#it's hard to sleep with a rambunctious child

[singlefatherespioandbleu]

and here's the icon in better quality

[ash5monster01]

Hiii love!

Adore your writing so so much and I was wondering if you could write a charlie dalton x fem reader fic where he and reader introduces their new baby to the group later on in life,

Lots of love!!

Mini Me

Pairing: Charlie Dalton x FemReader

Warnings: fluff, language, lots of teasing, mentions of intimacy, brief sadness, pregnancy and labor talk, found family

Summary: After the birth of Charlie first child, all the remaining poets come to visit and meet the newest member.

word count: 2.2k

Masterlist

It's odd how natural it all comes to Charlie. He had seen himself as many things growing up. Mainly bold and a womanizer. He never wanted to be like all those old guys who used to tell him what to do and who to be. The kind of guys who settled for one girl and built a quiet and happy life, a few kids to continue the legacy, and so on. Yet as he holds his daughter, bundled tightly in a pink blanket with eyes that match his wife's, he realizes what a fool he had been all along. Those guys may have lacked many things in life but they all got to experience this. The feeling of having your heart outside of your chest and loving something so unconditionally you almost can't breathe. It was wonderful. 

"You better let her rest, your friends will be here soon," you remind him, wiping wet hands on a dish towel and untying your apron. You were sure you were lucky to have a husband happy to care for your child while you managed to get some housework done. Even if he mostly wanted to play with her when she needed rest before the rambunctious group of boys came to meet her. Baby Laurie had been here for two weeks and it had been almost impossible to keep everyone away for that long. 

"But I love when she looks at me with her big eyes," Charlie pouts, still staring back at his bleary eyed daughter cradled into his arms. She was in desperate need of a nap but it was hard to say no to Charlie. 

“I know but she’ll be looking at you like that for the rest of your life,” you remind and he sighs before agreeing, rocking her slowly and it takes only seconds for her to succumb to sleep. 

You give a smile as he relaxes into the couch, undoubtedly about to fall asleep right behind her. You wouldn’t mind though, it would give you a few minutes of peace to finish cleaning the bathroom and fix your hair before the others got here. It only takes wiping the counters in the kitchen until Charlie’s eyes are closed and his breaths match the girls on his chest. So you sneak off and do exactly what you intend to do. If you had timed it correctly, you could be done getting ready, the cookies finished in the oven, all just in time for the first guests arriving. 

An hour later, just as predicted, the oven timer chimes at the same time as the doorbell and you remove the cookies before rushing to answer the door. Swinging it open you’re met with the warm spring air and the familiar faces of Knox and Chris. A smile breaks out as you usher them inside, desperate to steal the two year old boy from her arms.

“You made it! How was the drive?” you ask, making grabby hands at baby Levi who just smiles wide at you. Chris happily hands him over and you have him hugged against you in seconds. A part of you couldn’t wait for Laura to be this age but another part yearned for her to stay little forever. 

“It was good, same as always,” Knox tells you and you giggle at the sentiment. All the poets were traveling from different locations but it was a blessing each of you were always willing to make the journey. 

“Well come on in, you’re the first to arrive,” you tell them before turning towards the living room. The couple follows, both letting out quiet laughs when they spot the once cool and charming Charlie Dalton slumped against the couch, baby tucked in his arm and plump belly rising and falling with each breath. 

“Look at this old man,” Knox chuckles and Chris lightly hits him despite the smile on her face as well. You just laugh before placing a hand on your husband’s shoulder and shaking him awake. 

“Charles, Knox and Chris are here and I’m fairly certain they want to meet Laura,” you say and the boy's eyes blink open, arm not wound tightly around his daughter reaching to wipe away any stray drool. 

“Knoxious, you made it,” he falls into an easy grin, adjusting the baby girl so he can stand. Knox laughs at the instantaneous charm of his friend and pulls him into a hug before looking at the small girl. 

“This must be the new addition, and to think the Dalton bloodline will continue to carry on,” Knox teases as he takes the baby from his arms. She doesn’t even stir and something constricts in Charlie’s chest at the sight of one of his oldest friends holding his little girl. 

“She’s so beautiful, you two did a good job,” Chris assures as she leans over Knox’s shoulder to see her. You smile at the sight while the young boy starts to struggle in your arms. The second you set him down he takes off, exploring the home and making the action figure in his hand fly. 

“Is it too soon to start planning their marriage?” you joke, watching the little boy with adoration. He had been the first kid of the friend group, your first nephew, and it sucked you didn't get to see him more. 

“I don’t know, with Charlie raising this one we might have two crazy kids on our hands,” Knox teases, hand brushing over the brown tufts of hair the baby girl had. A clear sign she was her father’s daughter. You laugh at the idea, hoping your daughter wouldn’t take too much after the confident and troublemaker attitude your husband had. 

“That just may be true,” you agree as the doorbell rings again. This time Charlie heads for the door, a warm smile on his face knowing you all were together. This time he’s greeted by Meeks and Pitts, a stormy Cameron behind them both while holding a bottle of red wine.

“Don’t ever make me ride with these two again,” he grunts as he pushes past the two boys and steps into the home. Charlie laughs as he looks at his old and still uptight ex roommate. 

“That was your choice, not mine,” Charlie reminds him as he pats his shoulder in greeting. Cameron decides not to further argue as he passes the bottle of wine over. It’s clear he’s tried but has not quite found the right solution. 

“Who brings wine to meet a baby?” Knox asks from the end of the hall, the baby girl still asleep in his arms. Cameron glares at him while the rest of the group laughs. You're quick to save him from the embarrassment as you drag Meeks and Pitts inside. 

“Anyone get any word from Todd, I don’t like that he travels so far all alone?” you ask the group as they all move to the living room and get settled. Their once quiet friend Todd was now a big time writer in New York City which felt lightyears away from the small town life you and Charlie lived. 

“He told me a few days ago that he would be late because of bus times,” Meeks answers and you nod as you begin to collect their coats and get them all settled in the warm home. It smelled like fresh cookies and warm spring air now filled with people you loved, it couldn’t get any better. 

“Ow,” yelps Pitts as Levi takes the action figure to his head, pretending to climb him like a superhero would. You all laugh as the boy gives him a sheepish smile. “Oh you're in for it Levi,” and the two boys are off as Levi runs away from the tall boy that chases him. 

A knock sounds at the door and you hop up in hopes to find Todd on the other side. Swinging it open he stands there, hands stuffed into his slacks and brown blazer perfectly cut to his form. A much different look from the boy who once looked too small in his clothes as he shielded away from the rest of the world. 

“You made it!” you grin as you pull him into a hug and he laughs. After Neil died, Charlie had taken Todd under his wing, and along with that came you, someone who was more motherly to him than even his own. 

“Yeah but I’m more worried about you, no complications?” he asks, referring to the obvious strain of childbirth. You nod, heart swelling at the fact he of all people was the one to check on you. 

“I’m fine, no issues and she came right out. Only thing Doc gave me was no intimacy for the next month but that bothers Charles more than me,” you tease and the familiar shy tint returns to the boy's face as you drag him inside. 

“Todd!” the boys cheer as he enters the room and Todd is quick to forget about your embarrassing comment as he accepts the love from his friends. 

“Okay, where’s the newest member?” he asks after he finished greeting all of them and Meeks glares at Knox who sits in one of the easy chairs, brand new baby curled against his form. 

“Overstreet there is hogging her,” he accuses and the rest of the boys nod, even Pitts who now has the two year old boy dangling from his shoulder. The kid using him like his own personal jungle gym. 

“Hey, I miss when they’re this little,” he defends but Chris is stealing her from his arms and walking towards Todd. The blonde boy watches anxiously as she approaches. He’d never seen something so small before and suddenly fear strikes him at the concept of holding her.

“Maybe I shouldn’t,” he says and Chris rolls her eyes, Knox having been the same way when Levi was born. You smile and help him adjust his arms so Chris can carefully transfer her. With no other choice, Todd accepts the baby and tucks her gently against his chest. It’s then she stirs awake, wriggling slightly in his arms before wide eyes open and look up at him. 

“Look Laura, it’s your Uncle Todd,” you tell her softly and everyone watches quietly, something tugging at Todd’s heart as he holds the little girl with so much life ahead of her. A part of him mourns Neil and the fact he will never have this moment as well, to meet his best friend's daughter and be in her life. 

“See buddy, you’re a natural,” Charlie says as he approaches you. He wraps an arm tightly around your waist before reaching the other one to squeeze Todd’s shoulder. Todd turns to smile at him before looking back into the baby’s bright blue eyes. 

“Neil would’ve loved her, probably more than you,” he suddenly says and a breath gets caught in Charlie’s throat. No one expects the sudden mention of their friend but somehow it feels right, knowing the truth behind his words. 

“And he would’ve spoiled her rotten,” Pitts points out and the boys all huff in agreement, suddenly becoming comfortable with the topic. 

“He’d never let any of us hold her and probably teach her to make fun of us,” Cameron adds and the group laughs, nodding their heads as they all picture their friend with the baby girl. 

“At the very least he would teach her how to defy Charlie’s every word,” Meeks agrees and Charlie glares at them even though it’s something Neil would have done. He didn't need any of them to get any ideas. 

“He also wouldn’t leave me alone, he’d be here everyday to see her,” Charlie says and his words have you hugging him close, burning the image of all your friends in this very room into your memory. A part of you inserting Neil in the very spot he would’ve belonged.

“That would mostly be to drive you nuts but he would always be willing to babysit,” Knox says as he sits on the couch between Meeks and Chris. The blonde girl snuggles into his side and Meeks pretends to do the same which only earns him a good shove from Knox. 

“Yeah but after all that annoying Charlie stuff he probably would've been the best Uncle out of all of us,” Todd states and the group all lets the words sink in, knowing the truth and somehow feeling like the brunette boy was here. Maybe he was, somewhere smiling down on all of them as they met his very first niece. 

“Well it was never going to be Meeks,” Pitts suddenly says and a couch pillow goes flying in his direction and as if nothing sad happened at all, all the boys break out into arguments like they always do. Yelling over each other and being rambunctious while Laura stares them all down with wide eyes. It's perfect and exactly how you imagined it would go. 

“Happy?” you ask Charlie in a whisper and he looks down at you with a soft smile, leaning to press a kiss to your forehead. 

“More than ever.”

[araybiaaa]

hi! can you write a story where rafe and sofia had a daughter when they were very young, but then they broke up because of how difficult their relationship has become, but still had to remain in each other’s lives because of their child. then after years they’re both all grown up and mature, so when their daughter asks rafe to spend new years with her and sofia, he can’t say no to his little girl, and sofia can’t reject her wish either. so they have to spend the night together, maybe leading rafe and sofia to get a little tipsy, get into an argument as they always did but then end up like sleeping together? they both realize that they still love each other deep down.

i don’t know if this is stupid you don’t have to write it if you don’t want to🫶 i just had a dream about this😭😭😭

❝ reconciliations, r. cameron. ❞

ooo. 𝒑𝒂𝒊𝒓𝒊𝒏𝒈… rafe cameron & sofia

ooo. 𝒄𝒐𝒏𝒕𝒆𝒏𝒕 𝒘𝒂𝒓𝒏𝒊𝒏𝒈𝒔… mild sexual content, angst, marriage separation, mutual pining, denial of feelings.

ooo. 𝒔𝒚𝒏𝒐𝒑𝒔𝒊𝒔… request!where their daughter inadvertently helps them reconcile after she asks for rafe to stay over.

ooo. 𝒂𝒖𝒕𝒉𝒐𝒓 𝒏𝒐𝒕𝒆𝒔… i think this is my first official fic of rafia as parents?? this was so much fun to write. i kinda deviated from the ask a bit (not too much though so it’s fine lol.) also this was not a stupid request anon. i think this is probably one of my favorites asks that i’ve gotten.

she seems him before he sees her.

(which is astounding considering the fact that his towering height usually gave him the advantage of overseeing nearly everything in his path.)

he’s barely walked through the room that’s filled with rambunctious toddlers who were all running around and squealing loudly in mirth as they chased each other — probably at the precipice of a sugar high from the chocolate milk they had during snack time, he considers — when he hears iliana’s familiar clamor of “daddy!” that has him averting his eyes away from her teacher whom he greets with a haste wave and genial smile, before shifting his attention on her.

she scoots out of the chair that she was previously seated in, absentmindedly abandoning the uncapped markers and crayons she was using while coloring, and snagged the piece of paper off of the table before making her way towards him.

he smiles, that soft adoring smile that’s always on his face whenever he looks at her and met her halfway, stepping around the clutter of legos that a little boy was playing with on the mat and crouched down with extended arms. he catches her as she runs into his arms, hefting her in the air and adjusting her so that she’s hoisted high against his chest.

“hey, baby.” he greets, leaning forward and pressing a kiss against her cheek.

iliana shuffled the paper that she was carrying around, switching it to her other hand. she extends the now crumbled up paper towards him, smiling widely as she avers, “look what i did!”

with his curiosity piqued, rafe retrieved the paper from her grasp and looked at it. skewed messily across the middle written in a heavy dark pink marker was iliana valdez-cameron; the words were shakily written, contrary to the dexterous feat of a toddler but still tangible enough for him to decipher to make out the gist of it. he could tell she’d worked hard on it as there was still residue of the pink smudge from the marker on the side of her hand.

he gasps, “you did so good baby.”

iliana reveled in her father’s praises, her gapped smile widening. “i did a painting too!” she accents, pointing across the room where the kids’ artwork was still drying on the easels. he followed her directions; maneuvering through the room until he reached hers.

it was a picture of their family; her penchant for details captured his slender physique as he wore his signature suit with the blue tie with red fishes that she gifted him for father’s day, sofia was standing on the other side of him with her widened smile and big eyes, that shone brightly and made his heart flutter even through a child’s painting. and at the end, iliana painted herself, her hands intertwined with her mother’s as they all stood in front of their house, smiling.

he smiles despondently at the sight.

“it’s dry, you guys can take it home with you if you want.” rafe turns his head at the sound of ms. goodwin’s voice approaching. she smiled at iliana before shifting her gaze over to rafe, gesturing towards the painting. “she worked hard on it. she said she wanted you to hang it up somewhere in your office.”

rafe nodded, chuckling softly. “my whole office is decorated with her artwork so that’s not surprising.”

there were drawings, pictures, gifts handmade by her, all around his office. he liked the memorabilia’s she’s made for him as every little piece held a special place in his heart. it was like that at home too — the refrigerator served as a makeshift exhibit, displaying all of the pieces she’s made for him throughout the years.

“hey, baby, can you go run over there and grab your bag and jacket so we can go?” he asks iliana who nods avidly, wriggling herself free from his grasp as he sets her down and allowed her to go over towards the cubby area.

