#[maybe she'll give leftovers??]

[meo-eiru]

I apologize in advance for any mistakes (English is not my first language) BUT I JUST CAN'T! I can't stop thinking about how exactly the main character will end up completely dependent on Father Micah. If elves, dark magic, incubi and other creatures exist in this world, I would venture to suggest that possession by demons or other evil spirits is also a known phenomenon.

Just imagine a situation in which the main character is forced to attend church because she realizes that something is wrong with her perception of reality. It all starts small - insomnia, minor auditory hallucinations, which can easily be attributed to general fatigue from work or school. She can try to self-diagnose and self-medicate, but there is practically no effect.

Disjointed and disturbing dreams give way to nightmares, auditory hallucinations become more unbearable and are now accompanied by visual distortions as well. Any sane person in such situation will rush to a psychologist (more likely even a psychiatrist), but the treatment doesn't give the desired results. Her relatives are very worried and concerned; someone from a more devout background may advise turning to the clergy - and Father Micah is simply an excellent candidate to help this poor unfortunate soul. If she really feels better after each visit, then she'll come back again and again. Just to not lose her damn mind.

But what if Father Micah is the root cause of her condition? If he's not as pure and holy as he seems? What if he's the one who made a contract with the entity that is currently ruining her whole life?

He can't keep her in church by force unless there is a good reason, but even if she'll try to stay away, her condition will deteriorate so much that she WILL inevitably attack someone close to her at some point, mistaking them for Father Micah or that entity due to hallucinations. And SHE WILL have to return back if she doesn't want end up accidentally taking the life of someone from her inner circle. But even if she'll refuse to do so voluntarily, her dangerous condition is in any case a good reason to forcibly isolate her from the others.

And I doubt Father Micah is interested in fully exorcising her.

Oh god I love this scenario.

So I don't think Micah would actually make contracts with evil entities to curse you, but he would make you believe you were cursed. I can definitely seem him drugging you small dosages by giving you small snacks whenever you visit the church or run into him by "chance". He'd always play it off as a gift from the church or some leftovers from what they made for the orphans.

You wouldn't suspect him at all. Why would you? He's THE Father Micah. The beloved angel of the town since he was a kid. No human has seen him do evil deeds.

He would know exactly when the drugs kick in and when they are the most effective, and he would always be there at the right time. Talking to you, making you believe it's unnecessary to see a doctor for such mild sickness. Surely it'll get better if you pray.

It's not getting better even after praying? Maybe it was more serious than Micah expected, but worry not, he knows just the right thing to do. You just have to come to his house so he can bless you with his personal prayers. Why not at the church? Haha you wouldn't want to bother everyone there for such a trivial issue right? Don't worry, Micah will give you special treatment in his house, just trust him.

And trust you will, because everyone knows if there's someone you shouldn't fear it's Father Micah.

[ratcash-wasgud]

A gentle breeze could be our end ༊*·˚

Okay, so I had a vision about this very specific idea for a fic, which is...what if you took the role of Kinuyo? Hear me out, plsplspls.

(i altered a lot of canon things, sorry sorry. (i'm also sorry if anyone has done this before))

WC: 4K

TW: Abuse, Sexual harassement, Pedophelia and Prostitution. Basically kinda fucked up, sorry.

You always felt like a burden to the world. Even in the womb, you hurt your mother. She died the moment you left her body, maybe even halfway, taking a great thing from the world, and giving it something useless with your own birth.

You didn't cry out when you saw the light, your little mouth opened, but no sound came out. The world was quiet.

As you grew up, you never managed get grow into anything you wanted to, and your father hated you for it. You never heard him say a word, but you knew he said hateful things. You tried to learn to read in secret, but only managed to barely get through one book after years. Learning was hard. Living was hard too.

You were 10 when he first hit you. It happened because you accidently dropped a cup, shattering it on the ground. You felt his footsteps approaching behind you, then when you felt his presence right behind you, he striked. He noticed how you survived, and you only gained a bruise from it.Plus, you couldn't yell for help, nor tell anyone. This gave him confidence. He started hitting you for every little mistake, sometimes even just for being born. You could see him feeling bad about it sometimes, but he still did it again. It just made you believe it even more that this is all your own fault. For being born wrong.

And you were 15 when he started missing your mother too much. He touched you, he made you touch him, and he forced you to open up and show him everything he wanted. You hated it. You hated your own body for exsisting, and giving him this option of using you. For having a body that could please men. Please...him.

One day though, he got caught. A neighbour, bringing over some leftovers caught him, standing bare before you, your tears dripping to the floor, as he hold your nose shut, so that you'd eventually open your mouth for him. But he got caught. It was over.

He had to get rid of you, so he sold you. But even after he left your life, he still wanted you to have a rotting future. He picked the brothel where he knew the man were disgusting. The most deprived kind. He sold you to Madame Kaji's brothel. By that point, your body was weak, and even walking was something you hated doing. You just wanted to lay down, and wait for your body to disappear.

But she was something warm. Something beautiful. Madame Kaji took you in, and smiled at you. She taught you everything you yearned for to know. She taught you to properly read and even write. She taught you manners and how to hide your fear. How to survive, even if you're weak. And she never hurt you in the process. She taught you sign langauge, and in the process, you learned to even read lips a little. She taught you a sign, which, in your head, you named "Love". It consisted of her gently kissing her fingers, then putting her hands around herself. Like a hug and a kiss in one. Love.

As you got better in writing, you wrote down everything that happened to you so far to her. Sometimes you teared up while writing, but she was always there, gently soothing you, and caressing your hair. She promised you that no man would ever touch you again, and she'll give you hapiness. You slept in her room, never leaving her side when it wasn't really necessary. She kept you safe. You were happy. She became your world. You wanted to be by her side, forever.

Living in a brothel made you more concious about people's sexual life, and every time you saw a man's face contort in pleasure, a shiver ran down your spine, prickling at your intestines, feeling your insides recoil in fear and disgust. You wanted to run away, and just jump back into Madame Kaji's embrace, but you had to be strong, like she wanted you to be. You never had to sleep with a man, but sometimes you went out to serve drinks, having to see the girls, who you admired greatly and saw as big sisters, having to engage in acts that would've have made you have a breakdown. Still, you stayed useless.

You wanted to be useful, you really did, but she never let you do much. You were too precious, she claimed. You really did love Madame Kaji, but you felt like a burden. No...you knew you were a burden.

One day, you managed to somehow convince her to let you serve drinks on a busy day. You nuzzled your face into her palm, gently kissing it before you picked up a tray and hurried into the customer area. You saw a man, middle aged, balding, the usual kind of man she sees there, sitting alone at a table. You sat down at the table, giving him a small, weak smile, and poured him sake. You put your finger on your lips, signaling that he shouldn't expect words from you.

The man smiled, sipping the sake. He stared at you, and kept...he kept staring. It started to feel really uncomfortable. His eyes started to burn through your clothes, and you suddenly felt his hand on your knee...slowly creeping up. You felt like throwing up.

Suddenly, Madame Kaji appeared next to you, her hand slipping his off you.

"Boss Hamata," Madame Kaji greets the man, as you sit there, not hearing a word. She signals you to leave, so you do. "She's not up for business." She says to Hamata, wearing a polite smile.

"Oh, is she now?" The man says with a cruel smile. "She's be a great addition to my home." He says, mostly to himself, as he stands up.

"You don't want another girl? Your usual is free at the moment." Kaji says after him.

"No," The man says again. "I lost my apetite." He then casually leaves.

The next day was your doom. The same man you remembered from last night returned with an army, and tore you out of Madame Kaji's hands.

Hamata was the devil himself. He took you because you were weak and couldn't fight back. He took you as his bride the same day, and left you covered in bruises the same night. He squeezed your throat, kneeled on your wrists, hit your skin, and forced his way in. He loved it, but you felt yourself slowly die inside day by day.

The worst thing? He was the same as your father. He had the same disgusting glint in his eyes, he licked his lips the same way, and he...he...tasted the same too. You tried jumping off the balcony, he punished you after. You tried stabbing yourself, he punished you after. You tried to poison yourself, he punished you after. You yearned for death by that point.

You spent most of your free time, when you could move, on the balcony, watching the brothel's door...hoping to catch a glimpse of Madame Kaji. Even seeing her form would give you comfrort...but you never did. You missed her more than anything. More than your own freedom.

One night, you were trying to sleep with the pain that he left behind that day, sorrounded by guards, to make sure you're not trying to kill yourself again, until...the guards fell, one by one...and a samurai walked out of the darkness.

Mizu looked at you, the weak, deaf and mute girl she was set out to kill that night. She was determined. She needed those informations that Madame Kaji offered as payment. She had killed a lot of inocent things before, what's one more?

But when she saw your face...covered in bruises, shaking and tearing up, she felt something change inside her. You crawled away from her, backing up until your back hit the wall. She stepped closer to you, not liking the fear in your eyes. She couldn't help but see your beauty, even if it shouldn't matter right now. She extended a hand to you, but you didn't take it.

Obviously. You were afraid of her too. In your eyes, she was a man. A threat.

So, she did the sign Madame Kaji told her to. "Love." She saw your eyes soften, and your features almost brighten up. She offered her hand again, and this time, you took it. She heard more guards coming, so as you took her hand, she started running and pulled you with her. She hid with you, and held you close, gently soothing your hair. She felt you shaking in her arms, and she...she felt something snap inside her. She put her hands around your head, to quickly snap your neck...but she couldn't. Her hands wouldn't move. So, she stood up, leaving you in the hiding place, and started casually walking out.

She knows if the fact that she was here gets out, Hamata sends out his Thousand Claws to burn down Madame Kaji's brothel...so she needed to act now. She decided to face the army now.

As she walked out, and the Claws started charging at her after exiting the first door, she fought back with all her might. She slowly got tired. Her body was about to give out after slashing down hundreds of men, but something flashed in her mind.

She saw Mikio's face. Their duel. The face he made when he betrayed her. And she couldn't help but see your face too. She knows the world betrayed you too. She imagined you getting betrayed in the same way she did, and imagined you crying along with her. She saw you get killed by the men she is currently slaying down.

She couldn't give up. She finished the whole army, and went back to get you, wounded and exhausted. When you saw her, covered in blood, your eyes widened in fear.

You got scared of her again. She sighed "Love" again, but this time, you shook your head, and curled up in your hiding place. Mizu sighed, and kneeled by you.

She then started to write on the floor, using the blood on her. "I'll protect you." She said it as she wrote it, trying to convince you to communicate too.

You read the text, and looked at her, your eyes still so scared and vulnerable, it made Mizu's heart squeeze. She didn't know you, she reminded herself. Still...she meant when she said she's protect you.

Your hand shook as she reached out, dipping your finger in a small pool of blood that dripped down from her clothes. "Protect the Madam." You wrote.

Mizu sighed. Why did you care about Kaji right now? You're obviously scared for your own life too, so why not care about saving yourself?

"She'll be safe." She writes back. "I killed the ones who could hurt her." She finishes. It's true, she did kill everyone...but left Hamata to be slayed by Kaji herself.

Then you looked up at her again, and stood up. You followed her outside, leaving that blood ridden house.

When she brought you back to Madam Kaji, you jumped into her arms.

"They won't come looking for her." Mizu says, switching back to deadpan, as she nudged her head towards the wounded Hamata at the exit of his house.

Madama Kaji nodded while gently while gently caressing your hair.

"Still...she can't stay here. In a place like this...they will want to take her again." She sighed. Mizu's eyes widened. "I couldn't protect her once...I'd rather perish than see her be taken again."

"You want me to take her with me? She'll die by my side." Mizu responds, shaking her head.

"You're the reason she's alive. You didn't give her the freedom of death, you gave her the freedom of life. You didn't do what I asked you to...so I ask you to keep her safe."

Mizu, biting the inside of her cheek, kept quiet for a couple moments, thinking about it.

"I'll find her a new home." She says, sighing. "I'll keep her safe until then." She says, now looking down at you.

Considering now that she was alone, since they took Akemi back to her home, and Ringo left her after she did nothing about it, still...she couldn't enjoy being alone. She now had you.

You cried when Madame Kaji told you that you had to leave. You kissed her hand repeatedly, like how you always did when you nuzzled into her palm, and clinged to her clothes. After you let go, Madame Kaji signed "Love", and with one simple tear, she bid goodbye.

Later that night, after walking the whole day, Mizu set up a small campfire in the woods for the night. You sat there, not even trying to communicate, just staring at the fire. Mizu felt confilcted. She didn't know you, she reminded herself again, but deep inside she already got herself attached. She lightly poked your shoulder, making sure not to make too much contact and to scare you.

You turned to face her, your big eyes shining at her, and your features shining in the light of the camfire. Still...you had circles under your eyes, bruises on your neck, your lips wounded from you...or someone else...biting on them too much.

"I saw you reading lips." Mizu says, making sure to articulate every word properly. "I didn't know you could do that."

You tilt your head at her, then purse your lips. You pick up a stick from the ground and start writing in the dirt. Your hands move softly, gently even, as if the stick was breathing in your hand. You focused your eyes on the thing your were writing, and your gaze followed your hand. Your hair fell into your face a little, framing your features.

"Madame helped." You write, then turn your face back to Mizu, to read her lips if she responds.

"...kind of her." She murmurs, making you unable to read it. She wanted to talk to you, but somehow...it was hard. Not for the fact that you were deaf or mute, but the fact that she somehow...felt nervous. As if she made the wrong move, you'd shatter where you stand. You seemed so delicate, and Mizu knew her blood stained fingers and harsh words would only cause you harm. She really didn't want herself to be the one to look after you. Plus, she knew you were deadly afraid of men, and you saw her as one. Suddenly, she felt this strong urge to reveal herself. To make you feel safe. Or maybe because of other, more selfish reasons...to make you feel more comfortable around her. To make you open up.

"Don't be afraid." She says, now articulating enough for you to read. "I'm no man." She says, putting a hand on her chest. Your eyes widened in surprise, and wrote "Boy?" in the dirt.

Mizu shook her head. "Woman." She says, correcting you. You looked at her, utterly confused. Mizu slowly lowered her haori, revealing her binded chest. "Woman." She repeated.

Your gaze softened. You finally understood. A small smile pulled at the ends of your lips and nodded. You moved your hand again, writing again. "Fooled me." You then look at her, your smile reaching your shining eyes. Mizu chuckles in response.

"A habit of mine, yes. I do it most people." She leans back on her hands, now feeling more relaxed. She looked at your face again, and...she felt mesmerized. She felt horrible when the thought that she understood why Hamata wanted you popped up in her head.

You then start writing again, and Mizu's gaze snaps back to your hands again. "Thank you." You then give her a weak smile. "I'm not like you. I am not strong. I will die easier." You stopped for a moment before continuing. "So thank you for not letting me die."

Mizu's eyes widen. If she thinks about it, it's true, but the fact that you're talking so openly about it bothers her. "You won't die easily. You're strong too. I mean...you're still alive. That has to mean something." She says, squinting her eyes at the fire.

Mizu sees your shoulders move a little, as if you're giggling, but no sound comes out. She does imagine what your giggle would be like though. She imagines it to be soft and gentle, since that's the only way she ever seen you do anything. "True. But I wish I wasn't born wrong." You write.

Mizu presses her lips together and looks at you with pity. She doesn't know why she feels pity, she herself was born wrong too. She's a halfblood, someone who has always been a dog. Something rather than someone. "Sometimes the world is not fair." She shrugs. "But you need to make the most of your situation. You're lucky in a lot of ways."

Your eyebrows lifted, and you tilted your head, as if saying "Like what?" Mizu noticed that you were able to communicate a lot with your eyes and the way you moved your head.

"Well, for starters...you're beautiful." She said, not managing to keep her gaze on you. That was a stupid thing to say, huh? Why would she even say that? She met you the other day, saving you from some sadistic bastard, and having to take you in afterwards...she's not being appropriate.

But when she turned her gaze back to you, she saw you with your eyes wide and your cheeks flush. Oh. Did she do that?

The days go by, and wherever she goes, Mizu's first thing to do, is ask around for a new home for you. She doesn't want to bring you along to this wretched journey of hers any more than needed. You already had to see her kill a group of people the other day, and it left you pale and scared. She remembers how you looked with a drop of blood splattered across your face, and how you wiped it away with a shaky hand. She never wants to see it again.

While traveling together, Mizu learned how precious you are. She knows your past, and she sees you flinch when a man passes by you, but still you want to do anything you can for her. Even if it's small things like running the errand of buying food, running after her hat that fell off her head then got kidnapped by the wind, and sitting by yourself at a river for hours, trying to scrub the blood out of her clothes, even if it makes you shiver. Your delicate hands started to have small callouses from living out in the open with her, but your bruises faded away. Good, she though. You don't deserve to have any, so she'll never have you gain another one again.

