#their color schemes look nice together therefore they should be friends

[monochromexz]

I need hasbro to hire me so these two can be best friends

#transformers #maccadam #arcee #blurr #transformers idw #wlw mlm hostility fr #their color schemes look nice together therefore they should be friends #inspired by that one idw panel where arcee carries blurr around like a bag of potatoes #my art

[blackdevilwhitedemon]

P5 x HS AU no one asked for

I posted this as a first ch and never wrote anymore so I thought I should dump it here instead of just straight up deleting it.

It would've be fun to write one-shots for this AU, but I need to get my shit together and only have a few stories to work on bc I never write much or finish things. There goes all the work I put in using the Homestuck skin on AO3 for this,,,

Link to part 2.

The title was The Color of Jazz

Summary:

Your name is AKEERA KURUSU and you are a SEADWELLER. Your BLOOD color is FUCHSIA, making you a MUTANT seeing that you are male, not female. You like meowbeasts and your friends. FLARP isn’t really your thing, and you are quite the quiet fellow. By the way, your glasses are totally fake.

AKA the Persona 5 x Homestuck crossover nobody asked for. AKA the Person 5 cast, but as Homestuck trolls.

Chapter 1: Information

Here's the crossover no one asked for and nobody wanted but me and like, 2 people.

This is an informal chapter about the AU.

I'll be honest, I only made this because I'm obsessed with Persona 5 at the moment and I think I like the concept of trolls being an alien species more than Homestuck itself.

So yeah there's no cohesive plot to this, it's just going to be a series of One-Shots. Whatever shenanigans I imagine them getting up to. Perhaps there might be a small little subplot that spans a few chapters, but just know I came into this not planning anything. Besides making character choices.

Alright, first let's get into blood colors, then to the relationship chart.

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Characters with canonical birthdays and therefore signs:

Kasumi - Aries = Rust

Makoto - Taurus = Mud

Goro - Gemini = Yellow

Ryuji - Cancer = Lime

Ann - Scorpio = Cerulean

Haru - Sagitarius = Indigo

Yusuke - Aquarius = Violet

Futaba - Aquarius = Violet

I know I could have just made them the blood color that fit their personality the best or their color scheme, but nah. I like just by going off by their signs. Yeah it's lazy, but it's also like throwing darts at a blackboard. You just have a pre-made thing, and you just have to run with it.

Also I have put less brain power in it so…

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Characters with no canonical birthday so I assigned them a blood color:

Morgana = Olive

(He's a meowbeast Ryuji found as a kitten, and gave to his moirail Akira bc he knows how much he loves those things; since it's canon that some lusii can talk normally, he can too)

Hifumi = Jade

(That just fits her personality. Look at her! She's a jade blood. She looks like one. She got that air.)

Yuuki = Teal

(Since he has that power struggle thing going on with him, and because he's been beaten down by others with his tail between his legs, I just thought this fits. Technically considered a highblood and therefore granted those types of privileges, but lacks nobility and can be looked/beaten down by higherbloods because of that.)

Shiho = Purple

(Legit just cuz nobody else was purple. I also thought it would be funny. And writing a very nice, polite, well put together, purple blood would be interesting!)

Akira = Fuchsia

(Mutant Fuchsia. Like, he’s a fuchsia blood, but is male, so he shouldn't exist. Therefore he is a mutant. Pretends to be a violet blood tho. It would be kind of hard for others to tell what blood color he is if he gets flustered or whatever. And it would be unreasonable for lowerbloods to question him, but he probably schools himself anyway because he doesn't want other sea dwellers to know. Since they might be able to tell the difference between a fuchsia flush and violet flush. Originally indecisive between making him a Mutant Fuchsia or a Jade. Since if he was a Jade he would still be unique and also that would explain how he's so good with getting along with everyone. But then I thought, if he's a Pisces, he's compatible with a Gemini.)

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Shiping Chart:

Kasumi --<3--> Akira

Goro <--<3<3<--> Akira

Ryuji<--<>--> Akira

Ann <--<>-->Shiho

Haru --<3--> Akira

Yusuke --<3--> Akira

Yusuke <--<>--> Futaba

Okay, so if you can't understand that, here's the written version of it—

Kasumi had a flush crush on Akira, but after seeing this whole thing between him and Goro, she backed off. Sometimes she acts as their auspistice, but usually they don't need her.

Goro and Akira have this redrom—blackrom thing going on. It is this fluctuating thing, I think Karkat called it vaselining? Akira leans more towards red, while Goro leans more towards black, but they still have the other color feelings for each other. I just thought with the rivalry and soft spot for each other (especially after all that stuff in Royal) this is a fitting translation into Troll romance for them.

Ryuji and Akira are best bros, so they are moirails in this. You can pry this fact from my cold dead hands. You know Akira gave Ryuji something violet to wear so people know not to mess with him unless they want an angry seadellwer on their ass.

Ann and Shiho are moirails too! I don't even need to explain this one. Ann says Shiho is her only friend and the only thing good at the damn school. I,,, mustn't need to say more on that. Now, Ann doesn't need to wear anything purple as she has a comfy spot as a cerulean blood, but that hoodie she wears is totally purple just because she wants to wear it. She just wants to brag that her wonderful lovely moirail is a purple blood.

Haru having a crush on the Akira is canonical, right? Like it's kind of implied that she grows one on you in the beginning. Anyway, thought I would translate that here. She also loses her flush crush on Akira once she realizes how involved he is with Goro.

Yusuke has a flush crush on Akira and everyone knows it, but no one does a thing bc they all know he won't act on it. So it's just there. I decided to do that because, fam, listen to the dialogue he has about Akira in game,,,like wow. He really admires him, perhaps a little too much. He has such a blind faith and admiration for Akira. I couldn't not put that in here.

Yusuke and Futaba are moirails! Come on, look at their little silly friendship in game. You can't tell me that wouldn't translate to moirallegiance in troll romance.

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

How the names are going to be changed:

Akira ---> Akeera

Goro ---> Gourou

These two names were remade by Meruz on Tumblr. Being one of the few people to do a Homestuck/Persona 5 crossover where the P5 cast are trolls.

Ann ---> Annnoo

The o's are silent.

Haru ---> Harruu

Ryuji ---> Ryujgi

Yuuki ---> Yuukie

Shiho ---> Sheeho

As you can tell, these last ones are not creative or well done. That's how you know I came up with them!

Everyone else's names follow the troll naming rules so I don't have to change them.

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

Chumhandles:

Kasumi - icyGymnast [IG]

Makoto - muddyEmpress [ME]

Goro - pancakeDetective [PD]

Ryuji - nomoRules [NR]

Hifumi - shogiQueen [SQ]

Yuuki - chariotHelper [CH]

Ann - rottingSweets [RS]

Haru - noirExecutioner [NE]

Shiho - sunnyDisposition [SD]

Yusuke - oceanicPainter [OP]

Futaba - techgodFortuneteller [TF]

Akira - fishyGodslayer [FG]

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

Typing Quirks:

I ain't making up 12 new one, so I'm using some canonical ones.

Kasumi - € for C and ends lines with --€

Makoto - Aradia

Goro - Kanaya

Ryuji - Karkat

Hifumi - uses / instead of L and \ for i

Yuuki - Tavros

Ann - every O is put as ooo also no punctuation

Haru - starts and ends lines with --(- uses ¶ instead of i

Shiho - Gamzee but no swearing

Yusuke - lower case with no punctuation

Futaba - Vriska

Akira - Eridan but no vv

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

Signs:

I just did random signs, not gonna lie.

Everything I pulled out of my ass except for Kasumi’s, Yuuki’s, Haru’s, and Akira’s. They’re symbols from the Extended Zodiac.

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

Things to note:

-Sumire is going by Kasumi because the others don't know that she's pretending to be her dead moirail. Basically Kasumi was Sumire's neighbor and was also a rust blood. They had very similar horns but completely different symbols. They got along extremely well and were very close moirails. After Kasumi is culled protecting Sumire from a higherblood, she pretends to be her and wears Kasumi's symbol to cope. (And using her typing quirk as well.)

-Akira is pretending to be a violet blood to avoid being culled for being a mutant. It's not necessarily illegal to be mutant blood, but other trolls will consider that's sacrilege to the hemospectrum. So they won't hesitate to cull him. It's easy for him to pretend since he's still a seadweller, and rarely gets challenged or questioned. Other seadwellers tend to mind their own business.

-This AU is going to take place on Alternia, but is this weird mix between what canonically it's like on Alternia and Beforus. Think about it like this, Feferi is empress and has been for quite a few years. And she's changing everything and reforming it to how she wants it to be, but obviously not everything has conformed completely. A lot of old stigma and old rules/traditions still hold its roots deep within the planet and its people. So it's still a very dangerous place even though it technically doesn't endorse "thoughtless slaughter"/"being more aggressive/dominant is the only way to go" mindset. She can't control everything, especially since Gl'bgolyb is dead or doesn’t exist in this one. Does that make sense? I hope it does.

-Akira survived by having some random Violet blood lusus decide to take him in and take care of him. Everything was all fine and snazzy until recently-ish when his blood color was discovered by some Seadellwers. His luse fights them off and culls like, one or maybe two in the process but ultimately dies. Akira, in a fit of rage and self preservation, culls the rest of them so it can't get out that he's mutant and flees the area. Later is found by Sojiro (who is not a troll but a lusus) when he's looking out for some food for Futaba. He takes pity on him and brings him in. Since Futaba originally had a different lusus who died, and he took her in, so this isn't his first rodeo. Akira and Futaba quickly bond and Sojiro loves his dumb fishy kids.

-Sojiro and Futaba's hive is this big spiraly place that is partially underwater and partially above it. The above area acts like a cafe where's Seadellwers can enter by swimming over to it and land dwellers can enter by boating to it.

-Akira lives at the top area more after he gets Mona from Ryuji, but still chills out in the underwater portion.

-Yusuke lives on the beach. He's rich and all, he just forgets to take care of himself since he gets so absorbed in things. Good thing he has his moirail and friends around.