“she’s such a sweet girl and she’s so smart for her age.” ms. goodwin compliments as they both stood there watching iliana multitask in grabbing her bag while also talking to one of her classmates.

“she definitely got that from her mother,” rafe says with a chuckle, “i barely made it through school.”

it truly was astounding how iliana’s nearly a prodigy, so naturally good at school when he was barely able to make it through school himself. if it weren’t all those tutors that his father paid for growing up, he probably would’ve had to repeat a few grades.

“she tells me that you read to her every night. that helps a lot,” she says but rafe doesn’t mention the fact that his reciting bedtime stories for her was usually done over the phone. after the separation, he moved out of the house which unfortunately split the time he got to spend with his daughter. “you’re both doing great with her,”

he hates that his and sofia’s decision affected iliana to where she’s now reduced to spending time with one parent one day and the other the next. he never envisioned co-parenting with sofia; he’d always hoped that when they finally started a family, that it would be all of them together as one but instead he was in a house all alone with nothing but torturous thoughts of regret that haunted him every night.

he was still active in his daughter’s life, but it was nowhere near the same as actually being there, and he felt the repercussions of their decision every time he comes home to a vacant house instead of returning to the one he previously shared with his wife and daughter.

rafe nodded as he looked over at her, a soft smile of adoration tugged at his lips. “thank you,” it was validation that he needed to hear because sometimes he questioned it himself.

he wasn’t always there to tuck her in at night, to kiss and hug her good morning, to comfort her whenever she had nightmares and needed someone to lay in bed with her until she fell asleep again. sure, he was present in her life, but he also felt solemnly absent and withdrawn from his family.

when she���s finally got her arms shoved through the straps of her little mermaid book bag, she hobbles back over to where he’s standing, proffering her arms up in the air in an unmistakable gesture that indicated she wanted to be held. rafe, never being able to deny her of anything she asks, reaches down and tucks his hand beneath her armpits before hefting her in the air.

she entangles her arms around his neck, nestling herself against the comfort of his chest. ms. goodwin observes the two in awe, unable to constrain the adoring smile that stretches across her features.

“tell ms. goodwin, bye.” he says, brushing a hand over her back as she peeks her head up from where it was hidden comfortably against him. suddenly feeling timid, iliana raises her hand in the air and wriggles her fingers, gesturing a small wave. she murmurs a soft and haste bye before turning her head to bury her face back in its respective perch. ms. goodwin fawns over her adorableness, resting a hand over her chest.

“bye sweetheart, i’ll see you next week!” she bids her farewell, before diverting her attention back to the remainder of her students. rafe walks over and snags her now dry painting off of the easel, bringing it along so he could hang it up at home.

…

she’s at home, stood over the stove prepping for tonight’s dinner when she hears the front door opening and iliana’s clamor of “mommy!” that has her smiling as she turned around to see her daughter running towards her in approach. sofia picks her up, wrapping her arms around her small body as she pressed a kiss against her cheek.

“hi, mi amor! did you have fun at school?”

iliana nods, “mhm. i made drawings for you and daddy today!”

“really? well, i can’t wait to see them and hang them up.” she smiles, pressing one last kiss against her cheek before steadying her to her feet. “i’m almost finished with dinner. but why don’t you can go play in your room while you wait, okay?”

“okay, mommy.” she concurs before she skips off down the hallway towards her bedroom. sofia turns around and gauges a look over at rafe who stood tentatively by the doorway with his hands slacked in his front pockets.

“thanks again for picking her up,” she says, tucking her arms across her chest as she leaned her body against the counter.

he shakes his head, dismissing her good naturedly. “you know that i don’t mind, sof. i love any extra time that i get to spend with her.”

she nods, “yeah, i know but still thanks.”

she watches as his face furrows in an indescribable expression; he looks briefly at her before hurriedly averting his gaze. the sudden shift has her curiosity piqued. she was with him long enough to be able to detect all of his tells and idiosyncrasies — she knows rafe better than she knows anyone; which is why she knows with the way he’s pursing his lips and writhing his hands inside of his pockets that something was bothering him.

and almost as if he’d read her mind, he begins to vocalize his thoughts. “so, uh, iliana told me about the trip you guys took to the aquarium last weekend...” sofia nods, albeit blanking confusedly on why he was mentioning it until the realization suddenly dawned upon her. “with uh, what’s his name again?” rafe questions, though she knows it’s rhetorical because with how detail oriented iliana is, she doubts there was anything her daughter forgot to mention while reciting the story of their outage to her father.

she sighs in deep exasperation, already knowing the direction of where this conversation was headed towards. “it wasn’t a big deal, rafe. we were already there and we happened to run into him while he was there with his son.” she clarifies, though she’s not entirely sure on why he felt like she was obligated to explain herself to him any way.

he nods, though still looking visibly abhorred. “i just find it funny how he was around while we were together and he’s still around even now that were separated,” and this time it’s sofia whose eyes narrow in offense because she did not appreciate what he was insinuating in the least.

he was deflecting, trying to blame and fault her to attempt to absolve himself from his own residual feelings of guilt that he still carried.

“what exactly are you trying to suggest? because scott is my friend! i’m allowed to have friends, rafe.”

he scoffs disbelievingly, “your friend? sofia he’s in love with you! i’ve seen how he looks at you! but you’re just too blind to see it.”

sofia’s eyes rolls at the absurdity of rafe’s accusations. but she doesn’t even have the opportunity to rebuttal against them, because their conversation is interrupted by iliana who skips into the room again. she pauses, looking between her parents with curious eyes.

“is dinner ready yet?” she asks and sofia exhales a soft sigh of relief; thankful that she didn’t inadvertently overhear their loud bickering.

the last thing she wanted was for their daughter to hear or witness their disagreement. prior to the separation, they’ve had countless whispered arguments in their bedroom, wary of iliana possibly overhearing them. though they know she doesn’t fully comprehend all of the complications behind the separation, it was still imperative for both of them to remain united in front of her. because even though they were no longer together, it was important for her to know that they were all still family regardless of her and rafe’s relationship (or lack thereof.)

sofia smiles softly as she averts her attention on her daughter. “not yet, baby. it’s just a few more minutes until everything’s done.”

“okay.”

sofia’s eyes wander waywardly towards rafe who sighs softly as he rubbed a hand over his clenched jaw. he placates a halfhearted smile on his face, masquerading his anger and softening his voice before he addresses her. “alright, baby. i have to go.” he says, walking from where he was previously posted by the doorway to now sauntering in the kitchen where they stood.

rafe crouches down in front of her so that their heights are leveled. he reaches for her hands, brushing his thumbs over her knuckles. “i’ll see you next weekend, okay?”

iliana’s eyes look at him pleadingly, her lips jut out in a petulant pout as she stumbles forward and throws her arms around his neck. “can you stay daddy? i don’t want you to go! i miss you.” she murmurs, though the sentiment is loud enough for sofia’s heart to break as she stood there listening to her daughter’s plead.

though it’s been two and a half years since their separation, they know iliana still hasn’t fully adjusted and it’s becoming more evident in how clingy she’s gotten recently. she’s always been a daddy’s girl but this past week she’s been more insistent than ever in wanting to be cemented by her father’s side. the other night, she made rafe read her three bedtime stories — trying to prolong the conversation so she wouldn’t have to say goodbye to him.

he holds her against his chest, pressing a kiss against her forehead. “i know. i miss you too, baby,” he says as he tries to assuage the conversation. though through the weariness lilting in his tone she could tell that his feelings were reciprocal of iliana’s. “but remember you and mommy live here together and i live somewhere else?”

she nods curtly against his shoulder, but doesn’t relent in her persistence. “i know, but i want you here again.” she avers, her words had yet to cease in their onslaught of breaking sofia’s heart.

sofia bites on her lower lip, contemplating. it’s after a brief moment of consideration that she concedes to her daughter’s ask. “hey, how about daddy stays over for the night?”

both iliana and rafe’s attention piques at this; their expressions aghast. iliana vocalizes her excitement with a squeal and an affectionate squeeze that she gives rafe, while he looked over her shoulder, staring at sofia with his face marred in a confused but appreciative look.

…

it’s after their bellies are full of food and iliana’s freshly bathed and tucked in that rafe and sofia find themselves alone again.

throughout the night; they remained cordial for iliana’s sake — laughing and engaging in conversation as she talked animatedly about her day. her excitement about rafe staying the night was apparent especially with how she preferred him to be the one to bathe and tuck her in bed tonight instead of sofia.

“you always tuck me in mommy! it’s daddy’s turn this time.” iliana said when sofia teasingly feigned offense over it.

she stood in the doorway, watching with a soft smile as rafe tucked her in and pressed his lips against her forehead. sofia’s smile turned despondent as she reminisced on the times where this was a nightly routine for iliana instead of a seldom one. their separation disrupted the familiarity that she’d gotten so accustomed to and it’s now that sofia realized the extent of how their decision affected her.

“okay, now it’s your turn,” iliana beseeched, retracting sofia away from her thoughts. she blinks, giving her daughter a small smile of adoration as she treks across the room until she’s stood just at her bedside.

sofia leans down and kisses her cheek, her smile widens at the sounds of iliana’s hearty giggles. “sweet dreams, mi amor.” she whispered, before leaning over to turn off the lamp that’s perched on the nightstand. her nightlight turns on; substituting for the loss of light.

rafe and sofia make their stealth departures as iliana suddenly begins to succumb to her exhaustion. she leaves the door ajar, giving her one last brief look over before eventually retreating down the hallway to the living room with rafe following in tow behind her.

“it might not be the most comfortable but these should help,” she says as she extends a pillow and blanket towards him.

he nods, “thanks and thanks letting me stay over. it really means a lot,” he says, his voice soft as he looks over at her.

after their unresolved conversation earlier and seeing him tucking iliana into bed, there was so much that sofia wanted to say to him about everything that happened between them.

things were easier when they first started dating, then somewhere done the line it got so complicated that sometimes rafe wouldn’t even come home and if he did he would sleep on the couch rather than in their bed with her.

they tried so hard to make it work, but it eventually got to the point of no return despite their efforts. of course there were times where she wondered if they gave up too easily on their relationship; but it’s been two years since it’s ended and he hasn’t made one indication of wanting to reconcile. so she conceded, pushing her feelings away until they were buried and dormant, choosing to focus solely on coparenting instead of rekindling their relationship.

it wasn’t until tonight that those feelings decided to resurface again.

“yeah, no problem. iliana really wanted you here so,” she shrugs, watching as his expression weened slightly at her insouciance. “i’m gonna go to bed. goodnight.”

rafe nods somberly as she brushes past him “yeah. night.”

…

he can’t sleep.

he’s laid wide awake, staring vacantly at the ceiling with his mind wandering on sofia. being with her and iliana tonight felt reminiscent of how it used to be when they were together as a family. despite their constant reassurances to iliana that they would always be a family regardless if he and sofia were together or not; it didn’t feel the same as actually being with them like he is tonight.

being here and being able to eat dinner with them as a family only made rafe mourn what he lost when he and sofia separated. he knows that he should’ve fought harder for her and their marriage. she was the best thing that ever happened to him and he let her slip away from him all because of his own insecurities. and now he’s carrying the brunt of his regrets.

he sighs deeply, running a hand wearily over his face. he couldn’t sleep, couldn’t think with sofia being in such close proximity to him. he sits up, rubbing a hand over his neck that had began to ache from tension. “fuck,” he murmurs before clambering to his feet.

he retreats into the kitchen to pour himself a glass of water. as he’s standing there chugging down the drink, he’s taken aback when he hears the sound of footsteps approaching. at first, he thinks that it’s iliana — she used to sneak into their bed to sleep with them all of the time when he used to live here, but he’s pleasantly surprised when he looks up and sees that it’s sofia rounding the corner instead.

“hi,”

she jumps, startled, resting a hand over her heart. “ay dios mios you scared me!”

“sorry.” rafe says, swallowing down the remnants of his drink before turning around to set the dirtied glass into the sink. he averts his attention back on sofia. “can’t sleep either?” he questions and when she shakes her head, his mind curiously wondered if the reason for her insomnia was the same as his.

“it really was nice being here with you guys tonight. it felt like old times,”

she nods, turning away from him as she tugged the refrigerator door open. “yeah, she was really happy to see you here again.”

rafe scoffed a bit ruefully as he shook his head. “why do you keep doing that?” he wasn’t trying to get upset, but any attempts at he made at trying to hold a conversation with her, she dismissed.

he’s aware that it was iliana’s doing that allowed him to stay over for the night but part of him foolishly hoped that maybe tonight would be the start of them reconciling. that seemed improbable now especially when she could barely look or talk to him without the subject regarding iliana.

she furrowed a confused look at him. “why do i keep doing what?”

“any time i try to talk to you, you dismiss the topic by bringing up iliana. i thank you for letting me stay, your response is that iliana wanted me here. i tell you that it felt like old times being with you guys again, you say iliana enjoyed seeing me again.”

“well what do you expect me to say?” sofia rebuttals, closing the door as she finally turns around to look at him again. she raised an expectant brow and shrugged, “last time i checked any and all conversations that we have are about her and her only. there’s not anything else that we need to talk about.”

there’s a sullenness that weighs down heavily on his chest at sofia’s disregarding behavior towards him. sure, they weren’t together any more and haven’t been for a while now, but did her feelings for him completely disappear after the separation?

“wow,” rafe surmises in disbelief. “so, that’s it?”

“what did you expect, rafe?! to come back and suddenly we’re one big happy family again? if that’s what you wanted then you shouldn’t have given up so easily!” she abhors, tears line in her pupils and despite her efforts at a callous demeanor her expression wavers the moment her lip trembles. “you gave up first. you pulled away and shut me out. then you moved out and left us,” she says and rafe feels his heart break at her accusations.

his own emotions begin to unfurl.

“i-” he shakes his head, blinking through the tears that fell from his eyes as he sputtered through an explanation. “i left because i thought that’s what you wanted. you weren’t happy anymore, sof. i saw how miserable you were being with me.” he laments, reminiscing on the trajectory of their marriage and how it started off so good but then transgressed into days with them not speaking or touching each other.

sofia nods, “i was miserable, rafe. because you were pulling away. suddenly the job seemed more important than us—”

“don’t say that! you know that’s not true.” he interjects, feeling offended that she would ever insinuate such an absurd statement. “there’s nothing in this world that’s more important than you guys. you two mean everything to me. it fucking kills me knowing that i didn’t fight hard enough to keep our family together. it’s the biggest regret that i carry with me. i love you, sof. i never stopped loving you. all i want is to come home to you guys, not just for one night but for every night for the rest of our lives. i’m sorry that i was distance and withdrawn and didn’t pay you the attention you deserved but i promise i’ll be better, baby. please just give me another chance to prove it to you,” he begs, pleadingly in his spiel.

he’s desperate for her forgiveness.

all he wanted was his family again and he was willing to do anything to ensure that happened. he knows saying i’m sorry wouldn’t even begin to absolve for everything that he’s done, but he hoped it was enough for the moment.