Hm. She was planning more and more ahead. Why? Wasn't she planning to find you a home that's not beside her? She knew you couldn't be happy by her side, it wasn't the life you deserved. You deserved to find an angel of a husband, who's strong enough to protect you, coddle you daily, and never let you do any work. Who'll kiss you whenever he sees any sign of gloominess on your features, and someone who'll make you believe you're not born wrong.

And she knows you'd be the sweetest wife too. You'd put your delicate hands on his aching muscles after a hard day, massaging away the pain, then gently kiss the tip of his nose. You'd snuggle into him after feeding him something delicous for dinner, and trace the words you want to say into her skin with your fingers. Mizu would hum in response, just gently playing with your hair, letting the peace take over as she'd put her hand under your chin, making you look at her face when she'd say something, so you could read her lips. She'd never tell you about the blood she had to shed that day, only the good things. Like when she saw a small bird, and it reminded her of you, or when she managed to buy a kind of sweet you liked on her way back. She'd feed you that candy by hand too. She'd watch your pouty lips open as she'd place the sweet treat in your warm and wet--!

When did this turn into being about her? Something like that could never happen. She's a woman with a quest, not some domestic husband. Still...she wants it to be like that. She'd treat you well if she had the chance...But she doesn't. She lacks everything for that. She can't abandon her quest.

So, one day she finds an inn. The inn keeper tells her about recently losing his daughter, who was his only staff. He even sheds a tear. Mizu tells him about the girl she's traveling with.

"She's deaf, she's mute...but she's a hard worker. She can read lips, and writes well." She tells the inn keeper with a serious face. "I'm sure she won't even ask for payment if you take care of her." She says, but inside, she doesn't want to do this. She wants you to stay by her side, but...that's a wretched path. You need this. You need a peaceful life.

The inn keeper seems to be deep in though for a couple of moments before he nods. It's settled. After two months of torture, being in her care, she finally found you annew home. It's good news, right? So why...why does she feel like slashing the inn keeper's throat just for agreeing? Why does she feel the need to burn the whole inn down and running with you, hand in hand? She hates this. This dumb, annoying aching in her chest when she thinks about not staying by your side.

Your eyebrows shoot up when she breaks the news to you, and she sees you freeze. She sees the gears basically turning in your head, then...you shake your head and take a step closer to her. You point to her, then to herself, finishig the sigh by putting her hands together.

Mizu's heart skips a beat. "No, look...I can't let you stay with me. This guy, the inn keeper...he seems like a nice guy. He just lost his daughter, and he's willing to take care of you."

You shake your head again, and sign "Love". Mizu sighs. She wants to say "I love you too." but that's not how it works.

"I have a quest to finish, and you'll surely die in the process. You know that. So just...be happy about this." She says, averting her gaze. Your eyes droop, and your shoulders deflate. You shake your head again and hug her, wrapping your arms around her torso.

She hated the fact that she had to leave you, with a man no less, but she hoped she's making the right decision. She really wanted you to be happy. And if she wanted you to be happy by her side, then she needed to find her own peace first. She had to save ehrself first before she could save you.

In reality though, she knew you saved her.

After the hug ends, she looks into your eyes. "If I survive, I'll come back to you." She says, gently petting your head. Your eyes brighten up and you nod.

That was farewell, because Mizu left withouth another word.

And she meant it...she'll come back. She just wishes you'd wait for her, even if it's the most selfish wish she ever made. She sheds every drop of blood, thankful you're not there to see it. She closed her eyes every night, hoping you're doing the same too under a warm blaket, filled with warm food. And she sat sail, making a silent promise about spending the first night by your side when she arrives back in Japan.

That will be her true peace.

༊*·˚

[luveline]

Hey bestie, if you’re taking request, can you write something with Hotch helping Reader with a bout of depression? Super fluffy and sweet, I think you might’ve written something like this before but I’m in need lol.

ty for ur request!! fem!reader

cw depression

Hotch's office is eerily similar to a Principal's, in that every time he calls you in, you worry you're in trouble far before you think something good might have happened. He sits on the other side of his desk like a monolith, unshakeable, but a softness relaxes his brow that you aren't used to seeing. 

"You can have some days off," he says. 

You squeeze the armrests of the chair you're sitting in, the old wood creaking. Legs crossed, arms held to your abdomen to protect from a blow that won't come, you're tightly wound with exhaustion, the stick of it twisting and twisting. You're curled nauseously around it. So tired you could cry.  

"If I come back to all that leftover work I'll feel worse," you say morosely. "It's better if I keep working." 

"It can't get better if you're still working. And don't worry about what gets leftover, that's my job. I'll delegate." 

"That's not fair from me, giving other people my work 'cos I'm feeling down." 

"You're very far away," he says. You don't understand his meaning until he holds out his hand. "I know this is a work conversation, but these aren't work feelings." His strict adherence to professionalism in the face of your relationship can't withstand this, it never has. Hotch doesn't gesture for you again. His expression says enough. 

It's alright. 

You're not surprised when he pushes his chair out to make room for you. You perch on the desk, your legs between his, his fingers quick to pull at the end of your rising pencil skirt and neaten you up. You look at his shoulder rather than his serious gaze, arms crossed against your chest defensively. 

"As your boyfriend," he begins, flattening the wrinkles of your skirt in an excuse to rub your thigh, "I'd tell you to take as much time off as they can give you, and as your boss, I'm telling you that that's as many days as you need to feel better." 

"I just feel so down," you admit, dropping your face, hiding your mouth behind a closed hand. 

Hotch's fingertips push against the hem of your skirt. His hand is warm. It slides far post a proper place to spread out over the fat of your thigh, his head bowed toward your stomach. "Tell me what I can do to make it better," he says. 

You know you could ask him for anything, in that moment, and he'd try to get it for you. 

"Can you hug me?" you ask. 

There, his hand sliding to the back of your thigh and pulling you toward him. He hugs your back with his face crushed under your chest, unapologetically steel-armed. It doesn't take long for him to convince you down onto his thigh, even as you murmur about being heavy, shy to lay your weight in his lap. 

"Things will get better," he says quietly, a promise, "but only if you slow down, and let people take care of you." 

You hold your breath. 

Hotch feels bigger than you, not in stature but in warmth, maybe. 

"You don't know that," you say. 

"Well, how you're feeling now? I think it needs attention. Like a cold. Like a broken bone." He speaks for you alone, his voice warm and quiet. "You can't keep walking on it. When you're here, you feel like you have to pretend to feel better. If we go home you can rest." 

We, he said. 

He holds you longer than he should, through emails beeping on his cell and the landlines ringing to the left. He only lets you stand when a knock sounds against the heavy door, and even then it's with a comforting kiss pressed to your temple. 

"Am I interrupting?" Rossi asks at the door. 

"No," you say, rubbing your tired eyes, again perched on the lip of his desk. 

"Absolutely," Hotch says. "What do you need?" 

"Just wondering how our young L/N was doing," Rossi says. "You okay?" 

"I'm fine." 

"She'll be okay," Hotch says. 

Rossi adds that he actually did need something beyond a wellbeing check on you, and rather than shuttle you out, he and Hotch stand outside of the office, talking in dulcet tones. You sit in Hotch's big leather chair and glance idly at his things, a photo of him and Jack with a fish between them. Wedged into the corner, held between the frame and the outer glass, is a photo of you. 

You might not believe you'll ever feel better right now, but you can believe Hotch. If he says you'll feel better, you trust that he's right. 

[kedreeva]

on the topic of peafowl play, would/do peafowl enjoy those pet puzzle toys? would they have the patience or interest to complete 1 outside of food motivation? i don't know why but i always imagine peafowl as the brilliant but lazy types and i wonder if that headcanon of mine has any plausibility lol

I gave my peafowl one of those chicken treat puzzles (this one) which they are supposed to peck/scratch at and roll around, which drops scratch grain slowly on the ground and gives them something to do until it is empty. It's basically two yellow bowls bungee-corded together by a single cord on the inside, anchored at that little black nub. You fill one half, and then "seal" it as a ball- but it's not clipped together or anything, just bungee tension holds it together.

I set it down for Aris for the first time, and rolled it so she could see it had scratch in it that would fall out. She pecked it once, examined it for roughly 10 seconds, and then grabbed it by the little black nub, and shook the hell out of it, bursting it open and flinging scratch all over the pen. She dropped it and everyone went about their business eating the scratch.

I taught Eris how to press buttons to "speak" to me; she had a few treat buttons, a food button, a water button, and some Word word buttons like "want" and "Eris" and "yes" and "no." She used them to argue with me and make fun of me for forgetting to put water in her wet food one day.

I gave Bug toilet paper rolls with holes cut in them, stuffed with paper towels and superworms. She learned to pull the paper towel out almost immediately. She gets a bowl of fresh foods when she goes into her pen in the mornings, and it started with me walking in and coaxing or carrying her in. Now she goes and waits on the perch where I put the bowl. I give anything leftover she didn't eat to the barn crew, so when I go to collect her in the evening, Polaris and Opal are usually waiting on the table where I put the bowl.

I bring Artemis indoors to do paintings with her, and she knows the order is indoors->bath->dry off->painting+treats, so if I bring her in, and she gets a bath, and I wait too long in the drying off, she will start scolding me until we start painting.

If I let the birds out of their pens, they get free range time while I'm outside. When I call "hup hup!" loudly and repeatedly, they all start walking back to the coops. Many of them know up commands. Artemis and Bug have both learned to put their trains up if I ask (and that's a no-treat trick, they just do it). Beep knew "ask nicely" when she wanted something (which is what led to me training Eris with the buttons), so she would scrape her beak on me if she wanted something. Beep also played with a lot of different toys.

I guess the point is that they are pretty smart birds, given a chance and good circumstances. They can be incredibly stupid, too, but the majority of them are pretty smart most of the time. But they don't have a lot of patience for things that are not either immediately rewarding or that they choose to focus on. Beep once spent an hour trying to get the button off my jeans, but if you offer Bug a mouse and move it away before she can get it, she'll usually just stop caring. If you give a treat to one bird, they might snub it, but they'll kill a man for it if someone else gets it and acts like it's good.

So COULD they become interested in a pet puzzle and possibly solve one? Maybe? It really just depends on what's in it for them, and/or how interested someone else is, and/or if they think it's their idea. They don't really have a lot of grabbing strength in their beaks, so that factors in, too. They do NOT like to peck hard things.

They DO like to destroy stuff though. If you could make an edible tissue box, they would absolutely lose their shit about it. Every peafowl I've ever owned LOVES tearing tissues out of a tissue box and ripping tissues to shreds to try to eat. Don't know what that's about. Leftover raptor instincts to disembowel things, I guess.

[strwbivy]

I LOVE your suga/kage fic so much!! It makes me so inspired to write!! <33 Anyways, can i request a daichi or maybe osamu fic where reader becomes their manager?? How they would react maybe?? Thank you in advance, hope this fits your standards!! <333

MANAGE MY HEART — DAICHI , OSAMU .ᐟ

synopsis. you unexpectedly become a manager of the roster. you were doing your job great. doing some organizing, and helping the members of the team when they take breaks, but taking his heart wasn't part of the job!

wc. 3.2k words | genre. fluffy | cw/tags. no warnings, no yachi au (sorry!), f!reader, tanaka + noya duo mischief, slow burnish, catching feelings, onigiri lover osamu, food stuff (*´꒳`*)

m.list // hq. masterlist

you've got mail ✉ ! hey anon i just wanna say tysm and omg i inspired you to write?? ACKK you flatter me sm!! anyways i tried to make a longer fic cause most of my fics are short so yea <33

leftover mail ✉ ! i'm still trying to figure out on how i should format my fics since i'm not sure on how to do so andd i kinda got lazy with osamu's part because i just really had to finish this.

a/n: just a heads up but the readers are in there second-year!

♡—SAWAMURA DAICHI ( 2,040 words , 11,263 chars )

kiyoko being in her third year of high school meaning, she's soon to retire from being a manager. therefore, she needs to find someone that will be able to manage the rowdy behavior of the team.

so then, she began her search for a possible candidate. hinata had give her a list of people who haven't joined any club, if it wasn't for hinata's assistance things would've taken much longer.

and as if the stars were aligned, you were searching for a club to join.

you were approached by a very beautiful girl, asking if you wanted to try out being a manager. and with no hesitance, you accepted the offer and she gave you some important papers and gave the date on when she'll introduce you, before leaving off with thank you.

even though kiyoko had only met you once, she knew you were the perfect one to run as manager. she just hopes that none of the other ehem.. teammates would make you run off.

ʚ 🍓 ɞ

the date of kiyoko introducing you has arrived. you sheepishly followed the manager from behind, feeling a tinge amount of nervousness but at the same time you felt excited because you were getting to experience new things.

once you both have finally reached the entrance of the volleyball gym, kiyoko's voice cut through the air, calling out to those who were engrossed with practicing. she came in the building and you followed in suite. and just a few moments after you entered the gym, you were immediately noticed and got a few people came up to you.

kiyoko then announced that you were going to try out as their manager. then of course you introduced yourself.

"hello! i am uh [name] and i will be trying to be a manager here, and i hope that i'll get along with you all!" you exclaimed, trying to hide slight unease in your voice.

a few people then took turns to introducing themselves to you.

you then started to initiate short conversations here and there. you were getting quite comfortable with everyone until you felt lasers burning the back of your head.

the slight unease made you slightly shiver. you slowly turned your head, only for you to see a bald-man and a shorter one with spiky black hair with a streak of blonde, were staring directly at you with piercing eyes.

you were immediately taken aback, you couldn't help but stare back at them with a weirded-out face.

at that moment, daichi was just talking to kiyoko about the 'new' manager. he was mid sentence until the duo's antics caught his eyes. he excused himself to kiyoko and marched over to the two.

he slowly crept up behind them, and pulled them by the collar at the of their shirts. a sigh is then pulled out of him before he spoke in a deep voice.

"you two! stop staring it's rude!" he states with a frowned expression on his face before he picked them up like a mother cat lifts her kittens, with ease but in a subtle harsh manner.

you dumbfoundedly watched the man pick them up and toss them aside. he lets out a disappointed sigh before turning back to you. daichi then approaches you.

"ahh.. i'm sorry about those two, they're always like that."

he apologizes, bowing his head in a gesture of contrition, while simultaneously scratching the back of his neck awkwardly. but of course as the great captain he is, he breaks through the awkwardness.

"so you're [name] right? i'm sawamura, daichi sawamura." he says, reaching out his hand for a handshake as a warm smile came to his face.

you let out a soft laughter before responding. "well it's nice to meet you sawamura!" you cheerfully say, while you took his hand and shook it well. he then declines the polite formalities with a firm shake of his head.

"there's no need for formalities, you can call me daichi." he says, observing your face as his hand parts ways with yours.

you then nod at him. "so daichi it is then!" you cheerily exclaimed, as you plastered on a big radiant smile that almost outshined the sun.

the way his name rolled of your tongue, has left him flustered. a sense of butterflies in his stomach grew, and the pace of his heart became a tinge faster. huh? that's odd. he thinks to himself, contemplating if it was just the large amount of coffee he consumed this morning.

or was it something else? or something new?

his eyes drifted over to you, and he realized he had been staring without meaning to. "daichi? are you okay?" you asked, having your brow raised. "w-what? o-oh! yea." he replies stuttering, finally being pulled out of his thoughts.

daichi pauses for a moment.

" i'm just.. confused. "

ʚ 🍓 ɞ

after almost one long week of getting convinced by a human tangerine, and attending practice matches, or just practice in general. you were finally confident of yourself to step up and be a manager of the team.

everyone felt happy of course, as they were already comfortable with you from the star.

while this was happening, daichi was starting to have a liking for you. but honestly who wouldn't? not only you had all the characteristics and requirements to be the perfect manager, but you yourself were an absolute delight.

you were well-organized, smart, beautiful, and you cared for each of the team's members even if you showed it an aggressive way it showed care. and the way you carried yourself has him getting more fond of you.

daichi and you, became quite close as days went by. every interaction between the two of you was delightful, and for some reason he feels an overwhelming desire to be closer to you. every time you come up to him happily blabbering, a sense of joy overcomes him. he would talk to you, trying to hide the excitement in his voice.

he would try to say a joke, but it comes off corny. he brings his hand to lightly smack his face out of embarrassment, thinking you wouldn't laugh but unexpectedly he hears a soft giggle.

the embarrassed captain snaps his head to look at you, and he starts to giggle too. a faded-pink tint grew on his face.

but unbeknownst to the two of you, two certain third-years were observing from the side.

sugawara, almost immediately noticed on how daichi acted. he then nudges asahi, pointing to the giggling pair by forwarding his head.

" look asahi, i'm not the only one who's noticed it right? " the setter asked, having a slight smirk on his lips. " hm? oh them? yea of course who wouldn't? he's clearly acting odd. " asahi says, curiously putting his hand under his fuzzy chin as he closely peered to daichi's flushed expression.

as the day ends, daichi waves goodbye to you while you exit the building. daichi was staying a bit later in the court since he was the one who's gonna close the gym, and it just so happens the other third-years stayed late to wait for him.

after waving goodbye to you he turns around, only to be confronted by asahi and sugawara, who both had a smug expression.

