end of a classic Bad Kids adventure. It is the summer between Sophomore and Junior Year and the party has spent the last four months hot on the trail of the dreaded Night Yorb.

We catch up to our Intrepid Heroes in the Red Waste and they’re trying to catch up to the Night Yorb which is a big, eldritch, manta ray like monster who threatens to plunge the entire world into darkness, creating a very slow (but still effective!) apocalypse! The Night Yorb is flanked by its groupies, made up of members of the many cults dedicated to it (collectively known as “Yorbies”).

As I said, the Bad Kids are hot on its trail, in (and on) the Hangvan. Gorgug (who has been leaning more into his Artificer vibes lately) has outfitted the top of the Hangvan with a solar lasso that can be used to capture and reel in the Night Yorb so that Fig and Adaine can defeat it with a magical sigil. I’m gonna quickly run down where everyone is and what they’re doing:

Adaine and Fig are both standing on top of the Hangvan in order to spring the sigil when the time comes. Adaine is also joined by Boggy and a new addition, Moggy the Doggy (aka, Mordekainen’s Faithful Hound), which is a very round, very cute, very invisible Pomeranian looking dog.

Gorgug is also up top with them because he’s manning the solar lasso.

Fabian is inside the Hangvan along with Baby (aka Wretchrot, aka Fig’s screeching blood imp who has no mechanical benefit unless she takes another level of Warlock as Brenan keeping reminding us) and Ecaf, a mirror with a sultry voice that Fabian is *heavily* flirting with, much to everyone’s discomfort. It’s tres Narcissus. (Also, ha, Face backwards. I see you Brennan).

Kristen is in the back with Fabian and Riz is driving, even though he is WAY too small to effectively be driving a Gorgug sized van.

The Hangman–Fabian’s trusty motorcycle/hellhound–is out in front of the Hangvan.

Also Squeem is on the roof with the others! Beloved, fan favorite Squeem!

Yeah, so this episode does a thing of pretending like we’re jumping into the last episode of an arc that we’ve seen every episode of and introducing characters in a very Sam Reich, “He’s been there this whole time” way even though it’s their first appearance. I think it’s very funny and it reminds me of that Community episode where they’re all flashing back to episodes that never aired. But anyway, I mention this so that if I mention a name and you’re like “Whomst?” it’s probably just a bit, you’re not forgetting a major character.

Anyway, we’re joining this chase already in progress which means our kids are hurt and down spell slots but their opponents are as well. The distribution is pretty uneven–Adaine is way less hurt than Fabian and Kristen for instance, which honestly checks out (curious how they decided on that though).

Because this episode is just one big battle sequence for the most part, I’m going to follow the precedent I set in the recaps for The Seven and just give the highlights in bullets and then do an analysis on where all the Bad Kids are right now at the end:

Murph comes in hot, using his first action of the new season to shoot his gun and doing 30 points of damage with a 27 to hit. New year, new Murph!

Siobhan invokes the corn cuties debacle from fight one and all the falling off the tables that happened. Clearly, a bit of Adaine’s oracle energy is rubbing off on her because the next thing that happens in that Fabian decides to jump on top of the Hangvan to cast Faerie Fire on the Night Yorb (which has shrouded itself in magical darkness), rolls the first Nat 1 of the season, absolutely eats it, and gets run over by Riz–narrowly avoiding going down. He’s ultimately fine–The Hangman comes and picks him up–but it’s not a very auspicious star from Master Fabian.

Emily and Murph have a cute moment of womping Brennan back to back by using Silvery Barbs to make him reroll two attacks on the Hangvan–one of which is a crit–and then giving each other the advantage on the next roll.

Kristen is a real pillar in this encounter–holding up the Circle of Power spell that allows her friends to ignore big chunks of damage that absolutely would have dropped them. But throughout the entire fight, her patron goddess, Cassandra, keeps trying to talk to her and Kristen keeps leaving her on read–we’ll get more into that in a bit.

Adaine comes in clutch with a Nat 1 portent roll to stop the NIght Yorb from resisting Gorgug’s attempt to reel it in further. Truly, the best time to roll a Nat 1 in this game. Divination Wizards are awesome!

We learn that “Don’t Speak of the Night Yorb” is more than just a silly bit when Fig realizes that saying its name makes it heal up which isn’t great because they’ve been *very* cavalier about invoking its name.

Squeem gets a big emotional goodbye with Gorgug on top of the Hangvan, heroically leaps off to fend off some Yorbies…and then rolls a 2 and totally faceplants. No! Squeem! Beloved fan favorite Squeem! They already had to revivify you once!

On the Night Yorb’s turn, Brennan does an attack and shakes so many dice that it sounds like maracas. It’s 61 points of damage and squishy wizard Adaine goes down, but everyone else stays up–large in part due to Kristen’s aforementioned Circle of Power. (Siobhan, describing how bad her saving rolls were zings two separate friends saying, “It was Fabian level nasty. I fucking Murph’d it.”)

Luckily, Fig and Gorgug are up on the roof with Adaine so she does not go sliding off the van when she goes down. They catch her before she can fall.

At this point the Van has sustained a lot of damage so Murph reminds the teacher that they have homework/Brennan that they have to roll for a mishap. That turns out to be the breaks blowing out. Now, all the Van can do is accelerate! It’s just like the movie Speed!

Two more characters who we totally know and have been here this whole time show up to help–Balthazar and Duggan McCann! A cool grizzled veteran and a centaur cowboy. Riz immediately starts doing cool guy banter with them because he’s somehow convinced them that he’s cool (which he is for the record, just in a completely different way lol). Unfortch, Baz almost right away gets eaten by the NIght Yorb. Who’s gonna take care of his litter (?) of parrots?????

At this point in the fight, everyone gets a ping on their crystals, reminding them that school starts in three days. This stresses everyone out more than the fight that they’re currently in.

Fig brings up Adaine with a Healing Word but she immediately has to do Wis save with the rest of the party. She and Fabian fail, but once again Fabian is saved by fear negating effects of his dad’s eyepatch. So Adaine starts to have a panic attack about the fact that she’s fighting the Night Yorb while standing on the roof of a moving vehicle which, real talk, very normal and valid reaction. In fact, probably concerning that she’s reached a point in her life where that *isn’t* the default reaction.

The Hangvan is coming up on a jump it’ll have to make to continue following the Night Yorb (and it can’t even try to stop because the brakes are cut). Riz fails the roll which means that the van is probably going to fall on its side. Adding insult to injury, a pillar of rock falls and is going to crash into the van, doing even more major damage.

Fig watches this, and almost dissociates, feeling the weight of the entire summer taken from them to do this quest. Feeling so so tired. Feeling the fact that even if they win, they’re just gonna have to go back to school and adventure some more. A piece of magic she’s been holding inside of for a long time flickers and she hears an enticing voice whisper in her ears. “If you would take me, you know what you would save.” She smells a sour, curdled scent and she knows that if she says yes, she can save her friends. Maybe there’s another way, but she just wants this to be over. “I’m yours,” Fig says.

There’s a flash of “lemony, yellow, creamy” light (hmmmm) and the rock stops falling. The Hangvan starts righting itself.

And then there’s a sick gurgle from Fig’s stomach.

Uh-oh, gang.

For those of you who are new to these recaps, every week, I give one PC Detention and put one on the Honor Roll for their in-game actions. We’re starting off hot this semester with:

Detention

Kristen Applebees for Being a BAD Friend to Cassandra

Like, OK. Faith is complicated. Kristen’s relationship with religion is complicated. Being a cleric is complicated. But notice that I didn’t say being a bad *cleric*. I said being a bad *friend*. To be clear, she’s also being a bad cleric, and I’ll talk about that later. But having understandably conflicted views on religion doesn’t make sliding in your Fantasy Airpods while the being who is essentially a lonely teen girl and who is keeping you and all your friends alive tries to talk to you NOT seem like a giant dick move. Come on girl, get it together.

Honor Roll

Brennan Lee Mulligan for Being a Great DM!

I realized as I was writing this that I’ve given Brennan Detention but never Honor Roll so he’s getting it today. It feels so good to have him back in the dome with the kids and he drew me back into the world, right away. I’m so psyched that we have a full season of this ahead of us!

CHARACTER CHECK-INS

Like I said earlier, because this is the first episode back, I want to really quickly check in with all of the Bad Kids and where they are, character-wise. I’m going to do this roughly from least concerning to me to most concerning to me.

-Adaine: Adaine seems like she’s living her best life. She has her frog! She has her dog! Her character art is so much more chill and she’s coming into her own. This season, I’m hoping we get to see more of her relationship with her sister (yes, I’m a predictable bitch. Sue me) and with Zayn (who is also living at Mordred in her tower) who I think has a lot of potential to be an interesting supporting character with more spotlight. But yeah, go Adaine!

-Gorgug: Gorgug is making his parents proud (not that they ever weren’t) by taking another artificer level. He’s not a 7/3 Barb/Art split. I love that he’s gone from calling himself dumb to taking on this very technical skill. He also apparently has a homunculus? Fascinated to see what that looks like.

-Riz: Now that his big investigation is over and he knows his dad is a cool secret agent, Riz has switched his subclass from Inquisitor to Arcane Trickster which means he’s got tons of gadgets and that he’s a ring guy now. Love that for him. He’s very much not a chill person though so I’m very curious to know what the next thing he’ll latch onto is. He the kind of guy who always need something going on, you know?

-Fabian: Fabian is a fancy, dance boy now (6/4 Fighter/Bard)! But that doesn’t mean he’s any less athletic. I mean, have you ever seen a male ballerina? He still is, however, a total disaster. And I mean that affectionately. I mean, his current love interest (?) is a mirror that is showing a fuzzy reflection of his own face. My guy, what are you doing? Although I will say, idk if that’s more or less toxic than him dating Aelwyn.

-Kristen: Kristen. GIRL.

OK, so first of all. There is nothing inherently wrong with getting super jacked and like, respect. But in this context it feels like a red flag. Like the kind of thing you do because you’re on the rocks with your girlfriend or if you’ve recently broken up. I will be *very* interested to know what Tracker is up to as she’d not mentioned in this episode. Last we heard, she was out doing cleric stuff for the Moon Goddess, right? Long distance can be hell on a relationship. (Also, idk how seriously we’re supposed to take this but Ally mentioned the one shot it happened in in this episode so Kristen was also totally trying to flirt with a college girl in that college visit oneshot. Brennan shut it down pretty quick, but it very much did happen).

Also, speaking of cleric stuff, Cass. I feel SO bad for Cass. Like, a god isn’t owed followers, but Kristen chose that role. She CHOSE it. This isn’t like a Helio situation. Cass wasn’t pushy. She specifically says in this episode that she doesn’t want to be pushy. Hell, she says in the episode where she’s introduced that if people don’t want her around she’ll go away. But Kristen chose to be her follower, knowing what the implications of being the sole follower of a goddess is. Cass is made in her image. That’s how deeply entwined they are. Her goddess is made in her image. In The Seven, we learn that Ost’s god hasn’t talked to anyone in years. Kristen has Cass coming in like a mom offering snacks mid battle and Kristen is leaving her on read! It’s honestly kinda hard to watch her be so blithely dismissive of someone so dependent on her even though it’s played off as kind of a joke. I felt like I was watching a loyal puppy get kicked every time they interacted.

And like, I said this before, Cassandra is made in Kristen’s image. But specifically, she looks like Sophomore year Kristen. Still all skinny and still in her tie-die shirt and shorts. There is a definite vibe of almost wanting to kill the part of yourself that embarasses you, you know? It feels like she's being mean to Cass but also to herself.

Also, mechanically speaking, it’s wild to be just ignoring the person you’re getting your powers from like this. Like, this is real Wizard behavior. You don’t have to answer to anyone if you studied for your magic but you absolutely do as a cleric. Does Kristen even want to be a cleric? It honestly doesn’t seem like it. She’s shown a pattern of behavior of chafing at every god put in her path, even the ones she literally made up. I thought Cass might be the end of her searching, but we’re right back on the Merry Go Round. The party absolutely needs a healer though so idk how she deals with that.

I saw the snipped clip of Ally’s interview about Kristen’s arc this season involving what happens when chaos stops being cute, and I can def see seeds being planted. Fascinated to see how they explore that because this feels like a real ticking time bomb of a situation.

Oh also, her Dex went DOWN????? GIRL!

Fig: I had a lot more to say about Kristen but Fig has to be last on the list for making a deal with a literal devil lol. Like, classic Fig though, right? This WOULD happen. Emily talked about potentially retiring Fig and getting reeled in by some enticing plot hook from Brennan and it feels like we might be about to find out what that is. I won’t speculate on it too much right now because we’re presumably about to find out but there were a LOT of yogurt themed adjectives when that magic activated which has me very split on whether this is about to be deeply concerning or deeply silly. Or both! It could be both!

Random Thoughts

I LOVE that we have a proper theme song now. It feels so fitting and I love the opening art and it’s all so cool. The show’s so profesh now!

Also, shout out to @caitmayart for making the new art! It has the quality of a professional and the extra love of a fan. It’s my fave D20 official art so far.

I don’t know when this feature was added but I love that there is a full transcript you can pull up and search and jump to that time in the video now. That’s gonna be SO useful for me.

One of my favorite things about Adaine is that she’s generally polite but occasionally she’ll just absolutely verbally decimate someone so casually and this episode she said to the Solesian Yorbie they encountered, “What movie theater were you assistant managing before you decided to become a Yorbie?” Brutal.

Also love how vehement she was about the fact that Brennan couldn’t touch Moggy, even when she went down. You are absolutely NOT gonna kill that dog Brennan.

“Object interaction, touch Gorgug’s foot.”

Fig asks Gorgug how they can heal a van and he says, “Take it to a shop for 3-4 days.” Zac, underrated comic genius.

I really can’t overstate how funny it is that Fabian spends most of this episode flirting with his own reflection. I’ve said this many times but something I love about Lou is that he’s not afraid to make Fabian deeply uncool, even though Fabian’s whole thing is being as cool as possible.

Kristen says she needs to have an intense conversation with Cassandra when the fight is over and what does that mean? Like a breakup conversation? Which I guess would kill her because then she’d have no followers again? I am, como se dice, concerned.

Also, just looking ahead, Tracker is also a cleric. A pretty faithful one from what I can tell. I have to wonder what her take on Kristen completely neglecting her goddess and church is.

I think it’s so funny that Emily was thinking about retiring Fig so she could just ride off into the sunset with her cool rockstar life and awesome girlfriend because Riz’s big thing last year was being worried all his friend would pair up and leave him so for him to accept it and then have his fears validated right away would be like, welp.

At a certain point, Murph has to roll damage and he rolls 45 out of a possible 50 damage. That’s crazy. Let’s see how long that luck holds.

#Dimension 20 #dimension 20 spoilers #d20 #d20 spoilers #fantasy high #fantasy high spoilers #fhjy #fhjy spoilers #spoilers #the report card

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final-girl96 · 1 year

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My Boyfriend's Back Chapter Three

Wednesday 10:30 PM

September 25, 1996

I was in my room reading when I heard something out on the roof. I set my book down and walked over to my window. I peaked my head out and saw Billy walking across to get to Sidney’s room. “What’cha doin, Romeo?” He jumped a little, spinning around to look at me with wide eyes. “Fuck. yn, what’re you doing here?” he asked. I raised my eyebrows at him. “Well, you see I live here and this is my room. It would have been easier for you to just climb up onto the roof from the other side.”

He looked a little awkward just standing there. “So you going to tell me why you decided to climb into my sister’s bedroom window?” I asked. He looked hesitant to tell me anything. I rolled my eyes, “I'm not going to tell my dad if that’s what you’re worried about.” He relaxed a little after I said that. "I was at home watching TV and I got bored. Thought I'd take a drive and come see Sid." I hummed, "well, have fun. If you were hoping to get laid you know that won't happen." He glared at me and I smiled, closing my window and curtains.

Only a few seconds later I heard Sidney let out a small scream and then dad was knocking on her door. I was so entertained by all this that I had to know what her excuse would be. I walked out into the hall and across the landing. "Yeah, Sid, what's going on in there?" I asked, smirking at her. "Nothing. I didn't scream," she said. "I swear I heard a scream," dad said and she shook her head. He gave her a look but let it go.

"Okay, well, I'm going to bed. I have an early flight in the morning. Remember–" before he could continue we spoke at the same time. "You're staying at the Hilton beside the airport." He nodded his head, "and if you need anything just call me. I've left money for you if you need it. Good night, I love you." He kissed Sidney's forehead then walked over to me and did the same. He walked back down stairs to the guest room, well now his bedroom. I walked over to Sidney before she closed the door. "Romeo, should really be more discreet when trying to sneak in through your window." I winked and walked back to my room.

When I walked back into my room Stu was sitting on my bed. "How the fuck did you get in here?" I asked, quickly closing and locking my door. "You gotta lock your window, babe. Now come here." I rolled my eyes but went over to him.

Thursday 8:00 PM

September 26, 1996

When we got to school the next day there were news vans and new reporters covering the lawn. "What the hell is going on?" I whispered to Sidney. I had taken the bus since Stu called and said he wouldn't be able to pick me up. We looked around and my eyes stopped on one person in particular. Gale fucking Weathers. She decided to take advantage of our mother's death. She took Cotton Weary's side and then wrote a fucking book.

"Did you guys hear?" Sidney and I both jumped. "Jesus, Tatum," I said, putting a hand over my heart. "What's going on?" Sideny asked. "Casey Becker and Steve Orth were murdered last night." We looked at her with wide eyes. "What?!" I shouted. "And not just killed. We're talking splatter movie killed--split open end to end," she said. I felt fucking sick ti my stomach. "Casey Becker? She sits next to me in English," Sid said.