-Lime bloods have since been reintroduced into the gene pool by the empress. But since she hasn't been ruling for awfully long, there's not that many of them. Making them rarer than jades but, not as rare as fuchsias. For this reason it's basically criminal to cull them, as there is so little of them. So Ryuji has gotten out of some debacles alive simply because the other troll realizes he's not an olive, but a lime. After becoming moirails with Akira (and finally swallowing his pride to wear his friend's color) that definitely helped deter trolls further. Even if Ryuji does get a little irritating and doesn't know when to shut his mouth. They just gotta look down and remember that he's filling some seadweller's quadrant and they don't want to deal with that repercussion.

-Akira is actually not that threatening, but he's fully aware of his position and takes full advantage of it.

-Goro of course is a celebrity lowblood. Making a name for himself and blah blah blah. His lusus left him for dead when he was pretty young, and actually was raised by another troll. But she ends up…she's the equivalent to his mom, so you know. He elevated himself to the status so he could up his chances of survival and to advocate for lowbloods.

-Haru lusus is very fierce and kinda owned this large section of property, but recently he has been defeated/culled and now her property is kind of been split. She's struggling to maintain her hold on it.

-Makoto gets taken in by a lusus that already has a troll under his care. But after a couple of sweeps he gets eaten, leaving the other troll take care of her. Obviously I'm referring to Sae. (I'll remake her name when I get to the bridge.) Sayyye maybe?

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

Oh my God, you read all of that. Thank you so much! I feel like most people won't even read this and be really confused once I start making chapters.

For all your efforts I'm going to say something that you probably haven't heard since early 2013. Cuz I sure know I haven't.

Here's a digital cookie for all your troubles! (::)

#textpost #homestuck #persona 5 #homestuck au #persona 5 au #p5 homestuck au #no one asked for :) #scrapped idea

[carewyncromwell]

Jacob/Duncan

XDD Considering that this request came into my Askbox five times in rapid succession, I’m going to guess that someone REALLY wants to hear more about these two!! LOL!! Don’t worry, I will always love talking about my precious ghost boi and my book-smart, people-dumb spaceman. <3

Jacob/Duncan

Ship Theme: I Don’t Know How to Love Him (cover) by Helen Reddy 

Okay, so a lot of this is based just on back-story I’ve developed for my version of Jacob -- Jacob Cromwell -- and his Duncan, since I know there are plenty of people who don’t ship their Jacob with Duncan and there’s a lot the game leaves vague about these two and their past.

Much like Rowan and Carewyn, Duncan and Jacob were each other’s first real friend. Since Jacob’s father was a Muggle, Jacob didn’t learn that he was a wizard until after he received his Hogwarts letter, and so in grade school, he was largely (and kind of unfairly) seen as a delinquent troublemaker for the fights he’d get into with the people who tried to bully him and the magical outbursts that would sometimes ensue. Duncan, meanwhile, lost his mother at a very young age and subsequently had a huge falling-out with his father when he married another woman (who Duncan suspected his father had been romantically involved with while his mother was ill) mere months after his mother’s death. This made Duncan as a boy spend a lot of time with his mother’s parents, just to get away from his father and stepmother, and his maternal grandparents tutored him from their home since Duncan refused to be homeschooled by his new stepmother.

Duncan and Jacob first collided when the first years all had to take boats across the Lake with Hagrid to get to school, and Jacob and Duncan ended up in the same one. Jacob had been so enamored with the castle that he’d tripped over his own two feet and landed full on in Duncan’s lap. The two boys quickly dislodged, and Duncan rather bluntly asked if Jacob was Muggle-born. Jacob said no rather shortly, considering that the Muggle father he disliked so much had just walked out on his family, but within seconds any irritation in his expression was completely gone as he once again became entranced with the school they were approaching. Duncan kept shooting the weird boy looks the entire trip, thoroughly confused since even if the school was impressive, he probably wouldn’t look so love-struck by it himself. Duncan will likely never forget when the first years all entered the Great Hall and Jacob walked the entire way up the hall staring with an open-mouthed smile and starry eyes at all of the floating candles as if he were a kid at Christmas.

Because the two ended up in different houses (Slytherin and Ravenclaw), Duncan didn’t interact with Jacob again until they started having classes together. Jacob pretty quickly became the star pupil in just about every class, which both weirded Duncan out and irritated him considering that Jacob clearly hadn’t known anything about magic beforehand. Duncan probably would’ve nurtured cold resentment toward Jacob were it not for the Ravenclaw one day approaching Duncan in the library, randomly asking him seemingly out of nowhere about the location of the Slytherin commonroom. Duncan sputtered, perfectly bewildered, as Jacob -- in typical confident, airhead scholar fashion -- explained that he’d developed a theory that each of the four houses’ commonrooms were themed around a classical element, with Ravenclaw obviously being air, considering its eagle mascot and location high up in Ravenclaw Tower; Gryffindor being fire for its warm color scheme, Hufflepuff being earth for its association with Herbology and badgers, and therefore Slytherin being water. “Is your commonroom under the Lake?” Jacob pressed curiously. Duncan at first was very defensive about the question, declaring that his commonroom and its location were none of Jacob’s business and rather coolly adding that if Jacob even tried to sneak into the Slytherin commonroom, he’d probably get hexed by a couple dozen older students. Jacob contemplated this for a moment -- then, completely nonplussed, he said with a determined white smile, “...All right -- then I’ll just follow you! No sneaking necessary.” Jacob then proceeded to follow Duncan around for the rest of the day, much to Duncan’s utter exasperation -- but the incident, which did include Duncan actually holding the wall open long enough that Jacob could get a nice long look at his commonroom, made him realize two things about his classmate: 1, that Jacob Cromwell, however smart he was in class, was an absolute idiot; and 2, that he saw the world with a kind of depth and wonder that Duncan had never experienced before.

The two started sitting in class together, and through the years, Duncan found himself enjoying himself at school more and more, being around Jacob and his infectious fascination with everything. It made Duncan come out of his shell and become both snarkier and more prone to mischief -- and Jacob, ever enamored with excitement, was always thrilled to take part. Soon enough Jacob’s housemate Olivia joined their friend circle, and the three got into a lot of trouble and adventures while at school, especially once they started pursuing the Cursed Vaults.

It was circa fourth year that Duncan really started becoming aware of how deep his feelings for Jacob had gotten, but he was all too aware both of how ignorant Jacob was of them and of how intimidated he himself was, feeling them to begin with. Duncan’s grandparents -- the only family members he was still on good terms with -- were conservative enough that Duncan wasn’t sure how well they’d take him being interested in another guy, and Duncan and Jacob would get into petty arguments often enough that Duncan was afraid that their friendship wouldn’t last if they got serious and then broke up. Jacob, for his part, was completely unaware both of Duncan’s feelings for him and his own deepening feelings for Duncan, but subconsciously expressed them from time to time all the same.

One prominent example was when one of their yearmates, a Gryffindor named Sharon Edgecombe, tried to drug Duncan with a Love Potion so he’d ask her to a school dance. Fortunately Jacob figured out very quickly that Duncan’s drink had been compromised after catching a whiff of an unfamiliar smell and, after determining that Olivia, he, and Duncan each smelled different things, he pretty quickly deduced that it was a Love Potion. Without telling Olivia or Duncan, Jacob took some of the drugged drink with him and tried to dilute its ingredients to figure out who had sent the Potion, and he eventually found out that it would’ve made someone fall in love with Sharon Edgecombe. Furious, Jacob went up to the dance now in progress and confronted Sharon. Sharon rather unconvincingly denied having given Duncan the Love Potion, but once her date was out of ear-shot, she made the mistake of muttering under her breath that Jacob was just mad he hadn’t been smart enough to think of doing it first. Jacob in retaliation shoved Sharon so hard that she landed back-first into the punch bowl and brought the entire concession table down with her. Sharon’s date (a rather tough-looking Beater on the Hufflepuff Quidditch team) immediately whipped out his wand, preparing to attack Jacob, when who should come to his rescue but Duncan, who’d run over with Olivia at the sound of the commotion and hexed the Beater with a spell that made sardines spill out of his nose. Duncan and Jacob both ended up in detention and missed the rest of the event, but Olivia was able to pinch a bundle of blue-fire-enchanted streamers from the dance, which the three split and used to decorate their four-poster beds.

After the loss of Olivia, who had often played peace-keeper whenever Duncan and Jacob got into arguments, the two boys found themselves more at odds. What had been fun and exciting had suddenly become very dangerous, and they both knew it. Duncan was willing to push through because of his ambition to be a Cursebreaker, while Jacob found himself only pushing through out of a desire to make up for what had happened to Olivia and to keep R from hurting his mother and sister. A lot of what went down with R and Duncan’s death is still unclear in the game, but the last present Duncan gave Jacob before his death was a set of scarlet dress robes, handsomer and better in quality than anything Jacob had ever owned before. Not long after that, Jacob was expelled from Hogwarts and he found out second-hand that Duncan had died. The two events back-to-back shattered Jacob’s entire world -- now not only did he have no future and no chance of escaping R’s web, but he was now completely alone...and he only had himself to blame. It’s very likely that -- were it not for the memory of his younger sister, Carewyn -- Jacob would’ve ended his life that night. When Rakepick persuaded Jacob to help her with the Portrait Vault, with the thought that he could finally make things right, Jacob wore Duncan’s robes on his mission -- and since he’s been released from the Vault, he’s worn them ever since, with the thought that he wants to be wearing them when he destroys R once and for all.

Duncan and Jacob’s relationship, for me, has ripples of the Steve/Bucky relationship from the MCU if their romance wasn’t totally teased and then never followed through on >>. They each are sort of “out of their own time,” as Duncan died at age 17 and Jacob is still 18 after having been locked in a portrait for seven years. They each were condemned to a fate that was their own worst fear -- Duncan’s fear of being insignificant made him not cross over to the next life, since he would’ve died having accomplished nothing of value, while Jacob’s fear of being trapped and unable to move is brought to terrifying life by his traumatic experience in the Portrait Vault. They each cared so much for each other, but either out of pride or ignorance was unable to act on those feelings before it was too late. This makes it so that Duncan and Jacob, in a strange way, are also each the only one who can truly understand what the other has gone through and is currently going through. For all of Duncan’s resentment, thinking that Jacob didn’t care about his death, he knows somewhere deep inside of him that that resentment comes from his own insecurities about how little he thinks his life meant and how much time he and Jacob wasted. Duncan hates how much his memories of Jacob still hurt him, and it’s only really after meeting and befriending Carewyn that he’s slowly starting to come to grips with how much he’s projected onto Jacob in a vain attempt to absolve himself of his own guilt. And on Jacob’s side, the loss of Duncan has made Jacob more afraid than ever before of losing his mother and especially Carewyn.