“sof, please. i’ll do anything, baby. please.” he whispers, his desperation is getting more palpable with each passing second that she stands there looking at him with an indiscernible expression on her face. he hoped his pleading apology was enough for her to believe in him again.

it’s after a moment’s contemplation that she’s nodding her head, murmuring a soft, “okay.” that has him releasing a sigh of relief.

he reached forward and cradled her face within his hands and leaned down, brushing his mouth tentatively against hers. “mmfh!” she murmurs against his lips, slightly aghast by the abruptness of it but slowly succumbing to the feeling of familiarity that washes over her as she indulges into the kiss.

his hands slide down her sides and grabs her by the waist, gently pressing their bodies together, before he’s leaning up and slotting his mouth over hers, swallowing away any lingering questions or trepidations.

it’s slow and suave, with rafe’s lips moving delicately against hers. he parts his lips and seeks after her tongue, sucking on the sensitive flesh. sofia moans softly, leaning into the kiss as she slowly loses herself in the feeling of him.

…

his forehead’s hot against her skin as he tucked his face in her neck. sweat’s slick all over his body, causing his hair to dampen and for the salty body fluid to stick against her body. pleasure spreads from the tip of her ears down to her toes that curl when he shifts his hips and thrusted into her without preamble.

sofia writhes beneath him. her hand glides over his ass, tugging his boxers down even further so she could feel more of him against her. she hikes her night gown over her thighs, pulling it up so that the vision of his cock thrusting inside of her cunt is in her view. he revels at the sight; seeing himself filling her with every thrust that he gives.

“fuck, sof.” he murmurs, sliding his hand underneath her thigh and lifting it up to where she’s bracketing it around his waist. this allowed for a change in pace; allowing him deeper, sharper strokes that has her back bowing as pleasure engulfs her.

she whimpers, her fingernails carve into the skin on his back as she feels his pelvis chafing against hers as he rolled his hips into her, swiftly, fluidly, unhurriedly, with such vehemence and vigor that it’s impossible to replicate.

she could feel him twitching inside of her with every pull her cunt gives. she keens and tosses her head back in pleasure.

“sofia-” he grunts again, his body trembling atop of hers. he’s already so close and isn’t positive that he can last any longer with the way she’s clenching around him.

she cums when he presses his thumb against her cunt and massaged at the swollen flesh.

she cries in pleasure, feeling her chest contract as she lulled down from her orgasm. rafe’s seconds behind her, body stuttering and spasming as he fills her with his warm.

“i love you,” he murmurs against her skin, squeezing his eyes shut.

she turns her head and smiles softly at him, leaning forward to meet his lips in another soft kiss. “i love you too,” she says, so naturally, like it’s the easiest thing in the world for her. her smile sages a bit as she sighs. “rafe?”

“yeah, baby?” he murmurs, pressing soft kisses against her skin.

she chews on her lip, shaking her head as she looked over at him. “what’s going to be different this time?” she heard his promises and reassurances earlier, but she needed to know how they were going to make this relationship work better this time.

she didn’t want them making the same past mistakes just to end up separated again.

rafe looks at her in deep consideration. “well, firstly, we’re going to communicate with each other better. i want to know everything you’re feeling and i’ll do the same. if you’re feeling like i’m not giving you or our family enough attention tell me and i’ll do better. you guys have always been my first priority and i’ll do better at showing you that.” he avows, brushing his hand over her back as he leaned down and pressed a kiss against her forehead.

“secondly, we’re not going to give up on each other again. no matter how hard shit gets, we’re not separating again. it’s been hell being without you and iliana and i don’t want to experience that kind of loneliness ever again. i’m going to prove that i’m worth being your husband again, sof.” she smiles at the vehemence behind his words, there’s a sincerity in them that has her clinging onto belief. it’s everything that she wanted to hear all those years ago and now that he’s saying them, there’s not a doubt in her mind that he won’t fulfill his promises.

she leans forward to peck a kiss against his lips, whispering a soft i love you, that has rafe’s stomach fluttering and heart swooning. she cuddles against his chest, tucking her face in the comfort of his neck as he holds her against him with his arms barred around her body like he was afraid of letting her go.

[cerenemuxse]

UNLEASHED TO THE WILDERNESS THEY SHALL BE

all of the pups when they were just baby loaves!!! (1-week old) 💙

notes under cut :3

*color coded names aren't final!

general notes on pups (baby drafters)

born completely grey. do not inherit parents' livery colors. only color inherited is eye color!

cannot shift until they're 2 years old. become adults at 4 years old

cannot eat hard solids so the best for them is mushed fruit or veggies with coal

Edward and James' triplets (image 1)

Bunch of menaces when they were little. Bold of you to assume they didn't pick up on Edward's seagull tendencies to "borrow" their crews' lunches.

Clyde (top first) is the oldest of the three yet she turned out to be the more rambunctious of the triplets as she got older. She's a 0-4-0 saddle tank, inheriting the saddle tank part from her only grandmama (aka James' mama), who was a 0-6-0 saddle tank. Just her appearance alone, she stood out as the "runt," even though she's healthy and fine, and its affected her since. She feels the need to prove that she's just as capable as her younger siblings are. When she was younger, whenever she got upset, she resorted to hiding underneath her parents. Wren and Lily Anne try to cheer her up but Edward or James will intervene if they notice that Clyde isn't having it today. While not illustrated, please know that she actually sleeps like this:

Wren (middle second) is the middle child. The calmest of the three. He's a 4-4-0. This was by complete accident (in character design) but he ended up looking like the goof from Edward and Gordon. Wren just kinda exists and he prefers it that way. Will get loud if he needs to say something or someone's picking on his loved ones.

Lily Anne (bottom third) is the youngest of the three. Very-reminiscent of Edward before he showed up to the NWR. Edward is doing his best to steer her in a better direction. It seems to be working. Best friends with Jules.

Thomas, Ryan, and Ashima's twins (image 2)

They're surprisingly some of the lesser rambunctious ones. They're not exactly twins, as in, same litter but different second parent. However, they do get along with all three parents (and each other)! And the trio treat their kids as their own. Both were also born in India, hence the Ashima situation (whether to sell her or not, which, yes, she was.).

Ryan is the father of Rupa (first, left). She's confident like her mom but she lets it get to her head. She also struggled to express herself through facial expressions, picking up the same problem from Ryan. Verbally, she is able to express herself.

Thomas is the father of Nadin (second, right, the one on his back).He's a bit of a grump and struggles to express his emotions in general. He tends to stick with his parents. Very momma's boy and daddy's boy. Both get along with the other pups just fine, except for Clyde. Clyde likes being around them but Rupa and Nadin don't. This is because Clyde accidentally scared the twins when they were babies (Rupa and Nadin are the 2nd youngest of all the pups [so far]).

Gordon and Rebecca's twins (image 3)

Mae (first, left) is a sassy little prideful girl. Pouts a lot. Still reliable. She's the pup that got the most attached to their parents. She specifically attaches to Rebecca the most. Not that she hates Gordon. She loves both her parents but Rebecca just seems more... "approachable." Gordon's a great dad. please trust. Mae just prefers to avoid scolding as much as possible.

Jules (second, right) seems all nice and shit but he's secretly a menace. Likes to joke around and play a couple pranks. Does have to get some sense knocked into him. When that happens, he gets REALLY quiet. Best friends with Lily Anne. Despite Jules' personality, Lily Anne is the "HE ASKED FOR NO PICKLES" to Jules. :3 Does often butt head's with his dad but they make-up after like- an hour.

Duck and Donald's triplets (image 4)

Deborah "Debbie" (first, left) is the serious but playful. She knows when work and play should happen. She likes to banter and tease but is super selective with who. Its usually reserved with her closest friends. Otherwise, she stays quiet.

Dorian "Dory" (middle) took on more from Duck than he and Donald thought. Always do the right thing, no nonsense, but turn it up to the max. He is not up for games. They're not "proper." Problem is that he's stubborn as hell so its hard for Donald and Duck to guide him, help him be more open. He gets really focused on his jobs, completely zoning out. He's not completely antisocial but the vibes are there.

Dustin "Dusty" (last, third) has a problem with zoning out for the wrong reasons. He tries doing his jobs as best he can but once he hears about something, he gets derailed, both methaporically and (sometimes) literally. Best way to describe him is that his thoughts get a little too real (in a good way). Creative little guy! He's the most approachable of the three as Debbie can come off as overbearing and Dory can come off as antisocial.

Jacqueline (OC) x Rosie's little boy (image 5)

Brendon takes more on Jacqueline. For context, Jacqueline is ambitious but in a calm way, as opposed to Rosie's hyper ambitious personality. Both want to prove themselves but Jacqueline is more prone to that! However, Brendon took Rosie's lower tendency to prove herself capable. He's a tank engine! I just forgot the "T" in the wheel config note. lul

feel free to ask me about them! i got more >:3

[mechamausoleum]

Okay no wait - now I'm thinking about a Polycule baby... Assuming Majiri and Humans can have kids together, it would be so cute...

Obviously it would come from Opal and Jel. Even if Tish and Jel weren't platonic she would still decline due to her illness and the possibility of passing it down.

We have a son, pale skin with messy brown curls, pointed ears, and Jel's golden eyes. Though he is a very quiet child, he is rambunctious and curious, getting stuck in very peculiar situations. Like foot stuck between a rock and a tree he was trying to climb to catch a chapaa kind of trouble. Not the muujin, he's afraid of them.

Jel is a doting father, though he is hesitant at first. For the first year or so he's so afraid of messing everything up, but once his son starts talking and walking, he lightens up. He makes all the clothes for him which means the kid ends up in some pretty unique looks.

Tish is the one who spoils him. She wants him to have everything she can possibly give him, the best toys and food and anything else he wants. She does draw the line at lettuce soup, much to Uncle Reth's dismay, as the kid really didn't like it the first time.

Reth is, of course, the fun uncle. But, he's also just as afraid of messing up as Jel is. He keeps his distance at first until the kid starts to really take to him and wants him to play with him. From then is when Reth starts to really open up.

Einar is very curious about the child, but loves him in his own way. He asks Tish to make a little wooden fishing play set so he can teach him how to fish and tell him everything he knows until he's old enough to hold the rod himself. When the rest of us are out, Einar offers to look over the kid. At first, in the earlier months, the kid sleeps most of the time. As he grows and gets more mobile and curious Einar will either play fishing with him or take him to the shore line to collect little rocks and seashells. He consults Hekla all the time for advice.

Speaking of Hekla, she is a self-proclaimed Godmother, but no one is going to argue that with her. She knows the most about child care and helps us whenever we need it.

Opal is likely the one to have the most difficulty. Coming from wherever she came from (assuming it was a time/place where humans still lived) it was still hard to adjust to a completely different environment. Especially where pregnancy is involved. And while Majiri seem to do most things the same, it's the differences that she tends to focus on. But, with her partners help she adjusts quick enough. They have to force her to take it easy, as well, something she has a LOT of trouble doing. She's a very go and do it yourself girl, but having to sit back and ask for help is difficult. Once the kid is born, she is back up the moment she can be, settling into motherhood much slower than she thought she would, but still settling.

And obviously if they can't physically have the child, they would adopt. Which is another post entirely!

[saltywithsarcasm]

Would you all enjoy some Shunsui/Ukitake fics?

⬇️⬇️ Read below ⬇️⬇️

The sun casts the Soul Society in a soft, golden warmth as a cool breeze wove its way through the trees, rustling the leaves with the scent of cherry blossoms. It’s a beautiful day, quite a shame that Jūshirō doesn’t get to enjoy it since he’s stuck inside, hunched over a mountain of paperwork and it doesn’t help that he has two rambunctious twin boys running around him as he worked.

Despite his best efforts to focus, the lively energy of his kids made it nearly impossible to concentrate on his tasks.

His pen moves steadily across the page until one of his children, in their playful frenzy, bumps into his elbow. The sudden jolt causes his pencil to skid across the paper, ruining his neat writing. He pauses, closing his eyes for a moment and taking a deep breath to steady himself. Meanwhile, the twins continue to chase each other around the room, making it even harder for him to concentrate.

“Children, please.” Jūshirō pleads, struggling to keep his temper in check because they are just children after all and turns in his seat, trying to get their attention directly. “It’s a beautiful day, why don’t you two go play outside, hm?”

“Play with us!” “Play with us!”

Both of them rush over to Jūshirō at the same time, clinging to his robes and looking up at him with wide eyes. Even though he wants to give them his attention, the documents are too important to ignore, so he can't.

“I can't right now but if you both give me half an hour to get through some of these, I promise I'll take a break and come join you.” Jūshirō promises, rubbing their backs apologetically as the twins frown at his reply, clearly disappointed. Despite their disappointment, he hopes his words and his touch will reassure them. “I know it's hard to wait but I really need to finish these reports then we can have some fun together.”

The twins pout up at Jūshirō and glance at each other, silently communicating their shared frustration then with a determined look, they hold their pinkies up to him, wanting him to promise them.

“Promise!” “Promise!”

“I promise.” He chuckles quietly to himself, a warm smile spreading across his face and wraps his pinkies around theirs, sealing the promise with a tender, reassuring gesture.

This seems to lift their spirits as they hug his arms before running out of the room, hand in hand. Jūshirō watches them go, a fond smile on his face before turning back to his work with renewed focus.

He figures that since Shunsui is outside, the two shouldn’t get into too much trouble and trusts him to keep an eye on them so he can focus on his work without too much worry.

ₓ˚. ୭ ˚○◦˚.˚◦○˚ ୧ .˚ₓ ₓ˚. ୭ ˚○◦˚.˚◦○˚ ୧ .˚ₓ

The twins burst outside, holding onto each other as they sprint through the grass and seem to float above the ground with the sunlight flickering around them. Their playful sprint comes to an abrupt halt when they notice a man sleeping under a nearby tree and pause, taking a moment to study him; The man's peaceful expression and gentle snoring make them glance at each other before breaking into quiet giggles.

Then they reach into their kimonos, each pulling out a similar marker and exchange devious looks before quietly making their way over to the unsuspecting Shunsui.

One of the twins carefully leans in, marker in hand and begins drawing swirls on Shunsui's cheeks. Suddenly, the sleeping man stirs, causing the child to quickly pull back their hand and both hold their breath, waiting to see if Shunsui wakes up. When he remains asleep, they exchange relieved glances and continue their playful mischief. Then the other twin gives him a funny mustache while the first one adds fake glasses. They both quietly giggle at their handiwork but their laughter is cut short when they hear someone clear their throat to get their attention.