"Not anymore. Her parents found her hanging from a tree. Her insides on the outside," Tatum said. I looked at her and she cringed. "Shit, sorry, yn. I know you guys were friends." I nodded my head, "yeah, kind of I guess. Do they know who did it?" I asked. We walked up the steps to go inside the school. "Fucking clueless–they're interrogating the entire school. Teachers, students , Btaff, janitors."

"They think it's school-related?" Sidney asked as we stopped before going inside. "They don't know. Dewey said this is the worse crime they've ever seen. Even worse than…" Tatum stopped talking. We knew what she was going to say. This was the worst crime they've seen since our mother's murder. "Well, it's bad." We walked into the building after that and headed to class.

Everyone was being called to the office to be questioned by Sheriff Burke. Sidney and I were called at the same time and it was awkward to say the least. After we were allowed to leave we went to one more class before meeting everyone at the fountain. "Hello, beautiful," Stu said, kissing my cheek when I sat between his legs. "What kind of questions did they ask you, guys?" Tatum asked. "They asked if we knew Casey," Sidney told her. "Yeah, they asked when the last time was when I saw her. I told them when she came into the video store around like eight-thirty."

"Yeah. They asked me that too," she said. "Hey, they ask if you like to hunt?" Stu asked Billy. His arms were wrapped around me holding me to him. "Yeah, they did. They ask you?" Billy asked and Stu nodded. "Hunt? Why would they ask you if you like to hunt?" Tatum asked, confused. She popped a grape into her mouth looking between Billy and Stu. She was sitting on the other side of me and Stu right beside Randy. "Cause their bodies were gutted," Randy said.

"Thank you, Randy," Billy said, sitting up more to look at him. "They didn't ask me if I like to hunt,' Tatum pouted a little. "That's 'cause there's no way a girl could've killed 'em," Stu said. I turned my head to look at him. "That is so sexist," I told him. "Yeah, the killer could easily be female. Basic Instinct?" Tatum said, rolling her eyes. "That was an ice pick. Not exactly the same thing," Randy said, popping something into his mouth.

"Yeah, Casey and Steve were completely hollowed out. And the fact is, It takes a man to do something like that," Stu shrugged. "Or a man's mentality," I said. He smirked at me and gave me a quick peck on the lips. "How do you... gut someone?" I looked over at Sidney. Her head was looking down at her lap as she played with a loose string. I reached over and grabbed her hand and she squeezed it back. "You take a knife, and you slit 'em from groin to sternum." We looked at Stu in shock and disgust.

"Hey. It's called tact, you fuck-rag," Billy said. "Hey, Stu, didn't you used to date Casey?" Sidney asked. Fucking low blow, Sid. Sru scoffed out a laugh, tightening his hold on me. "Yeah, for like two seconds," he said. "Before she dumped him for Steve," Randy said. "I thought you dumped her for me?" I asked. I mean sure me and Casey were friends but we weren't that close. Besides she was never really into Stu in the first place. "I did. He's full of shit," Stu said, looking at Randy.

"And are the police aware that you dated the victim?" Randy asked, smirking. "Hey, what are you saying? That I killed her?" Stu asked. There was no way Stu could do that. Why would he? It's not like he had a grudge or anything. And I just can't see him killing a person. "It would certainly improve your high school 'Q', " Randy said. "Stu was with me last night, okay?" I said. Stu kissed my neck, a smile spread across his face. "Yeah, I was."

"Ooh?" Randy says, eyebrows raised. "Was that before or after he sliced and diced?" He asked, leaning over Tatum a little as he stood. "Fuck you, nutcase. Where were you last night?" Tatum asked. Randy sat back down and shrugged, "Working, thank you. And yn was there too," he said. "At the video store? I thought they fired your sorry ass." I chuckled, "They did. Twice," I said. "I didn't kill anybody," Stu said and I kissed his cheek. "Nobody said you did."

Stu looked over at Billy and smiled, "Thanks, buddy." Yeah there was definitely no way Stu could kill someone. Billy only on the other hand…well i could see him doing something like that with that pent up anger he has. "Besides, it takes a man to do something like that," Randy said, trying to mock Stu. "I'm gonna gut your ass in a second, kid," Stu told him. "Tell me something—" Randy stood up. "Did you really put her liver in the mailbox? 'Cause I heard they found her liver in the mailbox next to her spleen and her pancreas."

"Randy, you goon-fuck. I'm trying to eat here," Tatum said, throwing a grape at him. "She's getting mad, all right? You better liver alone," Stu said. I rolled my eyes and watched Sidney get up. She kissed Billy and then walked away. "Sid, wait up!" Tatum grabbed her stuff and ran after her. "Liver alone! Li— Ow!" Billy punched Stu in the arm. "Liver. Liver. It was a joke."

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echoes-silence-patience-swar · 4 months

Text

Goodbye Eri (2022) + Long long ramble about Film

Review/Analysis

Goodbye Eri by Tatsuki Fujimoto was a one-shot web manga released on the Shonen Jump+ Website and published in print later that year. I read it in print, this review is actually a reread. Spoilers for first third or so of Goodbye Eri and implied spoilers for Fujimoto's other works mostly Fire Punch. Also like TW for mentions of: Terminal Illness, Parental Death, Suicide, Domestic Violence

(Eri, Sorry for blur but I thought it was in theme)

Now that I think about it, Eri or Togata should be the profile picture, I just had Asa on hand. Goodbye Eri is a work I very much enjoy ^.^ It and Togata's film metaphors in Fire Punch are major reasons I started posting reviews particularly of movies in the first place. That as well as a High School film class with the most tired teacher on Earth, who seemed to actually like all the work I submitted. I think that a lot of the time it's hard to find good movies coming out, most movies in good ol' USA anyway are mostly made for money. I mean I can't really blame them I guess movies are freakin' expensive dude but it's not so often I feel you find something real nice that's not from an already well established director like my good pal Wes Andy. You see stuff like spider verse maybe but then you here about the horrible working conditions behind the product, ugh product that's nasty let's go with.. uhh piece? movie is probably the best bet.

Anyway Goodbye Eri is about watching movies, making movies, relationships, memory. By the way I promise you this is not just going to be a plot summary though this next paragraph will be the start of the book. Yuta's mother gets him a smartphone for his 12th birthday and asks him to record her dying moments as she has some sort of terminal illness. The entire manga is shown through a phone camera btw usally using landscape shots. After he runs away, failing to capture his mothers final moments, and turning it into a movie ending with an explosion. His movie gets mocked and he decides to take his own life, but before he can jump off a hospital roof, he meets a mysterious girl named Eri. Eri recognizes him from his movie, drags him to an abandoned building, and makes him to watch movies so he can make a better one. This like reignites his spirit.

(Eri Intro Panel)

I really really like Goodbye Eri. I know Eri probably gets the MPDG allegations and that's like.. stupid sorry. I'm sure she does in the same way Togata (Fire Punch) does, but Togata is like not that he's pretending to be that. I'm not gonna go very far into that this isn't about Fire Punch. Anyway I think Eri is far too interesting for that. Yuta also is a very interesting character he's kind of a weirdo but of course he is I mean it seems like he's sort of an outcast he spent his entire middle school making a movie about his dead mom. This book actually inspired me to watch a movie everyday which I consistently fail but y'know I get better at committing every week. I think this one-shot also really shows off Fujimoto's grasp on like the "Silent Panel" how he can show a lot without any dialogue or very little for even whole pages, he's also insane at slightly shifting expressions. There are also several pure black panels, this is interesting to me because since the story is shot through a phone and it is a "video" his phone must be face down, there's probably background noise. I also think the subtle habits Yuta and Eri notice from each other is very accurate to what happens when you spend a lot of time with someone. There's also a very cool blur effect in this manga, someone told me if you remove all the blurred panels the story is different, but I don't think that's necessarily purposeful? Idk, tell me if anyone knows anything

Major Spoilers Past Here

It's absolutely worth buying this because it's so interesting on reread due to sort of a major twist in the middle/end. His mom wasn't a good person. You could guess this by her strange almost cruel request of her 12 year old son to film her death and Yuta's father crying earlier on but this could all be interrupted as just the grief of her tragic situation. But no, she yells at her son and her husband, she hits Yuta at one point, criticizes what he films and is calls him useless to his father in her final moments. Yuta's father was shocked when she was a good mom in the movie, Eri says he shoots his mother beautifully. We also find out later after Eri dies(?) from Eri's one other friend that she had glasses and a dental retainer, which were taken out from the movie. This means every single shot with Eri that actually happened was reshot. This kind of explains her movie like dialogue in some bits where she's just trying to be cool or dramatic. I love the ending, it's so interesting that where you think would be a title drop it's only implied by an earlier shot.

(Yuta and Eri)

TLDR: Buy Goodbye Eri from a bookstore or pirate it I'm not your boss, you'll always find something new when you read. Heavily Recommend. It made me cry it's awesome.

#movies #films #manga #goodbye eri #tatsuki fujimoto #fire punch

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chelseeebe · 1 year

Text

hate to love me. | part 2

summary: the growing feelings towards steve were becoming all the more confusing. but when he shows up at your doorstep, do you have the heart to turn him away?

read part one here.

a/n: omg this took so long i’m so sorry <\3 retail is kicking my arse and i’m working every day until christmas :,( but i think i will most definitely do a part 3 with s3 i’ve got some lovely ideas

fembyers!reader x steve harrington, enemies!tolovers (ish)

taglist: @lokiofasgard616 @ihatepeanutss @bytchis-world @reasontobebeautiful @freezaz123 @ladybug0095 @thrown-off-her-rhythm @chaerfull @eris-rose-86 @manyfandomsfanvergent @nyenye @sagelittleplace @mrskeery-mclaughlin @quixscentsposts

steve’s car crunches up your gravel driveway, slightly earlier than usual, on monday morning.

he sounds the horn, as he usually does, and sits and waits for you to stumble out of the front door, like you usually do.

but you don’t.

jonathan peers out of the door before sighing and walking over to steve’s car.

‘she got the bus this morning,’ he notes, ignoring the awkwardness of the entire situation.

‘oh.. i’ve been calling all weekend, but she didn’t.. uh, thanks man,’ steve nods, looking down at his steering wheel.

‘i don’t know what happened.. or what you did, but she’s been holed up in her room all weekend.. you need to fix this,’ jonathan spits, hand leaning on the roof of steve’s car.

he nods, running his tongue along the inside of his cheek, understanding jonathan perfectly.

‘i swear to god, if this is some elaborate prank or revenge for what happened between us.. i’ll fucking kill you,’ jonathan threatens, standing up straight and walking back into the house.

steve exhales, running his hand along his face and through his hair before pulling off, hoping to at least catch you before school.

the bus is already empty when he shows up, a shower of school kids making it impossible to find you.

you shared one class with steve and even then you sat on opposite sides of the classroom, there was no way he would be able to talk to you there.

he scans the parking lot, recognising a girl he’d sometimes spot you walking in the halls with and jumps out of his car, bounding up to her.

‘have you seen y/n?’ he startles the poor girl, who in turn furrows her brows back at him.

‘jesus.. no, not yet, why do you care?’ she looks him up and down, judging his entire being. you had definitely told her about his antics at the party, causing the foul look on her face.

‘i need to speak to her,’ he declares, now searching the moving crowd.

‘well i don’t think she wants to speak to you,’ she hisses, walking away from him and into the building.

steve bites the inside of his cheek before walking into the school, still in search of you.

it’s impossible. you’re not anywhere.

the bell rings and steve begrudgingly heads to his first class, annoyed that he now won’t see you until last period.

he sits in class with his chin resting in his hand, unsure of what he would even say to you.

his mind is somewhere else for the entire day. at lunch, stacy attempts to speak to him.

‘where’d you get to on friday? no one could find you,’ she nudges him with her elbow.

‘hmm? i went home, wasn’t feeling it,’ he mumbles, eyes scanning the crowd for your familiar grey sweatshirt.

the thing is, partly due to his inescapable gang of bully’s, you’d learnt how to blend into the crowd, how to go completely unnoticed at school so people would leave you alone.

‘harrington not feeling a party? what the hell’s wrong with you?’ she jokes, only to be met with a small exhale from steve.

she snaps her fingers in front of his face, ‘hellooo, earth to steve.’

he turns to look at her, frowning.

‘are you okay?’

‘yeah i’m fine.. i’m gonna go get some homework done, i’ll see you later,’ he announces before standing from the table and swiftly walking out of the bustling cafeteria.

the group turn to watch him leave, puzzled as to what was going on with their friend.

one of the other girls leans across the table to stacy, ‘y’know i saw him going into the bathroom with that byers girl at the party.. maybe something’s going on between them,’ she shrugs.

stacy just shakes her head, furrowing her brow.

steve heads straight to the library, looking at each and every table for you, to no avail.

he was getting frustrated now, hawkins high was not that big, how could you possibly be evading him so well?

the bell eventually dings and he trundles along to his next class, now only one period away from you.

it goes painstakingly slow, mr browns sentences coming out even slower than usual.

finally.

last period.

steve absolutely barrels through the hallway, wanting to grab the desk next to yours before anyone else could.

his eyes immediately clocks your infamous sweatshirt and collapses into the empty desk next to you, apologising to the unsuspecting kid who had slid his bag onto the wood.

you don’t even look up, carrying on- pretending to read the book in front of you, jaw tense as you feel his eyes boring into you.

he leans over and whispers, ‘please talk to me.’

nothing. not even a twitch.

mrs cooper walks into the classroom, loudly clearing her throat before beginning her boring spiel about finals and how close they were.

you sigh, unsure if you could go the whole class with steve’s big brown eyes staring into you.

out of the corner of your eye you can see him scribble something down and then tearing the scrap of paper out of his book before sliding it onto your desk.

you glance down at the paper:

please just speak to me was messily scrawled in big letters.

you look back up to the board, disregarding his message, earning a large sigh from the boy next to you.

the bell rings to signal the end of the day and you attempt to pack your things up quicker than steve can but you’re beaten, he’s already stood at your desk before you can finish.

sighing again, his blue jeans in your peripheral as you shove your book into your bag and placing it onto the desk before standing, still avoiding any and all eye contact.

‘all i’m asking for is five minutes,’ he grabs your backpack, swinging it over his shoulder.

for the first time today you look up at him, stern faced at his antics, ‘can i have my bag back?’

‘if you promise to talk to me.. just let me explain myself,’ he wants to smile at finally getting you to actually respond, but decides against it, afraid that you’d actually punch him.

‘okay, go ahead,’ you cross your arms over your chest.

‘not here,’ he turns to leave, ‘c’mon.’

you’re reluctant to follow him but do anyway, still frowning at the stupidity of this entire situation.

what did he even have to say to you?

you picture him screaming, ‘you’ve just been pranked!’ with his friends all laughing in the background, an over the top film crew all gathered round to watch.

he walks out of the school and to his car, still holding your bag hostage and opening the passenger door for you, ‘get in.’

‘steve, i’m gonna miss the bus,’ you huff, turning to watch the students pile onto the bus.

‘i’ll give you a ride,’ he utters, motioning for you to get in.

‘i don’t want a ride, thanks,’ you attain, becoming more and more irritated with him.

he looks up, watching the bus pull off out of the parking lot, ‘too late, guess you’ll have to get in.’

‘you’re despicable,’ you exclaim, garnering the attention of nearby students.

‘just get in,’ he opens the passenger door, slinging your bag onto the back seat.

you oblige, huffing as you sit down in the seat.

he gets in the drivers side, gripping onto the steering wheel before starting the car and pulling off.

it’s silent at first, despite having all day to think of what he was going to say to you, he was still speechless.

‘why’d you run off?’ he breaks the silence, staring at the road ahead.

‘i wanted to go home,’ it’s not exactly a lie, but most definitely isn’t the whole truth.

‘i’m sorry.. for freaking you out.. i shouldn’t have..’ he trails off.

you turn your head to look out of the window, not wanting this conversation to progress any further.

he sighs, ‘can you just speak to me?’

‘i don’t know what you want me to say,’ and suddenly everything jonathan had said echoes in your ears and you can feel the anger rising in your throat, ‘i don’t want to be a part of your fucking prank.. or.. or whatever elaborate revenge plan you have for nancy, count me out.’

‘what? what are you talking about?’ he looks between you and the road, puzzled.

‘oh come on, why else are you suddenly interested in being my friend? you think i’m stupid?’ you spit.

‘because.. because i like you! i’m sorry- what the fuck does this have to do with nancy?’ he questions, knuckles turning white with pressure.

‘your girlfriend dumps you for my brother and i don’t know how your small brain works, but you thought you could get your revenge on him with his sister but i’m not letting you,’ your hands fly up in rage.

‘w-what?!’ he exclaims, hitting his hand on the leather wheel, ‘i don’t care about your brother or nancy, who do you think i am?’

‘i think you’re the same asshole that bullied me for years!’ you shake your head, ‘i haven’t forgotten, i know just how cruel you are, steve.’

the words are sharp, his mouth falls open in shock that the last few months of your friendship meant so little to you.

‘that’s not.. me,’ he mumbles, ‘not anymore.’