"so you and [name] huh?" sugawara teasingly says, followed by quiet snickers from asahi. daichi retracted himself while he gave them a questioning look.

"what? what do you mean 'you' and '[name]' ?" he responds with tone that was mixed with confusion and suspicion.

sugawara then comes closer and walks around him until he reached where his ear was. he leans in and whispers something in his ear.

"tsk tsk, you're not good at hiding secrets captain." he utters in a low voice, causing for daichi to get startled. suga then goes back to asahi's side, while having an amused smile on his face. "ah.. eh.. daichi, it's kinda obvious." says the hair-bunned man, adding a nervous ha-ha at the end of his sentence, hoping daichi wouldn't get mad at him.

daichi's startled expression, is now replaced with a scowl. he folds his arms as he looks away from the two. sugawara chuckles before he karate chops daichi's stomach.

"c'mon daichi! there's no need to get embarrassed!" he says to daichi who was clutching his stomach from the impact of the attack. a cheery laugh escaped suga's lips as he looks to asahi who looked terrified from his aggression.

and from that day on, a little secret was shared between the trio.

ʚ 🍓 ɞ

a few months passed by and karasuno has come out victorious and has successfully qualified for the nationals. and just before the nationals started, you had the idea to give each of the team's members a little gift, a lucky charm keychain!

you then spent a few days making the charms, making sure each keychain was unique as the person. you carefully made each of it beautifully decorated. and as you were finished making with someone's charm you moved on to dachi's. and an idea popped through your head.

recently, daichi has started to give you an itchy feeling, but not in a bad way. but you find yourself getting increasingly drawn to him, his presence stirred a fluttery feeling in your heart, and warmth to your chest.

the itch grew day by day as you spent time with him. the itchy feeling was unfamiliar, but not unwelcomed.

as the sensation became more overwhelming, you became more aware of your growing feelings for him. every time you're near him, the feeling becomes more intense. he then would question you about your nervous state but, you'd just say your just feeling uneasy.

coming back to when you were making daichi's charm, you had decided to add something to it. just to make a lil' more special than the rest.

the day of the trip to tokyo for the nationals then came, and you've decided to give it just right before the bus sets off. one by one, you gave each of them the lucky charm. they all appreciated the gift and felt more motivated than ever.

once you have given all of them your present, there was one more you haven't given.

you made a bee-line to where daichi was. your land lightly tapped his shoulder, causing for him to turn around. "oh [name]! is everyone ready to go?" he asks, having a slight excitement when mentioning your name.

"yup! so uh, i just wanted to give everyone something and here's yours." you then presented the cute orange and black colored charm on your small palms. daichi utters a gasp of surprise as his eyes sets on the gift.

"oh wow! you really made one for the whole team?" he enthusiastically speaks while he takes it from your palm. just as he was about to say his thanks, the voice of coach ukai interrupts him. you both then chuckle and head to bus.

small giggles were heard from sugawara as he sees the specific pair, but he was silence, with one look on daichi's expression.

daichi then sits down beside sugawara, the bus then started. he then looks down on his palm that held the lucky charm, his eyes observes each of the beads and he notices something. a small heart charm was in between on some beads, he then feels sense of shock.

he then asks for suga's charm, and he checks it. no heart charm. afther then he checks asahi's who was just infront of him, no heart charm. he then tries to take a peek with the others charm, and once again, there's no sight of the charm that he has.

a warm feeling arises on his face, and his heart thumped a bit faster. sugawara who was confused, on why daichi was quite literally 'inspecting' the other's charms notices daichi's face and that his gaze was fixated on his charm and he sees it.

a small smirk comes to his lips. "hmm someone's feeling quite special." he mumbles to the captain, his tone being an amused one.

his cheeks had a tint of pink, and a smile that reached to his ears.

daichi then lets out a low chuckle before speaking.

"yea, i guess i am a bit special."

♡—MIYA OSAMU ( 1,243 words , 6851 chars )

when you became inarizaki's new manager, osamu never really noticed you.

your presence was almost a blur to him, but it all became a clarity like going from a blurry image to sharp clear image, when you had brought those delicious homemade onigiris as a thank you gift for welcoming you to the team.

as soon his eyes set on the plate you held, he lost his self-control and hungrily grabbed an onigiri instinctively. the unexpected gesture took you by surprise as you looked at him dazed.

osamu single-mindedly, he licks his lips his lips in anticipation, while his mouth watered at the sight. slowly but surely, he takes a munch out of it. and oh my god, was he not astonished by the taste. another bite followed by another, his eyes waters at how savory it is!

with every chew and chomp he takes, his heart throbs with delight.

he savors each bite he takes, and after a few chomps, he finishes eating. he lets out a huff of satisfaction before turning to you who had a shocked face.

"these are amazing,"

"did ya' makes them yourself?" he asks in an unconcerned tone, as if he didn't just ravish the onigiri in just a minute.

even though you were just in a state of shock, you immediately beam up at his compliment, feeling a sense of pride and accomplishment. you nodded, saying,

"ahh yea I did! i'm glad you enjoyed them." you answered as some chimed in their agreement, compliment and praising the delectability of the homemade snacks.

the others then continued to enjoy the onigiris, as osamu inhales the aroma coming from the others' snacks. as he relished under the addictive smell, he pondered about on what ways you made the delectable onigiris.

he pulls himself from reality as he thoughts of a question, but to his surprise, you beat him to it.

"do you enjoy cooking, osamu? that's your name right?" you asked curiously, and osamu nodded, having a slight smile to his face as he replied,

"i do actually, i've always got a' passion for food and cooking, er.. mostly food. i also love creating new dishes and experimenting with different flavors and textures. do you do too?" he admits and expresses his passion for food as he asked you a question back.

"yes! absolutely!" you nodded your head enthusiastically as your eyes sparkled with interest when you finally found someone whose interest is also cooking.

the both of you then have a conversation about foods, cookery, and stuff that are related to those topics. he replies with a thrilled voice whenever you would ask him a question, and vice versa.

as you and osamu animatedly talk about cooking, a couple of the other theme members chimed in their own experiences observations, sharing a few embarrassing stories here and there.

"here i have one, 'tsumu 'burnt' cup noodles, i donno what came to his mind that he thought he had ter' fry it." he lets out a bried chuckle, while his twin immediately retorts back having a nasty glare as the rest of the team shared a loud laughter, poking fun at the embarrassed atsumu while they were at it.

osamu's chuckle faded into a smile, he then turned to look at you. an unfamiliar giddy feeling suddenly reached to his chest, he scrunches his eyes at the feeling, he tries to ignore it, but the more he glanced at you, the more the feeling lasted.

"huh."

ʚ 🍓 ɞ

because of the you and his shared interest, you both engaged in conversations. the both of you shared ideas about cooking and giving recipes to each other occasionally.

during one of your conversations, an idea sparked up in your mind.

"oohh osamu! i should bring some of my homemade foods maybe for a week? you could be my little taste tester, hehehe." you spoke excitedly, while osamu, without hesitation, fully agreed to the idea.

"sure, i do want to taste those delicious onigiris again." a drool trickled down his chin as he envisioned the well-missed food. you laughed at the salivating man, gosh, he couldn't just wait to have a snack of those onigiris once again!

ʚ 🍓 ɞ

in the first day, you gave him five of those onigiris he dearly craved for. and he gobbled them all up, carefully savoring each snack. seeing him truly enjoy them made you want to push your efforts to making more.

and so, in the second day, you made yakitori, grilled chicken skewers that were marinated in a variety of seasonings. and without any doubt, he eats the skewers with teary eyes from how good they tasted.

he's so gosh damn in love with you your cooking, the way he would outright do anything for you it.

for the next two days, you had cooked him mouthwatering foods like, mentaiko—spicy cod roe and okonomiyaki—a japanese savory pancake. the flavoring of each dish has him growing more fond and fond of you. his taste buds savored the flavoring, and your cooking always fails to not make his day.

and for the last day, it being the very last day of him being as your taste tester, you decided to make it a little extra special.

ʚ 🍓 ɞ

the bell loudly rings, finally! he'll finally get to eat some of your delectable homemades. he knows today will be the last day, he's quite upset, but he also feels glad that he got to eat so much of your delicious cooking for a week!

he exits out of the classroom, making a beeline to the canteen while he pondered and wondered what you had made him today. when he reaches the canteen, he spots you sitting on your and his usual spot.

a light smile appears on his features, as he skips through the busy crowds of students.

"[name]! whatcha' made this time?" he asks excitedly while he sits in front of you. his face visibly looks excited, awaiting to find out what you made him, making you chuckle before speaking,

"okay so, since it's the last day of you being my taste tester and stuff, i decided to make a..." you paused your sentence, reaching for something beside you.

you proudly set a bento box on the table. "bento box!" you happily said, as you awaited for his reaction.

osamu stared at the bento box with widened eyes before slowly taking it and took a short glance to you as he opened it.

a surprised gasp falls from his mouth when he completely takes off the box's lid, revealing a variety of homemade food. "aahh yes! thank yer' so much!" he says as he straight away digs into the food. you almost feel worried for him when he chokes on something when he takes a spoonful bite.

with each bite, he feels a sense of delight. his taste buds danced the marvelous taste. he then pulls up his head and looks to you with begging eyes.

"g-god, this is so good! please [name] let me be your taste tester for longer!" he exclaims, feeling a bit embarrassed, but he honestly didn't care at this moment.

your face heated at his comment, you can't tell if it's from embarrassment or something about the way he pleaded.

but nonetheless, you hesitantly nodded your head shyly. the man then happily smiles, gulping the food he chewed before speaking.

"i wanna be yer' taste tester forever."

copyright © strwbivy ↣ do not copy, translate or repost.

[bonny-kookoo]

ooh bonny I'm a sucker for angst 🤧 I gotta know (if you please) how things went for snowball princess before jin came back and/or while she was away from yoongi for basic training?

The clock ticking is an odd sound now.

It mixes with the low buzzing of the fridge starting and stopping occasionally, as you sit alone in Yoongis kitchen. There's a plastic container of leftovers from last night in front of you- reheated all by yourself, the microwave no longer scary after having taught yourself how to use it. Earlier, there was a staff member here, checking if you needed anything.

But now, you're alone. Truly so.

Yoongi won't come back like he did before- you'll sleep alone tonight, and somehow, it's not sad to you. Just.. odd. It feels strange to just not know what the guys are doing right now- whether or not they might think of you even. Probably not, since they're all distracted with training, new friends, and making sure they do well.

Will they be changed when they return? Will that new version still like you the same?

The first night alone passes by in a blur. You didn't eat the leftovers Yoongi made sure to pack up for you, instead you watch staff dump the contents out into the appropriate trash since they're now unsafe to eat for you. You feel oddly guilty watching it happen. Like it's your fault it spoiled.

It's obvious staff doesn't know what to really do with you.

You don't need anything, don't request anything- you eat standard instant noodles since they're easy to prepare, having watched the guys make them time and time again. And yet, even though you swear you did all the steps the exact same as Jungkook does-

It doesn't taste the same. Instead, it just makes you sad, salty tears quietly dripping into the bowl of noodles and broth you got in front of you.

You know you're just lonely. Your instincts just overreact to the unusual situation you're now in, none of your comfort people around anymore to give you any sense of security. It reminds you that you're not the same as them- that you'll never be the same, that there's always be some things you can't understand, and others they can't understand either.

You hide in bed the next day. Only come out when the staff member checks up on you.

When Yoongi returns, it's strange again- he comments on your low energy here and there, but after many answers of reassurance from your side, and even a doctor's appointment, it's clear that nothing is physically wrong with you. Nothing to worry.

It's just an inevitable change that's bound to happen at your age, or so the specialist had told Yoongi.

He refuses to really accept that- pushes it aside, and tries to take care of you the same way he did before. And it seems to work, at least in his eyes; you spend time again together, eat together, sleep together. Sometimes you spend your day at someone else's house, other times you stay inside the whole day. Yoongi takes you with him to visit his parents even, where you play with the family dog for a little and converse with his brother who'd visited coincidentally at the same time, before you go back home and get back into routine.

It's only when Jin returns, that Yoongi has to face reality.

"She's.. very quiet." Seokjin comments, as he sits on the couch, your head on his thigh as you sleep after dinner, lavishly cooked by him. "Have you maybe asked her to get-"

"We've been there already. They say it's 'normal considering her age'." Yoongi mumbles quietly, picking at his last bites on his plate before he abandons any further attempt at finishing his portion of the dinner, leaning back in the sofa as well, away from the table. "But it's so sudden. Maybe.. I don't know. Could it be something else?" He asks, and Jin looks at him.

"You mean mentally?" He asks, and the rapper nods. "Maybe. This has to be stressful for her, after all. Let's hope that maybe with one by one coming back, she'll come around as well." He sighs, running a hand over your head before he lets his palm settle on your shoulder. "I trust her that she'll tell us if she needs help."

"I hope she does." Yoongi worries, watching you sleep on his friend's lap-

Looking awfully troubled, even while dreaming.

[phr3ia]

Love Game (Toji Fushiguro x Fem!Reader) [Chapter 03 : Gesture]

Toji's text arrived around lunchtime, leaving you cringing at the contents.

(SMS)

Toji: Hey, sexy. Just finished up a job. What do you crave for lunch? I'll grab something on my way back, considering I owe you one for putting up with me last night.

You: Oh, I'm sure whatever you're done with, I don't want your leftovers.

Toji: Aw, don't be like that. It's not like I'm bringing anything 'leftover'... Unless you're implying you want a 'taste'? Haha!

You: God, you are such a pig. No, I don't want a taste of your 'job' that you did, thank you very much. And I hope you didn't kill anyone while you were doing it. If you did, we're going to have a serious problem.

Toji: Lighten up, buttercup. It's not what you think. It's just business. And I'm talking about my real job. But if you insist, I won't get you anything. Fine, live with hunger.

You: Oh, I won't starve. I'm capable of buying food, unlike some people I know. And if you don't mind, I'll prefer it if you stop calling me buttercup. It sounds creepy coming from you.

Toji: Buttercup suits you, and I like it. You're just mad you don't have a man to spoil you rotten. Pity.

You: I don't need a man to spoil me. I can spoil myself, thank you very much. And for your information, I'm too busy to deal with men like you.

Toji: I know you need someone to keep you warm at night.

You: Are you for real? I don't need anyone to satisfy my needs, and I have no need to be warmed by you. I can keep myself warm, thank you. And if you think I'll come to you for anything, you're living in your own fantasy.

Toji: Oh, I know you'll come to me. The day you realize I'm your only hope, I'll be waiting. Until then, I'll keep teasing you. Ciao, Buttercup!

You: Get lost, you perverted bastard! I'll make sure to tell everyone at work that you're a womanizer. Maybe they'd avoid you like the plague.

Toji: Go ahead. The more the merrier. They'll still come. You're just jealous because you can't get any.

You: Whatever, Toji.

Toji: See you, Buttercup.

You shook your head, annoyed by his persistence. He just didn't understand the true meaning of boundaries.

You knew Toji is an assassin, a Sorcerer Killer, his profession is the very reason you are still alive. But beyond his deadly trade, he also earned extra money from women he slept with, women who seemed to enjoy spoiling him.

~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~

You arrived home, exhausted from a long day at work, ready to relax. The moment you stepped into the apartment, you froze. There, on the couch, was Toji with a woman, dressed in nothing but a T-shirt and panties, cuddling up to him.

You gaped at the scene in front of you, not knowing how to react. Toji noticed your entrance and smirked, a devilish glint in his eye.

"Look who finally decided to grace us with her presence." he said, giving the woman a friendly peck on the head. "This is Yuki, she'll be staying here for the night."

Yuki giggled and waved at you, seemingly unbothered by your presence. You felt your anger brewing beneath your skin.

"I see. Well, I'll just be getting ready for bed." you deadpanned, trying and failing to hide your irritation.

Toji laughed and playfully tossed a throw pillow at you. "Oh, please. We both know you're a freak. You probably watch from behind the door. So, what'll it be? Jealousy or embarrassment?"

You glared at him, resisting the urge to punch him in the throat. "I don't need to watch from behind the door. I have a life, plus, I'm not embarrassed. I'm just glad I'll be sleeping soon, far away from you and your... guests."

Yuki chuckled, "Don't mind him, he's just salty because he can't get you. And he's got a thing for women in uniform, which is why he's obsessed with you."

"Shut up, Yuki." Toji hissed.

"Thanks for the info, Yuki. I'll sleep even better tonight knowing that." you retorted, rolling your eyes as you headed to your room.

"Don't forget to lock the door, Buttercup." Toji called out, the nickname grating on your nerves.

"Don't forget to zip up your pants when you're done with her." you shot back, slamming the door shut behind you.

After getting ready for bed, you lay on your mattress, hoping to fall asleep quickly. The silence in your room was comforting, and you hoped it would last all night. You were about to drift off when you heard Toji's voice from the other side of the door.

