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nonbinarytoga · 4 years

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Radioactive Izuku au from @polarspaz au that they’ve allowed me to write (I asked on anon but it was me dw). Please support them and their art!

Title: 200,000 Rads

Chapter 1: Chance Encounter

Word Count: 2,852

"I'll be back soon, Mom," Izuku called weakly as he peeked into his mother's bedroom. She was curled up in her futon, her face a bright red as she sweated through her fever. Izuku clutched his mother's wallet in his hands nervously, inching towards the front door. He almost wished that his mother would get up, that her fever would magically be cured and that he wouldn't have to leave the safe haven he called home.

But his mother remained still, her eyes bleary with sickness. Izuku licked his lips, tasting the sour tang of radiation on his tastebuds and swallowed roughly. He steeled himself and turned around, walking to the front door and yanking it open before his anxiety could make him stop.

He stood, breathless, in the doorway for a couple of seconds as terror climbed up his throat. Spit pooled into his mouth, the taste of radiation filling his senses, almost choking him on the cloying taste. He swallowed harshly, wincing at the taste. Later, he would have to use a few rounds of mouthwash to clear him of the taste.

He wanted nothing more than to turn back around and hide under his covers. No! His mother was counting on him! It was an easy task, he just had to get some medicine, some cold compresses, and then he could come home! He slowly stepped out of their little apartment door, closed it and locked it behind him and then stepped out into the world.

It had been a little while since he had been outside since he was exposed to everyone out in the open. It was terrifying. He shuffled through, his hands stuffed into his pockets with little to no skin showing as he slithered down the hallway and towards the street. It was later in the day, most people were either getting home from work and school or just going out to enjoy the coming night.

Izuku quickly made his way down the road, practically running down the sidewalk and further into the city. He could feel people looking at him from all over, probably confused as to why he was wearing such heavy clothing. A heavy and cushioned jacket with a fur-coated hood, thick ski goggles, a pair of black sweatpants, black boots, and a face mask to top it off. People shuffled away from him, clearing the area as he trudged through. There were some people who had lived in the area long enough to know who he was. They didn't know too much about him, just that he was the daughter of Inko and had some sort of terrible quirk.

People who Izuku used to see daily when he was young sent him small nods or waves, but they knew that Izuku wouldn't respond. Izuku didn't have time for them anyway, and it was better to get in and get out without getting too attached to them. The memories of the person that he was before his quirk were hazy, but he could remember enough. They were incredibly bittersweet, but the deeper he went the more horrific the memories became.

Izuku slowed down to a jog as he reached the store, pushing open the door and slipping inside. There weren't many people inside the store, thankfully, and Izuku found himself quietly searching the shelves with pursed lips. Searching them with a critical eye, his fingers brushed up against boxes and bottles of medical supplies. The hum of some pop song on the radio had Izuku softly tapping his toe against the tile as he reached for the box of fever medicine for his mother.

As his fingers touched the box, another hand brushed against his. He squeaked and flinched back, startled as he looked up to see who had touched him. A tall blonde man with startling green eyes looked down at him. His hair was pulled back into a low ponytail and he had a thin mustache that was separated into two halves on his upper lip.

"Oops! Sorry 'bout that, little listener!" Present Mic chirped, "go ahead."

"A-ah, no," Izuku flushed, waving his hands around in a nervous twitch, "please, take it, um, Mr. Present Mic."

Present Mic snorted, "please, Mr.Present Mic was my father. Just call me Mic, okay?" He grinned, "and I mean it. You look a little under the weather yourself," he gave Izuku an easygoing smile and handed him the box of medicine, "next time, though, how about you go out before you get sick, yeah?"

"M-me? But I'm not," Izuku trailed off, realizing that Mic thought that he was the one who was sick. He nodded instead of explaining himself, "yes, thank you very much!" He gave Mic a low bow and shuffled away, leaving Mic to get whatever else he needed to get.

Behind his mask, a giddy smile rose onto Izuku's face. He met a pro hero! Present Mic was one of his all-time favourite heroes, with his incredibly popular radio show and incredibly kind demeanour, it was no wonder why so many people took a liking towards him and Izuku was no different.

Oh, Mom was gonna be so jealous once she heard! Izuku was practically squealing with delight, but he kept it in long enough to get to the front counter. A teen looking to be a few years older than Izuku stood there, chewing quietly on a piece of gum and looking at him with a blank face. She scanned his items, he paid, and then he was out of there.

His high from meeting Present Mic was still coiling within his chest, so much so that he decided to go on a small walk before he went home. He grinned behind his mask, knowing that his mother would be incredibly proud of him for getting out. He had become a bit of a home-body since the accident.

He hummed quietly to himself as he walked the streets, taking in the fresh night air. He felt lighter than usual. Happier since one of his long-time idols. As he strolled deeper into the city, however, the sound of a battle reached his ears. His legs began to move on their own, an aching curiosity curling in his chest as he speed-walked over to where the noise was coming from.

He peeked around the corner and then flinched back with a gasp.

Izuku's throat felt like it was closing up. He was pushed against the cold wall of a dark alleyway, staring into the heart of a battlefield. Three people took up the dim area, two boys who looked to be around Izuku's age and one adult that even the dumbest person could point out to be Stain. The Hero Killer. Izuku gripped the grocery bag he had picked up for his mother, watching with bated breath as the villain spouted some sort of nonsense about hating heroes and how those at UA were choosing to become corrupt.

"You hero students are all the same!" Stain hissed, wielding his dual swords as he slashed at the two students with reckless abandon, "you follow All Might blindly and never think about those who have been hurt by heroes!"

Izuku slapped a hand over his mouth to muffle a yelp as Stain's sword slashed against the boy with two-toned hair. Blood splattered on the dark pavement as the boy lept away, throwing out his arm to send a sheet of ice towards Stain that the villain easily dodged. His long tongue flicked out to lave at the sharp metal and the boy dropped like a rock. Izuku started to tremble in horror, tears building in his eyes that glowed an eerie green. He was going to die! Stain was going to kill him!

"You almost killed my brother!" The other boy, dressed in a sort of knights outfit, roared as he sprinted for Stain, "I won't let you kill my friends!" He grabbed at Stain, flinging him against the wall and slamming his arms into Stain's chest to pin him. The force made rubble tumble lazily off of the roof of the building, missing the fighting men by a few feet.

Stain cackled from where he was pinned, giddy as can be, "you're his brat brother, eh?" He hissed, one hand still gripping his main sword tightly, "how lovely it will be, taking down TWO Indegniums in such a short period of time!"

He raised his sword and brought it down, catching the tender skin that was exposed between panels of metal, spraying more blood into the air. Stain's tongue lashed out and lapped up the blood, causing the boy to slump uselessly to the ground. Stain laughed again, kicking the boy harshly in the side where he was unguarded.

"How pathetic," he spat, "you'll be fun to kill, you wanna-be hero." He raised his sword, taking it in two hands and resting it above where Indegnium's heart was, lifted up and-

"NO!" Izuku shouted, throwing off his puffy jacket and knocking Stain off of Indegnium, sending the two of them sprawling onto the ground. Stain recovered faster than Izuku could, snarling in fury.

"Who the hell are you, kid?" Stain spat, raising his sword, "another hero brat?! My lucky day!"

Izuku scrambled back, letting out a terrified squeak as Stain's sword came down. A searing pain curled on his face and he screamed, his hands flying up to his face. Blood poured messily down his face, getting into his mouth and soaking into his clothes. Izuku looked through the blood and his tears to see Stain standing still above him, staring at his sword. Izuku's blood caked his sword and was glowing horrible neon green.

"Interesting," Stain growled, sticking out his tongue to lick over the blood.

"No, don't!" Izuku yelled, "it's not safe!"

It was too late, Stain's tongue curled over Izuku's blood. Izuku wilted, slumping against the ground. He could see Stain, unable to move his head and watched in horror as Stain's face fell. Literally.

Stain howled in pain, gripping at his face and dropping his weapon as his face began to melt off. His tongue, long and slick, began to char and fell off in a meaty clump as Izuku's blood coursed through his face. Stain's skin sloughed off like wet newspaper, his blood and muscles twitching as they boiled from the strength of Izuku's radiation. Izuku gagged at the sight, his breath picking up quickly as his own blood slowly crawled over the ground, shining like paint under blacklight. It crawled sluggishly across, most of it soaking into Izuku's clothes, burning larges holes into his shirt and pants, while Stain gurgled messily on his own blood.

Stain was still screaming as he went down, his eyes starting to melt right out of his head. They rolled out of his head and splattered on the ground like pudding while more blood gushed from his wounds. His nose, or what was left of it, melted away to expose blood. His cheeks started to burn off, the smell of scorched flesh filling the air as more muscle and skin melted away, his teeth literally falling out of his head and falling to the ground like mints.

Izuku was crying, wailing out into the night to match Stain's own gargled howls of agony until the radiation reached his throat and melted away his vocal cords. Stain gave a few more chokes, and then vomited and in a horrifying display of regurgitation, vomited up his own stomach. Izuku closed his eyes tight as feeling slow came back to him as Stain finally died. He scrambled up, unable to get up past his knees as he gagged and vomited up his dinner. He coughed loudly, openly sobbing and wailing both in pain in terror.

He could hear police sirens getting closer as he started to pant, his breath coming in faster and faster until he was barely breathing at all. A hand touched his back and Izuku howled, scrambling up and away from whoever touched him only to fall onto his ass. Looking up, one of the boys who had been fighting Stain stood above him, staring at him with open eyes in shock. He took a step forward and Izuku scooted back, uncaring that he was smearing around his own sick and radiation, shaking his head.

"No, no, no, no, no, don't get close to me!" He shouted hoarsely, "please! I-I can't hurt anyone else, please!"

The boy paused and took a few steps back, blinking a few times and shaking his head as if to clear away whatever he was thinking. He returned to his partner and began to tend to his wounds with a medical kid strapped to his side. Izuku sobbed quietly as he pressed up to the wall, covering his face with his hands and shaking.

The sirens got louder and louder until the skid of tires on the pavement reached their location. The sound of multiple pairs of footsteps made Izuku looked up, and he melted when he saw who was there. Some police officers, a man in a long tan coat, and the pro heroes Thirteen and Present Mic.

Present Mic was speaking in low tones to the man in the tan coat but went silent when he saw Izuku. His face dropped, his eyes flickering over the scene of gore that surrounded and covered Izuku, and then to the radioactively green sludge that covered him. He took a step forward, but Thirteen beat him to it.

"Stay here," they said firmly, patting Present Mic's chest. They stepped forward and crouched down in front of Izuku, putting their palms out in a placating motion. "You're safe now," they said softly, "are you okay? Are you hurt anywhere?"

Izuku coughed, wiping the blood away from his mouth and shook his head, "J-just my face," he stammered, "I, um, my quirk," he sniffled, hands shaking in fear.

Thirteen hummed and nodded slowly, "what is this stuff made out of?" They motioned towards Izuku's blood on the floor.

"It's radioactive," Izuku replied, "don't touch it. It," he looked towards Stain's body which was little more than a clump of flesh and bones on the ground. Looking at it had him bursting into tears once more, molten green trailing down his cheeks as he began to wail.

Thirteen was quiet, and then carefully grasped Izuku's hands to pull them towards their own, "it's going to be okay," they said, "you're not in trouble. I'm pretty sure I can clean stuff up, but then we need to get you to UA. Who's your doctor?"

Izuku whimpered, throwing himself into Thirteen's arms and crying quietly. The hero rubbed his back in slow circles in a soothing manner. As Izuku's tears began to dry, he noticed that Present Mic was inching closer to them. Thirteen noticed as well, they sighed and waved him over quietly.

Izuku told her the name of the agency that the Hero Commission assigned to him when he was born, as well as the name of his personal doctor while Thirteen uncapped one of their fingers and sucked up the radioactive sludge on the ground, sans the stuff that used to be Stain.

"What's your quirk, dear?" Thirteen asked as they capped their finger, allowing the EMT's and other heroes to approach while a separate group attended to the two UA students. Izuku sniffled, wiping his clothes with his bright green blood and tears.

"Radiation," he replied in a croaky voice, "it comes out when I get stressed."

Thirteen nodded their head, turning to Present Mic who had been put into a radiation suit just in case, his hair making his head lumpy underneath the bright yellow suit. He squatted down in front of Izuku, looking at him through the face shield.

"It was very brave of what you did, little listener," Present Mic said seriously, "you saved Shouto and Indegnium's lives tonight-if you weren't here they could have been seriously injured or worse."

Izuku nodded, flinching when one of the EMT's tried to touch his face, "those bandages won't work," he croaked, "you have to use the special ones."

The EMT looked a little irked but pulled away all the same. Thirteen gently massaged at Izuku's shoulder, their touch was grounding to Izuku.

"We have to take you to UA," they said, "so your doctor can patch you up. Eraserhead will be there and he can stop your quirk. Is that alright with you?"

"That's fine," Izuku said softly, and with Thirteen's help, he slowly got to his feet. His body felt numb and shaky as he followed the two heroes out of the alleyway and towards a familiar vehicle. It was a circular pod with a radiation symbol on the front, strapped to a truck. Izuku broke away from the heroes and climbed into the pod without fuss, looking out the thick glass windows as the pod lit up green with his light. He closed his eyes and leant his head against the warm metal as his radiation warmed it up, and wished he was at home.

#writing #z's writing #bnha #mha #Izuku midoriya #deku

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mypersonmyg · 3 years

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crash and learn | myg, kth, jjk

pairing: yoongi x reader ft. maggie x taehyung, dani x jeongguk

genre: fluff, college au, the misery chick au

rating: pg15

wc: 2.3k

warnings: swearing, not really edited

summary: you and yoongi just want some time alone OR maybe jeongguk and taehyung will finally stop crashing your dates

a/n: haha i bet you thought i forgot but i didn’t! its drabble week and i will be posting one every day this week (weekends debatable)...this one is a part of the misery chick universe but also you don’t have to read it to get it because...

this is for my FAVORITE CUTIE MAGGIE @kimtaehyunq!!!! who asked me to write a cute tae and jeongguk request ft herself and yours truly <3 and i think its fun to have one universe with all the members being with one of my friends so,,,maybe more coming?,,,either way i might write another drabble or two to sort of bring this one full circle, maybe not this week but yeah

[drabble masterlist]

[the misery chick]

One date turned to two and two to three, needless to say that months later and Min Yoongi still finds room to swoon for the girl who thought him puffing smoke before the start of the period. The misery chick isn’t gone, but the words are forbidden within a radius of the two of you, more likened to prolonged stares and the occasional glares of those wondering about the developing development of your arms locked and stares stopping on your respective pupils dilated in the glare of the midday sun.

Though those passersby who let Yoongi pass by for too long without a positive step in the direction of his natural charms hold their tongues, the boys that fill the round of the courtyard picnic don’t hesitate to gag into half eaten sandwiches and dribble the purple fizz from the cans perched at their lips.

“This is a little excessive, no?” Taehyung, the least bothered of the present, pipes up. He slurps from a straw that traces the length of his arm, wrapping the sleeve of his half buttoned button up. No one dared ask about his latest purchase, Jeongguk who was slurping from his juice box even eyeing with envy the can perfectly placed atop a tuft of grass, feeding into the straw at Taehyung’s lips. “When you invited us on a picnic I was hoping for a little more ‘we time’ and a little less ‘you time’.”

“To be clear, we didn’t invite you.”

“I like to think it was an open invitation,” Jeongguk shrugs, falling back against the blanket spread beneath you.

Yoongi kisses his teeth, his own position resting against your chest, the perfect avenue for the pass of a grape from your fingers to his lips. He’s too content to bother with the bothersome nature of his uninvited roommates, both found minutes before his departure scavenging the lunch he’d spent the better part of the morning putting together. It was only the delighted pitch of your giggles that stopped him from scolding the two and sending them on their way when they followed you out of the door. He even caught you sneaking a few extra snacks into the basket for the fiends.

“The point is, I will not hesitate to press my face to Yoongi’s because this is supposed to be a date.”

“Press your face? That’s fuckin’ weird can’t you just say kiss?” Taehyung snatches the grape from your hand midair, sending Yoongi a smug smirk when he pops it past his geometric lips humming along with the satisfactory burst of the skin against his tongue.

“No, because it makes you uncomfortable.” You tut, quickly replacing the grape to remedy the pout pulling at Yoongi’s cheeks. “This’ll teach you two to stop crashing our dates!”

Dates is, in fact, plural because the tag along of your spritely comrades has been less and less few and far over the course of just a few weeks. You aren’t blind to the odd trend, not missing the attachment of Jeongguk specifically with each expected visit. Only recently had Taehyung begun to fill the void at Jeongguk’s side, previously partnered with any member of the house available at the time.

What you’ve failed to account for with every impromptu double date is Jeongguk’s wise up with each stand in. He began to worm his way with Hoseok, clear that Yoongi would never turn down his best friend and you would never turn down Jeongguk. He would then try his hand with each member of the house, the worst of them being Jimin who had them sent away without even a morsel of the pizza you and Yoongi planned on sharing that day.

It was that evening that Yoongi stood barefoot in his doorway, scratching at his brows toeing the reason behind Jeongguk’s sudden interest in you to which Jeongguk sputtered and blushed Yoongi out of the door with the assurance that his interest in you still remained platonic despite your commonalities and attraction.

Jeongguk would never disclose the reason for his sudden interest in the almost daily escapades of Yoongi and yourself for fear that the blush painting his cheeks would be due to the teases and pressures of his friends, much the way he heard his hyungs pressuring Yoongi just months ago. He reasons that the position served Yoongi well, his eyes often traveling to the trace of your hand against Yoongi’s and frequent pecks to his forehead, his cheeks, he averts when you ‘press face’.

He wouldn’t dare admit the lift of his heart when you utter a defeated ‘I’ll just call Maggie and Dani, we can all catch a movie or something’ or when you plan ahead, which you’ve been doing more often, and the two meet you at your destination. The assumption of his appearance for the consumption that is often his source of a meal was accurate at the start. Your weekly dinners increasingly put on hold in place of a date with Yoongi, a point that Jeongguk used to his advantage the first night he beat Yoongi to the front seat of his own car while you snickered on the passenger side and Yoongi grumbled his way to the rear.

His tactic had been to spend more time with his friend busied by love’s intoxicating hold, but his routine was struck by the catch of his own wrist in the hold of the bug. It was subtle before all at once, just an insignificant flutter passed off as a change in the weather, allergies. It was the not so subtle jab of Hoseok’s elbow into Jeongguk’s ribs after a particularly festive frolic through the spring festival that hipped him to his blind intentions.

“Dude, you’ve been eying Dani for like three weeks and I’m tired of going on dates with you.” Suffice to say that was the last time Hoseok was glued to his side and Jeongguk only hoped the few feet between him and Dani just ahead provided a gap gaping enough to save her ears from Hoseok’s assail.

It was a constant trial and error leading up to the night just a week ago that conjured Taehyung in stride, far too dressed up for casual with a confident glint in his eye.

“You made the right call, I don’t know why it took you so long to make it, but I’m here now. The doctor is in.” Taehyung surveyed the small span of the restaurant's front entrance that day, confident in his abilities to nudge Jeongguk ever closer to the girl he’s been crazy about for the past few weeks. He found it endearing that the youngest was having a hard time, especially when he was often the target of straying gazes and the not-so-subtle flirtations of all shades.

It didn’t take long for all involved to realize that the doctor inconveniently called in sick from the moment Yoongi showed up with three ladies en route, one familiar from a photo Jeongguk scrounged and the second filled with a familiarity not quite familiar to Taehyung. You were quick to introduce her as Maggie, and Taehyung couldn’t form a sentence coherent enough for the rest of the night.

If it weren’t for the quickened explanation on the drive home, Jeongguk would’ve been a lot less forgiving about his botched date, but here they are two weeks later, both lovestruck idiots jumping with each sound of crumpled grass while you and Yoongi are none the wiser to their intent.

“So, what are we doing tomorrow? Aside from watching you two be all lovey dovey.”

“I don’t know,” Yoongi’s head tilts, eyes squinting in the face of the sun’s rays. “What are you two doing tomorrow? I personally plan on spending the day with my girlfriend, preferably alone at some point.”

“Huh, well there’s this horror marathon at the drive-in tomorrow and I was thinking we could all go!” Taehyung nudges Jeongguk’s leg, the younger immediately onboard with the suggestion.

“Yeah! We could even invite Maggie and Dani so we have someone to talk to when you two inevitably claim the backseat for making out or whatever.”

You eye the two, eyes as wide as fresh puppies and smiles spanning the length of their cheeks. You aren’t completely blind to the trend of the past few weeks, but you haven’t been keen enough an observer to call them out on it until now. You’ve joked with Yoongi in private about your impromptu triple dates, most of the time brushed off with the shift of his lips to your own, too exhausted to think about anything but the moment he finally has you to himself.

You nudge him with your knee, catching his eye with the minute dip of your head and the draw of your brow.

“Ya know, you guys could always just go yourselves. I could give you their numbers,” You don’t miss the exchanged glances and tinted cheeks, Jeongguk’s eyes averting to the opposite end of the grass, one hand lifting to tug at the lobe of his ear. “I know Maggie is really into horror and Dani will def tag along if you ask nicely.”

“Oh...they’re your friends though, I don’t think they’d wanna hang with us.” Taehyung sputters, nearly knocking the can at his side. Yoongi scoffs, head lolling from its place on your thigh.

“You’re kidding right? The way those two act around you is not exactly subtle.”

“What do you mean?” Jeongguk’s body leans forward, pupils doubled in hopeful curiosity.

“I guess you’ll just have to see for yourself.” Yoongi shrugs.

“And there’s no time like the present!” Your hands flag at something beyond the scope of their heads, Jeongguk freezing on the spot, but Taehyung’s neck craning to capture the bodies bounding over and moments later plopping in the convenient spaces between. Maggie squishes herself between you and Jeongguk while Dani takes the spot beside Taehyung.

A panic flashes in both of their eyes when they note the unmatched arrangement of bodies. There was no specification as to who Maggie or Dani harbor unspoken feelings for, or what kind of feelings they are, and the time to question has since vanished.

The group falls to routine, broken conversations and voices piping in, Taehyung notes the lack of attention the girl that has a grip on his bursting appendage has paid in the past twenty minutes. A simple nod of the head or half smile is the only acknowledgement to his thoughtfully witty remarks.

He doesn’t miss the drop of her hand to Jeongguk’s arm when he tells a funny joke, her head thrown back with exaggerated laughter and he fights to send a glare his way but thinks better as Jeongguk is too entranced by Dani who has barely said a word since sitting.

“So, Tae was just telling us about this horror marathon they’re having at the drive-in tomorrow night. He and Guk wanna go.” You fill in once the six of you fall to comfortable silence. You catch Maggie sending a smirk Taehyung’s way, recovering at once when she peeks your gaze out of the corner of her eye.

“Oh yeah?”

“Yeah, Yoon and I could use some alone time so I thought you guys might wanna go with them.”

“Horror?” Dani speaks up, gently shifting to shield herself from Jeongguk’s wandering eyes. “That’s cool, but I don’t know that’s not really my thing.”

“That's okay!” Jeongguk startles himself with his words, lowering his voice with a nervous chuckle. “I mean, we don’t have to stay the whole time, I wouldn’t mind leaving early. We could get some food or something.”

“Hey, not all of us are chicken. I wanna stay the whole time,” Maggie pokes her tongue in Dani’s direction, earning the same in return.

“I’m not chicken. There’s just only so much nuclear family, last girl blah blah blah that I can handle.” Dani shrugs, turning her attention to Jeongguk for the first time that he’s aware of, since she arrived. “It’s okay, you guys should just go without me.”

“No, I wanna hang with you. We could go to this new pizza place in town if you’re interested?” Jeongguk is pleased to note that you and Yoongi have gone back to your regularly scheduled program, pretending as if your date hasn’t been crashed for the millionth time. Taehyung and Maggie, on the flip, are watching you two as if they’re already tucked into the boot of a car with popcorn between their fingers.

“Um...I mean, if you really don’t mind. I don’t wanna steal you or them away from the movies.”

“I’ll stay...ya know, Maggie and I. We could stay and watch the movies and you two could go after the first one or two.” Taehyung glances at Maggie whose eyes are already taking him in, flashing away the moment pupils meet.

“Yeah, that’s always an option.” She agrees, flashing you a thumbs up.

“Great!” Four heads snap in your direction, Yoongi is finally sitting upright and you’re all smiles, neatly folding your blanket to pass off. “So it sounds like you guys have a lot of planning to do and we have a lot of kissing to do, so we’ll be seein’ ya!”

“Wait, don’t you guys wanna finish your food?” Maggie gestures to the half eaten meal left resting in the basket.

“No no, you guys have it. I’m actually in the mood for pizza now so we’ll probably grab some on the way home.”

“Okay...bye, I guess.” Dani watches with scrunched brows and Jeongguk and Taehyung send Yoongi the same look he’s been sending for weeks for a completely different reason. He sends them a smirk, arm slung around your shoulders as the two of you leave your date crashers in the dust with potential of their own.

“Have fun!”

#bts scenarios #bts drabbles #taehyung drabble #jeongguk drabble #bts x oc #the misery chick #yoongi x reader #yoongi drabble #taehyung x oc #jeongguk x oc #bts fanfic #yoongi fanfic #taehyung fanfic #jungkook fanfic #jungkook drabble #jungkook x oc

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blu-archer · 3 years

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Mr. Park’s return

So, I’m not sure what to make of this really... like it’s not really a sickfic thing - I don’t know.. it might be, I’ll just say it classifies, it’s more of like a little continuation bit in this series and because I felt like writing about it... I’ve had this sitting with me for a while, so I may as well post it.. it felt a bit everywhere, there’s some knew characters I just tossed in because I needed too and we’ll just see where that leads, yeah?

[there is probably grammatical errors, my first language is English I just can’t proof read - its a rough life] anyway, I hope this is somewhat enjoyable, its kind of a mess

This is supposed to be just a small filler type thing I guess

Snz based but like its rather mild.

‘Sickie’ : Jimin / [Felix? its faint really]/ [Yoongi is mentioned, but yeah]

Hybrid AU

Part 1, Part 2 , Part 3

Word count: 5376

I tossed some Stray Kids in here because I love them too.

“Good morning everyone.” Jimin smiled at the class of juniors settling in their seats as warmly as he could considering that he was still trying to recover from days of fever. He still felt tired and a weak, with some lingering symptoms, but he was tired staying at home doing nothing. He needed to work again, get back into a routine so that he wasn’t lazing around all the time. So, he had suited up in warm clothes and more makeup than usual to hide the dark rings that had still not left him.

The class stared at him with a mix of confusion and curiosity before greeting him with about the same enthusiasm he had done to them. He supposed that was fair, it wasn’t like they knew who he was really.

He cleared his throat, dropping the exam booklets onto the desk set up in the front of the room, before continuing on with as much forced giddiness as he could manage. No one wanted to head into an exam with a dark unwelcoming mood, so if he could brighten it by even an inch then he would be happy.

“I’m Mr. Park, I’ll be your teacher for this exam.” As if to serve as a reminder, something caught in his throat and he smothered a small bout of coughs into his arm. “Please excuse my voice, I’ve been a little under the weather.”

It didn’t take long before a few voices rose up, which was not surprising considering majority of the class had probably never seen him before. it had become blatantly obvious that most of the students had wanted to spend much more attention on their paper. He didn’t blame them, anyone would want to be distracted from exams and he usually wouldn’t mind, he loved to gossip and get to know the students and they always seemed to be as interested in him as he was in what they were like, but even with the amount of lozenges he’d sucked on that morning already, his voice was definitely going to give out if he spoke for long.

“What do you teach Sir?”

“You look so young.”

“Mr. Park! What are you doing here?”

“Are you new?”

“What type of Hybrid are you?”

Jimin looked to students who had spoken up. Most dressed or styled slightly different from the standard uniform, clearly these were the usual extrovert favourites. He tried to ignore the more intrusive questions and focus more on the ones of innocent curiosity. A wide grin split across his face and his sight narrowed as he recognised one girl that he taught in modern contemporary. Jimin pressed his square framed glasses further up his nose, his tail flicking as the girl waved her arm wildly from the back of the class.

“Sana? Oh, it’s weird seeing you out of class.” Jimin chuckled lightly, giving a small wave in return. “Most of you probably won’t know me, but I’ve been a part of the dance faculty for I think about three years now. I usually only interacted in the other art departments during these times, but this year the school thought it would be better to shift things around a bit. I think I only know Sana… oh wait, Soobin’s here too. Wow, it feels like forever since I’ve seen you two…” His chest warmed with the pleasure of seeing at least some of his kids.

“Sir, what are you doing back?” Soobin grinned and leant forward from when he sat on top of his friends desk. “Mr. Jung said that you probably wouldn’t be back for at least another week.”