But yeah, as if you couldn’t tell, I ship these two to the moon and back. They may not live happily-ever-after, but I’d like to imagine some time, way, way, WAY in the future, their reunion in the after-life would be a very happy event for both of them.

Ship Ask!

#ooc #duncan ashe #jacob cromwell #jacob #hphm #hogwarts mystery #opinion #analysis #ship ask #that art at the top was like...the first time I ever drew duncan and only the second time I'd ever drawn jacob #it's weird seeing how much my art's changed over the span of a few months!

[luminous-grace]

DeanCas fic, ~3.5k words

Based very closely off the comic Fated by Jasmine Walls. 

.

“Your teammates are either incapacitated or unconscious. You are the world’s last hope of salvation. Your enemy is an angel, a celestial being against whom neither reasoning nor weaponry have been proven to be effective. You’ve won the initiative: what do you do?”

The question floats through the air, Cas’s low rumble granting it a unique solemnity. Every faces around the table turns towards Dean.

“Alright”, Dean grins, throwing his die down confidently. “I roll to stab him through the heart.”

Next to him, Sam pulls a face.

“Seriously, Dean? You’re a rogue. You’re not even going to try for anything, I don’t know, stealthy? You know how bad your chances are?”

Dean smirks. “Never tell me the odds.”

When he see’s the outcome of his roll, however, Dean feels the grin drop off his face. “Uh.”

“Shit.” Sam groans, as Eileen pats him consolingly on the arm. “We were so close.”

Charlie sighs. “Well, it’s been nice knowing everyone.”

“If I may, I’d like to keep this moving.” Cas’s voice cuts through the chatter, and he glares sternly at each of them in turn.

Dean flushes under his gaze, rubbing at the back of his neck. “Yeah, sorry man go ahead.”

“Thank you.” Clearing his throat, Cas begins to steadily narrate the outcome.

“With a critical fail, the knife does make contact. However, it does not appear to have any effect. Indeed, the angel reaches into his chest and pulls it out slowly, otherwise unharmed.”

“Furthermore,” Cas adds, amusement creeping into his tone. “At such close proximity you notice that the angel is very attractive, and as he brings his hand up to grip at your shoulder, you feel a sudden spark of electricity.”

Cas reaches across the table to demonstrate the action, his hand coming to rest warm and solid on Dean’s left shoulder. Unbidden, Dean’s stomach gives a pleasant swoop, and he feels his face warm.

“Well,” he says, “my bad I guess.”

“Alright, Cas,” Eileen signs, mercifully putting Dean out of his misery. “Time to get him back.”

Cas nods obligingly, withdrawing his hand. “Very well. The angel tightens his grip, preventing your escape. He raises his other hand to put you to sleep until he has further use for you in his plans.”

Their DM shakes his dice out onto the table, a frown line forming between his eyes. “Well that is... unfortunate,” he grumbles.

Sam cranes his neck forward, trying to see. “What’d you get?”

Cas doesn’t answer right away, but Dean is well-versed in reading the annoyed slump of his shoulders. “You fucking missed, didn’t you?”

Disgruntled, Cas jerks his head in acquiescence. “Well, I suppose there’s nothing for it.”

Before Dean can ask what he means, Cas is opening his mouth to continue the scene.

“While the angel had intended to get rid of you until further instructions were received, he finds himself hesitating. There’s something about this you that is enticing, drawing him in in a way that nothing else has in his millennia watching over Earth. Perhaps it’s the shine of your soul, the brightness greater than anything the angel had seen before. The colors are beautiful, and the angel finds himself leaning closer. Where before he had been prepared to simply zap you away, he now finds himself tugging you closer.”

Dean drops his face into his hands, cheeks burning. Relentlessly, Cas’s voice drones on.

“For the first time, the angel finds himself doubting the plans of his brothers and sisters. Surely something as lovely as this human does not deserve to serve as a pawn in Heaven’s scheme. Bringing a hand up, the angel cups his hand around your face protectively, as he has seen so many of your kind do. You shiver in his grasp, and he watches as your eyes drop to the mouth of his vessel. The angel has never experienced the physicality of human attraction before this day, it’s workings seemingly unnecessary and therefore unknown to him. For the first time, he discovers he wants to find out.”

The table explodes into laughter, and Cas shrugs unselfconsciously. Dean, however, squirms in his seat. Cas describing a fictional relationship between the two of them wasn’t exactly how he had planned for his day to go, and it’s left him feeling more than a little hot under the collar. Eager to get through the scene, Dean barely hesitates before flinging his die down.

“I roll to hit the banishing sigil we set up earlier. I don’t care who I have to get through to get there.”

The die hits the table, and Cas closes his eyes at the result. Dean thinks he may be silently counting to ten.

“With another critical fail,” Dean groans, “you stumble for the banishing sigil but find yourself faltering, and end up missing it by quite the mark.” Dean grimaces, but Cas isn’t done yet.

“The angel follows you, spinning you around in his grip. Before you know it, you feel your back hit the wall and then the angel is looming over you, eyes dark. You feel your breath coming faster. Here is an ancient creature, a being of power so immense that he could destroy you in the blink of an eye. Instead, he appears lost as he gazes at you, and you feel something in your chest tighten, wanting to erase that look.”

“Reaching up, you wind your arms around his neck, tugging him downward. He ducks his head easily, millennia of cosmic power submitting to the whims of a mere human such as yourself. The pull between you is undeniable, and you know without knowing how you know that you would be great together, perhaps even something entirely new. The thought doesn’t scare you as much as it should- in fact, the thought doesn’t scare you at all. Suddenly, you know his name where seconds before it had been a mystery to you. Leaning forward to brush your nose against his, you whisper it against his waiting mouth…”

The table erupts into laughter, and Dean groans. “Please end my fucking life. Cas, why the fuck did you name your character after yourself?”

“The NPC is an angel.” Cas says snippily, but Dean can see the pink dusting across his cheeks. “I am named after the angel of Thursday. It seemed… the most appropriate.”

“Oh, really. This seems appropriate, to you?”

Cas meets his eyes defiantly, but Dean can see that he’s embarrassed. “Well, I certainly wasn’t intending to start a romance with your character, of all people. Maybe in the future you should consider your rolls more carefully.”

Cas’s words strike a nerve he didn’t know existed and inexplicably, Dean finds himself lashing out.

“Really? Me of all people, huh? What’s the matter, Cas? Afraid you’ll like it?” Dean waggles his eyebrows to cover his own reddening face.

Cas opens his mouth to respond, and then seems to think better of it, cutting himself off. He looks, of all things, hurt.

Next to Dean, Charlie snickers, breaking them out of their glaring match. “I’m so glad I have 1 hit-point left so I can see this hot mess.”

Dean grits his teeth, locking eyes with his longtime roommate and soon to be former best friend. Dean knows that if he were truly uncomfortable Cas would relent in a heartbeat. It’s fun to pretend to be people they aren’t, but not to the point where it stops being enjoyable for the people involved.

The problem- Dean thinks bitterly, rolling his die in his hand- is that this is straying dangerously farther away from “pretending to act out a romance between two characters” and closer towards “Dean Winchester confessing his long time feelings for his in-real-life best friend and promptly gets rejected” territory.

Deep down, Dean knows he has no reason to be upset. It’s not as if it’s Cas’s fault that Dean’s too chickenshit to admit his feelings. But Dean’s been pining after this guy for-fucking-ever, and Cas is glaring at him like he’s the one whose feelings are being toyed with, and Dean thinks that maybe it’s time Cas gets a taste of his own medicine.

“Fuck it.” Choosing his words carefully, Dean flings his dice down with trembling hands, holding Cas’s eye while he does so. “I roll to seduce Cas.”

There’s a beat as the table watches in rapt attention. Then everyone starts speaking at once.

“Dean-”

“Holy shit-”

“Dude, that’s a 20-”

Steeling himself, Dean meets Cas’s gaze and is startled to find that it is, for the first time, uncertain. Dean had expected him to roll his eyes, to snap at Dean for prolonging the situation, or even tell him to re-roll entirely. Instead, he looks almost… wary? Dean falters for a moment, but as quickly as it’d come the look is gone, replaced with grim resignation.

Cas raises an eyebrow challengingly, as if to tell Dean to get on with it, and the unfairness of it all sends Dean catapulting way past stubbornness and straight into spite. Any hesitation forgotten, Dean’s opening his mouth to launch into a confession as lurid and sickeningly sweet as possible when Cas interrupts him.

“With a natural 20, you shouldn’t need to tell me what you do. It is enough to assume that you were successful in your seduction.” Cas clears his throat, continuing in a clipped voice that’s jarringly different form the storytelling tone he’d adopted previously.

“Swayed by your heartfelt speech, the angel sees the error of his ways. He agrees to betray his position with the enemy and in turn help you in preventing the end of the world.”

“Furthermore,” Cas falters for a moment, before seemingly steeling himself. “He is flattered by your professed affections and offers his own hand in marriage, to further cement the alliance. In this way, you have successfully cancelled the apocalypse. Congratulations,” Cas mutters, almost as an afterthought.

Charlie starts snickering first. This is quickly followed by Eileen’s laughter, and finally Sam’s bellowing guffaws fill the room.

Reaching over, Sam smacks Dean loudly on the back. “Didn’t know you had it in you, man. Can I be your best man?”

“Yeah.” Dean grins, but it feels forced, and something about the way Cas won’t quite meet his eyes across the table leaves him with a sinking feeling in his stomach “No sweat.”

On Dean’s other side, Charlie pretends to swoon, fanning herself. “You sure do know how to spin a proposition, Winchester. I don’t even know what you said but it must have been a tempting offer.”

Eileen’s laughing so hard she can barely talk, her hands flying to cover her mouth halfway through. “I’ll pay you real gold to be there when you introduce him to your parents.”