"Hey, Buttercup. I'm going out with Yuki tonight. So there won't be any loud moaning and groaning this evening. Sleep tight."

You remained silent, feigning sleep, but your heart pounded with relief. You were secretly grateful for the respite. Toji chuckled, and you heard the creak of the door opening and closing. The sound of their footsteps faded, and the apartment was once again quiet.

Your eyes sprang open, and you frantically scrambled to the window, peering through the blinds. Seeing his car leave, a wide grin spread across your face. "Yes! They're gone!" You cheered internally, feeling victorious.

You sprang out of bed, determined to make the most of your unexpected solo evening.

"First things first, that couch must be purified!!!" you announced to the empty room. Grabbing a bottle of disinfectant spray and a roll of paper towels before marching into the living room.

With exaggerated dramatic flair, you sprayed the disinfectant onto the cushions, wiping them down meticulously.

"There, that should do it!" you declared, as if the couch would respond. You then settled down onto the now-sanitized cushions, flicking on the television with excitement.

Feeling hungry, you bounded out of the living room, heading for the kitchen. Your excitement was evident as you rummaged through the pantry, finding a bag of potato chips. You grabbed a few glasses of water too, just in case.

Returning to the living room, you settled back into the couch. "Finally, some peace and quiet. Just the way I like it." you whispered to yourself, taking a satisfying crunch of the chips.

~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~

[5 hours later...]

Toji's key jangled in the lock, and the door creaked open. He stepped into the dimly lit apartment, surprised to find the TV turned on. He followed the sound of muffled snoring, spotting you passed out on the couch, your head lolling to the side with drool trailing from the corner of your mouth.

Toji couldn't help but chuckle at the sight of you, looking utterly ridiculous. He silently padded closer, gently lifting your head to rest on a pillow.

"Goodnight, Buttercup." he whispered, turning off the TV and the lights. He left you there, sleeping peacefully, unaware of the gesture that he just did for you.

•┈••✦ ❤ ✦••┈•

End Of Chapter 3 🥀....

@meowforluv

[more-cardigan-than-woman]

The Babysitter -- 1/?

Summary: Harley hire the Red Hood to look after her and Ivy's apprentice while they go on their honeymoon.

Thief!Reader x Red Hood

Words: 3.2k

Warnings: 18+ Only, Slowish Burn, swearing, weapons, man handling, alcohol consumption, bratty reader, stealing, mentions of violence.

"What exactly do you mean 'take care of her,'" Jason asks a surprisingly conservatively dressed Harley as she sits across from him at his meeting table. Well, he calls it a meeting table. But mostly it’s just the only table in the warehouse that isn’t covered in either guns, arrows or leftover takeout containers, "going to need you to be more specific Harley. Do you want me to kill this girl? Coz that'll cost more."

"Kill her? Geeze, what gave ya that idea? Me n Iv's are goin’ on a vacay and we need you to keep her outa trouble, k."

"That's it? Just keep one kid out of trouble for a week?"

"A week, a month, who can say?"

"You can."

"A week, then. An’ keep an eye on Boomer, he's been hanging around a lot lately."

"So the girl and the idiot, right.” he pretends to make a note of it on his imaginary notepad, “You know I take payment upfront."

"Yeah, yeah. Just make sure she gets her nap and her dinner, she gets annoying when she's hungry or tired."

"I'm sure I can handle it."

"Course ya can," Harley smiles, "Well I better get packin. You want cash?"

"Always."

Xx

“Little girl,” the Red Hood calls as he puts the key Harley gave him into the lock, “I'm here to watch you,” he takes a step inside, noticing how tidy the place seems to be, “While your mums are going on holiday.” he doesn’t hear anything, maybe they put you down for a nap before they left? He takes another step before seeing movement in the living room.

“My who?” Your voice is surly and confused. You wipe your eyes, rolling yourself from the couch and onto the floor. Your hand snaps out taking the gun from underneath and pointing it at the the huge guy in the shiny red target hat who is apparently just chilling in the entryway to your apartment, “who the fuck are you?” You click the bullets into the chamber, sitting up on your knees, “No, wait.” you tilt your head, taking in the dark leather jumper and the width of his thighs, “ I know you,” shutting your left eye, you try to focus on your aim, maybe the shoulder?  You think, “Why the fuck are you in my house?”

“You're not who I was expecting,” he says, walking towards you with his hands up and seemingly just as confused as you are, “is there a child here?”

“A child? That what they told you? So fucking rude,” you stand, stepping away from him and pressing the tip of the gun into your temple to try and ease the stress, “I swear to God. They think I'm an idiot,” you start to pace, “can't leave her alone she'll do something crazy,” you wave the gun around, “can't let her into a club one of those idiots will get stabbed again,” you continue to ramble unaware of the Red Hood sneaking up behind you, “heaven forbid we leave her alone for a week, Jesus fucking- AH, WHAT THE FUCK!” You squeal as your gun is pulled from your hand and tucked into this dude's jacket, “excuse me! That's mine!” you reach for him only to stumble forward.

“Is it,” he eyes the piece, “says right here property of CF.”

“So I stole it.” you throw your hands up, “Whatever its mine now, give it back.”

“Sit down.” he says in what you assume is meant to be in some kind of bossy ass tone.

“Fuck off. Just because the girls paid you doesn't make you the boss of me.” 

“Sit,” He points the gun at you, “down.” Checking the chambers empty, dropping a spare round on the floor, “Now.”

“Whatever, not like you'll get paid if they find me dead.” You brush him off, heading into the kitchen to grab yourself a drink, “you want one?” You ask, holding up the opened and definitely old bottle of vodka, “I think this one's from yesterday.”

“I don't drink on the job.”

“Spoil sport. More for me then” you smile, hopping up on the counter, “So what's your deal? Something wrong with your head? That was the helmet’s for? Keep ya brains from falling out?”

“No.”

“Then why agree to babysit me?”

“Money.”

“Lame, you need to come up with something more fun,” you cross your ankles as your feet swing into the cabinet, “Wanna teach me how to do a flip?”

“I do not.”

“Shame, so what's with the helmet? Can you even.drink through that? Does it come off? Is it molded to your head? Is it boobie trapped like Batmans? Is that real leather? Do you have a mask under your mask? I hear that people do, sometimes. What about-” you're cut off by a hand platersing itself over your mouth. 

“Do you ever shut up?” You shake your head, darting out your tongue and licking at his glove, “Did you just fucking lick me?”

“Yes,” you laugh when he pulls back staring at his hand.

“What the fuck?”

“What the fuck?” You mock him, grabbing your bottle of booze and running off into your room, slamming the door behind you.

“Fucking hell,” Jason says, wiping his face down his helmet. From the corner of his helmet eyes he spots the pair of black leggings hanging out on the fire escape. “This is going to be the longest week of my life.”

“Byeeee,” you smile, waving at him as you slip down the fire escape and head off into the night.

Harley is going to have to owe me one for this, he thinks, if I knew she was a grown as brat I would've charged more. Descending the stairs over the railing he lands right in front of you as your feet hit the ground. “Inside,”

“Boo, you're no fun,” you try to move past him. But he anticipates your every move much to your frustration and when you turn to run he grabs a hold of your hand.

“Don't scream,” he says, tugging you behind him and leading you back up the stairs to your apartment.

“Help! Help! The Red hood!” You shout, but your neighbours just stare at you, shrugging as they pass you. 

“Shut your mouth,” he pulls harder on your arm and you yelp in response, “get inside,” he says, opening your door, throwing you inside and slamming the door behind him.

“Wow, so macho, throwing helpless women around,” you roll your eyes as you get back on your feet, “am I supposed to be intimidated?”

“No. You're supposed to be quiet!” He says, his hands twitching at his side and his voice growing irritated, “and we both know you're not helpless.”

“Helpless, unless. Same, same,” you shrug, turning your back on him.

“Big mistake,” he laughs as you feel two cold metal rings click together around your wrists.

“Did you just cuff me?” You kick back into his shin, before jumping through your arms and bringing your hands out in front and nabbing your gun from the front of his pants, “I don't like to be confined.”

“I will uncuff you if you sit down and be quiet for 5 minutes.”

“Will you though?”

“Yes.”

“Ok,” You narrow your eyes at him, “I'm keeping the gun though.”

“Fine,” he huffs, keeping his eyes on you as he sits down on the coffee table. His hands collapsed together in front of him, “look, they've paid me a lot of money to keep you out of trouble. Can we come to some kind of agreement?”

“Like what?” you squirm, trying to tug your wrist from the cuff, “You wanna leave me alone?” huffing when you realise he’s got it on tight, “You gonna pay me to behave?”

“No. But, I think I have something more valuable to you than money.”

“Unlikely,”

“Skill. I can teach you.”

“Teach me what? How to throw people smaller than me about?”

“If you want or,” he eyes the fun in your hand, “I can show you how to aim properly and-”

“Oh! Can you show me the creepy snatch move?” you jump in your seat with excitement.

“The-” he sighs again, “yeah. Sure. So do we have a deal?”

“Yep,” you pop your p as you beam at him holding the cuffs out.

“Good, I'm going to take this so no one gets hurt in the meantime.” He takes the gun from your  hands and puts it in the drawer. “It'll be here if we need it, until then it stays here.”

“Yeah, yeah. No touchy sure thing.” you jangle your cuffs again,“So has it been five minutes yet?”

“No and you haven't even been quiet for one. Let's practice, I'll put the timer on and you can sit quietly for one minute.”

“Sounds awful.” you roll your eyes, “Hey what are we going to eat?”

“What?”

“Did you bring any food? I forgot to buy any.”

“I'm not starting the timer until you're quiet.”

“Ok, well I'm vegetarian so, order me some dinner,” You say, sliding an imaginary zip over your lips and throwing away the key.

He rolls his eyes pulling out his phone, starting the timer while looking up delivery options in your area. “You've got 1 minute. After we can eat and you can tell me where I'm sleeping.”

Your eyes bulge, where does he think he's sleeping? Here? In your spare room? That's where all your shit is. Closing your eyes trying to sort through all the places, the balcony? his own fuckin house? Your bed? Your mind wanders as you wonder what he's packing beneath all those layers. He's got broad shoulders sure, and those thighs mmm. You'd love to sink your teeth into em, but what's under the helmet? Buck teeth? That would be cute. Big juicy lips? A two face situation?

“Times up and dinners on the way. You did a good job,” he says, unlocking the handcuffs and tucking them back in his pocket, “now. Beds.”

“I only have one, but there's a pull out in the spare room or the couch or you know..  your own bed, in your house.”

“Back talk is it? We'll try to work on that,” He says, standing and looking down his nose at you, “show me to your room.”

“You're not sleeping in my bed,” you protest, trying to block the doorway.

“No. I'm not.” He leans in real close to you and you feel all weird and tingly, like the first time Ivy exposed you to her poison to try and make you immune, “I only sleep with good girls.”

“Creep,” you step to the side needing to put some distance between you. 

“Brat,” he mumbles as he walks up to the window and puts something on it.

“What are you doing?” you pop up beside him, trying to look over his shoulder.

“Safety measure,”

“What is it?” You poke at the little black round thing over your window lock.

“Gift from Batman, keeps the locks sealed. No more escaping out the window.”

“Whoa! That's so cool. Does it seal the whole thing?” you try to pull at it and it doesn't budge, “how does it undo?” 

“You really think I'd tell you?”

“Eh, worth a try. Wait!” you spin, “What if there’s a fire?”

“There won’t be a fire. If there is I will handle it,”

“Sure,”  you shrug, you'd figure it out while he was sleeping, “What?” He's staring at you all weird again.

“Somewhere to sleep? Did you mention a spare room?”

“Oh,” your eyes dart to the door, “Um, no.”

“Thought the ladies would've taught you to lie better,” he steps around you and into the hall eyeing the two other doors, “this one?” he points to the one on the left.

You dart under his arms and brush against the soft leather of his jacket. You lean your whole body in front of the door.

“So that one's the bathroom, which means.” he turns to you, giving you a strange look, “What are you doing?”

“Nothing, there's nothing in here, it's a false door, like a trick.” you knock on the wood, “Yeah a trick door. It just opens into a wall.”

“A very bad liar,” his hands close over your shoulders, picking you up and putting you behind him. The act of strength sends shivers to all the wrong places and you find yourself trying to shake some sense into your brain.

“Hey!” you shout, when the idea of his big hands drip from your ears, “Didn't we talk about manhandling?”

“No you talked,” he stares back at you with his finger on the door handle and you stare back at him. Your eyes dart down when the door opens, “what's all this?”

“It's nothing, you didn't see it, just shut the door and walk away,” you say trying to grab the door handle and close it but he's already stepping into the room. “Just turn around and go,” you try to push him back, your hands pressing as hard as you can into his chest. He peers down at you, shaking his head and pressing forward.

“Are these?” the lights on his helmet seem to scan the room, “Where did you get all this stuff? He starts walking around, his fingers grazing over all the weapons you've hung on the walls, “Is it stolen?”

“Some,” you shrug, eyeing the yellow umbrella you took from the penguin when he was an asshole to Ivy, “some I was given,” you smile at the large war hammer painted in red and white. “Oh, don't touch that,” you somehow managed to slip in front of him just as his hand reaches out towards the terrarium on the shelf.

“Why is it poisonous?”

“Yes, and it's Ivy’s so..”

“Right. Lot’s dangerous shit in here. Should really put a lock on the door.”

“Well, no one really comes here. So why would I bother? Also I wasn't really expecting to have some weird ass man storm into my house and tell me I'm being baby sat so…” you admit, kind of sheepishly. As weird as it was to have this guy in your house, it was even weirder when the word vomit spat out shit like that.

“Can you hear that?” He asks, turning his head towards the door, “is that the food?”

“Fuck.” You say hearing the incessant beeping of the downstairs bell, “you didn't order from Georgia's did you?”

“Yeah, why?”

“Fuck fuck fuck,” you take off, sliding down the hall, picking up your taser as your fling the door open and bolt over the railing. You can hear the man calling from behind you but you need to get down there faster.

You reach the door faster than ever before, slamming it open and you see Riza standing there, her legs trembling as she tries to huddle in on herself. “Hey Riza, sorry about this,”you say, placing your arm around her shoulders. “How you going? You ok? I’ve got a guest who doesn't know the rules yet.”

“Sssok,” she stutters, eyeing the man coming up behind you and flinching back towards the street. “Whos-”

“He's ok. I mean he's a dick, but he's mostly harmless. Right?” You turn to the Red Hood making sure to jut your head out. “One of those Batkids I think.”

“I mean no harm to you miss,” he says, coming up behind you but standing a ways back.

“Want me to walk you back to the store?” you ask, turning away from the man watching you, “I can. It’s no trouble.”

“No,” Riza shakes her head, “I don't want to be a hassle.” 

“How about a cab?” you ask, slipping your taser into her pocket, just in case.

“I can’t afford it,”

“I'll pay for a taxi,” The Red Hood says, waving one down, “I didn't mean any harm,” he takes the food from Riza and gives you room to help her put her in the taxi and he slips the driver $50.

“Thanks, that was nice of you.” You say waving Riza off.

“You're pretty fast,” Red Hood remarks, as you both head up the stairs, “She didn’t even notice you slip that taser into her pocket.

“Have to be,” you shrug, “the neighbourhood isn't great, especially for women. Riza wasn't so lucky the last time she was here, hence the haste. Bet you live somewhere nice, lots of lights, heaps of guns and no one can get in without your say so.”

“It's nothing fancy.”

“You going to cuff me again?” You ask as you re-enter your apartment, “Coz you’re mad that I was quicker than you?”

“No. Sit down and eat.”

You want to bite back but the grumbles in your tummy tell you to oblige him. 

“Good girl." Why does that make your heart patter? Strange. Like someone's set of a machine gun off in your stomach. You keep your face neutral as he continues, “Let me tell you how this is going to work. You're going to do what I tell you, when I tell you and in return I'll teach you some things."

“Yeah, whatever,” you yawn, “you going to keep this whole get up on for the week?”

“Yes.”

“Even when you sleep? Seems uncomfortable.”

“You going to ask me questions all week?”

“Probably.”

“Can you just go to your room?”

“Are you going to lock me in?”

“Do I need to?”

“Nup,” you bite down on your tongue trying to keep all the words in. Fuck, you have to spend a week with thus guy and he's kinda scary hot the last thing you should be doing is egging him to attack you. What if he gets you while you're asleep. Shit. “Actually yes, can I lock the door? Can I have one of those fancy do dads to lock it from the inside? Can you disable it yourself or is it a fancy trick?”

“Not gunna work. I'm not showing you how they unlock. But if you're worried about me getting you in ya sleep have this,” he pulls a door jam from his pocket, one that goes over the lock, “this will keep me out.” He lies, but if it makes you feel safer about having a strange man in your home he'll oblige you. Fuck, there was no way he would have expected this. You’re not only not what he expected, but strangely hypnotising. The way you can just talk and talk and talk, fuck. At one point there he’s sure you didn’t even take a breath and fuck, you’re so quick and fast with your words. If anything he’s intrigued by you and your apparent weapon klepto habits.