Both kids tense, knowing they've been caught; Slowly, they turn their heads to look over their shoulders and see Ohana standing behind them, arms crossed, taking in the scene before her.

“What naughty children you are.” She says softly, turning her head to the side at the mess they've caused to her master's face. The twins lower their heads, bracing for a lecture yet her amused chuckle surprises them and they perk up again, noticing her holding out her hand expectantly.

They exchange a glance before one of them hands the woman a marker and quickly move aside as they watch her kneel down in front of Shunsui, bringing the marker up to his face as well. The twins cling to her from either side, watching as she draws a unibrow between his eyebrows and snicker quietly until the woman shushes them.

When she pulls back, Ohana smiles to herself and hands the marker back to the one she borrowed it from, looking quite pleased with herself while the two children lean away from her to admire her handiwork.

Their laughter, though muffled, wakes Shunsui and his eyes flutter open to find the three of them kneeling before him, just as the twins quickly hide their markers.

“My, my, what's happening here?” Shunsui asks, adjusting his hat, completely oblivious to the drawings on his face while the boys struggle to hold back their laughter.

“The boys were hoping you'd keep them company while their master is tied up with work.” Ohana answers as the children release her robe and tumble into Shunsui’s lap, startling him momentarily before he instinctively wraps his arms around both of them. “I figured you wouldn't mind, considering they are, after all, the spirit forms of your best friend's Zanpakutō.”

“Not at all.” Shunsui replies with a smile, looking down at them before glancing up at his own Zanpakutō’s spiritual form and looks a bit suspicious since she’s not usually this friendly with him. When Ohana's facial expressions offer him no clue to her thoughts, Shunsui shifts his attention back to the children in his lap and lets them settle against his sides, feeling their small bodies relax into his embrace. “It's a beautiful day, perfect for relaxing and soaking up the sun. Don't you agree?”

“Yeah!” “Yeah!” Both twins rest their heads against him, secretly exchanging knowing looks and unaware of their silent communication, Shunsui holds them close, his hands moving in gentle circles on their backs.

“Why don't you two settle down and enjoy this lovely weather with me for a bit, hm?” Shunsui smiles as the two children calm down, leaning against him and using him as a pillow, feeling a sense of warmth and contentment, enjoying the peaceful moment with the little ones nestled close. “Care to join us, Ohana?”

The woman raises a brow, glancing down at the empty space on his lap and with a slight huff, she shakes her head, clearly rejecting the invitation.

“I’d rather not.” Ohana shifts her weight and turns away from him but can still hear the clear amusement in his laughter, echoing behind her.

“Can’t blame a man for trying.” Shunsui pulls the kids closer before lowering the brim of his straw hat over his eyes, fully intending to drift back to sleep.

ₓ˚. ୭ ˚○◦˚.˚◦○˚ ୧ .˚ₓ ₓ˚. ୭ ˚○◦˚.˚◦○˚ ୧ .˚ₓ

After finally reaching a stopping point, Jūshirō steps outside, stretching his arms over his head to rid himself of the stiffness in his body but halts when he sees them gathered by the tree. For a moment, he can hardly believe what he's seeing before a smile slowly spreads across his face at the sight of the twins nestled up against Shunsui, fast asleep. Ohana, meanwhile, is busy with a game but glances his way, gesturing the captain to come closer and when he does, he has to stifle a laugh at the sight of his best friend’s face.

“Was that the children or your doing?” Jūshirō asks about the scribble on the other man's face and without a moment's hesitation, sits down when the woman invites him to.

“It was more of a team effort.” Ohara says, motioning for him to turn away from her and when he does, he feels her fingers brush through his hair but doesn’t try to pull away. “Some might call it a bonding experience.”

“I would appreciate it if you didn’t torment my friend.” Jūshirō asks, feeling a tug on his hair that forces him to lean his head back and looks up at her with a bit of alarm in his eyes.

“Stop fussing.” Ohara tells him, glancing over at the sleeping man then returns to braiding Jūshirō’s hair and smiling at how obedient he’s being. “He’s perfectly fine.” She takes her time, fingers moving through his long hair, separates the silky strands with care and weaving them slowly into a single braid that cascades down his back. “It's a pity Shunsui has never played with your hair before; It's practically made for it.”

“W-ha…why would he do that?!” Jūshirō's face turns a shade of pink at her comment and turns to look at her, confusion in his eyes.

“Why wouldn’t he?” The ominous woman gives a knowing smile as she ties off the end of his hair and runs her hand over the long braid. “He often mentions how nice your hair looks. Made me want to run my fingers through it myself.” Jūshirō looks at her, doubt flickering in his eyes because he can't decide whether to trust her words, suspecting this might just be another one of her mind tricks. “Though he might appreciate this braid more.”

Before he has the chance to ask what she meant by that, Ohana sharply tugs on his hair, forcing him to fall backwards into her. The sudden motion leaves him disoriented, his thoughts spinning as he tries to comprehend what’s happening. As he realizes his head is resting against her chest, a deep blush spreads across his cheeks, his heart pounding wildly. Flustered and overwhelmed, he tries to sit up but her firm grip on his hair keeps him in place.

“B-Behave yourself!” Jūshirō warns her as she releases him and he quickly sits up to regain his composure, pulling the braid over his shoulder and away from the reach of the provocative woman.

“You asked me to not torment Shunsui.” He can see the amusement in her eyes as she revels in the embarrassment spreading across his face and it seems that her taunts seem to have the exact effect she intended.

“That doesn't mean you should torment me.” Despite his best efforts, the blush on his cheeks deepens and betrays his growing discomfort.

Ohana hums to herself as she turns her head to see the twins stirring and their movements cause Shunsui to wake up as well. The two children’s faces light up when they see their master, jumping out of Shunsui’s lap and into Jūshirō’s, hugging him tightly and pulling at his robes in excitement, thrilled that he’s finally there with them.

Shunsui sits up, adjusting his hat and sleepily watching as the boys practically tackle his friend to the ground, chuckling to himself then notices the braid and raises a brow at Ohana; She raises a brow back at him before smirking smugly. He uses the brim of his hat to hide his eyes from her but her knowing gaze pierces through his facade, understanding him all too well.

Whether he was jealous or embarrassed, he wouldn’t say but she has been his sword for years and he didn’t need to.

Jūshirō does his best to sit up with the twins clinging to his neck, their small arms wrapped tightly around him as they nuzzle their faces against his and Shunsui can’t seem to look away.

“Have you considered having children, Ukitake?” Ohana asks, prompting Jūshirō to look up at her with a stunned expression while Shunsui hides his face completely. “You're incredibly patient and have a natural way with kids.”

“Uh…no? It’s never crossed my mind before.” Jūshirō replies awkwardly and his voice comes out a bit hesitant, clearly caught off guard by the unexpected question. “And with my job as a captain, I barely have time to even think about seeing someone-“

“Could always adopt.” Ohana glances over at her master and can see that he's clearly trying to ignore the conversation. “I’m sure Shunsui wouldn’t mind lending a hand.”

“I'm sure he wouldn’t but uh...I've already got my hands full with these two.” Jūshirō's smile radiates warmth as he looks at the two spirits of his Zanpakutō and they return it with little smiles of their own. “Speaking of childish antics; Shunsui, you should go wash your face.”

“My face?” Shunsui raises his head to meet his gaze then touches his face and noticing the marker on the ground. He pieces it together and looks at the twins, who sheepishly bury their faces in Jūshirō’s robes. ”Huh, I suppose I should.”

When Shunsui looks at his friend, he sees him laughing warmly and it makes his chest feel all sorts of emotions. Then he notices Ohana glancing his way and forces himself to turn his head away, fully aware she’s going to tease him about it later.

“I'll help you with that since I believe it was the kids' idea in the first place.” Jūshirō offers, letting the twins run off to play and gets up to head back inside while the other man follows him. “You three better behave yourselves.”

[rebelspykatie]

Gymnastics/Olympics AU Part 2

Part 1 | Part 3

Eddie was a rambunctious child. His parents hated it, always slapping his wrist and yanking him out of trees he’d try to climb. When they dumped him on Uncle Wayne, he was terrified, afraid that he’d be sent away to some home, Wayne too exhausted to take care of a rowdy eleven year old. 

But Wayne surprised him. When he found Eddie on the roof of their trailer, having scaled the side of it alone, he enrolled Eddie in a local gymnastics class at the rec center. It might have been a little selfish on Wayne’s part, he needed somewhere to dump Eddie after school until he finished his shift, and it kept him from destroying their trailer. But it was exactly what Eddie needed.

What neither of them expected was his aptitude for it. He was a natural, his string bean torso perfect for flipping through the air. With time, he bulked up in the right ways, strong biceps to hold him atop the rings, abs that Eddie couldn’t fathom that held him firmly over the pommel horse during his rotations. 

He quickly outgrew the rec center gym, but Eddie didn’t have the means to go beyond that, at least not for a while. Stuck in middle of nowhere Indiana, he could only dream of the kind of gyms that put you on the map. He watched the Olympics with fervor every four years, glued to his spot on their pullout, mesmerized with one Steve Harrington. 

It didn’t take much for Eddie to get hooked. His muscles are twice the size of Eddie’s, even at fifteen. They’re even better at nineteen. Wayne teases him all summer, Eddie refusing to admit that he’s obsessed with more than just Steve’s gymnastic prowess. Wayne doesn’t need to know that Steve Harrington was his gay awakening anyways, so he prattles on about the ever growing stack of gold medals and how Steve is the best vaulter in the world. 

The year after those Olympics, Eddie almost gave up gymnastics altogether. It’s hard on his body and he’s struggling to graduate, but gymnastics is his one oasis. It clears his head and helps him focus, so he’s reluctant to give it up. He’s not sure how it happens, but luck seems to be on his side. He gets spotted by a scout, someone or other from the governing body for gymnastics. They want to fly him out for a chance to qualify for the national team.

Eddie’s not a particularly optimistic person, he doesn’t believe that there’s any truth to this bullshit, but Wayne forces him to go, guilts him into it. He had no idea it would all blow up so quickly, catapulting him into the spotlight with his first win at a regional competition. And then he kept winning, competition after competition. There’s not as much funding for men’s gymnastics, but for the first time in his life, he doesn’t have to worry about putting food on the table. 

He didn’t meet Steve until Nationals. He was nervous enough about the competition, but add on the pressure of meeting the hottest gymnast on earth and Eddie was a mess. Wayne slaps him on the back of the head when he notices him staring at Steve throughout the warmups, begging him to focus. When Steve’s attention is finally on him, it’s not the warm reception he’s hoping for, the meet cute he’s dreamt about since he was sixteen and watched this cute guy do the pommel horse routine of a lifetime. 

Instead, he’s met with a frosty look, one that Eddie can feel in his sleep now. Daggers straight to the heart. Steve hates him, watches him like a hawk. Every event feels like a nail in his coffin, the chances of getting anything out of Steve besides disdain dying with every medal placed around his neck. He watches Steve’s jaw tighten beside him on the podium, the firm grip on his hand when they’re forced to play nice in front of the cameras.

And he doesn’t have a death wish, he keeps his distance, lets this all play out however it needs to. He knows the bullshit the media tries to stir up, but he ignores it, focuses on doing his best, trying not to let Wayne or anyone that believes in him down. It lands him at the Olympics, and Eddie is awestruck and giddy, unsure how he even managed to land a spot on this team, let alone be second to Steve. 

When he finds out they’re paired up in the dorms, there’s a little spark of hope. Maybe Steve will start to see that Eddie has no intentions of taking his spot. He doesn’t want to be America’s golden boy. He keeps trying to catch him in their room, hoping they can have a normal conversation for once, but Steve disappears while they’re awake and Eddie gets used to seeing the back of his head tucked into his bed at night.

At podium training, Steve’s gaze is like a tattoo on his skin. It unnerves him, even more so than the cameras following them around the gym. It’s not clear if Steve’s trying to intimidate him or keep an eye on his routines. They’re on the same team here, even if they’re competing against one another for the individual medals. It behooves both of them to not cause a scene, so they both just quietly watch each other. 

But it all comes to a head during the first night of competition when Eddie comes off the pommel horse during his routine, an uncharacteristic mistake from him, arm bending at an odd angle, displaying his nerves for the whole world to see. Steve, who already nailed his routine during this rotation, comes rushing over. He angles his body, blocking the cameras, the first one to reach him as he clutches his wrist to his chest. He must look like an idiot staring up at him, as Steve silently reaches for his arm, cradling it gently as he checks to see if something is broken. 

He has no idea where Steve learned first aid, but he’s already assessing it before a medic even reaches them, telling Eddie quietly that it’s not broken, so he could get it wrapped and continue. Steve stays blocking the camera from Eddie’s face the entire time. It throws Eddie for a loop even more than screwing up his routine. They have a long night ahead of them, though, so it’s not the time to address this.

Once they get back to the dorms, all bets are off.

Big shout out to @eddiemunsonmeltdowns for their tags on part 1 because they were spot on with the vision

Part 1 | Part 3 | AO3

[bravewolfvesperia]

@mistralxsoul | continued

For a hot second Yuri turned back around with a hasty "uh-!" before whipping his head back around to chase down the child with a knife, only able to quickly put it back down on the counter after securing it to reach for the other child without it in his hand. Once he had pulled him back down, it was only a brief scolding to both children about how that was dangerous and not do to it again and how they were lucky it was only Yuri and not Jiri who caught them doing it. The kids seemed to take it well enough, at least bowing in apology before he turned back to the knife on the counter and put it away.

After a sigh of relief, he turned back to Flynn and walked back over, also slightly bowing in apology. "Sorr~yyyyy." He didn't need to be told what Flynn had reacted over earlier. As soon as he'd seen the other two kids acting like they were in a damn zoo, his brain stopped registering his immediate surroundings. It was Jiri's influence - he knew it was - because if that had been him being chased down by her, he would have been cowering over the consequences with the scolding he'd have gotten.

Yuri was considerably softer about scoldings, but he supposed it was from growing up around a bunch of rambunctious children himself. He'd gotten used to when to really scold them and when to take it easy and just remind them not to go overboard. Usually they listened to him pretty easily back then. Nowadays they were all a bit more spread out and a bit too old to want to listen to him (something something "we're too old for this" pride...), but at least they had been good experience back then.

With the other kids seeming to have settled down based on a glance around him, he settled back down himself in front of Flynn and Cass. His hand went right for Cass' hair, lightly brushing at it and caressing the child's head. "Sorry little guy, go back to sleep. Good boys sleep at naptime and you're a good boy, right?" Cass gave a tiny noise, neither confirmation nor denial, but his crying dwindled.