“Not quite.” Jimin corrected, moving closer to his student. “It’s just not as heavy a work-load as usual. Are you ready for your exams? And you Sana? I feel so bad for not being there in your final sessions.”

“I think we’re both glad that you rested rather than pushed to be there with us.” Sana grinned, packing away her English textbooks. “I haven’t done mine yet but Soobin had his exam yesterday.”

Jimin’s eyes shot to the boy who merely shrugged, although the bright flash in the fae boys eyes led Jimin to believe he did better than he wanted to portray. Which was good. Great, actually. His students were amazing.

“Ahhh… why do I get the feeling that none of you did any real dancing while I was away… Anyway, don’t stress over it. Deep breathes and smooth lines. It’s nothing you haven’t done before.” Jimin countered to Sana before stepping back to address the class once again, coughing into his arm again – slightly harsher this time. He answered and entertained a few more questions from the students that he didn’t know before finally calling it. “Okay, we should probably start soon. May everyone please start packing away any studying material. And is everyone present for this exam?”

“Mr. Park, Sir.” A trio of girls, each with unique traits that led him to believe they were all either warlocks or fae, waved to him from the side of the class closest to the wall of windows.

“Yes?”

“So, you’re a dancer, Mr. Park? Can you show us something?” The one with golden eyes smirked and Jimin’s chest tightened, knowing that her suggestive tone wasn’t one of humour or general curiosity. Kids. They were kids.

“I am, but we have more important things.” He chose to ignore the low whining that erupted from them. “Clear your desks please, you don’t seem to be going over notes anyway. I am assuming that everyone is here, which means we are going to begin.”

He returned to the desk without glancing at the girls again. The session had officially started.

Once desks were clear he began to hand out transcripts, only letting them turn through the pages once each student had one. It was a bit of a struggle, with how hoarse his voice was quickly becoming – given that he hadn’t needed to use it as much in the past few days as he was now, but he managed to read through the paper with them to make sure there were no immediate errors then set them forth on the 3-hour paper. Even though it made him drowsy he snuck a few pills in after he stifled a sneeze into his wrist. He wanted to try keep any and all symptoms to a minimum as to not distract anyone, but it was difficult when the class only had the scribbling sound of pens on paper to fill it with noise.

He sipped the tea from his flask that he was certain Yoongi had spiked with some type of herbal energy booster before Jimin had left that morning. The hybrid couldn’t help the wholesome warmth that ran through him at the thought of the worrisome warlock. Despite Yoongi being powerful and often intimidating to those who didn’t know him, Jimin knew that the elder was in-fact a big softy that was usually too shy to address things that stressed him out. Especially if it was about the people he cared for. Instead he was prone to small actions that he thought would help lift any burdens or stressors, for both him and whoever he helped – in this case, Jimin. Yoongi hadn’t even wanted him to start at the school again yet, even for short hours, but after the hybrid had spoken some sense into him – that it was Jimin’s job and everyone, including Yoongi himself, had worked while sick at some point – Yoongi eventually caved.

Although that didn’t stop him from being a bit clingier than usual, and definitely didn’t stop him from wrapping Jimin entirely in the Warlocks clothes so that his scent was with him all day. Not that Jimin minded being completed drenched in the elders scent and the clothes that were just a bit too big for him always made him feel warm and comforted. The last week that Jimin had spent at home with his boyfriend had been amazing, even if he had been a miserable mess for most of it.

Jimin had just finished firing off emails to the other dance staff members about how everything was going with the dance exams and if there are still students looking for last minute help when he felt the sad realisation that his med’s had been easing off. He hadn’t brought enough for a second dose and he could already feel his nose starting to run. The exam was almost over, just another hour or so and then he was free to be a mess again. But that wasn’t what his body had in mind.

He’inxshew… hih..Hieshxngt hXNGst..

Damn it.

Jimin sniffed and wiped at his nose with a tissue. Thankfully he had thought to bring quite a few of the tissue travel packs with him, Yoongi had tried to slip an entire box of Kleenex into Jimin’s bag but the hybrid found that to be a bit excessive. His tail curled around his waist as he felt the gazes of a few of the students that were already finished or were checking through their work, but there wasn’t much he could do about it. He sniffed repeatedly, trying to be as soft and quiet as possible but it only seemed to make matters worse as he snapped forward with another sneeze that he caught by pinching at his nose. Stifling was a bit painful, especially with how congested he had been, but he would bear with it.

He stifled four more before he had to come to terms with the fact that he could not try to sniffle to keep it at bay anymore. So he claimed fresh tissues to blow his nose, wincing and sending apologetic eyes to the students at the wet gurgling sound that filled the room. Jimin’s face was heated and he swallowed hard trying to work past his embarrassment. The students probably didn’t even care that much. But he still felt like the floor should open to let him fall through it.

He perked as a hand shot up, the student mouthing for more paper. Jimin threw away his tissues, doing his best to ignore how gross he was momentarily felt, and after a quick squirt his trusty hand sanitiser that Jin made him carry, he was up and handing out pages. Taking that moment of already being up to slowly walk around and check if anyone else needing anything from him. He tried not to linger too much when he noticed Soobin gnawing at his bottom lip. A quick glance and Jimin could tell that the boy was struggling with understanding some of the things being asked of him and he didn’t want to add any extra pressure of being hovered over. Clearly the boy was unfortunately – in this case - closer inclined to the creative arts than he was to general studies.

“Si-Sir?”

Jimin followed the soft whisper to a thin, pale dog hybrid who looked anxious just to have to look Jimin in the eye. Jimin cleared his throat to try get rid of the insistent itch that seemed to plague him and leant down so that the boy wouldn’t have to look up at him when he spoke. It wasn’t often that someone reacted intimidated by Jimin, so he was left a bit unsure. The few handfuls of times that he could remember being anything close to scary were strictly associated with his dancers or the few times he got into arguments with his friends, but usually everyone saw him as a soft and gentle hybrid that they could either try to walk all over or have pleasant easy conversations with. No real threat.

Jimin rested his hand on the edge of the desk to steady himself, then silently inclined his head to indicate that the boy could continue.

“I-I don’t feel.. feel well.”

Jimin gently rested a hand on the boys back only to frown at how sharp the hybrid’s bones were beneath his clothing. “What do you mean? Are you stressed? Sick? Do you feel nauseous?”

The boy merely nodded and swallowed loudly, sinking further away from Jimin.

“Do you want to go to the nurse?” he asked softly. Looking more closely at the boys’ face, his oddly sharp facial structure and sunken cheeks. He had originally seen the bruises under the boys eyes as a part of the exam season stress but maybe there was something else happening.. When he got the nod of approval Jimin set his hand on the boys exam paper. “Do you want to keep this for now, or should I take it?”

“Take it.”

Okay then. Jimin stood up, slipping the exam paper from the students desk, and bringing it back to his station, making note of the foreign name, ‘Felix’, filled in at the top right corner. Then he moved to the intercom attached to the wall behind his desk chair and held the button that connected him to the head office. “Hi, could we please have someone come to room 48? I need a student to be taken to the nurses office.”

A garbled reply came back at him that he could only hope meant that someone would be sent soon. In the meantime, Jimin dug in his bag until he retrieved a sealed bottle of water. It wasn’t as cold as it had been when he had bought it, but it would do. He returned to the boy who had now buried his face into his hands, taking deep shaky breaths.

“Felix… can you try taking some small sips of water for me?” Jimin knelt beside the desk once more, twisting off the cap of the bottle. “Just a few? When last did you eat or drink something?”

He didn’t get much of a response other than the hybrid lifting his head enough to look at the open water before shakily taking it from Jimin. He took the smallest of sips before just sitting there with his eyes tightly shut.

“Okay.” Jimin rubbed Felix’s back and stood up again, coughing into his arm before letting out a restrained groan. “Everyone, you have 40 minutes left. If you’re finishing off or just sitting there, then go through your answers again and make sure you’ve read the questions carefully.”

It was almost ten minutes before Jimin heard a soft knock on the door.

Felix had been sitting with his hands pressed tightly against his eyes, leaning heavily on his elbows while taking stuttering breaths. Jimin had been hovering with concern, but there wasn’t anything he could really do to help. The dog hybrid pretty much shunned him every time he murmured a gentle question or soothing words.

Jimin left his spot next to the sick boy, giving a quick glance over the class to find that at least a third of them were watching him and not going over their work like he’d encouraged, but he called out a brief ‘half an hour left’ and moved to open the door.

“Jimin?”

“Jin.” Jimin let out a heavy breath, running a finger under his nose before leaning closer to the concerned elder. Silently thanking that their office employees had thought to call the school nurse directly and not some random other teacher to walk the boy to a better environment. “Hi, I’m not sure how sick this boy is, but he has a fever and I think he might be nauseous. He couldn’t tell me if it was from anxiety or something else so… He didn’t seem too keen on talking to me at all actually. I just gave him water.”

Jin nodded, wiping his hands on his jeans before stepping forward to move into the class. For a moment he looked like he wanted to question Jimin on something else but thought better of it.

“Where are they?”

Jimin pointed him out and then stood back, trying his best to watch over the rest of the class and not interfere with Jin as he prompted a few words out of Felix – mostly about what he felt like and whether he was okay to walk - before helping him stand. The witch had to wrap an arm around the boys waist to kept him steady and they were forced to move at a slow pace, but Jin just murmured soft barely audible words of encouragement until they’d reached the door. Jimin lay a steadying hand on Jin’s arm before biting at his lip.

“Do you need help getting back? I can ask the office to send another person..”

“We’re fine Jimin.” Jin reassures, his hand rubbing gently at Felix’s side. “I know him, I’d rather just move slowly and not stress him out too much. You can come by in a bit if you’re worried, but I’ve got it.”

Jimin let them go, closing the door softly behind them trying to ignore the tears that had sprung to Felix’s eyes as soon as the pair had left the room. Distracted, he gave a final slow walk through the rows of students. Most of them were finished now, some had lain down over their desks while others fiddled with their stationery. He gave a pleased nod to see that at least two students where carefully reading through their work and added to certain places, and then he passed Soobin. The boy had completely drawn over the back of his exam paper with dark detailed sketches that couldn’t have been done quickly. Jimin winced at the thought of how the boys answers must look, and took it has a hint to sit the rest of the time at his desk where he sipped at the final bit of his now lukewarm tea.

He sent a few carefree texts to Yoongi, who had been complaining bitterly about having to stay at home for the day. Apparently he had tried to talk Namjoon into letting him work but the clumsy witch had threatened to jinx the elder if Yoongi came in to work. Jimin smiled at his boyfriend’s irritated messages, knowing that the warlock was probably still in bed despite him having his studio there if he really wanted to work.

He still felt a bit bad about getting Yoongi sick, but the warlock had thankfully always been a quick healer, so hopefully if he rested for a day or two then he would be fine. Jimin sent a final ‘see you in a bit! Love you!’ before he readied up the exam folder to retrieve the papers.

He coughed once into his fist, pushing up his glasses instinctively afterwards, then gave a soft smile. “Okay guys, if anyone is still writing I’m going to need you to stop.”

“Jin? You in here?” Jimin peeked into the small nurses office only to find it empty, ignoring how his voice had cracked. The desk had been pushed neatly to the side and had an open medical bag with some scattered medications on it but other than that and the locker off to the side that held Jin’s personal things, the room was impeccably clean. Although that shouldn’t surprise him, it was a nurses office. “Soekjin?”

He heard a soft reply and then Jin appeared, ducking through the white curtain that basically blended into the wall. The sectioned off area for those that needed a bed to lay down in, if Jimin remembered correctly.

“Yeah, hey.” Jin smiled and tugged at the collar of his shirt before collapsing into his chair with a sigh. “Sorry, I’ve been running everywhere.”

“Mr. Popularity.” Jimin teased and entered properly into the room to lean against the second chair across from his friend. He flipped a small backpack up and dropped it onto the empty seat. “Felix left this. I didn’t want to leave it there in case there was something important inside. He can just fetch it from here whenever he’s back at school.”

“He hasn’t left yet.” Jin let out a breath much heavier than before. His expression darker than what Jimin was used to seeing on him. “He stays in a foster home with a whole bunch of other kids, his guardians are always a bit preoccupied with the younger children. I think they like to think that the older kids can fend for themselves a lot better than what they actually can, but yeah. They were called, but his foster brother will probably be the one to fetch him after his classes for uni end.”

Jimin frowned deeply. His chest ached in sympathy for the timid hybrid that had seemed close to passing out earlier. “Is he… okay?”

“Mostly.” Jin shrugged, glancing back to the curtained area he had come through. “He threw up a few times and put up more of a fight than I thought possible when I tried to get him to drink a potion. I had to resort to just standard medicine, but it won’t be as effective. Seems like a flu.”

“I felt awful that I couldn’t really help earlier.” Jimin admitted with a small sniff, rubbing at the tip of his nose swiftly. “He seemed scared to tell me anything, but I don’t know… maybe he just really wasn’t feeling well.”

Jin shook his head. “This isn’t his first foster home, he got moved around a lot. From his file and the times he’s spoken to me, he has a bit of a rocky history with cat hybrids – of course his experiences kind of dealt more with predatory breeds but I suppose he just kind of categorised.”

Now Jimin felt worse. He bit at his lip and locked his eyes onto the curtain as if he would be able to see the boy through the material. Was he asleep, or was he listening? Jimin’s throat tightened at the thought of having scared the dog hybrid. He didn’t really like causing someone else unnecessary stress, especially if there was a history of something … what, abusive? Maybe?

“I didn’t realise… Why was he sent to school if he wasn’t feeling well?”

“Beats me. Probably didn’t say anything, he’s only really comfortable with a few people and I don’t think he expects to rely on his foster parents.” Jin says quietly. “He’s a good kid, though. Very funny and loud when he wants to be. He just needs to open up to others a bit more, stop feeling like a burden and maybe participate a bit more.”

Jimin nodded, twisting at one of his rings. “It’s hard sometimes, I get that. If he ever wants to he’s more than welcome to come by the dance studio’s. We sometimes hold after school classes for those that are curious or need extra practices. It might be a bit late to switch to it as a subject, but I’m willing to teach him a few things when he’s feeling better, maybe it will help in terms of meeting new people. Or I can ask Hobi if he can teach him a few things if he’ll feel more comfortable with a human teacher.”

“I’ll let him know.” Jin let out a huff of a laugh. “How are you? Feeling better about being back?”

Jimin grinned widely, leaning heavily onto the chair. “Loads better, Yoongi helped me a lot. I’m still a bit stuffy –“

“And your voice is super hoarse.” Jin said, then smiled teasingly as Jimin whined, his ears drooping a little.

“Yeah, I know… But I really do feel better. I’m tired now but I’m happy to be back at work, I missed my kids. I got see two of my students during the exam, although I don’t think I have a lot of faith in the ones English skills. … its fine though.” Jimin straightened up and gave a dramatic wave of his hands. “He won’t need good marks in standard school, he’ll go far in dancing.”

Jin pulled a face at Jimin’s words causing the younger to let out a small giggle.

“Maybe not fail the standard schooling, but you get what I mean. He’s going places whether he gets those marks or not.”

“Sure, Minnie. Just don’t tell him that he doesn’t need to get good marks in other things.” Jin advised teasingly. “That’s not the best way to educate the next generation.”

A gentle knock on the office door had Jimin jumping in fright, his ears drawn back, and fur raised, only to see two boys hovering outside. He vaguely recognised one from seeing him in hallways but the shorter one was unfamiliar, they both had soft fae-like features and wide innocent eyes. The taller was still dressed in the academies uniform while the other was dressed entirely in baggy black clothes that reminded Jimin of Yoongi. Although he doubted Yoongi would willingly get a lip and eyebrow piercing… maybe Jimin could talk him into it…

“Hey, Chan. You got here fairly quickly.” Jin rose from his seat. “ I think he’s asleep right now, but I’ll wake him up and give him a final look over.”

“Thank you so much Mr. Kim.” The dark one said, smiling brightly at Jin before nodding a greeting at Jimin.

He gave a soft ‘Hi’ before he pulled the light backpack off of the seat and handed it to the one Jin had addressed. “Here’s his bag.”

“Thank you.” Chan accepted it quickly and gratefully.

“Aren’t you one of the dance teachers? On the other side of the school?” The student, who looked about the same age as Felix despite being taller than both Chan and Jimin. “I saw you in that theatre performance thing like three months ago… right?”

Jimin nodded, assuming that the boy was talking about the fundraiser that the school did that was mostly a time for the students to see the staff make fools of themselves doing dances or skits – or in his and the rest of the performance arts staffs’ case, their talent and skills being flaunted in their natural habitats.

“Yep, I’m a modern – contemporary instructor, but I help out in the hip hop sector when I’m needed.”

The boys face lit up at knowing he was right. “You’re dancing is so cool. You were so graceful on stage, it looked really beautiful.”

Jimin smiled and felt his cheek warm. Jin had disappeared behind the curtain and Chan was watching Jimin with a small smile.

“I remember now. I went and watched with him and some of our other brothers.” Chan added. “He kind of became obsessed with dance after that.”

His cheeks burned and he let out a soft nervous cough into his fist. “That’s kind, thank you. Are you… all in the same Foster family as Felix?”

Chan nodded before adding. “I don’t live there anymore, but I still spend time with some of them there, kind of become like real brothers, you know?”

Jimin nodded, stilling feeling a bit off about thinking of them in a foster home. “Well I was just telling Jin that he was welcome to come by the studios if he ever felt interested in dance. As a way to open up a bit. I’m not sure if Felix would join if I taught him, but you’re welcome to join myself or Mr. Jung as well if you want – um..”

“Hyunjin.” The boy said eagerly. “That’s so cool. I really want to, I wanted to take classes, but our guardians couldn’t pay for the extra fee.”

Jimin bit back his grimace. It was unfortunate that students had to pay an extra amount for specialised classes but there wasn’t much he could do besides over informal schooling.

“Well, we can organise once or twice a week to help you guys out. You actually look like the right build for a dancer, probably wont struggle too much…”

Jin reappeared with the small dog hybrid following close behind, looking a bit steadier on his feet than before but still nowhere near healthy enough to be at school. Felix hesitated at the sight of him but didn’t stop for long before he move to sink into Chan’s arms. Jin spoke about some of the hybrids symptoms and what he’d need to take as well as giving a few things to watch out for and what to do if it got worse just in case their guardians got busy. Jimin moved back, letting the two boys move closer to their brother in the office. It was cute to see the three of them together, so different and yet there was a clear sense of family. Jimin sniffed only to regret it as a sharp piercing lemon scent that was no doubt coming from Felix flooded his senses. He wasn’t sure how he hadn’t smelt it earlier, perhaps it was because Felix was feeling safe – in any case, Jimin blinked hard. He pressed a finger secretly to his nose, but it only seemed to aggravate the itch. Damn it, he had really hoped that he had finished with this earlier – he had blown his nose enough times after leaving the class, but apparently not.

‘He’ingxt’ah.. h’ingxsh..hih..hih’IGTSHiew…’ He cringed as he felt eyes land on him but couldn’t do anything else but keep his hand covering his face. ‘hih’itchshew… h’IShiew..’

“Bless you, Jimin.”

Jimin groaned and pulled a face, giving a soft and somewhat nervous sniffle. It seemed to be the end of it thankfully. Everyone was looking at him, but thankfully they didn’t seem to really care. “Thanks…”

“Thought you were better, hmm?”

“Jin,” Jimin pursed his lips and resisted the urge flick him. “Shut up. I’m fine now, just... lingering stuff.”

Jin hummed but Jimin knew he was only trying to be annoying.

“okay well, I’ll head out then.” Jimin clapped his hands together awkwardly, no longer wanting to stay in the room in case he was going to start being sensitive to any more scents.

“Tell Yoongi to feel better for me, Min.” Jin said as he wrote down the names of specific medications that would be the most long lasting for a hybrid.

Remembering the adorable sight he had left his boyfriend in that morning, Jimin spun around with a cheery gasp and wide glimmering eyes that had Jin laughing loudly, the other three in the room just blinking with bemusement at the suddenly change.

“Get home Jimin! That wasn’t an invitation to start blabbering about your boyfriend. Actually, I’m very annoyed at you – It’s your fault that I didn’t get my extra Namjoon-day yesterday. I was devastated! Devastated Jimin!” Jin scolded him without even trying to suppress his smile.

“You can sleep with your husband whenever you want Jin. No one is stopping you.” A pen smacked into his chest and Jimin bubbled with laughter as he danced out of range of the book that had come flying soon after the first projectile. “Don’t throw things at me!”

“Yah! Don’t say inappropriate things in front of students, you bratty cat!”

“They know what sex is!” Jimin argued playfully, coughing lightly as he caught the next book that came flying at his face. “So sensitive. Has it been that long?”

“I should have never befriended you. I have to rethink my life choices.” Jin shook his head as he sent Felix an exasperated look. The dog hybrid was watching the interaction with wide, watery eyes.

“Bye, Soekjin.” Jimin laughed, handing the book he had caught to Hyunjin. “I’ll let Yoongi know you care. If you want… I can ask him to make up something special to help-“

“GO HOME, BRAT!”

Jimin pranced away, hearing the soft curses that Jin threw after him. Home. Despite how mixed his feelings were after finding out about Felix’s family life, he couldn’t help but be filled with a flood of warmth at the thought of his boyfriend waiting for him. Most likely still cuddled up into the warm nest Jimin had rearranged for him, unless the elder had decided to use energy to make food or something, but that seemed particularly doubtful after he had messaged Jimin about how lucid he felt and about the mountain of tissues creating a new city on the floor of their bedroom.

It was endearing… possibly contagious to anyone else that stepped fought into their house but somehow, very endearing.

#bts sickfic #bts fanfic #witch jin #nurse jin #hybrid jimin #dancer teacher jimin #alternate universe #stray kids #hybrid felix #I tossed some kpop idols into this mess just because I could #Its a mess #but I posted something #Its a little cute #I wanted caring Jimin #This is more plot than anything else i feel like

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adammilligan · 4 years

Text

a blast from the past —also available on my ao3

Adam wakes up.

Of course he does. He wakes up every time he decides to sleep.

He wakes up, though, and there’s a giant stuffed bear sitting at the foot of his bed, looming at him almost ominously. Adam shoots upwards, still staring at it, leaning his weight on his forearm as he does so.

It looks suspiciously like the one he’d gotten from his mother’s coworker—Alice, her name had been—on his fifth birthday, the one that his mom had given away to the little girl who lived down the street when Adam had grown too old for it. It’s a little different, though—this one was green instead of blue, and lacked the hat that his old one had worn.

“Michael?” he calls out, the confusion in his voice so thick that he can practically taste it on his tongue. Michael appears on the bed next to him, leaning back against the headboard with his legs stretched out like he’s a cat making himself comfortable.

Adam gestures to the bear, a flap of his hands that he doesn’t think properly emphasizes how much what the actual fuck is this that he’s feeling right now. “Correct me if I’m wrong, but that...wasn’t there yesterday. Right?”

Michael gives the bear a once-over, completely and entirely unconcerned save for a small little smile that Adam can see twitching at the corner of his lips, and that’s how Adam instantly realizes that this was Michael’s doing.

For whatever reason.

“Right,” Michael says, as simply as if he were describing the weather and not the giant fucking stuffed animal that had apparently made its new home in Adam’s room.

“Okay. Great. So, uh, why is it here?”

The archangel sends him a faux-innocent look, widening his eyes almost imperceptibly and shrugging like the winged asshole he is.

The smile ruins it.

Adam can feel his own mouth twitching to smile back in return and bites the inside of his cheek to keep from doing so. Instead, he shakes his head and moves to get out of bed.

What’s a mysterious bear-archangel combo after a thousand years of Hell, right? Might as well go get something to eat.

———

There’s watches in his cereal bowl.

Adam tips the box into the bowl, expecting the clatter of Cocoa Puffs, and instead there’s watches. Actual, legitimate watches, sleek and shiny and eerily similar to the one he’d gotten when he was fifteen. He’d had it up until just a few hours before he’d died—the first time, anyway. He’d taken it off for a morning shower and then forgot to put it back on, and...well, there was no need to get into the details, was there?

But now there were a bunch of watches filling his bowl, and really, he should’ve guessed that something was up when he’d realized that the cereal box was heavier than usual, but he was still trying to suppress the memory of the cold, dead eyes of the bear.

Seriously. It had been looking right at him.

Adam’s still staring at the bowl when he feels trickles of amusement start emanating from Michael’s grace, and he turns to face the entertained archangel from where he’s standing directly behind him. Michael’s hands are in his pockets, smile still ever-present on his face, and Adam holds up the box.

“Watches?”

“Watches,” Michael confirms, his eyes twinkling with laughter even though he makes no further noise.

Adam nods once in complete and utter defeat, reaches into the box, and grabs one for himself. Setting the box down, he wraps the two cords around his wrist and sets to work fumbling with the straps, losing grip of them twice before Michael steps close and curls his hands around them.

“Let me,” he murmurs, his deft fingers dancing feather-light on Adam’s skin as he works the straps with precise efficiency. Adam’s too busy staring at him to even notice when he finishes—they suddenly exist in a thousand eternities compressed into a measly second, Michael’s face not even a foot from his, each brush against the inside of his wrist sending warm flutters to the pit of his stomach until he feels like he might float away.

“There,” Michael says, bringing Adam slamming back down into reality, and he looks down to find the watch fastened perfectly on him—not too tight or too loose.

Michael’s hands linger longer than they probably should before finally disappearing back into the folds of his pockets. Adam swallows and clears his throat, averting his eyes back to the box and turning back to his bowl.

“Please tell me you didn’t do this to all my food.”

When he hears Michael start chuckling, he can’t help the way his shoulders start to shake as his own laughter fills the air.

———

There’s no end to the madness.

A jacket in the fridge that almost matches the one he’d gotten for his fourteenth birthday, a pair of shoes in his cupboard similar to the ones his mom had given him for his sixteenth, and more and more until he’s finding little trinkets in practically every nook and cranny in their apartment. It’s like a game, with Adam on the hunt for whatever else Michael had hidden with a snap of his fingers while Adam had been asleep as the archangel in question trails behind him, still radiating fond amusement every step of the way.

All the little gifts are close enough to their original counterparts that they allow quiet nostalgia to burrow its way into Adam’s heart, but not so close that it makes it ache. Michael’s added his own little twist to each and every one of them, and it makes Adam almost want to marvel at the seemingly-ordinary items as he looks over the small pile he’s accumulated.

“Alright, spill,” Adam says, grinning slightly as he meets Michael’s eyes. “What’s this about? Really.”

“You still don’t know?” Michael asks in return, raising his eyebrows. Adam, very pointedly, takes care not to let his eyes fall down to the upwards curve of his lips.

Adam peers at the pile again, mind grasping for any sort of explanation, but he’s drawing blanks left and right. “Nope.”

The archangel’s smile seems to broaden, and Adam watches as a box materializes in his hands, roughly the size of a shoebox. He holds it out to him with eyes warm enough to melt ice.

“Happy birthday, kid.”

Birthday?

Birthday.

Oh.

Adam reaches for the box, his conversational retort of You know what a birthday is? dying on his tongue as he realizes he knows this box. Has known it from the time that he was little.

This was his mom’s picture box. The one that she kept under her bed, where all the pictures that weren’t on display in the house went. It’s a little heavy in his hands but he barely feels it, watching it with wide eyes and handling it with cautious hands like it’s about to bite him.

“It isn’t a copy,” Michael says, answering Adam’s sudden, burning question right before it leaves his mouth. The implications of that—that Michael had gone back in time to get this—almost makes Adam go a little weak at the knees, because this...this is his past.

All of it, in one box.

The thought is daunting, part of the reason that he hadn’t wanted Michael to bring his mom back when they’d escaped rom the Cage, even after Michael had offered. The past was a place where he didn’t belong anymore, and it had seemed cruel to drag his mother into a time where she didn’t belong, either.

But these were pictures. He could see her, with these; even if he couldn’t see her.

Slowly, ever so slowly, he lifts the lid, inhaling sharply through his nose as his mom and himself greet him as the first picture on top. Michael had gotten the ones that had been set out around the house too, evidently, because Adam remembers this one—it had been on the fridge.

His mother’s smiling face beams up at him, wide and beautiful, and it does her more justice than any of his old memories ever could. Details that he’d forgotten stand out starkly against her form, and his eyes flicker over her smile again and again until they start to blur hot with tears, obstructing his ability to see her.

“Adam?” he hears, concern filling the air, and Adam sniffs, using the sleeve of his jacket to try and wipe his eyes before quickly setting the box on the table and practically tackling Michael in a hug.

If Michael had been human, Adam was pretty sure that the intensity of his grip would’ve been painful. As it is, Michael’s arms simply rise up to hug him in return, holding him gently in a gesture that had long grown familiar to them.