‘yes it is,’ you quickly wipe the warm tears from your eyes, not wanting to let him see how he was affecting you.

his mouth opens and closes, unable to find the correct string of words.

you turn back to the window, pressing your forehead against the glass and sighing.

he pulls onto the familiar drive, blinking as your house grows closer.

you reach into the back, grabbing your bag and placing it onto your lap, ‘i don’t want to be your friend, steve, just leave me alone.’

he stops the car, jaw tense as you leave the car, slamming the door shut and storming into your house.

you hadn’t meant a word you said. you wanted nothing more than to be friends with steve, for him to kiss you so tenderly again.

but god forbid letting him hurt you before you could hurt him.

the week is excruciatingly long, you can just feel steve’s eyes boring holes into the back of your head.

jonathan tries his hardest to try and support you but he can’t help but feel almost smug, as if he didn’t warn you steve was a dickhead.

your mom knows the exact remedy to asshole boys, but she’s still ultimately clueless on how to deal with her children facing boy troubles. she’s grateful that she’s not had to deal with it until now but she’s at a loss of what to say. how often does your sons-girlfriends-ex-boyfriend upset your daughter? not very, she’ll tell you that.

though, she does her best as you trundle through the week. purposely evading all eye contact with steve, sitting outside to eat lunch and getting to your one shared class late enough that your seat options were far, far away from him.

you miss his voice, his stupid little jokes that you would hate yourself for laughing at. but you refuse to admit that to yourself, or your friends for that matter. assuring them that the reason you were avoiding the cafeteria was that the weather was so lovely, it’d be a shame to sit inside.

not one of them believed you, christ, you didn’t even believe yourself.

the days are so long, boring without your twice-a-day rendezvous with steve.

but at some point it reaches friday and you’re sat at home, awaiting jonathan’s return so you could go to bed without worry.

there’s a short knock at the door and you rush to answer, assuming jonathan had once again forgotten his key.

you’d expected him home much later but you just assume he’d got off work early so you weren’t home alone.

swinging open the door and starting on your lecture, ‘jon, you need t-,’

you’re met with a pair of soft brown eyes that you hadn’t seen in weeks, adorning a large blue bruise that most certainly wasn’t there at school.

‘w-what’re you doing here?’ you mumble, clutching onto the wooden door.

‘i don’t know.. i didn’t know where else to go,’ steve coughs, holding onto his rib cage.

‘fuck.. what happened?’ you grab onto his arm, guiding him into your living room and placing him onto the sofa, standing in front of him with your arms across your chest.

you’re unsure if the feeling in your chest is hurt from seeing him in such a state or residual pain from your conversation mere weeks ago.

‘my dad..’ he mutters, leaning back into the cushion.

your heart stops.

all too familiar with the situation, having seen your brother in similar states after fights with your dad. only much younger and more brutal.

‘he.. hit you?’ you carefully sit on the edge of the couch next to him, not wanting to hurt him further.

‘he wanted to.. teach me a lesson,’ he mimics his fathers words, ‘said if i wanted to keep acting like an adult, he’d treat me like one.. all because i was late home last night,’ he leans his head back, still pressing a hand to his side.

you jump up from the sofa, walking into the kitchen and grabbing whatever bag of frozen vegetables from the freezer, offering it out to him.

‘and then he hit you..?’ you frown slightly, watching as he presses the peas to his eye.

‘he shoved me, so i shoved him back and then he swung for me,’ he winces at the cold on his skin.

‘oh, steve..’ you sigh, the guilt from your harsh words weighing on your heart. you hadn’t seen him look so defeated, not even after billy had done worse to his face in this very room not too long ago.

‘you should see him though.. much worse,’ he looks up at you, the corner of his mouth twitching ever so slightly.

you can’t smile, memories of cleaning up jonathan’s bloodied face flood back and for a split second you feel transported back to that dreadful time.

‘c’mon, let’s get you cleaned up,’ you offer out a hand which he graciously accepts, following you slowly into the bathroom.

you grab the first aid kit from the cabinet and gesture for him to come closer. he leans back against the counter, supported by his bloodied hands either side of his body.

very cautiously you begin to dab at his wounds with the wash cloth, trying to remove the dried blood.

you step one leg in between his, moving closer, ‘this is gonna sting..’ you warn, blotting at the cuts with the peroxide soaked cotton pad.

he winces, knee jerking up and brushing against the inside of your thigh. if you weren’t in such a vulnerable position, it probably would’ve made you blush.

‘sorry..’ he whispers, eyes squeezed shut.

‘almost done,’ your face only inches from his, observing all of his features in a way that hadn’t been possible before.

you throw the waste into the trash and placing a hand on his sweater, ‘can i?’ you look to him, eyes now open and already staring at you.

he nods and you slowly pull the fabric up, letting your eyes wander away from his rib cage before pulling your attention back to the affected area.

‘okay.. just a bruise,’ you reassure, dropping his sweater and meeting his gaze once again.

‘thanks.. for helping me.. and for not slamming the door in my face,’ the eye contact heavy, neither of you wanting to break it.

you smile slightly, ‘that’s okay,’ finally stepping out of his legs and clearing your throat.

he stands up straight, looking into the small mirror hanging on the wall and sighing.

‘my mom’s out of town.. you can stay here if you want,’ the words spill out before you can even think of the consequences of your proposition.

he turns to look at you, ‘thanks.. are your brother’s here?’ he asks cautiously, not wanting a further fight with jonathan tonight.

you shake your head, clearing up the supplies, ‘jon’s at work and will’s at the wheelers all weekend.’

‘oh.. okay,’ he nods, looking down at his scarred hands.

you pull your eyes from him and shuffle in your spot, ‘you can have my bed, i’ll be fine on the couch.’

‘thank you.. for this,’ he smiles weakly and you nod, refusing to meet his eyes, before turning to leave the bathroom.

you dreaded sleeping on the couch, you dreaded sleeping at all. since that horrific experience in the tunnel, sleep had become a haunted place, images of your brother, of that creature coming at you now running through your mind in replacement of dreams.

choosing to instead stay awake where you could at least control the thoughts. they couldn’t consume you when you were awake.

‘steve?’ you whisper, his back to the door so you’re unable to tell if he was awake.

‘mmm?’ he groans, turning to you.

‘can i.. can i sleep in here?’

‘it’s your bed, silly,’ he gives you a small smile.

‘no, i mean.. with you?’ you swallow, unsure why this was making you so anxious.

‘of course,’ he shuffles over, giving you more room.

you close the door and slink over to the bed, delicately climbing under the covers.

‘it’s scary out there,’ you mumble.

knowing that steve was only in the other room, making the already horrid experience much worse.

he smiles slightly, putting an arm behind his head as he looks up to the ceiling.

you turn over, turning off the lamp on your bedside table and sighing.

not wanting to get too close to steve, making it awkward, you lay facing the door, curled up into yourself.

eventually, you fall asleep, snoring softly as steve struggles to drift off, sneaking occasional glances at you.

at some point in the night you stir, mumbling incoherently about something, tossing and turning.

you wake to steve’s arm pulling you closer, his soft voice cooing you back to sleep.

you sniff, looking up at him, ‘i think i was having a nightmare..’ you don’t move away, instead embracing the contact and shuffling closer, ‘i’ve been having them since that night.. about everything we saw..’

he inhales deeply, ‘me too.. i haven’t been sleeping,’ he admits, his hand beginning to rub your arm.

you lay there in silence for a short while, still stilted from the nightmare.

‘i’m sorry.. for what i said..’ you sigh, hesitantly putting your head on his chest.

these repeated intimate moments with steve were doing nothing for the way you were now feeling about him. you weren’t angry at him really, you were angry at yourself for letting him crawl his way into your heart. after everything he had done to you, everything he had said about your family, you were still unequivocally falling for him.

‘it’s okay.. i was cruel and i’m sorry for that,’ he rests his chin on the top of your head.

‘why did you kiss me?’ you ask pointedly, desperate to understand his intentions.

‘because i wanted to.. you looked beautiful,’ he answers.

you can feel his heart pounding against your cheek, the same feeling from that night in the tunnel when he clutched onto you for dear life.

you move slightly off his chest to look up at him, his features bathing in the moonlight creeping in your window.

he stares back, unsure of what to do next.

‘i liked it..’ you murmur, barely audible.

he moves his arm, placing his thumb and forefinger on your chin, titling it further towards him. you can just about make out his eyes moving to your lips, before he leans down, kissing your lips softly.

your eyes flutter shut before you shift more onto your stomach, moving your leg up over his, wanting to get closer, to experience every part of him.

his thumb stroking your skin softly, other hand moving to the small of your back.

you pull away, studying his face, ‘i liked that more,’ you don’t try to hide the smile on your face.

‘me too,’ he breathes, grin creeping onto his face.

the night is full of kisses. kissing him just because you can, because it feels good. like his lips were the safest place in the world.

it’s not early when you finally awake, the bright sun indicated that it was at least afternoon.

truthfully, you had both needed the sleep, finally able to sleep through without the darkness of that night creeping in.

your head still in the same position on his chest, hoping to god that you didn’t drool.

you sit up, breaking away from his grasp and just watching him sleep. tracing over the cuts on his hand that was now holding onto your arm.

he stirs, slowly opening his eyes to look up at you, squinting from the bright daylight cascading in.

‘hi,’ you whisper, blinking down at him.

‘morning,’ he says, voice gruff with sleep.

‘not quite,’ you look over to the alarm clock on your bedside table quite clearly displaying that morning had passed.

‘jeez.. i haven’t slept that good in.. months,’ he stretches, placing his head back on the pillow, never breaking eye contact.

‘me too,’ you smile, ‘you hungry?’

‘mm, very,’ he sits up as you get out of the bed, one of jonathan’s hoodies hanging off of you.

‘c’mon, i’m starving,’ you motion, roughly combing through your hair with your fingers.

steve joins you standing and your eyes quickly fall to his black boxer shorts before averting your eyes and spinning on your heel to the door.

you’re mumbling about something when you reach the kitchen, two sets of eyes now staring at you.

you stop abruptly, eyes widened at the sight of nancy and jonathan sat at your kitchen table.

steve is either still half asleep or simply not paying attention as he bumps into the back of you, nearly knocking you over.

there’s a small silence, jonathan’s eyes flicking from you to steve to steve’s lack of clothing and then back to you.

‘i.. uh, thought you had work this morning?’ you stutter, tripping over your words.

‘i did. it’s one in the afternoon,’ your brother says, pushing the plate back from in front of him.

‘right..’ you nod, biting your bottom lip.

nancy just stares down at the table, finding it increasingly awkward that her ex boyfriend was stood in her current boyfriends kitchen.

‘i’m just gonna..’ steve points to your room before speeding off.

you can’t decipher the look on jonathan’s face, part disappointment and part confusion. after the last few days of your moping and inadvertent comments about steve, he had hoped you weren’t going to go back.

‘he had nowhere to go, jon.. i couldn’t just leave him,’ you’re almost pleading with him.

he sighs, ‘i don’t care.. you can do whatever you want,’ he scowls.

you look down at the floor, playing with the hem on his hoodie.

‘i’m staying at nance’s tonight.. i was gonna ask but.. i guess you’ll be alright here,’ he raises his eyebrows, now looking at his girlfriend.

‘yeah.. i’ll be okay,’ you mutter.

jonathan stands from the table, the empty plates clattering into the sink before grabbing his bag from the floor.

nancy flashes you a small, but sincere smile as she walks out of the room.

you grab jonathan’s arm before he can push past you, causing him to glare down at you.

‘it’s his dad jon..’ you whisper, catching his gaze. it was unnecessary to finish the sentence, he knew perfectly well what you were going to say.

jonathan sighs, tensing his jaw before giving you a small nod. a small, unspoken, understanding between the two of them.

he gives your arm a gentle squeeze before walking out of the door, following nancy to his car.

you exhale before walking back to your room, nudging the door open to see steve stood by your bed in his jeans.

‘it’s safe to come out now,’ you chuckle, watching as he fumbles around with his shirt.

‘i can go.. if you want? my dad’s probably cooled off by now..’ he looks at you.

you shake your head, ‘no.. stay, jon’s spending the night at nancy’s and i really don’t want to be all alone,’ you reassure him.

steve doesn’t need to be asked twice, another night away from his dad with the added bonus of being with you was enough for him.

the rest of the day is spent lazing around on your couch, watching the stack of pretentious movies jonathan had rented from the video store and eating your mom’s cupboards bare.

conversation about everything and nothing fills the room, exactly how it was with him before that party. except now, it felt lighter. like you weren’t both hiding something.

eventually, talking turns to kissing and then suddenly it’s a hazy make out session with your legs straddling steve’s, his large hands running up and down the skin of your back.

you shift on his lap and he groans into your mouth as you thigh brushes against his semi-erect cock.

continuing the action, repeatedly shifting your hips back and forth, adoring the way steve was becoming undone.

the kiss becomes sloppy, lazily connecting your mouths as his groans become moans, strong fingers digging into your back.

you were a novice at this, responding to his sounds with a quickening of your hips.

his hands slide down to the fat of your hips, stopping your movements before he actually came in his pants.

‘mm.. do you want to?’ he asks, thumbs rubbing circles into your hips.

you nod slowly, hesitant to already be letting steve fuck you, but too turned on to say no.

‘i’ve only.. done it once..’ you mumble, simply embarrassed that you were not nearly as experienced as him.

to be quite frank, it had been dreadful. in the 10th grade, you and one of your friends, dylan, had made a pact that if you were both still virgins at the end of summer then you would have sex with each other.

summer ends and of course you’re still a virgin, so you go over to his house and have the most awkward, awful, five minutes of sex before leaving and never speaking of it again. you wondered why everyone was in such a rush, if it was godawful like that, what’s the need?

‘we don’t have to,’ he places his forehead on yours.

‘i want to,’ sliding your hands to his shoulders, ‘but not here.’

he nods, moving you off of him and onto the couch before standing and readjusting himself, before looping his arms underneath your arms, hoisting your body up.

your legs wrap around his waist, arms hanging off of his neck as you kiss him again. a giggle escapes into the kiss has he backs you into a wall, returning the kiss.

he relents, moving towards your bedroom and laying your body back onto the bed, falling on top of you, his lips finding your neck, leaving soft kisses all the way down to your collarbones.

your hands slide into his long, tousled hair as his hips rut against yours, lips leaving a trail of violet marks as he begins to remove your hoodie, as his huge hands glide against your exposed skin.

you lift your arms up to allow him to pull the hoodie off, breathing out shakily as you’re left exposed beneath him.

his eyes glance down between your bodies before quickly meeting yours again, lips smashing against yours. you can feel him smirk against your lips.

you’re giving him complete control, having no idea what to do next in this situation, unsure of where your hands should go or do, what noises you should be making. it was miles apart from your experience with dylan.

he takes his own shirt off before continuing the kiss, grinding his now very erect cock against you. the unfamiliar sensation between your legs becoming entirely too much, needing him to hurry up with this routine.

steve picks up on your needy groans, fumbling around with his jeans before shimmying them down and off of his legs.

you can immediately feel the sheer length of him pressed against your core, only a thin layer of fabric between you.

he can feel your body brace slightly, ‘are you sure you want to do this?’ he asks against your skin, face still buried in your neck.

‘yes.. i want to,’ you assure, running your fingertips through his hair.

he moves back up to your eye level, moving a hand to cradle your cheek, propping his body up on his elbow as his other hand tugs his boxers down around his thighs, before doing similar to your pajama shorts.

‘sure?’ he double checks, staring down into your eyes through thick eyelashes.

you nod, ‘yes, steve,’ you whisper, blinking up at him.

he lines himself up with your entrance, his eyes not breaking contact with yours at all as he very slowly slides into you, your nails digging into his shoulders at the feeling of fullness.

it was no secret that steve’s cock was huge. you’d heard girls at school giggling about it after they’d watched his basketball practice, the outline of it was incredibly prominent on those school issued shorts.

but now it was inside of you and potentially it could be too big as you brace, ‘w-wait,’ your hand stopping him from moving, eyes squeezed shut.

‘too much?’ he asks nervously, staying as still as possible.

you nod slightly, looking back at him before quickly looking away. his gaze was all the more intimidating with his dick inside of you.

you exhale and release your grip from his shoulder, ‘o-okay,’ you whisper.

‘okay..’ he nods, slowly moving his hips as you stretch around him, becoming accustomed to the feeling of his cock.

he keeps a slow pace, soft groans tumbling out of his mouth.

eventually the uncomfortable feeling becomes pleasurable and your mouth falls open, watching as his hair flops down to his forehead and his sweet eyes take in every inch of your face.

‘yeah?’ he mumbles as he cautiously quickens his rhythm.

you can only nod in response, words failing you as he hits your sweet spot. encouraging him to continue with lowly moans and gasps, slightly tugging on his hair.

his hand moving down to find your clit, thumb rubbing small circles around the fleshy area. the feeling is foreign and you don’t know how to respond to the building pressure in your stomach, worlds apart from your past experience.

‘s-steve..’ you gasp, closing your eyes as he grunts into your ear.

‘mmm.. yeah?’

you can hear the smirk in his voice as he begins to falter, nearing his own orgasm.

‘shit..’ you breathe as the pressure reaches it’s hilt and your walls clench around him, legs trembling and a variety of curse words fall out of your lips.

the sight of you coming undone beneath him is enough to send steve to his orgasm, a final few thrusts as he empties himself into you.

he rolls over to the empty bed next to you, a deep exhale as his chest rises and falls.

you pull the blanket up to your chin, suddenly incredibly insecure about your performance.

steve turns on his side to face you, gentle hand reaching up to cup your face, forcing you to look at him.

you cheeks burn red, but you maintain the eye contact, returning his smile.

‘you’re good, yeah?’ he asks, running his thumb over your cheek.

‘yeah,’ moving in closer to his chest as his arms wrap around your shoulders, holding you to him.

the pair of you lay in silence in that position for a short while, his chin resting against the top of your head.

‘i.. uh-,’ he swallows, ‘i really like you.. if that wasn’t already obvious..’ he breaks the silence.

you grin against his chest, heart skipping a beat, ‘it wasn’t,’ you jest, ‘..i like you too,’ you add quietly.

his fingers begin tracing through your hair, perfectly locked together in your bed, spending the rest of the night babbling about irreverent topics, seeing the real steve harrington. not ‘king steve’ or the version of steve girls in school had made up about him, but the true him.

before eventually falling asleep cradled in his arms, a place you found yourself the most secure.