Cas doesn’t respond except to give them all a flickering smile. When Dean catches his eye, he abruptly stands from the table. “If you’ll excuse me, I’m going to start cleaning up.”

Frowning, Dean cranes his head to look after him, but Cas keeps his head ducked low, quickly collecting the dishes and disappearing around the corner before Dean can catch a glimpse of his face.

Weird.

Eventually, the other three guests bow out with various excuses, leaving Dean to clean up the mess from tonight’s session. He shakes his head affectionately.

“Fucking freeloaders.”

When ten minutes slips into twenty without any sign of Cas’s return, Dean gives up any pretense of waiting and heads into the kitchen.

Cas is standing in front of the sink, drying the same glass over and over, gaze fixed somewhere a million miles away. Dean watches for a second before making his way over, dropping a hand to his shoulder and forcing cheer into his voice.

“How’s it looking?”

Cas startles so badly that the glass he’s holding tips over, clattering into the sink and sending dirty dish water everywhere.

“Dude,” Dean grimaces, reaching blindly for a towel to scrub at his face. “You okay?”

Cas pointedly does not look at him. “Of course I am. Why wouldn’t I be?”

“Uh, because you’ve been acting like a fucking weirdo all day? Come here.” Reaching over, Dean swipes at Cas’s face with a towel. “Gross.”

“Dean, just.” Cas breaks off, catches Dean’s wrist to tug his hand away. “If it’s all the same to you, I’d like to be alone right now.

Hurt, Dean retracts his hand. “Jeez, okay. Sorry, man.”

“It’s fine.” Cas turns away, but something about his clipped tone sparks Dean’s earlier irritation.

“Okay, what’s your deal? Did I do something?”

Cas ignores him.

“I mean, if I did could you at least let me apologize like a normal fucking adult?”

Cas sighs, rubbing at the glass with more force than necessary. “I said it’s fine, Dean.”

“Is it about the game?” Dean presses, because Cas is pissed at him for something he started, then Dean has a right to know.

Cas doesn’t answer, but the way he tenses, entire body stiffening is a dead giveaway.

“I mean,” Dean scratches at the back of his head, not even hiding the hurt creeping into his voice. “I’m sorry if I made you uncomfortable, but you started it. It’s just a game, man.”

Cas’s fingers go white on the dishcloth. “Exactly, Dean.” He snaps, voice bitter. “It’s a game. It isn’t-” Cas breaks off, flushing red and returning his focus to the now completely dry dish.

Dean frowns. He’s got a pretty good grasp on Cas over their six years of friendship, likes to think he knows him about as well as he knows himself. That’s why Dean knows Cas doesn’t feel the same way he does, that Dean is doomed to wallow in his feelings indefinitely.

But Cas could at least have the decency to not be a dick about it.

“Yeah, okay.” Dean can’t help the resentment that rises up sour and sharp in his throat. “I guess it’s weird acting out a romance scene with your best friend, but seeing as it’s all fake,” Dean adds extra emphasis on the word, vindicated when Cas flinches, “I really didn’t think it’d be that big of a deal. Sorry if I was wrong.”

Cas doesn’t respond, and Dean scoffs, shaking his head. “Alright then.” Dean turns to leave, to slink off into his room to nurse his wounded pride. “Let me know if you want to talk about it, I guess.”

Dean’s already out the door when he hears his name. Taking a deep breath, he counts to ten before sticking his head back into the kitchen.

“What?”

“I didn’t want to hear some fake confession.” Cas says, voice brittle and so low that Dean has to take several more steps into the room to hear him. “I couldn’t- deal with it. Not when-” Cas turns away, voice breaking, and Dean’s gut punched to realize that he seems to be on the verge of tears. “Not when it didn’t mean anything. Not from you.”

Dean pauses, his mind struggling to connect the dots. “What are you talking about?”

Cas spins around to glare at him. “Are you really going to make me fucking say it? I’d think it should be obvious.” His eyes are bright and red-rimmed, but his face is dry, and Dean feels something painful twist in his chest.

“Cas-”, he reaches out again, but Cas jerks just out of reach.

Dean sighs, running a hand through his hair in frustration. “I don’t understand what you want me to do, man.” He spreads his hands wide in supplication. “But if you’re gonna be pissed you gotta talk to me. I’m not a mind reader.”

His words seem to reach Cas, finally, and the latter deflates, sagging against the counter. “I apologize,” Cas says, scrubbing a hand across his face. “It is… unfair of me to take my frustration out on you. You deserve better than that.”

“I mean, if you don’t want to tell me that’s fine. But it’s clearly bothering you and I want to help make it better.”

Cas shakes his head. “It’s not something you can fix. It’s fine, I promise. I’ll be fine-”

“Why don’t you try me, Cas.” Dean says, feeling suddenly tired. It’s been a long day of being faced with the blatant confirmation of his unrequited feelings, and Dean honestly just wants to faceplant into his bed and sleep for the next week.

“Tell me what you were going to say,” Cas blurts out, and that’s the last thing Dean was expecting.

“What?” Dean asks, but Cas is already shaking his head, covering his mouth with one hand.

“I- I’m sorry, I shouldn’t have said that. Ignore me-”

“What I was going to say when, Cas?” Dean presses, but Cas is shaking his head, eyes skittering around the room like he’s planning the best way to escape. His eyes linger briefly on the game table in the living room, and that’s when it clicks for Dean.

“You want to know what I was gonna say during the game? At the very end?” There’s a burgeoning hope trying to take root at the center of his chest, but Dean avoids looking at it too closely lest it disappear.

Tentatively, Dean moves a step closer. When Cas doesn’t immediately shove him away he tries for a little more, reaching out to slide his hand down to Cas’s wrist. Cas’s eyes dart down to the contact, but he doesn’t jerk away, and Dean takes a deep breath, bolstering himself with feel of Cas’s hand in his.

“I was going to say, uh.” Dean swallows. Cas’s pulse point is hammering under Dean’s thumb, or maybe that’s just his own, and he tightens his grip automatically.

“You said that Castiel had never met anything like me, that I was special and unique in the universe, yada yada,” Dean says. “Well I was gonna say that he’s got that backwards. I say that I’ve never quite met anyone quite like him. And that I’ve never felt this way about anyone before, ever.”

Cas makes a noise, but Dean pushes on, determined. “I know he’s way out of my league: that I don’t deserve someone as awesome as him. But I’d tell him that if he gave me a chance, I’d spend my entire life trying to make him happy. That we could make each other happy, forever, if he’d let us. I would tell Cas that, whenever I look at him, everything feels right.”

“You said Cas,” Cas interrupts.

“Huh?”

“You said Cas, not Castiel.”

Dean lets out an exasperated breath. “Yeah, no shit, dumbass. I was talking about you.”

“Oh,” Cas says, in a small voice. He’s quiet for a moment, and Dean struggles against the panic clawing at his chest. Finally, Cas says: “You were going to say all that in front of everyone?”

“I never said it was a good idea.”

Cas stares at him. “You never would have heard the end of it.”

“I mean,” Dean laughs, “I’ve only been in love with you for like, the entire time I’ve known you, so I’m pretty sure everyone already knows-”

Cas surges forward to kiss him. Dean grunts, caught off guard, his hands flying up to grab Cas’s shoulders. Cas’s lips are soft and hesitant against his own, every movement creating a spark of electricity that Dean feels down to his toes.

All too soon, Cas pulls back, causing Dean to make a pitiful noise as he chases his mouth. “I didn’t,” Cas says, staring at him intensely, and Dean stares at his mouth as it shapes the words, feeling as if he’s missing something.

“I didn’t know.” Cas repeats, hands coming up to frame Dean’s face. “I didn’t know.”

“Oh,” Dean says, rather intelligently he thinks, and then Cas is kissing him again.

Dean stumbles forward, hands flying up to clutch at Cas’s wrists in an attempt to get as close as possible. Cas groans, spinning them around to press Dean up against the sink.

The edge of the counter digs painfully into Dean’s back but he barely notices. Not when Cas is warm and solid against him, and Dean slides his hands hungrily up his arms, across his chest. One hand finds its way into Cas’s hair, tilting his head so that their mouths slot more fully together. And then Cas’s tongue is there, curling warm and wet against Dean’s and it’s perfect.

It seems to go on forever, one kiss leading into another, and then another. It’s like a drug, every time Dean pulls back to speak, he’s struck by the sight before him. Cas, his eyes dark, his mouth spit-slick and swollen, and he has to dive back in, dragged back under as if he can’t stand to be apart for more than a second.

“For the record,” Cas gasps, an indefinite amount of time later. “I’d say that your seduction technique was extremely successful.”

“Oh yeah?” Dean grins, sliding his hand down to graze against Cas’s belt. He’s rewarded with a groan, Cas’s hips jerking forward. “You wanna show me how much?”

Cas does. He really, really does. And Dean is more than happy to let him.

.

.

.

Tag list (let me know if you want to be added/removed): @casbean, @hellfire37, @mishatho, @sudo-apt-get-destiel, @charmedbycastiel, @feraladoration

#this took my so long and i dont love it but oh well dfsfs #deancas fic #destiel fic #my fic #drabble #destiel drabble #destiel

[neshabeingchildish]

Lady and the Tramp

I do not know why the chapters of this story suddenly got so long! I’ve just been unable to stop writing lately. Stress writing, mostly, which I hate to do because sometimes, that can send the story off track. Of course, it can also ignite some of my greatest ideas. Unfortunately, I never know until after y’all tell me what my stress writing came through with. 😭 At any rate, I definitely will cover the conversation later. I didn’t have the place in this chapter to do so. Your reviews are keeping me sane.

Lady and the Tramp

After the sophomore summer, Charlotte knew that she wasn’t going to be able to make anymore trips home. The amount of lab work that she would be doing, the conferences and a lot of the other workshops and stuff she had to do would pull most of her time and being Jasper’s #1 Fan would take the rest. He had several competitions, matches, and games. She was skipping every boxing match, because she didn’t want him doing it in the first place and had even told him that he should go back to kite disc, but without him, the school’s team dissipated and he didn’t have the time to commit to the league again. 