“Thank you,” Adam whispers, burying his face in the crook of Michael’s neck and squeezing his eyes shut. “Thank you.”

“Of course,” Michael says, his tone low and soft in a way that Adam had only ever heard it be a few ephemeral times. It makes him breathe out a small, wet chuckle at the impossibility of all, and Michael tightens his grip by the most marginal of amounts in response.

Yeah. It was a happy birthday.

———

“You have a birthday today too and you didn’t even tell me?”

“I don’t think a religious celebration in my name counts as a birthday, kid. I don’t even have a birthday. I was made before time itself.”

“Nope, it’s a birthday. And I didn’t even get you anything—how long does your celebration last? Usually these whole religious things are longer, right?”

“...”

“Hey! See, Wikipedia says that the Romans used to do celebrations on the thirtieth, too! So we can go old-school and do it tomorrow. But we gotta do it right next year, okay?”

“...Go nuts, kid.”

#i wrote this pretty quickly so please excuse any mistakes smh #kate rambles #midam #michael #adam milligan #story

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pascalls · 3 years

Text

It’s a Gunderful Life

With nowhere to go on Christmas Eve, Charlie’s depressive episode is interrupted by none other than Gil Gunderson.

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

Her text had ruined everything.

For once, Charlie had been prepared to spend a holiday with his son. He’d gone the extra mile - figured out a small motel where they advertised fun little Christmas trees in the rooms, had enough money to order a pizza, and even had a small present for the boy that was haphazardly wrapped and ready to be given.

But before he could even make the phone call to ask whether or not Connor was ready to be picked up, Connor’s mother had texted him instead.

[ Our son is spending Christmas with his grandparents. You can see him for New Years. ]

Charlie didn’t have the wherewithal to respond. The reservation for the motel was canceled, the money for the pizza was spent on a gross Stroopwafel Liqueur, and the present was dropped in the mail box for Connor to receive later. On top of his killed buzz, the chilly air was swirling about in such a way that it was generating a few wayward snowflakes. Even through the thick sweater he was wearing, the frost bit at him; as if the weather itself was really hammering the point home.

As Charlie walked down the street, the bitterness radiating from him was palpable. In fact, it was likely the only thing that was keeping him warm as his ears consistently flicked away the falling snow before it could settle on his scales for too long. The holiday meant that the Lovejoys had company, Sam was away on an urgent delivery run upstate, and sleeping on the cold tile floor underneath one of the tables at Moe’s was too depressing of an option. The bar was likely filled with other loners, just as put out as Charlie was. And he didn’t need that kind of energy pulling him even deeper into his lonely depression.

A sneeze made his ribs ache and he snuffled in agitation as he scooted himself into the dim glow of the nearest street light. He’d long since abandoned his disguise in favor of roaming the street like some kind of raccoon, looking for… Something. Anything. He didn’t quite know what. He’d finished off his booze - which had done very little to get him drunk - and with no cash in his pocket, that meant no food, no more drinks, and no… place to stay.

On a good day, Charlie battled loneliness and depression. This was certainly not a good day. It was smothering him. And after a brief moment of realizing that the light was at least providing the tiniest bit of warmth, Charlie sat right there on the curb, tail curled around him as he exhaled tiredly into the frosty air. What a shit Christmas.

He nearly leapt to his feet when a sudden harsh metal scraping interrupted his quiet revelry. His scales bristled like a spooked cat, but confusion overcame his desire to bolt as he spotted a familiar face that followed.

“...Hello Gil,” Charlie said, his tone exceptionally dry. God couldn’t have dropped literally anyone else into his lap on Christmas fucking Eve?

“Uh-hEY, it’s Mr. Walker and d-” Gil began to respond, his hands gripping the metal rim of the dented garbage can he seemed to be dragging down the street. “-aAH! What HAPPENED to ya?” He exclaimed when he turned to glance properly at Charlie who could only respond with a dull look in return.

A more intelligent part of the hybrid was telling himself that being caught out of his disguise might as well have been a straight shot right back to Burns. The more realistic - and depressed - part of himself was saying…

Nobody would believe Gil Gunderson anyway.

“Don’t worry about it, it’s a whole thing, it’s fine,” Charlie reassured him, scaly hands up in a placating gesture. “Tell me why you’re waking up the sewer rats by dragging that thing across the pavement.” He was quick to change the subject, and despite Gil’s momentary apprehension, the man seemed to divert just as easily.

“OH, well, yanno, it’s pretty cold out and I figured if I got this in between some of those apartment buildin’s over there, I could set some garbage on fire and get the ol’ hands nice and toasty! But uh… Well, I used the last of my matches to try and pop some popcorn kernels I found in my pocket earlier and ah… well, yeah that’s kinda just how it goes some days, I guess.”

“Riveting.” Charlie had little to offer the ramblings of the ever-depressing Gil, but he had to admit… a fire sounded nice right about then. He didn’t know how sure he was that he wouldn’t freeze to death if left to his own devices overnight. A fire would at least make sure he’d live to see another day. “...I might be able to help with that, actually.”

“Really?” Gil asked, his tone hopeful as Charlie came around to the other side of the can and lifted from the bottom. He didn’t want to summon up any more attention from any other passersby with the horrible screech of metal against concrete.

“Tell me where you want it and we can see if we can get it lit somehow.”

“Oh BOY, you’ve got a real nice heart there, Mr. Walker! I tell ya what, let’s go put it right between the Sears and the Radioshack!”

Charlie squinted from behind the can. “Gunderson, neither of those fucking places have existed for at least two years. Pretty sure it’s a Target and a Subway now.”

“Aw, you’re right.”

Sighing, Charlie hoisted the can up and in the direction of the two buildings, crossing a parking lot and avoiding bonking into a few cars along the way before setting it down in the darker shadows of the alley between them. It was sufficiently out of the way of any prying eyes and didn’t reek of piss and old sandwich meat, at the very least.

“Alright… uh… next step is… shit to burn,” Charlie mused, adjusting his glasses and glancing around.

“I’ve got some receipts in my pockets…” Gil proposed, reaching into his shoddy jacket and pulling out a huge clump of wadded up paper. He began to pull them apart one by one, dropping them into the can, but not before glancing at each one in turn and announcing loudly where they were from. “This one was from that slice of pizza I got the other day! Oh, but then I dropped it into the sewer grate… And THIS one is from those shoes I bought- ah, but then that dog ran off with ‘em…”

Rolling his eyes, Charlie ignored Gil’s babbles as he drifted over to a nearby dumpster, clawing his way up the side of it and peering in.

“Ah-hah,” he proclaimed, hopping in and beginning to toss out bits of plywood and newspapers. A few food wrappers made their way out of the dumpster and to the ground. A few minutes of digging yielded a large enough pile of garbage for Charlie to clamber back out, landing deftly on his feet. Glancing over at Gil, he breathed out a sigh when he realized the other man was still going through his receipts.

“GIL.”

“And this one was - Huh? What?”

“This stuff will burn a lot faster than a pocketful of receipts. C’mon now. Use your brain. Come get this shit and throw it in.”

Gil blinked before dumping the rest of the receipts into the can and quickly made his way over to start hoisting up the trash that Charlie had amassed, carrying it over and dumping it in as their makeshift kindling.

“Y’know, I could use this for-” Gil began, only to be interrupted by Charlie who smacked some of the plywood out of his hands and into their fire.

“No. Put all of it in.”

Gil didn’t argue, a little too intimidated by Charlie’s command to do so, and he obediently finished his task. The can was eventually full - full enough to keep a fire fed for a few hours, at least. By then, hopefully, the sun would be back up and it wouldn’t be such a chore to stay warm.

“Alright. Now… to burn. Hm. You got a phone on you?”

Reaching into his other pocket, Gil produced an old flip phone, clearly not up to modern standards. But Charlie didn’t really mind, reaching out to snag it from him and give it a once over.

“It ain’t the most high tech thing, but it lets me keep in touch with the kids when they-”

Before even bothering to let him finish, Charlie unceremoniously wrenched the battery out of the device, practically snapping the thing in half to do so. “I’ll get you a new one,” he lied, not looking at Gil as he began to fiddle with the battery casing with his claws.

“Wh- Oh. Well if it helps…” Gil replied, downtrodden, but not entirely beaten up about it. He leaned over to watch Charlie work, backing up only when the battery began to smoke and spark.

“Head’s up!” The hybrid exclaimed, tossing the battery in the can as it began to simmer and leak fluid. What he didn’t anticipate was the fluid, having left a streak along the ground as it hurtled into the can, ignited, sending flames rocketing towards their impromptu fire pit. A sudden wave of panic at the realization - BATTERIES EXPLODE - sent Charlie leaping at Gil to knock him down and away from the can as the sound of the battery bursting into shrapnel rattled their little alley. Smoke and flames burst from the pile of garbage, singeing the can and some of the brick wall next to it before it settled, leaving them laying in the aftermath of floaty, acrid smoke.

Charlie glanced back at the can which was, at least, alight now. And the preceding explosion had ensured that the entire area was… warm and smoky.

“WOW, that’s ONE WAY to light a fire!” Gil exclaimed from the ground, not bothering to get up just yet. Particularly due to Charlie still being squarely on top of him. The hybrid noticed after a few seconds, glancing down at Gil before scrambling away in embarrassment and dusting himself off as he got to his feet.

“Yeah… well… I’m… experienced.” Charlie bragged, despite the slight humiliation at possibly being caught in such a position with Gil of all people. But he couldn’t say that he hated having his ego pat. Even just a little. He busied himself with cleaning off his glasses as Gil pushed himself up to his feet in turn, making his way over to the can and placing his hands over the flames which had settled and now burned steadily.

“I gotta say, I was a little worried we wouldn’t have somethin’ to keep us warm tonight, but ya really came through!” Gil rubbed his hands together eagerly, offering Charlie a little smile, to which the hybrid had no response besides an awkward clearing of his throat as he drifted over to join the other man. His scales appreciated the warmth as he placed them over the fire, glancing over at Gil as the flames crackled quietly.

“...Why’re you out here by yourself anyway?” Charlie eventually asked, curiosity defeating his desire to not be rambled at again.

Gil shrugged sadly, but he maintained his smile. “Yanno how landlords are durin’ the holidays, they want their rent when they want it and when ya don’t got it, well, ya end up out on the street and all your stuff stays behind and they tell ya they wanna pawn it off…” He trailed off.

Frowning, the hybrid didn’t respond right away. He wasn’t entirely sure what was worse. Not having a place to go to begin with or being booted out of your place. Hm. He decided that he wasn’t interested in playing the pain olympics with a man who probably didn’t need it any more than he himself did.

“That’s rough, buddy,” he said after a moment.

“Did you get thrown out too?” Gil asked. “Ya seem like a guy who’s a lot more put together than I am, anyway!”

“Eh…” Charlie replied, noncommittally. He didn’t want to get into it. Especially not with Gil. “Just wasn’t interested in doing the whole… holiday thing.” He lied again, though a slight pang of guilt settled into the back of his mind, forcing him to pull his hands back to himself and drift away from the can to lean against a nearby wall. Sliding down, he eventually settled on the ground. Close enough to the fire to keep him warm, but not so close that he was forced to stare Gil Gunderson in the face and explain the depths of his depression.

The other man watched as Charlie drew away and, much to the hybrid’s dismay, joined him to sit against the wall. Gil seemed pleased just to have some kind of company. Charlie would have preferred it to be....

Maybe literally anyone else.

“It can get pretty tough around Christmas time when ya ain’t got anyone to spend the holiday with. I know how that can be,” Gil began. Charlie didn’t look up at him. He didn’t need to be told that. “But it ain’t all bad,” the man continued, reaching into his pocket and pulling out a small paper bag.

What the hell else did this man have in his pockets? Charlie wondered. But he didn’t ask. Just squinted as Gil reached into the bag and produced two rectangular snack bars.

“It’s not much, but I managed to snag these cereal bars from my pantry before security threw me out. Ya want one?” Gil offered one of the bars to Charlie who stared, nonplussed at the offer. Something about it was-

-stabbing him directly in the chest somehow, and he wasn’t sure why.

“...Sure,” he replied eventually, reaching out to take one of the bars and turn it around in his hands. Lucky Charms. Cute. He peeled the wrapper off the bar and began to silently munch, still pointedly not looking at Gil. Embarrassed to be accepting the help. Thrown by not being able to stew in his depression with someone watching. Guilted by the realization that he’d shattered the man’s phone and now would certainly need to get him a new one.

The silence between them was interrupted by the faint beeping of Gil’s watch. Charlie’s ears twitched as he glanced over, continuing to savor his sad little snack meal.

“Guess that makes it Christmas now, huh? It’s midnight,” Gil said with a glance at the watch that continued to beep for a few more moments before going silent again.

“...Guess it does.” Charlie glanced up as the snowflakes continued to drift down around them. Not quite making it all the way to the ground before they melted into droplets of water or evaporating in the heat of their bonfire. He considered, for a moment, reaching for his phone to text Connor. Or Tim. Or Sam. Or - anyone. Maybe shoot his shot and see if anyone would respond to a sad lizard’s good tidings.

But he did none of those things.

Instead, he reached into his pocket to produce the only real thing he had on his person. His empty wallet. It had no money, no cards in it. Not even any sorts of identification. It was an older leather wallet that had seen better days. But it wasn’t the worst looking thing.

“Merry Christmas, Gil,” Charlie said as he offered up the wallet to the other man. “It’s not much. But you might be able to use it eventually.”

“Wha? Really? Ya mean it?” Gil responded, reaching out to take the wallet with enthusiasm. “You BET I’ll be able to use it! I’ll be able to hold all of my credit cards and maybe I can get them all paid off finally!”

The hybrid snorted in amusement. Stupid.

In a sudden and unexpected display of gratitude, Gil leaned over and wrapped arms around Charlie’s shoulders in a tight embrace. Charlie bristled, not anticipating the blatant affection, almost pulling away as a result. But Gil didn’t seem too eager to let go.

“You’ve made this the best Christmas I’ve had in a LONG time!” The man exclaimed, much to Charlie’s embarrassment. But… he had to admit…

It felt nice to be appreciated.

So he didn’t fuss, despite his desire to do so. Instead, he reached up and gave Gil a little pat on the head.

“You’re uh… you’re welcome.”

Charlie let Gil cling for a little longer, occupying himself by staring at the fire they’d constructed together. At least they were warm. They’d eaten something. And they weren’t alone. The hybrid wasn’t about to categorize it as any type of ‘good’, as far as holidays went, but…

Maybe it wasn’t the worst.

#tj writes #oc #simpsona #gil gunderson #BECAUSE CHARLIE x GIL IS A VALID SHIP NOW I GUESS

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rubysunnday · 4 years

Text

O’ Christmas Tree

Summary: You and Finn can’t wait until the Christmas tree is up to do ‘other things’.

You honestly didn’t know what Tommy and the others were thinking, leaving you and Finn in charge of the children and the Christmas tree.

“I mean, it’s almost as if they want something to go wrong, Finn!” You exclaimed as you watched their cars disappear down Tommy’s ridiculously long drive.

“You can say that again,” Finn grumbled as he stumbled down the stairs carrying a box of decorations. “It’s not even been ten minutes and I’ve already lost Katie and Charlie to the kitchen.”

“Tommy and John are going to kill us if we make their children ill,” you warned, taking a box out of Finn’s arms, giving him a kiss on the cheek as you passed.

“I was planning for us to go ice skating and drink coca,” he said, sighing as the lights came out in a giant tangle. “And then other things were meant to happen.”

You raised an eyebrow. “Other things?”

“Yeah, other things.” Finn looked up at you. “Ya know, bedroom – “

“We found a gingerbread house!” Katie yelled, interrupting Finn before he could finish his sentence. You giggled as Finn groaned, turning around to hit his head on the wall as you walked up to Katie.

“Was it an assembled gingerbread house?” You asked, crouching down so that you were eye level with Katie.

“Was being the keyword,” Finn added, smirking as he looked down at them.

Katie giggled, holding out a plate to you and Finn which had what was once a wall on it. “It fell apart after Charlie ate a window.”

You took the plate and stared after Katie as she skipped back down to the kitchen. “They’ve eaten an entire gingerbread house, Finn.”

“Yeah, I can see that, love,” Finn replied, wrapping his arms around your waist. “We should probably put this tree up and then send them to bed.”

“So, we can do ‘other things’?” You queried, turning around to face him.

“Maybe,” Finn replied, smiling as you kissed him.

Your romance had been a whirlwind of emotions. You’d met after he’d tripped you up in the Garrison one night, catching you before you knocked into Arthur and fell flat on your face. He’d been smitten with since that day, the two of you rarely leaving the others side. Your parents had kicked you out when they’d discovered you were in love with a Peaky Blinder, throwing you into the street despite the awful weather that night.

You’d ran to their house on Watery Lane, practically falling into Arthur when he opened the door. He’d caught you, taken you inside and warmed you up, saying nothing. He’d hugged you until Finn had burst through the door, taking his brother’s seat as you sobbed into his arms.

You hadn’t spoken to your parents since, but you didn’t regret choosing Finn over them. You’d gained a whole new family in the process.

“Do you think if we stand on the top of the stairs and throw the decorations at the tree it’ll work?”

You snapped out of your mind and turned to stare at your boyfriend. “If you want smashed baubles and lights everywhere, then go for it.”

“Haha,” Finn muttered, glaring at you as you knelt down next to him and helped him untangle the lights.

The two of you sat there for a while, untangling the lights and wrapping them around the giant tree in Tommy’s sitting room. Finn hoisted you onto his shoulders so that you could reach the top of the tree, wrapping the lights around the top point.

“I thought this was meant to be a joint effort?” You moaned as you hung baubles off the branches, no children in sight.

“They’re all in the sitting room listening to Karl read them a story,” Finn replied, his voice muffled by the tree. “And finishing the gingerbread house. We should probably put them to bed.”

You dropped the box you were holding. “I’ll go close the curtains and turn their beds down if you get them upstairs,” you called as you quickly ran up the stairs.

“Hang on!”

“Too late!”

Finn swore quietly as you disappeared upstairs, begrudgingly putting the box he was holding down and walking into the sitting room.

“Right, bedtime,” he called, chuckling at the groans which arose from the kids assembled on the chairs.

“But Uncle Finn,” Charlie moaned, sulking in his chair.

“The sooner you go to sleep the sooner Santa comes,” Finn reminded them, and he was suddenly in the middle of a stampede as they all rushed upstairs, tripping over each other as they charged to bed.

“Uncle Finn,” Karl said quietly, following behind Finn as they walked upstairs. “Is Santa real?”

Finn paused, looking down at his nephew. He wasn’t good at this kind of thing. He’d been very quick to realise Santa wasn’t real and had never truly believed in him. But Karl strongly believed that he was, and he didn’t want to ruin the illusion for his nephew.

“Of course, he is, just ask Auntie y/n.”

Karl hummed in response, scampering off to find you as Finn relaxed slightly, glad he’d managed to wriggle out of that one.

You turned around as Karl came in, looking slightly perturbed.

“What’s wrong?” You asked as he climbed into bed, snuggling down with the teddy bear you’d given him last year.

“Is Santa real?” He asked quietly as you sat down on the edge of the bed.

“Of course, he is! What makes you say that he isn’t?” You asked, tucking him in.

“Just something Uncle John said.”

You froze. “Huh. And what was that, exactly?”

“That Santa was a stupid story to make a usually dull month more exciting.”

You were definitely going to kill John later.

“Well, Uncle John doesn’t know what he’s on about, ok?” Karl nodded sleepily. “Go to sleep and in the morning, Santa would’ve dropped off all your presents!”

Karl smiled as you bid him good night, kissing his forehead. You softly shut the door behind you, walking straight into Finn as you did so.

“Hey, you,” Finn whispered, kissing your neck, his hands wandering around.

“Finn, my love,” you replied, pushing him off gently. “We still have a tree to do.” Finn groaned loudly and you elbowed him, telling him to shush. “I’m also going to kill your brother when he’s back.”

“Which one?” Finn asked, not at all surprised, as you walked down the stairs, your arm in his.

“John. He nearly spoiled Christmas for Karl.” You rolled your eyes. “Him and his big mouth.”

Finn chuckled, spinning around so that he could kiss you on the lips. “The sooner we do this tree…”

“The sooner we can do ‘other things’, I am aware,” you chuckled, shoving him off and towards the tree. “That is if your family doesn’t magically appear first.”

Finn sighed. “Which is highly likely since the last time we were nearly caught.”

You giggled as you set about hanging baubles from the tree branches. The top of the tree only just missed the ceiling, leaving just enough room for a star at the top. Although how you were going to get it up there was a different story entirely.

“Which star this year?” Finn asked, holding up two different stars.

“Gold,” you replied quickly, snatching it out of his hand. You looked up at the tree. “We’re never getting that up there.”

“Hang on.”

Finn suddenly ran off and you watched in confusion as he ran out the front door, narrowly missing one of Tommy’s maids as she cleaned the porch. A few minutes later he came back, carrying two wooden ladders.

“This is a terrible idea,” you called as he proceeded to climb up the first one, placing the second one on top of it and against the wall.

“Climb on my back,” Finn called, turning around to look at you.

“Nope.”

“Oh, come on, how else are we meant to get the star on the tree?”

“We wait for Arthur to come home?”

“But then we would’ve failed in our mission.”

“The mission being?”

Finn raised his arms and the ladder wobbled precariously. “CHRISTMAS!”

You huffed and began to climb the ladder. “If I die, I’m suing this entire family.”

Finn laughed as he helped you climb onto his back, holding your legs tightly as you leant forward and, somehow, managed to put the star on top of the tree, wedging it against the ceiling.

“Tada!” You sung softly as he helped you down, the ladder holding steady as you climbed down.

Finn jumped off the final rung and ran towards you, scooping you up in his arms and spinning you around.

“Bedroom?” He whispered in your ear and you felt a tingle go down your spine.

“Of course,” you replied, smiling into his kiss as he lifted you up, your legs wrapping around his waist as he carried you upstairs, never breaking the kiss.

You got to the top of the stairs and Finn could wait no more as he sat you on a table, passionately kissing your entire body. You giggled as his hand began to wander again, disappearing up your skirt.

“We’re back!”

John’s loud voice filled the hallway and the two of you groaned. You buried your head into Finn’s shoulder as his hand fell back down to his side.

“Every bloody time,” you muttered, taking Finn’s hand as he helped you off the table, straightening your skirt.

“Hi!” You called cheerfully, walking down the stairs, trying to ignore your pounding heart.

“Everything ok?” Tommy asked as you reached the bottom step.

“Well, apart from John nearly ruining Santa for Karl, everything was fine,” you replied, glaring at the man.

“I did what?”

“Karl overheard you saying Santa wasn’t real, you prick.” You swatted his arm and John quickly moved behind Tommy.

“He doesn’t –“Ada began.

“No, I reassured him and told him that Uncle John is just an idiot,” you replied, giving John a false smile. John glared back at you, ducking as Polly smacked him around the head. The conversation carried on as Finn’s hand found yours squeezing it tightly.

“Other things?” He asked quietly, his hand wandering yet again. You giggled, grabbing his hand and moving it further up.

“Gladly,” you replied, smirking as your hand began to wander too. Finn stiffened, coughing slightly and you tried not to laugh as his face slowly turned red.

“Y/N come have some drinks by the fire,” Arthur called, grabbing your hand and dragging you away from Finn.

“Oh, for fuck’s sake,” Finn growled, and you giggled, winking over your shoulder at him as you were whisked away.

“Maybe another night, Finn,” Ada whispered, giving him a knowing look as she followed the rest of the family into the sitting room.

Finn just glared, storming outside to get some much-needed cold air.

#finn shelby #finn shelby x reader #imagines #peaky blinder imagine #peaky blinders imagine #peaky blinders

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snarkwriteswrasslin · 4 years

Text

FFT: dark as night; jon moxley

Notes:

This one.. this was sent to my main by @rampagewriting and I enjoyed writing every second of it. It fits into the roommates version of events that I had planned out for Mox and Jane, so I kinda rolled with it.

Summary:

Jane is stuck at home in bad weather. A drunk Mox arrives home early. Misunderstandings are had and things are revealed.

Pairing:

Jon Moxley x OFC, Jane - from my various universes with these two in them.

Warning:

alcohol tw, fluff, mentions of a storm, suspense.

The thunder had her jumping and a split second away from shrieking. Jane had never particularly liked storms. And this one had been brewing for hours now, getting nastier and nastier with each one that passed.

She found herself eyeing the time on the microwave and then almost reaching for her cell phone.. Mox was 2 hours away, doing a show at some little armory tonight. He’d be driving back in the worst of the shit -more than likely drunk off his ass, and that worried her.

← Be careful on your way back. This storm is getting worse by the minute.

←(Draft) I know it’s not my business but like.. I’d really appreciate it if you didn’t drink an entire bar like you usually do if you wind up having to drive back tonight.. Again, not my business I just… I don’t want anything to happen to you..

She eyed the text in the box and sighed, erasing everything but the part where she told him to be careful on his way back. Any more than that and if he was in a mood, he’d probably think she was bitching at him or something and she really didn’t have a cause or claim to even say anything.

Sure, they were old friends, but they were only just reconnecting and slowly starting to get a little bit close again like they used to be as kids… She wasn’t his girlfriend or family, so she had no right to suggest or ask him not to do something.

She hesitated for a good five seconds over even sending one of the texts. Would he feel like she was nagging or invading his personal space? She didn’t want to come off that way.

Sending only the first text she’d written, Jane put her phone down on the counter, and almost immediately, thunder struck hard enough that the floor beneath her feet rattled. “Damn it.”

She’d always hated storms. She hated them even worse now if she were to be perfectly honest with herself. Especially tonight, this storm.

Knowing Mox was out in this tonight had her just a shade more tense than she’d normally be. Knowing he’d probably drink while driving back in this tonight did not help at all. Taking a few deep breaths, Jane worked on settling herself down.

Mox’s actions were out of her control; even if sometimes the shit he did worried her and made her want to tell him to knock it the fuck off because every time something happened to him it scared her a little bit. He was who he was and she loved him exactly the way he was.

The thought was a sobering one and it was enough to stop her mid rummage through the pantry for something quick to eat for herself.

“Fuck.. I’m in love with him..”

The lights flickered a little and Jane’s breath caught for a split second. When she banged her side into the counter in their cramped kitchen, she swore and winced, lifting her shirt to look down at her side.

“Yep, that’s probably gonna leave a mark.”

“Hey Mox, your fucking phone is going batshit. Take it.” almost as soon as Mox walked through the hallway and stepped into the little room that the other wrestlers were milling around in, waiting to go out for their matches, one of the valets shoved his phone at him and Mox stared at it a few seconds, caught up in the picture he’d chosen for his wallpaper.

It was a picture of Jane, an old friend and currently, his room mate. … and idiot, ya fallin for her all over again… his brain reminded him.

He unlocked the phone and saw that she’d texted him. Glancing around to make sure no one saw him and got nosy as all fuck, Mox texted her back.

→Be careful on your way back. This storm is getting worse by the minute.

She’d sent the text about thirty minutes ago, during his first match of the night. He felt bad about leaving it on read, so after a second or two, he answered back.

← I make no promises. Stay put tonight, yeah?

Rather than send it straight away, he spent a minute or two agonizing over and changing the text countless times, finally re entering the first thing he’d thought to type. It was safe. Safer than what he considered putting, which was something along the lines of telling her if it got too bad she could call him.. That he’d actually like it if she did.

Because only a boyfriend got that right and the way Mox saw it, he might not ever be a good enough candidate to call himself that where Jane was concerned.

“Hey man, you wanna grab a few drinks before we head back?”

“Nah. I think I’m just gonna go back, Callihan.” Mox’s turning down drinks prompted Sami to study his friend with a curious gleam in his eyes as he rubbed his chin.

He burst into laughter as soon as he really thought about it and realized exactly why Mox was turning down drinks and clapping his hand down upon Mox’s injured shoulder -which prompted Mox to swear for about a minute and a through gritted teeth, he told Mox, “Finally. I thought I wasn’t ever gonna see th’ day Jon Moxley met a girl capable of tamin his wild ass.. Is it that cute little teacher ya got livin at your place now? Jane, that’s her name, right?”

“Shut the fuck up, Callihan, it ain’t like that. Just tired, damn.”

“And grumpy. That definitely tells me it’s exactly like that by the way.” Sami was having a field day with it and when Mox shoved the keys at him, he took them and went quiet.

He could tell it already had the bastard up in arms enough already. No sense in making Mox mean for the duration of the two hour drive they had ahead of them. “I’m gonna stop for a case.”

“Whatever man, I’m just fuckin ready to go.”

The storm raged on outside and Jane realized that her relaxing soak in the tub was not an option. She’d just stepped out of the tub and wrapped a towel around herself when the whole apartment went pitch black.