#steve harrington #steve harrington x you #steve stranger things #steve harrington x reader #steve harrington angst #steve harrington x y/n #steve harrington smut #stranger things x you #steve harrington fic #steve harrington fanfic #steve harrington x reader smut #steve harrington x byers!reader #steve harrington enemies to lovers

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edenflowers · 1 year

Text

How do you do fellow nexo knights fans

This is your daily reminder that Fletcher and Izzy are terrifying

If you add up all the deaths (including squirebots), the Forbidden Power has 46 deaths.

Rogul has 10 deaths, give or take- I only counted specific numbers given for each as portions that don’t give specific numbers seem to be connected with parts that do give specific numbers.

Fletcher killed 19:

7 skeletons with magic

12 squirebots with magic

Izzy killed 17:

3 skeletons w/ Ned Knightly’s sword

Bashing a skeleton head into metal bars

Kills 12 skeletons at once by slamming a door

Kills a skeleton via crushing as she falls through a rotten wooden wall and the bare minimum of two stories

^ Izzy also says the skeleton broke her fall. 😐 Ain’t no way a dense skeleton falling underneath you helps cushion a 2 story fall. She doesn’t just survive the 2 story fall, she PROCEEDS TO FULL ON SPRINT TO GO RETRIEVE A WEAPON. She reappears from her weapon retrieval within a few pages so she probably CONTINUED TO SPRINT THE ENTIRE WAY.

She doesn’t show signs of exhaustion over doing this either🗿🗿

Izzy falls, is launched, or makes a generally dangerous decision with her body at least 8 times:

1. Izzy nearly slams into a locker as she quickly comes to a stop because she trips

2. Izzy touches the forbidden power and gets launched, slamming into the catacombs wall

3. Izzy jumps from the academy arena’s stands down into the arena

4. She punches the Baron- WHO IS ARMORED- and somehow does not break her hand. She feels pain from it but her hand isn’t injured beyond temporary owie.

5. Izzy slams into the rogul

6. Izzy falls through the Baron’s roof

7. Izzy falls 2 stories minimum as she fights a skeleton and falls out a rotten wall

8. Izzy is described as being “rocketed” across the room over trying to snag a weapon infused with the forbidden power

Generally, Izzy’s lack of injuries is ASTOUNDING.

Maybe more so is Fletcher’s lack of injuries. One of the FIRST things that happens in the book is Fletcher falling out of a train, tumbling, and going splat on the ground because he got his luggage thrown at him. The book puts him through two different Zilgo beat downs - which the majority of times where Fletcher should have definitely been wounded occur. The Baron gets a hit on Fletcher one time, compared to Zilgo who… basically does it the entire time 💀

To be fair, Baron Von Bludgeoneous’s approach was to not… kill Fletcher in order to use Fletcher to find more forbidden powers but it is still horrifying that Fletcher was hurt MORE BY A CLASSMATE than AN UNDEAD VILLAIN.

Generally, Fletcher’s ability to handle the entire events of the book is kind of horrifying when you consider the fact he’s malnourished and likely isn’t getting quality sleep. Not only was he on the train for 3 days- in which it is not clear if he ACTUALLY slept (or ate!) at all- his body is stiff and aches.

His body is already not at its best going into the events of the book. BUT THEN HE KEEPS GOING?

I’d like to remind you all that neither Fletcher or Izzy have slept before the book’s finale- they’ve been awake all day. The finale stretches from dusk to near daybreak, MEANING THEY STAYED UP THE ENTIRE NIGHT FIGHTING THE BARON.

Maybe that’s not horrifying but then we see them return to the academy and go back to school like nothing happened- without seeming exhausted! THEY ARE UNFAZED.

Another thing worth considering is the fact Merlok sealed the forbidden powers into tablets because he couldn’t destroy them- then Fletcher destroys one (or so we think? The way it’s phrased makes it seem like the second book COULD have backtracked on that if desired.) without even properly knowing what he’s doing. Clay also destroys one but Clay is also the main protagonist - but I guess Fletcher is the book’s protagonist so it’s really just the Moorington brothers are built different due to protagonist powers.

I also feel the need to point out that Fletcher basically has a forever bodyguard in the Rogul he awakened too. So beyond just his skills and Izzy’s- Fletcher HAS AN EXTRA THING GOING FOR HIM.

Do these children use their power responsibly?

😐

They shut down the ENTIRE school within their first three days. You tell me.

While we can forgive certain aspects- we have to also keep in mind that some of the events that occurred- they did it, fully knowing that it was wrong.

Izzy thought the forbidden power was a Nexo power- that means she didn’t think it would be as destructive as the power ended up being BUT she knew it would be cheating to power up Fletcher. She does so anyway- simply because she’s like “ooooh no shawty nooo don’t get beat up I can’t watch this anymore 😔😔😔”

(SHE DOES THIS CRAZY THING FOR SOMEONE SHE’S KNOWN FOR THREE DAYS AT THIS POINT. Sure, they’ve gone through a lot together but still- Izzy is loyal to a fault for someone she only knows so well. She’s kinda crazy.)

Fletcher quickly puts two and two together and understands what’s going on- and doesn’t stop it. Even though he was SUSPICIOUS of the tablet, thinking that it might not be a Nexo power because of where they found it, he still doesn’t stop fighting even when he gets powered up. He also notes that the download of the forbidden power doesn’t look like a NEXO download that he saw demonstrated in class- BUT HE STILL CONTINUES.

To be fair to Fletcher, it was a very impulsive moment thing where it was kind of him snapping and leaning into it because of self esteem issues. (Jestro anyone?)

In addition to shutting down the school within their first three days, they also:

- Find a forbidden power

- Endanger the entire city by extension of shutting down the school’s power

- Beat an ancient villain (part way anyway)

- Acquire a kill count of 46 (as I talked about at the beginning of this post)

- Threaten another student, Zilgo, with violence if Zilgo tells on the two of them for stealing

- YEAH, ALSO, THEY STEAL A RELIC FROM THE SCHOOL TO GET GEARED UP TO FIGHT A VILLAIN. THEY STRAIGHT UP JUST STEAL NED KNIGHTLY’S SWORD.

- Break out of a dungeon (using a photo of Lance mind you)

- Blow up an ancient manor’s roof with magic

All in all, these kids are crazy. But I love em for it and they’re probably going to be the majority of what I talk about on tumblr 💀

#fletcher bowman nexo knights #fletcher bowman #izzy richmond #nexo knights #hello tumblr I do not know what I am doing #this is literally my first ever post on tumblr #i am a gen z boomer

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midnightechoes · 4 months

Text

A Bridge Chapter 1 of 2

Read on AO3 here!

A Bridge is the third part in my post-RWBY volume 5 STR-Crossed Lovers fic series, Kintsugi. It was originally posted on AO3 back in February 2023.

Kintsugi Part 1, A Visit, taking place immediately after v5 and written by me, can be read on AO3 and Tumblr.

Kintsugi Part 2, A Dream, part flashback, part sequel to A Visit, was written by my friend @shera-dnd and can be read on AO3 and Tumblr.

Tai let out a sigh. Two days ago Raven had shown up after almost twenty years, a broken, defeated shell of the woman he had known and loved. After a tense first night, and a long day where they had visited Summer’s grave, he had been hopeful of the progress they had made. Granted, he still wasn’t entirely sure what they were making progress toward, but nonetheless, he was hopeful.

Was.

It was early in the morning, and Tai was leaning against the doorway to the guest room Raven had spent the previous two nights in. A guest room that currently had an empty bed. Tai simply let out a second, long sigh as he stared at it.

Two days ago he wasn’t sure what to think when he first saw Raven land on the roof of his house, but the days had gone better than he could have hoped, rebuilding some small hint of the connection he and his ex-wife used to have. But he’d be lying if a part of him wasn’t expecting to eventually walk into a room and find that Raven was gone. There was a certain inevitability to it, even if it did sting a little more than he had expected it to.

With a heavy heart, Tai pushed himself off the doorframe and took a step into the empty room. He stopped suddenly when he heard a loud slam coming from inside the house. He spun around and hurried down the hall, glancing into each room as he went until he got to Yang’s. There he saw Raven, standing next to a closed window, holding a picture frame that had been sitting on the desk.

“Oh, hey,” Tai chirped, the excitement in his voice noticeable.

“Morning,” Raven murmured, barely looking up.

“Did you hear that slam?” Tai asked, taking a couple of steps into the room.

The question prompted Raven to raise an eyebrow as she finally diverted her attention to him for a few seconds before turning to glance at the window behind her.

“I closed the window,” she said, almost breathless. “It felt…” Raven took another look at the photo in the frame, a family portrait that was taken some years ago that featured a young Ruby and Yang, along with a proud Tai and excited Zwei. “...It felt like the right thing to do.”

“That was taken on Ruby’s first day of school,” Tai said, answering Raven’s silent question. “She was so excited, it took me almost ten minutes to get her to stand still long enough for Qrow to take the picture.”

Raven let out a chuckle that died almost as soon as it started. She ran a finger along the glass, tracing a line between Ruby and Yang. “The kids, were they…happy?”

Tai draped an arm over Raven’s shoulders, making her jump slightly at the contact. Tai quickly lifted his arm but set it back down when Raven made no effort to push him away.

“Yeah. Yeah, they were,” Tai answered. “Zwei made sure of that.”

That got a hearty laugh from Raven as she slapped his chest with the back of her hand.

After feigning injury, Tai slipped the portrait out of Raven’s hands and returned it to its home on the desk.

“Why don’t we start our day on a better note? How about some breakfast?”

“The last time you tried to cook breakfast for Summer and me, you nearly burned the house down,” Raven cracked as she and Tai began making their way out of the room.

“That was a long time ago!” He shouted in protest. “I’ve gotten a lot better at cooking, you’ll see.”

---

Much to Raven’s astonishment, Tai had gotten better at cooking. It was a simple dish, but it was warm, the tea was hot, and the company was pleasant. Tai had spent most of the time boasting about his cooking skills, and admitting to all the glorious failures he had suffered in order to get them. What Raven was most entertained by was hearing of how Yang used to tease the poor man mercilessly for his failures, even though apparently she still always ate it in the end.

A good two hours had somehow slipped by, during which they drained an entire tea kettle. They had forgotten how easily the two of them could lose time when they got going; Summer was the only reason they were ever on time for anything.

The banter might have continued on for even longer if it wasn’t for an alert on Tai’s scroll going off. He tried to give it nothing more than a passing glance, but the info in the little notification box drew his attention.

“What is it?” Raven asked.

“Oh. It’s just… I forgot that I have some things to do at Signal today.”

Raven leaned forward, propping her head against her hand and gently swishing the dregs of tea that were in her cup. “Ah yes, the job. How boring,” she playfully teased.

“Have to earn a living somehow,” Tai chuckled, throwing his hands up.

“Why?” Raven leaned a little more forward towards him, lifting her free arm and then quickly snapping her hand shut into a fist. “I do what I want, and take what I want,” she confidently boasted.

Tai met her zeal with a flat expression. “Yeah, well, I live in the real world, Rae. And here things cost money, and there are consequences for thieving and stealing.”

“Thieving and stealing is my world,” Raven muttered as she leaned back in her chair. “It’s the world I was born into. It’s the path I still walk.”

“Look,” Tai began, reaching forward and rested his hand on Raven’s. “We all knew where you came from, and we never judged you or your brother for it. We still don’t. But…” He paused to take a deep breath before continuing. “...For a while there you tried walking a different path, with Summer and me. And I like to think it went pretty well.”

Raven stared at the hand resting on hers for a moment before tugging free of the loose grip. “Until I ruined it.”

A silence fell over the kitchen.

Tai leaned back in his chair. He thoughtfully regarded his empty cup, taking a moment to sort out the myriad of thoughts that were racing through his brain.

“I don’t care about any of that,” he finally said. When Raven found the courage to look up at the man across from her, she found a confident smile beaming at her. “All that matters right now is that you’re here. That you’re trying.” Tai slid his hand across the table, palm up, and waited. After a few seconds, Raven found it with her own hand and gave it a squeeze. “It means the world to me that you’re here.”

After another squeeze, Raven let go of Tai’s hand, and wiped away a tear that had been threatening to fall. “I can’t stay.”

“What?”

“My tribe still needs me. Salem knows where our camp is, we have to get on the move again.” Raven met Tai’s gaze, her eyes glassy. “They’re my people, Tai. I’m their leader, and it’s my responsibility to get them to safety.”

“I’ll come with you,” Tai immediately suggested, possibly before he even had a chance to think the idea through.

“No,” Raven flatly stated. “No, Tai. The Branwen tribe is my responsibility, not yours.”

“But…”

“I said no,” Raven firmly said. She rose to her feet, but barely even managed to push her chair in before Tai grabbed her forearm.

“Don’t leave yet,” Tai blurted out, his voice hurried. “Please.” Raven simply looked down at the hand on her arm, then back up at the man it was attached to, and raised an eyebrow. “What’s one more day?”

“I thought you had your job to get to,” Raven smoothly responded.

“Er, well, yeah,” he conceded, before a grin formed on his face. “But, I was supposed to meet up with a few friends after work. Come out with me.”

Raven furrowed her brow at him.

Tai knew that face. It was the face she gave whenever she was on the verge of giving in but didn’t want to admit it.

“Just one more day. We can get out of this house, and just have a little fun. I promise, tomorrow I won’t try to stop you,” Tai pleaded.

“What would I even wear? I certainly couldn’t go into town like this,” Raven said as she gestured to her clothes.

“Why not?”

“Because I look like ‘Raven Branwen, the Bandit Queen’!” she let ouf in a huff. “If I’m going to go out I’d rather not draw any more attention than necessary.”

“Most of your old stuff is still up in the attic, actually. Should be able to find something in there,” Tai quickly answered.

Raven took another moment to answer, mostly just to make Tai sweat a little longer. Slowly, a slick grin grew on her face. “Alright, fine,” she chuckled. “Just write down when and where, and I’ll meet you there after work.”

“I’ll send it to your scroll,” Tai suggested. He let go of Raven and pulled his own scroll from his pocket.

“I don’t have one,” she answered, smirking.

Tai cocked his head to the side and raised an eyebrow. “Really?”

“Those things can be easily tracked,” Raven gravely informed Tai. He simply shrugged at her then made his way over to a drawer and pulled out a pad and a pen.

“And Tai,” Raven began, her arms folded, her smirk growing. The man gave her his full attention, prompting Raven to motion towards the doorway. “You do know that I wasn’t planning on leaving just then, right? I just have to use the restroom,” she informed him, a smug tone in her voice, before walking out of the room, leaving Tai in the kitchen alone, blushing slightly.

“Um, yeah, I totally knew that,” he mumbled to himself.

---

Raven stood in the middle of the second-floor hallway, staring at the ladder in front of her that led to the attic. It had been almost two minutes since she pulled the ladderway down, and yet, the best she had been able to do was grip one rung with her hand, her feet still firmly on the floor. Above her, through the opening, was a bright, dusty void that teased the edges of a room that awaited her with promises of the one thing Raven had, up until the last week, been running from for years: her past.

She took a deep breath and planted one foot on the bottom rung. It took all of her might for Raven to hoist herself up to the next.

One, and then another. With each rung, her body felt heavier, yet there was pride sprouting inside of her with every step.

Raven hesitated after the fourth rung.

The opening to the attic hovered just above her. With the next step she would crest over the lip of the opening, and there would be no turning back after that.

She took another deep breath and willed her way up the rest of the ladder.

Truth be told, Raven wasn’t sure exactly what she was expecting to find at the top of the stairs. Her brain had conjured visions of overwhelming altars to her past and her sins. Each version more dire, and more judging than the previous.

A mundane, normal attic was the last thing on her mind, but it was exactly what she had found. It was a long room that ran the length of the house. The walls, ceiling, and floor were plain wood, grayed by the amount of dust present. A window at the back end of the house provided the only light in the room, with a hanging light in the center of the room there to help. There were boxes and boxes stacked up around the attic, all of them haphazardly placed, with a winding pathway between them.

Raven chuckled at the sight. In hindsight, she knew that this was what she should have expected if she hadn’t let her anxiety get the best of her. There was no altar. No towering stack of boxes labeled “Raven’s stuff” with skulls and crossbones on it. In fact, there weren’t many labels on anything, and nothing was neatly stacked or organized.

“Really, Tai?” Raven huffed to herself as she snaked her way through the room. Towards the back corner, back where the light from the hanging bulb barely reached, the level of organization rose sharply, and almost all of them were labeled.

A melancholy smile came over her face. Raven knelt down in front of an old stack of boxes and traced the mundane words scribbled on them with her finger, words written in a way that looked all too familiar.

“Summer,” she murmured, followed by a sharp sniffle. Raven allowed herself a moment to admire her wife’s handwriting, swooping and playful, conjuring memories of her own name at the top of handwritten notes passed during classes. She silently thanked Summer for always having been the coordinated one of them. A dark realization came over Raven. She stood up and glanced around, noticing just how much of the attic was disorganized, creating a sort of map of just how long Summer had been gone.

A shiver ran down her spine.

It took Raven a couple of minutes to recenter herself so that she could return to the task at hand.

About ten minutes of rummaging passed before Raven finally found a large, sealed plastic container with her name on it. Popping the lid off revealed it was stuffed full, brimming with a part of Raven’s life that she had put out of her mind for so long. She quickly rearranged some of the containers in the attic to give herself room to unpack hers. There were all sorts of items and trinkets of hers that had been meticulously wrapped and stored, along with plenty of clothes. It didn’t take long for Raven to find what had, once upon a time, been her favorite pair of pants: a pair of black jeans with huge cargo pockets. Pulling them out of the container revealed a major problem, though: both of the legs were severely torn around the mid-thigh area, to the point that the rest of the legs dangled as if they were about to fall off.

Memories of the over-zealous training exercise that had caused the rips flooded back to Raven, bringing a small smile to her face as she recalled one of the few times Qrow had been able to land a solid blow on her.