Whenever it was Dodge-a-leen time, though, Charlotte was in the stands in brightly colored high waisted leggings with a Big Dog T-shirt, tied up in the back, and dog makeup on her face. She could do that deep voice barking that the fans often did, but she gave it a shot. With her tiny voice, it always stood out and everybody began calling her “Little Dog,” which Jasper loved, because that was his girl. She… had mixed feelings about it. She didn’t know that she cared for the nickname “Big Dog.” Henry used to call him that sometimes, but this was different. This nickname had come about from something that she still found embarrassing, though Jasper never had taken it as such. And also, she felt like Little Dog was a hop, skip and jump from being his bitch, and well… She guessed as long as nobody ever said THAT, she was fine. 

Besides, he still called her Chef’s Kiss and she now called him F Sized. She didn’t explain it to other people, as it started out as a little inside joke during one of her sexy study sessions with Jasper. He couldn’t get the answers right, therefore wasn’t allowed to touch the parts. That was how it worked. A was her backside, B was her chest, C was down there, and D - he was able to take her hand and put on his down there. But, if he wasn’t getting the answers correct, there wasn’t touching. She moved or stopped his hand if it was going to the wrong spot. He was struggling with the mock test and began grumbling about how he’d “cockblocked himself with stupidity.” 

While stupidity definitely was a turn off, Charlotte hadn’t viewed Jasper as stupid in a long time and she certainly hadn’t called him that ever since finding out that his stepdad did. Whenever he called himself that, she verbally redirected him. This particular study session, he said, “I have a humongous head with a stupid tiny brain in it.”

“You’re not stupid and if you were, your brain wouldn’t be smaller.”

“It is though. You know brains develop differently when kids have trauma, remember?”

“Yeah, but…” She fumbled over her words and managed to say, “I love your fun sized brain!” He loved that compliment. Fun Sized Brain was his new handle on Twitflash because of it.

“I appreciate that you said fun sized, because that is actually exactly what I think of your cute little body as!” She frowned. He smiled and explained, “Because you’re petite.”

“I got it.”

“You have a full sized heart, though!”

She smiled and shook her head, “See, I would have called yours friend sized, but I dig that full sized still fits the alliteration scheme.” 

He took her hand and placed it on himself, “Mm hmm, and what is this sized?”

“Fuck sized,” she said, without a pause and they both started laughing. “By the way, the answer is D, so I’ll count that as correct.”

“I don’t remember the question…” 

The only person she told the meaning of Jasper’s  F Sized nickname was Henry, and she’d said, “Because his brain is fun sized, his heart is friend sized and his manhood is fu…”

“Let me stop you there, Champ,” he said, laughing and shaking his head. “I’m glad that you two fixed everything. You’re not worried that it might go off track again?”

“No, we’ve done a lot of work together to make sure that we’re actually on the same page and have the same goals for us. PLUS, I got us affirmation journals. We decorated each other’s and we keep them, filling them up with greatness as we see it - like the good things we notice about each other, the positives that we see and the accomplishments made by one another. If we have negative times, one can invoke the affirmation journal and either read in it to reaffirm ourselves OR, if we’re that much in our feelings, the one of us that hurt the other will read affirmations to the hurt party. We haven’t had to use them… much, and we’ve both written a whole lot inside of them.”

“So, you two just carry around paper books and write every good thing in it that you can think about each other, so that if you argue, you’ll have the positives on record already to counter the bad feelings?”

“Bingo!”

“That’s… brilliant. Your idea?”

“Sort of. It was my idea to make it into this type of practice, but that was motivated by how Jasper got me not to break up with him. He let me see his life goals journal and I saw these really beautiful things that he’d written about me and it changed my heart. So, I thought of this idea for us to make a part of our love culture.”

“This is so stinkin’ cute. I can’t even bear it!” Henry said with heart eyes. “Ugh. I gotta find myself a lil’ nerd girl.”

“Find a lovable jock,” she advised.

“Jasper’s considered a jock, now?”

“I mean… he’s involved in the athletics program. Let me show you something, I think you’ll appreciate this..”  She dug around for a book then showed it to the video call she had open with Henry. It was a red leather bound book with various rocks attached to it, kinda like it was bedazzled, but not with sparkly rocks, and the title was scripted on in some of Charlotte’s nice scripting: Jasffirmation Journal. 

Henry gasped, “You did a fun pun!” “I did!” she cheered. 

“That’s a nice journal. What are all those rocks?”

“Those are various forms of jasper that I procured myself on an excavation assignment.”

“You’re freakin’ awesome, Char.”

“I definitely agree with that, but thank you!” 

“I gotta see what his looks like,” Henry said and texted Jasper to ask him to send him a pic of the affirmation journal he kept for Char. Within minutes, he received it. “OH MY GOD!” Henry said. Charlotte just smiled as Henry fawned over the realistic sketch of Charlotte with stars in her hair and coils that spelled: I’m Charstruck. “He did a fun pun too!”

“We worked with you and Ray for way too long,” she said. 

“You’re welcome,” he said, putting his phone aside. “Man, Jasper’s drawing is amazing. Is he taking art classes?”

“No. He’s a tattoo artist, though. Remember?”

“OH! He finished his apprenticeship. That’s cool. Will tattoos money put him through school?”

“One of his accounting major frat bros has helped him with his budget, which I used to do but hadn’t had the time to try to reorganize it, so this guy did. Jasper gets some funds from his fanbase, and he gets free stuff from local businesses and companies - like he’s got all this merch that he basically is a walking ad for and I keep telling him to see about talking to someone about sponsorship, but he’s just happy to get free stuff just for being popular and likable. I’m like, you can get paid to get free stuff for the same thing, Dude! So, he is doing just fine.”

“Does he have any tattoos? I’m not gonna get a tattoo from somebody who doesn’t have a tattoo, just on principle.”

“He’s got a few little ones,” she said.

“Really? What of?”

She smiled and sent Henry texts. She had photos of Jasper’s tats. The one on his arm, which was a blend of a lion and a bull with touching faces (because those were the animals of their zodiac signs and he’d designed the drawing), a Captain Man symbol on his left wrist, small enough to cover with a watch, if he had to for work or something, and the back shoulder that had Lady and the Tramp characters. “Dude… what?” Henry said, “Two of these are kind of big and why in the world did he get Lady and the Tramp tattooed on his body? Does Jasper realize that these are permanent?” “Yes, he does. He’s not an idiot. He got Lady and the Tramp because of the whole Big Dog, Little Dog thing. Lady and the Tramp is us.” She blushed.

“Awwww, well then it’s cute. I thought that he just liked the cartoon or something.” It’s shocking that he doesn’t have your name or something on him.” She shrugged her shoulders. “Does he and you just didn’t show me?”

“No. But… he’s mentioned wanting to get a tattoo of me over his heart. I don’t know how he can. His chest is an erogenous zone for him.”

“His… OK! That makes all those hickies on his chest make more sense now!”

“Those what?” Her eyes were wide. How the heck did Henry know that she’d put hickies on Jasper’s chest? They DID discuss their sex life!

“I saw hickies all over him one time, senior week and he wouldn’t say anything about it to me. And scratches on his back. Is his back an erogenous zone too?”

“No. I just used to have a real problem keeping control of myself when I was finishing. But, he actually likes that kind of stuff, so win-win, I guess. Why are we so casually discussing this?” she wondered.

“We’re friends and it’s normal.” She nodded. She hadn’t really thought to discuss stuff like this before outside of Jasper, but it came out surprisingly smoothly when talking to Henry. She was able to talk a little more about things with him. But, they wouldn’t be able to see each other in person for a while. Their schedules were simply too demanding. She hated it, but it was one of the things that she’d mentally prepared for whenever she first left home.

.

Women make up 56% of the college population. 25% of college seniors are virgins. 32.5% of college relationships are long distance. 1 in 4 college students have an STD. 63% of college women hope to meet their spouse in college. By senior year, 72% of college students have hooked up. ⅓ college students have been on fewer than 2 dates. Quick Facts: One of the top reasons college students break up is cheating. College students prefer short-term, casual relationships over long-term relationships because it allows them to focus on their academic and career goals. Most college couples break up around spring break, summer vacation, and right before winter break. 28 % of married college graduates attended the same school, but only 2% of North American marriages are comprised of high school sweethearts.

With numbers like that, it was really easy for me to believe that with Jasper’s personality and follow through that we couldn’t possibly be a part of that 2%. And even if we had been, what about those other stats? How much of it would be applicable. Wouldn’t one of us hook up with someone? Wouldn’t someone cheat? Wouldn’t we break up? For a first time relationship to be the last one that you’ll ever have, these possibilities become more or less likely dependent upon what stage in the relationship I was in. It was a fluctuating scale, to be honest. But, by junior year, I definitely felt like I was in a confident place.

Jasper makes me proud, all of the time, His thinking has become much more critical. His plans make more sense. His ability to manage his time has improved. He’s been calling himself a “Textbook Leo,” which has been annoying, because the traits that you didn’t see before, it’s like he tries to make sure that he has them now. That’s fine for some things. Silly for others. But, he’s very focused and he’s going to be a very accomplished man. I believe that with all of my heart. 

One of the last times that Henry was able to visit was whenever Charlotte first moved into her new apartment after Rush Week. Jasper helped her to pack, but got the pledges to move all of her things. The apartment that she found was closer to Jasper, in a nice sized townhouse style apartment within walking distance of the frat house, but of course, the guys had to go to another side of town to grab her things from her previous dormitory. Jasper’s little brother was responsible for overseeing - making sure nobody damaged or tried to steal anything, holding on to the keys of her dorm, and personally handing them to her after her things were cleared out and he’d locked up. Charlotte liked him. She was the reason that Jasper had selected him and he was closer to her than to Jasper, but only because it was hard to get close to Jasper, especially now that he believed himself to be a king.

Henry helped Charlotte to unpack, wishing that he still had that hypermotility. Dang, that would have made this a breeze. Charlotte had a lot of stuff and she was very particular with how she set things up. One area that he was intrigued by looked like a shrine of sorts, with a shelf in the middle, and she hung a photo of her and Jasper above it. “What is that?” 

“My gift center,” she said, setting things there from a box marked Gifts From Jasper. “I keep stuff that Jasper gives me in an exposed and visible area. It helps the room to have a good attitude.” He made a confused face, but didn’t want to even ask. “I can feel the energy in these gifts, because I know the motivations and the emotions behind them,” she explained.