“Cool,” you take it and run straight into your room and slam the door behind you. Placing the lock in, you pull out your lock picking kit from under your bed and start trying to break the lock on the window.

Jason cleans up the meal, still confused and intrigued by you as he snoops through all your things. He finds a blanket on the back of the couch and decides it’s probably best to sleep where you’ll be able to see him and where he can keep an eye on the gun. Though, he’s sure if you really wanted to you could probably just kill him with the apparently mostly stolen weapons in your house. He lays back, his head resting on his forearm, wondering if you’ve managed to figure the lock out yet.

Part 2

AN: I was meant to be studying today. Whoops. Pretty sure I'm meant to have an everything taglist? but my brains, like not working right now. So sorry

[urmomspersonalwhore]

i wanna do a fake hickey prank on furina and get her to give me real hickeys instead with a rough punishment <3

also yk those shark-like teeth in animes ?? she would have those, it would fit her alot, to be honest. she would give her lover pretty bite marks on their neck (or somewhere else, esp thighs) to mark them.

maybe sometimes i‘ll also give her a beautiful mark on her body because she deserves it ♡

She loves marking her partner, thrives for the feeling of you between her sharp teeth. And a bonus since it shows everybody that you're already taken.

Whenever you or she leaves, she gives a peck at your neck before sinking her canines into you. Licking the painful mark before walking away.

She'll let you mark her sometimes and loves to show it off like some prize she got.

A time when you have been focusing on a spot in your neck, painting it with some makeup giving it a realistic sight of a hickey.

You stepped out of the room, having your shirt’s neckline a bit lower than usual to present the false mark.

Furina looked up, smiling at the sight of her partner but it soon faded while her eyes narrowed.

Glaring at that spot on your neck, she perked an eyebrow. Then, started to pat her thigh and asked demanded you

“Come here, sit on my lap.”

You held back a grin, walking towards to position yourself on top of the Archon.

She stared at it before licking the tip of her finger and wiping the makeup.

“Thought I wouldn't notice? Let me show you what a real mark looks like.” she growled, leaning forward to let her tongue slide the leftover of the small ‘art’, disregarding the rest before she bit down onto the soft flesh of your neck. Sucking on it to leave both a purple bruise and lines of sharp teeth.

©urmomspersonalwhore — please do not copy, repost or translate onto any other platforms without my permission

[sometimes-she-becomes-it]

So! The life in a bubble au. I don't have a cool introduction for it just yet. So I'll just do the checkpoint list.

This au starts when, due to (?? Maybe the 5000 years timejump?) all the children are taken from their cheerful live in earth C and flung through space. Specifically the dreambubbles. Or at least the few ones that are left after LE's rampage. They're separated in random groups, and must make their way back. They can locate one another due to the fact that they're wall from the same timeline, so they can slightly sense where the others are. Only slightly though, and it's not a specific coordinates nor can they know who is where. Works more like a compass/hot-and-cold than a gps.

Roxy worries for Callie- for everyone, really, but Callie is the one LE is personally gunning against. Everyone else is collateral. She resolves to find as many of her friends as she can.

Callie meanwhile isn't having the most fun of times. She lands practically in the furthest ring, all on her own. She's worried, but not enough to panic yet- she's gone through this once before, and knows how to build a dreambubble (Muse powers yay!) to keep herself safe. Good ol' 'if lost stay where you are so help can find you.'

Shame it's not help, but someone else that finds her instead.

As she's building the bubble she feels a.... Sort of energy in the air. Like something is becoming.... Frozen. Or perhaps more erratic? She recognizes this feelings- it means Lord English is nearby. She tries to escape her dreambubble and find somewhere else to hide, but Lord English has already noticed her and affected the time around her which, in turn, affects her ability to modify the space around her. She can't leave the bubble and it doesn't take her long to realize the little refuge she built for herself is quickly becoming a prison. She tries to modify the inside of the bubble at least- perhaps she can make a hiding place inside? It is a long shot, but it is the only idea she has. Before she can try though, she finds a fist wrapped around her torso and a "HELLO. SISTER." Echoing across the dreambubble.

And that's how she knows her time's up.

She tries to struggle but L.E *squeezes* until she can't breathe and did she's pretty sure something cracked inside of her. He throws her to the ground, and mocks her for thinking she could escape him, while she's trying to stand up again- everything keeps spinning though, did she hit her head? He gives her enough time to get back on her knees before stepping on her chest and pinning her to the ground like that. LE "plays" around with her some more. Before saying that just because he's leaving *now* (he does, after all, still have to destroy the leftover dreambubbles) doesn't mean she's safe just yet. She'll never be safe again. He'll make sure of that.

The black floor/sky? of the dreambubble turns to the red, dusty ground of their planet. Callie isn't anywhere even *near* their old home, she's all the way in the bottom of their tower. No way to get back up. She sits down on the floor (she can't help but grimace at the horrid horrid texture on her skin) and realizes that oh. She really is in trouble now, isn't she?

From here this au can take on two paths!

One is the hatred path (name pending) in which Lord English basically just wants to torture calliope and make her hurt and break her in every way there is to break her, both physical and psychological. His actions here are, as you can guess, fueled by hatred- a desire to prove his superiority over calliope in every way possible.

The other is the attachment path (name also pending) in which LE realizes that while he *loves* being feared, he wants to be adored too. More precisely, he wants to be adored by one person and one person only, the only one who would ever dare oppose him, wouldn't just cry and whine (unlike Jane) or just give him what he wanted out of sheet terror (like his followers): calliope. Of course he goes about this with around as much tenderness as usual: none at all. He wants Callie's love and what he wants he gets because that's the way it has always been. He thinks he's entitled to her love not realizing she certainly does not love him *that* way and if she ever did then she has moved on by now.

Both are pretty abusive and horrid and this Lord English isn't at all sympathethic in this au nor is he meant to be. Only difference is the motive, the end goal and, consequently, the methods to get there.

[helloalycia]

moving on [two] // alicia clark

summary: Alicia takes you back to the fire as you desperately hope to find your sister and take her away from Jeremy. Things don't seem to go to plan...

warning/s: mentions of injury and death.

author's note: here’s part two for the few people reading this one aha, hope you like it! ♥️

one / three / four / five / six / wattpad / masterlist

"Are you sure you're okay? You look like you're in a lot of–"

"I'm fine," I cut Alicia off for the millionth time, gritting my teeth.

She glanced at me before nodding and returning her attention to the road. I closed my eyes and looked away, trying to push away the pain in my shoulder. It was hurting a lot more than I realised, the meds Naomi gave me only doing so much. Really, I needed rest, but I couldn't waste time, not when Y/S/N was somewhere out there.

Alicia kept to her word and was taking me back to the fire, which should've long burnt out now. She'd been able to take a car from the stadium which I was surprised they had the gas for, along with some supplies and a gun in case we ran into any trouble.

As we got closer to the building, I noticed a lot of infected hanging around nearby, drawn in by the smoke. Less than when I was here last, but still a lot more than expected. Alicia had to pull up down the road so we wouldn't attract them.

"I don't think she's gonna be in there," Alicia said hesitantly, as if afraid to insult me yet again. It didn't matter – I knew she thought this whole thing was pointless, but I didn't care for her opinion.

Annoyingly though, she was right at the moment. There was no way Y/S/N would have stayed with this much infected around. I wasn't sure what I expected to find.

"Drive past it," I told her. "We set up camp not far from here. If they're still there, that's where she'll be."

Not arguing it, Alicia hummed and turned the engine back on, carefully manoeuvring around the stray infected and following the road away from the fire. I glanced at it in the window, realising how lucky I was to have made it out alive. That, and a small part of me was terrified I'd find my sister walking amongst the dead.

Thankfully, she wasn't.

All of my hopes were placed in the belief that Y/S/N was back at camp with Jeremy and the rest of his gang – it was too soon for them to move on, unless they deemed it unsafe. I didn't want to consider that as an option, since we hadn't talked about where to go next and so if she wasn't here now, I'd truly lost her.

The car ride was quiet except for the occasional direction from myself, and after a tense ride, we finally reached a deserted strip mall. I tried not to worry at the emptiness of it all, knowing this had been full of tents and supplies when I'd been here only a few days ago.

"They should be here," I muttered, mostly to myself, and barely acknowledged Alicia's response when I got out the car and made my way to one of the stores.

Knife raised (since Alicia refused to give me an actual weapon), I ran inside, hoping to find any sign of people. But everything was a mess, empty packets and cans of food left lying around like everybody had moved out.

"No, no, no, no...," I mumbled, the panic growing as I sped around the shelves of the store, expecting to find somebody. "Y/S/N?! Are you here?! It's me!"

There was no answer and I knew they'd left – it only made sense – but I refused to accept it. There had to be something!

I checked the back of the store – a small room where we had left some supplies – but it was empty and anything leftover was simply rubbish. They'd gone.

Y/S/N was gone.

"Y/N," Alicia breathed out when she saw me stepping out from the back room. "I... I'm sorry."

Tears pooling in my eyes, I glanced at her, seeing pity staring back at me. I didn't want her pity, I wanted Y/S/N.

"We never move on this quickly," I said, putting my knife away. "Maybe they went out."

Alicia pressed her lips together, no doubt judging my naïvety. "Or maybe they left because it was too close to the fire. To the infected. Too dangerous."

I frowned, squeezing my fists together. "There's got to be something here to tell me where they went. I'm not giving up."

"Y/N..."

I ignored her protesting voice as I peeled my eyes for any clue to their whereabouts. Alicia called my name as I zipped around the store, flipping over the few belongings that had been left behind, but it was useless.

"There's nothing here, Y/N, maybe you should leave it," Alicia tried, and it only pissed me off further.

"No!" I yelled, spinning around to glare at her. "I'm not just giving up! She may not mean anything to you, but she's my sister!"

"She left you to die!" Alicia retorted, sympathetic eyes flickering between mine.

"She didn't!" I defended her. "It was that fucking arsehole– ugh!"

Out of frustration, I swung my arm at a nearby shelf, it falling to the floor with a crash, and though it temporarily eased my frustrations, it permanently left me with a strike of pain in my shoulder. Immediately wincing, I clutched my arm, cursing at my stupidity.

"Your arm–"

"I'm fine!" I shouted, glaring at the stranger who had no need here, but it wasn't threatening in the slightest because I was a blubbering mess.

"Y/N, you have no idea where she is and they could all be long gone by now," Alicia tried again, this time in a gentler voice. "Your shoulder isn't looking good and if you leave now, it's a suicide mission!"

I sniffled, eyes blurry with tears, too many to make out Alicia's face. I hated how emotional I sounded when I said, "I can't leave her. She's my sister. I can't stop looking, not when she's out there somewhere." Frowning, I let go of my shoulder and wiped away my tears, but only more replaced them. "She's all I have left. You don't get it. I'm supposed to look after her."

Hesitantly, Alicia took a step forward and rested a comforting hand on my shoulder. "You've done all you can right now. You're hurt. You need rest."

She was right. But giving up wasn't easy, even though deep down I knew that finding Y/S/N was impossible. She could be anywhere by now and I had no idea where to start looking.

I still wasn't sure whether she chose to leave me back at the fire or not, but I knew that we shouldn't be apart. Still... oddly enough, I couldn't help but wonder if it was supposed to be like this. We'd been arguing a lot lately, she was changing right before my eyes and I couldn't stop it. I despised Jeremy, but he did keep her safe. Maybe she was finally with people who understood her, not like I did.

"Y/N," Alicia said softly, and I realised I was crying again, the loss stinging more than the pain in my shoulder.

"I know you're right," I said, not meaning for it to come out as a whisper.

Alicia sighed regretfully, dropping her hand. "We have scouts that go out regularly from the stadium to keep an eye on the surrounding areas. I can ask them to keep an eye out for your sister and this gang. If any word or sightings come up, you'll be the first to know."

I glanced at her, wondering why she was being so generous, especially after my lack of gratitude.

"You're not giving up," she assured me, nodding. "We'll be looking. You're just keeping yourself safe. Doing the smart thing, not the reckless one."

I swallowed the lump in my throat, sniffling uncomfortably. Was she right again? Probably. But it wouldn't make losing Y/S/N any easier. My baby sister. Lost.

"Please will you come back to the stadium with me?" she asked carefully, looking up at me through her eyelashes. "Your sister got a fresh start. You deserve one, too."

It was hard to agree, considering it was my fault this had all happened. But I had nowhere to go, and Alicia was the kindest person I'd met in a long time.

"We should go," I confirmed, unable to meet her gaze because I was horribly hurt, embarrassed and still a little angry, though not at her.

She seemed to gauge my mood as she nodded and led the way back to the car. I glanced around at the deserted store, wondering by how much I'd missed them all. It didn't matter, but I still wondered.

When Alicia and I returned to the stadium, time didn't feel real. I followed along as she returned the car and spoke to some of the guards posted at the gate, but none of it was really sticking. Lost in my own head, that's what I was, and the last place I wanted to be was here.

Alicia's mother, Madison Clark, found us by the gate, too. I only knew who she was because she was the one who let us go this morning, understanding my need to find my sister. Of course, now it meant nothing. She was nodding along intently as Alicia explained what we found, but I tuned it out. Until suddenly, I felt her touch my arm briefly, bringing me back to reality.

"...sorry you couldn't find her, Y/N, I really am," Madison was saying, staring at me with the same sympathy her daughter had been this whole time. "We'll keep an eye out for her and hopefully something will come up. But for now, you should stay here and rest up. This place could be something special for you if you allow it."

Admittedly, the southern twinge in her accent and the fact that she was the first elderly maternal figure I'd come across since losing my own made me feel a little better, but then the hurt returned when she let go and I was back to feeling lost.

Alicia said a few more things, none of it meaning a thing to me, before Madison left us. Only when she nudged my arm slightly did I realise she was asking me something.

"What was that?" I asked, blinking with realisation.

Hiding a frown, she asked, "Are you alright with going back to see Naomi? She should check on your shoulder."

Feeling like I didn't have much of a choice or interest in the matter, I shrugged halfheartedly and followed after her.

I hadn't wanted to return empty handed. Maybe I had let my mind run wild last night, imagining a scenario where we found Y/S/N and I finally convinced her to leave Jeremy, to come back with me to the stadium. Being here without her was a permanent reminder of what I'd failed to do.

Naomi checked me out once more, but I barely remembered it. A few stitches had come loose (no doubt a result of my tantrum) and she fixed me up quickly enough.

Soon after, Alicia said something about a tour of the place, but considering she led me straight to my own small room that had been newly built, I could only assume she meant another time.

"This is all for me?" I asked with surprise, looking around the small wooden shed that had had a glass window and enough space to house a bed, dresser and desk. More than I'd had in a long time.

"Yeah, it's one of the newer rooms we've built since we have the space," she said casually, like this wasn't the biggest luxury of all. "Also, I didn't think you'd want to share with a stranger right now. But if you find yourself getting lonely, I can arrange for a roommate."

All I could think to do was nod, in slight disbelief as I looked around the space. Everything was spotless, ready to be lived in. And to my dismay, the first thing I thought was how it would be the first space I'd live in without Y/S/N.

"I'll leave you to get settled," Alicia spoke when I didn't. "Lunch will be served soon. I can come and get you and show you around a little from there. Is that okay?"

I was glad not to be facing her, otherwise she'd see me shamefully trying to wipe away some tears. Why couldn't we have found this place sooner? I'd still have my sister. We could have been safe. It was right under our noses this whole time and we'd missed it.

"Y/N–"

"That's fine," I cut her off before she could attempt to comfort me. "Thank you."

For some bizarre reason, the brunette was persistent as she found my gaze worriedly. "It's been a long few days for you. I understand this can feel overwhelming. If you want to talk about it–"

"I said I'm fine, Alicia," I interrupted a little too harshly, before adding, "Thanks," in a poor attempt to ease the blow.

She didn't seem offended, not entirely anyway, as she nodded. "Right. Well, I'll be back in a bit. Be careful with your stitches."

I nodded, watching as she left me to it. When the door closed behind her, I finally felt like I could breathe, no longer under her watchful stare. It was a lot to process, her personality a big question on its own, but I couldn't begin to think about that right now. Not that, not this place and it's privileges, not anything.

Y/S/N was plaguing my thoughts. She was gone, for now, but she was still out there somewhere. She had to be. And I wouldn't give up until I knew she was definitely safe.

I knew this, and yet the tears still rolled down my cheeks and I still found myself sobbing in the corner of the room, mourning her like she was truly gone.

Settling into the stadium was much more difficult than I realised. And not at the fault of the people here – they were actually some of the nicest bunch I'd met in a long time – but because I was still in denial about Y/S/N.