"He'll go back to sleep in a minute." Yuri's voice softened for the concerned Flynn, making sure to keep stroking the child's head until he did so. "He just needs to be comforted to sleep usually." Heck, Yuri himself could use a nap, but he'd have to wait to collapse for that until there were more people here.

Really, they could go get someone if they needed the help. Nobody in the Lower Quarter would just utterly refuse them any assistance if it was really too much for them and they were at their breaking point. Even if someone was busy, they'd ask around for the two of them. They could probably make it at this point - it was just an unlucky day of events, he supposed, and they'd all just gotten energy back from eating.

Despite it all though, he chuckled quietly. "I think this bunch of kids might be more dysfunctional sometimes than we all were." Them, yes, the kids who kept trying to run off together in a group and do things they knew would be disapproved of. Usually these kids were well behaved, but today was a mix of neighbors' kids for babysitting, their usual orphans, and a few stragglers who just wanted to hang out with their friends at the orphanage. Being together probably just made them overly hyper.

They were lucky they could be that way. When Yuri and Flynn were kids, they didn't really have the luxury of being hyper. Even the other kids could be easily excitable, but Yuri could barely remember a time when he, or they even, were happily hyper. Things were a lot more difficult at that time, and it didn't help that they as a community had emergencies to deal with that they all had to deal with without the help of the knights or any other officials.

Thinking back on it, it was probably a relatively scary time for the teenagers and adults at that time. If even the children - themselves at the time - felt they needed to work extra hard or even felt that they needed any sort of recognition instead of just being children and playing dumb games with each other, it was probably a lot to be concerned about.

Given that the kids in the orphanage now were able to mess around more and really act like kids, Yuri guessed they'd managed to at least stabilize the Lower Quarter enough to get it to this point. They still had to help out with chores which sucked for their ages, but they reminded him more of actual children than the way he, Flynn and the others were. Even doing crazy, dumb things like playing with knives and climbing counters were things a randomly curious child was likely to do. By their age Yuri would have known better, instead attempting to get actual important matters done...

Gently scratching the boy's head a few more times, Yuri pulled his hand away. "See? Sound asleep. You should probably get him to the kids' room for now so he doesn't wake back up from the noise. I'll gather the kids together so they can get that game of charades going that they wanted earlier. I'm sure it'll be enough to sap their extra energy so they calm down by bedtime. If you can get the lemonade ready too while I set them up I'd appreciate it, but I get it if this little guy takes too long to get comfortable."

[kumeko]

A/N: For the @dc-lgbt-zine! I had to write BatCat, one of the og ships. Though every time I write for DC/Marvel, I’m reminded that I really need to catch up again instead of seeing random snippets online.

…

…

…

…

Selina Kyle was restless. Since she was a child, she had never been able to stay still, let alone stay in one place. Whether it had been bouncing between shelters or sneaking into different abandoned warehouses to call ‘home’, Selina had always been on the move.  

Then again, it was hard to move with a baby. Selina leaned against the crib’s railing, watching as Helena dozed the night away. Everything about her was tiny: her button nose, her plump cheeks, her toothless smile. Her hand could barely wrap around Selina’s finger. The only thing big about her was her scream and Selina was glad that for once, Helena chose to keep human sleep schedules.

For a while, she had been worried her child was starting to take after her own nocturnal habits. Add that on top of Helena’s insatiable curiosity and sometimes Selina wasn’t sure if she was raising a rambunctious girl or a destructive monster.

Tonight, though, Helena was asleep. Selina’s feet felt itchy. She had to go, had to move, and without a second thought, she picked up the baby monitor and crept into Holly’s room. There were many reasons she was glad the young woman lived with her, though her baby-sitting values were starting to become the biggest one.

It took Selina ten minutes to find her costume from the depths of her closet and another five to slip into it. The suit didn’t fit quite right as she escaped onto her rooftop. Some of her pregnancy fat still clung to her despite the exercise and the sleek suit felt too tight in places.

She still felt the best she had in months. The night air was cool on her face, the moon bright and ready for mischief, and Selina closed her eyes as she embraced the life she had missed. It had been far too long since she had last prowled Gotham’s streets.

“I missed this,” she murmured as she ran recklessly to the edge of her apartment’s roof and leapt off. There was a dull roar in her ears she’d almost forgotten. Laughing with abandon, she somersaulted onto the next roof.

She had missed this. God had she missed this. The thrill, the rush—how could she have thought she could leave it all behind, even if only for a few years? It was part of her DNA, as necessary as water, and she didn’t realize just how inspid her life had gotten until this moment.

Selina leapt and tumbled from rooftop to rooftop, no particular direction in her mind. On a night like this, where should she go? Ivy’s and Harley’s place? It could be fun, they usually had something going on, but Selina wasn’t really in the mood for danger. Or a knife in the back.

From the corner of her eye, she spotted the old Clocktower. Oracle would certainly have work, there was always work in hero business, but Selina was in the mood to play.

And who better to play with than her usual partner?

Selina smirked as she landed lightly on a gargoyle. Perhaps she could do some window shopping along the way. Last she’d heard, the art museum had a new collection on cat-eye gemstones. It had been a while since she’d done an old-fashioned cat burglary. At least it’d be a good workout.

It would certainly get his attention, at least.

“What are you up to?” A familiar, gruff voice asked from behind her.

Selina almost leaped out of her skin. Speak of the devil, she thought as she peeked over her shoulder to find Batman watching her from the ledge. His posture was as stiff as ever; the man was always ready for a fight, regardless of the situation. She smiled wryly. “You know, I think I agree with Commissioner Gordon. I should buy you a cat bell.”

Bruce’s lips pressed into a thin line as he shot her a dry look.

“It’d be cute,” she continued, carefully keeping her balance as she walked back to him. They were higher than the birds; maybe she should get him to carry her down next time. “Especially with a pink ribbon.”

“So you are planning something?” Bruce scoffed derisively, though she just caught the slight twitch of his lips. She’d have to try this again later. With an actual bell, even—perhaps she’d get a proper smile or, heaven forbid, a laugh.

“I’m always planning something,” she replied sweetly, leaning closer to him. Selina dragged her finger up his suit. “It’s part of my charm.”

Disappointingly, he didn’t react. It both attracted and infuriated her. Dryly, he replied, “So you keep saying…”

What an ass. Selina huffed and lightly smacked his chest. Originally, she’d intended to merely tease, but when he was acting like that—well, she had her pride. Resting a hand on her hip, she asked, “What would you do if I was planning something? Chase me?”

He eyed her suspiciously. Good. Bruce reached out, his hand lightly gripping her forearm. For him, his tone was somewhat playful. “I could just stop you here.”

“Sure,” she agreed, stepping sideways and just pulling out of his grasp. “But I’m really good at slipping away.”

Bruce grunted and dropped his hand. “You are.”

When he didn’t say anything else, Selina chuckled and cocked her head. “Ohhh, rare praise. Someone’s in a good mood. And here I thought I’d have to work for it.” She tapped her chin. “Though…it’s no fun if you give it so easily.”

When she leaned closer, he stepped backwards, just out of reach. If the praise had been an oddity, the smirk that followed was an even bigger miracle. “You’ve gotten slow.”

“Oh, now you’re playful.” His humour had always been on the dry side. Maybe the Robins took it all. Still, it rankled her. Selina had always been competitive and she had months of pent-up energy to release. “Let’s see if you can catch me before I get the prize, handsome.”

Immediately, she spun on her heel and sprinted away. Before he could move, she’d leaped off the building. Spreading her arms as she hurtled through the air, pure glee filled her as she cut through the wind. At the last moment, Selina snapped her whip and swung to the next building. She landed with a soft thud and rolled forward before springing to her feet and sprinting off once more.

Even without looking, she knew he was behind her. His movements were more silent but even the great Batman couldn’t hide the sound of his feet or the small click of his batarang. It was enough to warn her when he was getting close or to slow her down when he was just too far.

The game was serious, in the sense that they were full-out racing one another, but not in the sense that Batman was tossing any of his fancy toys for once. Selina pitied him; did he really think he could compete with her up here? The rooftops were her element and without thinking, she could name a dozen routes from here to the museum. Batman’s work was on the streets below and while he could use the skyline, he had never mastered it like she had.

She pushed off another roof, flipping through the air and comfortably landing on a ledge. “What happened to all of that confidence?” she taunted as she sprang off and hurled her whip.

There was no response. Selina didn’t expect one. He was a silent hunter, never one for banter, and she both loved and hated that about him. Maybe she just liked poking his buttons, seeing how long it took for him to crack.

Blocks blurred by as they played tag, the museum getting closer by the second. Selina jumped forward. A body slammed into her, knocking the breath out of her as she hit the rooftop. A familiar weight settled above her. In a low, gruff voice, Bruce smugly retorted, “I just have to catch you once.”

She had to give it to him.

She also was a fighter.

“You also have to keep me,” she purred, bracing her hands on the rough surface. Hooking her leg around his, she pushed off and flipped their positions. As she straddled him, Selina grabbed his wrists and pushed his arms above his head, leaving Bruce no wiggle room. “The view’s nice. Looks like I win.”

Bruce stared at her coolly. “Feeling better?”

Selina frowned, not liking the sound of that. “Did you let me win?”

“No.” His response was immediate.

“Good.” Selina smirked as she slipped off Bruce. Lying down beside him, she yawned and stretched her arms above her. “God, I get tired so easily these days.”

He didn’t move. How odd for the workaholic. “The baby?”

“Mmm…” she hummed, staring up at the fog-filled sky. She was used to clouds and smoke obscuring the stars; it felt like a metaphor for the city itself. “You know, I haven’t felt like myself until right now. I had months to prepare and I’m still not ready to be a mother.”

Bruce fell silent. Was he judging her? Probably was, the self-righteous bastard he was. Selina scowled. If she wanted judgement, she’d have gone to Ivy. “Look—”

“I wasn’t ready to be a father,” Bruce replied quietly, cutting her off.

Incredulous, she turned to look at him. It was impossible to read his expression through his mask. “Are you joking? You already had four kids, what’s the fifth one on top of that?”

“Yes but...” He mulled over his words. “They all have different needs. Wants. And I…I’ve been in different places when I met them. I managed because I had to, but I wouldn’t say I was ready.”

“The great Batman, unprepared,” Selina mocked, bursting into laughter. Who would have thought they’d share the same troubles? She smiled slyly. “Let me guess—Alfred handled them, didn’t he?”

Bruce frowned. “I also raised them.”

“Ohhh? So you were fatherly?” Selina teased, rolling over to her side and curling up next to him. She walked her fingers along his chest. “Did you tuck them in? Feed them? Attend their ballet shows and baseball games?”

As expected, he didn’t reply. No, he couldn’t.  She patted his chest consolingly. “There, there, they all turned out ok. Well, most of them at least. Three out of five’s a good number, right?”

He harrumphed. Grabbing her hand, he finally looked at her. “Do you need help?”

The offer was partly genuine. Selina squeezed his hand back. “Between your gifts and my friends, I think I’ve got it covered. Though, I might want to borrow Alfred later.”

She laughed when he huffed. Climbing to her feet, Selina stretched her arms above her head. It was just a short run, just a short talk—nothing had changed, but she felt a little lighter. Maybe she could handle motherhood after all.

It was a challenge and Selina never backed down from one.

Selina glanced at Batman as he started to get up. Still, that didn’t mean she had to be completely responsible all of the time. She was still Catwoman, after all, a title she wore with as much pride as her newfound motherhood one.

The night was young. Helena was asleep. There was plenty of time for fun before she had to go home.

“Ready for round two?” she asked. Without waiting for an answer, she took off and leapt.

[obsessedfluffbutt]

@glowweek final day!

Day 7: Journey's End

Reunion

Laughter fills the air as children run about, playing games of tag with each other and a few smaller gems. Sunshine with a few clouds and a light breeze makes for a beautiful, comfortable day. A perfect day for everyone to get together for their annual reunion atop the hill above the temple. They hold this reunion every year, always in the same place. Thank goodness they fixed the fence on top of the hill, and closed off the lighthouse. Some of these kids get a little too rambunctious for their own good.

Pearl smiles at the children running about, the adults chatting with various gems, and the overall peace and tranquility. They all worked so hard to earn this peace, and continue to work hard to protect and maintain that peace.

Her eyes, like always, are drawn to a few specific people. A child, short with a familiar smile, a young preteen with long limbs and unique pink eyes, and a young adult with dark skin and silky curls with pink highlights. The diversity of the group before her never ceases to amaze her, along with the sheer similarity they all seemed to bear to two particular people.

Two people who are the reason they all gather today, humans and gems from all over the universe. Hundreds of them all gathered to reconnect with each other and celebrate. Even the diamonds join in, cautiously sitting near the edge of the festivities, and are often used as jungle gyms by the children, thanks to the encouragement of Spinel. The parents would worry, but they've all known the diamonds their whole lives, and they know the diamonds wouldn't let anything happen to them.

Loading a plate full of various foods Pearl turns towards her fellow Crystal Gems. She walks over to join the group, and hands the plate to Amethyst who takes it gratefully. Garnet sits next to Amethyst, arm around her shoulder while she munches. Bismuth stands next to Pearl, wrapping a muscular arm around her shoulders in support, while Peridot and Lapis sit on the ground leaning on each other.

They all stand before a group of memorial gravestones. On one side is a large memorial statue of a lion sleeping. Next to it is a small unassuming gravestone bearing the names of Greg Universe, and Rose Quartz, with dates under their names and engraved with a small rose in the center. On the other side is another small unassuming gravestone bearing the names of Priyanka and Doug Maheswaran with dates under their names as well.

In the center is a slightly larger memorial gravestones bearing the names Connie Universe-Maheswaran, and Steven Cutie Pie DeMayo Diamond Universe. On top of the stone is a small stone house-shaped structure, protecting a bubbled pink diamond gemstone inside.

The crystal gems will never forget the day age finally caught up to Steven. He passed peacefully in his sleep, his gem never reformed, even when removed from his body. To protect him, just in case, White Diamond herself bubbled his gem. The bubble, clear and iridescent, allows them to see him clearly where they placed it upon his gravestone.

He and Connie both lived much longer than most humans, Steven outlived many, many of his descendants, and though they'll always miss them both, the gems know they're both at peace now.

After a few moments longer of mourning and remembering, and a few tears, the group returns to the festivities. Amethyst speeds off to roughhouse with the Famethysts, Pearl joins some younger family members in a game of volleyball with Bismuth, while Lapis and Peridot join a group of gems and humans chatting about various plant life found on other planets.

Garnet pauses before joining the others and turns back to the gravestone. Light shines across the diamond. Her visor reflects the light for a moment, a small smile plays across her lips as she turns and walks away to join the Universe Family Reunion.