“You becoming all metaphysical on me?”

“Not all, but I definitely feel like… energy is something that can be manipulated by certain objects and intentions. Like, you ever meet someone and you can just feel that something is off about them? That’s how I was with Casper and I was absolutely correct about her, even though for a whole year she was nothing but pleasant to me, I knew that there was some negative vibrations there.”

“You do like tarot cards and stuff?” He asked.

“No. I don’t know enough about that area of spirituality and I honestly don’t feel like committing the time to learn.”

“Dang. I was gonna ask you to do a reading for me,” Henry joked.

“We can go to one. There’s a girl in the BSU that does them. I feel like she’s the real deal. She grew up in Louisiana in this matriarchal witch family. Though… I don’t know if witch is the right word. I can’t remember what she said. Jasper might, though. He’s fascinated by that stuff. They have an entire segment on the radio show for African spirituality and diaspora practices.”

“I… we should get a reading, just as a gag.”

“You don’t do it as a gag!” She complained, shaking her head. 

“Okay, we can do it for real, then.”

“Well, I’ll have to see if she’s available. She has an online business, where she prepares spells and herbal roots and oils and jewelry and stuff. I’ll check her prices for the readings.” She grabbed her phone and Henry kept unpacking. They were bringing the empty, broken down boxes to the recycling bin whenever Jasper’s truck pulled up. They heard him before they saw him. The truck was always so loud, but it was old and cheap, so that was why he had it. He didn’t want to spend a lot of money on something that he only planned on driving for now. Charlotte began buying her reliable but affordable car in high school. She made regular payments on it to try to help build her credit and by the time she was ready to leave for college, it was paid off. It was a metallic gold hatchback and had horse decals on it. Jasper’s big orange truck had all kinds of bumper stickers and window stickers that he’d peppered it with. Henry turned up his nose, “Why is it orange?”

“That was the cheapest thing that he could find when he was looking, and he loves it. He says that he’s always gonna have orange vehicles, now.”

“WHY?”

“Probab;y because he’s an attention whore,” she said. 

Jasper had a pretty booming speaker system in the truck and was blasting music, because that helped him not to hear the troubling sounds that the truck made. He turned off the car and got out with a little box, “Hey, Henry!” he said and waved at him. “Chef’s Kiss…” He slid the box to Henry and wrapped his arms around Charlotte. “Did New Henry give you your keys?”

“Yes,” she said.

“Did who?” Henry asked.

“His little brother,” Charlotte said.

“His name is Henry too?” Henry asked.

“No,” Charlotte said, but left it at that and asked, “What’s that?”

“A homewarming present,” Jasper said and took the box back. It made tiny whimper sounds and she noticed it had holes in it. 

“Housewarming, and Jasper, is that a living creature?”

“You don’t have a house. You have an apartment, and no..” he opened the box and said, “It’s TWO living creatures!” She looked to see two very adorable puppies with collars and tags… “Lady and the Tramp!” 

“Wow. All I got you was a cake.”

“I prefer cake,” she said, then to Jasper, “Jasper, you cannot just give people responsibilities as a housewarming gift! I don’t have time to raise two dogs!”

“I’ll be here like everyday. All you’ll need to do is be happy to see them when you get home.” She bit her thumbnail and stared at him, displeased. That was what that face was. He knew that much. He handed the puppy box to Henry again, pulled out his life goals journal, unlocked it and made an X on the list, which made Charlotte smile, in spite of herself. “I am willing to take on all of the responsibilities parts of them. I’ll make sure they’re fed and clean and…”

“You need to make sure that they know how to use the bathroom before they are moving in here, Dude. I’m not cleaning up dog poo from any surface of my new apartment.”

“That’s fair,” he said. Henry was already petting the boxed puppies and taking photos when Jasper reached for the box. “I’m gonna let them run around in the back of the truck while I’m here. That’s where I got the dog house, anyway.”

“The…” Charlotte looked and saw the doghouse that she didn’t know where the heck he thought that he was putting in her apartment. She turned around and went into the apartment, leaving both dudes and both dogs outside.

“I didn’t get a chance to tell her that they’re both girls because I couldn’t find a male Schnauzer for Tramp. I don’t think she’ll like me naming a girl Tramp, but it’s symbolic.”

“I don’t think that Charlotte likes animals,” Henry said, climbing into the back of Jasper’s truck. “And, she seems more like a cat person, right?”

“She just doesn’t have the time to raise them, but she’s gonna love Lady and the Tramp, once they’re ready to be civilized.”

“She didn’t love Katelyn. She barely acknowledged that she was alive and Katelyn was effing adorable.”

“She took care of Katelyn all of the time! You just weren’t there to see it,” Jasper fussed.

“Why are you getting pissed?”

“I’m not. I’m just irritated that you’re acting like you still know her better than I do.”

“That’s not what I’m… I’m sorry. How are you doing? What season is it for your sports?”

“Wrestling season is October until March. Boxing events usually begin in March. I have Dodge-a-leen practices all year, but tournaments are late spring, usually. Thinking about reviving kite disc for good on campus and just having it be among frats and stuff. I miss it, but I had to give it up. I’d give up anything for Charlotte.”

“Is… that why you felt like you had to give me up?” Henry asked. Jasper gave him a look. “I just felt like we could all still be friends. Whenever you left for college, you were really on this ‘of course we’ll still be friends’ thing, but we haven’t talked out what happened.”

“What’s there to talk out? I apologized and you said, NBD.”

“I said NBD because you apologized, but that doesn’t mean it was resolved. Especially because you told me that I never reached out to you, then when I did, you weren’t available,”

“So, I was supposed to wait for you to decide that you had some need for me? I have things to do, too. Maybe I’m not saving Swellview, but I’m not sitting around waiting to mean something to you, either.”

Henry set The Tramp down and clasped his hands together, “I’m still the same dude who was willing to give up Kid Danger for you. I’m still the same person who took on a full shift at Cactus Con so you could be on a date! I’m still…”

“You’re still the dude who was having wet dreams about my girlfriend right before we got together and acted like I was being an asshole for not wanting you to sleep in the same bed anymore!”

“Okay. Okay. Well, I apologize for making you feel uncomfortable…” 

“Being friends means respecting boundaries. This is the woman that I plan to marry. Your friendship makes me uncomfortable, but that’s not why you and me fell out. You and me fell out because whenever I expressed to you how I felt about it, you talked to me like I was a dumbass, and you accused me of mistreating Charlotte!”

“You were mistreating Charlotte!”

“That wasn’t the way to say it! When I’m trying to tell you what I don’t like or don’t want to happen and you respond that way, it makes me feel like not only did you not care about my boundaries, but you used her pain to try to attack me because you didn’t like me setting those boundaries! And… That’s just fucked up to do to both of us, yet I’m the only person who apologized for my behavior that night. I’ve been apologizing to people for standing up for myself for too long. I know myself better and I deserved better.”

Henry nodded his head and collected Lady to pet her and help him feel better. “That is a lot to process. That makes sense. I think you’re right and I never realized any of that before now, because we didn’t talk about it. But, no matter what kind of dreams I had about Charlotte years ago, mind you… I’d never try to do anything with her and even if I had, she’d shoot me down and probably clobber me. She’s been dickmatized by you since Day 1.”

“I don’t like…”

“I mean, she’s been enamoured with you. Most of the time we talk, it’s about your relationship and how much she loves you. I envy that and I would love to have that with someone, but that someone would never even cross my mind to be Charlotte. And I will sleep in my van before I make you feel that uncomfortable again, or before I won’t hear you out when you’re telling me about boundaries, or before I go without just kickin’ it with my bro for all this time. I’ve got an empty spot where you’re supposed to be, in here, Dude.” He pointed all of his fingers to his heart.

Jasper smiled and said, “You know how she got into her whole energy/vibrations thing? She was researching what Jasper meant, because she had this idea to gift me some Jasper stones and she wanted to know more about them. So, she read somewhere that Jasper is the “Supreme Nurturer,” a stone of grounding and stability, providing comfort and security, strength and healing. Its presence balances the aura to a level of wholeness and peace, and acts as a reminder that one is not here on the physical plane simply for oneself, but to bring joy and substance to others… and she said, “Babe… That is SO you!” And I cried and I started looking for the perfect ring… and she started looking into stones and energy and all that stuff.”

“She’s right, though, That is so you. Why do you think I miss you so much?”

“I missed you too.. I just couldn’t let go of my pride until you seemed like you really cared about what I was trying to tell you that I cared about.” They smiled at each other, then hugged it out.

“So… Did you find it? The perfect ring?”

“No. I think I may have to have it made.”

“Does she know that you’re looking?”

“I haven’t confirmed anything, but she’s the smartest person I know, so maybe.”

“Well, I won’t say anything, but damn it, I’d better be included on however it happens… Unless it's a private just you and her typed thing.”

“I’m trying to find the perfect way too…” Jasper admitted. “When you’ve been doing great things for somebody for a while, it’s hard to outdo yourself.”

“Yeah, the stuff that she brags on you about, I honestly don’t know how you can possibly top them, but you keep doing so, so…” Henry shrugged and sniffed around, “What is…”

“LADY!” Jasper said and Henry looked down at the puppy who peed on him. 

“That’s awesome…” he said, sarcastically.

.

It was good for Jasper to have Henry back, The dynamics of their friendship had definitely changed, as Jasper was less determined to lay himself down for Henry, but he still loved him and having him and Charlotte around when it was time to meet his dad was encouraging. It was a 4 hour drive, so Charlotte drove the way to get to Henry and then Henry drove the rest of the way to Mr. Dunlop’s place. 

Whenever they pulled into the address that had been given to Jasper online, the first thing that Jasper did was take the dogs to make waste. Henry and Charlotte were going to take them for a walk while he met up with his dad and not be too far away, in case he had to call on them. 

Charlotte was carrying Lady because, “She gets excited and runs off too much,” but, they both had leashes, so Henry was confused, but didn’t bother. 