If Qrow’s blade hadn’t torn her pants, she’s sure something else would have. They had been her favorite pair, and she had worn them so often that both Tai and Summer complained more than once. She had made it something of a game, if her boyfriend and girlfriend didn’t want to see her in them - well - it was their job to take them off of her.

There were plenty of other pants in the container, a few skirts, and even a couple of dresses too, but as Raven sat there holding her ripped black jeans, smiling and blushing just a bit, she made a decision. One of the mottos of the Branwen tribe had always been “repair over discard”, an essential mindset when one could go weeks, even months without access to new supplies.

Raven grabbed an orange tank top out of the container, resealed it, and made her way back down into the house. It didn’t take long to find the sewing supplies, a must-have for any parent. She selected a thick, gold thread and got to work

---

Truth be told, Tai didn’t love going to Vale. The barebones-college town vibe of Patch had always been more his speed, he’d take dirt roads lined with trees over the metal and concrete of the big city any day. Vale did have its advantages, though. Primarily, more places to spend an evening with friends.

It had been some nine months since the Fall of Beacon, and most of Vale had recovered exceptionally well in that time, save for the school itself. One could barely tell that any of the city had suffered so much as a scratch, let alone a massive invasion.

Punctuality had never been Tai’s strong suit, going against the free-spirit brand he worked hard to maintain. Which made the fact that he had been the first one of his party to arrive all the more amusing. He paced along the sidewalk for another few minutes, taking in the sight of the newly rebuilt entertainment district as the setting sun glistened off of the buildings, until a raven swooped in, soaring just over Tai’s head, and kawed to get his attention. He turned just in time to see the raven veer into an alleyway at the end of the block. Letting out a light chuckle, he began jogging after the bird.

Raven emerged from the alleyway just before Tai could reach it. She was wearing a plain, orange tank top and her black pants, now being held together by gold stitching around the thighs. A smile washed over Tai as soon as he saw her, which turned into a fit of laughter as his eyes drifted down.

“Oh brothers, I thought we burned those!” Tai chuckled

“Summer would have never! She loved seeing me in these,” Raven smugly proclaimed as she folded her arms.

“Well, yeah, but not because she actually liked the pants,” Tai cracked.

The statement only made Raven’s smugness grow. “My point stands.” The playful standoff between the two quickly gave way to laughter, and something Raven hadn’t done since she arrived in Patch: flash a carefree smile.

“So, where are these friends of yours?”

A nervous grin came over Tai. “That is a good question. I’m sure they’ll be here—”

“—Taiyang!” a hearty voice boomed out from across the street before Tai could finish his sentence.

The familiar voice made Raven go stiff as her eyes widened, the grin on her face disappearing in an instant. She and Tai turned in unison to see a jovial Peter Port jogging across the quiet road. Just behind him were a stunned Bartholomew Oobleck and Glynda Goodwitch.

“What is happening?” Raven hissed before they were joined by Port, Oobleck, and Goodwitch.

“Tai! It’s so excellent to see you again!” Port boasted as he reached them. “And you brought a friend!” Port exclaimed as he turned to focus on Raven for the first time. “...Oh!”

“‘Friend’ isn’t the first word that comes to mind,” Glynda grumbled, staring daggers at Raven.

Raven immediately took a defensive stand, her hand instinctively reaching for her sword that wasn’t there. “Well I certainly regret not bringing Omen,” she growled.

“As if I don’t already have enough reasons to arrest you right here on the spot,” Glynda retorted.

Oobleck was the first to jump between the two. “Ladies! Please!” he said with his trademark lightning-quick voice. It was enough to prompt Glynda and Raven to pause their verbal sparring match. Oobleck took the chance to turn to Tai and smile. “It is good to see you.”

“Yeah, likewise,” Tai answered.

“I must say, it is quite the shock to see you tonight, Miss Branwen,” Obleck continued, his attention fully on the bandit queen.

“I don’t want to cause any trouble,” Raven responded.

“Well that would be a first,” Glynda was quick to remark.

“This was a mistake, Tai,” Raven scoffed, then turned around to leave. She barely got a step before her ex-husband had his hand around her wrist. She snapped her head to him, piercing eyes intending to convey a stern get off me, but her resolve quickly melted when she was met with the most pleading face Tai could make. A long sigh came out of Raven as she turned back to the party. “I’m willing to give it a shot if they are.”

The very loud, very distinct sound of Port clearing his throat cut into the conversation. “Miss Branwen, you have to understand, since you left, all that we’ve heard about you have been from your brother, which hasn’t been… the most flattering of portrayals.”

“Thieving and killing your way across Anima, if I recall!” Oobleck blurted out, extending his pointer finger up as if throwing out a random fact during one of his lessons.

It made Raven’s jaw clench. “We aren’t killers, we’re survivors,” Raven growled. She glared at the three of them. “Not all of us were so lucky to have fancy jobs and cushy lifestyles handed to us. Some of us have had to fight for every scrap we have. I’ve done what I had to in order to ensure the survival of my people.”

“Sounds like a lot of justifying bad deeds,” Glynda shot back.

“Glynda,” Tai bemoaned.

“Well I’m sorry, Tai, but how am I supposed to feel? She just shows back up, after almost two decades, and expects everything to be fine?”

Tai stepped forwards towards Glynda. “No, everything isn’t fine. My daughters have had to deal with losing friends, people that they cared deeply for. I had to take care of Yang while she processed having one of her arms chopped off. Now there’s a giant Grimm turned to stone atop Beacon, while my girls wander around Anima trying to figure out how to stop an unstoppable force. So you’re right, there are a lot of things that aren’t ‘fine’. But right now, all I want is to have a nice evening with my friends. Including my wife.”

“Ex-Wife, technically,” Raven automatically corrected. Tai shot Raven an annoyed look, which seemed to bring satisfaction to her. Tai’s attention was pulled back forward when he felt an arm on his shoulder.

“I’m sorry,” Glynda sighed. She let go of Tai and moved to address Raven directly. “At the very least, it’s not like we have to worry about small talk all night.”

Raven raised an eyebrow at the statement.

Glynda turned back to Tai and smirked. “You didn’t tell her?”

A very nervous grin came over Tai’s face as he glanced between the two women.

“Tell me what?” Raven snarled, her eyes squinting at her ex-husband. Tai pointed at the building that they were all standing in front of. The signage above the door was a bright neon sign that flashed “Vale Karaoke”.

Raven whipped back to Tai, her eyes wide. “This was definitely a mistake.”

---

It took two beers before Raven was willing to sing. When she finally did, she picked the hardest, fastest song in the library, and screamed through most of it as Port and Glynda covered their ears, but still got a round of enthusiastic applause from Tai and Oobleck when she had finished.

Despite everyone’s initial hesitation, the evening seemed to be going smoothly. They rented a private room for two hours. A soft, gray couch lined three of the walls in a U shape, with a low, wooden table in the middle on which the song selection machine sat. The fourth wall was taken up mostly by a TV screen. Tai and Raven were on the side closest to the door, with Oobleck and Glynda opposite of them, and Port in the middle.

Raven’s metal performance happened about forty minutes into the night, and from there she seemed to mostly settle into enjoying herself. She clapped along to a few of the songs Tai sang, mostly upbeat rock and roll songs, and cheered on Port’s eclectic selection of songs. Somehow, Oobleck convinced her to sing a duet with him, some kind of silly pop song. Every once in a while, Raven and Glynda would needle each other during the lulls between the music. Mostly just small stuff, a backhanded compliment here, a note of skepticism there. Each time it began happening, Tai would hurriedly start the next song and shove the mic at whoever’s turn it was, paying little attention to what he was selecting. This is what led to Port singing a very lusty love song. What couldn’t be explained was why he was getting so into it.

As if her prayers were answered, it was during this song that the notification came that their food order was ready. Raven immediately jumped at the chance to go get it. She quietly slipped past Tai and exited the room, doing what she could to not distract from Port’s fun. To her surprise, Glynda slipped out right behind her.

“Keeping an eye on me, warden?” Raven smirked.

Glynda shot her hands up. “We ordered a lot, I just thought you could use the help.”

Raven answered with a faint hum, then began making her way down the hall, with Glynda following just behind. They walked in silence up to the food counter, where Raven turned in their ticket to one of the clerks, who promptly nodded and disappeared to the back.

“I didn’t know you could sing,” Glynda offhandedly commented as they waited. Raven simply shot her a raised eyebrow. “Not that wailing you did, mind you. That was utter nonsense, but when you sang with Bart, that actually sounded nice.”

Before she could reply, the clerk returned and set their order out onto two trays. Both women gave the clerk a nod and began to head back, trays in hand.

“Well, you were always more Summer’s and Tai’s friend,” Raven stated casually, “I’m sure there are plenty of things you don’t know about me.”

“You’re right, there’s a lot I don’t know about you. That’s what happens when someone’s not around,” Glynda shot back.

The comment made Raven stop in her tracks. There was a silence between them before Raven whipped around as fast as she could without spilling anything on her tray. “Is there something you wanted to say to me?” she snarled.

“I made a promise to Tai. And I don’t break my promises,” Glynda cooly replied, which just seemed to infuriate Raven even more.

“Well he’s not here, now is he. You’ve been peppering me all night, so why don’t you just spit it out!”

A sardonic smirk grew on Glynda’s face as she weighed her options. After a moment, she seemed to come to a decision as she set her gaze firmly on Raven. “Here’s what I know about you, Raven. I know what it feels like to have to comfort your sobbing wife because one morning you just up and disappeared. I know how pained Tai was that he couldn’t grieve the loss of Summer with you, that he didn’t even know how to let you know. I watched your family fall apart. They needed you, and you were nowhere to be found.” By the time Glynda had finished, she was huffing from long-suppressed anger that had come bubbling to the surface.

It took a few seconds for Raven to recover. She looked livid, but a closer inspection would have revealed bloodshot eyes on the verge of tearing up. “I had a responsibility to my tribe,” she seethed.

“What about the responsibility to your family?!” Glynda immediately shot back. “You couldn’t even show up for Summer’s funeral. Did you even care? Did you ever care?”

“Of course I cared!” Raven cried. “I… I…”

The sudden sound of a door opening froze both of them. “Everything alright out here?” Tai’s voice called from behind Raven, some ten feet away.

With a deep breath, and a quick glare at Glynda, Raven turned back around with as much of a smile as she could. It apparently wasn’t very convincing because as soon as she turned, Tai’s face contorted into a worried expression.

“We’re fine,” Raven snapped as she strode into the room past him.

“Just lovely,” Glynda coldly affirmed.

Tai closed the door behind them. They had returned just as Port and Oobleck were finishing some sort of duet, and having a good laugh over it.

“A-ha! The food has arrived!” Port gleefully declared, wrapping his arm around Oobleck and shaking the man violently.

The group took a brief break to dig into the food while the synthy, generic waiting screen music filled the room.

“You know, for what’s basically bar food, this is pretty good,” Tai said as he stuffed more fries into his mouth.

“I’ve survived on a lot worse,” Raven chuckled.

“And here I thought bandits ate like kings,” Glynda mused, loudly. She was focused on her sandwich, but a satisfied smile grew on her face as she could feel Raven glaring at her again.

“I already told you that we didn’t, are you calling me a liar?,” Raven growled back. Tai tried to place his hand on Raven’s arm, but she yanked it away quickly.

“I’m sure that’s not what Glynda intended, Miss Branwen,” Oobleck tried to insert, but instead just had Raven’s ire redirected to him.

“Oh really? Because it sure as hell sounds like that’s what she meant,” Raven barked.

“My only question is why you thought living that way was necessary,” Glynda stated, returning Raven’s glare with one of her own.

Tai shoved the handful of fries into his mouth, and quickly pulled the selection machine towards him. With his attention still mostly on the growing argument, Tai punched in a number at random. “Oh look, it’s your turn, Rae,” he hurriedly said as he stood up and pulled Raven to her feet. She shot him a death glare, one that he did his best to ignore as he shoved the microphone into her hands. “Your turn to sing, Rae!”

Raven kept her eyes focused on Glynda as she let Tai pull her to the front of the room where they had been performing all night. It wasn’t until both of Tai’s hands were firmly on her shoulders that she turned her attention back to Tai.

“You got this,” he beamed.

“What am I even singing?” Raven asked, a confused look on her face.

“No idea,” Tai admitted. “Does it really matter? We’re here to sing, so just sing. Please?” he begged. Raven sighed and nodded, giving him a faint smile, one that he returned.

The music of the selection began, instantly wiping Raven’s faint smile away. It was a simple piano melody, but as it played, working its way to the beginning of the lyrics, Tai and Raven stood frozen staring at each other with widening eyes as their jaws went slack.

A quiet gasp came from Glynda, but it was enough to shake Tai out of his stupor. “No no no no no!” He stammered as he tried to make his way around Raven so he could turn the song off. But before he reached the machine, Raven’s arm shot out and grabbed his. “Rae, you don’t have to,” Tai croaked, but Raven just pushed him down onto the couch. She stood there for a couple of seconds, staring straight at the screen, posture stiff, clutching the microphone as tightly as she could with both hands as the lyrics slowly began scrolling up on the screen.

“Once,” Raven began, drawing out the “o” as her voice cracked slightly. “Like a dream, you looked at me, and everything felt new,” she continued.

It looked as if she was trying to strangle the microphone, her grip twisting around it, growing tighter and tighter with each word. “Time slipped away, the past seemed to fade, my hope restored by you.” Raven’s voice cracked again on the “you”. Throughout her tone had been swinging from hollow, to putting everything she had into the words, sometimes shifting between tones in the middle of the words.

At the far end of the room, Glynda and Port sat on the couch set against the back wall, with Oobleck off to the side. The doctor sat there, hand over his mouth, seemingly entranced by Raven.

“I’m afraid I don’t understand what is happening,” Port whispered as he leaned toward Glynda.

“This was the song that Summer sang to Raven and Tai at their wedding,” Glynda murmured, a look of horror on her face. Even from behind, it was easy to see how uncomfortable Raven was by her posture and rigid lack of movement.

Port returned his gaze to Raven, and with this new knowledge, sighed. “Oh no.”

“...always be, it's my destiny, to… to…” Raven stuttered. The cold determination she had been clinging to was beginning to crumble. Her entire body shook as she tried to force the words out of her mouth.

“—to be in love with you,” Tai’s voice softly finished. Raven slowly turned to see Tai standing just next to her, a microphone in his hand, a furrowed brow, and a slight smile on his face.

Raven herself had an expression of deep sorrow on her face, but with Tai’s help, she turned back to the monitor to continue. “Some people fall in love for life,” the two sang together. “Others never get it right, love's fickle when it calls, one thing that I know for sure, longer than our lives endure, you're my…” Raven began stuttering again, throwing Tai off.

“...My…” Raven stammered. “...My fore—” she stopped suddenly mid-word, her entire body seemed to almost buckle as she hunched over. “I can’t!” she screamed, accompanied by the sound of the plastic microphone shattering in her hand. “I can’t!” she repeated.

Before anyone had a chance to react, Raven slammed her body into the door, bursting it open.

“Shit!” Tai yelped, following her out the door as fast as could. He got into the hallway in time to see a raven soaring through the halls. “Shit shit shit!” he huffed, giving chase as quickly as possible.

What little hope Tai had of catching Raven in the building was dashed when another patron in the entranceway kindly opened the door so the wild bird could fly out. He was running so fast that he almost ran said patron over on his way to violently shoving the door open.

Once outside, Tai could see Raven soaring down the block. He immediately gave chase, trying his best to not lose her completely, lowly cursing between increasingly haggard breaths. Hope came back to him when he saw Raven turn into an alleyway just a block away.

By the time he got to the alleyway, Tai was exhausted, his legs were burning as he gasped for breath. Bent over, his hands pressed firmly on his knees to hold himself up, he peered into the alleyway and was grateful to see Raven standing some twenty feet again, human once more, with one arm wrapped around her waist and the other hand covering her face as audible sobs echoed in the alley.

Something, perhaps it was a connection made long ago that despite years of fraying still held, or perhaps it was just how loudly Tai was huffing for air, but something made Raven look up. Her bloodshot eyes found Tai’s, and for some reason, seeing that man, hunched over on the sidewalk, sucking in oxygen after chasing her for almost a whole mile, made her smile.

“I’m sorry. I wasn’t trying to run, I just needed to get out of there,” Raven hoarsely called out. “And flying’s a lot faster than running.”

Tai forced himself back into an upright position and took a few steps into the alleyway. “Y-Yeah, I can see that. I could barely keep up, and I have great calf muscles,” he boasted, a cocky smile on his face doing his best to ignore just how much those calves were screaming in pain.

Despite her state, Raven couldn’t help but giggle. She took a quick glance at the man’s legs, then glanced back up at him, a teasing smile on her face. “You really do have great calf muscles.”

Thankfully, Tai’s face was already red from the running, hiding the blush that came from the compliment. He awkwardly scratched the back of his head as he averted his gaze and let out a faint chuckle.

Once he was able to recover, Tai took another couple of steps towards Raven, still leaving seven or eight feet between them.

“I am so sorry, Raven. I was just trying to distract you from fighting with Glynda. I was being careless, and I should have checked what I was punching in.” He paused to let out a long sigh. “I should have stopped the song as soon as I heard it.”

The admission and apology didn’t immediately elicit a response from Raven. She simply stood there, no longer sobbing but with tears still running down her cheeks, both her arms wrapped around her waist, staring absently toward the ground just in front of her.

Despite having been pretty loud, even with his throat still burning from gasping for air, Tai was starting to think that Raven hadn’t heard him. Until she shifted slightly. Her eyes shot to him for just a brief second before dropping back to the ground.

“My semblance,” Raven murmured, her brows knitting, “it doesn’t attach to people’s bodies. The connection made attaches to one’s aura… one’s soul.”

A pregnant pause fell between them, Raven struggling for the strength to get to her point, a dim horror washing over Tai as the flicker of that point began to glow in his mind.