“Fuck my life.”

Jane had never liked the dark, not at all.

Rather than get dressed, Jane stumbled around the little apartment in the dark digging around for candles, flashlights, anything to help get just a little light into the place.

Naturally, Mox was not the kind of guy who kept candles.

Or flashlights, apparently.

“I am.. Buying that man a Mag Lite, I swear to God.” Jane managed to bang her shin into the couch and she was in the midst of hopping around on one foot after stubbing her toe a second time when she heard the door knob to their apartment rattling.

She swallowed hard, glancing in it’s general direction.

… i swear to God, it better not be someone breaking in… only my luck…

Her phone was almost dead and she’d left it in the bathroom, sitting on the counter. If she started using it for a flashlight, she wouldn’t have any battery left if say Mox wound up in a bar fight or an accident or something else of that nature.

… you don’t even know he’d call you anyway…

… but still, if something happens, you’d want to know.. Better to save the battery and put on those big girl panties than to run the damn phone down using it as a flashlight…

The doorknob was still rattling and Jane didn’t think, she just stepped into the hallway leading back to the bedrooms and bathroom, flattening herself against the wall, her hand finding the handle of a bat Mox kept lying around.

Just as the door burst open and whoever had been swearing under their breath outside in the hall stepped in, lightning lit up the sky just enough to show that the person was wearing a bloodstained tee shirt and holding something in their right hand.

The intruder took a step forward, Jane took a step back and raised the bat slightly. “You… better stay back..”

Mox chuckled and reached for her when the next clap of thunder had her screaming and that only freaked her out more, making her step further out of his reach. It didn’t occur to him that thanks to a blood stained tee shirt, she probably had all sorts of scary thoughts running through her head right now on top of an already present overwhelming fear of any sort of bad weather and the dark.

“Ain’t g-gonna hurt ya.” the intruder raised his hands, waving them almost defensively.

“Yeah, right.. Bet you said that to whoever’s blood is all over your shirt too. If you’re smart you’ll get the fuck outta here now because..” Jane hesitated a second, raising her bat, stepping away more when the intruder stepped a little closer and raised an arm.

Her back hit the wall at the end of the hallway and she gulped. She only had another step and she’d be in the bathroom but the way the intruder was pressing in against her was kind of trapping her between his body and the door her back was against.

“Because why?”

“My boyfriend.. He’s sleepin and if I scream, he’s gonna wake up and when that happens.. You’re as good as fucked.”

Mox raised a brow, almost snickering but resisting the urge. Having had about a third of the bottle of whiskey in his hand right now, it was more amusing to him than anything and he really wasn’t thinking about what Jane might be afraid was happening right now, otherwise, he wouldn’t have done it.

“Go on and laugh. But when Mox is beating the shit out of you you won’t be.”

Now that.. That was more than enough to sober Jon Moxley right up. And yeah, leave him temporarily speechless. But only temporarily. That cocky side took over and he smirked to himself in the darkness. “Wouldn’t want that, would I?”

“No, you wouldn’t.” Jane was about to step into the bathroom. Her phone was in there. If she could just get to it, she could call Mox and alert him, warn him what was happening so maybe he’d avoid it.

… or alternately, he’ll come rushing into your rescue.. Because that’s what you fantasize about, right?… her mind nagged at her, but fight or flight was kicking in and Jane had to act soon. If not whatever happened to the person whose blood was spattered all over the intruder’s shirt would happen to her.

And given the sheer volume, Jane wasn’t really fond of the idea of an almost certain death.

She raised the bat and his hand found her wrist, lowering it, prying her fingers from around the handle. Jane screamed and screamed as if her life depended on it and the intruder was laughing. “This isn’t..” Jane was pushing back against the door covertly and hoping that just this once it would fly open for her, letting out a ragged breath when it actually did, “Fucking funny. And it definitely won’t be just as soon as…” she stepped into the bathroom, slamming the door between herself and the intruder, sitting with her back wedged right up against it after hurrying to grab her phone off the countertop.

The door knob rattled and rattled and she could feel the door being pushed on from the other side.

← Mox

← so someone broke in I think… look, make the block or something instead of coming straight here. I’ll call 911 but… I just..

← I don’t want anything happening to you, alright?

Outside the bathroom door, the muffled sound of the factory ringer for Jon’s cell phone started to play and Mox scratched the back of his head, the glow of the screen lighting up the darkness.

He eyed the bathroom door and called through it, “If ya just open the fuckin door..”

“I’m calling the cops. When my boyfriend and the cops get through with your ass..” Jane started, but then the sound of Mox’s ringtone… In the apartment..

Jane bit her lip and eyed the door.

She did a quick check of her battery power and the time and raised a brow. The show still had another hour to go because Jane just didn’t seen Jon Moxley getting eliminated, not as good as he was or as well as he knew the ring, himself and his opponent. “What the..” she trailed off, hesitating when she heard it again.

Outside the bathroom door, Mox’s eyes darted over the texts she’d sent and he glanced up from his phone to look at the door, trying to wrap his head around the fact that Jane essentially sent him a text.. Warning him away from danger.

← Mox

← so someone broke in I think… look, make the block or something instead of coming straight here. I’ll call 911 but… I just..

← I don’t want anything happening to you, alright?

… the fuck was she gonna do for herself? Hope t’ fuck nothin happened or nobody kicked in the door?… she knows the cops don’t give two shits about what goes down on this side of town…

Hearing Jon’s cell phone going off in the apartment made Jane bolder. “You’re in deep shit now.”

She noticed it then, the door handle wasn’t rattling and the intruder wasn’t pushing at the door to try and get into the room with her.

She held her breath, waited for about a minute and rose to her feet.

Just to be safe, she picked up the glass vase her makeup brushes sat in. It might not do a whole lot in the way of damage to someone intending to do her harm but… It would give her time to run.

“This shit.. This is why girls like me die in horror movies.” she muttered mostly to herself just before flinging the door open. Just as the door swung open, the lights came on and Jane was greeted by the sight of Mox standing against the wall, staring at the screen of his cell phone with a far away and thoughtful look in his eyes.

“J-jon?”

Mox’s head snapped up and he bit back the urge to make a suggestive comment at the fact that she was apparently wandering around their apartment in one of the smaller bath towels.. Her hair still damp from a shower she’d probably taken just before he got in and the power went out.

… c’mon goddamn, work brain, work mouth.. Anythin?…

“ So I’m ya boyfriend now?”

“I..” it hit her then that Mox had been the intruder the entire time and she doubled over, laughing so hard that she actually snorted a time or two. “It was you?”

Mox knew her like the back of her hand. He knew her well enough to know that the laughter was her, deflecting. He stepped closer, a hand resting at her side, squeezing her hip. He cupped her jaw with the other hand, guiding her eyes up to meet his. “It’s kinda funny yeah, but.. Ya ain’t answered my question yet, doll… I’m ya boyfriend now, hmm?”

Jane’s laughter died away and she gulped, staring at his eyes, then his lips. Her mouth opened and closed a time or two but no words were coming. Nothing.

“I…”

“C’mon doll.. Don’t avoid my question. I mean..” he took a calculated risk and stepped closer to her, his hips against hers as he did it and he leaned down slightly, his mouth hovering just above her own. He licked his lips and muttered quietly, “Ya texted me before ya even thought about the cops, woman.. To warn me away.. Makes me think if ya didn’t feel somethin..” and he went quiet, not wanting to say too much.

There was a slim chance that he was too caught up in the moment, being too cocky and totally misreading the situation and the signs as they presented themselves to him now with shocking clarity.

Jane sighed and bit her lip, her heart beating so fast she thought it’d explode at any second. She’d pretty much given herself away.

Might as well come clean, get the whole awkward rejection part over with.

“Oh I do. More than you know.”

Her words shocked him and the shock registered quite visibly on his face. But in a split second, that shocked widening of his eyes was gone and in it’s place he was super focused, staring intently at her mouth as the hand on her hip crept down and squeezed a hand full of her ass through the towel when he hauled her completely against him. “How long, hmm?”

“How long what?”

“How long ya felt… whatever ya feel?”

“The honest answer?”

“Yeah.”

“Started when we were thirteen.. Then kinda… intensified when I answered your roommate ad a few months ago.” Jane dared to inch her lips closer to his. Her fingers went to his hair and the hem of his shirt as she grimaced at the blood spatter on the front.

In the light it wasn’t nearly as bad as she thought.

Mox took the hint and tugged his shirt over his head, muttering an apology before sliding her up his body and pressing her back against the wall. The second her mouth met his and her teeth sank into his lower lip he growled and started to kiss back; harder and deeper, his hands and fingers all over her, digging itno her hip at one point and earning him a hiss.

“Bumped into the damn counter in the dark a little while ago.” she explained it quickly, a quiet giggle.

“Shit.. Sorry.” he deepened the kiss even more and then mumbled against her mouth, “If being ya boyfriend ends up with gettin kissed like this.. Or you greetin me in a towel when I come home.. Don’t think I mind it at all, darlin.”

#jon moxley fanfiction #jon moxley fanfic #jon moxley fic #jon moxley oneshot #jon moxley imagine #// alcohol tw #// bad weather #// fluff #// funny misunderstandings

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nixniivalis · 4 years

Note

if you don’t want it, you don’t have to keep it. — cody buying neraine something relating to her dance perhaps

A growing exhaustion twisted into Neraine’s muscles. An entire day of rehearsals and practice coming to toll. The hard wood floor of the dance studio pressed into her hip and thighs as the head instructor droned on. Notes on the choreography, future plans, performance dates, things Neraine should be, but was not, paying attention to. Her stomach growled, reminding her she did not eat lunch. The sudden dismissal when the hour hand of the clock struck seven precipitated a relieved sigh. The room filled with chatter. The dancers talking of weekend plans, family matters, tidbits of gossip, and hints of the weather. They shuffled off to fetch their things. Neraine remained where she was for a second, and then with a grunt, pushed to her feet.

The studio smelled of sweat and air freshener. The windows fogged, combined with the heat of bodies and the evening humidity. She kept her bag on a bench beside the front windows. Neraine walked over, peeling off her soaked and clinging tank-top. From her gear bag she found a new shirt. Neraine swept her hair off the back of her neck and into a tightened ponytail. Go home, get dinner, shower, bed, rinse and repeat tomorrow– show opens in three weeks. It was getting on crunch time. She slung her bag strap over her shoulder as she toed on her sneakers.

“Oh, Neraine!” The call of her name broke Neraine out of her growing laundry list of to-do’s. Neraine turned over her left elbow as a young woman approached her. Dakota, one of her students, flashed Neraine a bright smile, white-teeth flashing. “Before I forget.”

From behind her back Dakota presented a box with a flourish. “Ta-da! It’s for you!”

“Me?” Neraine echoed, like an idiot.

Her brow furrowed as she glanced down. The box was wrapped with red paper and a pink bow. A small, folded note in white card stock was taped to the top. By instinct Neraine lifted her hand to accept the box. It weighed little but she held it out from her body, arm stiff. Awkward, unsure what to do with it. Dakota got her a gift?

“O-kay,” Neraine managed, “but why?”

Harsh and rude, not the appropriate question. The lift of Neraine’s eyebrow echoed of suspicion instead of gratitude.

“It’s a thank-you!” Dakota exclaimed. “For all the extra lessons. Cody picked it out, you’re going to love it. Open it up as soon as you get home, okay? And send us a picture! I gotta go now, my ride is here– but I’ll see you next week! Bye!”

A half-dozen complaints and eight or so protests died on Neraine’s lips. Dakota pecked Nerine on the cheek and fled the scene. Left with a box and a conundrum, Neraine stood there, mouth open and gaping like an idiot fish. She sighed, hand lifted to massage the bridge of her nose. Cody was a nice guy, almost too nice. A quick learner, one of the better students she’s taught. Never thought he’d leave her out to dry like this. Did she miss a memo? When did gifts become apart of this relationship. Did she have to give something back? God, and next time she saw him, she’d have to thank him, and it’d be super awkward. Dakota dropped a bomb in Neraine’s hands and walked away.

A defeated sigh regained Neraine’s composure. She left the now empty studio and stepped-out onto the streets. The streetlights flickered alive as the sun set over the buildings. A cool wind, acrid with car exhaust and pollen, brushed through her hair. Cars whirled by on the road. Some parents were getting their kids ice cream at the parlor across the street. Neraine walked a block East to where she parked her bike. Box and gear were stuffed into the saddle bags for safe keeping. Neraine mounted her bike, an old suzuki she bought used for cheap, and tuned-up enough that it didn’t run like it. She turned the ignition and it ignited to life with a warm purr. She waited for traffic to clear on her left, and pulled-out.

Neraine rode home as night fell. Downtown Atlanta vibrated with enlivened bars and restaurants, growing crowds and pedestrians. Her apartment complex laid off a quiet, dark backstreet though. Dogwoods grew out of the concrete and framed the brick face building. Neraine parked in the lot around the back and entered through a side door. She clambered up the stairs and shouldered open her apartment door. The small rooms and kitchen laid in shadow, broken by the glow of the street lamp outside. Neraine flicked on lights as she passed them, kicking of her shoes and untying her hair. She left the gift on the kitchen table as she prepared her dinner: sautéed chicken, thrown together veggies, and some rice on the side. Neraine read her book as she ate.

Put away the dishes, clean-up, play piano for a few minutes, and then turn out the lights to go to bed. While brushing her teeth she stepped-out of the bathroom. Standing in the doorway, golden halo of light at her back she eyed the box. Neraine returned to the bathroom and spat out her toothpaste. Wiping her hands down her pants she went to investigate. She plucked off the ribbon and rescued the folded card. She turned the kitchen light back on to read it:

If you don’t want it, you don’t have to keep it.

Signed by Cody Rhodes, legendary professional wrestler– what had her life become. Neraine wasn’t sure what their relationship was. Offering him and his niece a few additional dance lessons was no sweat of her back. It was a simple chore, helped her practice and earned her a few extra bucks for rent. She wondered if gifts were normal in his family. She’d received so few. Not on Christmas and never on her birthday. On a rare occasion a foster parent remembered her existence and got her a benign trinket. It was all crap. Useless, sentimental nonsense. She didn’t ask for this, he shouldn’t have gotten it for her. Couldn’t help but feel there was some expectation tied to this-- like he was buying her out.

Her hands rested on the edge of the table, bracing her upright. She was delaying the inevitable and the longer this damn box sat on her kitchen table, the sicker she felt. Like actual nausea, she was going to puke at this rate. Neraine reached out and tore off the paper. Beneath the lid was the glimmer of red fabric. She lifted out of the box a dress, dazzling with sequins. Dark crimson, eye catching, an off the shoulder cut A-line, of a good length too. More than that it looked like it would fit her. Might need some tailoring, but all dresses do. Neraine held it out to the light, gaping once again, eyes wide, like a moron. The fabric was of a good weight and quality, the cut professional, it looked handmade. After a lifetime of shopping off the clearance rack this was easily the most expensive dress she’d ever own.

“Tidak,” Neraine whispered. “Oh, no.”

Neraine clutched the dress, silent horror washing over her. This didn’t make her a gold digger, did it? Is that how that worked? Dresses didn’t count for nothing though. A nice gown could be the difference between a point or two at the next competition. This was one she could wear again too. There was one real thing she could do with it-- because there was no way she was not keeping it. As twisted and confused, and weird as it all was.

At the moment she was in her PJs, hair down, and make-up wiped off. Nonetheless, Neraine carried the dress into the bathroom and changed into it. She brushed out her hair and twisted it into a loose bun. Even cleared away a few blemishes on her cheeks with some foundation. The waist was a little too loose and the skirt an inch too long for dancing-- easy alterations. Hard to deny that she didn’t look good in it. Although, with a dress this nice, she suspected even a rock could pass for attractive. Neraine took a picture of herself in the mirror and sent the picture to Cody.

A second later she texted him: [holy shit dude]

#ofgrief #❉ Destiny's Path┋IC #❉ La rêverie┋Verse: Modern #❉ Pests┋Asks #Neraine is Yelling

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crinkled-emotions · 5 years

Text

A heart defect (Bondi Rescue)

When y/n’s summer day is interrupted by her dodgy heart kicking up, she seeks the help of some of Australia’s favourite lifeguards.

Completed for @shayleefischer as she approached me and I was so keen to write this! Thank you so much for feeling like I could do you justice, I really hope I did :)

Is that the best way to describe this? Hm. Probably not.

Note: I can’t write fem!Reader whump. Like at all. This is probably going to be a flop. Sorryyyyyyyy!!

A friend of mine from school has a heart condition where she can’t do a lot of exercise because it makes her heart skip a beat and they just about have to reset it whenever it happens. It’s awful and I feel for her so much, but this time it may have come in handy as I’ve witnessed a couple of these episodes. Watch me fuck this up, fam.

Everyone gathered in the shed for Hop’s debrief, Hoppo himself standing beside the whiteboard.

“Box what are we looking at today?”

“It’s gonna be fuckin’ hot today boys, so we need to be on high alert for heat stroke and the elderly as well as young kids. We’re expecting a top of 47°C so everyone keep an eye out.”

“Great, thanks mate. Has anyone got anything to add?”

“Does everyone know where they’re stationed on first?” Reidy piped up, everyone nodding. Maxi glanced around in confusion, a frown coming to his face.

“Hang on, where’s-“

“-your best buddy is on his death bed,” Hoppo explained shortly, in reference to Maxi’s Kiwi best friend/ ex roommate. Maxi ahhhh’ed and then nodded.

“Okay, then I think we’re good.”

Harries and Maxi were patrolling, Reidy doing the med jobs as people appeared with various issues ranging from heat stroke to cuts and blue bottle stings. He’d care for them and treat what he could before sending them on their way- if it had been any other day he would have let them hang around depending on the severity but the casualties just kept coming- especially with Jesse on the jetski occasionally bringing up someone who had copped a concussion or something.

There was a knock on the door just as Reidy was in the middle of something, him groaning.

“Maxi or Harries, please,” he called. Maxi got up, heading down the stairs and opening the door.

There stood a young woman who had gone completely beet red in the face, and she half smiled.

“D-do you think I could… could I get some ice?”

30 Minutes Before

None of my friends had wanted to come to the beach in the heat; they preferred to be inside under the air-conditioning in their expensive apartments sipping expensive water that was no different to the cheap stuff. Note: I love my friends. Don’t tell them I just talked shit.

Anyway.

Bondi Beach is always packed but I’ve never seen it like this before, even as a local. I wasn’t a surfer or a body boarder so I couldn’t tell you about the swell but it looked fucking huge to me. Was this a good thing?

Beats me.

The sun beat down on me, its rays heating up my skin all over and I closed my eyes despite the fact they were protected by my sunglasses, grimacing.

“Holy shit it’s hot,” I muttered to myself. I reached for my phone and covered it with my rapidly drying towel to keep it relatively cool, opening up the weather app.

“Shit.”

It was barely 11am and the temperature had already reached 43°C. I winced, trying to think about whether it was safe for me to stay out. I have a heart defect that I was born with, and it can be dangerous for me to stay out in the sun when it’s really hot. Sometimes I have to be treated in hospital if I do exercise and it’s too hot for my heart, so I have to be careful.

“Miss? Hey, it’s okay I’m a lifeguard. You alright?”

My eyes opened slowly and I was faced by someone kneeling down beside me, their hand on my shoulder. I tried to sit up but he shook his head, stopping me.

“Just hang on a sec, you might be dehydrated.”

“I- I’m fine… must have fallen asleep. Sorry, I didn’t mean to scare you.”

“No, no that’s okay. I’m Ryan but everyone calls me Whippet, are you from around here?”

“Yeah, I grew up here. Nice to meet you Ryan, I’m y/n.”

“Well y/n, I’ve been driving past for the past thirty minutes and I just wanted to check if you were okay. It’s a really hot day today, make sure you stay hydrated.”

“Will do, thanks Whippet.”

He went to get back on his quad bike but paused, gesturing to the tower.

“There’s three guys up there at the moment so they can spare someone to help you if you need it. Just say I sent you if they get tetchy.”

“Okay, cheers.”

He disappeared down the beach when his radio crackled to life, and I lay back down. My entire body felt weak and I yawned, moving to grab my phone again from under my now dry towel.

46°C at 2pm. Great.

As I lay there reading I began to feel more lethargic and my heart was occasionally having an arrhythmia- something that I already knew was a heads up it wasn’t coping. I sighed and put my book into my bag, reaching to tuck my phone into the waistband of my shorts. I hefted my bag on to my shoulder and peered through my sunglasses as I got up from the sand, trying to locate the tower. It stuck out like a sore thumb usually, but against the crowds I could barely see it.

One knock.

Two.

Three.

Present Time

“Yeah, what’s up- woah c’mon in, you don’t look so good.”

“D-do you think I could… could I get some ice?”

“I think you should come inside first up.”

A tall, tanned blonde guy offered me a hand and I accepted the help, nearly collapsing against him as he helped me to sit on the blue gurney beside some guy who was groaning a lot, another lifeguard sighing. His voice held very little sympathy as he bandaged something, gesturing to the door.

“That’ll teach you for jumping off Flat Rock, mate. Be more careful next time, aye?”

“Sure. Thanks Reidy.”

“No problem mate.”

The man limped out of the tower and the lifeguard who had helped me in turned to his colleague.

“Reidy, do you think she’s got heatstroke?”

“Hi mate I’m Andrew Reid and this is Trent Maxwell. I’m Reidy and he’s Maxi if that helps. You’re feelin’ a little hot are ya?”

“Mmhmm.”

I nodded and Reidy poked his head up, calling to someone up the staircase.

“Hey Harries mate, d’you think you could grab us some ice?”

Maxi meanwhile wandered upstairs, this third guy appearing after a couple minutes with a black bag in hand.

“Here mate. I’m Harries.”

“Hey. I’m y/n.”

I felt my heart ‘skip’ a beat again and winced, clutching it. Harries frowned, hand on my shoulder.

“Are you okay?”

“Oh- uh, yeah. I just- uhm, I just- I have a heart defect, I was born with it… and sometimes it kicks up when it gets really hot and I can’t cool down fast enough.”

“Here.”

Harries handed me some ice and took off his blue long-sleeve so I could put it over my bikini, offering me some modesty. I accepted, thanking him quietly as I slipped the bag of ice on to my back. Maxi suddenly reappeared, carrying a couple more bags.

“Should I call the ambo’s?” He asked, and Reidy shook his head.

“Not yet. Get back on patrol, call someone to give you a hand if you need to.”

“I’m good mate.”

Maxi gave my arm a sympathetic squeeze, heading up the stairs. I felt a wave of dizziness wash over me and as I lay down Reidy answered the door to someone else, going to help them outside. Harries brushed a hand over my forehead, frowning as he picked up one of the ice bags Maxi had dumped.

“Here, this should help.”

He placed one under each armpit, followed by around my neck which apparently would cool me down fast. He cracked open a cold bottle of water and offered it over, sending me a sympathetic smile.

“Here, slow sips though. Just in case.”

“Thanks.”

I followed his instructions, trying to keep my breathing steady. My heart’s latest skip was only just calming down and I was exhausted, closing my eyes. I could hear the three lifeguards talking around me, Reidy calling to Maxi at one point.

“Mate, d’you think you could grab us an ambo?”

“Yeah, gotcha.”

I tried to sit up but my heart protested and Harries held me to lie back down, shaking his head.

“Just stay with us, okay? We’re gonna get you checked out, I can tell the ticker’s playin’ up a bit so we just want to make sure you’re good to walk out of here without collapsing a couple metres away. S’not a good look on us, I’ll be honest.”

I was too tired to laugh.

“Hi y/n, I’m Michael. What seems to be happening today?”

“Hey mate.”

Harries was sitting on the end of the gurney, a steady hand on my leg as I felt my entire body shaking. It was exhausting just to lift an arm and wave.

“What’s the story Harries?”

Michael turned to the lifeguard, who quickly filled him in on what I’d told them and what he and Reidy had noticed while I’d been there. I realised they’d redone the ice and Maxi was now sitting quietly in the corner, observing. Reidy was filling out some paperwork and I realised there was another lifeguard in the tower now, watching out over the water.

“Oh, I- I uhm, I don’t- you guys don’t have to watch me,” I mumbled, and Maxi shook his head.

“Pretend I’m not here, I’m trying to learn from the pros.”

“Cheers mate,” Reidy replied, clicking his pen once and chucking it to the side as he knelt down beside my head.

“Listen, if you’re feeling crowded we can leave you with Michael. We don’t mind; don’t be embarrassed to speak up.”

I nodded, closing my eyes as I took a deep breath.

“Harries?”

“Mm darlin’?”

“D-do you- would you mind staying? J-just- just you?”

“Course.”

I heard Maxi getting up and opened my eyes just in time to see him wave at me before heading up the stairs, relieving whoever was up there patrolling. Reidy sent me a half smile and waved too before following after Maxi. It was now just me, Harries and the paramedic, who was quietly doing his job of checking me over.

“So, Harries, got kids?”

“Hm? Oh, yeah actually. Five and three, two boys.”

“I thought I detected a fatherly tone to you.”

He laughed, looking up when Michael hummed.

“Yeah, something’s not right. Would you consent to us taking you into hospital, Miss y/n?”

I nodded and he sent me a sympathetic smile.

“Okay then. Can you walk to the ambulance, it’s parked nearby.”

“I- I don’t- I don’t think so.”

Harries stood then, offering me a hand.

“C’mon, I’ll help ya. Maxi mate, come take her other side.”

Maxi appeared from buttfuck nowhere, helping me to stand. He and Harries took a side of me each, slinging my arms over their shoulders to help me walk. Michael packed everything up and gestured to the door.

“Follow me.”

Finally loaded up and lying down with an IV, I thanked the two men who had been a huge help.

“Seriously, you guys have been so generous and I’m really grateful.”

“It’s our job,” Harries replied. I remembered I was still wearing his shirt and went to take it off when he stopped me.

“Come by when you’re better and drop it off, okay?”

“Sure. Thanks.”

He stepped back and I weakly hugged Maxi, whispering a thank you in his ear.

“Nah, don’t worry about it. As Harries said, it’s our job. Besides, who could leave a damsel in distress?”

I laughed at this, just as Michael appeared.

“Okay, we’re good to go.”

“Thanks again, guys,” I smiled, waving until the door closed.

4 Days Later

One knock.

Two.

Three-

“Hey what can I help you with toda- y/n!”

Reidy broke into a huge grin and I blushed, smiling.

“Hey, Reidy. Are the other two around?”

“Mmhmm, two seconds.”

He grabbed his radio and held it to his mouth.

“Maxi and Harries, you two better come up to the tower, our heartbreak girl has finally returned.”

“Oh shit, on our way!”

I heard Maxi and burst out laughing, another lifeguard appearing from upstairs. He was tall and tanned, but his hair was a brown with sun-bleached blonde ends. I raised an eyebrow at Reidy, who just smiled.

“This is Maxi’s best friend and fellow lifeguard Harrison Reid. Huxy, this is that girl we helped with heat stroke.”

“Oh, right! Yeah, I’ve heard a lot about you.”

His accent was clearly Kiwi with Australian undertones- the two accents are very close, but sometimes Kiwi’s have a different tone.

“Sure, sure. All about how I nearly passed out because I couldn’t handle my own health, hm?”

“Not at all,” Harrison replied with a smile that made me believe him.

“Actually, Maxi kept going on about how brave you were. Your heart was quite literally trying to give up and you were still laughing and cracking jokes. That’s incredible.”

“I heard my name.”

Maxi appeared through the door and Harrison grinned, rushing over to him. I assumed he was going to hug him but I was slightly shocked when Maxi wrapped his arms around him and kissed Harrison, square on the lips. I tried to stop my jaw from dropping, glancing around.

“I-“

“-oh, yeah… uh, best friend’s kind of an understatement.”

I burst out laughing when Harrison ran a hand through his hair awkwardly, Maxi’s hand on his hip. I held in the coo threatening to escape, shaking my head.

“You guys are so cute. I ship.”

“Thanks, y/n.”

“Y/n!”

Harries came through the upstairs door and rushed down the stairs to hug me, wrapping me up in a hug I’d detect as fatherly protection. I smiled, hugging back.

“Hey, Harries!”

“How are ya darlin’?”

I shrugged, blushing at all the attention on me in the small room. Harrison, sensing my awkwardness, gave Maxi a pat on the ass, waved at me, and went back to patrol. I smiled at him, shrugging at the others. Reidy grinned at me, shaking his head.

“It’s really good to see you doing well, y/n. We were worried; I don’t think I’ve ever treated someone with a heart defect.”

“I was born with it. It’s not usually an issue but during the summer I have to be careful and I guess I got lazy. It’s my own fault.”

“It happens, honestly,” Harries spoke up, holding my shoulder. I turned and smiled at him, grateful.