Wherever I went, whatever I did, I'd think of her. How couldn't I? She was my family, my sister, the person who knew me the best. We'd been together our whole lives and now suddenly we weren't? It was the worst feeling, one I couldn't adjust to. Every day for as long as I'd been here this past week, I'd asked the patrol in the evenings if they'd seen or heard anything about Jeremy and his gang. It was always the same answer: no.

The stadium itself was difficult to adjust to as I still couldn't get used to seeing so many people, a community, altogether at once. Y/S/N and I had been on the run for so long, I'd forgotten what a community felt like. Everybody helped each other out, befriended one another, took turns with chores, acted like a family. There was no constant looking over your shoulder for fear of infected or wondering where your next meal would come from – every day was like a breath of fresh air. The closest thing to normal I'd seen since the world went to shit.

I should have been grateful, I know it. And I would have if you'd caught me at any other point in my life, but not now. Not when I couldn't accept it all without my sister by my side.

I mostly kept to myself, finding it easier that way. After Alicia had given me that initial tour, she offered to introduce me to some people to help me settle in, but I had no interest in doing so. At mealtimes, I would stick to my own table. When I'd sign up for chores in the morning, I'd only converse if I had to. Apart from speaking with Naomi about my health when she checked on my shoulder, I rarely spoke. It wasn't healthy, I knew that much, but it was hard to enjoy anything without Y/S/N.

It didn't stay like that forever though.

One day, I was on laundry duty, scrubbing some clothes on a washboard but very much lost in my own thoughts – a common pastime of mine lately, it seemed.

"Hey!" a voice shouted, startling me from my thoughts and making me look up. It was Alicia. "You've gotta start pulling your weight around here, those clothes aren't gonna wash themselves."

Worried, I straightened up and looked back to the washboard, scrubbing the clothes faster. "S-sorry, I'm on it."

"Hey, hey, hey," she said quickly, stopping my hands with her own. An apologetic smile was on her lips as she said, "I'm kidding, relax."

I sighed quietly, embarrassed as I looked away. "Right."

"I just wanted to ask how you're doing," she continued, losing her smile when she realised I wasn't amused. "I feel like we haven't spoken much since you've been here."

She was being polite about it, but we both knew it was intentional on my part. Every time she looked like she wanted to talk to me, I'd actively avoid her. It wasn't anything she'd done, more so that I knew I'd have to open up to her because she wasn't one to leave things alone, and I certainly wasn't ready for that.

"It's safe," I said truthfully, answering her question, hoping it would be what she wanted to hear and convince her to leave me be. "Everybody is nice. It's nice to be guaranteed a meal, one that nobody had to die for."

When she didn't respond, I glanced up and realised she was frowning, making me feel bad.

"Sorry, never mind," I said awkwardly, clearing my throat.

"No, it's okay," she found her voice again, the sympathy returning. "I know what it's like out there. How hard it can be."

I hummed uncomfortably, unsure what else to say. My eyes were on the bucket of water that my hands were stuck in as I wondered whether or not she'd leave, but then she spoke up again.

"Do you, maybe, wanna hang out when you're done?" she asked politely. "I was gonna–"

"I'm okay," I answered before she could waste another breath. The last thing I wanted was even more of her pity, even if she was only trying to be nice.

Surprised at my abruptness, she licked her lips and nodded slowly. "Hmm, yeah, no worries. Well, I'll be around if you need anything. Or change your mind."

I nodded, knowing I wouldn't, and she awkwardly walked away, leaving me to do my job.

In the week I'd been here, I still hadn't pinpointed what Alicia's story was. Despite not speaking to people much, it wasn't hard to eavesdrop on conversations or gain the occasional context from people whilst working. It still wasn't enough though.

All I'd gathered was that Alicia and her family were adamant on keeping this place safe, secure and open to those who needed a home. It didn't make sense why she was so kind and wanted to help people – nobody was that nice without a hidden motive. I was still trying to figure it out, but the more I observed the girl, the more I began to believe that maybe she was just one of those rare nice people, one of the few left in the world.

Lucky me, I guess.

That same evening, after dinner, I was stretching my legs and going for a walk around the stadium with the intention of making it back to my room to have a quiet night in (the usual for me nowadays).

It wasn't too cold out, the weather finally starting to feel like spring, and the sun had just set so it left me in a rare yet peaceful mood. I was somewhat enjoying the time alone, not really thinking of anything in particular, when I felt something hit my foot. Confused, I stopped and looked down, realising it was a toy car. How did that get there?

Before I could think to do anything, it whirred to life and reversed a little before attempting to drive forward again, once again hitting the tip of my shoe. A second car rolled onto the scene, slamming into the first one at full speed, resulting it in landing upside down. Whoever was controlling it attempted to move it with the controls, the wheels spinning in the air, but it was stuck.

I looked up, very much lost, and spotted a kid cheering in the distance, a remote in hand and grin on her face. Alicia was kneeling beside her, a remote in hand also, and looked like she was scolding her briefly before standing up and meeting my eyes apologetically. Jogging over to me, she smiled awkwardly.

I bent down to pick up the upside down car as the other one drove away, standing up as Alicia stopped before me.

"Hey, sorry about that," she said quickly, eyes darting to the car nervously.

"S'okay," I said, before giving it back to her. Unsure what else to say, I added, "So, er, is this what you do for fun?"

I cringed as soon as I said it, internally kicking myself for sounding like an idiot.

She snickered nervously, shrugging as she played with the car between her fingers. "I found some batteries for them and thought little Aaliyah might want to do something fun."

I glanced over at the young girl in question, watching as she continued to play with her car with a permanent grin fixed on her face. It was strange seeing a child get to be a child, but it felt right. It was how it was supposed to be, and Alicia was pretty sweet to give her this experience.

"Looks fun," was all I could think to say.

Alicia hummed in agreement, glancing over at Aaliyah, too, before her green eyes met mine. "I was going to ask if you wanted to join us earlier, but I... er..."

I realised what she was referring to and immediately felt bad for blowing her off so suddenly.

"Sorry if I offended you," she decided on, sounding genuine. "I know that you're still settling in–"

"No, no need to apologise," I interrupted, feeling mildly guilty for icing her out unnecessarily. "I'm sorry. It was rude of me to decline like I did. You were just being nice and I..." I sighed inwardly. "Thank you for the offer."

She pursed her lips, nodding slowly. I assumed she'd leave it there, but her eyes lingered on mine hopefully before she said, "The offer's still there if you wanna reconsider..."

I paused, surprised that she still wanted to hang out with me after how I'd acted. Then she wiggled the remote a little in her hands in an admittedly cute attempt to entice me, and it annoyingly worked.

A ghost of a smile on my lips, I accepted the remote from her. "Thanks."

Her own smile appeared, softening her features, and she put the car back on the ground for me to use.

I hadn't played with a remote-controlled car since I was a kid, so playing with one now was certainly something. Definitely a time I wouldn't forget, not with Alicia sticking by my side like we were kids in a playground that had suddenly decided to play games with each other. We played together with Aaliyah, engaging in little competitions, and it was admittedly the first time I'd thought about something other than Y/S/N. The first time I'd felt myself smile since coming here.

It was a weird feeling and I almost felt guilty for feeling like I was living again, but I didn't get chance to because Alicia's laughter and Aaliyah's cheering would distract me, and I'd have no need to think otherwise.

Y/S/N and I had stuck together all of our lives and especially during this apocalypse, so I hadn't had room or time for friends since it had all started. I was rusty, clearly, but it was a pleasure to be able to hang out with someone – to hang out with Alicia – and see a potential friendship. Though, I was still in denial about that last part, of course.

The next morning, I was heading to get breakfast as usual, planning to sit alone like I always did. But as I was about to join the queue to collect my food, none other than Alicia found me and joined me with a small smile.

"Good morning," she greeted, lining up behind me in the queue.

It was out of the ordinary for her to greet me, especially since it was obvious I'd been actively avoiding her recently and she knew not to approach me. But last night seemed to have changed the dynamic a little, and I didn't completely hate it.

"Morning." I returned her smile, albeit a little more tired than I wanted.

I moved up the line as trays were being handed out, closer to getting my food, when Alicia spoke up again.

"So, would it be overstepping if I asked if you wanted to sit with me this morning?"

My first instinct was to decline, the words on the tip of my tongue as I glanced over at her. But then she smiled at me – curse her friendly smile – and waited patiently for an answer, and then I remembered how I actually liked being around people last night, so maybe it wasn't a bad thing to say yes.

"It wouldn't, no," I answered, hoping it was the right thing. "Thanks."

She nodded, suppressing her smile as she looked away. "Great."

We both collected our breakfast – something I was still getting used to because of how varied it was every morning – and I followed her to a table. The one she chose already had two people seated there, whom I recognised to be her brother, Nick, and his girlfriend, Luciana. I hadn't formally been introduced to Nick, but I'd heard of him through others over the last week. And of course, Luciana had been with Alicia when they found me.

"Hey, guys," Alicia greeted when she took a seat opposite them. "Y/N is gonna join us this morning. Be nice."

"I'm always nice," Luciana said, making Alicia smile with amusement.

"You're right, Luci, my bad. I obviously meant my idiot brother," she corrected herself, making her brother grin.

I slid in beside Alicia, offering a small, awkward smile to the couple.

"I'm always nice, too, for the record," her brother said to me with a playful smile, before introducing himself. "I'm Nick, Alicia's brother."

"And I'm Luciana, as you know," Luciana added with a friendly smile. "It's nice to properly meet you, Y/N."

"It's nice to meet you both, too," I returned politely, knowing they were just as much in charge of this place as Alicia and her mum, even if they all claimed there was no official 'leaders'. I didn't want to make a bad first impression, though I was sure I was a little late with that.

"How are you finding it here so far? You've been here for a week or so, right?" Luciana asked with genuine interest.

"It's a lot better than what I'm used to," I said truthfully, before looking down at the scrambled eggs in my plate. "I dreamed of eggs once upon a time. Now I actually have them."

She smiled with amusement. "Yeah, it's a little hard to believe sometimes."

"The best bit is when we get to have the beef," Nick said with a satisfied smile, as if remembering something. "We pull out the grill, have a barbecue. It's just like old times."

"Oh, yeah, because back at home you used to love having family barbecues," Alicia said sarcastically, giving her brother a knowing look.

Nick grinned. "You're just jealous that I used to get my burger made before yours."

"It wasn't jealousy," she corrected him, like they'd had this discussion many times. "You used to sit and do nothing whilst I helped mum and dad out with the food, then waltz on in to get served first. It wasn't fair."

"That's not how I remember it," Nick teased, scrunching his nose.

Alicia raised her brows. "You might wanna get your head checked then. Because I'm right."

Nick shrugged, going for a forkful of eggs. "Jealous."

"Right."

"Jealous."

"Right."

I couldn't tell if they were arguing or sharing playful banter, as I looked between them like a tennis match. Luciana glanced at me, unbothered by it.

"You learn to tune it out," she assured me.

I nodded slowly, wondering if that were true, then the Clark siblings finally put their petty argument to rest and turned the conversation back to me.

"So, what did you sign up for today?" Nick asked, making conversation.

"I, er, said I'd help with the cattle," I said. "I'm just kinda trying everything out to see what I like."

"Aww, that's good, you're helping Nick's family out," Alicia teased, looking to her brother with a mischievous smile.

He tried to fight his own smile as he rolled his eyes. "Really funny that was, Alicia. You should be a comedian. Seriously."

"Maybe in a different life, who knows?" she played along, trying to annoy him.

"Though I suppose the audience would be too distracted by your ugly face to listen to the jokes," he added, making her scoff.

"Asshole."

"Says you?"

"Yeah, to you."

They continued to bicker, all of it lighthearted and in good faith, and as Luciana said, she tuned it out and kept eating. I smiled a little, finding their insults to one another amusing, but it also saddened me a little, reminding me of my relationship with Y/S/N, or what it was once like before she started to change.

And just like that, the grief returned, washing over me like a tidal wave, and it only made me hurt more.

"I'm gonna get a head start on my chores," I said suddenly, losing my appetite and not wanting to be here anymore. "Thanks for the company."

As I stood up, about to leave, Alicia looked up at me with concerned eyes.

"Are you okay?" she asked, and I simply nodded, briefly meeting her gaze before looking away.

"All good. Thanks again." And with that, I left them to it, knowing the temporary happiness was too good to be true.

It was amazing how one thing could put me in a sour mood for the rest of the morning, even as I worked on feeding and washing the cattle with some of the others.

I'd almost felt like myself again, but it was snatched away in an instant, Y/S/N returning to mind. Again, I'd asked the patrols last night if they'd seen or heard anything about her, but still I was met with nothing. She was still out there and I was still in here with no choice but to stay.

Would this place every truly feel like a home to me?

[shallyne]

The Diary of Feyre Archeron Ch 5

This is just a tiny little chapter to wrap some questions up I had for myself because I am planning somewhat of a timejump next. Hope you enjoy! The whole fic is on AO3

Words: 603

TW: mentions of death and house fire

Newspaper article, August 1st

House fire in Dunmere kills three sisters

On the night of the first of August emergency services were alerted about a fire at the Archeron estate, Dove Lane 301. Three sisters died in the fire. Nesta Archeron (18), Elain Archeron (17) and Feyre Archeron (15). Experts say that the sisters must have already been dead at the time help arrived as only remains were found to identify the three young women.

The source of the fire is still being investigated but the police already released a statement that the fire estimatedly is not suspicious.

A tragedy hits the Archeron’s again as first the father of the three sisters, Conrad Archeron (45) has been arrested for various financial crime in May and the mother, Mary Archeron (41) has died of a stroke only three days prior to this accident.

Excerpt from a chat between Nesta and Elain Archeron on October 30th

2:16pm Elain: She's listening to the new Taylor Swift album. That's good, right?

2:17pm Nesta: 1989?

2:17pm Elain: yes

2:19pm Nesta: it's better than her listening to all too well again

Excerpt from Nesta Archerons diary

December 21st

I'm worried about Feyre Clare. We thought we just had to give her time to adjust but she has lost a lot of weight in the past three months because she barely eats and the dark circles under her eyes tell me she barely sleeps, too. She goes to work, at the restaurant down the road, comes home and locks herself in her room. Elain Daisy told me she heard Clare crying a few days ago while I was away tutoring.

Daisy even made Clare her favorite cake for her birthday today but she only picked at it before locking herself in her room again.

I am thankful for Rhy Clare’s friend, that he helped us to safety but I could throttle that man for breaking my sister's heart.

Excerpt from Elain Archerons diary

January 18th

I've been working today, helping a lovely, elderly woman with her garden and when I walked home I saw Clare through a window sitting in a Café. She didn't look happy but for once she didn't look devastated, either and she was eating something. I couldn't get a good look at what she was eating, it looked like a crossaint, but at least she was eating something.

I really hope she's recovering from the heartbreak she went through. I know first hand how badly heartbreak hurts after Grayson, I'll be there if Clare wants to talk.

Maybe she'll even eat dinner with us tonight!

Nesta Mara never was the best at expressing feelings or affection, thanks to our mother, but the past months she really tried with Clare. Getting her favorite meal when we could afford it, watching her favorite movie or even putting on her favorite artist while eating.

Clare has shown very little reaction, I'm not even sure she recognized all these little acts of kindness.

First we thought Clare was in shock but since we stepped into the train, she's been nothing but a shell of her old self.

Neither Mara nor me have realized how much we missed Clare’s antics until they were gone.

Excerpt from a chat between Feyre Archeron and Nesta Archeron on March 13th

1:56am Feyre: are you awake?

1:56am Nesta: yes, why?

1:58am Feyre: I'm hungry. Do you want to get a snack with me?

1:59am Nesta: sure, we still have leftover lasagna

2:00am Feyre: cupcakes, too?

2:00am Nesta: of course, Daisy left some for you edited

Feysand Taglist:

@captain-of-the-gwynriel-ship @starfall-spirit @rhysiedarling @corcracrow @sydney-fae25 @tothestarsandwhateverend @aayo-whatt @dreamlandreader

[changingplumbob]

York Household: Chapter 9, Part 9

Reece comes for a quick stay over and Kelly's first day of high school does not go well.

CW: Unicorn zombie with minor carton gore, mentions of dysphoria

The Yorks are Italian so if you see them using words that don't look like English it's Italian, or what google assures me is Italian. Caro/Cara: Dear Buongiorno: Good morning Piccolo: Little one Tesoro: Treasure Nonno: Grandfather Nonna: Grandmother Si: Yes Grazie: Thank you Per Favore: Please Buon Compleanno: Happy Birthday

The birthday party has ended but there’s someone arriving.

Deanna: Reece? What are you doing here

Reece: Isn’t it obvious? My best friend got dumped. I’m here to make sure you don’t slide into a depressive rut

Deanna: Thanks but what about Samir

Reece: Trust me, he’s capable of surviving a day without me. Now where’s the food? And we can talk about that no good Paris

The pair grab some leftover mac and cheese and head to the patio.

Reece: Have I been blind or did you get a tan

Deanna: It’s the new me, finally looking Italian like the rest of my family now

Calista: So here’s your gift from me

Kelly: A locust?