“So when someone dies, and their soul leaves their body, that connection is severed,” Raven pushed on, each word getting a little less sure as she went. “It-It feels like a piece of my heart being violently torn from my body.”

With all her effort, Raven forced herself to meet Tai’s gaze, her eyes looking haunted. “I knew the second Summer died,” she cried, a loud sob escaping her. Within seconds, Tai had his arms wrapped around her as he pulled her into a tight hug. Raven sank into him, her body going slack, letting Tai’s solid frame hold her up.

They stayed that way for a moment, Raven letting out little sobs every handful of seconds. Finally, after settling down a little, she regained some of her posture, pulling out of the hug slightly to look Tai in the eyes, something she was only able to do for a few seconds before dropping her gaze to the side. With Tai’s arms still draped around her, Raven seemed to shrink, hugging herself as if to take up as little space as possible.

“I don’t have an easy answer for why I didn’t come back,” she murmured. “I guess there was a part of me that was still trying to convince myself that I made the right choice. That my life and this one were incompatible, that going our separate ways and staying far apart was what was best for everyone.”

Raven sucked in a deep breath before continuing. “There was a part of me that was ashamed... I ran away from everyone… I didn’t deserve to be a part of this family…” With some struggle, Raven managed to look up at the man still holding her. “... I didn’t think you’d want anything to do with me.”

Tai simply looked into her eyes and smiled. “Well, that’s obviously not true.”

“Obviously,” Raven faintly chuckled.

“Come back to the bar, there’s still almost an hour left. We’ll find something better to sing,” Tai promised.

That got a louder chuckle out of Raven. “Only if I get to pick the songs.”

They finally separated from the hug. Tai lifted his arm, allowing Raven to curl hers around it. “You drive a hard bargain, Branwen.”

“A code of the Branwen Tribe, always maintain the upper hand.”

Tai let out a laugh as they walked. “You really gotta teach me these codes some time.”

---

When Tai and Raven returned to their private room in the karaoke center, Glynda, Port, and Oobleck were standing at the front of the room. It was clear by their movement that they had been huddled and talking just seconds before the door had opened. Raven stepped in first, with Tai just behind them. Three pairs of eyes immediately trained on them, but to Raven’s surprise, none of those eyes were filled with anger. There was something in there, something Raven couldn’t quite put a finger on. Undeterred, she pressed on, taking a deep breath before addressing the small crowd.

“I am sor—” was all Raven got out before she found herself suddenly being pulled into a tight hug by Glynda. They both stood there for a moment, Raven in shock as Glynda’s arms constricted around her shoulders. Once Raven was able to shake out of her stupor, she reached her arms up, clutching at the blonde woman’s back as she basked in the warmth of the hug.

They stayed that way for another moment, neither saying a word, instead just letting the hug say everything that was needed.

---

It was almost midnight when Tai and Raven returned to Patch. After the karaoke bar, the group decided to go and get a proper dinner together, although it seemed that Port and Tai had decided that the karaoke would follow them wherever they went.

Tai burst into the house, full of energy and song, and jovial from a good night and a few alcoholic drinks. “Can't hold me now! And you're not stopping me!” he blurted out, slightly off-key and voice more than slightly hoarse.

The commotion startled Zwei, who had been asleep in his doggy bed that was a few yards from the door. The pup immediately jumped from his bed in excitement, and scurried over to greet Tai and Raven, who was just closing the door behind her.

“Hey, little buddy!” Tai enthusiastically called out as Zwei jumped up and began licking his face. Raven simply giggled at the sight as she slipped past him and disappeared into the kitchen. “Who’s the best guard dog in the world?” Tai playfully teased as he cradled Zwei like a baby and scratched his belly, making the dog’s tail wag excitedly.

After a minute, Raven returned to the living room, holding two glasses of water. “I put some tea on, it’ll help with the throat,” she announced. She went to hand Tai his water, but Zwei saw the opening and squirmed out of Tai’s grip. Raven was just barely able to pin the dog between her arms as she tried to keep the glasses in her hands from spilling. Tai took the glasses from Raven, allowing her to pull the good dog up against her shoulder. She couldn’t help but giggle as he began licking her face. “It’s good to see you too, buddy.”

“Thanks,” Tai said, holding up the glass of water and taking a sip.

“I assumed you needed it,” she playfully jeered.

“What can I say, I had a fun night,” Tai boasted, flashing a sly smile. “It’s nice to see that you and Glynda are finally friends.”

An involuntary guffaw came out of Raven. “Let’s not go that far,” she argued. There was a brief moment of silence between them, save for Zwei’s happy little whines, as their eyes found each other. “Still, it was a nice night.”

As if on cue, the tea kettle in the kitchen began whistling, seemingly startling everyone out of whatever moment was beginning to develop. Raven set Zwei down and scurried into the kitchen. Tai knelt down to ruffle the hair on Zwei’s head, then followed his ex-wife.

Once there, he found Raven pouring two cups of tea. “Do you really have to leave?” Tai asked, his voice low, somber.

The question made Raven let out a long sigh as she set down the kettle. Slowly, she turned in place and leaned against the kitchen counter, her fingernails digging into the wooden top as she gripped it tightly.“There’s still a lot to do for my tribe. Relocating to somewhere Salem won’t follow us isn’t going to be easy.”

Tai stood there, his arms folded as he stared off to the side. There was a thoughtful expression on his face as he nodded along to what Raven was saying. When she finished, the quiet hung between them for just a few seconds. Tai’s brow knitted as a huff of air came out of his nostrils. “Alright, I’m coming with you.”

A loud sigh escaped Raven as her head fell back. “Tai, no, we talked about this.”

“Well I’m not taking no for an answer this time,” he quickly retorted with an air of confidence in his voice. “I’ve made my choice, and I’m not just going to leave you to deal with your problems alone. I made a vow that I would never do that and it’s about time I started making good on that again.”

“For the last time, Tai, we’re not married anymore,” Raven grumbled.

The statement seemed to make Tai’s confidence falter just a bit.“Well, maybe we’re not,” he conceded. “To be honest, I don’t know what we’re doing, or where this is going, but Summer would want this family to look out for each other, no matter how fractured it’s become. So I’m coming with you.”

“And then what? You become a bandit too?” Raven chuckled. “We both go on the run?”

“No, we both know that wouldn’t work,” Tai admitted. “I don’t know exactly. Maybe we get your tribe somewhere safe. Then maybe we both come back here. Figure out where this is going,” he said, his cheeks turning bright red.

“Here? Back to this house?” Raven asked, her voice almost breaking by the end of the sentence.

“Yeah?” Tai answered, somewhat confused. “Why not?”

“This house is full of ghosts,” she shuddered. “My mistakes, the splinters of the wreck I made are wedged into the seams of every wall.” Raven wrapped her arms around herself as she let her eyes fall shut. They only stayed shut for a few seconds, though, as the feeling of Tai’s hands against her shoulders compelled her to open them. She was met with the sight of the soft smile on his face, his eyes meeting hers.

“No, Rae, not ghosts,” Tai corrected, “it’s full of memories. Summer poured so much love for all of us into this house, you can still feel it in the air.” Tai was met with a raised eyebrow and a skeptical expression. “I mean it, just close your eyes.”

Despite her skepticism, Raven closed her eyes, and let everything wash over. It took a moment, but things slowly began to fill in. A familiar breeze blew in through the kitchen window carrying the scent of the flowers planted in the flower beds in front of the house; flower beds that Summer had started many years ago. The rustling of the trees outside, creaking and swaying as they always had. Little sounds and feelings that Raven had associated with their little corner of the world. Little sounds and feelings that she had thought she had left behind forever.

A little gasp escaped Raven as a tear dripped down her cheek. She opened her eyes slowly, gazing up at Tai through a water film. “I can still feel her combing her fingers through my hair as I was cooking.”

A wet chuckle came out of Tai. “She loved teasing you when you cooked.” Raven nodded at him, attempting to wipe the tear away, only for it to be replaced by two more. Tai’s rough hand reached up to cup Raven’s cheek, his thumb wiping away one of the tears. On instinct, she leaned into the touch.

“I can still hear her,” Tai added. “She’d sing to try to distract you.” The two fell silent, their teary eyes staring at one another.

Still staring directly into Raven’s eyes, he began to sing, barely louder than a whisper, but his voice was sure, soft but confident. “One thing that I know for sure, longer than our lives endure, you’re my forever fall.”

Raven swallowed down a sob. Her tears were flowing freely as she looked up at her ex-husband, and began snaking her arms around his waist. “Taiyang, you big, dumb idiot,” Raven breathlessly said as she reached up and kissed him.

#rwby #raven branwen #taiyang xiao long #summer rose #peter port #glynda goodwitch #bartholomew oobleck #raven x summer #raven x tai #tai x summer #raven x summer x tai #str crossed lovers #sk's writing #rwby fanfiction #str-crossed lovers #sk's 2023 recap

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The Last Zodiac

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"Momiji, go get my bag. I left it in my locker." Haru said, picking up your sleeping form. The exhaustion you felt must've been intense.

"Why don't you go get your own bag? What are you even going to do with it?" Kyo asked, confused.

"Well, if she hasn't turned back by the time Hatori has gotten here, I'm gonna put her in my bag so we can get her out," Haru explained from his kneeling position. He looked at the human girl staring at you with stars in her eyes. "Honda, will you hold her for a second?"

"Sure." Tohru nodded, kneeling and reaching forward to grab your zodiac form. She placed your head gently in her lap. Tohru cooed, "She's so adorable."

Haru took off his jacket and wrapped it around your shivering form. He hoped Hatori would be there soon.

Momiji ran as fast as he could to Haru's locker. It was still lunch break, so he didn't have to worry about running into many people, especially girls. He couldn't afford to transform accidentally. Not when you were up there sick. He got to Haru's locker and grabbed his bag, dumping the contents inside the locker. He started making his way back to the roof when he ran into Yuki.

"Sorry, Yuki!" Momiji said, helping Yuki off the floor.

"Momiji, what has you in such a rush?" Yuki asked the younger boy.

"I can't talk right now! There's an emergency!" Momiji said and ran off. Yuki, concerned, followed the boy. When he came onto the roof, he couldn't believe what the emergency was.

You gained consciousness a few minutes after Momiji left. You were still weak, and it was hard to keep your eyes open, but you were awake.

"Oh! Y/N!" Tohru exclaimed the first one to notice your eyes open. "Are you okay?"

"A little embarrassed, if I'm honest." You muttered. "It's been years since I transformed."

It had been years since you transformed; it had been even longer since you got sick enough to change. The last time was- No. You shook the memory from your head. You didn't want to think of that right now.

"Hatori should be here soon," Haru said. Momiji slammed open the door with a grey-haired Sohma following closely behind.

"What the hell is going on?" Yuki asked, glaring at the panda.

"Y/N got too weak. She transformed." Momiji explained, bringing to bag over to Haru.

"I told you that you should've taken your ass home." Yuki sneered out.

"Come on, Yuki. Give the girl a break." Kyo said.

"Mind your own business, you stupid cat," Yuki said, turning his glare on Kyo.

"Whatever, you damn rat. Just leave her alone." Kyo said, glaring back.

"She's a damn idiot. She should have never come to school. She shouldn't even go here! She's a waste of space! She's a damn mistake!" Yuki said, his face turning red from his yelling. You just looked down at the ground.

"Yuki," Tohru said, shocked.

"Yuki, I'm gonna say this one time because you're my friend, and I love you but shut up," Haru said calmly, standing up, protectively standing in front of you. Everyone looked at him, shocked.

"Did you go dark?" Momiji asked cautiously.

"Not yet, but if Yuki doesn't cut it out, I might," Haru said, shooting the older boy a glare. Something in Haru lurched at Yuki's words. His need to protect you swelled. He could practically feel the switch in his brain teetering on the edge of becoming Dark Haru. It was silent for a few moments before Momiji's phone pinged with a message.

"Harry is here!" Momiji announced.

A cloud of smoke surrounded the group as you transformed into your human form. You turned away from the groups and grabbed your clothes to get dressed. Tohru yelped and helped block your body from the boys on the roof. That, unfortunately, didn't stop them from seeing the large, jagged scar that went diagonal on your entire back. Tohru let out a gasp of horror.

"Y/N, what-?" Tohru asked, shocked, subconsciously moving her hand to touch the scar. You flinched as you felt her fingertips and jumped away.

"Please don't." You whispered. You didn't like for it to be touched. Even your mother wouldn't touch it. It made you think about that night again. You didn't want to think about that night.

The silence was damning as everyone got lost in their thoughts. You sometimes forget that you hear the scar, but you are always quickly reminded.

"Hatori is here. We should go before you transform again." Haru said, pulling from your thoughts and grabbing your hand to pull you off the ground. You nodded and started walking toward the door. You stopped just as you reached Yuki's side. He looked at you, a bewildered expression gracing his face.

"I'm well aware that I'm a mistake, and I know you detest my existence, and for some reason, you believe I ruined your life, but do you have to mention it every time you see me? I have enough reminders." You asked him quietly and let Haru continue to lead you back into the school. As you disappeared down the stairs, Yuki stared at the ground in shock. He wasn't sure what he should feel. Seeing that scar on your back and hearing your words shook something deep in his soul.

"Yuki," Tohru said, pulling his eyes from the ground to her. She looked at him with disappointment. Her eyes were full of tears. Angry and sad tears alike. "How could you say something like that to her? Something so mean and cruel to anyone?" She stormed off the roof, rushing to catch up to you and Haru. Kyo followed her, throwing Yuki a glare.

"Yuki. You need to grow up." Momiji said, following the rest of the crew. A deep shame welled in Yuki's chest. Did he? Did he need to grow up? The disappointment in Tohru's eyes stung, but what hurt worse was the pain in yours.

~•~

"If you wanted a check-up Y/N, you could've just come and seen me," Hatori said with a friendly yet sarcastic smile.

"Sorry." You muttered. You'd finally gotten back to Shigure's house and were rushed up to Tohru's room. You laid back in her bed, a cold towel on your forehead to try and break your fever.

"Had Doc Hatori come all the way out here. Tsk, you naughty girl." Shigure said, entering the room with a bowl of soup.

"If you made that, I'm not eating it." You informed him.

"I'm hurt. I'm not a terrible cook." Shigure said dramatically, placing his hand on his chest. You and Hatori just shot him a look. He sighed. "Don't worry; our dear Tohru made it. She's mighty concerned about you."

"Tell her I'm fine. Tell the rest of them that too. They should go back to school." You muttered with a heavy sigh. You didn't need this much attention.

"I tried to tell them, but they wouldn't hear it. Dear, Hatsuharu was just about losing his mind when you fainted in the car. You're lucky you didn't transform again." Shigure said with a salacious smirk.

"Shut up." You grunted out.

"Shigure, you're distressing my patient," Hatori said with a deep sigh.

"I'm only teasing. My lovely niece knows that." Shigure said, "On a much more serious note. How did you get so sick?"

"I told you. I got rained on last night." You muttered, not looking at him. It was the truth, but you knew if he saw your eyes, he'd know you were hiding something.

"So it has nothing to do with you not having heat?" Shigure asked.

"How do you know about that?" You asked him, shocked.

"I'm co-signer on the apartment Y/N." Shigure reminded you. "I got the notices in the mail too. I didn't say anything because you want to be independent, but you obviously can't care for yourself." Shigure said in a calm voice.

"Yes, I can." You argued back.

"No, you can't. If you could, you would have used the money you get from the clan." Shigure said.

"I want nothing from the family head." You spat out venomously.

"You don't get it, do you? Your fever was high enough that it could've killed you." Shigure snapped, keeping his voice low, but his tone was angry. You weren't used to his showing emotion like this. Shigure was always calm, relaxed, and collected. "Until you can handle being on your own, you'll stay here."

"No!" You yelled—panic seizing through your chest. You couldn't handle staying under this roof. Not with Yuki here. Not with the constant reminder that you were just a mistake. You couldn't leave your childhood home. "That was mom's apartment! It's the only thing I have left of her!"

"Shigure, you need to leave." Hatori said, finally speaking up after silently watching the ordeal. He could see you starting to panic and that wouldn't do anything to help you get better.

"But-" Shigure tried to argue but Hatori cut him off.

"Now." Hatori said firmly. Shigure nodded and walked out the room, closing the door behind him. It was quiet for a moment, your breathing was raspy. Hatori moved to his bag, pulling out a stethoscope.

"You need to calm your breathing." He said, moving to sit next to you on the bed. He placed a hand on your back, but you flinched away. "Breathe Y/N. Deep breathes. Follow me."

He started taking deep breathes, prompting you to follow them. Your quick breathing calmed down and you twisted the covers under your hands. "Thanks."

"Okay, lift up the back of your shirt. Let me listen to your lungs." Hatori said, placing the ear-tips on his stethoscope in. You followed his instructions, taking deep breathes when necessary. "Lungs are a little cloudy, probably from your cold but you should be fine soon."

"Okay." You said laying back on the bed.

"When was the last time you seen a doctor?" Hatori asked.

"Technically you were the last doctor I saw, but mom became a nurse so she could take care of me." You explained.

"She did always have a proclivity for medicine." Hatori said with a sad smile.

"Yeah, she did." You agreed with a sad smile of your own. There was a short silence as Hatori started putting his equipment away.

"I'll talk to Shigure." Hatori said, moving to the door. "Get some sleep."

Hatori walked down the stairs to see a group gathered in the living room. The only one missing from the gang was Yuki, who Hatori assumed was somewhere sulking. The tv was playing, but he could tell no one was watching it. They were all lost in their own thoughts.

"Oh, Hatori! Is Y/N okay?" Tohru asked, finally noticing his presence.

"She'll be fine." Hatori informed her. Tohru nodded, but she didn't look too confident. Sure you'd get over your cold, but you were so sad and broken. The vision of the scar was stuck in her head.