“Thanks.”

“You’re okay though? Nothing serious come from it?” Maxi asked. I shook my head, gesturing to my heart.

“Nah, it just got tired. Slept for over 24 hours in hospital though. They were scared too, but when I woke up I felt a lot better and they agreed that sleeping did help my heart recover.”

“Wow. That’s incredible.”

Reidy was now standing to the back of the room and I reached for my bag, opening it.

“As a thank you gift, I got you a little something… I’m sure you guys get this all the time, but it’s the least I can do. You guys kept calm when I was freaking out inside. If you hadn’t been calm things could have really taken a turn for the worst.”

I pulled out three boxes of Favourites, handing them out. Maxi grinned, thanking me before dashing up the stairs.

“Hux, we’ve got chocolate!”

The two older lifeguards chuckled, both giving me a hug.

“You didn’t need to do that, but thank you. Really appreciate it.”

I nodded at Harries, checking the time.

“Well, I have to go, but thank you all so much. You really do an incredible job down here and I hope others can see that.”

I’d make sure of it.

#Bondi Rescue #Bondi Rescue fanfiction #Harries #Maxi #Reidy

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fantasyandromancelover · 5 years

Text

The Tale of Tales Chapter 33

As the days went by Gray found himself enjoying his time with Juvia and Wendy. Wendy was such a cheerful and sweet kid who was a lot like the little sister he never had and he would never admit it or act like it but he liked spending time with Juvia most of all. She was so kind, caring, and thoughtful and she was always concerned for others, even when she was mad at them. He just couldn't understand how someone could be so kind and good.

"Gray!" She called to him one morning when he was digging holes for planting seeds in Wendy's garden. "Oh Gray I have something for you."

"Let me guess more buns? I told you I don't eat bread that much."

"Oh no it's something much more useful. It's something you can use when the storm clears up and we can leave."

She handed him a little box with ribbon tied around it. He untied the ribbon, opened the box, and found a grey scarf inside.

"Do you like it? I knitted it myself."

"What's this for?"

"Well you always seem so cold when you go outside so I thought that I would make you something to keep you warm."

"That's sweet but you didn't really have to."

"Of course I have to. I always make gifts for my friends."

"Friends?"

"Yes. I sewed a new shirt by hand for Gajeel, knitted gloves for Elfman, knitted a hat for Romeo, and embroidered a muff for Wendy. It wouldn't be fair if I didn't make you anything."

"We're friends?"

"Of course. You didn't think we were?"

"Well I mean...I...I haven't exactly been nice to you."

"True you can be a grouch most of the time but there have been times when you've been very sweet."

"When?"

"Well you saved my life twice, once from that man who tried to violate me in the village and a second time from drowning, then you helped me get that thorn out of my finger, and most of all you made me laugh harder than I ever had in a long time. I know you try to be cold and mean but deep down I think you're the sweetest, kindest man I have ever met."

Then she took him completely by surprise by hugging him. Gray felt his heart skip a beat and get a warm feeling. After realeasing him she went to back inside to help Wendy with cooking dinner. Gray looked down at the scarf she had given him. No one, no one had ever given him a gift before. At least not in the last ten years. He remembered the last present he had ever gotten. It was his eighth birthday and his parents had been saving up all their extra money to get him a present that year.

You see Gray had been born into a family living in poverty. They lived in a dirty old shack that had holes in the roof, no fire place, and only one bed. He and his mother always slept in the bed while his father slept on the floor, of course his mother always protested that she and her husband should swap off every night but Gray's father didn't believe in making a lady sleep on the cold hard floor especially when she was his wife.

His father named Silver worked as a woodcutter and his mother named Mika worked as a washer woman and they both worked so very hard but no matter how hard they worked it never seemed to be enough. They didn't even have enough money to send Gray to school so his mother had to teach him how to read, write, and do arithmetic. When Gray was six he insisted that he be allowed to help his father chop wood and sell it in the village. He remembered how his mother was all in a panic because she thought that Gray was too young and that he might accidentally chop off his arm or leg but he actually learned how to chop wood real well for his age.

His parents had never been able to afford a birthday present for him but because he had been working so hard to help out for the last three years they were determined to get him a present for his eighth birthday. They had managed to buy him two gifts. One was his very own hunting knife which Silver had bought in secret and it made Mika very upset when he gave it to their son and the second gift was a silver cross on a chain that was supposed to protect whoever wore it from wolves and witchcraft. He was so excited when he received his gifts and after his parents were killed he vowed that he would never take off the cross they gave him and he would keep that hunting knife with him always.

"What's taking so long!" An angry voice squawked startling him out of his memories. It was that crow who served as Minerva's spy. "It's been weeks, your foot is all better, and yet Juvia is still alive! Why is that?"

During all the time he had been spending with Juvia he had completely forgotten that he was supposed to kill her.

"Well there have been complications." He said. "And I haven't found the right moment to do it."

"How about tonight while she's sleeping? You're far from the dwarfs who would beat you to a pulp so there's nothing to stop you! Don't forget the reward you'll receive if you do it and if that doesn't puersasde you to hurry it up then the penalty for if you fail will."

"Uh what exactly are you going to do to me?"

"Don't fail me and you won't have to know."

Gray gulped as he watched the crow fly away. If the penalty was what he feared it was then he needed to kill Juvia tonight but could he really do it? After everything she had done for him? After she had been so kind to him? No. No he couldn't go soft now. Not when his life was on the line. Juvia was just another person he was paid to eliminate and nothing more. So that night when Wendy and Juvia were asleep, Gray quietly crept into the room where Juvia was sleeping.

She was sound asleep in bed completely unaware that in that moment she could be killed. Gray pulled out his dagger and prepared to plunge it right into her chest but found himself unable to bring the dagger's blade down to strike.

"Just do it!" His thoughts screamed at him. "It shouldn't be this difficult! You've done it before!"

But as he stared at her beautiful sleeping face he couldn't help but think back to how kind, gentle, sweet, and loving she was. To him and everyone else. She was so beautiful and innocent, she had never sought to harm another and was always trying to help others. She was his friend, she had cared for him, she had shed tears for him, and she had called him her friend.

"I can't! I can't do it!" He gasped dropping the dagger. Gray had no idea what had come over him but he just couldn't bring himself to harm Juvia and the mere thought of it terrified him more than anything in the world. "Dear God what has this woman done to me?"

...

The snow storm that was taking place outside of Wendy's magical home and garden was absolutely brutal. The wind was blowing hard and when it touched you it felt like a million shards of broken glass was cutting your skin and it was so cold that it was hard to see and even breathe. Lucy, Natsu, Erza, and Levy were struggling to get through the storm and reach some form of shelter before they all froze to death. Levy tried to use her magic to create an area with a warmer climate but she had been trapped for so long that it had made some parts of her powers difficult to control. One of the hardest was spells that involved weather and climate change. However she was able to create some warm winter coats for them.

"How much further til we reach the Magnolia village?" Natsu asked.

"Three miles." Erza said.

"We can't keep walking in this blizzard like this. We need to rest for the night." Levy said.

"But where are we supposed to rest?" Erza asked. "We're stranded in the middle of nowhere."

"Hey where's Lucy?" Natsu asked.

It wasn't until now that the friends realized that there was only three of them and that Lucy had mysteriously disappeared.

"She must've gotten lost." Levy said. "We better find her. You two search the ground, I'll try to fly up and look for her from a distance."

Hearing this Erza and Natsu quickly began searching for Lucy and calling out her name. Levy flew up into the sky and looked for her from there though the cold hurt her wings really bad.

"Lucy! Lucy where are you?!" Natsu called out. "Come on Lucy answer me! Damn it I can't see a thing in this blizzard! Lucy!"

He tripped over a rock that he didn't see but that allowed him to see something golden in the snow. It was hair. Natsu quickly crawled over to where the hair was, he brushed away the snow from it and found that it was connected to Lucy who was lying unconscious.

"Lucy!" He quickly got to his feet and placed his ear to her chest. Good she was still breathing. "Come on Lucy wake up! Don't die on me now! Come on!"

He gently shook her and much to his relief she started come to.

"Natsu?" She said dazed and confused.

"You alright?"

"Ugh...My whole body hurts. I don't think I can move."

"Can you hold on to my neck?"

"I think so."

Natsu took off his coat and covered her with it then he lifted her up on to his back and went to meet back with Erza and Levy.

"Guys we need to get Lucy out of this weather or she's a goner." He said.

"I saw a cottage just a little ways from here." Levy said. "We should be there in five minutes."

"Okay. Just hold on Lucy, we'll get you warmed up soon." Natsu told her.

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theprodigypenguin · 5 years

Text

Moon Sick

Ao3 Link

Pairings: Teddy Lupin/James Sirius Potter

Summary: James is in his final year at Hogwarts, seventeen and thriving, but no matter how long he'd spent in Slughorn's class over the past few years, he still didn't much see the point of potions, and he was running out of time to finally get motivated about it. His seventeenth Christmas at The Burrow, however, proves a better teacher and motivator than Slughorn or his father ever were, as a dear friend becomes ill, where the only method of healing and relief is through the brewing of a special tonic. Though James has little to no interest in such things, if it's to help relieve the pain of someone he truly cares for, he would do just about anything.

Words: 9511

Warnings: fluff!

Notes: MY VERY FIRST JEDDY FIC! Quick background: in this fic Teddy and James 100% like each other but 100% don't realize it. Teddy and Victoire DID date for a bit, but broke up mutually and are still extremely close friends, because I don't believe in adding toxic exes where toxic exes don't need to be. Victoire is an amazing character and deserves respect, so I hope I don't see any hate on the fact she dated Teddy in this fic. Featuring the entire spectrum of Weasley cousins, because I got two requests in the comments of "Thicker Than Water" to add more of the family! I AGREE THEY ALL NEED TO BE LOVED! I had to take some creative liberties about their personalities, but I hope everyone likes how I characterized them! I've grown especially fond of Fred Junior! Also featuring one of my favorite personal Teddy Lupin headcanons, where he gets sick during the full moon! He's not a werewolf, but surely being a hybrid would have some unforeseen effects.I think that's it, so please read and enjoy!

~#~#~#~#~#~#~

James never really cared for his Potions class, from his first year at Hogwarts and onward. The Professor was interesting, and so were the tonics and potions that they read and created while in class, but James never saw much point in it. Charms and Transfiguration, now those were two skills he wanted to know more about and perfect, because using magic was what they were at school to learn after all. They were wizards, not druids.

What was the point of something physical like Potions when it would be better in the end to perfect spell casting and magical wand defense? Of course, James would never say that aloud, especially in front of his teacher or father. He mentioned only once that he wasn't entirely fond of the class, and Harry had just smiled at him.

"I didn't care for it in the beginning either, I was never very good at making potions, and the Professor I had most of my time there was... difficult. When Slughorn took over the position, though, I really started to have fun."

James tried to accept that without bugging his father about his first Potions Professor being difficult ("Didn't you name Albus after him?"), but it was certainly a trial. Harry said potion making had come in handy many times during his life, both as a student and as an Auror, and James had smiled and agreed, but it still wasn't very interesting to him.

He was good enough at it, he read the text and did his homework, fine, but he just never felt much excitement or passion for the class. What was he supposed to do about that? Fake it? For six years of school he just didn't care about Potions. He excelled because he had too, but every class, every exam, just made him sigh in boredom.

It was over Christmas break in his seventh year that he started to gain some form of interest towards potion making. He was hanging tinsel and garlands around The Burrow with Lily, throwing bits of the metallic silver shavings into Albus' hair whenever they crossed paths and giggling until his brother had realized it and started cursing from behind him.

James and his family had arrived at The Burrow just that morning, though Christmas was still a day away, so they were fixing up some last minute details in and out of the house before the rest of the family arrived. Throughout the day, Hermione, Ron, Hugo, and Rose had come home, greeting Arthur and Molly with a kiss on the cheek and excited hugs. Around noon, Percy and his family came alongside George and his. Charlie had been there for days already. The family was slowly filling into the old Weasley home, helping with decorations and cooking, some of the younger kids running through the house with bags and rolls of wrapping paper yelling at the adults not to look as they finished last minute present wrapping.

It was James' favorite holiday, because though he got to see his cousins all the time at Hogwarts, this was one of the only times that all of those from the Potter-Weasley clan got together under one roof in one area. Even Charlie had made it a new promise, that even if he couldn't get away from work during the rest of the year, he would always be there for Christmas to see all his nieces and nephews (and absolutely spoil them rotten because, according to him, since he had no children of his own, that gave him the divine right to hype the children up with snacks and cackle madly as they shot through the house in a sugar rush).

So far the only ones who hadn't arrived were Bill and his family, and Andromeda with Teddy. They always came for Christmas, always. Ever since James could remember, Andromeda Tonks would be sitting in that hastily patched armchair next to the fireplace, while her grandson, sporting a blend of ginger and black hair, would bounce around the house enjoying every Weasley and Potter that would let him hug them (and the ones that wouldn't; they really didn't have a choice).

James was hoping they wouldn't be too late. It was already getting dark out, he could smell the scent of dinner wafting through the entire house, Lily was starting to fidget and pace, bounce on her heels as her stomach growled and she whined under her breath, trying to concentrate on the ornaments she was adding to the tree. Albus had a broken stick of peppermint hanging out of his lips as he set out hand knitted doilies on the coffee tables and took presents from Fred to tuck safely under the tree, their cousin sneaking small cubes of toffee from the candy dish on the table whenever Albus turned his back. Everyone was starving, but they wouldn't start before the others arrived.

James was hanging stockings at the mantle when Bill's family finally arrived, bustling through the door covered in a dusting of snow. Louis went right for Fred, who was closest, and pounced on him in a hug, while his older sisters opted to remove their coats and cloaks so they wouldn't get the floors wet. He overheard Victoire asking if Teddy had arrived yet, frowning at his Uncle George's old stocking at the taste the question put in his mouth (dusty, sour), and hanging it before pulling the next from the box under his arm.

It was Teddy's, made special by Molly with knitting of a dozen colors, something to represent his uniqueness and the way his hair changed according to his emotions. There was a T right in the middle, stitched there in gold. His Uncle Ron used to joke about it, saying Molly had spent days lamenting over what name to use for Teddy's stocking and sweaters. His name was Edward, but he went by Teddy? E or T? In the end she settled on using the T, because it just looked right.

James was about to hang it up next to his own when the fireplace started to make a sputtering noise, shaking a bit, and it only occurred to him that someone was using the floo before they appeared in a spit of green flame, so close to James that all he saw was a flash of pale blue and gray before they had collided against him, sending them both crashing onto the floor, the box of stockings falling from his arm and skidding across the floor spilling socks.

James could only grunt as he hit the ground, his head smacking against it, a heavy body landing none too gently on top of him, practically dead weight that groaned in pain and muttered curses as Harry and Molly hurried into the room and the floo roared to life again. Andromeda Tonks was the one to step out of the fireplace, dusting a few specks of ash from her shoulder and carrying a bag, pausing and staring down at her grandson, who, James was finally realizing, had been the one to fly out of the floo and knock him to the ground.

"Teddy, honestly," she chided him, but she looked incredibly worried.

James lifted a hand in greeting, "'Ello, GrAndy!"

"Owe," Teddy's voice was muffled against the floor, finally shifting to push himself up and shuffle away from James, who felt winded and somewhat flushed as he sat up grinning, hoping he didn't look as exhilarated as he felt.

"Quite the entrance, Ted!" he said, rubbing the back of his head as Teddy pushed himself, somewhat heavily, to his feet, laughing like he hadn't caught his breath yet.

"My humblest apologies, James," he said, holding his hand down for James to take and hoisting him up to his feet before turning to meet his grandmother, who was patting away the specks of ash caught on Teddy's shirt and muttering about him being unsafe while he grinned.

Harry went directly to hug his godson as Molly picked up the box of stockings, which James took from her so she could hug Teddy next, pulling back and squeezing his cheeks between her hands.

"Looking peaky, aren't you Teddy? Staying over at the office?"

"Course not, ma'am," Teddy said through a grin, but even Harry looked a little concerned, waiting until Molly had moved away to greet Andromeda before he reached out to Teddy's face, "I'm fine, Harry, really."

Harry didn't look very convinced, and frankly, James didn't feel convinced either. Teddy did look washed out. His hair, while blue, looked very dull and almost pasty, and his face was pale and somewhat flushed, but not from the cold. His eyes were currently a steely blue and glazed. Maybe he was feeling unwell? Had he gotten sick in the weather? Or maybe he was overworking himself like Molly had hinted?

"What are you doing standing, James?!" Molly asked, and James stared at her in puzzlement.

"Well gran, I was putting stockings up like you told me too before Teddy came crashing in."

"Oh!" Molly exclaimed and looked at the mantle before walking over and sifting through the box, "Just need Percy's now, Percy and Lily, where's hers; there we go," she pulled out two before patting James' cheek, "Now take the rest upstairs and find your brother to help."

"What's he need help with now?"

"It's Albus, he's probably done something," Molly said, and James heard Albus yell from the other room.

"I BLOODY HEARD THAT!"

"I'll help with that," Teddy offered, taking the box from James, "I did knock him down. You hit your head?"

"Teddy I hit my head daily. It's a problem. Al says it's why I'm so dumb."

"You're not dumb, James," Harry said, then turned to Teddy, "Don't worry about helping with boxes or decorations, have a seat. Mum, can you get some tea?"

Molly had her hands at her chest, "Course I can, dear. Andy, would you like to help?"

"I'd love to."

"And you sit," Harry pointed at Teddy as the older women went from the room.

"Harry I'm fine," Teddy said on another laugh, "I think I can carry a box, see? Besides, James is the one who hit his head."

He started for the stairs and James gave his father a puzzled look, but Harry was still watching after Teddy with a severe light of worry in his eyes. Figuring he'd get no answers from him, James just followed Teddy, hiking up the steps two at a time before reaching Teddy and slowing down. He looked over his shoulder to watch Harry leave the room before turning to Teddy.

"You okay? What's riled everyone up? Did something happen?"

"Don't think so," Teddy said, but he looked distinctly uncomfortable with the question, which made James a bit more uneasy.

"Your gran seemed worried too."

"She worries over everything, James, don't you know?" Teddy laughed, but it sounded wrong.

Forced, airy. James narrowed his eyes and watched Teddy as they continued up the steps. There was definitely something wrong. Teddy's laughs sounded wrong, he was moving slower than he usually did, he was pale and seemed unfocused, continually looking down at his feet and once or twice almost tripping on the steps.

It wasn't until they were at the top and Teddy had stowed the box into a broom closet that James said something, standing in the narrow hall with his arms out and hands against either side of the wall, blocking Teddy from moving. Teddy just set a hand on his hip.

"James you know I can just apparate around you, right?"

"Something's wrong," James said, staring directly into Teddy's eyes, "You're gonna tell me what."

"C'mon, Jamie."

"Are you sick? Is the ministry overworking you? Have you been sleeping enough? Or eating?"

"James," Teddy rolled his head from one side to the other, "My gran's been getting on me all day with this, not you too, I am fine."

"Teddy your hair is turning gray!" James snapped, and Teddy looked at him blankly before lifting a hand to his hair, as if touching it would make it easier to see.

He sighed after a minute of James glaring at him, burying a hand into his hair, which had indeed paled from a frosty blue to a dull blue tinged gray.

"Look, it's just a bit of a headache. I get them all the time. Way more than you probably think."

"Headache?"

"Yea, I get them sometimes."

"Like, recently enough for everyone to worry over you?" Teddy nodded and shrugged, "Wait, why don't I know about this? How long have you been getting them?"

"I don't know... they started when I was five or six maybe?" Teddy was rubbing his neck, and James just gaped at him.

"I've never heard you complain over a headache..."

"Well they're not all bad. Sometimes they're easy to ignore, you know?"

"And when they are bad?" James asked, and Teddy stared at him again before forcing a smile onto his lips.

"Hey don't worry so much, Jamie. It'll go away in a bit."

"You sure? You don't need anything?"

"I'm sure," Teddy paced over to him and turned him around, putting an arm around his shoulders and leading him down the hall, "I appreciate that you're worried, James, really. Just... don't mention it to Lily? Or Victoire? I don't want any of them to worry."

"Vic doesn't know?" James asked in surprise.

"Well, I didn't think it was something she needed to know..."

James felt a swell of pride at that, at the fact Teddy didn't take much prodding before he told James what was wrong, while he hadn't told Victoire. The entire family seemed to think she and Teddy were soul mates, meant for each other, so they would probably be stunned that Teddy hadn't told her anything of his chronic headaches. It wasn't like they were dating, though. They didn't need to tell each other everything, and they wouldn't have needed to even if they had still been dating. Come to think of it, it was likely no one else in the family knew about their breakup either. Teddy had been blasé about it, still smiling with Victoire beside him.

"It was mutual," he said, an arm propped against Victoire's shoulder, "Snogging her is very fun, but-."

"But I want to date someone more available," Victoire had interrupted, arms folded, while Teddy's face darkened and the tips of his hair got pink, "He's just going to get busier now that he's an Auror, and I have my own ambitions. Not to mention, I think both our eyes have been turned towards other people."

"Merlin, what?!" Dominique had gaped, standing beside James and Fred, who were both just as dumbstruck.

"Teddy likes someone else?" Fred asked, pointing at the older man.

"So do you?" Dominique pointed at her sister, who rolled her eyes.

"So you're breaking up?" James asked, and Victoire shrugged.

"Well, yes. I'll still snog him if I'm bored though."

Teddy just laughed, the pink in his hair disappearing, and James tried to ignore the excitement he felt at their breakup while also wondering why he'd be happy at all.

Teddy leaned against him as they descended the stairs, and James got the sense it wasn't to be funny. He could feel Teddy shaking a bit, trying to hide it, or thinking he could from the way they swayed while walking, but even his voice held a tremor as he talked about his work and prodded James into talking about school, his steps faltering more on the way down than they had on the way up. The last few steps, James put an arm around Teddy to help him down, then helped him back into the currently vacant living room, where he sank down onto one of the couches.

"Pretty bright in here, isn't it?" Teddy asked, and James glanced around.

The Christmas lights in the tree were on, but the rest of the room was rather dark, there wasn't even a fire in the fireplace. He looked back at Teddy, who was squinting at the tree, a clear wince on his face.

"Maybe you should lie down," James offered, and Teddy blinked at him before shaking his head.

"Don't be ridiculous, Jamie, we haven't even had supper!"

"Yea, but-."

"Don't worry about me, James," Teddy insisted, "Really, I'll be fine."

James wanted to believe him, and he did admit Teddy hid his pain way better than James expected when Molly called for dinner. Teddy sat across the table from James, smiling and laughing with everyone else, he seemed to be having a great time. When he caught James watching him, he just smiled, and James smiled back, but he still felt worried.

If Teddy having a headache made Harry as worried as he was acting, then James got the feeling it was a lot more serious than Teddy made it out to be. Of course, that just made James more uneasy, eating only because it was an automatic response, eyes down as he scooped casserole onto his fork and pushed it into his mouth while going through a long list of both muggle and magical possibilities for Teddy's headache.

Sleep deprivation, fumes from potions he was making (because Teddy made potions quite often as it was a huge part of his job; and because he had a habit of making Wolfsbane potion just for kicks. He called it a hobby, for some reason, and always carried at least seven bottles with him "just in case"). Maybe the headaches were from overwork, or not eating enough, dehydration, casting a spell too advanced for him and leaving him with physical side effects, maybe he got cursed on his last mission. Honestly, it could be anything.

"You're being unusually quiet this evening," Albus noted from beside him, working on his dessert, which James hadn't realized had been set out.

His slice of pie was already almost entirely gone and he was feeling pleasantly full from food.

"Got a lot on my mind, that's all," James tried to counter, finishing that last bit of pie as Albus stared at him.

"How much could you even fit in that head? Isn't 80% of your brain Quidditch wired?"

"Al don't be ridiculous, Quidditch takes up no more than 50%."

James heard Teddy snicker, and met his bemused eyes as the Auror continued to laugh at him, but James just grinned back. Albus looked between them before something seemed to dawn on him and he turned away, nose wrinkled.

"Ugh."

Dinner finished and half of the family moved to help Molly clean up, Percy and Ginny worked to get the youngest kids to bed, Lucy was the only one who went without a fuss, Fred and Roxanne complained with Louis about wanting to stay up later to wait for Santa to come, Dominique muttered about Santa not being real and there was a short uproar of adults scolding her and Hugo shrieking that she was a liar. James, still seated at the table enjoying a cup of tea, saw Teddy wince at the noise, his face paling a few more shades. James was tempted to leap up and tell everyone to just shut up already, his fingers biting into the porcelain of his mug and eyes glaring until the youngest of his cousins had finally left the kitchen.

Molly brought Teddy a new cup of tea before his first had even been finished, simply because she decided he'd let it get too cold and that was unacceptable. Andromeda left with a promise of returning the next morning, and tried to get Teddy to come with her, but he insisted he stay.

"I'm still drinking my tea, gran."

"Don't worry, Andy, we'll take care of him," Molly assured, and Andromeda nodded, squeezing her hands before kissing Teddy's cheek and leaving through the floo.

"Bedtime, James," Ginny called, and James gaped at her.

"What for? I'm not a kid, can't I stay up?"

"No, James," Ginny chided, and Teddy grinned as he groaned and pushed himself up.

"I'm seventeen, this is dumb."

"Nighty night, Jamie," Teddy sang, and James stuck out his tongue defiantly.

He passed Ginny in the doorway, accepting the kiss she placed to his forehead, "Sleep well, darling."

But he didn't go straight to bed, and hovered just around the corner as Ginny joined Harry, who was talking in a low voice. James inched closer to hear better.

"Did you take something?"

"Yes, just before I came," Teddy was the one to answer, "I really am fine."

"You should sleep," Harry said to him, clearly not caring for his words, "Tonight will probably be the worst for you."

"I just didn't want to disappoint Lily or the others by not coming," Teddy admitted, sounding tired, "I'll be okay."

"Do you want a bed, darling?" Molly asked.

"That's okay, gran, I can take the couch. I think that would be best."

James scrambled up the stairs before they walked out of the kitchen and ducked into the first bedroom he came to. All the boys had been set up in one bedroom, the girls were in another, Christmas was always set up like that, and James normally loved it. Accept, Teddy usually took the room with the rest of them, but now he would be downstairs. Because he was sick with a bad headache and didn't want to worry any of the younger kids.

James would be sharing the room with Fred, Louis, Albus, and Hugo. Victoire, Dominique, Rose, Roxanne, Lily, Lucy, and Molly were all in the room just next door. Fred was bugging Albus when James walked into the room and shut the door, all of them curled up in sleeping bags on the floor, or the little bed that Louis and Hugo had commandeered as theirs. Albus was curled up on the couch trying to ignore Fred, holding a pillow over his head.

"Come on, Al, one game."

"Sod off, I'm tired."

"Why are you so moody all the time?" Louis asked, smiling at James but frowning immediately, "Where'd Ted go?"

"Uh, he's staying downstairs tonight."

"Too good for us small kids?" Fred asked, abandoning his quest to get Albus to play wizards chess in favor of sitting on his sleeping bag.

James just laughed and made sure the door was shut before walking over and taking the sleeping bag next to Fred, between he and the couch where Albus was laying.

"It's nothing like that. He's just, you know, talking with the adults right now, and doesn't want to wake us up later by sneaking in to sleep, so decided to just take the couch."

"That's a lie!" Hugo said, then leaned down to whisper, "He's in the living room. He's trying to catch Santa. I know Dom was lying, he is real, and Teddy's gonna catch him tonight!"

Louis rolled his eyes and flopped onto his back as Fred grinned, biting back a joke as James nodded fervently.

"You got that right, Hugo, but we better be quiet, otherwise Santa won't ever come."

"You're thirteen, Hu," Louis noted, "How has Uncle Ron kept you believing this nonsense?"

"I've seen him Lou, with my own eyes!" Hugo argued, and there was a knock on the door.

"Sleep well, boys," Harry's voice came through, and the five boys waited and listened for his footsteps to lead away before James pointed his wand at the lamps on the table to flick them off without having to get up.

"Let's go to sleep now."

"I'm not sleeping," Hugo said wisely, "I'm staying up all night to help Teddy catch Santa."

James laid down with a sigh, "Hugo, you're the light of my life, but if you bother Teddy tonight, I'll hang you out the attic window by your ankles and bind you there with spelotape until you apologize."

"And I, will help," Fred added, and Hugo mumbled something before the sound of rustling sheets and comforters filled the room.

James stayed on his back, staring up at the pitch ceiling with his wand in his hand as he waited for the sounds of his cousin's finally sleeping. It seemed to take forever before Hugo's soft snores began to rise from the bed, Fred's slightly louder snorts coming from beside James, and the occasional mumble in Louis' sleep, in French (an absolute phenomenon, because while awake, Louis had trouble speaking more than a few basic words, but while sleeping he appeared fluent in his mother's language).