Calista: There was a plague of them, figured that sounded like a bug you would like

Kelly: Grazie ma

Calista: The gift from your pa is on the porch

Kelly goes out and sees a new teen sized bike waiting for him. Excitedly he hops on and sets off to speed down his favourite hills

After eating Reece and Deanna head out to the nature beside the house. They both love the outdoors so feel more comfortable surrounded by nature than indoors.

Deanna: Can I ask you a serious question

Reece: Of course

Deanna: What do you love about Samir? Something you love that’s not what he looks like or how you look after him?

Reece: Oh, we’re going deep then. Well there’s a bunch related to the stuff you said but separate from that… *smiles* easy, his dedication. He goes after things with his whole heart and doesn’t give up when he comes across hurdles. *laughs* Actually do you know back in high school he’d arrive two hours before the doors got unlocked to run football drills on the field?

Deanna: Dang, when did he sleep

Reece: But of course am in love with his biceps to. And really… we look after each other more than just me looking after him, or the other way around

Deanna: *sighs* Paris said that I was in love with what she was, not who she was. She said I loved that she was an orphan that I could look out for and protect, because she asked me what I asked you and I didn’t have an answer

Reece: You didn’t?

Deanna: No. I’ve been thinking since and… maybe she was right. I loved that she was a cute blonde who was somehow shorter than me. Helping her made me feel good about myself. Did I love her? Did I even know what made her different from any other short blonde out there?

Reece: From the outside you seemed smitten but De… only you know the answer to that. Do you miss her

Deanna is silent for a while, but Reece knows she'll speak when she's figured out what she wants to say.

Deanna: Honestly… not as much as I thought I would

(her sad moodlet lasted a single afternoon it was weird)

Deanna: Maybe it was for the best that she left. I shouldn’t blame her for being the first one to see my heart wasn’t in it

The two lie quietly for a while, watching the clouds change colour in the sunset and smelling the sea on the breeze.

Reece: Look on the bright side. Now you get to go out there and find new women to woohoo

Deanna: Hmm, I suppose I can take your share

Reece: Deal, you have the tacos and I’ll have the sausage

Both of them spend the next few minutes giggling to themselves. They’ve been friends for most of their lives, being together remains easy no matter how complex life gets. After a while Reece pulls Deanna to her feet and they head inside so Deanna can do her university homework.

Kelly wakes up early the next morning, anxious to get ready for his first day of high school even if the watcher will not be accompanying him. He’s started feeling embarrassed about his new teenage body, like it doesn’t fit right. Trying to bush it off he decides to do a dance workout after breakfast. Workouts always seem to make his parents feel good about themselves.

Unfortunately school was rocky. Kelly got in two separate fights and his principal said he would be stood down for a day. Kelly knew his pa would also get a call so rather than head home after the last bell he opted to swing by Atlas’ house.

Atlas: Stupid rain. We could have gone for a bike ride

Kelly: There’s been a lot of stupid today

They head in and while Atlas has some chores Kelly decides to pass the time talking to Atlas’ mum Celeste. She is pretty dubious of him and his evil antics, especially since Atlas got the good trait on age up.

Celeste: Did you two enjoy your first day

Kelly: So many new sims to tor- get to know. And teachers

Celeste: How did you find it Atlas

Atlas: Fine but Kelly was the best entertainment all day

Celeste: Oh?

Kelly: Just a few scraps, no big deal. It's not like anyone had to go to hospital

Atlas: You’ll need to sell it better than that to your lawyer pa

Celeste: Hmm. Better catch that loading screen Kelly. You don’t want the rain to glitch anything

Atlas mouths an apology while Kelly shrugs and tries to look unbothered.

Aaron: Care to explain?

Kelly: It wasn’t my fault! Well, not completely

Aaron: Kelly, we know you have an evil side. We accept it. Per favore, can you be honest with me caro

Kelly: Fine. I was having some trouble in English and this kid beside me, Roger, said I looked like I was dyslexic and laughed so I pulled his chair out from under him. He punched me after that so I hit him back

Aaron: And the second fight

Kelly: *sighs* they split the boys and girls for the health lesson. At lunch I asked Anya what she learned and some girl thought I was being a creep for asking so I stomped on her foot. She wailed and told the duty teacher I’d attacked her

Aaron: *sighs* I see. Grazie for telling me what happened

Kelly: Am I grounded pa

Aaron: Personally I think a day stood down from school is plenty enough punishment. Education is important, it’s stupid to take it away as a punishment

Deanna: So you crashed and burned on your first day? Rough luck

Kelly: Shut up. At least…

Deanna: No comeback?

Kelly: I think I want to talk to Joey

Deanna: *laughs* careful or someone will accuse you of loving your family

Kelly sighs in indignation but calls Joey who is happy to come around and chill (he’s a bro, chilling is what he does best)

Joey: There’s Rocky!

Kelly: There’s who

Joey: Nevermind, clearly before your time. What did you want to chat about

Kelly: I got in some fights today

Joey: Okay and? Because to be honest bro I figured you would

Kelly: I’ve been feeling off since becoming a teen

Joey: We all do, it takes time to adjust. It'll pass

Kelly: I don’t think so

Joey: What makes you think that

Kelly: In health class they were talking about everything puberty does to us and our pixel parts and it just... felt wrong. Like I don’t want any of it to happen to me!

Joey: So you don’t want to be a grown human? You want to be in a kid body forever?

Kelly: I do want to be grown! I just… don’t want to be a grown man

Joey: Oh… I’m a dolt for not realising what you meant, sorry!

Kelly: I was talking to Anya about what the girls learned and honestly, I wish I’d been born a girl so I could go through that instead. Don't laugh but... I want to be a woman one day

Joey: Okay. You were clearly born a girl though if that's what you feel

Kelly: What? My parts aren't-

Joey: *sighs* Someone just got your code wrong on the physical side. Glitches happen all the time. Come here sis, it’ll be fine

Kelly always had a feeling her older brother was open minded but it was nice to have confirmation. As he wrapped her in his arms she felt herself relax a bit. Maybe things wouldn’t be so tough?

(They won’t be Kelly! I pinky promise you this is a transphobia free save!)

Hi, me popping in! I'd just like you to know that Kelly rolled being trans all by herself when she aged up! It was zero percent planned but I am super excited for developing her story. It will be a big change, just like Onyx being non-binary, so please don't beat yourself up if you accidentally misgender my evil bean in a comment while your brain switches her pronouns. Hopefully it can be practice for all of us, and will help us make pronoun switches more easily in the real world. Obviously if you purposely misgender her you should stop following me because I'm not interested in nonsense like that.

Final comment, she will absolutely still be evil. Her next bit of story will be more focused on her gender rather than her terrorising the populace, but you can expect she's still going to be her. So if you go swimming in Tartosa, don't wear polka dots.

Previous ... Next

[luveline]

hi sweetheart , ur amazing , was wondering if you could write an eddie & roan fic , where whereas eddie was in the hospital that one time , its r’s turn , not to serious but definitely something youd fine yourself worrying about ! and ed and roanie r so worried , sorta like the scene from the work trip 🥹

PLS i love u angel

thank you for your request, ilove u! eddie and roan —dad!eddie juggles his daughter roan, nearly step mom!you, and his own rollercoaster emotions when you end up in hospital for a few days. 4k

cw hospital stay, seizure recovery, temporary paralysis

Eddie's never been this tired in his entire life, and he can't sleep. 

He looks up at his bedroom ceiling (your ceiling, your house), hands under his back in the same clothes he wore yesterday. She'll worry if I show up looking like a slob, he thinks eventually, getting up to shower. The last thing he wants to do when he can't take care of you is take care of himself, but he has to, because that's what you'd want if you were home. 

Roan is stirring by the time he's dressed again. He tugs his socks on and walks across the landing, residual steam from the bathroom warming the air, his hair dripping a cool path down his back. 

He creeps over a mess of things that hasn't been touched in two days. Roan's eyes fly open at the sound, but she sees him and they squint to a more sluggish expression, little hands rubbing sleep from her eyelashes. 

Eddie thinks maybe she thought he was you. 

"Hey, bubby," he says, as loving and bubbly as he can manage, "did you have a nice sleep?" 

"Can we go see Y/N now?" she asks hoarsely. 

Eddie sits on the side of her bed and pulls her effortlessly into his lap. She's boiling from the sheets, her hair curled tight at her neck from the heat. 

"Remember what I said yesterday about visiting hours?" He strokes hair from her face gently, an arm wrapped around her waist to say I'm here. "They won't let us in until nine, and it's not eight yet." 

He drops his nose into her hair. 

"Maybe we can go get a really yummy breakfast," he suggests, thinking about you. You're probably awake, and if he's lucky you've eaten your own breakfast, but it's more likely you've refused it if you're as lethargic as you were yesterday.  

"I don't want diner burgers anymore," Roan says. 

Eddie gives her a kiss and her back a rub. "No, I bet you don't. Sorry, sweetheart, it's not nice having the same foods for two days in a row, is it? That's my fault." 

"It's okay. Let's make waffles." 

He kisses her forehead, taking a contemplative breather, just the two of them in their quiet house, her body a familiar weight in his lap. The sun is up and shining through her window, sunlight across the floor and her spilled toybox. It doesn't quite reach them on the bed, and Eddie snorts at it. Of course it doesn't. Home without you isn't sunny.  

"Waffles," he agrees. 

They make waffles with leftover strawberries and squirty cream. Roan is perky enough to want to have some straight from the can, giggling a storm when he plops a dollop of it onto her nose. He gets her ready as she eats, brushing her knotty hair and changing her pyjamas for a striped long sleeve shirt, wool leggings, and a dungaree dress you'd begged him to buy for her. The front pocket sports a small embroidered Russian doll. 

She should've had a bath, but it's getting on, and Eddie wants to get to Hawkins General dead on visiting time. She's not dirty, just her hair isn't as nice as it could be. He figures the universe will forgive him. 

He really has to see you. 

Getting Roan into the car rehashes a fresh memory. The day before yesterday… things should've been normal. Eddie was walking out of the shop, keys swinging around his finger ready to see his girls for your usual Friday plans: movies on the couch until one or all of you falls asleep. He's thinking kettle corn, a sheet of a dozen donuts, a gallon of Roan's favourite grapefruit juice and maybe another punnet of strawberries so she can dip them in chocolate and sugar. 

But Wayne jogged out after him calling his name. There was a phone call from your work, your coworker frantic. 

Eddie blinks and shoves his keys into the car, listening to the engine sputter, trying to focus. A tonic-clonic seizure, seven minutes counted before it stopped. You were already in the ambulance when they called. 

"What do I do?" Eddie'd asked, frozen to the spot. His heart pounding unsteadily in his chest, the image of you in convulsions behind his eyes. "What do I–"

"You go to the hospital," Wayne said, because of course that's what he had to do. 

Wayne vowed to pick up Roan and Eddie got in the car. His hands shook so bad he couldn't turn the key at first, but he managed it, and he got to Hawkins General in one piece, and he didn't panic at the reception desk asking if you'd been checked in yet. 

Eddie doesn't think he'd described you as looking small before, but you looked small. They laid you out in a snug bed with square orange stickers on your head, chest, and arms, unconscious. You didn't wake up for hours. 

And that was normal, Eddie reminds himself now, the car huffing and puffing its way down roads he's been driving on for almost a decade now on autopilot. You had a standard generalised tonic-clonic seizure. It started from nowhere, though they later found your blood sugar had been very low. That was deemed the cause. Eddie blames himself for it in a hundred different ways, remembering that morning, how he'd made you late for work cuddling you when you should've been getting ready. 

You skipped breakfast. He thought you'd have something on the way, but you never did. 

It's my fault, he thinks, then and now, the same thought that's plagued him for three days. 

"Do we wanna talk about how we feel today?" Eddie asks, tearing himself away from the aching remembered fear and back into the present. Five minutes until he gets to see you again, until he knows for sure you're alright.

"I feel okay. I want to see mom." 

"We're almost there. You have your flowers from the back yard?" 

Roan waves her picked daisies at him assuredly. Eddie hadn't thought to buy you flowers. He could barely manage the essentials; pyjamas, toothpaste and lip balm. He forgot to get you a toothbrush. He forgot underwear —he had to go back to the store. It was a disaster. 

"What about scary feelings?" Eddie asks softly, reaching back to make a grab for her knee. 

"You said she's okay now." Roan sits forward. "What if her arms stop working again?" 

It was only one arm. You could've come home yesterday if you hadn't been experiencing a weakness called 'Todd's Paresis', a paralysis of the limbs. You slowly regained functionality of it throughout the day, but your headache and confusion remained. 

Eddie thinks that was the worst part. You, in bed, crying because you didn't understand. His eyes burn and well with tears every time he thinks about it. Eddie, I feel sick, you'd mumbled tearfully, reaching for his arm, smudging his tattoos between your careless fingers, I don't know what's– why are we here?

But you were genuinely going to be fine, even if you were scared. In the same way Eddie's going to be okay, and Roan will be, too, as long as he makes sure this isn't hurting her as it's happening. 

"Baby, I promise you her arms won't stop working again. When she had the seizure," —he doesn't like using a big word like that with her, only there's no alternative and she needs to know— "her brain was confused. It was confused for a couple of hours, 'n' when she woke up her body needed time to catch up." He doesn't know how true it is, but it's for Roan to understand her feelings, not to help her medicinal education. "When we said goodnight she could wave bye to us, yeah? So don't worry about mommy's arm." 

"I'm worried about mommy's everything." 

"Yeah?" Eddie feels a mixture of stress at her admission and relief as the hospital parking lot creeps into view. "You want to tell me?" 

"What if she gets another one?" 

"Another seizure?" Eddie asks, turning the wheel. All he has to do is drive into the lot and find a space without crashing. 

"Will she have to come back to hospital?" Roan asks. 

"Yeah, she would have to come back. But… okay, sometimes, people have lots of seizures all the time, and they aren't dangerous. Sometimes they are dangerous," he amends. "But lots of the time they're not. So if she did have more, I would make sure she didn't get hurt and we would have to be brave all over again. We can do that, can't we?" 

He parks the car. 

Roan doesn't look as though his explanation helped. Eddie's running on an empty tank, scrubbing his hands through half dried hair and wishing he was better at this. He gets out of the front seat and opens her door, unclicking her straps, helping her down onto her feet. 

"Babe, I forgot your jacket," he says, surprised at himself as he realises she only has two layers. "Are you cold?" 

She holds out her arms and assesses for herself. "I think so." 

"You'll have to come inside my hoodie. Shall we do that?" he asks with a grin.

Eddie picks Roan up, has her cling to his neck, and zips his hoodie up over her body, their head sticking out of the hole all squished together. She's a laughing mess as they cross the lot and head into the main building of the hospital, infectiously happy as she calls him, "so silly, daddy." 

They do look silly, but Eddie's glad he forgot her jacket. It's nice to hear her laughing like that after such a tough weekend, far from the one he'd pictured. 

He tries to set her down after they've entered the elevator, but she won't go. He holds her tighter instead. 

"We're going to be nice and quiet on the ward 'cos there are other grown ups here, and some of them are in a lot of pain," he reminds her.

"We should've brought flowers for everybody." 

"How many do you have, sweetheart?" he asks, watching the floor number tick upward. 

"I have, um." She pulls her hand back from his neck, four rumpled daisies choked in her fingers. "No, I can't give them to everyone else, I only have enough for mommy." 

Eddie's noticed a very high ratio of 'mommy' when compared to Roan's usual mix these last few days. If anyone asks who her mom is she says it's you enthusiastically, but if she's talking to you face to face she'll call you whatever she feels like. Mom tends to come out more when she's tired, when she's feeling adored, or when she's upset, but that isn't to say she won't call you mom at random moments. Why is the window glass all blurry, mom? I didn't 'member to feed Lucky, mommy, you have to get the fish food. Mom, I need more soda. 

Roan was too old when you met to mistake you for her mother. You're growing into the title. Roan's growing into using it. 

"That's okay. You keep them all for mom," he whispers. 

"We won't show anyone so they don't feel left out," she whispers back. 

"Good plan." 

When Wayne brought Roan by the first night, she was just happy to see you both. Unlike when Eddie burned his arm, you weren't alert enough to be in any pain, and so she didn't have to be scared of that. Wayne kept his cool when he picked her up, mitigating most of the panic she probably would've felt had Eddie been there. She wasn't happy to see you unwell, but she wasn't scared. She hasn't cried. 

Eddie knows from experience that a lack of tears now doesn't mean they aren't coming. 

You're sitting up in bed, showered, in a fresh pair of pyjamas with a cup of coffee held between two strong hands. You have a magazine on your knee. Even your hair looks nice. It's a goddamn miracle in Eddie's eyes —he nearly drops Roan. 

"My Munsons!" you say happily, putting your coffee on the tray table wheeled over your bed. "What the heck, you told me you'd be here at nine and it's nine oh seven. I thought we loved each other?" 