Charlotte kept looking at the house, no matter how far they got from it and checking her phone. Henry realized that she probably was in protective mode. Whenever she thought her Jasper was in trouble, she was one feisty little woman. “Hey! Remember that time that Ray punched Jasper out and you came in and on sight, beat him up with your backpack?” She gave him a blank stare, unsure of why he was bringing that up. He smiled awkwardly. “That was funny to me… Albeit, terrifying.” He shut up.

“Trample, where you goin,’ Sis?” Charlotte said and Tramp turned around and came rushing back to her. “Here,” He said, handing Lady off to Henry. 

“Last time I held her, she peed on me.”

“Dude, that was months ago.” Charlotte said, dismissively and picked up Tramp. 

“They can walk and we have leashes, why do you keep holding them?” He asked.

“The musty lady in the apartments let her dogs free run beside her and one of them got hit by the public bus!” Henry gasped in horror and cuddled Lady close to himself. “Yeah. That public bus near the apartments is scary. I don’t want them to get used to just running around, unless I live somewhere with an open area and minimal vehicles. A college town is kind busy for that.”

He nodded, “Okay, okay… But… We’re not in town right now and I haven’t seen any vehicles since we got here. Let’s just let them use these for now and if something happens, we pick them back up.” She nodded and let him put the leashes on the girls and walk them. “Are you worried about Jasper, Dude?” Whenever she was worried, she was a little more high strung. She nodded. “His dad seems like he wanted to meet him. I think it’s probably going well.”

“Yeah, but… Jasper just got to where he’s able to balance his issues out with his current situation and I just don’t want anybody shaking him up and throwing him off of his center.”

“That’s not gonna happen as long as he has you. From how I understand it, you’re his center.” She took a deep breath and looked at the house again. “Let’s go back and see if we can check on him,” Henry suggested. 

A dark skinned woman with a huge afro, in draping, colorful clothes and a lot of jewelry opened the door and smiled at them. Charlotte and Henry glanced at their car in the driveway, then the house, then the woman. Charlotte asked, “Is… Is Jasper Dunlop here?”

“Yeah, he’s here.” She said and opened up to let them inside. “They’re in the meditation room. Mind taking off your shoes? Also, we’ll bring the dogs out back. It’s fenced in and covered. Hawks won’t get to them.”

“Hawks???” Charlotte shrieked. 

“Hawks WON’T get to them,” Henry repeated. “Thank you,” he said. “She’s kind of an anxiety mom.”

The Black woman said, “Well, I can make you some relaxation tea. It was helpful for Jasper. Passionflower with a little lavender and chamomile. You’ll calm down and also sleep like a baby tonight.”

“I… Are you a witch?” Charlotte asked.

“You can say that. I’m a healer, a practitioner of Hoodoo herbalism, tribal holistic care and divination.”

“Oh! Like your friend from Louisiana,” Henry said to Charlotte.

“They have a deep history with spirituality and healing in Louisiana, but I’m from Oklahoma. Descendant of African slaves and Native American slave owners, if you can believe it.While we were recently expelled from tribes as members, you can’t illegalize blood, therefore the magic of all of my ancestors is within me,” the woman said, nodding her head as she released the dogs from their leashes and helped them through a doggie door. “I began to seek out the meanings of my dreams and found a mambo who connected me to my roots. I began practicing, only first to see if I really had a gift, then years later, as a believer. It’s how I met Jack Leigh. He wanted help from some things and a friend told him about me. But, then he saw me and forgot what he wanted help with and asked me on a date, instead.” She laughed.

“I can see why,” Henry said. 

Charlotte mumbled, “I can see why Jasper’s mom hates me.”

The woman shook her head, “Is there anybody that woman doesn’t hate?”

“Herself?” Henry tried to guess.

“I wish that were true. That’s where she has to begin her healing and until she does, none of her intentions will be corrected.”

“Are you Jack Leigh’s wife?” Henry wondered.

“I am so sorry! I never introduced myself. Adanna Blackfoot.” She shook both their hands and led them to a sink in the little side area of the kitchen that looked out into the backyard. Charlotte could see the doggie enclosure. There were all kinds of plants and flowers growing on the fence surrounding them. The three of them washed their hands and talked a little while. Charlotte was fascinated with Jasper’s stepmom, though she said she didn’t feel that was a fair title, because she only knew Jasper from afar and word of mouth. But, Charlotte still wished THIS was the woman who’d raised her man. He’d be so much more in love with himself, and not just faking it. They eventually made it to the meditation room and Jasper was happy to see them. “Sorry, was I taking too long?”

Charlotte met him with a hug and a kiss, “I was worried about you, but Adanna eased my mind.”

“She and Uncle Rox would be great friends,” Jasper said.

“Uncle Rocks?” Jack Leigh repeated, confused, because Jasper didn’t have any uncles by that name.

“My uncle Roscoe,” Charlotte said.

“Roscoe Bolton?” Jack Leigh asked. From their faces, he could tell that was who they meant. “Wait a minute… You mean to tell me that your fiance is The Bolt’s niece?”

“Uncle Rox just became infinitely cooler because he is known as The Bolt. Say more, right now!” Jasper said, excitedly. Charlotte was more on the we all just glazed by that F word, huh? 

“Hell, The Bolt introduced me and Adanna! What’s he up to? I haven’t heard from that fool in years.”

“Still a fool,” Charlotte and Henry said, but Jasper had said, “He’s the best!” Charlotte looked at Henry and said softly, “So… did you hear him say…”

“Yeah, I did.”

“Okay. Tell me something,” she said and laughed a little. Fiancee? Was that how Jasper had described her? Because… YEAH - they most definitely were most likely gonna get married. She certainly hoped so, but they hadn’t discussed it in a solid form yet. It was more like how kids discussed graduation… an event that you look forward to and you know it’s happening and even have certain elements and dreams about it that you must include. But, not knowing what college you’d attend, what your GPA will be, what major you would choose. It was like, sure marriage was a real possibility, but it wasn’t something he’d asked her to do or something she had started preparing for - things that she associated with being a fiancee… Everybody was looking at her and she rewinded her mind a little to try to recall what they’d said in the background while she was in her thoughts. Think he’d mind if I got his contact info? “Uh, no. I’ll give him a call and verify, though…”

“Small world,” Henry said.

“It’s a huge world, but everything is definitely connected,” Adanna said, pouring the new brew of tea for the additional guests.

.

At some point, after a lot of laughter and stuff, Henry said, “Hey… Adanna, do you do like readings?”

“Not professionally,” she said. “I’ve limited it to friends and family, loved ones, for personal reasons.”

“Oh,” he said, sadly. “Char and I have been trying to make an appointment with her friend, but our schedules never line up with her available spots.”

“Well, for the two of you, of course, I would.” She said and smiled, getting up to retrieve her cards. Charlotte was staring at Jasper, still thinking about the F word and wondering what happened before they made it in. He’d definitely been crying at some point. He had his ‘crying bags’ under his eyes. He was in good spirits now, but she wanted to know what went on when she wasn’t there to protect and comfort him. He looked back at her and made a confused face. He was wondering what she was thinking about. She mouthed ‘I love you,’ to him and watched the smile on his face beam. “I’m so lucky,” he said out loud. Jack Leigh smiled at the two of them. Beautiful couple. Wonderful boy. He’d really messed up missing out on shaping him.

#A Chasper Fic #chasper #henry danger #hd fanfic #Nesha HD Fics

[renee561]

The Last Yule

Bi!Granny x Joan (OC).

Au of my Tattoos on this Town. For @sarahtarth hope you enjoy dearie!

---

Time as they said moved on whether we wanted it to or not. It's been nearly thirty years since that night that changed their lives. Pushed them to be more than friends. 

Challenges came and struggles too, but the happiness never did fade or at least not when they both worked together to fix something that tore between them. 

She knew not every day was filled with laughter and smiles, sometimes hurtful words were exchanged, tests of their love and the strength of it were tested so many times, Joan lost count. Lucille is and will always be a strong headed woman and Joan wasn't some wilting flower to just take her wife's rage. Those early years, she thought with fondness, at least now, were filled with strife as Lucille found out about her pregnancy not long after Luther was...dispatched. Then the figuring out what they both wanted had taken even more time to figure out, as it wasn't exactly frowned upon in their society, but it was very much kept under wraps. Neither of them particularly liked secrets, too muddled for their blunt natures. The only secrets they kept were from their daughters for their safety and the safety of others. 

Though faded, her scars still twinged on the nights leading up to the full moon. She had never fully become what her wife did, though she did find it easier to understand some of her restless tendencias. Her wife hated that part of her, Joan thought it only a small part of what made Lucille...well her. 

She hummed under her breath as she baked, the yule was upon them and they had guests. Not that many, but still it would be nice for a bit of reprieve from the oncoming threat. 

Since the War for the White throne, Joan had made it a point to stay out of the politics of the Royal Court. She was not very charmed by the Prince Consort,  not one bit. Her mind flashed briefly to a time she first met him, a devious smirk on her face as she remembered his gobsmacked expression when he found her and his wife flirting openingly together on his mother's farm.

Oh the ruse worked well enough, no one had any idea, but she wasn't sure many knew what she knew and felt what she felt. 

Magic surrounded them and while it drained her more and more as time wore on, staying away from the court was better for her health and the health of secrets no one really should know. 

"You're scheming murder again," a gruff but amused voice stated behind her. Familiar arms wrapped around her and she leaned back into the safety of strong arms. 

"Hadn't gotten that far, dear. You interpreted too early. But trust me I'd not kill him, just maim or disembowel slightly. He'd still keep his objectively pretty face. His comments the last few meetings were uncalled for and I dare say had Jiminy not spoken up I would have done something rash," she stated looking into the green eyes of her wife. 

Though they've both aged gracefully, Lucille had used the last of her wolf magic, therefore while Joan still kept most of her red coloring, Lucille went completely white haired too early. They both were now pushing their mid-fifties, not old at all!

"The lad is a bit dimwitted, but his heart is in the right place. I say we finish her and be done with it," her wife replied with a roll of her eyes. 

She mimicked the gesture, and returned to her rolling of the pie crust, "It wouldn't solve the problem, it's not like she is working alone. Besides, I dare say that he will go too far one of these days and call it heroism. Have you spoken with Red? Is she coming with her mysterious suitor?" 

She wanted so badly to say he wasn't at all mysterious, that he was very much the same little cricket, except he had his own secrets. Blessing or Curse she still wasn't sure as Jiminy wasn't very forthcoming about his gift. 