"Can I- can I ask a question?" Tohru asked quietly.

"Sure Tohru, what did you need to ask?" Hatori asked.

"This is probably too far and none of my business, but do you know how Y/N got that scar on her back?" She asked quietly. Hatori and Shigure inhaled sharply.

"You saw that, huh?" Shigure asked from his spot at the table.

"Da. When she transformed back into her human form." Momiji informed him.

"While we do know how she got that scar, it's not our story to tell." Hatori said.

"Oh. I understand." Tohru mumbled looking at the ground.

"Much like the rest of you, Y/N didn't have the greatest childhood. Unfortunately that injury will always be a reminder of that. It's also the reason my sister moved them to America." Shigure said, a faraway look in his eyes as he stared at the wall. It was shocking to the others, sans Hatori, not used to seeing Shigure so serious.

"Was it-?" Haru asked, cutting his sentence short. Everyone but Tohru knew exactly what he meant. The silence that followed was confirmation enough. Tohru looked around the room confused at everyone's solemn faces. She wanted to ask, but she wasn't too sure she wanted to hear the answer.

"Shigure, can I speak to you?" Hatori asked. Shigure climbed off the floor and followed to Doctor toward the front door, away from the group.

"What's up, Doc?" Shigure asked.

"You can't force Y/N to move here." Hatori plainly replied.

"She obviously can't handle being on her own. She's still just a kid." Shigure reminded him.

"She's a kid with trauma." Hatori pointed out.

"We all have trauma, Tori." Shigure said.

"That's true, but did you see how panicked she was? Do you really think forcing her to move in here is the best idea?" Hatori asked. Shigure sighed.

"I don't know what else to do Tori. I don't want her to be alone anymore. I promised my sister I'd take care of her." Shigure spoke, running a hand through his hair.

"Shigure, look-" Hatori started but Shigure cut him off.

"I failed her before. It was my fault she got hurt. You remember how she stopped talking. Just stared off in space. She stopped eating. We thought she was going to die until my sister made the decision to move them to America. The last conversation I had with my sister, I promised I'd take care of her child. How can I do that if she's living alone? Alone outside of the compound?" Shigure said.

"I never said to drop the topic completely. I said you shouldn't force her. Convince her." Hatori said.

As the adults continued to talk, they didn't notice a pair of eavesdropping ears. Yuki stood near the top of the stairs, just out sight of the two elder Sohmas.

He was having many conflicting feelings. Yuki would never admit it out loud, but he was jealous of you. You had gotten away from the Sohmas. You had gotten away from Akito's damaging clutches. Or at least he thought you had. He hated you because he thought your life was better than his and he was jealous. Now he wasn't so sure if it was.

He silently walked toward Tohru's room to peek in. You were asleep, but you were obviously uncomfortable. You restless turned your body, subconsciously trying to find a comfortable position. He noticed the empty bowl of soup on the end table. He crept in the room to grab the bowl. When he got near you, he pulled the covers up to your shoulders and adjusted the towel on your head. That seemed to calm you down enough to make you stop moving.

He looked over your face. You looked like a young kid, so innocent.

With a deep sigh, he sat on the floor leaning his back against the bed. He closed his eyes and started speaking to you, though he knew you wouldn't hear a word he would say. "I've hated you all my life. From a young age I was taught to hate you because you were the panda. Then as we got older, I hated you more. I thought you had the perfect life. You weren't under the Sohma thumb. Not under Akito's thumb. You had a mother who cared. I thought you were evil and I hated you because why does someone evil deserve a good life while mine was terrible. But maybe I was wrong. Maybe you aren't so bad."

With that, he stood grabbing the bowl and walked out the room. When the door closed, you opened your eyes and wiped away a few stray tears.

"Maybe."

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addict4kpopp · 1 year

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Insecurities • Park Jimin

Summary: A young girl that has been bullied for half of her life for her appearance meets a charming and charismatic man who helps her open up and be proud of who she is.

Genre: Romance, Mental Abuse, Insecurity

Pairing:Park Jimin x Fem Reader

=======

"Tch, look at you. Do you think anybody will want crap that is ugly like this???!" Your bully said towering over you while her companions laughed. 'Ugly duckling! Ugly duckling! Ugly duckling!!,' Everyone began chanting, I felt so hurt that I pushed the girls out of my way and ran quickly to the bathroom. Tired of all the bullying I was getting at home and school, I began to cry, "I can't take this anymore."

I decided to spend my entire class session inside the bathroom, ashamed and timid to go back to my classroom, that's when the only thought that ran through my head was the thought to end it all. Hearing the lunch bell echoing throughout the hallway, you headed up to the roof of the school building. Inhaling the intoxicated smell of the cold winter day, I closed my eyes as I felt tears exiting them.

Taking a deep breath, I reopened my eyes and placed my backpack on the bench to the rear wall before removing my school shoes ready to admit your end. I was just about to step off to the edge of the wall when I heard a sweet, angelic calm voice behind me, "What do you think you are doing?"

Shocked and surprised, I spun around losing my footing but I was saved just in time as the man grabbed hold of my hand as fell right into his opening arms. My cheeks felt hot as I quickly jumped to my feet, embarrassed at what happened. Giving him an apologetic bow, "I-Im sorry."

He folded his arms over his chest as a small giggle escaped his lips, "No need to do that, the best thing is that you are alive."

Rapidly grabbing my belongings, I was about to rush down the stairs when I heard the man stop me, "What's your name??"

"My name is Sara Choi."

"I hope we'll meet again soon."

=========

Finally, the last bell of the day rang and you were definitely not grateful mainly because your plan had failed and you were brought to the principal because so overseers saw what took placed with the bullies.

You were about to go through the school gate when you spotted the dude that saved you on the rooftop, trying to avoid him you lifted your hand to your cheek to hide your face from him but that was when you heard him shout your name.

Seeing that the unavoidable could not be unavoidable, you stood in your exact spot as he jogged over to you. With a jagged breath he asked you, "You going home right now??"

"Yeah. I am, why?"

"Let's go out." You felt your body shiver, "Ew, no." That's when he started to laugh, "Wow, Ms. Choi, your expectations are very far."

"Not it isn't, " You muttered as you stared at the ground feeling the sense of embarrassment creeping in. "Let's go." Grabbing onto his wrist, you pulled him behind you but that's when you were halted by some familiar footsteps. Slowly, you looked up to see, her, Jang Hana. "I see, you have added a new toy to your collection."

Jimin pulled you back making it possible that you were behind him. As he stared at Hana, you felt the atmosphere around you feel dark and cold. "If I were you, I'd leave her alone from this day forward." He said as his tone got deeper but instead of feeling any intimidation, Hana began to laugh as if she had officially gone mad. "Ha! What do you think you can do to me? Fight me? Kill me?"

Letting go of my hands he walked over to Hana, gently leaning over to her ear, "Babygirl, I can do something even worse." That's when all the pride that she had suddenly disappeared as her face began pale. Stomping away on fury, you started to giggle as you walked over to him, "What did you say to her that made her so pale?"

As he winked at me, you felt your stomach fill with butterflies, "That's our secret."

"Oh? So your keeping secrets?"

"I'll let you in onto it, soon. Now, let's go get something to eat."

=======

After enjoying the delicacies, the two decided to walk through the park not too far away from the restaurant. Walking along the bridge, you had decided to ask the question you longed to ask about, "So, what did you say to her?" He turned to look at you, looking a little confused, "Hana. What did you say to her?"

"Oh, I just told her that she should leave you alone or else she'd suffer some consequences." You just nodded as the cold night wind blew through the hair of both. You were interrupted when your phone began to ring, "You should answer it."

You nodded, "Yeah but I have something I wanna say." He stared at me so attentively that I had to take a deep breath in. "Jimin. You are the first person I have ever met that made me feel like-" You were cut short when you felt his soft plump pink lips against yours, without giving this a second thought, you kissed him back passionately. Pulling apart, you looked up into his beautiful siren eyes, "What was that for?"

"To prove that I love you."

#park jimin #insecurities #school #fanction #kpopidol #bangtan sonyeondan #romance #bts jimin #boyfriend #imagine #imaginative realism #kpop #urdearestillusions

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simpmaybe · 1 year

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In my mind, you linger (But your body is rotting underneath)

Completion Status: Completed (One-shot) Word Count: 1814 Warnings: Mentions of Suicide Mentions of Bullying, Not being good enough

Summary: Midoriya Izuku's death and its consequences.

This is NOT BETA READ, so please excuse any errors. I didn't bother creating a name for the OC. So you just think of it as any character from the series, or an OC, or just the reader's POV. This is also posted on AO3, I'll add the link below.

He died on a rainy day. Midoriya Izuku I mean. Jumped off the roof of his school building. Not many cared. But some did. His mom, his so-called “childhood best friend” and… no I think that’s all. He was quirkless, so no one really cared, no one even noticed. Everyone just went about their days like how they did, it was just that they didn’t have to slam a kid against his locker after every class. Not that anyone’s complaining, one less pest to get rid of, one less kid to educate, one less child to look after, one less person to save. A week after his death, they held a funeral. His mom, Midoriya Inko, dressed in all black sat in the front. She stared into space, eyes unfocused. You could see how tired she looks, her red and swollen eyes and her lips pursed together as if she was trying to either not break down or kill everyone who caused her son’s death. Bakugou Katsuki, along with his family, sat beside her. He didn’t say anything, just looked down at his hands. He probably sees “Deku”’s blood smeared all over them. Bakugou Mitsuki was trying to console her friend, repeating the lines everyone says at funerals-

“I’m sorry for your loss, he was a nice kid”

“He’s in a better place now”

“He wouldn’t want you to be sad”

“He would want you to move on”

It was a whole load of bullshit if you asked me. If he was a nice kid, you would have stopped your kid from driving him to this point. From what I know of Midoriya Izuku, he wasn’t a person who would want to be in a better place, he was a person who wanted to make the world a better place for everyone else, even if it meant putting himself through the worst. And asking her to move on? Again, bullshit. The woman had just lost her son, to suicide nonetheless. Her entire life, she had lived for her son, trying to make sure he never felt the loss of his quirk, she worked day and night just to make sure he was comfortable, she worried like a mother, but she protected like a father (or you can say she tried), just to make sure he never felt the loss of not having one. He was her entire life, the reason for her happiness. And that had been snatched away from her. Midoriya Inko died with her son. Buried six feet underneath, right beside him. The woman who sat there in the front row is just the shell of the person she used to be.

Midoriya Inko used to be. Just like how once Midoriya Izuku used to be.

Once the ceremony was finished, they called Midoriya Inko to the stage to say a few words. I expected her to refuse, but she went up there and stared at the eight people who bothered to show up. She opened the piece of paper that I didn’t know she was holding.

“I-” She spoke into the microphone. Her voice sounded hoarse, probably unused since the day she found out. She took a sip of water before continuing,

“I would like to thank everyone who has come to attend the funeral. I don’t have anything to say, I feel it’s my fault, for neglecting and not being able to notice what Izuku was going through. It’s my fault that I wasn’t a big enough reason for him to keep living. While I was going through Izuku’s room, I found this”, She holds up the letter, “I opened it to see if it was anything important…”, Her voice trails off, and her eyes start to water.

“It was a suicide note-” Her voice cracks. She closes her eyes and takes a few deep breaths through her mouth, before continuing, “I would like to read it to everyone present here today”.

“I am sorry”, She reads.

“I am sorry to the people I never got to meet, to the friends I couldn’t make, to the colleagues I couldn’t work with, to the enemies I never fought, to the kids I never had, to the lover I couldn’t love. I am sorry my quirklessness became a barrier between you and me, between me and the life I could have had… I am sorry”

“I am sorry to all the people who looked down on me, I am sorry I was weak. I am sorry I never reached your expectations, I am sorry I wasn’t good enough. I am sorry that we couldn’t be friends…”

“I am sorry to my dad, I am sorry I made you leave, I am sorry I was not the son you wanted, that I was the reason you couldn’t live a life with the woman you loved. I am sorry that you didn’t love me… and that I couldn’t make you stay”

“I am sorry to All Might, that you had a worthless fan like me. I am sorry I was born the way I was, that I couldn’t be a hero like you… the next symbol of peace”

“And I am sorry to… Katsuki”, Bakugou Katsuki flinches. An expected reaction if you ask me, probably never thought that the freckled boy would call him that.

“I am sorry we couldn’t be friends, I am sorry I kept pestering you and following you because I liked you and looked up to you. I am sorry we couldn’t be pro heroes together and become partners, like how we thought of becoming when we were younger” When we were friends.

Midoriya Inko suppresses a sob. And so does Bakugou Katsuki. “I am sorry I made you waste your time on me, that I made analysis notes on you, that I was born without a quirk”.

“I-” Midoriya Inko lets out a sob. “Izuku…” she whispers. No one goes up there to comfort her. They know she needs to finish this and let it out. She regains her composure quickly and wipes away the tears that don’t stop flowing down her face.

“I am sorry I existed”

In the front I see Bakugou Katsuki holding his chest as tears stream down his face.

I am sorry

He repeats.

“I am sorry, Kacchan, because I won’t know you in my next life, so you won’t be able to see if I really do get a quirk, now that I have taken a swan dive off the roof of the building…” And Bakugou Katsuki cries, almost as if he was the one who was in pain. As if he was the one who had hit the ground that day.

As if he was the one who had died.

“I am sorry I was a Deku”. Midoriya Inko finishes. But she wasn’t done. She turns the page because she needs these people to know what they have done to her little boy. Her little boy who would jump happily and beg her to watch one more video of All Might. Her little boy who held her and cried, “Can I be a hero too?”.

They need to know.

“I am sorry to my-” Her voice cracks, “to my mom. I am sorry I let you down. All your hopes and efforts are dead now. I am sorry that I have killed them with my own two hands. I am sorry-” She starts sobbing, unable to control herself anymore.

She gets off the stage unable to continue reading anymore, and I assumed that it only got worse. The letter was placed there, to let others finish reading it. No one went up to read it. But I felt like it had to be read. They need to know. He needs them to know.

I get up on stage to finish what she had started, “Excuse me, but I will finish reading the letter for everyone”, I see everyone giving me questionable glances. I know what they’re thinking, ‘Who is she?’

“I am sorry that it had to end this way, that we ended up this way.”

“There are many people I could thank today, but I felt I had to apologize to them more. But the thing is, I am not sorry. I would have lived if it wasn’t for the people who had driven me to this point. I wanted to live, I wanted to be a hero. I wrote this letter because I need everyone in this world to know that quirkless people are not worthless. No one is worthless. Just because someone is quirkless doesn’t mean they can’t achieve great things. I need everyone to see the cruelty that is going on around them. I need this world to open their eyes and see.”

That probably wasn’t even in the letter, but can you blame me, I got a bit emotional. I caught Midoriya Inko’s eyes, and she blinks. She knows that’s not what is in the letter, but she’s happy that I said it. She gives me a weak smile that doesn’t quite reach her eyes. Satisfied, I leave the stage.

A year after Midoriya Izuku’s death, there is an uproar in the entire country. Many people start building memorials for him, a kid barely 15, who killed himself because he couldn’t handle the cruelty of this society. Protests take place all over the country, demanding the protection of the quirkless.

Two years after his death, the government finally gives in and creates the Quirkless Person Protection Act XXXX or the QPPA. Under this Act, any violence caused to an innocent quirkless person will be punished accordingly. Punishments that range from Community Service to even Execution based on the severity of the violence caused. Schools were now supposed to protect and take care of their quirkless students, making sure no one else ended up like the boy named Midoriya Izuku.

Seven years after the death of Midoriya Izuku, Pro Hero Dynamight, the now Number One, gives his speech during the Billboard Hero Rankings. He doesn’t thank his teachers, friends, or his family. Who he does thank is Midoriya Izuku.

Ten years after the death of Midoriya Izuku, I visit his grave. “Are you Happy?”, I asked his ghost who still lingered.

“I am”, he replies, “My mom moved on, and remarried. Kacchan too… the number one hero huh… I knew he could do it. Crime rates have dropped, and All for One is dead. You can tell that the world has moved on, even though I wasn’t in it, I am glad I played my part, and now it’s time for me to leave…”

“I guess it's time then…” I get up, “Goodbye, Midoriya Izuku, it was nice knowing you”.

“Goodbye…”, he fades away, now he’s nothing but memories that linger in our minds, and a rotting body six feet underneath.

-End-

Alright that's it, folks, tell me what you think in the comments, I do accept constructive criticism (just don't be mean), and yeah I'll improve on my next one if I do write one, that is.

AO3 LINK: In my mind, you linger (But your body is rotting underneath)

#my hero acedamia #boku no hero academia #mha #bnha #fanfiction #ao3 works #ao3 fanfic #ao3 link #unreliable narrator #midoriya izuku #izuku midoriya #midoriya inko #inko midoriya #bakugou mitsuki #mitsuki bakugou #katsuki bakugou #bnha bakugou #bakugou katsuki

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lec743 · 2 years

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Home Life Complications - ROTTMNT Fic

Tina and Mikey hang out.

If you don’t like reading on Tumblr you can read here on:

AO3

Fanfiction

Tina’s day at school was awful. She failed her math and science tests, even though she knows that she studied hard for them. Her pants ripped down the middle during P.E. class. And now that the Purple Dragon tech club kids are back in school, they’ve been actively harassing her by calling her names that made fun of her weight, putting rotting food into her locker, and along with other things she didn’t want to think about.

Trying to cool her head and make herself feel better, Tina was on a random roof top in New York as she was using her fan to fling herself high up in the air, and then drift slowly back down to the roof. She liked the feeling of falling slowly and feeling the wind through her short, blond hair.

Tina landed lightly on her feet and was about to go again when she heard clapping. She tensed up and got ready to blow away anyone that would threaten her, but then she saw it was an orange color coded giant turtle. He was smiling, and giggling, and clapping loudly. Tina recognized him.