[oddogoblino]

oooh share your oc list? :D

Oo ooo okay!! ^^ Sorry I don't have images at the ready but I'll give basic summary of them tho. Sorry long post

Fnaf OCs:

The Galactical Prince (or just Prince for short), drawn him a few times, he's my theater oc. He's a comet with old poet and prince themed clothes & wears a star mask. Has never met anyone other than staff that don't want to talk before, legs are buggy from being unable to move often. Abandoned animatronic but happy to talk when he can.

My Stars- Spica, Tauri, and Orion. They're like Helpy but...for daycare training specifically. Spica represents the entitled, tantrum throwing, spiteful kinda bully kids. Tauri represents the more rambunctious, hard-to-keep-track-of, loud, kind of a wild child kid. Orion represents the more sensitive, easily overwhelmed, quick to spook/cry, kind of shy kid.

Dennis Drake, haven't posted them before but they're the arcade animatronic! They're a wingless dragon and talk like uh...Fresh from Undertale AUs to paint a picture of that. They watch over kids and make sure no one gets lost & confused or left without smth to do.

Sergio Hernandez- my nightguard oc, they're not necessarily lazy but he's always sleeping on the job bc he hardly ever gives himself a break. He's got a rough family but no real traumas, his only reason for working himself to exhaustion & avoiding home is so he can save up enough money for an apartment. Reason? Their last girlfriend told him no one wants to date a guy who lives with their family still. He's pretty chill overall, Monty, Moon, and Roxy find him annoying tho.

Sonic OCs:

Stickers the mountain goat , my just normal/general sonic oc, a background character hehe, very chill and kind of awkward but he likes wandering.

Cauli the Occult Lamb , a sonic boom oc so you can kinda get an idea of how he is. He's not mean but he's not nice either. He's a mute kid and ofc practices the dark arts.

Geode the Hedgehog, my sonadow tube child, very curious and a bit excitable. He just kinda wants company, but overall a surpsingly calm hedgehog considering his parents. He's named Geode for a reason and it's because his quills are funky colored under the dark quills.

Vega The Starprancer , a powerful hedgehog from a kingdom far out in mobius. He's the nephew of a powerful queen (in their region at least) who currently has sent him out on a quest to gather all the chaos emeralds and bring them home to finally defeat a rival kingdom that's gone too far. He doesn't talk much, he doesn't emote much, but he cares about his home and family more than anything and nothing will stop him from saving them. He has the ability to summon weapons and shields with his bare hands (one item at a time) and makes platforms to walk on with his paws.

Camp Camp OCs:

Nyx , Nocturnal camp kid who just seriously can't win at life but he's not losing completely either.

Mortimer, Taxidermy camp kid who has the perfect homelife yet is comedically, deeply into death and other dark things.

Callum, my camp counselor who is just kinda chilling there for the money, he's alright with kids but doesn't care much. He cares so little that he doesn't even react to many things tbh.

Griffin, my camp counselor who is way too proud of himself and only working there to prove he really is good at absolutely anything thrown at him. He likes to pick on David and Harrison especially...

[pr3tzelb1tes]

tw // self harm, suicide attempt

//conversations between older siblings//

the brisk night air cuddled up against liam’s face as he took a sip out of his beer, his second cup of the night as he listened to hyuna. a routine of theirs, well, ever since baekhyun and lucky were arrested… and ever since lucifer went straight to heaven to challenge edgar to a duel.

“was it hard?” she asks.

“hm?” liam turned his head, hyuna was buried in blankets— a shell of a human— almost sickly. liam himself hadn’t slept in at least a week, a blanket draped around his legs.

“to raise lucifer?”

liam shifted his gaze and sighed, looking up at the starry night above him, “he was a good kid. but he wasn’t a ‘normal’ demon, no matter what ozarath likes to think.”

“a normal demon?”

“evil. villanous. cruel. one who gains pleasure by harming others.” he sighed, “maybe it’s because of my own disdain for it but… it was less of him being my burden and my own fear of what he would become.”

the scene changes into lucifer and liam’s estate on the north end of hell’s kingdom, towards the mountains as a young lucifer— no older than eight— ran down a corridor, followed quickly by an old woman; his lady in waiting.

“lucifer, please!”

he was innocent, without a care in the world. a real-learner.

“big brother’s arrived! don’t you seem mrs. li? big brother is coming today!” lucifer exclaimed excitedly, barely shedding a bud of sweat as he sprinted down a stairway.

there was something different about him, y’know? something no one could pinpoint, his rambunctious nature was theatrical. it’s something that was unseen.

“his nature… of being a child?” hyuna asks.

liam chuckled, “his innocence was probably the comedic relief of what was truly going on… i’m almost glad he doesn’t remember what happened.”

i myself had already started training, and was in the deep depths of the underworld— barefoot— starving— and exhausted from the torture. i remember, all i wanted to do was sleep the week away.

lucifer slammed doors open as he ran towards two sillhouetes, liam (fourteen) and ozarath.

“liam! big brother!” lucifer grinned widely.

“lucifer…” liam’s breath wisped along the cool air like smoke.

a common misconception of hell is that it doesn’t get cold, but we had gotten a frost that year.

“what is he doing?” ozarath asks breathlessly, as lucifer etched closer as the maid faltered from behind, wheezing.

“liam! liam’s home!” lucifer continued to yell excitedly.

once close enough, he lunged towards the taller male. lucifer laughed as liam caught him quickly, chuckling along, spinning him around bridal style before falling flat on his back.

“oh my lady! i am so sorry, he was so quick— not even a cheetah would have been able to catch him.” the maid panted, “goodness me, lucifer please put on your coat.”

“it’s fine,” liam laughed, hugging lucifer close to his body, “he’s warm enough to sustain himself in weather like this.”

“what?” ozarath gasped, “an early bloomer?!”

lucifer had clung onto me like a sloth on a tree branch, and what made it even better was that he was as light as a feather.

“i never wanted to let that moment end.” liam sighed, “that light in his eyes… i never wanted it to disappear.”

“i see…” hyuna sighed softly.

“but there was one thing.” liam uttered, “well, there *is* one thing.”

“what?”

liam’s eyes lidded ever so slightly as he recalled lucifer’s shadow hanging by a rope, struggling for air, and in a split second his gasping breath as he choked out for air.

then he recalled the spitting image of a dark purple bruise, healing into green, and finally into a vivid memory on liam’s mind.

then he reminded himself of lucifer’s neverending bleeding wrists.

“if he dies, it will be by his own hand; because *he* wants to die.” liam uttered, and by his tone, hyuna knew how defeated liam felt; how unknowing how to help he felt, “no one can kill him. no one except himself, because it’d be too embarrassing to die by another’s hand this far deep.”

“do you think so?” hyuna asks.

“i know so, why else would i have been so against being apart from him? when i was on that boat, if i hadn’t received a letter, all i would wonder is that if he succeeded… i wouldn’t know until i’d came back. or when his majesty passed away, i would just have to trust him and his dagger in a room alone. him and ozarath in a room alone. she did this to him, she— she took away his innocence. it’s her fault.”

hyuna frowned deeply as she stretched her hand over to liam’s right forearm, his lips quivered as he began to shake.

“liam…” her voice softened, “no matter who’s fault it is, it isn’t yours. it isn’t his either.”

liam sniffled as he looked down, not saying anything in response as hyuna took a deep breath.

“you’re a good brother.” she said, “and you raised a good kid. you did a good job.”

as liam heard those same words being relayed back to him, he suddenly remembered lucifer’s tight embrace he’d endured just a night before lucifer left back to hell at the news that satan was dead.

while it was spring, the moon had frozen the grass and it was so quiet that not even a pindrop could wake anyone. anyone, except lucifer.

liam rose up and yawned, looking around. baekhyun had been sleeping at vladimir’s side across the room which came to the earth demon’s surprise, but it seemed that lucifer had gone to the bathroom. a pit in liam’s stomach grew as he began to wait, silence tearing his head apart, silence reminding him about how quiet lucifer was the day of his attempt— silence like how— lilith was asleep on the edge of the bed, and not trying to oversee her owner instead.

he gave into his thoughts and stood up, tiptoeing his way down towards the bathroom at the end of the cooridor. it felt like a longer walk tonight, liam was cold. he turned his head and eyes hyuna and lucky, cuddling together, fast asleep. he shut their door, as they more than anyone, deserved the most sleep. he took a deep breath and sought out the white door at the end of the hall.

the bathroom.

as he got closer and closer to his destination, the pit in his stomach grew fuller, and he knew for sure that something was wrong. he’d arrived and took a deep breath, the lights were off, lucifer didn’t know he was coming.

but what if he was simply in the bathroom?

but why? why without a candle or lamp? why without his flame guiding the way? why…

his hand formed a tight fist, and at the panging of his heart, he’d unformed it and stepped back.

“fucking hell,” liam finally uttered, and with a flick of a flame he opened the door— and to his dismay—

he was write.

“l-liam.”

lucifer stood in nothing but his tank top and trousers, liam’s eyes widened as he watched a single droplet of blood fall to his foot. he stepped back for a moment, and breathed shakily.

“you…” he uttered, “luci…”

lucifer’s face was coated in tears, he was holding the weapon, though, like he did with the noose he lunged forward and took his little brother into his arms as lucifer once had with him. the dagger fell to the floor as lucifer’s shaky hands gripped onto liam’s backside. he gripped liam’s t-shirt as he burrowed his face into liam’s chest, and protectively, liam held him there.

“brother… b-big brother…” his voice cracked out a sob as liam hushed him quickly, it only seemed like lucifer was shaking at first; but after the course of a second, then a minute, then two minutes he gripped tightly onto liam and cried like a child.

“big brother is here now,” liam’s breath shook with each word, “you’re safe. i’m here. i’m here, don’t worry.” tears formed in his eyes as he eyed down the perpetrator, the dagger on the floor with a small puddle of blood surrounding it.

“i’m sorry…” lucifer cried, “i’m so sorry, big brother. i-i broke my promise, i-i’m sorry.”

“hush, boy.” liam gritted his teeth in despair, “i can’t take a second more.”

his grip tightened as they fell to the ground, and on their knees they continued to hug one another, and continued more until lucifer fell asleep; and with that he cleaned himself and lucifer up and watched him sleep until dawn.

when liam’s memory faded out he looked over to hyuna and wiped a tear from his cheek quickly, breathing out shakily, “i’m fine. it’s fine. he’s a smart kid, he wouldn’t do that.”

all hyuna wanted to say was, ‘are you sure?’ but instead she said, “yeah.” she uttered, wiping her own face from tears, “you raised a good one, liam.”

(The Perspective of You — @pr3tzelb1tes)

[pbandjesse]

My sinuses are very swollen. My allergies were bugging me a lot today. But I did get good sleep last night for the most part. I was very tired today though. Still am. I did not lay down and sleep when I got home only because I thought it would help me sleep easier tonight. But I also was to tired to actually do anything so I just laid here for 4 hours. Ugh. It's fine. Tomorrow's another day.

I woke up at 6 this morning and was not thrilled. I was able to fall back asleep but when my alarm went off at 7 I had James hold me for 10 minutes before I actually got up. I was struggling a bit. But I would be okay.

James walked out with me and it was very grey. It wouldn't rain but we weren't sure. Tomorrow it is supposed to. We will see how that shakes out.

I drove out to camp. Stopped for a donut. It was a nice day.

After eating my donut in my hammock, I spent that first hour collecting materials and making sure the tables were set up for the feild trip group. And then I went to the office. Where I found everyone else. We had some laughs about the rotations for today and forgetting to assign Sarah a role, plus being overstaffed for once. But we sorted it out. Celia would be doing critter talks, I was leading a mural, Nick was leading Gaga, Sarah would help with s'mores, Dechelle would help with the rotations. While indigo would lead a program they were calling "spirit sticks". Which was just a modified program using my paint brush supplies.

I was mildly concerned about this. I really like all the indigo staff but I get frustrated when things are just woo woo spiritual stuff. And the broad brush of "Native Americans" keeps getting used. Which frustrated me when I have worked so hard and done so much research to try to get us away from that! So I brought the concern up after we were like. Hey what is spirit sticks? And the answer we were given felt. Off. Like it felt like we were just being told a made up answer. So they would lead it. And they kids loved it. But I am not thrilled that we are basically back to doing something that could be considered appropriation. Like not the actual piece, which I guess is fine still because it was still basically the paint brushes, but the way they were spoken about and taught us sus to me. Elizabeth says a larger conversation will be had when Alexi and Heather come back next week.

It would still be a good day though. The group came and we very sweet but this was for sure the most rambunctious group we've met so far. Apparently because of a teacher shortage, last year yeah first grade class had 40 students. That's a wild ratio and I'm not shocked they are 2nd graders with 1st grade/kindergarten social levels. But they were still sweet, just loud and wanted to run a lot.

After we had a circle intro I took the first group and besides the yelling and running ahead they were great. We found just about everything on our list. We looked at and identified mushrooms. I got to tell them history about things. Talk about plants. We looked for frogs. Still no luck catching one down there. And we got all the way up to the horses. Which was so exciting for them. Some of them had never seen a horse in real life before. We fed them hay and pet their noses. It was really sweet.

We had carried the new MWEE staffs today and I think they look great. A child did accidentally hit me with one in the neck and I was very upset but couldn't show it. Was just like, okay I will take this stick now you cannot handle it safely. And we headed to lunch.

I really enjoyed the two teachers I was with today as well. Adam from indigo and Mr Duckett. They both had excellent insight and questions. It made the hike really enjoyable.

I just had to sit quietly at lunch I was so tired already. But to quickly we were heading over to get our groups.

There was a miscommunication though and while we had planned on 1215 for foest program they thought it was 1235. So I quickly fixed the schedule and we cut each rotation back down to 15 minutes. We made it work.

And it was fun! I was so pleased with how their mural came out. The first three groups filled almost all the frames and besides one or two mistakes everyone was good about not stepping on the fabric. The first group made me realize they didn't know what fabric was. Like what that word meant. So I would say we are drawing on fabric, fabric is like what your clothes are made of! We are using markers. We don't use markers on ourselves, our friends, the building, or the floor. Only on the fabric! And that worked so well.

The last two groups would be so gracious when I told them while all the frames were filled their jobs were to finish the drawings that didn't get done and then the final group was making it perfect. I think that language really helped make them excited, like they really were a part of the community making the piece. And that felt really good.

Once my last group was done and cleaned up, I folded up the metal and gave it to the indigo staff. They told me they will gift it to the principal. I love that.

I was able to run down to the fire pit and get a s'more and watch them pour water on the fire. It was really fun. I chatted with Sarah and Dachelle. And then we headed up to get all the materials and put them away.