James almost jumped when Albus spoke in a whisper under his breath, "Is Teddy okay?"

"Merlin- I thought you were asleep."

"I'm not."

"I noticed."

"He didn't look too good today."

"He's just overworked," James lied, "He needs sleep, that's what dad said."

"... fine," Albus decided, blankets shifting as he turned, "Try not to worry too much."

"I'm not worried."

"Sure, James."

James didn't know if he or Albus fell asleep first, but the next thing he knew he was waking up sometime during the night, tangled up in his sleeping bag with Fred partway on top of him, having rolled closer in his sleep and deciding James would make a nice cushion. It was pitch black, but he was pretty confident that what had woken him was his brother's hand dangling in his face, which he pushed back onto the couch before grumbling and sitting up, rubbing his hands into his eyes before squinting around the room.

There was no way to know what time it was without leaving the room, so he slipped away from Fred's grasp and slowly rose to his feet, picking up his wand and shuffling over to the door before cracking it open and slipping out, shutting it and whispering "lumos" to dimly light the tip of his wand.

The clock hanging on the wall just in front of him ticked with a dozen hands, but the two largest were at 2:23 a.m., so James turned to return to bed, but paused when he noticed a dim orange glow from the stairs. His thoughts on Teddy, he crept to the steps and began descending them, shaking the light in his wand dark and stopping halfway to the first floor, crouching to peer between the bars of the staircase railing into the living room.

Teddy was sitting up on the couch, clearly awake, the blankets still folded beside him with an untouched pillow sitting on top. Sitting on the coffee table in front of him, for some reason, was a case that held, from what James could see at the distance he crouched, potion ingredients and other oddities. The fireplace was crackling with orange light that send oddly colored shadows across the room, the lit up Christmas tree adding to the coloration, and Teddy was slumped forward, his face in his hands, his hair a color of pitch and tar that seemed even blacker than normal black hair.

James stowed his wand in the pocket of his sweatpants and snuck the rest of the way down the stairs, rounding the wall to reach the living area and slowly coming up to Teddy from the side, not wanting to startle him so calling out softly.

"Teddy? Pst! Hey, you okay?"

Teddy moved sluggishly, pulling his hands away from his face and cringing, pushing them back up and grinding the heels of his palms into his eyes.

"Jame... Jamie, yea, I'm... what are you doing awake?"

"Fred rolled on top of me, I was suffocating and needed to check the time. It's almost 2:30."

"Is it?"

"Have you slept?" Teddy just laughed and James drew his brow as he stepped closer, lowering himself to sit next to Teddy, as close as he could, "Is it your head?"

"I just... need a minute."

He sounded breathless and in pain, and James felt something like panic spark through him as he put a hand in Teddy's shoulder, rubbing small circles into his back as Teddy continued to cling to his face, fingers digging into his hairline and his body trembling.

"I'm okay."

"You're not okay, Teddy, Merlin. Let me help, how do I help?" Teddy shook his head, "I'll get my dad, he'll know what to do."

"Don't wake him up for this, James, I just need a minute," he winced, "Owe..."

James had his hand on the back of Teddy's head now, stroking his unusually dark hair and turned towards him, his other hand curled around Teddy's wrist.

"Teddy I can't help you unless you let me. You're used to these headaches, right? So tell me what to do to help."

Teddy was still for a moment, shadows from the Christmas lights and the fireplace casting across him, and James rubbed his back as he started to pull his hands from his eyes.

His face seemed even whiter than before, if that was possible. The flush in his cheeks had gone green, and the white had tinged gray, he almost looked seasick, or like a ghost, his black eyes blank and glassy like he couldn't see straight. What really made James panic, though, was the blood.

A single fine line of scarlet that dripped from Teddy's nose, across his lips and down his chin, stark against the pale white of the rest of his face. James felt himself choke and reach out, instinctively pressing the sleeve of his shirt under Teddy's nose, the light gray staining quickly as Teddy tried to pry him away.

"Stop, you'll make a mess."

"Teddy you're bleeding!"

"Shhh!" Teddy cringed, pulling James' hand away, the blood smeared and dry edges if the line flaked across his lips and chin, nodding to the table.

James was reluctant to look away, but did so anyway, to see that Teddy had set up a few potion ingredients, a small cauldron sitting next to them, but he seemed to have stopped in the middle of weighing strands of hair-thin willow bark.

"What's that?"

"Tonic... for my head. Kingsley Shacklelbolt developed it with a bit of help from Slughorn when I first started getting my migraines. It... it helps. The first potion I learned how to make, because I needed it. I ran out, though, too embarrassed to tell Harry. I've been so busy I didn't have time to make more before coming, so I figured I'd just whip up a small bit while I was here. But my... my head got really bad... it's pounding, it hurts so bad, my hands are shaking too much."

"I'll do it!" James offered immediately, snatching the paper sitting on the table that held the directions for the potion, "Just lie down, okay? Close your eyes."

He scrambled around, pushing the pillow against the arm of the couch on the other side of Teddy, then taking his shoulder and urging him to slowly lie down, wincing as he went and rolling onto his side, taking the handkerchief James gave him with shaking fingers and holding it against his nose to keep the blood from getting on Molly's furniture.

"Just lie there, okay?" James said, rounding the table and kneeling down, going down the list and repeating everything at least eight times in his head, "I'll take care of it."

It was, unfortunately, a very complicated potion. After lighting a small magical fire under the cauldron that wouldn't smolder the wood of the coffee table, he began weighing ingredients and adding them; willow bark and heavily diluted dittany, an eighth of an ounce of powdered silver, exactly two drops of Salamander tears, and a handful of other ingredients that made the tonic bubble a strange orange.

James was absolutely silent the entire time, concentrating harder than he'd ever done before for any potion or tonic, even during an exam. He just wanted to get this right, so Teddy could stop hurting. After adding in another few ingredients, he stared in awe as the potion turned an odd silvery color that took the appearance of mercury, added Flobberworm slime to thicken it, mixed it exactly sixteen times counterclockwise, and nudged Teddy.

"Teds, I'm done. Did I do it right?"

Teddy opened his unfocused eyes and sat up, shaking worse than before, James noticed the ring of white in the middle of either iris, and he stared at the tonic, nodding slowly.

"Yea... yea, it has the right consistency, the right color."

"Right, good," James carefully ladled the tonic into a cup that had been waiting nearby, sitting on the couch next to Teddy and waiting for the Auror to wrap his hands around it.

Still shaking, so James kept a hold on the cup as well, helping to lift it so Teddy could drink it, his face twisting in dislike but drinking all of it and turning away to cough into his arm.

"Did it taste right? Did I do it right? Are you okay?"

"You did fine, James, I trust you," Teddy promised, but James felt wary as he set the cup back down, taking the handkerchief from Teddy's weakly clenched fist and cleaning away the blood on his chin.

"I thought from the silver... does this have to do with your dad?"

Teddy winced at that, "I'm not a werewolf."

"Yea I know, but-."

"I get migraines when the moon is full," Teddy mumbled, "No one picked up on it immediately, took a few years for my grandma to realize the headaches came so frequently around the same cycle of the moon filling out. There's never been a case of a werewolf having a child before, not like me, so no one really knew what would happen. I guess... even if I'm not a full werewolf, even if I don't transform, something in me still reacts to the full moon. My head feels like it's shrinking in on my brain, like my skull is shattering open. It's horrible. It can get so bad that I black out, I get nauseous, have nightmares."

"I'm sorry," James said it softly, still trying the wipe away the blood from Teddy's nose, "Do you... get nose bleeds a lot?"

Teddy nodded, "If my nose starts bleeding it's a pretty clear sign my headache is getting too severe. Normally I'm supposed to take that tonic before it happens. After it bleeds, then I start feeling nauseous, and by then it's too late to take my tonic, and I usually black out."

"Did you take it too late now?"

"No, I think I got it in time...," he managed to smile at James, taking the handkerchief from him, "Thank you. I don't think I would've been able to finish preparing it had you not come along to help. I'm sorry, though, that you have to see me like this."

"I don't care about that, Ted," James assured, keeping a hand on his shoulder, "You don't have to hide anything from me just to keep me from worrying. If you need help with this again in the future, let me know, okay?" he waited eagerly for Teddy to nod, then pulled away his hand, "Good then. Lie down again since you've taken the tonic. I'll put all this away."

"You go back to sleep too," Teddy insisted, watching James put all the potion supplies back into the small case.

"I will, I promise, just let me do this much more for you."

Teddy didn't complain, either he was too exhausted to or was genuinely fine with James doing more. He sat quietly on the couch and finished cleaning up his face as James finished putting everything away, filling a few vials with what was left of the tonic and stowing them in the box as well, shutting and securing it before sitting back on the couch next to Teddy.

"Aren't you going to bed?" he asked, James was pleased to see his eyes were lightening from the pitch black.

"Um, duh?" James pulled at the blanket that was hanging over the back of the couch, "I'm getting settled now."

"You should go back upstairs."

"Fred and Hugo keep snoring, Louis talks too much in his sleep, and I woke up with Al's hand in my face. I'd probably sleep better down here anyway," James decided, wrapping the blanket around himself, throwing the other side around Teddy, who seemed like he wanted to protest.

James didn't give him time to, just took the second blanket that Molly had left there for Teddy and wrapped that one around them both before curling up, feeling the weight of his worry mix with the early morning hour and yawning through the crackle of the fire.

"You can use me as a pillow," he said to Teddy, but he didn't really expect him to take the offer, so when he did, slumping and lying his head on James' shoulder, he tensed up in surprise, wide eyes staring at the mantle.

"Thank you," Teddy mumbled, he sounded truly exhausted, and James looked down at him, eyes closed and face still too pale.

His hair, luckily, had changed from that tar black, and the shade it had taken made James blink a few times in surprise. Pale, powdery pink, like crushed peppermint.

Teddy fell asleep within moments, and James curled closer to him, ensuring the blanket was securely around them and shutting his eyes, lying his cheek in Teddy's hair. He smelt like peppermint, too...

It didn't take James long to fall asleep either, and by the time he woke up, it was already nine in the morning, which was much later than he'd expected. Though he did stay awake with Teddy for pretty long, at least an hour. At first he didn't understand what had woken him, peeling his eyes open a crack just to stare at the fireplace, the stockings all stuffed and the fire newly stoked.

Then he heard it, the condescending sound of someone sipping tea, and blinked his eyes open, rolling his head to see both Albus and Lily sitting in armchairs across from the couch against the wall, holding cups and wearing matching red and green rimmed Christmas themed sunglasses that twinkled at the edges, the lenses a flashing gold and silver; gifts from Ron no doubt. The two of them were watching him with simple expressions, their eyes hidden by the glasses, but when they seemed to catch him looking at them in bewilderment, they lifted their tea cups from their saucers and brought them to their lips in a ridiculously well rehearsed and simultaneous movement, taking slow, very loud, very condescending sips.

"What... the devil... are you two doing?" James managed to ask through his tumble of confused emotions, and Lily slowly lowered her teacup back into the saucer held in her other hand.

"That, Mister Potter, is what we should be asking."

"How long have you been sitting there?" James asked, shifting, pausing when he felt Teddy's weight still rested against him, head against his shoulder.

"What time is it, Miss Potter?" Albus asked, and Lily answered without looking away from James.

"It's 9:23, Mister Potter."

"Then we've been sitting here for thirty minutes maybe."

"Why do you sound so proud of that?" James asked, still so entirely confused, "You two are freaking me out."

"When did you come downstairs last night?" Lily asked, and James gaped at her.

"I don't know, two o'clock I think?"

"And why did you come down so early, Mister Potter?" Albus asked, "Surely you don't believe in Santa, do you?"

"What? Don't be ridiculous."

Both of them stood up at the same time, setting their saucers and teacups on the table as Lily whipped out a muggle flashlight and flipped it on, shining it into James' face.

"So you admit you came down here to see Teddy?"

"What? I mean, yea? Where did you get that?"

"And what were you doing?" Albus asked, and James squinted against the light to see him.

"I was sleeping, what the bloody else would I be doing?"

His younger siblings crowded closer, "I don't know, James, what would you be doing at 2 a.m. Christmas Eve, sneaking downstairs to visit Teddy?"

"Sleeping, I just told you!"

"Kids, I said not to wake them up," James looked to the side where their father was standing, arms folded and one eyebrow raised, still in his sleepwear and his hair tangled in a bedhead.

Albus and Lily backed away, and Lily shut off her flashlight before picking up her teacup, "He woke up on his own, we didn't do anything, right Al?"

"Yea, dad."

Harry looked at James, who just blanked at him, "I don't even know what's going on, dad."

"Oh both of you!" Ginny snapped as she walked up beside Harry, and Lily and Albus scrambled to grab their cups and leave the room with their mother following, scolding them about bothering their brother, let Teddy rest, blah blah.

"How's he doing?" Harry asked, stepping further into the room and glancing at the closed potion kit before looking at Teddy, whose hair had changed to it's natural tawny brown color in sleep.

It was the best way to know he was really sleeping and not faking. Teddy always kept his hair blue, or other wild colors, only allowing it to change back to the shade he was born with, his father's hair, when he was truly relaxed, not paying attention. Usually when he was sleeping. James loved how fun Teddy's hair could be, but he loved it when he showed his true colors even more. He just wished he could see Teddy's blue-green eyes more often.

"I dunno... he wasn't doing too good last night," James said, looking at his father, "Why did you never tell me about his migraines?"

Harry paused beside the couch, one corner of his lips twitching in a controlled smile before looking down at Teddy, "Well, it wasn't entirely relevant, and would have just worried you."

"His nose was bleeding, too," James said, looking down at where the stained handkerchief was clutched in Teddy's loose fist, "He was hurting pretty bad."

"So he didn't take his medicine after all," Harry looked again to the potion kit, and James shook his head.

"He said he ran out and didn't have time to make more because he's been so busy with work."

"He knows I would have helped," Harry said, looking both guilty and indignant, like he was upset he hadn't realized Teddy was lying and mad that Teddy had lied in the first place, "Honestly."

"I made it up for him," James assured, "Last night. He was starting it but couldn't finish, so I did it for him and made sure he drank it."

"He still looks pretty ill," Harry sighed, "I'm going to let your grandmother know, she and I will make something to put color back in his face," he paused while turning, smiling at James, "Good job looking after him. You must have fixed the potion quickly if he slept so easily."

"Think so?" James asked, "I was worried I may have gotten something wrong. That probably would have made him sicker, I don't want that."

"James, you did fine," Harry chuckled, "Just keep doing what you're doing, okay?"

Still feeling worried, but grateful, James nodded, watching his father leave the room before settling back, looking over at the tree. There were still presents sitting there, so James had a feeling everyone had been waiting for he and Teddy to wake up before tearing into them. That was nice of them, though James felt a bit guilty about making the kids wait.

They wouldn't have to wait much longer, though, as Teddy shifted and lifted a hand to his face, rubbing his eyes and blinking them open, keeping a hand on his head as James reached over to him.

"Teds. You feeling better?"

"Yea," Teddy said blearily, sitting up and detaching himself from the blankets wrapped around him, stretching his arms up until his spine cracked a few times and rubbing his eyes again, "Wow, yea I feel much better. Headaches almost completely gone."

He smiled at James, who had to grin back, because his eyes were that shade of pale blue and icy green that he'd inherited from his father. He must not realize what he looked like yet, still sleepy and not paying attention. James rarely if ever got to see Teddy like this, with his guard completely down; he really did look like his father.

The shade of his eyes flashed to a darker green as blue rapidly colored in his hair and footsteps pounded on the floor, the back door opening and most of the Weasley kids crowding back into the house covered in snow, Lily prancing back into the living room and brightening when she saw Teddy awake.

"Happy Christmas, Teddy!"

Teddy laughed and caught her in a hug that she threw at him, "Happy Christmas, Lils. What time is it?"

"Like 9:30," Albus answered, his Christmas sunglasses pushed onto his head, nestled in his dark hair, "Dad said we weren't allowed to wake you up."

"You should've," Teddy said, eyes wide and looking guilty for some reason, "I don't want to make anyone wait to celebrate."

"It's not a celebration without you though!" Lily argued, pulling away from Teddy and bouncing on her feet, "Dad! Dad! Mummy! Everyone's awake! Daddy! Gran! C'mon! Auntie!" she darted from the room and Teddy laughed loudly.

He stood up and picked up his potions kit, stuffing it into the bag he'd brought along and stowing it back behind the couch before anyone realized what it was and started asking why he'd have it out in the first place. A few of the family were eating or drinking tea and coffee in the kitchen when James and Teddy walked in, but the kids were flitting about in excitement over the presents under the tree.

Molly had Teddy sit, despite his swears that he was fine, and set a plate of breakfast in front of him, ordering him to eat and not move a muscle until he'd finished. James sat with him to eat his own breakfast, not caring that it was a little different than Teddy's.

"Join us when you finish," Molly said, hurrying around the kitchen to tidy up a bit before leaving to join everyone else in the living room.

Teddy and James just laughed about it and finished their food. Like Harry had hoped, there was a lot more color to Teddy's face once he'd finished eating, balancing a mug of cider in his hand as he followed James back into the living room. Teddy seemed to be feeling better, but James kept one eye on him the rest of the morning, even when Andromeda came back, this time through the front door.

Wrapping paper was thrown everywhere, little Molly couldn't decide what she liked better, the bow that had been tied around her present or the thick sweater her grandmother had wrapped it around, everyone was wearing their new Weasley sweater, even Teddy, while eating the candy and looking through books or toys. The adults had gone into the kitchen to cook and talk, half the kids were outside playing in the snow. Teddy tried to join them, but Harry asked him to stay inside ("Just for now, rest."). James was silently pleased about it and stayed inside with him despite how Hugo and Lucy tried to get him outside for a snowball fight.

"The last thing I want to do is ruin your Christmas, James," Teddy muttered, and James just stared at him.

"Name one legitimate way you've ruined my Christmas at all," he dared, and Teddy frowned.

"You had to take care of me last night, I made you wake up late-."

"Teddy I said a legitimate way. Taking care of you didn't ruin anything," James said it with a smile, and after a moment it had the effect he wanted as Teddy smiled back, the ends of his hair paling into that same powder pink that it had been before he'd fallen asleep just the night before.

The pink changed back to blue after a moment, but through the rest of the day it kept popping back up at times. Sometimes just the tips, sometimes whole streaks would flow into existence before changing back to blue, and Victoire was becoming increasingly fascinated by it, looking far too amused and absolutely beaming whenever the pink would show up again.

The more Teddy noticed her grinning, the more frustrated he seemed to get with her, but that just seemed to amuse her even more, and the entire time James just smiled at their interaction, innocently oblivious to whatever silent conversation they were having.

"Stop smirking at me," he heard Teddy whisper at one point when he was focused on something else, and Victoire whispered back.

"You're being very conspicuous, you know?"

"Shut up."

"Do you want a hat?"

"I swear to Merlin..."

"Just be happy he's a complete idiot."

"What are you two whispering about?" Albus asked, from behind them, making them jump in their seats.

"Nothing, Al," Teddy assured quickly, "Grown up stuff."

"Sure," Albus said, reaching up to slide down the red and green sunglasses and lifting up a bottle of Butterbeer with a straw sticking out of it, "but keep in mind, Teds. I, am not a complete idiot," Teddy actually looked a little frightened at that, while Victoire just grinned more, and Albus lifted his drink, "Cheers," and walked away.

"Sometimes I love that boy," Victoire revealed, and Teddy sunk down in his armchair, taking hold of the neck of his sweater and lifting it over his face to hide in it.

By supper time, Teddy seemed to be back to normal, though a bit tired. Sections of his blue hair kept changing to pink, and he'd mutter under his breath in annoyance after realizing it, but he was in much higher spirits, and despite how worried James had been for him, he felt that Christmas had been a success, and was eager to get back to school. It was his last year after all, he wanted to make the most of his Potions class.

"I think I might want to look into being an Auror," James said nonchalantly to Teddy, having taken the seat beside him for dinner that night, and Teddy glanced at him in surprise.

"Really?" he asked for clarity, leaning closer so they could hear each other over the roar of voices passing around the long table, "What brought that up?"

James shrugged, one elbow against the table and his chin in his hand, "Dunno. Guess it seems like a good career."

"You shouldn't pick a job just because it sounds good. You've gotta be passionate about something or you might start slacking, and a Ministry job isn't something you can slack on."

"I know that already," James said in annoyance, "I just wanna learn more about Potions and Tonics, and Aurors use them a lot, don't they?"

Teddy stared at him for a moment, assessing his words, not realizing his blue hair was quickly changing back to that powdery peppermint pink color. Not just strands this time, but entirely.

"Yea, they do," Teddy agreed as James slid his fingertip around the edge of his glass, "You know, there are other careers where you can research Potions. You could go into medicine and work at St Mungos, that could be nice."

"Yea, but you're not at St Mungos, you're at the Ministry," James said, holding up his hand in a "blah" way as if he figured his reasoning was already obvious.

"I thought you weren't that interested in potions?" Teddy asked, dragging his water goblet closer and hiding his face in it as he tried to fix his hair back before more people noticed it.

Already Victoire was snickering again, Albus and Lily had slowly lowered their matching Christmas themed sunglasses over their eyes (where had they even gotten those?), and Harry was glancing between he and his oldest niece with a look of confusion. He could only take bits of comfort from the fact they couldn't hear his conversation with James over the table.

"Well, I wasn't really," James folded his arms over the edge of the table, "They seemed kind of pointless, you know? If I can cast Charms and Spells, why do I need something as physical as Potions? But... I think I get it now, after last night."

"Last night?"

"Well, yea," James gave Teddy an innocent look, one eyebrow raised, "I can't imagine there's a spell I could've cast to make your migraine go away, right?" Teddy choked on his water, "Potions have their uses, they're important; I get it now," James smiled at his plate as he went back to his food, not noticing the way Teddy tried to drown himself in his goblet.

"You're sure you can't stay?" Molly was asking Andromeda at the door later in the night.

The kids were back in the living room trying to clean up, but constantly distracted by the tinsel, toys, and wrapping bows. Harry, Molly, and Ginny were at the door seeing off Andromeda and Teddy, who'd finally managed to fix his hair right and was playing with the strap of his bag.

"We would, but you know how I like spending some alone time with him," Andromeda smiled over at Teddy, who was saying goodbye to Harry, "Besides, we still need to visit Cissy and Draco."

"Yes, of course," Molly looked towards Andromeda's bag, where she'd placed three more wrapped presents, sweaters Molly had made for the three Malfoy's.

While Molly Weasley had found common ground with Narcissa and Draco, and liked Scorpius, she'd conveniently forgotten about Lucius; but she was sure he wouldn't mind; and she didn't care even if he did.

"You'll be apparating there?"

"That's right."

"Well go quick, it's supposed to snow again soon," Molly hugged the other woman before hustling Teddy into her arms, then patting his cheeks and praising him for looking much healthier than he had before.

The two of them stepped into the snow beyond, and Molly shut the door to keep out the cold, moving to the window instead to wave them off. James was at the other window across the room, opened and leaning out to wave at Teddy.

"Happy Christmas! I'll see you soon!"

"Yea?" Teddy grinned and trudged through the snow to reach the window, "See you at the Ministry?"

"Absolutely! And you have to come meet me once I'm home from Hogwarts! Meet me at King's Cross and see me off! It's my last year remember!"

"I couldn't forget if I tried," Teddy promised, digging in his bag for a moment, "One thing, Jamie, but would you watch something for me?"

"Hm?" James frowned, watching Teddy pull out a glass vial of his tonic, and a familiar folded piece of paper, both of which he handed to James, who cradled the vial before unfolding the paper, "Your tonic?"

"Yea, keep it," Teddy said, "I've got it memorized already. Keep that bit just in case I forget again, and keep the recipe too, just in case."

James gaped at him, "Are you sure? This is your health you're giving me, it's no small gift."

"No, I know," Teddy smiled, cheeks flushed from cold, "It's a metaphor, Jamie."

"I'm not that great with those."

"I figured," Teddy started backing up, snow crunching under his boots, "If I trust anyone with my health, it's you," James felt his face warm, and Teddy laughed a little, like he'd made a funny joke, "Happy Christmas, James."

"Yea," James smiled again, lifting his empty hand in a wave, "Happy Christmas."

Teddy and Andromeda apparated seconds later, and snow started drifting down from the dark sky. James leaned back into the house and shut the window, reading over the recipe again before stowing it and the spare vial of tonic into the pocket of his jeans, turning around and jumping in place when he found himself face to face with Lily and Albus.

"Bloody fuck!" he gasped, grabbing his chest and leaning against the wall, "Why have you two started doing this? What pleasure do you gain from giving me these heart attacks?"

"What did Teddy give you?" Lily asked, and James frowned, folding his arms.

"A potion recipe, why?"

"Why'd he give you that?" Albus asked next.

"To practice. I'm going into the Ministry as an Auror after graduating."

Lily and Albus exchanged a look before slowly sliding their sunglasses onto their faces.

"Sure, James, we believe you."

"Where did you even get those?!"

Gleeful laughter and carols sung off key continued to lift from the Burrow into the night as the snow continued to fall and blanket the ground, the sky cloudy, but near midnight when the snow finally paused, there was a break in the clouds, letting a newly waxing moon shine light over the field of white.

#jeddy #je t'aime #tames #cursed child fanfiction #fanfiction #teddy lupin #James Sirius Potter #albus severus potter #lily luna potter #potter sibling triune #ao3 #first actual jeddy fic #moon sick #werewolf

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tyrwinthyr · 5 years

Text

Episode 2, act 1

A reminder - you can get the full first episode here to catch up - https://www.patreon.com/posts/23638142 and the second episode is available fully for my patrons!

The apartment building across the street glared down at everyone and everything near it. The roof had caved years ago, causing the windows near the top to form furrowed brows. Each of its twenty-four ‘eyes’ gave Sheila the blame for its condition. To her, the entire area felt filled with irate buildings, vexed street signs, and the cars were downright indignant.

She didn’t blame them for their anger. In the latter part of the Crusade, when the then-governor had discovered a community of aggressive Fae in Jersey City, the Guard were sent to drive them out. The 42nd National Guard division, ironically enough known as the Rainbow Brigade, was not ready for the resistance they encountered. Everyone had heard stories about trolls and bridges, but few understood just how protective of their territory they truly were. Yearly memorials for the 113 human lives lost in what the papers called a ‘military debacle’ reminded the people just what the Folk were capable of.

Since soldiers hadn’t done the trick of routing the ‘monsters’ from such a key location (right outside the Holland tunnel), bombs were dropped next. Whoever had constructed the ‘anti-Fae’ bombs hadn’t bothered to reduce their destructive capacity. The goal was to spray a chemical mix of iron and silver in all directions; it would have been devastating enough for the Folk if they’d stopped there. Multiple ordinance explosions ensured that what would have been a slower death by iron inhalation was, instead, instantaneous.

Those who bothered to count the bodies of fallen Fae discovered 9 families, a total of 35 Folk. With millions of the Good Neighbors destroyed in similar acts of violence, the location Sheila stood on now was one of the few where human lives lost were greater than their enemies’.

She had decided to stop walking only a short time ago, instead finding a street light to lean on. The iron and silver had sunk into the ground. With every step she could feel the bone cold pain of that horrid mixture sapping her strength. She could feel it through the layers she wore; jacket, gloves, leg warmers, even the rubber ‘shoe’ wrapped around her hooves. The weather was chilly, but it wasn’t the air that made her clutch her arms to her chest.

“I would really, really like to get out of here,” she reminded Zbrozek for the third time since they had entered the city. It had been hard for her to create the portal they used, but he had insisted. “I’m not getting siderosis for you!” Her voice echoed past the furious buildings from across the street.

“Actually, siderosis is caused by inhalation of iron-oxide exposure after many years of contact,” Alois mansplained while checking the back seat of an abandoned car. “We aren’t going to get it from a short jaunt into a dusty area.”

“Well, you aren’t Folk,” Sheila pointed out, though quieter, not crossing the street to join them. She was the only one of the nonhumans the lieutenant had brought on the mission; she felt a bit outnumbered. Zbrozek had enlisted a pair of BNC commandos dressed in full riot SWAT-style gear, saying it would ensure their ‘safety.’ The satyr did not feel the least bit safer with them around.

To the north, a group of cars waiting to enter the tunnel started honking. ‘Tall soldier’ lifted his MP5 towards the noise nervously. Sheila remembered their names, and was mostly sure that one was ‘Chatfield,’ but she had nicknamed them anyway. Closer to her, ‘Box Warrior’ (what did Bohag mean, anyway?) made a cautionary noise.