It was an accident she found out, or rather something that was told to her by Geppetto the old rake in his anxiety over his son's well being had put his confidence in her. They had once meant alot to one another, until Geppetto forgot all about her in order to pursue his dreams. She didn't blame him any, though she had moved on, he lived with regrets and what could have beens. 

They stayed in contact by letters and the occasional visit, he had been happy she found love after him, though he had hoped for a much different outcome. She didn't like to play the game of what if. She had a great life with Lucille and was happy that Geppetto had stayed a part of it. 

Her wife rubbed her back slightly as she continued to roll the crust out. 

"You want to talk about it?"

Lucille knew her well. She just couldn't. It wasn't her secret. 

"She's grown up now. Living her life, finding love again after Peter. I'm happy for her. I just worry, Luce. I worry about the curse much more than I can express. Except I fear much more than that. I fear I might not be here after it's all over. Magic that big, that fierce, could drain me of my life. Magic killed my mother, why would I not expect it to not kill me as well?"

She had told her wife the short version of the story, it was one of the first after they became friends, and then the more detailed story when they became a couple. Over the years raising a family, raising a magical family with her wife has never been her regret, it was the fear she'd never see them happy, in love, a family of their own. 

Anita had struggled, Ruby even more so. It was hard to protect their girls, while her own health fluctuated as they grew. Now she wanted nothing more than to live to see the curse defeated. But of late she feared she'd never see that day. 

"Joan, we talked about this," her wife said, her voice wavering just so with her own fears and uncertainties. 

Her wife feared little, even with her affliction almost gone, well there were still the lingering effects. For example enhanced stamina, higher than normal body heat, excellent hearing and smell, and taste for the rarer meats. Lucille feared little when for so long she had been the one thing people feared most. 

Losing her, losing their children were about the only things Lucille Lucas feared in this world...or the next. Anita had passed and they were still mourning their loss, but they celebrated as much as they cried. Maybe a little more so. 

"I know, which is why we'll give her the ring when they come. That way if something should happen to me, she'll always have it. A tradition to pass from mother to daughter as it were. Anita's no longer here to do it, so I must. Plus I approve of Archibald. Don't you?"

Her wife sighed that was to cover her sniff, "If Jiminy were a man I'd have preferred him to Geppetto's son. But Red is dead set on him. He's an improvement over Peter, not that I didn't like Peter mind you, just there was something off about him." 

She nodded, she hadn't been much of a fan of the boy, a wandering eye that one had. Her granddaughter deserved much better. 

"Help me with these pies ans we can fantasize about choping the Evil Queen into her own apple strudel, eh?" 

She pushed aside her fears and her worries for the moment, they'd hold for the time being. 

Her wife chuckled and muttered about just shoving her into the oven first. She laughed remembering the gossip she had heard from Geppetto regarding two children doing such a thing to a witch. She wasn't sure it wasn't one of his wild stories. He had many of them. 

--

She sat on the sofa, her shawl tight around her shoulders as she watched the merry. In their little cabin, not far from the castle huddled by the fire, there was laughter and joy as Red acted her age for a change. They all did. 

Watching and observing she almost envied the three young adults freeing themselves from the weight of the world, freed themselves from the responsibility of the whole forest for just one evening. Her wife sat next to her, tossing the blanket she had knitted as a gift over their legs. A warm hand held her own, fingers dancing over the ring that sat there for thirty years. 

She watched as Geppetto explain to his no longer wooden son how something operated. Pinocchio was a dear, a little underfoot at times, but watching her old friend, her first love, smile and take joy at a time like this made her glad he was still in her life. 

Jiminy was there as well, sitting as he use did on Red's shoulder. Inselerable the pair she had wondered many times, and wished for it most of all that Jiminy was a man for him to bestow upon Red the love he clearly had for her and she for him. She raged at the unfairness, until the truth had been told to her. 

She no longer wished him a man, just that he treated her granddaughter like the beauty she was. Never a prize, but a precious gem. 

She leaned close to her wife, a spot she still enjoyed sinking into, despite their ages, despite their trials, despite everything. If she had to choose again...she knew she'd have chosen Lucille again and again if she could. 

"Mama Joan?" Her granddaughter asked, the room had gone quiet and everyone was looking at her in worry. 

"Yes, Dear," she smiled and brought herself back to the present. 

"Are you alright?" The worry tone and the concerned looks from them all made her make the decision. 

Reluctantly she pulled away from her wife, including her hand. Red stood easily moved to sit on the arm of the sofa, concern in her gaze. 

"Open your hand, Little Red, I want to give you one last gift," she instructed and she felt the combination of magic so strong now. 

Between everything Jiminy was and everything that Red is, and who they were together, not to mention the other true love pair brought her pain as well as contentment.

Lucille and her didn't believe in true love, not the magical kind. Geppetto didn't either, for which she was grateful. It had taken him time to accept her marriage, despite his reassuring her at every turn he wasn't angry, just more sad for himself.

Her granddaughter looked at her other grandmother and did as she asked. While Lucille and Ruby butted heads because they were much too alike. Joan had more patience and a little less bark to her bite. 

She carefully slipped her band off her finger, it being bare for the first time since Lucille put it on. She had another ring in her wooden box, not as sentimental, but still something she would put on before she went to bed. 

She placed the ring in her granddaughter's hand and curled her fingers tight around it. 

"It was my mother's. My papa gave it to me after she died. I was the youngest of five girls, but the last to leave home. When your grandmother and I married, we promised to pass the ring before that point. Your mother, let her run free under the eternal moon, passed before I could give it to her. It's yours Red. Whoever you choose, always know you have your grandmothers' blessing. Never forget that love is meant to be treasured; there is no such thing as a perfect marriage. It's the daily choice of choosing each other again and again that makes marriages work. Love, live and above all else be happy, little Red. You deserve love, just like your mother and grandmother before you." 

Red's green eyes watered, and soon she was pulled into a tight hug. She hugged her child and wiped the young woman's tears. 

"Now you youngins have fun, I'm old I need rest. Remember not to stay up too late you have to head back to the castle early in the morning. Geppetto, Pino, you're more than welcome to take the guest room since you have a way to travel yourself," she said, kissing her granddaughter's cheek and winking at the little cricket finely dressed in his coat and top hat on her shoulder, obscured by her dark locks. 

Red hurried to help her stand and her wife wasn't far behind her. The princess and prince waved at her, still giving her a worried look. Geppetto smiled and nodded, while Pino looked worried. 

"I promise,  I'm fine, just tired. I'm not built like I'm used to, can't keep up the fast pace." Her wife coughed and she grinned at the blush on the prince's cheeks. 

Red looked at her torn between staying with her friends and secret suitor, or helping her to bed. 

"I got her, Red. You enjoy your friend's company. Midnight is the latest. I'll come out with my crossbow if you make a peep after the clock strikes twelve," her wife said, her warm hand on her back for support while also leading her to their room. 

"Lucille, be nice, its yule. They deserve some fun," she chided her wife half heartedly. 

"But that means they'll interrupt our fun," she said bluntly and Gepetto and Charming looked on in horror. Red and Snow smirked at one another, poor Pino had no idea what was going on. 

Jiminy was all too quiet. 

She couldn't help it, she laughed, softly, "I don't think I'm up for much tonight my sweet. I should have gone to bed an hour ago."

"Stubborn woman," Gepetto said at the same time her wife did. They looked at one another and a cheeky grin passed between the two. 

"Yes you did marry a stubborn old woman, Lucille, just as I did," she said as they continued on their way to their room. It was late, the clock had struck ten times some time ago. 

Her wife chuckled as she closed their door behind her. She grabbed her wooden box and rummaged around inside until she found the ring she was looking for. It wasn't too big. Well it was bigger and took up half her finger but she knew back then Lucille had been making a claim on her. Not that she had minded, especially now. After so long, she was already her wife's, a ring just announces it. 

She placed it on before placing the box in her nightstand. 

"You didn't have to do th—," her wife started before her look stopped whatever words were to be said. 

"I did. I don't feel well all the time, my love. It could happen or it could not. I just wanted a chance to give it to her in person. Better than her taking it from a corpse," she said as she rubbed her face. The rings weight felt foreign, but familiar all the same. 

"Joan!" Her wife growled. 

She pulled down her hands until she could see the hurt and the fear in her wife's eyes. 

"Sorry, that was graphic. Nonetheless, I wanted to do it. Let her have her Mama's Joan ring. Maybe Archie will put it on her before the curse comes. He's a good man, and Red deserves her good man." 

Her wife nodded, through her eyes telling her Lucille still thought it was unnecessary. 

They dressed for bed, and once they were under their sheets and furs, she allowed her wife to rest her head next to her heartbeat. Strong arms held her, anchored her to this moment. Even when she felt ready to pass on to the next. 

"Don't leave me, Joan. I could not bear to bury you," the soft quiet mumble of her wife's, of her second and longest love, voice steadied her. 

"I make no promises that I will not die before the curse, but for you I would stay here as long as I'm able. Let's sleep, for once the cottage empties, I do plan on getting you back for your sass just now. We were in front of company." 

Her wife's hand wandered to her backside and she felt the familiar heat that even if she was reaching her mid fifties, she still wanted her beautiful bride. 

"Do you plan to punish me?" 

She smirked and kissed her forehead, letting her wife touch her to a reassuring pace rather than a sexual pleasure. "I plan to devour you, my sweet. Just as I've always done. Just because I'm old, doesn't mean I want you any less than I have for the past thirty or so years." 

She felt the release of tension of her wife's frame and the fingers dancing against her spine.  

"Good, I don't like my fun ruined. Makes me a grumpy old woman." 

She giggled, "Yes, but you're my grumpy old woman, and I wouldn't change you for anything, Luce."

The fingers danced and calmed her into a soft doze. But she heard the reply just as she was drifting off to sleep, "Nor would I change my sweet old lady who will make it through this curse if I have to drag her there myself. I love you, Joan, too much and for too long to lose you now." 

Stubborn woman, she thought with a smile. And all mine, thank the gods.

#granny #granny lucas #ouat #oc #my writing #enchanted forest #red lucas #Geppetto #old married couple