Sarah was a doll and grabbed my drink and my walkie I forgot. And we set up the boxes to be reset tomorrow. But we were all just so beat. I changed my shoes back to my birks and We went and sat in the office for 15 minutes. I had a little snack. And when Sarah said she was walking to the lodge to clean up the tables I walked with her.

I would check in with Gabe about changing the project, maybe to musical instruments like a shaker or something similar. He said he'll be in touch to discuss it more. So fingers crossed.

Once all the chairs were put away and everyone else was finishing up the last tables I got all the sticks and things that needed to be out away and headed to the after building and then the office.

In the office I talked to Elizabeth. I put trash away. I made my to do list for tomorrow more solid. Eventually Sarah would come back up but she was soon off. Taking things to be mailed. Elizabeth had a tour and then she said she would leave right after. So I only stayed until her tour started. I was excited to leave a little early.

I would have to deal with some traffic but not to much. I decided to stop at Walgreens

Got some chapstick and a new sponge. I felt overwhelmed by vitamin choices. So I did not get any and went home.

I beat James home. So I took an everything shower. I was feeling really bad today about my hair and face. So I wanted to try to fix that. Trimmed my bangs a little more. Washed my hair. Might do my eyebrows. Just trying to feel nice.

James got home and I was so happy to see them. We had some packages. I got a graphic novel in the mail. I started reading it but I decided to wait until I could give it my full attention and I wasn't so tired my eyes were crossing.

James would record their podcast episode. I laid in bed and watched tiktoks. I answered emails. I have a meeting with someone from the creative alliance next Friday so I'm excited about that. But mostly I just laid here with sweetp. James would bring me a salad and a little cheese cake bite. And eventually they would shower and then join me in bed.

I am more then ready to sleep now. I feel so tired but I am still worried I will struggle to fall asleep. Let's hope it comes easy.

Tomorrow me and Sarah are the only ones at camp. I have high hopes of organization and knocking things off our list. I really hope we can get stuff done.

Goodnight everyone. Take care of yourself. I love you all.

[haila-wetyios]

#10 Secret

If there is one thing that life with twin babies has taught Haila, it is that making both of them sleep at the same time is a miracle on it’s own. Granted, there’s a few ways to adapt to their own schedules and playtimes in order to get the window as close as possible. 

Tonight is no different, however the task of getting Howl to stop crying enough that Helia can easily slip into awkward positions before she’s out took longer than usual. Life with children is hectic, and making sure that every one of them share equal time together with their mother is also an onerous task. She’s already half a bell over the time she was supposed to use to teach Rohmio some more eorzean letters, and she can feel bags under her eyes begging for early sleep already. 

She sighed some, finally tucking in both of her babies into their shared crib as she turned around to look at the other side of the room. Her son was quiet, sitting by his new desk as he doodled idly while waiting for his mother. He could be rambunctious often, but the responsibility of being the big brother had mellowed him out quite a bit. 

“I’m sorry I took so long..” Haila told her son in hushed whispers. Despite their newfound space, Rohmio still shared a room with his baby siblings, something that he didn’t seem to mind. If they got too rowdy, he could easily go hide in their parent’s room through a secret door after all. 

The boy shook his head, still keeping his eyes focused on his drawing as his mother patted his back and moved closer to have a look. He was merely drawing rocks, an attempt at making a compendium of the cool knicknacks he’d collected during his time exploring backyards. But he was missing the names of all of them. Eorzean characters still being difficult for a mind that got distracted rather easily (not to mention a reluctance to learn). 

“Howl is very hard to get to sleep.” he admitted with a slight shrug as he continued, this time with a black crayon in hand. 

Haila nodded slowly, humming before pulling back a larger chair for her to sit beside him. 

“Are you ready to practice some more letters? Or are you going to try to write them on your own for your rock encyclopedia?” she asked him, chin resting on the back of her hand as she observed him carefully. 

The little Raen nodded quietly. Starting a hushed lesson of which letter should go on each named rock. It had taken some time for him to at least get to recognize the basics, but he’d been improving ever since Haila had started to spend more time at home after the twin’s birth. Quite ironic, given how Rohmio had been so reluctant in the past that they’d send him off to Kugane when possible to get him to talk to other children in small schools. 

Perhaps thinking back in retrospect, that was probably the reason he held his pencils and crayons so weirdly. He’d been exposed to brushes, and adopted them far better than their counterparts. 

By the time Rohmio was already fuming at his head from the letter overload, he’d barely finished two pages of his rock compendium. With six names having been spelled out in total, progress, but there’s only so much that Haila and Luma can do until they find him a proper place to learn more. Rohmio is still young yes, but he’s also a slow developer. Something that seems to be a common trait among all of Haila’s children. 

“Are you ready for bed?” Haila asked, smiling softly at her son as she set down her pen and started this time brushing his hair. However, Rohmio remained quiet for a time, cooling off from lesson overload and seemingly spinning something in his mind. 

“Mama…” he finally started, breaking the silence as he set his crayon down to look up at the Viera that was his mother. 

“Am I going to grow beeg ears someday?” he asked her, the question causing Haila’s own leporine ears to twitch slightly in response. 

She smiled slightly defeated, eyes trailing off to her child’s drawings as she remained quiet for a time. She’d contemplated being asked a similar question before. Rohmio was by all means, the outcast when it came to their family on the outside after all. There was no stopping him asking why he was different someday, and that’s something that she knew had tormented her for a time. 

“No, I’m afraid you won’t… You’ll get to keep one shape unless you accidentally drink something wrong.” she told him with all sincerity, a tone perhaps a bit grimm, but Haila had always thought to tell him outright if he ever asked, he deserved that much. 

Rohmio frowned slightly. To him, it was a given that his family was just that special, and most of all, his mom could ‘fly’ and do everything he could think of. But with age, despite still being extremely young, he’d become more perceptive. His mother couldn't fly, Baby was the one doing the work. His father changing shape that slightly matched his siblings being one of the few facts that he could still not explain for himself. 

They were all shape shifters, that had been his answer, which meant he too would shift someday. But what now? Knowing he wouldn’t change just brought several more questions to the table. 

Haila though, seemed busy thinking further about her son while he rummaged through his own ideas. 

“Do you ever grow bored Rohmio? Of being just with Mama and Papa and now Howl and Helia?” she asked him gently. A question that had been gnawing at her for some time now. 

Rohmio this time shook his head some. He had gotten to play with other children yes, so perhaps the answer was that his home wasn’t as lively as a Keeper clan. But there was no denying that his parents had done their best at trying to have at least one of them by his side at all times. And despite him being unaware of it, perhaps this was all that he’d like. 

“Mama, why won’t I grow ears later?” he asked her innocently. 

Haila hummed lowly, eyeing the pencils they’d been using for letters as she carefully shifted through papers to find a blank unused one. 

“Well… Mama has many secrets. And not all of them are happy ones. I’ll-” she trailed off, an idea coming to her mind. 

“How about this? I’ll write a letter for you to read each cycle. I’ll tell you a secret for each birthday we share together until you’re old enough to understand.”

The offer clearly brought sparks to Rohmio’s eyes. Another treasure hunt, a game to decipher something this time. Except for one caveat, he was still not good with words. Haila smirked slightly at him, seeing the realization flash through her son’s eyes. 

Well.. The first secret she’d write for him clearly needed to be a sentence long.

[valdrinors-writing]

💧🧸 &🕊️ + gwen?

💧: How well do they comfort each other when they’re upset?

dax is probably better at comforting gwen than she is at comforting him - again, gwen has pretty much been isolated from her peers for 18 years by her father, and already has a lot of... issues so her idea of comforting is just

dax is warmer and more friendly than gwen is!

🧸: Would they want to have kids together? If so what are their kid(s) like? How are they as parents?

gwen definetly wants to have kids - biological or adopted not created in a lab like mack was. i imagine their kids are rambunctious little scamps, very easily excitable and a bit rebellious. my hc is that their oldest child is bridge from power rangers spd (i imagine spd takes place a bit later than in canon in my pr universe so bridge can be born in 2010 instead of 2004, making him 21 in 2031) and their second child is 14 year old marilyn from my hypothetical kyuranger adaptation, who becomes the cyan cosmic force ranger! gwen is a much better parent than her father, but is a bit of a pushover to make up for her dad being... well... like that. she tries really hard to be in her kids lives as well!

🕊️: Give just a general domestic tidbit for em (things they like about each other, routines, habits, and just overall sweet stuff)

dax is very much a morning person while gwen prefers to sleep in. i also imagine that dax is the one who makes breakfast in the house, but gwen makes up for it by making lunches and dinners. due to dax's career as a director and filmwriter, gwen takes on a stay at home mom role once bridge is born, occasionally working at hartford industries mostly to help mack out (bc hartford has fucked off to the woods or some shit idk)

[mealvaan]

The Day of Renewal

The Warden bestows the sky upon the Lover.

The Sisters’ exchange bleeds the sky crimson. The fruit of their pact trickles through speckled glass and drawn curtains, bathing Menphina’s children in a familiar shade of red. 

Among the tired eyes pried open by the sunset is a pair of baby blues. They hide just as quickly as they had emerged, burying themselves beneath eyelashes… and when that isn’t enough, retreating deep into a pillow. The Warden’s remaining light dares not reach the woman as she desperately clings to what little motes of slumber remain— 

“Moonrise, Ma!” 

The call precedes a pitter-patter of small footsteps. Her eyes push against their crow’s feet, forcing themselves open against her dearest wishes. Some days, she envies the unstoppable youth of her children, bright and bustling no matter the bell. Though usually, they find solidarity in sleep at this hour yet to be twilit. 

It takes her a few waking moments to realize what it is that’s injected her little ones with such energy. 

“The Renewal’s already come! Can you believe it? Unha Ahxe says I can even join the hunting band this moon.”

“No, she didn’t. The hunting band already left.”

“Huh? No, I’m sure they’re still here!”

“But there’s no one in the Alonhi house right now.”

“Ma, ahya is just jealous that I get to go hunting with the band and she doesn’t! Please believe me, unha really said that.”

“She said you could go someday. And I think that someday isn’t going to be for at least an epoch…”

Already exhausted from her childrens’ bickering, the woman arises from her hammock, rubbing her right eye as the left gets a good look at the two of them. Though Ukho puts on a brave, defiant face, she can see the wobble in her lip starting to form. Ona, her elder sister — her ahya — crosses her arms and shakes her head, ever the sensible temper to her anhtan Ukho’s insatiable flame.

“Ona, be nice to your anhtan,” she chides, her voice a wind chime amid the ringing bells of the young ones. “She’ll be able to join the hunt soon, just as you will, I’m sure. She has been training just as hard as you.”

“Ma, unha said—”

“Maybe next moon, Ukho. They leave at least a bell before twilight when there’s a feast for the evening. Besides, unha will need your help for the wreaths…” 

But may the Gods strike her down if she allows her daughter who hasn’t even seen an epoch to join the huntresses in the forest. For all that she channels therein, she knows the Shroud is harsh and unforgiving, even more so after Dalamud came upon it. A child such as her, so wont to go out on her own, would not survive even yalms away from her party.

How much more a band of children bereft of their mother? The mere idea…

Ukho’s response dismisses the thought from her mind before it dares to take root. “I’ll keep training then! They’ll have to take me once I get my constellation rune, and I’m going to get it by the summer, right?”

“No way!” Ona says, sticking her tongue out. “I haven’t gotten mine yet, so yours isn’t going to be for, well… fifty cycles, probably. Right, Ma?”

“I—”

“First one to the Heart gets theirs first!” Without hesitation, Ukho bounds out of the room with only wind in her wake. Ona balks, tail between her legs.

“That’s not how it — Wait!” 

Finally, a sigh joins the silence that befalls what was once a peaceful bedroom, wrought into the festivities by two rambunctious kits. Whether she likes it or not, she’s awake now. With sluggish limbs, she casts her shadow upon the walls of their small hut. On her journey, she pulls the curtain to the childrens’ hall aside, azure gaze flitting to and fro in the slit she’s created.

To her surprise, her mother and sister are nowhere to be found. After discovering the hammocks next to hers empty, she thought the two had found another place to sleep… Perhaps away from the doom and gloom of herself. She forgets that for all others, this dreaded day is a much-awaited observance. Where she would sooner ignore its arrival, Clan Cirka welcomes it with bated breath. 

The fiery hues of the sky that had awoken her are now small licks in the Lover’s realm, Her Sister’s presence all but snuffed out in the makings of a sunless sea. With a bucket, cloth, and a change of clothes in hand, the woman emerges from her home to find that the village of Ataraxia is far more bustling than it would usually be at twilight. Weaving her way through playing children and busied adults, she finds solace in the fact that the bathhouse is empty. 

The water of an uphill river flows down into an open space marked in carved rock and wood. This place of respite’s man-made cover is minimal; where the thick canopy of the Shroud doesn’t provide shelter from the rain and storms, a wooden roof supported by periodic beams hangs glowing lanterns from its rafters. From a small rack to the side, the drying cloths of those who preceded her bask in the breeze. 

As she comes to the natural bank of the water’s flow, she perches atop her rock. There it is: her reflection, in all of its rippling glory.

Mholi Moshroca is a mousy miqo’te. Her ears are diminutive like a child’s, mere mounds atop her head rather than peaks, fading easily into her wavy mess of white hair. Her nose is but a smudge on her grey-blue tone, barely a break in the smoothness of her skin. Only the crow’s feet and dark circles under her eyes betray her age; her pudgy cheeks and bright blue eyes do her years no justice. However, those features are typically hidden under a low-hanging hood of patterned cloth, only ever revealing her fangs and tongue. That cloth now rests upon her shoulders, and is thus taken to her midsection, then her knees, unraveled save the parts clinging to minimal stitches. Laid bare amid her scars and wrinkles are constellation runes, marked in dots and lines and geometries not reminiscent entirely of the stars above — being glyphs of thick, bold ink — but rather of an ancient art she keeps close to her chest, nay, written on her skin. 

She sinks into the bathhouse’s enchanted river water and lays to simmer. However long she prunes in the bath is of no mind to her. The river will wash away her misgivings, her doubts, her sins. If only she waits long enough…

“Mholi… I thought I would find you here.”

Mholi’s eyes pry open once more to find a familiar face. Mother stands, fully dressed in her robes and postured tall for her age, observing her daughter’s lengthy interlude with an appraising look.

“Ma,” she says, wading through the water with splashes in her wake to meet her. “Where is Ilma? I didn’t see either of you when I woke up.”

“The nose to our ears for now,” Mother says, punctuating her words with a tsk. “She told us yestersun that she would be joining the Alonhi this time, after you refused their invitation. And for what, I should ask? To bathe the night away?”

Ashamed, Mholi sinks into the water with her nose just above the level. “My head was afog… I didn’t want to hold them back. Besides, anhtan is better company when there is larger game to bring home. I… I can barely lift a hoglet.”