“Easy, brother… area free of hostiles as of oh-eight-hundred this morning,” Boxy said, patting Talls on the shoulder. With a flick of a thumb over his shoulder, Boxy indicated Sheila, “They wouldn’t take a chance with the princess.”

“I asked them to do the sweep,” Zbrozek corrected, loudly, before the satyr could express her dissatisfaction at being referred to as a ‘princess.’ “Because we have to have noncoms with us. Stay focused, and leave the princess be.”

After closing her shocked mouth, she stomped her hoof once before looking away from the humans, chin upwards. A moment later, she smiled to herself, remembering the awed faces of the soldiers when she had opened the portal. It had taken most of her strength to bind the trod, but that moment had made it all worth it.

“We’ll do this in a grid pattern,” the lieutenant continued, making motions. “We’ll have to check all of this before we can return. The sighting was right by the Hess station there, so our intelligence is that the creature lives close by.”

Sheila walked across the street towards them at a determined gait, chill or no chill. She drew attention to some graffiti on the side of the glowering apartment building by rapping on it with her knuckles.

“They’d be in here,” she said, her face a rare combination of pride and nausea.

“Explain,” Zbrozek demanded as he moved up next to her, examining the wall.

“Most of this is street tags,” she answered, stepping away from the wall. “Some of it is quite good… see the colors in the young woman’s face up there?” A glance back at the lieutenant was all it took to get her back on focus. “Anyway, that bit there isn’t paint, it’s spit.”

The symbol in question was dayglo green, smeared like a finger painting into a rough ‘X’ shape.

“How can you tell?” the doctor inquired, reaching gloved fingers up to touch the substance.

“Smell,” she replied bluntly in an effort to close that particularly line of questioning down quickly.

“Okay, by the numbers then,” the lieutenant moved towards the door, pulling his service pistol out of his jacket holster.

“You’re going to take her word for it?” Talls said, adjusting his helmet. Sheila figured he was the youngest of the humans present. “How do you know she’s not setting us up, sending us into a trap?”

“Not that I need to explain it to you, kid,” Zbrozek growled. “But I know my people. Now, line up and let’s do this!”

It was obvious the soldier wasn’t convinced, but he fell into line regardless. They moved into the building, leaving Sheila and the doctor outside.

“Smell, you say?” Alois asked as soon as the three were out of sight. She sighed inwardly. Blunt hadn’t worked.

“Yeah.”

“I had noted that a lot of you have keener senses,” he commented, removing a pad from his satchel to scribble in. “That whole ‘I smell the blood of an Englishman’ thing. Can you actually do that, tell region or genetics through smell?”

The only answer he received was folded arms and a raised eyebrow.

“I only ask for science, of course.”

The sound of the MP5 rifles firing rapidly inside the building might have stopped her from answering, had she meant to in the first place. They stepped away from the building, looking up at the windows for any sign of their quarry. They could see the muzzle flashes moving from room to room on the third floor, followed by barely heard shouting. A sound like distant thunder responded, followed immediately by more gunfire.

Right above the two on the street a window exploded outward. A huge, dark form fell, surrounded by a storm of broken glass. With a quick kick, Sheila punted the doctor out of the way. Shards fell on her head and cut her raised arms; she escaped the largest mass by mere inches.

Like most people of the current age, Sheila had only ever seen trolls on the TV. Unable to hide at all after the protection lifted, anyone with a smart phone was soon capturing their enormity. The being that landed on its back next to her was quite definitely a troll. It was a giant of a being, ten feet tall if it was an inch standing yet having proportionately tiny eyes nearly lost under densely matted hair. Its nose, shaped like the back of a shovel, parted its long mane in the middle.

A massive hand nearly the size of Sheila’s torso pushed it upward to sit. It growled, a bear’s voice echoing from a larger throat, then shook off the glass like the same animal shaking off water. Even sitting it towered over her. She realized it had on thick furred pants, but was otherwise shirtless. Red welts were visible over a large amount of its dark bare chest and arms.

Her body shook with a desire to run, but she held her ground. His, for now she was sure he was male, tiny eyes showed a glint of intelligence.

“You are forest folk,” he rumbled, raising his arm over his eyes to block out the fading daylight as he stood. “And you are very pretty. Don’t make me harm you.”

Shots fired from the third floor above shook him a little, but he kept his gaze on her.

“They are using rubber bullets,” she pointed out as she stepped closer to him. His scent was musky, he didn’t stink. His matted hair was clean, his breaches freshly washed. “They don’t want to kill you, just move you someplace safer.”

“Safer,” he grunted, eyes blinking slowly, “For who?”

“Everyone,” she responded, taking another hesitant step towards him. Cautiously, she lifted a comparatively tiny hand up towards his chest: “I know you are great and strong, but you cannot fight bombs.”

His growl caused her to back off quickly. When his rumbling laugh reached her, she frowned up at him, “Hey now!”

“You are right to be scared,” he rumbled, taking one step to match the few she’d taken away from him, “I’m not your friend, just because we’re both monsters. You think you can blink your lamb eyes at me, and maybe I won’t make you into lamb chops?”

Sheila lifted her chin and squared her shoulders. “I’m part goat, thank you very much,” she began, much to the troll’s amusement. “You’re surrounded by iron, ash and bad memories. Why would you want to stay here?”

He wasn’t as amused by the question, frowning deeply. Pushing his hair away from his long, floppy ear, he flicked a gold earring on the tip.

“My wedding ring hasn’t melted away,” he rumbled, dropping his hand. “My wife’s body was never found. If I leave… how will she find me?”

The sudden eruption of soldiers from the building gave Sheila little time to react to the answer. When they raised their weapons, she raised her arms and stepped in front of him. Her sudden yelp at being shot in the hip by Talls made the large being behind her growl again.

“Stand down, dipshit,” Zbrozek commanded, lowering his own pistol. “She’s obviously got the situation under control.”

“No thanks to you shitheads,” she reprimanded them while rubbing her thigh. She really wanted to sit down from the pain, but she wasn’t going to give them free shots at the troll. “Lieutenant… fuck that hurts… can you come here, please?”

The soldiers didn’t really ‘stand down,’ not fully. They kept their weapons raised but at least they weren’t firing. As her boss walked towards her, Sheila gave the troll a smile, hoping to keep him calm.

“He is looking for his wife,” she started immediately as the lieutenant drew close. “Can’t we just let him go?”

Zbrozek’s gaze went up to the trolls even as he shook his head.

“After that debacle with the baobhan? You know we can’t do that, Red.” Sheila still winced at their choice of code name, but she nodded anyway. The tongue lashing all of them had received from Captain Golder still stung her pride.

“Him is right here,” the troll said, settling his weight on his heels. “I prefer you not to speak about me like I don’t have a choice.”

“What choice do you think you have?” the lieutenant demanded, stepping to Sheila’s side to square off against the giant.

“I could have broken you all in half,” he mused, tapping the tip of his nose with a meaty forefinger. “Still might.” Nervous chatter from the two soldiers by the door caught the troll’s attention.

A hoof hit the large being’s knee with a solid thud. “Stop it, doofus! You aren’t helping.” Ruefully, the troll rubbed the offended knee.

“Look, we need to get you out of this area. Urban renewal starts here on Monday, and they’ll send in a seek and destroy group to clear any Fae left.” Zbrozek tapped his ring finger on the side of his pistol, thoughtful rather than threatening. “There’s a place in the Catskills where you’ll be safe. A… sort of…”

“Do NOT say reservation,” Sheila demanded, glaring at him.

“There’s a very rich man who owns a huge amount of property,” Zbrozek explained. “He’s allowing us to house creatures like yourself there. He says you are an endangered species…”

The satyr’s face started turning red at ‘creatures like yourself,’ and became scarlet when she heard ‘endangered species.’ Curling her fingers into fists, she stomped a hoof as she prepared to dole out some ‘corrective language.’

“This creature,” the troll said quietly, before she could begin her tirade, “is named Gint. Until a handful of years ago, I was as much a man as you… or them.” He waved a hand at the soldiers, still near the door. “The glamour made us equal, to your eyes anyway. I immigrated here from Sweden at the turn of the last century, lured by the promise of a better life for my wife, and my kids. My family has maintained Ellis island proudly for the better part of a hundred years.”

Sheila turned away, dabbing at her eyes with the sleeve of her jacket.

“I found the bodies of my children before your scientists could take them away. All of their tiny bones had been broken in the blasts that killed them." He continued despite? because of? the flinch that the humans listening couldn't quite hide. "Their ears were rent from their heads. Trophies by the soldiers, I think. Their souls had seen enough, so I buried them in a place no one will ever think to look.” His sniff was loud, and full of phlegm, “Then I waited for my wife to come.”

“She hasn’t come back, has she,” Zbrozek said, finger still tapping the side of his gun. “Maybe she’s at the rese… the safe space? I know there is one other troll there. I don’t know if it is a girl troll, though…”

“Trollkoner,” Alois said, coming forward. His hands clutched his side, reminding the satyr of how she’d moved him out of the way. “Trollkoner are female trolls. Gint, you are lucky man to have such a wife, if I am to believe the lore.”

For the first time, the troll showed a hint of a smile, his mouth curling upwards. It was an impressively sized mouth, spreading from the edges of his jawbone.

“Ibsen is lucky to have me as her troll,” he said, “but I am profoundly lucky to have her as a wife.” The soldiers had started to calm and lower their weapons, but his grin set them on edge again. Gint waved a hand at them dismissively, “What if it isn’t her?”

“Then I give you my word that we will continue to look for her,” Zbrozek replied, putting his own weapon away.

“HA!” the troll slapped his belly with humor, small eyes glittering darkly. “The word of a human. Pshaw.”

“I don’t see that you have a choice but to trust me,” replied the lieutenant, motioning for the armed pair of soldiers to stand down. “You come with us, take a chance that I will continue working to find her, or you stay here and die when they level everything.”

Sheila held her breath while the giant considered things. Her fearless leader wasn’t bluffing, but there was no way Gint could know that.

“Shake my hand, and I will believe you,” he said, lowering his massive mitt. “Man to man.”

Zbrozek didn’t hesitate, placing his very small palm against the troll’s. But only a slight wince escaped when the grip was accepted; both men nodded at each other.

At the debrief a few hours later, Sheila slumped in her chair, staring upwards. The lieutenant had demanded she open one portal after another for days, and there seemed to be no end in sight. After she refused to open the one beyond the huge iron door, she'd been forced to acknowledge she could open one on any door. There were now five different doors painted with oils, ready to be open to places he felt were necessary. Then to top off the weariness, because she was on site for the encounter with the troll, she had to sit in while Golder asked too many questions and made too many insulting assumptions.

“You will receive no assistance from the BNC,” he fired off, adjusting his tie for the tenth time since he’d entered the room. She had counted, able to tell when she wasn’t looking because of the ‘uhm’ noise he made while doing so and the glint of light against the ceiling. “If you decide to look for this female creature, it will not be sanctioned.”

“I’m well aware,” Zbrozek responded, hands folded, knuckles white.

“You are a smart man, (uhm) so I know you will do the right thing here.”

“The troll was delivered to the Fae preserve by trod,” the lieutenant released his fingers, stretching them a few times before clamping them back together. “We’ve been using the portal exclusively for such movements. It cuts down on transportation costs, as well as public contact.”

A groan brought both of their attentions to the satyr, who slumped forward in her chair dramatically.

“Don’t wear out the Trodwalker, Michael,” Golder’s face pinched up in distaste. “I hear they break down (uhm). Is there anything else about the incident I need to know?”

Sheila glowered at Zbrozek through her lashes. Was he going to let her be referred to in the same context as the SUV they used? Unfortunately, she found Alois and the lieutenant exchanging a look. Not wanting to interfere with that situation, she put her head down again.

“Nothing that comes to mind, sir,” Zbrozek lied. Not entirely convinced, Golder turned his attention to Alois, eyebrow rising expectantly.

“I’m still working out a few medical questions with Nurse Brown,” the doctor said. “You can expect a full report in the morning?” The question seemed to be directed at the lieutenant, who nodded slightly.

“I’ll expect it then (uhm), and hopefully it will pair up with Michael’s report (uhm).” After a moment spent looking between the men, Golder gathered his brief case and walked out.

“Fourteen,” Sheila muttered into her arm, which she had put under her head as a pillow.

“Pardon?” Alois asked, coming closer to her.

“Nothing. Just… meh, nevermind.”

“Lieutenant,” the doctor asked, placing an unwanted hand against the satyr’s forehead, “when do you plan on giving our dear Trodwalker some time off?”

“We’re all tired, Dr. Uhl,” Zbrozek replied as Sheila swatted the hand away from her face. “We’re a small unit, and not getting much bigger after that crap in Denver. She can rest when the rest of us do.”

“Julien may be… out of touch with the modern Fae, but he was right about one thing,” Alois said, patting her on the back. He received an indignant growl from her in return. “Their magics are not endless. You can actually break them.”

“Explain it in a way that I’ll understand.”

The doctor blinked incredulously at the other man, then tapped his chin while he thought of a better way to put it.

“Ever give blood, lieutenant?” he asked, leaning back on the table, hands behind him. When the other man nodded, he continued, “Know how you feel uneasy, dizzy, so they give you a cookie and tell you to take it easy? Imagine that opening the portal is like giving blood for Miss Whitehart here. You’ve been withdrawing blood for days without even giving her a cookie.”

Sheila lifted her head fully, offering the doctor a puzzled look. His analogy was pretty spot on. The process of opening the gates was draining. She just didn’t understand how he knew what it was like.

“That right, Sheila?” Zbrozek asked, sounding more or less concerned. When she noted dolefully, he clucked his tongue. “Damn. I admit, I had no idea. I thought you were still giving me grief because I wouldn’t let you grab your conditioner.”

“Do you see this?” she replied, gripping the ends of her ratty pony tail. “Look at my ends? See all the frizz? The flyaways? This is entirely your fault!”

The lieutenant rolled his eyes and turned away from her, “Fine! Spend the rest of the day and night at your apartment. Do not get in any…”

Sheila had both hands on either side of Alois’s face before either of them realized she’d gotten up. After kissing him hard on the lips, she darted to the door. When she pulled it open, Whipple fell into the room, rolled to a chair, and sat like he’d been there the whole time.

“Hey, so… we get a night off?” he asked, playing idly with a pen like he wasn’t invested in the answer.

“For the love of Pete… fine!” Zbrozek raised his hands in exasperation. “All of you, get out of here until tomorrow. I’ll research Gint’s…” With the doctor the last one at the door, the lieutenant trailed off, “Wife.”

After cleaning up the cups on the table, filing the paperwork, and heading to his office, Michael sat looking at his door. He chuckled, opening his laptop.

“I didn’t even get a kiss.” An odd smile tilted his lips when he kissed his ring finger before getting to work.

Sheila smiled her own secret smile, watching her boss from the door to the bathroom. Every time she caught him doing something ‘normal,’ it caught her off guard. She thought she could almost like the man. After dramatically blowing him a kiss he’d never catch, she bounded towards her night off.

#writeblr #writer #writing #Urban fantasy #whitehart #Satyr

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crimsxnflxwerz · 6 years

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the door rating: teen fandom: buzzfeed unsolved [coraline au] pairing: ryan bergara & shane madej summary: “Don’t you want this?” the other Shane says, and his shiny, deep brown button eyes gleam in the low light. Another firework splits the sky like lightning, but this time Ryan can feel it in his gut, can feel the wrongness grip his body like the cold. “Everything you’ve ever wanted, it can be yours. If only you stay here, with me.” Ryan just wanted to love and be loved in return. When did this become such a mess? author notes: bear with me omg

“Help me unpack, Ryan.” His mother asked, stepping out of their car.

“Fine,” Ryan said, shoving his phone into his pocket, before getting out as well.

Ryan hated moving. He wished that he could just stay in one place. So many of his friends stayed in place, planted and left to flower. Not him, though, he swore he was destined to get uprooted each time. Just when he’d thought he could settle down here, he could survive this new climate and endure this new environment, he was ripped away from it. It made him feel lonely. Though he always managed to round up a few friends in each place, as he grew up, it had been getting harder and harder to do that.

He knew his parents’ divorce would ultimately be really hard on him. His father was the one that kept them anchored in one place, and his mother would travel often. After they split, and his mother got total custody of him, he prepared himself for a move. He would see his father once a month, well hypothetically, but it never really worked out. His father did send him letters and gifts occasionally. He guessed he couldn’t be disappointed if he hadn’t had any expectations in the first place.

Together, they managed to move all the boxes into their new house rather quickly. They were only two people, so they didn’t exactly have that many possessions. The major things had already been taken care of by the movers, like beds and other furniture. They decided that they would unpack things they needed immediately today, and the rest later.

Ryan stood in his new kitchen, turning the faucet on and off, staring out the window.

“Ryan, why don’t you go play outside?” his mother suggested. She sat at the round, two-person table in the middle of the room with her notebook and laptop. His mother was a reporter, taking notes on interesting current events, and travelling around to find better places to write about and inspire her. She moved to the small town in Oregon. It was isolated, but that was what made it interesting. Recently, Ryan noticed that his mother’s interest had been piqued while researching urban folklore. Small towns tended to run rampant with stories and tall tales. Living in one would give her perspective.

Ryan wasn’t too hyped about it. Before this, he only ever lived in or around cities. While each place they lived had it’s differences, they all had things in common with city living. Small, loud, busy. He always had something to do and somewhere to be in the city. No matter the time of day, something was going on. Sure, there were things he didn’t miss about the city, too. Like traffic, and pollution, and having no real place to go if he wanted to just roll around in some grass or something.

Ryan rolled his eyes and turned the faucet off. Outside there were barely any other houses, mostly trees and shrubbery for miles. The spectacle of messing around outside wore off after the last place they lived when he stepped on a rusted nail and needed to get a tetanus shot and stitches in his foot.

“It’s raining out, though.” He complained, trying to think of a good reason to just stay inside and do nothing.

“Oh, that reminds me, I have a present for you.” His mother said, and stood up to go into her bedroom. Ryan watched her go, and saw that she was carrying a flat box. She opened it and lifted out a lemon-yellow raincoat. She held it out to him.

“I got you think since we moved to somewhere that’s known to be rainier,” she explained. “I know you don’t have a raincoat, so I thought you might need one.”

Ryan’s face lit up slightly. He took the raincoat and felt it against his hands. It was soft, despite its rubbery texture to keep out the rainwater. He slipped it on and grinned happily.

“Thanks mom!” he said, hugging her briefly, before going towards the front door.

“Be back by dinner, kiddo!” she called after him. He ran to get his boots. He had two pairs of thin, rubbery boots from the city. One of them perfectly matched his new coat, so he slipped those on. He didn’t have much in terms of colorful clothing items, so the yellow was a stark contrast to the black pants and socks he wore.

He ran outside. It wasn’t raining too hard anymore, just a little drizzle, but he put the hood to his coat up anyways. As soon as he was outside, he looked around for something weird to explore. The neighbors were pretty far away, and he wasn’t really too interested in making friends right now anyways, so he scrapped that idea pretty quickly. After a moment, he spotted a stone path leading down a hill off the side of their house.

“Mmm, perfect,” he muttered under his breath, and began to follow it. The path was made of mis-matched stones, like a garden path, taking a long curve down the hill so that the slope was gradual instead of dramatic. As he walked down the path, he noticed that the thick line of trees didn’t start for another few yards. Instead, there was a large, grassy clearing with clusters of grey boulders and stones scattered about. Looking down towards the bottom, he saw that the trail turned into dirt. Well, it was likely mud now in this weather.

To his left there was a cluster of rocks. A rustling drew Ryan’s attention. He looked over, but didn’t see anything that made the noise immediately.

“Hello?” he called out. “Anyone there?”

He shuffled his feet nervously, plunging his hands deep in his coat pocket. He found some lint there, which he tossed out, watching it fall to the ground. Just as he turned, he heard more rustling, and a low growling. He started, turning to run the rest of the way down the hill. At the bottom, he hit a patch of mud and fell heavily onto his knee.

“Ahh!” he yelped, clutching his knee. He sat up, brushing off dirt and mud from his clothes. He saw that he’d managed to land on a rock. There was a large tear in his pants, and a gash in his knee that was bleeding. He sucked in a breath as rainwater dripped down into the cut.

“Dang,” he whispered, and shakily got back onto his feet. He shivered, the world around him looking a lot darker now than before. He moved on further down the trail into a thin patch of trees. The ground was muddy, but also rocky. Ryan took care not to slip again, his knee throbbing painfully. He let out a sigh, coming up to a rather large fallen tree. As he approached it, however, he heard the rustling again. His entire body stiffened in horror.

He knew he was being dramatic, but he couldn’t help but feel fearful in a new place. He didn’t know what lived in Oregon, there could be a bear stalking him for all he knew!

Just as he was backing away, a white blur pounced out from behind the log. Ryan screamed, but then quickly realized that it wasn’t something to be scared of after all. It was just a dog. Ryan recognized it as some kind of white terrier. It barked at him, before trotting up and sniffing at his feet. Ryan saw that it was mostly white, except for a single brown and black ear. Ryan giggled.

“Are you the thing that was scaring me?” he asked. The dog looked up at him and tilted its head to the side. It didn’t have a collar, so he wasn’t sure if it were a stray or not.

The dog barked again, wagging its tail rapidly, before trotting off along the path towards where it seemed to be leveling out. Ryan followed it hesitantly, and came upon an old, decrepit clearing that looked like it used to be something. In the center of the clearing, the dog sniffed around a raised circular section. It was covered in mud in lumps, but some places were cleared enough to reveal rotted wood.

Before he could move closer, he was startled by a loud revving noise. The dog started barking at the surprise. Down the hill came a cloaked figure on a motorbike of some kind. They drove around them and skidded to a halt on the other side of the clearing. Ryan took a closer look and saw that it looked to be a boy, older than him, with a checkered bandana covering his nose and mouth. On his head was a go-pro camera attached to a head strap. It made his damp hair stick out in odd directions around it.

He kicked off the bike, turning it off and stepping onto the muddy ground. The dog yapped some more, running over to the boy and running up on him. Once he was standing straight up, Ryan saw that he was very tall. He had at least five or six inches on him, which was a lot, at least in Ryan’s mind. It was kind of intimidating. Although, most of the intimidation wore off when he saw the big guy practically melt petting the yappy white dog.

“I was wondering where you got off to!” he laughed, rubbing the dog behind its ears. “Who’s a good puppy, you are! You found the new kid!”

Ryan cleared his throat. “Hey, I’m right here?” he called out.

The big guy gave the dog a few more pats, before looking over at Ryan. He pulled the bandana down to reveal his face. Ryan tried not to blush. The guy was pretty cute.

“Yeah,” he said. He approached, scratching the back of his neck nervously. Ryan noticed that he tended to slouch. Does that mean he’s actually even taller? “You’re the new kid. I’m Shane.”

Ryan narrowed his eyes suspiciously. “Yeah, I’m Ryan.”

“Ryan? Can I call you Ry?” Shane asked. He had a casual face, even though his body language screamed nervous. Ryan crossed his arms.

“No.”

“Okay, Ry.” Shane said. He turned back towards the thing that the dog was sniffing at earlier. “Do you know what this is, Ry?”

“Don’t call me that,” Ryan snipped, then joined Shane, crouched by the circle in the center of the clearing. Shane picked up a small pebble and brushed some dirt away with a gloved hand, revealing a small hole in the wood.

“Watch,” he said, and pushed the pebble down into the hole. For a long time, there wasn’t a single noise, not a ping or a splash or anything to imply that the pebble had landed yet. Ryan could have sworn that the pebble continuously dropped for around thirty seconds until a very distant plop reverberated up to them.

“It’s a well?” Ryan asked. “That’s a long fall. Isn’t this, uh, dangerous?”

Shane laughed. “Of course, it is. Well, as long as you don’t fall in, you’ll be fine! But no one’s going to fill it in. No one fixes anything in this town.”

Shane stood, the dog coming around to rub against his leg. Ryan winced when he straightened up, accidentally leaning the heel of his hand into his wounded knee. Shane did a double-take of Ryan’s leg, and suddenly looked alarmed.

“Is that blood? Ry, are you okay?” Shane asked, sounding a little panicked.

“Calm down, will ya?” Ryan snapped. He looked down and saw that there was dried blood and mud caked onto his exposed knee. “It’s just a cut.”

“You’re going to get it infected.” Shane fretted. He held out an arm as if to grab Ryan’s wrist, but stopped himself at the last second, looking to Ryan’s face for permission. “Can I carry you?”

“No, no, no, no.” Ryan said. But something in his voice must’ve sounded like a yes, because Shane smirked and scooped Ryan up into his arms. He paused, however.

“Oh, my bike.” He said. “Want to hop onto my back, instead?”

Ryan was completely red in the face when Shane put him back down. He nodded without a fight and climbed onto Shane’s back, wrapping his arms around the taller boy’s neck and his legs around his waist. Shane walked over to his bike and hopped on, Ryan moving down to sit on the back end, transferring his arms around Shane’s neck, to his waist. Shane started up the bike and drove up the path, the dog barking and chasing after them.

When they got to Ryan’s front porch, he hopped off the bike and went to sit on the steps. Shane kicked the bike stand down and followed Ryan to the porch.

“Ah, the pink palace.” Shane said thoughtfully. “Oh yeah, you’re the new family that moved in here.”

“The pink palace?” Ryan asked, wincing again as he tried to wipe some of the mud off his knee. Shane noticed and went to his bike. There was a container strapped to the back. He unzipped it and pulled a few things out, including water, a small white bottle, a white hand towel, and a linen wrapping. He came over with the supplies, setting them on the porch.

“Yeah, my grandmother owns the pink palace. Was her parents place, but they moved out a long time ago.” He explained, rolling Ryan’s ripped pant leg up. “Wanna take your shoe and sock off? I don’t want to get them wet.”

Ryan slid his boot and sock off, putting them aside. Shane wiped some mud away with the towel, then poured some water on it and wiped more off until it was mostly cleaned out. The cleaning opened it back up, and it bled a little bit.

“Why’d they move out?” Ryan asked. He looked up at the looming house. It was the first time he got a really good look at it. Right now, it was sectioned off into three apartments. He and his mother had the middle section. “It must’ve been so big all opened up.”

“Well, when my grandmother was just a little girl, she had a sister.” Shane explained. “Her sister stopped playing with her, and would fight with their parents more and more until she finally disappeared. My grandmother says she was taken away by something in the house.”

“Something in the house?” Ryan asked. Shane uncapped the white bottle and squirted out some white paste onto his fingers. He rubbed them together before rubbing it into the gash. Ryan bit his lip to stop himself from crying out. He didn’t want to look like a total wuss. “Did the sister ever come back?”

“Well, that’s the thing,” Shane paused, before rolling out a portion of the bandage and ripping it with his teeth. He started wrapping. “She didn’t have a sister. Well, she does have this picture in her attic of her with a girl who looks very similar to her, but no one seems to remember her sister.”

Ryan felt like he should gasp at the revelation. “So, who’s in the picture, then?”

Shane shook his head. “I only ever saw it once. If my parents never told me otherwise, I would have assumed it was her sister.” He ripped off a piece of medical tape and finished the wrapping. “Feel better?”

Ryan smiled. “Yeah.” He blushed. “Thanks, Shane. Why do you have all these supplies?”

“Oh, I’m outside a lot and,” he paused, scratching the back of his head. “I like to be prepared.”

The dog from earlier came running up from behind the house then, jumping up onto the porch and licking at Ryan’s cheek.

“Haha, get down!” he shooed the dog. Shane rubbed the dog behind its ears. “Is it your dog?”

“Ah, no,” Shane said, sounding a little disappointed. “Ma won’t let me have a dog, but this puppy likes me well enough. I feed him half my lunchmeat sandwiches, and he gives me company when I go searching for bigfoot.”

“Bigfoot? You know that’s not real, right?” Ryan teased, rolling down his pant leg and grabbing his sock and boot. Shane simply laughed.

“That’s what everyone says, but I know that he’s real,” he said. He stepped back and motioned at his camera. “I’m gonna catch bigfoot, and his bigfoot wife, and his bigfoot children on my go-pro I got for my birthday.”

Ryan wheezed in laughter as Shane bent over to collect his medical supplies. He went over to put them back in his bike pack. Ryan hopped up to walk over after his boot was on.

“Well, good luck,” he said, shuffling his feet awkwardly. “Do you think I could join you on a hunt sometime?”

Shane turned and grinned. He reached out and ruffled Ryan’s hair. To Ryan, Shane’s hand was quite large. He was just a big, tall guy in general. Ryan blushed. He felt like a child in comparison. He was fifteen, damnit.

“Of course! Oh, we also look for gnomes,” he added. “I know they’re real, where else do all my left socks go?”

Ryan laughed again, and Shane chuckled a bit, too. “Sounds like fun.”

Shane nodded. “If you want, we can go out tomorrow. Just meet me here around 3:30?”