Oh thank fucking God, Eddie thinks. You're okay. You sound yourself again, no pain, no hazy confusion. 

"You're conjoined," you say, smiling. 

Eddie scrambles to unzip his jacket. Roan throws herself out of his arms and on to the end of your bed. You push your tray table and coffee sloshes everywhere in your rush to make room for her. 

"Good morning," she says, slamming into you. Eddie winces at her force, and Roan must recognise her brutality, saying, "Sorry, I hugged you hard." 

"That's okay, I like hard hugs," you say, wrapping your arms around her. 

Eddie gets his knee on the mattress to grab you both in his own hug. Tears burn in his eyes. He doesn't have the wherewithal to blink them back, dropping his lips to your forehead. "I was so worried," he says, unable to hide how high and fraught his voice is. 

"Eddie," you murmur softly. "My love, it's okay. I'm just fine, you didn't have to worry about me." 

"But I did, you were–" He clears his throat. "I love you." 

"I love you too," you say, your hand crawling up his front. You curve your palm around his neck. "Baby, I'm so sorry." 

Eddie laughs and sniffs, sitting back on your bed to wipe his eyes with his wrist. His hands are shaking. "It's okay, it's alright. I don't want you sorry for nothing. We just wanted you to get better. Isn't that right, Ro?" 

Roan picks her head up from your neck, tears pumping down her face. 

Eddie's heart hurts seeing it, even if he was expecting it. You, on the other hand, hadn't had that foresight. You look at her like she's split you clean in two. 

"Princess, what's the matter?" you implore, cuddling her back into your chest. "I know it's really scary being here, lovely girl, I know. It's okay." 

Roan doesn't explain herself, just sobs little sobs into your shirt, clutching you as though she's worried you'll push her away. 

Eddie puts his hand on her back. 

"I'm sorry," you say softly, sounding weak yourself.

"Don't be sorry, are you kidding? It was my fault," Eddie says. 

"What?" 

"I made you late, you didn't eat breakfast–" 

"Eddie–" 

"Don't fucking say sorry–" 

"Eddie," you say again, rubbing Roan's back. You give him a soft look. 

"Sorry," he says. He takes a big breath, victim of an overflow of emotion. 

Eddie slides further up the bed to get a better hold on Roan where she's being hugged. "I'm very sorry for cussing, baby. How are you feeling, huh? Happy to see mommy with both arms, is that it?" 

"So happy," she sobs, pushing her lips closer to your ear and her flowers into your neck. "I brought you flowers to help you get better but you're better already." 

Eddie doesn't know what to do besides pat her back and cling to you.

After a big healthy cry fest, you lay back in your pillows with Roan propped against your front, speaking at a much more acceptable volume considering your three neighbours in the room. You rub her back with one hand and feed her hard pretzels with the other, passing your pinky finger over her cheeks as a makeshift handkerchief to collect the last of her tears. Her daisies wilt in a cup of fruitless water on the nightstand. 

"Is that what all the fuss was about? You worried daddy wasn't gonna enable your snack addiction?" you ask fondly, 

"Dad gives me lots of snacks. We had Benny's two times yesterday and then we had ice cream with every topping for after dinner." 

"I'm glad he's been spoiling you," you say. 

"Too much Benny's, wasn't it?" Eddie prompts, meeting your eyes with a bemused grin, his head twitching with a headache that doesn't fit the mood. "She said to me before breakfast she didn't want any today. We had waffles in the waffle maker and blueberries and strawberries." 

"With squirty cream," Roan says, opening her mouth wide for another pretzel. 

You indulge her and feed her. 

"You didn't enjoy burgers for lunch and dinner?" you ask. 

"We had Reuben sandwiches and loaded fries for dinner, it wasn't as torturous as it sounds." 

"It sounds delicious," you say, kissing Roan's pale forehead. "I wish I'd been there to steal all the bacon bits off of your fries. Now I'm better, maybe we can go and have them again, give me a fighting chance."  

"No!" Roan says with a laugh.

"No? So selfish, Ro, you know I want whatever you're eating." You kiss her crown and adjust your arms around her.

"Now you're better, I think we should have the, um, the special curry dad makes with rice and peas." 

"Oh, yeah?" Eddie asks. "Mom's better so dad can go back to his life of serfdom. That's awesome." 

In actuality, Eddie would make you complicated, exhausting meals multiple times a day for the rest of your life if it meant you didn't end up here again. He has a strict breakfast plan forming in his mind as you speak.

"They said they were gonna check me one last time and if I'm okay I get to go home. Soon as the doctor can come and see me and make sure I look okay," you say, planing a pretzel past her mouth and into your own with a self satisfied smile.  

"You look beautiful," Eddie says, squeezing your knee. 

"Dad! I was going to say that!" Roan stands up from your lap and pushes him. "You steal everything!" 

"I do not! 

"You do! You stole my strawberry at breakfast and you took my soda straw last night!" 

"I did do both of those things but that doesn't mean I steal everything," Eddie says, looking up into her face happily. 

She has fire behind her eyes, even though her lashes are still wet and clumped together from her earlier tears. Roan harrumphs at him. "You do. You stole one of my gingersnap cookies–" 

"Baby, those were mine. Uncle Wayne got them for me 'cos they're my favourites and I was upset," he says, laughing. 

"Well. Why did you let me have them?" 

Eddie finds her hand to roll her fingers. "Because I'm good at sharing, something you never learned how to do." 

"Don't listen, bubby," you say, tipping pretzels into your mouth. "You're a good sharer." 

In the end, the doctor comes by and tells you to stay until the shift changes for a last set of observations. Eddie and Roan stay just past visiting hours to wait with you, Roan now firmly wedged in his lap, you with his hoodie over your shoulders. In all the chaos, he didn't remember to bring your jacket either. 

"This is why we're getting married," you say. 

"Why, so someone remembers to put jackets on you both?" he asks ruefully, Roan in his lap, your bag packed and ready to go at your feet. 

"No…" You tip your head toward your shoulder a touch. "Because you've done such a good job looking after me, sweetheart. You really have. Thank you for taking care of me." 

"I think the hospital did all the looking after," he says. 

He tries uselessly to shove down that awful feeling again. The memory of you prone in bed with your IV and your heart monitor beeping. It felt like it was beating behind his eyes. 

It's easier to forget now you're feeling almost one hundred percent again. Your hand at his elbow, in your nice white and blue pyjamas, content to be going home again. 

"That's not true… I can't imagine how tired you are right now. If it were you in here, for three days…"  

"Only two," he says. "Today doesn't count." 

"It absolutely counts." 

You pout for a kiss that Eddie eagerly gives you. He kisses you, your cheek, your ear, a line of gratitude because he doesn't care how tired he is or how hard this was. You're better. You can rest at home. 

"I'd be a mess. Don't feel bad about the jackets or start thinking you did a bad job," you say, combing your fingers through his hair. You scoot back to look him in the eye, a ridiculous amount of fondness lining your own, your pinched brows. "You did awesome. A-plus for everything."

"It's not over," he says, stroking Roan's arm where she squirms in his lap, bored. "You're on bed rest, I don't care what the doctor says. And you're taking time off work. Promise me." 

"Promise," you say, holding your hands up. 

"Can I have the time off too from school?" Roan asks. 

Her big doe eyes and her tiny frown would convince him if he hadn't already thought about it. 

He squeezes her chubby cheeks in his palms. "You need a few days to feel better," he agrees. 

"Really?" she asks with a gasp. 

"Yeah, really. You've been really, really brave." He kneads her cheeks gently. "You're such a good girl. You're my brave girl." 

"Super brave," you agree, cheek on Eddie's shoulder. 

Roan sits back with a proud shrug, arms wrapping around her stomach. "I was a bit brave." 

Eddie chucks her under the chin with his knuckle. You get discharged a little while later, Roan and Eddie like a small parade pushing your wheelchair. You hate the attention, complaining to the nurse lightly that you can walk to the car without falling. No one wants to hear it. 

"You're legally required to take it easy for a few days," Eddie says. "You promised me." 

You slump back in the chair. "Fine. Ro, come and sit in my lap, at least? This hospital is a maze, I need company while they find our way out." 

Roan loves that idea. She sits on your knees, back to your chest, your hands around her waist like a seatbelt. 

"Can I push her the rest of the way? I'm sure you're busy," Eddie says to the nurse. He says it so nicely, so politely, that despite his tattoos and his long hair, she doesn't put him in the 'hooligan' box as people tend to do. She hands you over.  

Eddie waits for her to round the corner before ducking down, your backpack in the crook of his elbow, hands tightening around the wheelchair handles. 

"Girls. You better hold on tight. I'm sick of this place and we're leaving right now." 

"Don't you dare." 

"All arms in the ride?" he asks, charging up his push. He takes a preparatory step back. "On three. One, two–" 

"Three!" Roan shouts. 

Eddie races you down the hallway, your nervous laughter so loud it bounces off of every wall on the way out.

[kedreeva]

Prompt: Fruity Four, last sparks of the fire

(my inbox is open for ST prompts!)(Previous prompts)

Robin watches the last log in the fire collapse in a little shower of orange sparks, smoke flaring up into the air in artful tendrils. It's been a long time since she felt comfortable being this close to a fire, but Eddie hadn't been at the mall, and he'd invited them over, and they weren't about to avoid him when he'd already picked up supplies for s'mores.

And it's... it's nice. It's quiet, controlled. Steve had set out two pails of water nearby, and after Robin explained to Eddie, he'd kept the fire small. Enough to spit some warmth into the cooling September air, but not enough to cause any raging flames, even at the peak. Normal.

"I think it's ready," Eddie says muzzily, from where he's falling asleep against the side of a large log, head resting on Steve's knee.

No one moves for a minute, and then Steve gently rakes his fingers through Eddie's hair in a bid to get him to look up. "If you let me up, I'll get the stuff."

Eddie considers this, clearly not wanting to give up his place dozing between Steve's legs. "'n toast me one?"

"Toast you as many as you want," Steve agrees warmly. He glances up to Nancy and Robin in their camp chairs. "In fact, I'll toast marshmallows for everyone. But you gotta let me get up first."

Eddie heaves a put-upon sigh, but he shifts so he isn't leaning so fully on Steve, giving him room to clamber up and fetch the s'mores supplies from the front porch. He takes a minute to set up the graham crackers, breaking little blocks of Hersey's chocolate off the bigger bar and arranging them. He'd brought his own roasting sticks after Eddie told him I'll just find a stick or something. Steve has seen the sticks around here, and does not want them in his food. Someone has to have standards around here.

He shoves marshmallows onto the ends of two of the sticks, and heads back over to the fire. Robin stretches her hands up and makes grabby motions for one of the sticks, and Steve passes it over without a fuss. She's almost certainly going to shove it as close to the coals as she can, set it on fire, and eat it right off the stick like she'd done at his house with his lighter. Eddie would have done the same, Steve's sure, but he wants to give him one perfectly golden-brown, gooey marshmallow to try.

Robin, true to form, sets hers alight almost immediately. She holds it aloft and cackles at it while Steve crouches and patiently turns and twists his stick, letting the heat brown the marshmallow until there is a golden shell around it. Right at the end, he sticks it a little closer to the flame and lets the end begin to bubble before he pulls it out and hurries it over to the graham crackers.

He smushes them off and into the crackers and then quickly loads the stick with another pair. He manages to balance the stick and two s'mores as he walks back toward Eddie, who takes his with a broad smile. Nancy takes the other with a polite thank you and a very skeptical look thrown Robin's way. Robin trades sticks with him, and Steve burns the leftover marshmallow off her stick before going to get his own.

In all, they make too many and just enough, fingers and mouths sticky with melting sugar and sweet chocolate. Eddie kisses Steve soundly in thanks, something Robin makes a good-natured retching noise to and Nancy watches in quiet contemplation. Neither of the boys notice.

When the area has been cleaned and the supplies packed away and the goodbyes lingered over long enough, Nancy douses the coals with the first bucket, and Robin with the second. Nancy offers to drive Robin home for Steve, so he can stay, and Steve thinks maybe that's not the only reason, but he doesn't call her on it. She's smart. She'll figure it out.

They watch until the girls have disappeared down the street, and then Steve checks the fire one more time for any last sparks before he slings an arm over Eddie's shoulder and they head inside together.

[fandom-junk-drawer]

The Witcher Headcanon (Modern AU) - Stomach Troubles

Jaskier sometimes wishes he was a Witcher. Who wouldn't want to basically have superpowers? He admires Geralt's enhanced strength and senses, and his resilience, sturdiness, and overall hardiness.

The man could probably stub his toe on the coffee table and have his toenail hanging on by a scrap of skin and just casually be like "Oh, well f**k. Would you look at that?" as if he were commenting on the weather.

If Jaskier stubbed his toe, it would be game over. That would be it. He'd be on the ground in the fetal position, writing his Will because he was dying.

What Jaskier really admires about Geralt is his constitution. Geralt regularly eats the mystery leftovers that he finds in the back of the fridge that have been hiding there for heaven knows how long.

It still smells good, and it's not all green and runny yet, so..

He could literally eat out of the garbage and be perfectly fine. H*ll, he could probably eat roadkill, maggots and all, and be like food-borne illnesses and parasites? What are those?

If something does manage to upset his stomach, it's usually mild. A rancid fart here and there, maybe a slightly sour stomach. Nothing he can't sleep off.

Jaskier wishes he had a stomach like Geralt's. His diet isn't the best, so he sometimes has to deal with various digestive issues. Most of them are mild issues, like the common upset stomach, acid reflux, and mild cases of needing to make a quick run for the nearest toilet.

He doesn't like to complain and bother his friends, so he tries his best to deal with the problem on his own. Sometimes, he'll ask Yennefer for one of her potions if he starts feeling too much discomfort.

He doesn't have to deal with digestive issues too often, though, because Yennefer is usually the one making their meals. She does it becuase she refuses to allow Jaskier and Geralt to "eat like stoners". Healthy meals are the norm, though she does let them order take away once in a while.

But Jaskier isn't always at home for every meal. He does gigs with his band and sometimes spends days on the road, going from city to city, or he spends a few days at Madeleine's house when they are working on their projects. Those are the times when Jaskier eats whatever the f**k he wants, and often eats too much of it in one go. Most of the time he suffers no ill effects, aside from a little indigestion.

Madeleine wonders how he never seems to have problems until he gets into the car. Then he's ripping a** , and there's no escape. She has the suspicion that he always does it in the car because he knows she can't get out. And it always smells like a dead animal.

Sometimes, he ends up destroying Madeleine's bathroom. And he always seems to run out of toilet paper when it happens. Then he has to yell through the door.

Madeleine pushes the end of a bog roll under the door and lets him unravel it as he needs, or , if she's feeling brave, she'll take a deep breath, yank the door open, toss the bog roll in grenade-style, then slam the door shut before the miasma can leak out.

Yennefer has warned her about not giving him Pepto-Bismol. She said it turns his tongue black, and he thinks it's funny to try to lick her. Yennefer has learned this from experience.

Yennefer has also been the victim of Jaskier's childish sense of humor. The little b**tard will innocently come and sit across her lap on the couch. He'll lean into her and rest his head on her shoulder, the very image of 'I need a cuddle'. He'll snuggle down, and get cozy, and then he'll shift, rip a** on her, and run away cackling while Yennefer chokes on the horrid crud vapors.

It's so rank, she swears she just got pink eye from it.

And it's funny as h*ll when he cracks one in Van Roach with Geralt and Yennefer. The Witcher is always the first one to smell it, and it hits his nose like a f***ing freight train. He's cussing and gagging, and his shoulder is making these tiny, desperate circles as he frantically tries to turn the old-school window crank fast enough to get the window down before he passes out from the smell.

Meanwhile, Yennefer is wondering what the f**k he's doing. And then she's b*tching at him because rolling the window down has done nothing but forcefully circulate the smell and now she can smell it.

Then she's jumping Jaskier's a** for eating whatever the f**k it was that made that cheek flapper smell like maggoty garbage on a hot day. He'll do it in public too.

He'll drop an air biscuit, then just walk away, leaving one of them standing in it.

Once, after eating some really spicy, greasy tacos with Eskel, he went home and asked Geralt to help him find something in the big upstairs closet. They started looking through the storage boxes, and after a few minutes, Jaskier dropped that hydrogen bomb he'd been holding in and slammed the door shut, trapping Geralt in the closet with it.

Yennefer had laughed when she'd been told about it, because well, it hadn't been her stuck in that closet.

She always threatens some creatively unpleasant consequences if Jaskier keeps eating all that sh*t food he likes so much. She constantly reminds him about his acid reflux, and tells him she's not going to just drop everything and come running everytime he eats something he shouldn't have and thinks he's having a heart attack.

Jaskier tries not to eat what results in stomach issues, but sometimes he just can't help it. Some foods are just too tasty to turn down! And when it's all you can eat... Of course he's going to get his money's worth! Consequenes? Meh, he'll worry about those later!