“Two pairs of hands are better than one. We both know that this is because of how you refuse to celebrate the Renewal.”

“I… I am trying—” Her measly voice is easily squashed under her elder’s.

“You only fast, each and every moon. The spirit of the Lover is not to sequester yourself away. She compels you to seek repentance with the others. Do you not want to enjoy the meal your anhtan secured for us?” 

Only bubbles arise from Mholi’s silent grumbling. She receives the same lecture every moon about her reluctance to renew. It’s not as if Mother would understand. None of them will. None know the weight that she bears, and they should be thankful that she doesn’t inform them. A mercy, that’s what her vow of silence on the subject is. Generosity, compassion, and martyrdom. Not cowardice.

Not under the ever-watching eye of the Mother Moon.

“You cannot muster words, even for your own mother?”

“…I’m sorry, ma.”

“That is better,” she says with a laugh, her head rearing back into her hood, her hand pressing against her belly. She has a rancorous laugh for all of her sourness. “Now, practice that phrase for tonight. Your daughters want you to join them in the feast.”

Mholi can think of a dozen retorts. They have you and Ilma to eat with, ma. It’s not as if they even notice at this point, ma. But they all die in her throat, not even becoming bubbles in the water. She was never one to stand up when lying down for the slaughter is so much more comfortable.

“Mhm, ma.”

“Now, come help with the wreaths. My granddaughters need to become better ephemers! For every flower they preserve, another is broken.”

“Y… Yes, ma.”

And so her respite comes to a close, the curtain drawn on a moment of peace as she cloaks herself in her drying cloth, ruffling along her hair, fur and skin as she goes. Her new set of clothes — identical to the last in its shadow-casting silhouette, if not for the differing patterns — are quickly donned. Even though her mother has left, she can feel her gaze imposing upon her for every heartbeat wasted. Not a moment is spared fore she re-emerges into the village, briskly making her way to the center of their territory: the Heart.

The Heart is similar to the bathhouse, if not more open. A grand gazebo of lumber and light hangs high above a crackling bonfire, around which a handful of long log tables are arranged. Among them, a single dining table has been laid out with all manner of gathered flowers in brilliant white, pale yellow, and baby blue. The common heaps of dogwood and honeysuckle remain a staple at the center of the arrangement, with smaller piles of lily, baby’s breath, camellia and what have you lining the far ends. Surely enough, Ukho and Ona have already taken their seats before their wreath collections. Some are enchanted pristinely, the sheen of galvanisation evident on their petals. Others have fallen apart, and are left to their own ‘discard’ pile to be mixed in with the compost. 

“Ma!” Ukho says, holding up a wreath that will certainly be discarded. “Look, I just finished one! I’m already two ahead of ahya.” Ona, whose failed wreaths are far less and few between, shakes her head — the two make space for Mholi between them all the same, allowing their mother to take the reins.

And she holds the reins with a loose grip, barely brushing the metaphorical leather of it all. Should anything need to be corrected, she gently fixes it in her own hands. Amid her childrens’ chatter, she makes busy work of a wreath she has not worn in over an epoch. Her eyes are far away as her heart sequesters itself in a time long past. 

The pitch black shroud of night hangs over the two of them. The picture of her ahya with her fangs bared, her shortbow drawn, is as crystal clear as ever in her mind. They argue about something or the other, not unlike how her own daughters bicker before her. Despite knowing the ways of the woods, a talented huntress and ephemer in twain, they raise their voices as if the forest is theirs. Only rumbles in the ground bring them to a hush, but it is far too late. Her sister’s stone — that wretched crystal, that cursed thing — draws the attention of their grand stalker. A web claims her left wrist, and then her right. Her bag and bow clatter to the ground. No manner of spell deters the webs, as where one is cut down, two more quickly replace it. Mholi rips her eyes towards the heavens to bear witness to their predator: a mite unlike any she has ever seen, eyes glowing red in the shadow. It snatches up her sister as if she were a twig, webs spinning as it goes. It pierces her torso with hungering fangs, and her cries are muffled in the string, barely there. All Mholi can do is scream and scramble. Flee to protect the Moshrocan blood that stands a chance. 

She weaves the flowers’ stems with a similar ease and precision as a diremite constructs its web. Smooth and sharp and tight, emphasizing the stark white hue of the flora that make up its pattern. Never baby’s breath next to honeysuckle; it would render the bunch too thin on one side. Never dahlias with camellia; they compete for space. A pattern of small and big petals makes for a balanced wreath, a harmonious one. Reconciling differences is at the heart of the Renewal, after all. Yet such a beautiful process only reminds her of that dark place. What difference is a rune weaver to a web weaver behind her eyes?

At least her deep dissociation helps the night pass quickly. Soon enough, the bells of twilight are far behind them and stars claim holes in the canopy. She reaches for another flower realizing that none are left — they have successfully converted all to working wreaths between the three of them. Her daughters are more than chuffed, cheering and showing off their favorite ones to the people around them. For Mholi, this is a moonly errand that hardly warrants any praise. In fact, it seems they have completed the task later than anticipated, as they and the wreaths are hurried away from the table to make way for the bowls upon bowls of food.

Deep, steaming stews alongside cornucopia-esque arrangements of vegetables and roots. Miqa’bobs still hot upon a slab of stone, interposed with various sauces. A grand serving of popoto staple, seasoned lightly knowing full well it’ll be doused in whatever else. Bowls of chopped fruit with a serving of cream aside for dessert. At the center of it all is a grand antelope, larger than any she has ever seen. Finely roasted. Yet to be cut. The Siltanho have outdone themselves. Though Mholi is initially confused by how much the banquet is, she quickly realizes that it serves to be a band-aid. A healthy serving of escapism amid the dread that literally towers above them. All the more reason to run to the Renewal in hopes that punishment will not befall the Lover’s people once again.

In a cavalcade of realization, she figures this must mean… Yes. Ilma has since returned with the hunting band, too. Her weighted posture thus lightens.

Slowly but surely, the lot of the clan gather at the Heart with newly kindled spirits. Chatter permeates the air as they coo over the food, catch up with the returned huntresses, or wrap up conversations they had been having in the privacy of their homes. For all of this talk, one would think that Clan Cirka were not sequestered away here together, every sun of every moon, yet the spirit of the Renewal invigorates them so. 

Yet this celebration only casts darkness upon Mholi’s heart. The more people that arrive, the more her hood hangs over her features. The more she recedes into herself, fading into the shadows cast by the licks of flame.

The voice of their matriarch, Ahxe the Stalwart, rings out, dispelling everyone’s words into a hush.

“Hear one, hear all, for She speaks through me.” It is her call to bear witness as she stands tall before the fire. All meet it, even Mholi, who invokes the response in mumbled breaths.

“I hear you, I feel you, I think of you.” A chorus of practiced prayer. They had been taught to recite it since they had been born of the womb. In this, all conversations come to a close. Ahxe has captured their ears and their wills.

“We gather tonight at the moon’s last quarter for this Renewal. I can tell that the hearts of all of us here today are overflowing with attrition. Let them beat from your chest and bestow them upon your kin. For today, all that is broken shall be mended — all that is withered will be reborn — all that ails you we will bring to bear, and allow the Mother Moon to wash away in Her winds.

‘For those who find themselves clouded, lost in this Renewal, let it be known. This moon calls for bravery and courage. Should you know not who you must make amends for, begin by acknowledging your selfishness. Your inaction. Your cowardice.” 

The feeling that pierces Mholi’s chest is like a shard of ice. The drop in temperature courses through her veins. Her baby blues look up to Ahxe’s gauntly lit face, features falling in disbelief. She knows the woman can’t read her mind — she hadn’t, no matter how many times they’d spoken growing up — but perhaps the Lover speaks through her even now.

Ahxe continues. “Ask for forgiveness from those you have forsaken with your silence. Seek to close gaps which have been wrought by your withdrawal. This is Her advice to you all. This Renewal will allow for two bells, not merely one, to impart your apologies, for She would emphasize the importance of participating in this moon.”

There are words unspoken that Ahxe, in her hypocritical cowardice, dares not mention: for we do not know which moons are to come. It’s no wonder that the Alonhi have gathered so much, that the Siltanho have cooked a feast of twice the boon it would usually bring, and that Mholi’s own mother has been so harsh with her. Perhaps they believe this is the last Renewal in this era, should another soon arrive — or perhaps even the last Renewal there will be. But Ahxe would not dare acknowledge such dire straits, Mholi knows. She would rather promote peace in their ignorance. 

“Reflect for all that you can, and then speak with all of your soul. Those who do not find their voice — or whose voice does not ring true — will fast and are called to reflect for the night. But in two bells, those that are forgiven may dine among us, as the Lover once did with Her Loyal Hound.” 

And Mholi feels her hairs stand on end, confused as to why this phrase still follows them; why should Dalamud be revered for all he has wrought?

“Go and walk in Her light.”

“That She may guide us home,” echoes the chorus of the clan — Mholi included, for all of her internal retort.

Without further ado, the crowd disperses. Some do as instructed, retreating to darker corners of the village to reflect on their apology to come, reciting prayers to invoke the Lover’s guidance or simply basking in quiet. Others immediately take up their prepared gifts, if not the wreaths provided by the Moshroca, and hurry towards their chosen recipient — these people have had the whole moon to consider their repentance, after all. Others yet take up their gifts and stand over the fire, a handful casting tears into its pit silently. But those that do not remain silent begin to proclaim their sins against those who have died, those who are exiled, those who have left for other clans — the ones from whom they seek forgiveness no longer walk among them, and so the Mother Moon must appraise their apologies. 

Amid the moving figures and their long cast shadows, Mholi spots Ona presenting a wreath to Ukho — likely for all the childish teasing that had been happening not minutes ago, yet it must seem like ages to such young children. In the corner of her eye, she sees her Mother has retreated to the steps in front of their home, reciting an old, lengthy prayer to the Lover before she even thinks of partaking like the rest. Two of the Alonhi embrace, sobbing into each other’s shoulders. A woman of the Siltanho and a new man of the Cirka bicker sharply, leaving one to wonder who will be left to fast for an unforgiven apology that night. 

Finally, Mholi approaches the fire. She will do what she has done every Renewal, every moon, for the past fifteen cycles.

Clutching a wreath of baby’s breath and lilies, she stands tall at the Heart. No words leave her lips. It’s here that her blue gaze is cast into the roaring flame. In its dance that casts shadows, she sees a myriad of shapes; in its crackles that claim wood, she hears a symphony of sound. The verbless voice of her sister, any vocabulary she had thrown now lost to her, but her wrathful tone still clear as day. The silhouette of a great mite, its claws and fangs bared in a horrific sight. She can hear her own hurried footsteps, her own panting breath, and the violent weeping she allowed herself, sequestered in some lonely corner of their star. Even sounds not known to her make their way into her ears. The cries of a dozen miqo’te children, searching desperately for their mother — a quest that inevitably fails. The young, blood-curdling screams that follow as Girtab would surely find them too.

Her apology need not be said, even as others might judge her. She knows what she has done, she knows what she recites, and she knows that it is not forgiven. Buried deep in her heart of hearts, this habit of attrition has been embedded. No matter how the feast entices her nostrils, it is not a banquet in which she will ever be honored to partake.

A single tear carves a line down her porcelain face. The wreath is dropped into the hearth. The fire does not claim it yet, the sheen of her magicks providing it a respite of protection. By the morning, it will be but char and ash.

Thus, Mholi meanders in return to her home, making peace with her fast for the night. Come to think of it, she hadn’t eaten the rest of the sun, either. As she passes her mother by, she hears the critical click of her tongue, but that hasn’t deterred her from taking her leave of the observance the past few moons… and neither will it now.

And so she falls into her hammock and lays awake. Her body is air suspended. Numbly nothing. Barely there.

Yet, heavy still weighs the heart. 

The guilt corrodes her from the inside out. Why, when this routine has satisfied her for the past epoch and more? Dissatisfaction has never been her plague. She had written a treatise with her unforgivable sin long ago, the Renewal her punishment in turn, and this is all that it would be. A small exchange in regularity for peace of mind throughout the rest of her days.

Yet as she looks out the window, she finds it is not just the Mother Moon who watches over her now. No, there also lies the menacing glow of the tower. Though its spire is far from view, its presence is certain, and its judgment is unknown.

With this threat over the horizon… is this truly enough to earn her a place at the Lover’s side when the Lifestream claims her?

Mholi jolts out of her resting place.

Planted firmly on two feet, she makes great strides as opposed to shuffled steps. Her mother no longer sits at the front step of their cabin, now one with the rest in celebration. Like a moth to the flame, she makes a beeline for the Heart. While such an unexpected gesture earns the surprise of those around her — if not the appraising squint of those who think she’s to disrespect the sanctity of the feast — she pays judgment no mind for once in her life. 

Never quite diminutive, yet never quite so vast in private did Ilma rest upon her seat. She was content to laze about, making relieved conversation with her clansmen and recounting the days across the table, her plate thankfully emptied. Mholi arrives at her side and tugs on her sleeve. 

“Anhtan… Could you come with me? I wish to speak with you.”

As Mholi calls for her attention, Ilma’s wild hair sways as her head turns to meet the woman beside her.

“Ahya?” She asks an obvious question, her sister’s presence the unexpected answer. But far was she ever from denying a request from her, it was not in her nature. Once she nods, rising from her seat to accompany Mholi — gazes be damned.

“Of course. Lead the way.”

The two return to the darkened halls of the Moshroca house. It is far emptier than it used to be cycles ago. Their aunts used to bicker with their mother, telling tales to them of their adventures in youth. Their ahya used to command these halls, dust the rooms and bring back treats. There used to be wanderers that came and played with the kids, livened up the place, before their visits ran dry. Now their family is a small strain of what it once was.

Ilma breaks the quiet.

“It seems so much larger when it is empty, does it not?” Her finger traces across a wall, a dent in the wood to accompany a scar on the side of her head, only hidden by snow white locks. A fond reminder of her youth, a consequence of unheeded warnings to watch her step. As her eyes scour the rooms, she can see the eldest smiling, approaching as Ilma once remembered her. As she turns to face Mholi, she can see a much smaller, much younger girl, laughing as her anhtan had draped herself in an armor of cleaning equipment — her mighty hammer naught more than a broom.

“I will not judge, nor will I pry. But I sorely miss you at the feasts, Mholi.” Her body is strong, hardened, but the unmatching purple and pink of her irises are soft and welcoming. “I only ask that you are as kind to yourself as you have been to me.”

Slowly but surely, Mholi turns from the empty chairs and empty tables to face her sister. There is no one else she can trust as her heart is fit to burst. And while her words are softly uttered, they ring true.

“I need to tell you what happened to Vahri.”