“Yeah, sure,” he grinned. The white dog ran over and circled them a few times, barking.

“Hey, calm down pup!” Shane said, laughing. The dog growled playfully, before darting off in the direction of the neighbor’s house. “Wait up!” Shane called out, but he paused, “See you around?”

Ryan nodded. “Yeah, you will.” He said. Shane hopped onto his bike then and started it up, driving in the direction of the stray dog.

Ryan stood outside a little bit longer, staring off in the direction where Shane went off. He stood there in the rain until he heard his mother calling him in to dinner. After dinner, he curled up in his bed. He stared blankly at his bare walls for a moment, mentally putting together everything he would put up tomorrow to decorate his room. This might not be what he would call home, but he could make it work. He was going to be here for a while, anyways.

Eventually, he drifted off to sleep, and dreamt of goofy smiles and little white dogs.

#coraline au #shyan #buzzfeed unsolved #bfu coraline au #my fic #me

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ohpapiseo · 6 years

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the ways in which i show i love you [V]

@taetaetrashhh

Hi Momo! I’m your Secret Santa from the fic exchange hosted by Kait and Candi! I’m so sorry I’m a day late, but I have written you a small(ish?) story that I hope you’ll like! It’s cute, heartwarming, slice of life, it has it all. I hope you like it! Merry Christmas <3

pairing: V x Momo (reader) genre: romance, college!au, christmas with bts, slice of life, baking cookies, christmas trees, i tried to do most of the prompts

22nd December, 2017

Momo and Taehyung were at the place where the Christmas trees were sold. This year, the both of them wanted a tree that was slightly bigger than last year, one they ended up having to pull through the snow to get to Hoseok’s truck that was at the other end of the street.

“Oof! This is- too- heavy-” Taehyung wheezed as the rope began to burn through his gloves and cut into his fingers. Pulling a tree for almost half a mile down to their ride was not a good idea.

“Babe, can’t we just call Hoseok to come over or something?” Taehyung had muttered as he dropped the rope, his arms already feeling so tired.

“No, where the heck would he park? Look at all the cars!” Momo looked at him as she gestured to all the cars parked along the sidewalk. There was no way Hoseok could park his truck here, and Taehyung sighed as he realised that she was right.

“Come on, just a little further, Taehyung!” Momo whined, her breath coming out in white smoke. It was far too cold for them to be having this conversation, and they had heard of a snowstorm approaching during the Christmas weekend, but they hoped that it would ease up.

With the current rate of snowfall, though, that possibility seemed slim.

As the two reached the orange truck, Hoseok stepped out to help them load the tree onto the back, the three of them grunting as they lifted it. Thankfully, some people on the street were kind enough to give them a hand.

“You’re definitely going big this year, huh?” Hoseok helped Taehyung tie the tree into place, and Momo laughed, patting his back.

“Are you working again, Hoseok?” She asked, and Hoseok had nodded but with a bright smile on his face.

“Yeah, I’m going to stay at the retirement home with a few others so we can take care of them and help them have a wonderful christmas.” He smiled kindly, as they got into the vehicle. “That snowstorm seems very likely and I don’t want it to be a situation where staff can’t get in so we’re all going tonight.”

Taehyung smiled at him as he fastened the seatbelt. “You’re very kind for spending your Christmas with them, Hoseok.” “They need someone too, if their families can’t come and take them home. Sadly, that’s the case for a lot of them.” Hoseok smiled wryly, and the car was filled with silence as they pulled out onto the street.

“I guess you guys need to go to the supermarket to buy some stuff?” Hoseok had asked, and Taehyung nodded, instructing them to pull over at the superstore once they passed it.

Now armed with a week’s worth of groceries, Momo and Taehyung were ready to take the weekend head on. They were hoping that it wouldn’t snow as bad as the weather station was telling them, but it was always better to be prepared.

“I really wanted to go to the ice rink, it had better not get worse.” Momo huffed as Hoseok drove them back home.

“How come you both waited so long to put up a tree? Most people do it at the beginning of December.”

Momo sighed - it was only because the both of their courses had become so demanding that there wasn’t any time to properly prepare for Christmas. Now that university was over for the holiday, they had some more time to relax.

“Uni.” They both replied monotonously. Hoseok could only laugh.

“You’ll miss it when you’re both working for yourselves.” Hoseok chuckled as he turned into the road that went up to Momo and Taehyung’s house. “Or you won’t. I love my job, so…” “Perhaps.” Taehyung chuckled, and the conversation ended there as they reached the house.

Once Hoseok had helped the couple to get their tree inside their house, he left quickly, saying he had no time to waste and really needed to get a move on. Momo thanked him for his help, sending him off with some muffins she had baked that morning.

“Well, looks like we’ve got a tree to decorate.” Taehyung grinned down at Momo as he put an arm around her, the both of them watching the car disappear into the main road.

“How does a hot chocolate sound before we get down to business?” Taehyung bent down to kiss Momo’s cheeks, cold and turning pink from the chilly weather. “Let’s get inside and warm up, muffin.” “Yes, Taetae, let’s.”

A few minutes later, they got to decorating the tree, carefully (or in Taehyung’s case, clumsily) putting up the tinsel and fairy lights, and other decorations. A lot of this involved wrapping tinsel around their necks and belting out to christmas classics that were bursting out through the stereo. Taehyung even had the brilliant idea of putting some of the hanging decorations around his ears, which he forgot about until they both sat down for dinner.

(Momo promised to never let him live it down).

“Who’s going to put this up on top?” Momo asked, holding onto the angel figure in her hand. Taehyung rolled his eyes, before turning to her with an obvious look.

“Of course you are. Because you’re my angel.” He laughed, and Momo turned towards him with a blush on her cheeks.

“Don’t just say stuff like that!” She hit his arm in embarrassment as she looked away.

“But it’s true. Come on, baby, do the honours.” Taehyung nodded at her eagerly, and Momo smiled as she walked closer to the tree, standing on her toes to be able to put the angel on top.

“What a beautiful sight.” Taehyung held his hands out to make a frame with his fingers, focusing on the tree and the sparkling lights, before he moved his hands to capture Momo, admiring her through his ‘lens’.

“Stop being so silly…” Momo turned away, the blush on her cheeks more prominent. “I-It’s getting really warm in here, I’m going to turn down the heating!”

Taehyung simply chuckled as his girlfriend rushed out of the room on the pretext of ‘heating’ problems.

Christmas Day, 2017

It was a cold morning, which was no surprise. Taehyung got out of bed, immediately looking for the jumper he wished he had worn to bed the night before. He picked up the present he had bought for Momo from under the bed, trying to noiselessly carry it out of the room and place it under the Christmas tree.

As he opened the curtains of the living room to look outside, all he could see was snow, more snow, the faint outline of the houses and trees and… more snow.

“This was supposed to get better today, it’s still the same as last night.” Taehyung sighed, knowing what this meant - him and Momo were basically boxed in for Christmas.

But knowing his girlfriend, she would be cheerful and optimistic about it, imagining it now he knew she would say something like “Oh, don’t worry, Tae, at least we’ve got the heating on!”

“Taehyung?” He heard her sleepy voice, and the sound of Momo coming down the stairs. With a sleepy grin, she walked over to him, standing on her tiptoes to peck his lips.

“Merry Christmas, my angel.” Taehyung smiled, kissing her forehead gently. With a shy smile, Momo wished him back, before she turned towards the window, seeing the storm outside and falling quiet for a minute.

“Looks like we’re stuck in here, babe.” He mumbled, glancing towards her with a frown, however, like Taehyung had predicted, she was not upset, and decided to take it as a positive experience.

“We still have the electrics working. Let’s make some cookies today.” Momo’s eyes lit up. Taehyung knew how much she loved baking. With their busy university life, there wasn’t a lot of opportunity for Momo to make cakes and the likes, but now with the holiday season, Taehyung knew she wouldn’t pass up on the chance.

“Gingerbread?” Taehyung grinned, and Momo nodded excitedly.

“I even bought piping bags and icing sugar to decorate them! If they turn out nice, we can give them out to the kids on the street.” “Woah, there. If we work on the cookies, then who’s going to cook the turkey? And the vegetables? We’re supposed to go all out this year, right?” Taehyung raised his brows, wondering how they would do everything in such a short time. It was nine already.

“Taehyung, why are you being so pessimistic?” Momo frowned. “You’re usually the one that says ‘It’ll be okay’ first…”

Taehyung pouted, holding his arms around her as he pulled her close to him. “I just wanted this to be a perfect Christmas, baby. I know how excited you were to go skating on the ice rink, and now there’s so much snow we can’t even open the windows.” “Taehyung.” Momo shook her head, slowly kissing him. As they parted, she gave him a loving smile.

“It’s alright, darling. You’re here with me, and that’s the most important thing right now. I’m most happy when I can spend Christmas with you.”

Now it was Taehyung’s turn to blush, but he soon smiled the familiar boxy smile that was unique to him.

“There we are. You’ve been too stressed out over a perfect Christmas. Loosen up, okay? Let what happen, happen.” Momo grinned, before she turned to make her way upstairs. “I’m gonna take a shower. You should get the stuff out and start prepping.”

That morning was spent baking the cookies - Taehyung was insistent that he was following the recipe to the dot and that Momo shouldn’t worry so much and trust him a little. Taehyung had also learned not to burn the cookies after the first batch came out awfully wrong.

Once the icing was ready, Momo decided to leave Taehyung to do the honours while she prepared the turkey for stuffing. She almost regretted the decision upon inspection, but Taehyung looked like he was having so much fun regardless, it looked like he had become a little kid again and he had an intense determination in his eyes.

Momo couldn’t bear to take the fun away from him. Her heart warmed at the sight of Taehyung, and she went back to preparing the Christmas dinner, a smile on her lips as she thought again about how much he was enjoying himself.

However, Taehyung surprised both her and himself at the end of the decorating the cookies, the last five batches were much better than the first five.

“You did good, Taehyung. Do you want to try some?” “I thought you’d never ask.”

Momo snorted as Taehyung took a couple of the cookies and began to munch on them, his face lighting up as he looked at his girlfriend with bright eyes.

“Wow, this is delicious. You’re amazing, Momo. I almost don’t want to give them to the kids and just eat them all myself.” He looked at her pleadingly. Momo firmly shook her head, holding her hands on her hips as she frowned.

“Don’t be selfish, I’ll make more of these tomorrow. We have so much dough and icing left anyway.” Momo suggested, and Taehyung agreed with a small smile, though she knew that he’d much rather keep these for themselves nonetheless.

Later that evening…

“Dance with me, angel.”

Taehyung held his hand out to Momo, who looked up at him in surprise. After about an hour of just dancing to and singing Christmas songs, Momo was quite worn out. She wasn’t expecting to have to dance so soon

A slow number began to play through their music system, and Momo remembered it to be the first song her and Taehyung had ever danced to together, when he had taken her to the Christmas ball in high school, as his date. The same song to which he confessed his love to her, and dance that consummated their relationship to one another.

Taking Taehyung’s hand, she stood up and brought herself to Taehyung, putting her arms around his neck as he waltzed them around the living room, moving gracefully to the song and losing themselves in each other’s eyes.

“Momo.” Taehyung mumbled, gathering her attention. “I love you, you know?”

She let out a hesitant laugh. “Of course I know? Why are you telling me this again, baby?” “So there won’t come a time where you don’t feel like you are loved.” He kissed her forehead, his lips lingering. Taehyung was quite sombre during moments like this, as opposed to his generally eccentric, excited self. This was a side to Taehyung only a handful of people, including Momo, got to see.

“You are loved. And you matter to me, so much, and I love you, Momo, I can’t say it enough. I do.” Taehyung whispered, now bending down to kiss her lips. Momo’s eyes shut slowly, and she kissed him back, the both of their hearts, their never ending love overflowing into their kiss.

“With all the horrible things that happened in the world. With people not understood, people in despair, in pain, who feel like they have no one… I want you to know you have me no matter what, baby. Okay?” Taehyung said quietly, reaching out for another kiss.

Momo nodded, her heart swelled with affection for her boyfriend, who had matured beyond his years, it sometimes felt like. They were both still young, though adults. And Taehyung by her side was only proving to be a strength, someone she could rely on, someone that loved her no matter her imperfections. To him, Momo was beautiful, inside and out.

And Taehyung was beautiful to her too, for the same reasons. He never failed to bring a smile to her lips when she was down or thought too hard.

“I love you too, Taehyung.” Momo said back as they slowly danced to the music, now nearing a close. Her mind flashed back to their first dance once more. She had fallen so deep for Taehyung by that point, and that day had proved her wrong in thinking that she could not possibly fall any more in love with this wonderful boy.

And today, on Christmas Day again, Momo was proven wrong. As they danced and laughed, Momo found herself falling in love all over again.

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1dffsummerexchange · 7 years

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Boxing Day Unboxing Day

Written For: @ktrsss1fics

Written By: @mancerelle

Pairing: Niall/OFC

Word Count: 3,541

Warnings: language

Summary:

“I fell asleep on your couch after a party but you didn’t complain and made breakfast for the both of us”

Vanessa woke up with a hazy memory and a terrible headache. In fact, her headache was so bad she could barely keep her eyes open for too long before she felt like she was being blinded, or keep them closed for too long before she felt like the room was spinning. She closed her eyes once more and counted to ten before she decided she was ready to grab the day by its balls or whatever a day could be grabbed by and face it. But first she had to make co-

Wait.

Where did that glass table come from? Why was it filled with red plastic cups? And why was the TV still on? Is that what had woken her up?

Vanessa shook her head. She must have still been dreaming. She closed her eyes, counted to ten again and opened them. Nope. She was not dreaming. She really was in a stranger’s house. She shrieked and covered her mouth immediately. What had she done? She looked around for clues as to where she was. She had never been inside this house for sure. She must have come back with some stranger, but what was even stranger: her clothes were all on. They didn’t look or feel like someone had tried to rip them off. The only weird thing was her bra, but it was only misplaced because she had slept on it.

She turned around, careful not to do it quickly to avoid nausea or vertigo. She watched out for any indicators of whose house this was. And then she knew. When her eyes landed on the set of guitars in the far, unlocked room beyond the living room, she realized she had slept at Niall Horan’s house.

But how had she gotten here? And more importantly, why did she wake up here?

First things first though: her phone. Texts, Snapchats, Instagram pictures, anything, once again, looking for indicators as to why she was in Niall’s, of all people’s, place and why she had woken up there.

The first notification she had was from Sam, her sister, and it was a text.

02:05 am: Got home safe.

02:06 am: Will pay for the cab once I get paid.

02:07 am: Make sure to drink lots of water, young lady. That was quite the booze you got in your blood.

Vanessa tried calling Sam but she wasn’t answering. She tried three more times before deciding that she was most likely still asleep.

So she went on Snapchat, and sure enough her sister’s and Niall’s story was full of clips from last night. One where Sam and Vanessa did shots with their arms linked, like mates, as they chugged them in one go. There was another one of Vanessa and Sam singing at the top of their lungs. Another one where Vanessa received a shot of tequila right in her mouth from Niall, no less. And finally, the last clip of her featured her and Niall dancing so close together and mouthing the song that was playing word for word. Their mouths were so close together and Vanessa felt like barfing upon seeing it. She looked back and saw no one. Maybe Niall was sleeping up in his room and maybe it was fair for her to make both of them breakfast. After all, she woke up fully clothed and warm, wrapped in a blanket.

She decided to text Sam before doing anything else.

11:45 am: Why’d you leave me here?

She shook her head, locked her phone and went through Niall’s fridge like nobody’s business. She looked for something, anything that didn’t require animal produce to make a healthy breakfast for the both of them. She couldn’t find anything, so she went through his cabinets. All she could find was cereal, whole wheat bread (what?) and some hummus. Huh, she thought, I never took Niall for the hummus type. Whaddya know?

She toasted six sliced of bread and spread hummus on all of them. Then she found coconut milk way deep in the cabinets, and much to her surprise it had not yet expired. So with that and some bananas, she made a smoothie. Apparently, the noise the mixer made was loud enough to reach Niall’s room. That, or it might have been the fact that it was now 11:55 am in the morning.

“Good morning,” Vanessa said through a grumble. It wasn’t always a pleasure seeing Niall Horan, not in the wee hours of the morning (okay, she had just woken up with a splitting headache), and hungover. “Breakfast?”

Niall kinked a brow. He looked like he was either genuinely confused by Vanessa’s offer or by Vanessa’s presence in his home. “What are you still doing here?”

“Uh, making breakfast for the both of us?” Vanessa turned around to pour the banana smoothies on glasses and slid the hummus toast across the counter.

“I can see that,” Niall said through a chortle. “What I don’t understand is why.”

“Well,” she said as she licked her top lip to remove the banana smoothie, “it’s not every day one gets a sleepover invitation to a pop star’s house. Besides, I woke up fully clothed, I always look forward to that.”

Niall chortled again. “It wasn’t a sleepover, though, your sister was gone and I didn’t feel like sending you away in a cab.”

“Touching,” she said mockingly.

He rolled his eyes. “It was only a matter of time before you said something sassy.”

“Oh, shut up. It’s too early to start bantering.” She shook her head and sipped on more of her banana smoothie, after which she munched on the hummus toast. So did Niall. “So why am I in your house, again?”

Niall spat out a bit of his toast and choked on the other bits. “Are you serious?”

“Do I look like I’m kidding?” Vanessa stared at him, if looks could kill.

He wiped his mouth with a napkin and drank some of his smoothie. “Where should I start?”

“I don’t know, but I would like details. Besides, it doesn’t look like we could do much of anything,” she said, lifting her phone for Niall to see the weather notification. “Looks like we’re snowed in.”

“Yay,” he said sarcasm dripping of that simple word. “Well, remember that a while ago your sister directed a music video of mine and it went well and we haven’t stopped working together ever since?”

“Much to my displeasure, yes. Go on.”

Niall shook his head. He didn’t think Vanessa was actually a dick or anything. He just thought she could be a bit nicer. After all, she had just slept over at his house. “Anyway, one of those days she said she wanted to have a more British experience, and me, being Irish but having lived in London for quite some time now, I decided to throw a Boxing Day party. Secret Santa and whatnot, also quite American.” He chuckled. “But anyway, she thought it was a great idea and we started putting it together. I remember inviting you, actually.”

“I remember that, too. I just don’t remember why I agreed to come. I don’t even remember arriving at your party in the first place. Plus, why would you invite me? We hate each other!”

“I don’t hate you,” he said, shaking his head profusely. “And you don’t hate me either. You just enjoy pissing on my cheerios and I enjoy pissing on yours as well.”

Vanessa rolled her eyes and gagged at the expression. She had always hated that expression. Why would people ruin a perfectly good breakfast by peeing on it? Whether it was metaphorical, used as an expression, or an actual thing that British people did, she wished she could just wipe it off everyone’s vocabulary. It was disgusting.

“As I was saying,” Niall continued after swallowing his smoothie, “your sister was incredible. She helped me plan this entire thing without missing a bit. She tried so hard to get all my closest friends and family members to come. And then she had to convince you.”

“Wait. Why did I need any convincing at all? If there’s a party, I’m there,” Vanessa said, confused as hell.

“Yeah, well, apparently not if it’s my party,” he said, shaking his head. It was like all of a sudden he was remembering how much they actually hated each other. “As it turns out, usually with people like you-“

“People like me?”

“- you either completely forgot about it or you chose to ruin it for yourself.” Here, Niall took a deep breath as if preparing for the worst possible news. “Your sister asked me to go pick you up because she was busy setting up the decorations, and she knew I wouldn’t be super happy about it but she also knew I’m a good person.”

“Debatable.” Vanessa huffed.

“And sure enough, there you were, sobbing like a baby.” Niall started to chortle but it came out choked. It was the kind of chuckle you had to work to keep it a chuckle so as not to burst out laughing. “Poor Vanessa, drunk- crying over some lad who stood you up yet again, and you were stupid enough to agree to see again.”

“Excuse me, leprechaun boy, only my friends, my mom and my sister get to call me stupid,” Vanessa shot at him.

“No, no, these were your words, not mine, sweet tamal.”

And they were back to calling each other their nicknames. They could have come up with better, more original nicknames than stereotypical or traditional food names for their countries but let’s just say neither of them was great at bickering.

“Anyway, little Mexican, I was trying really hard to get you out of the house, and then Sam called and you were sold. I don’t know what she told you, though, so you’re gonna have to check on her for that. So, basically, in summary, you ended up at my house because some arsehole dumped you the day after Christmas and you got drunk to... for get him?” Niall noticed Vanessa’s creased forehead and quivering lip, her nose was flaring, too; and he wasn’t sure if she was going to cry or if she was going to punch him but he thought it would be a good idea to rub circles around her back. “Aw, don’t be sad, Vanessa… or whatever you’re feeling that isn’t happy. If it makes you feel any better you were the life of the party.” She looked up at him, brows lifted as if to ask ‘really?’ Niall grinned in spite of himself. “You suggested a whole bunch of drinking games, you swore to give me my present the next day, and you tore up your gift’s wrapping paper like an angry little toddler… let’s just say it all went down smoothly.”

“Wait. Who gave me the present? And what was it? Where is it?”

“It was an eye-shadow thing and Liam got it for you. I don’t know where you left it; I was only in control of putting you safely to sleep. By the way, you still haven’t given me my present.”

“Hey, I made you a perfectly vegan breakfast, I even included a smoothie. Your present’s been taken care of.”

Niall puffed and shook his head. This girl was impossible.

“Now what?” Vanessa asked. “I don’t have any clothes here, none of your clothes fit me, and we can’t get out of here, we’re snowed in.”

“Just our luck, right?” Niall said but she didn’t look too please, there wasn’t even a hint of a smile on her face. “Well, if you’re gonna act like that I think it’s best for us not to even be in the same room.”

“No, no, sorry,” Vanessa quickly added. “I just… I was really looking forward to get all my creative juices going for my plus size clothing line, but I’m stuck here with you and you don’t even like me and I’m wearing the same clothes I wore yesterday and it’s all a pain in the ass, really.”

“You need to work on finding solutions, wow.” Niall crossed his arms. “I think I have some things here that might fit you. If not, you can get them in the wash and wear a bathrobe or just not get out of the wash room before they’re done?”

“Huh, who would’ve thought. Niall Horan, hospitable and charitable. Never expected that from a super star.”

Niall rolled his eyes. He was tired of Vanessa giving him a hard time for that one moment when he was mean to her. But, in her defense, it was his first impression and he kind of blew it up. He could still remember getting angry and lashing out on her because she was grabbing all the chips, his favorite ones no less, from the bowl. She was supposed to be Sam’s invite, Sam’s guest, not the stealer of all good chips. Plus his girlfriend of two weeks had told him that she couldn’t do the whole date a super star gig. But Vanessa also had to admit she wasn’t that nice to him, either.

He gave her an Irish national soccer team jersey that she squeezed in, as well as some pants that were sure to leave marks for how tight they were. But she had no choice, she needed to get those clothes washed, she could worry about new underwear later.

Niall set up the Apple TV and tried to figure out what type of movies Vanessa was into, but after clicking on different titles, he decided to let her speak of herself. When she came back from the wash room looking like a one of the black men dressed as a girl in White Chicks, she looked positively furious.

“You don’t sleep with enough fat girls,” she said as she walked up to the sofa.

“Says who?”

“Please, you don’t think the girls you’ve slept with leave some of their things here so they can either come back later or just as a reminder of the wonderful fuck they were?”

Niall shook his head as he chortled. “Well, you don’t sleep with enough celebrities. I track their houses or leave them with a security guard in the corner. I can’t see them again.”

“What?! That’s crazy. I thought celebrities were okay with a promiscuous reputation.”

“Not this Irish lad.” At Vanessa’s eye roll, he patted the spot on the couch next to him. “Come on, let’s watch something. Any show you’re behind on or a film you’d like to watch right now?”

She grabbed the remote and surfed the Netflix feed. She decided to go to her favorite one, the one she always watched when she was in a bad mood and she needed a pick me up:

“How To Ruin A Wedding?” Niall asked, incredulous. “No offense but you look like the sort of girl who’s into action films.”

“Uh, the only action film I like is Die Hard and Fast and Furious, but just the first one. But if you don’t wanna watch this one, we can-“

“Eh, leave it. Kristen Dunst’s in it.”

Vanessa could not, for the life of her, believe that watching a movie would be a good idea. All Niall did was ask questions and laugh out loud and insert comments here and there. It was a total fail.

“It was so good,” he said, still cackling. Literally the only thing Vanessa liked about him was his laugh, so despite herself, she chortled.

“I can’t believe you talk throughout movies. You know how annoying that is?”

“I know how annoying it is to you.” At her eye roll, Niall angled his body to look at her more properly.

And then at the same time they both said, “Why do you hate me so much?” Without missing a beat, they both frowned. “I don’t hate you,” they said simultaneously. “Okay, you first.”

Niall chuckled once more and gestured with his hand. “Lady’s first.”

Vanessa took a deep breath and straightened up a bit. “I don’t hate, hate you, you know? It’s like kinda when people say they’re in like with someone else instead of love? I’m not in hate with you… it’s more like… dislike, I guess?”

“Oh, well, I’m flattered,” Niall said, touching his chest.

“I just think you’re a tad entitled and sometimes don’t use that privilege for good. Like the time I told you, when I first met you, I was working with homeless women to give them more hygiene products than food and you made a very stupid, very sexist joke about girls’ periods. Plus you don’t take anything seriously.”

“I was just having a laugh.” He shrugged.

“I know. But period jokes suck, especially when all you mean is that girls are gross. That thing could have been a baby, you dumbass.” She tossed him the pillow that lay next to her and he tried to stop her but all he did was guffaw. “What about you?”

“What about me, indeed?” He looked at her the way he did James Corden when he hit that high note in Best Song Ever.

“Why do you hate me?”

Niall rolled his eyes so hard he even turned his head around. “I don’t hate you. You just gave me the wrong first impression.” He shrugged.

“What the hell does that mean?”

“Well, you were noisy and annoying and I was trying to get in the mood of the video.”

She stared. “You were singing a song about getting drunk because a girl dumped you.”

“Fine but it was still something I wanted to be proud of. And I was but it wasn’t because of you. Your sister is just great at what she does.”

Like clockwork, Vanessa’s phone buzzed in the counter. While she answered Niall heard the bell from the laundry and tossed Vanessa’s clothes in the dryer without thinking about it. When she came back from talking to Sam about how she hadn’t called her, how there were videos all over Snapchat, and how she just hoped her Twitter wasn’t blowing up with people talking about her and Niall as the new power couple.

“What? Where?” Niall asked as soon as Vanessa told him. She shook her head but decided to grab Niall’s laptop and typed Niall and mystery girl on Google.

Suddenly three articles popped up all of which included the same videos and the same adjectives to describe Vanessa: latina, curvy and spicy. She most certainly didn’t love the adjectives but she was way past giving them the attention and time and energy they didn’t deserve. Niall looked at her, his brows furrowed and his mouth open. He looked like he was going to say something but thought better of it. He scrolled through the videos, a sequence of clips from Snapchat of Vanessa and he dancing to Despacito, of them singing at the top of their lungs every single song the DJ played, of them almost kissing after taking a shot.

“What the hell, Niall?” Vanessa dropped the laptop next to her and stood up, fuming. “God, this is so like you, first you pretend to be all nice and warm and then you show your true colors. Just when I was beginning to think you were one of the good guys.”

“I am one of the good guys!” Niall bellowed. He was sick and tired of her judging him and accusing him of things he wasn’t. “You just won’t give me a chance. Why are you so angry, anyway?”

Vanessa looked at him like he was crazy. “You cannot possibly be serious. I was pissed drunk and you were grinding on me and getting me even more drunk and then tried to kiss me?”

“Okay,” Niall said before she could go on, but started laughing nervously. “You’re jumping to conclusions. I was pissed drunk too, all I remember from that night is picking you up and you telling me we needed more Latino flavor on the dance floor.”

This startled Vanessa; she took a step back like she couldn’t believe she was wrong. Niall Horan, famous, annoying, entitled, white Irish boy, had proven her wrong. And worst of all, she was wrong about him.

“I know right?” Niall said, lifting his brows with a hint of a smirk threatening to curve his lips. “Hurts to be wrong, doesn’t it?”

“I… I’m sorry?”

“That’s not actually an apology.”

“Ugh. I think I like you better when we’re wasted.”

“Me too. But I was thinking we could at least try getting along sober?”

Both of their lips began to curve, and it was nothing like any of them had ever experienced before. They used to only see those smiles when the other one got hurt, or when the other one made a really good joke about the other. They used to hide their smiles from each other when the other one said something funny or sassy. Without thinking too much about it, Vanessa nodded, reaching her hand for Niall to shake.

#niall horan #1dff #1dff summer fic exchange 2017

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