“You’re S.H.E.L.L.D.O.N.’s uncle! You were at my place like a month or so ago.”

“Yep. Hi again. Didn’t mean to spook you,” he said as he sat cross-legged on an air conditioner, “I just saw you and I thought I’d say hi. How’s your hand?”

He was talking about when she had her two middle fingers in a splint back when she dislocated them from punching Repo, “It’s Okay,” Tina shrugged.

Tina stared at him as she expected him to go off and do his own thing, but he just stared back at her with a smile.

“Can I see it?”

“See what?”

“Your fan,” he clarified, “I want to examine it.”

“I mean, I’ll open it wide so you can look at it, but I don’t want you touching it,” Tina said as she walked over to him and started pulling her fan out wider.

The orange turtle hopped down from the air conditioner and got up close to see the fan. Tina slowly turned it in her hands so that the turtle teenager could see it at every angle. As she was showing him her fan, she saw the stickers on his plastron and how they looked hand drawn and applied.

“I love the eagle, monkey, and dog drawings on it. Did you do draw them yourself?”

“No. Dad drew them on while he was making it.”

“Wow, he’s really good at drawing.”

Tina nodded in agreement as she put her fan away.

“What are you doing out here? Are you by yourself? I don’t want you to get hurt like your brother in red did.”

The teen groaned at her and said, “I’m fine. I’m not going to start a fight on my own like Raph did. Besides what are you doing up here by yourself?”

Tina raised an eyebrow at his sudden defensiveness, but she didn’t let it bother her.

“I was feeling bad from school, so I came up here to goof off on my own.”

“Oh…”

“Are you having a bad day too?”

He sighed but said nothing else as he kicked at a roof top pebble.

“I don’t think we formally introduced ourselves. I’m Tina. What’s your name?”

“Michelangelo, but you can just call me Mikey.”

“Well Mikey, do you want to go to the arcade with me. It’s only around the corner from here.”

“But I didn’t even think to bring a disguise,” he said.

“It’s nighttime and when you’re with me, you are in disguise. People will just think you’re in a really cool costume.”

“Oh. Hiding in plan sight… Yah, okay then.”

“Alright,” Tina beamed, “Let’s go.”

Tina got out her fan, grabbed Mikey’s three-fingered hand, then she flung themselves into the air, half gliding half falling to the arcade. As they traveled Mikey was yelling and hollering with glee the entire time and it made Tina smile.

They landed in a back alley of the Super Crazy All Night-er Arcade and Tina put away her fan as Mikey caught his breath.

As they went around the front Tina was excitedly jumping as she walked as she said, “Man, I’ve been wanting to come here for months.”

“Why haven’t you,” Mikey asked as they walked through the neon lit doorway.

“It’s no fun going to a place like this by yourself. I want someone to share the fun with.”

“What about your dad. Did he say he wouldn’t come with you or something? Or what about April. You two are friends, right?”

Tina was paying for their entry fee at the front desk as she said, “Dad would come here with me if I asked him, but being in a loud, neon and black light lit place like this hurts him too much for him to actually have fun with me. I don’t like being the only one enjoying myself. And as for April, sure I could ask her, but I don’t know. She’s the first friend I’ve made in a really long time so I don’t want to scare her away with my interests and what not.”

“Oh…”

Tina heard the sadness in his voice, and she immediately said, “But that doesn’t matter now, because you’re here and we can have fun together.”

Mikey smiled at her as they walked though the double doors that was previously muffling the loud music coming out of the arcade proper. The lights were off, and everything was aglow with black light paint and neon signs showing where everything is. There were old fashioned pinball machines, and shooting games, and rollercoaster simulators and Dance, Dance Revolution and so much more. In a far corner of the arcade is the bathrooms and food stand, with the food and drinks being the only other thing you have to pay for besides the entry fee.

“Woohoo! Let’s go do this one first,” Mikey said as he grabbed Tina’s wrist and pulled her towards a zombie shoot’em up.

Tina laughed with him.

The two teenagers played so many games together. They played a game of endurance to see which one would get sick on the rollercoaster simulator, which Tina angrily lost at. They competed in an intense game of Dance, Dance Revolution, and Mikey was surprised that he lost. They both sucked at any shooting game that they played on, but they were both good at Skee-Ball. Eventually the two of them decided to sit down and take a breather, with Tina ordering them both something to eat.

At the small table they were sitting at, Tina was calmly eating her nachos with extra jalapenos while she was watching Mikey absolutely demolish a large supreme pizza.

“Uh, Mikey. I’m not going to steal your food.”

He looked at her questioningly as he was lowly shoving a pizza slice into his mouth.

“Are you even tasting your food?”

Mikey took a second to chew and swallow his food then he said, “Sorry. It’s not everyday I get to eat an entire pizza by myself.”

“Ah, yes. Sharing with three other siblings must be hard.”

Mikey handed her a slice of pizza and asked, “Do you want a slice?”

Tina waved it away and said, “No thank you. I don’t like pizza.”

Mikey gasped and held his pizza slice close to his chest like he was covering the ears of a child from someone who was cussing loudly, “How can you say that. Pizza is the perfect food.”

“I’m not going to get into it because it’s a long story, but Dad didn’t know how to raise a human child when he found me, okay. And mistakes were made. The consequences of those mistakes are that I don’t like pizza and I never will.”

Mikey stopped clutching his pizza slice like they were pearls, then said, “Oh. Well, that’s sad.”

Tina just shrugged.

As Tina was adding a few jalapenos to her cheese covered chip she asked, “So, why were you out on your own tonight. Just needed to get out of the house for a bit?”

“Yah. I was just getting in the way of everyone, so I thought I’d go out,” Mikey said as he flicked a black olive into a nearby trashcan.

“Getting in the way?”

“Yah. Like how little brothers can be. I apparently was just being annoying to everyone.”

Tina watched as he slightly sunk into his shell like he was going to disappear into it. She ate her chip, then said, “Well, I wouldn’t know what having a sibling would be like. It’s only ever been me and my dad and a grandmother figure I had who died when I was four. I always wanted a sibling. Someone to play games with. To share secrets with. To plan world domination with.”

That last comment made Mikey laugh then he said, “Having siblings isn't all fun and games though. Sometimes I want to smack Leo's smug grin off his face, or sometimes I want to sabotage Donnie's tech so he doesn't program it to favor him, and sometimes Raph is such a smother that I want to scream. It's exhausting sometimes."

“But they are there for you regardless, right. Even when you all are sick of each other, you come back together.”

Mikey smiled and she smiled back as Mikey said, “Yah. You know, maybe I shouldn't have left without telling everyone where I was going.”

Tina sucked air between her teeth then said, “Yah, that's not good. I still have Donnie's phone number on my phone. How about we get out of here and call them.”

“Hold on. Let me finish this first,” he said as he shoved the last two pizza slices into his mouth.

The two of them walked back outside and Tina got out her phone. Then she saw that she had several missed phone calls from April and Donnie.

“Looks like they were looking for you,” Tina stated as she dialed Donnie's number into her phone.

The phone kept ringing until it hit the voice mail stage and Tina hung up. She had a sinking feeling in her stomach as she then tried to call April. Again, it kept ringing until it went to voice mail.

“Hey, was April over at your place when you left?”

Mikey nodded, then said, “Yah, she was helping Donnie with an experiment he was working on.”

“Oh, well, neither Donnie or April picked up their phones and I have a bad feeling about this. How far away are we from your place?”

“Uhhh, about forty blocks from here.”

“Let’s giddy-on up then. Lead the way.”

Mikey nodded then ran ahead. Tina lagged a bit behind him as she followed. She’s not much of an endurance runner, so when they made it to a rundown apartment that had some weird vines poking out of a few windows, she was breathing heavily and leaning against a lamp post to steady herself.

“How are you doing,” Mikey asked her as he rubber her back.

“That. Didn’t. Feel. Like. Forty. Blocks,” Tina gasped between each pause, “Does your place always look like that?”

“The vines are new,” he said as he examined the building, “They kind of look like Barry’s vines.”

“Is Barry a yōkai?”

“Yah.”

“Was Donnie doing science experiments on yōkai powers or something?” Tina said finally getting her breath back.

“I don’t know! I was kicked out of his little lab room before I could even ask him about it.”

The sound of glass shattering and landing on the concrete interrupted their conversation. Neither of them liked how eerily silent the apartment was despite it looking like it was completely full of purple-pink vines.

Tina got out her fan and opened it twenty-five percent wide for maximum air cutting purposes. Mikey pulled out his nunchucks and they started slightly glowing an orange hue.

“Well, here goes nothing,” Mikey said as he walked towards the building, with Tina following close behind him.

They walked over the purple-pink vines as they seethed through the windows and under the lobby door. As Mikey was trying to pull the doors open, Tina saw that five vines were rising like cobras ready to strike. She swung her fan, and a concentrated blast of wind came out of it, cutting three of the five vines. As soon as she cut them, five more rose.

“Oh. I’ve made a mistake,” Tina warned Mikey.

“Like what,” he asked groaning while pushing the door wide open.

The seven vines became eleven when Mikey wedged the lobby door open.

“I see the mistake,” he said as he looked at the vines surrounding them.

Before either of them could say anything else all eleven vines lunged at them. Tina cut them with her fan and Mikey spun his nunchucks with such speed or accuracy that he was also cutting them down. The more they cut, the more that appeared to attack them.

Tina felt Mikey grab her arm and he pulled her running into the building.

“Don’t worry guys! I’m coming!” Mikey yelled as Tina allowed herself to be pulled as she trusted Mikey to keep eyes forward while she defended their retreat. Cutting any attacking vines with her sharp wind.

Her ankle caught on the stairs that Mikey didn’t warn her about when he was pulling her. She slipped out of his grip and landed hard on her back on the vine covered stairs. The vines that were chasing them zeroed in on her, and vines broke through the walls on either side of her and pierced down at her. She immediately rolled out of the way, with the vines scratching her back.

Mikey was keeping the wave of vines away from them as Tina cut her way out of the vines that was keeping her pinned to the stairs.

Once she was up on her feet again, she yelled, “Get behind me,” as she opened her fan to fifty present wide.

Mikey did a cool backflip over her head and landed behind her. Tina then swung her fan three times at the wave of vines. The wind only cut down a few small purple-pink vines, but mostly they were pushed back like reeds against the wind. She managed to push them back with out damaging the building anymore than it already was.

“Go! Go! Go!” Tina urged Mikey up the stairs.

As they ran through the stairwell, more vines came out of the walls and attempted to spear them. Mikey jumped, dived, and slid out of the way of the attacking vines. Tina flailed, cut, and rolled through the vines.

“How are we going to fix this,” Tina shouted as she got cut by a vine that she couldn’t dodge quick enough.

“I don’t know!”

“What do you mean you don’t know?”

“We just have to get to my family. Then help Donnie and Raph with whatever plan they have,” Mikey said, dodging and hitting vines with his nunchucks.

“I can’t believe we ran in here without a plan!”

Tina cuts down a handful of purple-pink vines.

“I have a plan! It’s, help my family, then we’ll be able to take care of the vines together.”

Tina would have argued with him more if she wasn’t knocked off her feet by vines.

The two of them worked their way up to the third floor where Mikey said is where his family’s place is. Fighting up to the third floor felt more like they had to walk up all the way to the eighth floor. The two of the made it to a door that was completely covered in vines. Mikey used his nunchucks to get rid of the vines blocking his front door while Tina fought to keep the attacking vines, behind them, back.

Mikey bust through the vines and pulled Tina into the small apartment that was covered wall to wall in vines.

“Guys! April! Dad! Barry! Were here! Make some kind of noise!” Mikey called out into the studio apartment.

There was no sound. Not even the sound of people struggling against being tied up or defending themselves against the snake-like vines.

Mikey ran to look into all the studio rooms while Tina kept working on keeping the vines back, even going so far to see if they'd stop attacking if she asked nicely. That idea didn't work like she hoped, of course, but it was worth a quick shot.

Then from the single bedroom Tina heard Mikey cry out. She quickly blew back the attacking vines out the front door, and slammed it shut, knowing that, that will only give her enough time to run to the orange color coded turtle.

Tina saw Mikey kneeling before six people shaped lumps, with three of them wearing red, blue, and purple ragged masks. Orange flames started to engulf Mikey as he cried, “They’re gone. They’re all gone!”

Before Tina could even comprehend what was going on before her. Mikey had set ablaze all the vines in the immediate area with orange fire, that kept spreading. Tina felt no heat from the fire and the building itself didn’t seem to be catching fire. Only the vines seemed the be shriveling and turning to ash. Regardless, it was an upsetting scene to see.

She stared at Mikey in shock as he was surrounded by fire, until she heard him sobbing. Tina tentatively walked through the orange flames, then crouched on her knees beside him as he cried over the withering people shaped vines.

Tina sat quietly, not wanting to interrupt whatever he needed to do on his own in this moment and it’s not like she wasn’t saddened by the prospect that two strangers, his brothers, and April got, got by snake like vines. She’s sure to cry about this when she’s at home in her bed, but Mikey’s more connected to these people than she’ll ever be and now she had to try and be there for him as she may be all he’ll have now.

Eventually, the flames died around him, and all that was left of the vines were black ash, but Mikey continued to cry into his hands. Every other moment he’d look up at the six ash piles and cry even harder. After a minute, when Tina was sure that his magical orange fire was gone, she placed a hand on his shell as an awkward gesture of comfort.

Instantly, Mikey turned to her and hugged her hard, like a child would hold a teddy bear when they had a nightmare. He squeaked and coughed as he tried to speak through his tears.

“We just got settled in Barry’s apartment. We were working together to try and find a new home. Why did this have to happen?”

Tina sighed as she hugged him gently back, then said, “I don’t know why. But it sucks so much and it’s unfair that this happened to you.”

Mikey sobbed as he cried into her shoulder.

They kept hugging each other until they both heard a group of voices shout out to Mikey all at once. The two teenagers turned towards the noise to see Mikey’s brothers, April, a giant pudgy rat man, and a tall purple-ish man that Tina is sure she recognizes but isn’t sure from where.

Tina immediately let go of Mikey as he scrambled to run into Raph’s arms for a big hug as Mikey said, “I—I thought you guys got killed by the weird vines!”

“No. When we left to search for you, the complex wasn’t infected by vines,” Leo said.

“That’s my bad,” Donnie said as he dropped his blue and red lensed goggles over his eyes to look around, “I guess I didn’t seal my project up as securely as I thought I did.”

“Where have you guys been? I tried calling you back,” Tina asked as she stood up and dusted off her knees, “And what kind of project do you need people shaped vines for,” she added while she pointed accusingly at Donnie.

“I'm practicing my bio engineering and I thought it’d be cool to make plant mechs. So sue me,” Donnie said, getting defensive.

“We got caught up in a situation with Big Mama,” Raph explained as he continued to hug Mikey and the rat man was patting Mikey's shell, “We were under the impression that she took our little bro.”

“I'm so sorry guys. I should've just told you where I was going,” Mikey's muffled voice said against Raph's plastron.

“Where were you? I thought you were asleep this whole time, or something,” April said, “Were you with him this entire time?”

Tina shrugged at the “entire time” bit then said, “Mikey and I were playing in a loud arcade. I didn't even feel my phone vibrate.”

“I’m just happy my son is safe. Thank you, Blondie, for being with him,” the rat man said.

Tina bowed respectfully and said, “No Problem, Mr. R.O.U.S.”

The tall purple-ish furry man in traditional Japanese robes sighed, then said, “Well, this mess isn’t going to clean itself up. I’ll go get the brooms.” Then he turned and walked away.

“I’ll go check on the neighbors,” Tina offered as she started to leave, but she was stopped by April.

“Nu-uh! Look at you. You’re bleeding. We’re taking care of all this, first.”

April grabbed Tina’s wrist and started pulling her to the bathroom.

Pulling lightly against her, Tina said, “But what about the others? They’re probably terrified after what happened in their apartments.”

“Eh, don’t worry about it,” Leo said, “The only other neighbor that we have in this dingy apartment complex is Miss Mase on the first floor and she always goes out for bingo at night.”

Tina looked at Leo in horror at how few people are living here as April continued to pull her towards the bathroom, “What? Is this place brimming with cockroaches and lead paint or something? Jeez!”

April cleaned and patched up the scratches on Tina’s arms and back. When the girls came out of the bathroom, they saw the boys sweeping up the ashes into plastic bags. The tall pinkish-purple fuzzy guy was standing around, not moving his arms, but had vines protruding out of himself that was cleaning for him. The turtle boys were working together to sweep up, even with S.H.E.L.L.D.O.N. helping, who looked like he was a casualty of the vines since he was almost black with soot. The small rat guy was sitting on a recliner giving constructive advice.

Tina sighed at the sight of all the soot being everywhere, then cracking her fingers, she said, “Welp. Let’s get too it.”

Tina and April stayed until at least Barry’s apartment was cleaned up. All eight of them were tired and sooty from cleaning. Except for S.H.E.L.L.D.O.N. who was trying hard to show Tina the miniature indoor scatting ramp that the boys made for him to play on.

“I better get going. It’s almost dawn and if Dad’s not awake already, he’s probably worried,” Tina said, “Are you coming with April?”

She shook her head and said, “No. My parents know I’m staying the night with the guys.”

Mikey grabbed her arm and said, “Why don’t you stay the night too. It’ll be fun.”

Yawning she pats his head with the arm he’s holding, then said, “No thank you. Thanks for offering. Good luck with those nightmares kid. I’m sure after that scare, you’re going to get hit hard with them. A bye-bye.”

She saw Mikey pout at her as she turned away from them and she heard a choir of goodbyes as she closed the apartment door behind her.

#fanfiction #oneshot #rise of the teenage mutant ninja turtles #rottmnt #rise mikey

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